Wilting Flowers

19: In Which the Act Crumbles

Tw: Underaged Alcoholism

Viewer discretion advised.

(I SAID IT ONCE, I'LL SAY IT AGAIN. DON'T. FUCKING. DO IT.)

~~~

"The news covered me," Grim grumbled, weakly.

"Of course they did," Gabriel replied, his arm outstretched and flicking through channels on the television. "They're always all over this shit. Drama, murder, scandal! They eat it up."

"It all seems wrong, I guess. I'm a person. My dad was a person. I don't get how they can just... expose everything." Grim shifted on the couch, leaning on one of it's arms. "Everyone knows what happened. Everyone knows what he did- and then what I did."

"Give it a few weeks- someone'll revive their cat again, and the whole multiverse will hear it."

"Why are revivals even banned again?"

"Blah blah- something about mortal-immortal code. Only legal when the council says it won't end the fucking world."

"Just a cat. What's it gonna do? Tell the humans about cat heaven?"

"Ha. Maybe."

Gabriel finally settled on a channel playing The Big Bang Theory and set down the remote. He looked over at Grim.

"I trust the council, I guess. They're the ones keeping everything together," He supposed.

"I'm just glad they didn't fire my sorry ass," Grim chuckled. "All this shit for nothing? Psh."

"I'm glad too. We miss you, at HQ."

"You'd be the only ones."

"Doubt it."

The doorbell rang.

"Pizza, sweet! I'll get it. You payed online, right?"

Grim nodded.

Gabriel rushed to the door to greet the delivery guy.

The ancient TV buzzed for a few seconds before going back to normal. Grim tried to figure out what was happening in the show, to no avail.

Scratching his face, Grim sighed. Gabriel had told him not to, because of the fresh cracks, but he caught himself doing it anyway.

Can't even take care of myself. Grim almost wanted to laugh. Maybe I'll just hide in my house until I destroy myself.

Journal entry prompt: Dying star. I should probably write- process some stuff.

His dad had gotten him a new journal as a peace offering shortly after the reaping ceremony. Grim hadn't worked up the guts to write in it yet.

"Hello? World to Grim?"

When he looked up, Gabriel was setting down the pizza on the coffee table.

"You doing alright?"

"Eh."

Gabriel sighed and sat next to him.

"...Sorry everything sucks right now," He said. "Things will get better. Never like they were, but better."

"Thank you for coming to visit me when everything is scary."