[closed] wish there was something real

[anbu]

Who: Itachi Uchiha & various.
When: Throughout Maiuril.
Where: Several locations.
What: Catch-all.
Warnings: Probably some violence in at least one thread, will update as necessary.



[ooc: Feel free to send me a PM if you'd like to plot something! Open to 4th wall characters.]

Comments

i love crow

[boarddyd]

[Only a few days. A few long days where Dimitri must force what cloys him down. If there is a feeling of barely restrained 'something,' he'll be satisfied. So long as he can keep his cacophony of moods and delusions obscure...

Standing utterly alone surrounded by the silent threat of the forest, he feels emboldened.

Dimitri watches quietly, as still as the trees standing sentinel around them. The moment Itachi's lips touch the vial, he feels light. At ease. As if some long unquenched yearning is finally being sated.

He leans in when touched, the point of contact flaring with indescribable sensation. The hair beneath Itachi's fingers bristles, raised at the root in anticipation.]

I understand... [Lukewarm liquid splashes over Dimitri's tongue; he swallows it all in one gulp and licks the viscous remains from his lips.]

Excuse me- [Quietly. Quickly. Dimitri barely manages to announce himself before he shifts forward once more, pressing his forehead against Itachi's. Connected, his body alights - Dimitri does not see a glow but he can feel it where their skin connects.

From what he knows of bonds, this must be the sensation of magic flowing into him. What it feels like, however, is something more. An embrace shared between the closest of friends, the comfort of two hearts that beat in synchrony.

He closes his eyes.]

GOOD

[anbu]

[Pale fingers remain pinched around the vial, prepared to draw back - when instead Dimitri follows, very near, foreheads brought together in intimate connection. He can't help a short and startled exhale, dark eyes wide at the act. The warmth is immediate. His own skin is feverish after casting an evocation spell on the branch, but relief soon swoops in, excess magic draining like a wound being leeched of poison.

It feels like the bond to his familiar made more individually alive. There is that sense of something there, a trickle of cool water into his mind as his awareness makes space of a second person.

Itachi's hand tightens over the boy's neck. Almost bruising, unintentionally, in its own steely strength. His eyes study Dimitri's quiet face. This close, details smear together in a blur of pale skin and gold eyelashes. When was the last time anyone came so near to him without violent intent? Surreal and as strange as the sensation of no longer being alone.

Uncomfortable.

It's a jolt through his thoughts as Itachi withdraws, peeling himself out of that personal space. An uneasy sentiment possibly felt by Dimitri - like one jangling bell - before it dims to the quieter lull of the temporary bond, less intense when their skin isn't in contact.

The bird startles off his shoulder. The burning branch falls to the cold earth, and he puts it out with a kick of dirt, voice low and even (yet bristling under the surface of their bond, vaguely) as he speaks:]

How do you feel?

[boarddyd]

[Distantly, Dimitri is aware of an ache budding at the base of his skull. It fades further still into his jaw, which slackens. Lips parting, gentle breaths and utter surrender - not to his temporary partner, but the energy between them.

He's feeble for it, need like an infant's.

His body lurches forward when the feeling is suddenly interrupted, a jolt of desperation meeting that tinge of discomfort. Dimitri forces his hands to his side, and his posture straight... as unnatural as it seems for a beast to stand with such poise.

Pupils dilating as they adjust to the snuffed light, Dimitri looks around. Reassures himself that things remain still, empty. Then he dares to look at Itachi, and his cheeks feel flush in the face of an intensity he's never felt before.]

It is difficult to describe... I'm sorry.

I am certain I felt your magic flow. But there was something else, too. [And perhaps he could put words to it: comfort and desire, ease and submission - intimacy.

He chooses to keep it to himself, and though Itachi may notice he's held back his fascination, he hopes he's not asked to explain further.] Regardless, I feel I'm able to focus and approach our work with clarity.

[As is the purpose of their bond, he reminds himself.]

[anbu]

[The dark is an easier medium, Dimitri relegated to long shadows in front of him, face scrubbed to vague details: the shape of a nose and mouth, the light skin and eyes, the broad frame. He does not have the benefit of night vision or animal senses to see better. Once, chakra would have filled that channel, but now he's left veritably sightless.

Except for the bond. That tether fastened between them, Itachi perceives the strangest sense of the world opening up — and though he can't tell the expression on Dimitri's face, he can feel him there, not a half step away.]

... I understand a Witch's magic can feel unique to the individual. You may be noticing mine. [A flow of power, like a cool rush of water. Itachi finds himself more centered than before, as though something has unstrung tension from the muscles of his body.] I agree, concentration is easier now.

Let's go.

[This direction given — half command, really — he starts off into the dark ahead. That something else can be set aside. He knows what wasn't said, but the shiver of intimacy is better dismissed (ignored) for the task at hand.]

Do you sense anything around us? Movement, or life?

sorry for the wait im back in business

[boarddyd]

[Despite himself, Dimitri dwells on what quality of magic had just flowed into him. The chill, the bite of it that reminds him of shock relief. He is not left reeling - the bond has inexorably steadied them both - but his heart beats quickly.

Threatens to overwhelm what little sounds he can hear as they progress towards the forest itself.

What he notices first is a looming presence. It gives him pause; Dimitri stops to look up towards the treetops that cut a jagged silhouette across the skyline and feels like he's looking into the eyes of a beast.

Not good, nor evil. Something entirely beyond them both.

Then, he continues, forging a straight path into the depths of that darkness.] Just a moment. [Dimitri speaks quietly, and looks forward. Unfocused. He listens, he smells, he feels and it's unlike anything he's known. The procession of insects beneath their feet, birds fluttering to find safe respite in the trees.]

Small things, nearby. [He grows silent again. Shuts his eyes. Far, far away there's an erratic rumbling. Breath but not the cadence of something alive.] There- [He points, just slightly southward of the direction they're facing.] I don't know how far - but it seems there's a shade, or something else we'd best avoid.

/opens arms

[anbu]

[As they walk, Itachi's attention is fixed onto the boy far more than the forest. His senses are limited—more than they ever used to be, a fact that sits unpleasant in the back of his mind—and it's worse in the shadowy woods. He's forced to rely entirely on Dimitri's animal capabilities for this part of what they mean to accomplish.

Somehow, with the warm draught of that potion fresh in his system, it isn't as disturbing an idea as it was before.

Knowing he will feel what Dimitri feels, knowing the first prickle of danger will be met by two minds instead of one. And knowing that, if he chose, he could reach a hand out and coil control over this particular boy, probably without much effort. Dimitri is like a weapon, then—an extension of himself.

At that explanation, Itachi simply looks over with dark eyes.]

You were trained in combat, and you consider yourself capable. [A flat statement, half-daring.] We'll investigate the shade. We're still not far from the outskirts of the city. If it's come this close, it must be dealt with.

[And he takes over the lead to plunge deeper in the direction indicated.]