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He can’t breathe in this shit anymore…it feels suffocating.
He needs it off…he just needs to breathe…if only for a moment…then it can go right back on…
He just needs to pull it off…it…it wasn’t this tightly fit when he put it on earlier. Maybe he just needed to pull harder. It felt like he was just pulling at his skin, it burned and stung with each time he tried to slip it off. He felt like he was hyperventilating under it. He needed it OFF. It stung more and more…like any more and flesh would just-
rip .
Screams of agony echoed through the bathroom, a blood covered mask with chunks of flesh fused to it fell to the ground, the material turning a deep red of blood. His vision was blurred, but he felt like he could breathe…
“D-Dr. Pott? I-I-Is…is e-everything o-ok in th-there?” The stuttering voice of Dr. Hofnarr came through the other side of the door.
Elliot couldn’t respond, tears streaming down his cheeks, fusing with the blood pouring from open wounds, his vision faded, the last thing he heard was the door opening as he fell to the ground, followed by a scream of absolute horror.
“ELLIOT!”
Crackpot jolted awake with a loud gasp, his whole body trembled as he looked around.
The same room as always, a little fuller than before. His mate curled by his side with two little sleeping pups curled close to their MAG sized father. He tried to take deep breaths to calm down, reaching towards the nearby dresser to feel around for something.
That same suffocating feeling…
He…
He needed it off…
No. No, not again. Never again. He has an alternative for a reason, he just needs to find it.
A small sigh of relief came to him as he gripped onto the handle of a small knife, moving to the stitches on his mask and easily cutting them open, pulling the thread loose and slipping off most of the fabric of the mask, taking a deep breath.
He was sweating, the cool air of the caverns felt so relieving…so freeing after a nightmare like that.
He kept thinking back to it, no matter how much he tried to shake off the thoughts. He trembled, hugging his knees as he tried not to cry at the memory…one hand feeling over the scars left from torn flesh, even now still on his undead form. He couldn’t fight back breaking down in tears at the memory, sobbing quietly to himself.
The quiet sobbing still came to the ears of his mate, causing them to wake up with a small groan, sitting up and rubbing their eyes, looking over at his mate.
Fuffy had never seen Crackpot without his mask, so seeing the mask lying on the bed made him fear the worst, leaning down to his mate’s side.
“Mmmate?” Fuffy let out a worried whimper, Crackpot sniffling as he turned to look at his partner.
Despite the sickening green of rot on the rest of his skin, his face was a shadowy black…stained from dissonance that warped his very mind, the whole reason he wore a mask in the first place. Fabric still stuck to his skin, fused into place and large scars of missing chunks of flesh were riddled all over his face.
Just then…Fuffy recalled their first meeting…the times after Crackpot would return…looking back at the mask on the bed…
It wasn’t the same one as from when they first met.
“Birrdy…what wrong?” Fuffy gently nuzzles them, letting out a small purr to try and comfort his mate.
Crackpot looked over at Fuffy, wiping tears from his eyes as he hugged them gently.
“I-I’m sorry…I-I woke you up…I just…had a nightmare…it was…awful…” Crackpot's voice was shaky, muffled as they buried their face in Fuffy’s fur.
Fuffy continued to purr reassuringly, patting Crackpot’s back gently. “Birdy ok…just a nightmare…” He gave them a small lick on the cheek. “Am here for you…”
“Th-Thank you Fuffy…i-it means a lot…really.” Crackpot smiled, pulling away a bit and sniffling as he wiped away more tears.
“Want to…talk about it?” Fuffy tilts his head to the side a little. Crackpot nods a bit, taking a deep breath.
“It was…about something that happened back in the tower…my old anti-dissonance mask…it…fused to me one day…and I tried pulling it off because it felt so… suffocating . And it hurt like hell to do…but I just…kept trying to pull it off and…” He trails off, a hand rubbing at one of the scars. “I got it off but…it took a lot of my face with it too…ever since…when I found out this mask fused to me too…it’s why I refused to try and get it taken off…I’m scared it’ll…happen again.”
Fuffy listens intently, nodding. He lets out another purr, gently nuzzling his partner. “Fuffy…understand…must have been…scary…”
“It was…really…I was stuck in the hospital for so long…I didn’t want to see my face anymore after that…knowing I did that to myself, even if it wasn't…intentional.” Crackpot sighs. “It’s why I carry a knife with me now.” He reaches over, grabbing the cut free fabric of the mask. “I don’t ever want to try ripping it off again…so…if I need it off, I use it to cut one of the threads to slip most of it off.” He rubs his eyes a bit, moving the knife back onto the dresser. “I’ll get it stitched back on in the morning. For now I just…need to breathe.”
Fuffy purrs, gently grabbing him and moving him close as they lied down. “Stay close to me…will be here for you…if have another nightmare.” Fuffy purrs.
Crackpot smiles, snuggling into his partner’s fur as he placed the fabric back down, slowly closing his eyes. “Thank you dear…it means a lot for you to say that.”
“Rest well, Birdy.”
“As do you, Fuffy~”
The two snuggled close, drifting off snuggled close to each other and their little ones.