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ofcupidslove · 4 years ago

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𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓵 𝓸𝓻 𝓷𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓵

SUMMARY: Belphegor and Cupid’s date at Rockefeller Ice Skating Rink takes a turn when Cupid informs Bells that their siblings are under a love cursed. Michael and Zatanna intervene, and Belphegor reluctantly relents and agrees to restart combat training and let Michael take the lead on investigating the entity that they believe possessed them. TRIGGERS: Mentions of Loss of Autonomy/Possession, PTSD, Mentions of Trauma WRITTEN WITH: @ofhellsbells, @ofwarriors, @zztophat

CUPID: She finished lacing up her skates and wobbled her way over to the entrance of the ice skating rink. Heaven above the place looked absolutely magical now that the sun was down and the twinkling lights illuminated the crisp winter air. Cupid looked over her shoulder, a dazzling grin on her face. "You ready?" she asked.

BELPHEGOR: It wasn't that surprising that wherever Cupid went, Belphegor followed her. They got their own skates laced up soon after her and trudged behind her. She looked happy, and that made Belphegor smile just as much. “I was made ready,” they assured her. They stepped onto the ice, wobbling a little as their body adjusted to the new terrain and then held out their hand to her. “Are you?”

CUPID: Cupid took Belphegor's hand and crossed over onto the ice. "This is my favorite time of year," she grinned as they began to glide on the snow. "Warm fires, hot cocoa, big blankets..." It was all great for cuddling and also great for falling in love. They'd both been very busy this year helping everyone prepare for the holidays. In the back of her mind she knew very well that this might be the last Christmas she would get to spend with Belphegor. The thought made her ache deeply so she quickly pushed it away as she smiled at them. "I'm still not sure what to get the others for Christmas and we're getting down to the wire here."

ZATANNA: She smiled as she sat down on a bench beside the ice skating rink. It was one of her favorite spots to visit during the winter, and any moment she had where she could get away from the magic shop she took it to come here. She leaned against the barrier and watched the people glide across the snow. Some were graceful and others were more like Bambi on ice. In the distance, she could see Belphegor and Cupid gliding along. “Tel ti wons,” she whispered. Snow began to materialize and fall over the rink and only the rink. She heard someone beside her mumble how strange it was…the forecast didn’t call for snow. “New York weather is a phenomenon in and of itself, wouldn’t you agree?” she smiled.

MICHAEL: "Ah, that it is," he grinned as he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm. "Especially when it's got a helping hand from a very magical woman." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and took in their surroundings. The ice skating rink was massive and just behind it was the Christmas all decked out for the holidays. "I'm glad you could make it out of the shop for a day. Would you like to join me on the ice?"

BELPHEGOR: “I thought Valentine's Day was your favorite time of year.” They were pretty sure Cupid actually had a few favorite times of the year, and all of them revolved around people being happy and having ways and bigger reasons to show each other how much they were in love. “A big blanket would be nice right now,” they thought longingly. The cold snow didn't bother them too much, but it still would've been nicer to have. “I'm surprised you haven't gotten everyone their presents already, but I guess we have been kinda busy.” They frowned at the thought of all those things having happened at all, and they still hadn't found out who possessed them. That would have to wait until later to be dealt with though. They all deserved a more peaceful time tonight, and Belphegor wasn't intending on causing trouble tonight. Of course, their intentions wouldn't always be able to stop the trouble they tended to cause when it really came down to it.

CUPID: "That one too!" she grinned. Valentine's Day was also super busy for her. She spent that time making it magical for just about everyone else that at the end of the day, she got very little time to herself. She didn't mind though. There was a power high that came from days like that and spreading love was why she was here on earth anyway. She smiled softly as a longing look crossed Belphegor's face. She didn't have a blanket so instead she glided closer to them for comfort. She was careful to ensure their skates didn't bump into each other or cause them to trip. "I've gotten stuff for some of them," she smiled. She had Belphegor's gift picked out ages ago. "But..." she sighed and looked in the direction of Lux. "I was really hoping I'd have something ready for Lucifer and Levi by now," she frowned. None of her research had yielded any results yet. Freedom from God's curse would've been a nice Christmas present. They both deserved that. Lucifer especially given how the detective took the news.

ZATANNA: She smiled, feeling his strong arms around her. An instant calm washed over her at the sound of his soothing, gentle voice. She wasn't alone and that was a feeling that filled her with warmth. "What can I say? Sometimes even Mother Nature could use a little assistance," she grinned. Everyone in the plaza seemed so excited about the unexpected flurry of snowflakes. "It wasn't easy getting out of there, but I have people covering just about every station." It had been a while since she'd gone ice skating. It was something that she used to do as a kid with her dad. The whole season was full of memories that filled her with both nostalgia and sadness. She knew her dad would want her to be happy and Michael made her happy. "I'd love to," she smiled and took his hand. "Promise you won't let me fall?"

MICHAEL: "I must say, she's got quite a skilled assistant," he smiled and held out his hand to touch one of the snowflakes. It was as real as anything nature could've made. He understood how hard it could be to get away. He knew the few moments they had together would probably be broken up by either Heaven calling him home or duties at her shop that needed her attention. He chose not to dwell on that and instead enjoy some of the small moments he had with her. He took her hand as they made their way toward the skate rental station. "You know I would always catch you," he smiled softly. He could see a deep sadness in her eyes. He knew this time of the year was difficult for her. He wished he could give her some solace but Giovanni Zatara was nowhere to be found in Heaven. He checked with Hell and they didn't have his soul either. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently.

BELPHEGOR: They wrapped their arm around Cupid as she skated closer to them. They weren't particularly worried about falling. They were already one of the fallen anyways, so falling on ice wouldn't be that bad. Besides, they were both pretty graceful. Balance didn't tend to be an issue for either of them. “Well, who haven't you gotten something for? Maybe I can help,” they offered. They followed her gaze towards Lux and frowned with her. Lucifer had seemed so down recently. If anyone deserved a good present, it was him. “Levi doesn't really like Christmas anyways, so I'd make it more birthday themed if you're getting him something. Maybe some cake.”

CUPID: She felt the safest when she was close to Bells. She could be faced with the task of slaying a dragon and as long as Bells was with her, she could do it. She wanted to believe that because of the strength and conviction of their love, they'd make it through anything...even the inevitability of the void. "I still haven't found anything for Asmo," she replied. She had a good idea of what to get Asta, Lucifer, and Levi but she wasn't sure what Asmo needed or wanted. Bells was right about Levi not liking Christmas. He didn't like that he was overshadowed by Jesus. "Cake sounds good. Both he and Lucifer have been in a mood since they returned from Hell."

ZATANNA: "What can I say?" she grinned and gave a little hand flourish. "I've had a few years of practice. My dad was a good teacher," she smiled. She wasn't sure where he was now and that pained her. She knew he wasn't in Heaven and he wasn't in Hell, so where had his soul gone? Her father was a secretive man even when he was alive. He must've had one final trick up his sleeve when he died because no one seemed to be able to find him. She smiled up at Michael as he reassured her that he would always be there to catch her. "Dna I uoy," she smiled as they got in line. His callused hands felt warm and comforting in her hand as their fingers intertwined. She took a deep breath when he asked her if she wanted to talk about it. "I feel like each year it should get easier to talk about him, but it doesn't," she confided. The wound was still as fresh and raw as the day he died sometimes. "I know that grief isn't linear, but it is exhausting."

MICHAEL: "I'm sure even Giovanni Zatara would be impressed with the legacy you've made," he replied. Even before Michael came into the picture, Zatanna was one of the most trusted occult specialists in the world. She was knowledgeable and experienced in her craft. Not only that but she was sincere and very easy to love. He smiled, craning his neck down to place a kiss upon her lips as she made her backward promise that she too would catch him. "I know you will. I must warn you though, my wings are heavy," he laughed. "But my faith in you is strong." As they made their way into the line, he paid for their skates and guided her over to one of the open benches so that they could lace them up. "Time heals some of the ache, but not all of it," he agreed. There were still days when he longed to see Belgirel again. Heaven was full of ghosts of his memory. He could turn a corner and see any number of statues or objects that reminded him of the siblings who were no longer allowed home. "Sometimes, we just have to feel what we feel and know that it's safe to feel it." He wanted her to know, good days and bad days, he wasn't going anywhere

BELPHEGOR: "Well, maybe you should get him ten cakes," they suggested with a grin. He was the sin of Gluttony after all. A ton of food seemed right up his alley. "Maybe fifteen," they added after more thought. Ten didn't seem like quite enough for him. Of course, he'd always want more. "I don't know if cake will actually be enough to lift Lucifer's mood though." They might've been slow on the uptake for these kinds of things, and even without knowing all of the details, they had an idea of how Lucifer might've felt. "If you were gone, I'm sure I'd be in a similar mood that cakes wouldn't fix, and now he doesn't have anyone to do all this fun stuff with." Belphegor didn't really know why Levi would've been in a bad mood besides the Christmas season though. They hadn't really heard much about what happened aside from the fact that they'd been dealing with Aamon. "Have you heard anything about what happened in Hell with them?"

CUPID: "Sixteen cakes all together. I better call the bakery ahead of time to make sure they have all of that. Or maybe I should make them myself. People like things that were handmade." Besides, she needed to do something on the off hours since she still wasn't sleeping much anyway. She nodded in agreement that cakes probably wouldn't lift Lucifer's mood. She was as surprised by the Detective's departure as he was, but she also knew the nature of Lucifer's spell. Detective Decker would likely be back and maybe not by her free will if they didn't break this spell soon. "He still has us," she nodded gently as they glided along. She knew it wasn't the same, but they both loved Lucifer. They wouldn't let him be alone, especially not during the holidays. She looked up at Bells when they asked her if she knew what happened in hell. "I..." Cupid bit her lip and briefly glanced in the direction of Michael. She knew the Archangel would be upset with her if she told Bells about the curses, but how else was she to explain to Bells what was going on? A lot of her time was occupied by research these days and she couldn't not tell Bells what she was researching. "I have," she nodded as she glided a little further away from Michael and Zatanna. "It turns out someone powerful and strong, stronger than Michael even, put a love curse on Lucifer. It's why he's been staying away from the detective for a while. Her choice to love him wasn't really a choice and he wanted to give me time to find a way to break the curse. But, the curse is really strong and the Detective followed him to hell. Apparently while they were there, Aamon told her about the curse before Lucifer could. She left a few days after they got back from hell."

ZATANNA: "He'd probably be both impressed and concerned," she laughed. She knew she held a pretty precocious position that could at any point in time get her killed. She wasn't afraid though. What she was fighting for was worth dying for. "The thing about legacies is that someone has to live in order to carry them forward," she replied subtly. They hadn't talked about kids before and honestly she hadn't thought about it much until recently. Did she want to be a mother? She certainly mentored enough children in the craft, but that was different. She smiled and kissed him back as he lowered himself to her level. She could see that he understood loss as deeply as she did. He lost a brother and that sting still hurt. Every time he looked at Bells he was reminded of Belgirel whether he wanted the memory or not. "Thank you," she replied and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. She felt safe being vulnerable around him and letting him see the stormy parts of herself. She finished lacing up her skates and stood up, holding out her hand to him. "You ready?"

BELPHEGOR: "I can help you make them," Belphegor offered. Of course, they were just as likely to eat the cakes too, but they could eat cake while making more cake. It couldn't be that hard, and if they needed to, they could ask Levi where he got his cakes made since he got Belphegor cakes all the time. "As long as he lets us," they pointed out, knowing that Lucifer wouldn't always let them be around him, especially when he was in a mood. They'd probably annoy him more than anything, but it wouldn't stop them from making sure he wasn't alone.

Belphegor followed her as moved further away from Michael and Zatanna, though they didn't realize that was who she was avoiding. They felt like a shock went through them when she mentioned that it was something stronger than Michael. "It's-" While distracted, they managed to trip and flip over themself, landing on their ass. "Cupid, that could be the thing that possessed me!" Aside from God, that was the only thing they could think of to be that powerful. They quickly got back up, brushing the ice off their pants. It was both exciting and terrifying for them to think that they might've had another clue to tracking down who or what possessed them. "Maybe if we track down the thing, we can make it stop the curse and make sure it doesn't possess anyone else!" If they could just trigger more of their memories, they might've been closer to finding out where they might've gone after possessing them.

MICHAEL: "As is natural for a Father," he smiled. His own father wasn't exactly the caring type, but then again God fashioned himself more a creator than a Father. He felt himself flush as Zatanna spoke of leaving a legacy. Very few people ever managed to get this kind of reaction out of him, then again very few things made him flustered these days. He knew what she was getting at and truth be told he hadn't put much thought into it. It didn't seem like a possibility to him. The risks of her carrying his child were too great and he couldn't lose her. "Who says you won't live on to carry it forward forever and always?" he smiled as he finished lacing up his skates. In the periphery of his view, he could see Bells falling down on the ice which was odd for them. Contrary to popular belief, they were fairly well coordinated on the ice. From this distance, he couldn't see either Cupid or Belphegor's expressions, but it was probably best to check in on them. He smiled into Zatanna's kiss before standing up, taking her hand, and allowing her to lead him onto the ice.

CUPID: She smiled brightly when Bells offered to help her bake the cakes. "I would love that," she nodded. She loved any opportunity that meant she would get to spend more time with Bells. She couldn't think of a better way to spend the holiday than with them. A sad inner voice reminded her that it may be her last holiday with Bells. She winced without thinking, not because her wings were in pain (although the were), but also because the thought hurt almost as much as any physical wound. She recovered quickly though and nodded when Bells said they could only do what the could if Lucifer would let them. "I think he's afraid that the curse affects more than romantic love but..." she shook her head. "I don't sense it." Everyone else's love for Lucifer seemed genuine, but she knew he was pushing away because he had doubts of its realness.

Because of how close they'd been skating together, when Bells fell Cupid tumbled down with them. "Ope," she braced herself for the fall and landed safely beside them. "Whatever it is, it's powerful, Bells," she agreed. She knew what it was, but she knew Michael would probably send her away if she ever told Bells it was actually God who'd created the curses. "I dunno if we should be tracking it on our own. It's already hurt you once before..." she pointed out.

ZATANNA: She smiled softly, knowing full well it didn't come natural to all fathers. It certainly wasn't second nature to Michael's Father. The man was cruel enough to not only kick his children out of the only home they knew, but also curse them on the way out. The cruelty of it all was why Zatanna wanted to help free them. It had little to do with the fact that they were Michael's siblings and more to do with the fact that what God had done to them was an injustice that needed to be reversed. "Well, you see, for us mortals life is pretty finite," she pointed out before smiling softly and pressing n apologetic kiss to to his cheek when she noticed him flush. It was clear she'd caught him off guard and she wanted him to know he didn't need to answer. She could see him tense briefly, his eyes wondering over to Cupid and Belphegor on the ice. Her eyes instinctively followed. She could see they were both flat on their asses. "We should probably check on them," she nodded as she took his hand and made her way onto the ice. She didn't directly go to them though, she didn't want to make it obvious that this date wasn't just a date - it was also an opportunity to chaperone Cupid and Bells.

BELPHEGOR: "So it only affects romantic love?" They frowned. "Have you told him that?" They guessed not since he still seemed upset, unless he just still didn't believe her. Belphegor, on the other hand, never had any reason to doubt her. She'd only ever been honest with them after all, but it did make them wonder. . . "Was Lucifer the only one who was cursed like that?" After they'd been possessed, they'd realized that they were in love with Cupid. Was it possible that was just a part of some curse too? After all, they'd known Cupid for centuries and had never realized that before. It was a pretty strange coincidence that it happened soon after they were possessed and then that Lucifer found out he had some love curse not long after. Cupid had told them she loved them too. Was she part of the curse? Would she be able to tell if they were cursed since she was so close to them, or did she already know they were cursed? Maybe that was why they hadn't talked about what they'd said to each other since then. Maybe she was trying to make sure she could break the curse before they talked about it, so they could make sure it was real. Unlike Clothey though, neither of them were leaving each other, and they weren't going to.

Belphegor held out a hand to help Cupid stand up. "Yeah, but it hasn't dealt with us both at the same time," they said confidently, their form shifting to show their confidence. "Who cares if it hurt me before? It's not me I'm worried about now." This thing had hurt Cupid, and now it was hurting Lucifer. Belphegor just wanted to take it down. "Besides, I've basically already been trying to track it down. I'm not going to stop now, not until we find it and stop it."

MICHAEL: "Not always," he smiled knowingly. Zatanna was a vivacious woman with quite the moral compass. He knew that she wasn't just helping his siblings because she felt obligated. She was doing it because it was the right thing to do. "I can ordain you as a saint," he teased. There were other ways to circumnavigate mortality, but if she chose to live through the natural progression of life he could respect that. He would see her in Heaven either way. "Yes, we probably should," he agreed as they got onto the ice. The rink was busy now with couples and children alike. Michael was a fairly large and imposing force, so most of them moved out of his way. "Oh, lovely," he sighed when he saw Belphegor change forms. They were feeling more confident in themselves. Michael couldn't surmise whether that was a good or bad thing in the moment. Still holding Zatanna's hand, the Archangel made his way over to Bells and Cupid. "Everything alright, you two?" he asked. "You took quite the tumble back there."

CUPID: "Yeah," she nodded. "Just romantic love. Everything else feels the same. I tried to talk to him after he got back from hell, but I think I might've tried too soon. He was still a little raw and moody. I'm not sure he believed me." She shook her head when Bells asked if Lucifer was the only one who was affected. "Levi's experiencing a similar thing. As far as I know, Asmo isn't though and Asta..." she frowned. "Well, she's under something and it's in my domain, but I'm not sure what it is. It feels different from the others, if that makes sense." None of it made sense and it made Cupid's head hurt sometimes. It also made her panicky too. What if she couldn't help them? This was a God curse. She was a far cry from an omnipotent being. She couldn't even be sure where Bells thoughts were at the moment, but she could feel the gears spinning. They were trying to make sense of it just as much as she was, only she had pieces they were missing. She took Bells hand and pulled herself up off the ground. Their form shifted as their thoughts came in rapid fire succession. They were confident that what possessed them and what was behind the curses was one in the same and in a way they weren't wrong. It had all been God's will. "But I worry about you," she replied softly, so softly she wasn't even sure they heard her. She knew they weren't going to stop looking for answers. "Bells I--" she stopped as Michael approached them. His tone was neutral but she knew why he was here. "We're okay," Cupid insisted. "It's just a tumble. Not even the ice cracked," she pointed out. "Are you two, um, enjoying your night?" she asked.

ZATANNA: "A saint?" she laughed. "I think you'd throw the whole Catholic church on it's side if you did that," she pointed out. The church used to burn people like her up until the last 100 years or so. "Your brothers too," she added. They would cross that bridge when they got there. She glided easily on the ice with Michael by her side. People moved out of their way almost as if they recognized he wasn't entirely a human force. She'd always known what Michael was but she wondered how perceptive the rest of humanity was. She looked up at him as he spoke, a look of concern crossing his face. He was worried about Belpehgor and Cupid which was naturally. They both meant well, but were generally a cause for concern. Zatanna glided to a stop beside Michael as they approached the pair. Cupid seemed nervous and tired, like she all of a sudden didn't want to be here anymore. Belphegor, on the other hand, looked like they were following Blues Clues or something. They had a determined look on their face. Zatanna would've said a small prayer for Cupid if she didn't think Michael would hear it. "We are," Zatanna nodded. "It's a nice night. Not a lot of wind. And what about you two? Are you enjoying yourselves?"

BELPHEGOR: That was something at least. Once they could get Lucifer to listen, maybe he'd believe the truth. "We can tell him again after we give him a little time then. He's probably drinking too much to listen tonight either." They frowned when she said Levi was experiencing something similar. That explained why he might've been so moody too. Maybe they could talk to him about it later. "Asta too?" They didn't think Asta ever really fell in love, or at least she hadn't in a long time. Maybe that was why it was different. "What about me? Do I have a love curse too?" They still weren't sure if she'd be able to tell or not, but it felt better to just ask her directly. They didn't get to respond to what she was saying about worrying about them before Michael and Zatanna appeared, almost out of nowhere. They nodded in agreement with Cupid. "I've had worse falls." They shrugged. "We're doing good. I think I'm getting closer to figuring out what possessed me," they added on excitedly. They looked at Zatanna. "Did you, uh, tell Michael about that and everything we talked about?"

MICHAEL: "It has been a while since I've shaken up the church," he laughed. "I think they're due for it." He knew some of his siblings, mainly Uriel, were having a hard time accepting that Heaven wasn't the only thing on his mind these days. Having Zatanna in his life didn't mean that he didn't care about heaven or that he shirked on his duties. On the contrary, Zatanna was his partner, his equal. Because of her he felt that he could shoulder the burdens of Heaven. Maybe that was what scared the others, the fact that he viewed her as his equal. He didn't much care about their opinions on his personal life, he was going to live it as he saw fit. His eyes glanced over at Cupid as they approached the pair. She was nervous, frazzled even. "Yes, I suppose you have had worse falls." He maintained a neutral face, but his eyes briefly glanced at Cupid when Belphegor told him they were closer to figuring out what possessed them. "Yes, Zatanna did tell me about that." Michael tugged on the collar of his shirt just a bit to reveal the protection tattoo on his chest. When Zatanna told him about her interaction with Bells and about the tattoo, he decided to get it himself. Michael knew his relationship with Belphegor was still fairly ambiguous and he needed Bells to trust him, so this was the best way to gain their trust. "I don't think it's necessarily safe for you to be investigating it on your own though, Bells," he replied as he let go of the layers and readjusted himself. "It's dangerous."

CUPID: She eyed Bells curiously for a moment when they asked if they were under a love curse too. They knew this was only affecting romantic love and that was a love they didn't really understand. "No," she shook her head. "I don't sense coercive love around you. I don't think you were affected. Maybe it thought possessing you was enough," she suggested. She was hopeful for a lighter topic change when Michael and Zatanna appeared. Zatanna seemed to be on the same wavelength but then Bells added the thing about the possession. Michael, to his testament, stayed neutral, but she could feel his eyes on her. This was going to be another lecture when she got home. She was surprised to see the tattoo on the Archangel's chest. She half expected he'd try to convince Bells they weren't possessed, but that wasn't the play he was going for. So what was the play then? She brightened a little when he remarked that he thought it wasn't safe for Bells to be investigating this on their own. "I was just saying that earlier," she offered, hoping that if she showed Michael she was trying to keep this contained he wouldn't be so cross with her. "Maybe you can help us." A part of her hoped that if Michael took over the investigation, Bells would let it go. But she also knew Bells. They wanted answers. They were hyperfixated on it, and they would find the truth one way or another.

ZATANNA: She smiled and playfully elbowed him when he said the church was due for a shake up. She knew he didn't take his brother's opinions about his personal life too seriously, but a part of her wanted to be accepted by his family, both sides of them. She loved Michael and she didn't have any nefarious plans to divert his attentions from Heaven. She knew the responsibility that weighed on him and did what she could to support him through it. She could feel the tension between Michael and Cupid when Belphegor let it be known that they were even closer to figuring out the whole possession thing. "Yes," Zatanna confirmed. "I told him. He was a trooper about the tattoo and everything," she nodded before turning to look at Cupid. "I think there's a lot these two have to talk about. How about you help me get some hot chocolate from the stand over there?" she asked, nodding her head toward a hot chocolate stand with a pretty ridiculous line waaaay across the ice skating rink.

BELPHEGOR: They let out a sigh of relief. "That's good at least." There was still the possibility that Cupid could've been unable to see things like that if they were about herself, but they preferred to think that she was right. They'd already lost so much, especially when it came to their own actions. They didn't want to think about Cupid not being in control of her own actions either. It didn't seem likely though that a being that was putting them through so much pain would just stop and think that was enough though. "But what would it be enough for?" What was it trying to achieve by possessing them and putting curses on their siblings? "Do you think it possessed me to put curses on them?" Maybe it just needed an archangel to put curses on the other archangels. Belphegor tended to be more vulnerable than the others, so maybe they were just a better entry point to catalyze curses onto their siblings.

They didn't expect Michael to really do much about the information that they'd given Zatanna. If anything, they expected him to not believe it. After all, it seemed pretty ridiculous to Belphegor too sometimes. When Michael pulled down his shirt and showed them the tattoo, their eyes widened. "You got it too!" They said excitedly, their eyes sparkling along with the surrounding lights. "Did you tell the others too?" Cupid knew, but they hadn't gotten a chance to tell Gabriel. The other archangels might not have come here as often, but they should've been told too. Maybe they could help once they got more people looking for this thing. They frowned when Michael tried to get them to stop investigating on their own. "Well, I don't think it's safe to just do nothing when something like that is going around possessing archangels and putting curses on them." They did nothing for too long already. Hearing what Zatanna said, they squeezed Cupid's hand. "You can go if you want. I'm okay here," they assured her. "Just bring me some back too."

MICHAEL: "I did," Michael nodded. "I thought it would be better to play it safe and not run the risk given my position in Heaven." It was a lie, but a well intended one. He knew the void didn't pose a risk when it came to possessing him, but Belphegor believed it did and sometimes the only way to get Belphegor to listen to anything was to just go along with their train of thought. "I have not had a chance to speak with the others yet about it, but I intend to." Another well intended lie. He planned to give Gabriel a heads up, but it was best Uriel and Raphael be kept in the dark about this. They generally stayed away from Belphegor as it was so the risk of them running into Bells was low. "Were you?" he asked Cupid, his face remaining neutral and steady. Was she telling Belphegor it was unsafe to investigate in the same breath that she was telling them about the curses? "There's no way of knowing for sure that what possessed you and what's affecting your siblings is connected," he pointed out. "We aren't doing nothing," he assured Belphegor. "I will talk to Lucifer about putting safe guards in place. Speaking of that, we should probably discuss ways to keep you safe in case it does happen again." Belphegor needed to pick up their training again, they were out of practice. He nodded when Zatanna offered to get hot chocolate with Cupid. He would talk to Cupid about this later. "We'll catch up with you two in a little while," he replied, leaning down to kiss Zatanna. He was grateful to have her by his side to distract Cupid for now.

CUPID: Bells reaction to the news was both surprising and not at the same time. Sure, they didn't like the idea of coercive love as much as Cupid didn't, but they seemed so relieved to know it wasn't affecting them. Were they in love with someone and worried it wasn't real? There was no one knew in their lives, really. Just Sam. She remembered they did mention thinking Sam was in love with them. She didn't think Sam was, but if Bells loved him, she didn't have the heart to tell them otherwise. "I don't know what it's all about. Sometimes, bad things don't have reasons for being bad. They just do it because they can." Why else would God do this to them? He'd already punished them by throwing them out of the only home they knew. The curses were simply because he wanted to do it and he could do it. "No, I don't think it possessed you to curse them. If it did, something by now would've triggered a memory about it," she pointed out. They'd been talking about it at great length now and no memories were triggered because she knew they weren't necessarily related things.

She could see how excited Belphegor was by Michael's tattoo and it made her smile. It clearly meant a lot to Bells that Michael believed in them. She felt her cheeks get hot at Michael's gaze. She knew that she would get in trouble for the things she told Bells today, but at least it limited the risk of Bells investigating this on their own, which is what they would've done if the others denied the existence of this potential possession and the curses. She nodded when Zatanna offered to take her to the hot chocolate stand. "Yeah," she replied, her voice sounded distant even to her. "I think that's a good idea. I'd love some hot chocolate." She turned on her skates and gave Bells a tight hug. Ever since she came back from the Empty her hugs were tighter, like she was trying to cling to any safety and security she could get. "We'll be back," she promised as she let go and skated over to Zatanna.

ZATANNA: It broke her a little to see how much this had all hurt Cupid. From dying and then coming back and then the endless pressure of knowing at any moment the other shoe could drop and Belphegor could find out the truth without a way to fix it, so much was weighing on the angel right now. She could see it in the way Cupid clung to Belphegor. She needed something to help her feel safe. But, unlike with Belphegor who was able to feel safe with a simple tattoo, making Cupid feel safe was a little more complicated. Zatanna decided she would talk to Michael later so that he would go easy on Cupid when they inevitably talked about what happened today. She kissed the Archangel softly. "We'll be right over there if you need us," she nodded toward the long line before taking Cupid's hand and gliding over in that direction.

BELPHEGOR: That line of thinking didn't make sense to Belphegor. Nobody just did bad things for no reason, right? There was always a reason. Maybe the reasons didn't always make that much sense, but they were still there. Even when Aamon did bad things, he didn't just do them because he wanted to be bad. At least, Belphegor didn't think he did. "Maybe . . ." They didn't know if something would've necessarily triggered a memory because the way the memories were triggered weren't always consistent. Sometimes it took a lot more to trigger a memory, and sometimes what was triggered wasn't even a full memory. Sometimes, they were just feelings of familiarity. Belphegor had only just learned about these curses. Who was to say talking to the subjects of those curses wouldn't trigger more memories?

Belphegor nodded at Michael, glad that he was trying to be safer about this. They didn't want to see any of their siblings possessed into the kinds of things they had done. They didn't want Michael to have to be in the position where he killed the woman he loved, not just for Michael's sake but for Zatanna's sake too. Belphegor liked her. She saved Sam after all, and she'd given them that tattoo. Her presence might've been a little exhausting sometimes, but Belphegor could've made her take a nap to fix that later. "I told Asta, Asmo, Maze, and Az about it so far. I think Maze probably told Lucifer, but he might be too drunk to really understand it." They planned to tell Levi and Lucifer about it themselves as well. They just hadn't gotten to it yet. "So either it's the same thing, or it's two different things that are both more powerful than archangels." they pointed out, their eyes widening in fear as they tried to process that information. One thing was already scary enough, but two was terrifying. "You mean like other than the tattoo?" they questioned, not sure what else could keep them safe from something like that.

Belphegor almost lost their balance again when Cupid hugged them, but they held onto her. They could feel the concern and worry radiating off of her, but they assumed it was just because she was scared of whatever being or beings were doing such horrible things to the archangels. She must've been scared that it would do something to them again. They squeezed her back just as tightly, glancing over her shoulder at Michael and Zatanna who were kissing each other. Was that what they were supposed to do here? They kissed the top of Cupid's head and tapped the tip of her nose as they pulled away. "Love you," they called after her as she skated away.

MICHAEL: He watched Belphegor say goodbye to Cupid. There was something odd about the way they said love you. It was almost an understanding that they really did love Cupid in a way that was unique and different from the way they loved everyone else. Then again, Michael tried not to read too much into it. There were several points in history where he thought Bells understood their love for Cupid, but it turned out they didn't. He watched the girls skate away toward the hot chocolate stand before turning to look at Bells. It appeared they'd told just about everyone about their possession. This certainly made keeping it contained a little more difficult. He was sure the others would have questions. Lucifer wasn't very good lying to them on principle, so he hoped Maze would be there to field most of the questions. She had no problem lying. "Yes, Maze probably did tell him. I think she's worried about you. Cupid is too," he added, glancing toward the hot chocolate stand briefly. He hoped Bells caring about Cupid's concern for them would be enough to eventually get them to take a step back from their investigation. He shook his head as the gears and wheels in Belpehgor's mind continued to spin out. "Not necessarily," he assured Bells. "There is no evidence that whatever this is is more powerful than us. It could just be opportunistic and very skilled. People have gotten a one up on us before," he pointed out. "It attacked you when you were vulnerable and susceptible to it. The tattoo Zee gave you ensures it can't attack you in that way again, but I think we should pick up training again if it tries to attack you in other ways," he offered.

BELPHEGOR: Belphegor rose a brow. "Maze? Worried about me? Are we talking about the same person? She doesn't worry about anyone." Belphegor knew that she cared about some people, but she didn't worry about them. She seemed too angry to worry. She'd be more likely to fight the problem than worry about it. Cupid, on the other hand, was different. She wore her concern for everyone to see. There was a lot more of it lately than usual. "Do you think Cupid's okay?" they asked, watching as she and Zatanna got into the line. "When I was possessed, the thing that possessed me-- it . . . it killed her. Being in the Empty scared her, and I'm not sure what to do for her." They'd brought her back from the Empty, but they didn't know what they could do for her mental state. The more time they spent with her, the more worried she seemed to get. "There's no evidence that it isn't either," they countered. If they were trying to be safer about this, it was better to assume that they were more powerful, so they would be more cautious. They groaned when Michael brought up more training. "Is that necessary? It didn't even attack anyone physically. Maybe it won't."

MICHAEL: "Perhaps you're right," he chuckled, but he ventured to guess Maze worried more than she let on. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to Michael with the information that she did. "I think..." he looked at the angel by the hot chocolate stand thoughtfully for a moment. "I think she will be okay eventually. She's stronger than most people give her credit for. But it will take time. Not very many angels make it through what she's been through. Your friend Sam was recently died and although he was brought back, it still took a spell to get him through the process. We aren't much different from humans. We might be stronger, but the traumas we sustain don't just go away," he explained. It was why he tried not to be so hard on Cupid for what happened at the flower shop. She was already going through a worse punishment than anything he could pass onto her. "She might feel better if you took a step back from this. You've done your duty and you've informed everyone of what happened. Now trust in us to take it from here." He chuckled hearing Belphegor grown. He was expecting some push back on the matter of training. "Yes, I do think it's necessary. On the off chance that it possess someone like me, you need to be able to defend yourself. It will also make Cupid feel better if she knew you were taking precautions," he pointed out. Michael didn't know what the future held. He doubted taking down the void would be as simple as performing a spell and he needed Belphegor to be prepared for all potential possibilities and outcomes without knowing that's what they were training for.

BELPHEGOR: Michael was right. Cupid was a lot stronger than people gave her credit for, including Michael sometimes. A lot of people underestimated her. Belphegor tended to do the opposite, putting her up on such a high pedestal that they thought she could do no wrong and could handle anything and everything. It blinded them to things like this. "So . . . do you think a spell would help her then?" they asked, misunderstanding Michael's line of thinking. They knew a lot of spells. Maybe there was one that could help Cupid. They bit their lip as Michael told them to take a step back from their investigation. "Are you really saying that because you think that'd help her or are you just saying that because you want me to stop?" Michael's orders didn't necessarily mean anything to Belphegor since he wasn't in charge of them, but Bells was easily swayed when it came to matters involving Cupid. They would've done just about anything to make her happy again, and if backing off from this would've actually helped her, they'd do it. Belphegor scoffed. "If it possesses you, we might as well just give up. It'd barely have to waste any effort in killing me." Belphegor didn't think any amount of training could make them able to go up against Michael, regardless of who was controlling him, and it wasn't just about Michael strengths or skills. Belphegor just simply couldn't go up against their family again. They wouldn't. "I can train with Cupid then," they offered, thinking about how she'd let them slack off at least.

MICHAEL: "Magic can fix a lot of things, but unfortunately this isn't one of them. We just have to let her work through it." He knew this was an interesting dynamic change for Belphegor. Normally, it was Cupid who was helping them work through their trauma related to losing Belgirel. And now here they were, Belphegor trying to support Cupid after she'd lost her life and Cupid trying to support Belphegor after they'd lost their autonomy. They were two broken halves trying to be whole again. "I'm asking you both because it'll make Cupid feel better and because it'll make me feel better to know you aren't out there actively searching for something that's already hurt you once all on your own," he replied evenly and honestly. "You are not mine to command but you are still my brother and I care what happens to you. I promise you, if you leave this with me, I'm not going to stop searching for solutions." That much was true, but not in a way that Belphegor really understood. Michael planned to do everything in his power to help Sam and Zatanna free Bells from this. He knew Lucifer would do the same. Bells just didn't fully understand what this was yet. "I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do, but right now I think your energies would be better spent helping Cupid. She loves you and she trusts you. I know that you can help her through this. You can practice with her but I think it's best you train with me."

BELPHEGOR: They didn't like that. They wanted to do something or say something to make her feel better. She was the one person they actually were more willing to put in effort for, and now the only solution they had for her was to do nothing? It wasn't fair. “You want me to stop looking for something that hurt me before? If I did that, I wouldn't be talking to you either,” they pointed out. They didn't mean that in a mean way, but it was a good point in their mind. They knew Michael meant well now, but if they thought about it before, talking to him and trusting him would've been considered dangers. “You're not very good at keeping your promises.” Even though they were still talking to him now, believing that he'd keep his promise was hard to do. They didn't hold grudges well, but that didn't necessarily mean they completely trusted everyone who they ever felt wronged by and had forgiven. “I know she loves me. I love her too. I'll leave it to you and Lucifer for now, but only for her.” They groaned again. ”Can't I do it with Levi instead?” they whined as they offered up another alternative. At least with Levi they could just convince him to do other less active things with them instead.

MICHAEL: "Belphegor..." he let out a long sigh. He learned long ago not to take these things personally. They wanted to continue their investigation and they were grasping at anything that might make it possible for them to continue. "It took you a long time to even get to the point where you could feel safe talking to me," he pointed out. Centuries upon centuries. He hoped he'd give the investigation the same cold shoulder, but he doubted it. "Getting some space from the situation will be a good thing. If you feel you can't me to keep my promise, know that the others and Zatanna will hold me to it," he replied, his gaze venturing over to the hot chocolate stand. He was relieved to hear Belphegor say they were dropping the investigation. He knew Cupid would be able to relax a little more knowing this and it gave Michael and the others time to look for solutions. Not much time, he was sure. Anytime anything happened to one of them, Belphegor would always wonder if it was that thing, but at least it bought them some time. "Levi is going through a lot right now." Belphegor knew Michael was going to veto just about everyone. "You and I can start the Monday after the Christmas holiday."

BELPHEGOR: “Not the second time,” they countered. The first time did take centuries, but in Belphegor's defense, they didn't get out much before aside from sneaking around to see Cupid. Avoiding Michael was what their other siblings did too, so they just followed their example. When they'd felt like he broke his promise though, it only was really a few months before they saw him again. They didn't seek him out like they wanted to do with this thing that had recently hurt them, but it wasn't the same. They wanted to stop this thing. They didn't need to stop Michael. ”Okay,” they relented. They didn't know how much the others would hold him to a promise like that. They didn't think Zatanna had much reason to care whether he kept a promise to them or not. Cupid would though. If he didn't hold to it, she'd keep bothering him about it and Belphegor would back her up. “And now you're busy running heaven and investigating this thing. Are you sure you have enough time?” That was probably the best argument they could make for this. “Really? A monday? That's the worst day of the week!”

MICHAEL: "Yes, each time it gets easier, but just because you feel you can let your guard down with me every now and again, that doesn't necessarily hold true for the thing that possessed you. It means to harm you, Bells. I don't." Michael and Belphegor had history, Belphegor and the void did too even if Belphegor didn't realize it. Whereas Michael and Bells were on the mend, the void was relentless. It did not want peace, it wanted Belphegor dead. The archangel knew Belphegor wanted answers, but he couldn't risk Bells letting their guard down and getting hurt by what they discovered. "I have help," he assured Bells. "Whole sections of Heaven that I can assign to assist me." That was true; however, he wasn't planning on letting this get beyond those who already knew and were willing to help. It needed to be kept compartmentalized, but Belphegor did not need to know that. "Yes, Monday. The sooner we can get started, the better. You can meet me at the magic shop around closing time and we can get started."

BELPHEGOR: Belphegor shook their head. “No, it doesn't. It gets harder.” The more they were let down, the less likely they were to believe in someone. It just made evidence stack against them that they couldn't be trusted. Michael was easier to trust again because of Cupid and that nurse lady who made them go to that meeting with all the funny military people. Their trust for Michael made it easier too. “I'm not just trusting this thing or letting my guard down about it. I want to hunt it down and kill it.” They weren't normally very violent about things, but they weren't as upset about what it did to them as they were angry that it hurt the person they loved most and who loved them most. “Aren't you worried about them being in danger?” Why could the other angels investigate and not them? Belphegor was stronger than most of them. If anything they'd be safer. “Or the later, the better.” Better yet, not at all, but they knew Michael would accept that. They didn't think he'd accept it being delayed either, but Bells was willing to put in a lot of effort to avoid effort. “Do I really have to?” they gave one final effort.

MICHAEL: Bells was always apt to see the glass as half full. Michael wasn't going to argue with them or tell them how to feel. "That's not all you want, Bells. You want answers too," he pointed out. Killing whatever possessed them was one thing, but it wasn't the only thing Belphegor was after. "It's understandable given what it's done to you and Cupid. But we can't kill it or get answers from it until we get ahead of it. Once I figure out what it is and how to get rid of it, I'll bring you back into the loop. I'm not letting anyone go at this alone. Before you tell me you're not alone and you have Cupid, she's not in a headspace to go up against it again. Not for the moment anyway. You're right that I can't be in two places at once. I can't help her heal and investigate this so I'm trusting you to walk her though this while I focus on getting ahead of this entity that hurt her." Belphegor wanted to feel like they were doing something and helping Cupid through this was at least something. "Yes, you have to. Monday night, closing time, at the shop." He knew Belphegor would probably be late, but even that wouldn't get them out of this. Michael still had the power to summon them. "We'll start easy," he promised.

BELPHEGOR: Michael wasn't wrong. They did want answers. They wanted to know who or what this thing was, and they wanted to know why it was doing what it was doing. Cupid had said that some things just did bad things because they could, and Belphegor didn't understand that. Everyone had a reason for what they did, even if it was a relatively bad one. Even when Aamon did bad things that got him banished, he still had some kind of reason. It was just because he thought Michael was a bitch, which made sense. "If we got just behind and had a long enough weapon, we could stab it and then get ahead of it," they pointed out. As long as they could slow the thing down, they could get ahead of it. "But what about my memories?" they felt like those memories getting triggered were some of their best clues. "How are you going to learn anything about the thing without them?" They felt like they weren't just being told to not go at this alone. The way Michael was talking made it seem like they wouldn't be allowed to help at all. "I don't just have Cupid," they argued, though that was going to be their response before he said something about it. "I've got Sam and Charlie and Jack too." They all might've been even more fragile than Cupid, but Belphegor could bet they'd help. "I'm always going to help Cupid," but if Michael could work on so many things, Belphegor didn't see why they couldn't help her and search for this thing. Belphegor sighed. At least it wasn't in the morning, but it being late at night meant that it would be around the time they went to sleep too. "You promise?"

MICHAEL: "Given that it's proven to be very cunning and dangerous, we probably need a more solid plan than a big stick. Besides, we don't know what weapons its susceptible to yet," he pointed out. He knew getting Belphegor to back out entirely from the investigation would be impossible, but that's not what Michael needed. He just needed Bells to back down a bit to give the others more time to search for real answers. "If any of your memories get triggered you can call me and tell me about them or you can just tell me during training," he replied. This at least ensured that Michael would always know how close Belphegor was getting to the truth as memories were triggered. "Yes, you do have Sam, Charlie, and Jack. But they are human souls at the end of the day and they're more vulnerable than you and I. They've been through a lot lately, we can't risk putting them through more. It's best to take a step back and let everyone recover a little. Yourself included, Bells." He wasn't an idiot. He kept track of Bells and Cupid, especially after finding out about all of this. He knew Bells wasn't sleeping like they normally did. "I promise we'll start with the basics and work our way up." He could see the girls skating toward them now. "In the mean time, try to enjoy your day with Cupid. Do you remember how to have a good time or do you need me to show you?" he joked.

ZATANNA: She'd gotten Cupid back in good spirits again. While in line they'd spent some time entertaining the kids around them with magic tricks. Cupid acted as her assistant, helping with card tricks and coin tricks. The energy of the crowd seemed to bring some color into the angel again. Zatanna stopped her skates in front of Bells and Michael, two hot chocolates in her hand and two in Cupids. She handed one off to Michael. "You guys missed all the fun," she smiled. "Cupid is a fabulous assistant."

CUPID: She was having a fabulous time assisting Zatanna with her magic tricks. It made time go by faster than she realized. Occasionally, her eyes would wonder over to Belphegor and Michael who seemed to be deep in conversation. She wondered what Michael was telling Bells, but she knew Bells would tell her probably as soon as Michael left. Cupid waved goodbye to the kids around the hot chocolate stand as she and Zatanna glided back to Belphegor. "We can always do it again sometime," Cupid smiled as she handed Belphegor their hot chocolate. "Did we miss anything fun while we were gone?" she asked curiously.

BELPHEGOR: A big stick still seemed like a good plan to them. They just needed the right stick. They didn't like the idea of just telling Michael about their memories when they didn't even get to help search for the thing. ”How about . . . Whenever I tell you about a memory that got triggered, then I don't have to train for that day.” It felt like a fair deal to them. Their memories didn't get triggered that often, so it wasn't like they could use it every time. “They're strong! You should have seen some of the stuff they did!” Sure, they were human, relatively speaking, but they were capable of big things. In the end, Michael was right though. Belphegor couldn't put them in more trouble. They sighed, looking dejected as Cupid and Zatanna came towards them. “I know how to have a good time better than you do. You're the one who needs training in that area.” They rolled their eyes before turning to Cupid, immediately gravitating towards her. They took the hot chocolate and sipped it. “Only the opposite.” they grumbled.

MICHAEL: He could appreciate a good negotiation but he wanted to make sure Bells wasn't going to use it to constantly get out of training. "Alright, I'll budge on the condition that the memory is significant and relevant," he counter-offered. "I know they're strong, but they need rest." He could see he was wearing Belphegor down. They weren't going to argue him on the point further which was a great relief. He chuckled when they said he was the one in need of training in the fun department. "Well, then I guess you'll have to lead by example and show me what fun really is," he chuckled as he took a sip of his hot chocolate. He put his arm around Zatanna to draw her in closer before speaking again. "Belphegor has agreed to let me take over some of the investigating regarding what possessed them." He informed the magician and the angel. "They've also agreed to pick up combat training again with me on Monday nights. We start next week."

ZATANNA: She smiled up at the Archangel as he pulled her close. He seemed to still be in good spirits so she assumed the talk with Belphegor went decently will. She raised an eyebrow when Michael remarked that Bells had not only agreed to drop part of the investigation, but they'd also agreed to pick up training again. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea for Bells to pick that up because she didn't know how they would react once they found out the truth. She'd already felt the brunt of their power once before. Training with Michael would only enhance it. But she also had a suspicion that Bells might be too emotional when they found out to be able to use anything they learned from Michael. The Archangel wasn't training Bells to fight their brothers, he was training Bells to fight back against the void in case it consumed them. Bells, for their part, didn't seem too thrilled with the idea of training so she assumed they were doing it for Cupid's sake. "Ah, that should be fun. I love learning new tricks," she offered though she knew nothing would really soften the blow of having to do something they didn't want to do.

CUPID: The determined look Bells had when she'd left them was now replaced with an annoyed look directed at Michael. At first, Cupid thought they might've had an argument. She paused, mid-sip, when Michael explained that Bells had not only agreed to drop part of their investigation, but they were picking up training again too. She knew Michael was good at talking to people and convincing them of things, but this one took her by surprise. "Really?" she perked up, looking at Bells for confirmation. She was pretty sure her heart skipped a beat. If they weren't investigating then that meant they would be safe. It meant that the chance they'd find out the truth before she anyone could tell them was smaller now. She wasn't going to wake up and find them completely gone again like they'd been the last time the void took over. "It could be fun," she offered encouragement, before lowering her voice and whispering as she moved closer to them. "Just pretend it's Uriel you're punching and it's ten times better."

BELPHEGOR: "I figured that was a given." They knew that if they just came to him with every memory that they had, he would've made them train after hearing about it anyway unless it was important, but they likely would've tried to use that loophole at least once before Michael shut them down about it if he hadn't brought it up now. "Sam has been very tired lately," they agreed. They'd been so busy trying to investigate that they hadn't focused on it as much. They could make sure he rested when they saw him again. "I can't teach you to have fun." They shook their head. "Teaching isn't fun, and you're an impossible case." They didn't think they could do anything for him to get him to actually learn how to have fun, and more importantly, it sounded like a lot of effort that they didn't want to put in. He didn't need to be rewarded with fun when he was punishing them with training. "Agreed?" They scoffed. "I might've agreed to stop investigating on my own," which was only for Cupid's sake, "but I didn't agree to train. He's making me do it." They huffed before Cupid moved closer to them. They tilted their head in consideration. They did like the idea of beating up Uriel, but they weren't as good as fighting yet. Imagining Michael as Uriel only to get knocked down by him over and over again sounded terrible. They didn't want to lose to Uriel. Maybe once they got better though, they could try to meet up with Uriel to act like they were reconnecting and then kick his ass for real. They might get banished for that, but it'd be worth it, and Cupid would understand. "You've got a point," they agreed and took one of her hands. "You wanna get back to skating?"

MICHAEL: He gave Belphegor a look that said I've known you since you were born and I know you were gonna try that loophole at least once but he didn't push the matter any further. "An impossible case, huh?" he chuckled. He could say the same for Belphegor but more in the realm of responsibility that fun. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, Bells." Bells knew how to have fun, but responsibility... well, everyone else took care of that for them. Bells was more competent than they let on. Michael had an inkling they just played as though they had no idea how to run their kingdom so that they could shirk some of their duties. The Archangel wasn't going to let them do the same with training. "I'll see you Monday night," he patted his brother on the shoulder as he skated past him. "And Cupid," he looked over his shoulder at her. "I'll see you for Friday morning meeting," he reminded her before taking Zatanna's hand and making his way down the ice.

ZATANNA: She smiled into her cup as Bells lamented that they were being forced to train. It was sure to get interesting given that both Bells and Michael were stubborn beings. She wasn't sure who was going to come back more upset from these trainings but she was glad for the extra time it gave her to search for answers. "Sounds like you both have a busy week planned. Enjoy the rest of your night," she smiled and took Michael's hand. As the Archangel led them away, Zatanna paused briefly and stopped him. "Wait, I almost forgot." She turned and skated back to Cupid and Belphegor. "I'm not sure if I'll see you before the holiday so I wanted to give you your Christmas presents." She pulled up her bracelet and unbuckled two charms from the chain: a violin and dream catcher. She held out the out the dream catcher to Cupid and called out the enchantment trever ot ezis to make it grow to size. "I used to get really awful nightmares when I was little," she explained. "So my dad gave me this. He said it was created by the dream lord himself. I used to hang it near my bed and it helped stop the bad dreams. If you tell it to knirhs it'll go back to being small, and you can put it on this chain around your wrist," she instructed as she manifested a bracelet chain. She shrunk the dream catcher to size again and helped Cupid clip it to her bracelet before turning to Belphegor. Zatanna held out the small, intricately carved violin charm to them and reverted it back to its regular size with the same spell. "I remembered Cupid telling me you liked violins and I happened to have one. This one, too, you can revert back to size with the same spell." She made it go small again and helped Belphegor hook it onto their bracelet. "You can also make it play by itself if you instruct it to yalp," she smiled. "I hope they help a little," she looked at Cupid specifically when she said that. "We'll be around if you need us. Merry Christmas," she grinned and skated back toward Michael.

CUPID: Bells was as thrilled about training as Cupid was about Friday morning meetings. She sighed and nodded when Michael reminded her that she was expected at this Friday's meeting. On Christmas of all days. "I'll be there, boss," she nodded, before taking Belphegor's hand and smiling up at them. "I think skating is exactly what we should do," she agreed. If she could escape tonight without a lecture she would be thrilled. As she and Bells got further onto the ice, she was surprised to hear Zatanna's voice again. Cupid stopped and turned to see the magician stop behind them. Presents. She perked up at the sound of that. She liked getting presents. She watched curiously as Zatanna pulled two charms from her bracelet. As the dream catcher grew to size, she marveled at its beauty. The feathers were a midnight color that seemed to change with the light and the gems upon it glittered in such a mesmerizing way. More importantly, it would help with the nightmares. "It's beautiful, Zatanna." she smiled as the magician helped her clasp the bracelet. "Oh, wow," she stared at the intricate carvings on the violin as it grew to size. It was old wood but beautifully maintained. She imagined it sounded magical. "They're lovely. Thank you," she squeezed the magician's hand before watching her skate back to Michael. Cupid stared at her bracelet and then at Belphegor's before taking their hand again. "I'm not sure how he got someone like Zatanna but he better not fuck it up is all I'm saying," she laughed as they skated further onto the ice.

BELPHEGOR: They pretended not to see the look Michael gave them. As far as they were concerned, it wasn't there. Besides, the look of disappointment he had in them was pretty consistent whenever he looked at them, so it didn't really change much. "You're welcome," they nodded, purposefully ignoring his sarcasm. They grunted as he patted their back. It might've sounded like a casual see you later to any passerby, but for Belphegor, it was a dreadful reminder that they needed to be there or else. The same went for what he said to Cupid. The way he said it made it sound like she was getting in trouble too, though they didn't know what for. As far as Belphegor knew, she was just being helpful, and Michael had literally just said that Cupid needed help to heal. She didn't need him chewing her out for something that probably wasn't even her fault. They squeezed her hand as the pair skated off away from them, only loosening their grip once they heard Zatanna's voice again. They turned back towards the magician, watching as she explained the charm that she handed over to Cupid. They were grateful for the gift regardless of the fact that it was for Cupid on not themselves. Belphegor had the power to make people sleep, but they couldn't do much to get rid of the nightmares that plagued people while asleep. They frowned when she handed them the violin. "I have other violins. I don't want to take yours away from you." They actually had a closet full of violins, so they could just add it to their collection, but if she only had one, they didn't want to take it from her, though they still thanked her and let her put it on their wrist in the end. If she wanted to give away her possessions, that was her prerogative. "Have fun if you can!" they called after her as she went back to Michael. Hell knew she wouldn't have any fun with Michael around.

"Maybe it's her-- What's it called again? Kink? I think. Maybe she's got a kink for a bad taste in old men. She said she dated John after all." They shrugged. They liked John well enough, but the thought of her dating him when she was so out of his league was odd to them. They still understood very little about the concepts of love and lust though, so things like that only confused them further, no matter how much they asked Cupid and Asta about them. Before they got much further along in the rink, Belphegor paused as a thought occurred to them. "I need to do something really quick. Will you hold this for me, please?" they asked before handing her their hot chocolate. "I'll be right back," they assured her before they sped off around the rink, building up speed until they looped back around behind Zatanna and Michael. Slamming their blades at an angle into the ice, they stopped just behind Michael, spraying him with shaved ice. They were careful to only cover him in the ice, getting none on Zatanna. They didn't have any quarrel with her after all, and before the ice could finish falling around Michael, they sped back to Cupid's side. "Thank you," they said as they kissed her cheek and took their hot chocolate back from her. "And that's how you have some fun," they said, mainly to themselves, nodding with confidence at what they'd done.

MICHAEL: He watched with mild confusion as Zatanna turned around and skated back to Belphegor and Cupid. The archangel smiled seeing her demonstrate the use of the charms. He couldn't understand what Uriel was concerned about when it came to his relationship with the magician. Zatanna, despite her hesitations about being alone with Belphegor, was nothing but kind to them. She'd provided them with the tattoo to help them feel safe and she was putting her life on the line to find a way to separate the void from Belphegor. In addition to that, she was nothing short of kind toward Cupid. She was always telling Michael to go easy on the angel. Perhaps her kindness was what Uriel disliked. She gave it equally to anyone who was in need of it. He placed a gentle kiss upon the magician's forehead when she returned to him. "That was probably more kindness than they deserved," he joked, knowing full well Bells struggled to appreciate gifts from time to time. He wasn't too far off base as Bells came barreling down the ice. They braked hard enough and at such an angle that Michael was showered with bits of snow from their skates before they skated back to Cupid. The little shit. Michael dusted the snow off of himself, a smile still on his face. "I see they're trying to change my mind about going easy on them during training," he smirked, his eyes glowing a bright golden color briefly before returning to their normal hues. A few seconds later, a snow ball hurled by an invisible force landed squarely at Belphegor's back. And then another. And then another. "You know," he grinned at Zatanna. "They're right. This is fun." He took the magician's hand again and began skating away from Bells and Cupid as more snowballs continued to be thrown at Bells. Once Michael was off the ice, the spell would stop. Who said he didn't know how to have fun?

ZATANNA: After reassuring Belphegor that it was okay and that she thought this violin would fair much better with them, she made her way back over to Michael. The way the Archangel was looking at her made her flush a little. "Oh, don't be a Christmas Grinch," she laughed. "Levi's already got that covered. Besides, I think Cupid's gift will help her a little." Now that Michael had gotten Bells to back down a little on their investigation, Bells could make Cupid sleep and the dream catcher should, in theory, catch most of her bad dreams. Those two would both be better off after a bit of sleep. She was surprised to hear skates behind her and even more surprised to see Bells barreling down toward them. They slid to a stop, pelleting Michael and only Michael with snow from their skates before skating off. Zatanna reeled into laughter as she helped Michael brush off some of the snow from his coat. "See, should've been nicer," she teased. She could see a mischievous glint in the Archangels eyes that she didn't see often. Before she had time to question it, heard the thud of snowballs flying at Belphegor. "Michael!" She knew this was likely to escalate but for now it was, dare she say, cute. This was a rare form for the Archangel. For once it wasn't about who was likely to start a war or get in trouble, it was just siblings doing what they did best: messing with each other. She laughed and waved bye in Cupid and Bells direction as she and Michael made their way off the ice.

CUPID: Cupid stared thoughtfully at the pretty charm on her bracelet as Zatanna skated off. The magician was always kind to her and more importantly she was helping the others find a way to free Bells. It was a kindness Cupid would never be able to repay. She wished sometimes that she could be brave like the magician, but right now brave was the last thing she felt. She smiled when Bells mentioned that maybe Zatanna's kink was a bad taste in men. "You're right. She could probably do a lot better, but I think she really likes him. And he likes her too. I wouldn't be surprised if Heaven got itself a Queen next year despite Uriel's objections." Of course if she was going to be made to attend Friday meetings, she was going to be nosey while she was home. It was only fair. She raised an eyebrow when Bells handed her their hot chocolate and made their way toward Michael. Cupid was a roar of laughter watching Belphegor spray snow at the Archangel. She had to admit it was a little satisfying to watch. She didn't rank high enough to be able to mess with Michael like that, but Bells didn't have those kinds of limitations. "Nicely done," she grinned, handing the hot chocolate back to them. "10 out of 10, brilliant execut--" before she could finish her praises, a snow ball pelleted Bells in the back. And then another, and then another. Cupid gasped and looked in Michael's direction. He was grinning which was weird to begin with because she was so used to his RBF. "Oh no you don't!" she called after him. Boss man or not, she wasn't gonna let him have the last laugh. She collected as much snow as she could and chucked it in his direction but he was already too far away for anything to impact him. She laughed and shook her head before turning around to help Bells get the snow off of their clothes. They'd find a way to get back at him, she was sure of it.

BELPHEGOR: They nodded. Zatanna really could do better, and they didn't understand why she settled so often. "Maybe she doesn't know she can do better." It seemed like the only explanation besides her just having bad taste, though the latter made sense given her bad taste in fashion too. Who wore such fancy tops and then barely anything else besides fishnets? It just made no sense. They imagined she'd be disproportionately cold and the amount of effort she had to put in for the out fit was just widely inconsistent. "Maybe they are good for each other," they decided after all those thoughts about her outfit had gone through their head. Michael could be just as confusing sometimes, though not as much. They smiled at the thought of Zatanna becoming Queen, if only because it'd annoy Uriel. "I'd like to his face when that happens. You better take a picture." They knew they wouldn't be able to attend after all since they weren't allowed in Heaven. They'd probably start a fight with Uriel if they saw him anyways. They took a sip of their hot chocolate, grinning as Cupid scored their prank. The first snowball that hit them caught them off guard and made them spill some of their hot chocolate, but it was fair given what they did. They were more prepared when the second one came. They spread out their wings, using them to shield themself as the snowballs kept coming. Their eyes glowed as they muttered a spell under their breath. As Michael got off of the ice rink, the Christmas tree next to the ring, which was covered in snow, pulled back as wind blew through it and then launched snow in Michael's direction. In the same breath, they'd made a spell shield on Zatanna, so none of the snow would get on her, just Michael. "We should probably go before he gets me back again." Belphegor laughed as they took Cupid's hand and pulled her along. "Wanna help me find Sam? Michael said he needed a nap."

MICHAEL: "What was it? A dream catcher?" he asked. He was honestly grateful for any sleep those two might get because it meant they wouldn't be around causing trouble. And maybe, perhaps, there was an off chance he could actually have a normal date with Zatanna without any interruptions or situations that needed handling for once. As they got off the ice, he heard the thumping of snow on the rink behind him. To his surprise, it wasn't Belphegor that was trying to throw back snow at him, it was Cupid. It was almost as if to hammer home the point that she lost any semblance of keeping the fight within her power class when it came to Belphegor. Michael was pulled out of his thoughts by a gust of wind created by Belphegor which caused snow from the branches of the fir to come flying at the Archangel. He shifted his weight and released his wings, at first using them as a shield against the snow. When the final flakes stopped falling, he shook the snow off of his wings. As he turned his gaze back to the ice rink, Belphegor and Cupid were already making their escape. The Archangel let out a long sigh and returned his wings back to place. "Well," he chuckled, turning to look at Zatanna who was unharmed and untouched. "At least they like one of us." He was sure to think of someway between now and Monday to get back at Bells ( because training alone wasn't enough ). He placed an arm around Zatanna and pulled her closer. "We better go before we miss our dinner reservation again," he chuckled, making his way out of the Rockefeller center and away from his siblings. He was hers for the night. Everyone and everything else could wait.

ZATANNA: “Yeah,” she nodded. “She looked like she could use it.” Given that she was sharing dreams with the Winchesters, Zatanna herself could probably use it too, but Cupid needed it more. Zee raised an eyebrow when she heard snow thudding to the ground behind her. Cupid was attempting to throw snowballs at Michael. She really did not back down when it came to Belphegor. She’d take on the void, Michael, maybe even God himself to protect Bells. Oh, Cupid. Everyone was busy worrying about how Belphegor would react to the truth, but Cupid was the silent concern. If they weren’t careful, they could lose her too. Zee held onto her hat as a strong wind swept around her and Michael. The wind pelleted Michael with snow from the large Christmas tree, but a protective barrier formed around Zatanna so that she remained dry and untouched. At first, she wasn’t sure who created the barrier, but then Michael spoke. Well, at least they like one of us. Zatanna smiled softly. So it was Belphegor who created the barrier. “For now, maybe,” she laughed, helping him shake off some of the snow. Bells and Cupid were already in the wind like Bonnie and Clyde. Zatanna moved closer to Michael and muttered a spell to dry off his wet clothes. “Do me a favor?” she asked as she put his arm around her shoulders. “When you plot your vengeance, please remember you’re both celestial beings capable of ending the entire universe. Try not to bring about the Apocalypse.” She placed a soft kiss along his jaw line before taking his hand and following him out of the Rockefeller center.

CUPID: “Could be,” she shrugged. Some people continuously settled because they didn’t think they deserved better, but Zatanna didn’t strike her as one of those people. She had enough self-respect to leave John ( although in Cupid’s humble opinion, it took those two way too long to figure out they weren’t soul mates ). “I already told Uriel they were soulmates,” she grinned mischievously. “He didn’t like that news.” Uriel didn’t believe in such things because it wasn’t practical but it was the truth as far as Cupid could see it. The love was strong and it was true. She hoped that if there was a wedding, Michael would have it on Earth so all parties could attend so Bells could see Uriel’s face too. She watched as Bells eyes began to glowed and knew almost immediately what was happening. “Oh my Heaven,” she cupped her hand over her mouth to hide her laugher as Michael was slammed with snow. “Oh shit!” she grabbed Belphegor’s hand as the Michael released his wings to shake off the snow. “Go, go, go!” she laughed as Bells pulled her along on the ice. Almost as quick as a flash of lightening, they were off the rink and out of Michael’s view. Still holding onto Belphegor’s hand, Cupid leaned against one of the bare trees in the park to catch her breath. “I think Sam’s with Charlie tonight. She could probably use a nap too. Maybe we can get them to watch a movie and go to sleep?” she suggested. That sounded like a nice way to end the night. Maybe once they got those two to sleep, they could get some rest too. She missed sleep. Maybe this time, when she closed her eyes, she wouldn’t dream that she was drowning again.

BELPHEGOR: "Are they really, or were you just messing with him?" they asked curiously, wanting to know if their brother really did have someone like that. "It's not a curse like with Lucifer and Levi, right?" The two of them seemed to be in the dumps about it, and while Michael didn't show those same emotions, it didn't mean he wasn't upset about it. He was better at concealing how he felt after all. They laughed as they ran away with Cupid. They didn't usually move that quickly, but when they knew Michael's retaliation might come, they were as fast as they could be. Once they were far enough away, stopping to catch their breath, they checked behind them. "I don't think he's coming after us." They gave Cupid a thumb up. "Great! We can get them both to take a nap then, and then we can take one. Do you think that thing will work?" they asked, pointing at the charm Zatanna had given Cupid.

CUPID: She smiled thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. "They are. Whether Uriel wants them to be or not. I don't feel the same heaviness around their love as I do with Lucifer and Levi. I wish..." she looked up at Bells. "I wish you could see his aura around her." He only ever lit up like that around her. She knew that Uriel probably hoped it wasn't true. Maybe he even wished it was a coercive spell Michael was under, but it wasn't. Then again it made her worry for the magician. Would Uriel investigate? Meddle? Find some way to get in between true love? Not even Cupid had the gull to mess with Michael's love life, but Uriel was a different story. Cupid forgot all her troubles as soon as they were off the ice and Bells signaled for an all clear. They'd made a clean get away for now. They'd had a lot of close calls and even closer get aways in their lifetime, particularly during the war. "I hope so." She glanced down at her charm. She took Bells hand in hers. Her cheeks were rosy from running in the cold, but her eyes held a warm hopefulness to them. "There's only one way to know for sure. Come on, let's go find them and head home."

BELPHEGOR: They grinned, just glad that something like that could annoy Uriel. "That's good. The less people that's happening to, the better." It did give them pause though. As far as Cupid had told them, these curses were happening to Lucifer and Levi. Asta might've been cursed too but in a different way, and Belphegor had been directly possessed. It was only the fallen Archangels that had been affected so far. Normally, they would've voiced those concerns to Cupid, but they knew how much all this stuff bothered her now. They just kept it in their own head for now. "Well, you can describe it to me or draw it. Maybe we can find a spell, so I can see what you see." Belphegor knew an abundance of spells, but they'd probably have to do research to find one for something like that. They squeezed her hand when she took theirs. "I hope they have food at their place," they thought aloud as they walked with Cupid.

#michael: discords #bells: discords #zatanna: discords #discord #━━ ♡ love lifts us up where we belong! all you need is love [ replies ]#━━ ♡ come rest your bones next to me & toss all your thoughts to the sea [ bells ]#━━ ♡ you deserve the love you keep trying to give the world [ michael ]

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diverdowns · 8 years ago

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narciso anasui - 1 am character analysis

so, anasui — one of my favorite jjba characters, he’s probably somewhere around third or fourth on my list. i’ll do a quick rundown of his background and personality before i go in-depth into some of the arcs he’s in as well as some of his quotes, notably from the heavy weather arc and the made in heaven arc.

(as you might expect, major spoilers for all of part 6.)

i’ve tried to go easy on the headcanons and focus more on actual character analysis / meta stuff, so here we go.

anasui probably has some serious abandonment issues — we see in canon that it’s mentioned anasui had some major issues connecting with other people growing up, and so he developed a stilted sense of empathy + an obsession with dismantling / disassembling things. this presumably carried over to people — perhaps an underlying subconscious desire to understand people’s motivations that he couldn’t read on the surface through social cues that had, until that point, gone over his head. (or maybe he just really liked tinkering. who knows.)

judging at least from his obsession being allowed to grow unrestricted and out of hand as he continued to suffer socially as a result of it, we can probably assume that anasui’s parents probably didn’t care about him too much — at worst, they may have been neglectful or abusive. still, everything abt his parents is just speculation. notably mentioned in canon though: as a child, he disassembled his neighbor’s car, and was institutionalized for six months. being placed in a place like that for that long of a time does shit to you, and it’s def nothing pretty. add likely parental neglect to the equation, and you have abandonment issues just waiting to erupt.

(as a side note, psychologically, this is an obsessive ritual that can be seen in a number of conditions from asperger’s to alzheimer’s, so honestly any kind of mental illness speculation is fair game for anasui, but this isn’t the post for that.)

whatever the case, he seems to assimilate back into society once his awkward phase ended, though his strange upbringing probably left some lifelong habits / scars there, who knows. he doesn’t do anything to warrant serious attention until he’s 21. at this point, he has a (presumably) long-term, monogamous girlfriend — if it’s anything like the way he treated jolyne, we know that anasui is… overbearing, to say the least. in any case, he walks in on his girlfriend cheating on him when he makes a surprise visit to his girlfriend’s house, and murdered both of them, dismembering them so that “they would never come together again.”

it’s never mentioned if anasui was a stand user since birth, so we can assume he either used diver down to do all this disassembling or he was just…really good at taking things (and people) apart, but it’s likely that he’d had diver down from a young age — up until he’s imprisoned, it doesn’t seem like he was doing anything in particular that would’ve caused him to be normally strong enough to kill two grown adults on the spot, without the help of a stand. (then again, anasui’s capable of some pretty fucked up things either way, so this is just my speculation / hc.)

after his imprisonment, he has a full psychiatric analysis and — nobody can find anything technically wrong with him. besides his obsessive ritual and explosive temper, he’s…just a regular guy, albeit somewhat of an asshole. emporio mentions that his original obsession’s cause was never really discovered, as well. the murder of his girlfriend and girlfriend’s lover was highly publicized, his name being spread through news both on tv and in newspapers, so presumably the details of the crime were sufficiently brutal.

anasui shows a stunning lack of regard for most people’s wellbeing — for the most part, he ignores F.F. and offers little help as she fights kenzo and his dragon dream — though jolyne (and by extension, jotaro) is a notable exception. anasui claims to have fallen in love at first sight, attracted to jolyne by her iron will and strong determination to do the right thing and save her father, and expresses a strong desire to marry her. actually, when jolyne’s involved, he has an almost humorous lack of self-preservation — eg. during the green birth arc, when jolyne’s infected with a presumably fatal plant…infection…disease….thing, anasui not only touches the flowers growing across jolyne’s skin (trying to use his stand to destroy them from inside of jolyne’s body, to no avail) but also puts the flowers in his mouth, which while being played for laughs is also ridiculously foolish. (in general, though anasui ricochets heavily from being the comic relief character to being the stoic yet brash character in the main ensemble, mostly after weather’s death) there’s kind of an explanation for his reckless behavior, coming up later.

(keeping all of this in mind, and despite anasui’s willingness to use his stand to protect the main cast to the point of taking fatal blows for them, he is definitely not a good person. i just want to get that out of the way before someone accuses me of being like, an apologist lmao)

ok, so let’s go thru anasui’s main appearances, from his introduction onward.

emporio goes on to mention that “if weather report wasn’t here to keep [anasui] calm, there’s no telling what anasui’d do.” seeing as anasui is imprisoned when he’s 21, as mentioned in his introductory chapter, and he’s 25 when SO takes place, four years have passed since he’s landed in green dolphin street jail. (for reference, his sentence is for 12 years — relatively light for a double homicide, all things considered — so he’s served a third of that.) presumably, he’s known weather report for at least a majority of that time, as they at least have enough of a rapport for weather to keep anasui out of serious trouble. (weather is 39 during the events of SO. weather, for reference, has been in prison for around 20 years, since pucci took his memories from him when he was 16. also, at the beginning of the BR arc, weather has trouble using a sink that anasui with his impressive sink knowledge notes has been around in modern plumbing for at least 20 years. as a quick side note, anasui seems to have a ridiculous knowledge, in general, of a lot of mechanical things in general — during the yo-yo-ma arc, he spouts off the specifications of a random machine gun after just glancing at it.)

at the end of ch 697 we also just see a scene of weather and anasui hanging out in what appears to be some random ass hallway in the male ward of the prison with no guards around, so take that as you will lol. the two have presumably been hanging around each other for a while like this, so that’s interesting, at least.

the BR arc is where i really got into anasui, so let’s go a little in-depth on those chapters. anasui seems to know a whole bunch of random facts about disney world (though he holds a theme park guide in his hands while he spouts a bunch of random disney world facts, he doesn’t seem to look at it / open it until after he finishes talking, which draws out the legendary “where the fuck is mickey” line). he also mentions manhattan and rome, and how he’s been to neither of those places. it’s probably safe to assume that anasui is floridian — but maybe he’s just really passionate about orlando, who knows. he seems pretty passionate about sinks, too. other than that, not much real information is released here besides things like “anasui’s very passionate about mickey” and “weather report is a fan of post-impressionism”

so, on to the Fun Arc. heavy weather. when weather first gets his memories back, the first things he does, in order, are shove a injured person out of a chair, take said chair, and then force water into a doctor’s body to make him into a chair.

anasui, despite being a literal murderer and honestly doing plenty of fucked up things over the course of the series, flips his shit. he’s legitimately horrified, probably less so from what weather’s doing and more so that it’s weather that’s doing it. actually, weather kinda acts like anasui, honestly, so maybe this is also just anasui being a giant hypocrite, but hey. he’s literally described between chapters as having no idea what’s going on and being pretty freaked out — he’s just following weather at this point because he still has no idea where jolyne is.

(im going to note for my own self-satisfaction that despite weather’s whole “you’re only useful to me now cause you can kill me, anasui” line and all that, when pucci grabs anasui during weather’s fight against him, weather visibly reacts and gets worried regardless, so hey, my rarepair)

okay, after weather’s death, anasui makes a mini speech. (arguably, weather’s death is the turning point for anasui to take more of a serious and less of a comedic role.) here’s what he says:

“listen, jolyne. people have called me a ‘murderer.’ the papers have called me that, and i can’t say that i disagree with them. when people asked me if i would sacrifice myself for the sake of my family, i answered ‘no.’ i’d probably answer that way, now. my heart was never moved by them.”

(more evidence to suggest that anasui’s relationship with his family wasn’t necessarily the best.)

“but i know that i’d be willing to risk my life for something that was able to revive me. i used to be dead.”

interjection here: whether he’s talking about his betrayal (when his girlfriend cheated) or maybe just a general feeling of aimlessness towards life in general, this is pretty dark for anasui, actually. it’s one of the only times he even talks abt his crimes, and this is an interesting concept that araki explores a few times with multiple characters. (eg. anasui risks his life to revive himself with “love,” or what he thinks is love, in any case, to follow jolyne. abbacchio does something similar to follow buccellati, in p5. weather “revives himself” for revenge, and johnny in p7 for the hope of walking again.)

prior to giving himself a mission (jolyne), anasui thinks of himself as functionally dead. this also explains, for example, his nonchalance towards risking his own life and wellbeing for the others.

“weather was that way, too. weather came back to life when he left that prison. i can tell. so don’t think too deeply about what happened to him. these past few days, weather was happy. weather was already saved.”

— okay, in my mind, most of this is just shit anasui says to make jolyne and hermes feel better about weather’s sudden death. to an extent, it’s true: weather prior to getting his memories back was enraptured with the world outside the prison, helping innocent people, messing with sinks, reading fairy tales, but that’s not really the truth. after getting his memories back, weather admits to wanting to die, admitting that he took a cruel sense of pleasure in watching heavy weather run its course and telling anasui that in a twisted way, he’s glad anasui’s there so that he’d kill him. weather’s not happy.

(but who knows? in the end, the character that actually knew weather for the longest was anasui — maybe he’s right and that there was something that revived in weather that we didn’t get to see as the readers.)

but what’s interesting is that he doesn’t mention weather’s sudden transformation after getting his memories back, he lets jolyne and hermes carry on the weather they knew in their thoughts, instead of telling them the truth of weather’s personality. on my second read-through, i noticed that (besides pucci, i guess, and versace by proxy) anasui is the only one who sees weather’s true personality.

and maybe, dying for the sake of his goal (ie. weather’s attempted revenge) was close enough to redemption, in anasui’s eyes. if we pick apart weather’s final goals, he’s living only so that he can 1. take revenge on pucci and 2. die. honestly, in a sad, fucked up anasui-logic kind of way, weather dying in his attempt to kill pucci at least fulfills half of those goals, so it’s not a stretch that anasui could shrug and say “close enough i guess.” but imo, he still says what he does mostly to ease jolyne and hermes’ consciences. it’s one of his kinder moments.

in the actual final fight against pucci, anasui’s probably just behind jotaro in terms of fully grasping and understanding pucci’s abilities — and their implications in battle. his final plan is the only one they really have: because diver down is able to phase through and protect all of the others, he will take the first hit from pucci, and at that exact moment jotaro will stop time and presumably ora pucci into oblivion.

it doesn’t work, but the plan had merit and was surprisingly well thought-out, showing quite a few of his personality traits — while he’s angry and headstrong most of the time, he’s relatively good at thinking on his feet and is always quick to come up with plans, especially in battle. now let’s look at his last lines.

“don’t stop [pucci’s blow] before he hits me. do it after…”

while all the other characters pause and stare at him in shock after he says this, he’s relatively calm about it. he knows it’s the only chance they have, regardless of the danger it poses to himself. dying, to anasui, is not the worst that can happen — it’s having to live again with no purpose (which he’s established, atm, as jolyne).

“ever since i got out of prison, i’ve managed to stay alive… if i can just stay alive, keep this trend… then maybe i’ll ask jolyne to marry me. …or, you know, something like that.”

a lot of people do make light of this (and it’s somewhat comedic, for sure) but it’s interesting again to see how much this drives him. before i really get into it, let’s take a look at jolyne’s (infamous) response.

(jolyne:) “anasui… all right, ask me. […] your plan… it still as hope. it’s not darkness that drives you… even if there’s only one path that we can take, if there’s a hint of hope, then that’s the right path.

holy shit do i love this quote. in the end, anasui’s not… redeemed, not really. he’s still a murderer. he still feels no remorse over killing those people. but he’s not evil, either. his motivation is that he wants to live for real: he is driven by hope. and through all the morally grey protagonists of parts 5 on, this is what they all have in common: a hope or dream that gives someone who’d thought themselves dead something to live for. jolyne doesn’t say this because she’s suddenly in love with anasui, or because she wants to marry them, she says it because she’s realizing this — she’s realizing that anasui’s hope, his resolve, might be enough for this plan to work.

actually, in the end, in an ironic twist of fate, he does die for — and by — jolyne’s hand. (hah.) pucci redirects stone free’s punch into anasui’s torso, piercing through his chest and killing him near instantly. rip. and that, in any case, draws an end to this wall of text.

also i think one random fic i read mentioned a throwaway line that anasui apparently had about him having been married once in prison? i dont recall anything like that, but someone else has confirmed it (i’d love to find the source, if anyone has it!)

i’d love to get into the whole thing about his motivation in the first place: why anasui “falls in love” with jolyne and why that matters, as well as possible subconscious motivations for his obsessions/his stand ability but that’s falling solidly into the territory of hc’s, and not so much analysis/meta.

i’ll write it up some other time, maybe, if there’s interest.

#narciso anasui #narciso annasui #jjba #stone ocean #jjba meta #stone ocean spoilers

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fallen029 · 8 years ago

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Marriage Material: Dawn of a New Day

Laxus Dreyar was not the type to get nervous. He never had been. And, due to that, he never rightly got acclimated to times when he was nervous. Forcing through those moments wasn't easy for him and he just wasn't good at playing through his nerves. For a man with such a strong veneer in every other situation, when he was nervous, it all went to mush.

And he wasn't facing a dastardly foe or challenging a whole guild on his own or anything remotely dealing with danger at all. Nope. Those sorts of things? Laxus could deal with those sorts of things.

Rather, it happened to be the day that he and Mirajane's new daughter would be coming home.

It was a pretty big deal. They'd met the girl a few times and she seemed to like Mira enough. And Mirajane loved her already, Laxus could just tell.

He and the girl, however, just hadn't had a moment yet. Not that Laxus was certain what sorta thing he was expecting. He'd never connected in a paternal way with a child before, much less a teenage girl, so he had no idea what that would feel like.

If it felt that way. He wondered if maybe he just wasn't going to click with the kid. Wasn't going to have some sort of great relationship with her. It was a big possibility. He wasn't the most approachable guy in Earth Land. Only the Thunder Legion and Mirajane really got close to him, after all.

Which meant it was all up to him, to work harder to make himself readily available and completely open to bonding.

Again, nerves.

As the first time that she would be spending the night at their house, Laxus and Mirajane had both cleaned the place immaculately as well as stocked the fridge with all sorts of different stuff, not sure what she wanted. Then Mira bathed the dog and Laxus attempted to bathe the cat (he had the scratches to prove it) and they both, together, had designed Lisanna's old bedroom (which had been serving as a guest bedroom) into what they hoped their new daughter liked.

"It's fine if you don't," Mirajane told her on the walk back from the orphanage they'd picked her up from. She was walking between them, a sack of all her things in one hand, and Laxus kinda just wanted to buy her hundreds of things so she'd need hundreds of bags to carry them in and he wouldn't feel so badly about her only having one sack of things for so long.

Was that a parental feeling? He hoped so.

"You can completely redecorate it," his wife went on and Laxus only continued to stare down at the girl nervously. For someone that had been so pumped about the idea of adopting a child, he was suddenly completely petrified by it.

Sure, she wasn't a baby, not by a long shot, but still. What if she didn't like them?

Or worse...what if they didn't like her?

"I figured," Mirajane was going on, as she typically talked too much in situations where she felt overwhelmed, "that we could just go home for now and then, maybe, if you're up for it, go out to eat for dinner? Or not. I don't-"

"Maybe," the teenager mumbled, mostly speaking to her feet. She'd been really talkative to Mirajane, the first time they'd met, but the weight of what was happening seemed to finally be falling on her. Before, when they first met her, it had been the excitement, probably, over the prospect of finally having a real home that had her so chatty; now though, that she was headed there, clearly things had slowed down a bit.

Mira was looking over the girl's head then, staring at Laxus, as if urging him to say something. He only coughed before mumbling something of his own.

"I kinda want ice cream," he said, because kids liked that...right? What if she was lactose intolerant? Or had they gone over that back at the orphanage? He was nearly certain they'd said she wasn't allergic to anything; if not, should they have told him something like that? "If that's what you ladies want."

Oh damn! He said you ladies. Did that make him sound lame? He felt lame. And old. And foolish. And now she was going to think that he was lame and old and foolish and-

"That would be fine," the girl said softly, glancing at him. "If we did that."

Laxus blinked and Mira frowned a bit, muttering something about how they'd planned to head home, but that was okay. Laxus was already speaking again after being rewarded the first time.

"You guys can go home," he said excitedly, shocking both Mira and the girl as they stared. His tone was upbeat, all of a sudden, and he even bounced a bit as he walked. "I'll go get us ice cream. Whatever you want. So what do you want?" When Mira opened her mouth, he frowned at her. "Not you."

He'd more or less put the girl on the spot and she only stuttered, "I-I don't-"

"I'll get you a sundae." Because kids liked that. Right? "A real big one. Okay?" Then to Mirajane, he said, "I'll meet you back at home."

He was off after that, just rushing away, leaving the two standing there. When the girl looked to Mirajane, she only sighed.

"He's really...excited." And then she smiled. "We both are. Really. Laxus just...doesn't do well with being happy, sometimes. It makes him antsy." Then she reached over to gently pat the girl on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's get home, huh?"

It was only once they arrived that Mira stopped talking. She could tell that the girl was more than a little overwhelmed and only showed her to her room, telling her that she'd let her settled in and that, if she needed her, she'd just be right in the living room.

Then she went on the couch and waited as patiently as she could for something to happen.

They'd locked up Ralph, the cat, in their bedroom before they left the house and the dog was still out in the backyard, unaware that there was a new member in the house, waiting to be greeted, as they were unsure if she would be ready to meet their pets just yet.

It seemed, at the moment, as if they were all having a hard enough time getting adjusted to one another, after all.

At the sound, however, of a sharp banging (though it was actually kicking, as the man's hands were full) against the front door, she jumped up to go answer it.

"Wh- Laxus! You're dripping everywhere."

"Well, duh," he grumbled as he came through the door carrying multiple plastic containers full of dripping ice cream. "Help me!"

"Why did you buy so many-"

"Well, I got there and was just going to get her a sundae, right? But what if she didn't like vanilla ice cream? So then I was going to just get chocolate, but what if she didn't like that? I hear kids like cookie dough. Do kids like that? And what about sprinkles? I got some with sprinkles. But what if she thinks that I'm babying her? And then some people like whipped cream and others-"

"You're psychotic."

Growl. "Just help me! We can eat whatever she doesn't want." Then he glanced around. "Where is she, anyways?"

"In her room. She-"

"Great." He shoved some containers off on her. "Figure out which ones are definite noes and then gobble 'em up or stuff 'em through the doggy door for Raid."

"Laxus, we're not feeding the dog melted ice cream."

"Fine! Then stuff it down the sink."

"What's the point of getting them all for her if-"

"I don't want her to think that I'm desperate, Mira!"

"Well, you should have thought of that before you got mint flavored ice cream. Who eats mint flavored anything?"

"I don't know, Mira, that's why I got it!"

They both stopped to huff at one another, just long enough to hear a sound from the hall of the living room.

"Um," came the voice of their new daughter, "I just like regular vanilla. If that's okay."

Both Mirajane and Laxus looked over in shock at the sight of her there, in the hall, staring equally as shocked back out at them. Or, well, him, probably, and his over eagerness to please.

Laxus was quite sticky as he walked into the kitchen, going to set all of the containers down. Just as quickly he was moving to go wash up a bit in the sink. Mirajane giggled as she got them some spoons.

"Here," she sticking them in all of the containers. "We can all have a bit of them all. Except the mint. I mean, honestly, Laxus-"

"I was trying to be thoughtful!"

But they didn't want to fight in front of their new daughter, whether it be in jest or not, and left it at that. Mira started chatting her right up, in that way that she had with people, as if she wasn't racked with the same nerves Laxus was.

Then again, maybe she wasn't.

Huh. He hadn't considered that.

When Laxus was the girl's age, all he thought about was magic, so he'd assumed that was what they'd spend that first day discussing, but Mirajane seemed to be steering away from it quite effectively.

"If she's not interested in magic, Laxus," she'd told him the night before, "then that's fine. Isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but we asked her, remember? That first time we met? And she said that she was interested in it and-"

"And there's other things, dragon, in life than magic." Then she'd giggled. "Especially at her age."

"Don't know what you're talkin' about." And he probably punched the air or something else to show off in that moment; he couldn't recall. "That's all I thought about back then! I-"

"And being a butt to your grandfather."

He'd deflated at that. "Mirajane-"

"It's the truth."

The conversation must have fallen after that and, well, no more of it was important. Just their usual bickering.

At the moment, however, Mirajane was proving him wrong as she spoke to the girl about everything, but magic. From how she wanted to take her shopping bright and early the next morning, if she was up for it, for anything and everything that she might need to how, when she was ready, Mira had a brother and a sister that she wanted her to meet.

"And my brother, Elfman," she went on, "has been dating this woman for a very long time. Well, sort of. So you'll meet her too, eventually. Evergreen. She's really good friends with Laxus too. Oh, and my sister, Lisanna? She just recently had a daughter, so there's that. And ooh, you have to meet Master."

"M-Master?" the girl repeated to which Mira smiled and apologized.

"It's just what I call him. Incorrectly these days, I suppose. I meant Laxus' grandfather." She smiled brightly. "Master Makarov. He''s not the Master of Fairy Tail any longer, but he was for most of the time I was growing up. I guess I have a hard time letting go of some things."

That was the closest, however, they came to speaking of the guild hall. Mira did make a slight mention to the girl of how she'd taken off from her job as barmaid up at the place for a bit, just so that they could get acclimated to one another, but other than that Fairy Tail, shockingly, seemed to be a scarce topic.

For a place that Mirajane devoted nearly all of her time to, it sounded remarkably absent in her entire being as she discussed topics ranging from their pets to even fashion. She seemed to be hoping that her past in modeling would excite the girl, but, though she paid attention, Laxus could tell that she wasn't that entertained.

"Mira," he said finally as he ate that disgusting mint ice cream because neither of them seemed to be, "you should let her talk some."

"Well, I was just-"

"We can talk about anything you want." And he stared across the table then, at his new daughter, her dark eyes avoiding his shyly. He tried to smile, just for her, but it came out a bit wonky. "And we can do anything you want. I mean, you probably want to get settled and all that, and that's great, but the entire day's up to you. Tomorrow too! I know Mira said you guys would go shopping, but if you wanna do anything else, go anywhere else, that's fine too. I'm not going out on a job for a bit, just like Mirajane. We just want to hang out with you. Wherever you want to do that."

And that made her brown eyes light up, if only slightly. Staring back into his then, she whispered, "Wherever?"

"Wherever." He even nodded a bit. "We can go on a vacation, if you'd like."

"Laxus," Mira started slowly, tone soft. She'd made plans, after all, for what they'd be doing and they didn't involve any sort of adventure. She wanted the girl to get settled, after all, at the house. At her home. "You-"

"When I was your age," Laxus went on, speaking right over Mirajane, "I used to like to travel out to this big bakery, a few towns over, where I'd waste all my reward money. They sell the biggest cakes there! And-"

"You really like eating, huh?" the girl asked softly, making Laxus lose a bit of his steam.

"W-Well-"

"I just thought that mages were more conscious about what they consumed."

"'Well, they are, but-"

"Laxus has a sweet tooth," Mira told her with a slight grin then. "A sweet fang, as it is."

Ignoring his wife, Laxus said, "If you don't want to go-"

"N-No. We can. If you want."

"It's not about what I want," he told her. "It's about what you want. Surely there's somewhere you've always wanted to go. Something you've always wanted to see. Have you ever been to the beach? An amusement park? What about hiking? Do you like hiking? Or-"

"You're coming off a bit strongly, Lax." Mira reached over to lay a hand on his arm. To the girl, she only said, "You can think about it, sweetie. He's just overly eager, is all. We'll have plenty of time to go on vacations. Anywhere you decide."

Things were left like that for a bit, as Mirajane's dog was scratching at the backdoor and, after asking if she was ready, it was decided that it was time for their daughter to meet what Laxus had no doubt his wife would insisting on calling her new siblings.

Bleh.

Things went well, with the dog, but they figured it would. Their dog, Raiden, was rather friendly and the girl claimed to love canines, so things went perfectly on that front.

Ralph, however, was another story.

"So it's your cat?" the girl asked when Laxus came into the living room with the orange feline snuggled up in his arms, hissing whenever the man tried to put him down to go meet her. "Laxus?"

"No." He even shook his head. "It's Mira's. She got it before we even got married, so-"

"He has a cat," Mira informed the girl from where she was next to her, on the floor, both rubbing Raid's tummy. "He just doesn't like to admit it."

The day felt more in motion from there. Mira and Laxus had both requested that their family and friends leave them alone for awhile, so that they could get to know their daughter first, and the agreement was upheld.

For the time being.

Laxus was nearly certain that when the seven day hold he'd set upon the Thunder God Tribe was up, they and the Strauss siblings would be hounding at the door, wanting to meet her.

She and Mirajane spent most of the day talking about different things as Laxus sat around and tried desperately to be involved. He'd always been a loner, at heart, and never felt the need to force a bond with anyone, but his new daughter was another story.

He wanted a connection immediately.

Fearing for this sort of thing, he'd preplanned in a few ways. After finding out that they'd been accepted by the orphanage (it honestly was pretty disheartening to find out how easy it was to acquire a child; it made Laxus wonder how many did so far nefarious purposes), he'd gone out and loaded up on board games and packs of cards and even bought the kid a bike (with the intention of buying himself one eventually and learning how to ride one in private; he'd been busy with other things, back when he was a child).

Laxus would force some damn bonding time if he had to.

Mira went along with him, thankfully, and even excused herself from one of the board games, so she could prepare them lunch. This should have given Laxus time to get close to his daughter, but for some reason, he felt tongue tied.

Luckily, she made up for it.

"You're a Dragon Slayer," she mumbled at one point as they sat there, on the floor of the living room, Ralph in his lap and Raid at her side, a game board between them. "Right? Laxus?"

"Yeah." He even nodded. "I'm a Lightning-"

"I know." She couldn't meet his eyes for some reason. "I have your..."

"My what?"

But she seemed embarrassed then, even blushing, quite deeply. Mira was calling out then though, for Raiden, in the kitchen. She'd probably dropped something on the floor and wanted him to eat it. The girl only ran off with the dog though, into the kitchen, and away from him.

Laxus only sat there dumbly.

What had that been about?

He didn't get a chance to find out, as after lunch, the girl backed off both he and Mirajane and claimed she was rather tired; she wanted to take a nap. Mira only assured her that they'd be there when she woke up and to call if she needed anything at all.

That gave Laxus time to go sit outside and sulk.

What had he done wrong?

No doubt having been nervous herself the night before, the girl probably got next to no sleep, so it was no shock to Mirajane and Laxus when she slept the afternoon away. After sunset, however, the woman finally went to check on her and bring her a sandwich for dinner.

"We could go out to eat, if you'd rather," she said as she cautiously came to sit on the end of the girl's bed, holding out the plate to her. "But I thought you'd just want to stay in. Then again, if it was up to Laxus, he'd have us heading out on some sort of adventure-"

"Thank you." The girl even bowed her head to Mira, as she accepted the plate. Stifling a yawn, she added, "I don't usually sleep so much, but-"

"You're fine." Mira only grinned at her. "I'm just glad that you feel so comfortable around us."

Laxus sat around in the living room, waiting for the girl to come back out, to ask her to play another board game with him, but she only left her room once, to go to the bathroom. Raid was far suaver than Laxus, it seemed, and fit perfectly in with his new housemate. When he followed her from the bathroom to her bedroom, she shut him into the room with her without a second thought.

That left Laxus and his kitten.

"Are you coming to bed?" Mira asked, eventually, as he only laid around on the couch, reading a book, while Ralph chilled on his chest. "Dragon?"

"Maybe later. I just… It's her first night, you know? Somewhere new? I want to be up. In case something happens."

Mira only shook her head and pressed a kiss to his before mumbling something or other about her love of him (or maybe Ralph) and heading off to bed.

So he laid around. And waited. He must have fallen asleep at some point and Mira must have also come to claim the cat, because when he awoke, it was dark, he was Ralph-less, and someone (his wife) had given him a blanket.

Mmmm.

He was hungry.

Rolling off the couch, he took some time to stretch and yawn and scratch at himself because, hey, it was late, before heading off to go investigate just what happened to all that leftover ice cream he'd shoved in the freezer.

It was waiting for him to devour it, so it seemed, as he found it just where he left it.

Perfect.

"Laxus?"

And he about died too, his senses all mixed up from him just waking and his mind only thinking of the ice cream. He'd been so focused in on it that he must have missed the sound of the dog and his new daughter leaving her bedroom and coming into the kitchen.

"Aurora," he whispered as he turned to stare at her, container of ice cream in one hand. "What are you doing up?"

And Raid just rushed right by him, to get to his doggy door (late night peeing waited for no man), leaving the two of them alone.

"The dog had to go to the bathroom," she said simply, pointing after him. "Um..."

"Raiden. His name's-"

"Yeah. He had to go pee, so I just-"

"What's that in your hand?" he cut her off, turning to face her fully then. The light from the still open freezer was the only thing allowing them to see one another. "Aurora?"

"I… I thought you might be up, so I wanted to bring you..."

"What is it?" He took a slow step towards her.

"It's just..." She was holding it out then too, and not looking at him. Laxus only stared hard at it in the darkness before frowning.

"A Sorcerer mag?" He glanced at her. "What-"

"I lied to you, before. You and your wife. Well, more like I didn't tell you the truth." Swallowing, the teen added, "I know who you are. Before I met you, I did. A lot of other kids in the orphanage used to talk about how they wanted to join guilds and we'd talk about the different ones and how we wanted to learn magic and… I always wanted to meet you." She blushed a bit, at that one, before adding quickly, "And your wife too. And I have your magazine interviews or, hers, I mean, because you don't do them, but I have records of your fights and I even have-"

"Aurora." He came closer then, reaching out to gently pat her on the head. "Why would you keep that from us? It's okay." Laxus even laughed, just a bit. "We-"

"I thought that you wouldn't… That you would think that I only wanted to go with you because..."

"I don't care why you came to us. I'm just glad." And he meant that. He could already feel it, deep down, that he would be. When she looked up at him, he added, "If there's anyone in Fairy Tail you want to meet though-"

"W-Well...there is one..."

And he was getting ready to bite his tongue too, as he was nearly certain that she'd say the Salamander, because all the kids liked the damn Salamander, or at least he assumed they did, because he was practically a kid, in spirit, and he-

"Can you introduce me to the cats?"

"The what?" He almost dropped his ice cream.

"The cats," she explained before moving to flip through the old issue of Sorcerer. Then she pointed out a picture to him that had Happy floating around in the corner. "I've seen them before, in these pictures, but… I really want to meet the black one! Someone said that he can grow and fights with a sword and-"

"Yeah." Laxus let out a sigh of relief. "I can introduce you to the cats."

She looked just about ready to walk away and he was going to go back to his ice cream when she suddenly stopped. "And Laxus?"

"Hmmm?" He stared at her. "Need something?"

"Can you..." She seemed most nervous then, even kicking her feet a bit. "Can you teach me magic?"

He tried hard not to smile then, to be serious, but one broke through. "Of course I can. I can sense some in you. All there has to be is a bit. I have such clout down at the guild, kid, I think I might just get you in as a member. Express line."

"R-Really?"

"If that's what you want." Then he frowned. "Err, uh, you should probably shop around though, you know? I don't wanna force you into anything. Fairy Tail's cool and all, but… I mean, you could leave it, later, when you get older anyways, but still I… I don't wanna force ya into-"

"No." She even shook her head then, grinning at him, finally, truly. "I wanna be a part of Fairy Tail."

And Laxus couldn't help, but to grin back. "Great. I… Great."

Raiden was rushing back into the kitchen then and happily went off with Aurora to bed, where Laxus was figuring the mutt would sleep from then on. It was just as well; Ralph hated having to share a bed with the canine anyways.

And when he finally went to bed, Laxus might have done so with a bit of pep in his step, not the least bit upset when he 'accidentally' woke Mira up by bouncing into bed.

"Laxus," she complained. "What-"

"I think," he told her as Ralph jumped up on his chest to slumber some more, "that you better go ahead and conceded, Mirajane."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm definitely the favorite parent."

"Laxus, are you drunk?"

He only wiggled his toes a bit and said, "Guess who just basically gushed to me about how she thinks I'm the best mage ever and loves Fairy Tail and would be honored if I would bestow upon her the grace of learning magic from me?"

Mira blinked. "I'm assuring you're talking about Aurora, but I'm also nearly certain that it didn't happen that way, so-"

"It doesn't matter how it happened." He gently tapped Ralph on the head. "It just matters that it happened. And that's all."

"I told you not to pressure-"

"I didn't. She came to me." He paused at that, reflecting, before saying, "I think I even recall her saying that she thought Take Over was a shitty magic and that she wanted you to never talk about it to her or try and influence her in any way."

"Now I know you're full of it."

"Just admit defeat, Mirajane. I'm the better parent. Day one goes to Laxus Dreyar." He nuzzled his head against Ralph's. "And expect it from this point forth."

"She and I had plenty of-"

"You bored her with modeling stories all day. I wowed her in the ten minutes that we actually spoke." He turned his head on the side to stare at her. "I won."

Mira only narrowed her eyes though before snuggling back into bed. "There's always tomorrow."

"Yeah." He let out a long breath before whispering, "But I'm planning on taking that too."

It's kinda fun to lay ground work on a new Laxus and Mirajane family/universe. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this one since that one-shot a few days ago and, well, it's just going to be a thing from now on, I think.

Full Series on Archive

#Miraxus #Mirajane #Mira #Mirajane Strauss #Mira Strauss #Laxus #Laxus Dreyar #Adoption #Fanfiction #Fairy Tail

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