shellphones | 001 🔥 TEXT - WANTED: PLUSH TOY MAKER

[Darin shakes his, numb as it is, grinning through the pain once the handshake is released.]

Relax...I work around molten metal for a living. You think I've never been burned? Hell, I've burned my own eyebrows off three separate times!

[He lets out a laugh as he continues to shake his hand at the wrist.]

Besides...I...might be uniquely talented enough to handle your fire.

[He holds his burned hand up...and while it's certainly charred and blistered...there's parts of it that already seem like they're getting better. Darin's healing ability is already kicking in and by tomorrow it'll just look like a bad burn. In a couple of days? It'll be like it never happened.]

Eyebrows are—

( karlach begins to argue, ready to make a point that nearly destroying one's hand is on a completely different level than singeing some hair. then darin lifts up his affected hand, parts of the damage already lessened from their fiery handshake, and karlach doesn't know what to say. )

Huh.

( she lets out a loud sigh of relief. the kind of relief that comes with knowing that she didn't just permanently disfigure a new friend. )

Do you always heal like that?

( better yet. )

It still hurts, doesn't it?

Like a bastard but the point is...it won't always. And considering you're burning from the inside out means I can afford a little pain if it means winning your trust.

[Despite it all, he's still grinning, even as he shakes his hand and sweat pours down his skin. Darin's no stranger to grievous injuries and at least this one is on his terms.]

...Yeah. I was born...erm. Special. I won't lie, I may have a personal reason why I was interested in you from the start.

I guess you could say I'm a reincarnation of something powerful. A uh...demonic god.

Well, half of one. My twin brother's the other half.

( there's probably something to be said about the lengths that darin was quick to go through for the sake of winning of her trust, but the topic is immediately forgotten in light of his personal reveal. he starts with "special" and ends with "reincarnation of a demon god".

what a whopper.

karlach blinks, followed by a quick shake of the head as she tries to take in the new information. )

Sounds like you've got a story to tell.

( and karlach thinks that she'd like to hear it. )

Got a place for me to sit?

Pretty sure we all do but...well, mine's not as happy as I probably make it sound.

[Darin motions to some chairs in a small waiting area near the front of the forge itself. For people who want to hang out and watch him while he works on their orders or simply want to strike up conversations with him.]

So...where do you want me to begin?

( following the gesture, karlach takes a seat in one of the chairs. )

You and your twin are parts of a god? That seems pretty heavy.

( an understatement. )

What's that mean for you?

[Darin sighs a bit. Sharing this part is...never easy. It's gotten better...people like Zelda accepting him and choosing to see the best in him certainly has helped. But the old stigmas remain like scars on his heart.]

...Only a few people know what I am. Zelda, the woman who works with me here knows so...we can always talk about it freely here but...I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else.

I'm...half of a demonic god of destruction. Goes by the name of Diomuhr. My twin brother and I were each born with half of his soul. It cost the life of my mother but...the trade off is I can heal from wounds like that.

I can also do this.

[He walks over to the huge anvil by the forge and proceeds to pick it up with one hand like it was a large apple. He tosses it up and down a few times before he sets it back down with a deafening CLANG.]

The bad news is...apparently I'm prophesied to be the destroyer of my world. Me n'Dromas both. Two half of the same whole, you get the picture.

People with hair like mine...they're said to have corrupted blood. We're "cursed." Descended from demonkin and beastkin. In my case...my parents were human but thanks to the lucky reincarnation lottery...[Darin gestures at his hair.]

I've spent my life trying to be something different but most people just see the hair and...that's it. So...when I met you...

...I dunno. Just kinda hoped I'd found a kindred spirit. Y'know?

( while the show of strength wasn't anything particularly new for karlach, the additional knowledge that darin was one half of a demonic god was. she definitely hadn't heard like that before.

it's a really heavy thing to learn.

or it would be until darin just says something completely bizarre. )

What?

( she makes a circling gesture with her finger towards darin's hair. )

Your hair? The problem was your hair? Your cute fairy hair?

( karlach's expression pinches in confusion. there's no way he would be pulling her leg, right?

no, he seems like a good guy. )

"C-Cute...?"

[Wait. Wait, what? His cheeks flush red when she calls his hair 'cute.']

Uh...did you...miss the part where I said I was born to destroy my world? Demonic god?

Karlach, I can juggle anvils!

[HE PICKS THE ANVIL UP AGAIN!! AND TOSSES IT FROM HAND TO HAND!!! SEE???]

Edited 2024-09-29 20:37 (UTC)

Yeah, yeah, I heard those parts.

( waving her hand. that's not the part she walks to talk about. not at the moment.

no, she'd rather to get to the root of this hair issue before either of them loses the strand of conversation. )

But I don't understand the problem with your hair is supposed to be?

[Darin just...stares agape.]

Uh...okay...

So...people don't have hair like mine. Not normally? You only have uniquely colored hair if you're descended from beastkin or demonkin.

And...the church has kind of painted people like that to be 'pitiable.'

Then...well, there's the fact that my mom died giving birth to my brother and I and then my dad and brother were murdered by monsters. I only survived because I played dead after I was cut down. After that...people just treated me like I was cursed. Like staying with them was inviting the same fate onto their homes that befell mine...

[Darin turns around and hikes up his shirt to show a monstrously jagged scar across his muscular back.]

Uniquely coloured hair? What's that supposed to even mean?

( karlach asks, still bewildered by this newfound concept of discrimination based off of hair colour. she had thought that she had heard just about all of the reasons why someone else might hate another in her lifetime already.

but this one, this one she's struggling with.

especially as darin continues, explaining both how he lost his family in a horrific and tragic way and the people around him abandoned him. karlach couldn't give a wet fuck what he was prophesied to do or whether or not those townspeople were aware of it. they turned away what must have been a child.

experiencing a living nightmare.

gods.

she presses a hand to forehead, touching her claws against her temple in an attempt to soothe the rage building inside of her. with any luck, darin doesn't turn back around to see the way that her flames flash blue-violet in anger. )

How old? How old were you when that happened?

( there's a terseness to her voice. )

Uh...six...? Seven?

Pretty young. Let's see...Acteon adopted me I think I was almost eight...? I was on my own for about a year being bounced around...the timeline's kinda fuzzy.

I try not to think about it...?

[He's too busy trying to remember to really notice Karlach.]

( it feels like she can't breathe. there's nothing but smoke and fury bubbling up in her throat, rumbling within her like the fire within a dragon.

karlach doesn't say anything else, doesn't think that she can. she thinks that if she opens her mouth, she might start screaming and if she starts screaming, she knows wouldn't stop. not for a while. probably not until she reduced most of this freshly opened workshop to molten metal.

and darin doesn't deserve that.

she has to keep her cool. she has to.

karlach lets out a little breath, along with small wisps of flame. she needs to get herself under control, but she also needs to take action. right now. she's not sure she can continue to passively listen, not when her heart aches for him. for what it must have been like. so she stands up and fishes around in her pouch, pulling out her gloves.

they're already on in a flash, covering all of the exposed skin of her hands and arms. )

I'm sorry this happened to you.

( she tells him as she steps closer, leaning down to wrap her arms around him. karlach's embrace is warm, almost overly and uncomfortably so, but safe with the protection of her specialised clothing. )

W-Whoa...!

[Darin hadn't even noticed that Karlach was getting worked up. Had this been a few months ago, Darin might have even locked up at being hugged. "Touch-starved" doesn't even begin to describe Darin but...some things have changed. He's gotten better at letting people get close to him. It's still scary as all hell but...well, new things are scary.]

[Fortunately, Darin's used to being in hot areas. There's nothing 'uncomfortable' about this. Not for him.]

[Darin lets out a small laugh.]

H-Hey...it's alright. If those things hadn't happened...well, Acteon wouldn't have adopted me. And he's the one who taught me how to be a smith. And if that hadn't happened...I wouldn't be able to help you...

So...in my eyes? It was worth it.

( karlach doesn't share in the same opinion. as far as she's concerned, it isn't okay and it doesn't balance out just because things have worked out for the better in the now.

she lets out an exhale, fire still chasing along her breath. )

That doesn't make it OK.

( karlach tells him with a little squeeze. )

You're more than what you look like or the destiny that's attached to you.

( emphatically. )

Fuck destiny, right? We make our own future.

[Darin doesn't know what to say at first. Logically, he knows Karlach is right. Just because he's where he is now, it doesn't mean that everything he endured was justified. But...it's still complicated for him to admit as much knowing now what he is.]

[He's supposed to destroy his world. He might end up destroying this one. Is it really okay to just...act as if everything is alright?]

[But the sentiments Karlach is trying to convey draw a soft, honest smile on his face.]

That's the other great thing about being a smith. If I don't like something, I can just forge something different.

( now that's when karlach lets out a little laugh. )

No, that's the great part about being alive.

( she offers darin one last squeeze before pulling away, holding him by the shoulders. )

As long as you're alive, you can take fate into your own hands. As long as we're alive.

[It's...so weird. He's never met someone who could regurgitate his own words right back at him. Someone who matched his hot-blooded energy. He'd always wondered what it would be like if Dromas had survived and he had a brother to match his energy to.]

[Maybe this is what it was like.]

[A grin widens across his face.]

Now you're speaking my language, Karlach! Anyone or anything that thinks they can take these lives of ours away is going to have to pry them from our hands!

[He holds a hand up for her to clasp in solidarity.]

Gods above it's good to meet someone who gets it!

( what a complete lunatic.

karlach grins before letting out a loud laugh. )

I can't believe you want to do this twice.

( while having her gloves on now made her safe to touch, it didn't erase the fact that she had just scorched the fuck out of his skin moments ago. yet here darin is, ready with his hand extended.

she lets her own hands fall away from his shoulders, taking a step back, before grabbing the offered hand with equal enthusiasm. )

You're a real freak, you know? But I'm glad we met. Glad to be friends.

( because of course. he'd already made it clear that he's a friend.

using their joined hands, she uses it to tug him forward slightly as she leans down to leer. )

So, what's next? You wanna draw me? Fondle my chest a little?

['Glad to be friends.']

[He's still not used to that idea. Of having friends. Never in all of his life would he think he'd make friends with someone with similar ties to fiends as him but he might even be able to save her life with his skills! It's like a dream come true!]

[He's so thrilled that Karlach's question doesn't register right away.]

Yeah, actually if I can sketch the engine so I have a better idea of—

[Wait.]

[Did she just—]

[Naturally since the offer was made he very stupidly just looks at her chest because he hasn't processed exactly what she just asked him.]

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1/??? LOL HOLY SHIT

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