double bladed

Viggo merely grunted, barely acknowledging Lio's greeting and comment as he took his place next to the Egyptian demigod at the firing range. He was not fond of guns but he trained with them religiously in order to stay in shape. He had finally found somebody on the island (not Irelia) that he could actually tolerate to spend time with. It helped that their backgrounds were similar he supposed.

He placed the muffs on his ears even as he loaded his pistol, still not acknowledging Lio's early comment. After a few shots, he side-eyed his friend. "And you look like you crawled out of some chick's bed." He shot another round of bullets at the target. "And loved it." He added with a smirk. Viggo saw no need to explain he was still pissed Irelia was keeping her ass out of Mount Phoenix, obviously tempting him to track her down.

“And what would happen if you lost to her, besides having your pride shattered?”

Lio refused to abandon the topic, finding this the golden time to gain a deeper look into this complex tug-of-war Viggo and Irelia were playing. Usually, he would not give a damn, too tangled up in his fights and his wicked schemes to care about someone’s love life. But Viggo and Irelia were not just someone, for both had learned about the man behind his harmless mask of a gym owner and a weapon shop’s clerk. 

“You’ve never let anyone owe you too much or too long, Vig,” he added, matter-of-factly, punctuating his statement with a last precise shot on the target. “And you love your veggies so much no one can touch it. Except her.” 

Lio’s feline-like smirk reappeared on his face as soon as he was reminded of how Karina had looked that morning, and that conveniently reminded him of what happened the night before. Leisurely, he reloaded his gun, secretly savouring the recollection for a tad longer before getting back to their conversation. 

Eirwen’s watchful gaze followed snake-Karina as it slithered closer to take the healing potion offered. The concoction was not a special recipe, but it was potent, so a few drops should be enough to exert its best effect. She did not move until snake-Karina retracted its head, just to rest it again on top of Lio’s still-recovering chest. 

While Eirwen could see that the transformation had taken a lot of Karina’s physical strength, but knowing the other demigoddess, her curling up and resting atop a man became such an…intriguing sight. 

A good ten and some minutes passed in soothing silence, enough for Eirwen to cleanse the pestle and mortar with distilled water, put the vials to their places, and put everything neatly back into her satchel. She also got some extra time to cleanse the blood stains on the floor, but the cleansing liquid she bought along was not sufficient. 

Before Eirwen could decide what else to do to kill time while waiting, Lio let out a soft, low groan. 

When she turned around to check, Eirwen also happened to witness the snake-Karina’s transformation back to her human form. She had seen quite a lot, but it was always captivating to observe a shape-shifter in action. So she stood still and watched, not moving nor blinking, until she noticed Lio’s arm moving to rest lightly around Karina’s naked waist, and his eyes were half opened. And Karina was technically completely naked. 

“Oh dear,” Eirwen let out a belated gasp, hurriedly gathering some of Karina’s clothing pieces and throwing them on Karina’s bare skin. 

Her eyes met Lio’s tired, slightly disoriented gaze, the darkness in his eyes gleaming weakly, demanding an instant explanation. 

Viggo merely grunted, barely acknowledging Lio's greeting and comment as he took his place next to the Egyptian demigod at the firing range. He was not fond of guns but he trained with them religiously in order to stay in shape. He had finally found somebody on the island (not Irelia) that he could actually tolerate to spend time with. It helped that their backgrounds were similar he supposed.

He placed the muffs on his ears even as he loaded his pistol, still not acknowledging Lio's early comment. After a few shots, he side-eyed his friend. "And you look like you crawled out of some chick's bed." He shot another round of bullets at the target. "And loved it." He added with a smirk. Viggo saw no need to explain he was still pissed Irelia was keeping her ass out of Mount Phoenix, obviously tempting him to track her down.

As soon as he registered Viggo’s death glare shooting his way, Lio burst into low chuckles. If they did not know each other more than most individuals on this island did, he would never jab this cranky, deadly chef in the face about his barely-existing sex life. But, since Lio knew Viggo would never point the gun at him, he now enjoyed getting on his friend and neighbour’s nerves whenever there was a chance. 

“You’re the only one who’s been keeping track of her, Vig, of course you should go look for her,” Lio stated after the laugh died down, calmly aiming the gun at the target and pulling the trigger. Bullseyes. 

Lio glanced at Viggo at the gruff noise he let out, his facial expression got partly serious. “You sound like a kicked puppy, bro. Lovesick?” 

Lio took a step back to reload the fun, leaving Viggo the space he needed to junk out whatever response he might want to toss at his face.

Open Starter

Jamison, despite being rather stuck to his computer and home, did spent quite a bit of energy working his body out. The demigod blamed it on the godly blood that kept him from being able to just sit still, and so, the gym had been one of his top 3 places to frequent, just behind his work and the local convenience store. So, as with every day, he was there to get rid of some of his extra energy so that he could focus on his programming. Plus, as much as he worked with metal, he needed the strength.

With the weather warming up, the demigod decided that he would play some basketball, even if he was alone. The aim of his metallic arm did quite help with his scores, and in some sense, he did feel that it was cheating. So, he changed his objective to slam dunks, a rare achievement of his. Yet, it only took a few chances before he finally slammed the ball into the hoop, and as he grabbed the metal rim on his descent, Jamison did not touch the ground. His metal had got stuck, unable to let go of the rim.

Just finishing a section with a client, Lio walked out of the training room, heading to the gym’s cafeteria at the opposite wing of the building. The shortest way to get there was to cross the big outdoor training ground, which was separated into zones served for different sports. Lio often found his walk enjoyable, as he got to watch people training to be their better selves while still managing to have some fun during the process. Sometimes, he got the sensation of healthy competition and released anger in the air, and that really was the icing on the cake. 

But, at some other times, things could get too intense or …confusing, just like the situation he was staring at right now. 

A guy was dangling from the basketball hoop, with no one else around, and the ball had already lay still at a corner of the court. Under the bright sunlight, Lio squinted his eyes to take a better look at the guy, whose face he actually found somewhat familiar. The other must be a recent regular of the gym, as Lio saw him around the outdoor area almost every time he walked past by. 

“What happened, dude?” He approached the dangling man, finally noticing the way the other’s metal hand stubbornly held the rim of the hoop. Lio blinked in mild amazement, as this was the very first time he had witnessed such a bizarre incident. It was somewhat funny as well, but Lio was nice enough not to let out any laugh before he asked.

“Yes, your venom, to save his life.” 

Eirwen looked straight at an incredulous Karina, clarifying the reason for her sudden demand of the other’s venom. Her voice and facial expression remained matter-of-fact, and only retracted her arm after Karina took the empty vial from her hand. Explanations could, and especially in this situation, should wait. 

While the Egyptian demigoddess seemed to be in a mental debate with herself, Eirwen methodically went through her satchel again, this time to take out a mini set of wooden pestle and mortar. She also placed down on the floor a sealed package of dried herbs, and another wooden box which was the larger version of the one containing the vials. Carefully sliding the lid open, she took out something that looked like a pomegranate, only in much smaller size, and glowing in a much brighter red.

Skilfully, as if she had done this way so many times before (she did), Eirwen emptied the dried herbs package into the mortar, placed the red-glowy fruit on top, grabbed the pestle, and started crushing and grinding the mixture. An odd smell soon permeated the room, not a stench, but could not be called a scent. If it had to be described, then it smelled like walking into a dense forest on the early days of summer, with a generous amount of moss and over-ripe apples added into it. 

Beside her, Lio remained lying still. His breath was as thin as the morning’s fog, as if he was steadily turning into a broken statue, and that urged Eirwen to speed up her work on the mixture. However, when she looked up again to see how the venom extraction was going on, Eirwen was transfixed. 

Karina was gone, only her clothes left on the floor, and there was an Orlov Viper next to the vial that was now filled with venom. She stared as the snake bowed its head, as if to signal her to take the vial, then made its way to curl up right next to Lio. Eirwen then realized that it was Karina in her full snake form, who transformed just so she could give her the venom. The Greek demigoddess had not been aware of that process, and so seeing how exhausted the snake-Karina was, a sense of guilt crept into her anti-emotional mind. 

But that did not last long, as Eirwen quickly resumed the potion making process. It only took a few more twists of the pestle, then she poured all the venom into the mixture, before continuing gently grinding for all the ingredients to blend well together. 

She turned to look at Lio again, just to be confirmed that he would not be able to drink the concoction. And so, getting back to her satchel for the third time, she took out a clean medical syringe, and filled it up with the mixture. Without hesitation, she sank the syringe’s needle on Lio’s chest, on a still intact area that was close to his heart, and injected the concoction in one go. 

It took one more injection to get the required amount of potion into Lio’s veins. Almost immediately, new wounds stopped appearing on his body. A few more minutes passed, the old cuts were gradually shrinking, while the smaller, less serious ones were already close to healing themselves completely. Lio was still unconscious and pale because of the blood loss, but he began to look less dead, and his chest could be seen moving up and down in gentle, even breathing. 

Eirwen let out a long, relieved sigh. 

“He’ll live,” she informed the snake-Karina with a calm smile, “but he still needs to be hospitalised once he’s up.”  

Then, as if remembering something, Eirwen reached for the vial box, opened another vial with a pinkish liquid inside, then placed it near the snake-Karina. 

Viggo merely grunted, barely acknowledging Lio's greeting and comment as he took his place next to the Egyptian demigod at the firing range. He was not fond of guns but he trained with them religiously in order to stay in shape. He had finally found somebody on the island (not Irelia) that he could actually tolerate to spend time with. It helped that their backgrounds were similar he supposed.

He placed the muffs on his ears even as he loaded his pistol, still not acknowledging Lio's early comment. After a few shots, he side-eyed his friend. "And you look like you crawled out of some chick's bed." He shot another round of bullets at the target. "And loved it." He added with a smirk. Viggo saw no need to explain he was still pissed Irelia was keeping her ass out of Mount Phoenix, obviously tempting him to track her down.

This time, it was a cranky Viggo with his pistol at the firing range. Among the common things they shared, besides their crime-bleak past, Lio liked the fact that Viggo also found the art of wielding bladed weapons more charming than the power of bullets. Finding Viggo with a gun outside the ‘battlefields’ was rather bizarre, but really, Lio could not be surprised by how well the other fired his shots. What truly triggered him into teasing Viggo was the pent-up anger loaded in his whole body language. 

“Bro, you look like you have not got into any chick’s bed for a decade,” Lio retorted, an understanding smirk sat proudly on his face, while he was reloading his pistol for the next shooting section. “And absolutely hate it.” 

He emphasized what he had observed by firing six shots, each hitting the head of the figure on the target. Lio then turned his head to look back at his friend, his voice got slightly more serious. 

feature Eirwen @eirwenxmp

The last thing Lio remembered was Karina steering the wheel, and darkness came to gulp both the van and his vision. 

Probably the demigoddess had said something to him, but he could not quite catch it. Consciousness kept tapping on his chest, but whenever he forced his eyes to open, it slipped away. Shatters of images and sounds kept smashed up into a cacophony that confused his mind and rendered his senses numb. 

His body moved on its own, and by the time by the time Karina closed the apartment’s door behind them, Lio had already collapsed into another blackout. 

He could not feel it when Eirwen helped Karina drag his body to the old mattress in the middle of the room. The Greek demigoddess’ urgent first aid kit, a simple old wooden box filled with crystal vials, had already sat on the floor near the mattress, right next to her worn-out leather satchel. 

Karina did not have to explain for Eirwen to get a general grip on the situation at hand. In the cold white light coming from the single neon bulb in the room, she quickly pulled out a pair of small scissors from the satchel and cut Lio’s blood-soaked tee open. 

“Oh my hades…” Eirwen blurted out as she eyed the brutal gashes across Lio’s chest, tar black and as deep as the hatred of the one who put it on him. If it was performed on a human, the chance of survival was absolute zero.    

Eirwen then grabbed the wooden box, took out a vial filled with transparent liquid, and poured all of the content onto the gash. Lio was too deep in unconsciousness to react, but the wound did, stopping spreading almost immediately, and blood started to cease from oozing out. But it was barely enough, for new cuts continued to appear, determined to draw the last drop of blood out of his body. His breath was now as light as a feather, his face pale like the dead. 

(  various  dialogue  prompts  to  send  to  your  worst  enemy  (affectionate).  feel  free  to  change  how  you  seem  fit.  )

❛ oh great, it's you again. ❜

❛ you? kill me? that's funny. ❜

❛ for being someone you hate, i'm sure on your mind a lot. ❜

❛ you're the last person i wanted to see, actually. ❜

❛ do us both a favor. stay away from me. ❜

❛ you really are an asshole, you know that? ❜

❛ i'm the asshole? what does that make you then? ❜

❛ sometimes i think you must hate me. ❜

❛ i thought you said you never wanted to see me again. ❜

❛ if you want me to go, then you have to tell me to leave. ❜

❛ well, someone's cranky today. ❜

❛ well, someone needs to shut the fuck up. ❜

❛ just stay out of my way. ❜

❛ of all the idiots in the world, i'm stuck with you. ❜

❛ what is it you want this time? ❜

❛ sometimes i wonder if you're in love with me. ❜

❛ do you honestly think this is easy for me? ❜

❛ why would i ever want to be friends with you? ❜

❛ can we please just talk? ❜

❛ there is nothing for us to talk about. ❜

❛ you can yell at me later. just let me help you. ❜

❛ touch me, and you're dead. ❜

❛ oh, so now you care? ❜

❛ there is something deeply wrong with you. ❜

❛ i know i'm the last person you probably want to see, but... ❜

❛ you don't think we could be friends, do you? ❜

❛ i'm tired of fighting against you. ❜

❛ don't pretend you give a shit about me. ❜

❛ you're an idiot, but... i trust you. ❜

❛ oh, don't be cute. ❜

❛ wait, did you just say that i'm cute? ❜

❛ we're not good for each other. ❜

❛ if i say yes, will you shut up? ❜

❛ don't you have to be stupid somewhere else? ❜

❛ maybe we should kiss just to break the tension. ❜

❛ i'm sorry i can't turn off my feelings as easily as you. ❜

❛ maybe there's a universe out there where we're friends. ❜

❛ how can you be so smart yet so dumb at the same time? ❜

❛ don't think this changes anything between us. ❜

❛ you look ridiculous in that outfit, by the way. ❜

❛ if you die, i'll kill you. ❜

❛ is that a challenge? ❜

❛ ah, so you're not heartless after all. ❜

❛ i don't think i've ever seen you smile. ❜

❛ you never cared about me, so why now? ❜

❛ why didn't you kill me when you had the chance? ❜

❛ i don't even remember why we started fighting. ❜

❛ i don't have time for distractions right now. ❜

❛ you're not as bad as everyone says you are. ❜

@lioxmp

Yingyue had finished her match, and knowing that Lio was performing right after her, the demigoddess had grabbed herself a seat right afterwards. She had won her fight, and she left it rather bruised up. However, seeing no blood, she was fine.

Still dressed up in her fighting attire, Yingyue had only raised a few excited stares as she took her seat, but she was quick to ignore them, focused on the fight that was set to unfold before her. It was exhilarating to do so, staring at the back and forth between the two fighters. She had hedged her bets on Lio, and as her intuition aimed, she had been right.

As they celebrated his win, the demigoddess took off quietly to the locker room, specifically seeking out Lio's room. The demigoddess had no shame, and having grabbed a medic kit on the way in, she found an excuse to be able to talk to one of her favored fighters. So plopping onto one of the nearby counters, the demigoddess waited so patiently for him.

While he was not officially one of the fighters of The Pits, Lio had frequented the place enough for most to be convinced that he was a regular. Besides participating in fights, he often sat among the excited crowd, cheering for other fighters, and at the same time studying their styles. He had picked some favourites among those he got the chance to watch, including Yingyue, the masked demigoddess who was sitting in his assigned waiting room, a medic kit resting beside her on the counter. 

“Thank you so much, you did wonderfully tonight as well,” he responded to her congratulations with a feline-like smile, barely registering the fact that he got fresh open cuts scattering along his arms and biceps. While some fighters were experts in free-hand battles, Lio favoured the use of weapons, swords in particular, in his performances. His opponent for tonight was also a skilful sword wielder; Lio was actually happy that he had not won the fight unmarred. 

“Oh?” His eyebrows arched up in mild surprise as Yingyue voiced her intention to help tend his wounds. For a long time, long before he started the habit of fighting at The Pits, Lio had gotten used to taking care of his own injuries. He found it more efficient than relying on someone else’s help, unless the situation went out of his control, which might happen once in a blue moon. Besides, no fighters at The Pits had offered to give him a hand with that, probably because he often got out of the scene before anyone could say anything other than congratulating his victory. 

He did not have a solid reason to reject the demigoddess’ suggestion, nor did he have the heart to dim the thrill in her voice. Probably Yingyue did not know, but he had watched most of her performances since she joined The Pits, including the one tonight, and liked all of them. They had never talked except for occasional greetings and congratulations, as Lio did not want to appear as a botherer to her. 

Does time really heal all wounds?

Continued from here with @lioxmp

♮

    He hadn’t said yes.

      Invidia had simply looked at him for a long time when the car had rolled up beside him on the sidewalk. The snow had been falling around him in little reminders of the changes that the season would bring to land in the slowly growing blanket of white all around the city. Each of them had potential in their design for something different and Invidia liked that about them— they weren’t confined to some greater scheme, not even when they touched down on him and melted down to nothing. They chose their uniqueness and if they couldn’t keep it…

….. they simply disappeared.

     To be marveling at them then find a face that was stuck in a memory was as sharp as seeing red in the snow.

   He hadn’t said yes.

    Invidia had simply lowered his eyes after he was asked if Lio could drive him to where he was going. He was already out. He was already lost. Invidia had simply stepped away from the path and then into the warmth of the car- he had for the moment chosen to just disappear.

     Two things were crystal clear as they stood in the warmth of the bakery; 1.) that they both knew how awkward this was for both of them but were trying and 2.) that they were both liars in the moment. Invidia knew that Lio didn’t need to go to the bakery in the first place. Did he even like gingerbread? The sinner toils this in his mind as they move along with the line, the displays of sweet treats in front of him, the present nearness of Lio behind him. Invidia is also quietly sure that Lio knows he was never ever going to the bakery himself.

    It was winter and snowfall had always been something that Invidia had found beautiful and much like last winter, he had run out into the snow in those same red mittens and red scarf. He had always been running fully into what he thought was beautiful and caught again, the sinner had randomly named someplace he did go often enough for it to seem okay. For it to seem not too far to have been walking alone to.

     For it to seem like he didn’t need anyone to be there while he let himself get lost.

    Dark lashes down toward the floor Invidia moves along, trapped in his thoughts for a moment. Is he the only one that’s thinking this is like the last time they came here a little? The only difference then was that there was less of an ocean of unspoken turmoil between them. Then Lio would rest his head on Invidia’s shoulder as they looked over sweets. Then Invidia would say he’d eat every one of them beyond the case, but would only ever get something small with his coffee. He feels silly right now. He’s stuck in his head about things that probably don’t even matter to the other person involved and all because he hadn’t said yes- but he had also not refused.

    Lio speaks to ask him something and Invidia startles slightly before he breathes out. Calming a little, he looks behind him and slightly up at Lio. He looks the same as he always had but Invidia knows they’re both different. “Hm?”

   It processes and he speaks again, “Oh, it’s…” Fine. I don’t need a ride. I don’t have any plans. I’m meeting a friend. Sorry, I can’t. No, thank you. No.

   He looks forward again. He doesn’t say no- maybe it’s okay.

     “That ..would be really nice, thank you.”

No idea, Lio had no idea. He used to be a rusty dagger, leaving sloppy gashes and clumsy stabs on his path to insanity. Back then, the end looked like a great exit, the underworld a salvation. Now that he was a polished sword, leaving rust and nightmares behind on his way back from the end, he still had no idea how to heal a wound. Especially the one he had left on Invidia. 

But Invidia was trying, and so he was trying. A blade may not be able to heal wounds, but at least, it could try not to make a new one. 

“It’s nothing, I’ll take you there then.”  

There, where? Invidia seemed to forget to tell him his next destination, and Lio definitely forgot to ask. 

He waited for Invidia to pay for his choice of sweets, then he for his. When they came back out, Lio opened the passenger side door, letting Invidia escape from the gripping cold before he did. It was warm in the car, probably slightly warmer than it was necessary, for it turned out that Lio was not well-designed for such a chilling winter. 

“Don’t forget your seat belt, please. The streets may be slippery.” 

That reminder came out like a reflex, like a remaining habit that the week-long trip to Duat did not take from him. The utterance came out so naturally Lio almost did not register its existence, but his eyes still travelled to Invidia’s chest just to be sure that the belt was fastened. 

He then put his own seat belt on, started the engine, and let the car take the first left turn, heading to the coffee shop that he had initially planned to go to. Very quickly, Lio realized that it was the same place where Invidia and he had that conversation. That devastating one. And he had yet to ask Invidia where he wanted to go to. 

Shit.   

“So, uhm, sorry,” he cleared his throat lightly, buying a few seconds to calm down whatever the feeling that was rising inside his stomach. He then resumed talking, the voice that came out surprisingly calm even to himself.  

“I should have asked you first, where do you want me to drop you off?” He turned his head aside to seek Invidia’s eyes for a moment, before having his get back to focus on the street ahead of them. They were just another turn away from the coffee shop, he realized. Lio was not sure if Invidia could guess it, but the hesitation in his words may give out a significant clue.

Lio chuckled at Karina’s seemingly threat, just to realize that it was probably a terrible idea. If hell was a feeling, then what the laughing motion had just brought to his chest would be it. 

He could not help but wince at the stabbing pain, striving to keep his breaths as shallow as possible to mitigate the risk of provoking the wound. Lio allowed his mind to wander back to Duat, to that one time he ventured into the Egyptian underworld with the tremendous help of a son of Dagda. It was an extremely dangerous situation, he admitted, but time had proved that it was all worth it.

He then glanced at Karina once again, wishing that he could utter a proper compliment to her skills and killer-like composure, even though both of them knew she might not appreciate it. He also wished she knew that if there was a way to turn back time, he would still ask her to be his partner for the hunt.