Felinis: a fun chapter before... hell
The long and exhausting day came to an end with the return of Rita and Judith and an awkward dinner where they all agreed they'd wait for Flynn to get back to normal before seeing the Elder since he as much as they were unapproving on the matter was a part of this mess. It was looking like they'd need to wait till tomorrow which was fine as far as Rita was concerned because she could spend that time looking for a way to the poor guy.
His condition didn't stop Judith from saying, "I say fuck 'im. Seriously, the guy stabbed me in the stomach with the intent of throwing me in a box where I would slowly be transformed into a blastia core, so yeah, fuck Flynn."
Rita raised her hand in agreement as she mushed peas with her fork in the other, "I second the fuck Flynn motion. He also was totally gonna kidnap Estelle because he was so desperate to save his boyfriend's ass he didn't stop once to question a ship full of deformed and screaming Krytians."
"In Flynn's defense, Alexei is pretty convincing when he wants to be," Yuri shrugs, "Like, I'm certain that he could somehow convince me to suck his dick given the chance and I have zero interest in that shit."
Raven immediately sits up, "Oh no, he totally can do that! I've sat on meetings between him and the Don with enough sexual tension to make ya think they'd been at for months. Alexei got game!"
A deep and beleaguered sigh from Karol, "Why and how did I somehow just feel in my soul that it was only a matter of time before this happened?" He turns and looks to Estelle to be the voice reason but instead of looking bashfully and fully ready to protest the entire matter is shrugging her head back and forth.
"I mean, not my type at all but I'd hard consider it under the right circumstances," Estelle says taking a light sip of wine. And no, she's not drunk in the slightest.
"Oh my god, we are really going there," Karol says into his palm.
Rita takes a bite, "Nah, I'm too gay for that shit… but I dunno right now my hate boner is strong enough to consider doing so much shit that'll make it so he can't walk straight and is sore for weeks."
Patty hums and nods, "Yeah, I'd suck off the silver fox with the right words."
"Don't think I would," Judith says.
"Am I the only one bothered by this entire conversation, at all?" Karol says and everyone is for some reason totally engrossed in this and he's not sure why. He looks over at Repede who has long since finished his dinner and casually passes over his plate. "We live on the darkest timeline Repede. I'm sure of it. Like, this is all gonna end with me in an eyepatch regretting my life choices at not even fucking thirteen and it's all because of a fucking eggbear."
Repede nodded his head before digging in on the scraps pondering to himself why in the world a human would ever suck a dick to begin with. Humans are so weird with their sex lives and he's never going to understand it.
"Okay, but fuck, marry, kill but with Alexei, Ragou, and that dicksqueeze Cumore," Rita adds to the conversation and Karol finally snaps.
"I'd kill my fucking self because this all weird and gross and what the fuck is wrong with all ya'll?"
Estelle looks down at her glass in shame, "I'm just really stressed, okay…" and everyone nods awkwardly along.
"It's all for fun. We need ta laugh at the enemy right now," Raven chuckles forcefully. "And, dicks are inherently funny."
"Not like we can mock his vagina," Rita notes, "Plus, vaginas aren't as funny. Like they can be, but I think dicks are funnier."
Judith pumps her fists in the air, "Dick jokes for life!"
Karol shakes his head and chooses to walk away to let the adults and the bizarre mental anomaly that is Patty have their fun. "I can't. I just can't. I wasn't prepared enough for this when I woke up today. Goodnight people! I am removing this conversation from my brain. I love you all but this- this I can't do."
Yuri asks if he'd check up on Flynn and make sure he was still sleeping and he does. Flynn is. Karol really does feel for Flynn and understand why he did it. He can't forgive Flynn for his part in the Don's death, but he can at least comprehend what lead him to such cold and drastic measures. He looks only a moment before walking and laying on the bed enjoying Repede's soft company.
"You think Nan would ever forgive me because I forgive her?" He's been putting out of his mind the whole time but if Nan hated him for everything he would understand it. He hurt her just to protect his friends despite the fact that he cares for her… Wants to see her happy and no longer mad at the world and the monsters that live in it.
He's stronger now so maybe while she won't forgive him he can make that a reality for her. His eyes get heavy as he thinks of all the things he'd love to do for Nan because he wants to see her smile again. He's only seen it a few times but to him, it's the prettiest smile in the world.
Yuri spent the night in Flynn's room keeping an eye on him in case he started wandering out of the room or screaming before he was completely lucid. It happens a lot to him, enough that Flynn knows better than to stand behind him and suddenly start talking after long periods of silence or to tap him without warning. He doesn't react as much as he used to but when he was younger he may or may not have bitten Flynn just because he was half-asleep and startled.
He woke up first and frowned at the sight of the scales covering Flynn's face like a blotchy rash that may never go away. Flynn's face may always be marred by that unnatural marine tint and that disturbed texture that looked thick and leather- wrong! It's not a texture for a human face!
His hand touched the skin softly and he wished he could add it on to the growing freakshow he's becoming and spare his friend. Not like he has much of a future ahead for him anyway because even if Rita does halt the process if she doesn't reverse it Yuri will never be able to walk with humans again.
Honestly, with how his life is shaping up he'd rather die than live trapped in a hole somewhere.
Flynn's nose twitches a smidge mouth hanging open a hint ad he presses against his hand. With a groan he opens his eyes with a flutter and looks at him curiously. "Yuri, what happened? My head hurts."
"It's okay, you had a bit of an episode but nothing bad happened. Does it hurt worse than yesterday?"
Flynn narrows his eyes as he clumsily starts to sit up. "No- no, I don't think so and my nose has finally stopped burning. Something smells... why do I smell chocolate cake?"
He giggled because no fucking way was this happening. "Holy fucking shit, I can finally prove I wasn't crazy!"
Flynn's already unnaturally blown out eyes went wider. "No..."
"Yes."
"No..."
"Better fucking believe it, Flynn! This is what I have been living with for over ten fucking years!" Yuri says and Flynn throws his head back in defeat.
"Oh, my, fucking-by fucking-mother- goddamnit! I smell like a goddamn bakery!" Flynn groaned pinching at his nose and gagging a little. "With how you talked I always thought it was like this thing you focused on but this is... Does everyone have scents like this?"
Yuri shakes his head, "Nope. Most folks have weaksauce scents ya gotta focus on. The only other person I've met who has an everlasting aroma is Estelle and that's just all the aer she's got around her all the time. Flynn, you have the most obnoxious body odor in the history of ever."
"It's weird. When you said it was weird I didn't understand how it could be that weird but this is so goddamn fucking weird." Flynn shook his head and took another deep breath through his nose and held back a sneeze. "How the hell have you gotten used to it?"
Yuri shrugged because the honest answer is he just did. Learned to tune Flynn's scent out and he really only noticed it whenever it would subtly change or whenever he felt like tracking him down. He's not even the only person he's met that smells like sweets, Karol actually smells like caramel candies and sweet bread but it's not an active element Yuri is constantly aware of. Flynn is a genuine oddity.
Flynn keeps forcing out broken laughs as his face falls and Yuri knows he felt the scales on his face because immediately he looks to the splotch between the thumb and pointer finger as he stares at his palms and notes the ridges are raised and look thicker than they should. "Hm, guess I thought my teeth would fall out first or I'd wake up with hair to the floor like you do... But, hey, I can work with this. It's not so bad."
"Flynn..."
"My back hurts too... Wonder if I'll grow wings or something? That be-"
"SHUT UP!" Yuri yells pulling him into a tight hug digging his claws accidentally into Flynn's arms, "It sucks! It's scary! And if you act like it's fucking okay or cool for this to be happening to you I'll kill you and you'll deserve it! So just... talk about it if you have to but don't try to play it cool for me… I know better than anyone how fucking awful this all feels."
Flynn pried the claws off and Yuri winced when he noticed the bit of blood and pierced skin. "I sorry… I kind of don't know what else to do. Being scared is just going to make it harder to push ahead and right now I have to focus on doing what I can even if it's not much."
"At least you can hold a sword and fight. Not to mention even as you are you've got the charisma and the power to rally the knights behind you no problem." In the end, it might just be easier for everyone for Yuri to stay here where he won't be a liability once they get ready to leave.
Flynn sniffs the air the again and his lips curl. "This is going to drive me insane."
"Just wait till you stand next to Estelle. Ugh, I've only just gotten to a point where my nose won't burn after a few hours. Also, you bit me five times on purpose," Yuri says.
"What! I did not! You're lying! Why the hell would I bite you?" Flynn stood up and walked over to the mirrors carrying a cutting knife and sawing at one his horns. Honestly, they look less like horns and more like antlers but structurally feel like horns so they're sticking with horns as the defacto descriptor.
"Same reason I do. I everyone looks like they'll kill and the only ones you like are the ones that give you food." Seriously, Yuri is certain that it was the food that won his subconscious lizard brain over when it came to not biting the shit out of a Flynn even more-
Oh, his fur is matted there. Probably should lick it down.
"Yuri?"
"Yuri?"
"…Yuri?"
"Yuri!" A shout breaks him from his mini daze and Yuri pull him away from his… "Yuri!'
He snaps upright and his eyes spin on the person talking to him but Yuri falls back in before one final snap makes him lucid. He rubs his eyes and cringes at how he probably just didn't sleep well enough last night. Yeah, that's it. "I'm fine. What were we talking about again?"
Flynn blinked back at him but resumed shaving the horns off his head looking back at Yuri in confusion through the mirror. Has he noticed? No, because he would have said something, when he pulls together some random topic that they weren't talking about and Yuri barely notices that Flynn is dancing around how Yuri won't stop talking in Geraios and has no idea what he's saying. Yuri's seems in a daze but not like an episode just a daze and doesn't acknowledge that Flynn is poking his face for more than a second.
No response…
"Yuri?" Flynn smack his face a little and he finally seems back to normal but Flynn continues to watch as he dresses. His mind can't be slipping already, can it? No- no- no way! Yuri's fine… probably just a little out of it…
When the horns were finally chopped off and Flynn was a form that he could comfortably call presentable they stepped out into the open air with the intent on starting the day with everyone and learning what they could about the Adephagos. It doesn't stop Flynn pulling aside Rita and telling her almost immediately what he saw.
"Rita, be honest, which do you think is going to give out in Yuri first?"
The mage grimaced as she looked out the corner of her eye at Yuri joking with Karol. "Given that his entire skull is probably going to change structure and how much energy that would take his mind will probably collapse first. That's why I need to figure this out quickly."
"No magic on earth will fix his brain once the process truly starts."