#matterling

[parttimepuff]

You even failed in being alone. H o w . . .

“Shut up.” Reverie huffed. “It’s not like it really matters either way. They’re not gonna sleep and they’re also not gonna tell anybody about me...” He paused at the noise inside his head. “Are you... purring at that?” “feed.” The matterling responded. “Right... This is, like, an all you can eat buffet for you, isn’t it?” “all eat.” They responded to which he kinda slumped to the ground again. “This is just my life now, I guess.”

[parttimepuff]

(Throws holy water and a bible on rev)

The holy water served no purpose other than to get his feathers wet and getting hit with a book just kinda hurt. “Ow! That’s not how this works, dude!” Reverie shook his wings while the matterling in his head hissed. “LEAVE!” They shouted. He paused. “I, don’t know if you mean me or them, lil dude.” “Leave.” They repeated, either unwilling to elaborate or feeling that that made their point.

[parttimepuff]

Well, rip rev. I geuss it was sorta nice knowing you. Does he get an Old Testament Angel look now?

Staggering to his feet, Reverie looked at the anon. The expression he wore was a mix between terrified and extremely annoyed. “Geez, write me off already, have you? You guys are the absolute worst.” His wings were clutched to his chest and he cautiously moved them aside. It looked no different. Glancing over all of himself, he didn’t notice any eldritch changes. “H-huh... No extra mouths or eyes or, well, anything, really. I don’t really feel possessed?” He wiped some remaining tears off his face before smirking at the anon. “I told you guys I’d be fine. Guess I was right for once.”

“Go away.” A voice rang out. Reverie whirled around only to find no one. “What??” “Go away, not Beep.” The voice continued, hissing. He stopped. That was the matterling. And their voice was inside his head. “Ah... so I am, semi-possessed... I think.” He made no move to actually shoo the anon away, whether by his own volition or not.

[parttimepuff]

(3/2 because fuck you) ... Wait, no, there's another side to Cygna's letter. The writing here is less fancy, but really, that just makes it hit different. The message is simple, too. 'You don't have to be alone again, you know. It'd be a shame to see you go back to how you were after making all that progress.' Ah, there's the signature of hers. Wondering where that went.

Reverie read the back of the letter. He was really sobbing now. Cygna was right. He was going back on everything. All the progress he’d made, all the friends he’d made... God did he want to go back. He wanted so desperately to go back and see them. There wasn’t anything he wanted more right now.

He threw his head back, whacking it into the palm tree. But, he couldn’t go back. Everything he’d said about coming out here was still true. If he cared about them so much, wasn’t it only right to put their safety above his own feelings? He just couldn’t trust himself. ...He wanted to go back, but he just couldn’t. Besides, they must know what he’d done by now. They’d hate him. And he didn’t blame them.

“I-I’m so-orry, Cygna...” Reverie croaked, covering his eyes with a wing in a vain attempt to dry his tears. The matterling stared at him, but he had all but forgotten they were there, too incredibly broken to give them a second thought. They inched closer to him.

And then flew directly into his chest.

[parttimepuff]

(2/2) And, of course, Cygna's letter isn't too far behind. Inside is... Some sort of MP3 player? 'Figured you could use some tunes. Keep the player, didn't cost me a thing- Got some of my favorite jams and a few extras I thought you'd like loaded up! Seeya on the flipside, friend.' How she fit something nonflat inside of an otherwise flat letter without it bulging will remain a mystery, but you can appreciate the gift regardless, surely.

Fighting back tears that were already threatening to overflow, Reverie opened the second letter. The MP3 player was very unexpected and he fumbled with it before managing to catch it. Heaving a sigh of relief, he reluctantly moved on to the letter. It wasn’t a huge gesture, but it was so sweet... He didn’t really own anything, so something like a music player was a big deal to him.

Friend... The tears he’d been holding back finally ran down his cheeks. Did she know? Did she know what he’d done? She had to, didn’t she? Cygna was the one getting these letters to him in the first place. He’d abandoned not just her, but everyone. He hunched over, holding the letters tightly to himself. The Matterling was hovering right over his shoulder now. Reverie looked at the letters again and noticed that Cygna’s had a backside. One more emotional rollercoaster it was.

[parttimepuff]

And now, the part of the show where Rev gets another letter or two. First up is Vivi, with a picture of her latest mountain climb at the summit, with Nashira behind her, and the two have their arms around each other. The caption says 'Livin' the dream! Hope you can say the same. -V'. Awh, that's cute. (1/2)

The appearance of a letter made Reverie jump while the matterling hardly reacted at all. “I-I didn’t think they would...” He held the letter in his wings for a moment. Letters from his friends... He hadn’t expected to ever get another of these. Did they know where he was? Did they know why he was out here? 

Hesitating a moment longer, he opened the first letter and read it. Reverie smiled, honestly glad to see Vivi happy. His face dropped again at the last sentence. “No... No, I c-can’t...” He replied, knowing full well she couldn’t hear his answer, nor would he have wanted her to. It made him happy that she cared about him, but... it hurt a lot to know that he wouldn’t ever see her again.

Here she was, wishing him well and none the wiser. Reverie curled in on himself. He didn’t even know her for very long and it still hurt. The matterling got closer to him, but he didn’t notice or even really care at the moment. There was one more letter... And he already knew it would be more painful than this one.

[parttimepuff]

Okay how about you order it to go away, since you want it to listen to you

“Oh, uh... I guess I could try that? Hey, uh, lil dude.” Reverie addressed the matterling directly, which continued to stare silently at him. “You can, like, shoo now. Go on, be free.” They stared. “...Um, vamoose? Leave?” They inched closer. “Ok... Just, uh, go back into the tree maybe?” Pointing a wing upward to the palm tree, he was more than a little surprised when the matterling decided to float up to his wing instead. He stiffened up before lowering his wing slowly, the Dark Matter following it. “Well, uh... that’s progress? Maybe?”

[parttimepuff]

Smh hasn’t this thing heard of social distancing? Damn.

The matterling continued to stare at the anon until they got to the word ‘distancing’. “No.” They said, floating back over to Reverie. He nervously chuckled. “U-uh, guess not? Also that was, like... 3,000 years ago, so I don’t expect them ta know it.” He seemed relieved that they’d given the anon more space, at least.