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A sharp, burning pain woke Bee up. A crackling, electrical sensation traveled down his right arm and over his chest. He whimpered, instinctually going to hold himself. The moment he touched his chest, the pain flared up. He sucked air through his sharp teeth, holding down a yelp. He cringed, quietly hissing.
His mismatched saturated orange and purple eyes looked around the room. They first fell onto his baby crib. Inside, a pink little skeleton, Diz. He was already wide awake, holding a stuffed animal. His long, thin tail whipped around wildly as they rabbit kicked the toy with the back legs. Much like a cat. Tiny growls emitted from him, doing his best to bite and claw at his prey.
If Bee wasn't in so much pain, maybe he'd chuckle at his son's feral antics.
His eyes then fell onto his mate. His partner, Nella, was curled up in the blankets, hogging a good majority of the sheets. Their body warmth was radiating. Bee debated if he should get out of bed or try to cuddle up to his lover. He'd love to sleep off the prickly sensation. For the last few nights, he's been pulled out of his sleep because of the intense aching. As if answering for him, another sharp pain went up Bee's tender bones.
Bee sighed, pulling himself out of his warm bed and trudging to the bathroom. He couldn't wait for this pain to eventually go away when he recovered. He wanted to sleep through the night and not wake up so damn early in the morning. He isn't a morning person, not at all. Bee valued lazing in bed until 10 A.M and admiring how pretty his mate is. Ugh… now his sleep schedule is messed up.
He'll fall asleep by nine, sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and stay up until the prescribed drugs kick in. By then, it was morning. Bee was thankful his work is giving time off until he was ready to come back. He had no idea how he would function while running on two, maybe four hours of sleep.
Admittedly, he feels terrible. Not just physical wise. He feels bad that Nella has been picking up the work around the house. Usually Bee takes care of their son and does the housework. Now Nella was left to do everything while Bee recovered. He knows this is normal. It isn't expected of him to jump straight back into his everyday life after his accident. He can't help it… he feels like a bad partner for offloading all the work.
He flicked on a light, examining himself in the mirror. Dark circles had formed under his eyes. The orange and purple freckles across his cheeks were a little more dull then usual. He tugged his shirt up, looking at his ribcage. Blaster burn marks were scorched around his ribs and right shoulder. He stared at the marks.
They were extremely sensitive. Even wearing a loose fitting shirt was uncomfortable. The worse part of all, he keeps trying to use his right hand to pick up objects. He keeps trying to raise his right arm to grab items off higher shelves. His body hasn't caught up that it isn't there anymore. It was still convinced that it was there, causing phantom pains in a limb that doesn't exist.
It was burned away.
Bee examined his bones. The pale yellow was now a scarred reddish color. It felt brittle but doctors assured him that the surrounding area would recover well. It will take a long time, but eventually it'll feel like normal again.
He cringed, another false pain traveling down his non-existent arm and up his chest. “Ugh, Penny is so lucky she doesn't have to deal with phantom pain.”
Penny is Bee’s sister. She looks almost like Bee, many people have called them twins growing up. As they got older, they started to look different. Penny’s bones are purple. Bee is more yellow. Penny has a long nose ridge hole like a blaster. Bee's face is covered in piercings. Penny was much skinnier. Bee was fatter. They have the same eye colors, but their magic was disputed differently. Penny was born without a right arm.
Bee's was blasted and burned off.
Bee opened the mirror, behind was various little shelves and toiletries nicely organized. He took out three prescription bottles: one to helped with the inflamed tissue, morphine and gabapentin. He somewhat got the hang of opening the bottles by himself. He'd place them on a flat counter, press down and twist. Nine times out of ten, it worked. The other one out of ten… led to an annoying mess.
Bee managed to get the inflammation bottle open, taking the pill and moving onto the morphine. For some reason the prescription he needed the most was the hardest to open. He struggled, pressing down on the lid and trying to twist. With a pop, the bottle opened and spilled the pills.
Bee cursed. A majority spread out onto the counter and a few bounced off the floor. Sighing, he set the bottle up and gathered all the pills off the counter. After dropping them back in the container, he kneeled down to pick the ones off the floor. Out of the corner of his sockets, he could see someone move down the hall. He looked up, surprised to see Diz.
Bee's little feral child had a talent for escaping his bed. He could only assume Diz escaped when he noticed Bee wasn't in bed anymore. The pink skeleton was on all fours, starring Bee down and stalking slowly towards him.
Bee chuckled, playfully putting his hand up, “Ohhh, so scaryyyy. You're scaring me sooo much, Diz. Look at you.” The more Bee watched Diz, the more he realized that his baby wasn't trying to playfully scare him. Diz was fixated on a lone pill on the floor. The little baby suddenly dashed towards it. Diz had no idea what it was, but he wanted to put it in his mouth.
“No—!! No, no!! Goddamn it, Diz—!” Bee quickly snagged the pill, putting it into the counter, out of reach.
At the sheer audacity of Bee saving Diz’s life, Diz hissed and stomped his back legs. His thin tail swished around as he threw a mini temper tantrum.
“Babe, you're asking for something that'll kill you. You know that right?”
Diz replied with a long hiss and more foot stomping.
“I know, the pills are colorful. I swear I'm not eating cereal or candy or… whatever your little skull thinks it is.” Bee got up, dry swallowing the morphine and moving onto his last prescription.
Diz was still upset. He pounced onto Bee's leg, kicking with his back legs. His tiny sharp teeth nipped and growled. Bee blatantly ignored it, very used to his son’s nibbles. After taking the last pill, he put everything away and looked down at Diz.
“You know it's like… five-ish in the morning, right? Shouldn't you still be asleep?” Bee didn't receive much response, other then a grumpy huff. Bee lifted his leg. Diz tightly held on. “Dizzy, pleeeease I wanna get some sleep tonight. You're going back into the crib for just a few more hours, alright?” Bee leaned over, tugging on the back of Diz’s onesie. With a lil force, Diz finally released and was held in the air. Like a cat being held by the scruff.
Bee chuckled, “Air jail for you, since you wanna be mean and bite me.”
Annoyed, Diz wiggled and squirmed and hissed. He hated air jail. Bee turned off the light and walked back to the bedroom. He noticed there was a soft glow coming and the sound of someone moving in bed. His mate was now sitting up, rubbing their magenta and yellow eyes.
They looked over, yawning, “Did the pain wake you up again?” Their voice was low and soft.
Bee nodded, “Yeah. It's particularly worse tonight… this one escaped again and decided to attack me.” He lifted Diz up into the air, presenting the gremlin to his mate. He was just gonna glaze over that Diz tried to eat a pill. Bee walked around the large bed, putting Diz back into his crib.
Nella nodded along, “…How have you been holding up?”
Bee shook a stuff toy in front of Diz, chuckling as he watched his son pounce on it. “Well… I've been feeling as well as I could be in this situation. On the bright side,” Bee gestured to his missing arm, “I said I'd lose a few pounds and I did, didn't I?”
Nella covered their mouth,“Bee that's… that's terrible.”
Bee's usual playful smile was now strained. His brows furrowed and his voice was a little more desperate. “Please laugh. I really need you to laugh at my pain with me.”
Nella, noticing Bee's shift, paused. They sighed, patting their lap. “I… I can't do that. I'll laugh at all your other jokes, but I don't know if I can laugh at your pain. C’mere.” Nella formed their ectobody. It was a primary a charcoal black color with streaks of saturated pink and gold. Nella’s body was on the fit side, with defined muscle.
Bee frowned, but he couldn't resist a cuddle session. Especially when he needed one right now. He shifted, crawling onto Nella's lap. He rested his skull against Nella's chest and wrapped his arm around their torso. His tail flicked as a weak purr rumbled from his chest.
Bee mumbled, “The damn pills need to kick in a little faster…”
Nella wrapped their arms around Bee, careful not to touch the sensitive areas. “Y’know I won't forgive your brother for what he did to you.”
Bee frowned, “…It's not really his fault. I’m the one that got in the way.”
Bee tried to ignore the surfacing memory. The angry look on Owen's face made a shiver go down his spine. Owen didn't look like Penny and Bee. He's a half sibling, although never referred as such. To Bee, Owen was always his brother, no matter the difference.
Owen was a blaster mix. Him being half dust got him caught up in all the wrong crowds. All the wrong activities. All the wrong problems. He was mean and didn't like being told what he was doing hurt people. Over the years, he got worse and would growl out how everyone always treated him like he was some killer ready to pounce.
The day Owen told Bee that he was done pretending and was gonna act like the scary dust everyone was fearful of, was the day Bee saw his older brother disappear.
The longer he tried to ignore what happened, the more vivid it appeared in his skull. Owen and his dad, Crag, were fighting. He couldn't remember what started the argument. Owen just came home hot and ready to snap. Owen stalked towards Crag, yelling. Crag held his ground, doing everything he could to calm Owen down.
Puff, Bee’s mom, was sobbing. He quietly watched from the kitchen, flinching away whenever Owen got particularly loud. Bee stood next to Puff, nervous. It wasn't the first time Puff cried because of Owen and it certainly won't be the last.
It got worse quickly.
Owen’s mouth sparked, readying his attack. A glow brightened the room as Owen inhaled. It was clear that no matter what, someone was gonna limp away burned.
Crag didn't move, readying his defense.
As Owen fired the beam of energy at Crag, Bee moved. Bee doesn't know why he did it. He just did. Crag could've taken the damage. Crag’s exorbitant amount of health would have allowed him to withstand. Yet Bee rushed out. One second he shoved Crag out of the way, the next he was on the floor and clutching his crumbling limb.
Dead silence.
Then the yelling, crying and panic followed. Bee could only remember one thing from the aftermath: The way Owen looked at him. It wasn’t shame or guilt. Bee couldn't read the emotion at all, actually. It was as if Owen was silent asking why did Bee do that.
Why would you do that? Why did you run out like that? That shot want’t meant for you.
Bee was shook out of his thoughts. Nella was trying to get Bee's attention, waving their hand in front of his face. “Bee? Bee? Hey, you're spacing out again. Bee?”
Bee blinked, looking up at Nella a little dazed.
“…You looked like you were thinking hard about something.”
Bee sighed, “Yeah. I was trying not to think about it, but it's like the memory was forcibly…” Bee whined. He was tired, he missed how he used to look and he missed his brother. “It's haunting me. I hate how I still try to use my arm. Im expecting to pick up whatever the hell I was trying to grab and it just… doesn't happen. I don't even what to think about these scars left behind or how I'll never wear a tank top again.”
Nella frowned. They nuzzled Bee's skull and kissed the top of his forehead, “…I'm just really glad that you're still here and Diz has his father.”
For some reason that made Bee pause.
Nella continued, “I know the scars are extremely bothersome. Either way, you are still the handsome skeleton I fell in love with. Still the same with that pretty smile”
Despite Bee's best efforts to hold it in, he quietly sobbed, “I feel so pathetic, Nella. I can hardly recognize myself and I feel terrible you're doing a lot of the housework. All while I just laze in bed all day.”
Nella was a little more firm. They put their hand under Bee's chin,making him look towards Nella. “You're recovering. You need to sleep and rest. I will not have my mate working through the pain and risk injuring himself. You're everything to me, Bee. I'll be damned if I let you do anything around here for the time being.”
A weak purr left Bee as Nella kissed his forehead again. The simple kisses warded off some of the self-depreciation. It made him feel like he was still worth being loved despite his disfigurement.
Bee sniffled, “I love you so damn much. I promise I'll make it up for all the extra work you're doing.”
“You can make it up by sleeping more. You've always taken care of me, now let me take care of you.”
The two skeletons nuzzled against each other. A soft display of affection and love. Bee's tail flicked around as Nella rubbed their hand up Bee's back. He relaxed a little more, looking over at the crib.
Diz had fallen asleep again. His claws were piercing the stuffed animal. His sharp teeth chewed on the limbs as he dreamt. Funny how a mere few minutes ago he was running around and play fighting.
Bee didn't realize how exhausted he felt. His sockets felt heavy. All the sleepless hours from the last week felt like it was crashing down on him. He quietly listened to his mate’s soulbeat as he was pulled back to sleep.
Thump, thump, thump.