[FRAG] Grieve in Blood

Morning Star stared at the floor of the lab, at the clean, nice tile. He tossed a coin back and forth in his hands, flicking it between his fingers. It was a carryover from the habit he'd developed with Cy's coin, but this was a simple one he'd stolen from a Timeline that actually bothered to mint the things. His eyes followed it as it flipped up into the air and into his other hand.

The door hissed, and Magnotris exited from the sideroom, holding a tablet under his arm. Morning Star glanced up, fingers curling around the coin in a hand, staring at the other's wide smile and bright eyes.

He displayed the tablet proudly. The screen was lit with positive diagnostics information. "It worked," he whispered, voice high. "The cure's permanent. They've shown no sides of relapse in a month."

Morning Star wanted to say he was excited. He wanted to praise Magnotris. And himself - it was his magic, after all. He stared at the tablet for a few seconds before smiling awkwardly, "That's amazing."

Magnotris' smile faded and he tucked the tablet under an arm, stepping closer to Morning Star. "You're not still worried about the dinner, right? The Overseers won't give a shit, it'll be fine. They'll be over it by tomorrow, you won't get in trouble. Plus, they don't wanna piss me off by punishing you."

"I'm not still worried." Morning Star glanced down, rubbing a thumb over the coin. The metal was warm from his skin. "Just tired, that's all."

Magnotris stared quietly, eyes searching the other's features. Morning Star didn't meet his gaze, sighing softly through his nose.

"Do you still want to meet the Fragments?"

"Oh, yeah," Morning Star lifted his head and stood, shooting another exhausted smile at the other. "That'd be nice. What are their names?"

Magnotris gestured for him to follow, pacing towards the door. "I'll let them introduce themselves!"

He spoke with such pride, such energy. It was a rare treat, to see Magnotris so happy. In spite of himself, Morning Star couldn't help but smile - it was nice. Nice to see Magnotris like this. Vulnerable and sweet, and not just towards Morning Star.

Conversely, it really, really sucked that this was so rare, that the world had punished Magnotris so hard that he didn't feel like he could let his guard down and enjoy living for a while. But that was okay. Morning Star would fix it.

The cages and machines that had once been in the room were gone, replaced with two beds and a small desk for each individual. It seemed less like a jail and more like a dorm, with some personalizations on either side of the room. One of the inhabitants was on their bed, back to the rest of the group, arms crossed. The other sat on their bed, grinning when Magnotris walked in. 

Their desk was covered in notebooks and pencils. Morning Star glanced as he passed. The papers were full of drawings. 

Magnotris spoke something to them in a low tone before gesturing for Morning Star to come closer. He obeyed, lacing his hands politely over his lap and smiling at them. Their smile was full of excited innocence.

They thrusted a hand at him. Morning Star slowly accepted.

"You're Morning Star, right?" they didn't bother to shake - or were too distracted to. Their voice was high and chirpy. "Magnotris talks a lot about you!"

Morning Star blinked. Magnotris. They were on a first name basis? Magnotris talked about him? But... when had Magnotris had time? Had Morning Star really spent so much time with Sterling? Something rose in his chest.

No, no, he wasn't jealous! That was absolutely stupid! It was good for Magnotris to have friends - it was good! But Morning Star couldn't keep the fire out of his throat. Why was he jealous? Why was he upset that Magnotris was being nice to someone else? Urgh, he was much more exhausted and wired - at the same time - than he'd thought. 

"Y-yes, I am," he stumbled after realizing he'd been quiet for too long. "Nice to meet you."

Magnotris rested a hand on Morning Star's shoulder, beaming at the third Fragment. "Yep! His magic makes up the majority of the cure. I'm still trying to figure out if it's specific to him or just his eye color, but - I don't really know many other people with light green eyes, haha."

He talked like an old friend, to this Fragment.

"Well I'm so happy to meet you! My name's Ventria! I use they-them!" they still hadn't let go of his hand, fingers still curled around his. 

Morning Star's smile felt frozen on his face. "Nice to meet you, too."

They let go, and he stepped backwards. He wanted to sit down, but pulling out a chair from the desk felt rude. So he stood, politely, hands over his lap, watching Magnotris chatter with his friend. Was this how Magnotris had felt when he'd seen Morning Star with Sterling? Angry and petty? Had he been embarrassed, too?

Morning Star knew, objectively, that he should ask. That he should talk to Magnotris and not let the assumptions spiral out of control. But they were busy. Magnotris had to draft his report to show off the cure and he had to reintegrate the Fragments. He'd probably get accolades and awards, a promotion to the team in charge of healing Corruption. Morning Star would get a side note at best, but he was okay with that. It was preferable, in fact. The less gazes on him, the easier he could fix everything.

Why couldn't he just be happy for Magnotris, right now? Why couldn't he just smile when Magnotris did, watch the other excitedly nearly drop his tablet in his hurry to chirp out something to Ventria? Morning Star stared, quietly, drinking it in. He'd seen that excitement first hand, when they were a bit younger, years ago. He'd seen it and cherished it.

Was he ready to share this Magnotris with the world? If he fixed it, and if the goal was to make Magnotris happy, he couldn't keep feeling jealous every time he was chipper towards someone who wasn't Morning Star.

He rested his head in his hands, running the coin between a few fingers. These were confusing questions that he didn't want to answer, and hadn't thought he'd need to consider. He just wanted to put the puzzle all back together and pretend like nothing was wrong. He was supposed to be impassive by virtue of his goals, not have his emotions cloud everything.

Morning Star blinked. The other Fragment - the one who had turned their back to the others - had rolled over onto their other side. Their eyes, piercing red, stared directly into his. He stared back in silence, train of thought completely derailed. Magnotris and Ventria hadn't noticed. 

Hey.

Telepathy? Morning Star sat straighter up, frowning slightly. Why didn't they want to talk? Hello?

They stared at him for a second longer before their eyes flicked to Magnotris. No response.

Morning Star narrowed his eyes, letting the frown take full shape on his mouth. He was tired of... of this. Of people fucking with him. Of being passive and just taking it all. Of letting people poke and prod him while he smiled.

What do you want? he snapped.

They blinked, leaning back slightly, eyes wide. Morning Star narrowed his own, keeping his jaw set and expression firm. They glanced around, to Magnotris, before cowering slightly.

S-sorry.

Good. Good. Be sorry. Feel bad for poking him. Just like everyone else on this stupid, fucking-

I just wanted to say hi... I'm sorry if I upset you.

-Morning Star blinked. Fuck. Shit.

Oh, he telegraphed back, sorry about that, I'm just on edge lately. 

They nodded solemnly, as if they knew exactly what he meant, as if they could relate. Maybe they could. He didn't know. I'm Purivea... sorry, again, if I upset you. Um. I use he-him.

You're fine, Morning Star droned, brushing his bangs out of his face. The anger had cooled, but it had left an edge of uncertain fear in its place. He didn't think he had a temper, but it had flared so violently and cruelly. He didn't like that.

But it was okay. This wouldn't change him forever. This wouldn't warp him out of who he was. He would only hurt people if he needed to. He would put his foot down when prompted. And he'd fix everything.