FellPoth Short Stories and One-Shots

Leaves of Change: Chapter 2

Chapter Warnings: Panic attack, verbal abuse, implied/referenced verbal abuse, implied/referenced domestic abuse, swearing

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Rurik emerged from the leaves, feeling exhilarated from the jump; there was something to be said about being able to just let loose and be stupid for once. Turning to invite Lotus to join in on the fun, he immediately realized something was wrong; the voided sockets, bated breath, and rigid posture were the ghost of a memory he had fought tooth-and-nail to never see again.

The sight of Lotus thinking he was about to be punished was like a gut punch from hell.

Rising from the pile, Rurik cautiously approached his partner, hoping to figure out what was wrong in an effort to dispel whatever fear had gripped them, "Lotus? Hey, what's wrong?"

Lotus's eye light reappeared in a vivid flash of red and their face contorted in rage, "What the hell do you mean, 'What's wrong'?!" Rurik reeled back at their visceral reaction, shocked into silence as the smaller monster gesticulated wildly, "Look at this giant mess; you made even more work for us! For me! Do you even understand that?! You can see how hard I work every damn day to make this place liveable, and you had to go piss it away for a couple of seconds of fun! Quit acting like such a gods-damned child and start thinking about someone other than yourself for once! What did I ever do to deser-!"

And just like that, the anger was snuffed out and a hand slapped over their mouth as terror took hold once more. An old anger began to bubble up at the unfair treatment, but Rurik pushed it down by reminding himself that shouting was Lotus's response to feeling scared, angry, or hurt; the same as when he lashed out or threw things.

Before he could make a move, Lotus sharply inhaled; distress seemed to radiate off of them in waves as the monster backed away with an unsteady step. When the steps multiplied and Rurik realized they were heading toward the street, he dashed after them and latched onto their wrist; he was met with instant resistance that forced him to pull the smaller flush against his chest, lifting their feet off of the ground and locking their arms against their ribcage to keep them from retaliating.

"No! I-I'm sorry!" Lotus shouted as he squirmed and fought to break free, "D-Don't-!"

"Calm down!" Rurik barked; he could feel the smaller shaking amid their struggle and willed himself to lower his voice before he continued, "Look, I'm not gonna hurt you; I just need you to talk to me. You went from scared to pissed, right back into scared in a matter of seconds. What the hell happened back there?" He took it as a good sign when the tension slowly drained out of his partner and they sagged in his arms, resting their forehead against his sternum. As he relaxed his grip and set their feet back on the ground, a muffled noise against his shirt earned a confused response, "Didn't catch that."

"Inside," Lotus croaked, the remnants of his previous outburst evident in his voice, "I don't want to talk about it out here."

"Right," Rurik nodded, letting the smaller find their feet before letting go completely and gesturing toward the house, "lead the way." Even if Lotus was calmer now, that didn't change the fact that they tried to run; he wanted to keep them in his sights until the situation was resolved.

Lotus quietly accepted, tromping across the yard and up the steps. Rurik was close behind as the skeleton opened the door and entered the house, following them to the couch, sitting next to them, and waiting for them to gather their thoughts. Taking a moment to settle himself, he thought over the events leading up to the outburst... it was likely about him goofing off and making a mess of the leaves, but was it really that simple? It didn't sound quite right, but he had no better explanation.

Seeing Lotus's work gloves get tossed onto the table in front of them, he looked them up and down, checking for clues in his companion's body language. They were still trembling, which meant they were still upset; that wasn't too surprising given the previous situation. They were fussing with the hems of their sleeves, meaning they were nervous or scared about something; that one was a little confusing since Rurik had said he wasn't going to hurt them. Their huddled posture and how they wouldn't look at Rurik alluded to them feeling embarrassment or shame; maybe that was why they were nervous?

Deciding the silence had gone on long enough, Rurik took the initiative, "So, you ready to tell me what happened out there?"

Lotus jumped at the request, but let out a shaky breath while still refusing to look at him, "I always swore I would never be like them."

"Who?" Rurik prodded, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees.

"... my parents, if you can even call them that," Lotus murmured, clenching his hands together.

Rurik's sockets narrowed, recalling the limited knowledge he had on their parents; Lotus didn't talk much about them, and always wore a scowl the few times they came up over the years. All he really knew was that his partner had run away from home shortly before meeting him, they would rather dust than go home, and that their dad used to beat them and their mom for a variety of reasons; the rest were suspicions based on behavioral quirks that he never commented on.

"Death always wanted things a certain way," Lotus mumbled, rubbing the back of their hand with their thumb, "He wanted a clean house, meals ready when he was hungry, a husband submissive to his wants, and silence; when things weren't the way he wanted them, he got pissed. Glitch was able to follow the first three well enough when I was first born, but there were times he couldn't get me to stop crying... and he would be punished while protecting me." 

Lotus's sockets scrunched as if there was a bad taste in their mouth, "Once I was old enough to start helping out, Glitch would take the blame, and the beatings, if a chore wasn't done right or I forgot to do something. I hated seeing Death hurt him and tried to provide support as much as I could, but he must have become resentful over the years because one day, when a sock went missing from the laundry, he just... blew up. He tore into me with every insult in the book, telling me how he was tired of having to pay for my incompetence and how selfish I was causing him so much trouble. It went on and on until I ran to my room and hid in the closet; I was six at the time. 

"After that, the smallest things would set him off to the point where I skipped meals to hide in my room and avoid making him mad. Any time I caught him in a bad mood or did something wrong, he would yell and threaten to hand me over to Death for judgment if I didn't fix it... and then one night, he finally did." 

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Word Count: 1,207