wheft: (Default)
call me ishmael. ([personal profile] wheft) wrote2023-12-07 10:35 am

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HEARSE
CHARACTER NAME Ishmael
CIVILIAN NAME Stanwix Melville
TEAM Brimstone
HOUSING NUMBER 004
( lcb groupchat )
frostfist: (pic#17076081)

[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-13 01:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She should blame him for killing them, at least a little bit. At the end of the day, murder is murder no matter how justified the reason. It's blood on his hands he'll never wash off, and a memory in his mind he'll never be able forget completely.

But it does take a backseat now at her admission, his eyes widening and frown deepening as he stares at her. Even his drink goes forgotten as he tries to process this new information. The reminder of just how cruel some people can be makes him angry, but more than that it makes his heart ache, to know that she'd been used and then betrayed in a similar way. No one should ever have to go through something like that. ]


Did you?

[ Kill them, that is. Or did she break out of the cycle before he could? ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-13 01:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Is it weird that he's relieved she didn't? She would have had the right to but somehow it's reassuring to know she didn't cave to the darkness inside of her, no matter what the reason might have been.

But....hmm. He goes quiet, pausing again to pour himself some more soju, though he doesn't drink from it right away. There's a nice buzz at the back of his head, lowkey but warm. ]


During the last mission, you told me you wanted me to feel comfortable around you the same way you are around me.

[ He's been thinking about those words a lot since then, turning them over in his head while he downs his breakfast each morning, and before bed each night as he turns off the lights. Words are shallow, hollow things but actions....those are a little different.

He lifts his glass and gestures, a small but sweeping motion meant to encapsulate everything around them. ]


I do feel comfortable around you.

[ Comfortable enough to sit here on the floor of her room knocking back soju, and to trust her enough to share with her the ugly parts of his past he's locked away in his heart all these years. It all comes full circle.

Also she'd been fucking asleep the last time he'd said it so now he has to say it again. :/ ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-13 02:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hello??

Actually, it's kind of funny how seriously she's trying to respond to everything he's told her. He's weirdly charmed by it. Too bad it only lasts for half a minute before they're shifting towards a topic that's mildly uncomfortable for different reasons. ]


Meant what, kissing you?

[ They're really gonna go back to that again, huh. ]

I don't usually kiss people I'm not interested in, Ishmael.

[ And okay, sometimes that interest is purely for sex but that's still a valid interest!! Not the specific interest being shown here (okay, maybe a little bit) but that's not the point. The point is--wait, hang on, he has to point at the soju bottle she's trying to down first. ]

Are you sure you should be drinking that much?

[ Did she already forget what happened the last time she got wasted in front of him? ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-13 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The way he's heard this from two separate people now....Those girls sure were chatty, huh?

Also he's been so honest this evening that the thought of having to be even more honest about his feelings is starting to give him hives, but thankfully his braincells are working overtime and starting to put two and two together. A bunch of girls talking about him....Sooyoung sending him a boatload of nonsense a few days ago....

Wait a minute.

He sits up straight, eyes narrowing. ]


Was Sooyoung there?

[ This is not deflection, he'll circle back around later. ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-13 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
That explains a lot.

[ Ignore him as he mutters to himself and takes another drink. This explains everything!!! She probably wrote more about other people too then, huh? But this conversation ain't about Sooyoung, and he's quick to turn things back to the original topic.

Louder: ]


I'd prefer it if she didn't put me on any lists, so that's quite fine. [ ANYWAY. ] You're quite the popular choice yourself though, you know. Are you sure you wouldn't do that with someone else?

[ Now he's deflecting. ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-13 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ With everyone is apparently the only answer here, but before he can answer with that, Ishmael's flopping over against her bed and whatever thoughts of guys' or girls' gossip sputters to a halt as a thread of concern snakes its way ahead.

He puts his glass down, just in case he has to help her up onto her bed or towards the bathroom. ]


Ishmael? Are you alright?

[ DID SHE HAVE TOO MUCH TO DRINK.... ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-14 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[ can't believe she would lie to him after he poured his heart out to her.........................

Years spent in a volatile environment have trained him to notice subtle shifts in posture and expression, not out of any voluntary urge to learn but because of simple necessity. Ishmael's going through something alright, but he's not entirely convinced it's 100% due to all the alcohol that's been passed around. At the same time, it's not any of his right to pry. If she wants to tell him, if she trusts him enough to tell him, then she will. And he can trust in her enough to believe that she will tell him whatever's on her mind when the time comes, if it's important enough.

Instead of asking anything further he gets up, the sound of crinkling plastic filling the air as he steps over to the desk and fishes a water bottle out, frowning at the way it takes half a second for the equilibrium at the back of his head to catch up with the rest of his body. Popping open the lid, he turns and offers it to Ishmael. ]


Here.

[ Hopefully she doesn't need to be told to drink water. ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-15 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ He doesn't want to take credit for this........

Also her words would be a lot more convincing if she hadn't looked like she'd been ready to puke a minute ago. As it stands, he loiters nearby, just in case he does have to grab the plastic bag and shove it under her face. ]


I trust you won't make me regret it.

[ It's meant to be a joke but the words come out half-hearted, probably because it's hard for him to even joke about something like this. ]

Guess I should start cleaning all this up though, huh? [ Drink time is over..... ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-15 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ 🧍‍♂️ i really thought i escaped answering those

Wriothesley obviously also thought he escaped answering those questions, judging from the way his hand pauses in the middle of picking up one of the soju bottles. Give him (and me) a minute to rewind the conversation to remember what the questions even were, though he goes back to quietly putting away the bottles and glasses in the meantime.

As rowdy as the guys had been at guys' night, it doesn't feel right to breach the unspoken vow of what happens during guys' night stays at guys' night, which means he only has the other question left to answer. Give him ANOTHER minute to think about that one, the silence in the room punctuated by the clink of glass bottles. Would he kiss Sooyoung like that? Absolutely not, and the thought makes his skin crawl. Malkuth? Too nosy. March? That would be like kissing a sister. Rodion?

.....

He would kiss Rodya, but not in that way.

So there's the answer, reluctantly pulled out of him after a hefty silence. His only solace is that his back is turned to her when he finally answers, too busy putting the bottles back into the plastic bag. ]


....No. I wouldn't have done the same thing to any of them.

[ Honesty hour sucks, actually. ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-15 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ SHE JUST SAID SHE HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK he isn't just gonna abandon her in her room?? Though he supposes he doesn't have to be the one to keep her company while she sobers up more. The atmosphere feels...off. Heavier than before, even when he'd been slowly dredging up his past.

He finishes his clean-up and finally turns around. ]


I didn't have any other plans.

[ But now his plans are to sit in his room and think about his life choices. Delightful. ]

But you should rest. I won't keep you. [ Still... ] Should I call Rodya over?
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-15 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ She's really out here apologizing when he was the one to traumadump on her in the first place.

And boy does that not sit right with him. There are a lot of things he could potentially accept an apology for but this ain't it, chief. Instead of leaving, he crouches down in front of her, crinkling plastic and clinking bottle noises filling the air. ]


There's nothing to make up for or apologize for, Ishmael. I should have learned my lesson from last time, if anything. [ To pace her better. They really are going to be forced into drinking only tea after this. ] Just focus on feeling better.

[ And then they can figure out everything afterwards. ]
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[personal profile] frostfist 2024-04-15 03:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Because the alternative is being a thoughtless, selfish bastard and he would really prefer not to have a single similarity with the miserable people that raised him.

Anyway he is not convinced that she is going to be okay but he is going to (again) trust that she will be an adult and call someone for help if she starts feeling worse. There's a strange urge to....he doesn't fucking know, hold her hand for a brief moment or touch her face but he pushes those intrusive thoughts aside and gets up to leave instead.

At least they will both be normal later in the week for their underwater Fontaine date. ]