Vesuvia weekly ; Familiar Swap
Pairings : none
Fandom : The arcana visual novel
Warnings : very angstyyyy ; feeding a snake ; valdemar working on a corpse ; handling of bodyparts ; beetles/insects
Summary : It wasn't the first time. Hells, it would probably always be like this... Not even cold blooded creatures wanted his careful touch.
Liam watched sadly as Faust curled up into a ball onto the draped table, his heart constricting painfully in his chest. He folded his hands back onto his lap after yet another failed attempt at holding the blue snake. Asra had gone out once more, but had left Faust in Liam's care. It didn't seem to bother her at all, but every time Liam tried to reach out for her, to try and carry her like Asra would, she'd recoil. He didn't understand... Was she scared of him? He was certain she'd known him for a while... What was wrong with him?
He sighed and got up, going to the kitchen. There, he picked up the little bucket in which he'd left a mice or two to warm up, and brought the bucket back to Faust. He watched as she slithered into it and started eagerly eating one of the mice. Was he even allowed to watch...? His mind went back to a day or two ago when he'd tried giving her food by hand, which is something Asra would always do -even though he'd been advised against-. The one time Liam had tried, Faust categorically refused to eat the mouse presented to her. It's as if the fact that Liam had touched the food was enough to make it simply impossible for her. He'd tried leaving the mouse to rest for a while, thinking maybe it had to do with his smell potentially tainting that of the small rodent, but even hours after, she wouldn't eat it. That memory alone made the necromancer feel even sadder. He looked away from the blue snake eating, crossed his arms on the table and rested his head into it, sighing. Faust wouldn't let him carry her, pet her, touch her at all, feed her by hand...
What was wrong with him...?
The next few days weren't as hard to deal with as Liam had expected. He simply ignored Faust unless it was time to feed, if only to keep himself sane for a little bit longer. When Asra came back, he thanked him; apparently, Faust had enjoyed staying at the shop and taking it easy for once. Liam said nothing and stayed in his room for the rest of the evening...
Portia, in a hurry, had asked Liam if he could spend the night at her cottage and feed and take care of Pepi, as she was extremely busy with dinner preparations for the Countess and her sisters that night. Liam hesitated, but accepted, a small spark of hope in his chest. As the moon rose, he made his way to the small, nature-surrounded house. He searched for the keys for a little while in his pockets, as well as the small note Portia had left him about where the food was. Through the wooden door, he heard some excited -albeit impatient- meowing and smiled. "There there, the food is coming." he said gently while chuckling as he opened the door. He smiled down brightly at the cat, but as soon as she saw him, her pupils blew wide and she took several steps back, back arched and tail puffed in warning. Liam's heart almost shattered in pieces right here and there, his smile dropping. "Oh, of course..." he mumbled under his breath, the door behind him softly. He pulled the hood of his robe over his head, feeling something akin to shame at the way the cat reacted to him. He avoided looking at her, went into the kitchen, simply grabbed the food and put the small bowl in the living room's floor. He then retracted to the corner of another room, from where he silently observed Pepi as she carefully started eating. It seemed putting some distance helped a little...
Later in the night, in a desperate attempt to befriend the cat, Liam sat down on the floor and softly called out to her, extending his hand for her to smell. The cat warily approached, her fur standing somewhat on end as she sniffed around Liam's finger. She let out a confused growl, wondering why her mistress' scent was mixed with that of this...
She then hoped away, going to drink some water. Liam let his hand drop back down, as he knew this was the closest he was ever going to get.
When he noticed Portia coming back, he promptly left the house, walking up to her with a faint smile. She warmly thanked him, before walking through the door of the cottage. Liam distinctly remembers the way Pepi jumped in her arms and meowed happily, her mistress coddling her and pampering her little head with kisses before going to bed, blowing out the candles that had been lit for the night. He doesn't know how long he'd stayed standing there, on the dirt path, fighting back his tears...
It was a normal day. Too normal... Boring, almost. Liam sat there, at the shop's counter, and found himself counting the minutes that passed. His fingers drummed against the glass under his hands, and he sighed. There hadn't been a single client today. It happenes, he supposed. But Gods he really didn't have anything to do right now... He decided to leave. He closed the shop and walked down the streets of Vesuvia, towards the palace. He tried to be quick, but had to take a good few minutes to catch his breath once he'd reached the top of the stairs that led to the palace. Once he entered, he greeted the few people he saw, and walked towards the library. There, he opened the passage to the dungeons and walked down. If there was one person who knew how to pass the time creatively, it was them.
He smiled as he noticed Valdemar at their operation table, as usual, busy with a corpse. They only gave a brief hum of acknowledgement when he said hi. "Would it be strange if I asked you if I can stay?" he asked next. "A little." they replied, not looking up from whatever organ they were fiddling with. Liam fiddled with his fingers. "...So can I stay?" It didn't matter if he helped or not, he just... Didn't want to be alone. He swallowed the lump in his throat at the unfortunate realization he'd just made, and simply stood off to the side, arms crossed and eyes downcast. Valdemar didn't say anything, and Liam took it as a somewhat affirmative response.
Unexpectedly, Valdemar spoke up after a while. "Here, could you throw me this in the pit?" they said, extending a severed arm in Liam's general direction, still not looking up from the corpse they were working on. The necromancer blinked a few times, taken aback by the request but shrugged and executed himself. He took the arm from their grasp, and walked towards the beetle pit, pulling the lever that opened it. To his surprise, hundreds of little red beetles crawled out, and started climbing his legs, some his arms, and others already gnawing at the severed limb in his hand. He froze and stared wide eyed for a hot minute... He could barely even hear the creatures' skittering. The beetles... Were they not... Afraid of him? He tried to gather his wits, and looked at the arm he was holding. They were probably only interested in this... Yes, it had to be the logical explanation. He threw the arm in the pit and watched as most of the beetles crawled back inside, visibly excited at the prospect of feeding.
...But he noticed a few had lingered on him. He hesitantly reached for them and guided them back towards the pit. They weren't fleeing from his touch... He shook his head and closed his eyes, hoping to stop the tears that threatened to fall. He observed one of the red beetles which was still crawling around curiously in his hand. In his hand... He saw it tentatively nip at his skin, and then, with a slightly shaky finger, gently patted it. It didn't flee. It didn't buzz in protest. It... Stayed. Liam felt his throat get tight.
"They must think you're food."
Valdemar's words suddenly rang out in his ears, painfully tearing at his heart. His chest tightened and he held his breath, in a desperate attempt to hold back the tears as well. Food... That meant he smelled of decay. That he felt like a corpse... He shakily let the beetle back in the pit, closed it, and then hurried out of the dungeons without further explanation, leaving Valdemar slightly confused. It wasn't like him to just leave without even waving goodbye...
Once back in his room, Liam shut and locked the door behind him, falling onto his bed and finally breaking down in sobs. He clutched his pillow tight and curled up on himself, letting his body be shaken by the tears. The red beetles weren't scared of him, but didn't love him either, only confused him for their source of sustenance... It was not fair.
how ironic was it that the only living creatures that dared approach him were the ones that thrived around death...?
