► thellar!!!

[longlegs]

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Comments

[chokedout]

[x]

i'm experiencing dysfunction

[longlegs]

what?

[chokedout]

it's not my dick


it's my magic

[longlegs]

oh
what's happening to it??
is it the mark?

[chokedout]

i don't think so
it's different

it's just
it's gone

[longlegs]

the mark or the magic?

[chokedout]

both. all of it
i'm
i cant do anything



(i'm hideous)

[longlegs]

[ What the fuck— ]

are you in our room?

[chokedout]

the bathroom

[Where there's a mirror to stare into.]

[longlegs]

[ ... oh no. ]

no glamors?

[chokedout]

nothing

[if text could be sad: that would be sad sounding text]

[longlegs]

[ noooo ]

i'm coming
wanna go get in bed?

[chokedout]

maybe

[Maybe he'll just stay standing here, staring at himself. It's more than just skin deep, despite how he acts about it - but he just can't bring himself to accept this so easily.]

[longlegs]

keep talking while i'm omw?

[chokedout]

ok

[Great job. Acting like Dom rn. C'mon, Theo...]

i'm not freaking out bc of like vanity
i mean a little, yeah
but it's just
idk
it's a lot

[longlegs]

it's ok teddie
probably just this place fucking around again
which means there's a way to reverse it
we just have to figure out what the rules are this time right?

[chokedout]

[no response, he has thrown himself face down on the bed. screaming waaaaaaaaaaugh face down at -4 volume]

[longlegs]

[ You ignore miette!!! ]

[ Cellar keeps checking for notifications, increasingly worried. Relief doesn't hit when she enters their room and finds him in bed, but some other kind of force slides part of that weight off.

She doesn't kick off her boots when she joins him, one knee at a time, then lies down on her side. A hand rubs his back between the shoulder blades until he looks at her. ]

Hey.

[chokedout]

[He is limp. He is a noodle. Even though she's there, he lays still long enough it's almost too long - but then he tilts his head, looking at her. She's seen him this way before, all dark eyed and magic-less, so it's nothing new. But the lack of control is, and it shows in his wary gaze.]

Hey.

[He's worming closer.]

I feel gross.

[longlegs]

[ Cellar nods softly, tucking some of his hair behind the ear before leaning in to kiss him, soft and sweet, like she would any other time, no matter what or who he looked like. Her hand stays on his cheek, her eyes fixed on his. ]

You aren't gross, Teddie.

[chokedout]

[He kisses back, because he knows she loves him. He loves her. There's so much trust here, which is precisely why he doesn't let himself brush this off. His voice is still soft, reeking of a certain type of sadness:]

I feel that way. I don't - I don't have any control. Over anything now.

[longlegs]

I know, babe. It's just — it's this fucking place. Whatever's going on... I'm gonna fix it.

[ She stays close, puts her forehead against his. ]

Remember what I told you? All you have to be is you?

[chokedout]

Yeah, but - I'm nothing.

[A frown, but - he drapes his arm over her, brow furrowed. This is self-deprecatory, yes, but it's digging deeper. It's Krampus 2.0 where he's stuck facing himself, his insecurities and faults. Where he has to put himself on a ledge in order to be able to take a jump he hasn't wanted to take before. To grow. To change.]

The only thing I had going for me was I could hide. It's the only thing I was ever good at and I can't even do that, now. I can't hide from these... things. I can't hide from Willem. I can't fight, either. I'm - I know you've been teaching me but I don't have that ability. I'm just a liability. I'm even less useful now than I've ever been.

[longlegs]

[ Her heart sinks, hearing Theo call himself nothing, but all the words at the ready to contradict that stay silent so she can listen instead, always caressing, always soothing. And then, ]

You're Theodore Price. My gorgeous, loving, caring, smart, fucking talented husband. You didn't need to fight or use magic on any of the times I needed you. You always protected me.

Can I protect you this time?

[chokedout]

[He wants to say "I need you to" in that same self-shaming way, but she makes him feel like someone, not something. Maybe it's the lack of brand on him, maybe it's the lack of magic seeped into him, but it's almost a little bit easier to think. To act. To listen.]

I worry almost every day that he'll come here. He'll hurt you, or take you away from me. He's done that more times than I can count. Taken people I love away, killed them in front of me to show me it's impossible to avoid him. I took to trying to hide from him to avoid that. Stopped caring about people to protect them. But I love you. I want your protection, but - I need to protect you too. And I don't know how to do that. It scares me.