[FRAG] Grieve in Blood

"Maggy, ya really shouldn't be eating so much of that."

"Oh fuck off," he muttered, darkly, throwing his head back and feeling the liquid singe the edges of his throat. It hurt so good.

Pretty reached forward, taking ahold of the still-full bottle next to the other and pulling it back out of reach. Magnotris grumbled, watching the other magick it away to... somewhere. Asshole.

"Morning Star'd be all sad and whiney if he knew you were getting off-yer-ass wasted."

Magnotris wiped his mouth with the back of a sleeve. "It's not like it's alcohol."

"You know there ain't no real difference, ya dumbass."

"Whatever." he stared into his cup, at the dredges of Magninium that sat in its depths. Swishing it around made the liquid dribble in circles.

Pretty shuffled around the room, digging around in a cooler before procuring a tray of ice water. He brought it back over to where Magnotris was sitting, in the middle of the massive recreation room, half-curled on a couch. The drinks were placed onto the coffee table and Pretty sat next to Magnotris, throwing an arm over the back of the couch and regarding the other with an almost-sympathetic look.

Magnotris wasn't sure why he'd come to Pretty, of all people. There were plenty of Fragments he could turn to, but something brought him back to Pretty, after all this time. 

"Let it out, Maggy," Pretty murmured, arm sliding down to pat at Magnotris' shoulder. 

He didn't speak. He didn't want to. It was burning him, from the inside out, eating up everything inside of him. It was poison, but if he dared open his mouth, it would spill out of him forever. He just wanted to go to bed and when he'd wake up, pretend everything was okay. Kiss Morning Star good morning. Go to work. Close his eyes and let it all just fade away, into background static noise.

He leaned his head back. The lights were so bright, they hurt. It rattled around in his skull and made him want to vomit, but he liked the feeling. Maybe his body could finally match the way his brain was hurting.

"See," Pretty spoke, his voice sounding so faint in Magnotris' ears, "this is why I never liked Morning Star."

Something stabbed into Magnotris' chest. He blinked at the lights.

Pretty continued, completely oblivious, "He makes you all borin'. You don't do anything excitin' no more."

"I do exciting things," Magnotris mumbled, lifting the cup and licking out the rest of the blood. 

"Sure. Exciting for an average hoss. But you aren't like you used to be. You'd be down for doin' crazy shit whenever, wherever."

"That's not exciting. That's reckless."

"See?" Pretty gestured wildly. "Like that! That's fuckin' boring, Maggy. Morning Star's weighin' ya down. I see it."

Something snarled in Magnotris' chest.

"C'mon. Let's go out for a day. Jus' you n' me, like it used ta be. And we'll do all the shit we used to. How does that sound? Jus' a day of fun, no more cares in the world."

Magnotris stared into his cup.

He didn't want to. His stomach churned. He didn't want to.

He liked caring. 

"Maggy." Pretty leaned close, and Magnotris could smell his breath, an inch from his muzzle. Softly, the arm around the back of the couch slid to hold him around the shoulders. "Jus' you n' me. C'mon."

This wasn't fair. Magnotris squeezed his eyes shut, fingers curling around the cup tighter. Something cracked.

He felt Pretty's mouth on his neck. A kiss, a bite, he didn't know, but it was sensual. A hand reached up to stroke his chest softly, familiar, old. Pretty shifted closer, a leg curling over Magnotris' knees.

But the touch, the warmth, was enough to make Magnotris crunch the cup in his hands, glass digging in, and shove the handful of shards in Pretty's face.

He yelped, recoiling instantly, hands flying up to the incisions and cuts scattered over his cheeks. Pretty doubled over as blood seeped, cursing up a verbal storm. Magnotris stared, breathing heavily, his own hand bloody and broken.

The swears turned into hysterical laughter. "See! That's jus' what I fuckin' mean! Morning Star's turned ya so fuckin' boring and prude-y!"

"Shut up." Magnotris wiped the blood off on his pants, breath hitching. 

"I'll shut up when I want to, an' not a moment sooner!" Pretty barked, a hand lighting with magic. The shards were slowly, one by one, pulled out of his face. "Feckin. Stabbed me fer just tryin' to get a kiss, mate, that's fucked up! That ain't the Maggy I used to know."

"Then I'm not the Magnotris you knew." 

Pretty dropped the shards on the floor. "Yeah, well, you certainly ain't any better than him."

"Morning Star is not holding me back," Magnotris hissed, his voice low. Something burning had finally caught him, and the snarling in his chest had turned into a fire. "Stop saying that."

"It's the fuckin' truth, and if you can't handle-"

Magnotris swung a fist into Pretty's jaw. Satisfaction ripped up his spine at the blood that dripped from the other's mouth, tongue harshly bitten, teeth slightly chipped from the impact. Pretty scooted backwards on the couch, reaching to touch his mouth, staring at Magnotris with wide, wary eyes. Neither moved for a second, eyes locked firmly onto each other.

Something vibrated in his pocket. Magnotris glanced down, eyes wide in fear, at the noise and sensation of his ringtone. He fished his cellie out of his clothing, staring at the message.

It was from Morning Star.

"Fuckin' Morning Star calling you, huh?" Pretty sneered, wiping the blood from his face. "Look at ya. He blows up at ya an' you come running to me to get drunk. An' the second he contacts ya again, you're trippin' over yerself to check. You ain't his boyfriend, Maggy, yer his dog." 

"I will punch your fucking teeth out," Magnotris whispered, opening the text. The sadistic glee had already cooled and been replaced with fervent anticipation. 

'Hey. Meet me in the lab in a few?'

Magnotris' hands trembled. Morning Star wanted to see him again. After he'd stolen magic. After their argument. 

No, don't get too excited. Maybe Morning Star wanted to break up? But Morning Star wanted to see him. Morning Star was asking. That was more than Magnotris had dared to hope for, dared to think he could have after everything. He practically vibrated, eyes wide, locked onto the bright screen.

"Yer about to fuckin' cum all over yourself from a goddamn text. I don't even know why I bothered with ya."

"Shut up," Magnotris mumbled, keyboard clicking as he typed. 

Pretty scowled, plucking some ice from the water and holding it up to his jaw. "Ya ain't even listening to me anymore. Whatever. I'll still be here ta pick up yer stupid fucking pieces once he breaks yer heart. Ya never learn, do you, Maggy?"

A pause. Magnotris glanced up, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Who was the shoulder ya cried on after Cynosure left ya high and dry?"

"Oh. That." Magnotris returned to his cellie. "Morning Star's different."

"In what fuckin' way?"

Magnotris hit send. "Every fucking way."

'Sure. Be there in a second.'

"Moron," Pretty mumbled under his breath.

Magnotris stood.

"Runnin' back to Morning Star?" he dully asked, glancing up as he pulled the ice from his face.

"Yes."

Pretty sighed, dumping the ice back into the water. "Yeah, well, when ya get some sense in yer fuckin' skull ya know you can always come to me."

"We'll see."

"Bye, ya enigmatic fuckface."

Magnotris allowed himself the smallest smile. "That's a compliment."

"Fuck off."

With a manic grin, Magnotris teleported.