Inbox for sticksandbones

[lupusxylem]

I will not make this look pretty later, don't believe me it's all a lie

====

INVENTORY:

-The Punisher: Wolfwood's cross gun, normally covered in wrappings.
INFO from the mods on use so I don't forget: The cross-gun will be able to fire regular bullets (regains of these can be handwaved; silvered bullets can be purchased in the bonus AC store) just fine, without any special nerfs. The laser feature will be usable a max of 3 times a month.

-4 Vials of his Drugs(tm)
Info from the mods on use so I don't forget: Wolfwood can start with up to 5 vials of his Lab Drugs. More of these can be regained for the price of a Small Item (a maximum of 5 at once), but they will not work on other player characters for obvious reasons. Their healing ability will also be slightly nerfed to not heal anything instantaneously, but rather over a few minutes.
3/7: All Vials have been used. Will need to purchase replacements if he wants to use them again.
???: Forgot to put the date here but he's purchased more Vials, one has been used to he has 4 currently.

-A lighter

-A carton of cigarettes, more can be purchased/handwaved

-A winter coat that Heimr bullied him into purchasing

-A matching pair of boots for the coat

-A little knit wolf with sunglasses from Elsword.

-A blanket from Livio.

-A handgun with a wolf engraved on the handle.

-A black husky named Angelina

-A belt pouch to carry his regeneration vials with a cross emblazoned into the leather.

-Authentic rosary beads, with beads made from black glass and a heavy, silver cross pendant

-A black leather choker with a silver cross pendant, similar to the rosary

-A whole church(tm)

-A wool knit cat plushie from Pure Vanilla

-3 tomas chicks that currently live in Kiera's barn

-3 londonites

-Wolf skull shaped cufflinks

-A dagger for his "birthday" from Gnosis

Comments

[lupusxylem]

[And Wolfwood, for what it's worth, rolls his eyes. It's almost like their normal banter. Almost.]

Little more sturdy 'n that. But...yeah. That's the idea.

I ain't sayin' we gotta figure it out overnight. But there's no sense in just givin' up like there ain't nothin' we can do. That ain't the Vash I know.

[...]

And....look. I'm. [He takes a breath. Holds it. Counts back from three, like Mizuki taught him.] M'sorry for yellin' at you. I didn't mean it.

[oleaeuropaea]

You're right... [He lets out a faint scoff.] Gotta run my head into the wall a few times. Then keep ramming for good measure.

[His expression does falter, though. The apology is kind. Some part of him appreciates it. Unfortunately, that part of him is muffled by the much louder, more self-flagellating version of himself.]

S'fine. I deserved a little verbal smacking around. I'm just sorry you're always the one that has to do it.

[lupusxylem]

C'mon, Vash. That's what I'm here for.

[It's what he's always been here for, even from the very beginning.

Holding hands is a little iffy right now, he thinks. But Wolfwood reaches out anyway, putting his hand on Vash's knee instead.]

...I love you. Okay?

[oleaeuropaea]

[Well, how can he not flash a smile at that. It's a little withdrawn, bordering on shy, but it's a smile nonetheless. He also doesn't try to pull away from Wolfwood's touch. Through clothing, away from the dangerous parts... it's all okay.]

I love you too. Nothing will ever change that, okay? No matter what kind of big, ugly monster I turn into.

[lupusxylem]

Good.

[Wolfwood sighs, heavily, in a way that suggests...while he isn't happy about this arrangement, things aren't currently dire. They're just. Not great. It's not great! But he knows that, Vash knows that...and there's nothing that can be done by beating a dead horse about it.

At least now he has confirmation. Vash doesn't have to make up excuses, or go slinking around, they just...won't. He guesses.]

...maybe. I dunno. We can...try just layin' down, if you want.

[oleaeuropaea]

[Nothing is great, but when has it ever been. There's always been a sword hanging over their necks. Sometimes they're just lucky, and they can't quite make out the shadow of it. As much as Vash hates it, blames himself for its presence, there is really nothing to be done. Wolfwood has made it clear that he's in it for the long haul, and Vash, at least, has moved beyond trying to remove himself from the equation.

He takes comfort in what he can for the time being, at least. Right now, that means settling in with Wolfwood. He offers a smile, one that's small and weary, but real nonetheless.]

That's a good start.

[He settles himself down. Three of his hands remain to himself, but he can at least twine the blue-tinged digits of his prosthetic with Wolfwood. It's a nice moment. A quiet moment. And if he were wise, he'd leave it as it is.

Vash, though, is not wise. As he settles down, some of his doubts fading into the back of his mind, something else rears its head. He remembers, vaguely, the conversation he'd had with Zazie nearly a month prior. He'd forgotten about their warning in the midst of everything else, but now...]

Nick... Can I ask you somethin'?

[lupusxylem]

[Laying down like this leads Wolfwood to believe it's over, at least for now. They still have the elephant in the room, but it's been addressed and since there's nothing they can do about it, it simply lives here until further notice. Wolfwood is, at least, good at ignoring and compartmentalizing. It's kindof how he does things to cope, for better or worse.

At least he can hold his prosthetic hand. It's not the same, but he knows Vash can feel him, in some capacity, through it. So he takes what strides he can, gripping it tight and closing his eyes.

......]

Mmhm. What?

after raz and ww's beach fight

[eidxiety]

[So that was bad. That was just real fuckin bad man.

Ain didn't want to get involved and tell them to knock it off, he doesn't know them like that and he's sure it would be taken poorly by both of them... he's not sure what flip switched in Livio although he's pretty sure it's a Laby-Nisha situation. I cannot believe Ain knows what DID is but cannot tell you what anxiety is, anyway,

He will find Wolfwood shortly after. Is he injured at all? Regardless, the first and only thing Ain says is,]

Are you alright?

[It's a very soft tone, very worried. Wolfwood probably hasn't heard it from him before.]

[lupusxylem]

[Wolfwood's beach time has been so weird. Oscillating between stupid fun and getting in fights with people. But, at least fighting with LR is a little different...he's sure it looked bad on the outside, but that's just how Razlo is. While Wolfwood is in denial and refuses to think that was anything but the guy being a dick, it was definitely probably his way of showing affection, some-fucking-how. He'll just have to go talk to Livio later once they've both had a chance to cool down. Thank him for keeping Razlo from killing him, honestly.

What he isn't expecting is to be checked up on, least of all by Ain. Ain will walk up to see Wolfwood holding his forearm, which sports a bite along it courtesy of Razlo. He bit him hard enough to draw blood, and since he doesn't have his vials anymore, that's not healing any time soon. He doesn't try to hide it when Ain walks up though, he's sure Ain probably saw the whole thing.

...why does he sound so genuinely concerned? He was fully expecting him to walk up with some kind of smart comment about what happened, but...]

I'm fine. This just...happens.

[eidxiety]

[Surprise, Ain learnt empathy 3 years ago and now has too much of it.]

...does it? Mr. Giant didn't seem like himself. [This comment isn't made in a "teehee, haha I don't get it" way like a lot of Ain's commentary tends to be. It's very much said in a tone of he knows what's going on, but he's not about to assume in case it's something different to Wolfwood.] Here, let me see. I can heal it.

[As he says this, five glyphs materialize over his shoulder— and all of them flick over to yellow after a brief second. Ain is going to try to take Wolfwood's arm into his hands if he doesn't offer it out.]

[oleaeuropaea]

[It's all about baby steps. They'll find a way around it, sooner or later. It's not like Wolfwood will be able to stand keeping his hands off of Vash for too long, right?

Anyway... Now that they're over one hurdle, it's time to throw another one in the way. This one is a bit harder to grapple with. He's sure that Wolfwood has his reasons for keeping things from him, especially with how busy things have been. Nick's always looked out for Vash, especially when he couldn't himself.

But still... Now they're here. And he can't help but wonder...]

If you had the chance to tell someone about something that might... drastically impact their future, would you?

[lupusxylem]

[Thing is, Wolfwood doesn't offer his arm up...but he doesn't pull away, either. He just stays still, watching a bit warily as Ain conjures up some kind of magic.]

It's...a part of him.

[Is the best way he can describe it, he thinks.]

He'll be cooled down, later. Prob'ly.

[lupusxylem]

[...

Wolfwood feels his heart skip a beat. Because even without asking...that's way too specific of a thing for Vash to ask without context.

Fucking Zazie. He didn't.]

...why are you askin' me this?

[oleaeuropaea]

[Well that's hardly a promising response. Vash fidgets for a moment or two. His body instinctively shrinks back. He reminds himself that he doesn't know the full story, hoping that this could all be some drastic misunderstanding.]

... Can't a guy ask? [Why he doesn't come out with the truth, he can't say. He has no reason to want to protect Zazie, but at least he'd been honest, right? The least he can do is try to give them a good turn.] All these folks from different times and realities. Maybe I just wanted to be sure...

[lupusxylem]

[Well. This sure fucking sucks, because he doesn't know what kind of answer is the "right" one. He doesn't know what Vash is expecting him to say, because it sounds very much like- if he says the wrong thing here- there's going to be trouble.

But he...already made his mind up, when Zazie told him. He still refuses to fully believe it himself, even if the denial only barely shrouds the reality that something extremely big went down that he and Vash simply haven't witnessed yet. How can he possibly tell Vash that he's responsible for the destruction of an entire city? He can't. It would be cruel to tell someone like him that.

It would crush him. He's not sure if he'd even recover.

He swallows thickly, drawing his arms in towards himself as he stares hard at the wall.]

Depends. I guess.

[eidxiety]

[Okay, well... Ain is moving to sit down by Wolfwood and pull his arm closer. With a very delicate hand, he inspects the wound, determines that it needs to be washed, and says a quick "hold on". He can't natively conjure water, but the little glyphs all turn blue very quickly after that note, then he summons an ice flower. It'll hover for a single second before Ain lights a flame at his fingertip to melt it, and this is how he's going to wash that wound out. Instead of dragging Wolfwood into a cabana, this seems easier. The man is abrasive as hell, he doesn't need his head chewed off right now.

After that, the glyphs all flip yellow, and at his fingertips is a golden light which he presses to the skin. The bite mark stitches closed after that, a gradual knitting of skin that Wolfwood is likely very familiar with... only it doesn't come with side-effects. It's all based on Ain's emotions, even if he's not aware of it, and thus it feels like a warm burst of sunlight.

Trust him, it would be freezing cold if he hated you, Wolfwood. Not that that'll be known.]

I get it. I have a friend — she's a little girl, so I guess more like a little sister, or maybe a daughter if Mr. Ancient is asked, [calling Add out for loving Laby,] who has the same condition. We've just... never seen Ms. Mirror Friend's alternate side come out before, not like that.

[If Nisha gets let out of her box she will hit people with trees. Like. Literally.]

Here. Your arm should be okay now.

[lupusxylem]

...you got a lotta different magic.

[Wolfwood notes quietly as Ain switches between ice, to fire, to healing all in the span of just a moment or two. He's not sure he'll ever understand it- magic- but so many people have it that he's just accepted it as a fact of reality, now. Not that he'll ever be used to it, but it's just...there. As long as it's not being used against him, it's whatever.

The healing is...a thing, though. Surprising, maybe. It's gentle, and it doesn't hurt, or exhaust him like regenerating does. And when Ain tells him he's done, he'll bring his arm back to himself, flexing his fingers a bit.]

But thanks. You didn't hafta do that, it woulda' healed eventually.

[oleaeuropaea]

[Vash has never felt so worried for and frustrated with someone at the same time. He hates the way Wolfwood drraws in on himself, not just because he knows the man is upset, but because he knows that whatever he's holding in, it's bad. Vash should have known about it sooner.

So why didn't he?

Swallowing hard, Vash rolls over so that he's flat on his back. His hand, notably, doesn't leave Wolfwood's. In fact, he gives it a squeeze, even as he glares hard at the wood on the ceiling above.]

What did Zazie tell you, Nick?

[He's abandoning the narrative here. He knows, and he won't pretend otherwise. Nick deserves to know that he does, so he can approach the conversation properly.]

[eidxiety]

I'm pretty good at it, you could say. I can conjure winds, or swords and spears, and a lot more than this. I guess you'll just have to see, huh? ...please don't make me have to use things.

[He half expects something to lunge out of the ocean, and then he might have to turn to murder for real.]

Sure, it "would've" healed eventually, but human saliva is a vector for infection, not to mention the sand and the surf here. I'm pretty sure you don't want saltwater in a wound, Mr. Priest. It stings. Really, really badly.

[Trust him. Just trust him.]

[livlaughlove]

[truth be told, livio isn't entirely sure how much friction or time this is supposed to take. he's never been this intimate with anyone. he almost pauses, to ask nick whether it's enough, when wolfwood bites and claws the motherfuck out of him. that makes livio unleash a sharp moan to match, and arch his body into nick's. for a moment, he wishes it was his legs wrapped around wolfwood's hips.

even so, this full-body sensation is much closer to what he's imagined intimacy to be like, but still not enough with nicholas so strung out but not yet finished.]

Nick -- please. Please.

[lupusxylem]

[Wolfwood waits. He waits for Vash's reply with bated breath, his heart hammering a panicked staccato behind his ribs. It's almost worse than if he'd just remained silent, him actually confronting him on it directly.

Thanks a fucking lot, Zazie. God fucking damn it.

His heart turns over and drops into the pit of his stomach, and he does not reply for a long time. So long, in fact, that Vash will not be blamed if he has to call his name again. Because it sounds to him like Zazie didn't tell Vash anything, like he'd asked, but still decided to be a cheeky asshole about it and wink-nudge that he knew something, but wouldn't tell him.

Oh, but The Punisher knew. He could tell you. God, he could puke.

...

He takes a deep breath in his nose. Holds it. Lets it out through his mouth.]

Vash. I'm tellin' ya.

Please...don't.

[lupusxylem]

[Hey listen, if that were to happen it wouldn't actually be Wolfwood's fault directly, so it's fine probably!]

Yeah, m'sure.

[He's already had run-ins with saltwater in his eyes. He doesn't want to think about it.

Instead, he'll look at Ain sidelong, his expression a bit hard to read as he flexes his hand a few more times for good measure.]

...why're you helpin' me?

[eidxiety]

Uh... 'cause I care...?

[What a weird fucking question.]

Mr. Priest, did you forget to clean the cotton out of your ears the other day when I told you that I like you? Do you want me to reiterate it since your brain isn't working?

[lupusxylem]

No, I heard you. I just don't get it.

[Because they're really done nothing but be catty bitches to each other. That doesn't constitute liking someone in his brain, although you could say the same about how his relationship with Vash started...it's just that Vash didn't gleefully add fuel to the fire the same way Ain does. Vash is too golden retriever for that.]

[oleaeuropaea]

[He knows, even from the silence, that it isn't good. It's why he doesn't try to call out to Nick, to urge him to say more. He can reel from the consequences silently, desperately grappling for some kind of hope. He waits for the sword to fall,

But it doesn't. Maybe he should be grateful that Wolfwood is holding out, trying to protect him, but that ever present frustration only grows. Anxiety coils within his gut, a thousand different futures unfolding. One where Wolfwood dies. Where Nai dies. Where he fails to help Jeneora Rock.

(None of these compare to the grim reality, but how could he ever know that?).]

Please, Nick... If something happened, I should know. We have time to fix it, right? Together!