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The day had been a long one. Despite the lack of sun in the sky the three god slayers prayed for the time they considered 'night'. While setting up their camp a group of large wild boars decided the camp was now there's.
Peter had read once that the only way to calm a violent boar was to give them bananas. Unfortunately, they didn't have any bananas. Because of this in order to protect their supplies and themselves the only options was to fight. The sharpness of the boars tusks were strong enough to pull and snap some of Thanatos' wires as well as scratch and slice at Peter and Rumi's skin.
By the end of the fight Thanatos had many new marks and excess wires sticking out. His movement were jerky and slow with his voice becoming distorted after every few words. Rumi had been hurt quite significantly but he couldn't let the other two see, keeping up the illusion was painful but it was far better for the humiliation of weakness.
As for Peter, the main culperate for his injuries was none other than Exandroth. The excitement the angel felt when the opportunity to kill arised was enough for him to rip Peter away from consciousness and take control. Wings sprouted from his back and a second set of eyes under his own opened up, showing only a pool of black. When Exandroth decided he was bored he placed Peter back into the drivers seat with no warning.
Peter slowly got himself up from the ground, picking up his broken glasses from the grass and carefully placing them back on his face. He held his side and tried his best to blink away the black liquid that continued to well in his eyes as it usually did for a few hours after Exandroth possessed him.
Rumi looked at his two friends and pain filled their very being the mere sight of their injuries made them want to wrap them both in blankets and never let them go.
In all honestly Peter did not want to spend tonight at the camp. His head hurt, his bones hurt, his very soul hurt. Plus Thanatos wasn't looking too good either in his eyes. He sighed and looked at Rumi before kneeling down to continue setting up the fire.
However before he could he felt Rumi place a gently hand on his chest to push him back into a standing position.
"No no no this won't do..." he tutted, moving her hand from Peter's chest not before noticing his quickened heart beat. The elegance of Rumi was almost overwhelming they let out a small sigh before speaking again, as if the world would have to wait to hear there voice once more "you're both far too banged up to be resting outside! We should shack up in a tavern, as a treat" she flashed a bright smile.
Thanatos grunted before he spoke, his voice became scattered and glitched "and where-where would we possibly find a ta-tavern?" The question was dripping with annoyance, or maybe that was oil leaking from his finger tips? Rumi smiled once more.
"There's a town just out of the forest! I'm sure our collective charm we can swindle a room" they suggested. Whenever Rumi and Thanatos were discussing matters involving where they were going or what they were doing Peter tended to stay out of it. But today, he couldn't pass up sleeping in an actual bed.
The smaller man stepped forward "A tavern sounds great Rumi..." he commented meekly before glancing at Thanatos "and if we go now we can wake up early to finish our... goal" he said, hoping to convince the stubborn metal man.
The sound of machanic cylinders expelling steam as the robot rose to a standing position. "Let's get moving" he grumbled before making his way through the forest.
Rumi gave Peter a thumbs up which made Peter's heart soar. Such a simple gesture had a hold over Peter. To Rumi the sight of Peter in this moment was soul crushing, the scarring on his freckled cheeks, the tears in his shirt from the retraction of the wings, and the way his eyes seemed to dull a little more everyday.
The walk to the tavern didn't take long, the most difficult part was avoiding the stares of strangers as they traversed the town. Upon arriving at the tavern Rumi was prepared to have to almost romance the innkeeper but as soon as they saw Peter they shrieked in horror "oh my goodness!" She yelled "you... you're so messy! Quickly up to a room all three of you" she demanded. It didn't look like she was even all that worried about Peter's wellbeing, she just thought he was dirty.
There was only one room available but it was quite spacious, two single beds on either side with a old looking rug spread across the floor. Thanatos saw no need for him to sleep in a bed so he sat himself down against the wall at the end of Peter's chosen bed. He inspected his unattached wires, an easy fix for him.
Peter sat on the side of his bed and gently unbuttoned his shirt, it hurt to pull away from his skin. When Rumi saw the condition of the man's skin he fetched a cold cloth and approached him "here Peter let me" she offered sweetly before gently dabbing at some dirt on his shoulder. The small man reached for the cloth and carefully took it away from Rumi.
"Thank you but I can do it myself...sorry..." he mumbled. Rumi saw no need for Peter to apologise but it wasn't an uncommon thing for Peter to do.
The next few minutes were painful to watch. Peter was able to clean up his arms, chest and face. The black ooze finally subsided once they reached the village. However when it came to clearing the blood and dirt across his back, along with soothing the harsh scarring he struggled greatly and whenever he did touch the cloth to his back he hissed in pain.
Rumi couldn't bare this sad sight for one second longer, he stood up from his bed and held out his hand "please. Let me help you" they said sympathetically. Peter looked defeated, he handed Rumi the cloth and turned slightly to the left so Rumi could sit behind him in order to get a better angle. Rumi did so and as he gently wiped away any dirt and blood he spoke "you did a very good job Peter. There is no shame in asking for help" they said in a soft tone.
Peter didn't respond at first. Perhaps it was tiredness. But after awhile his quiet voice filled the room "when I was kid..." he started.
Rumi snuck a glance to Thanatos and to his surprise Thanatos was looking right back at him. In all there weeks together Peter never really talked about his family or upbringing. They both stayed silent, writhing in anticipation.
He continued "my family was like really religious... church on Sundays and pray before bed religious" he chuckled. "I remember whenever me or my siblings did something bad our dad would tell us that if we disobeyed him or God forbid ran away... then God would kill us. He used to puff out his chest and say 'you won't even take one step off the farm before being struck down' so yeah A plus parenting" he joked. "I mean- it worked. None of us even joked about running away. We were all too scared" he said, by this point Rumi assumed the only reason Peter was talking so much was to distract himself from the pain, but Rumi didn't mind at all.
"One day, my siblings came across some barbed wire in the forest. They dared me to pick it up and stupidly I did... it was kinda lodged into the soil so I tried to pull it which resulted in one of the spikes slicing my leg open" Rumi winced "I know right?" Peter said.
There was a few more moments of comfortable silence before Peter continued his story "we all agreed not to tell our parents cause then we'd all get in trouble. I thought it'd be harder to hide but... they didn't notice at all. I limped around the house, my trousers slowly stained with blood and they just... didn't see me" he muttered looking down slightly. "Later that night I couldn't take the pain anymore. I stole some medicine from the bathroom and snuck out to the shed. All I had was a sewing needle, medicine and..." his sentence dropped, Rumi and Thanatos wouldn't show it but they were on the edge of their seats.
"And fishing wire".
Thanatos was the first to speak up "holy shit" he said.
"Yeah... anyway it sucked. A lot. I ended up passing out and when I woke up my parents didn't even notice I was gone, same with my siblings. I guess everyone just had more important things on their mind" he said a sadness ran through him but the wound was so old he didn't have the energy to cry over it.
He sighed "it obviously got infected. And I got sick. Like really sick... like... thought I was gonna actually die sick" he explained. "And after days of being stuck in bed I went downstairs one morning and my mother looked at me and said...
'Are you done being dramatic now?'"
Rumi paused, he was speechless. This whole story was just punch after punch. A childhood so lonely and painful and this was only from a few days out of many years.
Peter continued "thats when I decided to run away. I told no one and just packed a bag after lunch for when everyone was asleep. Once the sun set I snuck out the window and walked across the farm. And as I got to that stupid fucking gate I remembered what my dad said. That god would strike me down on my first step, I mean- I must've stood at the gate for hours and when I finally stepped over that line... I hoped god would kill me. I hoped he'd strike me down or-or smite me or something! So then all that pain and fear meant something and it wasn't just fear. I also hoped that then in the morning my parents would find me, and see me. Finally fucking see me. And feel such an intense amount of guilt that it would almost kill them. Almost."
This was the final bount of silence it was suffocating. The idea that Perter could conjure up such a hopeless scenario where his parents would finally realise what they had done was baffling for both Rumi and Thanatos.
Peter suddenly chuckled quietly before laughing a little louder. Rumi and Thanatos shared a confused looked "sorry... sorry" Peter said inbetween giggles "it's just kinda ironic right? I thought god would kill me! And now... God is me, on that farm, behind the gate waiting for us. Maybe even fearing us" they explained quietly.
Rumi had moved on to bandaging Peter's torso "Peter" she started "how old were you when you ran away if you don't mind me asking" they said softly.
Peter shrugged and instantly regretted the movement "15 maybe? Probably closer to 14 since I couldn't get a house for awhile when I found a village to stay in. It wasn't even that far from their farm but no one looked for me, no missing posters or search parties but, to me it just meant I was free" he said.
He suddenly shook his head "sorry- gosh I got off track" he said "the point is, ever since I got that infection I've been trying to prove to myself that I could take care of myself. That no matter what happened I'd be able to do it alone cause it was pretty damn clear no one was gonna do it for me" and with that he sighed. As if a giant concrete slab had been removed from his chest.
Rumi finished up the bandaging and gently cupped Peter's face "like I said, there is nothing wrong with asking for help" they said, gently caressing the boys freckled face. "And as long as I and Thanatos are around we will always help you" he smiled caringly.
Thanatos nodded "indeed" he added gruffly.
Peter nodded and soon let out a yawn "thank you... for helping me. And sorry for... dropping all that on you".
Rumi shushed him "sh sh shh no Peter. I'm very happy you told us. It took a lot of bravery and Peter, you are the bravest person I know" She removed her hands from Peter's face "we should all get some rest" they said moving back to their own bed.
Rumi's praise brought tears to Peter's eyes but he put his shirt back on and used the sleeves to dry his eyes. He layed in bed and missed the soft touch of Rumi's finger tips against his skin, a touch so caring it was something he never experienced before. He hoped one day he could return the favour to Rumi.
Just as Peter began to drift to sleep he heard a whisper in his mind:
"Yuh- Damn Peter. You're fucking cringe".