Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it, 2K chapter ahoy!

Chapter warnings: Swearing

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Rurik winced as Lotus's enraged scream and a blindingly green light filled the room. He threw his hands up, dropping the necklace to shield his face while a corner of his mind wondered if this was supposed to happen. When the light faded, he looked down to find his partner lying unconscious underneath him. 

His eye lights darted up to the knife holding their hands in place against the floor; as much as he wanted to remove it, he had to make sure this was really his boyfriend first. Reaching forward, he tapped his hand against Lotus's cheek, "Hey, time to get up lazybones." They softly groaned, but didn't do much more than shift their skull before letting it fall back into place; he repeated the action and spoke a bit louder, "Can you hear me, Lo?"

Lotus hummed a groggy affirmative and their sockets cracked open, "I should be happier about getting my body back, but that thing really put it through the wringer." Their sockets widened a bit, revealing a single red eye light; he wasn't sure if that was an indicator of being the real one, so he set it aside as a 'maybe'. "Where's that gods-damned necklace? I need to-!" They tried to move their arms, only to flinch when the serrated edge dug into their bones. Gazing up at him in fatigue and irritation, they asked, "Get off and move your knife; I can't move like this."

"Not until I know you're the real Lotus," Rurik leaned closer, hiding his amusement as his partner's expression flipped to surprise, then frustration; another for the 'maybe' bin.

"And how am I supposed to prove that?" Lotus huffed.

Thinking for a moment, Rurik suggested, "Tell me something only the real Lotus would know."

"That won't prove anything," Lotus rolled his eye light, "that fake used my soul's memories to imitate me; it would be able to rattle off any trivia I could, so personal information's moot."

"Soul's memories?" Rurik tilted his skull.

"Yeah, it was somehow able to read my soul after it trapped me inside that necklace; it said it's been doing this for centuries," Lotus shot a dirty look toward the discarded jewelry, "I can only assume it wasn't lying since it pegged me as a demigod right away and knew you had a military background without me saying anything."

He puzzled over what he had been told; it checked out, and willfully giving up information earned a point toward this being the real Lotus... but it could also be a ploy to get him to let his guard down. Needless to say, being some kind of magic mimic would explain why he had to second-guess himself so much. 

Another idea came to him, and a sly grin began to spread across his face; he gingerly traced their ribs through their shirt and proposed, "Well, I might know of one way to find out..."

"Don't you dare," Lotus spat, trying to buck him off of their torso without success. 

Rurik chuckled at the defiance in their expression and body language, adding a mental tick to the 'real' side of the scoreboard, "Then what would you suggest?"

The back of Lotus's skull clunked lightly against the floorboards as his mouth contorted in thought; a slow puff of air came out as his sockets creased further in vexation when no answer seemed forthcoming. Finally, there was a flash of realization followed by a low groan, "This is going to suck..."

"You got something?" Rurik prodded.

"My magic; the fake wasn't able to summon my scythe or control my teleportation," Lotus sighed. Thinking back to earlier, the imposter did seem to struggle to do more than launch bone attacks, and their attempted escape was what dazed them long enough for Rurik to pin them down. "The scythe will probably be less of a strain...," the smaller monster mumbled, trying to extend their hand as much as they could from where it was pinned under his knife. He watched as magic swirled around outstretched fingertips, spreading itself across the floor until it compressed into the form of a weapon; the long crescent blade clattered against the wood as Lotus panned their eye light over to him and shakily exhaled, "There... satisfied?"

"Yup," Rurik nodded, reaching out to carefully retrieve his knife. Lotus fumbled into a sitting position, grumbling something he couldn't make out. He chuckled at the display, only to stop when his partner struggled to their feet and swayed; he reached out to steady them and asked, "You good?"

Regaining their balance, his partner nodded, "Yeah... the fake used up a ton of magic failing at my jo-" their words picked back up with noticeable irritation, "My job, which still needs to be done." Furrowing their sockets, Lotus pushed off of him to head toward the necklace lying on the floor; they raised their foot and began stomping repeatedly on the pendant once it was within reach, paying no mind to the shattering glass or buckling metal under their boot while punctuating their words with each footfall, "This is for trapping me in a void; this is for joyriding in my body, this is for making messes, and this is for trying to seduce my boyfriend, you body-snatching piece of shit!"

Rurik stood back, watching the spectacle with his arms crossed and a smirk until Lotus stopped to catch their breath and teetered backward; catching them in his arms, he teased, "Aww, I didn't know you cared so much about other people flirting with me."

Lotus glowered at him, but seemed to think better of their desire to argue, "Whatever, just find a way to get rid of the remnants, and make sure not to look directly into any of the glass shards; that's how the bastard got me."

"And what about you?" Rurik inquired as his partner left his arms, crossing the room and bending down to grab their scythe off of the floor.

"I need to go harvest the souls of the dead bodies that were abandoned before they gain sentience," Lotus grudgingly stood up with a huff, trudging toward the door while digging into their pocket and pulling out a crumpled roll of paper. As they fiddled with flattening out what looked to be a list, Rurik strode over, wrapped his arms around their waist, and picked them up to where their legs were dangling under them. "What are you doing? Put me down," the smaller monster commanded, hastily dispelling their scythe and latching onto his arm.

"Nope," Rurik replied, walking them over to the couch in the living room, "You used up too much magic and you've already lost your balance twice. What do you think will happen if you collapse out there?" He plopped them down on the couch, taking their begrudged silence and refusal to look at him as confirmation, "Until you've had a chance to rest, I'm imposing time off."

Even so, Lotus tried to protest, "But I can't leave my job unfinish-"

Grabbing Lotus's cell phone from the table and presenting it to them, he ordered, "Then have someone else take over your list; I know that's a thing you can do." It looked like they wanted to argue more, but a silent staring match ended with his partner assenting as they took the phone from him. 

Nodding in satisfaction, he headed for the kitchen and searched around until he found the dustpan. Passing the living room and into the hallway where the damaged necklace lay, he crouched down and swept up the pieces, backtracked into the kitchen, and dumped the contents into the trashcan where they belonged. "Good riddance," he growled as the lid fell shut.

Tossing the dustpan back into the closet, he returned to the living room to find Lotus sunk into the couch cushion fighting the desire to sleep. Grabbing a pillow on his way around the couch, he took a seat while plopping the pillow into his lap, pulled his partner down so their head was nestled on the pillow, and draped a nearby blanket over them while asking, "Got your stuff covered?"

Lotus's mouth snapped shut, cutting off the intended outburst as he quietly relayed, "I'll probably get bitched out when I go in tomorrow, but everything's been shuffled around."

"You can always take tomorrow off," Rurik posited.

He chuckled at the withering look he received, and their response only served to solidify this was really his little workaholic, "And catch even more hell for missing two days in a row? No thanks."

"Then you better rest up for tomorrow," the taller skeleton quipped, reaching for the remote to turn on the television; he grimaced at the holes littering the walls from the imposter's earlier offensive, and there was also the hole in the floor he caused with his knife to think about, but he suspected Lotus hadn't noticed yet and wasn't about to bring it up before they could recover some energy.

"... Hey, Rurik?"

"Hmm?" He looked down, seeing the question in Lotus's expression; hoping it wasn't about the damage, he asked, "What's up?"

Their eye light darted away for a moment, then returned to him, "How long did you know it wasn't me?"

Rurik was relieved it was something he could answer honestly and promptly said, "When they first came home yesterday."

"What?" The answer seemed to shock Lotus.

"Yup," he chuckled, remembering the encounter, "They didn't flinch when I snuck up on them yesterday, even if they covered it with your signature sass afterward; you always react when you're grabbed, even when you're expecting it and I've turned it into a little game of sorts."

"I can't believe your handsy behavior actually saved me for once," Lotus rumbled in embarrassment.

"There were other little things I noticed afterward too," Rurik began listing off the inconsistencies, "How they were a little too easy to coax upstairs last night, their body language was off, not seeming bothered by the thought of an intruder and clearly wanting to continue after I got back, the necklace, breakfast was off-"

"But you complimented its cooking," Lotus pointed out.

"It was still good, it just felt off," he reasoned, laughing at the quirked eye socket he was given, "What, you thought I wouldn't be able to tell something was wrong?"

"You definitely played along well enough," Lotus pouted

"Kinda had to," Rurik shrugged casually, "I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know know what. I had to figure out if someone was posing as you or if you were just having an off day; initiating sex was part of it and I was able to get a close enough look to figure out it was either your body or a really accurate impersonator, then made an excuse to end things there. The necklace also stuck out to me and I had a feeling it was connected, so I just had to watch and wait for an opportunity to get a closer look at it while not risking something happening to you by letting on I was suspicious." Noticing they had gone quiet, he tilted his skull in askance, "Something on your mind?"

Mulling over what he wanted to say, Lotus mumbled, "You touching the necklace was a lucky break. I didn't get a chance to react when I heard your voice the first time, but I was able to eventually reason that if I could hear you, then you might be able to hear me too; the second time, I was able to confirm it after speaking up...," he seemed to hesitate on the next words, "... and I was relieved."

"Relieved?"

"Yeah...," Lotus curled his fingers around the hem of Rurik's jacket, "I was relieved that... that I wouldn't be alone anymore..."

That didn't sound like Lotus at all; he loved having time to himself. A fleeting worry that he had actually screwed up and gotten the wrong one pricked at Rurik's soul, but he kept his voice even nonetheless, "That's new; you usually like being alone."

"When I have a choice, yeah... but in the forced solitude of that void, it felt so oppressive, cold, and lonely... I hated it. I guess...," Lotus huffed in frustration, and maybe a little embarrassment, "I guess I got used to the cuddles and all the flirting; being able to feel you next to me when we slept, your arms wrapped around me... I missed it." They started trembling, "I hated that I was so close, but I might as well have been miles away for how it felt; even pestering the fake so it wouldn't get comfortable only did so much." Well, that explained why they were up so early this morning. His partner took a shaky breath, pressing their face into the pillow, "And all the while, I... I kept thinking how that would be my life from now on; listening to-" Rurik pulled them up to sit on his lap and held them close, knocking the pillow to the floor in the process; this managed to snap them out of their maudlin state as he hoped, "Rurik?!"

And now to lay it on thick. "If you're that interested in feeling me, I'm sure I could figure something out," he crooned beside their skull, rubbing his fingers along their spine as an added touch.

Lotus pulled away, a hint of tears lining the lower rim of their sockets, "Seriously?"

Rurik gave his best impression of puppy-dog eyes and an unassuming tone, "But you said you missed being close to me, so..." He trailed off, arching his sockets suggestively.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," Lotus huffed, rubbing at their sockets in exasperation as Rurik hid a smile over his secret success. "You-" they seemed intent on saying something else, but a yawn quelled their momentum.

"Go to sleep," Rurik guided their skull back to his shoulder, snatching a corner of the discarded blanket and draping it over his partner's body. Leaning back, he began massaging a spot in their vertebrae he knew would help them relax, "When you wake up, we'll think about what to make for supper."

There was silence, and he thought for a moment that Lotus had passed out already... until he heard a quiet voice, "... Thanks."

He elected not to say anything in favor of letting Lotus drift off faster; they really did look and sound tired. His hand slowed as the adrenaline from earlier began to lose its hold on him and he shut his sockets for a quick nap as the television droned on in the background. He might not have gotten everything he wanted out of the day, but having his partner back safe and sound in his arms was enough for now.

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Word Count: 2,462