bearshermark: credit: <user name="morninglight"> (child of light)
Eleven ([personal profile] bearshermark) wrote in [community profile] westwhere2021-05-22 08:32 pm

a ray of light shone in my darkness

WHO: Eleven + various! YOU, if u want
WHEN: Late May
WHERE: The farm
WHAT: Catch-all for misc threads
WARNINGS: Violence, dark topics?

[ooc: prompts in comments. if you've got an idea for a thread outside of El's open thread that you think would work better here, go for it. If you'd like to work something out, pm or plurk!]
darkeststars: (wtf)

[personal profile] darkeststars 2021-05-23 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
Archeval tries not to lean on the Force too much in their sparring matches, considering the whole point is to practice pure saber techniques rather than beat up his opponent, but sometimes reflexes and the way he's using his powers to hold up the metal blade get the better of him. He's looking startled, chagrined and perhaps a little worried right now as he lets the tip of Eleven's borrowed sword drop, not having meant to put so much power behind that strike -- it... it was him, right? He knocked over Eleven on accident from failing to hold back? That's the only thing that makes sense, anyway, normally El is more than match enough for Arche's own half-improvised technique when they're purely sparring...

He shifts his grip on the sword as he hurries over to the other's side.

"Did I-- get you in the chest...?" He's frowning down at the other young man for a moment, propping the tip of the sword against the ground as he bends to offer El a hand up. He's gotten a lot freer with this particular gesture lately.

"Don't know what you're apologizing for, things happen in a spar, just-- Are you injured?"
darkeststars: (i don't have a weak stomach)

[personal profile] darkeststars 2021-05-23 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
"I should try to... what do you mean?" Arche's frown just deepens as he glances El up and down, hand on his hip, trying to make sense of what just happened.

"Are you saying I should go for the chest? Is that--"

For a second, he hesitates. If it were him, he wouldn't want somebody prying into something like this, but. Eleven's all but gone and brought it up himself--

"Are you talking about... the spot with the scar...? I haven't ever noticed you favor it before."
weifinder: (wait | be my shelter)

[personal profile] weifinder 2021-05-23 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
Wei Wuxian is not well versed in certain kinds of easy interactions at this age, but he's been learning his way back toward them, courtesy of his rediscovered son and his nephew, so greatly wronged by the world. Which doesn't make him less awkward in the catacombs of his own mind when he finds Eleven in the wake of the burning, as the susurrations of wind through frozen limbs of nearby trees carries over their mutual silences.

Or the silence that falls when whatever prayers it is Eleven puts out into the world find a trailing end.

Grief over situations one could do nothing about is something he's familiar with, and pragmatic about these days; the personal griefs are ones he's still slowly dealing with, instead of shoving off to never examine again. It didn't, however, make him any good at offering solace to others, but it has reminded him there's importance in trying.

So when he does find Eleven as the funeral has wound down, he slings an arm around his shoulders and pulls him in for a side hug, partly to leave the young man easy room for escape.

"How are you holding up, ah?"
paperbutterflies: (Look down)

after the conversation with the miners

[personal profile] paperbutterflies 2021-05-23 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Sizhui is upset by what has been revealed, but he is way too used to having other juniors around him to lose himself to it. Rather, he keeps an eye on the rather shocked younger boy and, once they are outside, stops.

Tears are streaming down his own face, but he ignores them to step in front of Eleven.

"Come. I'll make us some warm tea."

This ... all of this leaves one cold from the inside. Tea doesn't solve anything, and, yet.
darkeststars: (eyebrow)

[personal profile] darkeststars 2021-05-23 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
".....what, your... goddess?"

What is it that Eleven called it again? The 'spirit of the Luminary'? Hm. Apparently Archeval heard the word without properly registering it, at the time. He hadn't expected to find out that Eleven's life is, apparently, very much defined by it. He'd like to say something about the Force inside El having recovered from the previous attack against him, but Arche has become painfully aware lately that his own theories about where they are, and where all these people and their powers come from, may not be an adequate explanation for things--...

"...I thought you said you had that literally ripped out of you."

He scratches his chin for a moment with a thoughtful hum, trying to figure out what to make of this information.

"How did it -- get there? Did you do something? Or if something happened around here--..." He definitely doesn't trust any of the prevailing supernatural powers of this area, okay.
darkeststars: (eyebrow)

[personal profile] darkeststars 2021-05-23 07:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"When who tried to what?" A squint from the Sith Lord. He did offer to the Merchant to catalogue the capabilities of all the newcomers, after all, and it's very relevant to his own interests as well; might as well try to get the specifics. The redness of El's face does not go unnoticed, but rosy cheeks are a pretty common sight on humans after exertion out in the cold, and -- sorry, Eleven, you made friends with somebody who only barely knows how to do feelings.

"You lent your power to this person for some reason, though, and then what, you just... hadn't reached that far inside yourself of late? To not have noticed?..."

He cocks his head to one side with a curious glance.

"--only stands to reason, though, I should think. Something you were literally born with, a part of who you are, surely shouldn't be so simple to just rip away."

He doesn't know anything about how this whole Yggdrasil business actually works, of course, but -- it comes as no real surprise to Arche even so. From the moment he could first feel Eleven in the Force, the light bursting out of him was impossible to miss. Then again...Arche had rather felt the same way even before getting his powers back, so perhaps that's just his own bias talking.
Edited 2021-05-23 19:06 (UTC)
darkeststars: (eyebrow)

[personal profile] darkeststars 2021-05-23 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Archeval gives a long, thoughtful hum, and finally...

"Well. What have some of us been saying, hm?" He casts Eleven a dry look.

"You haven't failed yet, now have you?" His gaze and voice soften a little, however, as he glances away down toward the sword he's propped up against the floor, his thumb rubbing idly up and down the hilt. "You're just in the middle of finding the solution. Of course, in the middle, it always looks like everyone's going to die and everything's irreversibly gone to shit... until it doesn't. At least, in my own experience."

The words are murmured out with a low, irreverent, almost fond sort of humor, and he lifts the sword then to toss it idly in his hand a little. He's certainly seen El summon some impressive displays of power before, and the idea of all that being only the tip of the iceberg... well. Fortunate for the refugees, if anything. They can all certainly use all the help they can get.

"What did this so-called 'god' need your power for, hm?" He's not going to even bother to pretend he puts any stock in that hilarious idea, but if this Xie Lian has any harmful designs on their local hero, the local Dark Lord might have a thing or two to say about it.
darkeststars: (eyebrow)

[personal profile] darkeststars 2021-05-23 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ah." He gives a thoughtful hum. "Involved with Wei Wuxian's plan, then. I see."

Interesting that a 'god' would need to borrow power from anyone at all, of course, but he's not surprised his quite credulous friend decided to take the words at face value.

"Withdrew, though? I thought you said you'd already let him do something to you. Did he get a part of it? What exactly went down here?"

Arche squints over at Eleven, feeling as though he must be missing something. Or perhaps that's a premonition of the Force niggling at him to dig deeper? He doesn't know a thing about this Xie Lian, after all; it somehow seems like there must be some crucial fact being left out here.
Edited 2021-05-23 20:36 (UTC)
darkeststars: (stern)

[personal profile] darkeststars 2021-05-23 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Another frown from Archeval, then, as his own thoughts go in a similar direction.

"...and you didn't mention it to me? I don't hand out power to just any charlatan, but I certainly have more to spare than many, and technique enough to safely give and take."

Apparently he's just not going to leave well enough alone, too bad for Eleven. The embarrassment and discomfort in the look on El's face, though, and the feelings drifting around him, are becoming an increasing source of confusion.
Edited 2021-05-23 20:56 (UTC)
darkeststars: (oh come on)

[personal profile] darkeststars 2021-05-23 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
What. He pauses and squints at El for a long several moments before finally uttering, deadpan:

"Are you entirely sure you didn't just get taken in by a garden-variety pervert?"
darkeststars: (eyebrow)

[personal profile] darkeststars 2021-05-23 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
"I see, I see."

There's a couple seconds' pause before, somehow even more deadpan than before:

"Just wanted to keep him to yourself then, hm?"

(Of course he's not enjoying this, shh.)

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