Characters: Hyacinth (hyacinthed) & Percival (percival) Date/Time: Sept. 19thish... Location: Hyacinth's house Rating: PG-13ish? Warnings: Mentions of previous deaths, Hyacinth's sads Summary: Percival plays older brother and comforts Hyacinth
The urgency in Hyacinth's post hadn't gone unnoticed. Understanding the severity of the situation, Percival had made himself as available as possible, abandoning his apartment for the night in favor of reaching the younger man as soon as he could. For the person who killed him to have shown up -- he couldn't understand it, having never been murdered himself (save for Galahad, but that was-- no), but he could grasp just how serious it was. How it would've made anyone uneasy.
Within the hour, the former knight was ringing the doorbell, tension written into his face. He wanted to do everything in his power to make Hyacinth feel at ease, to make him feel safe, but could he do it? He'd have to wait and see.
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Death had never really settled well for Hyacinth. Especially not when it kept happening over and over again. Death (most often at a young age) was a constant for Hyacinth in every life. Percival had been his brother and still was as far as he was concerned. Percival had to make it better. He had to. Not that Hyacinth would be upset with him if he couldn't, but it was still something he believed to be true.
The doorbell rang, causing him to startle. "You're being ridiculous, Hyacinth," he muttered as he got up to open the door. Percival's face was enough to make him feel just a twinge of guilt. Still, he figured it was unlikely for someone not to appear anxious when they'd been asked to come over for the reasons Percival had. "Come in." He stepped back, chewing on his lower lip a little. "Mom and Dad aren't...here...right now." Which wasn't really a problem. He was mostly relieved they weren't here for this. He couldn't have explained it to them. At least Percival wouldn't question his sanity for mentioning his death during his original life.
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Never would Percival ever think Hyacinth was crazy, not for any reason. They were in this together, even though they weren't experiencing the same things. He had to be there for him. It was part of his nature to leap to the aid of others, and so here he was, ready to be of use -- if he could.
"You're home alone?" There was a note of concern in his tone as he stepped in, eventually facing the younger man. "Will they be gone all night?"
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Hyacinth shut the door behind Percival before trying to give him a smile which didn't quite work. "I...Well, they..." He frowned. "They had a thing out of town." It was work related. Well, military related for his father. His mother just went along. He promised them it would be fine. Then again, he hadn't figured on the Zephyrus issue.
"It's only for the night." He fidgeted for a moment, not really sure what to do now that Percival was here. Somehow flinging himself at his brother-who-was-not-a-brother seemed a little dramatic for the occasion...but then he was probably over thinking the situation. "I promised Apollo I wouldn't go near him."
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Concern still plagued the knight, who frowned at those words. If Hyacinth was afraid of someone and he was home alone, wasn't it his job to protect him? It was. There was no way in hell he was allowing Hyacinth to be here on his own.
Barely acknowledging those last words with a nod to indicate he was listening, he stepped forward, tugging the boy into a strong hug. "You're not staying here by yourself, okay?" Spoken into his shoulder. "I'll crash on your couch or something, but you shouldn't be alone."
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The hug made him relax just a fraction, arms wrapping around the older man. "Okay." He wasn't going to argue if Percival wanted to stay. Really. He wasn't. He would have preferred to be with someone else anyway. He curled just a bit against Percival, eyes closing. "Thank you for coming. I just..." He trailed off, frowning. "I probably shouldn't have even spoken to him." He really shouldn't have. It didn't help anything and just made him more frustrated and annoyed. It was almost as if it was his fault for getting killed. Which it wasn't.
"He's stupid."
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Percival's arms tightened marginally, and he pressed Hyacinth more firmly against him, hoping it'd be enough to make the boy feel more secure. More safe.
"Maybe not, but it takes a lot of courage to face someone who took your life," he assured his taller companion, rubbing a hand across the back of his shoulders. "I guess it just matters what you say, right? But if you don't want to talk to him, don't, alright? No one's allowed to force you to do that."
And if Apollo tried, he was going to have words with him.
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"I wanted to say a lot more than I really did." But he couldn't find a way to make himself say it. He wanted to yell at him, but he wouldn't. It wasn't going to be a satisfying 'yell at the person who killed you' situation without seeing him and he didn't think he could face him. Not really. Not without some sort of panic driven situation.
"I know I don't have to talk to him. I told Apollo not to do anything rash." Well, he'd really told him not to kill anyone. Hopefully Apollo would stick to the 'not murdering' thing. "I don't think they understand consequences all the time." They'd been gods after all. "I'm glad you're here." Angie: That hand ran up and down Hyacinth's spine, in some attempt to comfort, to reassure. "And I'll be here whenever you need me -- you know that, right?" Percival really wanted to drive the point in: that he'd drop anything for him, and be there whenever he was needed. Even if they were never really brothers, the feelings of love and the urge to protect still lingered.
He wasn't going anywhere.
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Percival's words were soothing and he was comforted by his actions. He didn't care whether they were really brothers now. It was close enough for Hyacinth. "I know," he murmured. He couldn't have said for sure he had known before. Not exactly. But this was different and Percival was here. He wouldn't question it.
"He killed me because I loved someone else." There was a pause. "Because I didn't choose him."
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Had this been anyone else, save for Galahad and Elaine, standing by the front door in an embrace for this long might have been awkward. But this was Hyacinth, and so there was no discomfort, even with that one inch height difference between them. Percival didn't quite know what to say, merely tightening his arm around the younger man.
Eventually, he found the words. "You don't blame yourself, do you?"
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"No." It was the simple truth. "I don't blame myself. I blame him. I blame him for not realizing that I was important enough to keep alive. I was a prince and..." He faltered, trying to find the words that he wanted to say. "I was still important." He was, wasn't he? He wasn't a god or a goddess by surely that didn't make him any less important than them, did it?
"Apollo turned me into a flower to keep me from Hades." It was generous enough of him. Still, Hyacinth wished he could have lived. "Jealousy never brings anything good and it only ends poorly."
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Percival soaked in those words, adjusting his chin on Hyacinth's shoulder when he'd finished. He would never understand what it had been to be a god. To be immortal. Being a mere mortal himself, just as Hyacinth had been, was more than enough for him. But immortality was a whole other world, something so unnattainable and impossible. His world hadn't been as fascinating, and he had only ever believed in one God, but still, they had suffered.
Everything could be flawed -- even gods. Perhaps they were the most flawed of all.
"I think a lot of people want what they can't have. I'm not trying to justify his actions, but I guess it made sense to him." He glossed a hand over the other man's hair. "'If I can't have him, no one can.' Y'know?"
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"I understand, but it doesn't mean I agree with it any more." Jealousy. It was jealousy. More than once he'd found himself starting to feel jealous of someone or something before he crushed the feeling. Maybe reminding yourself of your death every time you felt jealous wasn't exactly the best choice, but it always worked.
"I didn't want to die." Despite the fact that he was very much not a child, he sounded all the more like one when he spoke those words. "I didn't want to die, Percival."
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Slipping his fingers into the younger man's hair toward the base of his neck, the former knight pulled out of the embrace just enough to look him in the eye. There had always been a vulnerability about Hyacinth that he couldn't deny, but now he felt it more than ever, and it broke his heart.
"I know you didn't." Those fingers held Hyacinth's head in place, so that he couldn't avert his gaze. "It wasn't fair to you, and you deserve better than that. You're a good person who deserves good things. Tell me you know that."
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Looking at Percival was difficult. This was more because of the fact that he didn't know how to react to the words. Sometimes he didn't know exactly what he deserved. He rarely thought of it that way. Some days he wanted more, but he didn't know how to ask for it. "Even if it's true," he started, frowning a little. "That's never how it works out. I never make it long before something goes wrong. I never live long. Not in any of my lives."
He closed his eyes, trying to will himself not to get too emotional. "So maybe that's how it's supposed to be."
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A God-loving man would've agreed. Someone who put more stock into what He believed might have told Hyacinth that yes, this was his fate, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. God, after all, was the one who held the strings. The one who gave and took life. And to some extent, Percival believed it.
Just not today.
He slid his palm down over the back of Hyacinth's neck, the other coming up to frame his jaw. "I won't let anything happen to you, alright? I'm not going to let you die. I'm not letting him come anywhere near you, and he's never putting a hand on you."
His tone softened. "Hey. Look at me."
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A very small smile was there for a moment before it disappeared again. While Hyacinth had never had siblings otherwise, he was happy to find that Percival was good at being a sibling. "His name is Zephyrus." That way Percival knew who he was protecting him from. It took a moment, but he opened his eyes to look at Percival. "What?"
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The elder of the two kept a hold on his jaw, resting his thumb against a cheekbone. When Hyacinth had finally looked him in the eye, he continued. "Just don't be afraid, okay? Trust me when I say that I'll do everything I can to make sure nothing'll happen to you."
There came a pause. "You mean a lot to me, and I do love you, so keep some faith in me." As a knight and a brother, there were no other options.
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Hyacinth was quiet for a while before he nodded. "Okay." His fingers curled around the fabric of Percival's shirt. "Okay." He could trust Percival. He could. In Zurvan, he'd never let him down and he was here now. "I love you, too."