#psychonauts delirium au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

electrozeistyking · 2 years

Note

Did Raz left his family due to the curse with some of them didn't want to get anywhere near him in delirium au?

Weird question! Since I literally didn't touch upon Raz's family in this AU yet, I'm not sure where you got this from. I'm not one hundred percent about why you're asking. But the answer is no?

#i do appreciate you sending the ask in!#it's making me tilt my head though #psychonauts delirium au #Zeisty's Askbox #:3

4 notes · View notes

razzle-zazzle · 7 months

Text

Whumptober Day 02: I'll call out your name, but you won't call back

Delirium

1427 Words; PN Rapids AU

TW for injury

AO3 ver

Raz groaned. The pain had only gotten worse since waking up next to the river. His head was pounding, distant sights and sounds passing through it only to elude his memory once they were gone.

Still, he continued to follow Loboto through the trees, trusting in the dentist to know where to go. It wasn’t like Raz knew, after all. Better to follow someone who hadn’t had all of their memories washed away by the water.

(Was that how it worked? Did the water sluice over his head and wash all of the memories away? Was that why his head hurt the way it did?)

Loboto clambered over a fallen… log, that was the word. An overturned tree was a log.

There were still a lot of words that Raz didn’t know, a lot of things that they passed that he couldn’t recognize. But Loboto was “the Greatest Dentist of this Century” which had to be important. And important people knew things, Raz was sure. So it made the most sense to continue following him along.

But still. Ow.

Raz stumbled over—he wasn’t sure. Was the ground (that was the word, ground) supposed to be uneven?—something, he stumbled over something—it didn’t matter what it was called, just that he had stumbled over it—and his arms snapped out to his sides as he took several steps too fast in an effort to keep himself upright. In doing so, he ran smack into the back of Loboto’s… coat and bounced backwards, landing on the ground.

Pain lurched through him like… well, Raz’ everything hurt, and that was what was important, here. The snatches of forgotten memories ceased for a moment—oh, wow, was the world supposed to spin like this?

Loboto said something, but it was lost against the rush of… whatever in Raz’ ears. His chest ached and the thought of getting back up only made his limbs heavy with dread. Yeah, that’s what he was feeling. Dread.

(Such a weird word. Dread. One letter off from dead. That had to be intentional, Raz was sure.

He wasn’t sure what death felt like, but he was sure this had to be pretty close. He couldn’t imagine feeling much worse.)

A gloved hand grabbed Raz by the shoulder, guiding him up until he was sitting. Cool metal pressed against Raz’ forehead. “Well, you don’t seem to be feverish.” Loboto mused. They removed their metal hand from Raz’ forehead, standing back up.

Loboto began to mutter, and for all that Raz tried to pay attention, his words were lost against the throbbing of Raz’ head and the ringing of his ears.

With a sigh, Raz let his eyes slip closed, the back of his head impacting the ground again.

+=+=+=+=+

The problem with finding children washed up on the riverbank was that the water was rarely so kind as to leave them unscathed. Compound that with the lack of supplies resulting from being maybe-but-not-really-on-the-run, and Loboto was faced with quite the conundrum.

The kid had all but agreed to work for them, Loboto thought, so it was Loboto’s responsibility to take care of him. Letting employees fall to harm just wouldn’t do! He was a reformed man!

…Even if they were still trying to figure out what that meant for him.

Well, whatever. Loboto shook his head. Raz had helped him in the past, and now Raz was hurt with nary a single adult figure in sight. Nary a single adult figure but Loboto, who was now obliged to handle this.

Loboto muttered to themself. The kid was injured, and maybe even sick from the dip in the water. Loboto had… none of his tools, not that they would help here. Raz didn’t have any cavities last they’d checked. Tooth care was still very important!! But somehow, Loboto had the distinct feeling that not even pulling teeth could really help Raz out here. What was afflicting the child was something… different. Something that wasn’t tooth-related at all.

Which was way too far from Loboto’s expertise. Oh sure, they’d stolen brains and mutated fish, but that was all behind him now! And even then, Loboto hadn’t been a doctor, and they sure weren’t now!

Well. He was a tooth doctor, but, as previously established, that wouldn’t help them here.

Loboto turned back to Raz. The kid probably needed rest, but this was hardly the place for it, they were sure. Raz had already gone back to laying down in the dirt, eyes closed—

Shit.

“You better not be dead.” Loboto muttered, leaning back over him. They poked at Raz’ face. No response.

The kid’s chest did seem to be moving, though, so he probably wasn’t dead. Yet.

“C’mon c’mon c’mon,” Loboto all but whined, “You gotta get up, kid.” The longer they stayed in these woods, the longer they were unable to access supplies. Loboto was not cut out for foraging, they were sure.

But Raz remained out of it, lost to the world. Loboto was half-tempted to simply pick up the kid and continue on, but they should at least make sure he was alright to be moved, first. Right?

Ugh. Children could be so fiddly, sometimes. Surely Loboto had never been so confounding.

With nothing better to do, Loboto sat down, continuing to poke at Raz’ chest. The kid would have to wake up eventually.

Right?

+=+=+=+=+

Raz floated.

That was really the only way he could describe it. He was floating, limbs splayed out around him in the nothingness that stretched around him. He couldn’t tell up from down, couldn’t tell if he was moving at all. He simply existed, cold tugging at him as he floated.

There was something familiar about the sensation, though—or maybe that was why he was feeling this, maybe his brain was only making all of this up based on what it could remember.

…Where did that thought come from? His brain making things up? That didn’t make sense. What even was a brain, anyway, and what would it have to make up?

An open door, a tugging sensation under his scalp.

Twisting colors, frustration stinging under his scalp like ants, weightlessness propelling him along, color turned gray and slow, playing cards, giant teeth, milk, tiny screaming voices, ringing bells, rolling squelching, red lights and loud music, squirmy bugs, flowers, water, water, water, water everywhere, water coming to HURT HIM—

Raz jolted. His head screamed at him, painfully. He tumbled, end over end—

Blue and green fabric, bright lights, loud thoughts and voices, rough hands in his own, catching him, holding him, making sure he’d never fall—

Raz reached out desperately for the memory. That was important. It had to be. If he could only just—

Nothing. Blue and green fabric melted together into nothing in his brain. A sense of longing filled Raz, but no matter how hard he reached, there was nothing for him to grab. Nothing for him to remember.

The nothing spun. Light erupted throughout the nothingness, a scratchy voice pulling Raz back.

The world came into existence around him. The ground was rough beneath him, sunlight coming down in dappled beams through the leaves on the trees. Loboto was leaning over him, poking at his chest.

“We need to get out of these woods.” Loboto decided.

Bereft of any other course to take, Raz nodded. He had to trust the dentist; he had little other choice. There was nobody else in his memory—and even if there was, how could he be so sure that they’d help him? How could he be sure that the longing he felt wasn’t in some way misplaced? That it wasn’t for something rather than someone?

Raz knew so little about everything, thanks to the river, and that left him so utterly dependent on Loboto. So he shoved the pain to the back of his mind and stood up.

A gloved hand wrapped around his midsection, lifting him up and bracing him against Loboto’s side. “This should be faster.” They declared, “And you shouldn’t be walking on your leg right now anyway. Wouldn’t want it to get worse!”

As they set off, Raz tucked against the dentist like… well, he was more or less hanging from the arm wrapped around him, his arms and legs kind of dangling before he got it in his head to grasp at the fabric of Loboto’s coat.

But as they set off, at a faster pace, Raz let himself relax.

He knew so little about everything, thanks to the river—

But he’d make it with Loboto’s help, he was sure.