ENDPLOT | ROLL THE BONES, PART 1

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: Early/Mid November
Location: Under the shell
Situation: It's either Malicant or the Foreigners... and their worlds.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.

The Foreigners had begun their counterattack by trying to possess the Great Turtle whom Malicant had taken, and although the movement had failed, some vital information had been uncovered. Under the shell lay Malicant's weakness, and inside the Dreaming was where he could be fought.

Any help from the kedan is uncommon. They're wary, watching, as a group beginning to lose sight of the community. Their family groups are more tightly-knit than ever, and any approach from the Foreigners is answered by suspicion at best and violence at worst. That makes daily life difficult, when the majority of the city refuses to have much to do with them. Why aren't you doing anything? they seem to say. What good are any of you? All you've done is make things worse. We'd be better if you'd never come.

The Foreigners are unwelcome in Keeliai. The cultists are becoming a majority. Now is the time.

There aren't many left of the Foreigners left, but inside the Dreaming the limitations of the waking world no longer exist. For every Foreigner and their worlds, their loved ones, this is the chance to make themselves safe for good. And all of them will be needed.

---

LINKS
Beneath The Shell/Midnight Hotel | Malicant’s Tools/The Vilii Stone | OOC Plot Post

OOC
There are two main headers, one for preparation at the Hotel where Milyn and Eva will be available to speak with The second section where they will be able to search the caves beneath the Shell inside the Dreaming to find the Vilii Stone, and where the boon'd characters will be affected. If you are threading something that doesn't fit one of those categories, just add it to the bottom of the post. Questions go to the plotting post, please! Once the Stone has been acquired the second half of the plot will go live in the logs comm.

Comments

[wrathfulkhan]

When the faceplate opens, Gene sinks to his knees, his fingernails digging into his scalp as he covers his face with his forearms. He doesn't want Tony to look at him.

Damn him, but he's making good sense.

"I don't want to hurt you," he says at length, sounding broken. He has to make Tony understand. Why won't he understand?! "I don't want to hurt you anymore. I don't want it to make me hurt you again. I'd rather die."

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony does understand, better than Gene knows. He's just not as willing as Gene is to accept Gene's death as a solution.

"Then don't give up," Tony says firmly.

And then, bracing himself with a deep breath, he takes another huge risk, and dismisses the armor.

When it's folded away into the backpack again, he holds out his hand, offering it to Gene.

"Come on. Let's kick this thing's ass together."

[wrathfulkhan]

If Gene had been holding onto any doubts that Tony really did want to save him, they'd have been totally dispelled by his dismissal of the armor.

He looks up, sees Tony's hand extended to him, and after a long minute, takes it and gets to his feet. "Together," he says, resolve in his voice matching what had been present in what he thought would be his last confession.

His chest hurts with all the crying he's not doing, and there's a thousand things he wants to say to Tony, but none of it is the right time. Maybe, if they both survive, it'll be time for that. Maybe.

He does want to clear up one thing, first. "You know it was lying, right?" He doesn't want to say about what. If pressed, right now, he'll give the non-answer 'everything'.

[highprofilerichkid]

Gene takes his hand and Tony pulls him to his feet, then wraps him in an almost frantic hug, squeezing Gene as tight as Extremis will allow without actually hurting him.

"Yeah. I know," Tony mumbles into Gene's hair. He's shaking. "And I don't want you to die, okay? So... don't."

excuse, stark, you're not his supervisor

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene practically chokes when Tony pulls him into a hug. He's never going to get over how freakishly strong his dumb nerd boyfriend is. Weakly, he hugs Tony tightly, too, trying to give as good as he's getting and trying to blink back the tears threatening to form in his eyes.

"Same to you," he says for lack of something better, noticing just how much Tony is shaking.

[highprofilerichkid]

"Well, okay," Tony says, and through the tears that are dangerously close to spilling out of his own eyes, he laughs a little. "But only because you asked." His voice hitches, and he stifles a sob.

He clings to Gene for what feels like both a very long time, and not nearly long enough. Then he steps back, sniffling and wiping his eyes.

"We should keep moving. You ready to do this?"

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene nods, choking back the tears that Tony's emotional outburst had threatened to trigger. He's not used to people being concerned about him. Hell, he's not used to people caring if he lives or dies. So this is new, but not entirely unpleasant.

He bares his teeth in what might be a smile and might be a gesture of threat. "Ready when you are."

[highprofilerichkid]

"Yeah." Tony nods, a little too quickly, like he's still trying to convince himself that this is the right thing to do. "Yeah. I'm ready."

He walks to where he'd flung the gauntlets, and pulls the rings off. The gauntlets vanish. Tony stares at the rings piled in his hand, both hating and fearing them, and for a moment, he's gripped by the wild impulse to hurl the rings away. But it would be pointless, and Gene would only be mad at him, so he doesn't.

Instead, he turns back to Gene, and, with only the slightest hesitation, holds the rings out.

"I guess you'll probably need these."

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene sees that hesitation, and he doesn't blame Tony for it. He's hesitant to put the rings back on, himself, even though he knows they're his best hope for being able to combat Malicant down the line.

He reaches out for them, slowly, trepidation in the motion. Here comes the moment of truth. Will Malicant seize control of him again once the rings touch his skin?

"If it happens again...you know what to do," Gene says, looking Tony in the eyes, before taking the rings.

He's braced for the worst, but...nothing happens. It's almost anticlimactic.

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony quickly drops his gaze when Gene meets his eyes. He doesn't know what he's going to do if Gene loses himself to Malicant again. Will it be easier to do what he needs to do the second time around, or harder? He hopes he won't have to find out.

He's tense as Gene takes the rings, but several seconds pass, and nothing happens. Gene puts the rings back on, and— still nothing. Tony relaxes slightly, and gives Gene a tentative smile.

Maybe they'll be okay after all.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene braces himself for another fight when he slips the rings onto his fingers. But there's nothing.

Sweet, blissful nothing from the outside trying to force its way into his head, or the inside out, and he feels balanced as he hasn't for quite some time. The rings are his again. He's free.

He smiles back at Tony, and takes them off again just to prove that he can, as a signal to Tony that he's not Malicant faking control. Malicant desires power, and the rings are power itself. It wouldn't dare remove them.

Just a few short months ago, Gene wouldn't have dared remove them, either. He's not certain how he feels about that, but he's glad that he's changed. He's different.

And he has to thank, in part, the man standing in front of him.

[highprofilerichkid]

Gene puts the rings on, pauses, then smiles and takes them off again, to prove that he's free of Malicant's influence. Tony lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The exhale turns into a relieved laugh, and Tony's own smile steadies. He cuffs Gene affectionately on the shoulder and says, "See? Told you so."

Not too long ago, Tony would have been more than happy to have an excuse to take Gene out once and for all. And now he's just risked his life to save him. Tony's not entirely sure what to make of this new person he's become in the past few months, but... he thinks he likes him.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene cuffs him right back, grinning broadly. "For once, I'm glad you're right."

The thing he'd been worried most about is over now, and it's hard not to think this might be smooth sailing from here on out. It's folly to think that, of course...but things seem to be a lot easier to deal with now that he's weathered this storm. "Come on, yīngxióng," he says, and kisses Tony on the cheek briefly. "We've got work to do."