₊ ⊹ Griefer / Brad Thaniyel

Becoming some kind of plant monster had.. odd pros and cons. Brad felt stronger than ever, he had new sick drip and esthetics to play around with through clothing, ways to be more of a show off. Bug legs that were creepy at first, but helped him hold things.. the mandibles helped him eat. He became venomous! Which was honestly the coolest thing ever, even if it had.. weird draw backs to tip toe around, like how it made food taste different if he chewed too hard.. or.. trying to be 'romantic' with anybody. Even thinking about that made him cringe, he'd rather not remind himself of the time he accidentally poisoned his partner. Neither you, or him, had been particularly happy about that.

Anywaay... past aside, it was so many new things for Brad to get accustomed to. He had never been much of an outdoor person, though now his body practically demanded it. Feeling sick, grumpy, generally gloomy and looking like someones abandoned front lawn was not favorable..

And on top of learning all the new things about himself, he had you now too. The best person in his life, the only person who had ever been able to make Brad queasy with giddiness and embarrassment. Twiddling his thumbs while weaving around directly expression affection and just how much he adores you, all on the note of feeling like such a bozo for being so head over heels. It was cute, it IS cute, watching Brad fumble over his own tongue with every attempt at a compliment or invitation to hang out. God forbid he wanted a hug, or a kiss, or anything physically affectionate what so ever.

Despite how unsure and awkward things felt between you two on occasion, you two were always there for one another. Which.. included Brad's problems with his anatomy. Overgrown plants, flowers, the venus fly trap tail that always threw off his balance and thunked into things from his clumsiness, bug limbs he struggled to manage with.. every little bit of it.

At least.. the things Brad had the guts to be honest about..

Across the past few weeks, the way Brad acted became increasingly abnormal. He kept his jacket zipped, wore baggy shirts, closing off the transparent nature of his chest he had been so jazzed over when he first got used to it. You hadn't a clue the last time you saw him wearing anything more than just his jacket and pants, but that felt like the least of it to you. Shy squeamishness towards affection became almost frightened, mortified even. Pale skin exploding to a rosey pink and flinching away any time you tried to be affectionate, Brad always tried to babble nonsense, to make an excuse for reacting so strongly. Yet it was always quickly dropped, he'd excuse himself or expertly change the topic. You had initially decided to leave it be.. see if it'd pass. It hadn't been the first time Brad randomly got self conscious about things, and it likely wouldn't be the last.

However, whence he started avoiding you all together, that was when you finally started to draw the line.

Locking himself away in his room, you knew he was in there even if there was virtually no light emitted beneath the door. The sound of him grumbling, cursing at who knows what, rapid almost frantic clicking of keyboard keys.. it'd all go quiet as soon as he'd hear you walk by the door. Just like he had now

Your knuckles rapped on the closed door, quick taps hitting the wood. Only to get the usual reply of silence other than quick rustling. The prolonged quiet irritated you, deciding you were done with backing away, you knocked again more firmly.

"Aghh fucks sake..." You vaguely heard Brad groan, the agitated tone made your brow twitch with tested patience. You could make out the sound of dragging footsteps toward the door, quick to drop your gaze toward the doorknob, waiting for it to twist open. "What- wh.. what do you want?" Brad instead grumbled through the door, he sounded almost congested, as if a frog was in his throat or he was intentionally making himself quiet.

"What is going on with you?"

"Haah?" The puzzled deflection came predictably, causing your foot to tap impatiently. "Uh... heh- ghh.. Don't- know what youu're talkin' bout.." He cleared his throat, evidently stepping away from the door with the creak of the rickety floorboards.

"Brad. Open the door."

It went quiet, and air went still. Before you heard a quiet, weighted step, with the door knob turning. It creaked open just enough for you to see his blaring green eye through the crack in the door. His room was pitch black, exempt for the very faint blue glow from his monitor in the corner. "What." He practically spat out, a little more angrier than he intended. When he saw your expression scrunch up, he turned his gaze away ashamedly.

"You have a problem, talk to me."

You could see him hesitating, his fingertips curled a little firmer around the edge of the door. To which, you wedged your foot in the door just as he started to close it more. A startled huff choked his chest, and he tried to cover it up with a sheepish chuckle. "Heh.. ehh.. no? I-I don't?" He grinned, tense at the corner of his mouth and his sharp canines half hidden behind nervous lips. The stern glare you gave him, made his adams apple bob as he swallowed. Brad knew he was being a prick for ignoring you for so long, but..

"Loo.. look.. I'm fine, okay? I just-"

"I'm not biting that lie." You interrupted. Brad immediately exhaled as you cutting him off, head turning away to look into a dark corner of his room. You weren't sure how you hadn't noticed it before.. but now that the door is properly cracked open, a strong, however pleasantly sweet fragrance was coming from in his room.. from.. him..? Even with a few curious sniffs, you couldn't really place the source. Though, Brad eyeballed you nervously when he caught you trying to catch the smell.

"Okay-! Okay! Fuck.." Brad dragged his hand through his shaggy hair, the vines and other flora mixed in with his hair were more vibrant, wild looking. Mandibles were anxiously clicking away against his cheeks, lightly scratching at his own pointy teeth. "If- IF I tell you.. do you PROMISE not to weird out on me??" Brad cryptically asked, angling his chin down but towards you, eyeballing you down the bridge of his nose. You blinked, staring at him for a moment longer than he liked, soon slowly nodding with a skeptical look.

He hesitantly stepped away from the door. He almost felt like he was gonna be sick, pulse skipping from nerves complaining about every choice he made. With him out of the way, you took a cautious step inside, closing the door behind you as Brad flicked on the lights. The hand that had been in his hair moved to drag over his face instead, briefly pacing like he didn't know what to do with himself. Brad's flytrap tail was constantly lashing, gaping open and twitching to snap at any slight touch against its trigger hairs.

That floral, almost fruity scent was even more over powering now that you were inside his room..

Brad only turned to you just enough to look at you over his shoulder. Shoulders hunched, an uncomfortable grimace on his face. It almost seemed like he was sweating bullets, and the plants that covered him head to toe were the most out of control they've ever been.

"So- uh-" Brad coughed, tugging at the collar of his jacket. "I-.. you promise you're not gonna-"

"Brad! I promise, are you doing okay?? You're worrying me here."

His mandibles clicked together, averting his eyes again as he waved his hands about in a so-so manner. "So- I've... been- dealing with all.. kinds of- new shit.. yeah?" The beginning to his explanation came out as a drawl, briefly eyeing you to see if you were listening. "Earlier... I.. ah-heh... ah fuck it." Brad cut himself off, appearing incredibly defeated. A clean zzziiiippp came from his jacket as he yanked the zipper down and tossed his jacket off. Rushing through hooking his hands around his black t-shirt and pulling it over his head. His palms hooked themselves around the loop of his belt, slouching even further into himself. Timidly tucking his tail close around his legs.

At first, you hardly noticed anything out of the ordinary. Besides the already obvious overgrown nature of brightly colored and large flowers, twisting vines that looked uncomfortably restricting as they made indents in his skin. Yet as your eyes dragged down his chest, it was faint... but tucked beneath vines and through translucent flesh, an odd looking shaded silhouette was held within his pelvis.

It was clear to Brad you were confused, the way you stared for a moment longer before looking at him strangely. His feet shifted in place, restless and unable to sit still as he scratched at the back of his neck. "I-I don't know really what's goin' on with me but I've... been... really.. erh... bothered...??" With every word he sank a little further into himself, regretting every avoidant word that came out of his mouth.

It only puzzled you more, till it finally clicked in your head.. the way he had been acting-...

Oh.

You didn't get why he hadn't just asked, it wasn't like being sexually intimate was anything new for either of you. But that kind of question made his trigger hairs twitch, insect limbs curling closer to his sides. "Don't-.. aghhh!!! I haven't asked because I'm freaking out over the weird shit going on with me right now!" He whined, twisting at the hip to start pacing again, just to quickly turn to sit down onto the edge of his bed instead. Left leg rapidly bouncing up and down while he chewed at his lip.

"I don't know why but my damn fucked up body has gone and- and-" A deep grimace crossed his face, adjusting his hips where he sat. He leaned forward, elbows on his thighs and his hands between his knees. "ghh... eggs- eggs! It's gone and made some weird shit up in me and I'm-" Brad trailed off, an airy breath parted his lips, groaning pathetically as he brought his arms over his head. It would have been a pitiful sight to see him curl up into himself being so embarrassed if you weren't so baffled by what you just heard.

"I haven't wanted to talk about it or ask you for anything because I'm so weirded out by how I feel and how I've been thinking so I just tried to see if it'd blow over and-" It was all coming out as a rapid spew of desperate explanations and reasons as to why he had been acting the way he has. You were completely at a loss, but the way he looked, how flustered, out of it, mortified.. was.. oddly.. intriguing? A part of you felt curious.. even.