Nikolai was honestly a bit sick of Nate's bullshit. The Dipshit kept grating on his nerves no matter how 'nice' Nikolai tried to be. And given their initial meeting? The younger Ascended was itching for some payback. It had taken some planning and time but he was finally ready to fuck Nate up. Nonlethally of course. But just enough to hopefully make the other squirm.
Nikolai had set himself up in a tree where a bunch of hanging snakes were relaxing under the stars. It was a tree that he'd seen Nate pass by occasionally. The younger Ascended had calculated the odds and determined that tonight would likely be a night that the demigod would appear.
And so he waited impatiently, gently petting the snakes. When Nate eventually walked by, he'd carefully drop a few of them down the back of his shirt. It wouldn't have the same effect as on an Accepted of course but Nikolai assumed that Nate's sensors would pick up on their presence and it would at least startle him.
Nate's been in the Grounds more and more often, and he's only just starting to really get used to it again, the sight of the gnarled trees and crumbled buildings not curling his nose like it has so many other times. Perhaps it's the fact that he has a task to get to today, his pockets weighed down with stones of all kind, and a wrapped package of meat, left frozen until now, held tightly in his hands.
He's excited, uncharacteristically so, a bounce in his step as he moves along a familiar path. Maybe too familiar, though he's not aware of the danger just yet. Hell, he barely notices when the hanging snake dropped onto his shoulders. His sensors only barely bother with a warning, no, the thing that tips him off is the soft hiss in his ear, drawing his eye and making him jump. "[say]Cazzo Madre di Dio![/say]" The curse leaps from him as he flails, dislodging the snake and losing his package of meat in the same frantic motion.
Nikolai's momentary disappointment at Nate's lack of reaction to having a snake on his shoulder quickly dissolves into raucous laughter. Who would have guessed a simple hiss would be what did the demigod in? Although he doesn't know just what expletives were just thrown out, he can guess.
Jumping down from the tree, Nikolai gives Nate a shit-eating grin. [say]"Karma's a bitch ain't she?"[/say] The younger Ascended is feeling far too pleased with himself. He gently picks up the flung snake and lets it climb up to rest on his shoulders. The poor thing deserves a reward after helping him.
[say]"How could you throw a snake you sadist?"[/say] Nikolai teases, [say]"I thought you were more of a masochist." [/say]
It takes a moment for everything to click, the laughter from above certainly speeding the process up. Nate aims his sourest scowl at the young ascended as he hops down from the tree. “[say]Come on Ni-Ni, I already made up for my trick. Now it’s my turn again.[/say]”
“[say]Actually I go both ways.[/say]” Nate retorts on instinct as he brushes himself down, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck when he finishes. “[say]I’ve had nothing but bad experiences in these woods you know, you couldn’t expect me to react well.[/say]” Now that he’s relaxed a little bit, he can stretch that familiar grin across his face and take a step closer to Nikolai, his head tipped back just enough that Nate can look down his nose at the younger ascended.
Nikolai snarls, [say]"Don't fucking call me Ni-Ni, Dipshit."[/say] If Nate were in reach the younger Ascended might have attempted to smack him upside the head for that dreaded name. It practically made his skin crawl.
Nate's blatant statement about his preferences makes Nikolai flush, [say]"Well then. Didn't need to know that..."[/say] Truly. He truly did not need to know anything about Nate's sex life. Especially not when he'd met Sunjata. Did not want to picture that. Nope, no way. Not going there.
His brow furrows slightly at the admission that these woods held bad memories, [say]"What memories?"[/say] Before he can ask anything else, Nate moves. Nikolai takes a reflexive step back when the demi-god gets closer, unnerved by the shift. [say]"What? What do you want?"[/say] Because there's no way that Nate doesn't want something or isn't planning something.
Nate lets his tongue dip out of his mouth slowly as he grins at Nikolai, shrugging easily at the silvery flush that crosses the younger ascended's cheeks. "[say]You're the one who brought it up.[/say]" He protests, trying to not sound huffy and petulant. He's not about to be shamed for this. Not that Nikolai really has the power to shame him.
"[say]Bad memories.[/say]" Nate says it with a growl, taking another step close, longer this time so he can close more of the distance between them. "[say]You know I woke up here after being starved in a cave for two weeks and watching my husband die?[/say]" He leans back, hands on his hips as he looks around. "[say]It's where I became a Demi-god. Had that bitch Safrin burned out of me by the Voice.[/say]"
Nate stops short, his grin no longer reaching his eyes as he stares across at Nikolai. "[say]Didja know thats the only kind of pain we can really feel anymore?[/say]"
Nikolai makes a pained noise, [say]"Still..."[/say] Shaking his head, the younger Ascended decides that he is done with that topic. It's easy to drop though given Nate's next words. The clear pain and anger in the Demi-god giving him pause. As Nate draws nearer, Nikolai has to fight the urge to flinch.
[say]"No... I had heard of it, but I hadn't realized that it was here."[/say] Otherwise, he'd have never played a trick on Nate at the time. Nikolai was not one who liked to dig up other's painful memories and he felt a guilt surge through him. Guilt that mingled with horror as Nate continued.
[say]"Burned Safrin out of you? What...?"[/say] What did that even mean? [say]"What did Safrin do to you?" [/say] There was so much hatred and pain radiating off of Nate that Nikolai wasn't sure if he should run or try to comfort the Demi-god. He elected for simply standing there like an idiot.
"[say]I try to not talk about it too often.[/say]" The words leave him after a long pause. Bright unblinking eyes stay locked on Nikolai, Nate rolling his shoulders back. Planting his feet, making himself seem stable, sturdy. He works his jaw without much thought, and finally looks away, casting his eyes in the most general direction of the Shrine hidden here.
Nate's head tilts to the side, his grin starting to look more like a crack across his face than a true expression. "[say]She cursed me. Tried to sink her withered fingers in and break me down.[/say]" A breath huffs out of his nose, false hands appearing behind Nikolai and poking along his spine and ribs like phantoms conjured by Nate's memories. "[say]I had to lose everything to undo what she did. My upgrades, my eye.[/say]" His shoulders roll again, a resigned shrug this time. "[say]Gone.[/say]"
Nikolai feels his concern for the Dipshit rise as the man talks. He'd known that things between Safrin and Nate were strained and that any peace was likely due to Sunjata. But he young Ascended had had no idea it was this bad. Or that Safrin had even cursed him. Or that the consequences of said curse had been as hellish as Nate paints them to be.
The younger Ascended can't help the small yelp and jump that the poke triggers. [say]"What the hell?"[/say], he turns on Nate with a glare. [say]"Don't scare me like..."[/say] The words die in his throat as Nate keeps going. Falling silent as the Demi-god shares his grief almost flippantly in his resignation.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Nikolai takes a deep inhale to brace himself. Marching up to Nate he pulls the Demi-god into a tight hug. He rests his head on Nate's shoulder, [say]"That's horrible Dipshit. I'm sorry."[/say] Nikolai pauses, [say]"Also if you tell anyone about this, I'll maul you." [/say] The threat is only somewhat empty. His concern for Nate is genuine but Nikolai will deny this hug until the day he dies.
Honestly, Nate isn’t really sure what he’s saying. He really isn’t sure why he’s saying it. Nikolai pulls something out of him that feels… familiar. It reminds him of family reunions, when he was a kid, and as soon as that thought flits through his head the other is hugging him. It takes Nate a moment to react, his own arms coming up to wrap around Nikolai.
“[say]Aww, kittens got claws huh?[/say]” Nate teases weakly, his heart not really in it. He squeezes Nikolai tightly, his head resting on the younger ascenders shoulder for a long moment before he pulls away and clears his throat. He looks out towards the trees, sniffing loudly and pushing his hair back out of his face.
“[say]C’mon, get your fuckin’ snake. Lemme take you back to town Ni-Ni.[/say]” The arm that’s thrown around Nikolai’s shoulder isn’t threatening, or heavy with unspoken intention. It’s just familiar, comfortable, fitting in perfectly with the quiet that lingers between them on their way back to the Grounds.
Fin~
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