Septeril Quest and Catch-All Log [OPEN]

[curruid_coinchenn]

Who: Berserker (Cú Chulainn Alter) and you!
When: Throughout Septeril
Where: Various places
What: Quests and event threads and other things
Warnings: None so far but check the thread headers for specific warnings


[ 1. An Apple A Day (Wilde Quest #3) ]

[ It's difficult to disturb someone who's been plagued by nightmares for most of their life. Memories of bloody battlefields, mountains of corpses, a wall built from the bones of his enemies...What the moths are showing him in an attempt to get him to go away is nothing his own mind hasn't shown him before. Even the bloodied dead bodies of his bonded aren't enough to disturb him.

It seems that whoever he's working alongside to eliminate the moths isn't as lucky, though. Berserker gives them an indifferent look. ]

Get a hold of yourself...Do you always give in so easily? If you do, you might have a worse problem here soon.

[ Because how do you deal with nightmarish illusions? You fight them with ones of your own -- in this case, his poison breath. ]

[ 2. Wildcard ]

[ Got an idea? Did we plot something out? Drop me a starter or PM me here/on discord glitzkrieg#0673! ]

Comments

[ua_duibhne]

[Now that the tears have started, he can't seem to stop them but at least he manages to do it silently. That's something he's come to understand about bonds; if they grow strong enough, the emotion that comes through them can be overwhelming to the extreme. Diarmuid holds onto him like a raft in a storm, unable to decide whether to focus more on calming down or stopping it seeping through to Berserker. Too little, too late for both, really. His pride would be in tatters had he any to spare right now.

Breathing slows, his rabbit's race of a heartbeat settles and so too does Diarmuid, sinking into his arms without resistance.]

I believe you. [When he looks up his face is flushed but his eyes are more focused than they have been for a while now.] But I still don't understand why.

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ He can't tell whether it's his own emotions that bring tears to his own eyes or the sheer strength of Diarmuid's -- whatever the cause, tears fall silently down his cheeks. It's such an alien feeling still, one that will always be alien to him. The torrent of emotions churning through him threatens to overwhelm him entirely. It's difficult to cope when it's his own emotion, harder when they're both struggling. The broken dam can't be repaired, the flow simply needs to be waited out.

Berserker cuts through the flood and looks at him. His stern expression betrayed by how gently he wipes the tears from Diarmuid's cheeks. ]

And I don't understand your devotion to me...but you've given me hope. [ To be able to give hope to the hopeless was an incredible feat in and of itself. ] Hope that I can be more than what I was made to be, hope for a normal life...You've given me back some of what was taken from me. I can never repay you for this. The least I can do is show you my loyalty and gratitude. My feelings for another will do nothing to diminish what we have and what we've built.

[ Berserker manages a faint smile, fleeting as always. ]

Diarmuid...someday I hope you will see what I see in you.

[ua_duibhne]

[There's a certain catharsis in hearing his loyalty praised and yet Diarmuid's eyes remain clouded, his hands still trembling. What else? What else is there to him? As a knight he should want nothing more than to be recognised for his devotion and service but he finds himself wanting. When he inevitably falls short, what is left to actually like about him? A pretty face masking a too-sensitive, coarse, weak heart. Fionn had thought as much. Kayneth had thought worse but that doesn't really hurt as much anymore.

As the empty feeling in his chest swells, he tries to fill it with reassurances and the warmth of Berserker's smile. It works, for the most part.]

... I just want you to find some kind of happiness. [Diarmuid smiles and cuffs at his eyes with his knuckles, brushing the tears still caught in his lashes away.] I could never begrudge you anything that brings you closer to that.

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ Happiness. It still feels like an alien word to him, one that doesn't apply to him. Is he happier than he's ever been in his life? Yes, but that's not really saying a whole lot when he hasn't felt happiness in a very, very long time. Berserker has grown content in Aefenglom, in sharing his life with Diarmuid. He's still healing from trauma, both old and new, so every bit of growth is something he clings to like a life preserver. ]

...I found something like it with you first. [ He kisses his forehead. Few will ever get to see this side of the dragon, fewer still would believe anyone who did. ] Don't forget that. You've even managed to get me to settle down...You should be proud of that alone.

[ The knight tamed the dragon -- it's like something out of a fairy tale. ]

...Thank you for your understanding.