Metalocalypse: Impending Doom

Chapter Sixteen: Salem

The Night of The Birthday Party...

Salem was worried about their friend, but there was very little they could do. Nathalia had always been hard-headed, and always refused to accept help for her problems. She preferred to drown them out with someone else's problems, or with booze and drugs, and Salem couldn't really disagree with their choices since Salem had gotten addicted to their own poison of choice.

On top of that, Salem was still feeling the hurt from her attacks toward them, so they would be lying if they said they weren't feeling some stubbornness, too. Not enough to ignore her, especially on her birthday, but enough for them to be able to justify to themselves about not getting involved, even if they were worried about the situation.

Her siblings were disgusting and petty, and so many times Salem wanted to chime in. Maybe if they had been overstimulated, overwhelmed with such a harsh reality, they wouldn't have had any brain power left to gaslight her. They knew it was her mom that had killed her dad, from the stories Nathalia described to them in detail.

Now they were drunk and outside as per usual, watching Nathalia fighting herself because she always resorted to ridiculous methods of humor, whatever it took to block the thoughts seeping into her head. Salem couldn't say they blamed her, since they were the same exact way.

This time though, a different feeling was washing over Salem. They gripped Pickles's side, his hot breath on their cheek and neck as he drunkenly dropped his forehead against them. Pickles had very much enjoyed their interaction from earlier and seemed to be silently begging for more, but too shy to initiate anything.

Salem did find this slightly odd, since they had never seen Pickles as any type of shy, but they supposed that when one really liked someone, things had a tendency to change.

Salem was never a clingy person, and despite being sexual by nature, they never had many partners and the ones they did have always seemed to be the same type of fuckboy that they thought could be fixed with enough love. So the second they had all woken up from that attack on Dethklok during the concert, and Pickles did nothing but monitor them and baby them, they felt skittish, weird. Unsafe.

Getting too attached was the last thing Salem really wanted to do. They had never gotten too close to anybody except Nathalia and Tobias, and a relationship with their idol was a big step from teenage friends. The idea frightened them, so they did what they were used to and tried to emotionally distance themselves, even going as far as to try and avoid Pickles, just politely. Pickles didn't mention it, but he would give Salem unsure glances every time they shied away from his affection and protective stances.

Except for the few times that Murderface came on-scene and Salem automatically hid behind Pickles, who was more than happy to keep them 'safe' by deflecting the situation or treating everything normally so that the fireplace would stay unlit for another day.

Now though; Salem was drunk, allowing themselves to feel the emotions they had been bottling up. Pickles obviously liked them, wanted to be near them, touched them, while allowing themself to be touched... They were flattered by it, and in their drunk state, ignored any anxiety and fear of abandonment they would have normally felt.

Salem and Pickles ended up stumbling through the halls to get back to their designated rooms, the others long forgotten since most had fallen asleep outside and Nathalia herself decided to disappear somewhere. Their hands gripped together like they were both afraid of the other letting go. The jokes and laughter slowly ebbed away, replaced by a tense silence once they had reached Salem's room.

"I guess, goodnight," Pickles spoke softly, reaching down to peck Salem on the cheek, who blushed in their already-flushed state. Why weren't they stopping him from walking away? Shouldn't they be taking direct action? Inviting Pickles inside? Did they just not want to be alone now, in their vulnerable state where affection was actually wanted by them for once?