Figures dancing gracefully [closed]

[toremainbehind]

Who: Izumo and Mikoto
When: June 26
Where: HOMRA | Ra’s Temple
What: Izumo regains his memories of Anna. Mikoto decides to offer whatever comfort he can.
Warnings:…Potential heartbreak?


[It just came to him one morning.

It came at him almost as if he was hit by a train.

Memories of a young girl, a child - no, not a child - but with a pair of ruby red eyes and silver hair. She was young, still young, and there’s a rush of fondness that came over him.

But along with that fondness came a rush of guilt.

Izumo woke up in cold sweat, and even now as he stands at the bar, hands clutching at the counter, those memories are still rushing at him. He closes his eyes, hand reaching up to cover half his face as he struggles to these sudden images.

Anna.

She was someone he held dear, someone he’s looked out for and held even as he watched her stare up at the sky, glittered with red.

And he had come to rescue her from—from what? But then the memories keep on rushing until the last thing he remembers is her enshrouded in the Red Aura, gaining an uncontrollable power.

King.

Izumo’s own Aura flares uncontrollably to the point where he couldn’t rein it in anymore and it envelops everything in the bar, shooting up and blasting holes into the ceiling.]

Comments

[lionhearrt]

[ Izumo's initial unease penetrated through the layers of sleep like a blade. When unease turned to confusion, golden eyes snapped open and he pushed himself up. He was below the bar, in the basement when it happened. Izumo, his shinki, suddenly spiraled out of control the rush of memories releasing a dam of emotions that shot straight through their bond hitting the monotone god like a bullet.

Sorrow, anger, pain, guilt. They all melted together creating a concoction of toxic emotions that speared him straight through the shoulder. Blight. It carved through his flesh in jagged lines of agony. Mikoto stumbled to his knees, clutching his blighted shoulder even as he tried to force himself back up to reach Izumo. But the pain was too much and his control too perilous. With the full force of his shinki's guilt riding him, the Red King lost control. The molten sea erupted from him exploding in every direction, incinerating the basement within moments before rushing up the stairs and shattering every window, melting every bottle. Red filled Ra's temple in the dead of night erupting from the ceiling like a volcano spewing ash in a single show of power. ]

[toremainbehind]

[The destruction of the bar barely registers in Izumo's mind, too focused on trying to get used to these memories again.

What does register though is the heat, the intensity of it cutting through Izumo like a sharp blade.

With the bar gone - with their temple gone, actually - he's on his knees and his eyes are clenched shut. His own aura begins to react instinctively from Izumo's emotions, too wired now to properly be controlled now that he's allowed his control to slip. A hand reaches up to grab his own head as he continues to accept the memories, struggling to bear with it again.

Every memory of Anna comes at him, along with the feeling of her fire spreading through him and searing into his tattoo.]

[lionhearrt]

[ He's somehow managed to get up the stairs, even as the rush of emotions keeps bombarding him, cutting through his shoulder, embedding the blight deeper. But that doesn't matter, the clutches at Izumo's shirt, pulling him up, forcing him back to reality. ]

Izumo!

[toremainbehind]

[That voice—

It cuts through the guilt and there's a sudden rush of other emotions.

Hate. Regret.

No, none of them quite fits but it's intense enough where Izumo reflexively pulls his arm back and punches Mikoto in the face.]

[lionhearrt]

[ His head snaps back, and a long drawn out smirk graces the Red King's lips, his eyes alight with intensity, his blood brimming for a fight. ]

That's better.

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo clenches his jaw.

Hope you don't mind helping out your second ease out these emotions because Izumo is aching for a fight now. If Mikoto is still close enough, Izumo is going to aim another punch at him.

He's still trying to figure these memories out, but it's too sudden, too painful, and he needs an outlet.]

[lionhearrt]

[ Had he punched him out of frustration Mikoto would have taken it, but he knows this desperation. The burning need to vent, to draw blood, to feel pain exuded by your own hands, your own flesh.

He takes the second hit but throws his own, pulling back his power as not injure him but to make him hurt. Physical pain vs emotional. Mikoto knew which he'd chosen. ]

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo will take that hit, the pain of it flaring enough to give him a little clarity but it's not enough.

Not yet.

He clenches his jaw and aims another punch at Mikoto's jaw.]

[lionhearrt]

[ A flare of pain, but barely a drop compared to the blight marking his left shoulder. He touches his jaw and a grin spreads wider as his eyes glow with excitement. Even in pain, he still found release in a fight.

He takes up a fighter's stance, giving his friend a moment to adjust before he attacks. Right punch, left kick, block. He moves in fluid motion, his hands and feet encased in a white fire as bright as the sun that's almost impossible to look at directly. Cleansing fire. Ra's god power was meant to destroy all that did not belong, to heal. ]

[toremainbehind]

[Those years of fighting imprinted in Izumo's body makes itself known as he counters Mikoto's punches and kicks. His own movements are nearly just as fluid.

Left punch, left kick, block.

There are flares of pain that he feels that are quickly erased by the white flames, but Izumo pays no attention to them. He's not a fighter, yet he is still one. So this fight, punching and kicking and blocking with Mikoto—it helps. And Izumo has never been one to back down from a fight, especially one he's started.]

[lionhearrt]

[ They dance among the ruined bar, fists in the air, white fire spreading, healing. Mikoto doesn't let up, but as time wears on any fighter worth his salt would notice a chink in his stance, the way he favors his right side. But Mikoto doesn't stop, he never knew how and Izumo, in his current state, can probably understand why. ]

[toremainbehind]

[It doesn't escape his notice that Mikoto's beginning to favor his right side, but Mikoto won't let up.

In a way, Izumo is glad but the fight is beginning to wear him out, and weight if the memories weighing him down. He grits his teeth and charges forward, fist aimed for Mikoto's face once more.]

[lionhearrt]

[ He meets the charge head on, meeting him fist for fist, smashing his own white knuckled punch straight into his face. Whatever damage he might incur, the white flames will heal, so he doesn't pull back and the two clash one last time. ]

[toremainbehind]

[The pain is brief, short-lived, and finally clarity returns to Izumo.

He pulls back, breathing heavily as he flexes his hand. Izumo blinks a few times as if to gather himself, running a hand through his hair. He reaches for his cigarettes before pausing, realizing he left them in his room — which had now burned down.

A huff escapes from him, though he doesn't feel too bothered. In fact, he feels better and he looks over at Mikoto, face passive as he inspects his God. He doubts he did any damage to Mikoto, but he's seen him favoring his right side, so there is some concern there.]

[lionhearrt]

[ By the time the dust settles, Mikoto is seated on the burnt down floor of the bar next to Izumo. A silence settles down between them, the god too tired from the explosion of power along with the blight eating at his shoulder and Izumo.... Gold eyes shift to the man next to him, whatever had caused this... it couldn't be good. But instead of asking, he offers his second a cigarette, the end lit by a fire that still burned a few paces away. ]

[toremainbehind]

[A hum of thanks as he takes the cigarette, immediately taking a drag.

As he breathes out smoke, Izumo closes his eyes. The feelings are settling down, calmer now, and he opens his eyes as he glances over at Izumo.]

...How bad? [Did he blight you?

But at the same time, he isn't exactly expecting an answer either.]

[lionhearrt]

That's my line.

1/2

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo doesn't answer right away, taking another drag.

How much can he tell Mikoto?

How much--

Ah, but it doesn't matter. Izumo looks at the remains of the ruined bar, his free hand curling into a fist.]

2/2

[toremainbehind]

I remember--

Anna.

[He's not sure if the name means anything to Mikoto, but now Izumo remembers something. He remembers Anna, remembers being there for her when someone left them, when she was crying and then staring at that sky glittered with red.

Why was she looking at it with happiness?

But then he remembers seeing her trapped in that cage and --

His Aura flares a bit at the reminder before Izumo forces himself to calm down again.]

1/?

[lionhearrt]

.........

[ His eyes slide away from him, hiding a flicker of sadness as he remembered the girl he left behind. If Izumo and the rest of his men were here then Anna was... ]

2/?

[lionhearrt]

Hah.

[ He slips the cigarette out of his mouth, unsure what to say. What he could say. The Heaven's had warned him of the consequences of a shinki learning too much of their past, so that left-- ]

3/?

[lionhearrt]

[ The flare of power draws his attention back to his second. Golden eyes linger on him. Seeing the weight of those memories heavy on his shoulders, Mikoto knows he can't do it anymore. Add more weight, more burdens. Not when it's clear the man is more lost than him. This time around, he'd let Izumo rely on him for a change. ]

4/4

[lionhearrt]

[ With a quiet sigh, Mikoto lays his head back on a blackened beam of the bar. ]

A-nna.

[ He drawls out the name in a long syllable. ]

Tell me about her.

1/3

[toremainbehind]

[Was he lost?

It feels like he is, but at the same time, he isn't.

But to hear Mikoto say that, it makes Izumo crane his neck a bit in order to look at him better.

He doesn't say anything for a moment, taking another drag.]

2/3

[toremainbehind]

If I do, we'd be here all night.

[But something inside is telling him that it's okay to tell Mikoto.

Not his god, but just Mikoto.]

And I'd rather we do it over drinks—

3/3

[toremainbehind]

[—But the bar is burned, the temple ruined.

And Izumo just kind of. Slouches a bit in defeat at that.

He wonders if it's possible for a temple to restore itself, but another memory of Anna appears and he makes a sound.]

She was [is] someone precious, someone I swore to protect. [A furrow of his eyebrows as he thinks.] But she's lost someone and it hurt her. [A flash of a memory of her shouting out a name—a name that sounds too muffled, refusing to let Izumo make out what it was she said.]

[lionhearrt]

[ Honami he thinks. Anna's biological family and mother to her in every sense that mattered. He'd hoped HOMRA could do right by her after she'd been wronged by the other clans, but he knew her loss must have been hard on her. ]

Is.

[ He corrects, feeling the molten flames stir as he recalled the girl he could not save from their world. ]

She's someone precious to you.

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo inclines his head in agreement, but glances over when he feels Mikoto's powers stir.

But he doesn't ask, doesn't push. He gets the feeling Mikoto knows, but choosing not to tell him, and for that, Izumo is grateful.

He doesn't want to risk anything.]

My only regret is leaving her. [Even if it was because he died, he still left Anna. But at the same time, he knows Anna is strong in some ways others aren't.]

[lionhearrt]

You didn't leave her by choice.

[ Like he had. ]

[toremainbehind]

[A passing silence as Izumo takes another drag before breathing out smoke.]

No, but I still died.

[And that perhaps was what really irked Izumo.

He burns up the remains of the cigarette.]

Was there anyone you had to leave behind?

[lionhearrt]

[ Magma stirs.

He left them. And he'd done it by choice. He knew his fate. Knew he'd take them with him if he clung to that world any longer. He left them because he had too, because despite what the world thought of him, he knew what he was doing. ]

I didn't have to.

Leave them.

[ But... he wanted them to live. He built his world around them and it was around them that it crumbled. ]

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo watches him for a moment, watching that magma stir.

It makes him want to say something, but what can he say?

He doesn't know Mikoto, doesn't know him other than the fact this is his god and a possible connection to his time when he was alive.

Instead, he just makes a sound, leaning back on his hands as he presses them against the ground and he observes the ruined bar.]

We're getting sentimental.

[His tone takes on a lighter tone, a teasing tone.

Best not to dwell on the past, right?]

[lionhearrt]

[ He stands, giving his back to Izumo. ]

Go back to your bar.

[toremainbehind]

And you?

[Izumo remains where he is, not once moving and keeping his eyes on the bar.]

[lionhearrt]

[ Instead of answering he heads upstairs that were miraculously still intact enough to allow passage. ]

[toremainbehind]

[Izumo watches him leave and head upstairs.

There's a soft sound that escapes from him before he gets up to his feet as well.

Might as well spend the night at his bar--]

[lionhearrt]

[ Once Izumo is gone Mikoto lets down his guard. He's alone, in his bedroom, the only room to have survived the explosion of power. He sits at the edge of the bed, feet spread wide, while his arm trembles.

The blight had spread.

With a quiet grunt of pain he removes his shirt and slaps his hand over the affected area before calling on his god power. White flames burst to life consuming what did not belong. It takes two hours, but by the end, the cleansing flames burn away the last of the blight leaving the god tired and weak. Unlike his Red Aura of destruction, the white flames demanded a heavier toll and drained him voraciously. By the end of the healing session Mikoto collapses on the bed falling into a deep sleep.

He'll be out for a day. ]