linkingup | mid-week 11; un: monday

[ With the regression of the city, working at Sunset Theater has quickly become less enjoyable than it used to be. Though the cast remembers the rapport McGillis had built with them, even if they're more standoffish now. And it's not as though McGillis had placed much stock in his interpersonal relationships to the random citizens, but... the shift in atmosphere serves as a tangible reminder. That this is temporary. That this world is susceptible to insane levels of mind manipulation. That he wants to leave.

Leave and... do what? That's the question that has haunted McGillis for weeks now, and the countdown is mercilessly continuing. Soon Braphine will release them from her hold, one way or another. Soon, he'll have to know. And so will everyone else. ]

Just a little over two weeks until we're free from this, if Braphine really keeps her word and the God of Conflict doesn't swallow up all her power. Until then we'll doubtlessly face a number of additional challenges and hassles, but while we're still in the quiet before the storm...

Are you going home to your own worlds after this? Or will you take Braphine up on her offer and come along with one of your 'bonds'? What is your world like? What is making you return? What is making you abandon it?

And if you're like me and cannot return to where you came from no matter what, maybe the answers can give you some perspective.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ McGillis isn't the cuddly type per se, but there's just something about the way Izou keeps trying to find ways to melt more and more into him... It'd be hard to imagine he'd just come here resolved to kill, yet it's the undeniable truth. ]

I would not.

[ Would not, could not. Izou is a frustrating individual, still. Overemotional, stubborn about all the wrong things, loud and sometimes graceless... But it's Izou who's scarred McGillis for life, it's Izou whose heated emotions are melting McGillis' defenses. He needs to see how far they can go, together. ]

And this... incident made me more certain that you would not do so either. I do apologize for getting you worked up over nothing though.

[McGillis becomes a dog owner, to his own surprise.]

S'fine. I get that you get all hot and bothered when I get murdery on ya.

[It's said like teasing but also he's pretty sure this is just a true fact. It's one of the reasons he's so unguarded with McGillis and so attached. He can be his whole Too Much self, and McGillis seems to not only tolerate it but revel in it.]

I could still kill that guy for you if ya change yer mind.

[ Well, McGillis can't deny that assessment. The whole murder thing would be less endearing if it kept him from reaching goals he set for himself... but seeing as that's not the case now, McGillis can simply bask in the obsession being heaped upon him. Things he wouldn't have let himself appreciate in life that feel deeply precious now.

Then Izou brings up Iznario and startles McGillis with it. But unlike the other time this has come up, he's not freezing up now. It's progress. ]

... I'm starting to see the appeal in watching you slice him into tiny pieces, but no. I don't think either of us should ever go back to my world.

If we opened a path to that place which doesn't involve returning to my moment of death, I'd want to figure out a way to go home after all.

[ In fact, if the faint possibility of it had occured to him a few weeks back he'd already be completely set on it. ]

That's not in your best interest either.

[Izou, of course, hadn't even thought it through far enough to realize said logistical issues that it would present. But these issues make sense to him so that settles that as far as he's concerned. He was mostly bringing it up as an act of flirting. Offering acts of service but all he knows how to do is kill.]

Mm. In that case, I guess you'll just have ta see me in action in some other scenario so you can imagine it properly.

[Izou in the middle of a mission just shouting MCGILLIS WATCH ME KILL THIS GUY!!! IT'S FOR YOU!!!]

I'll be looking forward to that. Palaces hold you back too much, so they feel like they're only a preview.

[ Can't aim to kill the Palace owner, as McGillis has learned the hard way.....

But when Izou does what he does best, kill humanoid enemies... McGillis knows he'll be spellbound watching it. The power of a demon is the greatest bewitching power in this world. ]

It ain't just that we gotta hold back in palaces, but bein' here all of my parameters are basically back to what they were when I was alive. I'll be stronger and faster when we're back in Chaldea.

[He leans away just so he can flex like a big dork.]

[ This is why he called you cute at the polycule meeting...

But also he's genuinely interested in the power metrics here, so he won't even comment on it with anything other than a smile. ]

How strong is that, exactly?

[Considering this.]

Well I ain't that strong fer a heroic spirit, but I could still pick you up easy. Far as speeds concerned I can do a proper flash step.

[McGillis learns his boyfriend can teleport.]

[ He's not asking about flash step now. This is both because he feels like it'll be more impressive to just make Izou show him once he's able, and because he has something much more important to say instead: ]

Should I look forward to a romantic bridal carry then?

[ It's a joke because it'd look ridiculous but it's also not a joke because it would be genuinely funny. ]

mid-week 11; un: monday

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