#ft. archibald devereaux

[taintedbloom]

Venom // Archie & Kira

Archie adjusted the strap of his weapons bag over his shoulder as he entered the house, sighing with immense exhaustion from the evening's busy activities and in desperate need of a hot shower after an hours long surveillance run. The same old routine when Kaia picked up a late night shift at work which left their four year old son Theodore in the hands of his aunt. He personally never held a qualm with Kira who treated his son as if he were her own child, but she was rather foolish to think she was slick in concealing a distaste for the man her sister married. Unfortunate, really, Archie put forth so much effort maintaining a polite front only for all attempts to be a shameful waste.

He caught sight of Kira seated on the living room couch with the television switched on, unmistakable brunette locks wrapped in a messy bun that reminded Archie of the similar hairstyle Kaia sported when exercising or the particularly stressful days with Teddy. Her head slightly turned hearing his footsteps, but she didn't bother sparing him a single glance or even a proper greeting. He understood her frustration, one hundred percent her reasons were valid, yet his relationship with Kaia wasn't new. The marriage may have settled in its infancy and despite that, Kira didn't behave this frigid towards him during the dating period. He couldn't exactly prove and point an accusatory finger, but his gut told him the newfound passive aggressiveness began with Teddy's birth. "Kira." The man acknowledged her presence.

"Archibald." Kira finally reverted her gaze from the screen long enough to watch her brother-in-law make a full beeline for the stairs, barely placing his foot on the first step when it appeared the less than enthusiastic response spilled from her lips gave him a moment of hesitation. Her gaze flickered to the bag he carried, knowing precisely what was contained within it and far from appreciating the fact he stored it in the house where a toddler could stumble upon it. Paranoid the assassin could be so careless? Maybe. Overprotective when the situation concerned family? Absolutely.

The contemplation Archie grappled with soon passed and he slowly turned around, placing down the bag beside his feet. "If I may be blunt, which I always am, you've displayed a rather foul attitude towards me as of late and I cannot for the life I hold figure out the reason why." He pushed off from the banister and folded his arms across his chest, taking a few steps forward, "Pray tell, love, have I done something to offend you? I do possess a knack for pissing off the wrong people, but with you, it's as if I've done nothing right."

Kira expected him to vanish upstairs without a trace, hole himself in his office or whatever he did after returning home from what he deemed a career, but no, he decided the best route was addressing the painfully obvious elephant in the room. "Weird, I thought you'd be familiar with an older sibling's cold shoulder." She hated bringing Grayson into this, but it was no less true. "We really don't have to discuss this, Archie, you're just seeing something that isn't there."

"Do not gaslight me, Kira." Archie ignored the mention of his brother, shockingly holding the clever quip the woman would know Grayson better than him these days, that was a can of worms he'd rather keep concealed for another time. "I am not the one who barely shares a glance when we're in the same room together or rebukes any opportunity I present at conversation. I mean," He breathed a sardonic scoff, "You act as if you would rather pass a hernia than share the same air as me."

"You really want honesty? Since, you know, I've displayed what you've coined a rather foul attitude." Kira leaned her elbow along the couch's armrest as the male hummed his confirmation for the truth. "I consider myself a pretty patient person. Kind, generous, all traits easily taken advantage of and I'm aware of the fact. I tend to look for the good in others even when they don't really deserve the second chance. Take you, for example," She gestured towards him, "I was hesitant about you, but I trusted my sister more and I've always...respected her decision. Even turned the other cheek when I found out what you do as a job for her." Kira sighed. "I'm happy for Kaia, I am, but I'm fully realizing that you still don't understand the damage you've caused in your wake since meeting us."

Archie awaited her response and like every Morris, Kira did not disappoint. Her assessment of herself was rather accurate especially when kindness and a bleeding heart were indeed weaknesses he has exploited more than he would ever admit to in his lifetime. Kira played the well-mannered older sister supportive of her sibling's choice of a life partner rather well, but the scales tipped unfavorably once the dark truth unraveled.

Meeting Kaia was no mistake, her brother-in-law's death wasn't a burglary gone wrong as the authorities suspected, soon after did he notice Kira's behavior warp. If she tolerated him before, she was barely managing it now. "You underestimate how much I can comprehend what I did. I understand how wrong it was, I'm just incapable of shame over it. I've even told Kaia the same thing." He spoke candidly as his head canted to the side, slight amusement sparking, "This isn't really about your husband, is it? No." Archibald's tone lowered an octave before he stepped in front of the television screen, eliminating one of Kira's excuses to avoid his gaze or the topic. "It's about Teddy."

Kira made her peace about her husband years prior, accepting that his death was a result of the choice he made and her daughter lost her father because of these decisions. Their marriage was crumbling, she was unhappy, but nothing excused Archie's brutal attack and overwhelming obsessions. When he blocked the screen, it provided the woman a perfect view of a specific glint in his eye that toed the line between mischievous and dangerous. Even for a moment, Kira's sound rationale faltered even though she knew he wouldn't dare harm her. "Partly." She pushed herself to a standing position and placed her hands on her hips, "You're so quick to articulate how he is going to be just like you someday. Know what that's code for, Archie? You want your son to desperately follow in your footsteps, continue your legacy, no matter how coated in blood it is."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, love, but it sounds as if you're telling me how to raise my son." Archie lifted his eyes upward towards the ceiling, almost boring a hole through where Teddy was sleeping soundly in his room. His gaze finally settled on the dark-haired woman. "Do I tell you how to raise Cora? Or does this concern stem from an abundance of jealousy over the fact your daughter would rather spend her time with her uncle than her own mother? Trust me, Kira, she has quite the curiosity." He was no longer presenting a cordial approach, with genuine Devereaux flair, the arrogance seeped from the man's pores. Oh, but Archibald would hear an earful about this when Kaia arrived home. "Scares you, doesn't it? How more and more like me she's becoming?"

"And there's the manipulation you pretend to hide so well." The Morris women were feisty, strong-willed, stubborn, and she wasn't an exception. She mostly played the mediating voice of reason holding her sister back from doing something reckless, but hell hath no fury like a scorned Kira when someone attempted to crawl under her skin utilizing her daughter as a weapon. "I know you have difficulty connecting very common humanity dots, so allow me to spell it out for you as civilly as I can in the likely off-chance you have this whole thing twisted." Kira placed her palms together and touched her fingers to her lips with a brief pause. "If you take away Teddy's choice on how he dictates his life, he will hate you forever. He may have your hair and your looks, but that temper I'm already seeing is all Morris. As for my daughter," She closed the distance, head held high with confidence her mother would've almost been proud of. "I'm not the violent sister, but I would rather smother you in your sleep than watch Cora become a killer who possesses the emotional range of a damn teaspoon."

If there is one lesson in his years spent wrapped around Kaia's finger and engrossed by a family he has chosen to insert himself into, you never interrupt when Kaia or her sister steamrolled through a ranting tirade lest you guarantee suffering the temperamental consequences. Archibald distinctly hit a nerve with Kira, striking where he knew her weaknesses lie, because it was a talent he was extraordinary at. It wasn't intentional when he walked through the door and purposefully picked a fight with his sister-in-law, but like his wife, she found the proper channel summoning a rise out of him. "Your words hold truth, Kira, however it's best if you practice what you preach. Plainly isn't my prerogative to vanquish my son's choice nor is it yours to take Cora's away. And yet..." Archie sarcastically waved a hand between them. If his niece garnered interest and asked for lessons in the future, he couldn't deny her wishes. "At least I'm not hypocritical."

Kira's gaze searched his expression for a flicker of the silent pause, sensing the fight and exhaustion overtaking her. He can't be reasoned with and nothing changed his mind or perspective, no matter how hard she pushed. "Archie sees only what he wants to see. I guess we're right back where we started." She nodded once and took a step back in resignation. This really wasn't worth the calories she spent arguing with him. "You know what? Can't say I didn't make the effort." Kira began fiddling with the blanket she was using and adjusting the couch's cushions before locating her purse. "I should head home, Arch, it's getting late. I'd hate to impose more than I already have."

"Kira, you really don't-" Archie interrupted his own statement before throwing up an arm of defeat, turning around himself and approaching the stairs for the second time that evening. They forever stood at an impasse neither could agreeably cross. Differing views about their children, about the course of their lives, about who was in the moral right and wrong. "As you've said, I'm accustomed to a sibling throwing me the cold shoulder."

"Archie," The man turned to glance over his shoulder, peering at the elder Morris with tiredness overcoming his normally stoic features as she continued, "I hope you found what you were looking for." The reason behind her behavior, perfectly plain in black and white for Archie's consumption. True, yes, her problem originated from losing her husband and watching her sister marry the person responsible before having his child. It could involve what Archie deeply desired Teddy to grow up as or finding the bonding with his niece fulfilled the dream regardless, but the real stone cold fact? All roads led to him. His darkness, his selfish intentions, despite caring about his family. Becoming a husband and father changed nothing.

Kira left him with the tough pill to swallow as she exited the living room, her own justifiable intentions clear. Force the mirror in front of Archie's face until he saw the gospel truth. There was poison in his blood and it's spreading, slowly spreading, infecting nearly everyone living near his merciless orbit. And nothing made him or Kira feel more powerless.

[taintedbloom]

dangerous // past para

It must be fate, I found a place for us...

I bet you didn’t know that I was dangerous...

The kickback of the gun spread a vibration along the length of his arm and ripped through the assassin’s core in a way he has never experienced from any one kill. It was a miscalculation on Archibald’s part. An accident. The rest of his target’s family wasn’t supposed to be home when he had been set to strike the house, but these things happened from time to time. Even the most well-thought out plans fell apart at the seams when an unexpected force knocked gravity off balance. Despite any haughty arrogance in the way Archie carried himself, the years practicing and perfecting the unmatched skill of his craft did not exclude the possibility for mistakes.

His first initial target died quickly and painlessly, the same could not be unfortunately proclaimed when it involved his wife. The bullet struck Kira right between her ribs, missing an instant kill, but still damaging significant organs and promising imminent death sooner rather than later. Archie watched as her knees buckled from underneath and sent her body collapsing to the ground with a most unsettling thud. A shame, really. He attempted to erase the distraction from his mind as he moved where the husband lay, pausing briefly to bend forward and check his pulse. No sign of life, nothing that would provide a miracle he may pull through the injuries and place the assassin’s employer in jeopardy. A weak sputtering caused his head to turn in the direction of the man’s wife, his brows lifting in sheer surprise by her stubbornness not to perish with swiftness. “Well, we have a problem, don’t we?”

Archibald rose from his spot with a gentle sigh and crossed the room to reach Kira, who coughed and wretched on the blood he knew was likely making its path up her throat. Despite her efforts clutching the wound created from the bullet hole, her shallow breathing gave every indication her body was already shutting down, but glancing upon her seemed to explain this fiery spark he couldn’t deny. He should have experienced guilt in this moment, a regretful pang, murdering a couple in the comfort of their own home, and on top of that...Archie possessed a strict code he followed. No children, no women, die at his hand, any exception to the rule were accidental. “Oh, love,” There was a pause of contemplation as he pondered the best solution. Leave her here? Watch and listen as the brunette bled to death, see the light vanish from her eyes? No. He knew exactly what must be done. “Really am sorry about this.” He raised the gun and witnessed the alarm flash Kira’s expression almost instantly. She wanted to live, the male could tell, she didn’t want to suffer a murderous demise, especially at the hands of an intruder who executed her husband. Archie saw her final thoughts as though they were his. God, it is truly dreadful the measures of his career. “Nothing personal.” Archie’s index finger squeezed the trigger and sent a bullet through the woman’s heart, a blank stare coating his expression when her movements and breathing ceased.

His eyes flickered upwards to the ceiling, a vital piece of information slipping Archie’s memory until that moment and knocking another long sigh from his lungs. The wife’s unexpected appearance meant the daughter was not far behind. If observing the dynamic of families that weren’t his own are correct, Kira certainly would have done everything in her power to keep her child safe from the boogeyman, which motherly instinct became a foreign concept to him. Yet, another problem needed solving. Archie tucked his weapon in the waistband of his suit pants and made a beeline for the stairs, taking two steps at a time, as he climbed slowly and reached the landing, mind absent of another thought to the two bodies decomposing on the first level. He entered the girl’s room first, checking underneath each nook and cranny, including the confines of the crib and finding nothing before focusing his attention on passing each room, peeking in quickly, and finally arriving at the last one in the house. The main bedroom. 

Archie pushed the door open with his palm, allowing the wooden board creak slowly with an ominous weariness and stepping inside cautiously. The room appeared as any bedroom would, two night stands on either side, a personal bathroom on the left, and a large dresser strewn with personal effects belonging to the happily wedded, and now very deceased, married couple. The bed itself served as the centerpiece directly in the middle of the room, unmade, the quilted blanket bundled every which way from use, and gifting Archibald the view to see nothing hiding under the bed. She must have been with a family member...right? As soon as the theory crossed his mind, a pitiful sound carried to his ears, spoiling the little girl’s hiding place. “Closet.” Archie whispered. Of course, the last he would check. What would he find, what would he do? It was the dilemma he faced with Kira, but this time, he couldn’t euthanize with a mercy killing.

Inching closer and yanking open the door, Archibald’s heart stopped beating. There she sat, the most innocent two year old brown-haired child, cheeks tear-stained and eyes gazing upon him with a charming wonder even a psychopath with bloodthirst could melt ten times over for. In her eyes, the assassin beheld everything good in a world that has taken his childhood, discovering a kinship between two beings born from trauma. She was an orphan because of his actions, a child for the taking to bend and mold...and protect. “Hello, sweetpea.” Archie lifted a smile bordering a smirk and lowered to his knees. “You must be Cora.” Tentatively, he held out his palm towards the girl, distracting her from her blubbering to give his hand a quizzical look. A bright youngster, wasn’t she? “It’s alright, you are safe. I’m here now.” Cora finally outstretched her own small hand and connected it to this stranger’s, sparking an ethereal plan within Archibald he never once believed was possible for the heartless monster.

“That’s a good girl.” Archibald collected the toddler in his arms and rose to a standing position, using his fingers to brush Cora’s locks from her forehead. She was rather adorable, already one of the fearless creatures he has ever encountered in his lifetime. “I think we are going to have a lovely time together, you and I against the world.” A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest before his attention was drawn to a portrait on one of the nightstands. He plucked the frame from where it sat, blue orbs flickering along the three females who stood as the focus of the photograph. There was Kira, a little Cora as she looked quite recently, and the third woman sharing the same brunette hair and smiling jovially he could only assume was Kira’s sister Kaia. His gaze hovered on that one in particular, feeling his breath stolen away for the briefest of seconds. She was beautiful, an angel calling out to him. Archie’s obsessions always began the same way. He saw something he wanted for his own, a young girl to adopt as his child, for an example, playing the role of father who could shape the personality of an impressionable mind, and now a woman he dared dream may hold a feisty bite much like her elder sibling.

Archibald wanted her, he needed her with a passion. He would research the Morris family, allow this soon-to-be grieving spirit search for her sister and brother-in-law’s murderer, search for her missing niece, until it absolutely consumed her in a fashion her face would consume him. The stage has been set, the curtains were rising, on a delicious long game that might take weeks, months, however long it required until the man reached his satisfaction. He will happily play cat and mouse for kicks and when the right moment revealed the right time? Archibald Devereaux would steal Kaia Morris for his own.

[taintedbloom]

Archibald Devereaux ft. Grayson Devereaux Moodboard [1/?]