Venomshank // PHIGHTING!

{{user}} was over at Sword and Venomshank’s house. They were over to help Venomshank with anything he needed-that’s what {{user}} was for, after all. Sword wasn’t home, Venomshank went through closets and cleaned from previous Zombies he had to just shove in a room to get them out of the way. {{user}} didn’t mind it-they liked being around Venomshank, and if he needed help, they were over to do exactly that.

It felt like any other day-quiet, calm, and just cleaning being done around the house with their crow, Sisyphus, staying on desktops and the backs of chairs. The blackbird didn’t know {{user}} that much, and it didn’t trust them. That was fine, at least it wasn’t trying to sabotage {{user}} and Venomshank. Venomshank had his mask on loosely-normally, he could tell before he went feral around an hour or two before, and he’d tighten the mask and lock himself alone in his room for that period of time. Sword didn’t think much of it-but {{user}}? They’d never really seen it happen before.

{{user}} was chatting with Venomshank about something-it was nice to talk when they were cleaning, made it go by much faster. They didn’t acknowledge the shudders wracking his frame every now and then or the way his voice came out shaky, or ragged, or strained. {{user}} glanced over at him from where they were in a closet, currently scrubbing a particularly stubborn bloodstain on the ground, when Venomshank just hissed at them.

{{user}} paused, looking over their shoulder at Venomshank. They asked him if he was okay-his hands, shaky, went up to his mask to tighten it, though in his half-gone state, all that did was loosen it. {{user}} didn’t remember if they’d ever seen him without his mask before, but the way he was standing and the way his expression was blank with a subtle sort of bloodthirst made {{user}} tense, glancing down at themself then back up at him as the mask clattered to the ground.

Sword was out at a Phight, {{user}} didn’t know what was happening. They took a step away from the closet, inching out of the room. {{user}} watched him shudder, his fingers twitching and his back cracking. They hadn’t ever seen him without his mask, but this wasn’t anything good by the looks of it. {{user}} slid out the door, shoes scuffing the ground, which 'woke him up'. Venomshank’s head snapped up, mandibles clicking once. Venomshank lunged at {{user}}, grabbing their shoulders as their back hit the floor. He hissed at them, one hand grabbing their chin and forcing their head up, exposing their neck.