FellPoth Short Stories and One-Shots

On the Outs: Chapter 5 (End)

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it, 2K chapter ahoy!

Chapter warnings: Swearing

***

Rurik winced as Lotus's enraged scream and a blindingly green light filled the room. He threw his hands up, dropping the necklace to shield his face while a corner of his mind wondered if this was supposed to happen. When the light faded, he looked down to find his partner lying unconscious underneath him. 

His eye lights darted up to the knife holding their hands in place against the floor; as much as he wanted to remove it, he had to make sure this was really his boyfriend first. Reaching forward, he tapped his hand against Lotus's cheek, "Hey, time to get up lazybones." They softly groaned, but didn't do much more than shift their skull before letting it fall back into place; he repeated the action and spoke a bit louder, "Can you hear me, Lo?"

Lotus hummed a groggy affirmative and their sockets cracked open, "I should be happier about getting my body back, but that thing really put it through the wringer." Their sockets widened a bit, revealing a single red eye light; he wasn't sure if that was an indicator of being the real one, so he set it aside as a 'maybe'. "Where's that gods-damned necklace? I need to-!" They tried to move their arms, only to flinch when the serrated edge dug into their bones. Gazing up at him in fatigue and irritation, they asked, "Get off and move your knife; I can't move like this."

"Not until I know you're the real Lotus," Rurik leaned closer, hiding his amusement as his partner's expression flipped to surprise, then frustration; another for the 'maybe' bin.

"And how am I supposed to prove that?" Lotus huffed.

Thinking for a moment, Rurik suggested, "Tell me something only the real Lotus would know."

"That won't prove anything," Lotus rolled his eye light, "that fake used my soul's memories to imitate me; it would be able to rattle off any trivia I could, so personal information's moot."

"Soul's memories?" Rurik tilted his skull.

"Yeah, it was somehow able to read my soul after it trapped me inside that necklace; it said it's been doing this for centuries," Lotus shot a dirty look toward the discarded jewelry, "I can only assume it wasn't lying since it pegged me as a demigod right away and knew you had a military background without me saying anything."

He puzzled over what he had been told; it checked out, and willfully giving up information earned a point toward this being the real Lotus... but it could also be a ploy to get him to let his guard down. Needless to say, being some kind of magic mimic would explain why he had to second-guess himself so much. 

Another idea came to him, and a sly grin began to spread across his face; he gingerly traced their ribs through their shirt and proposed, "Well, I might know of one way to find out..."

"Don't you dare," Lotus spat, trying to buck him off of their torso without success. 

Rurik chuckled at the defiance in their expression and body language, adding a mental tick to the 'real' side of the scoreboard, "Then what would you suggest?"

The back of Lotus's skull clunked lightly against the floorboards as his mouth contorted in thought; a slow puff of air came out as his sockets creased further in vexation when no answer seemed forthcoming. Finally, there was a flash of realization followed by a low groan, "This is going to suck..."

"You got something?" Rurik prodded.

"My magic; the fake wasn't able to summon my scythe or control my teleportation," Lotus sighed. Thinking back to earlier, the imposter did seem to struggle to do more than launch bone attacks, and their attempted escape was what dazed them long enough for Rurik to pin them down. "The scythe will probably be less of a strain...," the smaller monster mumbled, trying to extend their hand as much as they could from where it was pinned under his knife. He watched as magic swirled around outstretched fingertips, spreading itself across the floor until it compressed into the form of a weapon; the long crescent blade clattered against the wood as Lotus panned their eye light over to him and shakily exhaled, "There... satisfied?"