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Pursuer was not having a good day. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Too many ambushes today. He barely had any chance to eat, having to just run away from Civilians too tough to kill, making everything all the much harder without any energy to fuel him. And even when he did get to eat, the meat spoiled too quickly, only giving him small nibbles throughout the long day.
He was starving and exhausted, not in his right mind… And yet he still found his way to Artful.
Artful allowed him into his tent as he always did, unzipping the entrance fully to allow the hulking beast that was Pursuer to actually fit inside, closing it right back up behind him. Pursuer, instead of his usual bed hogging, just stood in front of Artful, staring intensely at him.
Artful stared back, noticing differences in Pursuer’s appearance. His eyes were too focused, he bore a frown, drool was dried to his face, he was slightly slouched over himself… It was a very alarming sight, but Artful could think of no explanations aside from…
“You are… Sick?”
Pursuer didn’t respond, only continued to stare absentmindedly. Artful just assumed his mind wasn’t working properly because of whatever nasty thing he caught, snapping his gloved finger in front of Pursuer’s face to get his attention.
Pursuer blinked before he was actually processing Artful and his actions, seeing him tilt his head with a look of concern. Had Pursuer had done something wrong again? Came in with too many wounds? ‘Smelled bad’? Did something humans found unintelligent?
“Pursuer?” Artful tried once more, “You are sick?”
Sick… A shake of his head. No, this was merely a natural response to not getting enough to eat, but it wasn’t like he could exactly explain seeing he could barely even comprehend the magician’s words.
“Hm…” Artful hummed out loud, getting closer to examine Pursuer just a bit better, trying to figure out what was so wrong. Pursuer just allowed him to, the smell of his poison staving away any painful thoughts of hunger.
“Angry?”
Pursuer was somewhat. It was frustrating to have no food in his stomach and be forced to sleep starved. But he shook his head softly, it wasn’t the cause of his problems.
“... Sad?”
Another shake. None of the emotion that Civilians called ‘sadness’ was ever felt by him. He had nothing to be sad over after all.
Regardless, Artful seemed determined to figure out this mystery, now looking deeper for any new painful wounds on Pursuer’s body or anything else that looked out of the ordinary. But Pursuer grew tired of his staring, starting to walk past him and to his bed instead.
“Ah- hey,” Artful said as he watched Pursuer crawl into the bed, curling into a ball as was most comfortable for himself. He stood over Pursuer now, deeply concerned for his well-being.
“I know you are not well. Tell me, what is wrong?” He sat right beside Pursuer now.
Pursuer took a moment before he could vocalize, “Hungry.”
Ah. That would explain so much. But unfortunate for Pursuer, Artful was not willing enough to go find a Civilian to bring back just for him to eat alive in front of him. He had ‘a conscience,’ not an undying loyalty to Pursuer and his needs. Very unfortunate.
“... You will eat other meat? Chicken? Cow?” Artful tried to offer helpfully.
Pursuer only shook his head. Yes, he could eat those, but it wouldn’t be enough. His diet was primarily based on Civilians, it was hard to change now after years of it.
Artful sighed. Of course his solution would be shot down… Then an idea flickered in his head.
He immediately felt disturbed. Why would he ever think of such a thing? But because he felt disturbed, now the thought wouldn’t leave him, forcing him to think it over more than he’d like.
The pain would be unbearable. The wound would probably never heal properly. Pursuer probably wouldn’t just stop there. He could die if not careful.
There were no pros to this idea, he could only think of cons, and yet… A morbid curiosity resided. The want to see Pursuer’s reaction. To see how far he could put his trust into him. To see where it’d end him up.
His self-preservation was the only thing keeping him alive now, but just this once…
He couldn’t believe himself, but he didn’t stop himself despite knowing the possible dangers he was about to put himself in. He got off of the bed, quickly going outside with a water bottle.
Pursuer didn’t mind, but he felt his hunger kick in again once Artful’s powerful smell went away, causing him to curl into himself further, hands cradling his own stomach.
“Pursuer,” Artful tried to catch his attention when he sat back down right beside him, but Pursuer didn’t move. A sigh escaped Artful.
“Pursuer, look please,” He tried again. Pursuer this time slowly lifted his head to look up at Artful, curious.
Artful smiled, before he showed Pursuer his ungloved left hand, completely free of the makeup and perfume usually covering it. A Civilian hand, Pursuer noticed.
“You are hungry, oui? Eat,” He offered, bracing himself for whatever might come next.
Pursuer’s eye dilated at the sight of the meat, drool slipping from his mouth. But he was conflicted… Artful was his- his mate, he was supposed to protect his mate, not eat him. But he couldn’t stop himself from smelling the hand at least, feeling the pains in his stomach grow. A bad decision.
“It is okay,” Artful tried to persuade him, “You can eat.”
Pursuer looked up at him, obviously frustrated by the strangeness of this situation. His mate was allowing him to eat, but that went against his instincts. Yet… His hunger won.
His teeth dug into Artful's skin, just below his pinkie, Artful hissing before he yelped at seeing Pursuer rip the skin off so quickly and effortlessly.
Artful's hand shook as the fat was visible, blood pouring down onto the bed, slick chewing emanating from Pursuer. Artful began to cry against his control from the sheer pain he was in, instantly regretting his stupid decision.
Pursuer swallowed the flesh and panted, needing more than just one mere bite. He grabbed onto Artful's wrist painfully, mouth going to the middle of the back of his palm, tearing a sizable chunk from there as Artful could only watch, a whimper escaping him from finally understanding the true fear Pursuer's victims felt.
Pursuer couldn’t even pay attention to Artful's feelings, too entranced by finally being given a willing meal, tearing and digging out whatever he could fit into his mouth.
Once Artful finally caught sight of his almost entirely flayed hand, he used his other hand to push weakly against Pursuer's head, telling him with panic evident in his shaking voice, “Stop- Enough! Stop, Pursuer!”
But Pursuer didn't, ripping muscle off now, Artful screaming as he tried to pull his arm free from Pursuer's grasp. Pursuer followed after however, not giving up, eating what he could.
Finally, Artful grasped into his pocket, pulling his wand out before he smacked Pursuer harshly on the back of his head. The thud was loud, Pursuer finally letting go from the distraction of the pain, Artful taking the limited time to quickly get off the bed, keeping his injured hand as far away from Pursuer as he could manage.
Pursuer finally got ahold of himself once more, seeing the tears ruining Artful's makeup, how scared he looked, the smell of copper permeating the air, the mess he had made.
He stayed still, realizing he had hurt Artful too much. He didn't mean to, he only meant to take one bite. He couldn’t control himself, it wasn’t his fault. But there stood Artful, looking at him like the monster he was.
“Sorry,” Pursuer let out, trying his best to show he wouldn’t hurt his mate anymore, “Pursuer sorry.”
Artful just continued to shake and cry, not believing he let this happen in the first place. He still kept away, thinking he still saw a hunger in Pursuer's eyes, but looked at the damage to his hand, feeling nauseous from how bare his hand was, showing its fat, nerves, muscles, even slight bone.
A shudder as he tried not to puke, instead he quickly went to where he kept an emergency first aid kit, clumsily opening it with one hand still shaking as he grabbed the bandages. Then he heard a creak from the bed and his head whipped around as he shouted desperately, “STAY!”
Pursuer immediately stopped trying to get up, staying put on the bed as he watched Artful. Artful took a second before his back was to Pursuer again. He bit the bandages open, seeing his left hand was useless, before he tried his best to wrap them tightly around said hand.
He tore what he needed off with his teeth, carefully tucking in the last strand so they wouldn't fall off, regretting not trying to clean the hand first, but stopping the bleeding was more important.
He put the rest of the bandages away, before he grabbed a syringe inside full of emergency painkillers. Felt like a pretty important emergency now, so he bit his bottom lip as he inserted it into his wrist below his sleeve at a very strange angle, praying it went into his blood stream and inserting some of the liquid inside of himself, before hissing as he pulled it back out and away.
The first aid kit was put back in place before Artful turned back around to look at Pursuer, finally seeing just how upset Pursuer looked. God, it made him even more nauseous honestly, a swirl of feelings overwhelming him.
He allowed this to happen, he had no right to be mad, and yet… He couldn’t control himself either, blaming Pursuer for not holding himself back, ruining his poor hand, possibly even disfiguring it for life.
“BÊTE!” He yelled at him, Pursuer flinching from hearing Artful's voice raised for once, “I TELL YOU STOP! MY HAND… IT IS NOW BROKEN! BROKEN! YOU UNDERSTAND?”
Pursuer dropped his head slightly, like a dog would after getting scolded, but that didn’t deter Artful’s anger, “IMBÉCILE! IDIOT! BÊTE!” He quickly ran out, needing distance to calm himself.
Pursuer allowed him to leave, licking his lips clean of the last of Artful’s blood as he wondered how he could make it up to Artful for indulging in hurting him (even though Artful had given him the go ahead, but what did that matter if Artful was so upset over it? He learned human emotions came before logic long ago.)
…
It had been a while since Artful last saw Pursuer. Once he had returned after his little freakout, he had found his tent empty and it had stayed that way since.
At first he was relieved to have some space, still needing time to process what had went down and what he wanted to do about it. But soon enough, he began to miss Pursuer’s presence… He hadn’t had any social interaction since he last saw Pursuer, needing time to heal his hand and having no need to go scavenge for supplies.
The days were long with nobody to spend them with, and he was currently bored, rereading the same book for the tenth time due to his limited collection.
Then his attention was caught by footsteps outside, heavy ones. He put down the book, instead scrambling to grab his wand, ready to face a Civilian despite still being injured. But then he saw the familiar silhouette outside the entrance, sighing as he walked over, putting the wand into his mouth before he opened the tent up, seeing Pursuer waiting patiently.
“Where-” He tried to ask, but Pursuer pushed past him and went inside, causing a spark of rage inside Artful’s head. He dared to stay away for days after hurting him, then suddenly thinks he could barge in?
“You!” He yelled, turning around as he saw Pursuer hang over his desk, “What you are doing!?”
Pursuer began to hack, alarming Artful even further as he stomped over. He was not going to just have this beast puke on his belongings! “Stop it!”
But Pursuer continued, finally coughing out what he wanted to, only drool accompanying the gift. Artful looked disgusted as Pursuer picked up the vial of perfume, holding it out to Artful, “For Artful.”
Artful blinked. Was this… An apology? Pursuer had never brought anything to Artful before, especially not something he considered poison. Artful didn’t pick up the drool infested thing, of course, but he did soften at the realization that Pursuer was being nice.
“... Oh. Thank you, Pursuer,” He said, pointing at the desk to try to tell him to keep it there, and so Pursuer put it back in the pool of drool.
“... Pursuer sorry,” He tried telling Artful again, and this time Artful believed it, all of his anger evaporating.
He sighed before he put his hand on top of Pursuer’s head, giving a soft pet as he told him, “It is okay. I know. I forgive you.”
Pursuer smiled, showing those green pearls of his, making Artful snort.
“No more hunger, oui?”
Pursuer gave a nod, relaxing Artful further.
“Yes… No more eating of me, oui?”
“Pursuer not eat Artful,” He promised.
“Good, good,” He continued to pet Pursuer, satisfied with this arrangement for now.