the last time someone texted toji to check up on him was, let's see, half past never, so he has no idea what normal response to this is supposed to look like. ]
[ Though he tells himself he doesn't care about his father, there's a sense of responsibility there related to what he had done. He shot him right in the heart, after all - a motion that would kill almost anyone. Though the townsfolk had reassured them it would not result in death, they don't always seem to know anything (which explains why their sham of a festival did nothing for the blood moon), so the risk that he actually had killed his father before even really getting to know him was real.
Of course, it shouldn't matter. What he did was in self-defense, and he's also taken a very dangerous, feral beast off the streets. He's definitely saved a few lives. And it isn't like he has any attachment to the man that wolf used to be. It shouldn't matter at all. Just like eliminating another curse.
Yet, it continued to gnaw at the bottom of his heart, leaving him restless and like he wants closure. He's doing things without even know why he's doing them - like preparing that box of chocolate for this father than he never got the opportunity to give out. He's thinking about things he didn't expect to be thinking about - like how, if his father did perish to that stab right in the heart, he might never see him again, and he'll never get to truly know about him.
When he thinks about the warmth his father had offered him when he was feeling cold in the streets, just a month ago, there's a sinking feeling. He doesn't understand why it occurs. He isn't supposed ot feel anything toward that man.
Unable to shake off that gnawing feeling, he visits where he had last seen Toji, showing up at Elias' door and knocking on it. There's no response, so he walks around the cottage to try and get a glimpse of the inside from the window. ]
[ it's been hard for toji for some time now. before getting to this place, even. most of his life, really. separating reality from dreams.
there were long stretches when he was a kid. it was all the same. being asleep. being awake. it was dark and there were curses and he hurt all over. he was awake if he could fight back. but sometimes he could fight back in dreams. he was asleep if he couldn't move, but sometimes hands held him down when he was awake.
he'd wake up screaming sometimes. he doesn't think he does it anymore, but he can't really be sure. he knows he used to because he'd scare her awake. he wouldn't remember until she was holding him close.
he told her it was dangerous. he didn't even like her sleeping in bed next to him. when he was a kid, he woke up once with both hands wrapped around jinichi's throat. it wasn't safe. he didn't like it.
she just held him and told him he wouldn't hurt her. and she was right, she was always right.
he never hurt her.
it didn't matter.
then it got worse. after megumi was born. toji could never tell if he was asleep or awake. the baby was crying. the baby was always crying. she was there and she wasn't. where did she go? she was just there. she would never be there again. the baby was crying. who was megumi? toji was alone. he was always alone. the baby was crying. megumi was walking, glaring, scolding. she was just there. toji was alone.
here, everything's been so surreal that it's mattered a lot less to him what is and isn't a dream. toji thought maybe it was finally over, that hazy, familiar confusion. that maybe the one thing dying gave him was clarity.
now he's back here again.
he shuts his eyes and he's at work. construction. tsumiki packed his lunch, there's a note in it. he keeps telling her to stop wasting her time. she should focus on her studies. he can figure out his own lunch. megumi hits him, right upside the head. tsumiki's hands are on her hips, and she tells him cup noodles aren't lunch.
he's sitting across the table from megumi. it's late and the kid is falling asleep. he wants to go over his kanji sheet one more time. toji's supposed to quiz him. megumi passes out right there at the table again and toji carries him to bed. he'll be mad in the morning, at toji not waking him up to finish. toji's okay with that.
toji's watching tv while megumi's rummaging around in the kitchen. megumi says something to him, but they're right at the good part of toji's show so he's not paying attention. megumi says it again and toji waves him off. megumi shoves him in the shoulder, hard, with the heel of his foot.
'dad!' he snaps, irritated, 'where did you put the extra dish soap?'
dad, dad, dad.
did megumi ever call him that? toji can't remember. was it only ever in dreams? he can't tell. he can't tell.
he's so tired.
toji shuts his eyes again, and there's megumi's voice—
'elias-san? are you home?'
that... probably isn't a dream. he sits up, looking in the direction of the voice. megumi. it's megumi. his megumi.
no, not his megumi. satoru's megumi. itadori's megumi. megumi's megumi.
dragging himself to his feet, toji tries to remember who and where and what he is, opening the back door near the window megumi's loitering outside to greet him. ]
Elias isn't home right now. Want to leave a message?
[ When he wandered over to the cottage, he was hoping to chat with Elias, get an update, drop off the box of chocolates he was originally going to drop off, then leave. He wasn't exactly prepared to face the man one on one. Does he feel guilty about what happened? He tells himself he doesn't, that he was only doing what was necessary. That's true, of course. In that state he was in, Toji was well in his capability to kill someone, especially given the fact that he would have no qualms doing so even without the moon's effects. He probably would have killed Megumi that night. It still feels like he got out of that situation by pure luck, that he's barely scraped by by the skin of his teeth. Logically, he isn't at fault, so it shouldn't be something to feel guilty about. He shouldn't even have felt mournful of the man, in fact. It wasn't like they ever had a relationship, like his father stayed or tried to have one.
Yet, after he plunged that arrow into Toji's chest and watched him writhe and eventually lose consciousness, there was that sense of loss. Though the townspeople were convinced the arrows would work, there was no way of truly knowing that. He doesn't have much of a relationship with this man yet, but if he had died then, he might never get to have one, and that alone brought on that sinking feeling. Megumi only started to understand it hours later, after he was finally able to process what he had gone through. He never hated his father. He isn't even as indifferent to him as he thought he was. Whatever this feeling toward him is, he doesn't really understand it.
When he sees the older man standing by the door, there's a sense of relief. That's expected. He didn't actually want to kill him. Megumi wasn't prepared to run into him, so he stares for a second, trying to find his words. ]
( he wonders whether or not he should send this shit in the first place, but he ends up figuring that with how much the guy has fussed over him from the start, maybe it isn't weird that he does some checking in himself. )
hey havent seen you since all the wolf bullshit started fuckers roughed me up some but im good i guess i just
[ toji's been so out of it that cain felt distant dream he had rather than all those years he never spent with megumi being the false memory. getting this text at least serves to bring reality into some fuzzy focus, even if he still itches from wanting to text megumi to ask if he'll be home for dinner.
toji stares at the message for too long, then fumbles out some sort of reply. ]
[ Megumi is still annoyed at his father, but a while back he had a conversation with Elias and that led to him making the decision to buy Toji some clothing. Left in the mailbox is a neatly wrapped parcel containing a large tunic and pants. Left on his own, he would have found a simple black garment, but Elias told him to find something with a cute design on it. This is the closest he can find. It isn't like they're back home, where printed T-shirts exist.
[ toji stares at the parcel's contents for like a full hour before he emotionally process enough to reply, and the emotion he processed was largely just confusion. he puts the clothes on, though, squinting at himself in the mirror. dressed by his own son. he's not... surprised, he supposes. if he'd lived, it would've been an inevitability he's sure.
god, being here is so fucking surreal. ]
it's 'elias-san' now? you two trading notes on me?
I need to ask you a favor, okay? It’s a pretty big one but I’ve been nice to you for a long time.
[Elias is some kind of bad mood for some reason. The chairs and the coffee table are all broken, so he’s forced to gently try to scooch Toji aside for space to sit, all while looking stressed as hell.]
I need you to be an adult for thirty minutes. [EXHALE.] What happened during your last meeting with Lumen? Or one of the recent ones. He’s upset.
[ elias what happened to your chairs... toji considers not making room for elias and inviting him instead to sit in his lap, but elias has that about-to-ask-you-for-marriage-or-to-break-up tone of voice elias's many, many girlfriends subjected him to before they did, in fact, break up so he scoots over obligingly, bracing for the hit.
and then elias....................... asks him about lumen?
toji blinks once, then squints. ]
First of all, rude. I'm always an adult, just, you know, a shitty one. Having a bad personality doesn't make me a child.
[ and then he scrubs his face, trying to figure out if there's any recent holes in his memory because that does happen to him sometimes, just big missing chunks of time but... not really? it's just been normal, and he doesn't interact a lot with lumen to begin with. ]
...at me? Because I wasn't wearing a lot of clothes? Uhh... Eating too much of the food? He hasn't said anything to me. Last time we talked...
[ he searches his memory, but nothing jumps out. ]
I dunno. Elias, I can't normally remember what I had for dinner last night. Did he tell you what was wrong, or are we doing the 'he should know what he did' shit? Because that's ex-girlfriend behavior and I don't remember dating him.
[ The text is accompanied by a picture of a... Bento box. He was serious about making dinner, it seems.
Aki has managed to get a room at the inn and left a message with the strange, goblinlike creature at the desk that if Toji arrives - and it's an if, given how he'd acted when they'd spoken before - then he can be directed to the room.
Lounging on the bed, a book from the library in his hand, Aki is doing his best to be as relaxed about this as he can. His hair is down, he's had a shower, he's ignoring the fact that he is definitely being inappropriate by having multiple partners in the span of a week - but he also has given himself permission for it. He's earned somethin to make him feel good, considering how awful things have been lately.
[ toji, as forewarned, did in fact forget. not about the encounter as a whole, he just stopped noticing the time and got caught up folding blankets, not because he was some kind of blanket folding enthusiast these days but because he decided to work out. after working out, he found he was on his last set of clean clothes when he went to get dress post-bathing, which led him to gathering laundry to wash, which was followed by the realization no one had taken the just-laundered blankets down after hanging them out to dry. so he's midway through figuring that out when the text comes in. he finishes up with the blanket he has in his arms and leaves the rest in a pile for later.
he doesn't message back until he's walking through the inn, firing off a quick message on his way to the room as instructed. ]
here, mommy ❤️
[ and then he's letting himself in, bag of water, lube, and massage oil slung over his shoulder. ]
...didn't think I took that long to get here, [ he greets, gesturing to the book as he strides over to set the bag down near the bed. ]
[Okay let's do this quick and dirty… possibly like how violence is about to be done to some Skeksis. But who am I to say.
Elias keeps his dragon hatchling safely tucked in his coat when he goes out to get food, but word has spread among the tax collectors of his continued nonpayment. That's supposed to be illegal, you know.
He's regained enough magic to blast them away most days, so they wait for when his arms are filled with grocery bags and he's hurrying home to hide himself away again to try another ambush. A small group of vultures swoop out of the trees and into him, knocking him onto the ground. Elias starts to scramble to his feet, but then he sees who it is and what they've done to his groceries and he can't help but shout in frustration.]
[ here's the thing, when it comes to elias and the groceries and the dragon. those are also toji's groceries, and while he would never say that the dragon has anything to do with him, really, he's spent enough time with and around the dragon that is not not his dragon.
the point of all that is to say, these shitty hands on tax men fucked with the wrong nerd wearing glasses today. while toji wasn't following elias or anything, he just forgot he wanted to make a request for dinner and tracked him down after he left the house, he does happen to be just catching up when elias is sent sprawling.
the lead skeksis starts to snipe back at elias' upset about the cabbage, but before it can get out another word it's interrupted by a tap to the shoulder. ]
Hey. You. [ toji addresses the creature in a low, casual tone, rolling his shoulder back to loosen the joint. ] No one fucks with my dinner.
[ the word 'dinner' is barely past toji's lips before his fist connects with the other guy's face with a wet, audible crack. ]
[In celebration of Gift Season or whatever, Toji will receive his own crocheted Tube Hat! It's in a wormish shade of pink, and has googly eyes stuck to one end.
Elias has left it on Toji's usual couch with a note:]
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text;
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the last time someone texted toji to check up on him was, let's see, half past never, so he has no idea what normal response to this is supposed to look like. ]
uh not usually but what's up?
someone die?
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Did you die?
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action thread idk - werewolf aftermath
Of course, it shouldn't matter. What he did was in self-defense, and he's also taken a very dangerous, feral beast off the streets. He's definitely saved a few lives. And it isn't like he has any attachment to the man that wolf used to be. It shouldn't matter at all. Just like eliminating another curse.
Yet, it continued to gnaw at the bottom of his heart, leaving him restless and like he wants closure. He's doing things without even know why he's doing them - like preparing that box of chocolate for this father than he never got the opportunity to give out. He's thinking about things he didn't expect to be thinking about - like how, if his father did perish to that stab right in the heart, he might never see him again, and he'll never get to truly know about him.
When he thinks about the warmth his father had offered him when he was feeling cold in the streets, just a month ago, there's a sinking feeling. He doesn't understand why it occurs. He isn't supposed ot feel anything toward that man.
Unable to shake off that gnawing feeling, he visits where he had last seen Toji, showing up at Elias' door and knocking on it. There's no response, so he walks around the cottage to try and get a glimpse of the inside from the window. ]
Elias-san? Are you home?
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there were long stretches when he was a kid. it was all the same. being asleep. being awake. it was dark and there were curses and he hurt all over. he was awake if he could fight back. but sometimes he could fight back in dreams. he was asleep if he couldn't move, but sometimes hands held him down when he was awake.
he'd wake up screaming sometimes. he doesn't think he does it anymore, but he can't really be sure. he knows he used to because he'd scare her awake. he wouldn't remember until she was holding him close.
he told her it was dangerous. he didn't even like her sleeping in bed next to him. when he was a kid, he woke up once with both hands wrapped around jinichi's throat. it wasn't safe. he didn't like it.
she just held him and told him he wouldn't hurt her. and she was right, she was always right.
he never hurt her.
it didn't matter.
then it got worse. after megumi was born. toji could never tell if he was asleep or awake. the baby was crying. the baby was always crying. she was there and she wasn't. where did she go? she was just there. she would never be there again. the baby was crying. who was megumi? toji was alone. he was always alone. the baby was crying. megumi was walking, glaring, scolding. she was just there. toji was alone.
here, everything's been so surreal that it's mattered a lot less to him what is and isn't a dream. toji thought maybe it was finally over, that hazy, familiar confusion. that maybe the one thing dying gave him was clarity.
now he's back here again.
he shuts his eyes and he's at work. construction. tsumiki packed his lunch, there's a note in it. he keeps telling her to stop wasting her time. she should focus on her studies. he can figure out his own lunch. megumi hits him, right upside the head. tsumiki's hands are on her hips, and she tells him cup noodles aren't lunch.
he's sitting across the table from megumi. it's late and the kid is falling asleep. he wants to go over his kanji sheet one more time. toji's supposed to quiz him. megumi passes out right there at the table again and toji carries him to bed. he'll be mad in the morning, at toji not waking him up to finish. toji's okay with that.
toji's watching tv while megumi's rummaging around in the kitchen. megumi says something to him, but they're right at the good part of toji's show so he's not paying attention. megumi says it again and toji waves him off. megumi shoves him in the shoulder, hard, with the heel of his foot.
'dad!' he snaps, irritated, 'where did you put the extra dish soap?'
dad, dad, dad.
did megumi ever call him that? toji can't remember. was it only ever in dreams? he can't tell. he can't tell.
he's so tired.
toji shuts his eyes again, and there's megumi's voice—
'elias-san? are you home?'
that... probably isn't a dream. he sits up, looking in the direction of the voice. megumi. it's megumi. his megumi.
no, not his megumi. satoru's megumi. itadori's megumi. megumi's megumi.
dragging himself to his feet, toji tries to remember who and where and what he is, opening the back door near the window megumi's loitering outside to greet him. ]
Elias isn't home right now. Want to leave a message?
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Yet, after he plunged that arrow into Toji's chest and watched him writhe and eventually lose consciousness, there was that sense of loss. Though the townspeople were convinced the arrows would work, there was no way of truly knowing that. He doesn't have much of a relationship with this man yet, but if he had died then, he might never get to have one, and that alone brought on that sinking feeling. Megumi only started to understand it hours later, after he was finally able to process what he had gone through. He never hated his father. He isn't even as indifferent to him as he thought he was. Whatever this feeling toward him is, he doesn't really understand it.
When he sees the older man standing by the door, there's a sense of relief. That's expected. He didn't actually want to kill him. Megumi wasn't prepared to run into him, so he stares for a second, trying to find his words. ]
... It's fine. You woke up, huh?
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text / after his second wolf fight;
hey
havent seen you since all the wolf bullshit started
fuckers roughed me up some but im good
i guess i just
dont be dead
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toji stares at the message for too long, then fumbles out some sort of reply. ]
oh, hey
alexei
who got you?
they dead?
you still bleeding?
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delivery! backdated to right after blood moon
Is this goofy? Yeah. But Megumi doesn't care.
There's a note. ]
Stop bothering Elias-san and get proper clothes.
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god, being here is so fucking surreal. ]
it's 'elias-san' now? you two trading notes on me?
un: megan
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action
Toji!
I need to ask you a favor, okay? It’s a pretty big one but I’ve been nice to you for a long time.
[Elias is some kind of bad mood for some reason. The chairs and the coffee table are all broken, so he’s forced to gently try to scooch Toji aside for space to sit, all while looking stressed as hell.]
I need you to be an adult for thirty minutes. [EXHALE.] What happened during your last meeting with Lumen? Or one of the recent ones. He’s upset.
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and then elias....................... asks him about lumen?
toji blinks once, then squints. ]
First of all, rude. I'm always an adult, just, you know, a shitty one. Having a bad personality doesn't make me a child.
[ and then he scrubs his face, trying to figure out if there's any recent holes in his memory because that does happen to him sometimes, just big missing chunks of time but... not really? it's just been normal, and he doesn't interact a lot with lumen to begin with. ]
...at me? Because I wasn't wearing a lot of clothes? Uhh... Eating too much of the food? He hasn't said anything to me. Last time we talked...
[ he searches his memory, but nothing jumps out. ]
I dunno. Elias, I can't normally remember what I had for dinner last night. Did he tell you what was wrong, or are we doing the 'he should know what he did' shit? Because that's ex-girlfriend behavior and I don't remember dating him.
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text! un: megan
daddy is still hung sorry bby
depends]just for you kid, sure. what's up.
sigh
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text.
are you busy? can we talk?
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imagine every line as a new text pinging his phone / jjk spoilers
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nsfw incoming. text to action.
[ The text is accompanied by a picture of a... Bento box. He was serious about making dinner, it seems.
Aki has managed to get a room at the inn and left a message with the strange, goblinlike creature at the desk that if Toji arrives - and it's an if, given how he'd acted when they'd spoken before - then he can be directed to the room.
Lounging on the bed, a book from the library in his hand, Aki is doing his best to be as relaxed about this as he can. His hair is down, he's had a shower, he's ignoring the fact that he is definitely being inappropriate by having multiple partners in the span of a week - but he also has given himself permission for it. He's earned somethin to make him feel good, considering how awful things have been lately.
So he waits. ]
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he doesn't message back until he's walking through the inn, firing off a quick message on his way to the room as instructed. ]
here, mommy ❤️
[ and then he's letting himself in, bag of water, lube, and massage oil slung over his shoulder. ]
...didn't think I took that long to get here, [ he greets, gesturing to the book as he strides over to set the bag down near the bed. ]
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lemme know if anything needs to be changed!
Elias keeps his dragon hatchling safely tucked in his coat when he goes out to get food, but word has spread among the tax collectors of his continued nonpayment. That's supposed to be illegal, you know.
He's regained enough magic to blast them away most days, so they wait for when his arms are filled with grocery bags and he's hurrying home to hide himself away again to try another ambush. A small group of vultures swoop out of the trees and into him, knocking him onto the ground. Elias starts to scramble to his feet, but then he sees who it is and what they've done to his groceries and he can't help but shout in frustration.]
Come on!
[The lead Skeksis:] Give us your dragon!
No! You've ruined my fucking cabbages!
IT'S PERFECT
the point of all that is to say, these shitty hands on tax men fucked with the wrong nerd wearing glasses today. while toji wasn't following elias or anything, he just forgot he wanted to make a request for dinner and tracked him down after he left the house, he does happen to be just catching up when elias is sent sprawling.
the lead skeksis starts to snipe back at elias' upset about the cabbage, but before it can get out another word it's interrupted by a tap to the shoulder. ]
Hey. You. [ toji addresses the creature in a low, casual tone, rolling his shoulder back to loosen the joint. ] No one fucks with my dinner.
[ the word 'dinner' is barely past toji's lips before his fist connects with the other guy's face with a wet, audible crack. ]
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text;
[look, she doesn't know. She knows they seem interested in the dragons, but who knows about everyone else!!]
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a normal amount of time after his return;
whose couch you crashing on these days huh
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the message itself is direct, familiar. cain remembers him, remembers them. is toji going to process all that right now? nah. he types quickly back. ]
elias is still putting up with me for some reason. something really wrong with that man.
you?
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[ DELIVERY - HOLIDAY PRESENT ]
Elias has left it on Toji's usual couch with a note:]
TOJI: FOR YOU
For gift season
Your worm