delta realizes his mistake exactly two seconds before ashe rams his knee into his side. everything is a blur from there — the knife to his throat, ashe's face looming over him, every spiteful word delta can't hear and fully appreciate, deafened to white noise under his own thundering heartbeat. time unfolds like a car crash, one moment stretched into infinity, and all delta can do is stare at the headlights of an oncoming disaster, helpless and paralyzed.
the sharp nick to his jaw spurs him back to the present, then ashe's voice in his ear. he blinks, the man's rotting face swimming into focus, and finally he wheezes a pained and belated breath through his teeth, fuck. for someone so small he packs a hell of a fucking punch. ]
I told you to fucking leave, didn't I? [ around a mouthful of blood, his words are garbled, dazed. he drives a clumsy elbow into ashe's sternum, with enough pressure to wind him, and rolls their positions, slamming his wrist into the sand until he drops the knife. everything is spinning, and when he reels away with ashe's knife in hand, he almost topples backwards off him.
sealing a spirit back inside the veil is more difficult when the veil is fucking broken. ashe's old friend is fully manifested, and where the night was almost unseasonably warm just minutes earlier, now every haggard breath steams the air, trapped in a bitter cold that sinks straight to the marrow. delta can't do shit if he gets his hands on ashe, not without hurting them both. his thighs clench ashe's hips, stabilizing himself on top of him as he curls the blade to his palm and slices deep from heel to wrist.
what happens next is an accident. ( that's what he'll claim if ashe ever asks, full eye contact so he doesn't think he's lying. )
his blood hits the sand as the dead man looms over them, bony fingers reaching for ashe's hair. delta thinks of anything except for earth, every nightmare vision he sees on the back of his eyelids when he closes his eyes at night, alone in his bed. anything except for home. anything except for here. down the beach, a woman gazing at the stars will look over at exactly the right time and watch ashe sink through the ground like its made of quicksand, with delta right behind him. she smells like liquor and weed. no one will believe her.
not even delta knows where they are when they blip from earth's dimension into this new, incomprehensible realm. they don't fall, they're just there, ashe's back to a rocky surface and a sky bleeding bright red above them. they're where what once looked to be a pathway leading to a temple made of too many impossible angles, between endless rows of half-collapsed pillars, wind howling like a banshee scream.
here, so far from the veil, the dead man turns to dust. delta can taste him in his mouth, stomach rolling.
fuck. fuck, fuck. ] Don't — [ his voice is lost to the wind. he drops the knife, cradling his injured hand to his chest, and stares down at ashe, stricken with a mixture of guilt and fear. don't panic. he's not done this since genevieve. ]
there isn't time to protest or shout or demand a fucking explanation before he's blinking up at a bloodshot sky, his back pressed to unforgiving stone. the sound alone is enough to drive a person crazy. ashe feels crazy, tearing his eyes from the red horror above him to delta's blood as it drips down his arm, a drop falling toward him to soak the fabric of his shirt.
he told him to leave. was this why? no — he refuses to think about it, refuses to make fucking excuses in the hopes of making himself feel better. fuck that shit. delta said what he said, and the reasons behind it don't matter in their present situation. whatever this situation is.
he hauls the both of them to their feet, one hand twisted into delta's shirt as he looks around and tries to formulate words that aren't fuck or shit or fucking shit. ]
Where the fuck are we? Huh? [ he gives delta a little shake, but not as hard as he wants to because he's bleeding more than should be comfortable. ashe leans down and snatches his blade, clutching it tightly as if he expects a three-headed monster to come rushing at them at any moment. it could. he doesn't fucking know.
at least the ghost is gone. one more second of looking at its melted face and ashe might have thrown up right on delta's chucks.
not that this is any better. why the fuck are they here? is this an accident? is this delta's way of getting back at him? is the story about genevieve even fucking true or did she do something to piss him off and delta dumped her into another dimension on purpose? is that what's about to happen to him?
his switchblade trembles in his grip, his lungs tightening as his breath grows shorter. is this karma? is this what he gets for killing a man in his living room, for watching him slowly die without lifting a finger to help because he'd been too terrified to move? he chokes on the breath trying to escape his throat, the corners of his eyes stinging, and he turns to delta to grasp his collar, shoving him into one of the pillars. ]
What the fuck are you trying to do?
[ a burst of flame explodes directly beside the pillar. ashe flinches, dragging delta away from it without thinking. he lets go of his collar, staggering away and covering one ear with his hand. it's so loud. it's so fucking loud. ]
Shit. Shit. [ the blade slips from his hand, and fire engulfs it before it even hits the stone. ashe jumps back, his face stricken with panic as he meets delta's eyes for a half second.
no. no, no, no. fuck no. not again. never again. ]
Get the fuck away from me. Stay away! [ he takes a step backwards, dragging in a ragged breath before he turns and starts running. delta might be a lying piece of shit, but he can't do that again. not with anyone. no one deserves to die like that.
he's not going to be the reason that delta fucking burns to death. ]
[ delta tells himself he's seen a lot because he has, every day of his life for as long as he can remember. sky-cities that float like balloons above white rolling clouds speckled in black shapes, not birds but fucking dragons. a faerie, once, when he was a boy. a younger boy. nightmare hellscapes, infinitely worse than the one he's blinked himself into now. humans aren't bumps under the bed, or formless monsters in the dark. for all their potential trauma and baggage, humans are uncomplicated. simple. easy to understand. easier to navigate.
so maybe it's the blood loss, then. that would make sense, he thinks deliriously, as fires explodes from ashe's hand not once but twice. he sags away from the pillar, instinctively stamping the switchblade into the rock before the wind can whip burgeoning flame toward his ankles. did he do that? how did he do that?
blood streams down his palm to the tip of his middle finger, splattering his chucks in a rapid drip. as he kneels, he shrugs off his jacket and rips a strip of fabric from his henley. he wraps his hand quickly, staring at the blade. the fire stained the green vines etched into the metal black. he thinks of the dead man in ashe's apartment and on the beach, his burnt skin cracked in blood. i will fucking burn you alive, he'd said.
and delta had thought he was just posturing. ]
Don't panic. We're fine. [ his teeth catch one half of his makeshift bandage, tightening the knot around his hand. he looks up and sees ashe's turned back, disappearing into the graveyard of stone columns. ] Fuck. Ashe!
[ even with ashe's head start, delta closes the distance in a handful of seconds. four years of track combined with a lifetime of throwing himself into high-contact sports and high-tailing it from aggravated cops in the woods, he's fit and healthy. his fingers fist ashe's shirt, and he uses the momentum to propel himself into him, tumbling to the ground with delta on his back. ]
Stop. Stop it, jesus — [ delta is more out of breath from pure adrenaline than he is from exerting himself, rolling ashe on his back and pinning his arms with his knees. his hands grip his shoulders, holding him down. ] You fucking idiot, what is wrong with you? Where the fuck do you think you're gonna go, Ashe?
[ fucking delta is faster than him — he knows it from the sound of his nearing footfalls, and yet it still fills him with an unconscionable rage when he's tackled and pinned. delta doesn't fucking get it. he'll never get it. ]
Get the fuck off me! [ he struggles beneath his weight but it's impossible for him to break free like this, nearly in a blind panic and his sudden view of the sky doing little to help. he shuts his eyes, breathing hard as he drops his hands and keeps them flat against the stone floor. don't touch delta. everything will be fine if he just doesn't touch delta.
nothing is fine, because he still doesn't know where the fuck they are or what the plan is to get back to the beach. he still doesn't know why he's suddenly seeing the man he killed when he was fourteen. and he doesn't fucking know how to make the fire stop despite having kept it mostly under control for the last several years. he wants to fucking disappear. he wants his goddamn mom. ]
Get off me. [ this time it's choked out through sobs, sudden tears tracking down his cheeks. the fight goes out of him as he looks away, trying to catch his unsteady breath. fuck, he's crying. he wishes he could smack this memory right out of delta's stupid fucking head. ] Get off me. I'm not going to run.
[ because delta makes a very good point that he has no idea where he's going. for all he knows there are giant black holes in the ground waiting to shoot him into fucking space. ]
Explain. [ he swallows, drawing in a sharply wet breath. ] Can you fix this? I swear to fucking god, Delta, you better fucking fix this.
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no subject
delta realizes his mistake exactly two seconds before ashe rams his knee into his side. everything is a blur from there — the knife to his throat, ashe's face looming over him, every spiteful word delta can't hear and fully appreciate, deafened to white noise under his own thundering heartbeat. time unfolds like a car crash, one moment stretched into infinity, and all delta can do is stare at the headlights of an oncoming disaster, helpless and paralyzed.
the sharp nick to his jaw spurs him back to the present, then ashe's voice in his ear. he blinks, the man's rotting face swimming into focus, and finally he wheezes a pained and belated breath through his teeth, fuck. for someone so small he packs a hell of a fucking punch. ]
I told you to fucking leave, didn't I? [ around a mouthful of blood, his words are garbled, dazed. he drives a clumsy elbow into ashe's sternum, with enough pressure to wind him, and rolls their positions, slamming his wrist into the sand until he drops the knife. everything is spinning, and when he reels away with ashe's knife in hand, he almost topples backwards off him.
sealing a spirit back inside the veil is more difficult when the veil is fucking broken. ashe's old friend is fully manifested, and where the night was almost unseasonably warm just minutes earlier, now every haggard breath steams the air, trapped in a bitter cold that sinks straight to the marrow. delta can't do shit if he gets his hands on ashe, not without hurting them both. his thighs clench ashe's hips, stabilizing himself on top of him as he curls the blade to his palm and slices deep from heel to wrist.
what happens next is an accident. ( that's what he'll claim if ashe ever asks, full eye contact so he doesn't think he's lying. )
his blood hits the sand as the dead man looms over them, bony fingers reaching for ashe's hair. delta thinks of anything except for earth, every nightmare vision he sees on the back of his eyelids when he closes his eyes at night, alone in his bed. anything except for home. anything except for here. down the beach, a woman gazing at the stars will look over at exactly the right time and watch ashe sink through the ground like its made of quicksand, with delta right behind him. she smells like liquor and weed. no one will believe her.
not even delta knows where they are when they blip from earth's dimension into this new, incomprehensible realm. they don't fall, they're just there, ashe's back to a rocky surface and a sky bleeding bright red above them. they're where what once looked to be a pathway leading to a temple made of too many impossible angles, between endless rows of half-collapsed pillars, wind howling like a banshee scream.
here, so far from the veil, the dead man turns to dust. delta can taste him in his mouth, stomach rolling.
fuck. fuck, fuck. ] Don't — [ his voice is lost to the wind. he drops the knife, cradling his injured hand to his chest, and stares down at ashe, stricken with a mixture of guilt and fear. don't panic. he's not done this since genevieve. ]
no subject
there isn't time to protest or shout or demand a fucking explanation before he's blinking up at a bloodshot sky, his back pressed to unforgiving stone. the sound alone is enough to drive a person crazy. ashe feels crazy, tearing his eyes from the red horror above him to delta's blood as it drips down his arm, a drop falling toward him to soak the fabric of his shirt.
he told him to leave. was this why? no — he refuses to think about it, refuses to make fucking excuses in the hopes of making himself feel better. fuck that shit. delta said what he said, and the reasons behind it don't matter in their present situation. whatever this situation is.
he hauls the both of them to their feet, one hand twisted into delta's shirt as he looks around and tries to formulate words that aren't fuck or shit or fucking shit. ]
Where the fuck are we? Huh? [ he gives delta a little shake, but not as hard as he wants to because he's bleeding more than should be comfortable. ashe leans down and snatches his blade, clutching it tightly as if he expects a three-headed monster to come rushing at them at any moment. it could. he doesn't fucking know.
at least the ghost is gone. one more second of looking at its melted face and ashe might have thrown up right on delta's chucks.
not that this is any better. why the fuck are they here? is this an accident? is this delta's way of getting back at him? is the story about genevieve even fucking true or did she do something to piss him off and delta dumped her into another dimension on purpose? is that what's about to happen to him?
his switchblade trembles in his grip, his lungs tightening as his breath grows shorter. is this karma? is this what he gets for killing a man in his living room, for watching him slowly die without lifting a finger to help because he'd been too terrified to move? he chokes on the breath trying to escape his throat, the corners of his eyes stinging, and he turns to delta to grasp his collar, shoving him into one of the pillars. ]
What the fuck are you trying to do?
[ a burst of flame explodes directly beside the pillar. ashe flinches, dragging delta away from it without thinking. he lets go of his collar, staggering away and covering one ear with his hand. it's so loud. it's so fucking loud. ]
Shit. Shit. [ the blade slips from his hand, and fire engulfs it before it even hits the stone. ashe jumps back, his face stricken with panic as he meets delta's eyes for a half second.
no. no, no, no. fuck no. not again. never again. ]
Get the fuck away from me. Stay away! [ he takes a step backwards, dragging in a ragged breath before he turns and starts running. delta might be a lying piece of shit, but he can't do that again. not with anyone. no one deserves to die like that.
he's not going to be the reason that delta fucking burns to death. ]
no subject
so maybe it's the blood loss, then. that would make sense, he thinks deliriously, as fires explodes from ashe's hand not once but twice. he sags away from the pillar, instinctively stamping the switchblade into the rock before the wind can whip burgeoning flame toward his ankles. did he do that? how did he do that?
blood streams down his palm to the tip of his middle finger, splattering his chucks in a rapid drip. as he kneels, he shrugs off his jacket and rips a strip of fabric from his henley. he wraps his hand quickly, staring at the blade. the fire stained the green vines etched into the metal black. he thinks of the dead man in ashe's apartment and on the beach, his burnt skin cracked in blood. i will fucking burn you alive, he'd said.
and delta had thought he was just posturing. ]
Don't panic. We're fine. [ his teeth catch one half of his makeshift bandage, tightening the knot around his hand. he looks up and sees ashe's turned back, disappearing into the graveyard of stone columns. ] Fuck. Ashe!
[ even with ashe's head start, delta closes the distance in a handful of seconds. four years of track combined with a lifetime of throwing himself into high-contact sports and high-tailing it from aggravated cops in the woods, he's fit and healthy. his fingers fist ashe's shirt, and he uses the momentum to propel himself into him, tumbling to the ground with delta on his back. ]
Stop. Stop it, jesus — [ delta is more out of breath from pure adrenaline than he is from exerting himself, rolling ashe on his back and pinning his arms with his knees. his hands grip his shoulders, holding him down. ] You fucking idiot, what is wrong with you? Where the fuck do you think you're gonna go, Ashe?
no subject
Get the fuck off me! [ he struggles beneath his weight but it's impossible for him to break free like this, nearly in a blind panic and his sudden view of the sky doing little to help. he shuts his eyes, breathing hard as he drops his hands and keeps them flat against the stone floor. don't touch delta. everything will be fine if he just doesn't touch delta.
nothing is fine, because he still doesn't know where the fuck they are or what the plan is to get back to the beach. he still doesn't know why he's suddenly seeing the man he killed when he was fourteen. and he doesn't fucking know how to make the fire stop despite having kept it mostly under control for the last several years. he wants to fucking disappear. he wants his goddamn mom. ]
Get off me. [ this time it's choked out through sobs, sudden tears tracking down his cheeks. the fight goes out of him as he looks away, trying to catch his unsteady breath. fuck, he's crying. he wishes he could smack this memory right out of delta's stupid fucking head. ] Get off me. I'm not going to run.
[ because delta makes a very good point that he has no idea where he's going. for all he knows there are giant black holes in the ground waiting to shoot him into fucking space. ]
Explain. [ he swallows, drawing in a sharply wet breath. ] Can you fix this? I swear to fucking god, Delta, you better fucking fix this.