#innightmares

“NO!” Comes the loud voice, echoing from deep within the caverns. “Take your holiday mushy nonsense and leave me alone!”

And then a long pause.

“But you can leave the offerings for me by the entrance.”

Glowing irises scan down and then back up the other slowly, taking in every little detail that he could. Another Arthur? How... interesting. A smile had been sitting comfortably on his face but now it starts to grow, morphing and twisting into a wide, toothy grin. “Human?” There’s a tone of amusement to his voice, almost mocking in a way.

A metal hand shifts to rest upon his own cheek. “You’re so observant. Tell me, what clued you in? No, let me guess! Was it... the eyes?” Reverb leans in close to the other, too close for comfort, staring directly into the other’s face. Watching, closely. “What do you go by?”

A lifetime ago, being this close to that thing might have set him running, fainting, petrified and afraid for his life. He had been that, once. That weak. And now he wasn’t. Now instead of fear he felt heat coursing through his veins, boiling him with molten magma. His eyes pinned as that monster came close, and his skin crawled with that brief exhale over his skin from them. Their smile was teeth, and his fingers clenched tight enough to creak with how badly he wanted to punch that green fucking face until he forgot how to smile.

His eyes darted to the hand, and then to the eyes. He feels something that feels like decay in his chest, like his lungs collapsing. He wants to gag. This thing was necrotic, green. An ache weighed on his chest like something coiled around him.

“Yeah yeah, sorry about nearly getting your little boyfriend here eaten!” His voice is dripping with sarcasm, but it’s not nearly as sharp as usual. They were both afraid of getting eaten, after all. There was no time for arguing. Despite himself though, he takes special care to not let any of his flames touch the other’s back. Burning him up wouldn’t help their situation at all.

“God! Fuck, he’s cool.” The demon laments, still upset that it couldn’t be him in a cool powerful host chasing people down to eat them. Even when he was about to get eaten. “I’m really not scary like I used to be.” A sad sigh, but he’s still throwing those fireballs— anything to keep the other off of them for now.

He lurches as he’s being heaved up, a small yelp escaping him as the other slips up. His hands stop with the fireballs so they can hold on tight, he’s really not looking to get thrown off! “Kingsmen! Be careful!” But it doesn’t sound fully mean.

Arthur wanted to roll his eyes, but he was a little too busy running for his life; keeping Reverb aloft, not tripping and not getting eaten took focus, and looking away for even a moment might leave them royally screwed. Rev was hot on their heels, and the ground shook with more felling trees as he cut a swath towards them in the brush. He watched them run with a deep laugh, before stopping. Rev braced against the earth, shoulders squared. His claws flexed, digging furrows in the earth. He inhaled.

Arthur could feel the build of magic behind them, like Reverb's but concentrated when it continued to grow like it was. He was sure what was coming next. “FUCKFUCK FUCK--” He didn’t bother giving Reverb shit. “You can lament bout how he’s cooler later, asshole-!” Arthur used his free hand to brace against a tree when his balance slipped again. He ran rexkless, swift, like hell was on his trail.

And it was if Rev exhaled.

Ignoring Reverb’s warning and rushing as fast as his legs could carry them, Arthur's gaze kept forward, looking for anything that'd save them. They needed lower ground, something putting earth between them and Rev. Branches lashed at his face and thorns caught clothes and skin, but he didn’t stop, only pouring more of his energy into going fast as possible and then some. It seemed to work, the two of them flying over flora and debris, but he only had so much energy, and the second Rev wasn't playing with them, if he knew where they were?

They were dead.

And hell literally was on his heels with Rev’s exhale, Green flames washing over the ground, coming and coming and coming until it was a verdant inferno at their backs. It raged through the woods, eating the trees and plants like kindling as it rushed to meet them. Arthur didn’t say anything as the flames tried to catch them, but he rushed with his desperation, looking for something, anything--

There!

A riverbed wound it's way along their path ahead and to the left. There was hardly a trickle of a stream in this time of year, but it was still a well of raised earth. It was shallow, but they didn't have time to be selective.

“STAY DOWN!” The second he cusped the creek bed he jumped into it, throwing Reverb to the ground and throwing himself on top of him.

Their positions would further protect his friend from any of the heatwave that was gushing out from the blast and coming their way. It’d be almost as hot as the fire, and hopefully the ditch would give them enough cover from the initial flare. It would also keep them safe from the green flame, when there was nothing to ignite. If he used a little magic or something, he could disguise them with the bed, too, maybe. It'd give them a breather and then a chance to escape and actually live.

Should he break it up? He should break it up. Reverb was bickering with something he couldn’t exactly---fight and win. And Arthur was very, very fragile. They both could get really hurt again....

Violent RP Meme

👐 or 'choking’ // sender wraps their hands around receivers’ throat 🔥or 'fire’ // sender puts cigarette out on receiver’s body 🪖 or 'tackle’ // sender tackles receiver on the ground

Arthur hisses, as his head knocks against the hardwood. His teeth bare in a wince from the impact, but he freezes entirely from the familiar feeling of a hand wrapped around his throat.

Reverb straddles him, from where he'd tackled him down, knees on either side of him. His hand were on his neck, squeezing just enough to feel him there, and Arthur-- froze. His body locked at the joints as a threaded breath left him.

His eyes widened and his pupils turned to pinpricks, one hand on instinct reaching up for the hand locked around him. The prosthetic gripped at this forearm, straining to lift his hand. Reverb took a long drag from a cigarette, the end lighting with emerald greens. He exhaled a plume of smoke near his face, making his eyes burn with the acrid scent. One more drag, and Reverb pressed the burning end against his metallic forearm.

Something about that, about the smile and about the way something tweaked in his brain just before the move, settled him. His gaze went from wide to narrowed, even as the other hand rejoined the first around his throat. He fought the urge to smile. The cigarette butt sizzled against the cold of the metal.

The door opens--- and it isn't Arthur on the other side. Short, standing at about a foot and a half shorter than Arthur, at about chin level (though his hair stood tall, so tall it reached Arthur's eye-level), there was a man with orangey yellow hair, yellow sideburns, and the bushiest beard and brows a man could really have. he had on a dark orange, almost brown vest, a white shirt that jutted out with his gut, and a pair of bluejeans that needed hemming over brown shoes, held up but a large gold plated wrestling belt.

“Generally I wouldn’t stoop so low as to come to this pathetic level, but I need to know how much you know about human bodies. So make yourself useful and tell me if you can mend a wound or not.” He sounds extra angry today, he must be awfully stressed about something.

It didn't take long to figure out what was going on. He was no fool as it was. Reverb would never willingly enter his home like this, and put himself at his mercy. He was sweating up a storm, skin pallid, beaded with sweat. His mouth was a bloodless line and even his usual spiked comments were blunted at the tips. He could feel the numb, the searing line of fire in his own waist, that lit with fresh pain with every step. Blood soaked him, and he was positive it was Arthur's. He wasn't sure where, but with the jacket zipped and the blood soaking him, it had to be somewhere on his torso, if he had to venture a guess.