InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "What is this a missile launch?"

Freyr (lordofgold) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2021-04-13 00:31:00

Current mood:	thirsty
Entry tags:	freyja, freyr

WHO Freyr and Freyja
WHEN Monday afternoon
WHERE Freyr's bedroom
WHAT The real Freyr is finally allowed to live again!
WARNINGS reference to murder

He could feel himself coming back up from the coldness of death, and almost struggled against it. Why feel life in his aching body again, take another breath into his abused lungs, when it would only be snatched away from him again? Time and time again, he'd fallen into the abyss, into a version of Valhalla that felt faded and worn with every repeating visit.

Freyr felt cold now too, and he felt the absolute ache of his limbs, twisted and contorted for too long. But morning sun was shining in, warming his body, and when he took a breath, it was like he was filling his body with life properly for the first time in Odin knew how long. His joints ached because his limbs were straight, and his chest blazed with agony for a moment as he gulped in air, the stab wounds taking a little too long to close over and let his lungs work properly again.

He was alive, in a bed. In his bed. He was alive and free and he blinked his eyes open, searching to see if this was some kind of trick. Putting his hands to his chest, he felt clean skin, felt the wounds fade until there weren't even scars.

Thinking properly was hard. But he knew one thing for certain.

"I'm free," he rasped.

And thirsty. So fucking thirsty.

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brightandfair
2021-04-12 12:50 pm UTC (link)

Freyja was standing in the kitchen, staring at the wall as she drank her coffee, when she felt the presence of Freyr suddenly slide across her skin, like warm sunlight breaking through bitter winter.

She put the mug down heavily on the bench and ran back to the bedroom, stopping suddenly in the doorway when she saw him - moving, blinking, breathing, alive.

"Freyr," she breathed, finding it in her to move again, to sit on the side of his bed and take his hands so that she could kiss them. "You're alive."

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	lordofgold 2021-04-12 01:00 pm UTC (link)
	Freyr turned his eyes to Freyja as she bent over him, and she looked like she wore a halo of radiance around her face as he took her in. "Freyja," he breathed. "Is it really you?" What if it was the copy, imitating his sister in some kind of sick game? But no- how could anyone imitate that warmth he felt from being with her truly again? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	brightandfair 2021-04-12 01:05 pm UTC (link)
	"It's really me," she promised him, although how he could simply believe that she didn't know. She reached out and touched his face. "The doppelganger is gone. I'm so sorry that I didn't recognize that he wasn't you, but I'm here now and I'm with you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lordofgold 2021-04-12 01:30 pm UTC (link)
	Doppelganger. So that's what it had been- He hadn't been able to think what it could be. It hadn't spoken much about itself. "You saw it- I knew you would hear me. I called out- How long- what is the date?" he asked, and let out a dry cough. "Water- please, water-" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

brightandfair
2021-04-12 01:44 pm UTC (link)

She decided his physical need was the first one that needed to be dealt with and she nodded, standing up and going to the ensuite where she'd left a glass earlier. She filled it and brought it back, gently helping him to sit and holding the glass.

"It's April 12th," she told him, keeping her tone soft, not sure how long he'd been living in this hell. "I arrived in the city on March 5th. I felt like you were in danger a few times, but I didn't understand that it wasn't you that I was talking to every day and so I brushed it aside. Foolish, to ignore my own intuition for so long."

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lordofgold
2021-04-12 02:18 pm UTC (link)

Freyr took sips of the water, not wanting to choke. But it was April... He'd missed Autumn and Winter, he'd missed Christmas, he'd missed so many things.

"Don't blame yourself," he said, once his throat was less like a dusty riverbed. "I was tricked too. Since the end of September... It pretended to be a woman I know, we slept together, and once I was asleep it strangled me and took my face. I've been down there ever since..." He put a hand to his face, trying to reconcile the lost time.

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brightandfair
2021-04-12 02:22 pm UTC (link)

"September," Freyja repeated in horror. While she'd been still happy with Jothi and thinking everything in that relationship was fine, he'd been locked in that basement. Freyja had missed the warning signs in every part of her life, it seemed. Six months her brother had desperately needed her help, and Freyja had not provided it.

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, holding close him. "Mine heart," she whispered, drawing back slowly. "What can I do for you? Speak it, and it will be done."

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	lordofgold 2021-04-12 03:01 pm UTC (link)
	He leaned into her, and it was such a relief to have her this close again he couldn't put it into words. "A hot bath," he said, "and some food. My bones ache with cold and my belly is empty. Warm porridge perhaps?" He'd feel better then. He'd feel stronger, more alive. "When I feel stronger, you must tell me everything. What happened with you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

brightandfair
2021-04-13 01:35 am UTC (link)

"I'll tell you everything," Freyja promised and then stood up. "Let me get the bath running and the porridge and I'll be right back." She put the plug into the bath and turned the taps, and then headed for the kitchen. In the bedroom doorway she paused and looked back at him. "Call if you need me. I'll be back very soon."

In the kitchen, Freyja looked through the cupboards until she'd found everything she needed, and ten minutes later she was returned to the bedroom with a glass of apple juice and a bowl of porridge with honey drizzled on the top. She popped her head into the ensuite to check the bath - still needed time - and then sat down on the bed with her brother again.

"Here," she told him gently. "Eat, but slowly. Your body is still in recovery."

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lordofgold
2021-04-13 10:50 am UTC (link)

What he really wanted was meat hot off the bone; the freshest vegetables; sweet, crisp fruits bursting with flavour- but for now, taking slow spoonfuls of thick, warm porridge to fill the gaping hole that was his stomach was enough. The apple juice was amazing though. Freyr sighed in relief as his insides slowly warmed up.

"How- did you find me?" he asked, looking up at Freyja in concern, trying to see if she was hurt. If his sister was injured by that creature...

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brightandfair
2021-04-13 11:00 am UTC (link)

"I came looking for you," Freyja explained. "He was like you, very much so, but there were tells, things perhaps only I would have noticed. I considered you may have been possessed, and last week I slipped holy water into your- his wine. He reacted as though it had soured. On Saturday, four days ago, I came her to look around, as he'd not yet allowed me access to your apartment. He returned home and caught me and in the process of having him show me around, he refused to allow me access to the basement. When I breached the lock by magic, he dropped his pretense of being you. I watched him steal my own face and then we fought. Perhaps if it had had more time in my body to learn it would have been a more dangerous fight, but I overpowered it."

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	lordofgold 2021-04-13 12:08 pm UTC (link)
	Freyr slowly ate as she spoke. "I can imagine why it didn't invite you." But on telling that it had copied Freyja too, his eyes went wide with shock. "It- it- copied you??" he asked, his spoon going still in the bowl as he stared at her. That she had overpowered it was of course a given. Freyr had absolute faith in that particular outcome at all times. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

brightandfair
2021-04-13 12:15 pm UTC (link)

"In a mere moment," Freyja nodded, and couldn't help but look a little uncomfortable about that fact. "And as though the change were nothing at all to it. I was staring at you and then, like light passing across a looking glass, I was seeing myself instead. And although I brought up a magic shield during the fight, it didn't mimic that. I don't know whether that meant it didn't have access to my magic, or whether it simply had no interest in it at that time."

She reached out to encourage his hand to move again, wanting him to keep eating. "I have warned the few immortals I know in this city that if I appear to them now without warning, that it is a copy that should be avoided or destroyed."

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lordofgold
2021-04-13 01:37 pm UTC (link)

Ugh, it was so unsettling to think of a creature that could put on and take off the faces of others easy as breathing. Freyr began to eat again.

"I don't know why this thing targeted me," he said with a sigh. "Why would it want my life? What did it do with- my time-" Some food tickled his throat and he began to cough, and reached for the juice to calm it. "Is the bathwater done?"

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brightandfair
2021-04-13 01:44 pm UTC (link)

Although the sound of the water had been a constant background to their talking, Freyja had let it fade into the background while her focus was on Freyr. "Oh," she said, standing up and going to check it. "Yes, it is." She turned off the taps and then returned to her brother to gently help him undress.

She'd put clean clothes on him so he wouldn't have to wake drenched in blood, but they were still the clothes he'd been wearing while lying on his bed as a corpse. She would get him something better after the bath.

"Lean on me," she said to him, and then tried to answer his question. "We spent a lot of time together, although less than I might have liked when I actually thought it was you. It told me about going to work at your gardens, but I can't be sure whether it was truly doing that or just telling me about it."

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lordofgold
2021-04-14 02:28 pm UTC (link)

Freyr found his limbs were a lot wobblier than he'd remembered, but then, he had been twisted up like a pretzel for six months. His joints hurt with the weight of his body on them, and he had to hold onto Freyja more than he'd thought.

"It worked my gardens?" All his friends, his community, had they been hurt or insulted in any way? Had the beast done his job properly? "By Odin's eye I feel insulted by this impersonation. Taking my entire life..."

When they got to the bathroom, Freyja had to help Freyr get in, but he sank down with a long groan of relief. The heat on his joints and his cold bones was so satisfying, and such a relief.

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	brightandfair 2021-04-14 10:44 pm UTC (link)
	"I know," Freyja said gently as she eased him into the water. "It only took my face for five minutes and I felt violated by the wrongness of it. I cannot imagine the turmoil you must be in." She switched to Old Norse then, to try and ground him in the familiar. "But you are here now, and I am with you, and together we'll be." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lordofgold 2021-04-14 11:15 pm UTC (link)
	He looked up at his sister then, grateful for her in so many way, not least of all for saving him from his living death. "So many times I wished for you," he said, holding tightly to her hand as he sat down. "My own dear sister- you have saved me from this nightmare." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	brightandfair 2021-04-15 06:57 am UTC (link)
	"I wish I'd come earlier," she frowned, not letting his hand go even when he was sitting safely. She leaned in and kissed him very gently, and she hated that she couldn't tell the difference between his lips and the lips of that aberrant copy she had been kissing. "My dearest love, would that I could have seen through his tricks more easily." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lordofgold 2021-04-15 11:43 am UTC (link)
	"You're here now. That's what matters." Freyr lifted a wet hand to brush her hair back and look at her fondly. "Now I intend to soak for a while, and get the feeling back into my limbs." Perhaps he would venture to ask for a massage later, and let Freyja's strong and clever hands restore circulation. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	brightandfair 2021-04-16 10:33 am UTC (link)
	"Do you want me to stay?" Freyja asked him, ducking her head a little against his dripping hand. She was perfectly happy to set herself up on the floor beside him and talk or read quietly if he wanted the peace, and if he wanted to be alone completely she could allow that as well. "You should finish your porridge too." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lordofgold
2021-04-16 11:51 am UTC (link)

"Yes, please stay." He'd been alone for so long that the thought of her leaving him alone was quite unwelcome. And her mothering of him made him feel quite safe so long as she was there. "I will do anything you say, nurse."

Looking down at his bare chest, he felt like he should be able to see knife wounds all over, but he was healed and new again. This was but day one of an unpredictable recovery, that he knew.

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brightandfair
2021-04-16 11:55 am UTC (link)

"I'll be back momentarily," she said, climbing to her feet so she could go collect his bowl and bring it back. When she put it into his hands it was carefully, still not sure she fully trusted his newly returned body. That was alright though, because Freyja would care for it until it was strong, and she would do the same for his mind.

Watching him, she rested her chin on the side of the bath. "I live here in New York now, about twenty minutes walk from this apartment. It's a nice place, even has a sauna. I know you'll like it." She was speaking mostly to keep him company, not yet wanting to give him an overwhelming amount of details. "And I know you'll like my cat. He's a complete scoundrel and an escape artist."

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lordofgold
2021-04-16 01:09 pm UTC (link)

Freyr had a bath shelf near the tub that he could prop across and set his bowl down on, so at least he wasn't about to drop it in the water. "Only one cat?" he asked, carefully scraping the side of the bowl. "How restrained. More of a scoundrel than that ginger you had, the one with only one eye?" He found he could smile some, as he looked at Freyja and thought of her with her beloved pets.

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	brightandfair 2021-04-16 01:21 pm UTC (link)
	"Fegrstr!" Freyja grinned. "Oh, he was a sweet boy, used to sleep curled beneath my chin. He was worth all the trouble he caused. But, yes, only one cat. Jothi only let me have one in the house." She sighed. "He was cheating on me though. That's why I moved here to be with you. And now that I have an apartment, I'm going to fill it with cats." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lordofgold 2021-04-16 02:17 pm UTC (link)
	Freyr gasped in surprise. "No! Freyja! Oh sweetheart I'm so sorry, that's terrible! How is that even possible! What a little bakrauf." He shook his head, leaning in towards her. "And I wasn't even here for you when you needed me. Oh Freyja." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

brightandfair
2021-04-17 07:23 am UTC (link)

There was something very eerie about seeing Freyr react in the same way, with almost the exact same words, that the double had used. Freyr had no way of knowing that she'd already heard his words of comfort before this moment. So she focused instead on the last part. "Don't be foolish," she said, but it was with great love. "That's not your fault at all, and we're together now. I can tell you more details about it when you are feeling more up to it." That her suffering over a broken heart could match the true torture he had been through was ludicrous.

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lordofgold
2021-04-17 10:39 am UTC (link)

"He must have lost his mind to ever cheat on you. You are perfection."

He really wanted to discuss everything now, but he was still so tired and confused. It would have to wait for later. He set the empty bowl down outside the bath and then sank down in the water up to his ears.

Being free again... it was such a feeling like he couldn't describe. The thought of facing the reality of his life now though was daunting. And going back into the basement... he wasn't sure he could.

But that was a challenge for another day. For now he was just going to soak until the water went cold.

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