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 Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 7:59 am
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Red roses. White lilies. Red carnations. Baby's breath. Little white flowers, and tiny red blossoms. All meticulously presented in a tinted glass vase with a beautiful red ribbon--and a card. The delivery man had left the flowers on the ground and knocked, but was back to his car and pulling away before anyone even answered.
A romantic gesture probably wasn't so uncommon in a house full of love, but this was an anomaly among them because it wasn't from any of them.
Sterling had only just left half an hour ago to drive Priam to one of his appointments, and Yu was left home alone to deal with the bouquet.
The presentation was flawless, meticulously prepared and organized, and given the content of the arrangement, there was no doubt that it seemed to be given with romantic intention.
The card confirmed it:
'Sterling,
All the stars in the sky pale in comparison to your beauty. You've been such a light in my life. My feelings for you never faded either. All my love,
Ilya'
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 8:13 am
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He stood there, shaking as he looked at the card. If it had been in an envelope he wouldn’t have intruded. Would have waited till the others got home.
But, he was alone, and there was this card and all these beautiful expensive flowers that were so…. romantic. Like evening chats with sunsets and candles. Soft laughs and tender look from a… purer man than he could ever hope to be.
All those… nights where the smell of cinnamon sent him stumbling away, the reminder of a hand pressing hard into his throat and reminded him that he was just… garbage.
Well, garbage had things with teeth living just beneath the skin.
He clutched the card hard enough to crumple it, tears stinging his eyes, and grabbed the flowers.
Teeth, black-edged and glass fragmented slicing at an already fragile heart.
He was marching up the steps next door before he knew it, hammering on the door. He remembered the other times he’d been so furious, so angry and broken and sharp, the faces that said they didn’t know what to do with so much anger caught up in a thin shell of skin. But he hadn’t slept well in …days - save for the snatches between when he was folded in their arms.
He couldn’t stand the idea of losing that… he wasn’t sure what would be left of him now if that was taken away.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 8:27 am
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The urgency of the knock demanded Ilya's attention; he rose immediately, and there was visible concern in his expression when he opened the door so hastily that he narrowly avoided hitting his foot.
And yet, despite it all, he was still so composed.
Not a hair out of place, not a wrinkle on his shirt. He looked like he could have just been coming from a long day at the office--but, worse than that, he looked like he was even comfortable in the button down shirt, the slacks, the belt. The only thing that indicated he was relaxing at home was the fact that he wasn't wearing shoes, though the black socks hardly stuck out.
"Yu," he greeted, brows now furrowed with confusion over concern.
He registered the expression briefly, but it was the flowers that threw him. He hadn't seen Yu in ages, and had noticed that he always seemed to disappear. Sterling hadn't mentioned anything of it, or any animosity between them, so he had just assumed it was bad timing.
The scent of cinnamon wafted faintly from the house.
"...Is everything all right?" he asked, despite how painfully obvious it was that whatever was going on it was not all right.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:11 am
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Ilya instinctively recoiled, a slight motion but visible to anyone looking for it. The pressure in his chest was uncomfortable, bordering painful, but there was something beyond just the contact that seemed to affect him. He reached to intercept the note before it could crumble to the ground, but he seemed reluctant to make contact with Yu in any way more than he had to; he looked to something off to the side, just out of reach, but instead kept the paper curled in his hand.
"You need to calm down," he said, almost sternly but too concerned to be considered such. "I don't know what you're talking about. You need to take a breath and talk to me, and not just stand here, swearing and throwing things at me."
He wasn't so easily jostled, and it was only after he spoke that he began to uncurl the paper; he stiffened when he saw it; his eyes flashed as he read the lines, but there was a visible alarm on his face.
If he'd actually sent the flowers, it would have been a clear admission of guilt.
Given that he hadn't, he had no idea what his name was doing on a letter like this, to Sterling.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:21 am
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His cheeks were wet; he was absolutely not crying. He was…not already sure he could see Sterling slipping through his fingers and how quickly Priam would follow. All the perfect people, all the good things that were always out of reach because good things were for other people.
“Don’t…tell me to calm down, how quick did you look me up, huh?? How quickly did you dig up my records? Just… ******** you, ******** your …flowers… you want to give them to him, bring them in ******** person don’t send some other s**t to do your dirty work. You’ve read my file; dirty corners are MY business!?”
He didn’t touch him again, couldn’t -stand- to for as much as he wanted to rumple him, DIRTY him.
But there was a look in Ilya’s eyes.
Alarm…
Yeah, because the right person hadn’t been home. <******** you, ******** your ******** cinnamon, ******** your god damn JOB and every ONE of you mother ******** who put people like me through a god damned meat grinder so people can enjoy paychecks and so you can sweep in, and send flowers to the FIRST GOOD THING since… since… ******** YOU!”
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:59 am
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Ilya's eyes darted up, accusatory, for a flash, until he registered the tears on Yu's face. Processed something about records.
He was understanding beyond what Yu was actually saying--because, he couldn't really understand what he was saying because, "I didn't send these."
It was blunt, almost cold, but with such desperate seriousness that he hoped Yu would just stop and calm down.
Ilya shut down when presented with too many emotions. His face had hints of concern, but he had steeled himself, willed himself to feel nothing so he could process this tactfully.
"Someone's playing a joke on you."
A cruel one, Ilya wouldn't deny this. The words had been imprinted into his mind, and almost dumbly he held the crumpled card back out to Yu, like he could do something with it.
He was too busy trying to figure out what file, what records.
What Yu thought he knew.
He was trying to figure out if it was worth knowing, now.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:10 am
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“Someone, yeah… SOMEONE probably thinks this is -really- ******** funny.” Yu snarled through gritted teeth.
“Damn good poker face they have too, and I’m -such- a joke, a joke for even trying. You gave him UP! You threw him OUT and now you just…”
A shudder ran through him, if he stayed here, he was going to do something truly violent, the start of it was itching in his fingers.
“I can read faces though, you learn too, you think you’re so much better, more deserving, and maybe you’re right. But for all that you want to take it back because maybe you’re not tired of him now. Maybe he’s so much more interesting to ‘rescue’ now, but you’re NOT better. You’re NOT!”
He dropped the Vase
He wanted DESPERATELY for it to break even if it had cut him. He could have found something in that pain, but it just thudded and rolled, spilling cold water and crushed petals between them as he made himself turn and walk away.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:52 am
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Ilya took a step back when the vase hit to the floor, but it didn't stop the water from splashing up; flowers and stems and water scattered across his doorstep, splashed into his house, onto his pants.
He was too shocked to chase after Yu, to scold or yell or express any other emotion than the blank confusion he felt.
He wasn't numb to the insults, to the rage, he just wasn't sure where it was coming from--or, more importantly, why. He grimaced at the mess on his doorstep; there were towels and cleaning supplies in the closet right next to the door so he collected them and began to clean everything up.
...The flowers must have been beautiful at one point in time, but they were not from him. He folded the note up and kept it in his pocket; if Yu didn't take it, he would do his best to try and figure out what was going on.
...And maybe, figure out what Yu was talking about during his tirade.
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