Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook Drabble 58 - Possessive Rival

Rytis was fucked. 

Darkness blanketed the room with the washed-out blues and greys of night, with harsh hints of the orange streetlights outside peeping through his curtains. Two shadows moved, breaking the streams of colour and blocking it in black. Their faces were too shadowed to see, but he knew their shapes, the sound of their breathing, and the hint of their scent. 

There should be Three. Had they broken away from the third to play this game? Would that be better or worse? Starling loved him, but Ceph and Elio weren't as big fans of his continued existence, and they were in his bedroom. They were in his bedroom with their wings loose.

He should scream or fight. Something to alert the neighbours to stop them from finding his mutilated body weeks in the future. Not they'd be able to stop it. If Ceph and Elio wanted him dead, he'd die in pain and screaming. He couldn't move. His limbs weighed down with exhaustion, and his lips struggled to open under the gaze of their eyes, too many eyes. Starling didn't let him see; it bled weaker-minded humans of their sanity. 

Let this be a nightmare. 

The mattress dipped as Ceph's silhouette sat on the bed. A taloned hand rested on his chest, and his thumb landed on the centre of his collarbone. A few eyes blinked from existence as they met his, reducing to a more tolerable number. 

"You're awake," Elio said, oddly low and gentle.

"Ish."

"We can work with that," Ceph said, continuing to keep his voice soft, not wanting to disturb the peace. The talons tapped over his chest, and a hand brushed the tears from his cheek. Ceph cooed and clicked from the back of his throat. A second set of hands yanked the blanket away. He grabbed it, but it was too slow. 

"Why?" Rytis tried to sit up, vulnerable without the blanket. He slept in his boxers, and both men were dressed. The power differential was too wide even without their supernatural elements on show. More tears escaped his eyes, and he struggled to breathe. 

"Hush," Ceph's talons traced Rytis's face, "Behave Rytis." He pushed his shoulder down to get Rytis to lie flat. 

"You went out on a date tonight," Elio said, settling on the other side of him. He took Rytis's hand and traced his veins to Rytis's wrist. He pressed his teeth to it, wiping saliva on it, but he didn't bite.

"It was a bad date, a boring one."

Laughter burst from Elio, the first authentic sound of the night, and he let go of Rytis's wrist. Ceph pressed a kiss to his forehead. A brief snippet of conversation passed between the two in their native tongue. Ceph's hand left his face, and Elio replaced it, tangling his talons in his hair. Some of the fear drifted away as the two relaxed. 

"I'm sorry it was a boring date," Elio said

"He spoke for two hours about fish. Not fishing, but fish. After declaring it was too early to drink," Rytis complained, relaxing as the blanket fluttered back down on him. He passed a test. He wasn't dying tonight. 

"Oh dear. It was a bad one," Ceph said; the shadows hid his exact expression on his face, but Rytis knew him well enough to sense the unhappiness from him. 

"You're upset that I went on a date?"

"A touch. It came out of nowhere," Ceph said. 

Rytis closed his eyes and counted to ten. That didn't sound unreasonable for them. "You told me to go find someone," Rytis reminded, too floaty to stop the words or his annoyed tone. He didn't care about finding his soulmate or a partner for life. He did care about if his oldest friend's partners tried to kill him for being single.