Rules of One's Soul

Ch8 Realizing Feelings p4

Trigger WARNING: Rouxls is going to have a miniture panic/anxiety attack in this chapter. 



What soon followed after that was actually a dreamless slumber for once which was a surprise in of itself. Usually they were full of danger or Lancer's past shennnanigans, but oddly enough he didn't remember anything past falling upon the bed and giving a few coughs from the dust before he blacked out into dreamland. But when he woke up, he didn't have the usual dread or happy feelings from the past night. Though he was still pretty tired, and from the light noise outside, the rain had let up quite a bit. The bed was pretty soft and warm so he was tempted to fall back to sleep, but the soft coughing from the dust annoyed him enough to groan and sit up. His tired eyes blinked and after a while he managed to see past the usual darkness of his home. Pretty quiet since Jevil decided not to disturb his sleep this time. Well, no time for thinking about that now, Lancer would be waiting for-

.....Oh. Right. Jevil's little mind games tricked Lancer into ordering him on paid leave. Which banned him from the castle for the amount of time the king dubbed. Which happened to be a little over a week. He groaned again and reached his hand up to wipe at his face. Looks like he'd have to find something else to occupy himself today.

He threw off the blanket which also tossed up another cloud of dust and made him go into another coughing fit, waving his hands in front of his face. Whelp! He guess he found what he was going to end up doing all day today. Groaning, he tossed his legs over the side of the bed with a few last coughs and pushed himself off said bed, stretching out his back. It was going to be a long day regardless.

He found the cleaning supplies under the bathroom sink where'd he thought they'd be, and (after the usual morning hygiene) got to work on the two rooms and store front on hand. Dust. It was all mostly dust that covered everything, but there was also leaves, footprints, random items, half eaten dark candy, and random dirt and sticks all over the store front which made it the most dirty. So the living courters being less filthy would take less time to clean, so he began on those first. He sorta lost count of time around after he was done scrubbing the ceiling with a spare broom. His eyes watered and his lungs burnt from the amount of dust there was lying around. His brain was a bit fuzzed over with the sudden urge to clean up the very disgusting shop. No surface was literally left unscrubbed to the worm's disposal. Walls, ceilings, furniture, closets, doors...Clean freak to a whole new level. But it helped to pass the time to the worm and would temporarily dowse his worries for Lancer. So imagine anyone's surprise when the door his shop opened and the tiny bell above the door-

"DON'T COMETH IN!" The worm shouted from his position on the floor, on hands and knees. Whoever it was he could hear shuffle awkwardly on the outside of the door, just a couple inches from the actual shop floor. "Can't thou seest that the sign sayeth I amst closed for thine day?" He mumbled something to himself before dunking the scrub brush back into the bucket of soapy water before pushing it back down to the floor and began to forcibly forcing it back and forth against the unscrubbed parts of the store front. "I amst busy for the day and I shan't have time for thou's antics. If thou wishes to see to me about any problems with the king or guards, then I can't help thee until much later."

There was a small amount of silence as the newcomer watched as the duke continued to clean what was left of the floors before the worm broke it.

"Thou needs to leave before the winds blows anything into mine shop or thou dirty's thine floor anyway-"

"Ahahaha. Well, it's also a coincidence I'm also closed then. Eh, Duke?"

The worm stopped what he was doing and immediately looked over his shoulder. Right in the doorway was the giant cat he had previously seen around. Seam had to duck his head down a little bit to fit in the small doorway and gave an amused look down at the duke cleaning on the floor.

"And I'm afraid I don't seek any company with the kings.

"Then what art thou doing here?...Nevermind. Don't ruineth mine hard work." He went back to his scrubbing and gave a frown when he heard the old cat chuckle again.

Seam wouldn't lie, he wasn't expecting to walk into a spring clean up, but the worm's work was impressive by the way the place shined and how everything was carefully organized, anyone could've sworn the place was brand new. He guessed he should've expected some cleaning when he saw the two full trash bins outside the door, but he didn't expect to see Rouxls in this state. On hands and knees, hair in a messy bun with strands hanging around his face, and wearing something that wasn't a fancy suit. The sight made him chuckle again making the worm mumble again.

''I thought it was a bit wrong of me to take some of your wares, and since I needed to get some supplies of my own today, I thought it'd be only fair if I got some for you as well." His eye panned over to the makeshift clothes lines across the walls and into the next room with the many sheets and clothes hanging from them and hummed. "I see you thought of everything."

"I nay like a filthy home. I preferest to keepeth things in an orderly fashion. I know where everything is and control of mine space at all times.''

Seam hummed again and continued to watch the duke work for a little longer. "....How long have you been working?"

"Since I awoke hours ago-"

"Hours ago?...It's about eleven in the morning." That comment made the worm pause and look over his shoulder at the now confused looking cat. "My friend. Either you had woken up mighty early or managed to get hours of work done with just a short amount of time."

"I-....I'm used to getting things done when they needst to be. Mine king demanded it-"

"I'm pretty sure Lancer isn't one to demand a lot often." Rouxls said nothing but went back to the floor he was working on. Seam gave another hum and looked around the store front a bit more. "....I have to admit, you did a pretty impressive job for just a couple of hours. Could use that kind of energy for my sheap."

"Well, thou should put more work into thine home and appearance if thou wishes to accomplish anything."

"Have you even eaten today?"

"No." At the mention of food, his stomach growled making him wince.

"Why don't you take a break? I left that cake in the cubord over there. A little unhealthy for breakfast, but I don't think there's anything else to eat in here from what's been taking and all."

"Nay! I'm far from done." The duke finally scrubbed the last of the floor ear a corner in the far side of the room and sighed, leaning off his hands and onto his knees. Stretching his back out before turning to Seam.

"How much could possibly be left? It looks like you went crazy with a broom in here." He gestured one of his paws to the practically sparkling space.

"Worm! I obviously have thine shoppe window to taketh care off ....and thine locks to fix to keepest pests out." He mumbled that last part to himself but Seam's sensative ears caught it just like everything else. "And the very fact mine supplies art dangerously scarce is cause for concern."

His stomach gave off another growl and he growled at it. Dropping the scrub brush back into the bucket with a small splash and standing back up onto his bare feet. He bent back down to grab said bucket and walked across the shop entrance towards the room entrance behind the counter. Seam gave a smile and watched as the worm disappeared into the back. The sight amused him more than anything really. And so, he dared to step into the worm's forbidden cleanliness. Surprisingly most of the floor was already dry so he didn't have to worry about slipping or leaving watery footprints. He was never fond of water anyways. He placed the over sized bag in his hands on top of the counter and tilted his head to the side to face the entrance to await the return of Rouxls. Seam didn't have to wait long before the duke finally came back, wearing another fancy suit none the less. Rouxls froze upon seeing the cat by the counter and Seam chuckled at the expression on his face.

"This part of the floor is dry already," he said before he could start on a rant and pointed to the floor.

Rouxls scowled. "I still didn't say to cometh in!"

"You said without supervision. You're still here as far as I can tell." Rouxls sputtered making him chuckle again.

To change the subject Rouxls pointed at the bag and asked, "And what didst thou put in there?"

"Oh, this?" He patted the bag. "A lot of dark candy sprouted this season and like I said, I've already taken my fill of them. I did say I had brought you some after I took some of yours."

"What's inside?"

"Eh..Mostly dark candy and tea leaves, but I did bring back the books and spare blanket I borrowed."

"You mean stole."

"I do remember you saying you didn't care about what I took that night we met. Implying you technically give me permission to have it."

"You- I-....I didn't mean-.." The cat simply smiled at the sputtering duke as his face turned a dark blue out of embarrassment or anger until he turned away in a huff making him chuckle again. His sputtering was quite amusing. "W-Well....I appreciate thou's generous return of mine objects, but I still have duties to attendeth too."

"Oh? But aren't you on paid leave? I'm pretty sure that's what I've been told."

Rouxls shot him a suspicious look. "..And where didst thou heareth that?"

"Jevil told me last night."

Upon hearing the imp's name, Rouxls grimaced. "I should've known. *sigh*.....Where is he anyhow?" He peered back over towards the door as if to look for said gremlin, and also noticed it had stopped raining.

"He left for work. He works for Lancer now I believe, and won't be back for another good few hours. Don't worry, he promised to look after the boy."

Rouxls huffed. "That'll be the day. I thank thee for the returned wares, but you must leave. I'm very busy as it is."

Seam chuckled again. "Oh, come now. What's the point of vacation if you don't relax? Or not. Doesn't involve me now does it? Ahaha." Rouxls huffed and turned away again. But he paused when a paw was held out to him. "Now come friend. I mean no ill will. Let us start over."

Rouxls stared at the smiling cat for a good few seconds before slowly looking down at the extended paw. It didn't look like it was threatening in the slightest position, but he wasn't sure at all. Seam stayed still and just as he was about to put his paw away, the blue man slowly reached his own hand out to the paw. Seam gladly took it in his own and gave it a couple shakes.

"Ahaha. It's nice to meet you fri-"

Rouxls let out a squeak as a pulsation ripped through their bodies and simaltaniously pulled his hand away from the equally startled cat, who's fur puffed up and his eye widened at the sudden feeling. Rouxls's soul thumped hard against his chest to the point he thought it was going to burst from his chest, then as suddenly as it came it left and his soul slowed down and his lungs heaved out. The two just stood there as the effects wore off and slowly looked at each other. Seam was the first to move as he slowly looked down at his paw, his button eye spinning. He stared at his paw for a moment before closing it and giving Rouxls a wide eyes look.

Rouxls gave a small cough as he reached up to straighten the hair poking up on his head. "S-Stupid static cling. I must've forgotten some dust rabbicks on mine person. Art thou-"

"I-.....Didn't think I'd live to see this event....Aheh..ahahaha." He slowly trailed his eye back at the confused man in front of him with an unsure smile upon his face. "Well....This is interesting news to be sure."

Rouxls rose a brow. "What does thou meaneth? A shock of static tis nay new. Though I nay felt one this powerful-"

"Jevil is in for a surprise it seems." He chuckled a little more much to the confusion of Rouxls who rose his brow further. "He certainly won't appreciate having his soulmate's soul atatched to my own."

Rouxls just stared blankly at the cat, but when he reached his paw back out and grabbed his shoulder,he was just about to ask what he was doing when a thump from within his chest shut up any thing he would've said. He stared at nothing for a moment but blinked and looked down at his own chest. Underneath his suit he could faintly make out a soft blue light that softly pulsated within his chest, sending small pulse waves throughout his being. He slowly looked back to Seam who gave the same patient smile on his face.....A light coming from his own chest.

"I think things are going to be a bit hard to explain when Jevil returns. Ahahaha." Seam contined to give the frozen duke a smile, but his smile faded when he felt Rouxls slightly shake under his grip, "Hey. Are you alright there?"

Rouxls didn't answer. Instead his face turned a pale blue like he'd just seen a ghost, his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. His body went limp and he fell to the side. The last thing he saw was Seam diving hard left towards his falling body as black enveloped his vision.

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"His hair is so shiny! Can I keep it?"

"No, Mak. I think he's had enough to worry about right now."

"Is he going to be ok? He looks dead. Can I have his shiny neckless if he's dead?"

"*sigh* No, Mak. That's his, and I think he's been through enough stress for the past few da- What are you doing?!"

"Trying to put this bandaid on his face? It looks like he fell on a sharp rock."

"That's a scar! The Healing Hathy already comfirmed that when I took him to see her."

.....What the-?

He groaned and turned his head. The first thing he felt was a soft but scratchy surface hugging his entire body and some kind of force on his chest making him heave a little from the weight.

"Look. He's not dead!....Unless he's undead! Should we get silver bullets?"

"You've been reading lightner stories too much. Now off of him."

He felt the weight lifted from his chest and groaned, his body shifting. His body wasn't in any pain thankfully but he strangely felt less tired than before he woke up before....In fact, he was starting to think that was all a dream. Of course Jevil had sat upon his chest and the two had invited themselves in. Again. But he didn't remember his bed being scratchy? His eyes slowly blinked open. The first he saw were two giant eyes who blinked at him and a black nose that sniffed at his face- He screamed a high pitched squeal which startled the furry thing into jumping back before baring it's fangs at him and giving a small hiss of their own. That thing definitely wasn't Jevil. He shot up and backed away from crazy animal against the soft surface.

"WHAT THY FUCKETH?!"

"MAK!" Their heads turned to a very familiar cat as he scowled at the animal. "Don't scare him. What are you doing, trying to give him a soul attack?"

The animal pointed a paw at him. "He started it!"

Seam sighed before turning towards Rouxls with a softer smile. "Hey, there friend. Are you feeling better?"

Rouxls turned his gaze around the area he was in with a wild look. Stone walls and ceilings held similar things to his bedroom....minus the fireplace to his right and the old looking couch he was apparently sitting upon. His soul still thumped within his chest

"...W-Where-?"

"You're in my sheap." The cat smiled at him from across the couch. "You're alright."

"W-What...What happened?"

"You just fainted. I had you checked out by a healer, she said you'd be fine. I was worried you had a soul attack or something."

"I-I..I may not be in the best condition, b-but I shan't have any medical issues of that sort!," he retorted before finally looking at the animal thing. The small thing was looking up at him and blinked a couple times. It looked a lot like a cat if it wasn't for the shape of it's tail and the wings attatched to it's back. He stared at it for a few seconds before pointing, "And what tis this?"

"Oh?" Seam turned to the child and patted the top of it's head. "This is Mak. They're harmless, don't worry. But they should really not scare guests." The child giggled and just shrugged before looking back at Rouxls.

"You're really shiny! Came I have some of your sparkles?" Their paw delicately reached up to him and made a grabby hand movement at his face, like how Lancer would whenever he wanted attention or to be picked up.

Rouxls grimaced and leaned away. He might've thought it was cute if this wild child hadn't scared him half to dust. Seam must've noticed because he gently removed their hand with a chuckle.

"They like shiny things. But they're a good child I promise."

Rouxls didn't look convinced. "How long was I asleep?"

"Almost three hours. Not very long to be honest. Are you feeling better?"

"I-....I'm fine." He quickly threw his legs over the side of the couch and stood up. he wobbled a little bit from his legs feeling like jello, Seam reached out a hand as to help, but Rouxls waved his hand away and reached down to straighten himself up. "I just....I think tis best I teketh mine leave-"

"I don't think that'd be a good idea." Seam gave him a concerned look. "After fainting like that, you're probably going to be weak for a bit. What if you fall again?"

"N-Nay! I haveth non time to delay! I-I'm feeling fine-" His stomach gave off another loud growl and he winced from the empty feeling coursing through his body at that very moment. "....I'm still fine."

"I think you need to sit down and rest a moment before you faint again of exhaustion. You seem to have a bad habit of pushing yourself, friend."

"HA! Likest thou couldst do anything to makest me do anything!"

A small silence.

"...Ahaha. Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I am! I have more authority than thoust could comprehend." He turned to the side. "I will taketh mine leave now!"

"Alright. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to use force."

"What doth thou-"

He squealed as a large paw grabbed the backside of his shirt and lifted him up from the floor. He heard a familiar chuckle and turned his face to the amused looking cat. He immediately went dark blue in the face and reached his hands up to try and grabbed at the large paw holding him up to no avail, his feet comically kicking at nothing in particular.

"L-L-Leteth me go this instant!," he squeaked out making Seam chuckle, "Tis NAY funny!"

"My, my. You certainly are a feisty one, aren't you?" He gently swung the flailing and squeaking duke over the coffee table and closer to his soft body. Using his other hand, he grabbed one of Rouxls's legs before hoisting him up.

Rouxls made angry sputtering noises as he was forced into being held in the bridal position of the larger cat. His face went completely white from sheer embarrassment and Seam chuckled again at his flustered state. He continued to kick out and try to pry the strong paws off of himself as Seam shuffled behind the coffee table and eventually took a seat onto the couch. Rouxls made an attempt to push himself off his lap as he sat down but unfortunately Seam's way of cradling him like a child prevented any escape. He felt his side be pressed further into the soft, warm body of the stuffed cat as he leaned back, sighing into the softness of the couch. He froze up for a few seconds, soul thumping, and face as pale blue as a frozen blueberry.

"W-What doth though t-thinketh you're doing?!," he managed to squeak out.

Seam let out a couple laughs before patting Rouxls's back. "Well, you did leave me with no choice. I could get into trouble if you ended up passing out from exhaustion or starvation. And I wouldn't be a good person, would I?"

"W-What happened to it being 'none of thou's business'?!"

"When the person who's business involves me directly of course. And you did faint because of the whole soul sparking thing-"

"THAT WASN'T A DREAM?!"

Seam laughed again as Rouxls gave a high whine of flustered feelings. "'Fraid not."

"H-Holy hell!.....Oh no..." His eyes shrunk in size as one thought shot through his head. Swirling pink heart attacks shooting behind his retnas. ".....It's going to kill me....IT'S GOING TO KILL ME!! I AMST GOING TO DIE WHEN HE FINDS OUT!!"

The sudden change in tone from flustered and angry to utterly terrified alerted the two to his sudden fear. The two animals exchanged a look before looking back to the duke who had launched his hands up to clutch at his head and his body shrinking down into Seam's soft body. Seam reached a paw to his back and gave him an unsure pat before asking-

"Who's going to harm you-?"

"T-That.....H-He-"

"You mean Jevil?"

Rouxls winced when he said the imp's name, confirming Seam's thoughts. He hummed before looking towards the small child who looked more confused than concerned. "....What's he talking about?"

"He's just scared of something....Uh- Why don't you get him something to eat?...That's actually edible."

"Oh. Alright."

The small bat thing turned around and scampered it's way out of the room towards the store front, leaving the too males. Alone. Seam stayed quiet and just silently rubbed the other man's back until his breathing and soul thumping reduced to a minimum. They sat in a few minutes in total silence before the dared to ask-

"Are you ok now?," his voice was like a parent talking to a scared child. Rouxls nodded. Seam hesitated. "Do you...think you can talk?" He nodded again. "Ok..Good, good....Do you...think you can tell me why you're scared of him?"

Silence.

"....Ok. Do you want to talk about it?"

"....I a-amst not...scared of him."

Seam had to take a moment to process what Rouxls had just said for a moment. But he blinked in confusion. "Why then..do you think he would harm you?"

Silence.

".....n-not him....s-stupid emotions.."

".....You're afraid of your emotions?" His silence answered his question.

They sat there in silence for a moment, as Seam seemed to piece together something in his head. Taking it slower, weird behavior, all the statue imitations, fainting......Good god what happened to end up like this?

"....I...w-will best al-...alright."

His sudden answer spooked Seam a bit, but the cat stayed calm for his sake and continued to rub his back. "Are you sure? If...If you need me to talk to Jevil, I most certainly will."

Rouxls was silent for a moment. "...No...My p-person...M-Mine rules...I've suffered worst."

Seam wasn't honestly sure how to feel about this whole situation, but decided it was best to roll with it for the moment. Patting Rouxls back and doing his best to comfort him. He sorta suspected Jevil knowing some of this problem now that he thought of the story he told him about yesterday's events with him getting that 'relaxing' leave, but he couldn't be sure just yet. He'd have to wait until he came back to ask anything.