[ there is someone who yves can and cannot remember who hugs him and it feels like the world is being set back on its axis. as if all it takes is just the gentle touch of someone who loves you to be able to re-orient the entire world. when he brings jiaoqiu and siffrin both with him into marcoh's arms—and none of them are that person, no, but this is precisely that feeling. there are these figures across the way and yves loves them, trusts them, wants to see them, but there are also these people trapped in this hug and yves wonders briefly if this is the last time that the world is going to feel whole.
his whisper is muffled, but sincere: ] I love you. Please don't go too far.
[ and... without the weight of wanting to be loved in return, it finally feels selfless. to love without expectation. without fear. just love, love, love.
and it's not like yves actually believes in salvation. it's not something he thinks he deserves, after all the harm he's done in the world. there is no glorious light or awakening for him. but this? oh, this feels like all the light of heaven gifted upon him. the edges of himself blur. he is starting to lose track of where yves ends and the end begins. it takes everything to put himself back together enough to hold on to these last few moments with his friends before everything disappears.
though when he looks to the other side—and there is affection there too. uruha, so indirect but tender in his care. elysia, who cradled yves's twisted face in her hands. basilio, who feels like a kindred soul across univers. and then for a long moment, there is just a boy being offered a hand by his beloved teacher. the same way that lucas reached out to him when no one else would even spare him a glance—when the other kids would throw rocks at him and they'd only stop on the days that lucas came to teach so that they wouldn't get scolded. when from that moment, for a child who'd lost everything, lucas suddenly became the symbol of safety. yves doesn't know which life that happens in. maybe all of them. it happens again now. there is a part of him that is entirely the part of a sniffling child waiting for their guardian after school. please come get me and bring me home.
but he cannot go home without these people. he doesn't know if home exists without these people. and so one arm cradles behind jiao for support, his fingers still holding onto siffrin holding onto marcoh. and as if still seeking out every piece of warmth of family of that tenderness, his other hand finds his teacher's.
he is losing sight of himself. he is starting to leave. he should have already gone. he will walk these last steps with the people he cannot let go of. ]
[ all around you, things are falling apart. cabeswater is breaking, darkness leaking from the entrance between the trees and snaking its way through the fields. birds remain suspended in the sky, and the nearby cattle haven’t mooed for hours. the things pulled from siffrin’s dreams, roaming freely and uncertainly. the thing behind jiaoqiu’s eyes, something using his hands without his permission. yves’s wavering tether to this plane of existence. marcoh’s hope, slowly fading. each of these pieces of this world are in danger, unraveling in something else’s grip.
but you aren’t in theirs. instead, you’re in the safe hands of people you cherish, people you love, no matter how that may be. when you take their hands… it’s warm. it’s warm, and it’s safe, and nothing matters in this specific moment anymore, because you’re together and you know what you must do.
marcoh, who only sought a better life for his sister, and normalcy for both of them.
siffrin, who wished to be with their family forever, and never be forgotten.
jiaoqiu, who strived to bring peace, for his people and beyond that.
yves, who deserved to feel loved nearly half as much as he loved.
these wishes of yours may not be granted by a long-lived king. but perhaps in another time, and another place.
as your friends hold onto you (and you hold onto each other), each of them lift your hand up, catching your eyes briefly with a little nod. the intention is clear to all of you: side by side, ride or die.
let it be to kill the demon.
and soon, they bring your hand up to their lips and you feel it, and you feel them pull you across the river as you fall into their embrace.
love, love, love.
that’s all you know. that’s all you feel, and you fall quietly from their grip as all things settle again in the world.
and somewhere else, in another time, in another place, a gentle voice whispers as your last breath leaves with a sigh. ]
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holyspirits) wrote2025-03-02 05:10 pm
no subject
his whisper is muffled, but sincere: ] I love you. Please don't go too far.
[ and... without the weight of wanting to be loved in return, it finally feels selfless. to love without expectation. without fear. just love, love, love.
and it's not like yves actually believes in salvation. it's not something he thinks he deserves, after all the harm he's done in the world. there is no glorious light or awakening for him. but this? oh, this feels like all the light of heaven gifted upon him. the edges of himself blur. he is starting to lose track of where yves ends and the end begins. it takes everything to put himself back together enough to hold on to these last few moments with his friends before everything disappears.
though when he looks to the other side—and there is affection there too. uruha, so indirect but tender in his care. elysia, who cradled yves's twisted face in her hands. basilio, who feels like a kindred soul across univers. and then for a long moment, there is just a boy being offered a hand by his beloved teacher. the same way that lucas reached out to him when no one else would even spare him a glance—when the other kids would throw rocks at him and they'd only stop on the days that lucas came to teach so that they wouldn't get scolded. when from that moment, for a child who'd lost everything, lucas suddenly became the symbol of safety. yves doesn't know which life that happens in. maybe all of them. it happens again now. there is a part of him that is entirely the part of a sniffling child waiting for their guardian after school. please come get me and bring me home.
but he cannot go home without these people. he doesn't know if home exists without these people. and so one arm cradles behind jiao for support, his fingers still holding onto siffrin holding onto marcoh. and as if still seeking out every piece of warmth of family of that tenderness, his other hand finds his teacher's.
he is losing sight of himself. he is starting to leave. he should have already gone. he will walk these last steps with the people he cannot let go of. ]
no subject
but you aren’t in theirs. instead, you’re in the safe hands of people you cherish, people you love, no matter how that may be. when you take their hands… it’s warm. it’s warm, and it’s safe, and nothing matters in this specific moment anymore, because you’re together and you know what you must do.
marcoh, who only sought a better life for his sister, and normalcy for both of them.
siffrin, who wished to be with their family forever, and never be forgotten.
jiaoqiu, who strived to bring peace, for his people and beyond that.
yves, who deserved to feel loved nearly half as much as he loved.
these wishes of yours may not be granted by a long-lived king. but perhaps in another time, and another place.
as your friends hold onto you (and you hold onto each other), each of them lift your hand up, catching your eyes briefly with a little nod. the intention is clear to all of you: side by side, ride or die.
let it be to kill the demon.
and soon, they bring your hand up to their lips and you feel it, and you feel them pull you across the river as you fall into their embrace.
love, love, love.
that’s all you know. that’s all you feel, and you fall quietly from their grip as all things settle again in the world.
and somewhere else, in another time, in another place, a gentle voice whispers as your last breath leaves with a sigh. ]
”Goodbye. Don’t throw it away.”