Chapter Text
You always wake up damp.
It’s incredibly inconvenient, your packed schedule considered. Neither Swiss nor your coach accounted for half an hour of hauling your futon over your shoulder and out to the side of the dojo to beat out the sweat in their routines, nevermind wrangling it up over the balcony to air out after. You can’t do it in the evening when your muscles ache after a long day of getting STRONGER, because nobody wants to do chores after that, so you’ve had to carve out your own time for bedtime hygiene. You always wake up damp, caked with sweat and drool, and you always wake up with a nightmare. In the dead of the night, quiet and solitary, when you have nothing else on your schedule but sleep. There isn’t any better time to clean up.
So, every night, you wipe the sweat off your face and push yourself up before you can start thinking about whatever it was this time. You don’t do anything halfway, even dream. Your Coach’s hands on your face feel as real as they do in the ring, and the watching eyes are as bright and boring as the cameras he follows you with. Not that you always dream about your Coach-- that would be stupid. It’s stupid that you do at all, because there isn’t anything to be scared of, but Bo says dreams are usually stupid. Bo is smart about that shit. That’s why he’s basically the only guy you tell about your midnight adventures. (That and how much he knows about getting sweat out of fabric. Maybe all Satyrs sweat like fucking crazy.)
All that is to say: you’ve carved out a good few hours every night to wake up and keep things in shape. Nightmares aside, it’s turned into a comfortable habit. It’s the longest waking period you go without any kind of performance up. No mask, no paint, no ring, no cameras. Just you. And your futon. And your phone. And Bowie, who lives in your phone. He’s usually up late. That’s just how your nights go. It’s not a surprise when you jolt awake any other night, and it shouldn’t have been a surprise this time.
YOU: hn
It still manages to be one.
YOU: ffffuck--!
Your blanket must have looped around you while you tossed and turned. It’s snaked around your torso like a pair of arms, crawling up and wrapping your chest in tow. It’s constricting, nothing like the comfortable pressure of your mask-- they’re hands, arms, and your heart can’t stop pounding until they’re gone. Your body moves faster than your head, tearing at the fabric until it can’t get to you. You throw it across the floor, hard and fast, and it hits the wall with a dull thump. Half of it does. The other half sits sadly in your lap. God damn it.
YOU: grrrr
YOU: come the fuck on
No way you’re explaining this to Coach. The thread you used to make your mask can probably fix this too. Probably. Ugh. UGH.
YOU: ugh
Your newly blanketless body calms down as you roll off your futon and stumble to your feet. You scoop it up and roll it over one shoulder like always, kicking the other half of your blanket up and catching it in your other hand as you pass by. At least tomorrow isn’t arm day.
YOU: hup!!
Futon in its rightful place on the balcony, you set to work with the blanket. You’ll probably have to do a back stitch if you want this thing to see another day. You’ll be here for a while. Might as well find some company.
championsTirade [CT] began hazing tinnitusChakra [TC]!
CT: bo
CT: dude
CT: BOWIE!!!!!!!!!!
CT: ok so you hate the mountain
CT: you hate the mountain and you want him to die forever
CT: he gets it
CT: I CAN SEE YOU ONLINE
CT: GRRRRRRRRRRRRR
CT: WHATEVER
championsTirade [CT] ceased hazing tinnitusChakra [TC]!
Great. GREAT!!!!!!! CLEARY HE HAS MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO!!!! SO MUCH FOR BROTHERHOOD!!!! FOR THE BOND BETWEEN MEN!!!!!! FOR
cloisteredConnoissewer [CC] began hazing championsTirade [CT]!
CC: wut r u doing awake (//_0)
!!!
CT: the mountain could ask you the same thing
CC: im al~wayz up l8 u silly filly
CC: da chains on dagger tartarus r never unlocked
CC: always gotta b ready 2 fite (//_u)
CC: u neva mentioned nite training tho
CC: is ur master teachin u new moves????
You stare at the needle between your fingers. Swiss had been the one to teach you to sew, not him.
CT: no
..but that’s so lame. It’s especially lame to a high level badass like Dagger. In the time you two have known each other, everything you’ve learned about his life has been more wild than the last. So, yeah, maybe you haven’t told him everything about yourself, like the fact that you can barely do a ladder stitch, or that you can’t fly, or that your Coach isn’t as focused on you as he used to be. Maybe you tell a few white lies here and there so Dagger doesn't pick up and leave. That’s what performing is all about. It’s the best kind of lie, because it makes you worth wanting. What’s one more?
CT: the mountain is doing solo training
CT: away from the prying eyes of the raucous crowd
CT: under the light of only the moon
CC: wao~www!!!!
CC: n wat if sum1 finds u
CC: a stalker in da nite
CT: HUHUHUHUHUHUHU
CT: the mountain has already torn one vicious attacker asunder
CT: WHATS ONE MORE LIFE TAKEN BY HIS HANDS?!??!?!???!?!?!?
CC: eeeeeeeek!!!!!!!
CT: huhuhuhuhu
You tug the thread along as you watch him type. You two definitely have an Alpha/Omega dynamic going on, but you wouldn’t mind taking Beta. Sewing is Beta shit, which is exactly why Swiss was so thrilled to teach you. Even though he’s way better at it, which makes him way more of a Beta. Dagger’s doujin recommendations tend to lean A4O, but maybe if you introduce him to Swiss...
CC: im so fweakin scawed
Actually, you should kill that train of thought. Forever.
CT: psh the mountains enemies dont hold a candle to you
CT: theyre low level
CT: opener shit
CT: they crawl at the mountains feet desperate for his crown but even they know their fight is futile
CT: it isnt until dagger enters the ring that the real fight begins
CT: when the mountain can really flex his fucking muscles
CT: the thrill of a fight with no clear victor until the last drop of blood falls
CT: THE HEAT OF TWO SATYRS GOING BLOW FOR BLOW
CT: THATS WHAT TEH MOUNTAIN IS CHASING!!!!!!!!
CT: HUHUHUHUHUHUHU!!!!!!!!!!
CC: teh mountain lolz
CT: dude
CC: zomg calm ur hoovsies
CC: im jus bein sillay
CC: all mai captors r small fry 2
CC: enuff 2 keep me imprisoned but not 2 take me out
CC: so u kno i get it
CC: gettin 2 fite sumbody liek u????
CC: now dat would be awesum
CC: so u better b ready to fly away birdie
CC: cuz dis daggers comin ur way
CT: huhuhuhu!!!!
CT: well the mountains holding you to that
CC: u fweakin better!!!
CC: zomg is ur coach on ur tail abt textin
CC: r u sneaky mode
CC: normally u dont go dis long w/o a break 4 moar pushupz
Your repair job sits in your lap, barely halfway done. You can see the beginnings of twilight in the sky beyond the mountains. You don’t want this to end. You don't want morning to come. You don't want to be the person you really are again. There’s nothing wrong with holding on to this, is there? There can’t be. Something that makes your chest feel so warm can’t be wrong. Nothing about Dagger can be wrong. So you cup the peeking sun in your palm, slow and steady, and beg it to slow its course. A little more time, just this once. The prayer is its own kind of lie. You know you’ll ask again. You can’t help it. You make more wishes than you should, and Dagger is the only one that ever comes true. What’s one more lie?
CT: night stuff is different
CT: the mountain said solo
CT: so he can skimp a little to make time for you
CC: swoooo~n (//_x)
CC: *is ded from swoon*
CT: so you admit defeat so easily?
CT: all the mountain need do to slay you is flex his tender heart and you fall?
CC: idk maybs
CC: ull only find out if u keep flexin oo la la (//_u)
CT: the mountain can flex all fucking night dont even try him
CT: all muscles including his heart are in top shape
CC: u gna prove it???
CT: duh
CT: but the mountain is wiser than you in the woes of love
CT: if hes winning this he needs time
CC: ooooo
CC: pretty pony needs 2 prep 4 talkin sweet???
CT: this incredibly earth shatteringly handsome horse needs time unrelated to prep my dear fellow
CT: love takes time
CC: does it nowwww~
CT: he sees you dodging because youre scared
CC: wut!!!!!!
CT: youre scared the mountain will win and make you fall for him
CC: zomg
CC: so dats how it is
CT: FUCK YES. SUDDEN DEATH. NO REMATCHES.
CC: so u win if i fall in luv w u
CC: how do i win (//.0)
CT: uh
CT: hm
CT: if the mountain falls in love with you first he guesses
CT: or if you kill him
CC: zomg
CC: luvvin 2 death!!!
CC: kk im in
CC: blewd pact
CC: til death do we blart
CC: wuts the saying
CT: dude the mountain doesnt know hes not a horse priest
CT: the mountain is slicing his palm blood pact blood pact
(Needle in hand, you prick your finger. Close enough.)
CC: GET DAT SCREEN BLUDDY
CT: ITS SO FUCKING BLOODY
CC: YUSSSSS
CT: YES!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!
CC: *NOSEBLOODS ALL OVER DA SCREEN!!!!!*
CT: YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEE
tinnitusChakra [TC] began hazing championsTirade [CT]!
TC: sørry, brø! gøt swept up with the øld man :)
TC: yøu gøød?
CT: DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE
TC: øøøkay!
(So, maybe you already love him. What’s one more lie?)