No. I-- I was someone terrible, once. I hurt you, and Tristan, so much-- I-I killed you, in the end. Tristan remade everything to get rid of that me, but it's back. I'm not... right, anymore. I won't be. I just have to listen to someone telling me it would be so much fun if I strangled you right now-- How can I work through that?!
... with me, together. As long as I know, as long as you tell me everything, I can manage it. As long as I know at least a part of you wants to fight it and be by my side, I'll be your ally. I'll withstand anything else that other you throws at me.
[He shakes his head, hiccuping sobs making his shoulders shake. He doesn't want Jupiter to withstand anything. He doesn't want to see him suffer the way that other Jupiter suffered at all, and he knows that if he did that -- if that suffering was inflicted using his body, it wouldn't matter if everyone said the person responsible was someone else. Ariel would see it as himself, and he'd crumble.]
I would rather be locked in the dungeons forever than hurt you.
[He hesitates a bit, afraid something terrible will happen and he'll see Jupiter suddenly on the floor in bits, like that assassin. But he really needs the comfort, so after a few moments he gives in and hugs back, crying messily against Jupiter's chest.]
From the other side of a door. I couldn't do anything then. You'd be safe.
You're not a fake. You're as real as he is. The life you've lived... it belongs to you. That guy's time is over. And as fucked up as Tris is, to rewrite reality, it is our reality. He's the one that should't exist... and you've fought him for sixteen years now. That makes you pretty strong.
I never thought you were stupid or useless. I always knew you were more than just a fancy doll, I want more from you, than this life, or that life. I think you can be so much more.
Besides. At least you found out in the first place. If this didn't happen...I wouldn't have known my entire life was completely erased and redone, either.
[He wants to believe those things. He wants to hear nice things and accept them, because at heart he's a very soft person, kind and used to being safe and sheltered and doted on. He doesn't know what to do with this kind of despair and is more than willing to let Jupiter chase it away from him for now. He does pull away from him though, rubbing at his face and sniffling.]
[ Jupiter cups some water in his hands, unconcerned at getting wet himself-- he's already partway soaked through. And he uses it to splash a little at Ariel's face, rub away some blood remaining across his jaw and neck. It's not really sexual, Jupiter too preoccupied to think of it that way. But it's tender. ]
[Ariel doesn't want to think about anything sexual, so he doesn't make the jump to take it out of context. Still, it makes him blush, and he has to make an effort to keep himself from starting the waterworks all over again. He leans into Jupiter's hands, purely because he's craving so badly to feel loved and safe and capable of experiencing the kind of gentleness that he can no longer trust in Tristan and never wanted in his last life. He's not thinking that he wants Jupiter right now, but he is thinking that he needs him.]
Will you forgive me if I tell you I love you? It's a terrible time, but... I don't know how long I have to say it.
[ It's sudden, and the timing of it is both bewildering yet somehow sensible. He feels like he's known all along, but it's still a surprise. At the very least... at the very least though, he cares for Ariel, as mixed up as he feels to hear that Ariel loves him in a way impossible to misinterpret, at this very moment. And he doesn't have to respond, just forgive... and that's something he can forgive, because it's Ariel, and why would he begrudge it? ]
[He's quick about it, drying off and getting wrapped up as fast as he can. Afterwards he puts the towel back over his head, just letting his flop there after giving himself a good ruffle.]
[At Tristan, of course. He is, terribly angry, but he's just as much afraid it's the other him that's angry and that this Ariel should shut up and be happy for what he has.]
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Don't say that. If you died, I... I wouldn't be able to stand it. We can work through this, somehow.
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I would rather be locked in the dungeons forever than hurt you.
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[ Jupiter leans over the bath, pulling Ariel-- wet as he is-- against his chest, hugging him. ]
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From the other side of a door. I couldn't do anything then. You'd be safe.
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I'm really going to disappear, Jupiter. I'm sure of it.
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Besides. At least you found out in the first place. If this didn't happen...I wouldn't have known my entire life was completely erased and redone, either.
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[He wants to believe those things. He wants to hear nice things and accept them, because at heart he's a very soft person, kind and used to being safe and sheltered and doted on. He doesn't know what to do with this kind of despair and is more than willing to let Jupiter chase it away from him for now. He does pull away from him though, rubbing at his face and sniffling.]
I should get dressed. Is the blood all off?
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[ Jupiter cups some water in his hands, unconcerned at getting wet himself-- he's already partway soaked through. And he uses it to splash a little at Ariel's face, rub away some blood remaining across his jaw and neck. It's not really sexual, Jupiter too preoccupied to think of it that way. But it's tender. ]
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Will you forgive me if I tell you I love you? It's a terrible time, but... I don't know how long I have to say it.
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[ It's sudden, and the timing of it is both bewildering yet somehow sensible. He feels like he's known all along, but it's still a surprise. At the very least... at the very least though, he cares for Ariel, as mixed up as he feels to hear that Ariel loves him in a way impossible to misinterpret, at this very moment. And he doesn't have to respond, just forgive... and that's something he can forgive, because it's Ariel, and why would he begrudge it? ]
It's... it's fine.
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[He doesn't really want to be seen naked right now, so he just glances at the towels and the robes across the room and gives a nervous smile.]
Ah... If you don't mind?
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[ Jupiter gets up, fetching those for Ariel. ]
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[ He does, giving Ariel privacy. ]
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[He's quick about it, drying off and getting wrapped up as fast as he can. Afterwards he puts the towel back over his head, just letting his flop there after giving himself a good ruffle.]
...Hey, Jupiter?
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[ He isn't turning around yet. ]
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[At Tristan, of course. He is, terribly angry, but he's just as much afraid it's the other him that's angry and that this Ariel should shut up and be happy for what he has.]
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