The Garden of... Eden? (Apollo, Echo, Eldar, & Kevv)

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Watching to be sure that Veces wouldn't attack again, Zuberi frantically searched for something to cover herself with, coming up with only a few large, thick leaves and some knotted vines. She managed to craft it into simple clothing, though it wasn't much, but at least she would be covered. She kept an eye on Veces as she did so, and was surprised and bewildered when he appeared not to be moving, but staring at the ground intently, as if making a point not to look around. He seemed to be battling with himself, and she saw him jerk, involuntarily, it seemed, numerous times. He's fighting it, she thought, hoping desperately that he was strong enough to break away from the effects.

Zuberi didn't realize she was still weeping silently until Freki appeared from nowhere. He had heard her! She opened her mouth to speak when she realized he looked... Different. More confident. For a terrifying moment she wondered if he, too, had eaten some of the fruit, and was about to attack her as well, but when his eyes widened in shock and he asked her what had happened, she relaxed slightly. He appeared to be his normal self, if not a bit more aware and energetic. She told him quietly about Veces's attempt to subdue her, under the influence of the fruit, she assumed. "This utopia is another trap," she murmured, blinking away the last of her terrified tears. "It must be built to turn us against each other." She stared at him, about to ask what he had been doing, when Freki turned and went over to a tree with the same fruit that Veces had eaten, except instead of green, these ones were a bright crimson. With a jolt she wondered if he was about to partake of the fruit as well, and she was about to stop him when she realized he was making his way over to where Veces sat. The man struggled to look up, and she saw confusion and mixes emotions in his gray eyes. She couldn't quite hear what he said to Freki from her position behind the shrubs, but she heard enough to know that he was somewhat in control. His last statement made her freeze, though. The fruit could break his curse? Don't fall for it! she cried mentally, taking a chance and standing to make her way closer to the two men.

She was about to say something when Freki deposited the scarlet fruit into Veces's hand, and she nearly yelped in surprise. What was he doing?! Didn't her realize that fruit had gotten them in trouble in the first place?! She could do nothing, though, as Veces stared at the fruit, and then, with obvious strain, began to consume it, slowly at first, and then with more vigor as he went along. Soon it was vanished, and Veces's face, cloudy before, was now clear and intelligent once again. Still, Zuberi kept her distance, too nervous and paranoid to come closer than a few meters. "Veces?" she asked hesitantly, searching his eyes for the man she thought she knew. "Are.... Are you alright?" She scooted a few feet closer, until she was standing right behind Freki. She glanced over at her clothes, discarded along the ground. The top was torn, but she would be able to fix it with a little time, and she had a change of clothes in her bag anyway. She shuffled her feet, wrapping her arms around herself in self-consciousness. It was an unusual feeling, and she didn't like it.

Even after what had just happened, or maybe even especially since it happened, Zuberi still felt an odd attraction to the man. She didn't know what it was about him, but she just felt like there was something about him that was different than other men she had met. Even though he had just attacked her, she knew it wasn't his fault, and she was amazed at how courageously he had fought against his desires. It would have been no easy task. And why had the red fruit caused him to be normal again? Not only that, how did Freki know that was what would happen. She turned to him, frowning curiously. "Where did you go?" she asked,"And how did you know what to do for him?"

((Sorry this post was a bit short. Feel free to have them rest/time skip/etc. The next challenge is the bottomless pits ;D ))

She... she's wondering how I am? Veces just couldn't believe it! He should be worried about her, after all he had just... No, no, he couldn't think about it anymore. What he did to her, what he was about to do... it sickened him. How could she even bear to be around him? His eyes trailed to her feet, unable to meet her own eyes and unwilling to look at any other part of her. And that was when he noticed that she was standing behind Freki, and he could nearly feel her tension and fear: she probably hadn't forgiven him, and he understood that. At the moment he could barely stand the fact that he was himself, in the body that did this to her.

Slowly, Veces sat up, staring hard at the floor: any spoken apology would be rediculous, annd a written one might seem unfeeling. But then, what could he do to express his sorrow and regret? He felt an odd prickling sensation at his eyes as he thought about his own helplessness against his own instincts. What could that be? He dismissed it, unknowing, then came across an idea: but would it work? It would have to. Without any warning, Veces turned and knelt down to her, hands pressed hard against the ground and face nearly touching the grassy land. He was sorry. And the prickling feeling grew and became an odd flowing sensation that flowed down his cheeks and fell to the ground.

Veces was crying. For the first time he could rememer, he was crying.

Freki looked at Veces, willing him to take the fruit and eat it without putting up a fight, because even though he felt like he was the strongest person around, he suddenly began wavering again about this, his usual weak self prodding through the mask of confidence. It was strange and he couldn’t really explain it, but he shrugged the feeling off, not paying it any heed. Veces however was a poor sight indeed and Freki felt sorry for the usually so strong man, seeing him on the floor like this, slowly being devoured by a force he could not control. He was so intent on observing the white reaper’s face and actions, shocked at the sound of two different voices emanating from the same mouth, that he didn’t even notice that the second voice was unaffected by the rhyming curse. The only thing he was focused on was getting that fruit into Veces mouth.

When Veces finally took the fruit out of his own free will and ate it like he had not eaten anything in days – which in all honesty, they barely had – he still didn’t take his eyes off the man for a second, hoping the desired effect would soon occur, which luckily it did, though Freki did not yet move, just in case it didn’t work as quickly or as well on the native animals. Hearing Zuberi hesitantly make her way closer to them and calling out to Veces, he gave her a small wave of his hand in an attempt to let her know that everything should be fine but he didn’t turn around, not yet trusting the effects of the second fruit. When Zuberi suddenly addressed him, he frowned slightly, wondering how to put his discoveries in a compact manner that wouldn’t bore them to death.

“Well, as I said, I took a look around and being who I am,” he shrugged with a sideways grin at this, “I couldn’t help but observe the local plants and animals for a while, it was simply too amazing an opportunity to pass on. It was thus that I realised that some fruit were bringing forth specific instincts in the creatures, while others could counter these effects. They’re not harmful as such, it seems, but they can have drastic consequences, such as the one Veces has eaten. Though the animals in this place seem to have some innate instinct to always eat the contrasting fruit a short while after they have eaten the ‘bad’ one, so I’m not sure how long the effect of the fruit would have lasted if Veces hadn’t eaten the antidote. It might have only been a matter for a few hours, it might also be permanent, there’s no way to tell sadly.”

His eyes were still glued to Veces, but the man seemed to be completely himself by now, so Freki finally turned around to have a look at Zuberi, and seeing the state the blue woman was in, he felt yet another pang of pity, though it didn’t hold. “You should try to get back into your clothes,” he muttered, not even paying attention to anything she might be revealing more than she had in early minimal clothes before the incident. About to suggest that they might do good to move on and away from this place, Veces suddenly almost flung himself down before Zuberi and… was he really?! Freki’s eyes widened in surprise as the white reaper was indeed on the floor, almost crying his eyes out, and the gardener felt another wave of pity wash over him. However, there was nothing he could do about this. The two would have to figure out how to circumvent this awkwardness themselves. All he could offer was: “It’s not your fault Veces. The fruit took control and there’s nothing you could have done apart from fighting it, which you did very well.” At this, Freki frowned slightly, wondering how this pathetic being on the floor could even come up with the strength of fighting instincts as strong as the fruit’s, but shaking his head, he tried to get rid of such thoughts, adding in a low voice: “In a way, the whole thing did show that you care about her, otherwise you might not have stopped to fight the way you did. I know that doesn’t make the whole thing go away but you have to try and see the bright side of the incident.”

» The Basilisk's Eye .:{Echo x Apollo}:.
» .:: Dragonsbane and Nightshade :: Seach for the Cure ::. {Apollo and Kevv}
» A Game of Cat and Mouse ((Echo/Aero))
» }-Aero {Head Hunt} Echo-{
» Tajy and Kevv [An interesting find]