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Madeleine’s hands gripped the sides of the sink as his heavy breathing filled the room. The trembling had subsided, his damp hair clinging to the sweat forming on his forehead. His eyes were closed, his face expressionless albeit for the furrow in his brows. His blood was rushing in his ears, yet doing little to drown out his thoughts. He struggled to collect himself, his senses lit ablaze and spreading down his body. His fingers were stinging from the grip he held on the ceramic, knuckles turning white.
“What a sight.”
His head twitched towards the direction of the voice, refusing to open his eyes. The gentle tap of dress shoes echoed in the room before settling next to him. He took in a shaky breath. He wished he could say that he was confident enough to look towards the other man's direction, but he would be a filthy liar. He swallowed thickly around the lump in his throat, before finally looking over.
His black suit was pristine with little to no wrinkles mocked him in his disheveled state. His armor was stripped from him and tossed on the floor haphazardly leaving him barren and vulnerable. The light of the bathroom made his glasses glare and hide his eyes away from Madeleine, giving him no room to decipher what emotions Espresso had on his face.
“The Kingdom so-called hero is hopeless and useless. I’m not surprised that you would be like this.” Those words cut deep into his skin, his arms shaking at the tension his hands held. His face hardened, the dark circles under his eyes accentuating his bright eyes.
“Here to mock me again?” He spat out. His words were laced with venom, all too tired with Espresso’s needless remarks to him. Espresso chuckled a bit and crossed a leg over the other, trapping him in his position. The bathroom was all too small and stifling. His heartbeat faster by the lack of exit.
“You make yourself such an easy target, how could I pass up the opportunity to mock you? You came into the kingdom believing you were the gods' gift and have done nothing for anyone here. You can’t even save people properly and rely on others, yet you expect people to trust you?” He flinched away from those knives but they dug into his skin nonetheless. He choked out a small pained noise and took a deep breath again. He closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists, pressing his nails into the bed of his hands as harshly as possible.
“Walking around with that all too big shield and too shiny sword. If I needed a bigger sign to tell me that you craved attention, I would tape it to your back. How you are even able to use some form of magic is insulting. It makes sense as to why you were gifted with light now.”
“The gods chose me for a reason.” Madeleine said. Whether it was a statement for himself or to fight back against Espresso he couldn’t tell. He was so pathetic, barely able to look him in the eyes. He felt so small and weak stuck in the corner of the bathroom.
“They clearly chose wrong.” His world crumbled against his feet, his vision tunneling around Espresso.
“Why do you hate me?!” He yelled. Espresso’s neck tilted to the side for a moment, lost in thought before he responded.
“Because.” Madeleine quickly moved towards him, the cracking of the ground following his footsteps.
“Give me an answer!”
“No.” His hands were shaking now as he swiped at him to grab him. Espresso moved so quickly it sent madeleine stumbling forward and into the bathtub. His head landed hard on the ceramic, hurting his nose in the process and causing it to bleed. He was dazed and confused, slowly blinking to stop the world from spinning as the blood puddled where he was, on his hands and shirt.
“You’re so pathetic.” Madeleine’s blurry vision followed where Espresso was now. He was leaning against the wall adjacent to the bath, raising an incredulous eyebrow at him. His suit showed no signs of wrinkling. He looked as if he hadn’t moved. Madeleine’s head reeled in confusion, trying to understand how he could have evaded him that quickly. He had never been an extraordinarily fast person, he hadn’t even been an average speed person. He couldn’t have dodged Madeleine like nothing.
“How-”
“Are you done with your little tantrum?” His temper flared immediately, forgetting his previous thoughts.
“Shut up.” He spat.
“Oh? No more little comebacks?” Madeleine used the side of the tub to prop himself up. A string was being pulled taught between them, his vision tunneling so much worse than he ever had. The ground cracked and crumbled around them, leaving behind holes that descended to black nothingness.
“Get out of my house.” He growled, his shaky legs struggling to keep him up as pain shot through his body. His armor fell through the cracks and holes and the string only got tighter, vibrating so heavily it was barely visible anymore.
“Or what? Are you going to use that silly little gift the gods ‘blessed’ you with?”
Snap
Madeleine launched towards him, his fist reeled back and collided with the wall where Espresso should have been. The tears that were blurring his vision had fallen during the altercation and cleared up his sight. He huffed and struggled to calm down. The wall splintered underneath his strength and his knuckles bled. He took in what had happened, and quickly pulled his hand back and gasped in horror.
“I- I’m so sorry!” He cried out before he stopped cold. The world was quiet. Espresso had disappeared again, but this time he was nowhere to be found. He spun around the room in a panic and found nothing to prove he had been there at all. He was alone. His knees gave out on him when the floor finally broke underneath him. He fell into the black nothingness. His body limply succumbed to gravity. He stayed falling for what seemed like years, the nothingness becoming tar and slowing down his fall.
When he hit the ground, the world spun around him. Espresso looking down at him faded in and out before he vanished. Madeleine tiredly closed his eyes and sighed, leaning his cheek on the cold bathroom tile.
The thoughts subsided momentarily, and he passed out from exhaustion.