Chapter Text
So. There's good news and bad news.
The good news: There's a cool knight living in his house now. Tall, handsome (?), and clad entirely in golden armor. (Which he refuses to take off. NOT that Avery wants him to take it off, or has asked him to take it off, BY THE WAY.)
The bad news: The cool knight doesn't talk. Or eat, or drink, or even sleep, as far as Avery knows. Actually, he does sleep. Probably. He definitely hasn't checked.
Okay, well, the first bit's a lie. He does talk. Barely. It's been almost a month and they've maybe had, what, two entire conversations? Well, calling them conversations is a major overstatement. It's basically just this: Avery asks something, the guy nods or shakes his head (or rarely, he says something in that… oddly smooth voice of his. It's not weird to refer to another dude's voice as smooth, is it?), Avery asks something else, the guy ignores him. He doesn't even know his name, actually.
That's not really what's bothering Avery, though. If he wants to be the strong, silent type, let him do that. Whatever. The thing that's bugging him is the helmet.
Okay, that sounds— not how he wanted it to.
What he means is that he's dying to know what the guy looks like. Which is a totally normal thing to wonder, of course! It's totally not weird to wonder if maybe he could sneak a glance while he's sleeping! Totally definitely absolutely not like he's tried, of course! Totally definitely absolutely not like Avery's learned that he sleeps with his head under the covers, because he has one gajillion percent not checked, of course!!
Okay, so maybe he did poke his head into the room where the knight was sleeping. Who can really blame him, though!? The dude drops the fact that he knows everything that's ever happened in the entire universe up to, like, fucking last month and then just refuses to speak for the next few days? It's only fair that Avery should get to have just a teensy little peek of whatever's hiding under that stupid helmet!
Because, god damnit, can't a perfectly straight guy have a little interest in what the dude who's been bumming out in his house for weeks on end looks like? It's perfectly normal to wonder whether he's a rugged stubble-covered action hero type, or hiding a puppy-eyed prettyboy face under there!! Either would be fine by him!!
Ahem. Back to the present.
The guy is staring out a window, hands clasped behind his back, watching the rain outside pour down in sheets. Avery wonders what a dude with infinite knowledge does to pass the time. Honestly, it doesn't even sound that bad to him. You could do, like, five times one thousand instantly. No calculator required. Not that that's fun, per se, but—
"Stop staring."
Avery startles at the words. That honey-smooth voice cuts through the pattering of the rain against the house's wooden roof.
"Talkative today, aren't we?" he teases, causing the knight to whip around in what he barely registers as annoyance. This guy would be a whole lot easier to read if it wasn't for the helm hiding his face. It's hard to tell what he's thinking. Which, he realizes, is probably the intended effect.
"I'm not in the mood to have a chat with you. Leave me be." The response is monotone, almost programmed, but there's a hint of anger at the corners of the words. Avery keeps prodding, a smile perking at the corners of his lips.
"Why not? I mean, it's not like you've got anything better to do, mm?"
It happens all too fast— one second the man is at the window, and the next he's at Avery's throat, gripping the front of the slime's shirt so hard his knuckles must be turning white under his golden gauntlets. Wow, he's got big hands, doesn't he?
"I. Do not. Want. To. Talk." he growls. It dawns on him that this guy could probably just actually kill him right now.
His face is close to Avery's now. Really close. He tries to make out the shapes of his features underneath the helmet, but god, that thing blocks out light like crazy. Maybe if he gets closer, though…
He places his hand on the bottom of the knight's helm. It lifts slightly, then—
All at once, the collar of his shirt is dropped from the man's hands, and he stumbles back from Avery, every muscle of his body tensed. Okay. Probably stop thinking about this guy's muscles. Probably don't do that.
"Did you really just try to—!? What kind of weird shit are you into?"
What's he talking about? Is he—
Oooooooh. Yeah. His cheeks suddenly flush a deeper green. "I wasn't— I just— I was curious, is all!" he sputters, the slime on his cheeks bubbling.
"So you tried to kiss m— Curious? What?!"
"A—About what you look like! I wasn't trying to— I don't even like dudes!"
"What I— Are you serious?" He's got an accent, Avery realizes— there's a little bit of a growly sound behind his voice. "You— Are you crazy? You fucking leaned in and everything!"
"Because I wanted a closer look! I'm not— you're not even— like, even if I did— if I was— you're not, like—" God, this is going horribly. So maybe he did get a little closer than intended! No big deal! He's not into guys! So what if his heart is beating a mile a minute right now? That's totally unrelated!
"God, you are insufferable."
He edges closer, tilting his head to the side as he examines Avery's face. Okay, cool. Cool cool cool cool cool. He's totally fucking dead, isn't he?
And then, he speaks.
"Listen to me. The fact that I do not want you going insane does not mean that we are friends, it does not mean that I care about you, it does not mean that you get to know anything about me. Your job is to stay out of my way until I've fully healed, and then you will never see me again. Do you understand me?"
He manages a meager, trembling nod before the knight backs away, sweeping his cape over his shoulder and turning away, presumably to go stare out a different window. Or, like, stomp on the head of a puppy or something. Avery's a mixture of too terrified and too upset to think about what the hell this guy's about to go do.
He looks back over the railing as he ascends the stairs. Despite the lack of eyes in his helmet, it's clear what he's staring at. Who he's staring at. That gaze chills the slime to the core.
"Next time, heed the warnings when they're given to you."
God, he's going to die tonight, isn't he?