bury me — r&v / in every universe

Post by lucius branwen / 10 — fox on Dec 28, 2023 23:07:00 GMT -5

cont.

i had a dream where you kill me.

The water dries on their skin beneath the warm afternoon sun. The grain of midday settles into the crevices of the atmosphere.

you had a knife. but i wasn't afraid.

They rest their hand on his chest. All around them, the ocean pushes and pulls, but his lungs stay still. No tide of breathing. The first people were washed from the sea, just driftwood before given life. Thousands of years later, it is the only remnant, all people still carrying the rhythm of the ocean in their ribcages.

for a long time, i didn't understand.

Carefully, they pull him into their arms. Rest his head against their own chest.

everything wants to live. in some way. it is an instinct to stay alive. i know,

They hold his hands.

because of all the times. i wasn't certain if it was true.

The pulse in their wrists.

but i stayed. my body stayed. kept me alive. i wasn't afraid, but something in me was still scared. even when i came here, ready to serve.

They stretch out his palms, like they did in Five, pressed to the tremors as they washed them in water. He's motionless now, but it's a memory.

when you flinch away from fire. instinct. when you walk into water. your lungs still ask you to breathe.

The crash of the ocean fades out. The sand crumbles away to the colour of the void. They are on the darkening road, like so many times before in their dreams. The fox is not there. It's just Roe this time, laid in their arms. His outline glows faintly like flame.

but i let you kill me.

The sound of embers. Of wood breaking.

because,

There's the feeling of pebbles beneath their knees. They touch his face.

The road stretches on.

you are the thing that keeps me alive.

It goes dark.

Roe. wake up.