answer_key (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
answer_key) wrote2013-09-20 07:15 am
answer_key) wrote2013-09-20 07:15 am
Entry tags:
[Harrington]
by hostilecrayon
It Still Counts
If Touya were pressed, he would say at most, becoming a zombie was merely an inconvenience. He’d retained most of his faculties, he could still play through thousands of games in his head with ease, and most of the common myths about zombies had proved to be false.
Well, except for the hunger. That part was real enough.
Still, even with graying skin and a desire to consume living flesh, he could still play, and since the virus had hit the Go Institute fairly early on, most of the people he enjoyed playing with were also zombies. All in all, things could be much worse.
In fact, there was only one person not yet infected that he needed around. Shindou was currently locking himself in the lunch area with a few other people who had managed to escape the virus. Touya just shook his head at this – it’s not like they’d actually be able to survive in there.
Which is what he was trying to say when he knocked politely on the appliances that had been stuffed into the entryway in an effort to block out anyone trying to get in.
“You have to realize that you can’t survive in there,” Touya said patiently for the third time that week.
“Dude, I swear if you let him in, I’ll kill you before he gets the chance.”
“God Waya, do you think I’m an idiot?”
“Why yes, yes I do, thank you for asking.”
Touya could practically hear Shindou rolling his eyes through the makeshift door.
“Think about it,” Touya continued, unfazed by the constant bickering coming from the other room, “you have what? Two, maybe three days of food left? There are several of you inside, eventually you’ll have to choose between starving to death or coming out of there.”
“If I’m going to die, it sure as hell isn’t going to be from being eaten by Touya,” Waya yelled.
“How about we just don’t die?” Shindou replied, as if that were actually an option.
“I am certain you haven’t thought this through,” Touya said, sighing heavily. “Not that I should have expected any different.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “You realize that you are going to die, one way or another, right? At least this way, we can still play Go.”
“Don’t let him suck you in, Shindou.”
“I know, I know, god. Touya, you’re not getting in. Just get over it.” Shindou’s voice was weary, resignation coloring his words.
Touya just stood there for a moment, and then:
“3-4.”
“Touya…” It sounded like he was leaning against the blockade.
“3-4,” Touya repeated, his voice calm and even, though if he’d had a pulse, it would have been elevated.
“No, Shindou. Don’t you fucking dare-“
“17-4,” Shindou says firmly, clear even over Waya’s warnings.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Playing a game, what does it look like?”
“Nothing good can come of this.”
“17-18,” Touya replied, and though he could hear Waya’s huff and some angry mumbling, eventually, it was just them, Touya and Shindou, playing a game as per usual.
---
It became a routine. Touya would come by three times a day, try to convince Shindou, fail, and they would play a game. Since Touya no longer needed to sleep, he spent the extra hours going over their games and trying to figure out how to convince Shindou that an eternity of playing Go with him as a zombie is infinitely more attractive than playing Go until Shindou dies – which at this rate won’t be a hell of a lot longer.
It wasn’t until Shindou started having trouble concentrating that Touya knew his time was running out.
“How long has it been since you ate?” Touya asked, his voice low and full of concern.
“What time is it?”
“Just after four o’clock.”
“That would make it since, oh, I don’t know, count the hours, carry the one – Tuesday?” Shindou chuckled weakly. Touya could barely make it out through the barricade.
It was Friday.
“Shindou…”
“He’s not letting you in, right, Shindou?”
“Right,” Shindou parroted back without any real feeling to it.
“You’re going to die in there!” Touya said, his voice rising for the first time since everything happened.
“Yeah, well at least we won’t be your food,” Waya snapped back, but Shindou remained uncharacteristically silent.
---
Touya waited until just after midnight before he returned.
“Shindou?” He whispered, but as he expected, he got no response. Everyone must have been asleep – assuming everyone was still alive.
Touya sighed, his head thunking back against the thing separating him from Shindou.
“You know,” Touya started, soft and low, almost as if he were talking to himself, “part of me always thought that we’d reach the Hand of God together someday. Not while we were young, most likely, but when we were older, well-established, fighting to take as many titles as we could.
“I didn’t think we’d find it in a title match, though. There are some things that can’t be found in such places, where it’s all pressure and something to lose. The Hand of God isn’t something that can be manufactured. Otherwise it would have already been played.”
Touya sat in silence, the lack of Shindou’s bluster a heavy weight on him.
He didn’t even know if he was going to bother to continue, but then, weak and barely audible:
“Then when?”
“Shindou?” he breathed.
“When, Touya? When do you think we would have found it? You know, before… this?”
Touya took a deep breath he no longer needed and said, “Probably when we were alone, maybe even on our death beds, played just for the love of the game; the love we have for each other.”
Shindou made a noise that sounded like a strangled snort. “Love, huh?”
Touya chuckled dryly. “It’s probably a little late to mention it, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Shindou said with absolutely no humor in it.
More silence, Touya staring up at the ceiling as he tried to figure out what to say.
“…No, it’s not too late. It’s never too late, right? Until it is, and you might be dead, but somehow you’re still here, so technically, that still counts. …I think,” Shindou said slowly.
“What are you saying, Shindou?” If Touya had breath to hold, he would have been holding it.
“I’m saying… before all this… maybe…”Shindou paused, and then, “I would have liked that.”
“And now?”
Touya could almost see the frustration on Shindou’s face. “And now I’m starving to death, that’s what.” Silence, and then, “…Did it hurt?”
Touya hesitated. Shindou deserved the truth. “Yes.”
Shindou sighed.
“But the one who bit me… wasn’t gentle about it. I could never do that to you. Hunger be damned. Alive, dead… it doesn’t matter.”
“Are you saying you’d bite me gently?” Shindou said, his tone slightly amused.
“I’d have to break the skin,” Touya replied thoughtfully, “but I can do that with minimal pain.”
“I must be crazy.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m actually considering it.”
Touya didn’t dare speak, just waiting for Shindou to come to a conclusion.
“And we can still play Go?” he said quietly.
“Potentially forever, or at least until the sun blows up and finally kills us properly.”
Shindou took a rasping breath, and said, “A little bit of pain in exchange for an eternity of games with you? Sounds like a fair deal.”
“So come out,” Touya reasoned, sounding much calmer than he felt.
“Man, Waya is going to be so pissed,” Shindou grumbled, and Touya could hear the sound of things being moved around.
It took Shindou longer than it should have to get out, but considering his lack of food, it wasn’t surprising. Shindou flinched when he finally stepped out, as if he still expected Touya to jump him like a very rare, very expensive steak. It took him a minute, but when Touya just stared at him, eventually Shindou adopted a sheepish look, the expression strange on his newly gaunt features.
“So uh… now what?” Shindou said, his cheeks blushing a furious red for what Touya realized would be the last time. Touya stood there for a minute, burning it into his memory.
“Now,” Touya murmured, moving closer to Shindou, “I have to bite you.”
Shindou swallowed audibly, shifting from foot to foot. “Uh, where?”
Technically, Touya could have bitten him anywhere. It’s not like Shindou would have known the difference, but even as he could feel his hunger become ravenous, he reached out and grabbed Shindou’s hand, raising it to his mouth. “It will be quick,” he assured him, and slowly, with every ounce of control he possessed, he bit into the fleshy part of Shindou’s palm, just enough to break the skin and spread the virus. His undead instincts were screaming at him to bite the chunk off, to feed, and the hunger almost consumed him.
Almost.
Shindou let out a yelp, and Touya let go.
“It will take a few hours before the virus consumes your living tissue and turns you into…” he gestured at his graying skin, “…this.”
“Okay,” Shindou replied, breathless as the virus began to spread through him, sapping away the things that made him alive. Touya directed him to sit down with him, and Touya watched over him as the change began.
There was nothing left for Touya to do but wait.
---
“We really found it,” Shindou said, disbelief plain in his tone.
“I knew we would. It took quite a bit longer than I thought, but I knew it would be us who found it.”
“Yeah, about ten thousand years longer,” Shindou said, snorting.
“It doesn’t matter how long it took, does it?” Touya snapped, his eyes narrowing. “We did it. We found the Hand of God.”
“How ironic that a couple of zombies discovered the Hand of God.”
“Shut up, Shindou, it still counts,” Touya grumbled, but if you looked close enough, on his undead lips was the barest hint of a smile.
hostilecrayonIt Still Counts
If Touya were pressed, he would say at most, becoming a zombie was merely an inconvenience. He’d retained most of his faculties, he could still play through thousands of games in his head with ease, and most of the common myths about zombies had proved to be false.
Well, except for the hunger. That part was real enough.
Still, even with graying skin and a desire to consume living flesh, he could still play, and since the virus had hit the Go Institute fairly early on, most of the people he enjoyed playing with were also zombies. All in all, things could be much worse.
In fact, there was only one person not yet infected that he needed around. Shindou was currently locking himself in the lunch area with a few other people who had managed to escape the virus. Touya just shook his head at this – it’s not like they’d actually be able to survive in there.
Which is what he was trying to say when he knocked politely on the appliances that had been stuffed into the entryway in an effort to block out anyone trying to get in.
“You have to realize that you can’t survive in there,” Touya said patiently for the third time that week.
“Dude, I swear if you let him in, I’ll kill you before he gets the chance.”
“God Waya, do you think I’m an idiot?”
“Why yes, yes I do, thank you for asking.”
Touya could practically hear Shindou rolling his eyes through the makeshift door.
“Think about it,” Touya continued, unfazed by the constant bickering coming from the other room, “you have what? Two, maybe three days of food left? There are several of you inside, eventually you’ll have to choose between starving to death or coming out of there.”
“If I’m going to die, it sure as hell isn’t going to be from being eaten by Touya,” Waya yelled.
“How about we just don’t die?” Shindou replied, as if that were actually an option.
“I am certain you haven’t thought this through,” Touya said, sighing heavily. “Not that I should have expected any different.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “You realize that you are going to die, one way or another, right? At least this way, we can still play Go.”
“Don’t let him suck you in, Shindou.”
“I know, I know, god. Touya, you’re not getting in. Just get over it.” Shindou’s voice was weary, resignation coloring his words.
Touya just stood there for a moment, and then:
“3-4.”
“Touya…” It sounded like he was leaning against the blockade.
“3-4,” Touya repeated, his voice calm and even, though if he’d had a pulse, it would have been elevated.
“No, Shindou. Don’t you fucking dare-“
“17-4,” Shindou says firmly, clear even over Waya’s warnings.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Playing a game, what does it look like?”
“Nothing good can come of this.”
“17-18,” Touya replied, and though he could hear Waya’s huff and some angry mumbling, eventually, it was just them, Touya and Shindou, playing a game as per usual.
---
It became a routine. Touya would come by three times a day, try to convince Shindou, fail, and they would play a game. Since Touya no longer needed to sleep, he spent the extra hours going over their games and trying to figure out how to convince Shindou that an eternity of playing Go with him as a zombie is infinitely more attractive than playing Go until Shindou dies – which at this rate won’t be a hell of a lot longer.
It wasn’t until Shindou started having trouble concentrating that Touya knew his time was running out.
“How long has it been since you ate?” Touya asked, his voice low and full of concern.
“What time is it?”
“Just after four o’clock.”
“That would make it since, oh, I don’t know, count the hours, carry the one – Tuesday?” Shindou chuckled weakly. Touya could barely make it out through the barricade.
It was Friday.
“Shindou…”
“He’s not letting you in, right, Shindou?”
“Right,” Shindou parroted back without any real feeling to it.
“You’re going to die in there!” Touya said, his voice rising for the first time since everything happened.
“Yeah, well at least we won’t be your food,” Waya snapped back, but Shindou remained uncharacteristically silent.
---
Touya waited until just after midnight before he returned.
“Shindou?” He whispered, but as he expected, he got no response. Everyone must have been asleep – assuming everyone was still alive.
Touya sighed, his head thunking back against the thing separating him from Shindou.
“You know,” Touya started, soft and low, almost as if he were talking to himself, “part of me always thought that we’d reach the Hand of God together someday. Not while we were young, most likely, but when we were older, well-established, fighting to take as many titles as we could.
“I didn’t think we’d find it in a title match, though. There are some things that can’t be found in such places, where it’s all pressure and something to lose. The Hand of God isn’t something that can be manufactured. Otherwise it would have already been played.”
Touya sat in silence, the lack of Shindou’s bluster a heavy weight on him.
He didn’t even know if he was going to bother to continue, but then, weak and barely audible:
“Then when?”
“Shindou?” he breathed.
“When, Touya? When do you think we would have found it? You know, before… this?”
Touya took a deep breath he no longer needed and said, “Probably when we were alone, maybe even on our death beds, played just for the love of the game; the love we have for each other.”
Shindou made a noise that sounded like a strangled snort. “Love, huh?”
Touya chuckled dryly. “It’s probably a little late to mention it, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Shindou said with absolutely no humor in it.
More silence, Touya staring up at the ceiling as he tried to figure out what to say.
“…No, it’s not too late. It’s never too late, right? Until it is, and you might be dead, but somehow you’re still here, so technically, that still counts. …I think,” Shindou said slowly.
“What are you saying, Shindou?” If Touya had breath to hold, he would have been holding it.
“I’m saying… before all this… maybe…”Shindou paused, and then, “I would have liked that.”
“And now?”
Touya could almost see the frustration on Shindou’s face. “And now I’m starving to death, that’s what.” Silence, and then, “…Did it hurt?”
Touya hesitated. Shindou deserved the truth. “Yes.”
Shindou sighed.
“But the one who bit me… wasn’t gentle about it. I could never do that to you. Hunger be damned. Alive, dead… it doesn’t matter.”
“Are you saying you’d bite me gently?” Shindou said, his tone slightly amused.
“I’d have to break the skin,” Touya replied thoughtfully, “but I can do that with minimal pain.”
“I must be crazy.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m actually considering it.”
Touya didn’t dare speak, just waiting for Shindou to come to a conclusion.
“And we can still play Go?” he said quietly.
“Potentially forever, or at least until the sun blows up and finally kills us properly.”
Shindou took a rasping breath, and said, “A little bit of pain in exchange for an eternity of games with you? Sounds like a fair deal.”
“So come out,” Touya reasoned, sounding much calmer than he felt.
“Man, Waya is going to be so pissed,” Shindou grumbled, and Touya could hear the sound of things being moved around.
It took Shindou longer than it should have to get out, but considering his lack of food, it wasn’t surprising. Shindou flinched when he finally stepped out, as if he still expected Touya to jump him like a very rare, very expensive steak. It took him a minute, but when Touya just stared at him, eventually Shindou adopted a sheepish look, the expression strange on his newly gaunt features.
“So uh… now what?” Shindou said, his cheeks blushing a furious red for what Touya realized would be the last time. Touya stood there for a minute, burning it into his memory.
“Now,” Touya murmured, moving closer to Shindou, “I have to bite you.”
Shindou swallowed audibly, shifting from foot to foot. “Uh, where?”
Technically, Touya could have bitten him anywhere. It’s not like Shindou would have known the difference, but even as he could feel his hunger become ravenous, he reached out and grabbed Shindou’s hand, raising it to his mouth. “It will be quick,” he assured him, and slowly, with every ounce of control he possessed, he bit into the fleshy part of Shindou’s palm, just enough to break the skin and spread the virus. His undead instincts were screaming at him to bite the chunk off, to feed, and the hunger almost consumed him.
Almost.
Shindou let out a yelp, and Touya let go.
“It will take a few hours before the virus consumes your living tissue and turns you into…” he gestured at his graying skin, “…this.”
“Okay,” Shindou replied, breathless as the virus began to spread through him, sapping away the things that made him alive. Touya directed him to sit down with him, and Touya watched over him as the change began.
There was nothing left for Touya to do but wait.
---
“We really found it,” Shindou said, disbelief plain in his tone.
“I knew we would. It took quite a bit longer than I thought, but I knew it would be us who found it.”
“Yeah, about ten thousand years longer,” Shindou said, snorting.
“It doesn’t matter how long it took, does it?” Touya snapped, his eyes narrowing. “We did it. We found the Hand of God.”
“How ironic that a couple of zombies discovered the Hand of God.”
“Shut up, Shindou, it still counts,” Touya grumbled, but if you looked close enough, on his undead lips was the barest hint of a smile.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-20 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-20 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)Still, even with graying skin and a desire to consume living flesh, he could still play, and since the virus had hit the Go Institute fairly early on, most of the people he enjoyed playing with were also zombies. All in all, things could be much worse.
---> This paragraph just slayed me. Just imagining a bunch of zombies sitting around playing go!!
I enjoyed it! (:
[Auerbach]
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-22 05:27 am (UTC)(link)- Mahidol
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-22 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)So I guess Waya kicked the bucket, huh?
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 07:32 pm (UTC)(link)Can one call a fic like this sweet? I mean, undead zombies, sweet? But in a way, yeah... Lovely work.
Poor Waya, though.
(And that song that Mahidol linked... it sounded so familair to me, and then I realized why: I've heard another song by Jonathan Coulton before. It's called Skullcrusher Mountain, and it's pretty brilliant too. http://youtu.be/2_ryNJVreiY )
Katju
no subject
no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-27 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)--Alberti
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-28 12:17 am (UTC)(link)/Loren
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(Anonymous) 2013-10-20 02:25 am (UTC)(link)