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 Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 10:37 pm
Quote: backdated to Nov 24 2024, right after this oneRyan ushered Velek into his home as quickly as possible, hoping that nobody from the Negaverse had seen them, and hurried to light a fire in the fireplace. He loved using that thing. "Here, sit on the couch," he instructed, choosing now to divest himself of his warmer outdoors clothing. "I'll get some more blankets and a hoodie for you or something. And I'll make some soup." A quick can of Campbell's would be best, he thought. Microwaved soup wasn't his favorite—he definitely preferred making something from scratch, but there wasn't time for that just now. Velek needed him.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2025 8:04 pm
Velek had powered down compliantly, though with some difficulty. The cold chilled his thoughts and caked thick ice walls in his mind. It wasn't that he forgot how to power down, just that things seemed so faraway and distant.
But Monoceros had been so kind and patient with him, and he shifted from his Senshi robes to the thick layers of his homeworld. His outfit was the same style, but notably more worn. Not dirty, but like an outfit that had seen its years and been stashed in a closet for a long time.
Velek hadn’t been in this form in so long that the outfit seemed unusual to him.
His long robes dragged on the floor as he made his way to the couch, but rather than sit he wound up staring at it for a moment. He understood the words, mostly. The language he thought in his head was not the one he spoke, so it took a few seconds extra to translate.
“Yes,” Velek agreed, but loomed over the couch for a moment longer. He’d have rather draped himself over the hearth, and he stared into the growing flames for a long moment.
He didn’t so much as sit on the couch as he did drape himself onto it, gathering up his robes in slow, precise movements.
Velek didn’t know when his teeth started chattering, but the tremors were vicious, like his body was only aware of how cold it was now that it had a taste of warmth.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2025 10:35 am
Ryan chewed his lip as he poured the soup into a bowl and slipped into the microwave for the appropriate amount of time. Having a stranger in his home made him nervous, his stomach filled with anxious little butterflies. Especially a stranger who was sick. But he was a fellow senshi, and he needed help, so Ryan could suck it up. With the food warming up, he went to the little hallway closet and pulled out the fluffiest blanket he could find. He figured Velek's robes would be better than one of his hoodies, so he forewent that, bringing the blanket over and draping it across Velek carefully. "Hey," he began, then the microwave dinged and he hurried away again, getting the bowl and stirring it a little to cool it down a bit and spread the heat evenly. He hurried back and handed it over with a smile. "This should help," he said quietly. "I hope you can warm up quickly. You don't look very good."
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 8:16 pm
Velek wore the blanket like a cloak and visibly melted into it in Ryan’s absence. If he’d been thinking a bit more, he might have just slipped under it and used it as a tent but the light of the fire stole his attention.
Ryan’s words recaptured his attention, but Velek looked at him with hazy, unfocused eyes. Then, he looked at the soup.
To accept it meant removing his arms from the blankets. He’d already gotten accustomed to the warmth, and his body was still in a fitful state of frozen rebellion. His hands had locked into fists and despite the layers of the blanket, tremors rolled through him.
…But he wanted the soup. He knew it was food.
“Is that a customary expression of concern or insult?” he asked through chattering teeth. His host had been kind to him so it would have been unfair to assume the worst of him–and so, Velek didn’t. He’d trusted Ryan enough to follow him here, to warmth, to food.
He would turn away no gift.
But neither would he sacrifice the warmth of the blanket. He simply leaned forward and placed his lips to the edge of the bowl, using the weight of his head to tip it slightly towards him while Ryan held it. At no point did Velek seem to swallow, so he might not have even tasted the soup, but it flowed down his throat in an endless, greedy stream. He didn’t care how it got into his stomach, just that it did.
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 12:11 pm
Insult? Huh? What Ryan had said hit him full force suddenly and he winced at himself, embarrassed by the way he'd accidentally treated his new house guest. He wanted to hunch his shoulders with his shame, but then Velek was leaning in and sipping straight from the bowl of soup. No spoon. Just using Ryan's hands as some kind of tilting table to feed himself. Fresh shock crashed through his body, but he held still, gently assisting Velek in drinking the soup. If needed, once the broth was gone, Ryan would go so far as to spoon the noodles and little chicken pieces into Velek's mouth himself. It seemed that Velek was in a lot more trouble than Ryan had initially assumed. Velek was going to need a lot more heat and a lot more food than he'd already put together. Shoot, did he still have that space heater in the hall closet? After Velek finished the broth, Ryan put the bowl down on the side table. "I'll be right back," he promised, hurrying off to check the closet. Score!"Space heater acquired," he muttered to himself, rushing back to plug it in and aim it near Velek's feet. The way the couch was angled Velek's upper body would get warmer from the fire, neglecting his lower half. "Do you want more hot liquid, or do you want to try to actually chew some food?" he asked quietly. "I don't want you to accidentally bite your tongue or anything as you warm up, but I'll trust your judgement. Eh, sorry, by the way, for the way I misspoke earlier. It was concern. Poorly phrased."
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2025 5:55 am
Velek moved slowly. His eyes followed Ryan when he disappeared, but it took his body much longer to make any progress. Briefly, he’d eyed the bowl of food–not quite out of reach for an able-bodied person, but certainly so for him considering how reluctant he was to move. Tremors ran through his body, rattling his shoulders, but his face remained calm.
Blank, almost.
Ryan was gone in the blink of an eye, maybe because he was fast, and maybe because Velek was slow.
With him returned warmth.
It didn’t register immediately that it wasn’t just Ryan’s presence making the room heat up, nor did Velek care to think too much of it. He simply assumed Ryan had some natural magic about him.
“My tongue will move,” he said, like it had a mind of its own. “Thank you for your concern.” Now and before, though his mouth moved too slowly to say as much. The broth felt like it had thawed something in him, and as the seconds ticked by, more followed.
Numbness hummed in his mind, and he found himself melting more into the warmth. He probably could have fallen asleep sitting upright, with his eyes opened. He might have dozed off for a second, because when he blinked he was still staring at Ryan.
“What?” he asked, with slightly more energy than before. It was gone quickly.
“You move so quickly. Sit with me, you make me dizzy when you run around.”
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