Return of the Sigel

The nights events that led well into the next day had taken its toll on the new sigel. He was finally leaving the confines of the forest, and heading home. At this point, he just wanted to take a warm shower and eat his first real meal. A real meal. He realized in that moment what that meant. He was experiencing a new kind of hunger. Not the innate magical hunger to satiate the rune itself, no. Now this was a physical one, one of the body, needing to nourish the flesh. It was quite the sensation.

Through everything that had just happened to the toadstool, it hadn’t dawned on him that Reuben had no idea where he had been all night. The thought struck him like a ton of bricks, bringing him to a halt with sudden dread coursing through his body. Suddenly, another new feeling he hadn’t ever felt before. Was this what they called, ‘sick with anxiety’? He hadn’t ever thrown up before, but he could imagine doing that right now; thankfully his new stomach was empty. 

His hands darted all over his body, feeling for his phone. Nothing. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. Where had it gone? Did he lose it in the clearing during the struggle? Somewhere in the forest throughout the night of being lost or when he went back to the clearing with his muses? It had been such a chaotic, yet enlightening, 24 hours that he hadn’t even once thought to look at his phone.

The previous night, Ryder had convinced Reuben to let him go out with some friends for the evening. He had conveniently left out that he was about to go head to head with his arch nemesis and that he would be hard to reach. And surely, the urgency in Ryder’s voice as he tried to persuade Reuben to allow this couldn’t possibly arouse any suspicion or worry…right?

When Ryder finally approached the Rothmore estate, his heart began to race, his stomach churned. He had to explain to Reuben everything that had happened. He floated silently at the front door more nervous now than he had been fighting off Erryd. He stared at the door knob, debating whether or not he even wanted to enter. He knew he would be in trouble, especially when Reuben found out the previous nights occurrences.

Suddenly, Ryder felt the warmth of a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Alice in her normal attire, a large smile strewn across her face as she stared down at her creator with a look of determination. She was there for him, and with her, he could battle anything. With his self-assurance renewed, he opened the door and floated in. The living room was empty, meaning that Reuben may be out at the shop or by the gazebo. He quickly floated into his room, tearing off the clothes of the previous night, deciding it was high time for a shower before trying to explain anything to Reuben. Had his guardian seen any signs of a struggle on Ryder, he would be that much more concerned. If, however, Ryder explained that it was all fine and no real harm had come to him, maybe Reuben would be more understanding.

Ryder locked the bathroom doors and turned on the warm water. He continued to think about how he would explain the previous night to his guardian without setting off too many alarms. As he washed himself, he felt his new stomach, it was truly real and his ribbon stemmed downward further than before. He was proud of himself for what he had accomplished. But then the impending doom clouded his mind. It wasn’t going to be completely over until his guardians knew everything.

As he exited the bathroom into his room, he had a towel wrapped around his shoulders as he picked something out to wear. It was a nice, long-sleeved button up with a nice collar with which he could adorn some fine tie to. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he realized that the bottom of his belly peeked out just a little bit under the shirt. He realized that he now needed new clothing that suited him better. He took off the long-sleeved button up and put on a long t-shirt he normally used to wear to bed.

The sigel floated out into the living room, hearing a rustling and mumbling at the front door as he dried his hair with the towel. The time had come. His heart pounded and he became suddenly nauseous. 

Click. Creeeeeak. “We’ll find him, Reu, don’t worry so much. He’s probably-,” sudden shock stopped the man mid-sentence as they door swung open. “Ryder?”

“Ryder!?” Reuben exclaimed, pushing his lover out of the way a moment to come into the house first. “What the hell is going on!? Where have you been!? And why did I find your phone in the middle of the forest!?” Reuben questioned, pulling the phone out of his pocket to show to his charge.

"My pho-oh...” Shit. Well, at least it was safe. But how did Reuben find it? “O-okay, please, let me explain,” he began, "But first, how did you know where to find my phone?” he questioned.

Reuben shook his head. “Please? Wait…that isn’t the problem at hand. The problem is you lied to me, now please...PRAY...explain. Now!”

The anger fumed, that much was evident in Reuben’s reaction. He was obviously making hint that Ryder hadn’t used the term “pray” like he usually would have before all of this. It was something that Reuben came to find annoying, when Ryder spoke like those from his video game. But that wasn’t him, and he had realized it through this whole ordeal. So, he was getting back to himself again, something that felt comfortable, especially after his evolution.

Evan simply scooted into the house, closed the front door behind them and slowly drifted off into the kitchen to grab a couple of bottled waters, only to reenter the living room with a sigh. Here they went again.

“Please hear what I have to say. It was never my intention to lie, Reuben. I...needed to take care of Erryd, and I did. And I have outgrown my old ways. I took on a persona whilst I played that game and it was not truly me. I tried very hard to be one of those characters and I know how it had taken a toll on you. For that, I apologize.” Ryder stated, trying to mask the news with something that he hoped would appease his guardian.

Reuben’s eyes widened further. “Y-you…you did WHAT!?” Reuben clenched his fists tighter around the phone in his hand.

Well, that certainly did not work as I had hoped. Ryder thought to himself, his mouth drying up. 

“Reu, l-let’s just have a seat and let Ryder explain, okay?” Evan stated, almost afraid of the repercussions he would no doubt endure for intervening. He lead Reuben around and sat him on the couch, sitting next to him.

Reuben took a deep breath as he sat. He then sat the toadstool’s phone on the coffee table in front of him before staring back up at him with visible anger in his visage.

Evan began patting his lover’s knee. He knew he had to be the mediary between these two, if not only to stop Reuben from saying something he’d later regret.

“Thank you, Evan. Now, let me start from the beginning,” the sigel took a deep breath and began to speak about the events leading up to this moment.

Reuben gawked in disbelief. His once tight, wound up posture that he had at the beginning of this story led him into a very hunched, horrified slouch into the couch as the story progressed.

Evan, who had been listening and eying Reuben’s reactions, just sat back, also in shock, not able to fully process what they were being told.

“...and the best part...is this,” Ryder stated, lifting his shirt to reveal a full fledged stomach, even with some definition in his abs and a “belly button” that was even shaped like a mushroom, an outie. Rainbow freckles speckled across his entire torso.

Reuben’s jaw, still agape, snapped shut as he covered his mouth in shock. He stood up and came close to inspect it, reaching out to touch his charge’s belly. This was all real? What his charge had been through, everything led to this? His…evolution?

Ryder’s instincts kicked in. “Reuben, no!” he shrieked, jerking backward, pulling his shirt down quickly. “My poison is back. I cannot allow skin contact.”

Reuben jerked back also at his charge’s sudden reaction, “R-right, I’m sorry,” he began. “But...that is...amazing. H-how did that-”

“I defeated Erryd, that is how. I…absorbed him and his magic and I believe that is why it allowed me to evolve…morph? Evolve sounds more…right, to me.” Ryder said, a smile growing on his face.

“Wow,” Evan started with a nod, eyes wide. “That’s all a little too crazy for me. But…congrats, kid,” he concluded with a chuckle, standing up as well and patting Ryder on his belly over his shirt softly as he walked passed to go into the bedroom. He needed time to just sit with all the information he was given. The whole raevan concept and Lab 305 shenanigans were too much for the bartender to comprehend. He was a man of a simple life. He hadn't the mind to process all of what Ryder had even gone through.

Reuben shook his head in disbelief. “I’m…” he began, “I’m so proud of you, Ryder.” Reuben’s eyes began to tear up, him realizing that his charge, the one that had been with him for over two years now, was growing up. He could take care of himself, granted he was getting himself into some terrible trouble, but he was able to navigate it himself and make it through on his own. It was a ‘proud parent’ moment for sure.

The guardian stepped closer to his charge. “I’m just so glad you’re safe,” Reuben said, wiping away a few tears under his fogging glasses and grabbing Ryder’s shoulders and wrapping his arms around the sigel’s covered torso for a hug. At this point, the guardian didn’t care if they came into contact, it would be worth it to finally show how proud he was of his charge.

Ryder lifted his arms and lightly pat Reuben’s back before accepting and embracing his guardian, being extra careful to not have any skin contact, a smile growing on the sigel’s face.

“But,” Reuben said as he pulled away, sniffling. “That doesn’t mean you’re not grounded,” he said with a slight chuckle, patting his charge's shoulders before wiping the remaining tears from his face.

"I can understand that; however, you never did answer my question," Ryder stated. "How did you know where to find my phone?"

Reuben backed away slyly. "Well, I guess I owe you an explanation as well. You...err...Erryd was constantly sneaking out into the forest late at night. One night I placed a secret tracker app on the phone so I could know where you...” Reuben stopped himself with a quick shake of his head. “…he...was off to. Though I think he caught wind of it all and stopped taking it out with him after a while. But luckily I just remembered I still had access to it when we couldn’t find you today and decided to go looking for you; only to find that your phone's location was deep within the forest in some clearing. It took us most of the morning to get there just to find it. Almost got lost trying to find our way back out.”

Ryder shook his head, bringing up his own rendition in his head of the clearing just after he had defeated Erryd. Been there, he thought. So it was lost during the battle after all. "I am grateful, Reuben. But I shall be removing the tracker from my phone now," he said with a smile, leaning down to pick up his phone from the coffee table.

"Fair enough," Reuben said with a smile. "Just promise me you'll keep me in the loop from now on? I just want you to know I care," he said, blinking multiple times to keep back his ever-growing tears.

Ryder nodded with a soft chuckle. "I know you do. And I promise," he said with a smile, crossing his heart like he had seen Evan do many times before when he made promises.

It had been so long since the two shared an enjoyable moment of complete trust and vulnerability. It was a very nice change of pace around the Rothmore home. The two could only hope to get better from here.