[ 6585.32 DAYS ]

BLOOMING POX

Their roots have taken hold inside your veins, your breath is shared now. 

HERA

  Saros hadn’t really planned on staying out for too long on their way back home. After all, there are demons roaming the streets waiting for the slaughter, and there’s not too many angels on call to protect them these days. They’re not stupid. They know the state of the world lately. They’re just... optimistic. 

  But they had gotten caught up in talking to someone. A gaggle of friends from school, talking about the ship, about home, about having two dads, about how cool it is to have two dads rather than a dad and a mom so you can avoid having to clean up so much and laughing as they correct that their Daddy is actually a stickler for cleaning up and making sure that they don’t track dirt through the house. They hadn’t meant to stay out. It was just getting something to snack on while they were walking, and a drink, because they still had some money on them from what they grabbed in the morning. 

  It felt like being watched through the scope of a gun. That’s the only way they could put it, though they couldn’t tell you how they knew how that felt like. It sent a shiver down their spine and they snapped to attention, looking around the small convenience shop as if they were trying to find some hidden assailant. They’ve come to trust their intuition. It’s rarely led them astray. They felt as if they needed to run, but they also knew that running would always alert the assailant to knowing they existed in the first place. A bad idea, for sure.

  They smiled at the small group of friends and bid them a good day as they left, wanting to get away. And so, they left the shop and started to pick up the pace to head back home.

  They don’t get very far before there’s the scent of something burning at the back of their throat. They cough, almost retch, and then look around. Their eyes immediately catch on the sight of a familiar face smiling down at them, sickeningly sweet.

  “Sunshine.”

  The ambassador takes a few more steps to approach them, and they nod politely, kneeling down to be down more at their level. They’re causing more of a scene, and both of them know it. They’re even in their best clothes, something flashy and gaudy, trying to garner attention, as if they want to be seen. “You are Saros Maia Rhodes, correct?”

  They stand a little taller, not wanting to shrink away from a confrontation. They don’t need to be scared of a ghost like them. Captain Dad’s right behind them, always. (They think this, but a part of them still remains appropriately afraid, having known what they’ve done in the past.) “Just Saros is fine, Sunshine. What can I do for you?” 

  “Saros, then. May I ask your audience back at the office? I would love to hear an unbiased opinion from the house of Pacifica’s family, and I haven’t been able to get a hold of her in quite some time, so I thought I would get a hold of you instead.” The smile makes them sick to their stomach. That’s no smile.

  “... No. I don’t go anywhere with strangers.” They have to hide their hands in their jacket so that their hands don’t shake. This is not their fear, they know it, but it’s still fear they can’t shake. “I can leave a message for my sister when I get home though.”

  “But I’m no stranger. I’m a friend to the family.”

  “Friend?” Something in them settles. They laugh, despite the small crowd gathering. “You’re no friend to us. You’re a parasite. You’re a hound trying to bite at the hand that’s fed you. You’re nothing more than a whining child begging for more when you already have all the gold and treasure you could possibly as for. You’re selfish in a way that destroys. We don’t do that. You’re not our friend. Why do you think we try our best to keep you away from us? My sister is clouded in her judgement because of something she can’t control, sadly. You abuse that. You sink your teeth into that because you know that as long as she doesn’t remember the truth, you will have someone that won’t see past your deception.”

  Something like sulfur and burning wood starts to try and choke them, but they realize that it doesn’t burn like it used to. They just stare. Eyes slightly glowing with gentle stars. 

  Sunshine tries to not scowl, and Saros can see it in the way they struggle to keep smiling. In the way they struggle to keep from lurching out and grabbing them. Hands curling into fists, then relaxing. Breathing deep, trying to steadying themselves, seeming to breathe out a deep grey smoke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I do my best to understand my people and my friends, and you’re just flat out insulting me. I give all that I can to help the people of the world and people are still assuming I’m selfish. What have I done to deserve this?”

  Something registers and they smile back at Sunshine. Ah, so that’s what this is about. Of course, that’s what this is about. Why would it be anything less? “I think it's not jealousy that drives you mad, Sunshine. It's knowing that someone else has something that you can never have. And when you look at me. When you look at my Captain Dad. When you look at my family, my home, my people. You go insane with jealousy because you can't have what we have. And what we have is happiness. We are happy because we have each other. And you, Sunshine, have no one. Despite all that you say, and all that you collect, you have nothing and you have no one by your side and to pick you up when you fall down. So at the end of the day, the only thing that will warm you will be your jealousy, and that is a cold, cold flame. I do hope your frost bite is treated by someone who cares enough to smile when you move on.”

  A low growl-snarl tears through the air that no one else seems to hear, and Sunshine, flustered and angry, starts to a stand, snapping their coat like a snake’s bite at the air as they walk away from the scene. They don’t want to cause any more of a fuss than they already have, and let this child, this horribly well versed child get away with humiliating them any further.

  It’s at that moment that Saros feels a deep terror cut through their system and they shrink in on themselves. They’re only so young and they have no means of protecting themselves. Oh, they should talk to someone.

YOU PUSH EVERYONE AWAY.

it's not that you don't appreciate help, it just feels so wrong. 

you still have a hard time saying 'i love you' back. but you don't ever have to. tell people you love them by remembering little things they tell you. paying for their lunch the next time you go out. telling them you saw a movie and it reminded you of them. 

the god of broken promises