( imeeji ) IC Inbox

[puzzlekeeper]

[ He hasn't set up a voicemail.

Figure it out. ]

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[puzzlekeeper]

[ He bares his teeth, anger suddenly flaring again. ]

And Yugi? You think I didn't fail him?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Has there been even one second since you found out where you haven't been thinking of how you're going to get to him? How you're going to get him back?

[puzzlekeeper]

Of course not.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Then you haven't lost yet.

You don't fail until you give up. Or you're dead.

And not before.

[puzzlekeeper]

. . .

And you know exactly why I can't believe that so easily.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Oh, but which reason could that be?

Is it the one where you think success is only measured in perfection? Failed Yugi? Don't make me laugh. All he could ever babble on about was how much you meant to him. And how much he wanted to be there for you in return. How many times did you shield or avoid hitting pep? How many times did I see with my own two fucking eyes you go to his aid? Does none of that matter now that the producers specifically are fucking with you because they know how much this hurts you both?

Or is it the one where you're not allowed to have any sort of solace at all because someone you care about is potentially suffering? That denying yourself what you yourself claim to be your strength, you're offering them some warped semblance of solidarity.

. . .

It better not be because you still equate yourself more among the dead than the living.

[puzzlekeeper]

[ Intensity . . . Intensity, that's a lot.

This might be the most psychoanalysis anyone's ever done on him. ]

No.

It's because I know you've felt this exact way before too.

[ And even if King hadn't been awake to notice it -- there was that moment Intensity nearly tossed a thumbdrive across the room. ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[He leans in. Dangerously close.]

And what did you see that day when our positions were reversed?

Don't tell me you went easy on the poor bastard.

[puzzlekeeper]

[ He doesn't move. ]

I saw grief.

. . . And anger.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Half right. Grief means you're trying to come to terms with the loss.

And that won't do. Not for me. And not for you.

[puzzlekeeper]

[ Deflating again, a little. ]

. . . Yes. I guess so.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

King.

[And he shifts to drag the pad of his thumb across King's cheek]

Look at me.

[puzzlekeeper]

[ Fffffine.

Doing so. ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Oh good, with him at least partially looking up he can wring the life out of him (re: is this a hug?) without also suffocating him.

M o s t l y.

Close enough anyway.

(Look, it worked when King was sad about DVa. So being 10x as sad about Yugi just means 10x the force applied. That's just basic math.)]

[puzzlekeeper]

[ . . . Yeah. This probably counts as a hug by Intensity standards.

Just slumps fully against him. ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[He doesn't lessen his grip in the slightest]

Is that what you need?

To grieve?

[puzzlekeeper]

I don't know.

I imagined this scenario a thousand times, but it's not like that compares to it actually happening.

And it's not like there's anything I can do right now -- unless I try to hunt down a host and beg them to graduate me.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Azzy's been MIA for a while. So has most of his minions.

And you can't trust those fuckers from fake Heaven.

[puzzlekeeper]

And I have no intention of going home anyway.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

So keep your sense sharp and bide your time. There will be a opportunity to strike.

And then we will take both of them back.

[puzzlekeeper]

[ He slumps forward finally, forehead resting exhaustedly against Intensity's shoulder. ]

Yes. You're right.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[A hand moves to start threading through his hair, mindful of any tangles or imp guts]

But that doesn't help you in the here and now, does it?

[puzzlekeeper]

No.

But that's something I just need to get over.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Maybe. Maybe not.

[What's getting over something? Sounds fake]

You still want to take it out on the imp population or am I going to take you back?

[Since, you know, he only gets two options. But for clarification:]

To my room. I'll give you back to Heart eventually.

[puzzlekeeper]

[ Silent for a long moment while he considers the options.

Part of him wants to refuse, to stay here, isolated, for who knows how long. Like maybe that's as much as he deserves.

But another part of him is just exhausted. ]

I'm tired of fighting.