#sven v

[bushelofmuses]

@hellaofmuses

Sitting on his bed, legs crossed in front of him with Daisy dozing in his lap, Cole finally looked up at Sven across his room. He offered him a small, lopsided smile and said, "You know I won't break if you kiss me, right?"

Months of this, and Cole was getting...frustrated? He thinks that would be the right word for this. That, and a little hurt and confused. Sven had thoughts of wanting something with him, wanting to be happy, but...there were so many thoughts and doubts about happiness. Did he deserve it? Should he subject someone to any of the things he'd been through or would go through later on? Was it safe?

He'd move towards it, gravitate closer to Cole, and then back off before anything happened when the doubts crept in. The coming and going, the indecisiveness was starting to eat at Cole, starting to ache and leave him doubting himself, even when he knew it wasn't that there was something wrong with him in Sven's eyes.

Cole was perfectly capable of taking care of himself in regards to the danger Sven worried he'd put Cole in. The Veil was ripping apart at the hands of a Magister that was trying to take over the world. Sven posed little threat in comparison.

Still, he wanted to attempt to keep this light, to put a little less pressure by making this seem as serious as it felt to him.

"I'm not an Orlesian porcelain doll."

[bushelofmuses]

@hellaofmuses Here

"Yes and no?" He had zero idea of how to explain this to Sven—or anyone—and he squirmed beneath the scrutiny. "I...I have um...look."

Cole raised his hat to reveal the tan rabbit ears that had replaced his own. "I don't know what happened a-a-and I can't change it back. I tried and I only changed the color."

[bushelofmuses]

@hellaofmuses asked: "Let's play hide and seek." - from Sven to Cole

Cole silently stared for a moment, lips parted with a question, but he shut his mouth before he said anything.

A game. Kids at the Circle played it, as did the ones in the town the other Cole sometimes visited on market day. One counts, the others hide, the counter goes to find them.

"Who will hide? And who will search?" he finally asked.

Who all was playing? Why were they playing? Cole didn't know of any adults that did this unless the children were incredibly small and young, a way to humor them. Cole didn't see any children.

[bushelofmuses]

@hellaofmuses​ asked:  " What was that, Cole hmm? The cat got your tongue ? " - from Sven.

Cat have his...oh. That phrase.

“No...but it might have yours...eventually.”

[bushelofmuses]

@hellaofmuses​​    Here

Said “little mouse” yelped when he was initially tackled, and then grunted in discomfort when his knee hit the ground first. There was a small shock of it, and then it immediately fell into a dull ache that he knew would leave in a few minutes. Unfortunately, it would leave behind a bruise, and those were always tender for a day or so.

Having been caught now, there was little he could do, and the glamour that hid him from people’s sight dispersed. Cole avoided answering at first and scrambled to grab his hat and put it back on. Some people felt naked without their clothes, and he felt naked without his hat. Exposed, vulnerable, unable to hide, a rabbit in an open field.

Only once he had it on did he move to roll onto his back. He wanted to face Sven, at least.

He stared at Sven’s shoulder. “You looked tired, is all.”

Spirits, he hoped Sven wasn’t upset. Cole didn’t feel any irritation when he gave Sven the first little gift, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t later on when Cole wasn’t around. What if, what if, what if?

[bushelofmuses]

@hellaofmuses asked: "You.are.my.little.mouse." -Sven

"Sven, I'm..." Honestly, he couldn't argue with Sven over it. From anyone else, he'd feel frustrated and mildly insulted. Maybe he liked the endearment just a little too much when it came from Sven. It left him feeling warm and oddly whole.

He softly sighed and agreed, "But only when you find me."

[bushelofmuses]

@crows-dance asked: ❛ a darkness with voices is better than a silent void. ❜- &. 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. //Sven death spirit to Cole

"Voices lost, longing, lamenting the loss of themselves and what they are. Some prefer the Nothing over their pain..."

"I know the silence intimately...too used to being one of those voices."

[bushelofmuses]

"I made valentine cookies for you, little mouse. Before you steal them from the kitchen. Love you beyond death." - Sven Baldwin.

His eyes may or may not widen in both shock and excitement. Raspberry cookies. Wedding cookies. Shortbread. Peanut butter.

When he finally sees Sven that night, Sven is definitely getting kissed and thanked thoroughly by a spirit of compassion on a sugar buzz.