Work Text:
Scarab remembered getting his wings torn off quite vividly. It was traumatizing, and still affects him even to this day. He hated Prismo's feeble attempts to get to know him in an unprofessional way. All of his questions were dumb and irrelevant, at least according to Scarab. One such question however caused a sudden outburst from the bug turned 2d figure.
"You are a beetle, I mean, wouldn't you have wings? You would look so badass if you did." Prismo would rant on and on trying to converse.
Scarab stayed silent, not wanting to answer the question.
"Come on, man! I wanna know!" Prismo tried to egg him on, really wanting an answer.
Scarab sighed, and debated even telling the wishmaster. Well… he would find out anyways, due to the lengthy punishment forcing them to share quarters. "I used to."
Prismo raised an eyebrow at this. "Used to? Like, you don't have them anymore? What happened?" He raised a hand for emphasis, as was usual for him to talk with his hands.
This startled the auditor, making him flinch, which he hated his own body's reaction being something he couldn't hide. Yet, he was already on edge from unfortunate memories, so it made sense.
The wishmaster frowned and lowered his hand. "Dude, are you okay?" Prismo sounded worried, but tried staying relaxed with his tone.
"My wings were…" Scarab cursed at himself as he clutched his own body in a feeble hug. "... Torn off. It was a punishment. I deserved it. I…"
All the memories kept flooding back…
.
.
.
That day, that wretched day, Scarab experienced the pain that Orbo could bring upon those that misbehaved. It was a simple mistake, something Scarab pleaded against getting punished for. Spitting out promises of never making that mistake again. Unfortunately, Orbo wasn't letting him off easy.
"Say goodbye to your wings."
Scarab let out a shocked scream as Orbo rolled towards him. He ended up falling down in the struggle, his back exposed to the open air. He winced as his elytra was forcibly opened up with a crack that sent shivers down his spine. Majestic, yellow wings were unfolded and presented in front of the gray orb.
Scarab's wings were pulled on, slowly and painfully, as if he was being teased with pain. Every snap of his muscles made the auditor more scared of the final breakage. Eventually the wings were ripped out. Opaque yellow blood pooled up in drops as it flowed down Scarab's back. He felt so traumatized, so betrayed by his higher ups. Yet, he told himself it was okay. He messed up, and this was the consequence he deserved.
His wings were thrown to the ground in front of him like trash. When he reached out for them, Orbo crushed the fragile structure. Scarab was shaking. He was shaking, he was crying. He was crying.
He was panicking.
He was…
.
.
.
Back in the present, where he was sitting in the time room with the normally happy pink shadow.
Prismo was worried, so, so worried for Scarab. Scarab was shaking as he hugged himself. Unconsciously, he had his elytra opened, only to show his body's feeble attempt at regrowing the removed limbs. He felt pathetic.
"What the fuck?" Prismo put a hand on his shoulder for comfort. The two colors overlapped to form purple. "You don't deserve that, not at all!"
Scarab looked up at Prismo, who had a soft yet concerned expression. Both stayed silent for a while. Eventually, Scarab reached out to hug Prismo, which he wasn't expecting them to do, and Scarab cried in his arms.
"Why?" Scarab asked yet it was muffled by the sobbing.
"Why what?" Prismo soothingly rubbed Scarab's back.
"Why are you so…" Scarab felt angry at how small and weak he was acting towards his superior. "Why are you so nice!?" He would finally shout out.
Prismo was taken aback by the sudden outburst, but he understood. Scarab was a complex guy who was experiencing a lot of emotions right now. "You're still a person, dude. It's like, super messed up that they would ever do that to you." Prismo talked in his usual way, yet you could tell it was laced with worry. He had a look of genuine care.
This made Scarab go silent again. He felt overwhelmed by the mix of emotions that were brewing inside his head. It gave him a headache. He just wanted to scream and let all of those feelings spill out like ooze, like he was coughing up phlegm. He wanted to rid himself of all the uncomfortable insides he was forced to possess. He wanted to no longer feel that lingering phantom limb of his wings no longer being there.
Prismo realized he probably felt bad being towered over by the wishmaster while he sobbed on the floor, so Prismo shrunk his shadow down to be around the same size as Scarab's. The auditor was confused and shocked about seeing him so small, it was an uncanny feeling. It was like when a friend who only wears glasses takes their glasses off in front of you for the first time. They are the same person, but they are so different because it's not what your brain is used to.
The two cuddled, once again their shadows overlapping to form purple. Scarab really liked Prismo being smaller, he felt less intimidated and the other was easier to manage when it comes to contact. Contact between them felt good, like a soft fuzzy feeling with the warmth of a blanket.
As Scarab calmed down from all the bad feelings getting replaced with good ones, he gave Prismo a small kiss on the cheek. Nothing too significant to some, but for them it was big. Scarab was so reserved, it surprised Prismo that he would be the one to make a move like that first. He felt so excited he hugged Scarab tighter and peppered the bug's face in little pecks, making sure to leave one on the mouth.
Both would agree it was heaven to be in each other's arms.