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The quiet chill of winter blanketed the forest as thickly as the freshly laid snow. The crystalline sheet sparkled under the crescent moon. Twilight lit the woods in a soft glow, revealing the stillness of the forest. Most critters have tucked in for the night, leaving only a few lonely souls to stalk the night.
It’s the faint crunching of snow underfoot that finally breaks the stillness. A pair of slippered feet lazily trudge through the snow, blemishing the smooth white blanket with messy prints. A lone skeleton leads the trail, the abandoned warmth of the cabin just barely visible in the distance.
The skeleton continues its march into the chill of the night. Their hands were firmly stuffed into their thick blue jacket. Puffs of hot breath escaping from non-existent lungs every other step, and steam rising from their skull, and the multitudinous colored flames that escape their cracked head.
Despite there being no obvious destination for them to go, the colorful skeleton stopped with purpose at the foot of a large oak tree. It’s brilliant, branches reached out wide, while some stretched out high. Its leaves and snow-covered branches blocked the stellar beauty of the sky as the skeleton craned their head to look up. Their soft, flaming magic, warmly pulsed green and cyan.
A dark quietness greeted them, but regardless, they called out, up into the tree, “killer.”
An ominous chuckle drifted down to them, and a dark shape slumped out from behind a far-up branch. The glowing red pulse of a target-shaped soul was revealed, and with it the haunting outlines of yet another skeleton, its smile chillingly dead as it was washed in the blood red light of their own twisted soul.
“Color. You rrrrreally shouldn’t be here~” Killer purred, his dead sockets dripping more ichor as his sharp smile ticked up a notch.
Color sighed, a tired frown finding a resting place upon his jaw. “come here.”
Killer let out another low chuckle, bringing up a gloved hand that smeared the dripping dark substance as he tapped the side of his socket. He leaned nonchalantly against the tree, his body language open and easy, but despite their lack of lights, his sockets held a sharp, calculating gaze. “You sure you want lil ol’ me down there? Up close and personal. Right in stabbing range~.”
Color huffed, a flash of orange cycling through his fluctuating flames before green and cyan took over once again. “yes, killer. come down. now.”
“Ooo, listen to that tone!” Killer jeered while swiftly pulling out a knife, only to waggle it like a mother’s disapproving finger down at Color. “Best we don’t walk down that path, hmmm?” Killer said with a head tilt. A small drop of the viscous liquid flicked off his skull with the motion.
Color sighed again as he stood at the base of the large tree. His foot gave a single impatient tap that matched the sharp flicker of his flames, before he closed his sockets and took a deeper, slower breath. Opening them once again, Color calmly looked up at Killer, their sockets meeting. “k, can ya please come down. i wanna talk to ya.”
Killer stood silent upon the branch, his whole body still but for the dripping ichor. A pregnant quiet grew between them as they both stared the other down. One patient and kind, the other an emoteless husk of their former self. Finally, Killer spoke, a single word piercing the silence of the night. “Okay.”
With a pop of displaced air, Killer appeared leaning against the base of the tree. A sharp hunter’s blade twirling in his skilled phalanges. “So, what’s up?” He asked, his words hollow with no real feeling behind them.
Color’s frown deepened with concern, and he automatically took a step forward, a hand lifting to offer a comforting touch to Killer’s shoulder.
But Killer stepped away, his back going ramrod straight as he stood.
“Don’t.” Killer grits out, his teeth clenching with his strained and wild smile. “Don’t,” he says again, his gaze finally leaving Color to look away.
Color had flinched at the sudden move, his hand pausing in the air. He let it fall now with the hanging silence. Color flicked his eyes towards the red target upon Killer’s chest, the soul was making slow, ominous ripples, verging on the thin line of stability. Stage 3 was a simple misstep away.
“k, look at me.” Color called softly, his gaze traveling back to Killer’s face. Worry for Killer tinted the edges of his voice.
Killer did not look.
“k,” Color said, his voice firming at Killer’s continued aloofness.
Killer continued his blank stare into the distance, the fingers of his distant left hand tapping irritably against his sweatpants.
Color’s brow furrowed as he took Killer in. The multi colored flames emitting from his skull flickering quickly, each color, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, cycling through before settling on purple and green. “k?” He asked slowly, once again stepping forward to try and ground Killer.
Killer flinched back, hissing “Don’t!” through clenched teeth as his gaze snapped back to Color. More ichor gushed through his wild sockets as he shot Color a defensive snarl. “Don’t touch me! Not now! Not now.”
Color sucked in a breath as Killer’s soul warbled dangerously, his eyelights darting worriedly from Killer’s soul and face. More dark ichor dribbled down Killer’s cheeks as a shuddering laugh rippled through him. His sharp chuckles were manic as he brought his shaking hands up to pull on his leaking sockets.
“Hehehehe! Look at you! You’re scared, aren’t you, Color? Scared of me~.” Killer chuckled, his dead gaze piercing Color through the clawing phalanges digging at the edges of his sockets. “I scare you! HAHAHAHA!”
Color’s frown tightened at Killer’s deranged laughs, but he stood his ground, refusing to back away from the twitching skeleton. Despite Killer’s agitation, color relaxed his stance. His posture open, all while his eyelights remained bright and observant as he closely watched Killer. “k,” Color started softly, “i’m not affrai-.”
“HA! Oh no!? You think you can trick me? We share the same face Color! I know all your tells~. You’re afraid.” Killer chuckled darkly, the outer edges of his soul beginning to fray and twitch, as its red glow pulsed and rimmed his face in its crimson aura.
Color slowly shook his head, lifting both hands from his pockets to hold out at a lowered, easing stance. “k, please just listen, I am not af-”
Killer snapped forward, a firm grip latching onto Color’s jacket to roughly pull and shove him into the tree, now digging into his back.
Color gasped in shock, his flames sparking sporadically. He barely muffled a cry of pain as a fiery pain blossomed in his fragile bones upon impact.
Color panted, opening his sockets, he’d closed in surprise. His eyelights small pin pricks as he met Killer’s dead sockets. His body was pushed up against his own, pinning Color to the tree behind him with Killers' weight and the knife that delicately feathered across his open neck vertebrae. He swallowed, his mouth feeling dry as his shaking dots locked onto Killer.
“How about now, Color? Still feeling brave, looking death in the eyes?” Killer whispered with a dark, unhinged chuckle. The fine tip of his blade scratched a thin line down Color’s neck bones.
Color shuddered, but otherwise remained still as Killer stared hungrily at his neck. His jaw barely cracked open to utter his response. “k, stop, y-you’re hurting me.”
Quick as lightning, Killer stiffened at those words. His bones locked up painfully still. A sharp hiss escaped Killer’s clenched teeth as he noticed the bead of marrow building where his blade had cut too deep. A small, slow dribble followed the trail Killer had made in Color’s vulnerable neck.
“k? can, can you get off me, please?” At Color’s hesitant question, Killer sucked in a shuddering breath and quickly stepped back from Color. His blade fell from his shaking hands, dissipating before it hit the ground.
“No, no, no, no, no no nononononono.” Killer murmured, shaking his head as he retreated inward. His hands came up to clutch painfully to his arms, his knuckles creaking at the pressure. Killer took another step back, his soul flickering wildly as he hunched over. The dark ichor of his eyes dribbled onto the snow with sickening splatters. He watched the black tar stain the snow as his non-existent lungs pulled heaves of crisp air into his empty chest.
Color touched his neck, grimacing when his hard phalanges caught the slight nick there. His eyes watched Killer, frowning at his partner’s clear inward spiral. With the straightening of his spine and a sharp flicker of his flames, landing on green and orange, Color took a sure step forward.
Killer jerked at the firm hands that landed on his shoulders. His face snapped up with a vicious crack. Color stood there, seeming firm and solid, and there, as the rest of Killer’s world jittered and blurred, the red threatening to take over. To harm. To kill. “G-go aw-away,” escaped his parted and panting mandible as he tried to break from Color’s grasp.
Color shook his head, his mouth shifting into a sad smile as he watched Killer crash. His hand gave Killer’s arm a grounding squeeze.
“G-go, I-I’ll hurt y-you. G-go!” Killer stuttered out, once again wrenching back, trying to get away.
Color’s solid grip did not break with Killer’s jerkings. The other skeleton stood firm as the other crumbled.
“P-please. Pleas-se Color-r-r. S-stop. Stop-p!” Killer pleaded, his hands shaking as vivid blood red magic began to pool within his palms. His mind was simultaneously screaming at him, one to conjure his knives, while the other begged him to stay strong and resist. Killer squeezed his sockets shut, the flow of ichor building up to slosh disturbingly within them.
“k,” Color gently murmured, his voice nearly soft enough to be carried off in the wind. “k,” he called again at no response, a boney hand coming up to gently cup Killer’s trembling skull within it.
Killer let out a shuddering breath as he felt Color’s thumb delicately wipe away at the black tar tracks below his sockets. His soul partially warbled into a heart at the action, one that in recent years he’d slowly become familiarized with. His soul just and quickly frayed, though. Anxiety and panic were driving him to clench his fists. He was entirely unpleased at the presence of his nearly solidified knives that ghosted his palms. The weapons felt right and wrong in tandem, making Killer let out a distressed whimper. “S-s-stop.”
“k. k, look at me.” Color encouraged, his other hand rising to settle on Killer’s other cheek.
Killer shook his head, his hands tightening around the blade handles. “I-i’ll hurt y-you. Again.” He whispered, his voice warbbling with the jittering of his jaw.
“no,” Color responded, his words as solid and there as his forehead clinking to a rest on Killer’s. “you won’t.”
Killer’s soul warped again, shifting into a heart for longer, before falling back into an irritated target. “I-i will,” Killer muttered back, leaning into Color’s touch despite knowing the lingering threat of his volatile mind.
“you say that, but I don’t think you will, not in a way that matters. i can’t promise that our path will be without pain, nor exceptionally long; neither of us can. but i can say this with certainty, as long as we both live, we’ll have each other’s backs.”
The sad, humourless chuckle of a broken man escaped Killer’s jaws. It’s hollow noise reverberating in the winter air, as its coldness challenged that of the night’s. “Heh, until I stab it,” He muttered in response.
Color tsked, nuzzling Killer softly. “you may not see it, but everyday i see you grow a little better. i see it in how you avoid violent provocations. i see it in how you quietly exist beside me as i nap or knit. i see it in how you fret over the cats getting equal treats and attention. i see it in you.”
Killer choked out a sob, his teeth clenching as he leaned further into Color, the other shifting to pull Killer into a chest-to-chest embrace. “Wh-why?” He warbled out, his own hands shakily rising to reciprocate the hug. The warm cloth of Color’s jacket slid against Killer’s palms, acting as a soothing balm as they settled upon Color’s broad back. The heat of Color’s softly pulsing flames so close, further soothed Killer.
“beacause i love you, stupid, and i always will. no matter the timeline, no matter the world. i’ll be there,” Color’s warm timbre stated. The side of his skull sliding to lean against Killer’s.
Time passed as the two skeletons stood there clutching each other. The dark forest loomed impartially over the two forms; the night and its critters continued without them. Even the breeze shrugged by uncaring as the two souls found comfort and home in the other. Only the chill of a unforgiving winter broke them from their solemn solace.
Color pulled away first, a breathy sigh leaving him as he did so. “ready to head back?”
Killer nodded, finally opening his tightly shut sockets. The stored flood of dark ichor finally weeping out to run like cheap mascara meeting water. Killer blinked, bringing his fist up to swipe at the dribbling substance.
Color chuckled, his smile becoming warm again at the sight of Killer’s sole eyelight. It’s dim light peeking out from the darkness, while his soul buzzed in a steady, upside-down heart. “there you are, gorgeous. let’s head home,” Color grinned, offering Killer his hand as his flames settled into purple and cyan.
Killer accepted the hand with no complaint, his smile forming into something genuine as they slotted perfectly together. With a nod, the two walked off. The warm cabin beckoned to them as they trudged side by side, hand in hand. It was the start of something better, to something new.