castaside | [Heart Game] From the ashes we can build

~~For ease, they're always going right. What matters is consistency! Left is just traditional.~~

Oh.

He hates that feeling. The worry he's going to be alone again.

"Yes," Red Son said, pressing closer to MK's side. Moving further down the corridor. "At least we'll know rather quickly if the walls are moving." He keeps going forward with his hand tracing along the right wall, letting the string trail along.

You traverse the maze with that oppressive feeling bearing down on you. Not loneliness exactly, but fears of loneliness.

There is only one way to go for several turns. Each turn you have to check the string, your memory. You might be losing your way. You might be losing yourself. Everything looks and feels the same. Maybe you've been in here forever.

You find a single red feather laying in the corridor at the 7th bend in the hall.

Edited 2024-03-13 17:25 (UTC)

MK tried to pour his focus into the drawing. Turn after turn. But no forks or other ways to go. Just twists in the hallway. MK pressed closer to Red Son, just making sure he was still there. That they weren't alone. That he wasn't alone.

The feather was a stark difference in this place! MK didn't hesitate to pick it up.

"Finally!" MK was excited to touch something new. To feel it. Bring it on!

And this? This feeling? Is why you leave a string AND keep your hand on the wall. Anytime he starts to doubt, he just remembers he Has Not Removed His Hand.

Its fine. This is fine.

Except MK just rushes to pick things up. "MK-" He starts, but nope. There he goes.

You are Macaque, and you are behaving oddly.

Or so some others might think. You're squishier on the inside than you let on, is all. And you can't bring yourself to turn away someone who you happen to like when they need comfort. At least not right now.

You're sitting in the weremonkey's playroom, with Red Son. He's crying on your shoulder. You've been talking, really opening up, and for you this is new. You've never done this with anyone before, not really. It's always been giving just enough of yourself to be what someone needs and hiding the rest. But he talks, and you want to listen. You hear how Wukong hurt him, and it makes you angry.

He hears how Wukong hurt you, and your fears about what Heaven's plans might have been for Wukong and the Brotherhood. He listens. You listen. You hear each other.

It leaves you a little dizzy despite that you're sitting down, despite the touch energy that's flowing between you since you stay holding him even after he's been soothed and evened out. You had thought the sex was just sex, as it usually has been for you, but what if it wasn't?

The thought of having a friend is so foreign that you're not sure what to do with it. But, for now, you don't fight it.

Edited 2024-03-13 17:38 (UTC)

It was a lot but it was a lot of good. A lot. Friends. Something happy. Comfort. Red Son crying wasn't good. MK swallowed and quickly relinked arms with Red Son. At least things were better now between his boyfriends. Okay. That was something to take in for MK for a moment. No longer Mentor and Boyfriend but boyfriends. Funny how sometimes you don't just notice those kinds of changes until they dawn on you.

Finally MK held out the feather to Red Son.

"I think this is actually for you."

Red Son waited for some kind of terrible reaction. The grim atmosphere of the room IS worrying.

But MK is smiling?

Red Son is confused, but he takes the feather and-

Oh.

He blushes. "That-" He's just. Going to put it in his bag. "He's always so soft."

"I mean, you're part of why. You help him. You helped him open up. Talk about his issues. He'd never do that with me before. Keep a hold of it. I think you'll need it. This place feels...heavy," MK said with a nod. He started walking again, letting Red Son hold the feather.

"We gotta keep going. Find where the void is. Find the right memory. Then get out," If we can.

THIS ASSAULT.

Red Son gets more red, hair flaring up. "We just...talked," he said. And he cried on him.

But he can't deny it had been a relief. To get the feelings and frustrations out of his head, not being so trapped in the feelings like he had been.

He nods. "I'll keep a hold of it," he said. "Let's go." He squeezes his arm and gets his hand on the wall to move forward.

You keep walking. There are no more forks in the hallway. Just endless hallway that sometimes bends this way or that way. It feels interminable. It feels like suns rising and setting, every day the same. You feel disoriented sometimes, like you want to sit and rest and accept the inevitable. The lights feel too bright. The shadows feel too strange.

You come to what appears to be a dead end. There is a portrait of Macaque on the wall... or what once was a portrait. It's all torn up, Beauty and the Beast style.

There is some light peeking from beneath the wall directly in front of you.

This maze was hard to get through. Hard to keep walking. It was just beating down on them. MK was popping candies every once in a while. Just to keep some good feelings going. Finally they reach another thing. Something new they can focus on.

MK reached out to touch the portrait. See if it had any memories or feelings. Maybe see if he can see where that light was coming from on the other side too.

"Remind me...to paint him a portrait when this is all over. Sometime."

The portrait does not give you any new information about the light. All you can tell is that the wall seems to stop a fraction of a centimeter above the floor and the harsh light is streaming in from the other side.

When you touch the portrait, you feel even more disoriented. Who are you? What are you here for? Why do you keep going? What is your purpose? Why does everything you try to do feel this way? Will you ever find solid footing again?

The feeling was oppressive. Almost too much. Almost. But he's always been one to keep walking despite feeling like he couldn't get anywhere. Especially for love. He could keep going for that.

Its easier with MK to hold onto.

He looks at the portrait, frowning. "I think that would be nice." He reaches out, feeling along the wall, trying to find any kind of indent or hint for a secret switch.

Who was he? Why was he here? Why did he keep going? What was the point? MK stumbled forward and pulled back as he tore his hand away from the portrait. The feelings lingered and pressed down on MK. It was so painful yet familiar. That was the worst part. It was all so familiar. MK reached out and grabbed hold of Red Son. He just needed to hold someone he knew. Why did he do this?

For his friends. For his family. For the people he loved. His boyfriends. His mate. He did it all for them. Without them, he was empty. Without them, if he was alone, he'd be nothing. No one. MK looked up at the ripped portrait. He spilled his crayons and paper on the ground and started to draw. He looked up for reference, trying to piece together what was missing and kept going.

"You...are the Six Earred Macaque. You hear everything. You control shadows. You survive. You are on this whole not dying kick and loving it. You're a friend. A boyfriend. A mentor. That's who you are. And you're not allowed to forget it."

Red Son, while he looked for a switch, MK tried to recreate the portrait in crayon. He could stick it on. Fix the portrait. Maybe that would move it. Maybe it was a void like that. That made sense, right?

Red Son doesn't find a switch. But the wall suddenly shimmies, and opens. It knocks the portrait onto the floor.

Red Son watches MK stumble away, reaching out to grab onto him again, pull him close. "Noodle Boy...?"

But then he was on the ground and started drawing like a mad man and talking. He's just watching for a minute as he feels along the wall because. Because well. MK may needed to get that out a bit.

Then the wall is gone. Red Son kneels down to pick up the portrait, to set it aside. "Are you all right, MK?"

MK didn't hear the nickname. He was busy drawing, rambling, and just focusing on fixing this. The wall moved and the portrait fell. MK threw up his arms in triumph! His smile was forced and his eyes focused on the way forward. He moved his drawings and gently set them on the portrait, trying to piece meal it together again with his drawings.

"It doesn't feel right to leave it like this. There. Now it's complete again. Huh?" He blinked and looked up at Red Son.

"Oh! I'm fine. Yeah. I'm good. I'm used to this," He said as he pushed himself to his feet finally. He linked arms again with his mate. "Let's keep going! Gotta keep moving. Gotta keep going." Mk walked forward, pulling Red Son along if he had to.

You leave the (now revised) portrait where it is, and proceed through the passage. You only turn one corner before you come to a fork, at long last. You can turn right, or go straight.

You feel rushed. Like you should hurry. You want to be out of here. You have to keep shaking your head to avoid it fogging over with uncertainty and doubt.

"...you should eat more of the candy," Red Son said, linking arms again and going forward. He is concerned, but they have to keep going.

Especially as it feels urgent.

He takes a breath and leads them right.

You head to the right, into the offshoot. You turn a corner and... there is a void.

You feel this corridor closing in. You can almost see it on the periphery of your vision, but when you look all is normal. This place is not safe. You need to leave. It is pressing on the throat of you who are, cutting off your air.

But there is the void. Do you fill it with what you have, or leave and intend to come back later?

The panic was rising. The void was RIGHT THERE and everything felt like it could close in on them at any moment?! Do they throw in the feather? Was the feather even right? DID IT MATTER?! MK's breathing was sliding into hyperventilating. He was losing it. He popped more candies into his mouth and touched the sun plush. Everything could go horribly if they didn't do something soon!

"F-Feather or do we come back?" MK made sure to circle in black where in his map they were. They could come back. They could find more memories. All the rooms had more than one. He was so scared. What if they messed up? If this place crushed them, then what?!

The candies help ground you a little. The sun also helps a little. This space still feels wrong to you, but it's far more tolerable this way.

The candies feel like Macaque holding you and telling you it's okay. The sun plush makes you feel warm and safe and loved.

Oh MK was losing it.

Red Son feels the pressure to. He does. That running out of time feeling that leads to long nights and skipped meals.

But it's hard to panic when his beloved is.

Priorities. He is more of a priority than his anxiety and that provides clarity.

He turns to MK, pulls him close in a hug, and reaches into the bag for his stress ball and squeezes.

Red Son's stress ball ticks down to ~~I THINK~~ "4", and a shadowy Macaque peels away from one of the deeper shadows in the hallway and moves toward them. As soon as he's in sight, you feel much relieved.

This one can't speak, but he wraps his arms around both of you. You feel calm and grounded. You feel like yourself. You feel loved and cherished. You feel like this place can't beat you. The feeling will linger for a while.

Breathe. Breathe. It's alright. They're safe. Loved. This place was terrifying but nothing they couldn't handle. Just focus. Re-focus. Get in the right headspace. Don't drag Red Son down. This had to be hard on him too. Don't let it pull him down. Not again. He can't fail again. The feeling of his love was enough to get himself back on track.

"...I'm okay. I'm okay now. The feather is a terrible choice. We gotta keep looking. Don't...we're not putting that good feeling in with all this. No way."

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door