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Speeding over the hills and down the rivers a blue streak is navigating its way through the rolling grassy landscape. Yellow fields with tints of red smear into a colorful paint stroke all guided through pointed confidence. Unacquainted land turns familiar as he slides to a stop on a grassy hill, looking out towards the city before him.
Sonic hums pleasantly as he briefly pauses to take in the sunset; Cascading orange and pink hues flush the sky as the sun begins to sink behind the tall cityscape. His destination catches his eye not long after, one of the taller buildings tucked further away from the busy city center, and at the top, his crash site.
Shadow’s penthouse.
He wouldn't call it home necessarily, home is where the heart is, and his heart is always on the run. Despite this, it's become a comforting sight to see after a few months of travel. With a warm feeling rising in his chest he reels back and kicks off into another burst of speed.
Shooting through the sleeping city, leaving nothing but a draft of wind behind him, a grin spreads across his face. He unfurls his bat wings, closing in on the lobby of the apartment complex. He gets within range of the automatic doors, but before they can crack their metal apart, he's shot himself straight up into the air, reaching the highest floor in a matter of milliseconds.
"Woo!" He thrills, arms thrown back and legs kicked up past his chest in a hit of adrenaline. He lets his wings falter and slowly drop him down to the grassy surface of the penthouse entrance. Hardly able to hold back a smile anymore, Sonic stretches and retracts his wings, running his fingers through his quills to tame them from hurricane strike zone to mildly acceptable. Bounding up the stairs to the front door he muses on getting a warm meal from Shadow, if he's lucky enough to catch him while he's also home; His stomach responds with a longing rumble, he presses his teeth against his lip.
All his hopeful thoughts come to a swift end when his ears twitch, hand firmly grasping the door handle. Completely frozen in place, his eyes dilate, among the distant street white noise and electronic hums he locates the muffled sounds of...dry heaving and gasping. The source of the noise seems to reside in the walls.
Awash in concern he pulls the door open, hurriedly stepping into Shadow's apartment, and just for a moment the pained sounds become louder before getting snuffed out, like an animal caught in a car's headlights. A tension fills the stagnant air before Sonic steps forward, the dark floorboards creaking beneath him.
"...Shadow? You home?" Sonic frowns, the apartment is cast in a deep red-orange hue, suffocating every other color as it pierces through the large living room windows. He approaches the door to the bedroom and a choked sob escapes from the other side. He takes a deep breath and cracks the door open.
"He-," His eyes widen and he shoves the door out of his way. "Holy shit, are you ok?" He sputters out.
Before him is Shadow, reduced to his hands and knees, covered in blood. Dripping from the tips of his claws, running up to his elbows, darkened and soaked into his fur and shoes. His stomach drops, all other feelings shoved aside. Shadow’s eyes flick around Sonic aimlessly, lungs pounding with desperation. He has a hand over his mouth and he starts digging his claws into his gorey muzzle when his stomach starts to lurch, causing him to gag and retch. From his unhinged jaw, a graceless groan pries itself out from deep within his stomach, a vocal substitute for the nothing his body is able to retrieve. Involuntary tears well in his eyes -held wide open only by the tension shocking every part of his body to life- and plink one by one to the bloody rug below. He looks pathetically helpless as he slams his free fist into the floor, struggling to keep himself up with his forearm. Sonic drops into a kneel beside him, hands hovering over his body, but finding no angle to support him with.
"What happened?" Disconcerted, mind running wild, Sonic can only watch helplessly until Shadow regains control of his body. His eyes are hazy, barely any recognition behind them as he cranes his head to look at Sonic.
As Sonic becomes caught up in trying to scan his partner, Shadow’s pupils start to slim in recognition, not of who is in front of him, but what. His shaking spikes in intensity. His breathing is mangled into a slobbery pant and Sonic narrowly misses the last warning sign before he is tackled and slammed to the floor, head bashing against the hardwood before being wrenched back up to face Shadow, now straddling his lap.
"Hrk-" Sonic hisses, squinting at the sting of Shadow’s claws digging into his shoulder "Can you please tell me what is going on?"
There are several beats of no further response or movement, and staring up at Shadow’s expression? It's rendered almost illegible by the harsh lighting bouncing off his face, but Sonic watches the red light reflect off a tear rolling down his cheek, his teeth clenched into a deathly grit as if he was trying to stop something terrible from escaping. Gutted sobs try to force their way past his sharp defense but only come out as cinched air. His grip flexes with the catch of every breath. Sonic's frown deepens, but knowing Shadow, his best bet is to stay in place.
"... I-" Shadow barely forces the word out of his mouth before his throat tightens, his breathing becomes frantic until it's overtaken by helpless chokes for air. A desperate side of him so rarely seen, coming completely undone.
"-could have eaten someone alive..." He chokes, voice threatening to give out, "I couldn't help... I don't know what happened.." He runs his claws through his frayed quills, shrinking in on himself while Sonic looks on, eyes wide and mouth parted, at a loss for words.
"Did you…?"
Shadow only limply raises and drops his shoulders, despaired by his own answer.
"Everything went blurry...I don't remember...only screams and sirens..." He tries to stifle another gag, squeezing his eyes shut, he presses his head into Sonic's shoulder. Sonic sighs and strokes his back, running his thumb over Shadow’s standing spines.
"I don't want this to keep happening..." He near silently bleats, pressing his damp eyes into Sonic's warmth. “It’s so overwhelming…”
"If we don't do something about it now it’ll only get worse, but I'm here, and I know we can get you through this." Sonic pulls him closer to his body, wrapping both his arms around Shadow's back, resting one hand on the crook of his neck. Sonic feels Shadow’s jaw tighten.
"I don't want to give in," His own hand slides up to the underside of Sonic's head "I won't let the monster win."
"You're not a monster, Shadow." Sonic pauses, eyes shifting "But you're gonna have to try eating the raw meat, blood and all. Your body needs it."
Shadow’s fist clenches, trying to take in a controlled breath, he doesn't really succeed. Sonic feels his entire body stiffen under his hands.
"I wasn't talking about me."
“Huh..?”
"You will never turn me into something like you. I will never sink to your level, indulging in sick bloodlust like some mindless animal." He hisses, ears pressing flat against the back of his head. His free hand starts to feel around the floor "I will never succumb to it again. I've fought for this long and I won't fail now-”
"And you'll kill yourself doing that." Sonic's brow furrows, pulling his head back to stare Shadow in the eyes, thin, slitted, and red. He's been swallowed in red, in guilt, in shame, the atmosphere drenching him in it, reaching from the bloody soles of his shoes to the fine red veins creeping through his sclera.
"Do you think I fucking care what I have to do?" He clenches his jaw, pulling up the end of the carpet under the bed where a knife barely lays beneath. “You know more than anybody-!”
“-Give the beast an inch and it will take your life!” He spits, tearing their torsos apart. Leaving just enough room for him to-
A sharp blood red scream pierces the peaceful silence of the evening atmosphere. Sonic’s chest heaves as Shadow’s claws sink into the back of his neck, holding him in place despite his panting and gasps for release. Writhing against the cold ruthless blade of the knife as it makes its home in his torso, thrust clean through. The cold intermingles with the flashing heat as his organs pulse and gush around the foreign object. Blood builds along the sides of the gash, overflowing and leaving a trail of unnerving warmth down his front that makes his fur stand on end. Shadow lets his head fall back to Sonic's shoulder, heavier than before, he hisses through his teeth, forcing his eyes shut with deep sorrow set into every line and wrinkle of his face.
"Ah....aha....and what's so bad about being like me, huh?!" Sonic mouths around the pain shooting electric waves through every nerve in his body. His head is tilted straight up at the ceiling as if in prayer, digging nubbed claws into Shadow’s back to bring his mind anywhere besides the pain.
"This…" Shadow bemoans, “Giving up control to the worst parts of myself…”
Sonic squeezes his eyes shut and sucks air through his teeth, falling into a quiet resignation. Reflecting back on the progress Shadow made only a few months ago. He knew helping him through his repressed needs would have its ups and downs, but he wasn't expecting a fall this hard. Ultimately, he's confident in his assessment; Shadow’s only fighting the inevitable, but he'll do what he has to until he can realize that for himself.
"Fuck…that's fine then." He groans, the pain getting caught in his throat. He cups a hand around where Shadow grips the knife handle, circling his thumb over Shadow's hand, eyes falling half shut "I'll be your bad guy."
They surrender themselves to a stalemate born of the arid stillness, watching the dark blue shadows start to silently usher out the reds along the walls, the only thing left to bring them reprieve is the darkness hiding all the hallmarks of death from their sight. Inescapable is the smell of bad blood that hangs in the air. Stuck entangled with each other, they're both left to ruminate through the dead silence. Shadow’s breathing finally comes down to an even rhythm and Sonic’s slow shallow breaths are only interrupted when a shaky exhale catches his lips.
“I’m so hungry…” He whispers in defeat, the tension in his body finally releasing and he drops pathetically against Sonic.
“You don't have to be.” Sonic's voice is low, breathy as he inhales around the knife to ground himself. “We can go eat together, ok..?”
A begrudging grunt in return. Sonic unabashedly lets a snort slip. How stubborn.
“I'd also like this unexpected item out of my bagging area, if you'd be so kind.” He teases between grunts, rolling his left side to get Shadow’s attention, stifling another strained inhale as the knife shifts along with his movement.
Shadow opens an eye slowly, glancing down at the weapon run all the way through his partner. Blood slides down the edge of the knife, seeping into the rug…drop by drop. He turns his head, both eyes now fixating on the wound site. With a slow drawn out inhale, his hands curl into fists, he swallows thickly. Sonic's lip curls into an indignant pout as he brings his left hand up to his head, smacking Shadow back to reality.
“I’m not on the menu, gayboy.” He puffs, quills bristling. Shadow huffs back at him and glares as he rises into sitting up straight again, rolling his shoulders.
Before long, he's up on his feet and despite the composure regained on his face, he stumbles to the bathroom on the far side of the room, his figure almost lost in the darkness. Sonic watches him feel at the wall until he clicks on a light switch, smirking when Shadow shouts and shrinks into himself at the flash of blinding white, hurriedly slapping around to turn the brights off and hit the low light switch. With him disappearing past the door frame, Sonic listens to the shuffling of garbage in their cabinets, trying to tune out his pain to little avail.
After what feels like forever, Shadow reemerges, holding a few boxes and rolls of bandages. He leans to the side and elbows the bedroom light switch, the faint electrical hum coming to life and blanketing the room in a warm yellow glow. Sonic finally gets a chance to assess Shadow’s full situation. A few faint bruises dotting his body, but not much blood past what he'd originally seen, though it's all dried up now.
Shadow drops the boxes from his arms onto the bed, shifting his gaze down at him. His eyes are bloodshot. Sonic's expression melts into something resembling pity, but Shadow gives it no time to linger as he bends down and rips the knife out of Sonic with no hesitation. Sonic screeches unintelligibly, reeling onto his back and arching into a bridge.
“YOU DICK!” He wails, wings jutting out and slapping against the floor as he thrashes about, blood resuming its flow.
“You said you wanted it out.” He snipes, prying his attention away from the bloodied blade. He shoves it down onto the bedside table, reaching into the drawer and fishing out a yellow chaos emerald. Shuffling back to the boxes, Shadow cracks one open and throws Sonic two small white towels.
“There. Put pressure on each puncture then brace your lower back up against the bed.” He commands. “Can’t do anything while it bleeds.”
Sonic nods and squirms into place, hissing at every odd movement that irritates the open wound. Once finally propped up he lets out a long sigh, staring up at the ceiling, watching Shadow settle down onto the edge of the bed through his peripheral. Shadow idly thumbs the chaos emerald in his hands, tracing the edges, almost getting to enjoy a moment of quiet.
“How long has it been since you ate anything?” Sonic quizzes, tilting his head to read Shadow’s expression. His face scrunches as he digs through his memory, only to fall back to staring into the chaos emerald when he can't recall an answer. His reflections stare back at him, fractured and small, all casting the same look of judgment.
“So, too long then,” he sighs, “but we can work with that. What's the stock situation looking like?” Shadow’s head snaps up.
“Sonic I won't-”
“Nope sorry, not playing this game anymore.” He cuts him off. “We can debate all you want after you eat. Right now you're answering my questions.”
A low growl draws from the back of his throat, ears pressing back again, forced to have to think through the haze bogging his mind.
“I've been avoiding the kitchen.” He admits, a sour scowl pressed onto his face. “Last I remember, there wasn't much aside from your blood bags and some freezer meat from just before you left.”
“The cooking or the edible kind?”
“Both.” He half shrugs, trailing off and disappearing into himself again, judging by the way his face loosely falls and his eyes unfocus.
“Well what are you waiting for? Fire up the microwave and defrost some.” Sonic chides, haphazardly pushing Shadow's shoulder with the back of his heel. He bats his leg away, glaring daggers, but when he opens his mouth to retort it's swiftly shut down by a desperate plea from Shadow's stomach -an inhuman gurgle echoing throughout the entire room- stirred by thought of the food that sits just within reach. With his lips pressed into a thin line, he shoots up from his seat, nose crinkling at the judgmental raise of a single eyebrow.
“Fine. Whatever.” He storms out of the room, pelting the chaos emerald at Sonic. His arm snaps up and catches it with ease, though it draws a hiss from the muscles pulling at the wound. Rolling the emerald to the rug and returning to holding the towel down, he notes that the blood flow finally seems to let up. The red stain has eased from eagerly devouring what remains of the once white towel into a slow creep. He stares up at the ceiling, ears flicking as he tunes in to Shadow aggressively tearing his way through the kitchen like some kind of unnatural disaster, slamming freezer doors, drawers, and audibly jabbing the buttons on the electronics, met in response with obedient beeps. Sonic snorts and traces the room with his eyes, unconsciously starting to wiggle his foot and tap his fingers against the towel, sending little shots of electric response up his body. Shadow leans against the door frame, staring him down like a hawk.
“The smell in here is sickening.” He says, the bottom of his jaw rolling, struggling to push down another swallow.
“You know some people get really nauseous when they're hungry.” Sonic tilts his head in Shadow’s direction, eyebrow raised. Shadow’s nose wrinkles, his quills bristling.
“Are you done bleeding or what.” He huffs, pushing himself from the support of the door and standing by his side.
“Woah-OAH.” Sonic puffs at him “You're not getting your crusty ass mitts anywhere near this gash until you wash em.”
“Baby.” Shadow scoffs, fiddling with the hem of his gloves under his inhibitors and rolling them off one at a time, attempting to toss them into the small trash can by the door. The gloves narrowly miss and catch on the rim, flopping back down to the floor with a pathetic pwap. Shadow sneers at such a simple mistake, but turns his attention back to Sonic.
“Happy now?”
“Sorry, not everyone is cool enough to be immune to infections.” He sticks his tongue out, squinting at the blood soaked saturation of his hand fur under the gloves, “And you heard me, wash or no game.” He flicks his head in the direction of the bathroom.
Shadow crosses his arms as his eyes roll back past his half set eyelids, probably into his skull and skulks off. Alerted by the cue of the water running, Sonic leans his head past the beds edge and observes Shadow, lazily letting his arms droop in the sink. Suddenly his quills bristle at the sight of his hands under the light and with new determination a couple silent minutes pass of vigorous scrubbing. Eventually he steps back out, holding his hands up defensively.
“There.” He says, clipped “Now sit up and clean yourself.”
“Huh, me? Then why-?”
“My only job is to heal you with the chaos emerald. The rest is your problem.”
Sonic shrugs and pushes against the bed, lowering his body to the floor again before he reels himself up with a groan, pressing his palm against his head as his brain reorients itself. He sets the towels down and reaches for the supplies on the bed, tossing his own gloves aside and getting to work. Shadow scoops up the emerald from the rug with one hand, rotating it so that the sharp peak stealthily presses into his palm. Fixated on the raw flesh for a moment, he steps out of the room and disappears around the kitchen corner.
Sonic dabs at the cut, small puffs of air are drawn from his nose at the sizzle of the chemicals tickling his exposed flesh. While he finishes step one with ease, it's much harder to reach his back, having to crane his arm. A grunt is forced up his throat when he jabs into it, gritting his teeth but pressing on until it's probably clean.
“Yo!” He calls out into the other room “I'm ready to get this over with!”
A grumble echoes in return before aggressive footsteps shuffle back into the room.
“Gladly.” Shadow drops down onto the floor, sitting with his legs crossed. He grabs Sonic's waist and pulls him so that his back rests against Shadow’s shins. Feebly, he tosses the emerald into his left hand, pressing the flat of his palm against the gash.
“I always hate this part.” Sonic sucks in a deep breath, shoulders squaring up. Shadow channels the pure chaos energy from the emerald across his chest and into Sonic, serving to dilute the intensity of the raw power surging into his body. Though it hardly stands to dampen the sensation, as if a million tiny needles were stabbing into his internals, tenderly stitching him back together with his own meat as thread. Over and out, in and under, the shallowest parts of the injury suture shut. Sonic twitches against the feeling, but admonishing claws press into his side. His chest tightens as the energy works its way through the worst site of the injury, dozens of electrifying stings joining the assembly line moving through him with no sign of letting up. Shadow’s stomach growls again, drawing out an agitated sound from Shadow that he quickly bites down on. He dutifully carries on. Once over halfway, Shadow’s hand rounds Sonic's torso to finish the healing on his stomach. Sonic lets out a liberated sigh once the pain simmers down to tingle, lightly tickling his furs, finally mending him back together.
“Phew, what a relief.” His head falls back, freely kicking his legs in the air and indulging in the lack of protest, squirming to his heart's content.
“Mm…” Shadow grumbles, setting the chaos emerald down and wrapping his other arm around Sonic's stomach, leaning forward and pressing his muzzle against Sonic's shoulder. The air between them is warm and a bit humid from their bodies occupying the same space. His hands begin to shake again, rubbing his fingers against each other to try and rid of the thin layer of sweat covering his palms. Sonic tenses when hot breath beats down into him, his fist slowly curls when Shadow’s claws start to prod at his stomach, kneading him like one would tenderize a slab of meat.
“I'll see you on the balcony.” Sonic says lowly, brow furrowing when he feels the ghost of teeth press against his shoulder. He winds his arm back into wide arc when-
The microwave sings and jolts Shadow back to life, eyes wide and flicking around for just a millisecond before just like that, he vanishes in a flash of green light. Sonic lowers his arm with a loaded exhale, pushing himself off the floor and looking at the open door. The sounds of frantic fumbling and the telling click of the microwave offer him an answer. He holds his hand over his heart and sighs again, reaching for the sliding door handle.
The rolling clack clack clack of the door ushers in a cold dry gust that envelops the room, a refreshing contrast and a well needed sense of awareness in the face of all that transpired. He steps out and soaks in the change of atmosphere, hands planted firmly on his hips and chest broad following a deep inhale, the air far removed from dry blood and chemicals. He strolls up to the radio nestled on top of their fireplace, clicking the dial until he lands on some low energy music to fill the silence of the early night and peacefully unwind with. Now carelessly nodding to the beat he crosses back to the other side of the balcony and lets his body fall limp into his green striped hammock, one last groan being exorcised into the pillow smothering his face.
Hearing footsteps approaching, he cocks his head back up to watch Shadow step out into the fresh air, full body trembling again. Before Sonic can take note of anything else, his expression contorts in on itself, enraptured by the four microwave meal trays in his arms knowing that Shadow only ran one defrost cycle and the only possible conclusion he can draw from it.
“How di-”
Shadow cuts him off with a shoulder raising snarl, ears pressing flat to his head, making it clear that Sonic is only there to bear witness to Shadow barely making it to the balcony couch. The microwave packages dropping precariously from his arms as he struggles to maintain hold on one, a tremor in his grip. It's only seconds longer before he stabs his claws into the little mascot on the seal -whose slogan promises only the best raw meat selection for Sol's hungriest vampires- turning its existence into unidentifiable carnage. A nervous chuckle catches in Sonic's chest, silently thanking the microwave for its impeccable timing. Despite wanting to leave Shadow to his own devices, he just can't peel his attention away from him feverishly ripping the supplementary blood packet apart and letting it spill all over the meal. Poor thing was not long for this world, vanishing in an instant with Shadow trying to plunge as much as he can down his gullet without throwing it back up. His jaw snaps shut like a fishing bird seizing its prey, letting the entirety of the cut drop down into his stomach. Sonic's face scrunches as he rolls onto his back, sliding his eyes shut and trying to tune back into the radio instead of Shadow’s repulsive gorging. He finds his mind wandering, wondering what, if anything, Shadow has in mind as he's ripping flesh apart. The person he attacked? Him? Or maybe it's just all fuzzy and blank. Eventually his thoughts circle back to himself, and he opens an eye, squinting.
“Hey…wasn't one of those supposed to be for me?”
Shadow responds with a gurgled snarl, blood bubbling and foaming from between his teeth, attention completely unwavering from the demolition of his third tray. Sonic can eat later.
Gradually the sounds of eating began to slow, Shadow's animalistic hyperventilation easing into relaxed, satisfied breaths. Sonic doesn’t move, allowing him time to fully recuperate.
Shadow groans, shifting positions on the couch. Sonic opens his eyes and looks him up and down. He’s sat in a half lounge, his body stretched long across the couch, rubbing his temples with his eyes squeezed shut. He takes in a deep breath, eyes sweeping their surroundings, eventually falling onto Sonic. Holding his gaze, neither of them utter a word. A hand comes up to obscure half of Shadow’s face, two fingers stretched across the length of his eyes and his thumb supported under his chin. His eyes shift away.
“It's disgusting how gracious you are to me.” He says coldly.
“Oh, don't get it confused.” Sonic hums “I'm pissed and I'm totally gonna whoop your butt, but making sure your head was back on straight was priority number one. How are you feeling?”
“...Fine.” Shadow runs his hands over his legs, eyebrows crinkling. Sonic raises his eyebrows at him, attentively leaning forward. He grumbles under the scrutiny, mouth pressing into a fine line to avoid the confession for as long as he can draw out.
Ultimately, he caves under Sonic's knowing look.
“I feel good.” His nose scrunches, “A little nauseous. But I can think clearly.”
“That's great!” He beams, relief lacing his tone, though it falters watching Shadow blankly stare out over the horizon. A frown tugs at the corners of Shadow’s lips, eyes wrenched in solemn reflection.
“What's up?” He asks, eyebrows knitting in concern.
“Losing control of myself. Attacking someone. Stabbing you. I was barely aware of anything. I thought I was so conscious in the moment, but every time I blinked, I didn't know where I was. I was a ghost spectating my own actions.” He glares to himself. “Inexcusable behavior for my standards.”
“All because you didn't let yourself eat.” Sonic adds. Shadow’s hands curl into fists.
“...Yeah.”
A stray wind discovers them in their little corner, gently caressing their furs, a few stray quills becoming captivated, following suit in the direction of the air's guidance. A tingle is sent up Sonic’s spine, no longer supplied warmth by the adrenaline previously pulsing through him.
“Could you start up a fire?” He gestures to the mantle against the wall. Shadow gets up without a word, digging around till he finds a lighter and meticulously placing the wood in perfect order. Flaring to life, Shadow hums in thought before it, letting the heat wash over him before setting the lighter back down and dropping to his place on the couch.
“Thank you.” Sonic trills, the warmth creeping its way across the length of the balcony, he basks in it for a few moments before his expression shifts back to the severity of the topic at hand.
“But seriously, like it or not, this isn't your choice to make anymore, you're gonna have to get used to a new diet.” Sonic states matter of fact, though he sighs when Shadow’s expression shifts into that guilt ridden self loathing again. “What you eat doesn't make you a monster, Shadow, but hurting innocent people does and trying to treat yourself like you are one doesn't help anybody.”
“Would you be there to stop me?” His cold tone hiding provocation and a hint of longing.
“Hm?”
“If I ever did become a monster.” He elaborates.
“Any time, any place.” He assures, smiling with his whole chest. “I've done it a million times before, it would be my pleasure to do it all over again.”
Shadow snorts quietly, the tiny inklings of a smirk cracking his lips.
“Don't let me down.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Shadow nods, finally stretching his rigid body and finding some half hearted sense of resolve. Soothed by the crackle of fire and the music floating through the air, they recess into silence. Sonic lays back down and allows himself to melt into relaxation, if for a short while, and Shadow, not letting up from his fixation on the horizon, tries to come to terms with an undeniable truth.
After a long stretch of peace, he’s finally risen from his seat, neatly stacking his trays of garbage and taking them inside. Shadow takes a while to return, stepping back out carrying the bloody towels on his forearms, and set on top are his blood soaked shoes and gloves. Sonic opens an eye as he makes his way back to the fireplace, he's now fully clean, all traces of blood washed away as if this never happened. Standing before the mantle with an eerie stillness, he peers into the dwindling soul of the fire, as if silently communicating his wishes to it. One by one he drops the tarnished items into the flames, mesmerized by the way the fire erupts and swallows everything whole to keep itself alive. Everything starts to melt together, becoming an unrecognizable tar, far removed from the weight it held over him. The fire's reflection swirls and dances in his eyes, an orange hue highlighting his solemn crimson gaze. Performing the ceremonial act of relieving him of his burdens.