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Chrono stared straight ahead, ignoring the predicament wrapped all around him. Instead, he focused on the faint line of the horizon in the distance, where the deep blue of the ocean and the bright blue of the sky melted together into a pale blue, nearly-white, hazy line. Today was a nice day, the sun shining, playing off huge, white cumulonimbus gently making their slow procession across the sky, and seagulls wheeling overhead. It would be even nicer if he could enjoy the rest of this with Minerva, but he stayed focused on keeping his face stoic, not wanting to give her presence away. If his eyes even flicked down for a moment, he feared it would betray what he had hidden below deck. Thankfully, keeping his resting face was an easy feat.
Instead, he simply let the tentacles clinging to nearly every part of his body slither around and wrap just a bit tighter. The suckers thankfully weren't engaged, otherwise he'd be dealing with those circular marks for a while. For now, they simply pressed against him, contracting and relaxing in slow, casual movements; as if they were pressing soft, lazy kisses over the cloth, feathers, and skin they could reach. Chrono almost scoffed at the idea. Nothing about the majik clinging to him would ever be soft, lazy, or tender. He knew the ways Kizashi delighted in treating him.
He knew all too well what Kizashi was.
And that's why he was getting a bit antsy about the octobomb majik staying this long. He thought Kizashi wanted to "play," but instead of immediately attempting to hit Chrono with a barrage of explosions, they simply launched themself out of the water and clung to him.
The non-hostile approach was a surprise, but Chrono quickly discovered the trick after overcoming his initial shock. Kizashi had wrapped his body around all of Chrono's in a way where he couldn't easily gesture to manipulate time. While freezing didn't take much movement, and he could likely use that to escape, all his options were inhibited. And anything he did likely wouldn't leave him unscathed… not to mention potential damages to Minerva from getting caught in the crossfire if he couldn't act quickly enough…
The longer Kizashi was here, the more likely he would figure out something was strange. As if sensing the tension in his mind, Kizashi's tentacles squeezed him tight, while thin, powerful arms wrapped around his shoulders.
"Ah, you're right, bestie! Look at that view!" Kizashi giggled as they rested their head on his shoulder where he refused to look at them, "It's nice to get to enjoy it with you."
"…Kizashi…" Chrono said flatly, continuing to stare ahead at the horizon.
"Yes, my bestest bud in the whole world?" Kizashi singsonged, the grin evident in their voice. He nuzzled his face against the feathers lining Chrono's jaw, "You're so fluffy…" they sighed happily.
"… Let go."
"Mmm, nope!" Kizashi's tentacles looped around his limbs once more, "Unless you wanna fight me to the death about it?" they asked, excitement seeping into their voice.
Chrono turned his gaze skyward and sighed heavily. He idly watched the seagulls wheel overhead, their faint cries ringing through his head as he decided his next words carefully. He was shocked at how oblivious they seemed, but it was also understandable that they had no comprehension of the danger right below them. Thankfully, with Kizashi's tentacles wrapped so many times around him, he was completely distracted with Chrono and wouldn't take any time blowing them out of the sky. While she tried to seem strong, blood always seemed to upset Minerva, regardless if it came from human, animal, or majik.
"Kizashi." He said once more, adding a bit of warning into his tone.
The octobomb majik's teeth glinted in the sun as he rose up, throwing his head back for a second. Chrono readied himself to freeze time. But instead of the familiar word to ready an attack, Kizashi lunged down and buried their teeth into Chrono's shoulder. While he felt the pain and automatically activated a freeze, he hadn't been expecting that at all. He ought to look into the future more, but Kizashi acting so strangely had him all out of sorts today. With Kizashi's teeth buried deep in his shoulder, he couldn't easily remove him…
Reluctantly, Chrono unfroze time, and turned his head to assess how to best remove Kizashi by watching his reaction. The octobomb majik wasn't even looking at him. Instead, his eyes were squeezed shut, as if from the force of the bite, and he wiggled his head a bit, like an animal trying to tear up their prey. Though Kizashi's teeth thankfully only moved a bit, nothing like the violent movements Chrono expected. After a while, Kizashi's body melted against Chrono's and they let out a mournful whine.
They stayed like that for a while, Chrono simply watching the other majik and Kizashi leaving his teeth buried in Chrono as he let out occasional whines. Eventually, Kizashi noticed Chrono was looking at them, and perked up just the slightest bit, their teeth loosening as their eyes glittered. But, as if he suddenly remembered he was supposed to be pouting, Kizashi turned up the waterworks, looking up at Chrono with glistening, crocodile tear filled eyes.
While it was a bit endearing, Chrono could feel his patience wearing thin.
"Kizashi, enough."
"Make me, then!" The octobomb majik said petulantly, then bit down once more, with enough force to make Chrono flinch, this time.
A soft, "mm, MM!" muffled into Chrono's skin had Kizashi letting go and snapping back upright.
"Wait… wait… What if… I eat you?" Kizashi's tentacles increased their hold on Chrono impossibly tighter, "Wait… yeah, yeah! That's a great idea! I'll eat you and then you'll always be a part of me! And we can be best buds forever! I'll carry you everywhere and we can go on all sorts of fun adventures! You won't have to stay on this boring old ship anymore!"
A faint shudder ran down Chrono's spine at the thought. The feeling was one he assumed every creature had felt at least once in their lives out of survival instinct. Though, this was Chrono's first time feeling it. Nothing had truly threatened his existence until this idea from Kizashi. It wasn't even certain that this would work the way Kizashi likely hoped.
What did happen to a majik if one consumed the other? Would Chrono still have his consciousness but be a part of Kizashi? Or would he be fully consumed and assimilated into the other, as if they were nothing more than any other mundane pair of predator and prey?
Some raw, survival instinct buried, deep down inside suddenly clawed its way to the surface. Chrono could hear his heartbeat throbbing in his head as his vision went a bit hazy, staring out at the horizon once more. If he was to be eaten, he needed to strike back, faster, harder, more brutal than the thing that wanted to eat him ever could. He faintly heard a surprised noise out of Kizashi. But Chrono barely paid it any mind, instead, staring out at the ocean like he started. Just staring out at that fading expanse of blue as the tight hold around him slowly loosened then slipped free.
When the pounding in his head finally stopped, and the haze in his eyes cleared, Chrono looked down to see a dark, purple fluid covering his hands and the deck of the ship. Kizashi was nowhere in sight. Had they finally gotten bored and left for today?
Chrono looked around, then froze, eyes widening at the sight before him.
Kizashi lay in tatters across the deck, only his torso and head mostly intact. His tentacles, all in shreds and chunks everywhere, twitched and writhed across the deck. All the while, Kizashi simply squirmed in delight against the floorboards, positively beaming as they locked eyes with Chrono.
"What a great idea, bestie!" Kizashi cheered, "Now I'm a part of you forever! You're so smart, Chrono!"
Chrono stared at the ruined majik in front of him, chest heaving from taking in air it didn't really need, covered in its own blood and viscera, but still smiling as if nothing was wrong. The horror of what Chrono had done began to sink in, and a tremor ran through his body.
"Don't feel bad, Chrono!" Kizashi assured him, "I love it when you do stuff like this. It makes me feel like the special-est majik in the world."
Chrono, with his now-freed hands, held them out as if that could shield him from this knowledge. As if getting rid of the sight before him could erase this. Pockets of time formed all over the deck, enveloping every last bit of Kizashi's body strewn about. The other majik too weak to dodge, or even try to get away.
Kizashi's grin grew even wider, taking on that familiar, manic look. The one that he wore that plainly showed how obsessed he was with Chrono. The one Chrono hated, because that expression was the one that loved Chrono, so, so much. With just an elated grin, Kizashi's face told Chrono that they had seen the deepest, ugliest, most sadistic parts of him. That Kizashi knew what Chrono was as well, and still loved him despite it— because of it, even. That's why… How could Minerva ever—?
"That's right!" Kizashi said excitedly, "Finish me off! Show me how strong you are! How you're the bestest ever—!"
Chrono sharply gestured with one hand, pulling it towards himself, then twisting it upward like a hand striking noon on a clock, and time accelerated in a millisecond, rapidly aging Kizashi's cells until they were nothing but dust. It wouldn't have been much of a fight even if Kizashi wasn't encouraging his own demise, and that somehow made Chrono feel even worse. Before Kizashi could begin reforming, Chrono flung the remains off the boat, making sure they flew far, far away. He needed it to be a long time before he saw their face again. He didn't know if he could keep it together if he saw Kizashi immediately again. He couldn't face that loving, adoring look. Not when it made him feel so disgusting for being the exact same thing as Kizashi, even if he buried that part deep down for Minerva's sake.