Complications of Mortality | Druig x OC

XVII | Momentary

"I am eternal."

Saying it—vocalizing it—gave the phrase an entirely new breath of it's own. Her posture stood straight as they watched one another, but Makkari was jogging forward into Akiva's arms within an instant to cut the moment short. Her arms snaked around her waist as she pulled her close, a tenderness still lingering at her side. Akiva's arms raised slightly as she danced on the line between bracing for impact and shocking realization.

At that point, between total consumption and rebirth, Akiva knew that the child that was once freezing to death on the streets of Lyon had been long destroyed.

Her arms fell slightly, letting them land around the shoulders of the speedster as she squeezed the embrace back. Their suits were the same material, though hers had withstood thousands of years of wear. Akiva's texture was hard and pointed at the shoulders and around her waist, but Makkari's needed to be able to adjust and change to sudden movements.

"I'm scared," Akiva confessed, whispering into the sporadic mess of curls in front of her.

The thick blue blood had turned black with oxidation, drenched over her adolescent body. It stuck to her skin like tar. The rainwater felt acidic as it downpoured onto her already shivering body. Her skin erupted into a wild array of goosebumps, hair standing on end as the streaks of rain carved out shapes in the otherwise sole texture of blood.

Makkari's lips found Akiva's shoulder. She knew how the girl had claimed physical touch as her love language from the very beginning. It was present even as a child, whether it was reaching for Makkari's hand while Phastos was speaking to her about living accommodations or finding her fingers in Makkari's hair during stress and braiding it into different designs. By the gods, she had even managed to find a way to convince Phastos to create a smaller set of hand braces so that she could copy his movements when he was coming up with new inventions and furthering technology in his lab.

Her lips pressed against the fabric lightly, holding it there for a second before taking a step back from the hug all together. She lifted her face to look at Akiva, smiling gently in response to the statement.

It's natural. She explained simply, a knowing look in her eye. Akiva nodded her head in acceptance, trusting the speedster whole-heartedly.

"It's natural," Akiva repeated, parroting the words with a lighthearted tone. "Nothing about this is natural," she laughed softly. Her eyes flicked over to the threshold they had come from before returning to Makkari.

Picking up the hint, her head fell back slightly, taking another step away before crossing her slender arms over her chest.

"Come on," Akiva groaned, taking a step towards the doorway and crossing one leg carefully in front of the over with the movement, "they need to drop the façade of my body still laying on that beach." Her hands were slightly out to each side in challenge, raising her eyebrows as she waited for Makkari's next move.

The girl clad in red huffed a quiet breath into the air before starting to walk to the hallway leading back. Akiva followed immediately, jogging slightly to catch up and walk by her side as they made their way back.

They stopped at the edge of the common room, but the sound that they had heard from Phastos' lab had disappeared almost completely. Akiva stretched to try and pick up something—anything—but it wasn't until she looked at Makkari that she had realized how to hear without her ears.

Gold flicked on as if she had done it hundreds of times. The feeling was as exhilarating as it was insane. It was hard to control, feeling the molecular makeup of her own cells racing in preparation for ripping through time.