(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Sentiments like Raindrops - Chapter 1

Chapter Warnings: Death mention, swearing

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Rurik paced around the living room in one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts as his dirty clothes spun through the wash cycle in another room, glancing at his phone every so often as it laid silently on the table. A flash of lightning lit up the room, proceeded by a crash of thunder as a storm that matched the skeleton's current mood raged outside.

For probably the hundredth time within the past half hour, he snatched up the phone and hit redial, urging his partner to pick up their damn phone. As the call went to voicemail once more, Rurik hurled the phone into the couch cushion and snarled, "Why aren't you picking up and where the hell are you?!"

Lotus was known to be a little late getting home from time to time given the unpredictable nature of his job, but he would always call whenever he knew he wouldn't be home before five. Always.

But as things stood, it was now almost ten at night with no call, text, or Lotus in sight. Since he left around the same time as Rurik that morning, his partner definitely should've been home by now.

He'd already spent the past four hours searching every area he knew Lotus was in charge of. He even searched two towns over when he saw there was a severe storm warning farther north, but had nothing to show for his efforts except soaked clothing, soggy boots, and a near-death encounter with a stray fence post launched at his skull by the gale force winds outside.

Touching upon the gauze on his cheek from the near miss, Rurik glared out the window while shoving down morbid thoughts of what could have happened. A soft chime from the laundry room intruded on his thoughts, signaling the wash was done. Eager for the distraction, he hurried over to the small room, pulling his clean, damp clothes from the washer and tossing them into the dryer.

As he threw in a lint sheet and set the timer, a sudden cold gust swept through the house. Exiting the small room, his sockets widened at the black and red figure fighting to close the front door.

Quickly rounding the couch, he assisted Lotus in shutting the wind out. Once the door was closed, Rurik latched the locks and turned to assess his partner's condition.

Lotus' cloak and scarf clung to his bones, dripping dirty water into a small pool on the hardwood floor as he leaned his right arm against the door, shivering and gasping from his fight with the storm earlier. His clothing sported diluted mud splatters along the bottom and the left side of his cloak was torn at the waist just below one of his belts, though there were no visible traces of blood or broken bones on him.

Pulling Lotus into a hug, rainwater from the smaller's clothing soaked rapidly into his shirt, but Rurik didn't care. He merely took solace in their presence and the lack of apparent injuries while growling out, "Where the hell were you? You're not hurt, right?"

"Doing my damn job, and I'm fine," Lotus rasped in weary exasperation, pushing against his chest without looking up, "For whatever reason, every dumbass and their mother decided today would be the perfect day to go out despite the stars-damned storm everyone was warned about.

"After I finished with my list, I got roped into helping the guy that normally handles the area north of here. Apparently, one of the reapers helping him with the increased workload got crushed by an airborne bus and he complained he couldn't handle everything by himself."

"If you knew you were going to be late, why didn't you call me?" Rurik demanded, disconcerted to hear one of Lotus' coworkers died so easily, "I was worried sick about you thinking you'd dusted out there or something!"

"I lost my phone in the storm, okay?! My cloak must have gotten caught on something and ripped the pocket open!" the smaller snapped back, gesturing to the tear, "Power was knocked out in the area, so I probably wouldn't have had service to call you anyway... and even if I could find my phone in that huge clusterfuck, it's probably shorted out from all the rain coming down. Now if you're done interrogating me, I'd like to get some dry clothes on before I freeze my tailbone off."

Trudging over to the laundry room, Lotus wasted no time tearing off his filthy clothing and throwing them into the washer where they landed with a squelch. Rurik watched from the doorway as his bare-boned companion set the timer and dug through the bin of clean laundry waiting to be folded for something to wear.

A sly grin played on the taller's face as he leaned on the door frame and crooned, "You know, there's a faster way for you to get warmed up."

"Save it Rurik. I'm not in the mood and just want some dry clothes," Lotus huffed, settling for one of Rurik's gray t-shirts and a pair of black sweatpants. Slipping the shirt on, the sleeves rested below his elbows while the bottom hem skirted his thighs. Pulling on the pants, he made his way past his partner and into the kitchen. The taller grabbed a black shirt from the same bin and switched it out for the wet one, tossing it into the still-filling washer before following him.

Opening the fridge, Lotus glanced at its contents for a moment before pulling out a pudding cup. "That's what you're having?" Rurik inquired in an accusing tone, "What about dinner?"

Lotus gave him a withering look as he shut the refrigerator door and sighed, "Rurik, I've been working for thirteen hours straight. I'm cold and tired. The last thing I want to do is spend half an hour making a meal. Why can't you make something if dinner's so important? You used to cook for yourself all the time, so I know you can... also, what happened to your face?"

"I was working today too, and then I went looking for your ass when you never came home and never called! I was too busy trying to figure out what happened to you to make something myself!" Rurik defended himself, his starry eye light shifting momentarily toward the gauze that was barely visible in his vision, "And this scratch is just the result of my search."

"You went out in that shitstorm? Seriously?!" Lotus screeched with a wide-socketed expression.

"Of course I did!" Rurik boomed, throwing his arms out for emphasis, "You weren't answering your phone and I didn't know what to make of it! All I had to go on was that you were probably still working!"

"So it's my fault a storm happened and I had to work overtime because some people think they're above weather warnings?! It's my fault my phone got lost and the power was out?! It's all my damn fault, isn't it?!" Lotus shouted, nearly crushing the pudding cup in his fist.

"I wasn't saying it's your fault, I'm just saying that I wasn't able to make anything because I was busy looking for you!" Rurik yelled back in irritation, wishing he could punch something to relieve himself.

"Then it is my fault, " Lotus mumbled, resignation lacing his voice and posture, "Whatever, it's done and I'm too tired for this shit right now."

Opening the fridge, Lotus tossed the small container back inside and threw the door shut once more. Pushing past Rurik, he entered the living room and flopped onto the couch. The taller's sockets narrowed, "So... what, you're just going to pout and starve yourself? And I thought you said you were tired. The bed's upstairs."

"I've lost my appetite and I don't feel like climbing the stairs, so I'm sleeping here tonight," Lotus groused, shoving a pillow under his skull and turning to face the back of the couch as he curled up into a ball.

"Lotus...," Rurik approached the couch, refusing to leave Lotus to sulk like this.

"Just leave me alone Rurik, or I'll find somewhere else to sleep tonight," the smaller threatened, making his companion pause right before he could latch onto their shoulder.

Retracting his hand and rubbing the back of his skull instead, Rurik heaved a frustrated sigh and stomped up the stairs by himself, leaving Lotus alone on the couch downstairs.

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Word Count: 1,407