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hazyfaith · 1 day ago

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Monster Among Men (3.3k)

Pairing: III & Vessel & II CW: Body Horror, Vomiting, Injuries, Vessel Transformation, Monster, Fluff, Platonic relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Pain.

Summary: The band had been off tour for a couple of weeks, the worship had become less, leaving her to grow weak and in desperate need for more. III felt weird the whole day, the feelings persisting into the night when something paid him a visit.

Read on AO3: Monster Among Men

A/N: This is the gift I made for @soul-has-left-the-chat for the Sleep Token gift exchange!! I'm so happy I could make this for you, what you put for your gift preferences really inspired me! I was so glad when you said you were fine with body horror that I might've gone overboard with it, but oh well!! I hope you'll like it <3

Despite the heaviness of his eyelids, III could not find sleep.

He had gone to bed early, hoping to have a long night of sleep as he had been more tired than usual lately, but alas. Since he got himself settled under the covers, he had turned over and over again, unable to fall asleep.

His gaze was fixed on the ceiling, trying to ignore the never ending headache that was rattling his head. It had been throbbing for the past hours and nothing he did reduced the amount of pain he was in. Usually, after relaxing in a dark room for a few hours or sleeping it off would do the trick, but not that day. Everything was too much.

His whole face was hurting. From his tight jaw, his teeth grinding against one another, his ears ringing, to his eyes burning, he could not get the rest he wanted.

Suddenly, a wave of warmth washed down his body, prompting him to push the blanket off of himself to cool down. As he moved his arms, a sharp pain ran through both of them, his finger tightening their hold on the soft material. His hands remained tense, unable to open them and release what he was holding. After what felt like minutes, he regained control of his hands, letting go of the blanket as his muscles relaxed, relief flooding his mind, only for a few seconds.

A burning feeling made its way up his throat, bile threatening to come out. He got out of bed in a hurry, his head spinning at the sudden movement, before running to the closest bathroom. He swung the door open before scrambling in. His head throbbed even harder, dizziness taking over his body. He gripped the edge of the sink to steady himself, his knuckles turning white.

His stomach churned at the sight of the moving sink, bile coming up his throat once again, this time spilling in his mouth. He dove to the toilet, throwing up a dark blue slug.

He hovered over the toilet, his stomach contracting persistently, unable to stop the viscous liquid from coming out. The burning sensation made his tongue and the roof of his mouth burned, his lips tainted by the liquid. The pressure from it coming out made his throat tightened. He slapped his hand around his throat to loosen it, to no avail. He was choking.

His mouth agape, he hit his chest with his fist, slug finally coming out, splattering the toilet. His airway finally free, he coughed and gasped for air. Every breath he took to regain control felt like a razor blade, making him barely able to fill his lungs fully. Tears pricked in the corner of his eyes, threatening to spill at any moment.

His knees began to hurt from kneeling in front of the toilet, prompting him to sit instead. As he moved his legs he felt a stabbing pain in both his calves. He quickly brought his legs towards his stomach to soothe the pain, only for loud cracking noises to rattle the small bathroom, followed by acute pain in his tibias.

His legs fell back down immediately as he folded forward despite the cramps in his abdomen, grabbing at his knees. The shock from them hitting the floor created two bumps, one on top of each of his shins.

A few seconds passed before he felt something pulling on his feet. His legs were extending as he felt emptiness in his lower legs. The pain became unbearable, the tears in his eyes fully flowing.

When the pulling stopped, he felt like sand and glass shards filled this void, as if millions of microscopic pieces bridged the two parts of the broken bones. The inside of his legs were itching, as if the new part of his bones were jagged.

As he reached his hands to scratch at his legs, his hands caught his eyes. The tips of his fingers were a deep black just like his hands, fading to his natural skin colour as it went up his arms. Despite having naturally long and slender fingers, he could not help but believe that they had also grown. At least his fingernails had grown as he had now red pointy claws.

While he was observing his hands, the cramps in his abdomen worsened although his stomach had calmed down. Beneath his upper ribs, his heartbeat became more powerful, rattling his chest. From inside, his heart was pushing against his thorax. His rib cage expanded, creating an empty space between it and his organs, cracking noises echoing once more in the room.

His headache from before had yet to disappear, it only became worse.

His eyebrows frowning as the pressure against his hairline increased. Grabbing his head, he felt two bulges. At first they were of a small diameter, but enlarged rapidly. He ran his shaky fingers over them, squinting his eyes like he touched a mean bruise.

The bulges pushed upwards, his skin stretching until it broke. Skin filament hung loose as the wooden looking buds came out, blood dripping down his face. As they grew, he felt his skull being pulled, trying to escape from under his scalp.

The dizziness he had felt became worse, forcing him to lie down otherwise he would vomit once more. The cold bathroom floor sent a shiver down his spine, contrasting with how warm his body had become.

The thud of his heart grew in his ear, blocking out any outside noise. The yellow light from the ceiling blinded him. White spots filled his vision before complete darkness took over him.

—-------

Vessel and II had woken at dawn and went on with their day as usual. Since they were not on tour, they had been taking it easy, but still worked on new and old music, preparing for what was to come next.

The whole morning, III had yet to be seen, a normal occurrence as there was no rigid schedule for the time being.

The first two vessels had been in the studio for a little over an hour, working on the next album. III was supposed to join them, but never did, an unusual thing for him as he was alway hyped to create new music. After running over the music sheet one last time, they decided to take a break to get snacks and find where the bassist had wandered off to.

II went to III’s room as it was a possibility that he overslept. Walking down the hall, he passed a closed bathroom with light coming out of the frame, but thought nothing of it yet.

In front of III’s door, he knocked, but there was no answer, prompting him to push it open and take a quick peek. The bed was messy and clothes covered the clothes, but the bassist was nowhere to be seen. After backing out and closing the door, he walked to the lit bathroom, knocking.

Once again, he got no answer. As he was about to head down the hallway, his heart squeezed in his chest, a small voice in his head whispering to knock again. And so he did, this time louder.

“III? Are you in there?” He asked, a muffled groan being the only thing he heard back.

On the other side of the door, III frowned as he was woken up by the knocking. A groan escaped his lips as he sat up. His whole body felt sore like he had worked out excessively the previous day. Getting on his knees in front of the sink, he gripped it and pulled himself up.

A gasp echoed in the bathroom when he saw his reflection in the mirror. Instinctively, his hands went to his head, grabbing on the antlers that had grown seemingly overnight. A shiver went down his spin at the contact. Ignoring it, he glided his fingers up against the soft velvet antlers until he reached the tips. As his arms fell down, his gaze followed and all settled on his face.

He grazed his nails on his face, taking it all in. His eyes were sunken into the sockets, black all around it as if he had put makeup on, His irises were red and his pupils slitted. His cheeks were shallow, the bones clearly outlined. His lips were elongated and thinner than before, his teeth sharper and yellower. Slightly turning his head to the side, he caught a glimpse of his ear, which was long and pointy, contrary to its small and round usual appearance. His neck too seemed weird, much longer.

His breath caught in his throat, he couldn’t believe that what he was seeing was him.

Another knock startled him, his eyes leaving the mirror and falling on the door. “Are you alright? I know you’re in here, I heard some shuffling,” II called out, his eyebrows frowning in worry.

"Can I come in?" Vessel asked, who, at some point joined the drummer, seeing that neither of them were coming to the studio. The only answer he received was heavy breathing.

"III? I'm coming in ok? I need to make sure you're alright."

"No, no no no no," III repeated, panic laced in his voice. How was he going to explain this to his friends?

"III, we want to make sure you're alright. You sound quite scared right now,” II stated despite how obvious it was. He was hoping the bassist would understand their concerns.

"I-I'm ok," He whispered back with a shaky voice.

"We know you're not... Let us help you, yeah?" II chimed in, his hand on the doorknob, turning it slowly.

At the noise, III threw himself against the door, blocking it so they wouldn’t be able to open it and see him like this. He couldn’t let anyone see him. His face alone was so different, they would have a hard time recognizing him. What if they became scared of him?

Vessel and II didn’t waste any time and pushed against the door. III’s distress was too strong to be brushed off, even if he insisted on being fine.

Despite his best effort to anchor his feet on the ground and keep the door shut, III slid across the tiles, allowing for his bandmates to enter the small bathroom.

Gasps erupted as they finally caught a glimpse of III while he rambled about how they should not be seeing him and that they should leave. Even though it was not their first time seeing someone like that, neither of them moved, unsure of how to bring comfort to their friend, simply looking him up and down.

Not only was his face different, his entire body was too. The hair on his head was touching the middle of his back. His limbs were already long to begin with, but they all had become elongated. However, his chest remained the same length, making his body look disproportionated. His hands and feet were black and transitioned to his skin colour as it went up his arms and legs, which was somewhat dissimulated by thick dark hair that covered him. His usually flat chest had grown as if it swelled, the band’s sigil carved in gold in his skin.

Vessel, who had his fair share of taking care of someone in this state, was the first one to reach out. Despite being the first chosen vessel, he had been through fewer transformations than II, who had seemingly been the favorite one for this. However, he had always been there when the drummer went through it, helping in any ways he could.

“Oh, III,” Vessel breathed out, taking III’s hand in his despite the taller man’s protests. “It’s ok, you’re ok,” he reassured him.

“No, no it’s not! I’m-I’m terrifying! ” III exclaimed, gesturing towards himself. “I don't even know what happened... Yesterday I wasn't feeling well and now I look like something straight out of a folklore tale!” He cried out.

“It’s Sleep,” II blurted out, “It happened to me too, many times, in fact.” III’s head turned to him, his red eyes piercing through II’s blue one. Before he could ask any further questions, the singer took a step forward and spoke first.

“We will explain everything, but we need to get out of here. Let’s go to the living room,” he declared, already pulling on III’s arm.

The bassist didn’t complain, letting himself be led out the room. Following his two friends out of the small bathroom, his antlers hit the doorframe, a whine escaping his lips as the shock resonated through his whole body.

“Your antlers are really sensitive, aren’t they?” II asked playfully, wanting to ease everyone’s nerves. He was trying not to show that he was a bit scared as he was not used to seeing someone else transform other than himself. He knew how painful this whole process is, not wishing it on anyone, especially on one of his closest friends.

The walk down the hallway was laborious. Everytime III took a step, he felt like lightning was striking his shins. His knees buckled more than once, throwing off even more his nonexistent balance. After almost falling over, he held onto Vessel’s arm to keep steady. When they reached the living room, III squinted, the bright sun burning his retinas. The drummer quickly caught on to it, closing the curtains while Vessel helped III settle down before getting the tea he had been preparing before joining them in the bathroom.

Sitting down in his habitual spot on the couch wasn’t as comfortable as usual. III’s back wasn’t fully supported, his legs were touching the coffee table, and his shoulders were pushed up his neck since his arms rested weirdly on the armrests. He was used to having difficulties in his everyday life because of his height, but everything was exacerbated by his lingering headache. Huffs and puffs could be heard from miles away as he shifted repeatedly.

His two friends joined him on the couch, waiting for him to stop shifting in his seat. Once he calmed down, Vessel, who was sitting beside him, took his long hands in his, pulling them towards him despite the flinching.

“What’s happening to me?” III whispered, tears filled his worried eyes as he met Vessel’s gaze.

“It’s Sleep’s doing,” He started while III tilted his head. “Since we’ve been on break for a little while, our worship has been weaker than She needs. Festivals and concerts bring her a lot of energy but since we are just practicing and making new music, less energy has been created and received by her. She uses the transformations to get more energy when She grows weak,” he explained.

“I’m usually the one to experience the transformation, but apparently She wanted to try it with you,” II added with a soft smile.

“And through these, She inhabits the person which gives her more energy as She uses her power. Or at least that’s what we understood. It’s not always easy to understand her.”

“She’s… in me?” III questioned.

“Yes, She’s here,” Vessel observed, putting a hand on III’s sternum, “She’s in you now, you’re her vessel,” he declared, the carved sigil flickering beneath his touch.

III was speechless, bringing his own hand to his chest, tingles invading it. A small sense of pride bubbled in his chest. Their god was in him. Sleep had chosen him to regain her strength.

“How long will it last?” III wondered.

“Usually a couple of days, it varies on how weak She has gotten,” II answered.

The bassist lowered his head, “I don’t think I can be like this for that long… I can't do anything! Just walking was a challenge, I looked like a fawn!” He exclaimed, his cheeks red with shame. His independence was something he took pride in, and having to rely on others was always a hard thing to do.

“It’s going to be fine! I’ve helped II during every one of his transformations, we’ll be able to help you too!” Vessel reassured as he saw the humiliation on his friend’s face, rubbing his thumb comfortingly on the back of the hand he was still holding.

“How about we stay here for the rest of the day while you recover, huh? We’ll get some food in you and we can watch movies or take a nap… Does that sound good?” II suggested.

III gave a small nod, his head still down, feeling the two men leaving the living room. Although accepting help wasn’t his strong suit, he knew he would have an even harder time than he already had with his new body.

After letting go of III’s freezing cold hand, Vessel made it his mission to get him a warm fluffy blanket. He needed to be warmer if he was going to feel better. He also made sure to get his laptop to watch movies on, and some more pillows in hope of getting III comfortable.

II went in the opposite direction, heading to the kitchen. From the freezer, he took pre-made frozen soup that Vessel always kept on hand for when he was hosting Sleep or when someone was sick. He quickly went to work and put it in a pot to reheat it. Meanwhile, he filled a glass with water and made a fruit platter that would serve as dessert to get more vitamins in III. The soup warmed up rather quickly, and with all the food on a wooden tray, he was on his way back to his friend.

Vessel had helped the bassist get as comfortable as possible with multiple pillows behind and beside him and a blanket covering him.

“There you go, eat while it’s still warm,” II said as he settled the tray on III’s lap, handing him a spoon.

III tried to grip the spoon like he normally would, but his long nails were getting in the way. Instead, he gripped it like a toddler. He sighed heavily while eating as he struggled to do another simple task. II had asked if he needed any help, resulting in III pulling himself away and mumbling something about not liking being made fun of, a soft giggle escaping the drummer. Throughout the whole meal, Vessel’s eyes were fixed on the carved sigil on his chest as it glowed brighter with each bite.

After finishing his meal, III felt fatigue wash over him. He sank down on the couch, pulling the blanket to his chin. The longer he watched the movie the guys had argued over, the heavier were his eyelids. Soon enough, snores could be heard in the living room, almost drowning out the noise from the laptop.

The three of them took the following days easy. No band practices were held as there was no way he would be able to play his bass with his obnoxiously long fingers and nails. Instead, Vessel and II spent time helping III with everything. From learning how to walk with his oddly proportioned legs, to soothing his itchy antlers as they shed their velvet, they didn’t leave him alone for a second.

II mostly talked him through it, giving him tips on how to handle the rattling in his chest from Sleep, or the random pain in his shins by applying warm compress on them. III couldn’t deny that having someone who knows had experienced multiple transformations already was comforting, he felt less alone through all of this.

Even though She was using III as a vessel, Vessel made sure to maintain a good amount of offerings to Sleep. He also made sure to cook some comfort easy to make meals, something the drummer was always grateful for when he went through it.

It took a couple of days, like II said, for Sleep to regain enough energy before She left III’s body. The process was almost as painful as the beginning, but this time around he had his friends with him to help soothe the pain and help him get back on his feet.

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