Beryllium + Princess (Salttube)

purging

TW for discussion of eating disorders!

chapters will likely be very short.

--

This is the third time Beryllium has puked today.

Test Tube catches the way the cat's back arches as she coughs and chokes, spitting up every bit of food she'd just been given right onto the hard tile of the makeshift laboratory.

Frowning, Test Tube rises from where she's been sitting for the past two hours, working diligently on her latest project, only still moving due to her unhealthy doses of energy drinks.

"Bery? What's going on with you?" She wonders, concern etched into her face and her voice as she crouches down next to her soulmate pet, the one that's been with her since she was a child. The beautiful silky white cat meant to represent her soulmate, someone she'll hopefully meet someday.

Beryllium just hacks again, belly most definitely empty by now. Something in Test Tube's heart aches, and she grabs the large, fluffy cat in her arms without care for whether it's gross or not.

"Bery? Hey," She murmurs, petting Beryllium's fur and scratching behind her ear in that way she knows the cat adores. She gently tilts Bery's face to look at it, wiping off some spittle with her thumb.

Most of the time, Beryllium squirms out of her hold and stays far away, sticking around close enough to watch Test Tube at all times, but not close enough to let the scientist touch her.

But now? She stays pliant and still, letting out a rare, tiny little meow.
Test Tube only gets more worried at that.

Soulmate pets don't get sick. Not unless the person they represent does, and even then, it shouldn't alter their personality all that much. Unless the sickness is seriously harming one's soulmate.

Soulmate pets can't die, either. Not until both (or all) soulmates have passed on. Only then do soulmate pets start to fade away into dust.

So she knows Beryllium can't be dying. But it sure feels like she can be.

"Bery?" She asks again, starting to feel awfully nervous now. The copious amounts of caffeine in her blood are not helping matters whatsoever, her entire body shaking a little bit as she holds Beryllium close.

Bery just let's out another small, pathetic noise, and Test Tube is definitely full-blown panicking now.

She stands up, lugging her ball of fluffy white fur with her, cradling her like a baby in that way that would normally earn her a hiss and some powerful squirming. Concerningly, Beryllium stays stock still, like she can barely even lift her head anymore. The thought is petrifying.

She quickly rushes out of her lab, abandoning her project in favor of entering her room, where she sleeps tucked into the corner under blankets and pillows, an arrangement that makes her feel safe.

She grabs one of Beryllium's favorite toys, an old makeup blender Lightbulb got for Test Tube once, which went completely unused save for being batted around and chewed on by a certain cat.

She sinks into the bed, letting Beryllium lay against the covers and releasing her from her arm prison.

But Bery just meows again and shifts right back up against Test Tube's chest, nosing at her neck. It almost feels like her soulmate is crying on her shoulder, clinging onto her like a lifeline.

She does her best to help, tucking an arm behind Beryllium to hold her close, secure and warm. Safe. Comforting.

She buries her face in that beautiful white fur that always finds a way to smell like flowers.
"..I love you, y'know."
She starts petting behind Beryllium's ear again, scratching that sweet spot that always earns her a satisfied, rumbling purr.
"I hope the person you represent is safe."

Test Tube didn't realize how exhausted she was until she laid down, and now she's fighting an impossible war between her and her eyelids.

She drifts further from consciousness, holding Beryllium as close as possible to try and alleviate whatever pain she's experiencing, whatever made her puke like that so consistently.

She deeply hopes her soulmate, whoever and wherever they are, is okay.