rabbithatch | man even i don't know what the shit | AU

It was a fine morning, fine enough to find Scylla sitting on a nice bench, reliving the delicious memory of his birth. His Gate had been attacked, then had escaped due to the interference of the ring wizard. Fortunately—or unfortunately, for him—he'd run right to the place Phantom Siren had expected him to go. It was in the hospital room that his Gate started losing himself; he'd been allowed enough time to try to fight off Siren and then had had to watch as he'd failed, as Siren plunged her blade into the heart-support's body.

And then— Ah, yes. She'd left, leaving the Gate alone with the body. The cracks spread thicker and deeper, confirming with his own hands that the one who supported his heart was gone. Would never return. The rampaging madness of the monster inside him had torn apart the final remaining vestiges of hope, had made him attempt every futile little thing he could think of in the vain attempt to find life again and when he'd failed, Scylla was free.

And here he was now, enjoying this fine day. What did it matter that Siren wanted to see him? Obviously she didn't appreciate the finer things in life; she didn't even remember her awakening. What a waste.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Of course, Charybdis was keeping up his usual habit of not straying too far from Scylla's side. It was a strange thing to figure out, exactly how one should feel about the situation. While Scylla was the one who had killed the individual keeping his host's hope alive, Charybdis couldn't help but feel bitter about it. At the same time, it was the reason he now had his own body and could wander freely. Attachments were something he knew he had a problem with. He always wanted more of everything. Losing his host, his host, caused an uncomfortable possessive twinge.

But, he knew it couldn't have happened any other way.

For now, Charybdis stayed a few feet behind the bench, pacing back and forth and occasionally giving a kick to the ground with a sour expression on his face. This was frustrating. He could feel the usual pull in his chest, that desire for something -- anything -- that he could never put a name to. There had to be something he could find or do to make that feeling stop.

A sudden singing in his head. Scylla jerked upright, glancing every which way. He could spot neither Siren nor her other form, Sonoda Sarisa. A warning, then; she hadn't come to get him, but neither was she letting him get away with his transgression.

Scylla grudgingly stood up. He could try all the impertinence he wanted, but in the end he had to obey or Wiseman would get mad. "Looks like he we have a job to do, brother," he said cheerfully as he stretched his arms over his head. Siren could wait a few more seconds.

"Another job?" Charybdis wasn't too sure about everything that Scylla did in his free time, but he'd heard snippets of what the other was up to for awhile now. Something about the Phantoms having a mission to wake others up and to create more of themselves, or else they'd be punished. He didn't like the idea of doing someone else's dirty work, especially when he didn't know why he was doing it.

Couldn't they just have time to do their own things? What sort of freedom was this supposed to be? Out of the frying pan and into the fire, this hardly seemed like the lesser of two evils.

"I don't want to."

"Brother, brother." Scylla slid an arm over Charybdis' shoulders. "If you don't, Siren will get mad at me. She'll put an irritating song about a falcon-kun in my head and I'll have to listen to it forever. The torment will never end."

He pulled Charybdis closer. "It'll be fun. Isn't it fun to taste the moment they start cracking? You haven't experienced it yet, have you? It's exquisite." He whispered the last word right into Charybdis' ear, and then dropped his arm and turned.

"I'm going. I can already hear the beginnings of that song." Which was true, but he didn't know whether Siren was already starting to punish him for his tardiness or if Scylla was imagining it out of dread. How effective Siren was, that she could affect him like this. He thought he would like Siren very much, if only she remembered her Gate's despair. No affection was complete without it, unfortunately. Except Charybdis, he supposed, but he hadn't asked yet. Some things needed to be savored.

That's not my problem, Charybdis thought to himself about the song. He hadn't dealt with any other Phantoms aside from Scylla, so he supposed he was being spoiled in that manner. No one else had ever bothered him to do anything and he considered himself separate from this 'group.' If he would just be allowed to work and wander on his own, he wouldn't have anything to do with them at all. Unfortunately, he felt he owed his 'brother' something.

Charybdis shivered at the physical contact, instinctively turning his head and letting out a breath when Scylla got so close. Neither him nor his host had much experience with being touched, so it had always caught either one of them completely off guard. As Scylla pulled away, Charybdis nearly pouted, fighting down the urge to pull him back to his side.

"I haven't. Is that how you felt about mine?" The wound his host had left, the imprint of being part of each other for so long, was still fairly fresh. Everything felt like it had just happened, but Charybdis couldn't find the same enjoyment in it that Scylla had.

"That's a secret," Scylla said as he waved without turning around.

Definitely Siren's doing. Must be a big deal; she was normally so lenient. "Are you coming?" he called over his shoulder. "Speak now; I can't jump back down."

His skills were many and varied; among them was the ability to warp up steep distances without the accompanying ability to warp back down. He'd have to jump manually, and he was unwilling to risk the breaking of his legs even for Charybdis. He didn't need his legs to go fishing, but it was nice when he could kick things for the satisfying sounds they made.

Siren always did like meeting on roofs; she probably did it on purpose to force him to use the stairs. That must be it, and not that she had chosen to retain her Gate's profession of schoolteacher, giving her access to delicious husks on the verge of despair at all times. Must be easy for her, Scylla thought as he gauged the distance between here and the nearest building rooftop.

man even i don't know what the shit | AU | open?

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