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Author Topic: Metastasis [Goooooblin]  (Read 911 times)

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Offline nephero

Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« on: February 01, 2018, 08:38:27 pm »
   Something flashed on the other side of their eyes, something orange-red and insistent. Short to follow was an insistent screech, a steady and unrepentant eh—eh-EH-EH as only a mechanical alarm could make. Nicodemo reached to the side, eyes still closed, and slapped their hand against the large, rubber-topped button for their alarm until that awful grating noise stopped.

   Slowly, they did an inventory. Stretched their legs and arms and burrowed their face into the soft, cool portion of their pillow. Blinked their eyes open and… tried not to think too hard on how somehow, even now, even so many years later, they still ended up on this side of the bed. Far to the right, like somehow there was need to make room, even though Nico knew if they dared to look they’d see the left side still as immaculately made as it had been last night.

   Nico shifted, took a deep breath, and eased themselves up into a sitting position. Took a pause to rub their face, before turning to set their feet down against the plush area rug beneath their bed. Curled their toes and rolled their shoulders and stretched their back to try and ease the dull throbbing pain between their shoulderblades. But it seemed that was just the flavor of the day, and so when the stiffness did not abate Nico simply elected to ignore it. They weren’t about to stop their entire day for this, not for empty beds or for aching muscles, not for anything short of their leg bones snapping the second they got out of bed.

   Which, of course, never happened. And so Nico stood up, legs unbroken, and winced as pinpricks of pain shot through their heels and along their ankles. It abated soon enough, of course, and they limped across the room to their dresser, pulling out their clothes for the day after deciding a morning shower was just… not in the cards today. Soft long sleeve shirt, a set of drawstring pants versus button, and of course…

   The weight of Reese’s necklace settled against their sternum, a heavy reminder that pulled down on their neck like a set of ghostly arms. But, that had been kind of the point, hadn’t it? To be there without being there, like they’d never be there again. Because that was just the way the world was, wasn’t it? Pain and aches and sharp reminders, and there was nothing to do about it but pull on their boots and carry on about their day.

   After all, Nico’s legs weren’t yet broken. They pulled down a cane from a rack of many, one of their favorites with a sleek wolf’s head topper. It just felt so good against their palm, the ears against their wrist and holding everything in place. A bit more mobile now, Nico limped out of their bedroom and through their apartment, out the front door and out into Libra station proper.

   It was early still, but that’s how Nico preferred it. Still relatively quiet, most folks still sleeping in for just a little while longer. They could take their time, take breaks if they needed without anyone stopping to ask if Nico was all right. Because they were fine. They’d always been fine. They’d always been able to carry on on their own, and they’d carry on a lot better if they were just left the hell alone.

   Still, about twenty minutes later the shooting pins and needles in their feet demanded they stop, luckily just outside a café they’d purposely included as a kind of ‘halfway point’ on their route. Bracing themselves just long enough to purchase a cup of tea and find a patio table, Nico settled into their seat with a soft sigh, cane resting across the table as they held the steaming cup between their hands, letting the warmth seep into the minute joints of their fingers and hands and easing some of the aches there.

   It was a minor allowance. Just a few moments to themself, just enough time to get their energy back and carry on the rest of the way and not end up so broken down they were bedridden for days. That was the limit; not because Nico feared the pain— more because they didn’t want to give their coworkers any type of excuse to continue pushing for their retirement.

   Unconsciously, Nico reached for the weight against their chest and ran their thumb against the flat surface of the pendant there. Felt the ridges, the pits and divots, all the familiar well worn scratches from years of bumps and bruises, years of being above a heartbeat that had never been Nico's own. They looked down, watching the light of the station move over the smooth metal surface of the necklace pendant, and forced themself to take a deep, steadying breath.

   They almost wished for broken legs, but that was a pathetic train of thought. Sitting and whining and pining when that never fixed anything. They let the pendant fall against their chest with a huff, and instead took up the cup of tea once more, taking deep gulps of the hot fluid and relishing the sensation of something warm in them.

Offline GoblinFae

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2018, 10:08:40 pm »
The blades of the fan whirled over his head in a lazy circle that kept the air from getting stagnant but did little else to keep his quarters cool. Dashiell found that if he concentrated he could follow one of the blades around and around in a dizzying circuit before his vision would blur and he would have to look away again. In the living room he could hear the squawks and screeches of his feathered prisoners already making their demands for attention.

His heartbeat felt heavy within his chest as he dragged himself off the bedroom floor and shuffled off to the bathroom to square off in front of the toilet. He rolled his neck as he went about his morning ablutions and felt his body protest and realign. Spending the night on the floor because he had missed the bed in his drunken stupor was becoming more and more the norm than the exception these days.

Painkillers were popped into his mouth before water was cupped in his hands from the faucet to follow. Only then did he pause to look down at the cold steel band on his left hand. Most mornings he tried to forget it was there but so close to their anniversary, Dashiell couldn't bring himself to forget. His heart squeezed as tears welled in his already red eyes, both things he blamed on being hungover rather than recall how he had wept like a baby in Bhaziell's arms the night before.

Sighing, he balled his hand into a fist and moved to get dressed. The persistent shrieks from the next room only served to make him more irritated and bark out angrily in response. "Shut up you twats! I'll feed you in a minute!" A plain, black shirt was yanked down over his middle, burying the sight of melted flesh from view before he stormed out to glare at the pair of tiny birds that hopped about at the sight of him. "I don't know why they kept you fuckers. So fucking loud in the goddamn morning. Make such a fucking mess," he grumbled at them as their fluttering about the cage sent feathers and bedding every which way.

"There! Happy now?" Dashiell slammed the feeding door closed with a huff, his hand raking through his short hair in an effort to calm himself. The ring came into view again though and he pursed his lips before shaking his head in an unspoken apology to the ghost of a memory that would never see it again. How many times had he and Reese argued over their choice in pets? How many times had he joked about cooking them into pies or getting a cat the next time they got loose? Too many. It had all been for nothing too. Reese was gone and Dashiell was stuck with the infuriating creatures as one of the last reminders of their existence. His own bird had long since flown the coop to whirl somewhere between the stars.

Three years almost four and yet the missing them never got easier. The turning and expecting them to be standing there still happened almost daily. He had gotten better at hiding the disappointment though. Reese was never coming back, not in this lifetime at least. True to their letter, Dashiell hadn't tried to go searching for the rebirth of their soul either though he longed desperately to have them beside him again. Each day was harder than the next. What was the point of living if there was no one to share your life with anymore? He'd had his once in a lifetime. What did one do after that ended?

Dashiell sure as shit didn't know. A glance at the clock revealed he was wasting the day away. Time for a run. Like every morning before, he tried to convince himself that it was good and wholesome and would clear his head. In reality it would likely just wear him out enough for his broken mind to become louder than the angry hum it usually buzzed at. He trundled out his door, fingers pressing to his lips before touching the protective ward still on his door after all these years, before taking to hitting the ground with a vengeance. It was early enough still that most people would not be up and about enough to get in his way. Running the tracks became too repetitive for him though running the corridors really wasn't much different when one lived on a space station. Dashiell tried not to think too hard about that though.

He ran and ran allowing the beat of his feet to match that of his heart, going wherever they would take him. His mind was lightyears away though, lost in memories of a slender spitfire and the way they would always run ahead, daring him and taunting him to catch them if he could. He never did though.

A glint of metal caught his eye, causing the predator within to instantly perk to attention to find the source. Dashiell was ready to look away, assuming it would be nothing of importance when the shape of a metal pendant halted him right in his tracks. A double-take revealed a sight that had his heart screeching to a complete stop. Every hair on the back of his neck stood at attention as a genuine growl rumbled up in his chest.

His feet were moving and before he knew it he was towering over the man daring to wear his lover's necklace. He would recognize that worn chunk of metal anywhere. Hell it even still smelled faintly of Reese and that alone made his heart squeeze painfully. The stranger's scent overpowered it greatly though setting him even further on edge. "Where the fuck did you pinch that from you little thief," he hissed, his lips curled back as he bared his teeth menacingly and jabbed an angry finger at the man's chest. "Have you no self-respect stealing from the dead?"

Offline nephero

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2018, 10:35:50 pm »
   It didn’t take much to put Nico on guard. A lingering stare, a close presence, a heavy step and Nico’s focus was entirely stolen, brought into full fight or flight mode as only years of military drilling could have put into them. So when a stranger suddenly changed direction from what had previously been a perfectly innocent jog to come right at them, Nico’s jaw tightened, their lips thinning in not-at-all subtle annoyance at the intrusion on their morning thoughts.

   Not that their thoughts had been anything great, of course. If left to their own devices, Nico probably would have tried to find anything else to think on. Used their phone to find a new book to read, checked up on the latest news reports, avoided the comments section because that was nothing but a one way trip into asinine.

   Like right now was any better. Because not only was this stranger— badly burnt and looking like he was made of fire in more ways than one— interrupting their morning routine with… what the fuck were they saying?

   The necklace. He was pointing at the necklace. And like that, liquid fury surged through Nico’s veins, superseding all the aches and pains and pricks that made up their entire existence and leaving nothing but hate in their wake.

   “Firstly. Don’t you ever fucking touch me.” Nico snarled right back, eyes narrowed and fingers clasped tight around their cup, such that even against the tan of their skin their knuckles were white.

   “Secondly, I didn’t steal shit, and if you accuse me of that again, you’re not going to like my fucking answer. Now get out of my sight.” And like that, Nico rose from their seat, taking up their cane and setting it to the ground with the full intention of leaving.

   After all, they’d meant to finish up here and get going, anyway.

Offline GoblinFae

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2018, 10:46:11 pm »
Dashiell wasn't going to back down. Not even the starstrider's words of warning against fighting or Bhaziell's barking reminders were going to make him stop now that his mind was set. The stranger in front of him could bark like a seal and call the sky green for all he cared. He was obviously a liar and a thief. The wolfman was not about to suffer him either now that he felt he knew the truth.

When the dark-eyed man stood, Dashiell remained firmly in place, refusing to step aside so that he could pass. Instead he leaned further in towards them, the growl still rumbling loudly in his chest as he did so. "Firstly, go fuck yourself because I'll do whatever the hell I want. And secondly you're going to tell me where the hell you got that necklace and I'm not going anywhere until you do." Forcefully, he used the metal of his forearm to shove the stranger back as if to make him sit back down again. Dashiell wasn't done with him yet. They had a conversation to finished whether the stranger liked it or not.

Offline nephero

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2018, 12:05:13 am »
And there it was. The second touch even after Nico had warned this bastard to keep his hands to himself. In different circumstances, Nico might have found this stranger intriguing. Severe burns had warped his skin long past the point of recognizability, but that had never bothered Nico any. In fact, they preferred such things. Scars were marks of strife, a visible reminder of catastrophic events, and someone who had been as hurt as this stranger was was usually the type of person Nico could tolerate best.

Usually.

Not now.

Because right now, the stranger has his hand on them, was daring to try and push them back down, was daring to keep them pinned and was daring to insinuate that they had stolen their necklace-- Reese’s necklace. The one glimmer of hope in Nico's life that Reese had actually loved them. The one reminder Nico had of them outside of the slowly fading memories. The one thing that hadn't been left to that… that fucker. That fucker who'd won Reese's heart without so much as breaking a sweat, had captivated them so thoroughly that Nico simply could never compare.

Dash had taken absolutely everything from Nico. Everything. Those sweet good morning kisses, the sound of them singing in the shower, the smell of their cologne and how they looked amidst a tangle of sheets and hair and breathlessness. Nico had lost everything, and then lost it all over again without so much as a warning, left cut adrift in an ocean of nothingness clutching a letter and some passive condolences from some nameless peon in a law firm.

All they had left was this. The metal against their heartbeat, the only thing that hadn't been stolen from them. And now here was this nobody, this pissant, calling Nico the thief!

Nico's breath hitched. Their pupils turned to tiny furious pinpricks, and their lips curled back in a snarl as their grip tightened on their cane.

Everything after came swiftly. Nico raised the cane in a rapid blur, striking hard at the stranger’s offending arm and knocking it the hell away from them. Because if this asshole wasn't going to let them go, Nico would damn well make them.

Another strike caught the stranger against the side of his knee, just enough to stagger so Nico could shove their way past him.

“I'll tell you nothing and you'll like it. Get the fuck out of my way.”

Offline GoblinFae

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2018, 09:09:10 am »
Metal sang out as the cane collided with Dashiell's replacement arm. The sound caused him to flinch but not relent at least until the weapon was moving to batter against his good knee. Instinctively and against his will, his leg buckled and Dashiell grunted as he leaned forward against the stinging pain. While it had its intended effect and the thief was able to slide past him, the pain also served to stoke the fires of Dashiell's rage.

How dare this person claim innocence and ignorance. How dare this thief steal from Dashiell one of the last pieces of Reese that still existed in this world, one that he had thought long gone. Since day one of meeting them, Reese had worn that stupid piece of metal about their neck. Every day he had seen it, seen the way overhead lights had glinted and reflected off it much as it had moments earlier when he found it dangling from the wrong neck. Seeing it now was killing him though. If there was one thing in the world of the living and the materialistic that Reese would have taken with them to the grave it would have been that gods damned pendant and so when it had never been recovered from the wreckage of his ship, he had assumed it had burned with the rest of it. What else was he to think seeing it hanging from another man's neck?

With a furious howl, Dashiell latched onto the lair's throat with his left hand, feeling the metal of his partnership ring dig into the bones of his hand as he dragged the man back two steps and slammed his body into the wall of the cafe as hard as he could. The air around them both was practically vibrating with the amount of fiery emotion that Dashiell was feeling. He was raw inside, the beast unchained from the shackles of debilitating grief and mourning. This was how he felt alive. With the blood of war pumping through his veins, he came alive again.

He may not have been the same man as when he was whole but this was as close as he could get. There was a relief in feeling pain, in knowing the numbness that clouded his mind was not living death. But, even now that was no comfort to him as he felt his heart torn anew with memories of barking laughter, flying spanners amidst angry curses, and the clinging scent of sage.

Reese.

It always came back to them. There was no freedom from their memory or the feelings of love and guilt that always followed. For now though Dashiell chose to ride those waves of fury as he slammed the instigators of emotions into the wall twice more for good measure. He could fight, claw and beat against the wolfman's body as much as he wanted but Dashiell refused to let go. Not even the burn in his screaming ribs was enough to make him quit as his breath heaved in his lungs from the exertion.

"You'll tell me and you'll tell me now," he barked back, squeezing the slender column gripped so fiercely within his palm. "You'll tell me how you came to get your sticky little paws on Reese Plantina's amulet because last time I saw them they were alive and still fucking wearing it! Lot of good it did them too," he added bitterly, his flame-orange eyes flashing beneath the translucent lenses of his protective eye gear.

"It should belong to me! So you fucking tell me right now how you got it and you give it back before I beat you into the ground like the disgusting filth you are!"

Offline nephero

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2018, 02:12:06 pm »
Somewhere inside the café, bodies were moving in a sudden panic to call the police. After all, it was one thing for two people to get into an argument (you just carefully asked them to leave then), it was quite another thing when it started coming to blows.

No doubt the poor servers inside were already on the phone with local authorities, and no doubt the other patrons to the shop were craning their necks to look out the window and bear witness. No doubt even further, security tapes would be rewound and rewatched to see just what the hell transpired to come to this.

They wouldn't get the full-full story, of course. No one could possibly have known what this was about. No one could possibly have known that in that exact moment, the second Reese’s name dropped from burnt lips and out into the early morning filtrated air, Nico realized just who this stranger was.

Nico had never bothered to see him before. When Reese was still alive, still sitting on Nico’s couch with their head on Nico’s shoulder, grumbling and griping about their asshole of a lover, Nico had decided Dashiell Feldspar was simply not worth knowing. They'd hated him on principle: jealous, of course, because how many times had Nico mentioned the idea of getting married only to have that same idea soundly vetoed? And yet one day Reese came over in a flutter of fury at one of Dashiell’s latest asshole exploits, and they did it with a ring on their finger.

And there had been so many asshole exploits. So many moments where Nico sat and listened and grumbled angrily in agreement, all while wondering quietly why Reese had ever chosen Dash over them. It felt… awful. So awful, it made them hurt and hate and boil with rage at the mere thought of Dashiell, and when Reese had died the way they did, when Nico had heard that Dashiell had survived when Reese had not, when everything Reese had had been left to that complete and utter shitfuck except for the necklace Nico now wore, well.

Nico had decided there was no possible way for them to hate any singular person more than they hated Dashiell Feldspar.

Or at least, until that very moment. Because after everything, Dashiell still wanted more. It wasn't enough that he'd taken Reese, it wasn't enough that he'd survived then, it wasn't enough that he had the babies (and gods only knew how those poor birds were doing), no, Dashiell wanted more. Like a vacuous black hole hell bent on sucking in everything there ever was and ever would be, Dashiell wanted the last thing Nico had left.


Nico snapped.

They grabbed hold of the hand pinning them against the wall, gripped tight, and slammed the meat of their free palm right into Dashiell Feldspar’s face. It was all automatic after that, their cane hitting the ground with a clatter somewhere between the initial blow and the following repeat.

Someone was yelling, some loud and wounded howl like a great beast bellowing their last before being set upon by wolves. Nico didn't even notice the sound was coming from them; all they cared about was pushing Dashiell back, striking him hard and fast and slamming their boot down against that same knee from earlier, wanting nothing more than to see him on the ground, they wanted to see him bent and bloody and broken and hurting as much as Nico themself was hurting.

“No! No, you're not taking this too, you fucking--" a punch, “--greedy--" another punch, this time to the soft meat of Dashiell’s side just under his ribs, “FUCKING ASSHOLE!”

Nico wasn't even trying to make sense, every strike against Dashiell was murder on their hands, sharp jagged pain shooting up their frazzled nerves with every blow. They grit their teeth to stifle their pain, taking in harsh panting breaths as they scrabbled for their cane. It took several tries to pick it up-- their fingers twitched and spasmed with every attempt to close around the silver wolfs head.

“They left it to me, they left it to me you fuck, you piece of shit, you can't have this, you can't have this, you took EVERYTHING, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!”

Offline GoblinFae

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2018, 03:56:17 pm »
Dashiell was blind and uncaring to the outside world. He had eyes only for the creature with alien eyes pinned between him and the wall. His ears were ringing with his pulse as all his focus narrowed in and tunnel vision set in so much so that he never saw the hand headed for his face until it was crashing in painfully with his formerly dislocated jaw.

He reeled back, the nails of his hand leaving behind five grating gouges in the other man's neck as he released him. Blinking back tears of pain, Dashiell moved to hit back when a kick to his knee brought him low. He hit the ground with a pained yelp, shockwaves of pain echoing up from his knees into his hips. The assault upon his body was only just beginning. The first punch was blocked sloppily as he fought to protect his head. But, the action left his injured side open for the striking, a fact the other man took full advantage of. A breathless scream escaped Dashiell as he coughed and choked for breath, his broken ribs fall back out of alignment with the sudden, violent impact.

The downed man could barely make sense of the words he was hearing through all the pain. But military instincts took over as muscle memory moved him without thought. The stranger had only just finished his sentence before Dashiell was kicking out at the back of their knees and swinging his other leg up to catch the sternum with the heel of his heavy boot. The moment the thief hit the ground with his legs still locked around him, Dashiell slammed his metal fist into the man's chest, just barely missing crushing the necklace that had started it all.

He wheezed for breath, having to turn his head to spit out blood from all his coughing. "I don't...fucking...know you!" he shouted back between each gasp for air. "You're the one...that stole from me. Stole from Reese! Why... would they ever....give it to you? You're NOBODY! You're a THIEF and a LIAR!" Dashiell screamed. He did not know if the pinpricks of wetness burning his eyes was from the physical pain or the mental anguish of tearing open old wounds again. "I don't know you," he repeated hoarsely as if saying that aloud would bring some clarity as to why this man was so adamant in holding onto what Dashiell perceived to be a bold-faced lie.

Offline nephero

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2018, 10:13:43 pm »
   Nico coughed, tried to suck in air, and got nothing for their efforts. It wasn’t unlike being in the void; you worked your lungs as hard as you could but there was simply nothing there. Their head swam with every failed breath, their vision spotted around the edges, little orbs of black oblivion threatening to take over the entirety of the universe.

   Nico’s head rolled to the side, and through the blurred underwater mess of their vision, they spotted it: their cane. The one that they’d been trying to pick up before the world upended itself and Dashiell had slammed his fist into their sternum.

   It had been a gift, of course. Given not because Nico had needed one but because “if you’re going to use a cane, it should be a badass one.” Bright eyes and wide smiles, both full of mischief as if they had known exactly what Nico’s first thoughts would have been. The cane was heavy, sturdy, capable of supporting Nico’s weight when their legs simply couldn’t do the same. Suitably ostentatious, as was their apparent taste, and Nico had loved it dearly.

   Right now, Nico loved that it was heavy. They took a breath, thankful that their solar plexus had ceased its spasming and would now allow their lungs to function accordingly. Gulping down air, their vision cleared, and they reached out to grip the base of the cane until their knuckles turned a violent, boney white.

   Dashiell had been yelling, and it was only now that oxygen returned to Nicodemo’s brain that they could finally start processing what the walking shitstain had been saying.

   That they were nobody. That they were the thief. That they had stolen from Reese— like they could have ever denied Reese anything that they had ever wanted. It was that thought that fueled the fire in their belly. It was that thought that spurred their hate back to a raging inferno. It was that thought that had them gripping their cane tight before swinging it around, the metal topper curving in a glinting arc before slamming down against Dashiell’s elbow with a solid, sickening crack.

   Nico heaved for breath with effort. The initial scrap had already taken so much out of them, the hit to their chest had set off a firework finale of agony across their torso, and every tiny movement came with a ripple effect of more pain. But they weren’t done yet.

   Teeth bared and jaw clenched, Nico rolled over towards Dashiell, clambered over him until they could look the bastard in the eyes, fingers curled around the jockey’s shirt in a dual effort to keep themself from slipping to the side as well as to keep Dashiell in one place.

   “I know you,” they growled, each word a herculean effort unto themselves, “and you don’t deserve shit. You never deserved SHIT. Reese wasted their LIFE on you, you piece of feculant GARBAGE.”

   Nico shook at Dashiell’s shirt, probably intending to slam the man into the ground but being far too overworked to do much more than shake him a mere millimeter off the ground. They were losing steam, and fast, their muscles spasming and failing bit by fibrous bit, and it wouldn’t be long now before everything gave out and sent Nico back to the ground.

   “This… this is the only thing you haven’t ruined. And I’ll be FUCKED if you’re getting your grimey hands all over it.”

Offline GoblinFae

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2018, 11:34:36 pm »
He howled as the weighty metal slammed into his arm, sending spirals of pain rocketing up to his shoulder and down to his fingertips. It would be a miracle if the bones of his elbow hadn't been shattered with the blow. Confusion and pain both left him stunned enough to not be able to firmly shove the man back off him. Instead he choked and coughed on his breath, sickened by the taste of blood coating the back of his throat. It was the man's words though that refused to process in his head though.

This fool knew him? Dashiell had no memory of him. Had no inkling who he could even be and yet he continued to claim that Dashiell was the problem here. That he was the destroyer of things. That he who had loved Reese with all that he was, that had lived for them, died for them, and would have done it again and again if it meant they lived instead of him, was undeserving of Reese. It was absurd. It was unheard of. Dashiell may have been a difficult man, a predator and a wolf consumed by a need to come out on top as the alpha, but he had done his best to be a good one for Reese. He had done as right by them as he could. He had loved them, bonded to them, cared for them in every way he knew how and then some. They had had their fights a plenty. But, Dashiell had never abandoned them, had never hurt them more than they could handle, had never abused their trust in him. So where the hell did this tosser get off saying Dashiell was undeserving?

The stranger got one good shake out of him before Dashiell was flipping the tables. His legs came up again this time to cross over the man's chest and forcefully drove him down onto his back. The momentum pulled Dashiell up so that he was now on top and he used it to scrabble so that his own legs pinned the other man's from repeating his own trick. He threw all his weight into keeping the other man down as both hands encircled that dark throat and squeezed. It was not enough to kill him or even to knock him out but certainly would cause some serious pain and discomfort while making breathing a bit more difficult than it sounded like it already was.

"Reese was my everything!" he screeched at last, spittle flying from his lips as he slammed the stranger's head into the ground once. "You don't know a gods damned thing so shut your fucking mouth! I stood by them through everything and I loved them and now they're fucking gone. How DARE you insinuate otherwise! You don't fucking know me! You don't know my life, or Reese's life! So don't you go making fucking assumptions just to try and save your own skin! Who the fuck are you? And I won't ask you again, how the fuck did you get their pendant?!"

Offline nephero

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2018, 12:55:56 am »
   “Your everything!” Nico wheezed out, choking for air against the pressure to their throat. Even as their vision began to spot again, even as everything swam, even as the world slowly dimmed to leave only a raw, hate-filled tunnel of Only Dashiell, Nico had to laugh.

   They hadn’t laughed, not really, in a very long time. Surely, by that point, they’d entirely forgotten how, the sound of any attempt hollow and genuinely lacking. The Turing test of what makes a real person do a real laugh; Nico just didn’t have it in them anymore.

   But this was just too rich. They clawed at the hands against their throat, nails digging in to where they could find bare human flesh, scratching and scraping and peeling whatever they could to make sure that Dashiell didn’t leave this without a few new scars to his name.

   Nico owed him that. Nico owed him hurts a thousand times over, and when their strength began to fail, they fell to their only other option. Their lips curled back, their teeth bared like a growling starved animal, eyes flashing wide and wild and with every promise that the second Dashiell let them go Nico was going to sink their teeth into his throat and just. Start. Tearing.

   “Your… everything! You treated your everything like shit! Every— week!— they came and every— WEEK!— I had to— listen to what new SHIT you’d done— to Reese, to MY everything!”

   Something hot pricked at their eyes, something outside of the blood vessels no doubt bursting one by tiny one. Nico choked for breath, one final breath before it ended, and screamed that breath as loud as they were able.

   “You never deserved them! And you don’t deserve their pendant! They left it to me, you petulant fucking child, because you would just RUIN IT like you DO EVERYTHING YOU—…”

   Touch. That was their last thought, and they’d have loved to finished it. But a human body could only remain conscious for so long without sufficient oxygen, and no amount of ironclad willpower could stop Nico’s vision from darkening, their head hitting the ground with a thud as they finally succumbed and passed out.

   No doubt this part was entirely terrifying for the onlookers involved. No doubt it was something that the employees and customers alike would have nightmares about for several nights following. After all, seeing someone being choked out in real time was infinitely more traumatizing than any ultraviolent action film could have ever prepared any of them for. There was real fear there, real fear that this was a literal murder happening in real actual time and that was a real life being snuffed out in front of their eyes.

   Which is probably why at that point enough had become enough, and several of those inside the café had run out to try and pull Dash off of Nico, to try and stop that murder from occurring, just as the flashing red lights of station security grew bright and insistent as uniformed officers stormed up onto the patio and yanked the fighting parties apart. For Dash, that meant immediate handcuffs, and for Nicodemo, that meant handcuffs following making sure they were alive and an ambulance was en route.

   If Nico had been conscious, though, they would have been terribly pleased. Because even after all that, the pendant still rested against their sternum, and as more security personnel arrived to get the scene under control, there the pendant would remain.

   In the words of one who might have found the entire exchange entirely amusing, their fluffy ears perked and pure, unadulterated glee in their heart: “Suck it, Trickshit.”

Offline GoblinFae

Re: Metastasis [Goooooblin]
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2018, 12:19:18 pm »
With every word uttered, Dashiell felt his rage boiling dangerously closer and closer to entirely breaking mindlessly free. With every word this traitor spoke his hands bore down more crushingly tight, wanting to smother the words tumbling out completely out of existence. It couldn't be true. It wasn't true! He had been good to Reese.

Reese had been his. Reese had loved him and only him. Reese had stayed with him until their dying breath. So why would they give their most prized possession to someone else? Why was this man he had never seen in his life, never even heard of claiming to know his Reese? Claiming them as his? Accusing Dashiell of being undeserving?

It couldn't be true...could it?

Red clouded his vision at such a thought. Dashiell was able to slam back the stranger's head one last time before he was forcibly yanked back and away. He howled and struggled even as cold metal was clapped onto his wrists and he was dragged off. Every instinct in his body demanded he rip the man's heart out. That he fight and kill and bleed for daring to say he was not enough.

Dashiell knew he was far from a perfect man. He had always been quick to lashout with a venom tongue but things rarely if ever came to blows even when he and Reese were screaming bloody murder in each other's faces. Reese had always been the one to strike first. It was a fire he had always admired in them. They never backed down for anything, not even when there was a snarling werewolf in their face.

But, had he wronged them so badly? Had they really been that unhappy with him? His mate, his beloved, his one, his everything was miserable because of him? Dashiell hadn't even had a clue. What if it was true? What if this stranger really did know? He was wearing Reese's necklace. He claimed to know the former jockey. He spoke of Reese as if he really had known them. What if it all was true? Had Dashiell failed?

The fight was completely out of him by the time he was processed and tossed into a cell. The cold bars and small cot seemed to becoming a regular occurrence if this week was anything to go by. The second fight in so short a time and both had wound up with him behind bars. But, Dashiell was far beyond the room. His screaming side pulsed with every beat of his heart and still all he could think about was the stranger's words. He curled up on the cot, a low keening sound squeezing out of his throat long before he realized it was him making the sound.

Dashiell Feldspar, former Duo jockey and lover of the departed Reese Plantina, had failed. He had failed to keep them alive and now it seemed he had failed in loving them right too. Had they really bitched about him to some stranger he had never even heard of? Never even met?

They had always argued. Even before they were a couple their screech matches had been well known among the Duos. Had it been less than fun and games for Reese? Had he really been hurting them in the name of fun? He hadn't thought so. But, then there had been that one argument a year into their relationship. Things had not quite been the same afterwards but Dashiell thought he had been making them happy. He had stayed with them even after they had cheated on him, even after he had found out and confronted them. He had known those first few months after they had seemed colder but things had gotten better, hadn't they? He had thought so at least. That was why he had bonded with them even in a traditional ceremony of their ancestors. His parents had been furious to boot too. Had everything he had done still not been enough? Was he really the monster here?

Dashiell couldn't say. There were too many questions making his head swim and his stomach churn violently. He pulled the flat pillow out from under him and smothered it over his head as he curled himself into the tightest of pulls his broken and bruised body would allow of him. Gods what had he done now? Who was the stranger? Was that perhaps the other man? The thought sent ice through his veins. Had he been wrong? Had Reese never stopped loving him? Had Reese never stopped cheating after all? Was he just the fool to their games?

Gods how he missed them. He wished they were there even for a moment so he could hold them in his arms again. He would not have even cared if it was all true if it meant one more breath with them. He would be their fool all over again just to see them smile one last time. He would live it all again, burn for them, die for them just to see them happy and alive once more. After all was it not better to be the fool in love than the wise man cold and alone?

 

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