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 Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:38 am
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It hadn't been a good week for Ilya. Work wasn't trouble enough, now he had to be having some sort of spat with Yu--over flowers.
Flowers, sent to Sterling, with his name on a card he didn't write. Flowers that he hadn't sent. Flowers that had Yu on his doorstep, crying and screaming and swearing and implicating himself in ways he probably hadn't realized at the time.
All hopes for reconciliation were out the window for the time being; Ilya was not going to go speak to him until Yu calmed down, and he was thinking maybe a week or so at least should be enough time--which was fine, because he was swamped. He'd seen Sterling the night before, given him some fresh herbs. The way Sterling acted around him seemed to imply that Yu had not told him there was any sort of issue between him, and perhaps as a gesture of good will he hoped would reach Yu, Ilya had sent him home with fresh herbs.
His garden had expanded--he had trays of herbs, and meticulously cared for vegetables. He'd spent a considerable amount of time making sure every little plot was perfectly maintained, that the soil was optimal for each plant he wanted to grow. It was close to winter, he knew that, but he'd spent so much time researching and made such great efforts to ensure that this would work that it had absolutely broken his heart to find his backyard absolutely, completely, horrendously trashed.
He should have known, though. Last night, he should have known.
The dogs were barking wildly last night--again--and it had woken him up enough that he was forced to get up for a glass of water, or to investigate, or something. It was dark outside, but even with just the moonlight, he'd seen something in his backyard.
Suddenly, the idea that the dogs were barking at something was worth investigating, and he flicked on the light by the backdoor. He saw the dark, shadowy figure immediately; it wasn't an animal, but the shock still took a few seconds to register that it was a person.
A person who froze, bolted to the fence that split his yard and Sterling's, and jumped it.
A person who blatantly leapt from his back yard to theirs.
The dogs stopped barking.
Ilya thought about calling the police, but he was tired, so tired. The dogs had stopped barking. He could sleep.
Maybe Yu had liked the herbs so much he needed a few more. Maybe he took his invitation--given to Sterling and extended to Yu, 'Help yourself', a little too literally. Why he wanted to obtain basil or oregano at three in the morning, he didn't know. But if it put them back on talking terms, he didn't really care.
Until he woke up in the morning, bright and early, and got ready for his day. Until he went out to tend to his garden, like always, and found the absolute worst thing he could have imagined--dirt, flung everywhere. Plants violently battered, looking like they'd been chopped at with the shovel that upended everything. His herbs were in pieces, roots and steps and leaves torn and thrown about in such a way that he couldn't even recognize some of them. The shelving he had was on its side, splintered and irreparable. There were holes dug in his yard, like someone had just been out here, digging. The grass had bald patches, like someone had painstakingly mutilated it.
His backyard was a disaster.
It took him almost two full minutes just to process the damage, and he hurried around it, looking for any fragment of his hard work that had survived. His brows were knit and his lips curled into a frown, but he was too frantic, too desperate, to let any anger show--until he saw the dirty footprints on his side of the fence. Until he moved, just inches away from it, and could see dirt tracks back towards Sterling's house.
The rage that boiled in him made him see red; he curled his hands into fists at his side, so tightly that his nails bit into his flesh and nearly drew blood.
He stomped around his house, trembling with quiet, seething rage. He was dressed for the day, put together except for the angry red across his cheeks. He marched next door, not even aware of Sterling's missing car--but grateful for it, in his subconscious, because Sterling didn't need to see or hear this.
He returned Yu's favor and knocked on the door with heavy, angry knocks--perfectly spaced apart, in a demanding rap. His eyes were cold and his expression dark, and he stood--tall--and stoic, and angry, on the doorstep.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 12:26 pm
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A day off, the perfect time to try and get some rest. The dogs had been being temperamental or something, they kept barking at the oddest hours and there was nothing to be seen.
For dogs, they were quite alright but it was getting to him he had to admit, between that and the ******** flowers…
And now…
Someone knocking at the door. The measured commanding pound of it made his skin crawl, it was tempting as hell to go out the back door, but he at least knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, short of if ‘pushing a love note into the chest of the man trying to steal your boyfriend’.
He slogged towards the door with shuffling steps and mild curses, not even trying to make himself presentable. Whomever it was deserved him as they got him for rapping at this hour.
…
It was ******** CinnamonNeighbor Ilya. <********.
He squinted at the dark expression, what.. had Sterling turned him down? He hoped so, god he really….really hoped so.
“What?” He demanded, all the same, he didn’t -dare- hope just yet, especially not before coffee or something with an ungodly amount of sugar and B vitamins.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 12:38 pm
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Seeing Yu unguarded, in his mess of pajamas, brought Ilya no comfort. He wasn't here for a power play, wasn't here to talk down to him for the haphazard, sloppy way he was dressed.
"I was willing to forgive you for your ridiculous outburst. I was willing to let bygones be bygones. I was even willing to apologize to you for something I didn't do, to try and make amends for your fragile ego, but if you think that this is in any way appropriate behavior on your part, you are sorely mistaken. I demand an apology."
He stood tall, lips pursed and looking down at Yu with as much anger he could muster, even if it was only to cover the absolute heartbreak of his entire garden, completely destroyed. He'd seen not one plant that was even remotely salvageable.
Not one plant that had survived the onslaught.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 1:01 pm
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"Too early," Ilya repeated, almost challengingly. "Too early? Well, then you shouldn't have been up so late, destroying my garden--my entire backyard. I've told you I'm not after Sterling, but if that's what you're going on about, I'm sure he'd be delighted with your juvenile behavior. You left a trail right back to your house, Yu. If you didn't want me to know it was you, you could have tried a little harder. I saw you last night, and I knew I should have gone out and fussed at you about it. I knew I should have come over right then and there, but I stupidly--stupidly--thought maybe I'd wait to see what was going on until a more reasonable time. Sterling told me Priam's over, healing, so forgive me for not coming over at three in the morning, but this is a perfectly reasonable time to come over considering you've given me no choice otherwise."
He crossed his arms over his chest defensively, gripping his upper arm tightly to try and reel himself in.
Losing your temper didn't get you anywhere, but he was livid.
He forced as much calm back onto his face, but it didn't stop his heart from pounding and it didn't stop his ears from burning with anger just begging to spill out.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 1:29 pm
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"I can't leave my backyard like that," Ilya said, with a trace of desperation that shouldn't have been there, like the very idea of his backyard being demolished physically hurt him. "I told you before, I didn't send those flowers. And I've told Sterling I don't want a relationship. Your insecurities are making you unbearable. If you don't trust me, that's on you, but I don't want to be involved in this. Leave me out of your love life. Just."
For the first time, he seemed distressed, like he had to go deal with the actuality of his back yard, like he had to go fix it now. He took a step back and glanced to his house, like maybe he hoped something had changed, but he turned his gaze back to Yu.
"There's dirt all over the side of my fence, and a foot print, like someone was mad they got caught and jumped the fence. You have dirt tracked to your door, I can see it from my yard. If it wasn't you, it was Sterling, and I know for a fact he can't see well enough to do anything like that in the dark. So really, unless you've got any other explanations, I've really got no choice but to say it was you."
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 2:12 pm
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Yu took a deep breath, clenching his fists hard enough to cut nails, short as they were into his palms.
“Let me get this straight… I… am supposed to have VAULTED over your fence, at three in the morning, and been DUMB enough to track dirt up onto our own porch. But you…. who -were- in your own back yard assessing damage, totally didn’t drag it here with you… at all must be my fault. “
Another breath as he tried to find something resembling calm, and desiring nothing more than to slam the door in his face.
“You can SAY whatever the ******** you want, but it wasn’t… me. Do you want to smell my hands?? See my boots? I got one pair of shoes, man, and they are IN my bedroom. PLUS, I can’t vault that ******** fence; I am not some parkour rich kid with nothing better to do with his time than throw himself off buildings. I don’t know WHAT game you think you’re playing, but ******** you for how you’re playing it!”
He tossed his hands up, exasperated. “********… If you’re going to pull s**t, don’t try and…”
He was at a loss for words, digging nails into his arms and dragging over old scars without the leather bracelets to help mitigate damage.
“I didn’t DO it!” He repeated.
Whatever Game ******** was playing, he didn't get it. Sending flowers and then saying that he 'didn't want a relationship?' yeah...try more like didn't want to share, at least not with one of the system dropouts.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 3:10 pm
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Ilya looked immediately offended, like the sheer thought of actually touching the dirt revolted him. "You think I would drag dirt here?"
He was immaculate, spotless, and seemed absolutely horrified at the the thought.
"This isn't a game!" he seethed. "That was my garden and you both know how important it was to me."
There was no apology. He was stupid to expect remorse. Yu was convinced he'd sent a love letter--and flowers--to his boyfriend, and there was no shaking him from that. Of course he'd want Ilya to suffer.
And eye for an eye, sure. Except, there was no reason for him to think he wanted anything more with Sterling than friendship, except for a letter he didn't right.
A letter that was planted. Like he was being set up as an excuse to drive him away.
Yu was jealous, Ilya could see that. It came out in his anger, in his insults, his aggressions.
But, there was nothing he could do. Yu was set in his decision, and shy of showing him his entire bank statements, he didn't think he could convince him otherwise. Ilya's hands clenched, perhaps in one last, desperate, angry burst, but then they went limp at his side.
"...I don't know what I expected, coming here."
His eyes were downcast, distracted by the trail of red on Yu's arm as he clawed down his own skin.
He wasn't giving up but he felt defeated. He'd been taking care of some of these little plants since he was in college, for longer than he'd known Sterling.
Maybe there was something that could be done, but he wasn't going to get anywhere trying to get Yu to confess, to apologize, to understand the severity of what he'd just destroyed--out of petty revenge. Maybe he could find scraps of something that could be saved.
His teeth were grit, but he felt tired already, and he wasn't sure if he should just leave and do his work to try and focus on that--if he should pay someone to take care of his backyard so he didn't have to deal with cleaning up the corpse of something he poured so much love into. He was going to catch up on paperwork, going to try and close some cases, maybe even relax.
No, now he had to go clean up his backyard. His skin was already crawling and the concept made him stupidly dizzy. He was going to throw up first, he already knew it.
"I don't know what you want from me. You didn't have to do that to my backyard. Or whoever in your house jumped my fence and snuck into your house last night after tearing everything up. The dogs stopped barking, just made sense that it wasn't someone running through your backyard too."
His throat burned, his voice was hoarse despite how hard he was trying to keep it together. "If you were bothered by him coming over alone, you could have come over too. I told you I didn't move here for trouble and I meant it. I wanted to get along. I tried. I didn't even think you were bad, not even when you ran off and gave me the cold shoulder. I wanted to make this--whatever this is--work. But if you're not going to let it, I'm giving you a warning now, for Sterling. If I catch you in the backyard again, I will call the police."
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 5:56 pm
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His lip twitched, spurned by Yu's outburst. Whatever Yu had defeated already seemed to rekindle in Ilya, and there was a spark of fire in his eyes that was just angry.
He didn't let it reach his face. He let it smolder in his eyes, let it burn down his throat, let the coals in his stomach stoke back to life.
"There's nothing convenient about any of this. Whatever game you're playing, I want none of it. You expect me take the blame for a bouquet I didn't send, but you won't take the blame for the dirt I can follow straight to your door? I didn't want a target, Yu. I wanted a neighbor. I wanted a functioning social connection. I'm sure you've heard of a shower," he gestured at him angrily, "Obviously you wouldn't sleep in grass and dirt. I'd hope."
Sterling. Always fussing about Sterling, like he was so afraid to lose him, like Ilya was trying to steal him back. He never wanted to shout about how little interest he had in a relationship, how horrified he was to disappoint someone, how little he could even stomach living with another human who didn't share his same need for cleanliness.
But anything he said now would just reflect poorly on Sterling, and he wasn't going to drag him down just to stress that he didn't want a relationship with anyone.
"I didn't trash my garden. I didn't send Sterling flowers. I didn't flirt with him."
His hand clenched into a fist at his side, and the sharp burst of pain was enough to ground him.
"If you didn't do it, it means someone went into your house last night after they were done. Or, they just magically disappeared." One was obviously more believable than the other. "So maybe you should look into that."
He wanted to yell, wanted to insult him, wanted to berate him until he broke down and just admitted it.
But yelling wasn't getting them anywhere, and Yu was too stubborn to take any accountability or be swayed in any way whatsoever.
"If you're going back to hiding from me, I'll be in the backyard until I get it cleaned up."
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 6:44 pm
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Ilya didn't want to see his boots. He didn't want to call the police. He didn't care about the dogs barking.
He cared about his garden. He cared that his nice little home suddenly didn't feel safe, and that now he had to worry about his jealous neighbor sabotaging the only friendship he had. He cared about the hours, the years, he spent poring into his herbs, into the hope and tenderness he'd given his garden. He'd picked this house for the beautiful backyard, the low crime rate, and the closeness to his job, and it felt like everything had gone wrong since he moved here.
He couldn't even be happy that he'd reconnected with Sterling because his insecure, jealous boyfriend had to set him up to be some sort of villain, and someone was clearly making an effort to sabotage him. This had been deliberate, and the path led back to this house, and unless Sterling suddenly decided he actually still held a grudge, it didn't make sense to blame him.
And he severely doubted the friend of theirs who was recovering from a bad accident just jumped a fence like that.
He looked down at Yu for seconds and then just shook his head and turned away.
There were no words to share, no reconciliation to hope for. Any conversation would fall on deaf ears.
His garden was dead, but he wasn't going to let his backyard fall into decay.
He'd look at house listings again when he finished.
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