She didn’t mind being up at absurd hours of the morning, much since she couldn’t sleep well all the time. But this morning was more important than most, even if that meant leaving the bed stealth like and earlier than she’d like - where she was cozier with her love. 

Although, as well as not having anything immediate it in mind for a gift for his birthday - Josiah wasn’t put off by trying to do something nice for him before he wakes up. Or more like, when he did... Cooking quietly wasn’t too hard but still enough to make her nervous and try moving quickly with what she had on hand to make and what obtained from stores that were open at the hour. 

Even if the lot of it wasn’t perfect but done as best as Josiah could. All of it was plated tidy before carefully taking it all the goods back to the room with quieted foot steps, a drink in hand with a near anxious look on Josiah’s face. But once she stepped into frame and peeked her head around the corner at the sleeping Valerie like a mouse, steps maneuvered into the room in a quick stride - lips pulled into a purse before setting the plate of the half few waffles and a few pancakes on the nightstand. Hesitantly placed whipped cream was on the side with a considerate amount of raspbebby syrup incase he preferred that more. All in best to shake off any worry it might not be to his taste and she did it wrong - Josiah set the glass of orange juice down next to it before carefully cozying down on his side of the bed towards the edge.

He was watching him closely, although it was more seeking his happiness that didn’t seem to come in any small doses. Evidently anyways from the smile he could see on his lips, there’s nothing more than he wanted than to see his love happy and Liam only returned it with an enthused smile of his own - toothed. No without words, he was going to insist no matter what and certainly every year he was going to. 

But he was fast to catch on the hidden context from his admiration of the gift, that it dusted the serpentines cheeks pink with a small giggle slipping his lips. “Happy you like it, even if you won’t us it much.” Brows upturned a bit but not with a disheartened thought at all. But while Fang set it aside, Liam’s angle didn’t let him have too much space to see what he was doing now, only hearing it on from the rustling - where curious eyes tried to shift as close as they could to seeing. Only for it to become evident by the sounds of him taking care of the chocolate and the sweet smell he could partially pick up in the air. “Wasn’t sure what type of chocolate, milk o-” his words cut by the surprise of the chocolate taking place of his words and the half shock glinted in his eyes briefly before curving delight. There was only a soft suckle on the treat before he chewed it down slowly, “why not you have one too-” he added amidst it craning his head to peep at him better.

The question made him halt a pause though, squinting curiously now. Only then had he caught the small hint of the peculiar tickets, drawing Liam’s head to tilt better to take a quick peek.

      As the conversation shifted towards Ezme, he shot Josiah a wary glance and waited for her to finish her stream of consciousness. Deep down, he wondered if she understood the implications of an intricate repairing process in case of life-threatening injuries - that he would need to take something else from her to make up for the loss. With a soft gasp, he opened his mouth as if to speak that part out loud but swallowed his words right up, filling his silence with a sigh. That wasn’t the time to add another heavy subject to the table.

      “This isn’t about her. I can’t be sure of why it worked so well in her case, but if I had to guess, it is because of her ability to survive in a body that is not technically her own. She had been using yours for so long that finally having her own new body probably came as more of a relief than a burden to her. Adaptability wasn’t a problem.” 

      He rubbed the tip of his nose with his knuckle as he spoke, hiding half of his face behind his hand. His gaze was lost as he focused on remembering details from back then. Every word that would come out of his mouth from this point onwards was hard to digest, especially when spoken in such a distant tone.

      “Maya’s case, on the other hand… She didn’t want it at first, her new body, but her old one was too damaged to be used as anything other than raw material. I did what I could to salvage it. She doesn’t mind it as much nowadays and the use of her limbs has improved over time, although her walking cycle is still best described as a shuffle.”

      Following a furrow of his brows, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and cleared his throat with a cough.

      “This isn’t about either of them, though. It’s someone else…” He shook his head when his internal monologue hit a dead end. There was no point in burdening himself with it any longer; he needed to confide in someone before he lost his cool. “I think Fang might be running out of time and I’m running out of options to keep him alive as he is right now.”

It was sturdy question. But in the previous time, he might not remember what he said to her when she brought this topic up, but Josiah does vaguely. There was no further comment on it either, and like always was necessary clarity. Josiah didn’t know the extent to it at heart. There was visible anticipation on her face when he was on the edge of speaking it - the upcoming was a good aim away. One that drawn some sort of unspoken relief for care sake.

“I see... So it’s like a form of acclimation, that there was no trouble then during transition. Otherwise...reactionary shock.” Josiah hummed while moving the book to close it properly for the time with a small glance. “Same case, different adaptabilities but with considerable damage to one...” Though, before going into it and derailing the undertone matter at hand, she went quiet when he cleared the air. The revelation made, it made a whole pit form in her stomach with a mere instant.

      The unchanging blank expression on his face and his listless eyes that peered into her soul while she spoke could have been taken as a sign of disappointment on his part if not for it being part of his regular demeanor. Anything other than the nod of acknowledgment he responded to her with would have been out of character. When she finished talking and passed the baton off to him, he clasped his gloved hands together and started rubbing his fingers, a sign of anxiety. It took longer than usual to get his words out.

      “I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you. To me, it doesn’t matter,” he said, his gaze affixed to the floor. He was nervous, as if he was afraid of a fictional someone challenging him in a disagreeing manner and making fun of his vision. For just a little while longer, though, he chose to trust Josiah with his one and only vulnerable side. “The dolls that I make are not any different to me than regular people. They’re better. If they malfunction, I can repair them and they aren’t as frail as…” He paused and jutted his chin in her direction. “Your doppelganger was a spur of the moment decision where the outcome didn’t matter. Whether it worked or not, I didn’t care at the time. But now, I have to take responsibility for something bigger than myself and I don’t think I am ready to do it.”

Brows partially upturned at his demeanour. Of course silence was another, though when it came to the openness offer, she almost could’ve thought there was a bigger problem with it. Not until he stated otherwise despite his acknowledgement. Arms hooked around the book better, cradling it close without damaging the pages while processing his few words. “It really doesn’t matter... To further solidify my opinion, hopefully to give a clearer conclusion.”

A matter taken seriously, she was regardless of past endevours. She’d never gotten to any close point with him - it had value to her but Josiah was listening intently to his share with an unreadable expression in the aftermath only briefly.

The silence was something she was easily used to when it came to him. Only patience was what she had to offer in contrast to it, yet never expecting him to always answer. Seeing how he wasn’t obligated. Didn’t mean she gave up easy though, either despite the awkward flow of air when it got to that point... All Josiah did was watch, respecting his work space, although with things to look at. Her eyes were trained on him alone, tilting at the head when his attention hit it’s peak. Gaze following in the short minute until the weight filled her arms, finally reacting with a small heave-huff - thankfully no caving when Josiah took a look at the book itself, mind the weight.

“Heavier than the books I used to work with... I don’t recognize it...” She uttered quietly, fingers scooping the cover out of the way. Proof to why she didn’t was painfully obvious as soon as the contents were revealed, making Josiah squint a bit at the unknown language. While the sketches and works fell to some similarities was all that she had. But she was listening to his statement while attention remained on the book for a small moment, half cringing at herself.

“Fair point. Hope it was some help at least then...” She didn’t push. Only listen, it sounded like it was more than important. Especially when the topic curved in a direction she wasn’t expecting. Josiah was fixed on the ever lack changing expression he bore when his depth question only sunk into some familiar waters, yet she knew necromancy was different in a way. Just flesh. 

“The conscious.” Josiah hardly hesitated to answer, adjusting her comfort when hoisting the book onto her forearm better and her freehand index knuckle pressed to her lips. “To me, anyways... A body is one thing. But to me, it’s what remains of the conscious, as far as DNA is as well if you want to count it in as one. You can replace as many pieces as you want, with what you want, it doesn’t change the thing that makes you, you. That’s your consciousness. Humanity sits there with who you are. It’s got nothing to do with your body. Disagree if you’d like or add, I’m all ears. If you disagree, I’d love to hear a different angle.” Regardless, a small smile became evident.

      Their destination was soon approaching. If she had gotten too comfortable in the warmth of his arms, her body would regrettably sigh as it departed from it only to be placed down on the cold bench. At least she had her jacket to shield her from the cold, unlike the maniac that was walking around with his collar and shoulders bare to the world in the early hours of the morning. As he stood back up, he slung his backpack off his shoulder and, after unzipping it, he reached inside. After rummaging through it for a brief moment, his hand reemerged pinching the wrapper of a hefty treat between its fingers. It was a strawberry flavored protein bar, easily the size of Josiah’s head. It made sense, for a big guy like him to be eating for two.

      “Eat up, then.” With a nimble motion of his index and middle finger, he ripped open the packaging at the very end and handed her the snack. “Don’t get me wrong, though. This isn’t meant to replace breakfast. It will give you a temporary boost and get you up on your feet, but you still need a proper meal.”

      He stood there for a while, watching over her to make sure she wouldn’t flop over to the side in her semi-delirious state. Rather than a concerned figure, he looked more like he was trapping her on that bench as he stood close-by with his arms crossed and the ever-present glare in his eyes affixed on her. It wasn’t directed at her whatsoever. Instead, he was mulling over her symptoms. While he was no doctor, he could infer a few things from her weight, the paleness of her skin, and the dark circles under her eyes.

      “Think about what you’d want to eat while I go gather up your mail.”

It all went too soon sadly where she was, unfortunately, comfortable. The moment she was put down on the bench, a more dreary look fell over her face before closing her eyes and grasping the bottle with both hands now. Half fidgeting with it as the cold seeped through what expose gaps. The words didn’t prompt her sluggish attention, not yet until the wrapper being torn open had made an eye peek open, getting a brief look at what he had. It came with a small surprise, more likely due to the size of the protein bar that Josiah likely never seen before until now - though not leaving him hanging with it, her hand freed to grab it.

“No, I understand. Still a lot more than what I’ve had anyways, smells nice too... I’ll know better for next time.” Although, under the lime light from his body language, Josiah didn’t take much thought besides the occasional peek up when she bit down on the protein bar. At least the postman didn’t have much interest slinking off. 

      Although her description was vague at best, her words alarmed him. What seemed like a mere slipping accident turned into a more serious issue in seconds. Knowing that lifting her up right away would be a bad idea, he settled for offering her the support to sit upright while he looked around for a better place to seat her than the cold sidewalk.

      “Alright? You don’t look alright to me,” he said after his gaze returned to her. 

      Noticing her rough shape, he did the first thing that came to mind and offered her his drinking bottle after he popped open the cap. He brought it to her lips and tilted it a little bit until the first few droplets fell into her mouth. Unaware of her other health problems, he thought her fainting sensation could have been caused by a drop in her sugar levels or dehydration - either way, that wouldn’t be the last thing he did for her. Whether she liked the electrolyte drink or not, he pushed the bottle into her hands as if urging her to hold it. Without giving her a chance to protest, he scooped her legs up by the bends of her knees and secured her back with his other arm as he picked her up in a bridal style carry. Their destination? The bus station waiting bench not far from them; that was their best bet. The lost mail would have to wait until she was comfortable enough to explain her situation to him.

      “Got any clue as to why you might be feeling lightheaded? Did you skip breakfast?”

      He couldn’t help sounding like an overbearing older brother.

Last thing was wanting someone to worry. Though her durability exceeded by now, whether she really acknowledged it or not but while he spoke - she was rubbing her eye now. Not much of a word came out though in response once he aided her with the bottle, and easy compliance. It was relieving in a way by just a few droplets on her tongue and Josiah had no problem holding it when it was urged onto her. From there, was hardly much of any hesitance to take a better sip of the drink - getting a taste of it but it was a partial distraction from the upcoming weightlessness.

Her head raised, letting the rim of the bottle linger in silence and involuntary tension in her body that relaxed in the following same seconds to comfortable putty. The mail didn’t even occur to her, and neither where they were going at the second but his sudden assertion of a question - no doubt caught her off guard from the nature it held.

      When most people were heading into work on a Monday, Fang was on his way back from the gym. In stark contrast with Josiah, he was dressed in casual sporty clothes that left him exposed to the crisp morning air. Even so, that didn’t seem to bother him as he stopped on his side of the sidewalk to take a sip of water. However, just before he swallowed it, the sound of a crashing weight caught his attention. If not for the envelopes that spilled all over the pavement as soon as her bag hit the ground, he wouldn’t have spotted the fallen familiar face that barely made it past the corner of the street just ahead of him.

      “Are you alright?” he called out. Before she got a word out, his feet had already unconsciously carried him over to her side in a hurry. Even if he told himself he shouldn’t get involved in other people’s businesses, he failed to follow his own advice, especially when someone he recognized seemed to be in trouble. Case in point - he took hold of her hand and wrapped her arm around his shoulders as he squatted close to her, ready to scoop her up at any moment. But first, he had to make sure she was safe enough to be moved. 

      “Did you sprain something?” he asked. Pale blue eyes stared her down with concern, but also a hint of friendliness.

Tingly and nauseous, it was a roller coaster of reaction that made her feel cold and ears ring. Jojo just barely heard the opposite voice. Everything sounded muffled, but with the slight shift was the miniature life sign until Fang took up the weight. The arm slung over his shoulder responded with tension, lacking a retaining grip but a joint cling to him and a dazed gaze that was trying to pick up it’s environment, when eyes opened a sliver. 

The days that finally caught up to her weren’t very forgiving. Whatever the lack of sleep entailed through them, and moving on in the days to work in the early times - that was a complete mystery but work was work and she was going to do it. Despite looking a little more rough than usual, a hand pulled on the collar of the postal jumpsuit, squinting down at a small handful of mail in the other. There was an aloof look on her face. Not due to anything particular, not even she knew but... Even poor meals weren’t doing her any favours, if they’d be considered proper.

Each step became more lethargic than usual. Like an animated machine breaking down on the spot and losing it’s power with hobbled steps, “ughhh...” a breath left her lips, raising her gaze. One that was already failing into tunnel vision - hardly realized it but her grip on the small cluster of mail already fell out of her hand. Then so, not falling too far behind the mess left behind - everything was processing too slow before footing stumbled and sent her down, hardly catching herself with an empty hand. Unfortunately, the rest of Josiah toppled flat on the ground with a dead weight thump, with little to no time for her hardly clinging consciousness to realize what just happened.

      Every time he ended up getting lost in thought while looking at Lex, his expression twisted into a grimace. It wasn’t the serpent’s fault, of course, but neither was it his own. Gruesome images still taunted him behind his eyes like a projector playing the same portion of a tape over and over again. He forced himself to look away from Lex only for his gaze to fall on Josiah, lost and disorientated. He waited for her to object with something, but since she never did, he went ahead and spoke the truth. But first, he took in a deep breath and released a hefty sigh.

      “I doubt you’re ready for my kind of complicated, but here goes nothing…”

      As he said that, he suddenly turned around to reveal his exposed back. He found it easier to show them than to waste his time on explanations. After a moment of baring it to them, he cautiously hovered his hand over his nape to protect it from an unsolicited blow. Although he managed to conceal the main portion of it, his affliction traveled down the column of his back and vanished within his vertebrae. It looked worse than when Josiah first saw it. The crimson lump on his nape resembled a tumor and the tendrils that spread from it could easily count as additional veins - rather than a parasite clinging to him from the outside, it seemed to be growing from within him. Believing that he had made his point, he turned back around and faced Knox no less somber than before.

      “Shiro calls it a Dream Eater. The cult that inflicted me with it called it a gift.” His voice sounded bitter, as to be expected, but it was to worsen in seconds. “As for its namesake, it feeds on dreams, mostly on the nightmares that it induces whenever I fail to keep myself alert. Those horrible things it shows me are never just the figment of my imagination, though, otherwise this wouldn’t be such a big of a deal. The point is…” 

      He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned, almost as if he was frustrated with himself for failing to string his words together in a coherent manner. But then again, how is one supposed to explain such nonsensical crazy talk? 

      “The point is… You two were in one of them.“

      All of a sudden, he stopped and clenched his fists. He swallowed the needles in his throat as an uncomfortable tension took over him. An apologetic gaze drifted towards Lex, knowing that what he said next could understandably sour their relationship.

      “And I killed you.”

Naturally, she wasn’t sure what she’d been able to do, given it wasn’t her place to make any break in. Although, her logic, she felt at temporary peace revealing things to Fang voluntarily, knowing just what type of content it was. In exchange, she’d thought it would too. Of course it would make her retreat to Fang’s side on the matter, so much the look was all she needed. However, once Fang went ahead and revealed the affliction, it no doubt made her grimace - not in disgust, but... It had been awhile she seen it in the first place, so much that it’s state now really concerned her at heart. Josiah kept her mouth shut though, respectively.

The brothers weren’t any better, once it was visibly exposed to them - the trio that resided in the same home knew one thing for worse, be it they were new to the sight unlike Josiah. Knox felt the brush weight half hunker his side when Lex was leaning in to get a better look before Fang held his caution. The serpentine were merely listening to what he had to say, while his sight fixed on the masses of it’s work it done on his back.

“That doesn’t look like no gift. That sounds like a curse on the surface.” Knox stated up front, but when things seemed to take a verbally more concerning take on on the matters - the air felt almost uncomfortable for him, the more Fang revealed and it didn’t even take Lex much to understand. All that was needed was the one statement was Fang telling them of their presence in his matters of nightmares. Knox looked more towards Lex in those concerns in the end, oddly enough over directing any expected negative response towards Fang - in the end, worrying more about how something like that made him feel instead. 

“Are... you telling us... we are dead somewhere, then?” Lex might’ve not seemed the fastest with an uncharacteristically put off tone, yet he knew a situation when it called for reality. It might’ve been taken as something bad at first when he had turned his attention away, going static still. He was visibly digesting it, but also looking at himself in a slight manner - faintly had he understood strangeness in time. But it was like he was expecting himself to have faded away. 

“Happy birthday!” he blurted out as he swung the door open. His speech was slurred thanks to the almost empty bottle of champagne that he was carrying in his hand. Around his neck, he wore a black bow collar with a bell attached to it, something ripped straight out of a kink magazine. Dangling from it was a leash. As he stepped into the doorway, he handed her the end of it and put on a lecherous grin, barely containing his laughter. In the background, Alto could be seen hastily propping up the candles on her birthday cake and signaling to her that he had nothing to do with it. “Looks like ‘m yer gift this year too. Luckyyy.”

No doubt with all the avoidance would it make her the plague to deal with overall, but she didn’t actively try too hard to see what they were doing - given all the efforts of their work. Such as a curious soul though, Josiah wasn’t able to contain just as much distance they could, not to mention she’s not used to being away from them both often for too long. The both of them though? Uncanny. When the time came for the revelation though, the sudden weight drop from the door swinging open made her jump - hands pulling up into fists with a soft peep of surprise. 

The alert look on her face died off quickly, instead a delighted look replaced it with a toothed smile from the congratulations. His words weren’t lost but she knew what they slurred tone entailed, so much from the bottle peripheral. What seemed to catch her attention when realization set in was the bell cute collar and leash get up, making her sight visibly stutter in a double dart. Going through three emotions in one even, especially when he passed off the leash to her which she opened her palm to look at better. So much it made her cheeks heat up, caught on the spot. Her gaze peered up at him, as well as catching Alto’s sudden speed to make do with her cake, just something she could vaguely see from her spot - it earned him a accusatory, playful squint before attention set up on Syo again.

“I’ve got them all in one spot and one offered up to me at the door- both soon to be trapped in a room with me now-- thank you, my love-” Her hand balled into a fist before rolling it to entwine the leash around it - just to urge his height down more to her level. As soon as there was enough leverage, it was a considerate but enough force to keep him at her height before leaning in to catch his lips in a kiss. Be it, probably not enough to wipe that grin off his face, but didn’t mean she was going to let it be either. It lingered long enough for her tongue to make a playful swipe at his lips, just slightly catching the taste of the champagne before she slinked away to the side - Syo wasn’t going to be left there either, because her grip remained she carefully hauled him along with her towards Alto who was taking care of the cake.

      When Lex followed after him, Fang peeked over his shoulder and shot him a confused look. If the serpent didn’t mind his presence, he wouldn’t make an issue out of it. Instead, once he was settled with the rest of them, he gave him a little hidden smile and nodded following Knox’s words, as if to say it is a promise.

      But when Knox shifted the attention onto Liam, he opened his eyes a tad wider and his smile faded away. His cheeks flushed red again and he swallowed deeply. That was the reaction of someone who had just gotten caught red handed doing something he shouldn’t have been behind his lover’s back.

      “I didn’t tell him about this,” he replied with a refreshing dose of honesty. His gaze singled out Knox, firm and determined. “He didn’t sound upset the last time I brought his family up, but I didn’t want to risk it. Not now. My state of mind is too volatile.” Fang bowed his head and crossed his arms against his chest, squeezing his biceps on either side. Without his cloak, he felt naked and vulnerable, but he had nothing to hide. “That ties into the reason why I’m here in the first place. It’s complicated… I don’t know where to begin, or if I should tell you at all.”

Knox might’ve been more to realize it on his face, while Lex already knew that it was better off and Josiah was the one to arrange it - Knox almost would’ve expected him to have told Liam where he was going. But his following up response cleared it up more, it reminded him of someone going in and out of their way to make contact - while he knew it weighed different for someone Liam loved.

“I see, it’s probably much safer as you say. Verbal existence isn’t as heavy in this case, as physically being here. But I know Liam had made hidden encounters in the past when we’ve been visited.” Knox waved a dismissive hand, just another thing to cull Liam’s logic. Aside from his ramble, the one thing that stuck out most to him was the context - Josiah didn’t tell them anything of course, so it was a bit of a surprise. “All our lives are complicated, what is a complicated explanation any different by this point... We both are all ears, Fang. Seeing you came all this way too with her, it must be something real important.”