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"GRIM! Slow down wh-Where are you going?!" Arthur calls after the retreating Warframe shell sprinting away from him. Luckily, Arthur noted, The Drifter was shelled in his primary go-to frame, Sevagoth. Whom was more so built for strength and survivability rather than excelling in speed. Sevagoth turned out to be much slower than Grim's other warframes in his arsenal by 0.95 . A seemingly small number, but such numbers made all the more difference in the origin system. Sure, a quick exilus mod can remedy the sprint speed...but having his Sevagoth's strength blown to full potential tends to give The Drifter his power trip. Regardless, The Brit still remained at a loss for words at his lover's, drastic, change in mood. He was Joyful moments ago? Celebrating an obtained reward they'd sought out. Now he was running from him? Confused, The Hex Leader chased after his skittish lover...ignorant to the shriek emitted as he, drifter, noticed that he was being pursued.
"Grim, Darling?! What's goin' on with you? What's wrong?" Arthur called out to the bullet-jumping prime, his voice misted in the plummeting temperatures; he too mimicked the movement and was propelled much further than he'd anticipated. It was, especially, effective when he was aware that he was faster than the gilded helmsman. He was onto the fleeting Warframe within seconds. Once he was within range, he grasped at the Prime's wrist, a surprised yelp left the Shell. "Babe, come on. What's wrong? Don't shut me out now" Arthur pleaded in his deep rasp, out of breath, as his eyes narrowed whilst he begged. Grim shook his head, more accurately his Warframe's head, like a shock-silenced child, refusing to speak as he made desperate fearful noises whilst he tried to break free from Arthur.
"Please...just talk to me...yeah? anything? Use your words, my love. Y'know I can't help you, if you brood and contain it" Arthur tried again, staring, knowingly, past the Warframe separating them and seeing, sensing, the trembling soul of his beloved Paradox. For a split moment, the struggle stopped, and Grim really took a moment to attempt to process the situation. Where he was. Who was holding him. The dull ambience of wind howled above the tall buildings surrounding them. Therapeutic and calming. It was peaceful, the moonlight shining upon Arthur...softening his battle-hardened features. His expression weaved with worry still. Grim tilted his head in recognition, Arthur mirroring the gesture with a pleased smile, "There you are, Darling. Here I am, too" The male annotated. It was Grim's turn to be confused, his unease still apparent and his heartbeat still beating rapidly.
"Where? I-?" The Lone-Rider asked, looking around his surroundings and found that they had moved further from the exit. "You spooked suddenly and fled me...winding up he-" Before Arthur could even finish his sentence...the unmarked bell, located deep in the city, chimed loudly...echoing dauntingly throughout the empty streets. That bell. It whispered poison. In an instant, Grim's mind feverishly returned to a state of shock and panic. Arthur saw the instant shift in his lovers demeanour and, mistakenly, trapped the other within an, unintentionally suffocating, embrace. Arthur might have been attempting to ground his lover to reality, but the reality of Sythel's manic, conspiratorial, rants affected his psyche. His mind babbled similar fears, breaking him down.
In the Drifters mind. He was in Duviri again...fleeing the Drax soldiers. Only vaguely hearing the muffled sounds of his pursuers screams and loud town bells chiming as he tried to outrun the inevitable. This embrace? Only tricked him more into believing his traumatised mind. Believing he was reliving those spirals. Reliving the fear. Reliving the disparity. Reliving the childish cruelty of daily executions. Reliving being tackled to the ground and wrestled all the way to the kings courtyard to be felled by the damnation of Lodun. It was too much...his heart couldn't take it, his mind overwhelmed and tricked...his senses even more so. So he did what he could only do in a bout of cornered anxiety. His last ditch attempt at freedom.
The sound of Transference stunned Arthur to the spot. He, definitely, heard the sounds of footsteps growing distant. Eventually, he let go of the, indefinitely, abandoned Warframe and processed, very slowly, the severity of his lovers mentality. Fear. He was scared. Something in town had triggered his Post-Traumatic stress and was reacting out of instinct. 'He was fine. Fine when I was consoling him? What possibly could've set him off?' Arthur thought, 'The Bell?' "Oh, Arthur...you dummy" Arthur scolded himself, he too ditching the abandoned Warframe and chasing after the vague direction his beloved had fled.
Heavily breathing, lungs burning, Grim sprinted down one of the Main Roads of the desolate streets. The silence more foreboding now. Even the moon watched his every move, shining brightly on what it could reach. The vast buildings domineered the landscape...making him feel small and caged inside a maze like a kuaka. Strangely enough, he found the moonlight discouraging and unsettling, revealing his position, later taking more kindly to the shadows and turning into a darkened alleyway. Catching his breath, he looked behind him...watching, warily, as he saw that it was the only visible entrance to him. He heard footsteps. His eye widened and on instinct...as soon as he saw Arthur's hair, mind seeing it as a Drax Helm, Grim concealed himself within the void.
Arthur sent a scrutinised glare down the alleyway...eyes narrowed and expression serious. He scanned over every silhouette in the dark space, thoroughly, before he deemed it clear and ran off to search elsewhere. Driven by paranoia, Grim kept his void concealment up for a few extra seconds before depleting its reserves entirely. An exasperated sigh left him and his burning lungs, his rampant mind and wailing heart drove him delirious. Still he listened out as he, at least, attempted to regather his wheezing breath. He eyed the entrance once more, wondering if he should Void-Sling himself to the rooftops to be tracked less. Grim glanced up, seeing eaves and silhouettes of chimneys, vents and the like.
It was a brief glimpse, so he missed when a spying silhouette had ducked, last minute, out of view. Drifter made effort to continue his blind escape around the bend... but was cut off, instantly, as he was grabbed by the wrist and forced onto the ground. A loud shriek left him and panicked, desperate, noises left his mouth shortly after as he was apprehended. In his despair, as he was flipped to face his grunting assailant, he punched, writhed and flailed against the figure pinning him to the ground. "GET OFF ME!!!! NO! I DONT WANNA GO BACK!" Grim screamed wildly, voice cracking as he whimpered and lamented his inevitable capture. In his powerful emotions, he started showing strong signs of light passing through him in ephemeral rays. When Duviri called to him, when he had spoken to The Operator for the first time.
Strong hands grasped his wrists, trying not to allow either of them to harm one another. It was also to prevent The Drifter from, unintentionally, resetting the spiral. Grim struggled wildly beneath the stranger, fighting against the vice grip. Hot tears of frustration, as well as unbridled fear for the inevitable, blurred his vision...he couldn't see that it was Arthur attempting to console him. "WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" Grim sobbed, the emotions wracking through his body as he cried out in the anguish of defeat. Of submission. He slumped against the cold cobblestone beneath him, head meeting the ground, all the while an ugly conglomeration of noises began leaving him as he both tried to breathe and battle the violent sobbing. It was only causing himself more panic. More grief.
"Grim, hey...it's me, darling...it's your Arthur" Arthur reminded, his thumbs smoothing the soft insides of Grim's wrists. The Drifter's fingers twitched, momentarily, in response. Confusion twisted his features as he hyperventilated, trying to understand over the sounds of his own haggard breathing. "A-Ar-a-Arth-hh" Grim tried to say, only weeping as he tried desperately. "Come on, Darling. You can do it. Focus on me. Just Breathe" Arthur instructed, providing examples, himself, as he inhaled and exhaled slowly. Grim listened, taking the man's words as cue to inhale and exhale at the same time. They continued that for a while until Grim's troubling breathing returned to an acceptable level.
"Arthur?" Grim asked quietly, as if he didn't believe the validity of having the man, physically, there consoling him. He only saw his shadow, not trusting his mind despite it's current stagnancy. "I'm right here babe, don't you worry" Arthur confirms, leaning into the moonlight that, once, only graced the Drifter's face. Grim's eye went wide in the recognition, his dark pupil blown wide, instantly, as soon as he looked up to his lover. Arthur couldn't help the wide grin that stretched upon his lips as he noticed the small detail. "Arthur?" Grim asked again, wanting to confirm. "Yes, Darling?" Arthur queried, a toothy, appreciative, smile on his face as he gently brought The Drifter's hand to his face to nuzzle into.
Grim's hands melted into the warm invitation, his thumb smoothing over the other Male's cheekbone. His lone-eye travelled over every inch of his lovers face...not once seeing anything out of place. "Arthur?" He whispered once more, eye squinting as a tears of relief and joy blurred his vision once more. Arthur rolled his eyes, chuckling slightly, "As much as I love my name on those pretty lips of yours, Love. This is getting a bit old, yeah?" Arthur joked, bashful in the self-awareness of his own forwardness. "Oh, Arthur" Grim sobbed, wrapping his arms around his Lover's neck, pulling him on top of him, as he broke into another fit of emotions. The relief was now the overwhelming emotion now. He was safe. Arthur was here. He always was.
"It's alright...I've got you" Arthur assured, hushing and lulling the taller male into the security of his arms. He rubbed soothing circles onto his back to comfort the overstimulated Drifter, resting his chin atop the others soft shorn hair. Hiccups and sobs wracked through him in their last, intermediate, waves. They stayed entangled, holding one another desperately, until, tired, weak breaths were the only noises leaving Grim's mouth. "We better head back, dear. I'll cook us up something nice, yeah? Anything for you, my little Paradoxical King" Arthur suggested, kissing the top of his Drifter's head. "Aren't you a king too?" Grim mumbled mellowly into his lover's neck. "That may be so...but I'll kneel for you anytime" Arthur admitted sweetly, causing the both of them to blush like two embarrassed idiots in love.