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1x was home alone; Brighteyes had some work to do with Builder, Doom, and Taph; and Shedletsky was grocery shopping. 1x was in their room in the little hut Builder made for their mattress. They were binge-watching random movies until they got hungry. Shedletsky would probably be back with food to make—that was hopefully not fried chicken—so she settled for a small snack.
1x got up, stretched their waist wings with a small coo, and made her way into the hall. 1x was messaging Taph asking how things were going until he felt a sharp pain in their back. It wasn’t like any normal sore; it was a sharp, excruciating sensation. Almost equal to getting a limb cut off without any anesthetics.
It all started so fast; 1x couldn’t get a proper breath in. He’d knew they’d grow more wings than they had now; they just didn’t know it’d be this soon and this painful. And when it seemed like it was all over, the process would repeat.
With every shock of pain that coursed through her entire body, another scream escaped 1x. They were hunched over on the floor, nails digging into the floor, leaving scratch marks indented in it. All 1x could focus on was the pain and when someone would get home. Who knows when the it would end?
1x reached for his phone with a shaky hand. Taph had been spamming him with messages, but she couldn’t find the energy to reply. Tears started forming in 1x’s eyes; they couldn’t bear it.
——
“Sooo, how much more do we have to do?” Brighteyes asked, moving a piece of metal into a wagon with her powers.
“Well, with so many people getting banned from Robloxia, we have a bit of work to do, Eyes.” Builderman responded, shrinking a large chunk of the demolished roof.
Taph came trotting over, waving their phone.
“What’s got your feathers all ruffled, Taph?” Builder turned his attention to Taph, who was catching their breath.
‘It’s X.’ Taph signed with his hands.
“Is X alright? What happened? Do we need to go home?” Brighteyes butted in.
‘Possibly. They stopped responding to my messages.’ Taph responded.
“Oh come on, it can’t be that serious. They probably just fell asleep. You know how X is.” Doom set his hammer down. “Probably nesting.” He chuckled.
‘I’ll just stop by and check up on them if that’s okay.’ Taph signed towards Builder.
“Of course, kid, you’re excused.” Builderman gestured for them to get going.
“I’ll catch up to you after this house, Taph,” Brighteyes added.
Taph thanked Builder, gave Brighteyes a thumbs up, and took off in the direction of Brighteyes's house. They kept messaging X to see if she’d respond, but to no avail, which only made them more anxious.
—
Taph arrived back at the house and dug through a fake plant to find the spare key. Once they found it, they unlocked the door and stepped inside. They knocked on one of the walls to let 1x know that they were home, but there was no response. Their worry grew more as they walked through the house.
The hallway.
The hallway wasn’t so welcoming.
It wore splatters of blood like a shirt.
And the floor.
The floor had a trail of blood leading into the bathroom, which made Taphs worry more intense. They tried the doorknob but to no avail. Taph knocked, wishing they could say something.
No answer.
Yet Taph could hear slight shuffling, indicating that 1x was hopefully alright in there. Taph pulled their phone out of their cloak pocket and messaged Brighteyes, saying that it was urgent in regard to 1x.
Minutes only felt like seconds as Brighteyes finally arrived, practically busting through the front door.
“Taph! Where’s X? Are they okay?!” Brighteyes rushed over, knocking. “X? Hun, are you okay in there?”
No answer.
“X, I need a response, please!” Brighteyes still didn’t get an answer. She turned her attention to Taph. “Where’s Shedletsky?”
Taph shrugged and gestured a moment, going back to typing, but to Shedletsky.
-+-
Shedletsky was out and about. He’d already bought the groceries, so now he was just walking around, considering that he thought he had some time to kill. He felt the buzz of his phone in his pocket and dug for it.
It didn’t even take him to read the full sentence, and he was worried just from seeing X’s name in the message. He did a double take and read it fully.
‘1x is bleeding and unresponsive. They’ve also locked themselves in the bathroom.’
Shedletsky shoved his phone back into his pocket and took off. He knew what was happening all too well, and he felt guilty for not staying home to be there with 1x. Shedletsky knew how much pain they were in currently, which meant that he had to hurry before something worse happened.
—
Brighteyes and Taph were still in the hall. Brighteyes was stressing, pacing up and down the hallway while Taph was trying to calm her down.
Finally they heard the door click, and in came Shedletsky, dropping everything he was holding and rushing over to the bathroom door. He didn’t know how long 1x was in there, but it was long enough.
“Birdie? Are you alright? Can I come in?” Shedletsky sounded desperate.
“No!”
A verbal answer at last. But it didn’t offer too much comfort to Shedletsky as it did Taph and Brighteyes. Knowing that what was happening was a traumatic and devastating experience for 1x, being around a lot of people who didn’t understand wouldn’t be good for them.
“If Brighteyes and Taph leave, will you try to unlock the door for me?”
“What?” Brighteyes butted in. Taph made an X with their arms and shook their in refusal.
“Bright, the kid isn’t exactly in the position to be around a lot of people, and I’m the only one who knows what’s happening and how to help them.” Shedletsky explained.
Brighteyes was conflicted. She didn’t want to leave 1x, but she trusted Shedletsky. “…let’s go wait outside Taph.”
Taph was about to protest, but no amount of arguing would convince either Brighteyes or Shedletsky for both of them to stay. So they crossed their arms in defeat and walked outside with Brighteyes.
“Birdie, Brighteyes and Taph are gone.” Shedletsky spoke softly, but there was no mistaking his worry.
There was shuffling nearing the door, and then a faint click could be heard. Shedletsky slowly opened the door, poking his head in. The sight he saw was more than unpleasant and only made the guilt of not being here sooner, or just not leaving in the first place, even greater.
Blood was all over the floor, forming a small puddle. 1x was faced back towards Shedletsky. Shedletsky couldn’t tell whether she was trying to hide his face or hide themselves entirely behind their newly sprouted wings.
The base of where the wings grew ripped the skin and was dripping with blood. Shedletsky made his way over to 1x’s side carefully as to not slip. He knelt down, inspecting the damage. The wings weren’t infected, which was a good thing. He opened a cabinet and started to dig through for disinfectant, cotton balls, and gauze.
“Will you be alright if I touch your wings?”
1x nodded. They were better with the whole touch thing, but at this point, Shedletsky didn’t even have to ask. 1x just wanted the pain to go away.
“It’s unbearable.”
“I know. I understand.” Shedletsky muttered as he lightly dabbed the disinfectant-coated cotton ball on 1x’s wounds. 1x sucked their teeth, and his wings twitched from the stinging that came with the disinfectant.
“Sorry.”
“For what?”
“Not being here sooner.”
“You don’t have to apologize; you didn’t know. You don’t have control over this stuff.”
Shedletsky didn’t say anything as he started on the other wing. Soon enough he was done with it and patched it up with some gauze.
“You’re all done. Are you feeling okay?”
“It still hurts.” 1x mumbled, adjusting how they were sitting so they could be facing Shedletsky; however, she was hiding his face behind their head wings.
“X…” Shedletsky frowned, reaching out his hand to 1x, placing it on their face, and caressing their cheek with his thumb. “I understand what you’re feeling. You don’t have to hide from me. This is normal for both you and me.”
1x practically tackled Shedletsky, tightly wrapping their arms around him. They were seeking out comfort, and Shedletsky was doing a good job at it. He carefully returned the hug, making sure to avoid the gauze and not to squeeze too hard to prevent any more discomfort.
“You don’t have to feel bad about them if that’s what you’re thinking. You’re perfect, X.”
1x ended up squeezing a bit after hearing those words. They knew he thought that of her, but it was different when it was being said out loud. It was raw and had even more of a meaning than just thinking of it.
“Let’s get you freshened up, yeah?”