forum so, heed the stars, their light will leave us in the dark. // small group, 2/2 // CLOSED, stalkers welcome

Started Jan 08 by @the-void-phantasmic language

tune

(Hello hello imagine if I forced the situation)

Apollos returned Juno’s glare. He waited for them to say something, but they didn’t. They just looked away, trying to ignore him. Apollos rolled his eyes. They invite him and Sol to come over, and then they do nothing else except get overwhelmed by their thoughts while sitting cross-legged on the floor. It was stupid, and pointless.

Apollos stood up. He looked to Sol, and then Juno. “Why are we even here? I can’t be alone in wondering that. You bring the two of us here, and then. . .” He gestured with a hand to Juno on the floor.

“Whatever you wanted to do here, do it fast. Because I’m leaving.”

( :) )

Juno looked back at Apollos, their expression full of panic. They glanced at Sol. They didn’t want Sol to see. But if Apollos was about to leave now, it was either have Sol be a witness or never have another chance. Juno shot to their feet, their wings flaring out halfway.

”Wait-“ they blurted out, holding their hands out toward Apollos. Juno paused to glance at Sol again. They shook their head and glared at Apollos. “You want me to do something? Fine.”

Before anyone could say anything, Juno pulled out their gun, aiming it right between Apollos’s eyes. Their hands shook, the weight of the gun in their hands unfamiliar and frightening. Tears welled in their eyes as they stared at Apollos, their expression now a mix of fear and anger.

“You know, I was gonna wait for a better opportunity for this. But I can’t even have that, can I?” Juno said, their tone full of resentment.

Sol was about to say something to calm everyone down, to explain to Apollos the concept of 'hanging out' and 'casual conversation'. Then Juno pulled a f***ing gun on Apollos. "WHoa whoa whoa! Hey! Hey! Calm the hell down! Where the heck did you get a gun from?" Sol says rapidly, having no idea how the situation got here at all. He jumps up from the couch holding his hands open in both directions in a peacemaking gesture. "Juno, Apollos, lets calm down. Juno, please put that gun down. Or point it away from a human being. Please."

Apollos only managed to make it a step towards the door when Juno stopped him. When he had turned to face them again, he didn’t expect to see the shiny barrel of a gun pointed straight at him. Fear and adrenaline overtook him, leading him to lurch backward a few inches and raise his head the slightest. His usually neutral expression now held fear in his eyes.

Immediately he had tried to push down the emotions and fight-or-flight instincts that surfaced, but what he was facing now wasn’t something he had ever prepared for, and it only worked halfway. He could have berated himself for it, but that seemed futile in the moment.

Apollos raised his hands up from his sides, slowly. “Juno. . .” He eyed the gun again. So their plan along was to bring him here, kill him, and then what? And with Sol present? He glanced at Sol. Sol would try to de-escalate the situation. But would it work this time?

Juno glared at Sol. “Shut up,” They said, their voice trembling. They looked back at Apollos, their grip on the gun tightening. They let out a short laugh at seeing his reaction. “Apollos, it’s just a gun. Aren’t you overreacting?” Juno asked, mimicking the countless times Apollos had said the same to them. They took a step closer, and it was clear their aim wasn’t steady, but they didn’t notice.

They just wanted to take some time to enjoy this moment. Apollos was finally exhibiting some feeling other than anger and annoyance, something Juno had never thought they’d see in this lifetime. But, all good things had to come to an end, unfortunately. They tilted their head slightly.

“Well? Any last nitpicks? Insults, maybe?” They asked.

"I think fearing ones life is quite the reasonable reaction to someone pulling a gun…" Sol mutters, mostly in his head.
Sol isn't entirely sure what to say now, especially since Juno did yell at him to shut up. He considers trying to encourage them to bond over the realization that Apollos does in fact have emotions, but that is a very silly idea. Sol tends to make joke answers whenever he was stressed. So what should he actually do?
…..
Sol steps in between the slowly shrinking gap between Juno and Apollos, and grabs Juno's wrist calmly and firmly. "Juno. Why are you doing this?"

(Oop that might be a bad idea)

“Stay out of this, Sol. This is clearly something they’ve been thinking about for a while.” Apollos kept his gaze trained on Juno, not varying for a moment even when he spoke to Sol. This is one of the few times he didn’t have anything to say to Juno. What did they want him to do—plead for his life? He would never give them that satisfaction.

The only time Apollos broke eye contact was when Sol grabbed Juno’s wrist. He nearly glared at the motion. Mostly because it was plain stupid, Apollos would have at least wretched the gun from Juno’s hand than let them keep it trained. Not to mention it was just helping them with their shaky aim.

Juno tensed significantly at Sol grabbing their wrist, but they kept their eyes on Apollos. No, they couldn’t do all of this planning, then take this much of a risk, only for it to mean absolutely nothing in the end. Juno stayed still for a moment before suddenly, and violently, shoving Sol away from them, half-beating him off with one of their wings as well.

Juno’s gaze rapidly flitted between Sol and Apollos, a sort of panic settling over them. Their breaths quickened as they stepped away from Apollos again, keeping their gun trained on him. Before either of them could do anything more, Juno squeezed their eyes shut and pulled the trigger.

They stumbled back slightly from the recoil, dropping the gun and burying their face in their hands. Juno didn’t know where they hit Apollos, if they hit him at all. They hoped they did, though. They desperately hoped they did, and that’s he was dead. That it was finally over.

(Damn, Juno can’t handle the recoil from a handheld gun? Skill issue.)

Apollos, not wanting to have his life ended just yet, only had a half-second to dodge the bullet. He ducked to the left and covered his ears. It barely did anything to conceal the harsh crack of gunfire and the sound of the bullet whizzing by his head.

He stared at the floor wide-eyed as the weight of what just happened fell on him. A person once considered a friend had tried to take his life. But he survived. He survived. Should he be proud of that fact? Did he deserve it? Shut up, shut up- Apollos’s hands dropped to his sides and he shook his head. He un-bent his posture from when he ducked. He looked at Juno.

They still had their face in their hands, as if afraid to look and see what they failed to do. His pointed ears pinned back, and he stumbled a couple steps backwards towards the door.

Sol kneels down with Juno, putting a hand on their shoulder. He picks up the gun, and clicks the safety switch so it can't accidentally fire off if it gets thrown around. Sol turns to Apollos and mouths to him, 'You can leave. If you don't want to stay any longer. I'm going to try and make sure Juno doesn't do it again. But you can leave if you'd rather get away.'

(Girl help how is Sol so chill)
(Anyway mmmm shit response (I’m sorry))

Juno flinched away from Sol’s hand, bringing their hands away from their face as they stared at him with tear-filled eyes. They backed away a few steps, then glanced at Apollos. They missed. They fucking missed. Juno let out a quiet sob, the weight of what they had done just starting to hit them. What were they thinking? How would killing Apollos have solved anything?

Juno was dead silent for a long moment. They wanted to say something, to apologize, maybe, but it wouldn’t matter now. The damage was done. And it wouldn’t mean anything. So why even bother? Instead, they just stared at Apollos quietly, their horror made clear on their face.

Apollos glanced at Sol. He registered that Sol was telling him something, but the adrenaline was fogging his head, and he couldn’t make it out clearly. Did Sol actually say anything out loud?

Ugh, get out of your fucking head. Just go out the door and leave. You shouldn’t stay here any longer.

He didn’t bother to look at Juno again, or say anything to either Sol or Juno before he was reaching for the doorknob. Less than two seconds later, the front door was slammed shut as Apollos wasted no time in leaving. There was barely any conscious thought as he walked to his car and got inside. His mind was numb. He didn’t care.

The last thing that Sol and Juno heard from inside was a car engine turning on and driving away.

(Ough I’m late. I was going to make this a bit longer but then I realized what I was wrong would be better for the next response,)