"Hmm." Jude nodded, running his hand over the cool metal edge. He noticed that the printer had stopped running, and a strangely folded set of 'skin' lied waiting. They had a long way to go. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?" Jude smiled apologetically, wishing he could say something more– sweet dreams, I love you, a goodnight kiss, anything.
Nyx nodded a little. "See you." He replied softly. He lay down in the pod, reaching back and attaching himself to it. His blue eyes flickered closed. Shutting down. He shut down, body going still, save for the motion of his chest rising and falling with breathing.
Jude lingered there for a moment, like he had, last time. He rubbed his eyes roughly, feeling like he was about to make a bad decision, once he left here. He strolled out the door, flicking the lights off as he left.
When he got onto the main road, he didn't turn left to head towards his home. He turned right, headed for an old friend's place. This is a bad idea.
(might have to go soon, but should we skip to the morning he comes in?)
(alright. Yeah sure. Can you do it?)
(yep)
(i came prepared lmao)
"Fuck," Jude muttered under his breath as he unlocked the back door and went through, rubbing his eyes tiredly as if he could move away the pale purple crescents that lived there. How was he going to explain this to him? That it wasn't Nyx's fault that he was back on. That he would stop– he would taper off as soon as possible and this was a one-time thing. Oh– how he wished he could collapse in his arms and have Nyx kiss it all better, kiss it all away. The quiet thought made him want to do some more, and he wanted to listen to it, to whine and blame it on his heartache. But he knew that this was how he'd fallen back into its clutches, like a warm and soft bed after hours of labouring. He'd gone to the last place he knew would give what he needed, and before he knew it, Jude's eyes were rolling back as he collapsed onto his couch. But that was two nights ago, and between then and now– he was surprised he was still walking. Tiredly, stumbling, but walking towards Nyx's pod, the beginning of his withdrawal already starting. Without thinking, he took one and popped it into his mouth. Uncrushed, but just to soften the blow for a little bit. What are the words? "Begin system start-up." He said, rubbing his eyes again.
(lmao)
Nyx sat up, and frowned when he saw Jude's appearance. "What's…what happened?" He asked, not knowing that it had been two or three days, not just one. "Jude?" He reached for Jude anxiously, pulling his hand back at the last second, realizing that maybe he shouldn't touch. He got out of the pod, frowning a little bit.
"Nothing." Jude said, his dilated eyes reacting badly with the light. "I just– fucked up." He shook his head, trying to look away as he moved closer to Nyx. "You don't have to worry, I'm okay." He lied.
(Merry Christmas! If u see this/celebrate it!!)
Nyx bit his lip, peering at Jude. "You don't…you aren't okay." He replied firmly. "I uhm…what can I do?" He looked at Jude worriedly, fidgeting with his hands a little bit.
(Merry Christmas to you too!!)
"–Nothing. I just…need to wait this out," Jude lied, shaking his head slowly and watching as it dizzied him. But I'm fine. Let's keep going." He sniffed, his nose red and numb. The skin looked even better as Jude neared it; impossibly real-looking. It seemes a little too stretched out, and it was thicker than Jude thought it would be.
Nyx followed Jude cautiously. "Jude, I…I think you should sit down or something." he said worriedly. "Please?" he had no idea what was wrong; he had never seen someone use drugs before, he didn't know the symptoms. "I…" he fidgeted again, watching Jude worriedly.
"I don't need to sit down." Jude sighed, crouching over the glass display and pressing a few buttons to open it. "I think you should– so I can help with this stuff." He blinked, gently reaching in feeling slightly uncomfortable at the touch of the skin.
"Jude. What did you do?" Nyx said firmly, reaching out and putting a hand on Jude's shoulder. Careful, oh so careful not to hurt the other male. "This isn't your normal behavior."
Jude set the artificial skin down on the table nearby before turning back to Nyx, frozen under his gentle touch, not daring to stray from it. "I–" He uttered, his dilated eyes flickering away and bouncing to see everywhere except Nyx's face. "I really fucked up," Jude laughed without a smile.
"That doesn't explain anything to me, Jude." Nyx said slowly. "I don't know hardly anything about…well, anything, remember? Use your words and explain." He swallowed, studying Jude carefully. He had caught the dilation of the pupils, but again, he didn't know the symptoms of addiction.
"I–" He bit his lip, "I went back to it– morphine," Jude said shamefully, not meeting his eyes and curling his fingers into a fist against his jeans, "I'm not relapsing, I'm not…I just fell off the wagon. It's not going to happen again."
Morphine…drug. Nyx realized. Oh. "I…" He bit his lip a little bit. "Is it because of me? The…when I kissed you?" He asked slowly. He sat down, gently tugging on Jude to make him sit down too.
Jude shook his head as he found a stool to sit down on, a wave of cold going through him as he sat. "No…" He shook his head again, "It's not because you did. I don't know…" He sighed, realizing he'd have to tell him the real reason, "I think it's because the same thing kind of happened a while ago…" Jude swallowed, "I couldn't be with someone I–" He hesitated, "I just broke, I guess."
Nyx looked up at him, biting his lip a little bit. "Oh. I…okay." he didn't know what to say. "What can I, er…do to help?" He asked cautiously. "If… anything."
Jude managed a faint smile though shook his head, appreciating that Nyx was understanding rather than judgemental, unlike his parents. There was nothing he could do except to stay here with him and smile like he always did. Jude turned to the skin on the table and picked it up, gently taking Nyx's arm and looking at the two, side by side. He sighed, "I guess this is your skin." He said with a smile.
"Now that," Nyx said slowly, "Is not a sentence one normally hears in conversation." He let out a soft laugh, looking at the skin curiously. "So, er…how do I put it on?"
Jude managed a quiet laugh, "Uh– I don't know," He said, smiling, "Like…a glove?" He shook his head, trying to move the first one on.
Nyx cocked his head a little bit. "Uhm…" he bit his lip, looking at Jude for a moment, then the skin again. "Okay." he cautiously tried to pull it on.
(writing this is making me feel so weird lmaoo)
The skin curved around Nyx's arm almost perfectly, meeting the very end of where the metal stopped. A shiver ran through Jude, It looks so real… "I'll have to like…stitch this end.." Jude murmured, furrowing his brow in thought.
"It shouldn't hurt, but might leave a little scar." He ran a gentle touch down Nyx's arm, partially to admire the printer's work, and partially to show some muted affection.
(lmao same tho)
Nyx adjusted it, looking at the skin. "It looks…strange." he said slowly. "I don't…I don't feel like I'm supposed to have skin like this." he let out a breathy laugh, shaking his head a little bit. "I don't know. I just…"
"Yeah, definitely weird." Jude nodded, studying its appearance, "Try moving it? Make a fist or something." He suggested.
Nyx made a fist, and made a face at how weird his hands looked. At least to him they did. He wasn't used to seeing skin when he reached out, wasn't used to seeing anything but metal on his fingers and arms. He glanced over at Jude, then at his hand again.
"Looks…real." Jude nodded, slightly bewildered, taking Nyx's new palm in his and running a curious finger against it. "How do you feel? Can you feel it when I do this?" He asked, tracing small and gentle circles into his hand.
Nyx's fingers twitched a little, and he nodded. "Yeah. I… I can." He replied softly, biting his lips and looking at Jude. He looked down at their hands. God he wanted to kiss Jude again.
Jude was too struck to think about his little bit of affection. His eyes flickered excitedly around Nyx's hand, and he reminded himself, this was the reason he pursued robotics. "This is so freakin cool." Jude smiled. "I'm making… I made skin… like a God." He laughed, giving Nyx's hand a gentle squeeze.