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It was a cold night. He found himself surrounded by lilies, jam, and the shadow of his former friend inching closer towards him. He had fought as hard as he could, to no avail, reduced to just barely holding onto consciousness as he shakily stood thanks to the support of his staff. “Why did you do it?”
His opponent questioned, her jam-red eyes, determined— like they always were— but sorrowful. This fight hurt the both of them equally in one way or another. “Why… out of everyone..”
Her voice hitched.
“Why you?”
“It was the only way I could be free— don’t you see? No matter what we do…”
He coughed, almost falling over from exhaustion. No. He couldn’t give up. Not yet.
“…it just ends in pain. I hoped that you of all cookies would understand.”
“I’m sorry, ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛.”
A flicker of light sparked in her staff before striking his shoulder like lightning— an unbearable pain— before he was met with darkness.
Truthless Recluse jolted awake, the pain still buzzing in his shoulder. No, it was just that nightmare again. It’s been more years than he can remember since the fight. He looked around, remembering where he was. Although this vision was awfully blurry, he instantly recognized the faded grey-blue walls of Blueberry Yogurt’s house. Moonlight trickled in from the night sky, barely illuminating the room enough for him to notice that the other was slowly opening his eyes. “Recluse-? What’s the matter?”
Blueberry Yogurt sat up, concern flushed across his face. “…it is nothing to worry about. I just had… difficulty sleeping.”
“You look scared, my dear..”
His eyes widened slightly— did he really appear so.. fragile that moment? Truthless Recluse felt the soft touch of his host’s warm hand meeting his cheek, calming his nerves a little. He expected to be less scared of that day— of her by now. The recluse sighed, some things never change, do they? “Was it a bad dream, perhaps?”
Blueberry Yogurt was met with silence for a moment before receiving a small nod from the other. He moved closer, leaning into a gentle hug. Truthless Recluse ran cold, a stark contrast to him— he never minded, finding the cold to be a nice contrast to how warm he always was. They lived in a generally chilly area because of the countless mountains, but it was rare when the sage was genuinely cool. His thoughts were interrupted by Truthless Recluse’s head nuzzling onto his shoulder as his arms reciprocated the hug. The pain in the recluse’s shoulder subsided as a calm washed over him. After a few moments, the two of them slowly laid back down on the soft mattress, Truthless Recluse retreating a little bit from the hug as they did. “Would you like to talk about it?”
The sage smiled slightly, comfortingly, at him. He exhaled, eyes shifting to focus on the walls behind Blueberry Yogurt as he spoke. “My injury. The one on my shoulder.. I have yet to tell you the true origin of it.”
Blueberry Yogurt was intrigued, listening closely to the other. “Many years ago, an old friend and I had a… disagreement. She placed a seal upon me to keep me in these lands, couldn't bring herself to…”
He stayed silent for a moment, the painful memory hanging in his head. He was the luckiest out of his fallen friends, who still lay dormant— shut out from the rest of the world completely. “That night, it still haunts me. It comes back every time I think I’ve snuffed it out…”
Truthless Recluse sighed, turning his head away as he focused on the dark ceiling. Almost no light from the window reached it, only a slight fade from the dark was visible closer to Blueberry Yogurt’s side of the bed. ”I apologize if I worried you, I assure you— I am long used to this.”
“Oh, my recluse…”
Blueberry Yogurt’s eyes saddened, a tinge of pity, perhaps understanding, in his tone. He pulled Truthless Recluse forward as he tightened his hug on the other. It remained gentle— just… closer. Truthless Recluse was comfortable like this, allowing his head to rest on the sage’s shoulder once more. Silence surrounded them; Blueberry Yogurt wanted to ask more, it was rare when the recluse talked about his past, after all— but he had the feeling that it would be better to let their embrace speak instead. Wind rustled the blinds, causing them to clink softly while crickets chirped as if they were a chorus. Both of them laid there for a few minutes, accompanied by the band of sounds squirming outside, the song eventually interrupted by the recluse pulling away, sitting up as he did. “Recluse-?”
The sage blinked, sitting up moments after the other did. His hair, sparkly, beautiful— was sprawled across the bed, its full length now showing in contrast to how much shorter it seemed during the day. He was as stunning as always, even when his hair wasn’t neatly tied together. It was much different than Truthless Recluse’s— dull, with a few eyes peeking outwards. He despised how it looked, but he couldn’t get rid of them. At least they provided better sight than his original eyes, he supposed. As he lifted himself off the bed, he spoke again. “I.. I have to leave.”
Before he could exit, an arm met his, stopping him. Turning back, Blueberry Yogurt stood behind him— worry crowded his face. It filled him with guilt, knowing he was the cause of it. He really didn’t deserve him… but the sage persisted nonetheless. “Please, stay. I don’t wish for you to be alone at a time like this. I want to help you.”
“I…”
His eyes met the sage, then the floor, then the sage once again. No warmth met his body but the hand of Blueberry Yogurt that firmly grasped his arm. He opened his mouth to speak, but he refused to let the words planned escape his throat. “...okay.”
Both of them faced each other now, and slowly intertwined hands. Cold met warm, the two balancing out each other, as they always have. Yellow sunlight now trickled in through the window, illuminating both of them— words were not spoken of it, but both of them mutually agreed that the other was beautiful in that moment, perhaps always beautiful, despite it all. “..And your curse. I think I may be able to break it somehow.”
For only a split second, he saw a glimmer of hope in Truthless Recluse’s eyes as the other’s gaze softened. A tiny, quick smile came and went from him— sparking determination in Blueberry Yogurt. “Thank you, my sage.”
“Of course, darling.”
Blueberry Yogurt grinned as he spoke. Rare warmth sparked in the recluse’s face from the reply, although he’d rather die than show it. He looked past the other at the window; the sun was not midway through its rise to the skies, illuminating the room almost fully now. The sage noticed, a small gasp escaping his lips as he swiftly disconnected his hands from the recluse’s and began rummaging through his wardrobe for his professor outfit. “I lost track of time! Oh dear, what if I’m late??”
Truthless Recluse let out a small laugh to himself as he put his robe back on— he couldn’t find his hat though… It was most likely by the front door, he figured, walking out of the room so the sage could change in private. Bluebirds began to chirp happily outside, the sound reminding him of a past time— although it didn’t sting like venom for once. He closed his eyes, taking everything in.
Perhaps, for the first time in a while, he was beginning to heal.