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The music was loud in Fool's ears as xe meandered throughout the ballroom. Everyone was having so much fun, dancing and talking and laughing with each other, tonight had gone perfectly!
Now, all he had left to do was find Milkman, and give him his present.
She knew that enchanted golden apples weren't that hard to come by anymore, and Milkman himself had at least a few stockpiled up somewhere. But they were still his favorite thing, and Fool wanted to surprise him with one.
To show him that he could still trust faer. To show him that fae still wanted to be his friend, his birch-
Milkman's shiny gold buttons and familiar, bright laughter drew Fool's attention to only a short distance from the center of the dance floor. Fool smiled, taking a step over towards him, and reached a hand up to wave to him.
That got his attention, and Milkman waved a greeting, but he turned back around to keep doing... whatever he was doing. Fool's heart dropped.
That was it?
That was all they got, that was all the attention that Milkman would give them?!
He felt his breathing pick up, and his eyes burned. He stormed away, back to the corner, where no one would bother him.
Fool left, and took Milkman's gift with him.
~~~~
Fool didn't know how much time it'd been. He'd left the party early. He hid in one of the back rooms, hidden where he could hear the faint music of the ball leaking through the walls, but no one's individual voices could be picked out of the blur. The apple was tossed onto a shelf, shimmering with that purple glow, unassumingly. Fool was curled up near it, fists clenched and angry tears streaking down his face.
Xir soul burned, with bright, shimmering patches of orange. Streaks of red, not unlike blood, dripped down xir face, mixed with the molten metal feeling of gold. It felt like it was on fire, spreading over the rest of xir skin.
It hurt.
Was she dying? She felt like she was dying. Her brain hurt, everything was too loud, her soul ached and stabbed and twisted and all she'd ever wanted was Milkman but Milkman didn't want her-
In a sudden, bold move of selfishness, ze stumbled over to the enchanted apple, intending to eat it, to save hirself from this pain. Milkman could find someone else to get him his favorite treasure.
Fool blinked.
The pain was gone as soon as ce'd touched the enchanted apple. It took a moment to register, to really realize what the absence of feeling and newfound quiet actually was.
But then only a mere second later, it was so much worse. Instead of his soul feeling like it was burning across his skin and fragmenting until he was naught more than a pile of shining golden dust on the floor, his skin itched and stabbed and he was sinking into the floor of the ballroom.
Fae could hear everyone in the party as clear as day, and could see them, too.
It was so much, it was so much-
They could feel every step anyone took, every glass set on a table, every brush against a wall.
It dropped the apple onto the ground and ran out to the party, not sure how to tell if the floors were moving or if its legs were.
Fool tripped and fell, a little ways off from the doorway. Someone- he didn't know who, everyone was blurring together, tried to say something to him.
Whoever they were, it didn't matter, now. A voice in xyr mind awoke- or had it always been there?- and reminded xem that this person was xyrs, that everyone was xyrs, that they were all in xyr ballroom and xe could keep them there as long as xe wanted.
The party doesn't end until the host says so.
The ballroom burst into color, inside Fool's mind, as she felt it breathe. Every person inside the room fell silent, but she could still feel them...?
There was a shining statue in front of them, made of pure, solid gold.
It had a small crown and hair that looked as though it had been flickering in the wind before being frozen in time. It looked like someone that Fool knew, he thought. But he was the ballroom now, and the ballroom was him, and he didn't remember their name.
There was only one name ve remembered, and that was Milkman's. Ce knew where to go find him. Right over in the corner, near the stained glass mural of the birch tree, was a golden statue of someone with a glorious mustache ce would recognize anywhere.
The ballroom echoed with faer lone, quiet footsteps. There was a chorus of muffled voices in faer head, words indistinguishable, but their sound was there, and Fool could hear them. They were familiar, as the golden faces scattered about the room were.
But like the faces, none of them were recognizable. They were blended together into one tune, one sound, more of an idea of voices than individuals speaking.
Still, Fool smiled. Her Milkman was here, and would stay here, and it didn't matter if her skin was crawling and her eyes were blurring and she could see and feel everything around her, Milkman was here, and he was hers, and would be hers forever. He was her shining statue now, a treasure to be protected.
They stared at his golden eyes, peaceful expression permanently etched onto his face. They touched his cheek, pleasantly startled by the warmth that met their fingers.
Ze would keep him forever.