[ Yuri's at least as nervous as Flynn, but most people wouldn't know it to look at him because he's handling it by being aggressively blase. ]
They said knowing the other person usually helps.
[ They used to be close enough for this; used to be like two halves of... the same person, almost. And he — needs to know whether that's still true, even though the prospect that it might not be...
(Didn't he just go through this, the same fears he had in Nor Harbor.) (But he's been through so much more, he knows he's changed, and—) ]
This is something I've never seen before, no, that we've never messed with before.
[He watches Yuri, really searching his posture, the way he's acting, and he's coming up with a big question mark. But, if Yuri was going to do this, he'd much rather be the person across from him than another one else.]
Yeah, I heard that.
[Letting out a breath, the hesitation leaves him, he relaxes and grins cheekily. It's the type of grin he would never use with anyone else other than Yuri.]
If anything this might make me feel better about our last sparring session back at Aurnion. Don't think I'll go easy on you.
Of course I do! Who do you think goes out with the new recruits?
[Flynn chuckles and slides back, taking a breath as he pulls back. If anything Flynn has become a little more cautious when fighting hand to hand. But, he follows up with a pulling his arm up, his other hand coming to hook towards Yuri's side.]
[ It's way, way, way below your station, and too hands-on for everything else he knows you're supposed to do in a day, but of course you do. ] [ And blocking: the last month or two back home was more relaxed, guild jobs never going to be as taxing as fighting to save the world, but his memories and his body have also been in Imeeji, where if anything he's pushed himself even harder. ]
[He grins when Yuri blocks his hook, and he steps back to guard again. His fighting style showing through. When using his artes he can be a little more out of range, but he's never been the type to back away from a fight either. So he throws a few jabs at Yuri watching him.]
It's okay if you're rusty, it just means we'll have to catch you up again.
No shame in that at all!
[Still teasing, obviously a smile spread onto his face.]
Which part? The part where I'm not surprised you'd insist on being hands-on with the newbies? I think it's smart. Get them to imprint on you like baby ducks.
[ He's always been a little faster; when they were younger, it never seemed to be fast enough to make a difference, but these days it helps: lets him dance back, out of range, before ducking low to sweep at Flynn's legs.
It feels good. Fluid. But a little wild, too; a little rough around the edges. Like the bareknuckled street fighting they used to do when they were younger. ]
They've got a ring here — you should join me in it sometime.
Really?! They are just new recruits that need help, they aren't baby ducks.
[Flynn goes down, sprawled on his back, his leg lashing out to take Yuri down to the ground with him. He laughs and can't help it since he hasn't fought exactly like this in a while.
It's been too long since they sparred like this together.]
[ This isn't sparring, it's no-holds-barred wrestling, and while he could've dodged — something about the idea of being on the floor on top of his oldest friend is...
nope, scratch that, he needs to be on his feet again immediately, heaving himself up off the ground into a handstand and then springing away. ]
I know I started it, but we're supposed to be fighting, not rolling around on the floor. [ This is so stupid, he's never going to get through this in one piece. ] —Do you still remember how to use a quarterstaff?
[ There are a couple more false starts after that first one; where they start to come together only for Yuri to pull back again, still horribly self-conscious, sour notes in the music they were building together.
But the moments in-between are promising, high marks, and when one of the scientists has the frankly brilliant idea to suggest they square off together against a third party, suddenly it's effortless.
No more facing Flynn down, trying to pick safe places to target — no more getting too close and being too aware of his scent. Just working in tandem against a common enemy, perfectly in sync.
It feels good, beyond good, and Yuri doesn't need anyone else to tell him that was a good Rise rating. ]
[There are a couple of false starts. They've never been good against each other, so when they are put against someone else, that's when they shine. He breathes with Yuri, takes his cues, pulls back, charges forward where he needs to, and he feels like he's come home.
Home to the one person he's always been able to be close to, who will always have his back no matter what.
He steps out of the ring near Yuri clapping him on the shoulder.]
[ Say that to him again after things are settled, his problem then will be less self-consciousness and more whoops now I'm really turned on, but in the meantime: yeah. It's so much better. He wipes a rivulet of clean sweat from his forehead and turns to wink at Flynn. ]
If they gave out prizes for high ratings, we'd win.
[ A winner, at any rate. Definitely in the 99th percentile. ]
[ ...but the problem with a really good Rise rating is that then they want you to get in the robot, Shinji, and.
And Yuri agrees, of course, because how can he not? He needed to square off with Flynn for this, would never have been able to stand having to wonder later what their rating could've been — but now they have a ludicrously high Rise rating, and refusing to try piloting the machine with Flynn would just be...
So incredibly suspicious.
He should say something. He should really, really say something. But he doesn't: he just accepts the suit from the scientists and takes it into a changing cubicle, where he struggles to put it on because his fucking hands are shaking.
You can do this. You've gotten through it with other people. You've gotten through it with Zari! Just... breathe. Keep it together. Clear your head.
Maybe you'll get lucky and a big monster will attack the facility in the middle of your test.
[ But it only takes him a minute or so longer to get changed than it should, and then he's making his way to the proper testing area, not visibly trembling thank you very much.
This — armor? — is so strange. In some ways it's really bulky; in others, it fits like a second skin. And if he stays focused on that, then... ]
[Flynn is the one that kind of hangs back this time. Not because of Yuri, but because this is technology and he has no idea what could happen to them. However, the scientists assure him it's going to be fine.
So finally he comes up in the same type of armor? suit? Whatever it is with the helmet under his arm, moving slowly towards Yuri.
Something feels different.]
Are you sure you want to do this? I'm still not sure it's a good idea.
[ A wide open opportunity to let Flynn talk him out of it, and Yuri should take him up on it, but instead he snorts. ]
With the score we got? C'mon, they need us.
[ When he looks at Flynn at all, it's very deliberately fixed on his face. As if the rest of him, in an outfit that's skintight in places, doesn't exist. ]
[Flynn, holds his helmet in both hands and takes a breath.]
You're right. We're here to help.
[He keeps his eyes locked with Yuri's and his mouth quirks up at the side.]
If this thing eats us? It's your fault.
[With that he puts on his helmet and lets himself be prodded and placed where he needs to be. He doesn't like it, it's too much metal, but he's not going to complain. It should be okay, he trusts Yuri.]
[ The guy who wears full plate is upset about this? It's because it shows off all the hard outlines of his body, isn't it. ;D ]
Oh, don't worry, I was already gonna take full responsibility for any disasters befalling us.
[ Because there's definitely still a part of his brain that's chanting please please please. Just take the choice out of his hands, don't make it something he has to admit he has any reservations about at all...
The poking and prodding doesn't seem to faze him: partly because he's let people do his eyeliner before and that's worse, partly because he's too deep in his own head to care what's happening to his body right now.
But the preflight checks are all done now. They just have to step into the controlling space...
Last chance, a little voice whispers in the back of his head. You should at least warn him about Tokyo-F.
But when Yuri catches Flynn's eye, he just — smiles thinly. ]
[Flynn snorts and rolls his eyes, as he adjusts his helmet and stands there letting the scientists and everyone check him over. He's nervous, but it just comes out in being more restless, shifting back and forth on his feet, stretching his arms, and rolling his shoulders. He's tries to force himself still.
He doesn't want to worry Yuri.]
Ready. Let's get this thing started.
[He gives Yuri his own small smile, nodding at his friend.]
The machines start up. Whir. Yuri is caught off guard, despite himself, by the way it feels as the mechanical arms come in close, attaching to his spinal cord — and then there's this frisson of awareness, a body much bigger than his own, an enormous shoulder that circles as he circles his own, and...
At first, it's fine. His mind's clear. He could almost forget that it's Flynn beside him in this not-cockpit, strapped into all the same machines.
Until the neural handshake completes, and then his awareness of Flynn is almost painfully acute, and he can feel himself starting to have thoughts about it, and—
Has anyone ever broken Flow on purpose before, because Yuri's doing it now: the equivalent of throwing himself out of a moving car, retreating into his ugliest memories of Tokyo-F.
Flynn will see flashes: waking up in the Game Tower, checking his phone for the latest set of rules, and then being somewhere else entirely — a forest in the Hunger Games, two young men a couple years younger than Yuri, one of whom Flynn might recognize, though in this memory he's all business as he advises using a magic armor that sheathes Yuri fully in bark; and then rapid glimpses of other games, Yuri always remembering to raise that armor again, his skin going pale and mottled. ]
No, he was more than nervous, as he felt the mechanical arms fit around him. He can feel something else, bigger and more powerful as he holds out the hand and opens and closes it. He let's out a breath, and tries to focus, he was doing REALLY well at focusing, but then something happens.
It's almost an audible crackle of something and he can feel, and there are scenes whipping by so quick that he literally feels like the breath is being punched out of him as he watches. The memories shoot by quickly, slowing down for brief beats before speeding up again.
What the hell is he seeing?!
It's hard to breath, and his legs buckle as he watches. He tries to focus, tries to scrabble back, but this is something he'd never seen, and that Yuri had never told him about. He hasn't been breathing, his head is pounding as he saw it. Everything is threatening to drag him out forcefully.]
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timeasmymeasure
<3 <3
Date: 2023-05-21 06:44 am (UTC)[ Yuri's at least as nervous as Flynn, but most people wouldn't know it to look at him because he's handling it by being aggressively blase. ]
They said knowing the other person usually helps.
[ They used to be close enough for this; used to be like two halves of... the same person, almost. And he — needs to know whether that's still true, even though the prospect that it might not be...
(Didn't he just go through this, the same fears he had in Nor Harbor.) (But he's been through so much more, he knows he's changed, and—) ]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-21 09:53 pm (UTC)[He watches Yuri, really searching his posture, the way he's acting, and he's coming up with a big question mark. But, if Yuri was going to do this, he'd much rather be the person across from him than another one else.]
Yeah, I heard that.
[Letting out a breath, the hesitation leaves him, he relaxes and grins cheekily. It's the type of grin he would never use with anyone else other than Yuri.]
If anything this might make me feel better about our last sparring session back at Aurnion. Don't think I'll go easy on you.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-22 04:22 am (UTC)Wait, wait, you feel bad about that? You're holding my first win against me?
[ Teasing. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-22 08:30 pm (UTC)Stalling.
[Now he's the one that's teasing. It's easy to fall into it when it's just them.]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-23 05:51 am (UTC)[ Cracking the knuckles on his right hand. ]
I'm just wondering if you even still remember how to fight without a sword.
[ And with that, he launches himself forward, a feint with his fist for Flynn's head. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-23 08:24 pm (UTC)[Flynn chuckles and slides back, taking a breath as he pulls back. If anything Flynn has become a little more cautious when fighting hand to hand. But, he follows up with a pulling his arm up, his other hand coming to hook towards Yuri's side.]
But you? You've probably gotten rusty!
no subject
Date: 2023-05-26 01:08 am (UTC)Of course you do.
[ It's way, way, way below your station, and too hands-on for everything else he knows you're supposed to do in a day, but of course you do. ] [ And blocking: the last month or two back home was more relaxed, guild jobs never going to be as taxing as fighting to save the world, but his memories and his body have also been in Imeeji, where if anything he's pushed himself even harder. ]
I'll show you rusty.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-26 01:40 pm (UTC)[He grins when Yuri blocks his hook, and he steps back to guard again. His fighting style showing through. When using his artes he can be a little more out of range, but he's never been the type to back away from a fight either. So he throws a few jabs at Yuri watching him.]
It's okay if you're rusty, it just means we'll have to catch you up again.
No shame in that at all!
[Still teasing, obviously a smile spread onto his face.]
blah blah fight continues around the banter
Date: 2023-05-27 08:56 pm (UTC)[ He's always been a little faster; when they were younger, it never seemed to be fast enough to make a difference, but these days it helps: lets him dance back, out of range, before ducking low to sweep at Flynn's legs.
It feels good. Fluid. But a little wild, too; a little rough around the edges. Like the bareknuckled street fighting they used to do when they were younger. ]
They've got a ring here — you should join me in it sometime.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-27 09:27 pm (UTC)[Flynn goes down, sprawled on his back, his leg lashing out to take Yuri down to the ground with him. He laughs and can't help it since he hasn't fought exactly like this in a while.
It's been too long since they sparred like this together.]
Get down here!
no subject
Date: 2023-05-28 08:01 am (UTC)[ This isn't sparring, it's no-holds-barred wrestling, and while he could've dodged — something about the idea of being on the floor on top of his oldest friend is...
nope, scratch that, he needs to be on his feet again immediately, heaving himself up off the ground into a handstand and then springing away. ]
I know I started it, but we're supposed to be fighting, not rolling around on the floor. [ This is so stupid, he's never going to get through this in one piece. ] —Do you still remember how to use a quarterstaff?
no subject
Date: 2023-05-28 09:49 pm (UTC)We just have to be a little bit more careful with these, but yeah.
[They are goofing around a little too much, they need to be a little more serious or one of them could get hurt.]
1/2 -> gonna glaze forward a bit, lemme know if it's not okay
Date: 2023-05-29 08:34 pm (UTC)Please. I throw a mean punch.
[ or like, hundreds in a row, thanks brutal fang ] [ but he's nabbing a staff off the rack, twirling it gracefully and needlessly ]
The point isn't to beat each other up, anyway. It's to find a rhythm. To... sync up.
[ What he both wants desperately and fears. And none of these feelings are helping at all. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 08:41 pm (UTC)But the moments in-between are promising, high marks, and when one of the scientists has the frankly brilliant idea to suggest they square off together against a third party, suddenly it's effortless.
No more facing Flynn down, trying to pick safe places to target — no more getting too close and being too aware of his scent. Just working in tandem against a common enemy, perfectly in sync.
It feels good, beyond good, and Yuri doesn't need anyone else to tell him that was a good Rise rating. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 08:46 pm (UTC)Home to the one person he's always been able to be close to, who will always have his back no matter what.
He steps out of the ring near Yuri clapping him on the shoulder.]
That felt pretty good.
1/2
Date: 2023-05-29 09:02 pm (UTC)If they gave out prizes for high ratings, we'd win.
[ A winner, at any rate. Definitely in the 99th percentile. ]
2/3
Date: 2023-05-29 09:11 pm (UTC)And Yuri agrees, of course, because how can he not? He needed to square off with Flynn for this, would never have been able to stand having to wonder later what their rating could've been — but now they have a ludicrously high Rise rating, and refusing to try piloting the machine with Flynn would just be...
So incredibly suspicious.
He should say something. He should really, really say something. But he doesn't: he just accepts the suit from the scientists and takes it into a changing cubicle, where he struggles to put it on because his fucking hands are shaking.
You can do this. You've gotten through it with other people. You've gotten through it with Zari! Just... breathe. Keep it together. Clear your head.
Maybe you'll get lucky and a big monster will attack the facility in the middle of your test.
It wasn't too much to ask for, was it? ]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 09:20 pm (UTC)This — armor? — is so strange. In some ways it's really bulky; in others, it fits like a second skin. And if he stays focused on that, then... ]
—Here goes, right?
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 09:26 pm (UTC)So finally he comes up in the same type of armor? suit? Whatever it is with the helmet under his arm, moving slowly towards Yuri.
Something feels different.]
Are you sure you want to do this? I'm still not sure it's a good idea.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 09:53 pm (UTC)With the score we got? C'mon, they need us.
[ When he looks at Flynn at all, it's very deliberately fixed on his face. As if the rest of him, in an outfit that's skintight in places, doesn't exist. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 09:59 pm (UTC)You're right. We're here to help.
[He keeps his eyes locked with Yuri's and his mouth quirks up at the side.]
If this thing eats us? It's your fault.
[With that he puts on his helmet and lets himself be prodded and placed where he needs to be. He doesn't like it, it's too much metal, but he's not going to complain. It should be okay, he trusts Yuri.]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 10:07 pm (UTC)Oh, don't worry, I was already gonna take full responsibility for any disasters befalling us.
[ Because there's definitely still a part of his brain that's chanting please please please. Just take the choice out of his hands, don't make it something he has to admit he has any reservations about at all...
The poking and prodding doesn't seem to faze him: partly because he's let people do his eyeliner before and that's worse, partly because he's too deep in his own head to care what's happening to his body right now.
But the preflight checks are all done now. They just have to step into the controlling space...
Last chance, a little voice whispers in the back of his head. You should at least warn him about Tokyo-F.
But when Yuri catches Flynn's eye, he just — smiles thinly. ]
Ready when you are.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 10:13 pm (UTC)[Flynn snorts and rolls his eyes, as he adjusts his helmet and stands there letting the scientists and everyone check him over. He's nervous, but it just comes out in being more restless, shifting back and forth on his feet, stretching his arms, and rolling his shoulders. He's tries to force himself still.
He doesn't want to worry Yuri.]
Ready. Let's get this thing started.
[He gives Yuri his own small smile, nodding at his friend.]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 11:00 pm (UTC)The machines start up. Whir. Yuri is caught off guard, despite himself, by the way it feels as the mechanical arms come in close, attaching to his spinal cord — and then there's this frisson of awareness, a body much bigger than his own, an enormous shoulder that circles as he circles his own, and...
At first, it's fine. His mind's clear. He could almost forget that it's Flynn beside him in this not-cockpit, strapped into all the same machines.
Until the neural handshake completes, and then his awareness of Flynn is almost painfully acute, and he can feel himself starting to have thoughts about it, and—
Has anyone ever broken Flow on purpose before, because Yuri's doing it now: the equivalent of throwing himself out of a moving car, retreating into his ugliest memories of Tokyo-F.
Flynn will see flashes: waking up in the Game Tower, checking his phone for the latest set of rules, and then being somewhere else entirely — a forest in the Hunger Games, two young men a couple years younger than Yuri, one of whom Flynn might recognize, though in this memory he's all business as he advises using a magic armor that sheathes Yuri fully in bark; and then rapid glimpses of other games, Yuri always remembering to raise that armor again, his skin going pale and mottled. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 11:10 pm (UTC)No, he was more than nervous, as he felt the mechanical arms fit around him. He can feel something else, bigger and more powerful as he holds out the hand and opens and closes it. He let's out a breath, and tries to focus, he was doing REALLY well at focusing, but then something happens.
It's almost an audible crackle of something and he can feel, and there are scenes whipping by so quick that he literally feels like the breath is being punched out of him as he watches. The memories shoot by quickly, slowing down for brief beats before speeding up again.
What the hell is he seeing?!
It's hard to breath, and his legs buckle as he watches. He tries to focus, tries to scrabble back, but this is something he'd never seen, and that Yuri had never told him about. He hasn't been breathing, his head is pounding as he saw it. Everything is threatening to drag him out forcefully.]
Y-Yuri!
cw: burns, hypothermia, amputation, cannibalism
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