[ despite having three to four full bowls of porridge without complaint every morning, jayce hungers, and his stomach would remain a bottomless pit that left him lethargic, unwell, and a little cranky throughout the road trip, hoarding foods easy enough to pick with his fingers and stuff in the passenger seat of his colorful pickup (although none of it satisfies, to his disdain). hours become days, and jayce gets worse.
an ironic twist of fate, this all was; it wasn't supposed to happen this fast, or even in this way, but jayce, nevertheless, begins to detereorate. fast, without intervention, deferred with medication but never enough to cease. he grows exhausted driving for too long, prefers to sleep in a curled up, shivering ball as feverish chills steal the warmth from his flesh away. he's clammy and sweating ice cold most of the time, aching in every joint and especially on his braced leg, white dolor striking the poorly healed bone like a knife to the gut, constant like a beating heart.
he has better evenings, and worse ones. talk of a radio tower stirs him from his torpor tonight, coupled with an intense need to follow viktor wherever he'd hobble off to and taking advantage of his consciousness while it lasted, no matter how much it seemed to drain him to walk up the stairs of the cabin and uses railings for support, frequently stopping to catch his breath. he's been a lousy partner lately— but when hasn't that been the latest scandal?
the dim crackle of music from the radio trees around them hum in his ears like a sweet, comforting lullaby, and the monotonous sermones of the moon's fases fill their minds with a mind map of common knowledge. ]
The frequency this technnology is on . . . Is something else.
[ jayce muses about it longingly— during a time he was still clean shaven and naive, he'd be ecstatic about learning more, taking it apart and understanding the wonder and using that to create. now, it is a balm for his nausea, fatigue and nostalgia.
he's smiling, at least, and that smile wrinkles the crow's feet lining the corners of his eyes, heavy with bags but shimmering with a touch of life he may have needed to see under the fall of messy bangs. ]
[For the first time in their lives, Jayce is doing markedly worst than Viktor. It doesn't give him any sense of superiority, the fact is just depressing and disheartening. Just how he imagined it felt for Jayce, watching his partner's deterioration over the years. This is so much more rapid than even Viktor had to suffer, at least he got years. Jayce seems to have... weeks? At best-?
Too depressing of a thought for him to linger on. They trudge through the cabin interior, up towards the top of the radio tower and there is, mercifully, a wooden bench facing a display screen waiting for them. The message is rolling by with subtitles beneath the unknown logo. A date, long before the one they've been made aware of, Viktor needs time to absorb this. He'll sit down to look at it curiously, muttering,]
It's incredible, but how is it being powered? It is so derelict. Ah- sit down, Jayce. I need a rest. [climbing stairs is also still not great by Viktor, but he needs it less than Jayce does. Viktor busies himself looking to Jayce's brace they reconstructed together, still more Mercury Hammer than scraps, but who knew how long that ship of Theseus would hold up...]
Is this doing alright for you? [a moment of peace before the moon falls on them]
[ generators? he mumbles through hulking steps, more than relieved to be met with a bench in their sights that will alleviate the pressure in their disabled legs— for jayce, a bit more where the rest of his aches are concerned. he would've said a little more to busy them, dry humor in the bite of a you and i both, but jayce needs to catch his breath and his bearings. his vision threatens to swim once he's sat, lightheadedness finally catching up to him from extertion.
it was unfamiliar and familiar all at once. jayce was always as healthy as a horse, hardy and robust enough to work the forge with his bare hands, resilient enough to climb from the depths of zaun to the ruins of piltover. the only other time his health had been abysmal was in the face of gritty infection, and these symptoms feel like an eerily excessive rebound.
jayce turns his braced leg so that his ankle nearly faces the ground, the clinks and squeaks of metal following like a shadow. ]
It's great, [ viktor's personal touch to the repairs are made with precise care, reenforcing weak its slots and complimenting where jayce's genius had lacked. ] we've always built better things together than apart. [ he pauses, only to inhale, shallow, ] And the medicine is helping. Thanks.
[ it wasn't helping as much as they needed it to, but beggars didn't exactly have the luxury to choose. ]
["It's great," Viktor absolutely doubts that, but that's Jayce's optimism speaking. It's the best they could do, it's serviceable, it's not great... that's Viktor's realism speaking.
His eyes soften from those thoughts at the mention of the medicine. Viktor tanked a burn from the shrines to retrieve the man some antibiotic painkillers.
He also didn't tell Jayce as much, once again covering his wounds to save the man feeling guilty for what Viktor chose to do...]
We have... and I am glad for that. [simple as that, for both the brace and the medicine. It might just be a placebo, but there's value in feeling better regardless of it being a trick of the mind or not.]
There should be enough to outlast your infection. You're taking them with food? [Viktor knows how finicky staying on top of med and maintaining an appetite is. Jayce seems to... always be hungry now, which is the opposite of Viktor. Still, he asks because he cares, it feels like something he can advise the other man on.]
[ jayce nods; even now, before they'd left for the tower he'd eaten, but . . . it's as if he hadn't eaten a thing. he's horribly hungry, and the thought of another meal pinches his brows and squeezes his stomach uncomfortably, enough that his hand hovers over his abdomen and settles there to hopefully just— rub the burning hole away. it's dangerously maddening. the satisfaction of filling his mouth and swallowing was fickle and short lived . . . it'd never be enduring. ]
Should I take it before? I don't . . . Feel like I'm absorbing much of the food.
[ maybe that'll make the drugs hit harder. he's no doctor, organic territory was a little . . . far from his expertise, but he was capable of basic understanding. especially when it was something viktor had dipped his studies a little more into. ]
[Viktor only knows as much as he learned to take care of his own health and from... a certain undercity doctor he won't mention. They're both so much better with machines and crystals than with people.]
With is best. It helps to absorb together. I'll try to find you more, if I can.
[his attention moves back to the screen displaying the message on loop. It's dated far back, so Viktor doesn't think it serves any immediate or present danger-
"“Attention, this is an emergency broadcast. Seek shelter immediately. A moon warp is imminent. Repeat, a Moon Warp is imminent. Impact: falling moon shards will cause destruction and distortions. Prepare by seeking cover inside shields. Those caught outside will be twisted. Seek shelter immediately.”"
-only for there to be a deafening smash of a moon shard landing outside the cabin. So much for his presumptions.]
[ jayce has been considering something, some words rolling on his tongue with an insistent wondering until he cannot seem to bite back at it anymore. where did you get it again? he wants to ask. he has this nag at the bottom of his neck that gnaws like a dog on a bone. his right wrist still burns with words, covered by a sleeve that he'd likely shared, but . . .
by the time parts his lips to ask once again, he's interrupted.
heavily interrupted. the radio tower lifts up a tremor that rattles the building's framework. the bright hues of the impact outside is both deadly and beautiful. ]
Viktor—
[ the first thing jayce doesn't even think to do is shield viktor with the only remaining energy he had. it's the one thing he couldn't do when they shared spaces in the council room. the last thing he needs for his psyche is a repeat of his past failures, no matter the amount of damage that was fated for them. ]
[The impact startles Viktor much that same as it does Jayce, their reactions matching too well. When he moves to protect Jayce in turn, Viktor simply ends up smashing his forehead into the other man's with a resonant crack of skulls. That sounds about as loud as the noise of the moonfall smashing outside.
One arm is wrapped around Jayce and the other reaches to press the flat of his fingers to the poor man's forehead. His own eyes are wild with concern to make sure Jayce is alright,]
Sorry- Are you alright-? Good gods, you're so cold... [as is the air around them, the moonwarp expanding outward and consuming the space beyond the convoy. They really shouldn't have left the safety of it- damned again but their shared, unending curiosity,]
[ oh, that made an uncomfy sound in his ears, makes his brain squirm with awful reminders of bone on bone action (not the sexy kind) as his head jostles back. he miraculously keeps his balance on legs because there're still both the base of the bench and viktor to grab onto. jayce is sure to keep his support on his right leg, at least; that way, they weren't void of more foundation (the more the better until they were secure).
the pressure of slender fingers chases the burn away, but at least to jayce it wasn't all that painful— too many aches in other places to the point that this one hadn't exactly hit the same threshold. it's just another part of him that throbs (still not sexy). the palm of jayce's clammy hand curves over viktor's forehead to do the same, although there was a chilling shake to his limb. indeed, he was cold— and he hated it. it wasn't the kind of cold that was on the outside, that he could fix with soup or a furnace. it was all on him, even if he wore another jacket or sweater he'd still be shivering in his cold sweat and paleness. ]
I will be, [ his gaze diverts from meeting viktor's, too close for that— ] I-It's another chill—
[ another round that would surely go away, soon. what was worse was that he couldn't even address it, immediately. not with what just happened outside. ]
We should . . . Wait a bit. If we can help it.
[ he didn't have his hammer. he wasn't fit for a fight in the slightest. and dying here—
he couldn't let that happen to either of them, but especially viktor. ]
[Viktor's eyes grow shaky and his pupils narrow as he tries to suppress panic.]
Don't you hear it? That- buzzing-?
[No, there's nothing like that for Jayce to hear. It's in Viktor's head, it's in his spinal fluid and rattling around his mind. A resonance that hits his tailbone and makes him gasp and lurch forward, into Jayce's chest. His hands bundle into the man's clothing so much they shake, before he grits his teeth and pushes himself away.
His gloved hands sparks beneath the glove he's wearing and his pushes it to his own forehead, as if that will sooth something inside him. It does not. He speaks through the grinding of his jaw,]
[ there is no buzzing. at least not for him. jayce's slightly parted lips and startled eyes grow wider as he secures viktor onto him, until his partner thinks it better to shove off of him. jayce does not fight against the protest, at least not yet, his larger arms coming loosely undone in a swing when viktor thrusts himself away. he doesn't want to keep him where he wouldn't want to be, but . . .
something isn't right. jayce hovers around his partner, his breathing beginning to lift his shoulders. whatever was happening, adrenaline was about to start pumping— and maybe then would he have the strength to lift viktor into his arms and run. just the reminder of his dash to the lab makes his stomach drop to the point of nausea. ]
No, not without you— Viktor, [ he calls him to ground him; if he were to fall, jayce would hold him, if anything were to happen to him— ] What're you feeling?
While he'd left Viktor to do as he wished with Jayce's corpse, Serph had silently filed a note to check on the situation later, when the results are comfortably tallied and all he has to do is either welcome Jayce back or become the clean-up crew.
Him banking on it being the former means that when he approaches Jayce's truck, he has a sheaf of papers in his hand.
"Jayce," he says by way of greeting so he can catch the attention of the man cleaning out his truck. He makes no effort to hide the fact he's looking Jayce over to assess his condition. "You look better than last time I saw you."
[ jayce looks up at the call of his name, a bit of relief from the dissociation needed to clean up his own blood bath. by this point he's trying to scrub the stains off the walls of the cargo bed with only a bit of success. the anomaly's mark and crimson residue is what remains crawling up the molded steel, and that just might have to do. thank god the bed itself is black.
serph has managed to get jayce to stare for a good, long while at him in silence. not even a breath is made, until jayce huffs out a snort that may amicably be saying screw you. a breath is finally taken for words, and he says: ]
Thanks. I think I'm . . . Rotting with charm.
[ what's he going to do, cry about it? he's done a lot of crying as is. he's alive, in some ways. he's going to make use of it. he doesn't have time to complain or wallow about it.
never talking about the experience again is the way to go for his own mental health. ]
[Hah! It's almost funny that Jayce seems to have more life in him after coming back from the dead. Whatever it was that Viktor did, it seems that it was more than effective. He's not sure how he feels about someone being brought back from the dead like this -- it makes him think too much about his own complicated relationship with life and death -- but what's important is that Jayce is alive with them now.
Completely unperturbed, Serph steps forward with the tiniest smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.]
Welcome back.
[He holds out the sheaf of papers in his hands: Jayce's own notes.]
[ viktor returned to him, is what happened. viktor gave him the one thing that was keeping him alive . . . ish. not only physically speaking— emotionally, viktor returned his purpose beyond reason. love could blind him to this. surely.
jayce wipes his hand off on a face towel taken from one of the bathrooms, and stops in his lumbering tracks when handed the notes. he doesn't know what to do with those, anymore. there is no dire need to leave now that his home is where viktor is—
after a moment of hesitation and thought in front of serph, jayce quietly takes them back. ]
Thank you, [ maybe he'll need them for the others. and something to do. ] guess I'll have more time, after all.
[Serph lets out a quiet huff of agreement. It's not often that one gets to cheat death. Viktor was determined indeed. He's not sure if the other man would be able to repeat that trick if it happened again.
Without the papers in hand -- he'd made his own copies of the notes -- Serph folds his arms, shaking out one pair of his wings before he asks-]
Not right now, [ he shakes his head at the same time he speaks, ] reassuringly.
[ he's had an entire factory reset after losing his heart and blood. jayce has a keen eye on any different symptoms, as per viktor's concern as much as his own. they're both scientists. observation is everything.
something dawns on jayce, though. a reminder, a memory, that takes a few moments to kickstart a furrow in his brows and a few consistent blinks: ]
[ jayce physically slumps from his posture with a reflexive breath out in stiffled relief. but should he really be relieved when it wasn't . . . well. one of those things that he shouldn't be thinking too hard about. ]
No, that's . . . That's good.
[ he hopes so, too. jayce doesn't even need to say it, his eyes speak loudly. they especially give away to a touch of wandering melancholy. he wouldn't want that sort of hunger to return, but. jayce doesn't know until what point he could even eat anymore. he hasn't for hours. days. he hasn't felt the need, neither the pit. he hasn't tried out of fear. ]
I haven't eaten since the accident. I don't think . . . I could, if I tried.
[Serph tilts his head. The hunger... even the usual hunger that humans experience... is gone? Is that a side effect of whatever Jayce is turning into? He hasn't forgotten Jayce's symbol that he'd been branded with; a skull, like it was mocking the concept of the needs of the flesh. Endless hunger, now none at all.]
You've been saved from Convoy food.
[The porridge in Serph's opinion? Horrible. Is that really what people normally eat?
He can't help but note Jayce using 'accident' to refer to his death. Serph would not call knowing his impending doom and having his chest sliced open, his ribcage caved in, and his heart capsized an accident. A small part of his brain whispers to him disassociation, distancing of the self from traumatic events, using softer language to cushion the mind from crushing reality.
But he doesn't press. If that's what Jayce needs to do to keep his mind working in the present...
More seriously-]
Maybe your mark and its changes affect your hunger. Or lack of it. [His bottom pair of wings unfold only to wrap around his waist.] The changes here are stranger than I initially thought. If you need help with anything at all... contact me.
[ it's not like he needs to sleep (he kind of does, but ask him if he has the brains to sleep. no. no he's trying to refine designs and dry logs in any spot fitting for them while the vehicles move and while he can't use his equipment).
"baby"............. his nose twitches into a near grimace. ]
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@becomerobot (feb event, radio tower)
an ironic twist of fate, this all was; it wasn't supposed to happen this fast, or even in this way, but jayce, nevertheless, begins to detereorate. fast, without intervention, deferred with medication but never enough to cease. he grows exhausted driving for too long, prefers to sleep in a curled up, shivering ball as feverish chills steal the warmth from his flesh away. he's clammy and sweating ice cold most of the time, aching in every joint and especially on his braced leg, white dolor striking the poorly healed bone like a knife to the gut, constant like a beating heart.
he has better evenings, and worse ones. talk of a radio tower stirs him from his torpor tonight, coupled with an intense need to follow viktor wherever he'd hobble off to and taking advantage of his consciousness while it lasted, no matter how much it seemed to drain him to walk up the stairs of the cabin and uses railings for support, frequently stopping to catch his breath. he's been a lousy partner lately— but when hasn't that been the latest scandal?
the dim crackle of music from the radio trees around them hum in his ears like a sweet, comforting lullaby, and the monotonous sermones of the moon's fases fill their minds with a mind map of common knowledge. ]
The frequency this technnology is on . . . Is something else.
[ jayce muses about it longingly— during a time he was still clean shaven and naive, he'd be ecstatic about learning more, taking it apart and understanding the wonder and using that to create. now, it is a balm for his nausea, fatigue and nostalgia.
he's smiling, at least, and that smile wrinkles the crow's feet lining the corners of his eyes, heavy with bags but shimmering with a touch of life he may have needed to see under the fall of messy bangs. ]
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Too depressing of a thought for him to linger on. They trudge through the cabin interior, up towards the top of the radio tower and there is, mercifully, a wooden bench facing a display screen waiting for them. The message is rolling by with subtitles beneath the unknown logo. A date, long before the one they've been made aware of, Viktor needs time to absorb this. He'll sit down to look at it curiously, muttering,]
It's incredible, but how is it being powered? It is so derelict. Ah- sit down, Jayce. I need a rest. [climbing stairs is also still not great by Viktor, but he needs it less than Jayce does. Viktor busies himself looking to Jayce's brace they reconstructed together, still more Mercury Hammer than scraps, but who knew how long that ship of Theseus would hold up...]
Is this doing alright for you? [a moment of peace before the moon falls on them]
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it was unfamiliar and familiar all at once. jayce was always as healthy as a horse, hardy and robust enough to work the forge with his bare hands, resilient enough to climb from the depths of zaun to the ruins of piltover. the only other time his health had been abysmal was in the face of gritty infection, and these symptoms feel like an eerily excessive rebound.
jayce turns his braced leg so that his ankle nearly faces the ground, the clinks and squeaks of metal following like a shadow. ]
It's great, [ viktor's personal touch to the repairs are made with precise care, reenforcing weak its slots and complimenting where jayce's genius had lacked. ] we've always built better things together than apart. [ he pauses, only to inhale, shallow, ] And the medicine is helping. Thanks.
[ it wasn't helping as much as they needed it to, but beggars didn't exactly have the luxury to choose. ]
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His eyes soften from those thoughts at the mention of the medicine. Viktor tanked a burn from the shrines to retrieve the man some antibiotic painkillers.
He also didn't tell Jayce as much, once again covering his wounds to save the man feeling guilty for what Viktor chose to do...]
We have... and I am glad for that. [simple as that, for both the brace and the medicine. It might just be a placebo, but there's value in feeling better regardless of it being a trick of the mind or not.]
There should be enough to outlast your infection. You're taking them with food? [Viktor knows how finicky staying on top of med and maintaining an appetite is. Jayce seems to... always be hungry now, which is the opposite of Viktor. Still, he asks because he cares, it feels like something he can advise the other man on.]
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Should I take it before? I don't . . . Feel like I'm absorbing much of the food.
[ maybe that'll make the drugs hit harder. he's no doctor, organic territory was a little . . . far from his expertise, but he was capable of basic understanding. especially when it was something viktor had dipped his studies a little more into. ]
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With is best. It helps to absorb together. I'll try to find you more, if I can.
[his attention moves back to the screen displaying the message on loop. It's dated far back, so Viktor doesn't think it serves any immediate or present danger-
"“Attention, this is an emergency broadcast. Seek shelter immediately. A moon warp is imminent. Repeat, a Moon Warp is imminent. Impact: falling moon shards will cause destruction and distortions. Prepare by seeking cover inside shields. Those caught outside will be twisted. Seek shelter immediately.”"
-only for there to be a deafening smash of a moon shard landing outside the cabin. So much for his presumptions.]
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by the time parts his lips to ask once again, he's interrupted.
heavily interrupted. the radio tower lifts up a tremor that rattles the building's framework. the bright hues of the impact outside is both deadly and beautiful. ]
Viktor—
[ the first thing jayce doesn't even think to do is shield viktor with the only remaining energy he had. it's the one thing he couldn't do when they shared spaces in the council room. the last thing he needs for his psyche is a repeat of his past failures, no matter the amount of damage that was fated for them. ]
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One arm is wrapped around Jayce and the other reaches to press the flat of his fingers to the poor man's forehead. His own eyes are wild with concern to make sure Jayce is alright,]
Sorry- Are you alright-? Good gods, you're so cold... [as is the air around them, the moonwarp expanding outward and consuming the space beyond the convoy. They really shouldn't have left the safety of it- damned again but their shared, unending curiosity,]
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the pressure of slender fingers chases the burn away, but at least to jayce it wasn't all that painful— too many aches in other places to the point that this one hadn't exactly hit the same threshold. it's just another part of him that throbs (still not sexy). the palm of jayce's clammy hand curves over viktor's forehead to do the same, although there was a chilling shake to his limb. indeed, he was cold— and he hated it. it wasn't the kind of cold that was on the outside, that he could fix with soup or a furnace. it was all on him, even if he wore another jacket or sweater he'd still be shivering in his cold sweat and paleness. ]
I will be, [ his gaze diverts from meeting viktor's, too close for that— ] I-It's another chill—
[ another round that would surely go away, soon. what was worse was that he couldn't even address it, immediately. not with what just happened outside. ]
We should . . . Wait a bit. If we can help it.
[ he didn't have his hammer. he wasn't fit for a fight in the slightest. and dying here—
he couldn't let that happen to either of them, but especially viktor. ]
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[Viktor's eyes grow shaky and his pupils narrow as he tries to suppress panic.]
Don't you hear it? That- buzzing-?
[No, there's nothing like that for Jayce to hear. It's in Viktor's head, it's in his spinal fluid and rattling around his mind. A resonance that hits his tailbone and makes him gasp and lurch forward, into Jayce's chest. His hands bundle into the man's clothing so much they shake, before he grits his teeth and pushes himself away.
His gloved hands sparks beneath the glove he's wearing and his pushes it to his own forehead, as if that will sooth something inside him. It does not. He speaks through the grinding of his jaw,]
Jayce- Go back-
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something isn't right. jayce hovers around his partner, his breathing beginning to lift his shoulders. whatever was happening, adrenaline was about to start pumping— and maybe then would he have the strength to lift viktor into his arms and run. just the reminder of his dash to the lab makes his stomach drop to the point of nausea. ]
No, not without you— Viktor, [ he calls him to ground him; if he were to fall, jayce would hold him, if anything were to happen to him— ] What're you feeling?
cw: body horror time let's goooo
vibrating in my seat chanting Bug
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(2/2) cw: gross infection stuff and imminent character death
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cw: character death and dissection gore
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2/2 jayce is currently offline
AND WE'RE BACK
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action, after Jayce's resurrection
Him banking on it being the former means that when he approaches Jayce's truck, he has a sheaf of papers in his hand.
"Jayce," he says by way of greeting so he can catch the attention of the man cleaning out his truck. He makes no effort to hide the fact he's looking Jayce over to assess his condition. "You look better than last time I saw you."
:|b
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serph has managed to get jayce to stare for a good, long while at him in silence. not even a breath is made, until jayce huffs out a snort that may amicably be saying screw you. a breath is finally taken for words, and he says: ]
Thanks. I think I'm . . . Rotting with charm.
[ what's he going to do, cry about it? he's done a lot of crying as is. he's alive, in some ways. he's going to make use of it. he doesn't have time to complain or wallow about it.
never talking about the experience again is the way to go for his own mental health. ]
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Completely unperturbed, Serph steps forward with the tiniest smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.]
Welcome back.
[He holds out the sheaf of papers in his hands: Jayce's own notes.]
You'll need these.
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jayce wipes his hand off on a face towel taken from one of the bathrooms, and stops in his lumbering tracks when handed the notes. he doesn't know what to do with those, anymore. there is no dire need to leave now that his home is where viktor is—
after a moment of hesitation and thought in front of serph, jayce quietly takes them back. ]
Thank you, [ maybe he'll need them for the others. and something to do. ] guess I'll have more time, after all.
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Without the papers in hand -- he'd made his own copies of the notes -- Serph folds his arms, shaking out one pair of his wings before he asks-]
Are you still hungry?
[Or has that gone, too?]
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[ he's had an entire factory reset after losing his heart and blood. jayce has a keen eye on any different symptoms, as per viktor's concern as much as his own. they're both scientists. observation is everything.
something dawns on jayce, though. a reminder, a memory, that takes a few moments to kickstart a furrow in his brows and a few consistent blinks: ]
—Did you-?
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Serph tilts his head at the incomplete question. Did he... what? There could be many trains of thought Jayce could be referring to, so which one?]
Did I...?
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[ he'd feel awful if he did, but jayce feels slightly better about it if it isn't obvious. means the likelihood is minimal. maybe. ]
Hunt for a dead man, no less.
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Not for you.
[Serph folds his arms and tucks his wings in tighter.]
It's no trouble if the need arises. Though I hope it doesn't.
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No, that's . . . That's good.
[ he hopes so, too. jayce doesn't even need to say it, his eyes speak loudly. they especially give away to a touch of wandering melancholy. he wouldn't want that sort of hunger to return, but. jayce doesn't know until what point he could even eat anymore. he hasn't for hours. days. he hasn't felt the need, neither the pit. he hasn't tried out of fear. ]
I haven't eaten since the accident. I don't think . . . I could, if I tried.
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You've been saved from Convoy food.
[The porridge in Serph's opinion? Horrible. Is that really what people normally eat?
He can't help but note Jayce using 'accident' to refer to his death. Serph would not call knowing his impending doom and having his chest sliced open, his ribcage caved in, and his heart capsized an accident. A small part of his brain whispers to him disassociation, distancing of the self from traumatic events, using softer language to cushion the mind from crushing reality.
But he doesn't press. If that's what Jayce needs to do to keep his mind working in the present...
More seriously-]
Maybe your mark and its changes affect your hunger. Or lack of it. [His bottom pair of wings unfold only to wrap around his waist.] The changes here are stranger than I initially thought. If you need help with anything at all... contact me.
[His gaze on Jayce is steady.]
We need you if we're to make it to Nirvana.
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cw body horror? there's rocks in his arm
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[text] backdated before the shield’s repaired
Jayce baby;:/
This you?
[text]
"baby"............. his nose twitches into a near grimace. ]
Yes.
Who's this?
[ though i have a guess. ]
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whatever you were