Smother me with pillows and kindness, in which I have never seen
Please slit my perfect throat with the knife that I gave you
Sam didn't hear the first time Zeph called out the nickname (one he'd gotten very used to by now actually), too enveloped in his own world of the wood grain on the table and the sound of his own unneeded breath heaving in and out of his chest. It was only when his host was in front of him that he noticed and immediately Sam felt deep shame and regret; he had wanted to keep this away from his new friend.
Before he spoke he knew what was going to happen, yet it still made him pause in horror. "Z-zz-Ze-Z-" Sam clapped his hands over his mouth and shook his head, embarrassment crawling over him like a thick cloying syrup in addition to anything else. Taking his hands from his mouth, the only thing greater than his shame the desire to explain himself, he tried to continue. "Zeph. I'm s-sorry, I'll b-b-be alright tomorrow. B-better. Tomorrow. I j-just...The Vo-Voice, she took away my..my..." He wordlessly gestured to his whole body, not knowing how to describe the magnitude of what the Goddess had stripped from him.
"I l-left her." He gathered his hands into fists on his legs, growing more frustrated with his inability to speak clearly by the second. "She t-took my upgrades. Thi...This is how I u-used to speak. Before." Hopefully he'd understand. Everything else Sam had appreciated but could live without, but this? It had been so freeing, so significant. It had taken away what he'd felt was the last barrier of his isolation and anxiety, had let him meet new people and come out into the world. With his voice taken from him all he wanted to do was to run back to the shadows again to cower and hide.
Before he spoke he knew what was going to happen, yet it still made him pause in horror. "Z-zz-Ze-Z-" Sam clapped his hands over his mouth and shook his head, embarrassment crawling over him like a thick cloying syrup in addition to anything else. Taking his hands from his mouth, the only thing greater than his shame the desire to explain himself, he tried to continue. "Zeph. I'm s-sorry, I'll b-b-be alright tomorrow. B-better. Tomorrow. I j-just...The Vo-Voice, she took away my..my..." He wordlessly gestured to his whole body, not knowing how to describe the magnitude of what the Goddess had stripped from him.
"I l-left her." He gathered his hands into fists on his legs, growing more frustrated with his inability to speak clearly by the second. "She t-took my upgrades. Thi...This is how I u-used to speak. Before." Hopefully he'd understand. Everything else Sam had appreciated but could live without, but this? It had been so freeing, so significant. It had taken away what he'd felt was the last barrier of his isolation and anxiety, had let him meet new people and come out into the world. With his voice taken from him all he wanted to do was to run back to the shadows again to cower and hide.
When I told you "I love you" in my home
Just stab me in the back
