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 Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 1:15 pm
((Poods discord post))
Fettelite couldn’t quite remember what happened... There was the memory of pain, of plants... Of a weird smokey smell in the air and finding his friend Nataniel who he was desperate to save.
... While he couldn’t exactly say he saved anyone, they did seem to get out of that whole ordeal alive.
And while he was more than a little banged up though, he could feel the cuts and scrapes he endured burning, but none of that mattered, not when he had his arms around Nataniel as he led him home.
“We’re almost there... Then you can wash up and we can patch you up, and you’ll be all good again..”
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 1:16 pm
((Indi's discord post))
...He was not incapacitated.
That was Nataniel’s main thought as a boy- someone who knew his name, but who Nat didn’t recognize- helped support him and guide him home. But Nataniel was not incapacitated. He could move of his own volition if he applied enough effort to it. His ankle was swollen and sprained where a vine had whipped around it and yanked. There were burns along his face and arms as if someone had thrown hot ash at him, and his clothes were shredded, skin dotted with shallow cuts beneath each rip.
These things were fleeting, Nat expected. He could endure pain. The most crippling, debilitating effect was the dizziness, some horrific combination of whatever putrid poison had been in the air coupled with lack of oxygen from quick, shallow breathing in the thin air.
His fingers clutched at the fabric of the boy’s tight black shirt as his arm draped over his shoulders. Nat could walk if only he could right himself enough to do so, if only he could steady his vision and coax his body to cooperate.
Yet it was harder than expected. As the pair staggered along the street, Nat grit his teeth and pinned his companion with a nasty look through darkened, aggressive eyes, mitigated only by the skew of his glasses. “Who are you,” he snapped impatiently on a rough, heavy breath.
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 1:17 pm
((Poods discord post))
At first, Fettel had hoped he could stay powered up long enough so that if Nataniel fell over, he could right him, maybe even pick him up, and carry him all the way back to bed if he was hurt enough. But it seemed more like Nat would hit him...
Glamours were weird...
"It's me, December!" Just as easily as he had been powered up, he powered back down, dressed in nothing but an old t-shirt and his basketball shorts. No shoes, no socks, nothing else on him. His general had been unkind when he threw him out into the city that night. "Please don't be angry, you're hurt. When we get home, I can make sure you're okay, and then if you wanna talk, we can."
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 1:19 pm
((Indi's discord post))
There was a span of several seconds where Nataniel simply would not take another step. He stalled, glaring at the now familiar face of his friend, after having watched… his outfit change? Was that really all it took? He wanted to argue that that could not possibly be the case, it didn’t seem reasonable, but… That was just how it went, wasn’t it? Not everything was especially reasonable, anymore, and it was hard to refute the proof before his eyes.
Another hallucination, maybe, brought on by the effect of the plant’s spores? Potentially. He supposed it would be a bit irresponsible to rule it out…
But neither was that Nat’s first inclination to believe. It would be strange for his mind to conjure December here, of all people. Strange for it to feel like his body was being dragged all the way home. It was a very complete illusion, if it was one. So it was easier to accept that whatever magic allowed the abilities of strength and speed and… shapeshifting, to some extent would also grant some variety of concealment. Dog boy had said he could turn people, so everyone must have been ‘normal’ at one point or another.
“You’re part of this, hm,” Nataniel murmured softly, gaze shifting to the path ahead. And that… almost seemed reasonable too. Those bruises December had… If he was fighting in this war, then of course he would have bruises...
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 1:21 pm
((Poods discord post))
"If by this then you mean the Negaverse, yes, I am! But that's not important right now, Nataniel! We gotta get you home, and once you're cozy, I'll tell you anything you want." Being just normal December made all the aches and pains in his own body so much worse. Add the new cuts to his body to his already existing bruises, and every step was torture.
But he had always been good at hiding it, and only offered Nat a strained smile... Was he always this heavy?
"Can you keep walking...?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 1:24 pm
((Indi's discord post))
How prevalent were people with these odd abilities? Nataniel had, of course, assumed that they were mostly a rarity, that it was strange he'd had opportunity to meet even the few he had by chance. Dog-boy and Mali had looked like they belonged among this world, though, with furry appendages or marionette joints.
...But December was normal.
They'd played games together. Nat had introduced him to Dusk. December had slept in his bed. And he was a child. A stupid, thoughtless, child! What benefit would he be in a fight? In a war? How had this come to be? Why?
Why.
Why?
A coil of tight heat laced itself through Nataniel's chest, and his gaze pulled away from December, brows knitting and lips pursing. His arm slid from the younger man's shoulders, and his weight shifted away. Nat was careful to not put too much pressure on his bruised ankle, but he did feel an inexplicably odd tug toward the thought that he did not want December touching him.
He... It wasn't as if he'd say they were close. Nataniel struggled to even use the word 'friend,' but it... it felt like a breach of trust. Basic nonsense, he knew. To be a breach, they would've had to be close enough to have any trust to begin with, but... the feeling was unshakable.
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Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:15 am
December certainly was no mind reader. He had asked a simple question, and it seemed the answer was yes, I can walk.
The pained expression, the knit brows and pursed lips... All of that only could be read by December as Nataniel being hurt.
"You don't have to walk completely without me... I can still help, if you want me to." If he remembered correctly, Nataniel had his own pride, and... Well, Even after tonight, there was alot of weirdness going on.
A line he felt like he crossed, and maybe shouldn't have just yet.
"... You're not angry at me... Are you?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2019 9:58 am
"I can walk without you," Nataniel muttered, dark gaze roving down the sidewalk ahead or anywhere except the boy next to him. He was used to soreness after his workouts or after certain nights. This much he was capable of enduring. It wasn't that far of a walk. And December had been at the attack just as he had. He couldn't not be hurt.
...How dare he.
Nat wasn't any more in need of help than December was, himself. It didn't matter whether he had those odd abilities, or not. He wasn't incapable. December was incapable. December didn't have any business having these powers. But someone had decided he was worth it, just the same. And there had been so many of them fighting that alien plant with magic too, as if it was hardly so rare at all. "...I am... bitter, I think," he admitted. "There is nothing special about you, but..." He shook his head and focused forward.
"I can call my little brother to give us a ride back to my apartment, if you cannot go on." Until then, Nataniel trudged forward, festering in mistrust and displeasure because he couldn't understand how or why things were as they were...
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 6:57 am
Nataniel's words felt like burns along December's skin, and he moved further away from him, giving him the space that was demanded.
It was silly, being so hurt from something like that. And the hurt just kept coming. Every word his friend, who he thought was his friend, said, felt like a stab to his heart, and painful, prickling sensations started to shoot through his hands, up his arms, and feeling as if a lump was lodged heavy in his throat.
He tried to rack his brain, trying to recall just why Nataniel would treat him so coldly. Weren't they close before? No. No, they weren't, were they?
Too much of it was simply made up in his mind. No matter how wonderful that image was in his head, it was just like Nataniel said.
He was nothing special.
"... If you're okay, then I won't bother you anymore... You said you can walk, or get a ride. If you don't want me around, I won't be around." It was in this moment December wished he could teleport away, and maybe go hide in his barrack room, sleeping off his own pain and heartache.
"But.... Can I just ask...? Why are you being so cruel...? What did I do to make you suddenly hate me...? Can I fix it somehow, Nataniel...? I don't... I don't want you to hate me like this..." Somewhere between his first question and whispering Nataniel's name, tears welled up in his eyes, and he tried his hardest not to let his voice crack, forcing it into a softer and softer whisper.
"I don't want you to hate me..."
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:30 am
Nataniel's patience for most emotions was rather limited. Excitement tended to be too loud and hyper for his tastes, anger too rash and relentless, and sadness was... messy. Easily the ugliest of the three with all the various fluids that could be involved in particularly pronounced sadness, and Nataniel scarcely understood the need for it. What was the benefit of crying when all it did was make a scene and draw attention from passerby. His lip curled in distaste.
"You think me cruel?" He muttered, though he couldn't fathom why this was the case, let alone why it merited crying over. "You have been lying to me," Nataniel stated flatly. He had a 'night job' where he stayed in 'company housing?' It had sounded ridiculous even the first time Nataniel had heard it. Why would he believe a nineteen year old had such an intensive job?
Well. It was still intensive, Nat supposed. It just revolved around siphoning off strangers' energy to offer to some 'spaghetti goddess.' Even Arthur had called them dangerous...
When dog-boy had touched him, he'd taken Nat's energy. And Nataniel had let December into his house. Into his bed. He could question what was so special about December that made him suited to working in this cult, but... He'd experienced it. December was incompetent and innocent such that no one would believe he was part of anything too strange.
Nat certainly hadn't.
Nat wouldn't have suspected him of anything... He was stupid for trusting anything anyone said, when he knew now some of what was out there. Alien cats and werewolf boys and magic doll weirdos. His teeth grit. "Stop crying." The words were almost snappish. "Why did you bring me back home that night." It wasn't so much a question as it was a demand. But did asking even matter? Could he bother believing anything December told him? Why should he?
And it was frustrating to think that with all these cultists and monsters around, there wasn't room for him to have a 'normal,' structured life. He would always be stuck being a victim. Something for the monsters to attack or the cultists to drain.
How dare he, Nat thought again.
How dare December have the audacity to help him do anything. How dare he cry.
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 10:50 am
He had been lying? December tried to piece together what Nataniel was talking about, and that was enough to confuse him more and more, the tears coming out heavier with each accusation.
"I didn't lie! I didn't! I swear!" Bit by bit it started to make sense.
Nataniel knew about the Negaverse. And somehow knew that draining was his job... Why else would he ask about why he chose to keep him safe that night? The snap telling him to stop crying didn't work. After all, he never had any control of whether he cried or not. Even with beatings after beatings, it wasn't enough to teach him not to cry. Right now, his heart was shattering, it was all he could do to now end up a mess on the floor and start begging.
"I do have a night job, and I do live in the housing they give me! I didn't lie! You... You told me when we first met that you are 'not someone with a lot of pity to give out' so I didn't tell you all of it! I'm not Fettelite because I want to be! But you always seem like you wouldn't care if I told you about me, about who I really am, so what was I supposed to do, Nataniel?!"
December didn't shout. One would think he was incapable of doing so, give how submissive he often was towards everyone. And even now he didn't, and tried to take deep breaths to keep his words clear, and not a muddled, sobbing, barely strung together words. .
"I don't want you to hate me... I don't want you to think I'm not worth being around! I tried... I tried so hard to make it so you'd keep me around... And I brought you home because I like you so much, and I didn't want anyone to hurt you! I know I'm stupid and I'm weak, but at least if I got you home safe, you'd be less likely to be hurt!"
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 2:00 pm
Nataniel had asked. He remembered thinking how odd it sounded. He remembered asking what job kept a nineteen-year-old out at night. And December had told him 'collections.' Nat had asked about his job. He'd asked about December's family. He'd asked about where he was staying. And the other man had the nerve to tell him 'he didn't care.' But he supposed December's concern was that Nat wouldn't pity him enough to merit talking about it too deeply, since he made such a point of reminding Nat of what he'd said.
December didn't even want it. Him and Mali both, apparently. They complained about how they didn't want this, and all Nataniel heard was 'I'd rather be a victim. I'd rather be ignorant.'
It really was enough to frustrate him, enough to make him catch his tongue between his teeth so he didn't snap or hiss, enough to make him curl his fists and turn away and press on toward his apartment. "I will not argue with you in the middle of the street," he muttered. December might not be shouting, but he was certainly lacking some discretion. And even if the streets weren't packed, there were still a handful of passerby out for the festival or those wandering home after a confusing night, as they were.
He didn't know what December liked so much about him, when the other man hardly knew anything about him, at all. And... perhaps Nataniel should have been prepared for that. People didn't understand him.
If December liked him, it was just because he was a body that was physically there, but the other man had outright admitted he didn't expect Nat cared about him. Nataniel didn't know a lot about friendships, but he was pretty sure that they weren't supposed to involve so much fear from December that he would mess up. And Nat was still aware that his 'friend' never asked particularly much about him and instead just waited for Nat to express his thoughts, rather than pursuing them.
And of course December had to comment about his worth, his stupidity, his weakness. "You have so much pity for yourself and no drive to fix any of your own problems. So I can hardly fathom why you care whether I pity you, or not."
They weren't on the same page in any regard, were they? Nataniel pinched the bridge of his nose.
He was tired, hurt. He wanted to go home and wanted to deal with very little of this. He hated emotions, truly. They were so complicated and messy. And December had so many of them that he was not very talented at conveying the root of. But, similarly... "You do not understand me," Nat stated. "You have no reason to like me."
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 2:46 pm
"Nataniel!" he pleaded with him, following after him and grabbing his wrist with both hands to keep him from going too far without him. It was clear he was getting desperate, just short of powering back up again to force Nataniel to just stop and listen to him. It would have been a huge risk, his identity exposed to the people around them....
But if it would get Nat to listen, he would.
"I am doing my best to fix my own problems! I don't ask anything from anyone! I've been fixing my problems as best as I can and didn't ask you to fix them, did I? Heck, I'm still fixing my family's problems! I didn't talk about them, and I didn't force you to look at me with pity or anything! I kept it all to myself, because I always thought that if you knew, you'd get sick of me, see me as another problem and someone just not worth your time!" He was crumbling, enough so that he could feel the eyes on him, the strangers who murmured questions of a potential lovers spat.
"I like you because I thought you liked me too! You have no reason to like me though, do you? So why do you keep me around? You're right, I don't understand you, but you don't understand me either! Please... Please, Nataniel, just let me tell you everything now... I didn't before, but I didn't lie!"
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 4:01 pm
He faltered at the sound of his name on December's tongue, desperate and insistent, and it was only a second later that the younger man's hand closed around his wrist, pulling him entirely to a halt. Nataniel wished he had the words to better explain what he wanted, what he expected, but the two of them were so different, and so... incompatible. Their varying personalities were one thing, but December in that world, with the monsters and senshi, was another thing entirely.
"How?" He asked softly. "How are you trying to fix them? You live with your brother, you wear hand-me-down clothes, you do not attend classes, and you are... covered in bruises. What do you even do with your day? Your entire day? Is it just... your work for the Negaverse, computer games, and sleeping?" He had watched December sleep for most of a day, before.
But he wasn't sure he understood what 'trying' meant to December.
Nataniel wouldn't say that he wasn't lazy. He had his own concerns to deal with involving his future and his family that he was perfectly content to ignore. But he did try- he did succeed in other areas and at least had something to show for it. He didn't know in what regards December 'tried' or 'succeeded,' and he certainly didn't have much to show off.
But all of that was... irrelevant. Nataniel preferred people who were capable and sturdy without his support because he had very little to give. He liked people who matched his intelligence, and someone who wouldn't make him try too hard to be 'friendly.' He wanted the ability to be himself too, and in this very emotional and easily hurt world, there really was very little room for someone with Nat's... somewhat clinical and abrasive disposition.
He knew what he liked, but what Nat prized above all else was loyalty, and he and December weren't so close that Nat expected December valued him more than whatever task he was supposed to complete for the Negaverse.
The specifics on the goal of the cultists was still a bit fuzzy to him. But December was one of them, and surely dedicated a significant portion of his time to them, so that had to mean something?
"I... am not sure why I like you," he admitted. "The same reason you like me, I suppose. It is nice to play games with you, and nice to have someone around, even if we are so different..." He shifted his weight, wishing still that he was home. All of this was so exhausting, and his head hurt. He wanted to be reasonable, but somehow even that seemed elusive. His thoughts felt so jumbled, like there was so much he needed to express, but... couldn't.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 12:11 pm
Did he really want to know...? How could Nataniel just ask him so many things at once after being so... So Accusatory towards him...?
But December was nothing but compliant when it came to demands... His hand trailed down from Nataniel’s wrist to his hand, trying to hold it in a ways that felt much more rooted than how he felt whenever he thought about his beginnings. Somehow, even if the touch wasn’t reciprocated, it served to calm him down, the sobbing slowing and leaving him only sniffling.
“... I do more than that. Do you think that’s really all I do? You know about the Negaverse, so you know what we gotta do day by day, but my General...” He paused, hesitating to say more, especially with how horribly Nataniel was already taking everything he said.
“I will tell you everything, but... Can’t we get you home first...? And will you let me stay and explain myself? Maybe it’ll make more sense and you’ll hate me less..”
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