[open] November catch-all

[theforgottenboy]

Who: Cole & you
What: General shenanigans
Where: Around the void
When: Post-event and throughout November
Content Warnings: that one statue. you know the one.

Prompts are in the toplevels, but you can make your own if you want to wildcard it!


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Comments

[bachagain]

[ oof. leo's physically pulled back by cole's sudden insistence on not moving, and emotionally pulled back by all these statements that imply cole's in a set of Concerning Circumstances?

which shouldn't be all that surprising, given the glimpses of his home that leo's seen... it's not normie idol land. even then, there's something about this that reads as different than the normal danger. cole's acting so... so--

--leo recovers, glancing over his shoulder with a gaze much more muted than usual. and, after a small moment of consideration... he moves on closer to stretch up and put both his hands on cole's shoulders, pushing downwards.

sit, sit, sit-- ]

I'm better at losing than I am finding, but I'll go looking for it anyway. Later.

[ if it's something that's going to protect cole, even if it doesn't work yet-- ]

First, I wanna know what kinda trouble you got into, Ko. What do you need protection from? Who's they? You're saying all this stuff in a way that's making me kinda worried, y'know...

[ push, push, push-- ]

[theforgottenboy]

[For a moment he's confused by the shoulder pushing, but once he gets the idea he's easy enough to (literally) push around, and he sits down right there on the floor.]

[Coming to the void this time is different; there's more to keep him back "home" this time that he needs to see through to the end. But he's here now, and so is Leo, and Leo doesn't know about magic and spirits in his world. He doesn't respond right away, but that's because he's trying to put some effort into his answer instead of just blurting out distressed half-statements with no context.]

Binding. Blood magic can bind spirits, like the Grey Wardens did at Adamant Fortress. Shut them out from what they are to make them monsters, forced to follow, fallen. Demons. I can't be that again. The amulet is supposed to keep binding away, but Solas couldn't make it work. Varric thinks it's because I'm too much like a person. I felt it, there's something I need to... find, fix, set free, and then it should work. But then I was here.

[He fidgets with his hands as he speaks, calmer than before, though he clearly has more personal feelings about this subject than he usually shows.]

I'm sorry for worrying you.

[He says, after saying a bunch of worrying stuff??]

[bachagain]

[ leo comes down shortly after him, listening to the words as they come. he understood maybe about 40% of that, of course -- everything cole's familiar with is pretty far removed from his normie, idol experiences... but the parts he does get are concerning. enough to explain the short bursts of panic cole showed... ]

Shaddup, Ko. I don't wanna hear sorry for stuff like that. What's there to be sorry about? For being around enough that I can worry about you? That's a good thing! Say "thanks for worrying about me," instead!

[ and he latches onto that first, because it's easier. cole doesn't need to apologize for things that are outside of his control, doubly so when he's the one in trouble.

the other stuff is... still more difficult. he's not sure what he can say to it. he doesn't know magic, or spirits -- he'd just be talking out of his ass no matter what. ]

I get it, though... Kinda. If you're too different for the amulet to work, though, maybe you're too different for the stuff the amulet's protecting you from to work too? Either way, being here means you've got time to think about it, right?

[ the only tiny bright sides he can pull out from that mess of information. ]

[theforgottenboy]

[He knows he's different from other spirits, but he doesn't know if he's different enough. If he were, Solas wouldn't call him a spirit, right...?]

[But it's true he's going to have time now, however much it may be, whether he asked for it or not. And Leo's here, already trying to help him despite his outburst. His hands finally settle in his lap, and his words are heartfelt.]

Thank you, Leo. For being my friend.

[bachagain]

[



... so leo asked for that, technically, but that doesn't mean he's spared from the platonic doki that comes out of that unexpected mess of a heartfelt line. this isn't like a, umm, regular normie friendship? even that is something of a new thing to leo, and the close bonds he's managed to hold onto aren't quite as direct as that. there's no extra backdrop of overly dramatic stage performances, after all...

so, he doesn't respond to that right away. were he a giant tsundere like izumi he'd pull out the emergency bread supply and stuff some of it in cole's face--

-- but he smiles instead. bright, and true. just a hint sheepish. the worry is still there, of course... in the background for the time being. ]

That doesn't mean you actually gotta say it, y'know? [ stop. stop confusing him, leo, ] Not that it's not pretty to hear! Maybe it's 'cause you said it all direct like that, or maybe that stuff's always gonna get me good, but that really caught me off-guard -- more than all the talk about magic. Weird, huh!

[ fucking loser,

though it's true. ]

Well, whatever. Mmm... Thanks to you too, Ko. I dunno how much help I'll be with what you're worrying about, but we'll pick at it.