recolle | ( OPEN ) you believed in all your lies, didn't you

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yugioh: malik ishtar

( OPEN ) you believed in all your lies, didn't you

WHO: Malik Ishtar and Others (You!)
WHERE: Around, mostly in Freshens
WHEN: Mid to late April
WHAT: Malik is suffering the effects of the dreaded Magatus Mark
WARNINGS: Malik’s dubious mental health, teen angst, mentions of self injury in first prompt.

Magatus was disorienting in its newness. The blacking out that came after was more familiar to Malik than should be considered normal, but when he awoke and discovered that he hadn’t gone on another attempted murder spree and that things were relatively okay, he had ventured forth with a kinda-familiar person to see about getting rid of the new glowy mark on his skin.

He didn’t find the answer.

So he had left, huffing and pouting as he does, only to find that in the following days in returning to the city, the mark had started to spread. And sting. Like it wanted to remind him that it existed, and about the faint voices from the forest, whispering to him. He handled that the way he handled most other things: by ignoring it and hoping it went away. Like most other things, it didn’t go away, and it got worse.

ONE.
The mark had started on his forearm and had spread down towards his wrist. The glow was obnoxious, but not quite as bad as the sting. Malik had taken to picking at it, scrubbing it, and rubbed the skin red and raw. Still, the mark persisted. Even after wrapping it in bandaging (mostly to keep from ruining himself further), it still glowed.

He felt like people stared at him. Like they knew. Doesn’t matter where he was going or what he was doing, he couldn’t shake the feeling of silent persecution. It was really only a matter of time until he snapped at an unfortunate passerby:

“Stop looking at me!”

TWO.
Things continued to get worse. Malik found himself feeling ill and groggy. As completely wrong, delusional, and irrational he could be, he didn’t actually attribute this directly to the mark. More than he was getting sick in conjunction with being cursed. Being kicked while he was down, because that was definitely par for the course as far as he was concerned.

A simple illness requires a simple fix. Except with how tired and disconnected Malik felt, something as simple as getting cold medicine from the pharmacy inside of Freshens seemed a lot more arduous than it should be.

In fact, he doesn’t even know if he’s in the right aisle. Or the right store. Or the right plane of existence, as he stares blearily at children’s gummy vitamins.

Some of the store patrons plainly ignore him. Some get a bit unnerved. Because he just continues to stand there, unresponsive.

THREE.
The nightmare wasn’t over yet; in fact, you could say it was just beginning. A long, long series of nightmares. Everything Malik has been trying to push away, trying to ignore, hoping that it’ll solve itself and disappear on its own following him all hours of the day, beyond wakefulness and into his dreams. Everytime he drifted off, he had a nightmare. His cold was getting worse. The mark had spread further still. He was at rock bottom again, emotionally, despite making feeble attempts to put himself on the right path. However, he’s too exhausted, mentally and emotionally, to scream and tantrum about how unfair that is. He’s tired, he looks tired, as he zombie shuffles through Freshens, again, to get… something? Maybe? Out of his room, at least, so he doesn’t fall asleep again.

“Stupid… trees, stupid curse, stupid cold, stupid everything.” He repeats, several times as he goes up and down the grocery aisles. “They always want to make it my fault… I didn’t curse myself, it’s their fault.”

He picks a package of cheap, offbrand cookies from a nearby shelf and starts to tamper with the packaging. He’s unaware of anyone watching or scrutinizing his behavior. He keeps going, eating cookies as he does so: “Anytime I do anything, something goes wrong, that’s not my fault.”

In a stunning twist, he seems to recognize that people - at least one person - is watching him. This does not stop his cookie thievery, and instead he glowers, “The hell do you want?”

FOUR.
( choose your own adventure, or I’ll write something for you.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ While Minato was in the pharmacy to pick up something prescription, he's also looking to restock his supply of lemon cough drops and allergy medication before spring fully hits, and Malik is sort of in the way. Minato could maybe reach past him, over his shoulder and awkwardly close to his ear and pull something off the shelf without stabbing Malik in the eye with the packaging, but he also feels a bit bad to do that without at least saying hello. ]

...I'd recommend the tablets and not the gummies.

[ or offer unsolicited advice or whatever ]

[ That gets Malik to startle. For all Minato knows, he could have gotten away with stabbing him in the eye without saying a word. But here we are, with Malik jumping away, which is definitely a mistake, as it makes him woozy. It's almost a bit comical, if not a bit pathetic. ]

Huh? Wh-- No, I don't need gummy anything. I'm here for... [ A pause. What was he here for? ] --Cold medicine.

[ Then he realizes what he's looking at. ]

Not this stuff. I'm not a child.

Vitamins aren't a bad idea to prevent colds, but it looks a little too late for that...

[ A nice way of saying "Hi, you look like shit." Minato turns back to the shelf and grabs the cough drops he'd meant to get now that Malik moved out of the way. The last three bags of lemon cough drops are his. ]

Colds usually go away on their own in around two weeks, though. Hang in there.

[ Thank Minato. ]

Then what is the point of medicine if it doesn't help?

[ His rage is far, far more tempered than usual. He snuffles, for bonus effect. ]

I never get sick. I don't have time to just wait around to get better!

There's stuff to help core throats, fever, cough. Symptoms, mostly, if not the actual cold.

[ These things Minato could point Malik towards— colds are a very common thing for Minato, so he's very familiar with the layout of the pharmacy. ]

It's a good excuse to take some days off and sleep for a week. [ Actually-- ] Everything's settled with the living situation? Stress makes colds worse and last longer, probably.

[ Maybe this is why you got sick. ]

[ Malik wraps his arms around himself. From chills, or maybe he's feeling a little defensive too. It's a habit. ]

Yeah, I guess. But I'm not stressed about anything, they were getting better-- I got sick out of nowhere.

[ He also has that glowing mark on his arm, but he thinks he can still hide it with the bandaging and with long sleeves. "Hiding" is... debatable. It's not as obvious, sure, but still trying to emanate that spooky glow through the layers of fabric. ]

I've been sleeping. I told you, I don't ever get sick. I don't know where this came from! I don't know!

[ He's kinda stressed out. ]

[ "I'm not stressed" yeah okay

Minato holds up his hands— actually, just the single hand, since the other is full of cough drops— in a hopefully placating manner so that Malik will stop shouting at him. ]

Colds come from other people. Maybe blame whoever you've been living with last. [ just casually throws whoever that was under the bus ig ] But if you tell me what's bothering you most, I could probably help you find something to make that a little better.

Then it's not a cold! I was living by myself until recently. [ It was a bad time. ] Actually... I'm still living by myself, but somewhere more consistent. I'm not around other people enough to catch a cold.

[ Not something he'd readily admit like this, but he wants to win this ""argument."" ]

I just don't feel well. I'm cold and nauseous all the time... I just want medicine to make me feel better.

[ That is literally not what a cold is, Malik, but. Okay. ]

[ If Malik goes to school, or takes the bus, or, heck, even walks into a pharmacy like this one, that's enough people to catch colds from, especially when the weather's been unfairly miserable for so long. But it not being a cold is probably a good thing; Minato doesn't know how to cure the common cold, but all that other stuff... ]

You don't need medicine. Just sleep it off. I know you said you've already been sleeping, but I mean like... 48 straight hours.

[ That should do it. ]

[ He stares at Minato. In part due to being feverish and unfocused, but also because what. ]

I'm not sleeping that long. I might as well be dead at that rate.

It's not that long...

[ Says somebody who's been "asleep" for two weeks, but that was also unconscious in a hospital and maybe that doesn't count. ]

You'll wake up at the end of it. Happy and healthy and stuff.

I really doubt that. [ He huffs. The mark on his arm starts stinging again, and he winces. ]
I’m not putting myself in a coma, I’m not… doing anything… I don’t know what to do, except not sleep that long, because I’m skeptical it’ll even work.

[ He’s starting to lose his train of thought. ]

I’ve never slept that long before and a nap isn’t going to make me happy… If sleep is supposed to cure me I’d be better by now, but I’ve just been getting worse, just like always, everything always gets worse.

[ Not everything gets worse before it gets better, and something like an illness often gets worse and worse, especially the longer it goes on. Minato isn't a doctor by any means, but if it's sickness, he knows first hand how much it sucks and interferes with life. ]

If you want a more definitive answer, you should go to a doctor. If you want just a temporary bandaid, I could probably do something. Are you done shopping around?

[ If only it was a normal sickness and not a supernatural one; not that Malik knows that, but it sure would make him less weird and difficult about it, maybe.

He shakes his head in response, and it almost looks like he starts shaking like a leaf too, although it's minute. ] I don't like doctors. I don't like... hospitals or anything like that. I just want to get medicine.

[ He's trying to sort things through his frazzled brain. Minato just said he could help, didn't he? Can he be trusted? ]

Anything to make me feel better would help though, I suppose...

[ Sucks that you have to go to a hospital in order to get a prescription- that's the only way to get medication that actually works. Desperate measures tilts things towards Minato's favor, though, and he taps at something under his shirt, strapped onto his belt. ]

I think it's worth a try. Let's find a bathroom or somewhere private.

[ The motion goes unnoticed, as Malik is much more hung up on what Minato says. ]

I don't like where this is going already.

Or a deserted alleyway, or a private home. Bathroom's closer.

It doesn't sound any less suspicious when you put it like that.

[ But I'm sure there's a bathroom in Freshens, so like, there you go. ]

Mm... [ "I have a gun" is probably even more suspicious, and extremely alarming in context of wanting to find someplace out of the way and private, so Minato bites that back for now. ]

I honestly think it'll help. Promise I'll explain more fully in the bathroom. It's just something I don't want people to see.

[ Honestly if Minato wanted to offer death that would be like, not nearly as alarming as it sounds. Still, context is important here, and Malik is missing it. ]

I... don't know if I like the sound of this plan. You can't tell me here?

[ Malik so willingly accepting death is a concern Minato does not want to know, thanks. He will dodge this question by admitting to a half-truth. ]

It involves summoning a giant bird and I don't want to mess up all the product displays around here. There's no room here.

[ Look. He is deeply cursed and suffering from it, just let him have this. ]

A giant bird...? It's not a big yellow one, is it?

[ This seems to get him to perk up a little. ]

Wait-- if there's no room in here, then how would the bathroom be big enough?

Big, bright, yellow one. His name is Horus. And bathrooms don't have things that can fall and break and require me to pay for the damages.

[ It's honestly... yeah. The stupid "you break it you buy it" rule, and medication can get expensive so long as they're hanging around a pharmacy and not the bathroom that Minato edges encouragingly towards. ]

[ Malik is kinda awkwardly trudging along with him, but the mention of Horus seems to breath some semblance of life into him-- he still looks like shit, but now he's a more spirited pile of shit. ]

Horus? Like the god? Does he look anything like-- [ He's checking his hoodie and pants pockets, give him a minute. ]

This?

[ He holds up a card, which he was nerdy enough to buy a protective sleeve for. ]

[ Minato blinks, unsure, for a moment, what he's looking at. There's the reluctance to immediately dash all of Malik's hopes and dreams to the ground, so he stalls, stringing him along with a contemplative hum as he continues trailing towards the bathroom. ]

Like the god, but... It's like staring directly into the sun, really hard to get a close look at him. He might be like that, under all the light?

ii

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