This makes me feel like such a boomer, but I hate it how all media has been TikTok-ified and algorithm primed. Songs are shorter, designed for short viral clips rather than a full listening experience. TV shows and movies are sloppier, dragging on and on, assuming you’ll be on your phone and have it only in the background. Even books have been chewed up and spat back out as easily consumable tropes, with bite-sized chapters and mannequins for characters. This late stage capitalism hellscape we’re in has made art into something you snack on rather than savor.
Synopsis: you learned long ago to hide your pain. Sylus refuses to let you do that anymore.
Characters: Sylus x Non-MC!reader
Warnings: mentions of past emotionally abusive relationship, dismissive partner (not Sylus), period cramps.
A/N: purely self-indulgent, because my period is approaching and I am already miserable.
You were curled up in a ball under the blanket in your apartment, battling cramps and nausea.
It was only the second day of your period and you were already counting seconds until it was over. Fortunately for you, your boss was understanding and gave you a day off. You highly doubted that your symptoms would subside by tomorrow, so you were trying to mentally prepare ypurself to power through the next few work days.
You really should get up and fill a bottle with hot water, so you could hopefully somewhat lessen the cramps. But just the thought of moving brought on another bout of nausea. You bit your lip as hot, frustrated tears streamied down your face, dampening the pillow.
The ringing of your phone drilled into your skull, triggering another wave of nausea. You looked at the screen and sighed, staring at Sylus’s photo. You considered simply not answering, pretending you hadn’t heard the call. But knowing Sylus, if you didn’t answer he would send Mephisto to check on you. And the mechanical crow, who seemed to worry about you maybe even more than Sylus himself, would definitely find a way into your apartment, even if it meant breaking the window again.
You cleared your throat, hoping you wouldn’t sound as miserable as you felt.
“Heey, Sy, you usually don’t call this early.”
The sound of his deep, smooth voice soothed you slightly.
“A little birdie told me that a certain miss didn’t show up for work today. So I am calling to ask why.”
“Oh, just feeling a bit under the weather, so I took a day off.” I tried to gloss over the subject, but of course, he didn’t let it go.
“Sweetie, you are a workaholic,” his voice retained the same smoothness, but you could hear slight metallic edge in it. “The last time you felt ‘a bit under the weather’ I had to personally drag you home kicking and screaming because you were running a high fever and still insisted on working. And now you are telling me you willingly took a day off. The math isn’t mathing. Spill.”
You sighed heavily, but having no other option, you decided to tell him a half-truth.
“Alright, alright, my period started. You know it’s pretty heavy during the first few days for me. I don’t want to constantly stress about whether I’ve bled through my pad. So my boss allowed me to stay home for today.”
“Really now,” he drawled out, clearly not quite believing me. “So is it okay for me to stop by? I have a very sudden urge to check on my stubborn little girlfriend.”
“I am not little!” you huffed annoyed.
“Uh-huh, says the one whose eye level is in the middle of my chest.” You could almost see his stupidly smug face through the phone.
“At least I have a perfect view in front of me,” you shot back with a smirk. “And I can’t really stop you, soo be my guest.”
Sylus just laughed at my words and said that he will be there soon before disconnecting the call. You threw the phone on the bed and groaned. “Great, now I will have to power through his visit.”
“…Hello, sweetie,” Sylus’s hands settled on your waist as he stared at you intently. “Feeling okay?”
Grumbling under your breath you dragged yourself out of the bed and changed into a decent homewear instead of an old, worn tunic that was your usual period outfit, the one you wasn’t too worried about staining. You fixed yourself up as best as you could and tidied the apartment a little.
Soon the doorbell rang. You took a deep breath, hissing as another painful cramp hit, slapped on a cheerful smile and went to open the door.
“Hiii, Syy,” you giggled, perhaps a little unnaturally, as you wrapped your arms around his neck.
“Oh, you know, as usual during my period,” you brushed off his concern and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
Sylus hummed, clearly not convinced. His red eyes seemed to pierce through you.
Another painful cramp nearly knocked the air out of you, but you managed to hide it without even flinching.
“Oh! How about we try that new coffee blend I bought recently?” you said, slipping away toward the kitchen, while Sylus stood still and just followed you with his eyes.
The moment you were out of his sight, your hands snapped to your abdomen and you doubled over slightly, biting your lip to muffle a pained whimper. But when you heard his approaching footsteps, you immediately straightened up again, hiding behind a smile, that was probably a bit too sweet.
“Err…” You tried to quickly find an excuse to get away. “I think I left my mug in my bedroom, I’ll go get it.”
You started brewing coffee, chatting cheerfully about one of your friends, while Sylus leaned against the kitchen doorway, arms crossed, silently watching you. If you had looked at him, you would have seen his clenched jaw, tightly pressed lips and narrowed gaze, as he watched you like a predator studying its prey.
“… and you know what she said?” you kept rumbling, completely oblivious, when another wave of nausea and cramps hit you again mid-sentence.
You practically ran to your room and shut the door behind you. You crouched on the floor, one hand gripping your abdomen while the other covered your mouth as you fought through the pain and nausea.
“S-Sy?..”
Then you heard the door handle turn. You quickly scrambled to your feet, hoping he hadn’t seen anything. You dashed to your nightstand and grabbed the mug.
“There it is! Let’s go, Sy, it’s coffee time!” You tried to walk past him, but he grabbed you and practically smashed you against his chest. You let out a surprised squeak as the mug slipped from your hand and shattered on the floor.
“Sweetie, is this some new game of yours?” he asked quietly. “Because if it is, I suggest you stop. It’s not funny,” his eyes bored into you.
“W-what game?.. I don’t understand,” you still tried to avoid the subject.
“Whatever it is you are playing at. You think I don’t see that you are in pain?”
You bit your lip and turned your head, avoiding his gaze, only for his hand to grip your jaw firmly, forcing you to look at him.
“Sweetie, is this how our relationship is progressing? Are we lying to each other now?” His voice softened as he leaned closer, giving you those devastatingly sad eyes. “Did I do something wrong? I am sorry if I did. This whole relationship thing is new to me. I am used to gunfights and danger, but not this. I know how to torture answers out of people, but when it comes to you I feel like a complete idiot. I am scared that I am too demanding or too clingy… but I can’t change if we don’t communicate…”
You quickly pressed your hands over his mouth, unable to withstand the pleading look in his eye.
“Sylus… it’s… it’s not you…” you felt like a main character in those silly romcoms, giving an ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ excuse. You took a shaky breath, bracing for the inevitable. “Promise you wont laugh… or judge me?..” You hated how weak your voice sounded, but Sylus just nodded and moved his hand from your jaw to your waist.
“Okay, so… I had a boyfriend a few years ago,” you began quietly. “He had a chronic pain in his dominant arm. He said he was in pain all the time. And during particulary bad flare-ups he could barely move his hand.” You swallowed.
“Soo… when I complained about my cramps… he would dismiss it. He said he was in pain all the time and didn’t complain as much,” tears began to blur your vision. “So I… learned to hide my pain and power through it… because he wouldn’t comfort me anyway. It sort of developed into a habit, that I can’t get rid off…” Your voice trailed as tears started to stream down you cheeks.
“Sweetie, he was a bastard,” Sylus said firmly. “And he didn’t deserve you. He had no right to invalidate your pain just because he experiences it every day.”
His voice softened.
“You don’t have to hide anything from me. You can cry, scream and complain, whatever you need, as much as you want. I want… I need to know when you are happy, sad, in pain, and everything in between. I will never judge you or invalidate your feelings,” his voice was quiet but filled with sincerity. Your breath hitched and you buried your face in his chest, ugly crying.
Maybe this time your period wouldn’t be quite so miserable.
Sylus tightened his arms around you and rested his chin on your head.
“Cry as much as you need,” he murmured. “And after that I am taking you back to my base and we are doing whatever you want for the next few days.” He paused. “Don’t worry, I will deal with your job. Consider yourself on an extended holiday.”
i normally make funny jokes on this acct but i've realised something recently. for years i never understood why orpheus looked back if he really loved eurydice cause i thought it was distrust, i was one of those people who was like yeah if i were him i'd keep walking, but i read it straight out of metamorphoses and i was thinking about it and couldn't get the story out of my head cause why did he look back? and i was thinking about it at school on the stairs cause my friend was going to the drama room with me but sometimes she takes the elevator right and she was like yeah we'll go down together but i didn't hear her so halfway through i looked without even thinking about it. she was right there and i had to stop and go ohhhhhh fuck cause i get it now. i fucking get it now
