[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.]
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?
[ 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. ]
[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.]
[ 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. ]
[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.
[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.
[ 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.
[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.
[ Both hands cupping his face, Cellar presses a kiss to his lips. ]
I love you, Teddie. If that asshole tries coming from me — he's the one who's gonna be really fucking scared. Besides, even if he could do anything, Raíz would just bring me back, and then I'd get to kick his ass all over again.
[ … pause. Raíz brings back her agents. She also does something else. ]
[There's small comfort in that - he wants to believe Raíz would come and not be blocked somehow. Wouldn't it be nice if she kept Cellar safe in ways he couldn't, until Cellar beat the shit out of Wil? But what do two immortals do in a battle with one another like that? He sighs, but doesn't drown in his thoughts because:]
Yeah. [ She props herself up on one elbow, on her side. ] It's like… a story, it happened a super long time ago, but it's about one of Raíz's guys. Apparently he got in a fight with another agent and ended up killing him. Or her. [ Shaking her head softly, ] When Raíz found out, she brought the dead agent back and — punished Angry Koala. By making him disappear. Like, she didn't just kill him, he was just, [ she snaps her fingers, ] Gone. Forever. That's what happens to anyone who kills one of us. Even if the killer is one of us.
[ Then she arches her eyebrows. ]
So if Wil does anything to me, he's gone. For sure.
[Theo wants to say something else - pick at the edges of the story. What's made gone like that can always reappear, when people with that much power have such astounding abilities. Who's to say that Angry Koala, folklore or not, won't reappear one day if Raíz decides it's time? Similarly, imprisoning Wil any which way would lead Theo to think the same fearful thoughts. He would need it to be undoubtedly permanent. But he smiles, trying to believe:]
I do think it'd be fun to watch him get his ass kicked.
[ She's never seen his face, but she's sure she'd hate it the moment he showed up. If he ever showed up. Hopefully something that will never happen — they've got enough to worry about. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i'm
i cant do anything
(i'm hideous)
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are you in our room?
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[Where there's a mirror to stare into.]
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no glamors?
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[if text could be sad: that would be sad sounding text]
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i'm coming
wanna go get in bed?
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[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.]
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[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
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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?
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[ 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.
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Hey.
[He's worming closer.]
I feel gross.
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You aren't gross, Teddie.
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I feel that way. I don't - I don't have any control. Over anything now.
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[ She stays close, puts her forehead against his. ]
Remember what I told you? All you have to be is you?
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[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.
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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?
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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.
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I love you, Teddie. If that asshole tries coming from me — he's the one who's gonna be really fucking scared. Besides, even if he could do anything, Raíz would just bring me back, and then I'd get to kick his ass all over again.
[ … pause. Raíz brings back her agents. She also does something else. ]
… Did I ever tell you about Angry Koala?
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... Angry Koala?
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[ Then she arches her eyebrows. ]
So if Wil does anything to me, he's gone. For sure.
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[Theo wants to say something else - pick at the edges of the story. What's made gone like that can always reappear, when people with that much power have such astounding abilities. Who's to say that Angry Koala, folklore or not, won't reappear one day if Raíz decides it's time? Similarly, imprisoning Wil any which way would lead Theo to think the same fearful thoughts. He would need it to be undoubtedly permanent. But he smiles, trying to believe:]
I do think it'd be fun to watch him get his ass kicked.
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[ She's never seen his face, but she's sure she'd hate it the moment he showed up. If he ever showed up. Hopefully something that will never happen — they've got enough to worry about. ]
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[Because here he is, reaffirming.]
So much for our Valentine's date too, huh?
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🎀