bursts into tears

[oversea]

Comments

[oversea]

[ this is... fine?

at least the stay in this town felt much less home-y than the previous one, so thorns did not gather that much new personal items, instead opting to just get better versions of things they already owned to make them last longer and save money for whenever they'd eventually leave. so gathering their belongings and packing up as much as he can in the time he has before he has to return to work is easy, at least.

... even if he can't help but wonder what went wrong the whole time, and also during the rest of his shift when he goes back to the store. the fact that they didn't have to leave immediately means it's not the absolute worst case scenario, but this is still pretty worrisome. when it's time to clock out, he rushes back to their place. ]

[transmit]

[ this is very fine… they are learning to have healthy and normal boundaries with everything around them.

he'd be more worried about the optics of them leaving now and having safe passage through yan, but if his gut instinct is right then there'll be nothing let to report them. … he gets back later, but not by much. likely half an hour after the fact, his first instinct being to pull thorns into an embrace. ]

[oversea]

[ thorns hugs him back, letting them hold each other in silence for a long moment before he forces them to get to business. ]

What's wrong?

[transmit]

[ nothing. he's just about to doom an entire town without saying anything, that's all. what's business when he's placing a hand on thorns' chin to drag him into a kiss? their hedonism… ]

[oversea]

[ okay.

unsurprisingly, thorns kisses him back. but he does pull away to speak, ]

Elysium. Why do we need to leave?

[transmit]

[ damn.

the immediate feeling to this is agitation, but it's not directed towards thorns. he bites down on him as he pulls away.

… ]

It's about to get bad.

[ thorns understands, right? he won't ask him more than this, right? ]

[oversea]

... Okay. Let's get ready then.

[ there's a pause, and he lets go to go double check everything he has already packed. it's difficult, to war with yourself. because thorns wants to ask for more information. exactly what elysium knows, how he found out and, more than anything else, what they could possibly do to help. they may have not gotten as close to the people here as they did with the other villagers, but it's still faces he has been seeing every day for months.

but every time they help, elysium dies. or even if he doesn't die, he still get injured and his condition worsens due to their lack of access to proper oripathy care. more than anything, thorns can't risk elysium. he needs this life to last. this one needs to be their happy ending. they don't have any other choice for it to be now. ]

[transmit]

[ there is no such thing as getting everything you want in life. there is only protecting the one thing that matters most, no matter the cost. if elysium lives, then thorns dies, either because of something elysium has done, or he feels the need to give up on his dreams. either way, the fault is his. and if responsibility has to be taken, isn't this the one way he can finally take it? ]

We'll tell the farmhand we're taking the Doctor out for a walk tonight. [ … ] The stars are extra bright.

[oversea]

Mm.

[ he doesn't really say much else until everything is ready. thorns knows he'll only ask more questions, and the more information he has about this, the harder leaving will be. ]

... I'm ready.

[transmit]

[ other than the camera, elysium has been living just as barebones. even if the album is filled up nicely with pressed flowers and patterned paper purchased from the local stationery store, elysium's day-to-day expenditures are minimal. whetstone for his sword, dye. clothes that are good enough for the elements and nothing particularly stylish or flashy. he lives as if he's ready to pack up and leave at any moment—because he is. he doesn't necessarily expect thorns to live the same way.

but his hand finds thorns, grip tight around his hand. ]

Yeah. We've saved up a decent amount. It was about time to move on, anyway.

[ before they started growing attached… ]

[oversea]

[ he could respond to that, but he just nods. ]

I already got all of the Doctor's stuff ready. I got the cart earlier.

[ thankfully they likely use the cart regularly since it's good for carrying heavy items, so thorns grabbing it earlier didn't seem unusual. ]

Let's go.

[transmit]

[ they could respond to all the questionable things the other has said, but they simply do not and will continue to not. ]

I left a note explaining my reason for resigning. If you're worried about whether they'll suspect us because of it and pursue us, they won't. Things have been tense on the inside for a while.

[ he won't be the only person who's left… it's fine. even if they're the only outsiders that have been around, that village has done them so much heavy lifting. ]

Let's.

[oversea]

[ it is not the first time they have run away, and very far from the hardest, as that will always be their abandonment of rhodes and his ship. but it's easy to think that when he doesn't know what the damage of fleeing will do here. he makes sure not to look at anyone.

...

when they reach the bars, he stops. ]

I'll put our belongings in the cart. Get the Doctor.

[transmit]

[ they can find out later that rhodes never pursued them is because it blew up. for now, he quietly nods, trying to vain to keep himself from spiraling into further paranoia. the solution to so many of their problems has been each other and the intimacy they provide, but that's hard when they need to keep moving. ]

Yeah. [ his hand finds thorns' shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze before he moves on. ] I'll just be a minute.

[oversea]

[ he just nods, before getting their bags and supplies situated. they are leaving so quickly that their food stash is not as large as he'd want it to be, but they can just hunt and gather on the road, so it's not the end of the world.

but thorns will wait for him to return..... ]

[transmit]

[ he returns with docybara in tow, who looks delighted at the prospect of seeing both thorns and elysium in a rare second sighting. it scurries up to thorns and nuzzles its snout against him, while elysium just watches from a short distance. this is the happiness he needs to protect—he needs to stop worrying about other things, or he'll fail them like he's failed thorns so many times before.

he moves to catch up, readies the harness for the burdenbeast, and begins fastening it around him. ]

Anything we're particularly low on?

[oversea]

We'll likely have to go hunting as soon as we find a good spot for it that's safe.

[ safe as in distance, since he isn't sure how far out elysium wants to go before they stop anywhere. the problem with not knowing what they're running from is that he isn't sure if it's something specific to the town or if it goes on outside of it. ]

We have enough water that we should last a bit, but I'd still want to find some fresh water sooner than later to get more.

[ there's likely a well in town, but it would definitely be way too suspicious to go it right now considering they grabbed the doctor. ]

[transmit]

[ that's the real question, isn't it? which route they should take and how far they should go. that's the thing about operating with limited intel—thorns knows almost as much as elysium does.

tipping off someone on the inside would've potentially been more dangerous for them, if he personally wasn't on some kind of list by virtue of helping. did he make a mistake by taking up this job to begin with? maybe. but there's only moving on and not looking back. ]

We should be alright. Let's avoid travelling along the river and stick to the forested areas. We can scope out how safe it is for water separately once we've gained some distance from town.

[ …

he holds out a steam bun. the farmhand had given him a few as thanks for agreeing to help, and he hadn't exactly known how to deny her. ]

This'll probably be the last warm thing we have in a while, since we shouldn't start any fires.

[oversea]

Mm.

[ he takes it with one hand, using the other to give docybara a few pets to please him enough before their journey. ]

Let's get going then. We can try to get as much distance as we can before it gets too dark.

[ it being after work hours means nightfall will come much sooner than later, which has its pros and cons here; it'll be harder to follow them in the darkness, but it'll also greatly limit their ability to move... ]

[transmit]

[ the journey going without incident would be too kind. just when it seems like they're in the clear two hours in, elysium tenses. they come across campgrounds that can't be more than a few days old—this is far from a well travelled path, so one can only assume they'd taken it for the same reason they did. staying undercover. ]

… It looks like someone else had the same idea as us.

[oversea]

... But who is it.

[ is it someone who is just trying to flee, or people they would rather be avoiding. ]

Let's lay low, Elysium.

[transmit]

[ who is it indeed… ]

We have better odds if we stay together.

[ neither of them are going off alone for the wrong reasons. ]

[oversea]

We could change our path...

[ ugh

overthinking is so annoying. ]

Or we check out the camp.

[transmit]

We should at least check which direction they went in and try to avoid them. On the bright side, they weren't heading where we were.

[oversea]

... Mm.

[ he squeezes his hands ]

Let's go.

[ at the very least, thorns can use the corazonix for a wider search range. his worry is always just whether or not he finds something may depend on if he's using it at the right moment, which is impossible to know beforehand. ]