kinship | 010 Omens of Crusnik

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010 Omens of Crusnik

[A: Elementary School (OPEN)]

[What is that sound floating out over the playground at lunch? It's piano music, just basic tunes being repeated over and over again from the open window of the music room. Cain has retired there to study the books that Charles gave him, tireless in his pursuit of being the very best at whatever task was set to him.

Every time he makes a mistake, he repeats that part of the piece over and over again until it's flawless. Anyone at all is free to hear his attempts or tell him to shut up.]

[B: Around Town (OPEN)]

[Tis the season, and all that... It's Cain's first Christmas where he'll actually get to celebrate, instead of watching all the colonists exchange presents while never being part of it himself. He's been saving all the pocket money that his drone not!mother had been giving him (until she got replaced yesterday), as well as the money he got for doing odd-jobs for his friends. So now he's out and about shopping for gifts.

Do you work in any of the stores? Then this blond haired boy might just be peering over the counter with a bright smile. Are you wandering down the street aimlessly? Feel free to bump into Cain as he carries a stack of boxes too high to see over... because clearly that's just asking for trouble.]

[C: Phone (OPEN)]

[Did you order a rousing pep talk by a ten year old today, Mayfield? No... shame, because it's coming anyway.]

Christmas is coming soon... Maybe you celebrate something else in your world, or maybe you don't celebrate anything at all, but here... I think they'll have Christmas. I don't know if anything will happen, but...

Even if it does, and even if it hurts us, we can't let it break us. We have to keep our eyes forward, and we have to stick together. As long as we look out for each other, then we can change the future to whatever we want.

[D: Home (Locked to Housemates)]

[It seemed like he was the first one home, which was a little odd after the drone!Esther housewife who had always been there to welcome him in and tell him to do his homework before dinner. Which, consequently, led to the thought that there was no dinner... Astha didn't seem the type to make a meal for the family based on what he had seen, Rachel had already shown she believed cooking beneath her, and he didn't want to die so Abel was out.

Therefore, whenever anyone else gets home, they might find the youngest non-drone member of the household stood on a chair by the stove. He's pouring over one of the recipes Esther had left behind, not being allowed to go and find any more of his own, and is carefully adding things to a big bubbling pot.]

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[oh, Cain. one day you will see having an organ destroyed or being otherwise maimed is just Tuesday for him and this will not seem as bad as it does.

but for now, he isn't fighting him -- leaning forward and resting his hand heavy on his brother's shoulder. he'll feel worlds better when he stops bleeding everywhere ever, he's sure.]

...got it back, Cain... I got it-- back, so-- [--a little stumble, but he's moving!] --I can keep my promise. [mumbling as he heads obediently where his little brother leads, like a good little Abel]

Edited 2011-12-10 23:51 (UTC)

[Those words sear right through him. He went and mutilated himself to keep his promise to Cain, to never leave him again, and this was the price.

He can't help it, thick tears are rolling down his cheeks as he helps Abel onto the bed and nudges him to lay on his stomach. He's trying to keep his brother from seeing that he's crying, not wanting to make him feel worse at the moment, and he doesn't trust himself to speak in case his voice is wavering.

So he just... stares for a second, before bolting downstairs and frantically looking for where Esther had kept her sewing basket. Needle and thread... needle and thread...]

[ahhh bed, bed is nice-- tentatively crawling up to sink atop the sheets on his stomach. he is a little too foggy to realize what he'd said would be taken that way -- after all, it was his promise to Lilith that he had been intending to keep. those vows he made to Cain were for his own preservation, and...

that would always fall by the wayside in comparison to his promise to her. he hated himself. he would get what he deserved. the only reason he cared what happened to him at all was because... Cain cared, and that was it.

the room is quiet for the absence of his baby brother from it -- and he's tired... it's really no surprise when his eyelids become too heavy to keep open, and he drifts off. zzz... poor Cain.]

[He is so legitimately terrified, and it's a horrible feeling. He's not used to being this scared, he's the one who always faces these things with control and calm.

But losing Abel has shaken him to the core and left him with deeper wounds than he would ever admit, and seeing him injured is heart-stopping. He feels as though he's in a daze as he gathers up a bowl of warm water, a few cloths and the work basket.

This can't be happening... why is Abel hurt again?

His vision is blurred from tears as he sprints back into the bedroom and, for one frozen moment, he thinks Abel is dead for how still he is. But then he realises he is still breathing, he's just... asleep. God, brother, what have you done?!

It takes a long time, because his hands are shaking and he keeps stopping through fear of messing it up, but he peels back that shirt sodden in blood again and starts cleaning the wound. It's sad that even at ten he has stitched up his fair share of wounds in the past, though nothing ever this deep before.

Don't wake up, just sleep for now, Cain will take care of you... except this probably hurts like a bitch, and Cain's breathing is loud and stilted with sobs as he works.]

[b-bro ;(((( a few minutes pass where he's dead to the world-- though not quite dead, however much he might look the part of the horror film extra who gets the ax. he comes around with a groggy sort of groan, wincing drowsily as tiny fingers work at patching his pathetic self up.]

...

[crying... it sounds like Cain is-- crying. the thought has him putting his head back together a little more, trying to sit up a bit to look at him.]

...Cain?

[He looks nothing like the calm and smiling boy who had endured anything the scientists threw at them now, he's red-eyed and shaking with sobs as though he were a child afraid of monsters in the dark.

Fingers pressing on Abel's shoulder as soon as he tried to sit up, leaving bloody fingerprints on his shirt, trying to force authority back into his voice.]

No... Don't move, stay still. I'm not... done yet.

You're... crying.

[it seems stupid, now -- a rather dumb observation, but it was true and it made his heart twist painfully. why is he crying...?

why does Cain care so much for him? even after everything he had told him... he is still... devoted.

he is ignoring the nudge at his shoulder, sitting upright a tad clumsily but careful not to tug at and undo his brother's work - stretching a hand for him.]

Why are you crying...?

No! No... no no no... you have to lay down, I'm not finished!

[There's a slightly unhinged quality to his voice as he pushed on Abel some more to try and get him back down onto his stomach.

It was a deep wound, there was internal injury that he couldn't even see, let alone deal with... he is doing the best he can, but he can't...

He just can't.]

[--ah.

he looks a little taken aback-- like he'd been slapped in the face by that shrill desperate cry. the surprise is in his eyes, before he swallows hard against the lump in his throat.]

...It's... okay. I'm... okay, Cain...

[mmn. to humor his brother's insistence... he reluctantly shifts to slide his legs over the side of the bed, bearing back to his smaller twin.]

I'm okay. [;(((]

[His hands are sticky, coating in his brother's blood up to the wrists, and the cleaning water is stained a murky red beside him. There's so much of it ALMOST LIKE HE'S LOST AN ORGAN... HOW ABOUT THAT?

Shaking fingers continue their work when Abel turns his back to him, pinching the skin together and sewing it up with tight stitches.

He's silent again except for the sound of his tears, although he's trying to get hold of himself.]

[he stays still as he can, and goes quiet -- even if the sound of his brother's tears breaks his heart. it's the worst sound in the world...

needs to fix this... how can he fix it...? he told himself one of the reasons he made this choice was so his brother would never have to be afraid of losing him again, and despite that, Cain is still--

--ah...]

...I didn't... tell you.

[he hadn't, had he...? that was why his brother was so scared...]

Don't... don't talk, just rest. You'll be okay, I promise.

[He doesn't want to hear it. He doesn't want to hear whatever stupid comforting platitude Abel decided to come out with.

He just wants to stitch him up and watch him like a hawk.]

I can't die, Cain.

[he tilts his head, looking at his brother over his shoulder. he's tired, and he feels as old as he is. it has nothing to do with what price he paid to get 02 back.]

...That's... why, I took the consequences. Now, I can't... die, no matter what they do.

[Cain must look like an extra from a horror movie, all red-eyed from crying and with blood coating his hands wetly. Just still, staring at Abel as he tilted his head.

Can't... die?

He genuinely can't die? Not even if he were set alight or given the bubonic plague? How is this even possible? Yet... he can't deny there is hope in his eyes as he swallows.]

I don't... understand.

[seeing that look was all he needed. he -had- neglected to explain what Crusnik was... and now, looking back, it made so much sense why his brother had been so concerned. he didn't know...

his eyes fall back down into his lap, hands feeling numb around the rosary. he doesn't know when he'd picked it up, but he is so grateful it's there.]

Regeneration... immunities... unless the nanomachines are taken, I'm... I'll be fine.

[He feels like he's been punched in the stomach, breath knocked out of him in relief. Abel... can't die, he really can't die, he's never going to lose his brother again.

He doesn't say anything as he finishes up the last few stitches, but then his arms are squeezing around his brother carefully from behind.]

...I love you.

[Don't scare him like that.]

[sob. he closes his eyes, finding it easier to relax, somehow, now that Cain's pain had been... assuaged. had he really thought he was bartering to get something back through those dangerous methods without knowing it would be worth it?

he lifts a hand, resting it lightly on one of his brother's much smaller ones at his chest.]

I love you, too, more than... anything. That's why...

[he had to do it, and it was worth the cost. does he see, now...?]

What... what did they take?

[He has to know. This wound goes so deep, and Cain can only do so much by cleaning it and stopping the blood flow, he has no idea if there is going to be internal haemorrhaging.

He's still frightened, still trembling slightly under Abel's hand, but it's slowly abating now.]

[he resists the urge to reach around and gently probe at the stitches -- he's morbidly curious how it had been taken. he hadn't seen a thing-- one moment he was standing there, and the next...

he shakes his head, tugging on Cain's arm gently to try and get him to come around for a proper hug.]

Kidney, but-- thankfully, one of ours... does the job of two, anyway, right? [just. come give him hugs. he wants all the hugs.]

[While that might be true, it's hardly the most comforting thing Abel could have said. A kidney... they had actually taken one of his internal organs away for this.

Is it horribly selfish that he's glad they didn't take his memories?

Going with that tugging, though ever so careful as though Abel were made of spun glass and might shatter, he came around to the front of him and just... looked up into his face.]

I never want you to be hurt again. I don't want your blood on my hands again... not ever, not for anything.

[he is staying very tentatively still, himself... eyes watching his brother's movement to stand in front of him. he listens, quiet, before reaching a hand out and cupping one of his brother's cheeks.]

I can't promise I'll never bleed again. I'd give up much more than this to keep you safe and with me, Cain.

But I'll do everything I possibly can... everything in my power to make sure it doesn't happen. I promise.

[He tilts his cheek into that hand, skin still damp from where he had been crying, even if the tears have stopped now.

So many promises. Abel seems to make them like water. Promises upon promises, never die, protect Cain, do all he can not to bleed any more. Yet he believes every single one of them, as he always will unfailingly trust in his brother.]

You... have to rest now.

[it's all he can do, when all he has is words to offer him comfort.

he gives a shallow little nod of his head, before he gently tugs his brother into his chest... leaning his cheek atop a blonde head of hair.]

I'm so tired, Cain.

[he's tired of being scared, and... lost.]

[His arms wrap so so carefully around Abel in return, mindful to stay higher up away from the stitches.

His face nestles into the hollow of Abel's throat, inhaling the familiar sugary smell of his brother along with the undertone of copper.]

Then... go to sleep, I promise I'll stay with you.

...mm, o... okay.

[he can't deny he's tired in body as well as... well, everywhere else; maybe he could sleep for another few centuries and wake up with all this behind them.]

...but that... means I have to move. [he is comfy just like this okay.]

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