#pr1cada

[teknikolor-walters]

The weight of the sawed-off shotgun (a nod that wasn't lost on Cicada) felt familiar in their shaking hands in a way that it shouldn't.

It was the night of his fourth challenge, and PR1ZE wasn't moving. They had been discussing this for what felt like hours and PR1ZE hadn't even gotten upset with him.

"GODDAMMIT, PR1ZE!" Cicada nearly screamed. "I'm pointing a goddamn gun at your face and you aren't doing anything. Do something! Anything! Fight back! Don't just let me kill you. Have some fucking decency."

Logically, Cicada knew that the people they and PR1ZE share an apartment with could hear them. Emotionally, however, they wanted to scream at him until their throat gave out.

PR1ZE didn't move. "Bug, please, calm down. I wouldn't want to be killed by anyone else. It... it would be an honor to have you be the one to kill me."

"Fuck you. I hate you. And if you lie down and die here I'm never going to forgive you."

He would forgive PR1ZE for anything.

"Cicada, listen to me, please, just do it. It'll all be okay. I love you Bug. You... you know that, right? I love you. It'll be okay." And then he was smiling, actually smiling, as he was about to die.

Cicada decided that this was worse than what happened with Matt. That was painful and bloody but at least Mikey (she...?) had a reason, however small, to fight back, back then. Now Cicada was gunning the man they loved down while he proclaimed his love for wing.

"I love you too, Fox. I'm... I'm sorry." The words caught in wing's throat and bird had to spit them out.

"Don't apologize. It's... it's for the best, isn't it? I was always gonna be on borrowed time. I'm lucky to have spent so much of it with you. My Bug."

They wanted to tell him to not call him that but they didn't have the heart.

There was a pause.

"Can I kiss you?" Asked PR1ZE, startling them both. "I don't think I could live with myself if I died without kissing you at least once."

Another pause.

"There's something fucked up about the two of us. I'm about to fucking kill you and you're asking me to kiss. And I'm saying you can." He wanted this just as much as PR1ZE did. God, he was selfish.

PR1ZE stepped forward. His hands were shaking almost as bad as Cicada's own but there was a confident look in his eyes that Cicada hadn't seen much. He grabbed Cicada's face, tracing his thumb across her jaw. They stood there like that for a second.

"Thank you." And then he kissed her.

If Cicada was going to be honest with birdwingself, and bird was, it was everything they had ever hoped for. For a second, they forgot WOE.BEGONE, and the fourth challenge, and the fact that they were holding a gun, and everything else. For a second, both Mikey and Eli were quiet.

Cicada found themself wanting to wrap their arms around him before remembering there was indeed a gun in their hands. They had a job to do. PR1ZE broke the kiss.

He seemed more relaxed than he had in days, months, even. Since Cicada had started playing for sure. He was still smiling. God.

PR1ZE tucked a strand of hair out of their face before stepping back again.

"I love you so fucking much. Thank you, again. I wish..." he shook his head. "Well, it doesn't matter now. I love you."

"Everything you say matters, PR1ZE, I wish you knew that." Cicada could hear his own voice getting softer. He was crying harder now. He didn't know when he had started crying, only that he was crying harder.

She was really going to have to do this. She raised the gun to his head again, and PR1ZE held it there. Still smiling.

There was fear in his eyes she couldn't ignore.

"I love you, Fox, I'm sorry."

Take a deep breath, Cicada. 3... 2... 1.

[ltacryptid]

Cicada: Where do Elijah and Mike end? Where do I begin? PR1ZE: You begin with me.

[imaginepostingonsideblogs]

my contribution btw

[fuip-nature-and-flesh]

CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS- GOD

HE/HIM

Devotion to the Land

Demigod under Nature. Curator of Decay.

Everything rots eventually. Even, it seems, gods. And where there is rot, there is GOD.

A fragment of Nature, nobody truly knows where GOD came from. What they do know is that within moments of falling, GOD chose HIS Most High One, Casket. Nobody but Casket has heard or seen GOD since.

Or, if they have, the decay consumed them before they could spread the word.

It's said that GOD is unnaturally beautiful. It's said that HE will protect you, as long as you stay in line. It's also said that HE is in a constant state of rotting and rebirth, and that HIS body is made up of the most beautiful assortment of bugs and worms and ash.

Everything rots eventually. Wouldn't it be nice to just give in?

[teknikolor-walters]

i dont have a phone on me + im not smart enough to do it properly but this is my reminder to do this meme format with pr1cada vs rexcas at some point

[teknikolor-walters]

WAIT I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING. cicada 🤝 pr1ze having a frayed relationship with an older brother / older brother figure that they don't see anymore but still sticks with them

[teknikolor-walters]

B0UNTY W4LTERS-B4KER stepped outside while it was barely dawn. The sun had only just started to rise but it was already incredibly hot.

It was summer, which meant cicada season, which meant cicada shells. B0UNTY had been collecting them for weeks now. He held his newest art project in one hand, wrapped in paper, as he walked through the woods.

Eventually he reached his destination. A clearing in the woods that nobody ever went to except him. B0UNTY crouched down in front of a couple sticks stuck in the ground. He unwrapped the paper and set his artwork down in between the makeshift graves.

The artwork itself was a collection of cicada shells and flower petals arranged in patterns, carefully pinned down.

"Hey Bugs, I, uh, made this for you." B0UNTY cleared his throat, brought up the accent, and tried not to cry. "Ah know it ain't much, but you always got real excited when we found cicada shells, so..."

He always felt a little stupid, talking to Cicada. He only ever halfway believed in ghosts.

"Ah love you so fuckin' much, Cicada. Ah'll always love you."

...And shit, he was crying anyway. Seeing the graves always made him cry. He tried to tell himself that it was just sticks, but that felt disrespectful.

B0UNTY took the cowboy hat off his own head and put it on one of the sticks, causing it to sink further into the ground.

"Sorry ah haven't been back to visit in awhile, things at H1VE've been real messy. But we're ok. Things're gonna be ok, Bugbear."

"Ah love you. Always an' forever."

He let himself sit there and cry until the sun came up.

[teknikolor-walters]

"i want PR1CADA to be more unhealthily codependent" brother they killed each other during the second challenge because Cicada couldn't live without PR1ZE what more do you want

[teknikolor-walters]

HAIIIII FOR THE GIFT

FOR YOU MY ANGEL!!!! 🪲🦊

"Do you ever regret it?"

The question startled PR1ZE. "Regret what?"

H1VE's first annual Christmas party was in full swing. They were at OVER Jess's cabin this year. Everyone had just exchanged presents, and now they were just enjoying each other's company and the cookies the cowboys had provided. Cheesy christmas music played from somewhere.

PR1ZE was tangled with Cicada on the couch, Jessica having gone and checked in with her iterations about something, half listening to some conversation Mantis and Mika were having. Or at least, he was. Now her attention was focused on Cicada.

"I don't know, just... sorry. The noise and all the people, it's, I dunno, fucking with my head." Cicada glanced around as they spoke, clearly on edge.

PR1ZE tugged him off the couch by the arm. "C'mon, Bug. Some fresh air might do you some good."

Outside was colder than PR1ZE expected. She ducked inside Cicada's jacket and smiled up at her. She looked back down at him as she wrapped her arms around him, smirk pulling at her mouth. Hot.

"Love you, Bug. Now what was it you were saying? Regret?"

"I just worry sometimes. Sometimes I.. I miss when H1VE was smaller. Me and you and the cowboys."

"You do?"

"I mean, of course it's nice, and I love everyone in H1VE. I wouldn't trade any of you for the world. It's just..." Cicada paused, searching for the right words. "Scary, being responsible for so many people."

"You aren't responsible for us, Bugbear."

"It's my time travel organization, isn't it? It was my idea to go to Base."

The question hung between the lovers for a second.

"I.. I started all this. I'm responsible for you guy's safety."

Oh. "Is this about...?"

"No, this isn't about... him. Or what happened." Cicada spoke too quickly, and as they spoke, they rubbed the scar on wing's cheek with the palm of wing's hand. It was a nervous habit. Bird winced. The scar was still fresh.

PR1ZE knew enough about his Bug to know that it was, in fact, absolutely about "him", and J, and every other member of H1VE that had been endangered.

"It's not your fault, Bug, none of it was. They made their own decisions, and we've made ours. You did everything that you could."

For a while, Cicada didn't respond. There was only the sounds of the wind and the party inside. PR1ZE rested her head against Cicada's chest to hear their heartbeat. She could listen to that sound forever. She would live inside their heart if she could.

"I guess. You're probably right."

"I know I am."

"Love you, Fox." He kissed the top of his head and moved the hand that was at his face to his hair. PR1ZE purred.

"Love you too, Bugbrain."

"Now let's get inside. Capybara'll be worried if we disappear without warning."

PR1ZE, despite his complaints, let Cicada kick him out of the safety that was her jacket and drag her back into the party. He stayed glued to their side for the rest of the night. He would do anything for them.

That night, curled up in between her partners on their shared bed, she noticed Cicada staring down at her.

"Get some sleep, Cicada."

Cicada smiled, but it seemed tired. They always looked more tired without their piercings in and their glasses on.

"Sorry, PR1ZE. I'm just... still thinkin'. Can't sleep."

"It wasn't your fault."

"...yeah. Yeah."

"G'night, Bug."

"Night, Fox."

[teknikolor-walters]

There are so many parallels between Mike and Matt's friendship and PR1CADA and you're expecting me to be NORMAL?

[teknikolor-walters]

Days since I was normal about PR1CADA: 0

[teknikolor-walters]

On a scale from least to most angst its

PR1CADA -> SC0UNTY -> 4CCOL4NTIS

[teknikolor-walters]

This is SO messy and probably incomprehensible

[teknikolor-walters]

Never not sad about Cicada's fourth challenge btw

[teknikolor-walters]

At this point only a couple PR1CADA pairings are actually happy relationships the rest of them are just fucked of situationships me and Tolouse play with like traumatized dolls

[teknikolor-walters]

FUCK <- guy who realized both of wings sonas and wings old "main" oc are basically John Kayano