"Ah-- I finally found you!" The child voice's rang out, running up before he clung to the other's leg tightly. "I've been looking for someone from the group forever! Where did everyone go?" Alvin had tears that lined the edges of his eyes. He sniffled for a few moments before he buried his face back, hiding it from view as he realized how embarrassing he probably looked.
"Eh--?"
Jude was caught off guard by the sudden cling, and he looked down in surprise at the...Incredibly small version of the Alvin he knew. "...Alvin?" He couldn't really believe it...There was no such thing as age reversal, there couldn't be.
But proof stared him right in the face, and he gently pulled his leg away so he could kneel down and take little Alvin into a hug. "I was just about to go looking for you. But...What exactly happened? Are you hurt?"
What you got if you ain't got love?Go on and close the curtainsI think I've already lost youStrip away the flesh and boneI don't know how I got here but I refuse to stay
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So Small - Carrie UnderwoodSave Tonight - Eagle-Eye CherryIf You're Gone - Matchbox TwentyUnderneath - Adam LambertFight - Icon for Hire
Atychiphobia – fear of failure
Requested by doublehandedliar
It's easy to feel like you've failed.
Jude could feel it constantly, depending on the circumstance. After battles where he didn't perform his best he would constantly apologize for "being such a bother," and the worry plagued him every moment. Any look of disappointment was a look acknowledging how pathetic he was, how he didn't deserve both what he had and what he wanted.
If he could never break through to someone and help them in their darkest moments, he would be a failure. Which was why he was such a meddler; he needed to know so he wouldn't end up failing his friends.
It even came through in tests grades: he'd pour over study material until it would nearly leak out of his nose, he was so afraid of getting the grades that would basically be considered failure for doctors since they should not come out with less than perfect.
It was often mistaken for perfectionism, for him being nothing but a do-gooder honors student...But it was deep-rooted in a way that no one could see unless they were close enough to look.
[Drabble Prompt] Pnigerophobia [Alvin/Jude if you squint.]
Pnigerophobia - fear of being choked, of being smothered
Requested by doublehandedliar
It happens at night, sometimes. His eyes close and he relaxes for maybe a few moments...The calm before the storm.
Even the ones not likely to attack him participate. The small and soft hands of Elize...The calloused and usually warm hands of Leia...Rowen squeezing tightly against the needed pressure points--
And each time he's afraid, he can't cry out, he can only stare and wonder why they'd do that, what reasons they could possibly have, so many factors and reasons that just make everything so completely terrifying.
One night it's different.
One night Jude feels a gentle caress against his cheek, and as usual his eyes open. But he sees Alvin's eyes, warm and brown and normal, or so it looks like. "You're scared," he says aloud, "But you don't have to be. I'm here for you."
And Jude's so relieved beyond possible words and it most likely shows on his face, for soon Alvin is tugging him up and into an embrace that makes Jude feel protected and secure and loved. His eyes close and he relaxes for maybe a few moments...the calm before the storm.
The hug soon tightens beyond what should be reasonable and Jude starts to struggle, Alvin's grip getting more and more impossibly tighter and Jude doesn't understand, why is this happening, what is this he doesn't get it Alvin explain do something realize I can't even BREATHE--
And when he wakes up choking on air, gripping his throat and struggling like he can't actually take a breath despite the dream not being real, he wonders why Alvin too knows just how to take his breath away.
Milla hadn't been expecting company at her shrine outside of Nia Khera today. In fact, it had been a while since she'd seen anybody from Rieze Maxia. So when a certain familiar somebody appeared in front of her shrine, the young spirit was certainly surprised. So much for going to visit Nia Khera - not when she had a guest now.
"Greetings." Milla said succinctly. "I wasn't expecting company today. You certainly surprised me. Is there any particular reason you've come here today?"
