Thunderstorms and Gentle Songs


Authors
Fokron
Published
5 years, 3 months ago
Stats
1858

Sylvester is scared of thunderstorms and Vince, Ji, and Chester help distract him. Was originally supposed to be only centered on Syl, but Chester accidentally stole the spotlight towards the end lol.

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The tinny drumming of rain, and the soft voices of Vincent and Jinghua whispering back in forth filled the room. Every so often, there was a crinkling sound of paper as Sylvester turned a page in his book. Chester was messing around on his tablet, jumping from one site to another whenever something caught his eye, but not really thinking to hard about anything. It had been a long week, and all of them cherished a slow day for once.

Although it was only four o’clock, thick gray clouds prevented any light from shining through the windows. The dim room was only illuminated by the soft light of Sylvester’s reading lamp and Chester’s tablet. 

A flash of white followed immediately by a menacing roar of thunder shattered the calm atmosphere. 

Everyone jumped. Chester nearly dropped his tablet, and Jinghua gingerly rubbed her elbow where she’d accidentally rammed it against the wall. Sylvester’s gloved hands were clenched tight around his book even after the noise passed. 

Then a softer roll of thunder grumbled in the distance, letting all of them collect themselves. 

Chester looked out the rain-streaked windows. Faded zigzags of white lighted them every couple seconds.

“Jeez, it’s really stormin out there.”

“Yeah,” Vincent said, “I hope Ka’ris’s shitty inn can hold up against it.” He turned to Sylvester with a grin, Sylvester rarely gave up an opportunity to bash Ka’ris after all, but he was staring out the window. There was a slight furrow to his brows, his gloved fingers digging into the comforter laid over his lap. 

He blinked. His fingers relaxed their hold. “Mmm-hmm. It sure is.” He glanced back at them before continuing to stare out the window. 

Vincent gave him a weird look, then went back to chatting with Jinghua. Sylvester was probably just a little more tired than usual. Everyone knew how little sleep he got on a day to day basis, especially Vincent. Not that it was hard to tell with the permanent dark bruises under his eyes.

The storm continued through the evening. 

The sky faded from gray to inky black as the sun finally set, making the bolts of lighting even more visible in the darkness. Rumbles of thunder merged into an ever-present drone of noise. 

Chester, revising some old poetry, almost forget it was storming until a wall-shaking crack of thunder ripped through the building. A near blinding flash lighted the windows, a little too close for comfort, then, the lights burned out. 

Chester mumbled a curse. Like an idiot, he hadn’t saved his file in the past hour. He squinted, eyes still adjusting. He could barely even see his hand. “...Is everyone all right?” He called out, half yelling over the waves rumbling thunder. 

“I’m okay,” Vincent said.

“Me too, but I hit my elbow again,” Jinghua whined.

Chester almost huffed out a laugh, but then realized Sylvester hadn’t said anything. “Syl? You alright?”

In the darkness, vague figures of black and gray began to make themselves clear as his eyes adjusted. The dark angular outline of the table. The smudged grey blob of the couch. The longish gray and black form of the cushioned chair with the footrest. 

He distinguished the outline of Sylvester sitting on the couch, but he seemed smaller, like he was curled up-

Another roll of booming thunder reverberated through the building. Chester could feel the vibrations in his feet.

But what caught his attention was a soft keening noise, barely a whisper among the thunder, but somehow all too loud at the same time. It sent alarm bells off in Chester’s head.

His vision was becoming sharper. Sylvester was curled up. His hands were covering his ears.

A sharp clap of thunder sounded, rattling the window panes, and Sylvester whimpered

Without a second thought, Chester stumbled towards him, “Hey hey, Syl, it’s okay-” He hissed as he banged his leg on the table, then settled clumsy next to his huddled form. This close, Chester could see he was shaking.

“Is Sylvester okay…?” Vincent asked, no doubt having a hard time seeing what was happening. Chester could make out the forms of him and Jinghua making their way towards them in the darkness. 

“Yeah but… ” 

Sylvester’s hand latched onto the hem of his shirt, his breath hitching as another bout of thunder struck. Chester’s heart clenched at the small noise. He gently wrapped an arm around Sylvester’s shoulders, then pulled him closer after Sylvester leaned into the touch. 

“... I think he’s scared of thunderstorms.” 

“I’m not-” A clap of thunder made him flinch.  “I’m not scared of thunderstorms,” He started again, voice tight and quiet, “I’m just… “ He curled closer to Chester. “I don’t have a lot of- a lot of good memories associated with them.”

Chester tried not to visibly wince. Galimi was notorious for its storms, and they were particularly dangerous due to all of the city’s precarious half-dilapidated architecture. Not to mention a good portion of the buildings were ridiculously tall and made almost entirely of metal. Some parts of the city were prone to flooding as well. Growing up on the streets of Galimi, finding shelter during a storm was probably a real issue for Sylvester. And with an ability like his… traumatic memories aren’t easy to forget. 

Vincent kneeled in front of the couch. “I was only joking when I was talking about the Inn earlier. I’m sure it’ll hold up, Syl.” Chester’s eyes had adjusted enough to see the outline of a gentle smile marking his face.

Sylvester stayed facing Chester, but nodded. 

Jinghua plopped down next to Sylvester, kicking her legs in front of herself and nearly hitting Vincent in the process. “Storms are stupid, but I used to be scared of them too.”

“Sure, but you’re ten and I’m fourteen,” He mumbled, “I’m the one who shouldn’t be scared anymore.”

“Okay, you’re scared of storms,” Chester said, “But you’re not scared to take on someone twice your size, blackmail a known crime lord, or sneak into a highly guarded facility to steal information. Think you get a pass on this one buddy.”

“Yeah definitely,” Vincent said.

“Everyone has little things they’re scared of anyways. Oh-” Jinghua added, “You know what Su used to do when I was still scared of storms?”

Sylvester shook his head, turning towards her just a bit.

“She like…” Jinghua held out her hands, curling her fingers and wiggling them, “She’d stop all the rain around the building we were in. It didn’t completely get rid of the noise, but it was still really cool. Sometimes she’d move the clouds too, so thunder wouldn’t happen so close to us."

“Christ,” Chester said, “I know she’s a master with her ability and all but that's… that’s pretty insane. Changing the weather like that.” Chester had only ever seen her do little things, like making a whip out of water, or a sphere to trap people in. Judging by that though… she still has a lot up her sleeve. 

Sylvester shifted. “Chester’s taken down a whole building before, and caved in a five mile long sewer system by just clenching his fist.”

“Woah really!” Jinghua said.

“-Sylvester! You know the building was an accident.”

A fragile smile snuck onto Sylvester's face, “But the sewer system wasn’t.”

Chester rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t wrong. Chester had been in a little bit of a rage, though at the time he was making sure he and Sylvester weren’t followed. Destroying the whole sewer system may have been overkill, but he hadn’t had the time to think of anything better.

“And Chester can play a guitar with his ability.”

“Not very well though,” Chester quickly amended. His cheeks flushed with heat. He hoped it was dark enough for no one to notice. He was still working on perfecting that one and practiced when no one else was around- at least, he thought he did. 

“I didn’t know you played.” Vincent said.

“Like I said, I’m not very good. I only know a few songs anyways.”

Jinghua suddenly got up, and teleported out of the room. When she teleported back, she thrust something scarily guitar shaped in Chester’s face.

“Play something!”

Chester blinked, staring at the guitar presented to him. Jinghua’s eyes were shining in the darkness, and both Sylvester and Vincent were looking at him expectantly. 

A rumble of thunder roared outside. Sylvester shrunk in on himself again, his expression crumbling. 

Well, it would be a way to distract Sylvester… 

He gulped, resigning to his fate. “Oh boy. Alright uh- “ He took the guitar and lined his hands up. They didn’t hurt too much today, so he could probably get out a few songs before it became a chore. He imagined he’d only make a complete fool of himself trying to play with his ability in the dark.

“H-here goes, I guess.”

He fumbled with the cords for a minute, a bit rusty, then the muscle memory kicked in. The taut metallic strings under his fingers brought back memories of grassy rolling hills and golden cornfields. The sun warming his back, and the thud of hooves hitting dirt. He didn’t have many good memories of his childhood, but playing guitar was one of them. 

His hands fell naturally into the rhythm of the song. The words of it tickled the tip of his tongue, but he hummed the tune instead, his gaze half lidded. Playing guitar always felt like saying hi to an old friend to him. As he made it through the song, a few words and phrases slipped out unbidden.

The song wasn’t somber, but definitely mellow, and had a slow pace. Chester had only ever played it for himself, after a long day of work on the farm, or when he didn’t want to think. It was one he’d spent a long time tweaking and perfecting. The thick calluses on his fingers were proof of it. 

As he neared the end of the song, he remembered that he currently had an audience.

Jinghua was staring at him with wide eyes, watching every movement of his fingers. Sylvester had untensed completely. His blanket was wrapped around him in a cocoon, and his eyelids were fluttering heavily as he struggled to stay awake. Vincent was leaned back on his hands, gaze unfocused as he listened. 

Chester accidentally flubbed a few of the ending notes.

Everyone shifted when they realized the music had stopped. 

Chester coughed, “That- that’s it.”

“Play another one!” Jinghua instantly demanded. 

Sylvester hummed in agreement, then yawned.

With his brows furrowed, Chester turned to Vincent.

“I’d like to hear another too.”

Well then. He didn’t really have much choice, did he? Chester sighed, but felt his lips quirk into a smile. “Alright then.”

And so he played until the storm passed. 






Author's Notes

logically, if chester had a wireless tablet it shouldn't turn off when the power goes out but?? plot hole lmao i don't feel like fixing it. 


also i feel like i'm a little too wordy with detail here and there but... oops lol.