[BROWTOBER] Browtober 2

DAY 13 - HORROR FILM

Lance wasn’t typically one for horror flicks- in fact, he kind of avoided them whenever possible. Even if he watched them with someone in broad daylight, that night he was SURE to have the worst time falling asleep. A branch at the window here, a creak in the night there… he was sure to be the jumpiest browbird there ever had been.

He especially hated horror flicks that had vampires. He knew they couldn’t be grotesque monsters, they were suave creatures of the night with stunning good looks and impeccable fashion!!

So, then….. Why did he accept to watching one such horror movie with Fenrir and Cori?!

Oh well, he supposed he couldn’t back down now… his reputation would be on the line!! So there he sat on the couch with his two friends as they searched the tv’s on-demand catalogue for something good, and very spooky, to watch. It was nothing short of nerve wracking to Lance- the suspense was killing him more than the actual movie might!!

“Oh, I haven’t seen that one.” Coriander said aloud as Fenrir hovered the cursor over an unnerving-looking icon, a screaming bloody face prominent on the image, as well as similarly bloody-looking text for a title.

“Yeah? Should we watch it?”

“Sure.”

Lance steeled himself for terrifying stuff, but he was at least thankful that Cori didn’t see much use in dimming the lights for watching movies- he didn’t know if he could handle being in full darkness for this…

Instead, it was a brainless slasher. In a way, Lance was both relieved and disappointed.

DAY 8 - IN THE SHADOWS

Even though it was in a bright room and was kind of mindless gore with very little in the way of tension and full scariness, Lance still found himself unable to sleep. He wished having Coriander at his side in their shared bed would help even a little, but it only made him more nervous.

He envied how soundly his partner slept, even after watching something like that… Lance would do anything to say the same.

Yet, instead, there he was- being startled awake again and again by any creaks, bumps, and his own stupid reflex to open his eyes to search for figures in the dark, looming over the bed. He knew none of these could be real, and in the case of the noises, likely just their house settling… but he just couldn’t shake the feeling something was in the shadows… lurking. Waiting for him to let his guard down and pounce.

He wished his perception aspect wasn’t so overactive sometimes. 

Another creak made him almost jump right out of his skin, the only thing stopping him being the arm around him that belonged to Cori. At the very least, it offered him a small amount of comfort…

He tried to shut his eyes and allow himself to drift off… and that’s when the feeling really hit. There was something in the darkness, he absolutely knew it. He tried to keep his eyelids squeezed together, to ignore it- there was no way it was real…

And finally, he drifted off.

DAY 18 - DOWNPOUR

Lance felt like he should have expected the next day to be just as unsettling as the previous one, the dark clouds in the sky and rumbling threats of a storm about to come down. And he had the great fortune of being out and about while it was happening…

He could only hope that it would hold back until he returned home- it was clear to him that a huge downpour was brewing up above. Nothing he was taking back from the store was water-sensitive, so on that front he was fine… but he loathed getting wet outside of a bathing context. Rain was enjoyable while safely dry and indoors, and despite being a feathered browbird and not a furred satyr or a kitbull, who would absolutely get waterlogged, it was still not pleasant…

Lo and behold, just as he was thinking this, a little droplet of wetness hit his nose, causing him to scrunch it in reflex. Oh, no… he had to get to the car quickly!!

He didn’t even get a few feet in before the rain started coming down like buckets were being poured from the sky onto the small store parking lot. Lance leaned over the canvas bag he had his groceries in as he ran, his cloak shielding him and his goods from the rain, but he was still sure to come away with wet hair… what a tragedy.

Hastily getting back into the car and starting it up, Lance wasted no time getting out of there… at a legal speed, of course.

DAY 30 - THE ABYSS

It felt good to be back home. There was nothing to Lance like a shelter from the rain, which was battering the windows so loudly he was a tad worried they might break- but they held strong, keeping the deluge out of his and Coriander’s comfortable abode. The white-haired browbird sighed as he removed his shoes and hung up his soaked-through cloak; he was sure to require a bit of a toweling still, as his head was uncovered when it started pouring.

Moving further inside, he put the grocery bag down on a mat before heading towards the laundry room for a fresh towel to dry himself with. Inside, he was a little surprised to find Cori himself loading up the washing machine with more recently used clothing and other fabrics.

“Oh, doing laundry loading early?” He inquired, as they typically did laundry in the evening and let it all wash overnight.

“Yeah. Heard there’s going to be a thunderstorm, so it seemed pretty sound to start doing it now.” Cori responded, dropping another shirt into the opening. It seemed like he was almost done, too. “Need a towel? You’re soaked.”

“... Yeah, that’s what I came in for…” Lance grumbled in response. Not at him, but at the fact he even needed one in the first place…

And, as if the day couldn’t get any shittier, as he reached for the nearest clean towel… a flash of lightning cut their power.

Now, their house was as dark as the abyss.

DAY 15 - CANDLELIT

“Shiiiit…” Lance groaned aloud, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. Of all the days!! Whatever was responsible for this string of unfortunate events, he hoped they would get their comeuppance eventually… it was getting kind of ridiculous.

All of a sudden, he felt a warm, fluffy and dry object get rubbed against his scalp. Oh, Coriander must have grabbed the towel and started drying him off… it felt pretty good…

“Thanks, Cori….” Lance purred out, helping by leaning his head into the towel. “Today is just not my day…”

“No kidding. Guess the early laundry’s a bust.” Cori seemed to lament a bit too, “Hopefully the power comes back on before tonight. I can light some candles until then.”

“That sounds great… I hate the dark…”When there was a little pause of silence, Lance realized what he had said. Stupid, Vampires thrive in the darkness!!! What kind of vampire hates the dark??

Oh god, what if Coriander found out he wasn’t actually a vampire? What if he had just given away the truth, and Cori no longer cared for him? Lance didn’t want to be alone again, forever a nobody, not worth anyone’s time or effort.

“I- I mean…” He stuttered, trying to come up with a way to cover his ass, “I….. dislike having to wade in the darkness, bring on the candles! They suit me more!”

“Sounds good.” Cori said in a flat tone, having already lit several candles in the time that Lance took to have a little crisis.

DAY 15 - CANDLELIT (PT 2)

The candles did wonders for making Lance feel more relaxed about the situation he and Cori were in, lighting up the whole house nicely from the strategic places that they were placed. Coriander was truly an expert at efficiency, of that Lance was sure.

It also gave the house a nice orange-brown glow, which also relaxed him. It was kind of… comforting. Finally he could take some time to pick the bag of food back up and put all the items in their proper places for later use… except for the cold stuff, he guessed. Best not to open a fridge during a power outage.

What were they going to do with it in the meantime, though? It couldn’t just stay at room temperature… and, timely as he was, Cori already had a solution: a little cooler he kept in the cellar for just such an occasion, which he was in the process of rolling up to the ground floor.

“Put it in here.” He said, the light dancing on his dark purple-brown feathers in the candlelight.

“Y-yeah, on it…” Lance barely got out, stumbling a little as he took the frozen foods out of the bag and laid it down into the cooler full of ice cubes. It was unfair how good Cori looked, especially with the sparkling effect that lightly splattered his face. Lance found himself wondering if Coriander felt the same way about how he looked in the same light. “Okay, that’s all.”

Maybe he was cool with this darkness. Just a little.

DAY 9 - FULL MOON

Somehow, even though Lance was perturbed by the darkness and feared things sneaking up on him at night, for some reason on this night he thought it would be perfect to spend the evening outside with his boyfriend, Coriander. Maybe it helped that their house was just as dark thanks to the power outage…

At this point, the storm had ended- though the electricity wasn’t quite back in working order. The same was happening through the whole sector, but even with all that, very few people were out stargazing. It was alright though, because Lance preferred that- the less people near him, the better.

They had a few candles with them, for just enough light to be able to see where everything was in their general vicinity… no one wanted to trip on a tree root, and neither did they. And so, there they were, sitting together on dry reclining lawn chairs and looking up at the full moon and all the stars that surrounded it.

“You know, Some planets have multiple moons.” Lance turned his head to Coriander. He was sure his partner knew that, but just in case he didn’t, he thought it’d be nice for him to learn something new.

“Yeah, I do.” Cori affirmed his thoughts, but Lance didn’t really mind. All that mattered was that they were having a good time laying around and watching the moon and stars pass through the sky, an occasional streak of light across the sky so fast that if you blinked, you missed it.

DAY 7 - SECRETS

Looking up at the stars, Lance felt very small. It made him think about things he had done- lying about who he really was being one of them. What was he doing? Protecting himself at the expense of others’ trust? He wondered if this whole time, he was being stupid over it.

He’d never heard Fenrir or Coriander fawn over his supposed true vampirism, only small comments of cool and nice. They didn’t even seem all that sincere… maybe the only person he was fooling was himself. It especially made him wonder if maybe, just maybe… even being a normal browbird would still make him worth spending time with.

After all, Cori hung out with him on the regular. Hell, they were even partners- and not once did Coriander say it was because of his vampirism or anything related to it. It was only about… him. Him as a person, compliments about his hard work and accomplishments. Words of encouragement on his writing when he felt frustrated.

Not a single thing about vampiric abilities or any of that shit.

And it made him think:

Maybe it was time to come clean, even if the thought of it terrified him more than any monster or creature of the night.

“Hey, Cori…” He said quietly, lips quivering as his heart pounded in his chest.

“Yeah?” His partner turned to look at him, giving Lance his full attention. Lance was full-on sweating at this point… but he had to do it.

“I… I’ve been lying about being a vampire.”

“Yeah,” Cori admitted, voice soft. “I know.”

Submitted By gakuwalked for 🎃MINI EVENT: BROWTOBER
Submitted: 7 months ago ・ Last Updated: 7 months ago