guillotineroom: (Default)
Locked Rooms ([personal profile] guillotineroom) wrote2023-03-12 12:02 pm
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[BASILISK]

[when you open your eyes, you find yourself in a pleasant greenhouse. the sweet scent of flowers surrounds you, and the sun shining through the glass ceiling invigorates you from within. there are stone benches on which you can sit, and if you're hungry, there's a garden table with some refreshing tea and scones available to you]

[the voice– the good voice– echoes in your head again]

YOUR DESIRES. . . CREATED THIS REALM. IT IS YOURS. . . IT IS NOT TYPHON'S! I CAN USE THOSE DESIRES TO GIVE YOU A SAFE PLACE. . . FROM WHICH TO FIGHT.

BUT I CANNOT DEFEAT HIM. . . ONLY YOU CAN. ONLY YOU– WITH YOUR OWN DESIRES!! YOU CAN. . . RESHAPE THIS WORLD. . . HOWEVER YOU'D LIKE!
laughitoff: (in this white wave i am sinking.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-12 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
She's here! If we're here she's here.

[probably??? he has a little bit of anxiety over it himself. finds ones of Sprezzatura's hands and squeezes it]

--I missed you too.
velluminous: ("what changed?" i ask)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-12 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ her right hand. it flexes; she splays her fingers and laces them with his. across her palm, there's a healing cut, and its rougher edges scrape his smoother skin. to her, that makes the touch all the more visceral... meaningful. ]

Of course you did. I am very missable—
laughitoff: (in my day we had lemons.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-12 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[he knows what a hand wound feels like, and he almost shifts his hand away from it, but when she laces their fingers he doesn't fight it.]

You are, though.
velluminous: (love is a two-hearted dream)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-12 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ yeah i bet he does. but there are other hurts worse than a healing cut to worry about, and she's a wizard, she's used to these things. and it barely stings anymore, anyway. ]

Wei Wuxian...

[ squeezes back ]
laughitoff: (sky starts falling.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-12 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Ms. Vaux.

I hope you’ve been well?
velluminous: (beating my dead high horse)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-12 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Hhah. No. [ there's a wry note to the husky timbre of her voice. she states it as fact, though, not misery. ] Better, now. This is good way to end things, I think.
laughitoff: (feet in the fire.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-12 11:05 pm (UTC)(link)
So it is ending, finally. Sooner than expected…

[looks out through the greenhouse glass]

Do you know what you want?
velluminous: (i'll believe the stories that i tell)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-12 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ again, ] No. [ then, ] Everything. [ then, ] More than I can carry.

[ she wiggles her fingers, still laced between his. only slightly, to feel the tangibility of their touch. ]

There is so much left for me to do.
laughitoff: (love completely ordinary.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-12 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Time and space then, maybe.
velluminous: (smile sick and smile kind)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-12 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ the world. she huffs a small laugh, tipping her head towards him.

a thought compels her—reaches into her pocket, produces a single token with a Basilisk emblazoned upon one side.
]

I keep this, you know. From when we saved you.
laughitoff: (raining over me.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-13 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
--oh--you didn't use it?
velluminous: (i'll look like hell just to wear it well)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-13 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ lil headshake ] It was... special.

[ and now, she opens her phone, slides it towards him with the Prison Shop open. The Universe - one token. ]

I could buy this for you.

[ for him to use. for him to give away. ]
laughitoff: (staple your tongue.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-13 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[he used all of his, before they went on one last trip. his eyes widen.]

Don't you want--?

[he's biting back the question even as he asks it. he's asked her this before, and she's answered.]
velluminous: (ask yourself: are you righteous?)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-13 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ seeing that look on his face makes her heart thrum hard in her chest. ]

I am going to get everything I want, Wei Wuxian. Right down to this.
laughitoff: (something eating at me.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-13 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
And how can I disagree with that? It's what Ms. Vaux deserves, after all.
velluminous: (i'll believe the stories that i tell)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-13 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ ahh. she's still in love with him, and a part of her will probably always feel this way. but the feeling has gentled, a bit—no longer the crushing thing it was before.

now at least she can listen to him say this without succumbing to The Agonies
]

Let me do this, Wei Wuxian. I will not make you choose what you do with it.
laughitoff: (illuminates the poor disgrace.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-13 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
I thank you, for that.

[it's agreement, even if he can't quite bring himself to say yes, please do this -- he's ever been bad at asking for things for himself when they really matter, after all.]
velluminous: (i'll believe the stories that i tell)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-13 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ her hand shakes; she taps the phone screen once, twice before the transaction registers. her solitary Basilisk token whispers out of existence, and in the space between them appears... well, the entire universe. moldable, formable, susceptible to change.

another tight knot in her chest finally lets go.
]

Here. [ she speaks in a whisper, unlaces their fingers so she can press the card into his palm. ] Your new path... wherever it may go.
laughitoff: (level up.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-13 08:03 am (UTC)(link)
[the card is so small, between their hands. the power to change a world, caught in a piece of paper, bought in a dream. it could be laughable, but after what they've been through, it's too heavy with the weight of hope to not take entirely seriously.]

Wherever it might be...I can't imagine it won't cross yours again.

[it's a promise, even if it's not worded quite like one.]
velluminous: ("what changed?" i ask)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-13 03:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ even that is so different from the conversation they shared in his palace that her own heart feels like it stops for an instant.

...

she crawls forward again, to sling an arm around the back of his neck and hold him there.
]

Yes. Of course it will. I don't give out these things lightly. Blame my heritage.
laughitoff: (keen to be devoured.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-13 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[he's had some time to recover since then. maybe he's not all the way certain of his life yet--maybe it will be years more until he wakes up and thinks i want to keep on being alive, and i'm sure of that--but...enough, for now. enough to get by, if there are other people to lean on.

drops a kiss to the top of her head]

Mm. May it be sooner then we think, ah? I'd like to see where you go as well, when there's no prison walls to worry about.
velluminous: (smile sick and smile kind)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-13 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ it's enough. it's a victory.

crumpled against him, she makes a soft noise. a laugh?
]

Hopefully not downward spiral. Prospects seem... better, than they did before.
laughitoff: (courage.)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-13 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
The idea of getting out of here will do that, ah?
velluminous: (i'll look like hell just to wear it well)

[personal profile] velluminous 2023-03-13 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I was always going to get out of here. Now... idea of who will be waiting for me once I do.
laughitoff: (are you ready for freddy?)

[personal profile] laughitoff 2023-03-13 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[why do people care about him being alive so much. he wants to throw himself on the ground and roll around like a child about it. doesn't, miraculously]

Not just me, ah? You've made so many friends here!

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