Chapter Text
Long days at the cafe have become routine for the Theives Den siblings, often staying until 9 - 10 at night, getting home at 11 for the one unlucky enough to get stuck closing up. Sparky would often accompany VineStaff at the cafe, and would usually go home when she did. He's grown by now, being about half the height of VineStaff, but is still short enough to sleep in the same bed as VineStaff. His wing was also relatively healed by now, some small feathers sprouting from the dimpled over skin.
Today was different however. Sparky stayed in with Slingshot (as per VineStaffs request) to help close up and make sure he gets home safe. They had almost finished by now, all that was left for them was locking up and walking home. On the way home they decided to visit Boombox's Music Shop to chat and warm up from the cold of night.
“Hey Boom,” said Slingshot, “how's it going?”
“Same old, same old.” Says Boombox, not looking up from stocking the shelves with guitar strings.
“Boom…box..” Says the small, raspy voice of Sparky. Boombox whips around, and puts one of his hands out for a high five.
“Hey Sparky! How's it goin' little dude?”
“Good. Go.. home.”
“You guys are going home?” Boombox asks, Slingshot nodding in response.
“We just came to warm up and say hi. So, how's business been?”
“Oh, it's been pretty slow. But I'd rather that. I'm pretty gassed from a party last night.” Says Boombox, somewhat groggy still.
“Oh yeah man, me too. How was the party?”
Sparky – now bored of the conversation – decides to wander around the store to try and find something to play with for the time being. He tries the guitars, the piano room, the brass, and the woodwind section, all with fail. The final area he looks in is the percussion, where he tests out some of the drums and scares himself in the process.
He spots a xylophone, so he pulls it out from under the shelf and tonks it a few times, where it makes a few soft chimes that enthrall Sparky. He uses the small wheels on the bottom to roll it around the store to where Boombox and Slingshot are, attempting to show them. When he rounds the corner, Slingshot peers around Boombox to glance at the noise he heard. Boombox follows suit once he notices, saying:
“Hey Sparky, ya’ find a new toy?”
“Watch…” Sparky says, before playing a half decent melody with his solo-usable hand. Boombox and Slingshot give a soft applause before speaking.
“Good job Sparky!” Says Boombox. “You know what? I think you can take that for free. Just because it's been a slow day.”
Slingshot speaks up, saying, “No, Boombox. That's okay. He has a ton of toys at home.”
“No, I insist,” says Boombox, “like I've said, it's been a slow day!”
Slingshot sighs, “Okay, fine. We should probably get going soon though, it's getting late.”
“No problem! I'll see you soon, right little man?” Boombox says, as he extends his hand outwards for a high five.
“Ya…” Sparky obliges, giving Boombox a high five before attempting to drag the xylophone out of the shop.
“Sparky.” Slingshot says. Sparky whips around looking at Slingshot. “What do you say?”
“Thank…. you.”
“No problem little dude! I'll see you later, Slingshot.”
“See you Boom.”
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The walk home wasn't all that far from Boombox's Shop, but it still wasn't easy with the cold, many slopes, and the addition of the xylophone made the trek far more taxing than normal. Slingshot had forgotten his keys at home, so after some foul language under his breath, he knocked on the door. After a few seconds of waiting, a pair of soft, padded footsteps approach the door.
VineStaff opens the door, her being in a long bathrobe and fuzzy slippers. Her horns have corks placed upon them, alongside all of the protruding parts on her horns. Sparky raises his arms, and VineStaff picks him up under his armpits.
“How's my little Sparky man doing?” She coos, “And what do you have with you?” She eyes the xylophone at Slingshot's side, before he wheels it inside.
“Boombox gave it to us for free after we visited his shop.” Slingshot places it next to the dining table, before going into the bathroom to change into his pajamas.
“Ma..ma.. tired..” Sparky says, resting his head against VineStaff’s shoulder.
“Oh my, I bet you are! Look how late it is mister! It's 9:30, you should've been in bed an hour ago!”
VineStaff decides to skip Sparky's bath for the night to get him into bed earlier, and puts his bedtime shorts on. He hops into VineStaffs bed and dozes off very quickly, as VineStaff does as well.
Tomorrow is another day.
Or was it?
Near the dead of night, Sparky is awoken by a loud crack coming from the bathroom. He approaches, stopping at the door to listen in.
“Fucking.. stupid. Why can't you do anything right you moron. Nobody even likes you anyway. God you're a *sniff* loser. Gotta keep doing this dumb ‘grooming’ thing to make you feel like a normal inphernal.” VineStaff sobs in the bathroom. Her fast, shaky breaths punctuated by hiccups or sniffles.
VineStaff stuffs a rag in her mouth and ties it behind her head, before jabbing a whittling knife deep into her wooden arm, a large chunk chipping off and a steady stream of sap leaking out of the fresh wound. She moans in pain as she digs the knife back into the wooden flesh, another chunk fraying off onto the floor next to her.
She digs her hand into the leaking wound, using her long nails to derive as much pain from the gash as possible. Tears stream down her cheeks as she periodically grunts and groans into the rag, clenching her teeth onto it as forcefully as possible.
She rips the rag off of her face and slams it onto the ground, its soundless release leading her even farther down the spiral. She sits on the toilet and curls into the fetal position, trying to contain her sobs as quietly as possible.
Sparky creaks the door open, the sound startling VineStaff and nearly making her fall off of the toilet where she sits.
“Sparky?! Wh-what are you doing up? Let's *sniff* get you b-*hic*-back to bed.” As VineStaff stands up, she notices Sparky looking at her arm, and tries to cover it by turning her body away from him. Sparky walks up to her and wraps his winged arms around her leg, and holds on tight.
“Sparky, l-let *hic* go. *sniff* Lets-lets go back t-to bed. Just. Let.. go. Please.”
“Mama.. okay.”
VineStaffs glassy eyes start leaking again, with her stepping backwards and sitting on the toilet again. She lifts Sparky off of her leg and into her lap, giving him a big hug and staying like that for a while. After 10 minutes, she hears soft snoring from her shoulder. She stands up slowly, her arm still aching, and walks Sparky back into her bed.
She re-enters the bathroom, this time with bandages and a bottle of wood glue to patch herself up with. What would she tell the others tomorrow about the huge bandage on her arm? That she'd slipped? Like they'd believe that.
After 30 minutes of sealing the wound and making it look as natural as possible, she heads back into bed. Sparky is laid against the wall, facing the open part of VineStaff's room.
“I love you, Sparky. So, so much.”
Tomorrow is a new beginning.