|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2021 5:12 pm
Quote: Prompt 1 (Mysterious Carolers): Caroling has been a tradition for years, so it’s not really unusual when you hear a soft chorus from outside. What is unusual is that it’s three in the morning, and the moment they start singing you feel a chill in the air. Maybe it’s a holiday song, maybe it’s not, but whatever it is it’s a song you know before--from this life? From another?--and something about this version makes you go cold. If you move to the window, you will find no carolers, but the song is loud enough that you know you should be able to see them. They sing one song, and then there is silence. An eerie chill lingers, and your dreams are haunted by strange voices. You’ll probably never be able to hear that song again without feeling a chill.
1) It was three in the morning — a fact he was made aware of after hunting for his phone among the bedding. (He must have fallen asleep at some point after the games on his phone became tedious and he could no longer fight off the fatigue. His phone then became lost beneath the top sheet, sandwiched between his hip and the mattress.)
2) There was music coming from… somewhere. At first he wondered if it was Ilian, who was missing. Sometimes Ilian was struck by inspiration in the middle of the night and went to compose, but the room he used for that was soundproofed, so unless he left the door open, Lovely wouldn’t have heard him. The more he listened, the more Lovely thought the music was coming from outside. And it sounded like several people, not Ilian.
Who went around singing outside at three in the morning?
3) Ilian was missing. His side of the bed was empty. The only indication that he’d come to bed at all was an extra blanket hastily tossed aside during his departure. His phone wasn’t on the side table. At least he remembered to take that with him.
4) It was cold. Lovely shivered beneath the sheet and two blankets, bundled up in sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt and a warm hoodie. After years spent dealing with faulty heating in their shitty apartment, they kept the house cooler than they had to now, but Lovely liked a cuddle (but would never admit so out loud), so he generally didn’t notice, or mind when he did.
With Ilian nowhere to be seen, the room was frigid.
With a groan, Lovely opened his phone and typed a hasty message.
Quote: Kill the people singing outside
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2021 6:10 pm
Ilian had indeed been trying to compose some music that he was inspired to write in the middle of the night, but paused when his phone vibrated.
He frowned when he read the message, but didn’t get up just yet.
Quote: Probably not good to have people murdered outside our house
But he did look at the time and wince. If Lovely was awake now, then he was probably going to be cranky for the rest of the day.
He wasn’t going to just ignore Lovely. Ilian was already getting up so he could leave his studio room and head up the stairs from the basement. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as though there were any people outside, even though he could hear people singing…. Something.
Maybe someone put a speaker somewhere, because when he opened the front door and shivered at the chill, there was no one there. It was dark except for the flood lights that came on when he stepped out further. Or maybe it wasn’t just the chill in the air, but something else felt like ice bit into his bones.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:02 am
Quote: I’ll pretend to be shocked No officer idk where those dead bodies came from it must have been one of those terrorists with the sparkles and the bows There’s a killer after us or something Just because they’d be in our yard doesn’t mean we did it
Especially when they could power up and leave no evidence tying the murders back to them.
Lovely probably shouldn’t lie in bed determining how they should be able to get away with murder, but it was three in the morning. He was tired and sore from his injuries, and the fact that he was awake now meant he was hungry and thirsty. He probably wouldn’t be getting back to sleep until all of those issues were ******** carolers.”
With a groan, Lovely rolled out of bed and hobbled to the window. He’d shout at them and send them on their way. And if they didn’t, he’d call the cops and have them removed. There were noise ordinances, and Lovely was pretty sure 3AM carolers were in violation of them.
Except, when he pushed open the curtains and peered through the blinds, there was no one there.
He could hear them; the song they sang was familiar in a way that meant he had to have heard it before, only he couldn’t remember the details. Either way, the carolers should be there. But they ******** was nothing to curse. Except, of course, Destiny City’s many strange occurrences.
At least he could hear Ilian downstairs now. Lovely texted him again.
Quote: Where’s the good medicine? And bring me food I’m starving
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:30 am
Ilian continued to frown at the empty front yard. But the moment he tried stepping off the front porch to investigate, the song ended and there was nothing but silence.
He glanced down at the texts from Lovely, and drew in a breath to let it out and watch as the air turned white in front of him. It was strange to think that once, not so long ago, he and Lovely had been bundled up under blankets in a too cold apartment, watching icicles grow on the inside of their windows.
Now they were in a nice house and he had a music studio and was able to get up whenever he wanted so he could write music.
And some damn Knight wanted to take that away.
Quote: Should be in the bathroom cabinet
He lowered his phone after texting back, and turned to head back into the house and locked the door behind him. In the kitchen he pulled out a bag of tater tots, not entirely sure what Lovely wanted, but Ilian knew his love for all things potatoes. The toster oven wouldn't take too long to heat them up sufficiently.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:51 am
Lovely groaned, because now he had to hobble into the bathroom.
His injuries were healing. More starseeds would help, but Lovely was overcautious and didn’t want to rely on those. How many until he developed some unpleasant qualities? (More unpleasant than he was already, anyway.) In his opinion, it wasn’t a risk worth taking more than he had to, so one here, another there, that was all he allowed himself.
Which meant his thigh hurt and his shoulders hurt and his hand was still in a cast. At least his face didn’t look horrible after two weeks. He’d have nothing else going for him if he wasn’t still pretty.
Lovely shuffled into the bathroom, digging through the cabinet in the dark. He eventually found what he was looking for, cursing under his breath all the while, heaping oft repeated verbal abuse against stupid Knights and their stupid anti-teleportation items.
He collapsed back onto the bed once he was done, took a couple of pills with the water on the side table and waited, staring up at the ceiling.
Then he got bored of waiting and texted again.
Quote: Everything aches I’m falling apart Only 22 and I’m already decaying
At least the singing seemed to have stopped. For now.
That didn’t make the room any less cold. The cold and the silence made it eerie. Lovely wrapped himself up as best he could, but the blankets hardly seemed to help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 7:10 am
Ilian's only response to Lovely's latest text was for him to shake his head. Lovely tended to be dramatic about things, but he'd gotten used to it over the years. Granted, it wasn't every day that Lovely was stabbed multiple times by a Knight who seemed to be hell bent on trying to get revenge or something.
He supposed it should be ironic that Ilian's original desire for revenge after Sorin was killed was now what could very possibly get Lovely killed. Maybe not ironic, but definitely annoying.
"I hope you don't mind," Ilian said as he made his way up the stairs with a plate of hot tater tots. He'd garnished them with some cheddar cheese and had a dipping cup of ketchup to go with it. He would have thrown green onions and bacon and whatever else he could find if it wasn't three in the morning, so Lovely would just have to deal-- or tell Ilian that he wanted more on it and then Ilian would get him what he wanted, probably.
He sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at Lovely's shoulders that he knew were bandaged under his shirt, and his hand. It could have been a lot worse. He was lucky the Knight didn't cut Lovely's artery when he stabbed his leg.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 7:32 am
Lovely at least had the decency to appear marginally cheerful when Ilian arrived bearing tater tots, even if cheerful for Lovely meant little more than that his expression was less tense and his gaze less stern.
“Tater tots are more curative than starseeds,” he joked, hoisting himself up to sit against the pillows.
He ate with one hand, shoving hot tater tots into his mouth fast enough that he almost burned his tongue a couple of times.
Lovely watched Ilian while Ilian watched him. Ilian, who didn’t look as tired as Lovely felt for being up at three in the morning. Ilian, who woke at random hours to hide out in the basement playing music. Ilian, who, as Jet, could only let so many wrongs occur before he felt the need to right them himself.
Sticking out his good leg, Lovely poked at Ilian’s hip with his toes.
“You have that look on your face like you want to murder someone,” Lovely said around another tater tot. “Only you just said earlier that murder around the house would be bad. Don’t get yourself in a mood with your brooding and go off hunting Knights once the meds knock me out again. It’s not worth you putting yourself at risk.”
He nudged the plate of tots. “Eat. It’ll make you feel better.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 8:09 am
"What do you mean, there's a that look on my face? I don't have a look," he tried to deny, but Lovely tended to know him better than most people. He'd obviously been thinking about Lovely's injuries. And he wondered if those mysterious carolers was some kind of trap to lure them out. He didn't think that their identities were compromised, but Lovely suspected that the Knight had been following him, likely unpowered.
"I wasn't going to murder people singing. I was going to ask them to leave. Politely," he sighed, but reached out to take one of the tater tots he'd made for Lovely and tossed a couple into his mouth.
He was awake, which meant he could easily go out and search for Senshi or Knights who were wandering the streets. But he knew Lovely wouldn't appreciate his enthusiasm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:14 am
Lovely appreciated Ilian’s enthusiasm for a lot of things, just not his penchant for putting himself in danger. Sessrumnir would be dealt with at some point. Ilian didn’t need to orchestrate an encounter or wander around until one occurred at random.
He was orchestrating enough as it was.
“You have a look,” Lovely insisted. “You get all frowny and then there’s a wrinkle between your eyebrows and your eyes get distant like you’ve mentally checked out and gone somewhere far away. It’s your I’d-murder-a-b***h-if-I-could-but-since-I-can’t-right-now-I-guess-I’ll-make-myself-angry-about-it-and-then-fantasize-about-vegeance-and-violence look. Sometimes it’s hot, but only when I can help you do it. Since I’m useless right now, I’d rather you focus on something else. Like these bomb-a** tater tots.”
Lovely ate a few more to demonstrate. He moaned obscenely when he swallowed, maybe because they were just that good, or maybe because he was trying to distract Ilian, get him to laugh or something.
“You used to get that look a lot when we were younger. Then you settled down. Now the list of traitors keeps growing, and there’s some a*****e Knight running around dishing out threats, and you’re angry all the time again.”
He poked at Ilian with his socked foot one more time, then wedged his toes beneath Ilian and wiggled them.
“I get it. I’d like to slaughter that ********, too, but you have a mission, and he’s only a minor part of it.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:29 am
Ilian couldn’t help the way his lips twitched into a smile at Lovely’s drawn out description of his look he got. In the end, he laughed softly and shook his head about the bomb-a** tater tots, indeed laughing again at the way Lovely ate a few more with all the sound effects included.
“I’m not angry all the time,” he insisted, even as his smile settled to something a bit more neutral. But he grabbed Lovely’s foot as it was shoved under his leg so he could hold it in place as he tickled him. Not for very long, but enough to prove that he could get back at him for being silly.
Maybe he did need to find a way to settle down. There was so much going on all at once. He thought that the mission given to him by the Queen to attack a world of a Senshi or Knight would be the only thing he had to worry about. It was why he promised to find her Ganymede, because he didn’t think that it would be such a horrible waiting process until they found any results.
But now that Aquamarine had been attacked, there was a bigger problem that needed to be resolved, lest others in the Negaverse be in danger.
“If it’ll make you happy, I’ll stay with you when you fall asleep again,” he offered, although he would have liked nothing more than to go hunt down a Knight to kill.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:47 am
”Ow! Hey!”
Lovely was not a fan of tickling under normal circumstances. When he was injured, he liked it even less. He frowned a warning, then kicked Ilian when that didn’t work, snatching the plate of tater tots so Ilian could no longer reach them.
“You’ve lost your sharing privileges,” he said.
He settled himself down as comfortably as he could and stuffed his mouth full of tater tots, guarding the plate on his lap as he leveled Ilian with an accusing stare.
But there was no real anger or hostility in his expression. To anyone else, the look on Lovely’s face might have seemed neutral. To someone who knew him so well, he might almost look fond.
When he was done, Lovely set the empty plate and dipping cup onto the side table with his discarded phone, to be dealt with at a more appropriate time in the morning. He winced and hissed as he lowered himself back down. His aching shoulders wouldn’t allow him to sleep on his sides, so he was stuck on his back until he healed up enough. Lovely hated it, and often took to glaring at the ceiling until he fell asleep, imagining Sessumrnir’s irritating face, and those stupid wings on his head.
What would make him the happiest would be for his thigh to support his weight without aching, his shoulders to function properly, and his hand to be removed from its cast. In the absence of that…
Well, he didn’t have to admit he liked something in order to demand it, did he?”
“Cuddle me,” he said. And then, because he couldn’t let Ilian think he wanted to cuddle for the sake of cuddling, he added, “It’s cold.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:04 am
Ilian didn’t mind that the tater tots were taken from him. He’d brought them up for Lovely, anyway. He did laugh a little more when Lovely pulled the plate away from him, and was tempted to bother him some more, but didn’t want to injure him further.
He didn’t have many people in the world that he could say he enjoyed their company. As horrible of a person that Lovely could be to others, he never really rubbed Ilian the wrong way. Not for long. Sure, he was prickly and difficult, but Ilian didn’t mind. There was more to Lovely than just his bad attitude and pretty face. He was loyal and supportive and for some reason had decided that Ilian was the best thing since sliced bread -- or at least that’s how Lovely made it seem.
“It is pretty cold. I could turn up the heat,” he offered, but did no such thing. Instead, he carefully pulled at the blankets so he could ease himself down next to Lovely in the bed, careful of his injuries. He pulled the covers over both of them first. An arm carefully settled over Lovely so he could hold him.
“Is this better?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 5:02 pm
“It’s fine,” Lovely grumbled, so Ilian wouldn’t think he liked it too much.
Maybe Ilian should think he liked it? Or know he liked it? Lovely was probably going about all of this the wrong way, but as blunt as he could be about most subjects, their relationship was uncharted territory for him. Even after all this time, he couldn’t dredge up the words, couldn’t make himself say all the things he knew he should.
What he thought. How he felt. What he wanted for them both.
In the absence of that, he shifted against the mattress, as close to Ilian as his injuries would allow. Lovely tipped his head toward him, and tangled the fingers of his good hand into Ilian’s shirt.
Despite the chill in the room, he felt warmer already.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
