(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

A Friend in Need - Chapter 3

So... I got a bit distracted by studying and realized just now that I still needed to post the chapter... oops.

Chapter Warnings: Swearing

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Roughly an hour later, the door creaked open and Lotus quietly slipped through. Rurik was mildly grateful that the smaller hadn't simply wandered off somewhere. Locking the door behind himself, the hooded skeleton headed toward the kitchen and began pulling out what he needed to prepare supper.

The house became entrenched in a heavy silence with only the occasional soft clang of metal or the thump of a cabinet or drawer closing.

Multiple times, Rurik was tempted to get up to speak with Lotus. Every time he tried though, something in the back of his mind stopped him, forcing him to continue his staring contest with the ceiling.

This was all to protect Lotus. This would blow over...

"Supper's ready," Lotus called from the kitchen. Pushing himself up, Rurik turned the T.V. off and headed toward the kitchen. Passing through the doorway, the small skeleton was setting out a pair of utensils around two filled plates before taking his seat.

There was a faint red mark remaining on his left cheek, not as bad as Rurik feared but still visible. Casting his gaze down to the table, the skeleton pulled out the chair opposite his partner and dug into the meal.

While the food tasted good, it felt like something was off. It didn't have the usual zest that it normally had. Raising his starry eye lights, he studied the skeleton across from him.

Lotus was eating rather than picking at his food, so that was a good sign. Unfortunately, the action seemed more automatic than anything, his red eye light fixed on his plate as he shoveled food in without really tasting it. It was as if he was in another world despite being right there. Rurik grimaced, recognizing the look from the previous five years before he got his act together.

He couldn't let this happen again.

Setting down his fork and sliding his plate aside, Rurik folded his arms on the table and cleared his throat, "Lotus, about earlier-"

"I know," Lotus interrupted, letting his fork rest against his plate, "I-".

"Lotus, no. Let me say this... please," Rurik pushed through, his sockets furrowed as he held the smaller's gaze. Once silence fell, he continued, "My reaction to the dog wasn't okay. Even if I was mad, even if I had a bad day at work... whether it was an accident or not, yelling at you was bad and hitting you was even worse. I've been learning how to communicate properly and manage my anger issues, so there's no excuse for what I did.

"I'm still not comfortable with the dog, but... once this is all settled and we both get some free time, we could see about going out and getting you a safer pet. That is, if you're willing to give me another chance... though I'm honestly debating whether you should."

A gentle smile played on Lotus' face as he placed his right hand onto the taller's arm, rubbing his thumb along the ulna.

Rurik watched his companion carefully as they spoke, "I'm still here, so you already know the answer. I saw your reaction after you hit me. You were just as surprised as I was, so I know you didn't mean what you did. And really, I should have let you calm down first.

"You've been working hard to control yourself better, but no one's perfect and shit happens. The important part is that you're trying, and I can see you're trying. That's why you walked away without saying anything earlier, right? Because you recognized that you were in a bad place and needed to walk away before the situation escalated more?"

"Yeah," Rurik nodded solemnly, still ashamed but thankful that the smaller's expression and body language seemed to align with his words, "I didn't know what else to do without making everything worse, so I left. Now though, I feel like I should have at least apologized, even if it would have sounded hollow at the moment... so I'll say it now.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you and hitting you, I'll do what I can to make sure it doesn't happen again. Next time, I'll try calling you before I get home if I'm in a shitty mood. Hopefully, that'll help prevent another blow-up.

"But if it does happen again, I want you to call me out on it... no, I need you to call me out on it. I don't want to fall back into old habits, but you have to help keep me in check if they start to pop back up. There needs to be boundaries and consequences. Otherwise, I might stop caring again... and I don't want that."

Lotus released a sigh, "The phone thing sounds like a good idea... and yeah, I need to learn to stand up for myself more. Looking back, I did wave off a lot of your behavior and make excuses. I'll try to work on being more firm if anything happens again.

"As for the dog, I'm sorry for encouraging her behavior. I can look into finding a new home for her tomorrow. After that's fixed, I can do some research to see if anything else piques my interest."

"Alright, sounds good," Rurik exhaled in relief and the meal was finished with a much warmer atmosphere. Once the dishes were placed in the sink, the pair retired to the couch for some T.V. and make-up cuddles.

A yawn from the smaller two hours later announced bedtime, prompting Rurik to reach for the remote once more. Lotus slowly made his way up the stairs with Rurik following a few steps behind, flipping the light switch off on the way up.

Hints of moonlight shined through the windows of the darkened house, creeping across the floor as they made their way across the landing to their shared room. The dim light within was able to guide them to the bed without issue, allowing them to burrow under the covers and get comfortable with relative ease.

Watching Lotus set the alarm on his phone and place it on the nightstand, Rurik reached over to pull the smaller skeleton in until their back was flush against his chest, crooning, "Night Lotus."

"Night...," the smaller mumbled in reply, quickly drifting off in his arms. The taller smiled as he closed his sockets to join his companion in sleep.

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Word Count: 1,062