(no subject)

[consumeation]

Characters: Kei and anyone else
Date: 1/30
Location: Around Aifaran
Situation: Kei has just arrived and he is in very bad shape, both physically and mentally. Please help him.
Warnings/Rating: Well, he's dying, so.


There's a man staggering down the street, barely staying upright, ominous green sparkles emanating from his body. He doesn't seem to have really registered that this is not where he should be, but perhaps him seeming not-quite-solid has something to do with that. As he walks, he mutters the same word under his breath again and again and again. From a distance it's inaudible, only noticeable because his lips are moving, but closer up you might be able to make out the word, "Belial-sama".


[[note: I'll match your formatting!]]

Comments

[consumeation]

Kei sags in his grip, looking desperate and miserable, as if standing on his own is too much.

"Please.... was I useful?..."

Sensitive or not, it doesn't matter much right now. He isn't quite seeing Chase, his mind superimposing Belial over him.

[driverslicense]

"Yes."

He adjusts his grip to better hold Kei up. Chase doesn't know what Kei is talking about, but that only means that Chase should find out. But finding out requires—

"Return to your senses now."

(Because it's that easy...)

[consumeation]

That "yes" had something of the intended effect. Sort of. Kei doesn't move - if anything, he's supporting his own weight less - and the green sparkles increase, his body fading a bit.

"Where are we, Belial-sama?..." His voice is small, tenuous.

[driverslicense]

"Aifaran." Jury's out on whether Chase knows that that likely doesn’t mean anything to Kei, though.

He watches the sparkles, his brow furrowing slightly.

"I'm not who you're looking for. Why are you disappearing?"

[consumeation]

It takes several seconds for what Chase says to sink in, and then Kei's vision clears. No, this isn't Belial. It's some stranger. His mood entirely changes, and he tries swinging his cane in a feeble attack, only succeeding in throwing himself further off balance.

"Let me go."

If that actually happens, he'll probably fall, but he's not thinking that far ahead right now.

[driverslicense]

Chase blocks the cane fairly easily with one hand, but thinks nothing of the attack itself. Kei had been calling someone else’s name and was obviously disoriented; one of Chase’s friends would occasionally attack him for less.

“Very well.” He lets go, but slowly.

He repeats his question. “What are you?”

[consumeation]

Having actually been let go, Kei has little choice but to support his weight on his cane. He has enough presence of mind to realize he's not leaving without answering some questions. It's not like he can get far fast on his own right now. He doesn't have the strength left to teleport away. And at this point, maybe it doesn't even matter if he answers.

"An Alien Sturm."

[driverslicense]

Chase has no idea what that is, which, honestly, he should have expected.

He gestures with his head at the parts of Kei that are fading. "Is that normal?"

Because if it isn't, they have a bigger problem on their hands; if Chase holding onto Kei didn't actually make the fading abate, then Chase has no idea what to do about it.

[consumeation]

"It's not."

He half-collapses to one knee, the rest of his weight still on his cane. Chase is taking this... surprisingly well, and the part of Kei that had started telling him he needs to fight, needs to be left alone, weakens. His already tenuous grasp on reality starts slipping again.

"I'm... dying."

[driverslicense]

Chase kneels, his gaze drifting to the fading again.

"What will keep you from dying?"

[consumeation]

"Nothing... it's gone..." Kei laughs, a pained sound with a hint of madness. "I don't even know how I'm alive... Belial-sama..." His voice drops to a whisper, his tenuous grasp on reality fading.

i'm sorry...

[driverslicense]

His eyes narrow at that—Chase is most likely dead, himself, which means that whatever's keeping Chase alive right now is probably also what's keeping Kei.

The mental state is the real issue. He doesn't know enough about Kei to say anything. So Chase rears his arm back to punch him.

this is beautiful

[consumeation]

Kei doesn't even try to dodge - doesn't even register what's happening - so when he's punched he falls on his ass, cane clattering to the ground. It takes a moment, but one arm goes up to touch where he was hit. Apparently, even as he's fading away, he can feel pain.

"You.... you hit me."

He's fought people before. It shouldn't be this shocking. But with the way it shocks him back into his surroundings, it registers more strongly than any time he's fought before.

[driverslicense]

"I did."

He stands, ready to do it again. He expected anger, fighting back—he doesn't quite know what to do with shock. So he watches. Cautiously, perhaps, in case Kei's anger revs up very suddenly, but with puzzlement, as well. Bewilderment leading to dropping one's guard, he can understand. This seems...to be something different.

"If that had been a harder blow, this Belial would have lost you, as well."

He knew someone who would have done everything he could to protect his sister, alive or not. This seems...strange to him.

[consumeation]

He looks down. His cane is visible through his hands at this point. If... if there is any chance he can find his way back to where he was... he can't feel Belial anymore, but he also shouldn't be alive. Something strange has happened.

He internally flinches at that statement, but with his head down the twitch at the corner of his eyes might not be visible.

"Yes. I might have finished disintegrating."

As it is, he's more translucent than before.

"I don't suppose the hospitals here - wherever here is - could handle this."

With the state he was in, he hadn't really noticed the vast variety of persons in the city.

[driverslicense]

Chase tilts his head. Kei looks to still be here; from Chase's point of view, Kei has not "finished" disintegrating at all.

"They might." The hospitals, that is. What with the different races that exist here, and how accustomed the place is to Dreamfolk, Chase would wager a guess that certain hospitals might be able to make an attempt at analyzing what Kei might need.

"What do you normally do to prevent it? ...Are you stable right now?"

[consumeation]

Chase, that's not what that meant.

Is he stable... ha. It's more surprising that he's lasted this long. Arriving here must have returned some of his remaining time, somehow.

"I'm missing part of myself. If I had it, this wouldn't be happening."

He picks up his cane and starts using it to try to stand back up.

[driverslicense]

"What do you mean by that?"

A ‘part of him’ sounds dire if Kei were human, but a part of Chase—the Proto-Drive Shift Car—is also external, so he isn’t sure he should be concerned yet.

In any case, Kei looks a little calmer, at least.

“Whatever can be done to help you, you should inform the hospital workers. The closest one is nearby. You do not object?”

[consumeation]

"Most people can't survive lacking a vital organ, no matter their species."

With his thinking not being entirely clear still, and with as much as he's already said, the easiest answer is the truth.

"That would be best, I suppose." He doubts there's anything they can do, but either way, there's nothing to lose.

[driverslicense]

"Some people here were not meant to survive at all. I arrived without the injuries I'd sustained back in my own world."

He peers at Kei for another moment.

"If you would rather walk yourself, I will lead." The insinuation being that if Kei needs assistance walking, well...Chase would still be leading, but he would also be carrying.