The Wrath Of The Ice King

39

Everything seemed okay the next day. The Ice King slept in with his boyfriend, waking up to a pile of messy, wavey hair laying on his chest, breathing in softly. A small smile slowly spread across his face as he looked down at the boy, placing a hand on his head and petting it. Chris didn't wake up for another 10 minutes after that. He probably had felt Romeo staring at him in his sleep.

Once his eyes opened, his gaze met Romeo's, to which he replied by smiling at him, yawning right after. he spread his arms into a long stretch, groaning as he did so, his eyes closed and face scrunched up as he let his muscles wake. up.

"Not creepy at all," he said, talking about the staring. Romeo grinned down at him, planting a kiss on his cheek quickly. He had already gotten up, had a quick shower, and gotten prepared for the day in new clothes. Although they were comfortable house-wear, he had gotten changed out of his pajamas.

"Good morning to you too. Before you resist, Sage and Alex are coming over for breakfast and to stay for the night. Sage had an episode and he asked for some waffles to calm him down." Chris sat up in bed, frowning at Romeo.

"What happened this time? Is he being punished?"

Romeo shook his head. "No, I think he was supposed to have gotten some sort of punishment, but he didn't react well to it. I don't know much of the details, I might have gotten it all wrong. If Sage feels comfortable telling you, I'm sure he will." He then outstretched his hand, dismissing any topic that could cause Chris stress for the day.

Now get up and take a shower while I go make some waffles for the brat." Chris grinned at him sweetly, allowing himself to gently be pulled off the bed and onto his feet before Romeo left the room.

With a small sigh, he walked into the bathroom, meeting his appearance in the mirror. He swallowed thickly, keeping his eyes strictly on the floor as he took his shirt off. Despite the scarring and terrible, ugly, painful scars on his torso and back, he also had noticed another change in his appearance over the few days.

The unevenness of his shoulders and ribs, the way his left rib stuck out more, the pain in his back. He hadn't been wearing his brace for a long time, and the impact his body had endured no doubt had increased the curve of his spine. It physically was hurting, and he meant internally, not the external layer of skin that adorned the scarrings.

He was scared to ask for help. He didn't want surgery, he didn't want any medical procedures. He just wanted to live without any more pain and sadness. Of course, those things were inevitable, but he had been experiencing both to an extreme amount for the last couple of days. He needed to catch a break.

He finally mustered the willpower to glance at his reflection, immediately wincing as he looked elsewhere once again.

"I'm sorry," he said to himself, wrapping his arms around his torso to give himself a soothing hug.

After that, he let his arms drop to his side, sighed, and entered the shower without another word.

-----

Romeo was right. Sage was back inside his shell, much like the time they had gone over to Alex's house and he was being put into isolation. He made no effort to greet anybody, refused to make eye contact, and remained mute the entire time Romeo and Chris were welcoming them in. Alex, visibly on edge, wrapped an arm around his submissive as he guided him inside the palace. He didn't seem angry or strict, but a large amount of guilt was visibly oozing out of every pore on his body.

"What happened?" Chris couldn't help but worry about his friend. Sage did not look well, his skin pale as paper, as if he had seen a ghost. His lips were red and slightly bloody, a sign that he had been biting them nervously. He was slightly trembling as well.