#first draft 2022

[bh-writingdump]

Zeek's Freaks

Original

[old draft, messy] / AO3

Nurse Andrews flipped through his notes. Of course on his last day Dr Shapiro piled up so much the clamp could barely hold it. He came to a stop beside the first habitation cell. The lamia within took zir time slithering over. A lanky lamia towered over him, making him feel like a child in comparison.

A whistle drew his attention to the smug lamia. “you forgot something.”. Zir luminescent pinkish-orange tongue flicked in and out invitingly. In his lower periphery something wiggled. Nurse Andrew’s gaze dropped to zir hand in an OK gesture, “Gotcha.” Peaches snickered.

He rolled his eyes, like he definitely didn’t see that coming. “Oh darn.”

He muttered beneath his breath. A soft snort came over the light chatter from neighboring habitation cells.

Flipping through his patient files, one of them floated to the ground.

Subject 071? Vanilla? He’d been transferred years ago, how was he still in the system… hmm

Pronouns: he/him, they/them

That isn’t Vanilla, then who is it? Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me? How childish could you possibly be?

Previous Occupation: monster fuck boy

“you okay, zeek-a-reeno?”

His tongue felt like sand paper reading what came next. He might as well have a dozen gallbladder stones clattering around his body.

Items of Note: wears gawdy black and white clothing that gives him a slutty Halloween look down to his disgusting fake bleach blond hair.

“what is..”

‘Additional notes’ read in Dr Glover’s neat handwriting. Nurse Andrews crumpled up the trash, tossing it away, only for it to drift upward and out of view.

Paper crinkled.

“g l o v e r.”

Nurse Andrew hurriedly flipped through the rest of his notes. He desperately scanned each page.

Subject Patient: 069 Peaches     ze/zir

Previous occupation: [redacted]

Items of Note: collects shoes

Subject Patient: 404 Ocean   any/all pronouns

Previous Profession: [redacted]

Items of note: can’t stand being alone, never show him your back

Additional notes: needs more stimuli

Subject Patient: 999 Crimson   he/him

Previous Profession: engineer

Items of note: only lamia from original group still in treatment]

Nurse Andrews flipped through his notes at the speed of light.

No, no, no! He’d taken months collecting all those.

“ay, zeek? earth to zeek? listen, s’alright, we can—"

After the nurse took a photo of Crimson struggling to open up a pickle jar, many patients insisted that they’d only take the psychological eval and additional tests if they also had theirs taken. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Nurse Andrews found himself with a scrap book’s worth of photos.

All gone.

Every. Single. One.

The entire wing seemed to go silent.

“is it just me, or is dessert on the menu?” A husky voice rumbled beside Nurse Andrew’s ear.

Ze followed the low rumbling purr.

How long was he  standing there?

Enticing hooded sockets crease in pleasure at the attention. “cuz i just realized i got a sweet tooth.”

The nurse blinked owlishly. Like he’s suddenly being pulled out of quick sand.

“Took you long enough?..”

“and i wanna eat you up.” To drive zir point home, zir long thick tongue slid out. Dizzyingly bright and dexterous with a single row of bumps that dissected it down the middle. So dumbstruck, he nearly reached out and touched it. “heh, you got something on your tie.”

Zir phalange hooked around it through the ventilation holes, giving it a light tug. There, Peaches held it. The two staring into each others eyes.

Bit by bit, pieces came back into focus. He was looking at the files, right? The one he dropped is curiously absent. He dismissed it, instead vying to flip through Dr Glover’s report on Peaches. Absently, he tugged back his tie like one would an offered flower.

Noticeably, Dr Glover removed nearly every privilege Peaches had after yesterday’s incident. Zir habitation cell was bare except for what Peaches wore. A sunset hoodie that advertises some mountain resort the nurse visited as a tot. It only reached zir midriff. Usually, ze’d be sporting a loose-fitting beige skirt as well.

Nurse Andrews chewed on his cheek. Peaches curled zir body over zir pelvis using zir tail. Nurse Andrews would need to find another one on his lunch. Finding one large enough in a short span of time would be challenging but possible.

“Dr Glover gave me the impression that your spirits were exceedingly low. Peaches, is that the case today as well?” In an obtuse way, the way zir smile faltered almost seemingly apologetic aside from zir relaxed manner.

Peaches lightly taped on the glass.

No spinner.

Of course they took that too.

“don’t know what you expect, hun.” Peaches leans against the plexiglass, taking advantage of zir full height over Nurse Andrews. Not very challenging since most were taller than him. Nurse Andrews struggled to make eye contact, craning his neck far back.

“A minute of effort.”

Zir words take on a musical undertone. “said i was sorry, didn’t i? what more do ya want?” Zir gaze wandered a little lower to inspect the offered lolly.

One of Peaches’ long phalanges dipped through the ventilation hole, tugging on the lolly. Yet Nurse Andrews held tight. He whispered. “Don’t pinch panties if you want the Nelsons guard’s help. Call me next time.”

Peaches stared at Nurse Andrews like he’d grown another head. Zir smile grew crooked. “ya think they’ll give calls when ya leave, huh? heh. didn’t think didn’t ya say ya were a realist?” Zir laughter comes out stale.

Yesterday’s magic level assessment dug into the nurse’s mind like a rusty nail. “Arrangements have been made.” He uttered only half paying attention to the charts. Peaches pops the lolly in, noticeably a lack of tongue. Still, Peaches hummed like ze can taste it via thoughts and prayers alone. “has anyone toldja you’re a sweetheart, doc, cuz ya take the cake.”

His heart palpitates along with a rush of dopamine. “Not a doctor.”

“still a doc in my book.” Peaches hums. Zir gaze drifts in the direction of zir brother. “I know Ocean’s a handful—”

The nurse’s eyes burned as holes into his clipboard. “Don’t be dramatic.”

“When I’m gone, make sure he isn’t alone--”

“--Dr Shapiro would like you to answer this survey.” He interrupted him off with a glare as he leans back.

Peaches’ sighs, smiling in the dopiest manner a person could.

Nurse Andrew’s lip quivers for a moment before he gets it under control. “Once your released—“

“I Didn’t Know You Were A Comedian, Doctor Andrew.” Another lamia teased from the cell behind him. The complex battle formation and arithmetic covered the glass of his cell framing their face. “Was It Something I Said?”

“No, Wine. I leave the humor to you.” Nurse Andrew replied curtly.

A warm breeze blew over Nurse Andrew’s neck, setting all his hairs on end. Yanking up his coat, ruckus laugher errupted from behind him, passing from cell to cell like the common cold. “sorry, hun, ya looked a lil cold. couldn’t have ya turn inta a zeeksickle.”

“Unfortunately for you, Peaches--” Dr Andrew struggled to sharpen his tongue. “—The ambient air temperature is perfect. Now, Dr Glover requests that you refrain from any further harassment. Unlike me, they think you can actually be rehabilitated.” He punctuated the thought with a click of his pen.

“aww, zeekster, your gonna make me blush.” The moment Nurse Andrews turned; he could feel the lamia’s gaze take a generous pass at zir behind. (The lab coat wasn’t necessary for his work anyway.) Not that he’d allowed Peaches the satisfaction of knowing, he had other patients to see after all.

The next several patient’s exams passed uneventfully. Wine, while forthcoming, continued to derail the survey with small talk and little passive aggressive comments whenever Nurse Andrews had the audacity to cut off his chess rant.

Error blipped into the antivoid as long as his control collar allowed.

The “Pied Piper” as everyone called her, went so far as to approach the glass. Nurse Andrews could never see more than her teeth beneath her hood but progress is progress. Plus, her new spring tune had a rejuvenating quality that even Nurse Andrews couldn’t deny.

For once, Posca took notice of him. Though, it only after Nurse Andrews admitted to wearing the loose-fitting black dress pants for a high wasted look. 

Posca raced across the cell. His arms legs and face were somehow all covered in marker. The heterochromic skeleton’s eye flashed a heart and swirl, “Ezekiel,” He tsked. “You Should Wear It Below Your Waist More Often. Something Like An Unsaturated Orange Or Pink. I Know You Don’t Like Color But It’d Really Compliment Your Bleach Blond Hair.” Nurse Andrew resisted the urge to facepalm but Ink still picked up on his displeasure.

Was it really that obvious?

Was he losing his touch?

“All I’m Saying Is Don’t Be Shy With Showing Off What You Got. I’m Sure You Know You A Superb Ass. It’s A Shame You Don’t Have Any Good Fits.”

Nurse Andrew clicked his pen rapidly. “That will be all for today, Posca.”

Nurse Andrews eyed the yellow line. The paint below it read as follows:

“Please remain six feet from the glass at all times.”

It was a laughable rule, especially among habitation cells without ventilation holes. The intercom was turned on manually. In Crimson’s case, the team replaced the glass monthly due in part to all the scratches obscuring view of him. Not to mention his magic had a tendency of weakening even the most impact resistant glass over time. Nurse Andrews strutted up to the glass, careful to remain a few inches from touching it.

The fog, as per usual, as thick as pea soup. He’d be lucky to catch a glimpse of his illusive patient.

“Greetings, Crimson. You’ll be glad to hear that Nurse David will make a full recovery. The report neglects to mention whether or not you warned him about biting off his nose but I’m sure you did. Still, in the future, I’d advise utilizing verbal methods a touch longer.”

A low rumbling chuckle crackles over the intercom. He must’ve hotwired it again as he was nowhere near the panel. Instead, he dwelled somewhere in the thick fog that pervaded his cell. “what can I say, doll? man’s gotta eat.”

Nurse Andrew snorts. “Your Vegan.”

…

“lettuce say ‘ve bean branching out.”

His lip curls ever so slightly despite his best intentions. “Peas branch out elsewhere for all our sanity.”

…

“was that a… heh, it was, wasn’t it?”

Shit.

Nurse Andrew held up the clipboard, covertly covering his face. His white makeup could only conceal so much of his burning cheeks. When Nurse Andrew finally dropped the clipboard, something moved by the bean bag chair. The elaborate maze of things made it difficult to make out any clear shapes.

“admit it. yer dying ta break out in puns. like a moth ta flame.”

“If you wish to regain TV privileges, I suggest you…” Nurse Andrew mumbles, the fog parts just enough to reveal the silhouette of someone behind the bean bag chair.

He revealed himself willingly. This should be great.

“Thank you Crimson, as I was saying…”

Suddenly, it darts from the other side of the habitation cell.

“Charming.”

Why am I not surprised? Oh well, cat and mouse it is.

Nurse Andrew walked toward the far end of the cell where the fog was the thickest.

“As I was saying, TV privileges will be reinstated when and only when you reveal yourself.”

Some days he should really mind the yellow line.

A massive set of fangs lunges out of nowhere. Crimson’s hairy legs slam against the glass, his webs sending gusts of dust filling the air. His red eye lights glowing like demons in tiny cones of light. He lets out a horrified scream, stumbling back. His goggles fell off and clip board skittering across the floor. Breathing felt like running up ten flights at full speed.

An unhinged laughter silenced the entire cell block. “oi, level bait, don’t go falling for me just yet. ya might even get me hooked.” He cackled. His sharpened hook arm dragged along the glass while his spider legs arched up against the glass, making him look even taller.

Frantic flute noises cut through his laughter. Each time he tried to speak, a shrill tone filled the air. Pied leans against the adjacent cell wall. An oversized hoodie covers all but his silver fanged smile.

“can it, kazoo!” Crimson snaps.

Morse code beeping echoes across the hall. “NOW THAT’S JUST RUDE!” Ocean chided from the furthest cell back. “YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER. NO DOCTOR WILL WANT—"

“Ocean,” Nurse Andrews coughed. Hurriedly, he put on his glasses again, taking care to keep his eyes closed until doing so. “You’re up next.”

“awww, c’mon, doll. was only joking.” His grin sharpened, showing off a shiny golden tooth, “A little.”

In several quick strides, Nurse Andrews roughly yanked out the food tray, slamming it shut with a photograph. “Don’t bite this one. There won’t be another specialist.”

Nurse Andrews raised his voice. “That’s a shame. I’d hate for the warden to hear of this. He’s particularly keen on finding that bean bag chair.”

For a beat, Crimson misses his cue. His clawed prosthetic gingerly running over the far sleeker and lighter model in the picture. He nodded, slowly putting his mask back on.

Crimson slammed his fist against the glass, cracks immediately spiderweb across it. “yer bein’ awfully sensitive over a lil joke. cut a pal some slack. not like we met yesterday, bait”

“5 days, 6 months and 3 years. 26 more including my training. However, I thought you grew out of this… juvenile behavior.” Dr Andrew added with a hint of bitterness.

Crimson shoves the photo in his vest pocket. “Don’t let it happen again.”

Nurse Andrews marched over to Ocean’s cell, feeling a strange lack of sins crawling up his spine.

What was wrong with everyone today?

Perhaps there wasn’t enough monster food in their diet. Nurse Andrews scribbles into his notebook. ‘check diet.’

Morse code chirps fill his ears. He distantly notices the repetition of his name but keeps writing.

‘peaches skirt.’

Less pauses came between sentences.

‘set up appointment for prosthetic fitting + sea tea for abrasions’

“There.” He sighed. Everything was in order.

Looking up, the habitation cell before him looked straight out of an aquarium. A scaffolding ladder lead up to the water level. Below, all manner of underwater toys lay strewn about from diving torpedos to suspended rings to swim through. Pressed up against the glass, a starry eyed dolphin siren beamed. In one acoustic meatus a ear piece poked out.

That’s good. It must be working well if he hadn’t taken out this one.

His finger never left his clicker. Yet, he didn’t say a word. Ocean cocked his head and brow-bone tense with a story to tell. He hurried taps into his tiny data pad attached to the glass.

Words appeared in cyan font on an identical screen on the other side of the glass. “DOCTOR, YOU DON’T LOOK SO WELL… VERY PALE. YOU KNOW, I HEARD THAT HUMANS ARE MADE OF 75% WATER, YOU MUST’VE PERSPERATED TOO MUCH WITH CRIMSON. WHY DON’T YOU TAKE A BREAK AND WE CAN CONTINUE ONCE YOU’RE WELL?”

Buttering him up or not, Nurse Andrew could already smell the fear sweat. He’d been at it for nearly an hour, it hardly warranted a break but they couldn’t fire him on his last day.

Nurse Andrew considered the potential ramifications. Dr Shapiro could fire him. Granted, if  he was out by the end of the day, what was the point? Plus, Dr Shapiro wasn’t the sort to waste labor when it was available, even if she wanted it gone. “We’ll resume in 10.”

“I LOOK FORWARD TO IT!” Ocean’s tail slapped against the water, sending a bit of spray across the glass.

Nurse Andrews popped through several thick security doors.

“Ezekiel, done so soon?” A despondent soul crooned. “Did crazy ol 999 scare you again?” They sniffed. Their vulture instincts served them well.

“Actually, Crimson and I had a delightful conversation about his ambition to open a repair shop. I’ve seen a great deal of progress. If it weren’t for my absence, he’d have been out by the quarterly review. What about you, Doctor Glover?” He hummed. “I heard Peaches was quite.. insistent the other day.”

Dr Glover stiffened at his smile.

“Don’t worry, I told zem to… give you some space. Ze was quite accommodating. It’s amazing what happens when you don’t confiscate zir undergarments.”

Dr Glover body checked the nurse into the crumbling asbestos wall. Dry wall dusted his hair and shoulders. The nurse coughed. Blood covered his elbow. Their hands slipped around his collar like a glove, hefting his short and stout frame high off the linoleum. “it doesn’t even have genitals! Why would it—”

“They say a smile is worth a million words, don’t you agree-ack!.” The corner of his lips twitched.

“Where is it?” Their head swiveled around. The shit for brains doc finally locked on the hole in the wall. Their breath hitched.

“Don’t worry… I have… copies… for the whole family.”

As if nothing happened, they dropped him, brushing off his shoulders while they’d rather break him like a twig. “You know as well as I do they’re a luxury. We got other mouths to feed and 69 needs the motivation. You can’t just give it anything it wants willy nilly. It’ll get entitled. Self righteous.”

Whatever they saw on the nurse’s face seemed to disappoint them. “Don’t think I didn’t see the bean bags.”

“Bean bags?” Dr Andrews hummed contemplatively. “Ah yes, I remember now. Those awful lumpy chairs. I honestly cant understand why anybody would choose that shade of brown. It’s a blessing in disguise. Whoever it was did.. whatsername a favor.”

The sound of drywall crumbling draws his eye to the hole fist embeded in the wall. “Derek and you better not forget it, snowflake.” For such a sculpted person, build to tear someone limb from limb, it was difficult to see why a tank wanted to do the work of surgeon. However, given time, the nurse saw glimpses of that soft underbelly. For once in a very long time, Nurse Andrews saw he misjudged the fellow enby. Someone as independent and focused wouldn’t harbor such fire at the slight on behalf of a jilted friend or bedmate. Though, the idea that someone as strong willed as Dr Glover could be brought under Shapiro’s spell..

He shivered.

Dr Glover smirked. “I don’t care how far you go. Nobody will hire your unscrupulous ass from Seattle to New York. Unlike you, Derek’s friends back him up. You could learn a thing or two. Too bad you picked with the freaks.”

Their goggles slipped from their forehead, perfectly landing on their nose. “It’s only a matter of time before you’re behind bars.”

A whisper of a memory tickles Andrew’s ear. “i can’t sleep. i can’t eat. the only thing that makes me feel anything was fucking and now i can’t even do that.” Peaches curled up into a ball, covering the bruise ze got from slamming zir head into the wall. “i’m just a defective whore who never should’ve been born.”

Nurse Andrews’s hands formed into fists. Taking the goggles off and setting his clipboard aside, Ezekiel opened the cell door. He kneels in front of Peaches.

Peaches rubbed the tears from zir eyes. “A freak of nature, you know bitties aren’t even supposed to get this big. Much less lamia.” Ze hiccuped. “My magic’s all fucked. Freakish. Perverted.”

Ezekiel reaches out. Something told him he should hold hands but it was like a thick force field surrounded the trembling lamia. “If you keep this up, you won’t leave any more freak for the rest of us.” Peaches’ gasps pause, he pops up like a prarier dog.

“b-but y-your normal.” Peaches sniffles. “y-you’re good.”

Something sickly crawled along Ezekiel’s back. His own thoughts ready to drown him at a moment’s notice. Carefully, Ezekiel eased the hairnet securing his wig in place.

“whole and.. and..”

More of the sickly crawling sensation writhed over his shoulders, head and neck. The thoughts ready to spill over the dam he  so carefully constructed all those years ago.

“zeek i—” I held up a finger, silencing him.

Ezekiel carefully worked off the special effects make up covering the side of his face, covering the whole in his ear.

Finally, he past to the hardest part. Unbuttoning the first two buttons on his shirt, just enough that Peaches could see where his original flesh ended and other began. If he’d shown the other side, it would’ve gone all the way through.

“Babies born as witches get their…” He trailed off, the words not coming to him.

All of a sudden, Peaches’s arms encircled him, yanking him into the tightest hug of his life. He gasped. Not frightened, just the shire surprised mixed withs something else, relief?

“us freaks need to stick together.” He whispered into the side that didn’t have an ear.

“What the hell are you smiling about?!”

Nurse Andrews sighed. “There’s one thing you can always trust in our line of work and that is the gossip mill. It’s unfortunate you didn’t learn that during our friendship. Otherwise, you’d have a leg to stand on. As it is, you’ll finish Crimson’s exam for me today.”

She sneered. “You’re insane.”

“Maybe but you make time for Derek. He too will let you slip out for lunch, correct? You two really should keep it to the bedroom. Board rooms are notoriously insecure.”

Nurse Andrews waved a USB drive. “Don’t worry, this isn’t the only one either.”

The moment Dr Glover veins on her forehead popped, Nurse Andrews muttered. “Good grief.”

“It’s your lucky day, monster fucker!” Dr Glover grabbed him by the lab coat, throwing him into the laundry shoot. “I’m taking you out with the trash!” They gave him another solid shove before stalking off.

“Bloody Brilliant.” Nearly thirty minutes later, Nurse Andrews managed to escape the clutches of the tube. He checked himself in the bathroom. His back screamed. Pulling off his shirt, there was already a lovely little bruise forming. Plus, he chipped tooth. “Fucking perfect. The Blue menace will eat me alive.”

Sure enough, Ocean gasped the moment he was within eye shot, exclaiming. He darted to the glass, typing into his data pad. “DOCTOR! HOW IN THE STARS DID THIS HAPPEN? LET ME LOOK AT IT. I AM AN EXQUISITE HEALER."

“Greetings Ocean.” Nurse Andrews continued staring at his clipboard, gritting his teeth. The damn ear prosthetic kept itching. “Dr Viola informed us what happened when she helped you with the radio. Unfortunately, it was not good news.”

Faster than Nurse Andrews would’ve expected, a storm cloud extinguished his starry eyes into empty voids.

“VIOLA? OH! VI, YES, I SO SO SO AM TERRIBLY SORRY. MY RECIPES AREN’T MEANT FOR HUMANS. I DID WARN HER MY TACOS CAN BE UNPREDICTABLE.”

“Interesting, Ocean. How very interesting... I wasn’t aware cookies involved cyberizing my colleagues.”

“Wait… so you don’t mind I poisoned her?”

Nurse Andrews sent him a flat look. “If every person who poisoned Dr Viola were held accountable, we wouldn’t have any nurses.”

Ocean let out a breath he must’ve been holding in awhile, his shoulders fell as he leaned fully against the glass.

“I’d like to be frank with you, Ocean. Did you know—”

“Aww, why can’t you be Frank with me?” Peaches whined. “I always get boring old Zeek.”

Ocean snorted. “PERHAPS IF YOU TOOK MORE INITIATIVE. YOUR ROOM

WAS ALWAYS MESSY AT HOME. FRANK ONLY COMES OUT WHEN YOU’RE PRESENTABLE.”

Nurse Andrews shot him a look.

Peaches held up his hands in mock surrender. “Not that I mind.” He waggled his brow.

Ocean kneaded his hands together before typing again. If he didn’t have the mask on, Andrew imagines he’d be clicking his teeth.

“DOCTOR, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I CAN SAY FOR YOU TO BELIEVE ME. I WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING TO HURT VIOLA. WE DISCUSSED THE RISKS BEFOREHAND. SHE CONSENTED TO IT. THEN SHE GOT COLD FEET, WE WERE ALREADY SO FAR ALONG, TO STOP WOULD JEOPARDIZE HER HEALTH!”

“The doctors say she’ll never beath on her own again.” Nurse Andrew pinched his nose. He awaited already getting a head ache and he only got through a quarter of his patients. “Her goggles were missing when we found her, ocean. To take responsibility is the first step to change. We’ll put a pin in it today.” Nurse Andrews remained fixed on the clipboard. He continued writing, neither of them break the silence.

Ocean smile was a few degrees weaker. “You have to believe me.”

His eye lights shrank so small, the faint draft could extinguish them. “I can’t be without my brother again.” His phalanges easily fit through the vent holes, clawing at Nurse Andrews sleeves. He’s so much smaller than the other patients. A hair shorter than himself actually.

Ezekiel bites his lip. “I don’t have the key. I can’t—”

“But you could talk to her! Dr Shapiro knew about Viola’s situation. I wouldn’t operate otherwise. I—” Big tears poured like waterfalls down Ocean’s cheeks. “Please don’t look at me like that. I don’t care what you think of me but you have to believe me.”

Ezekiel leans closer to Ocean’s phallanges, allowing him to tug part of his sleeves through.

He kept fiddling with Ezekiel’s sleeves. Neither of them spoke. The ever hanging storm felt like it was on their door step. There wasn’t anything that he could do without an actual monster doctor or human trained in monster medicine.  After several false starts, Ocean lets go of Ezekiel’s sleeve. “I don’t know how long he’ll last—”

Something tugged at Ezekiel’s goggles. He reaches up to secure them but Ocean’s already got ahold of his other sleeve.

“Ocean, I can’t protect you if you do this. Listen to me.” The goggles rose of his cheeks, forcing him to keep his eyes on the display. Those cyan letters glaring back at him.

“I’m so sorry.” His words so soft.

Ezekiel’s gaze darts up to Ocean’s face. The mask gone.

Oceans sobs shift into sniffles and slowly devolve into giggles.

Ezekiel scrambles to tug his sleeves away. With a buttoned shirt, he couldn’t get it over if head unless Ocean let him go.“Dr Shapiro told me himself that she’d stop feeding you if you exhibited any “maladaptive” behaviors. She’s actively looking for a reason to kill you! I know we haven’t been eye to eye… please, give me back my goggles.”

Ocean wiped away a tear smiling with an elbow. “Zeek, I’ll be confiscating your goggles. Once you learn to behave, you may have them back. Do you understand?”

The words slip from his mouth before he could even think them. “Yes, I do.”

“For now we have work to do, my prince.”

He finally let go. Every bone in Ezekiel’s body screamed to run. Get the fuck away from him. He knew he shouldn’t have reached out.

No matter how hard Ezekiel tried, he resist speaking to Ocean. He needed to hear more. Hear more of that wonderful voice that reminded him of the most gorgeous bells and harp. “Is there any way I can help? I could open the doors? Would that satisfy you?”

Ocean hummed, “it’s a start.” In seconds, Ezekiel unlocked the door separating the tank from the upper platform. He raced back up. Anything to hear Ocean’s call.

“Should I—”

Just as Ezekiel reached the platform, Ocean lunged out. His sharp boney phalanges digging deep into Ezekiel’s sides, drawing a gasp. Everything went fuzzy from there on out.

There were sounds. Doors unlocking. Familiar voices murmured. An alarm blared.

Soon that too got drowned in the darkness.

[souvenir116]

Throwback to this moment in Brazil 2022, a thread

Where Max hadn’t let Checo pass him in the race; and Charles still had a chance to become 2nd in wdc standings while going to Abu Dhabi:

When asked in the interview, Max insisted on the same topic, and didn't deny the allegations nor accepted:

Back to Monaco 2022 qualifiying:

And Max had to abandon his flying lap because of Checo's crash:

Now, the same circuit, a year earlier in Monaco 2021, Charles had crashed after securing pole position

And there were allegations that Charles had done this on purpose to not let anyone else to take pole, and finish the session

But the same Max that 'didn't let his teammate pass him after four mouths from Monaco 2022 and still holding grudge'- back then, straightly refused any kind of possibility on that topic, and even defended Charles to the press:

At the end, Charles beat Checo in Abu Dhabi 2022, and secured the 2nd place in the wdc

then it goes like this

first two gifs and prize giving pics are from wonderful @il-predestinato 🤍

[tobeseenthrough]

“We’re quite codependent.”

[miya-rin]

“is this ok with you?” you already know what the answer is by the fact that semi has been rutting his hips up to meet yours for the past 5 minutes, but you need to make sure. he lets out a quiet hum but that isn’t enough for you, “eita, i need to hear you say yes.”

“yes.” he practically whines, right now he’s laid down with his shoulders leaning on the arm rest of your sofa and youre sat right over his hard cock which you have been slowly grinding on. you lean down once more to place a passionate kiss on his neck, beginning to move your hands towards the buttons on his shirt to undo them before he speaks up.

“w-wait, i have to tell you something.”

“mhm?”

“im a virgin...” your actions fully stop and you look at him with an unreadable look on your face, “im sorry i didn’t tell you, you don’t have to carry on..”

“what do you mean eita? why would i want to stop?”

“i dont really know what to do.. i wouldn’t know how to make you feel good. plus, the face you pulled kinda made me think you wanted to stop.” he sounds breathless, the way he is trying to explain himself so thoroughly just turns you on even more.

“oh no baby,” shit that name, and the fact you’ve started to grind on him again makes him throw his head back and let out a small whimper, “i was just confused that no one has wanted to touch you like i have.”

thats it, thats all it takes to send semi over the edge. the noises he lets out surprises you but not as much as when you feel the warmth that starts to radiate out of his pants right over his crotch. he turns bright red and the embarrassment is clear on his face.

“f-fuck i am so sorry, i didnt mean to i swear.” he averts his eyes from you before you place your hand on his cheek and force him to look at you, you feel his body begin to relax under you and you know that he feels comfortable. a shit eating grin appears on your face which confuses the poor boy. he just looks soo good like this, you cant let him get away this easily after pining for him for so long, this is going to be a long night.

[sanchomps]

[orykorioart]

June 2023

How could you forget Lup?

[Image Description: A 5-panel illustrated comic featuring Taako and Lup in a limited color palette of pink, light brown, light red, purple, blue and yellow. Taako is is depicted with light brown skin and dark hair, which he ties behind his back. He wears a purple cloak. Lup is depicted with light brown skin and dark hair, which she ties in front of her. She wears a red cloak.

Panel 1: Young Taako and Lup, on both sides of a pot. Lup is stirring as Taako looks in. Below the panel is captioned with purple text:

“What’s the feeling”

Panel 2: Close-up of young Taako and Lup. You can see half of their face, and they are excitedly talking to each other. Below the panel is captioned with purple text:

“When you have a broken home, home, home?”

Panel 3: Pans down to young Taako and Lup’s torso. They are standing close to each other, indicating that they are holding hands. Below the panel is captioned, text in purple:

“Where’s the love when you were left on your own”

Panel 4: Taako’s hand, wearing the Bureau of Balance bracer. His hand is relaxed, but alone. There is a brief out line of Lup’s hand, reaching out for his. Below the panel is captioned with purple text:

“So alone”

Panel 5: Taako is standing center-frame, and you can only see the bottom half of his face and his torso. There is a single tear rolling down his cheek, his mouth slightly agape. He is grasping the Umbrastaff tightly in one hand, holding it close to his chest. There is a faint outline of a hand on his shoulder. Below the panel is captioned with red text:

“Who said you’re on your own?” End ID]

[sadtoru]

gojo satoru was 17 when he realized he loved you.

lets start from the beginning. you and gojo had been best friends since you were 7, being assigned the two (potentially?) strongest sorcerers at birth and all, it would take a lot not to meet each other before going to the same school in the future. you met at one of those stupid clan meetings where everyone brags about how rich they are blah blah. as the strongest, you two were basically allowed to do anything you want, no one could stop you anyways. but, you were still at a stage when you wanted your parents to be proud of you, so you followed them around for the meetings. somehow, your two clans forced got you to meet eachother. it didn't go so well as planned. you both glared at eachother, not believing one would be stronger than the other. hell you two almost got in a fight. after that, you did become friends after a few more meetings together. youd invite eachother to one anothers houses, play together, ect. just trying to be kids, yknow? sure you two were quite competitive, but you grew to become extremely close friends in about a year. little did you both know you'd grow up to rely on eachother so greatly.

but, what made him realize he might like you, was his best friend geto suguru.

suguru and satoru were sitting in class after it had ended, talking about who knows what, when you'd grabbed satorus attention for a second. "I'll see you at the cafe at 6, right?" you asked, to what couldve been anyone else in the room (suguru, shoko, satoru), but satoru immediately knew you were talking to him, because of your plans to check out that new cafe that everyone had been going crazy about. you two had a lot in common, and one of those similarities was your obsession with sweets. so you'd go on little trips dates together to get your daily dosage of sugar. he looked over in your direction to give you a salute, paired with a "yes ma'am!" you laughed and shook your head before leaving the classroom with shoko, heading to your dorm room. satoru subconsciously watched as you walked away with a smile on his face and a look in his eye, that didn't go unnoticed by suguru.

"you like her?" suguru asked him. satoru seemed to be lost in thought, since he didn't respond in any way. just kept staring st your unoccupied seat. suguru smirked and kicked him while his guard was down and he and his desk fell over together. "ouchhh. what was that for?!" he asked rubbing his head that hit the ground with a scowl, clearly annoyed. "you didn't answer me, whats got you so distracted huh?" satoru thought for a second. "that cafe, duh!" satoru rolled his eyes and left his seat on the floor, not caring to pick it up. suguru suddenly started laughing. satoru narrowed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. "what are you laughing about?" satoru asked. "oh nothing. just about how clueless you are to your own feelings" suguru wiped away a fake tear and started walking out of the classroom, followed by a confused satoru. "haa?! whats that supposed to mean you dick head?" gojo sweared, still oblivious to the hints suguru laid out. "for someone so "strong" you really are dumb when it comes to common sense" suguru casually insulted him. an irk mark appeared on satorus face and he went to punch suguru, but he dodged it in time. "just tell me what you're laughing about, what, y'too scared?" satoru tried to tease him to get the truth out of suguru. to which suguru merely chuckled. "I think I'll keep it to myself for now" suguru grinned and ran ahead of satoru. normally satoru would chase him and force suguru to answer him but he simply rolled his eyes and went the other way this time. ooc, I know, but he was busy with his thoughts.

a few days later, you and satoru had already went on your cafe date trip. everything was somewhat normal until this day. satoru had forgotten about what happened with suguru a few days ago. but a bit late at night past curfew, he was so confused with himself, he decided to ask suguru for help.

"suguruu!!" satoru slammed sugurus door open. lucky him, he was still awake so the annoying actions of a certain gojo that has never knocked in his life didn't phase him too much. satoru closed the door behind him, somewhat quietly, and that's when suguru knew something was up. 'satoru never shuts doors, so that means he has something important to say. a favor probably' suguru perceived satorus actions. "what's up" suguru asked simply, hiding his curiosity in satorus out of character behavior.

"suguru. i kinda need a favor. I just need to ask you something.." satoru rubbed the back of his head nervously. to this suguru lifted one brow. "I can't promise I'll answer it" suguru replied, deeming suspicious activity. "it's not anything you wouldn't wanna answer okay? just.. it's really weird.. I don't know.. It's just that, whenever I'm around y/n my heart randomly starts beating really fast, I get a little sweaty and I feel all nervous, and then I end up saying stupid stuff and-" he sighed as he put a hand through his hair in frustration. "it's been happening for awhile time but it doesn't happen around anyone else.. d'you know-" Suguru started laughing at him before he could finish his sentence. it started with a small chuckle until he burst out in full on laughter as satoru furrowed his eyebrows and frowned at suguru. "what's so funny? I'm asking for real advice here!" he huffed and went to open the door again to leave, but suguru stopped him.

"satoru, I think you're in love with her"

[epiphainie]

you still love me anyway

bucktommy, developing relationship, 5 + 1, fluff and angst

rating: M

words: 5.6k (ongoing)

summary:

“In hindsight, Tommy should have realized earlier. During their first date. Before their first date.” aka five times buck was being too much and one time tommy told him so

chapter excerpt:

“Tommy?” “Just. Long.” He smiled again. “You know the ones.” Stirring his sauce – soup? – Evan hummed, eyes on the pot. “Yeah. I’m still recovering from last month. Remind me to never pick up two forty-eights in a row again. Whenever Chris is out of town, Eddie gets this crazy urge to work till he drops dead, and he drags me along with him. I mean, I say why don’t you spend time with Marisol, right? But he says they’re fine and he could use an extra shift blah blah blah.” Blah blah blah, it went on.

read on AO3

[yumedoca]

Despite everything..

..it's still you...

[nervousdemeanor7]

at some point Andrew wanted to upgrade his flip phone, which of course meant he upgraded Neil's too. They got blackberrys (the one with the ball for the trackpad).

They would play the one singular game on the phone trying to one up each other, while waiting at airports and on the plane. Definitely prompted by Neil to distract Andrew, and he knows this but he went along with it anyways.

this mf <3:

[bitegore]

okay i am actually writing the Experimentalist First Aid metapost right now.

Beginning statement and caveats - I have no reason to believe this is canon and basically don't, except that I like it better. However, it literally would be indistinguishable from canon for the most part for various reasons outlined below, so like, you can't prove it's not. Canon compliant canon divergent headcanon territory.

Also, this is about G1.

I think First Aid is many things.

First Aid is a big giant fucking baby and he has the experience of someone who has been alive for Ten Total Minutes. First Aid is not old enough to have properly-tuned self-preservation instincts or an understanding of what will and will not be able to kill him. Unlike everyone else, he handles this by being a giant soft baby (affectionate) and going "I don't want to go fuck around with things that can kill me" and hangs out inside, where he gets his fill of Necessary Exciting Stuff(tm) with Ratchet and the other Autobots. However, he's still got the ravenous desire for Experiences, and this turns into

He fucking loves learning. he loves learning so much. He doesn't want to get hurt but he wants to know everything. Sometimes he needs to go out and do stupid things for that, but he'd rather learn from someone else's experiences first.

He is a medic. He likes to help people, but he likes to help people by taking them apart and getting elbow-deep inside of them and rearranging things, which is usually the kind of thing that human people get squeamish about. Even granting that Transformers are not as squeamish or flinchy about gore as humans are, being the person who gets to watch their friends get grievously injured and then stick your hands in there and mess around with the wound is pretty heavy for some (most!) people! But I think it would be a strange reading to say that First Aid doesn't like to be a medic, so this clearly doesn't bother him the way it might bother someone else. He doesn't like when his friends are injured, but the actual process of surgery - cutting them open or digging into a wound to clean it out, that sort of thing - isn't a problem for him, which leads into

Even by TF standards, First Aid is remarkably unfazed by injuries, gore, and insides-currently-outside than someone else his age would probably be. And that means I can get away with the next few parts...

I read First Aid as a sadist. In the autonomous, just-kind-of-happens sort of way, not the "I'm going to menace you" sort of way people sometimes interpret that statement. People get hurt in front of First Aid and he finds himself fascinated by the injury and immediately concerned with fussing over them in particular, partially because it's his job to pay attention to the wound and partially because there's something about pain and injuries that fascinates him beyond the confines of his job.

First Aid also likes his job, and he likes doing a good job, which means he's not aout to just start banging anyone up to hurt them for the hell of it because his job is to fix them. I don't even imagine sadism is particularly uncommon among doctors, because frankly it only makes sense to me that the characters literally hardwired to cut people open might have something making it so they don't feel bad when they cut someone open. Which would mean it has to be easy for them to maintain an Autobot standard of professionalism, which doesn't really prohibit being buddies with your patients (see: Ratchet) or, like, certain human standards of care around privacy and freedom from experimentation, but does broadly prohibit being needlessly cruel to your patients in a way they themselves aren't on board with. So this doesn't interfere with his job at all, basically; it's just some extra thing he has on the side for the most part.

First Aid is a big giant fucking baby and he has the experience of someone who has been alive for Ten Total Minutes. First Aid is not old enough to have properly-tuned self-preservation instincts or an understanding of what will and will not be able to kill him. Unlike everyone else, he handles this by being a giant soft baby (affectionate) and going "I don't want to go fuck around with things that can kill me" and hangs out inside, where he gets his fill of Necessary Exciting Stuff(tm) with Ratchet and the other Autobots. However, he's still got the ravenous desire for Experiences, and this turns into

He fucking loves learning. he loves learning so much. He doesn't want to get hurt but he wants to know everything. Sometimes he needs to go out and do stupid things for that, but he'd rather learn from someone else's experiences first.

He is a medic. He likes to help people, but he likes to help people by taking them apart and getting elbow-deep inside of them and rearranging thigns, which is usually the kind of thing that human people get squeamish about. Even granting that Transformers are not as squeamish or flinchy about gore as humans are, being the person who gets to watch their friends get grievously injured and then stick your hands in there and mess around with the wound is pretty heavy for some (most!) people! But I think it would be a strange reading to say that First Aid doesn't like to be a medic, so this clearly doesn't bother him the way it might bother someone else. He doesn't like when his friends are injured, but the actual process of surgery - cutting them open or digging into a wound to clean it out, that sort of thing - isn't a problem for him, which leads into

Even by TF standards, First Aid is remarkably unfazed by injuries, gore, and insides-currently-outside than someone else his age would probably be. And that means I can get away with the next few parts...

I read First Aid as a sadist. In the autonomous, just-kind-of-happens sort of way, not the "I'm going to menace you" sort of way people sometimes interpret that statement. People get hurt in front of First Aid and he finds himself fascinated by the injury and immediately concerned with fussing over them in particular, partially because it's his job to pay attention to the wound and partially because there's something about pain and injuries that fascinates him beyond the confines of his job.

First Aid also likes his job, and he likes doing a good job, which means he's not aout to just start banging anyone up to hurt them for the hell of it because his job is to fix them. I don't even imagine sadism is particularly uncommon among doctors, because frankly it only makes sense to me that the characters literally hardwired to cut people open might have something making it so they don't feel bad when they cut someone open. Which would mean it has to be easy for them to maintain an Autobot standard of professionalism, which doesn't really prohibit being buddies with your patients (see: Ratchet) or, like, certain human standards of care around privacy and freedom from experimentation, but does broadly prohibit being needlessly cruel to your patients in a way they themselves aren't on board with. So this doesn't interfere with his job at all, basically; it's just some extra thing he has on the side for the most part.

I think that's all the requisite readings.

In sum, this gives us a guy who relaly likes being around people in pain, who also likes being the guy to help them out of it, and likes to learn. He's encouraged to do all of these things by the people around him, because he's not being concerning about any of it- he's just dedicated to what he does and he's good at it, and getting better every day.

And by the same tokens, you have a guy who really, really badly wants to get to take someone apart over and over, because he wants to see how they work on the insides and he likes the way they look when they're in pain, but he doesn't want to fuck over his friends, comrades, patients, or teammates, and everyone he's interacting with is at least three of those things.

Plus we get G1 First Aid's pacifism, which is a strongly-held ideological standpoint that First Aid maintains - he won't fight, he won't carry weapons, but he will work as a medic. We can interpret that this isn't a squeamishness issue for him by the asme tokens I established earlier - that he's much more okay with getting into the guts of his friends and coworkers than the average person would be - and also by the fact that he was built in a military context and everyone else is a military fighter of some sort. if he were reluctant to hurt people because of anything shy of serious personal convictions, I am convinced that the Autobots around him could have convinced him otherwise. His position is profoundly difficult to maintain in an active war zone, aftr all.

So even beyond standard Autobot ethics, First Aid does not want to hurt people. Yet I reconcile this with saying he is an innate sadist anyway, because they're not mutually exclusive. It really just means that, like, First Aid can want to take people apart all he likes; he's just not going to do it to anyone until someone asks him to.

As an aside, in my corner of fandom anyway, it seems like we talk a lot about characters who kind of throw interpersonal concerns and care for those around them to the wind in order to chase their own hedonistic desires (see: Vortex, Overlord, Motormaster, Megatron, etc) or otherwise, put bluntly, just kind of don't care that much about their partners' and playthings' consent even when they have it. And that can be a lot of fun, obviously; I like them. But as of late my friends who shoot the shit with me about consensual kink in Transformers have been busy or we haven't been talking about it for a while, and I've been missing the other side - the exact same desires and interests, just harnessed, controlled, and managed, not because First Aid has to but because he just, like... feels like it. It's what he wants to do. And, like. yeah the Autobots wouldn't be pleased if he turned out to be some sort of turborapist, lol, but he's the first person to decide he's not going to run around doing harm. I tie it into the pacifism. Part of this reading is because this is my reading; part of this reading is because I want to insert even more contrast between the characters I see First Aid Aid played alongside than I'm already seeing when I finally sit down and write about him myself.

So what this boils down to - all together - is that First Aid wants someone to ask him to take them apart.

And he likes to learn.

So the first person to catch his attention and walk him through opening their chest up is going to get to see him catch his brain on every shiny new edge he's not used to seeing outside of a medical context, and he's going to go over and catalogue every single part and take them out and put them back in and he's going to do it over and over until he can do it without looking and then he's going to do that to everything else, too. He's going to pick up every style of play fast and hard, but I read him landing hard on the "roleplay is kind of silly, I like bodies" side of domination. And I think he'd enjoy domination a lot.

He's a good student and a quick study. He likes to learn. He's enthusiastic and comfortable being taught, too. It would be very easy to turn him into a service top, too, to talk him into being an extension of your own hands and guide him through doing what you want.

But only to a point. Because he's still a pacifist, so you can't use him to hurt someone else, unless they're also asking for it. But, hell, he's part of a combiner team... I bet that would come easy to him, too, once he does have everyone's consent.

In a few thousand years, I think First Aid is going to maybe be one of the biggest kinksters in the entire Autobot faction, or he's going to have extremely narrow and extremely specific tastes. But he's going to get there through experimentation and he's going to get there through his fascination with anything new, which right now is everything.

Last bit is that - I think his instincts are not fine-tuned, self-preservation-wise. I think his social instincts are just as bad. you develop those over time, after all, and through experience, and he doesn't have that. And he's a pacifist because he doesn't want to hurt Decepticons. Very sweet, certainly, but the Decepticons are like... kind of dicks lmfao. The way of things is not very complicated because there are so few Transformers around and alive; eventually First Aid is going to run into a Decepticon. The question is if he ever ends up on good terms with someone from the other faction - or if he already has - or if he gets himself hurt early and learns to avoid them fast. But even with the latter, I don't think that's how he'll stay. I think he wants to experiment. I think he wants to learn and do more and learn more. So eventually he will run into a Decepticon who is also willing to play the way he's willing to play, and they will end up making, if not friends, then at least some sort of positive interaction and First Aid will...

...well, he's never going to stop being curious, huh. That would be boring. But his morals and standards for his behavior are either going to stay ironclad or they won't, and either way it'll be interesting to see what happens. Because there's no bottom to where First Aid might go, eventually.. as long as he's being asked for it.

[molagboop]

Raven Beak is introduced to Boper, the apartment complex's local celebrity.

[archduchessofnowhere]

Btw speaking of Die Kaiserin I was thinking of doing a rewatch as an act of self-loathing in anticipation of season 2 and I realized that I should do it around now because in November I'm going to be very busy. Anyway would you like another liveblogging or just a review (a promise I made long ago in 2022 in fact)? I also thought of a group watch in case anyone is interested in hate-watching but tbh I have no idea how to do that lol

[little-fan-stories]

Starting the sketches dump of the bad guys with Mr.Snake!

For some context, it all started when i remembered the type of piercing i would like to have is called "snake bite". Then i remembered it also exist "shark bites" and "spider bites"...

So here is a human version of Snake with a snake bite piercing and a split tongue.

The other guys are coming soon !

[Also i had the idea of giving him a braid thanks to @painfully-unoriginal who did the same to their human version of Snake, i though it really made sense]

[fructidors]

3 days to next tmg show & i need to make 2 patches may the spirit of jenny give me the strength to finish them despite having literally 0 free time ever

[lovinggreeniehours]

what they won't know.

↳ takahara × lucifer (season 1)

↳ 700+ words. very short

↳ lowkey a sequel for let them look for they cannot see :) not exactly super official dialogue because this is a first draft from the arifer summary that i intend to incorporate later into the larger story. but yeah i decided to throw myself a pity bone. i can't infodump so ill post my silly little excerpt instead. excuse me if it isn't my best work i just like this scene a lot <3 <– has had the outline written down for 2 years ever since i first played the game

↳ extra warning for these two being unreliable narrators. as usual 😭

The chaos of the night eventually died down. The gold was returned, with mishaps along the way, and many more afterwards. Arion did his nightly rounds of checking on his siblings in their respective bedrooms. As he was returning to his own room, he then happened to run into the one person he least expected to see. Oddly enough, they seemed to find each other in the dark quite often.

"Good evening." Arion muttered. Just to be polite. "I'm heading to my room."

"Wait a moment."

Begrudgingly, he allowed it, biting back a sarcastic comment. Scowling, he looked up at Lucifer.

"What is it? I'm tired."

"I'm sorry."

What?

Arion tried not to let his surprise reach his face.

"For?"

But he couldn't help it— the little spark of vindictive glee that ignited in him as Lucifer forced himself to break eye contact. In an instant, all notions of tiredness seemed to evaporate. What? Can't meet me head on? Is this embarrassing you? Am I embarrassing you?

And realistically, Arion knew exactly what Lucifer was apologizing for. He simply couldn't help himself. He needed to hear him say it.

"..I shouldn't have dragged your sisters into our argument. They had nothing to do with the issue, and I overstepped. I may have been.. too harsh in my judgement earlier."

"Oh?"

"Shut up."

Arion really shouldn't have, but he laughed. For maybe the first time that night, for the worst possible reason. Arion had been crying his eyes out just a few hours ago, and the Avatar of Pride was apologizing. Why wouldn't he laugh? Why wouldn't he enjoy it?

Then Lucifer's next words hit him.

"I would like to form a truce."

The laughter died, allowing room for silence to pool thickly between them. Lucifer was forced to try and explain his point.

"Let us be clear. I still do not trust you. I don't trust you with my brothers, and I don't trust you in my house. But these are the cards that I've been dealt, and I'd prefer there be less issues such as this in the future."

Lucifer raised his hand as if in offering, before quickly realizing how awkward that was, and then letting it fall back to his side. Lucifer cleared his throat.

"Well? What say you?"

"We can agree on one thing, at least. I don't like being in your house either."

"Have you considered applying to change dormitories?"

Arion shook his head, almost laughing again. "I don't like being in your house. But my siblings seem to be quite happy there. Where I want to sleep is besides the point."

Then he put his hand forward, mirroring Lucifer's motion earlier. The hand he put forward was the very same that he broke during the dance. And he kept it there between them, waiting for Lucifer to shake it.

"Truce then."

For a moment, he only surveyed Arion's face, trying to gauge his emotions. His real emotions. From the bored droop of his eyelids, the unamused curve of his mouth, the determined set of his shoulders, and his hair so red Lucifer could see it in the near-lightless corridor.

He really wasn't afraid of him, Lucifer thought. How irritating. And yet, a sense of intrigue filled him. Now that the threat had subsided, it seemed Arion had no particular feeling towards him. Would he have reacted the same if he'd been threatened by another demon? By Lord Diavolo himself maybe?

"I still do not like you." Lucifer shook the human's hand, thinking bitterly. And he couldn't help but think of the irony in the gesture. Clasped hands were a common gesture between demons and humans. In pact-making— one of the few things they seemed to share (distasteful) sentiment in. "Whatever grievances we have with each other will be settled in confidence. I will not get involved in your family business so long as you stop sticking your nose into mine."

"Got it."

"So no one needs to know about this."

"Nope. No one."

"Good."

"No promises on not annoying you for life though."

"Do whatever you want. You'll be dead in a few years anyway."

Lord Diavolo finds them there not a moment later. Thankfully, there is a commotion in one of the rooms before he can question them too closely.

(The commotion turned out to be a pillow fight. And so Arion becomes the very first person to hit Lucifer in the face with a pillow.

Lucifer realized his mistake very quickly. He should have been keeping his eyes on Arion the whole time.)