livlaughlove | sticksandbones IC Inbox

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livio

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      Powers nerfed & gained
    Self-healing: Nerfed on arrival from near-instant to delayed by a few minutes. Think 5-10.
Superhuman strength: Nerfed on arrival. Still super strong, but not to the same extent.
Dragon Blessing - Strength: Makes up for original nerf. Plus dual sets of horns, one pair curved down to frame his face, one pair curved back and up. Sharp and harshly angled, like his sunburst tattoos.
Dragon Blessing - Balance: Thick, alligator-like tail.

      Deaths & Resurrection prices
    Death - August 2024: Killed by a Corrupted Vash.

Price: Marksmanship skill. Can no longer aim a gun worth a damn. 

      Other permanent changes
    Memory Loss - February 2024: In Razlo's heartspace, his memory of Chapel defending him to the other Masters was destroyed. He still recalls having been fiercely loyal to Chapel, but not why.
Scarring - March 2024: Scars in an enormous jaw pattern spanning from his thighs to upper arm, with teeth marks along both his chest and back.

      Temporary changes
    Hydra form - May 2025: from Event/TDM 24. A bunch of fungi made LR into some fun guys.

  
    CODE
  

weasel's note: livio's handwriting is extremely neat and uncannily consistent. every letter is always the same exact size and shape. as if simply writing perfectly in times new roman was a humanly possible thing.

livio can commonly be found where he lives at vash's house or looking after the school.

plotting contact: PM // discord @ fuckweasel

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[turns out, livio has plenty of time to get the crying out of his system as wolfwood gets patched up. he spends the majority of it pacing around outside, given that his haphazard footsteps might shake the floor of the clinic otherwise.

as soon as he's made aware that nick is stable and not being actively worked on, whether he's awake or not at this point, liv is making the executive decision to let himself in regardless of anyone's approval or lack thereof. he's decidedly more restrained in his movements now, though, light on his feet and forcing himself to breathe easier. he simply pulls up a chair beside nicholas' bed and waits, letting him rest and come around to either consciousness or the desire to talk on his own.]

[Once more, he returns to that blissful silence. The nothingness of unconsciousness. He's thankful he doesn't dream, because this might be the last time in a while that he doesn't. He has too many awful things his subconscious is going to helpfully conjure up for him in the near future. Whether he lives or dies at this point is firmly in the hands of those working at the clinic, and- fortunately- they're skilled enough to not let that happen. Stabilizing him is a matter of replenishing the blood lost and getting the wound cauterized and stitched up, which is thankfully a lot easier than trying to fix him when he's dying from serum overdose.

Outside in the Grove, the grave Livio dug for Wolfwood's body has collapsed. It's now a strangely formed half-pit of loose earth, the body within absent from its former resting place.

He's still asleep...seemingly, when Livio comes into the room. He's likely still in his bloodied clothing unless the clinic usually provides something like a hospital gown for its occupants. Not that it matters to Wolfwood, when he's rarely been afforded medical care when things like this happen. Now, here he is, his body battered and broken with his head turned away towards the far wall. Since he's uninjured everywhere else save for the bruises left behind by the branches, it would be impossible to tell what was wrong if not for the empty space under the sheets on his right side.

Eventually, though...he takes a deeper breath than usual. A heavy exhalation of breath. Then, his head slowly turns the other way, half-closed eyes settling on Livio.]

Livio...

[livio's eyes are still red from crying by the time wolfwood looks at him. he sniffles and rubs at his eyes before reaching a hand out, laying it face up on the bed. waiting for nicholas to choose whether or not he wants to be touched anymore at the moment. his voice is quiet and shaky, reminiscent of wolfwood's final moments just a few weeks ago.]

Nick, I'm so... so sorry. I couldn't... do anything.

[Wolfwood is too tired to sit up. Too tired to throw himself from this bed and hobble out of the clinic like he so wishes he could, stubbornness boiling hot in his veins.

He isn't too tired to pull his hand away from where it rests limp on his torso to lay it carefully in Livio's.]

Woulda'...woulda' happened whether you were there or not.

[He manages in a low voice, turning his hand over so they rest palm-to-palm, his fingers tangling loose with Livio's much larger ones.]

Y'still came for me.

'course I did. Do anything for you, Nico.

[and yet, not enough. he's never done enough, he thinks as he squeezes wolfwood's fingers delicately between his own.]

D'you need anything? Are you in pain...?

[it's a stupid fucking question. he knows even before he asks it. doesn't even know why he bothers. he feels like he's lost more of his mind since wolfwood died at his feet.]

[He actually laughs. It's more of a huff than a real laugh, humorless, but it sort of blurts its way out of him anyway as he closes his eyes for a moment, waiting for the room to stop swaying before he answers.]

Well. Ain't feelin' great. But I'll live.

[Perhaps in poor taste, considering. He's just not sure he cares anymore.

He's trying not to think about it. He cannot dwell on it, otherwise he's going to find himself in a place he can't crawl out of, and he's got weeks worth of catching up to do before that can happen.]

...how long's it been.

[poor taste or not, wolfwood saying so is actually a comfort to livio. he wishes the circumstances weren't this, but he's unbelievably grateful to be sitting here holding nick's hand at all.]

I'm... not sure. Weeks, at least. Maybe... a month? I -- I can't... really tell time, especially here. It feels like forever.

[he swallows, a thick lump in his throat. if he isn't already, surely wolfwood will start to wonder why vash isn't here. start to hurt and question whether vash cares. it's the last bit of news livio wants to deliver, but... he has to, doesn't he?]

Nick... Vash, he... I haven't seen him since. He took off into the forest with your glasses...

[Honestly? He was expecting to hear a lot worse. That it had been years, not weeks. Not to say a month is any better, but...it could be worse. He could have simply died and then never returned.

Of course...he's only just barely processing that before Livio drops another bombshell in his lap, much larger than the previous. Because yes, he has been wondering where Vash is. Vash, who no doubt would have been at Livio's side if he were here.

And where is he? Where the fuck is he-?

Wolfwood suddenly sits up so fast that he jostles the bedframe, and immediately the room spins dizzyingly. He can't even fully focus on Livio's face because of the room trying to whirl its way right out from under him, but he doesn't care.]

Took off? You're fucking kidding. You're KIDDING.

[His tone says that he knows Livio is not kidding.]

[wolfwood shooting up so quickly startles livio a decent amount -- he moves closer, partly to steady nick and partly to hold him back if need be. in his condition, wolfwood might not be able to get far, but livio knows exactly how stubborn he is, and he doesn't put it past him to try.]

I'm not. It's -- he had to have a good reason. [he feels like he's still trying to convince himself of that.] I'm sure he'd be here otherwise. Y'can't just... go runnin' after him right now...

[It's good that Livio is here to stop him, because it's very likely he might have tried to...do something. Maybe. But even Wolfwood can't just will his body to work for him, and once it starts becoming clear just how crippled he is now? Well. It's not going to be fun, nor easy.

He should lay back down. His shoulders shake a bit from the effort of forcing himself to sit up like this, yet he's too incensed to go anywhere. He lets Livio keep him steady- definitely holding him in place too, by some measure- as he grits his teeth so hard it makes his jaw ache.

It's not like he didn't suspect he might pull something like this. He was just...you know. Dead. Not like he could ponder it much when he was on his death bed.]

...m'gonna kill him. If he comes back, I'm gonna fucking kill him.

[The last words barely make it out, his voice strained and breaking.]

No, you won't. [his voice is soft, like he might be trying to soothe a child rather than argue with another adult. maybe it's a bad move, but he believes it. he knows wolfwood is furious, understandably so, but he also knows that nicholas loves vash and will be relieved to have him back.

christ, livio hopes vash comes back. he doesn't think he can handle watching nick go through what he's just endured.]

Will you lie back down, please? I don't want you to hurt yourself...

[He doesn't want to lay back down. He wants to get up. He wants to run outside and punch something. He wants to scream. He wants to cry. He's been brought back from the dead, and everything is worse now. It shows in his expression, defiant and angry and raw as he looks back at Livio with his eyes glittering with barely repressed rage, unable to hide behind his shades because Vash took those with him when he left.

But as he searches Livio's expression for any signs of backing down despite knowing this isn't going to be happening, his own mask starts to fracture. A low shudder wracks his body and rattles his bones, brows upturning as he feels his heart plummet into the pit of his stomach. He looks...hurt, for lack of a better word. There's no way he can express it like he usually might, because he may not be leaving this bed for quite some time.

So...he sinks back down. He lays flat on the bed and turns his head away, mostly so Livio won't see the upset tears welling up in his eyes because he told him, practically begged Vash to stay and be here. With Livio most of all, but he meant the others, too. To not turn tail and run, not this time. No matter how much he knows it must have hurt to lose him.

It hurts. He's hurting, and it's not just physical anymore.

He doesn't let Livio's hand go, at least.]

...he left you. Alone.

[That is maybe the more egregious sin of all, in his mind.]

[it's hard not to bend, honestly, when wolfwood is so very obviously upset. he doesn't show vulnerability often, even to livio.

but as he's said before, liv will be damned if he's the reason nick and vash have trouble.]

Please don't be angry with him on my behalf. [i'm already angry enough, he wants to say, but of course he doesn't. it would probably only make nick madder to know it actually got to livio.] I survived, didn't I?

[forget that he's spent his whole life "surviving," and the motions he's ghosted through the past weeks could hardly be considered living.

... with one exception, maybe.]

Angel's okay. I've been looking after her. She's a good girl.

[Livio tells him to not be angry, and he gets it. He can tell just how much he's trying to cover for Vash, to smooth things over...it's not going to work, but he understands what he's trying to do.

To be frank though, assuming Vash doesn't just reappear tomorrow, Wolfwood will have time to ruminate and calm down. Whether or not that will be a good or bad thing is still anyone's guess, of course. The shock of coming back and losing a limb hasn't had time to fully settle in just yet, after all.

He wants to tell Livio that isn't enough, but what he says next is actually surprising enough that Wolfwood glances back over at Livio without turning his head, looking up at him through ratty bangs.]

...you have?

[You didn't have to, he thinks. Someone else would have. Mizuki, or Zahliya, or Els-

...

He may not understand Livio's history with dogs in particular, he doesn't know because how could he? But that doesn't mean he hasn't been aware that he's avoided Angelina up until now. It's not something he pressed him on, because it was never important enough to be an issue. If that was his preference, Wolfwood wasn't going to bother him about it.

So, to hear that he'd been caring for the pup in his absence...]

[livio is glad they both seem to be able to move past the vash thing for now. getting worked up about it wouldn't do any good, anyway.]

'course I did. That's your baby, right? [there's an unspoken heaviness to his words. of course i did; she was all i had left of you.

... livio promised her earlier that he would be back. he hadn't mentioned wolfwood, because god forbid the worst happened, he didn't want to lie to her. but it's likely nick won't be able to go home just yet in this state.]

I'll bring her over if you wanna see her before you're released.

[While Wolfwood would love to get this awful, heavy feeling in his chest to go away in regards to Vash, he knows that unloading on Livio about it isn't going to do either of them any good. Judging by how haggard Livio seems, and the bags under his eyes, he knows. He's been here on his own for weeks, almost a month now he said. He doesn't need to hear about it.

That...he'll have to unpack all of that later. Somehow. Maybe they can talk about it, maybe they won't. Right now, he's just thankful he has Livio. Livio, who- by all accounts- he would understand if he wanted nothing to do with him right now. He warned Nick himself about the book burning, after all. Even if he wasn't alone in that...]

I...

[His brows furrow, and again he glances across the room. Angelina...he can't imagine she really understood what was going on. Leaving her hadn't actually occurred to him until now.]

Yeah...yeah, sure. You might as well.

[For as much as he complains about having to clean up after her, and take her out, and everything else, Livio is right. She is his baby, now.]

...thank you. Seriously.

[unfortunately for wolfwood, he's stuck with livio. as he'd said at the time -- in the wrong or not, regardless of difficulty or tribulation, liv will stick by nicholas. especially now, when nick doesn't have anyone else he lets himself be vulnerable around.]

You're welcome. Always.

[granted, even to angelina's detriment of waiting just a bit longer, he's hesitant to leave just yet unless nick asks it of him. livio doesn't move, just runs his thumb over nick's hand still in his.]

... I'm really glad you're here, Nico.

[That will probably get Livio in trouble one of these days, if it hasn't already, considering the lives they've both led. At this point, though? Wolfwood knows they're both sticking by each other for the long haul.

When he feels Livio rub his hand with his thumb, Wolfwood visibly relaxes. He does finally turn his head so he's looking up at the ceiling, yet it's obvious he's miserable, both in body and mind. The dampness clinging to his lashes can attest to that.]

You know me. Takes more than just a few licks to put me in the ground.

[He huffs as he says that, giving Livio's hand a little squeeze.]

Just. ...might not be quite the same guy you remembered. I'm...half my former self.

[It's a terrible attempt at a joke, or lightening the mood, maybe. It's something Vash would say.

It falls flat on its face pretty much in the silence that follows.]

[it did take more than that. it took a god. and livio put nicholas in the ground himself.

but liv doesn't comment on that. it's for the best.]

I don't think that's true. You just... have somethin' new to get used to. And I'm here to help, however you need.

Somethin' new. Right.

[It's not like he's having to learn how to ride a bike here. And, as far as he knows, this is it. He's just like this, now.

And with how independent Wolfwood is, it's going to be a lot harder than he's even anticipating it might.]

Guess it coulda' been worse. The Forest might've taken something harder to replace.

[Like a memory. Like a memory of something vital, something Wolfwood would be loathe to lose.

He has plenty to choose from.]

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timeskip of however long it takes to stabilize el woowoo

cw: brief OD mention just in case

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