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Deceit was lying in bed contemplating whether he should take a bath or not. It would be kind of nice, but also... it was so much colder outside his room, more dry too, although he supposed it wouldn't really matter if he's going to be completely submerged in warm water. But still, he'd have to go out and he really wasn't keen on doing that, so maybe he'd just, stay here and wait it out. Bask in that little patch of warmth. Who knows.
He scratched at his arm, the itchiness seemed almost overwhelming. He was tempted to just grab a knife and rip everything off right then. Sure, it wasn’t the safest but it was quicker than this.
His thoughts were interrupted right then by a knock at his door.
“Hey Dee, you alright there? You haven't been out for quite some time, and playing alone isn't that fun.”
He groans into his pillow before turning face up, speaking clearly. “I'm fine, I'll be out soon.”
“Are you sure? You don't really sound ‘fine’."
“Yes I'm sure. When am I not? I'm just, tired.” He drops his face back into the pillow.
Remus was undeterred. “So what, you just slept through 4 whole days?”
“It's been 4 days?” He mumbled into the pillow, brows furrowed, then turns his head out again. “Uh... yes?”
“Okay, first of all, bullshit. Second of all, despite being imaginary, we still need to eat. Wouldn't want you to starve to death, would we? Your body, all small and boney, exhausted, yet still trying to sustain itself by using itself, your organs failing one by one...... Sorry, that last part was unnecessary.”
“It's fine. And, I'm not hungry.”
“After 4 days of not eating? I doubt that. And don't try to lie to me about it.”
“Really, I'm not.”
“Well I still think you should eat something. Maybe I could make something for you...? Show how much I learned.”
“I... suppose.” he said, rather hesitantly. He really wasn’t keen on eating, but he didn’t want to hurt Remus’ feelings. Maybe he could just, accept the food and leave it till after. That could work.
“Yay! See ya in a minute!” A minute of silence passed, so he assumed Remus must have left to do just that. He sighed and let his head flop down onto the pillow again. His far too soft pillow.
He wasn’t quite sure how much time had passed but Remus was once again knocking at his door. “Hey Deee~~”
“Hm? oh, yeah,” He dragged himself off of the bed and went to the door, opening it just a bit. “You can just, leave it there. I guess.”
Remus ignores what he said, opening the door further and walking in past him. “Here you go! Not much, but should be enough for now.”
“Or just walk right through, yep.” He mutters, closing the door and following after him. “Remus I- ...thank you for the food. Now if I could return to my napping …”
Remus places the plate on the desk by his bed and turns back towards him, seeming to have ignored what he said. “So anyway, why- Holy Yeesus!” He gestures at Deceits face. “What is this?”
He gave the most deadpan look he could. “My face.”
“Quite handsome, may I add, but like, on your face.”
He froze, mind blanking for a few seconds at the compliment.
“Scales, skin, it'll come off.”
“So that's why you were hiding, huh? Can I touch it?”
“...uhm... I... guess.” He didn’t really want anyone touching him. He was usually averse to touch at the best of times, let alone now but… he wouldn’t deny it to himself, he was almost desperate for the others affection. Perhaps it was a side effect of being in such a place as this and taking the rather solitary role of caretaker for the others but, damn if he wasn’t starved for affection from anyone really. The wide smile that appeared on Remus’ face when he accepted the proposal was also quite nice, and definitely worth any discomfort he might have felt.
“Yay!” His hand moves and gently touches Deceit's cheek. “...wow, it's so..... smooth .”
For the second time in not even a minute he was stunned into silence. It had been happening so often lately with Remus, he wasn’t sure why. That was a lie, he had an idea but he really didn’t want to think about it
“Um... thank you...?”
“Does it hurt?” he asked, still holding Deceit's face.
“No. Just, extremely itchy.”
He hummed, beginning to gently caress Deceit's face. “Is there something that could help?”
Deceit blinked lazily, tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. Suddenly, he really was feeling tired, his thoughts becoming as sluggish as his limbs felt. And the touch, god, it was simply divine .
“Uhhhhhh... what...? ...yessss...?” What was the question again?
“What is it? I'd do anything, as long as it'd make u feel better.” Remus wiggles his eyebrows.
Oh yeah. “Umm... my ssskin... needsss to come off.” Ok, that could have come out a lot more eloquently but honestly he didn’t really care.
“Uh, okay...?” He brought up another hand to cup the other side of Deceit’s face, just as gentle as the other. “Do I just, rip it off, or...? I don't want to hurt you.”
He took a moment to gather what little thought he could, he swore his legs were becoming as limp as boiled noodles. “...no... that... I don't think… it won't hurt... it'sss dead.”
“You sure?” Oh sweet sweet Remus, how the others could dislike him he would never understand. Oh but that was a lie, he could, but right now all that was far from his mind.
“Yeah…” He begins to sway, eyes falling shut as he leaned forward into the touch. “Can't hurt what'ss dead…”
“Are you okay? You seem a bit, uh, dizzy?” Remus frowned, moving one hand to Dee's shoulder to keep him upright.
He blinked again, just barely able to open his eyes again. “M'fine. Jusst tired… You're really warm, you know that?” He leaned forward some more, not even thinking.
“Uh, you know, since you're so tired, how about you lay down, and I'll conjure some blankets, to keep you warm?”
“No it's fine.” He liked this, didn’t care if he fell asleep standing, he just really didn’t want Remus to stop touching him.
“If you say so... So, what do you want me to do then.” he says, both hands still gently caressing Deceits face.
He just shrugs in response and, after a few moments, closes the space between them, lying as much as he can on the other without falling. He frowns a bit as the coarse material that Remus’ hoodie was made of began to scratch his face. A few moments more and he began to rub his face against it.
“W-what are you doing?” Remus asked, blushing like crazy, hugging Deceit closer when he shifted so he wouldn’t fall.
“Mmm'itchy.” He pats around Remus’ shoulder. “Your hoodie's rough.”
“Uh, uhhh, wait, lamme just,” He picks Dee up and lays down on the bed with him lying on his chest. “Here, more comfortable, isn't it?”
Deceit just hums, glad for the warmth and that some of the itchiness was alleviating.
“Sooo... I guess we'll deal with the, uh, the shedding? later.”
He nods, curling up around Remus who just blushes more and hugs him back tighter.
“D-do you feel better?”
“Still itchy, I said... I need to get rid of this skin.”
“And scratching on my hoodie helps?”
For a moment he said nothing, feeling a few twinges of embarrassment.
“It's better than nothing.”
“Then scratch all you want, and when you’re more awake, we'll figure out how to get rid of the skin, how does that sound?”
“...fine...”
“Now sleep, you really need it since you're so tired.” Remus moves a bit, adjusting their positions so he can hold the other closer. A few minutes pass and Deceit stops moving, asleep. Remus smiles softly, running a hand through Deceits hair.
“He’s so fucking cute.”
A few minutes more pass and he slowly falls asleep too, hand still resting in the others hair.
Remus wakes to a feeling not too unlike a clamp around his torso. Did he dream up something again by accident. He blinked his eyes open and looked down, relieved to find that it was not something he had made up. Deceit was lying on him, head resting on his shoulder and was hugging him with all of his arms. It was nice, and as of yet was at a rather comfortable pressure. Although, he knew that could probably change at any time.
He smiled as the other began to mumble, though said smile became a tad strained as Deceits hold became a bit stronger, not that that would scare him away though.
“D'aww, what is it lil snakey?” He grinned, turning the tables a bit and holding him tighter, giving him a kiss on the top of his head.
He felt Deceits tongue flicker out a few times, and then the squeezing became so much harder, to the point it was beginning to hurt a bit.
“Hey Dee, you alright there?” He laughed nervously, hoping it wasn’t anything too bad.
In response, Deceit whined and pushed his head further into Remus’ shoulder.
“Shit, a nightmare, uhhh, what to do, what to do,”
As Remus was pondering this rather pressing situation, Deceit woke, stiffening immediately. A few moments passed before panic overtook him and he tried to pull away, completely forgetting about the four other limbs still wrapped around Remus. In his panic, not seeing any immediate way out, he bit Remus on the shoulder, wasting nary a second before regaining his other limbs and pulling back, scrambling to the other side of the bed.
Remus hisses, holding his shoulder. Blood was already beginning to drip out at a relatively steady pace. “Shit…” He shook his head, looking up at Deceit who seemed to be panicking even more now. Softly, he spoke. “Hey, lil snakey, no need to freak out.”
This seemed to have the opposite of the effect he was going for, as Deceit began to frantically scratch at his arms and face. And anywhere he could reach really which, when you had 6 arms, was a lot.
Cursing, he practically jumped on Deceit, hugging him as tightly as he could to restrain his arms.
This of course made him freak out all the more, making him hiss first, and then once again bite Remus, this time not letting go.
He hissed out a curse but spoke as soft and sweet as he could. “Hey, Dee, my little adorable snake, it's okay, you're safe. Nightmare's over ya dummy.”
Slowly, as he begins to properly wake and become aware of his surroundings, he stops struggling, no longer biting Remus.
Remus holds him tight, running his hand through Deceits hair. “Shhhhh, you're safe, nothing’s gonna hurt you now. It's okay.”
“R-Remus...?” He whispers, beginning to shake.
“Yeah, it's me, Remus.”
And with that he begins to cry quietly, gripping the other in a firm hug. Remus just holds him tighter.
“Oh Dee… Why are you crying, lil snakey?”
Deceit doesn’t say a thing, just squeezes hard and pushes himself as much against the other as is physically possible.
Remus continues to run a hand through Deceits hair. “Alright, we can talk about it later, that works too.”
Deceit nods, tongue flickering out. He pulls back quickly as he scents blood. “I... I hurt you…”
“Huh...?” Remus blinked, confused for a second. “Oh, that.”
“I'm,, so sorry.”
“That's nothing, don't worry about it.” Remus verbally waved it off.
“God, I hurt you I'm not,, I'm not supposed to,,”
“Dee, it's okay, I'm okay.”
“ Fuck , I'm so sorry. I bit you, that's,,” He gave a short, broken laugh. “You didn't even ask for it that time.”
Remus laughs as well, though his sounded a fair bit more lighthearted. “Shit.. Damn, Dee, we should worry more about those scratch marks you left than,” He gestures vaguely at himself.
“What-? Oh. It's, it needs to go anyway. I should actually…” He picks at a broken piece on his arm and then pulls it off in a relatively neat strip.
Remus stares in disbelief as this happens, absolutely not expecting it, but he’s quick to shake off the shock. “Uh, you need help with that?”
“Uhh…” He blushes. “I mean, ...maybe.”
“Alright, what should I do then?”
“Um, well, just, the hard to reach places.” He begins to unbutton his shirt, being careful to not look at Remus, while Remus himself was also looking away out of some sense of unexpected modesty while looking as red as a tomato.
He places shirt beside him and begins to peel off more. “It's just, my back is a bit hard to reach, can't always get everything which... isn't the best.”
“Okay, alright, I can do that.”
“Th-thanks…”
Then Deceit spent almost a minute peeling off dead skin before stopping. “Oh! I should, probably turn around.” So, slowly, he did just that. He wasn’t too keen on showing his back to anybody while in such a vulnerable state but… he trusted Remus.
Remus scoots over, beginning to peel off the skin. “...Huh.... Interesting,” he muttered.
Deceit shivered. “What's interesting?”
“Oh, never got to peel the skin like that. I mean, there were those animals in the imagination, but it's obviously not the same. Do you think ripping my skin off would hurt? It'd be pretty funny though. Oh, I could make myself a little cape too, we'd match!”
“It would also be very messy, so I would prefer you not. Feel free to make a cape if you want though,” He muttered his next words. “It would be kinda cute.”
Remus paused in his ministrations. “Huh? Couldn't really hear the last part, could you repeat that.”
“I said, you should try the flute. You would probably sound very nice.”
“Hm. Good idea. Hey, do you think a neon green or black cape would look better?”
“Black with neon green accents? Or a sort of pattern perhaps?”
“Of course!” He resumed his work, muttering, “Why didn't I think of that?”
A few more minutes pass and he exclaims, “Alright, done!”
“Thank you.” He peels off a final piece. “Now... well…”
“Yea?”
“Um... Well,” He blushes. “I can, do the rest on my own. Should be... loose enough now.”
“If you say so.” Remus says, shrugging. Not even 5 seconds later he jumps up. “Fuck! I forgot about the food!”
Deceit looks at him from where he’s still sitting. “What? Oh, that. ...sorry for not eating it. I,” He looks down, rubbing his neck. “I sort of forgot.”
Remus jumps down to the ground. “Well, you could eat it now.”
“I will. But uh, could you maybe, leave? I need to uh, finish this,” He gestures to himself.
“… oh . Oh, right, of course.” He walks over to the door, stopping just before it. “If you ever need help again you can always come to me, you know? Icareaboutyouanddon'twanttoseeyouhurt.” And with that he quickly leaves the room, closing the door behind him and totally didn’t pretty much run away after.
Deceit, on the other hand, calmly returned to his business. And yeah, maybe he had a bit of a dopey smile on his face while doing so but it was so nice to know that someone cared about him.
Hours later Deceit exited his room in a fresh pair of clothes, carrying an empty plate.