Little Lies
Horror x Motti, Bad Sanses x Motti
Word count: 951
Horror ruminates.
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Their arrangement is all casual, or it was supposed to be. They all agreed upon it that their relationship was simply to get out of Nightmare's face and to dump the three at Motti's place when he had enough of their antics. Neither of them anticipated it growing more than just a place of repose. However as time went on things changed and mostly for Horror.
He wouldn't dare admit it to anyone, let alone to Motti. He's still not sure where he stands with her and part of him is afraid to know, yet, here he is with her laying on his chest like his body was made to caress hers.
His phalanges combed her hair as gently as he could, but she didn't seem to mind the occasional bump or tug.
He liked this.
He wants more of this.
Just the two of them together alone and living in domestic bliss, but even Horror laughs at his own desires. Him? Playing house? Is he even allowed that? But if not, then what have they been doing all day? She cooked him a full meal and he helped lift the couch so she could vacuum under it. He attempted to help dry the dishes but broke a few, and now they're cozy up to each other watching a dumb B-rated thriller.
It tugs at his soul and his head pounds from the thoughts swarming. Motti and him used to be at each other's throats; the very sight of each other could ruin their day. He is not at all sure when that changed. All Horror knows is that it began to irritate him when Motti would neglect herself from overworking and then putting Killer or Dust above her own needs. What a stupid girl.
He gets irritated at those thoughts, his brow furrowing and he has to stop himself from growling. He can't deny that if Killer or Dust was out of the picture Horor would be a lot less territorial, a little easier to deal with, but he's nowhere near ready to open up to Motti about how he feels or what he really wants.
Everytime he catches a glimpse of himself he gets an ugly reminder of what happened to him and, truthfully, he doesn’t understand how Motti can stand looking at his face. Some days he can’t even look himself in the eye as he’s just constantly reminded of how different he is from his old self.
A yawn causes Horror to steal a glance down at Motti and watches as she tries to keep her eyes open. He sighs and runs the tips of his phalanges along her arm.
He wants to laugh at himself, he really does, because he knows that if the core didn’t shut down and caused the magic in the underground to go haywired he still would have been his charming, pun loving self. Now look at him. A massive beast with an unsightly hole in his head and a former shell of who he used to be.
He hates having to think how Motti would have instantly liked his old self and she wouldn’t have met this jaded old bastard. It would have been so easy to sweep her off her feet, just a pun here or there, casually dropping hints and making her feel like he was her everything. But no, instead, Motti got an insidious freak with a quick temper and more LOVE than he ever thought was possible. She would not feel so safe curled up on him like this if she really knew what he had done or what his hands were stained with.
Even if he never ate a human Horror can’t bring himself to tell her the truth. The thought of her eyes looking at him with disgust causes his old bones to ache with a feeling he can not yet discern. It’s kind of pitiful that Motti can wear her heart on her sleeve and opened up to him more than he has even graced her with. Yet, he has resolved to himself that he will keep it that way as long as he can. If he can continue to make believe and fool himself that he’s all she wants, he can live with that. Live with the lies and live with the love she gives.
He’ll tolerate Killer and Dust for now. Since he has yet to tell Motti he doesn’t want to share because then that would mean he would have to admit that he cares for her in a manner that he hasn’t felt like for some time, if ever. Would she even look at him as a partner? He doesn’t particularly believe that even with how she treats him now. Maybe it’s because neither of the other boys are here to keep her entertained…
His soul drums against his ribcage, his anxiety spiking. That’s got to be it. She got tired of being irritated by him because Killer and Dust can’t be around all the time. Even if they do mundane things together that she doesn’t really do with the others, it must because he’s just a massive heap of bones. How can she give and receive any sort of affection from him?
Maybe he is just the placeholder after all.
Horror growls loudly while his eye forms into a slit and his mouth pulls into a harsh snarl. Motti becomes alert, snapping out of her drowsy state and goes to look at Horror but her world spins as she’s dropped to the floor. “Wha-” Before Motti can finish her sentence Horror shortcuts out of her apartment. Dazed and confused, Motti just stares at the spot where he once was.
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VERY glad that Evontra’vir said “the titans are dead” because like there are currently living beings that will suffer if Ludinus’s plan succeeds and they just don’t seem to matter compared to titans that died a millennia ago??? (After trying to wipe out mortals themselves)
Hey anon,
Agreed. The thing about the titans coming up is that it does, actually, make a lot of sense for the two characters who have been most vocal about it - Ashton and Laudna - to feel this way! But it doesn't come from a rational place; it comes from profound trauma and loss about which they can't be objective.
Taliesin talked about this on 4-Sided Dive: Ashton is grabbing on desperately to the one piece of information they know now about their missing childhood and is "leaning into it...probably before he should." We know this about them; Ashton's been emblazoning themself with the Hishari and Dunamancy symbols without having a single clue what they were. The titans are part of that. Did you notice how he keeps saying "things are changing" and didn't actually like...provide any meaningful information? Again to quote 4SD: "...there's not a lot of judgment happening about whether or not that's a good thing or not, and what it actually means." Like, I think that, based on Ashton's past position of "don't kill everyone for your goals, that is shitty" if they did stop, and process, and set aside that strong emotional factor that's in play (which is not something I'd expect them to be able to do easily!) They'd realize that the titans returning, were that possible, would be cataclysmic. But that's not what they're thinking about right now. I think Evontra'vir bluntly stating that the titans are dead was a needed splash of cold water on that line of thinking.
My thought re: Laudna is that it's slightly more metaphorical. Consider her backstory: a conquering force swept in and destroyed most of what had been there before. She is a relic both of that earlier time and of that conquering force, and the subjugation she experienced never truly stopped, even though Whitestone has moved on. Of course she'd see herself in the titans in the telling of stories about the titans! People like Percy get to return and revitalize and build a new family and grow old and happy and die, despite their trauma, and she's caught between life and death forever. Of course she'd relate to some half-buried thing that people call monstrous and ancient and displaced! But that doesn't actually help her do anything about her situation and it's not a philosophy that really is useful in understanding the larger geopolitical (and, frankly, cosmic) reality happening right now, because, yeah, if you let the titans back, people will die.
For both these characters - who have spoken to each other about being physically altered and left for dead, alone, in ways no one else can quite understand, I think there's something immensely seductive about the idea of something older than the gods, something defeated but could rise again, which both is relatable to their own situations and comes neatly packaged with a reason why it didn't save you when you called out. But it's still a fantasy. It's not real, it's not going to happen, and so it's important that Evontra'vir, who as Jirana said, does not mince words, called it out for what it is. The titans are dead. Something of their essences does remain for you to use to make a choice. You are going to have to do this using your own judgment; you are doing the saving; stop worrying about the dead and start thinking about what you will do to serve the living.
I think an emerging theme of this campaign - and arguably a secondary theme of the past campaigns, and really, the theme of D&D if you think about it, is that the person you developed into because of your trauma, and the coping mechanisms and behaviors and presentation you developed as a result may eventually cease to serve you once you find a support network and begin to be given more and more agency within the world; and indeed, if you cling to these things they will begin to hurt those around you, and eventually you as well. I think "The Titans are dead" is one way to very, very bluntly and effectively communicate that.
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ohhhh saeem... dude i am also not neurotypical so i latch onto characters and they are my everything until my hyperfix decides they're not. which. i have a charcater i've felt super attached to for years b/c of that and dear jesus your little unova scientist ace twerp is one of them.
SO REAL OF YOU!!! i do the same thing...
whenever i get a new hyperfixation, i pick one character to latch onto and run off with them. this time it just happened to be Colress, which was unexpected because i had literally forgotten he existed before i rewatched b&w a few months back. the reason i read the manga was to see more of Ingo & Emmet, but instead i walked out of that with a new favorite.......
usually i move onto a new character within a few months or so (because i also have adhd, so i get bored of things quite quickly) BUT!!! i am very much hoping this one lasts longer. i will grasp onto this scientist specifically until my last breath i swear..............
obligatory random Colress image
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