#again completely unedited so mind the errors. grammatical and continuity and otherwise

[smidgen-of-hotboy]

Out in the Cold Field, pt. ii

Hello Travelers. Terrible Waste hurt us all... Surly this won't hurt you more?

@ananxiousgenz @urjover @one-joe-spoopy @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @demonic-panini @waters-and-the-wilde @the-private-eye

The woman’s expression went from smug to slack in mere moments. She said her name was Aurora. Aurora’s expression went from smug to slack in mere moments. 

She recovered swiftly and chose her words carefully, “I have no clue what you’re talking about Darling.” 

“If you have intention to lie to me, then my Associate and I will be less inclined to help you.” 

“Like I said, I didn’t ask to be saved. And in any case, you’re running away from yourselves, you and your Associate, correct? I can’t begin to conceive why you would stop to pick a stranger off the side of the tracks. I have nothing to give or offer you.”

“My Associate and I do not want anything from you–”

Aurora’s laughter is sharp. Like nails gliding against a chalkboard, she cackles with an amount of carefree nature that Jet hasn’t heard since spring disappeared. 

“Oh Jet Darling– you really are a comedian! There is no such thing as free in this world. Everything has a price. I didn’t have the best relationship with my father, but he made it a point that I understand that nothing I wanted would ever be handed to me.”

Aurora loved to talk. Or maybe she just liked the sound of her own voice. She would be in for a rude awakening tomorrow when her voice would be gone. Already raw as it is, if she kept this pace up it would be gone within two hours. Four at most. It makes the corner of Jet’s mouth twitch with delight. 

Aurora pauses her yammering. “Something I said tickle your fancy?”

“I was just thinking you had a lovely voice.” Jet leans away from her and turns back for his stool. He pauses. “You never answered my question.”

“What question? I don’t recall you ever asking me anything.”

Ah, the talking was a distraction. Whoever Aurora really is she’s quite the character. 

“I asked: what happened to make you want to die?” He’s met with silence. Jet nods and crosses the room. He resumes his seat next to the fire and pot of stew. They had but three shriveled carrots and a quarter head of cabbage left to split three ways. It needed a protein, but regardless it’s come together rather nicely…

Another twenty minutes creeps by. Jet looks up to check on Aurora and finds her eyes closed. Whether she’s actually asleep or pretending to be is not his concern. Watching her chest rise and fall is. 

She looks so small lying on the cot. With such a big mouth she must be quite the showrunner at parties. She just about talked circles around Jet, and he has the sneaking suspicion she would if he let her. 

Her bright and bold red hair is what allowed Jet to spot her in the blizzard. He had been walking back to the small Hanataba Cabin carrying a frail rabbit for the stew when he saw what he first thought was a dahlia. Dahlia’s growing along the tracks were not uncommon, but they tended to sprout sporadically and wither quickly. Upon further investigation seeing that it was in fact, a person not a flower, he dropped the rabbit and scooped the woman into his arms. He hadn’t tried to sprint through the snow in years. Once he got her settled in the cot and addressed her frostbite as best they could, he sent his Associate away to forge for roots. They always had better luck at it than he did. 

And now here they are. Aurora shivers. She clenches her teeth revealing a smile missing a few teeth and the rest filed to dull points. Perhaps they were razor-sharp some years ago. 

The door to the cabin creeks open and a gust of billows in. It nearly sweeps his Associate off balance but they hold their ground. Aurora jerks and tilts her head as much as she can to peer at them as they throw their body against the door to jam it closed. 

“Goddess! It’s colder than Pluto out there!” They remove their bag and toss it towards Jet. He catches it mid-air and rummages through it to pull out whatever goods they managed to find. Mostly roots. A single rogue mushroom… and acorns. Lots and lots of acorns. 

“I told you to stop scavenging for acorns.” Jet looks up at their Associate.

They hum, unwrapping their layered scarves. White hair spills down around their shoulders in long dreads. “Did you?”

“Yes. Last year when we met up at this cabin, I told you the cabbage tasted bad with the acorns.”

“And I seem to recall telling you the acorns tasted bad with the cabbage. I like acorn stew.” They approach Aurora’s cot and quickly pull off their goggles to wink at her. “My my, look who’s alive! How do you feel?”

“Never been better,” she rasps. “I feel like I can run a marathon. Sign me up for the next triathlon.” 

They laugh heartily while Jet sets about adding their forged goods to the stew. 

“A pretty face and a sense of humor. You’ve earned two points in my book. Do you have a name by chance?”

“Nobody that matters anymore.” At this, Jet does allow himself to smile. With his back turned at least neither of them can see his expression. 

“Ah, that got you to smile now, didn’t it Big Guy?” Well, at least Aurora couldn’t have known. He’s worked with his Associate for too long now. They know each other like two sides of the same coin. A loud thunk and Jet is reminded that they stashed their instrument under Aurora’s cot in a haste to address her injuries. “Well then Ms-Nobody-That-Matters, can’t you tell me who you were when you did?”

“Depends on who you are I suppose. Your Associate over there said you stole something very important from Hades. And based off those bandages on your hands, he was telling the truth.” Aurora hums setting off a chain reaction of humming around the room. Jet turns to face the both of them. Their Associate has made themself plenty comfortable on the ground in front of Aurora.

“What else did he tell you? Because my Associate was telling the truth. I did steal something important. I stole fire from the King.” 

“Why in Goddess name would you do that? You must either be incredibly smart to do such a dumb thing, have a death wish, or love to play stupid games.” 

They smile and Jet’s stomach drops. He never liked that smile. “Silver-tongued... I like you. Pleased to make your acquaintance Ms-Nobody, call me M’tendere. And you’d be right– about everything. Work for the Crown for as long as I have and you’ll do just about anything to push some buttons.”

“What, no title like your Associate the Unnatural Disaster?” 

They shake their head and reach out to brush a hand through Aurora’s hair. “‘Fraid not. Why’d you tell her that anyway, Jet? You haven’t gone by that in years.”

“Not within the last century yes. I needed to build trust with Aurora. Showing her my hand was the easiest thing to do.”

“Oh darling– it’s Buddy actually.” Aurora– or rather, Buddy– blinks sympathetically towards Jet. “I’m sorry for deceiving you.” 

“Don’t apologize to the Big Guy. Ever.” M’tendere strums the strings on their instrument. “Big Guy doesn’t think he’s worth apologies.” If it came from anyone else Jet might have been slightly hurt. Coming from M’tendere though it's just the truth. They pluck a few notes absent-mindedly humming the same tune they always do.

“M’tendere doesn’t apologize to me. Whether you do or not is your decision to make, Buddy.” Buddy… Buddy with the red hair… Jet’s eyes widen as a confounding puzzle from four months ago slots together. “Buddy… Buddy Aurinko? You're Palomine's daughter." It’s not a question. It’s a fact. A fact just like how Jet doesn’t accept apologies from M’tendere. 

Buddy opens her mouth to speak and without looking up M’tendere cuts in, "He's dead."

She scoffs, "No that can't be. I just saw him last year. I got a letter from him four months ago–"

"And now four months later,” Jet reigns the conversation away from M’tendere before they can run it. Having one person around to do all the talking was headache enough. He enjoyed Buddy’s chatter though, M’tendere’s less so. “We’re telling you he's dead. Trust me. He would not stop begging for his life. He even bargained for it with yours."

The warm atmosphere falls cold. The small fire that Jet has continued to tend to crackles and pops. M'tendere gets up and leaves their guitar on the ground. They get up to rummage through a cupboard, busying themself with a set of metal tools and glass bottles on a shelf. Buddy rubs the thin sheet covering her between two fingers.

"How do you know all this?"

"It's our job," M'tendere turns to face her. "The Big Guy and I lead lost souls down to Hades. We've been at this for a while now."

An abrupt laugh erupts from the cot. It breaches Buddy's mouth and sounds more like a wheeze then a laugh. More like a strangled sob then a breath. Jet glances at M'tendere. They share a long look and exchange a loose shrug. By the time Buddy gathers herself she closes her eyes and presses her lips together in a thin line. Her shoulders begin to shake.

"You should've let me take his place. You should've led me to Hadestown..."

[alusionshipper-blog]

Don't Leave [ Oneshot ]

WARNINGS: Major angst.

WRITER / CREATOR: Adhara from Wattpad ( @flxttering ), https://my.w.tt/qyPLttl4zO

WORD COUNT: 1177

EXTRA: This is an unedited piece, there may be spelling and grammatical errors

Despite Alucard's best efforts, the creaking and dip of the bed woke Gusion up as he tried to silently get off of it.

❝Do you have to take a piss or some shit?❞ Gusion mumbled out, sleepily watching Alucard through half-lidded eyes.  His mumble earned a quiet chuckle from Alucard.

❝No.  Mission.❞

A sigh escaped Gusion and he sat up, lifting up a hand to stop Alucard from protesting against him getting up.  A bit more alert now, he stated, ❝I'm coming with.❞

A solemn look appeared in Alucard's face and he shook his head.  ❝No.  There is no way in hell--❞

❝We both know I'm the stubborner one out of us, Al.❞ Gusion remarked, raising a brow.  It was true--once he was determined, there was about no damn chance that he could be persuaded to do otherwise. 

Alucard's lips slightly turned downwards,  ghost of a frown on his face as he crossed his arms, knowing it was true.  Sucking in a breath, he continued to protest, ❝My missions are dangers, and have a high chance of--❞

❝Death.  I know, asshole, why do you think I'm going with you?❞  Once again, Gusion had butt into Alucard's sentence.  An annoyed look quickly crossed  over Alucard's face.

This time, it was Alucard's turn to sigh, shoulders slightly sinking.  A posture of defeat.  ❝Fine, just.. Don't do anything stupid, alright?❞  He asked, uncrossing his arms as Gusion smirked.

❝Same goes to you.❞ Gusion responded, walking over and giving Alucard a small peck on the cheek.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The demons they were brought to could be categorized onto two categories--the usual level of horrifying, and then horrifying.  As in gut-wrenching-I-want-to-puke horrifying.   The creatures were tall and lanky, what could be considered as their 'ribs' could sickly be seen defined through their rotting flesh.  Their flesh, though, it had multiple sunken spots on it, looking like holes ranging from small to large littering their bodies.  The top half of their heads were nonexistent, having no eyes to see with.  They seemed to navigate and attack based on sounds created by their adversaries by extending their arm length, its flesh branching off similarly to a tree branch.  Ironically enough, their skin was about as tough as tree bark.  They were quite difficult to kill, but not impossible.  Their attacks were dodgeable enough, thankfully.

The horrifying demons were their first and main target before the other ones, and they were quickly eradicated by the duo. 

❝Do you have anything in mind for breakfast?❞ Gusion asked over the ruckus of the fight, throwing a dagger at one of the demons and rushing over to it, killing the thing before it could fight back.  They were surprisingly weak.

A disbelieving huff came from Alucard.  ❝It is three in the damn morning and you're asking what we should eat for breakfast?❞

❝Congrats, you were listening to what I said.  But no reward, you didn't answer what you wanted.❞

❝Are you serious--❞ Alucard was cut off as a dagger flew through the air in front of him and slammed itself through a demon near his side, instantly killing it.

❝Completely, love.❞Gusion hummed, a smirk appearing on his face at the glare he received from the demon hunter, a crack of a twig breaking underneath his foot as he stepped upon it.

Alucard had turned his attention back to the remaining few demons in front of him, about to throw a remark back at Gusion as he slashed his sword in an arc, killing the demons in front of him and the few behind them as the effect of the blow continued on wards when he saw a sight that horrified him.  One of those tree-like bastards hidden in the nearby edge of the forest, his arm pointed directly at an unsuspecting Gusion in the clearing beside it.  ❝Gusion!❞  Alucard yelled out, time seeming to slow as he dragged his head to look at the demon to the diagonal of Gusion and point his finger at it.  A brief, momentary confusion appearing on Gusion's face as he looked at Alucard before his gaze flicked to the demon, surely a curse uttered under his breath as his eyes widened in panic.  He turned to face the demon, arm brought up to throw his dagger at it.  Every moment seemed to pause and embed itself into Alucard's memory, the only thing he could think being 'Not him' as the demon's arm seemed to slowly branch out towards Gusion's, the other's dagger silently flying above the arm as it slowly went to its target.  Too late, all too late.  A sudden contortion of pain appeared on Gusion's face as the arm made its way through his chest, its branches piercing his shoulder and lower stomach, staying there for a few seconds before disintegrating at the dagger hit its mark, killing the creature. 

❝A-Ah...❞  The word was softly choked out, Gusion's eyes impossibly wide as his body started to fall downwards, Alucard running forward as fast as he could, dropping his sword in the process as he caught Gusion's falling body before it hit the ground completely.  Gusion's eyes were already slightly glassed over, a look of shock on his face.  ❝I-I guess I w-wasn't.. fast enough...❞  He mumbled, his breaths becoming shallower.

Alucard slowly sunk to his knees, bringing the two to the ground.  ❝Gusion--please, no--d-don't do this, don't--❞Hechoked out, the word die falling getting caught in his throat, unable to say the word.  Frantically, he used one of his hands to try and put pressure on the largest wound, the main hole in Gusion's chest caused by the main part of the demon's arm slicing through him.  A groan of pain left Gusion at the action.

❝S-Stop--❞

❝No, I can't let you--❞

❝Alucard.❞  Gusion rasped out, eyes boring into the other's.  ❝It's too late.  I-I wasn't fast enough.❞ He mumbled out, raising up a hand to cup Alucard's cheek weakly.

Reluctantly, Alucard let his hand slip off the wound, and instead grabbed Gusion's hand with his own bloodied one, taking the hand off of his cheek.  Tears ran down his cheeks, dammed up streams, rushing downwards.  ❝Please--❞  He sobbed, cutting himself off.

❝Alucard--❞

❝No.  You can't di--❞

❝--you brought me so much happiness--❞

❝Please--❞

❝--I'm so, so happy that I--❞

❝Gusion--❞

❝--got to spend a part of my life with you--❞

❝Don't die, don't die, don't leave me--❞

❝--I love you.❞

❝Gusion--❞Alucard called out, shoulders heaving at his unusual breaths as he didn't see Gusion's rise, didn't feel his lover take another breath.  ❝Gusion!❞  He screamed out, eyes tightly screwing shut as he gripped's Gusion's still warm body, head lowering onto the no longer rising or falling chest as sobs racked through his body.  ❝Don't leave me, please, don't leave me--❞  He blubbered out, repeating his earlier words to ears that wouldn't hear anymore.  ❝I love you--please--❞  He begged, grip tightening on the body in his arms.  ❝P-Please.. don't leave me... ❞