Heartstar 2
I guess this is a multipiece lmao
Taglist: @newbornwhumperfly
“Afternoon, Gumi,” Heartstar said tiredly, entering her room. Their childhood friend (their first true victim) looked up at them, and her eyes all but physically glowed with how she lit up, affectionate and fawning, almost as though they had been the center crux of her whole entire life ever since one stupid, meaningless fight and one stupid, irreversible mistake.
No. Not irreversible. Greensilver was smart and Heartstar was determined. They would return her agency to her, to all Heartstar’s victims. To everyone they’d ever taken under their spell, after their powers had grown too immense to take back.
“Kit, hi!" Gumi said, smiling with a slight loll to her head that was so common amongst their thralls.
“Hey, Gumdrop.” She giggled at the old nickname, kicking her legs as they sat down beside her. “How’re you feeling?”
“Fine. I was thinking of redying my hair again—would you like that?”
“If you think you’d enjoy it, then I don’t doubt it’ll be great,” Heartstar, choosing their phrasing carefully. Gumi took the most initiative out of any of their thralls, probably due to their relative youth when they’d ensnared her, but she still wouldn’t actually act without their approval. That said, if they were too approving, she would bend over backwards and even hurt herself attempting to maintain whatever status quo they’d unthinkingly established.
“What color are you thinking this time?”
She giggled again, swaying sideways so she bumped, then leaned, into their side. “What do you want?”
Kit gave her a small, probably still-sad smile and looked out over the room. It was a small apartment that was part of their “facility.” It had a bedroom, bathroom, and the kitchenette in the main space, but was functionally similar to an assisted living facility or nursing home. Gumi could functionally live mostly on her own, but she (like all of them) got twitchy and even destructive if she went too long without seeing them, and wasn’t fit for mainline society, anymore.
It was a beautiful set of rooms, truth be told. Kit loved beautiful things, and tried not to let their guilt prevent them from enjoying their love of architecture and comfort.
But still. It hurt to know that their old friend really couldn’t leave, gilded as her cage might be.
“That’s a hard decision. You know I think your hair looks beautiful, no matter what you do with it.”
They wished releasing people was as easy as enthralling them. That the powers that they could summon to the fore to ensnare could be summoned again to banish their previous intentions.
Something something broken glass. An action, once taken, has been made.
Gumi leaned in and tried to kiss them, and they ducked so her lips landed on their cheek, and she giggled and leaned, almost drunkenly, against their shoulder. “You’re so broad, you know? Big handsome strong. Pretty.” Her fingers trailed through their hair and they patted her on the back twice, nudging her off.
“Thank you. You’re also pretty. Very small, though, I bet I could pick you up one-handed. Gumi, will you do some things that you like, and tell me about them next time I visit?”
“Of course, Kit! Anything for you! What things do you want me to do?”
“Anything that makes you happy, Gumi, but you have to choose them. I won’t choose them for you.”
“But what if I choose wrong?” she asked, her face the portrait of open dismay. They kissed her forehead, cupped her cheek.
“You won’t, Gumdrop. As long as you pick the things, and they make you happy, I’ll be happy to hear you tell me about them, okay? I have to keep this visit short, I’ve got important work I need to settle. I’ll be back though.”
“Okay!” she said brightly, satisfied again. She was simple, now, far too simple for someone who had once, even in the early years of her adulthood, been shrewd. “Come back soon!”
Kit smiled, and promised, “I will.”
Kit turned from her, and Heartstar walked out of the door. “Greensilver, is the new thrall set up for testing? I want to try something different this time, to see if it’ll snap him out of it.”
“He’s up and ready to go, boss. Need me to prep anything?”
Heartstar sighed. “Just the usual.”
