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week one ♡ sunday ♡ serph
[once he knows everything he needs to and things quiet down—akira goes looking for serph.
he's got a glass jar curled tightly in his right hand, and a quiet expression of determination settled in his gaze.]
Serph.
[he's got an agenda, but he's pretty sure he doesn't need to explain too much of it right now.]
Do you have some time right now? [he kind of just wants to slip away without anyone really noticing. he's sure everyone knows that akira has pretty personal feelings about dealing with haru's body, but he doesn't want to make the fact that he's helping serph with his appetite some kind of spectacle, either.
it's a weirdly personal thing, but it's fine.]
he's got a glass jar curled tightly in his right hand, and a quiet expression of determination settled in his gaze.]
Serph.
[he's got an agenda, but he's pretty sure he doesn't need to explain too much of it right now.]
Do you have some time right now? [he kind of just wants to slip away without anyone really noticing. he's sure everyone knows that akira has pretty personal feelings about dealing with haru's body, but he doesn't want to make the fact that he's helping serph with his appetite some kind of spectacle, either.
it's a weirdly personal thing, but it's fine.]
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So he's quick to drop what he's doing with a nod, and get to his feet.
Where we headed, bro? ]
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["we" as in the general we, of course. he motions towards a far off spot on the beach. it's hidden way from the sun and the birds, from a small canopy of rocks that could almost be a tunnel. it seems to get the job done, out of sight enough that they won't be bothered the other people on the island.]
We'll check the state of things and decide what you should take. The rest, we burn.
[he holds up jar.
it's a quiet request for help as well, because he probably can't burn a body and gather the ashed of someone precious to him alone—but it's not something he thinks he can burden anyone else with, either. serph seems like a person who can handle it, and they already have business together right now.
two birds with one stone, more or less.]
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He nods again, looking to the chosen place. Out of the way, not so close to the water that the damp will be a hinderance. Akira seems well-prepared, but regardless, it's worth asking - ]
Do you intend to use the communal bonfire, or have you made other arrangements?
[ A match, a lighter, a torch borrowed from the bonfire, whatever works. He's assuming that wanting to keep this away from everyone's eyes applies to more than just sorting through the pieces, but there also aren't many assumptions that can be safely made with the state of their resources. ]
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[a pause, and:]
It's going to take a while—and I don't think anyone else needs to be exposed to this. Our resources aren't great for doing this the right way, so we're just going to have to make the best of it.
[akira's not thrilled about that part, but it's probably pretty clear that he did his best to figure out the methods.]
We'll see what we can do for you. The rest, we burn and put in here. [he motions to the jar, though he thinks that serph understands that already.] I'll take care of the bones myself.
[probably via burial, but he's undecided on where to do so that won't just be dug up for an investigation because of disturbed ground.
unless serph wants to eat burnt bones, but akira has no idea how cannibalism really works, it's fine.]
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Serph doesn't actually have experience burning bodies - before the Atma, the fallen in the Junkyard faded into the rain - but he has dealt with fire, explosions, and burning things in general, and he's become more intimately familiar with the composition of the human body than he'd ever hoped to. He can make an educated guess. ]
Hours, at least. But the smaller the fire, the longer we'll need.
[ We're going to need a bigger
boatwoodpile. ]no subject
We can try to gather more wood or burnables to help. There's some cloth there already, which will help some.
[but it will be time-consuming, to be sure. he thinks that giving a couple of larger pieces of the body to serph to consume might speed up the process, but they need to see what's there and what's most viable.]
Let's see what we're working with first before we get the fire ready.
[he owes serph his thanks for this. he knows serph would probably prefer to consume more than just what he's going to get over watching his meal burn away. akira knows that—so there's a deep appreciation for his assistance that he'll have to address in a bit.
they'll have plenty of time to kill this afternoon, after all.]
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What Serph would prefer isn't the issue. Comrades deserve better than any of this, and while there's not much they can do to improve the situation, he can do this much.
So he will.
He silently falls into step with Akira as they start towards the chosen spot. ]
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this? this is the tough part. her body in pieces, her head, sans scalp is in that crate as well—and it's already been two days in the tropical heat.
nothing about this could be pleasant in the least. it's definitely a bit tougher for him to keep his composure; he pales just a little, but does his best to steel his expression.
...though even as he steps forward to look inside, he hesitates a bit. he has to do this, for her sake and for serph's too.]
Alright. Let's... do this.
[he'll be fine, probably.]
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He moves to Akira's side, but doesn't reach for the crate just yet. ]
Should I?
[ Take the pieces out and see what they've got, that is. He's not sure whether being the one to do it would be easier or harder on Akira, so that's his call. ]
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...Her head.
[ultimately, that's the decision he comes to.]
I can look at everything else. [he'll still need serph's help. but if he can remove haru's head and just place it out of sight for the time being, it would be better. he can't stand to see that at all.
her body won't be easy for him to deal with, but that part is definitely what's causing the most hesitation for him here.]
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The smell is...not doing good things with his subconscious, though the fact that it's been waiting in less than ideal conditions helps. He's hungry, but not so much yet that his instincts don't say "that's spoiled, find something better."
He glances back, long enough for Akira to get the message that now is the time to not look, before he lifts the head out and takes a few steps away, finding a spot behind a rock to put it for now. ]
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but he's perfectly okay with not looking at her face as much as possible. he'll probably do the same once they've set up some sort of makeshift pyre using the crate and whatever else they can gather; her head would just be too much to bear.
so akira will wait until serph gives him the clear, swallowing hard as he tries to turn off his senses from dealing with the smell of decomposition here.]
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Thankfully, Serph is a patient kind of guy, so he has no problem with giving Akira a moment at every step to deal with his reactions before they move on.
Once Akira does seem ready (or as ready as he can be), though, Serph starts...unpacking, the rest staying there in sight where they can sort through it. ]
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once he starts going through the other things, akira will come back to help; there'e still some hesitation, but he knows—this needs to be done. and because it needs to be done, he'll do it.]
It won't take as many hours to burn if don't utilize the largest sections.
[clearly, he's trying to divorce himself from the topic a bit, keeping it more business than pleasure—trying to not act like this is his comrade's body here.]
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I can get by on whatever you're more comfortable with.
[ i.e. don't worry about whether a part seems edible. He'll manage either way. ]
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[burning a whole body would take too long and be difficult with their resources, and it's not like akira's going to just leave serph with a severed hand and call it good.
it's.
well, a situation.]
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He looks down at what they've got, again. ]
...limbs will burn more quickly.
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We don't really have what we need to make this most effective. [nothing flammable enough to douse the body, nothing to make a suitable pyre beyond what they've got, and hardly enough to even keep the flame strong.]
The torso. [he says, again keeping the detachment clear.] That would be best for you.
[there's a decent amount of meat there—it would take too long to burn, and give serph a decent amount of sustenance.]
It would save us a lot of time.
[it means there wouldn't be all that much to her remains, but he doesn't need much; he'll gather what ashes come of it into the jar after it's all burned away.]
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Even as little as it is, comparatively, it'll be a feat to keep a strong enough fire going to take care of it. ]
We'll need more wood.
[ Using the crate is a start, but it's not going to see the job through. ]
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This is why I wanted to start as soon as I had the information I needed. [which, of course... was where to find her body.]
We can't take all of the firewood supplies, but we should be able to get a bit more than what we have now.
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[ To get more, that is.
If Akira wanted to...well. Have a moment. ]
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[he nods. akira knows he probably needs a moment, but yet... even still?]
I'll start breaking down the crate so it'll burn better.
[he's gonna kick the shit out of it and let out some aggression while serph's gone, probably.]
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Serph, for his part, takes a bit more time than he might've otherwise to go and retrieve some extra wood, and when he returns, he takes care to make a little more noise in his approach than he normally would ever, to make it obvious to Akira when he's about to no longer have the moment to himself. ]
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he definitely got some of his feelings out on the crate by kicking the hell out of it... and it might be apparent the wood took some abuse, but it's fine. he's fine?
a+ he's fine, serph can come in and they can work on this.]
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Do you think this will be enough?
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If we're running short, we'll see it coming soon enough to find more.
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[the moment of truth, really.]
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Even if he's taking care not to work too quickly, though, it's not exactly slow work getting the fire arranged. Serph's got a good idea of how to set things up properly and make sure things burn. ]
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truthfully, he's never going to be that comfortable with what they're doing. if serph has a better idea of how to handle this? he won't refuse this. he just wants to do it right—he wants to do the best he can for haru's sake.]
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Would you prefer to light it?
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Yeah. I should be the one to do this.