Killing Butterflies - Empires SMP

Ten - Wizard

Xornoth's wings were now on fire from being in the same position for so long, and they could hardly do anything to alleviate the feeling. Maybe it was their 'concussion' affecting how they perceived the pain, or maybe it was just getting worse, but either way they were so cramped and stiff that they felt close to breaking.

They knew that their wings wouldn't actually break, but if they ever got the stupid bindings off then they surely wouldn't be able to fly for at least a week. Exor forbid, maybe even two.

They were no longer on their side, instead slumped on their front. Their wings felt about to drop off, and simply having them lie on their back felt like some kind of gruesome torture. Every feather seemed to radiate with pain and it was like a simple nudge to them would cause them to shatter into a thousand pieces. They wondered if the bindings were cursed to make them feel like that, like their wings were constantly on the verge of breaking and splintering, but it just took a while to ramp up.

If they were being honest, they would have preferred it if their wings had been cut off. Surely it wouldn't have been as bad as this.

They cast an overly sour glance at the door and went back to burying their head in the pillow, antlers uncomfortably brushing the floor. Everything was much too bright, even though they'd been perfectly comfortable with the light yesterday. Maybe it was a symptom of being concussion. They didn't know.

The worst part was that they were genuinely trying to sleep, but they just couldn't. And it was awful, the feeling of pounding inside of their skull keeping them awake and refusing to let them rest. Couldn't they just sleep a little?

Heavy footsteps pattered outside the door, and they assumed it was Scott pacing. Then the door opened, and it took them an embarrassingly long time to realise that it wasn't Scott pacing, but Scott walking in. Presumably with the wizard, if the other set of footsteps told them anything.

"So they're concussed?" They heard her say, wincing at how loud her voice was, seeking to emphasise the pounding inside of their head. Winters, they just wanted to sleep, and hearing just about anyone speak was like having them rake a knife along the inside of their skull.

"Yep." Scott sighed.

"And… where are they?"

Every inch of his voice seemed to drip with annoyance. "They sleep under the bed. I don't know why."

They made a noise not unlike a growl and turned over, trying to ignore the wizard in the hopes that she would go away if they pretended she wasn't there. It didn't work, and before they could ignore her any harder she had crouched onto the floor, watching them from the gap.

They glared at her in return.

She raised her eyebrows expectantly, hand grasping the staff that towered above her and shone faint purple lines onto the floor. Noticeably, she was just out of grabbing reach. "Come out."

They weren't going to make that joke. They were not. They were a sensible, mature person. They'd already made that joke. They were not going to-

"I'm gay."

She stared at them.

They repressed laughter, knowing it would probably make their headache worse, and settled for splitting a wide, unnerving grin into their face.

The wizard sighed, pressing a hand to her face. "I mean come out from under the bed."

"No." They said lazily, twitching their horribly painful wings every so slightly. "I've decided I don't want to."

She turned away, face the human embodiment of exasperation as she looked to Scott for help. Being the stupid pushover that he was, he helped her. "Come out from under the bed."