Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hello!! Welcome to my request book, I'm going to tell you some of my rules, and other things with requesting from here.

What I WONT write.

- NSFW, Fetish's, Kink's, I am a minor and am not comfortable with this content.

- Ageplay

- Bodily fluids or gasses (Vomit is fine to the extent of somebody being sick. Burps if its something funny like somebody chugs a bottle of pop.)

- I don't tend to like writing angst, but if I really like the idea I will accept as long as it doesn't include self harm or suicide. (I do not have experience with these and don't think I can write them accurately + I am not comfortable writing it.)

- Romanticizing gore, and injuries, No thanks! I guess vore is also in this category, no vore please.

- No Proships + Darkships, Zoophilia, Necrophilia, Somnophilia.

- I'm unsure if pedophilia is possible in Die of death, but I don't do that. (If there are any minor characters please enlighten me.)

- Sorry, I don't do character x reader.

- I will not do any ships that include Loveware or Devilware, unless its both of them together, those two are canonically dating (Possibly married?). You can find this in their trivia on the DOD wiki.

 !! THIS CAN UPDATE AT ANY TIME, ESPECIALLY IF I HAVE FORGOTTEN SOMETHING. !!

I will probably write anything else thats not on this list. But we will see, this is my first one shot book after all.

THINGS WITH REQUESTING.

Please be specific with the plot, it doesn't have to be super in detail, it just has to give me an idea, like ex:

CHARACTER and CHARACTER fluff fic please, I want them to go out to a restaurant and one of them gets water spilled on their outfit and it kinda ruins their day, they go out to watch the sunset and kiss and now its joyous. (This is a boring ass example but you get it.)

If you do not provide me some sort of plot, I will most likely not accept it as I'm horrid at coming up with ideas.

PLEASE SPECIFY PRONOUNS. OR ELSE I WILL DEFAULT TO THESE PRONOUNS FOR EACH CHARACTER: 

Purser: He/It/They

Artful: He/Him

Badware + Killdroid: They/Them

Harken: She/Her

ALL civilians: They/Them

(I will do literally any canon character I'm just wayyyy too lazy to write them all. (This includes skins even if not canon (like Orchestraful or Artistry for example.))

I also hc that Pursuer has a voice box that does not work well for the human language and doesn't speak well, so please tell me if you want Pursuer to be fluent in speaking.

Sorry if this is very specific and demanding, this is how I write sooo.. yeah!

If I don't reply to your request It means I don't accept it, I'm sorry I'm a picky writer please don't take it personally. I will reply if I accept your idea and put it on a list. (I say as I've accepted every request so far. I will literally only decline it if it weirds me out or smth.)

For now I will be taking 3-5 reqs at a time, I will probably slow to updating this as for me, when I write one fic I get burnout and take a week to a month to write the next thing. Im sorry for that. I will try to update at least once every two weeks, but don't get your hopes up. (FOR RIGHT NOW THIS IS CHANGED TO A CHAPTER ONCE A MONTH, THIS IS DUE TO MY MENTAL HEALTH BEING POOR AS OF RIGHT NOW.)

I will be implementing my hc's when I write these stories, if you don't agree with them, thats perfectly fine! Just ignore I typed it and either click off or keep reading. Whatever you want to do! I made this to feed the DOD fandom and have fun.

Apologies, I don't let guests comment as it makes me nervous. I hope thats understandable.

This is also a practice for writing, I love writing and have a ton of fics done already that I share with friends. Okay enough yapping sorry LOL.

I ALSO ALLOW MULTIPLE REQUESTS FROM USERS (2 is max preferred) BUT YOUR REQUEST WILL BE LAST PRIORITY, HOPEFULLY YOU UNDERSTAND IF YOU DO WANT TO REQ A SECOND TIME.

!! THIS MAY UPDATE AT ANYTIME. !!

DONE

- Pursuer x Badware - Badware glitches out from motherboard overheating, Pursuer helps them out with it

- Artful power exploration + adopting bunny fic

- Badware x Killdroid - Badwares screen gets damaged during a round and Killdroid fixes it after, embarrassment ensues from Badware

- Devesquot - Mequot really likes Devestos tool box and Devesto notices, and teases them with it and then touch lip happens oh my goodness :shocking:

- Pursuer x Artful - Sickfic, Pursuer takes care of Artful (Changes, Pursuer can speak)

- Harken x Artful - Artful gets hurt by Killdroid as mistaken for a criminal by the robot, Harken comforts + helps injured Artful wahoo

- Pursuer x Artful - Artful and Pursuer spend some time in Artfuls room together and Artful eventually reveals hes a civilian to Pursuer (ARTFUL MASKED SINGERS REVEAL!?) (Changes, Pursuer is it/its only.)

- Artful x Badware - Artful gets sick after a sucky round and Badware is there to help him out. (All the other killers LEFT to go gamble or something)

- Paranoy and Clawsguy cousin bonding (Hc from requester, It/its Clawsguy, They/it Paranoy.)

LIST

PRIORITY

- Poly main 5 killers - Life or death situation, they all realize how important they are to eachother.
- Harken x Caretaker - Lms where the two run into eachother, Harken is taken care of when calmed down.
- Main 5 killers discovery of Artful being human. (Plot is a little rough, partially TBD.)

BOTTOM PRIORITY (This is if a request is done by a user for a second time.)

- Ruins x Wiperware - Ruins gets injured during a round with evil scary and Wiperware takes care of her afterwards.

Chapter Text

Pursuer didn't really sleep, they couldn't sleep. It was more like it. But it was way better when there was actually some sort of peace and quiet. 

He grumbled as another sound of some weird glitching came from Badwares room. He grabbed his pillow and basically slammed it down on the top of his head, hoping it might drown out the noises from ‘gracing’ his ears.

It hoped maybe one of the other residents in the place might go deal with it, but he really doubted that. If he really thought about it Harken would probably just go tear Badware to shreds until they quieted down, he wasn't sure if she could hear them from across the place even with headphones on. But he hoped not. Artful? No he wasn't going to wake up. Despite both Artful and Pursuer sharing sleeping problems caused by the government, he slept like a truck if he actually managed to sleep.

Pursuer could definitely hear his snores. So yeah, not him. And for Killdroid, they were probably shut down. Nope. Nobody was going to deal with it.

He closed his eyes, grabbing the thin string of hope that maybe just maybe. Badware would figure out their stupid circuits.

There was a solid minute of silence, then it came again. Pursuer threw their blanket over their head. It rang out again. Again . Again . Agai-

That was it. 

Pursuer leapt up from his mattress, spinning around to the door to his room and yanked it open, storming out of it and down the hall. The moon was at its peak in the sky, its light proudly flooding the halls through the uncurtained windows that lined it. He glanced up at it for a moment, stopping to study the moon as if it were the most interesting thing at the moment.

They were snapped out of it when it heard the noise again. They actually let out an audible groan at it, now trotting to Badware's room. They first passed by Killdroids room which was right next to Badwares. He didn't bother knocking as he swung the door open. Badware perked as light busted into the room, along with the menacing shadow of Pursuer’s skinny frame tattooed itself into the floor and the room itself.

“ Pursuer ..!” Badware turned themself around, a blanket was wrapped around them as if it might help the glitching.

Pursuer blinked drowsiness out of their eyes as he studied Badware. Nothing looked.. Wrong..? 

Badware suddenly glitched out, their screen flickered, the c: face blinking out of view as it gave out to a mixture of a blackout screen with a tv static screen. That same noise that he was hearing tolled out louder than the previous ones.

Pursuer flinched a bit, a deep frown rooting itself onto his face. He closed the door behind him, wanting the littlest chance of Harken waking up and rampaging across the base to them as possible. He then slowly padded over to Badware, who had stopped glitching out a few moments ago.

“Bad..ware.” It grunted out slowly, its voice was deep and husky, unfamiliar with the language the others spoke. Badware looked up to Pursuer who now loomed over them.

“Did.. I wake you?” Badwares text to speech voice had a twinge of worry in it, as if the robot was actually concerned! Pursuer internally rolled his eyes.

He shook his head in response, he took the conversation as an invitation to sit himself down in front of the other. He crossed his legs together, settling his hands into his lap.

“Thats good.” Badware played an mp.4 of some person laughing, a nervous laugh. “I don't really know where this.. Came from? I’ve checked my code about 5 times, and my storage to see if anything is corrupted.. Nothing.. I even checked my cables! None are damaged and my circuits seem fine. I know you dont really.. Understand technology as well as some of us do but-”

Pursuer’s pupils were unfocused, their mouth hung up, eyes squinted as if Badware had just told him rocket science was as easy as tying a shoe.

“ OKAY WELL -” Badware glitched out again a few times, taking a moment to recollect themself from the latest assault of glitching. They played a sigh sound effect. “Okay well.. I don't think explaining basic robotic parts is that difficult to understand.”

Pursuer snapped out of the unfocused state and shrugged in response.

Badware facepalmed. “Well then who’s going to help me! I dont want this to keep happening.. It feels like my motherboard is tearing itself apart!”

Pursuer tapped his claw on his cheek, sticking his tongue out as if deep in thought. “Tell me… uh.. What.. do.” Pursuer offered.

“Tell you what to do? I don't really..” Badware thought for a moment, they did just say their motherboard felt like it was being torn apart. And they hadn't checked that yet.

“Okay okay, I think I know. I need you to check my motherboard.. I can help you! Just.. be careful.” Badware leaned forward towards Pursuer. “Can you do that for me?” 

Pursuer leaned back, an unsure look on his face. What if its claw grazed a wire and snapped it? What if they damaged something and Badware never turned on again? A million dilemmas and thoughts rushed in its head about something horrible happening.

Badware tilted their head to the side, prompting Pursuer for an answer. Pursuer took a moment to take in a deep breath, pushing all of those worries away. He nodded.

“Great!” Badware clapped their metal hands together, making a loud CLANK ! Noise. Pursuer jumped, somehow landing in the position of a scared cat on all fours. Eyes wide. Badware flinched as well, forgetting it was still night time despite the dark atmosphere of the room. 

“ Oops ..” The two listened for a moment, seeing as Artful or Harken might’ve awoken from it. Artfuls snoring had ceased which was a bad sign, but moments later it resumed. They didn't hear any stomps or anything else so Harken must’ve either ignored it or somehow slept through a noise for once.

“All clear..?” Pursuer nodded, slowly crawling back over to Badware. Badware pushed the blanket off their shoulders, pulling their legs out from under them to sit criss crossed like Pursuer had earlier. Pursuer invited himself into their lap, plopping themself down which made the larger being a little surprised. Pursuer stared up expectantly, their turquoise eyes filled with a hint of annoyance still.

“Yep yep, give me a moment. I would like to wait for another glitch- I dont want to randomly jump around with your claws in my wires.” Badware rested their hands on their thighs, their tail absent mindedly waving behind them as the dreaded glitching may come back again.

Pursuer glanced around picking at their teeth with its claws, getting a few chunks of meat and other things the government knows what out of their teeth. He jumped a bit when they glitched out again. A few pained words came from Badware, but they were way too glitched out for Pursuer to understand. When it ended they put a hand on their chest, taking in a few artificial breaths.

“You ready?” They suddenly asked. Pursuer put a hesitant thumbs up. 

Badware clicked a button that was on the bottom of their monitor, their chestplate opened up to a maze of wires and complex circuitry that made Pursuer regret saying yes . They clicked another button that turned on a mini light somewhere within them that made it easier to see everything in the dark. 

Badware looked down, studying their own insides casually. “My motherboard is where the heart would be in something like a biological creature. So.. around here. It's like the root of everything.” Badware pointed just slightly to their left of the cavity in their chest.

“Hurry, I don't want to glitch out again.” Badware watched as Pursuer shakily lifted his clawed hands, being as gently as possible as he pushed some wires to the side, softly moving circuits, and collecting them to the side as if opening curtains to a show. The wires felt tingly, electricity running through them like mechanical veins. “You should be close, I can't see where your fingers are but I can kind of feel it.” Pursuer took a second to register the words. They can feel this..?? They shuddered at the thought.

Soon enough they did find the motherboard for Badware, it was much larger than the other circuits with odd switches and compartments attached to it. It reached in to graze their finger against the motherboard, other to yelp as it burned his finger.

“HOT.” Pursuer whined out, pulling the hand out to wave it in the air, attempting to cool it down.

“Hot? HOT ?? Thats- thats not good.. Wait- Pursuer are my fans on? They should be near my motherboard.” Pursuer pushed the cables to the side more to glance in. The fans that Badware spoke of were not on. There were three of them around the motherboard, all on each side except for the side that Pursuer was on, checking on the motherboard.

“..no.” Pursuer mumbled.

Badware played a cricket sound effect before shooing Pursuer hand out of them, they reached in and clicked a button inside that turned their fans on, the soft hum coming to life showing they still worked. Badware raised their hands into the air, shaking them happily as they let out a triumphant noise.

“Yes! You figured it out Pursuer! I must’ve accidentally turned them off and my motherboard was overheating.. Oops..” Their hands fell back down, one of them went to close their chestplate to let the air inside cool and actually let their systems work again, they then clicked a button once again to turn the lights inside off. The room was once again dark aside from the moon's light still trickling in from underneath the door, and the soft light emitting from Badwares screen.

Pursuer grinned, making a smug face up at Badware as if he were the smartest being in the world, his smaller tail wagged in sync with Badwares which conveyed both their happiness.

An awkward silence started to fill the room as they didn't know what to say to each other. Badware glanced away, breaking the stare the two had shared for a little bit.

“Actually- do you mind getting me an icepack? It might help with the cooling process. I would really appreciate it.” Pursuer perked, responding with a hum of acceptance before getting up to get the item Badware had requested.

He padded out of the room, closing the door behind him again before he took off down the hall, his feet made soft yet firm noises against the hard wood of the floor, he didn't bother to slow down when he passed Artfuls room, it would be kind of funny to wake him up now. He swerved when the stairs came up, stepping down quickly until he made it to the living room area, then turned to the right to where the kitchen lay a bit of a mess from the last time Artful cooked.

The man could cook well but he whined like a damsel in distress when told to clean. Pursuer sighed as he stepped over a pot that had somehow planted itself into the floor, then made his way over to the fridge. He opened it up looking around for any icepacks before remembering they were probably in the freezer which was in the compartment above. He closed the fridge with a creak, then opened up the freezer which had some weird flavoured icecream, and then the multiple icepacks for Badware and Killdroid.

He snatched two of them, slammed the freezer shut and ran back upstairs to Badwares room, hopping over the pot once again, and running up the stairs then the hall like this was a marathon.

Badware was surprised when Pursuer returned with their breathing more deep and erratic. But they didn't mind. Pursuer shut the door behind them once again, walking over then dumping the icepacks into Badwares hands.

“Thank you.” Badware set one near their neck where some hot air was emanating from while they put the other on their chest near the motherboard's area.

Pursuer nodded back, sitting himself back down in Badware's lap. He hesitantly laid himself down, he was feeling more tired now, it was probably 2 am at this point. He rested his chin on the other thigh, curling his body up into a ball in the dip of their lap.

Badware flinched in surprise, their free hand lifted in surprise before drifting down to dare pet Pursuer’s head. Pursuer looked up, a glare in his eye that made Badware pause, before they closed their eyes and let out a deep sigh of content.

He felt safe for once. He didn't feel like the government was going to come kill him while he slept. He had somebody to protect him in his slumber. Somebody he could trust and rely on. 

It would be okay.

Pursuer drifted off, their breaths becoming slow and deep as he embraced sleep for once without a worry. Badware continued to run their metallic fingers along its head and down its rigid spine, careful to not be too aggressive with it.

“Sleep tight.” They lowered their voice volume as they said it, their hand came to a halt in the middle of the others back, turning on a sort of sleep mode to keep their hands in place. Their monitor went black but their arms and body stayed in place.

And the base finally ceased any noise and movement.

Chapter Text

Artful waved his wand around, he was somewhere deep in the woods where he could be alone, nobody to bother him. Though he wouldn't have minded if anybody could watch him… He was the one and only Artful anyways! Anybody and everybody should bask in the glory of his unrequited presence!

It had been a few days since he had stolen the wand from that pesky rich magician, taking all of the fans and fame for themself when he deserved it all! He huffed at the memory.

Memories.

He stopped flicking the wand around like some children's toy. It felt like yesterday when he performed his first show.

He had practiced everything down to the marrow of his bones, and how did it go? He lowered his head slightly. It went to shit. It took him hours to clean out the stains from his suit too! And those costed him a lot. 

What had he done wrong? Was it that he accidentally failed the handstand at the beginning? Or were the sparkles from his wand too bright? He had to know. He had to get a grip of this stupid wand . Or nobody would like his shows- they wouldn't like him.

He grit his teeth angrily, squinting as a tear welled up at the side of his eye. Grinding his teeth together he basically smacked himself in the face as he tried to wipe the tear.

“Ne pleurez pas Artful! You are a grown man..” He hushed under his breath himself. He stood up more straight and took in a deep breath. Tipping his hat up to let the cool breeze kiss his now heated cheeks. It felt nice.

He recollected himself, lifting his wand again cautiously before correcting his form as his hand had been slightly too loose with the grip. He found out that grip really affected the magic! He flicked it in a circular motion before jabbing the wand forward like it were a weapon, sparkles exploded out of the end launching Artful backwards from the force.

Artful let out a loud caterwaul as he collided with a tree behind him, sending a jolt of pain up his spine, he fell forward like a sack of potatoes, groaning feebly as he slid down onto the grass again. Artful dropped the wand, pulling angrily at his hat as he kicked his legs around, like a toddler having a tantrum.

“UGGH- WHY CAN'T I DO THIS RIGHT?? POURQUOI CETTE STUPIDE BAGUETTE NE FONCTIONNE-T-ELLE PAS!?” He shouted, throwing his fists in the air for a moment before stopping himself. This was ridiculous, he couldn't be so whiny, if he didn't act proper then he wouldn't be considered a magician!

Nobody wants a whiny adult do they? 

Artful sat up again, turning to look at the discarded wand now laying in the grass like it was trash rather than an actually powerful tool. 

“My grip must’ve been too much huh?” Artful noted to himself again, grabbing the wand before he hauled himself up to his feet. He played around with the wand in his hand, testing his grip strength before he tried again. He spun it around in his hand, lifting it above his head before pointing it down to the ground.

A couple of bricks poofed into existence, resembling a deformed wall that just barely managed to scrape above the height of his knees. A smile came to his face, he clapped his hands together before bowing as if he had an audience.

“Yes! Yes!! C'est comme ça que ça se passe!” He laughed to himself. He had finally done some sort of magic trick that didn't involve exploding himself or disintegrating a leaf! Artful stopped to study the wall. The more he looked at it the more he found the issues.

A brick looked melted, it wasn't that tall nor impressive. It looked like the bricks were thrown into a pile of cement at that point. He took in a sigh.

“Practice practice..”

He tried the same movement again, adjusting his grip, making sure his arm didn't shake, and this time not pointing it so low, and adding a flick up motion at the end. The wall did indeed improve, though this time its flaws were it was taller, but skinny, it was around the width of Artfuls torso while now it proudly stood at the height of his chest.

He walked around it, putting everything down mentally before he tried again.

Only this time, he flicked it too far, it spun around in his hand, the magical tip pointing towards his hat. He flinched as some sparkles shot into his face, blinding him a bit before he dropped it, rubbing his uncovered eye.

“Urgh- ow-” His hat shifted on his head, the warm cover of it morphing into something small, soft, and fluffy.

He stopped, bringing his hand away from his eye, looking up as best he could. His hat was confirmed to be gone. But he could still feel what it had become on the top of his head.

It moved.

He shrieked, his hands shooting up to grab the creature off of his head and flung his arms in front of him, bringing it as far away from him as possible.

He hesitantly dared to look at what was in his hands. He could feel its soft fur against his gloves, its flank heaving with tiny breaths as if it had just been born.

It was a baby bunny.

Its fur was puffed out from being yanked off of Artfuls head, the colour being black with little bits of dark grey at the ends of the fur. But Artful had to admit it was adorable..

His whole demeanour changed, a soft coo came from him as he changed his hold on the bunny, bringing it up to his chest to cradle it like a baby while a finger from his other hand went to gently scratch the fur between its ears. Happy squeaks came from the kit as he scratched them, making him fall more and more in love with it.

He had completely forgotten about his hat now being a bunny at this point.

“Oh chéri you are just an adorable little thing aren't you?” Artful chittered as he kept up his assault of love for the bunny.

“You're my little bunny now.. That means I should name you huh?” He lifted the bunny closer to his face, its nose twitched in response as it looked up to him expectantly.

“How about.. Pepper… does that fit you, petit bonhomme..?” He tilted his head to the side as the kit squeaked a few more times at Artful as if agreeing with him.

“Pepper it is!” He laughed to himself, his hand subconsciously went up to tilt his hat down only to feel nothing, right, his hat was now this bunny. He looked from his empty hand to the bunny a few times before seeing if maybe- just maybe he could summon another hat.

He leaned down to grab the wand that sat near his feet, picking it up and glancing around. He needed a base, just like how Pepper needed his hat as a base. He settled on a rock that sat in the clearing, casually being baked by the sun. He did the same movement he had done when accidentally magicking Pepper into the world, only this time he had an image of his hat in his head, hoping maybe that might affect the ‘spell’. 

He stared as sparkles danced around the rock before it indeed morphed into his hat. And it was..

Perfect! 

It looked just as it had before, the white strap lined around the base of the top with the purple flower still good as new on the side. 

“The great Artful strikes again!” He snickered to himself, letting Pepper inspect the hat before putting it back onto his head where it rightfully belonged. “What d’ya think Pepper, am I.. à couper le souffle?” He struck a pose to the bunny, which merely stared back at him with its tiny pitiful stare.

He sighed, hunching over a bit. “Who am I kidding? I'm just talking to a little bunny as if it were another person. You dont understand anything I say anyways.. Am I.. so so bad that.. I don't have anybody to talk to?”

Artful held the bunny closer to himself for a silver lining of comfort. He stared at the ground, ignoring the squeaks the kit directed at him. He hadn't exactly realized how lonely he was up until this point. 

Before he even pursued his dream of being a magician, he had worked construction. His coworkers had never liked him, he was always a loner, and it seemed he would be destined to be a loner. He took in a breath as the memories flooded back to him, he just wasn't a people person was he?

He felt more connected to this ‘puny’ bunny that was pretty much just made out of his hat. Was the bunny even real then? He sat down in the grass, setting his wand down in the process before shifting Pepper to his hands, feeling its fur, inspecting it.

Pepper felt real, but that was always the illusion of magic wasn't it? It seemed so real and yet it wasn't. For all he could know, Pepper was just filled with stuffing or some fake red yarn.

His face scrunched up at the thought. Pepper squeaked at him, snapping him out of his enigma of thoughts. Pepper squirmed in his grasp, throwing its paws around feebly. He lifted his thumbs off of it, letting Pepper have more freedom to move around in his palms.

“Désolée.” He mumbled to Pepper, how could he doubt a newborn? How long had Pepper been alive for now? 10 minutes? The poor thing didn't deserve any of these thoughts, he was just dragging the kit into his own hole he dug for himself.

“I will give you a life so much better than mine. I swear it.” He promised Pepper. The kit replied with a nose twitch and a content noise as if it actually understood him.

A small smile cracked onto his face.

Chapter Text

Badware stared at the calendar on the fridge for a minute, checking that today was the day they would go out and ruthlessly murder civilians once again. They were exactly ecstatic about it like they sometimes would be, they just wanted to stay home with Killdroid, and maybe the others. 

It's not like Killdroid was.. Special or anything. They internally laughed to themself as they thought about the other being for a few moments before shaking their head to focus back on the upcoming task they were to tackle.

They walked off to the living room right beside the kitchen, and sat themself down on the couch to come up with a few strategies and review others from past rounds.

If they were correct, it was going to be near the one church the survivors occasionally flocked to, like it was some migration location for them. They pulled up a mini map of the place on their screen, looking over the spots they planned to put their computers before moving them around as they found more efficient ways to place them. Badware was too consumed with their planning; they hadn't noticed the heavy metal footsteps that took their time to lumber down the stairs. They didn't notice as the footsteps grew closer and closer until the other was standing right next to them.

A sudden playful tug of their tail and they nearly lost their marbles. Frantic glitching noises, equivalent to Badwares scream, erupted from them as they jumped up from the couch like a terrified cat before whipping around to see Killdroid standing there like they hadn't just scared the living code out of Badware.

“Goodmorning.” Their voice was blank yet firm. “I didn't mean to scare you, I just thought it would be funny. My condolences.” Killdroid tilted their head down in disappointment at themself.

Badware stood rigid, still in the terrified position before zipping back to a standing straight position, they played a laughing sound effect before shrugging.

“O- OH, No its fine Killdroid. You just caught me off guard! Yeah yeah- no it was funny, especially how I reacted like that- jumping up and screaming- HAHA- YOU KNOW!” The words spilled out of the text to speech box against Badware's will. They didn't need to say so much? Oh now they were just being awkward… They hoped Killdroid didn't take it that way.

Killdroid seemed unbothered as they lifted their head up again. “Thats good then. Do you want me to help you with planning your round? I may be able to give you some feedback or information from my experiences.” The robot offered, stepping closer to Badware who was tempted to step closer themself.

“Sure! I wouldn't mind.” They swore the smile on their screen grew, but they weren’t sure. 

They both sat down on the couch, facing each other as Badware pulled up their plans on their screen again, this time Killdroid inspecting it heavily before deciding to give any sort of input.

“You should move one of your computers here, the civilians tend to loop this spot and you’ll need the speed there to outrun them.” Killdroid tapped at a part on their screen making Badware jump in surprise before relaxing again. Killdroid leaned back, noticing the scare once again.

“You’re right, how could I not have thought of that??” Badware waved a dismissive hand at themself before moving one of the computers to the spot Killdroid had pointed out.

“You have plans on how to cut off the civilians right?”

“Yeah I do. Here.” They pulled up another version of the map with mini notes and arrows all around showing how they could cut off civilians or ways to throw them off. Killdroid studied it once again, occasionally pointing out ‘flaws’ or ways to improve to which Badware changed them, then saved it into their harddrive to keep for the round.

Eventually Badware did have to leave though. They checked the time, noting it was merely 5 minutes before they would have to go kill those pesky civilians.

Killdroid was in the middle of speaking a lengthy paragraph on how to more efficiently kill, but Badware had to cut them off. Much to their distaste.

“-And if a civilian tries to loop around you try to reach back and hook them or jump back then sidestep-”

“Killdroid. I appreciate your help.. Uh. But I need to go, you’ve given me some really useful tips though! Thank you.” Badware flicked the map off of their screen, the c: returning onto the binary coded screen as they stood up, taking slow backwards steps towards the door.

“You’re welcome. Come to me anytime if you need any more help. Goodluck.” Killdroid waved Badware off who barely returned it as they dashed out of the door like there were ants crawling around in their system.

Their fans were turned on way too high making Badwares movements way more robotic than they usually were.

Calm yourself Badware! Killdroid was just touching your screen to help you make plans! WHATS SO.. what even is this feeling.

Badware stopped for a moment attempting to calm from whatever this strange bubbly feeling was. Their fans did eventually calm, though their systems now felt a bit fried.

“Badware, what is wrong with you today?” They mumbled to themself as they continued their way to where the round would take place.

— — — —

Badware was struggling as they ran around trying to get the civilians. None of their computers were staying up, being destroyed every time they went to chase somebody or if they didn't pay attention for long enough. They had only managed to snatch one civilian but it was only because they had tripped and fallen mid chase.

They were losing hope as the time rung closer and closer to 0 each and every precious second wasted.

They turned a sharp corner, running up the slope as a few civilians had been camping there to catch a possible break. A taunter was low, the first one to jump down as they hoped to survive. Badware rampaged past the other civilians who were significantly higher, they wanted the best chance of adding more time to the timer. They managed to get close enough to be confident they could hit a charge.

A loud charging noise came from them as they leaned back before stomping forward like a bull, putting their monitor flat as they rapidly approached the taunter who desperately tried to keep running, only to be slammed into, then sent flying into a wall. A sickening crack of bone with an accompanying splat that was heard before they went limp, and the huff of their breath faded.

30 seconds was added to the timer, leaving them with a mere 1:25 seconds left to kill anybody else.

They turned, going to put a computer by the entrance of the church for later. A mishmash of morse code came from them as they placed it down. They then glanced around to see a few civilians standing nearby, seemingly confident to fight Badware.

A puncher, and two revolvers.

This should be.. Fine. They turned fully around, ready to run at the three opposing them, but before they managed to, the two revolvers took a stance, firing the bullets aiming at their screen.

The glass managed to withstand most of the impact of the first bullet, as they had tried to make it bullet proof, but the second smashed right into the screen, falling out after it left a large crack within it.

Badwares vision became horrid, alarms blared inside as they staggered, their hands coming up to the screen in shock.

The three civilians ran away as Badware stepped around like some toddler learning to walk before they fell over, the screen started to flicker on and off before it stopped working. Badware could barely see at this point, their vision was all glitched and mostly blacked out.

Badware reached up to their screen, not daring to poke it or touch it, but merely to protect it if any other civilians came to further damage them. They turned, glancing around to see if they could find a hiding spot. There was the inside of the church.. No.. up a ramp to a spot they often trapped..? No..

They obviously couldn't hide anywhere.

They just had to wait till the timer was over. Which was a good 16 seconds away.

Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik…

— — — —

Badware felt awful by the time they managed to get back. They heard the chatter of Artful cooking something up in the kitchen while Pursuer listened even if it didn't want to. Harken was nowhere to be seen, and Killdroid was still on the couch where they left them.

Killdroid turned around when they heard Badware trudging through the door only to make a loud alarm blaring sound that made both Pursuer and Artful turn to see themselves.

“BADWARE?!” Killdroid leapt off the couch, running up to Badware who backed a cautious step away. “ARE YOU STILL IN THERE? WHAT HAPPENED?” The robot continued to ask questions like a worried mother hen as Badware stood there in silence, unsure what to even say.

Artful and Pursuer had slinked over as well to see what was happening, Harken now suddenly stood at the top of the stairs, staring at the 4 for the racket that had dragged her to that place. Her headwings fluttered angrily for a moment, before she squinted, seeing Badwares screen condition. Maybe this time she would let the noise go.

Badware finally managed to answer all of Killdroid's questions, and the other two's curiosity.

“Well. I was punched so it was hard for me to move, then I was shot in the screen. Twice.” Badware then gestured to their broken screen.

Killdroid looked as if they might explode. “Come on Badware, I'll fix your screen in my room.” They grabbed the other's hand and started to drag them off to the stairs where Harken was now fleeing from back to her room. Killdroid was careful to guide Badware up the stairs before turning to the right then making their way down the hall.

Badware's grip on Killdroid's hand tightened. They didn't know if it was out of impulse, or fear. They didn't want to know.

Badware was zoned out as Killdroid took them through the dooframe of their room, then shut the door. Before leading them to a seat near the left of the room, then urged Badware to sit, to which they responded with no complaint and sat down as instructed.

Killdroid grabbed a toolkit from a shelf that was beside the door, it was large and seemed to have every tool to fix a machine needed.

“I didn't know you were some part time mechanic.” Badware joked, playing a comedy show laugh that glitched out from the damaged screen.

Killdroid made some weird clank noise, probably from the mini jerks of their body. It seemed the equivalent of their own laugh. “I repair myself when I'm damaged, though I could improve, it's better than leaving you like.. This.” They turned to look at Badware who tilted their head to the side innocently in response.

“I might not have the right materials for your screen but, I will try.” Killdroid turned to rummaged in their closet, pulling out a black layer of some type of glass, then a semi transparent piece that looked of plastic or glass. They then took it back over to Badware. They took a few measurements of Badwares frame before grabbing some sort of special special marker. They made some small talk as they marked the two materials with the measurements they recorded.

“Badware. Uhm. What's your favourite.. Device?” 

Badware perked when asked. “I like Gamecubes. The circuitry in them is funny. Same with the controllers that come with them.” Badware started to idly kick their feet.

“Gamecubes? Never heard of them.” Killdroid shrugged before lifting the black layer of material to inspect it, then moved onto the clear layer.

“I have to show you one once my screen is fixed! Maybe we can get Artful to go buy one next time he goes undercover in town.” Badware perked at the thought, tail wagging behind them.

“Im sure I can convince him. Then you can show me the gist of the whole thing.” Killdroid inspected the next sheet, nodding to themself before taking the materials over to Badware. They used a normal pair of scissors, surprisingly, and started to cut at the thin black material that gave away easily, then did the same with the other material. Killdroid was then left with two squares of material for Badwares screen replacement.

“Are you ready for this? I might have to unscrew some things and take a bunch of parts out.” Killdroid warned, standing a bit too close to Badware who felt that odd feeling return from earlier. They hesitantly nodded, leaning forward for Killdroid who took the side of their screen in a hand, then grabbed a screwdriver.

They looked around the frame for a moment and began the process.

Badware was in their own world, completely contemplating what was happening while gradually overheating from how close Killdroid was to them and their screen.

Why did they trust Killdroid so much with replacing their screen? They didn't even question how good they were at this kind of thing other than a mere joke. They didn't question them for even offering, no, more like forcing Badware to let them fix their screen. What was going on here? Why are their fans moving at turbo speed now? Their body started to twitch a bit as they gradually grew more glitchy and embarrassed. This was so stupid.

Killdroid didn't seem to notice, in the middle of replacing the second screen layer, the transparent material, with careful precision.

“Killdroid..?” Badware barely managed to get out without wanting to play some sort of screaming audio or blare loud alarm noises. 

Killdroid stopped, pushing the piece into place quickly before looking at Badware again. They didn't back up. “Yes? Is something the matter? Did I put a piece wrong?”

“No- no.” And now their making sure Badware is okay? Badware took a moment to speak, trying to process everything once again. “You’re really close to my.. Screen.” Their voice volume lowered. Killdroid strained to hear before immediately stepping away as they realized.

“Sorry.”

“It's okay.” Badware crossed their arms over their chest. “It’s just a me problem! It's fine! Hah- I dont know why its so awkward to be close to you and why I enjoy hanging out with you and.. And- Talking with you and how I found it amazing you helped me this morning- and I appreciate you helping me with my screen and-” Badware stopped as they realized they were rambling. “I don't understand this feeling, Killdroid. Is it my programming or my code?”

“It sounds like.. Uh- what do they call it?” Killdroid thought for a moment, searching a few definitions in their database.

“Love.”

Love.

It rang around in Badware's head for a moment. Did they just blatantly confess their ‘love’ for Killdroid to their FACE? The feeling skyrocketed and their embarrassment grew. They immediately jumped up making Killdroid push them back down in the seat. “Wait WHAT? LOVE? NO- no no no no! I cant be in love?? I can't do that!”

“Can I..?”

Killdroid stood there for a moment, gently holding Badware down to prevent them from sending the still loose part flying across the room.

“Probably. I mean.. I guess I feel the same with you sometimes.” Badware swore they were dreaming.

“I enjoy.. Talking and hanging out with you. I wish we could do it more even if we do so all the time. So yeah. You can. And so can I.” Killdroid stepped away from Badware, now grabbing the last screen part. “Mind if I put this in so I can see your funny smile again?”

Badware nodded, suppressing the urge to play a laughing sound. 

— — — 

Killdroid screwed the frame back in and stepped back, hoping their work was enough for Badware to once again see properly.

Badware clicked the green button on the side of their monitor, taking a moment to let the screen boot up.. And.. It worked!

Their c: popped up along with the copious amounts of binary in the background. Badware jumped up, throwing their hands in the air happily before striking a stupid pose in front of Killdroid.

“Thank you Killdroid! I'm really.. Grateful.” They walked closer to Killdroid and wrapped the other in a big warm embrace. Killdroid squirmed for a moment, unsure what was happening other than the scrape of metal against metal as Badware lifted them off the ground and spun them around.

“UH- YOU’RE WELCOME..??” They grabbed onto Badware, not wanting to be dropped as they were spun around multiple times. Badwares tail now wrapping itself around Killdroids leg.

“We should hug more often! This is fun! What do you think??” Badware stopped the spinning, now just holding Killdroid close to them. They looked down at the shorter that still clung to them desperately.

“Yes. Yes I like it but next time a warning..?”

“Right right! Oops!”

“Uhm. I love you Killdroid..?”

“I love you too, Badware.”

Chapter Text

Mequot stood behind Devesto who was showing them a bunch of things his f3x could do. The other man obviously just showing off to Mequot at this point. 

The two were standing out in a field by the base all the killers resided at, half of it looking like a junkyard of moved parts, summoned items, and many other things. Mequot took it all in like a sponge soaking up water, absolutely adoring the powerful item Devesto wielded.

“Mequot- look at this.” Devesto pulled Mequot closer to him, squishing the other against his side as he unrooted a tree from the ground and waved it in the air while laughing. Mequot looked up in awe, ignoring the fact he was squished against Devesto.

“Wait wait.. Can you throw it?” Mequot pointed at the tree.

“ Pfft . Can I throw it?” Devesto repeated before rolling his eyes. He stepped away from Mequot, now taking the f3x in both hands. “Yes I can. Where do you want me to throw it?”

Mequot looked around, their eyes scanning from left to right. They settled on a river just ahead of them and pointed to it. “That river?”

Devesto turned to look, nodding. He lifted his hands up a bit along with the f3x that just barely levitated above his palms. He thrust it forward sending the tree flying into the river, water erupting up from the impact before cascading back down where it belonged. 

Devesto huffed, setting a hand on his hip while the other hand still held the toolbox up in the air.

Mequot clapped his hands happily in an applause then ran back to Devesto's side. “Do you think I could try Dev? It looks so fun to handle..” Mequot dared to reach for the box in which it was swiped out of reach.

“It is fun! But you can't try it. I don't want you blowing up a mountain or something. It's hard to figure out how it works. And plus! It's mine.” Devesto swatted Mequot's still outstretched hand away from his oh so precious f3x. Mequot frowned, making a sadder face than normal at Devesto who blinked, unfazed at the other. “Dont even try that with me.”

Mequot huffed, snapping the expression off his face then crossed his arms. “You don't have to gatekeep it like it's some ancient relic.” They growled at Devesto who suddenly looked offended.

“W-Well! It's very powerful, mind you! If you don't know how to use it you could do some bad things by accident.. And it is.. I DON'T NEED TO EXPLAIN MYSELF TO YOU!” Devesto’s face grew red from annoyance. His wings that rested on his lower back fluttered with shared annoyance, the feathers ruffling.

Mequot puffed up his cheeks, turning away from Devesto dismissively. “I’ll just go back home then. See you there Mr.Stuckup!” Mequot giggled as he ran, the nickname hitting a nerve with Devesto as he yelled after Mequot but didn't give chase after the other.

— — —

Mequot sat in the kitchen beside Badware at the island, Killdroid and Devesto figuring out how to make some sort of apple pie recipe for a treat. Mequot was still glaring at Devesto whenever he turned his back on them, but when he turned around he would have his normal face on again. He would get his revenge.. Somehow. It wasn't even that Mequot was truly annoyed or angry or anything, it was just funny seeing Devesto get mad or annoyed at him. But…! They did find an interest in the man's f3x and wanted to give it a try.

Badware seemed to take notice, thinking it was some sort of game and started to do the same but with Killdroid, only they put an image of some weird guy with blonde spiked hair looking menacingly ahead on their screen. (For anybody who doesn't get it, it's that one goku image.)

Mequot nearly burst out laughing as they watched Badware do it to Killdroid. Devesto didn't even seem to notice, too consumed with being annoyed at the confusing recipe that baffled him and the robot.

Mequot kept snickering, finally making Devesto turn around only to send him laughing his ass off on the floor.

Killdroid turned around finally, staring at Badware who kept the image on their screen. Killdroid played a laughing sound effect they had downloaded, their body jerking in a laugh motion to match the audio they played. Badware also played a laughing sound effect. Though the twos sounded more robotic compared to the howling of laughter that came from both Devesto and Mequot.

Devesto finally got a grip of himself and hauled himself off the ground, leaning against the counter now, Mequot doing the same.

“Oh sweet roblox Badware… THAT WAS SO STUPID!” Devesto wheezed again, the image still on the monitor.

“That was my intent! Thanks!” They took the image away, putting a thumbs up to the man who still let out wheezes of laughter.

While Devesto was distracted still getting over laughing at the image, Mequot snuck away from the kitchen, heading up the stairs to where all the killer's rooms were. Now if they remembered correctly.. Devesto's room was to the left. He turned that way, slowly heading down the hall to inspect the doors, vaguely remembering Devestos had some decor on it to brand his presence into the place.

He eventually did find it, the door having a bunch of random decals and stickers of things that probably came from the man's interests. He grabbed the door handle, hoping Devesto didn't lock it. And lucky they were.

The door didn't fight back as he opened it, floating back on the hinges until it was fully opened at the mercy of Mequot. They studied Devesto’s room for a minute, admiring how neat yet expressive the place was.

A few posters were strung up just above his bed which sat strong on the right of the doorway, there was a fluffy rug sitting proudly on the floor, ready for its daily trampling and a dresser just ahead, a large shelf nearly covered the entirety of the left wall holding trinkets and many other things Mequot did not care to observe.

They spotted the f3x up on the highest shelf, making them perk as they hesitantly walked over to try and grab it. It took him a few attempts before he managed to get it, holding it gently in his hands as if it were a child rather than a box that could do who knows what. Their tail idly wagged behind them as they held it, his claws twisting the f3x around to inspect each side with care.

A voice snapped him out of his thoughts, making him spin around only to make a face like a dog caught in an act.

“Oh I should’ve known you would've come in here uninvited.” Devesto's voice was dangerously low, as if he had just cornered his prey, which is how it ultimately felt to Mequot. Both of his hands were propped up onto his hips, his wings were surprisingly tucked neatly behind him rather than out and fluttered like the other expected. Though his demeanor suddenly changed, becoming more of a teasing expression, with that default smug smile. “You really are interested in my f3x huh?”

Mequot stood their ground, despite wanting to crumple over in embarrassment and shame from being caught in the act. “Well you always gatekeep it like crazy from me.. Is that an issue that I find interest in it?” Mequot retorted.

“No. I guess not. It's more annoying that you took your precious time to sneak into my room to get it. It's not like you can use it anyways..” Devesto slithered over to Mequots side, snatching the f3x before dangling it just out of Mequots reach. 

Mequot jumped a bit, not expecting Devesto to just snatch the thing out of his hands. “H-Hey-”

“Ah ah, you don't get the right to complain. It's not yours.. Is it?” Devesto purred, wiggling the f3x in front of Mequot's face before taking it away again. Devesto began to go on a spree of teasing Mequot, not realizing Mequot's annoyance grew with each word that left his mouth, and further heightened with every action.

When Mequot's patience grew thinner and thinner, he finally decided to devise some sort of plan. Hmm. Maybe if they jumped up onto Devesto.. Then made him fall over.. And then while he’s still recollecting himself after the fall, they grab the f3x and run off? It was worth a shot.

While Devesto was in the middle of his teasing spree, they suddenly jumped up onto him, wrapping their arms and legs around Devesto, then put full force into trying to knock him over. He paid no mind to the f3x in that moment, making Devesto's arm fling back from the recoil of nobody trying to grab it as well. Devesto struggled for a moment trying to get Mequot off him, but failed.

Devesto yelped loudly, wobbling around from the extra weight before indeed, climaxing into a fall. Mequot’s grip faltered in surprise of the harsh fall Devesto took, slipping forward to the inevitable of their faces crashing together.

Admittedly it was painful to both of them, but there was a sort of.. Connection.

Devesto tried to groan as he lay on the ground like a splattered tomato, but the sound was muffled. He blinked a few times against the ceiling light before looking down to see Mequot's wide eyes staring back at him, uncomfortably close. It was then when it hit both of them that their lips were pursed and touching. Both of their faces grew redder by the second. Mequots fur was fluffed out, while Devesto's feathered wings were even more ruffled than before when he was angry.

Neither wanted to admit they didn't actually mind it.

Devesto quickly pushed Mequot off himself, sitting up immediately before sputtering a few times, then wiping his lips on his sleeve. 

Mequot fell off of Devesto with no resistance, stumbling back onto his rear just in front of Devesto. What the hell were they supposed to say to each other now..? Mequot opened their mouth a few times, trying to figure out what they could say but nothing came out. His mouth dried up from nervousness, making him struggle to swallow a few times.

Devesto suddenly spoke, only it came very quietly.

“I can teach you how to use the uhm. F3x. Just…-”

The door swung open. Loud growling following behind. Both their heads whipped to turn to the culprit of the growling, seeing Pursuer, teeth bared angrily to convey its displeasure with the amount of noise being produced from earlier. He looked exhausted to say the least.

“Sorry Pursuer! W-we wont be loud anymore- dont worry..” Mequot reassured, waving his clawed hands in the air while shaking his head.

Pursuer blinked sleep out of his eyes, grunting in acknowledgment before trudging off away from the room, not taking the effort to even close the door.

Devesto stared after the beast before turning back to Mequot, both still recovering from the kiss they shared.

“Look, just don't spread it out that we kissed, and I'll show you how to use the f3x one day. You win. I give in.” Devesto admitted, now glaring at Mequot, though it looked halfassed from his still red face.

“Maybe I should kiss you more to get what I want from you.”

“HUH!?”

Chapter Text

Pursuer was awoken from his deep slumber, feeling like a corpse just being dug up. It yawned, stretching its back in a cat-like way, then easing back down into a laying position on their belly. He didn't exactly appreciate that Badware and Killdroid were making a racket downstairs getting ready to go kill civilians again, but they guessed the two couldn't help it due to their mechanical bodies.

Though he felt like they shouldn't have the need to sound as if they were smashing plates and cutlery on their knees down there.

Wouldn't Harken have dealt with that by now? Pursuer growled under his breath. If he had to guess, she probably left the place to go do whatever the hell she did out in nature. Not like they cared. 

He was snapped out of his thoughts as another loud noise came from downstairs, sounding like a loud alarm followed by the bickering of the two’s robotic voices. He decided it was time to make his entrance and announce to the world they were finally up and ready. They leapt up to their clawed feet, scrambling over to the door busting it open with impatience, then turned to waddle down the stairs to where the other 2 killers were. He never liked stairs, they felt odd against his sharp claws that were equal to that of daggers at this point. They huffed, pushing the thought aside.

They finally got to the bottom of the stairs, now observing what the other killers were doing. 

Killdroid seemed to be tinkering with some of their Killbots while Badware kept trying to correct them on their ‘mistakes’.

“No no you're doing it wrong! This wire is supposed to go here.” Badware snatched the wire from their hand and shoved it forcibly into place with little care. Killdroid twitched with annoyance, making a loud alarm noise in response, then pulling it out of place.

“Are you the one who built or even works with these? NO.” They snapped, waving the wire mockingly in Badware's face who played a sighing sound effect in response.

Pursuer watched the exchange with a bored expression, occasionally picking random chunks of flesh out of their teeth from an earlier meal. When they were finally bored of it they finally butted in.

“Do you guys have anything better to do? If Harken was here she would literally tear both of you apart until scrap metal was left, and I'm sure you woke up Artful from his ‘beauty sleep’. So have fun dealing with that.” A long string of words coming from Pursuer, it's not like it talked often. Only when it really needed to express something.

The other two whipped around, both looking shocked in a way. 

“Well I would’ve been far done with this Killbot if someone didn't keep messing with the wires..” Killdroid slowly turned to Badware who put on an innocent expression while shrugging dramatically.

Pursuer huffed in response, then let out a snort. They were fighting like little kids. Before Pursuer could get even another word in, the two started to bicker once again leaving Pursuer standing there blinking profusely both in a flabbergasted and awe-like state.

Pursuer looked around wondering where Artful was suddenly, he looked at the clock, learning how to read it from Artful himself, and knew that the man had a tight schedule with how his morning went. Artful was down here in his fancy bathrobes looking like a slob at 8:15 normally, and currently it was 8:37. Something had to be wrong. The time for killing civilians was around 8:45 too. They had to get going pretty much now.

“Hey guys, I think we need to get going, but like- where's Artful?” Pursuer’s voice lowered dangerously.

Badware slapped Killdroid in the face to get them to shut up then turned to look at Pursuer. “I dunno actually. But I’m not checking in on him, Killdroid can!” Badware then pushed Killdroid towards the stairs.

“No. No no no! I’m not missing a killing spree just because that man is probably crying over his hat being slightly over place on his head.” Killdroid pushed back into Badware pushing both of them back.

“Well then. Oh Pursuer…!” Badwares voice changed to be in a singsong manner. Pursuer huffed in response, giving in easily as they didn't want to argue any longer. It stomped up the stairs, hearing Badware shout a farewell to them as both of the other killers left.

Pursuer turned to the right of the hall once they got up the stairs, walking past their room towards Artfuls. They slowed, sniffing the air intently as an odd scent filled their nose. One they couldn't put a finger on. Its footsteps came to a full stop, now just wondering what the hell the scent was and where it was coming from. It smelled similar to that of sweat, vomit, snot, and saliva. Pursuer nearly gagged as the scent got stronger. It was disgusting, assaulting all their heightened senses till they had to cover their nose.

He decided to figure out what that was later and just go to Artful. Though as they walked up to his door, the scent grew stronger. It seemed to be coming from his room. Dear sfoth what was the man doing in there? Pursuer slowly opened the door, the scent blasting into his face in full force, he yelped, stepping back to instead peer inside of the room.

Artful was curled up on the floor, half of his makeup applied, clothes strewn around, he was panting like a dog with a fever and sweating like crazy, it was evident the man threw up in his trashcan that was now near him, one hand grabbing it harshly. Pursuer had never seen him or anyone like this. Was he dying? They slowly stepped into the room, acting like everything was a biohazard as they stepped over the clothing until they were now at the man's side.

Artful didn't even seem to notice Pursuer there with him until he felt the looming presence of it behind himself. He was delirious and exhausted, not a good mixture of things to weigh you down huh? He slowly turned over, his head pounding, guts spinning and twisting within him as he tried to just look at Pursuer.

Pursuer still had its face covered as he studied him. Did Artful get an injury that caused this? He was still so confused. 

“Artful.” They suddenly addressed, making Artful flinch at the sudden noise. “What- .. What in death is this. Why do you smell so BAD.” He recoiled as he swallowed some of the scent.

The other barely blinked, taking in slow laboured breaths. “I’m.. Sick?” The tone he used was obviously a ‘How do you not know this?’ kind.

“I’m not an expert in Robloxians.” They huffed, soon getting more used to the smell to take his clawed hands off his face. “Tell me what a ‘sick’ is. I don't like the sound of it, especially if it does this to you.” It pointed at him, gesturing to all the evidence of what ‘sick’ might be. 

“..Do you know what bacteria and viruses are?” Artful asked first.

“What does that have to do with a ‘sick’. No. I don't." 

Artful groaned loudly, putting his hand on his burning forehead. “Just.. get Killdroid for me. They know what to do..” 

Pursuer gave him a questioning look, then looked away and looked back again awkwardly. “Killdroid left.”

“Are you seriou- Badware?” Artful asked hopefully. Pursuer shook his head. He gulped. “Harken?” Pursuer shook his head again.

“It's just me.” Pursuer sighed.

“Uggghh.. I don't have the energy to deal with you or explain what sickness is to you.” Artful snapped, his agitation was rising. He merely wanted to get over this sickness and get help and he was stuck with a forest being that acted like a feral cannibalistic dog. This was going to be great. “Well.. Pursuer. I need you to boil some water and make me some tea. Is that simple enough for you?” 

Pursuer thought for a moment, there were a few times where he saw Killdroid making tea for Artful, or Artful just making it himself. “Boil water in the.. Thingy..” 

“-Kettle.”

“Kettle, then pour it in a cup and add the teabag.” Pursuer looked at Artful for approval.

“Mhm. You got it. First- get me off the floor. Please.” Artful weakly raised his arms, a few coughs rousing from him as he finally moved for once. Pursuer awkwardly stood above Artful, leaning down to hoist its claws around the man's back, careful as to not tear his clothing or hurt him as he knew the man would cuss him out in french for hours, then brought him into his bed gently. It was only now Pursuer noticed Artful was shivering, and radiated heat like crazy. Their hold lingered on him, he stared into his glossy eyes which stared back with exhaustion laced within. It finally let him go, pulling the blanket over him instinctively.

“Do you want a tissue to wipe your horrid make-up job off?” Pursuer tried to make a joke, holding up a tissue box they somehow magically produced. Artful looked back with a disinterested yet annoyed face. Snatching the box weakly then starting his procedure of removing the make-up. Pursuer took that as a sign to go make the tea, but not before sliding the trashcan over to the bedside of Artful still needed it.

He walked out of the musty and sick smelling room, taking in a full breath of clearer air that cleaned out this sense. It almost felt like he had been holding his breath the whole time in there. He continued his way down the hall, turning to the stairs once again to make the awkward journey down. 

Once they reached the kitchen they stared at all the things presented within it, cabinets, utensils, microwave, oven, kettle, all of the things a kitchen should be equipped with. He approached the kettle, inspecting it for the little button it had that opened the top hatch of it, after clicking the buttons for a little it finally popped open, making him jump back growling in surprise. It would never get used to the damn thing. He turned to the sink after grabbing the handle of the kettle, running the water as they put it underneath the steady stream that shot to life instantly as the dial was turned.

He waited for the water to reach the right measurement within before turning the sink off, setting the kettle back onto its stand then turning it on. He then opened up the cabinets above the kettle, searching inside for the right tea Artful was so adamant on having everyday. There were many flavours inside the cabinets that Artful discarded when he realized he disliked the flavour. And no other killer but Artful drank tea so they just piled up until Artful found the flavour he enjoyed dearly now, Earl grey. 

Why did they remember that.. It wasn't important at all- They pulled the early grey tea packet box out of the cabinet, holding it close to their face to inspect. He looked over the words that meant nothing to his simple mind, only recognizing the letter ‘A’ a few times. He never found a use in reading so what did it matter? Pictures were enough.

Pursuer jumped when it heard the kettle screeching its loud annoying beeps in their direction, signaling it was finally done. He fished the tea packet out of the box, shoving it back into the cabinet with no respect, then fetched the mug for the tea. He placed it on the counter, plopping the tea packet within, then steadily poured the searing water. The scent of the tea wafted into the air, curling up just right as it flowed into Pursuer's senses. The scent was oddly comforting. Maybe it reminded them of something they loved that he didn't remember, or just didn't care for at the moment.

He made his way back upstairs, holding the mug at the tip of his claws so as to not burn their palms off. The sickening smell of Artfuls room returned as they entered once again. They approached him, Artful weakly sitting up before coughing his lungs out for a solid moment. 

“Here’s the tea. You liked Earl Grey, right?” They double checked, knowing if he got the flavour wrong Artful might refuse it and he would have to make even more tea.

“..You got it.” Artful accepted the mug, immediately gulping it all down, making Pursuer stare in absolute disbelief. Did that not burn Artfuls tongue off.. “I know that look.” Artful chuckled, reaching forward to grab Pursuer's cheek. Pursuer halted all movement at the sudden contact. “Haha. I’m probably delusional right now but you’re so pretty when the sun hits you right. It compliments all the rough textures of your skin.” Artful suddenly blurted.

…

“What.” 

“Nevermind. You don't even understand compliments do you?” Artful giggled, laying back down into the bed going limp with over exertion. “Do you even care about anything Pursuer? You’re always so on edge and dense with everything.” Artful patted the spot beside him on the bed. Pursuer bit their lip as he thought.

“I don't know what I care about.” Pursuer slowly crawled onto the bed, curling up beside Artful. “I guess I care about my safety but that doesn't count to your point does it.” Artful shook his head. Pursuer sighed.

“I mean people, or even interests.” Artful continued to pry. It was getting to a dangerous point. Maybe Artful just didn't care. Or he was too curious to regret if he got punished.

Pursuer ignored the questioning. “Do you need anything else to feel better?” 

Artful’s faint smile faltered. “I’ll need a bath. But I can do it myself when I have energy. Other than that.. Water. I just need to stay hydrated, I suspect a small fever is messing with me. Luckily my nausea is low. And I doubt you’ll be able to find any medication I need. And I guarantee you can't cook soup.” 

Pursuer nodded. Hopping off the bed to go fetch the water for Artful.

Artful stayed in place, missing the soft warmth Pursuer had emitted beside him. It was such a little amount of warmth, but the comfort it brought was like a drug, intoxicating, making him want more. What was wrong with him? Was he going insane from sickness? Ugghh.

He gripped the blanket laid over him more tightly. His eyelids fell heavy, feeling like boulders as they closed shut, giving away to a deep slumber.

…

Pursuer returned with both a glass of water and a wet towlette, letting it hang limp in his claws as he peered over to see the magician fast asleep. Gently laying the towelette on his forehead, he then placed the glass of water onto the bedside table. He slowly climbed onto the bed laying down beside Artful, careful not to wake him. He needed the rest.

Pursuer reached for Artfuls face, their claws stopping just out of reach of his cheek. What were they doing? Snap out of it Pursuer. They softly growled, pulling its hand back. Why did they even care that Artful was sick? Why did they care that he was weak and pathetic in this state? Why were they even worried about him?

Was this the care that Artful pestered him so much about? Was this what care really felt like?

They snuggled up closer to the magician, still being careful. Their faces were closer than ever before, the scent of the bacteria still hot on Artfuls breath but Pursuer didn't care. This moment wasn't going to be ruined by some dumb bacteria Pursuer didn't even know about. 

What was the thing Artful always told them about for affection? A kiss? Yeah- a kiss. Pursuer leaned up to his burning forehead, leaving a gentle peck on it. He hovered there for a few seconds waiting for a possible reaction but nothing came. It returned to its laying position, curled just beside Artful, now falling asleep with the sickly man.

If this is what care felt like, then he didn't mind it. They didn't mind it one bit.

Chapter Text

She stood tall in the vast meadow, wind whipping around her, running along the blocks of her body and ruffling her head wings. It was cold in a comforting way, like a mild nip. Though she didn't pay much mind, too absorbed with the flowers popping out of the tall grass, splattered around in blotches of colour as if she were in a living painting. Her large eye was halflidded, studying everything intently. She had never seen anything like this in her dimension, the only thing similar she had ever found was a rose. Though that was only when Artful had gotten her one from a store once. It died a week later even though she put all her care into it. It confused her, she knew how to care for flowers- so why was that one so tricky? She still never got an answer to that one.

She was sucked out of her thoughts when a large gust of wind slammed into her, her head wings flaring in surprise before calming down a moment later. Her body moved, hitting against itself to let out a few angry ticking noises, stringing into a simple sentence.

“Unnecessary unseeable force.” She had a habit of talking to herself at this point. Nobody really understood her home language other than with Badwares odd language that was somehow similar. What did they call it? Moose code? Morse code? She couldn't really care.

She didn't really know how long she had been standing out there for, but she figured she should make her way back to where the killers stayed, or they might just forget she was a killer in the first place. Could they even blame her for leaving so much? It was always so loud, and she refused to use headphones out of fear a construct might show up out of nowhere and she wouldn't hear it. She found it strange this place never had any, but still. She would always trek with caution.

Her wings slowly shifted over her now closed eye, now entirely relying on her hearing. The noises of her footsteps bouncing off of the tall grass, spreading out a map internally. She would soon trek into a forest, casually avoiding any trees that blocked her path. It was soon she would hear desperate screams from the distance with the yelling of words she could not understand. He pace hastened, just getting close enough to recognize it was Artful who was screaming bloody murder, and that Killdroid was- attacking him..

Her confusion bloomed into anger. 

Then to rage.

She suddenly broke into a run, her eye opening up, while her headwings flared open. Her heart pounded in her chest, her ears ringing as the noise got louder and louder, till she broke out of the woods to see the scuffle happening.

Artful was cowering away from Killdroid, ash, dirt, and fresh wounds littered his body, some of his casual clothes torn. Pursuer and Badware were by Killdroid assuming from the worried tone laced in Badware's text-to-speech voice, the virus was trying to stop Killdroid while Pursuer tried to disarm them or slow them down somehow. Though as far as she could tell it wasn't doing much. Killdroid still fired their missiles, nearly blasting Pursuer in the face and just making Artful further flee around the place. 

Her anger bloomed into rage.

Everything was so loud. Too loud. Why was it so loud? Shut up. Be quiet. BE QUIET.

She summoned her javelin, throwing it in Artfuls direction; it pierced him, the chain magically connecting him to her, their heartbeats now pounding in sync. She hauled him with little effort in her direction, pulling him just out of another missile that would've hit him dead on. He let out a noise of surprise as he was yanked, now behind Harken in the blink of an eye. Her eye twitched as Killdroid turned to her, All of them looking at her in surprise.

She didn't even know how she could handle all this noise. Something was fueling her to keep going despite her ears feeling like they might explode at any given moment. She started to go on a tangent, knowing only Badware could understand her slightly.

Her floating limbs shook and hit against each other, more aggressively than normal as if giving the hint she was lecturing the killers.

“Do.. NONE of you understand how recklessly you are acting. Specifically Killdroid. What even is the meaning of this? Do you not see that this is Artful you hunk of metal? Useless.” She didn't bother to voice more of her anger, the own noises she was creating already making her head pound further.

All of them looked in confusion at her, aside from Badware. They all turned to look at the virus.

Badware responded. “Killdroid merely mistook Artful for a civilian. We just need to get Artful in his magician outfit and everything’ll be fine. And me and Pursuer had this completely under control till you crashed the party.” Badware shrugged.

“Under control? Artful would’ve been dead if I hadn't come when I did. And Artful clearly isn't in the shape to move let alone change his clothing in this current moment. He’s basically living on my life force right now.” She glanced back at Artful who was still behind her, she could feel his heartbeat slowing down from their link, whether it was from lack of adrenaline or he was losing too much blood. “I don't want to linger any further. Go fix that dumb robots screws. I’ll deal with Artful.” She stomped her foot lightly, showing Badware this was final. They didn't argue and so the two groups went their different ways.

Harken lifted Artful up in her arms with as much care as possible, the man suppressing a groan of pain, the tension in his body from all the fear and chaos slowly melted into him being limp like a sack.

She kept her eye on the killers until they were out of sight, now calming slightly from the lack of loud noises, though she still felt like anything could get on her nerves in the current moment. 

A soft melody slowly rose to her ears, whispering into them like a mothers soothing lullaby, she instantly began to calm, her head wings went slack, not flaring like an angry bird any longer, now just resting on the sides of her head. She glanced down, seeing Artful give a weak smile while holding a music box that still produced the noises.

It reminded her of something lost to time. Something she could no longer see or hear.

She didn't know how to communicate her appreciation to Artful, merely giving a small headnod. Though now her anxiety slowly hit like a bus, the link between the two was fading as Artful’s body slowly gave up. How poorly did those killers mess up for Artful to end up like this..? The only thing preventing her from going ballistic again was the music box thankfully. 

Her pace quickened, she now finally entered the killer’s home, rushing to the medicinal room they had, in emergencies like this, they all agreed it was vital for them to have it. She swerved down halls, swearing in any other situation they were way shorter. Every precious second felt like an hour of wasted time. When she finally skidded to a halt in front of the medical room, she plopped Artful onto the bed on the side, the link now breaking apart. She turned to look at all the medical supplies on the shelf, the music box no longer helping her calm.

Her rage bloomed into apprehension.

She rapidly looked through the shelf, her geometric arms and fingers not proving to help as her grip would slip, or she would knock things down. Adrenaline made her jitter in fear, she felt like she was racing against time right now. She managed to grab hold of some bandages, a few different pills she would read later, and some creams.

She whipped around, struggling to hold all of the things in her arms without dropping them, and rushed to Artfuls side. Artful barely held the music box in his hand, his eyes closed as if relaxed in such a state. She panicked, thinking he might've already died, violently shaking him which in turn made him yell in pain. She jumped back from the sudden noise, only scaring both of them and fueling her fear and anxiety. Artful raised a shaky hand to cover his mouth, looking at her in sympathy, in turn taking that as an apology. She returned to his side, dumping all the things she had onto the table, then fully looking him over. She only realized now that Artful wasn't exactly dying- well he could if she didnt start doing something but- His wounds weren't as deadly as she thought.

There were chipped pieces from missiles lodged into some parts of the man's body, and it seemed only one arm was completely mangled, but the blood loss was getting concerning. She first slid Artfuls clothing off, earning a few strangled noises of pain from Artful as he had to move for once, and began the process. She first slowly picked the pieces out of Artful's skin, praying she got every single one, then lathered the wounds left behind with some different creams she hoped would help, then bandaged him up. 

Then she turned her attention to his banged up arm.

The top of it seemed to be affected by an explosion from the missile, evidence of singed skin showing along with a small crater in the arm. It was a little hard to look at admittedly. Her floating limbs spasming for a moment, similar to that of an irritated or unsettled twitch. She began with lathering the cream like every other wound, though she noticed Artful’s intense focus on not making a noise, it almost made the construct feel bad despite it being her nature to be set off by those loud noises. The musicbox still sang like birdsong, in the background, making her hands steady enough that she wouldn't do something stupid to mess the wound up even more.

After applying enough of the cream she stared down at it knowing it probably wasn't enough. But she was no doctor! And she couldn't stitch things up for the life of her. She just had to hope it might be enough.. 

She then turned her attention to cleaning up any blood left on Artful and the bed, realizing she had some on her hands as well. She stopped to stare at it. It wasnt her fault.. 

But if she hadn't left.. Artful would be okay..

She looked at Artful, who looked back, then at her bloody hands again. Artful reached his good arm over, with a struggle, gently putting it over her larger hands. She looked him in the eyes. His gaze softened, a small smile on his face.

How could he smile right now? He was in pain- he was hurt- she couldn't protect- she couldn't help-

She couldn't help him. Just like she couldn't help her friend back home.

It was her fault her friend was dead. And now it's her fault Artful got hurt isnt it.. She stepped away from Artful, a few ticks erupting from her body as she spoke, even if he couldn't understand.

“Artful- I’m sorry- its my fault its all my fault- you could’ve died and-” She didn't have words for him. Artful tilted his head to the side, then pointed at the desk behind her. She turned, seeing a notebook with a pencil beside it.

How has she not seen it before?

She snatched the notebook and pencil off the desk, zipping over to the bed, she basically ripped the thing open as she suddenly poured out her feelings in a giant paragraph on the page, most of it containing apologies about this being her fault.

Artful watched with half lidded eyes as she wrote frantically, the writing getting messier and messier as she continued to write. Artful sighed, lifting his hand grabbing the pencil and notebook from her forcibly. He simply wrote;

“Its not your fault. It was a misunderstanding that just ended in.. this.” He gestured to himself after he finished writing. Her headwings flare, her eye somehow opening up even wider. She snatched the pencil and notebook back.

“A MISUNDERSTANDING? YOU COULD’VE DIED.” Her body vibrated in anger as she stared at the words, occasionally glancing at Artful who now just looked a bit worried. He slid the musicbox closer to her, hoping it might help.

She almost forgot she had the thing, she was so consumed in her anxiety and rage she completely drowned the thing out. Its tune proved successful as she calmed, now staring at the floor to distract herself from Artful's condition. She didn't seem to notice how she dropped the notebook and pencil into Artful's lap, she only realized when Artful lifted it up to her eye so she could read it again.

“But I didn’t. I lived because of you.” A small smile accompanied the message, making her heart swell. He wasn't.. Wrong. He took it back to write more. “The other killers see you for your anger and short temper but underneath you’re really just a big worry wart.”

She blinked a few times reading it over for what felt like another hundred.

THE NERVE OF THIS GUY-

She rolled her eye, making a few angry ticks in response making Artful let out a tiny chuckle. She suddenly got an idea, slowly rising to a full stand, then making her way out of the room to go fetch something, leaving Artful laying on the bed with a puzzled expression. She returned with a bundle of blankets, dumping them onto Artful, then wrapping him all of them as if he were a burrito, though she kept his hands out so he could write if needed, then picked him up in a cradle. He kept the musicbox, notebook, and pencil on him as she carried him to death knows where.

— — — — 

He sat, still wrapped up in her lap out in the meadow, a tree looming over them casting a shadow in its wake. She had told him all about her obsession with flowers and how she found nature to be stunning.

He read all the words intently with a smile, nodding occasionally.

“Do you know any flowers from here?” He asked, lifting the notebook up for her again.

“I only have a firm grasp with roses. But I do want to get more familiar with the flora and fauna of this place.” She glanced around, trying to see if she could recognize any of the flowers scattered around them.

Artful pointed at a small white flower with a yellow center just near them. “Well this one's a daisy.”

She studied it for a long moment, taking in each feature with great interest with a small nod. She made a few ticks and clicks, murmuring daisy to herself in her native language. Though she was careful not to move too much as to not disturb Artful who was still very much healing. 

Artful proceeded to then introduce her to more flowers there were around them, she internally bookmarked each fact and every descriptive word Artful used for them all. The man really knew his flowers as well.. Though she wasn't complaining. 

Her only complaint was that she wished she could stay here forever just learning about flowers. But she knew that would have to come to an end eventually. Much to her distaste.

Chapter Text

Artful stared into the vanity mirror sitting pretty before him, he applied his make-up carefully, covering every inch of exposed skin that wasn't swallowed by his outfit. He inspected his face the most, making sure it was up to his standards. He huffed, a frown dusting over his face as he noticed a bit of makeup had been wiped off by a finger. A slow groan drew from him as he grabbed the makeup once again, then his brush. He continued his action, gently dusting the end of it within the makeup, then brought it up to the patch missing makeup. The bristles caressed the spot until it was fully covered, like the rest of his face. He gave a content sigh, now putting everything away so his room was neat and tidy.

He was a bit of a clean freak.. No, more a perfectionist. Everything came down to how perfect he could be even if it meant putting his socks on in the correct order, or else everything would collapse in on itself. (In Artfuls world anyway.)

His hands rested themselves snug on his hips as he inspected his room, the place practically shining and sparkling in cleanliness, though in the man's eyes something still wasn't right. He squinted, glaring at his bedside table for a moment, then a snap from his fingers came after. He stuck his tongue out as he slowly shifted the tissue box into place then smiled at himself. There, now it was perfect. He applauded himself dramatically bowing to a fake crowd before plopping himself down onto the carpet.

What time even was it.. He glanced up at the clock sitting on his bedside table, reading 1:37am. He was even surprised. He struggled to sleep a lot of the time, putting on makeup and dressing himself up to distract himself from it, something about letting his guard down unsettled him to a discomforting degree. He couldn't pinpoint why, but he knew it was something that did so. He spread his arms out, going limp, letting his bodyweight crash him down into a starfish pose on the carpet.

“Now to wait till I pass out cold on my carpet.” He mumbled to himself, staring up at the ceiling, the light still blaring in his eyes. He should probably go turn that off.. He slowly sat up, a groan drawing out of him, he stretched his arm out, the other going behind his head. He felt a few cracks spray across his back while his body shivered in satisfaction. 

Artful finally picked himself up, slowly trudging to the door where the lightswitch was, he flicked it off, darkness engulfing him in a tight hug. He stood, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness before turning to his bedside table to turn the lamp on, he squinted as it popped to life, giving his room a nice cozy aesthetic. He sat down on his bed, ruining the made bedspread without a care in the world. He now stared up at the dimly lit ceiling, his breathing slowed, taking a more relaxed and lethargic pace now. His thoughts began to wander, his guard hesitantly being let down. A yawn even drew out of him soon after..

He jolted when he felt his bed dip and give under excess weight. He scrambled up to a sitting position, eyes wide with a bit of terror, only to be met with Pursuer's curious face. His fear turned merely nervousness, the tension in his body immediately leaving as soon as it came.

“Pursuer-” He stuttered out, the creature merely taking it as an invitation to fully crawl onto the bed, its sharp claws threatening to tear the plush sheets apart as it roamed around. It decided to curl up behind Artful, making movements similar to that of a cat as it made itself look like a large deformed donut. Artful watched it carefully, an eye staring over his shoulder at it. It glanced back, a hint of a glare lacing it. “..what's the look for?” He gulped, his cheeks heating up in fear he might've done something wrong. Pursuer shrugged, shaking their head.

Artful sucked on his teeth, now looking away. A million thoughts raced through his head now, the creature or whatever he liked was comfortable laying against HIM in HIS BED. This never really happened, the thing almost never went in his room anyways- and it usually never came in willingly.. So why was it here..?

Artful looked back at Pursuer again, its gaze still focused on his face. “Pardon me but uh.. Why are you here exactly? Not that I dont like your company..!” His hands quickly shot up in a defensive manner, his head shaking rapidly.

Pursuer grunted, mimicking a snoring noise before making an ‘X’ shape with its claws.

“You couldn't sleep?”

It nodded in satisfaction, an impressed gleam in its eyes. It's not like the other killers could guess what it was trying to communicate a lot of the time. Though Artful had grown to be a big show off about it, getting it correct more times than the others. Artful hummed, leaning back into the warmth of Pursuer subconsciously. Pursuer noticing it more than it would've liked. 

Artful wanted to be truthful with the beast he had somehow fallen in love with, it had been quite some time of holding them within, though before he was to ask Pursuer about love and going out or anything of the sort, he would probably have to out some other things first..

Like him being a civilian.

He was pretty sure Pursuer was unaware of his ‘species’ and that was the only reason the thing didn't brutally tear his guts out for breakfast like it did with other civilians. In truth, he was terrified of its reaction. Would it kill him on the spot, would it hate him, would it just not care..? He didn't know. But he had to tell Pursuer eventually, it just wouldn't be fair! He was sure the beast showed him all of its ‘secrets’. Not like it had much.. Other than the fact it loved playing a harmonica it found once.

He felt a nudge against his side, snapping him out of thought. He glanced down, seeing Pursuer’s nose buried into his side, the other's teeth digging into his clothes, it seemed like it was either worried about him, or wanted some sort of attention. Artful tilted his head to the side. “Need something?” His hand cautiously drifted down to Pursuers head, it bared its teeth a loud snarl alerting the man it did not want pets. “Okay..” Artfuls hand snapped away before it could be bitten off.

Pursuer’s snarling died down, now leaving it snuggled up against Artfuls side while its torso and legs curled around the rest of his sitting form. The French man was utterly dumbfounded. Did it want attention or what..??

The silence aside from Pursuer's growling and breathing was getting to him, he needed to talk about something, or at least get his ‘secret’ off his chest to Pursuer. Artful bit his lip, looking down at the other who now had its eyes closed, seemingly drifting off to sleep.

“Pursuer.”

Its eyes snapped open, pupils adjusting to the dim light then swiveling to look Artful dead in his face.

“What do you think I am?” Artful’s limbs and body tightened in slight stress.

Pursuer blinked sleep out of its eyes, confusion lacing its face before it pointed at itself. “You think I'm like you?” Artful repeated aloud, it nodded slowly. Artful now knew his hunch was right. He swallowed a lump in his throat, a hand coming up to his forehead. Pursuer raised its head, its face twisting into a mix of worry and annoyance. “Listen Pursuer, I’ve kept this from you ever since we met, as you can imagine, but I believe my makeup has always deceived you, messed up your senses and thrown you off. Though at this point I only keep it on in here for my safety.” Artful removed a glove, his arm, to Pursuer’s disbelief was a tan colour, odd blotches of lighter skin dusting over it in random spots. The strong scent of a civilian now hit it like a truck.

Artful licked the tip of his finger and dragged it across his cheek, the makeup giving away to his saliva. The same tan revealing underneath the makeup.

“I’m sure you got it when my glove was off but.. Heh. I had to prove my point..” Artful looked at Pursuer nervously, his ungloved hand shaking. Pursuer’s pupils dilated rapidly, little droplets of saliva leaking from its mouth, yet it didn't move. It stayed where it was, staring at Artfuls barren arm, occasionally glancing at the spot on his cheek that was rubbed off. “Do you not.. Hate me? Or uh, want to eat me..?” Artful tried, looking away nervously. Pursuer suddenly jumped up, shoving its face into Artfuls, forcing him to look at it. Its saliva dripped even more out of its mouth, now flowing onto Artfuls nice outfit. A low hungry growl came from it, its mouth slowly opening before snapping shut right in front of his nose, the beast hopped off the bed, sitting itself down into a corner in shame.

Artful almost laughed. A low chuckle came from him as he looked at Pursuer punishing itself in the corner.

“Would it be alright if I removed all my makeup..? It can be damaging to my skin if I leave it on too long, especially if I fall asleep and it's there in the morning, could get in my eyes. Well, eye.” Pursuer turned slowly, nodding with unease, though the added on part at the end caught its attention.

Artful got up out of his bed, throwing off his vest, hat, mask and other accessories he didn't need. Though he stayed facing away as his face was uncovered. Pursuer unbanished itself, trudging back to Artfuls bed, though its gaze never left the man as he seemed to get himself ready for bed. The only time he was out of sight was when he went into the connected bathroom in his room, most likely removing makeup in there and dealing with his.. Eye..

Artful stared in the mirror, it had been a while since he actually looked at himself like this, his features, both considered beautiful and weird, out for the world to see, well not really. More like for Pursuer to see. Though the most notable thing, his normally covered eye, the pupil was cloudy, and of course it was difficult to see out of it. The only thing he ever remembered was he was born with it, and had dealt with it his whole life. He peered into the mirror, checking the eye just in case it wasn't infected or anything, the last thing he wanted was for it to go fully blind. He huffed when he decided it was fine, now all dressed in his pj’s, with no makeup, he re-entered his room.

Pursuer immediately sat up, staring at Artful who approached the beast, staring with both his eyes, rather than one. Pursuer studied Artful carefully, interested in this.. Form that was somehow still the same person. To Pursuer's simple mind, it was as if Artful was entirely different, maybe he had just swapped out with someone else in the bathroom for all it knew. But the gentle leftover makeup scent told it that was not the case.

Pursuer’s face twisted at the sight of his eye, was he injured..? What happened?

Artful inched onto the bed, now sitting beside Pursuer. “Hope you don't mind me like this, but it does help me sleep. And frankly I’m more comfortable.” Artful grinned, taking a glance at the clock that now read 2:02am. “And about my eye, I was born with it, it's called uhh.. Cataract. I think. Makes it hard to see out of it but if I got one eye that works I think it's enough. Glad it didn't take both my eyes.” Artful tried to make a small joke, though it only seemed to make Pursuer more confused and worried. It waved a hand in front of his foggy eye, making Artful flinch nervously. Pursuer glared at it as if it would magically just fix it somehow or maybe even help it a little.

“It can't really be helped unless I get surgery. I’ve learned to live with it, don't worry!” Artful smiled, though it was obvious it was forced. Pursuer frowned further, but decided to turn its attention to something else instead, now looking at his skin, some parts of his right arm were peppered with the lighter blotches, same applying to some near his blinded eye, and on his neck. “That's Vitiligo.. Also born with it.” Artful glanced at all the spots he could, inspecting himself with Pursuer as if unfamiliar with anything that had to do with himself. Pursuer nodded in interest, staring at Artful, there was still hunger laced within the beast's gaze, making Artful unsettled, but it made no move to devour him despite the many chances.

A large yawn suddenly erupted from the French man, making Pursuer stare in confusion before returning a yawn itself, they both stared at each other, then let out small chuckles, Pursuer’s being deeper and almost deformed or distorted. Once they finished laughing together Artful spoke.

“Do you think it is an appropriate time to go to bed?” Pursuer nodded, headbutting Artfuls side, making him fall down into his bed, Pursuer flung the blanket over him messily, then fumbled with the bedside table light till it finally clicked off. Artful grabbed the blanket straightening it out over himself, but before he could Pursuer plopped itself on top of Artful, making him let out a massive wheeze as air exited his lungs rapidly. He was not expecting or prepared for Pursuers weight at all. He struggled for a moment, catching his breath slowly as Pursuer casually laid splayed out on top of him. “Warn me next time you do that..” He grumbled, though he wasn't complaining.

Pursuer let out a soft growl, in response, as if an apology. Artful chuckled, his hands instinctively drawing themselves to Pursuer's rough skin. This time, the beast let him pet it. Though unsettling to feel its skin, it was oddly comforting, the rough texture grounding him to reality, keeping him in the moment, where it just felt like it was him and Pursuer.

“Bonne nuit, mon amour.” Artful whispered under his breath, closing his eyes now. His hands continued to slowly pet Pursuer until the man was out cold, the beast following soon after.

Their breaths were slow and in sync, their bodies giving each other just the right amount of warmth and comfort. It was like two puzzle pieces clicking together finally. Perfect and right.

Chapter Text

Artful’s breath was ragged and quick, his legs pumped while his heart hammered against his chest as he ran, it was pouring rain, getting his outfit soaking wet leaving him cold despite all the running and swinging of his wand. He slipped and fell from the mud numerous times, adding to the other couple of times he had slipped and fallen from the banana peels, it was getting on his nerves, an all familiar adrenaline rush slipping back into his bones.

Though even when his anger rendered him blind and made him use more of a brute force tactic, it didn't help. The civilians still managed to get away, and Artful was left staring up at the sky, a grim frown plastered over his face. Today was a horrible day. He was cold, wet and tired, his body aching from the punches and the bullet that managed to snag him right in the shoulder.

He didn't even want to walk back to the place all the killers stayed, but if he stayed out here he would catch a cold if he hadn't already. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he lowered his face from the sky, the rain still beating down onto him as he took a step, then another, till he was at a quick walking pace. He was lucky enough he hadn't strayed too far from where he stayed, but it still felt like an eternity when he finally found the place. Despite it being a large mansion type of building, it was hidden, deep within the woods that civilians never dared to trek into. (Mainly because a certain someone COUGH named COUGH COUGH Pursuer would kill anyone who actually managed to find the place and eat them for breakfast.) 

He felt a shiver roll up his spine, now taking that as a ‘get inside and get warm now’ despite it being obvious he should’ve done so before. He broke into a sprint basically barrelling himself through the door slipping yet again to tumble inside straight on his stomach. Rain followed in suit, starting to form a puddle inside behind him. He glanced up in confusion, wondering where the other killers were. He didn't hear any voices, no one was downstairs watching the tv, and the kitchen was empty. This didn't feel right..

He slowly picked himself up, garments sticking to his skin like glue making him want to gag at the feeling, as he turned to shut the doors. Killdroid, like the clean freak they were, would probably lose their shit at the puddle but in Artfuls cold and wet state he couldn't care less, tracking water in his wake as he stormed off to his room to get changed. 

He never really realized how scary the place could be when it was this quiet. He didn't like it. At all. Even if there was some peep of noise he would feel better but it genuinely just felt like he was walking through a haunted house, something waiting to scare him around the corner. He would occasionally glance over his shoulder in unease as if actually thinking maybe there was something there.

But that was just his mind playing tricks on him..!

He started to hug himself, feeling the last of his warmth drain from him as he wandered, finally getting to his room. He pushed the door open, shutting it behind him as he immediately threw his clothing off, a sigh leaving him as the slightly warmer air of his room hit his skin. He turned to look into his vanity mirror, a small cry coming from his mouth as he saw his makeup dripping down his face, looking like it was melting off.

DID HE SERIOUSLY LOOK LIKE THIS WHEN HE WAS CHASING THOSE CIVILIANS??

He bolted to the bathroom, now throwing his mask and hat off as he grabbed a towel that was already beaten and bruised with previous white makeup he rubbed off. He aggressively rubbed it all off, now his tanned skin showing as he stared back at himself in the mirror, soaking wet, basically half undressed in his bathroom looking like a homeless man.

He let out an exasperated sigh, putting his free hand on his forehead before a sneeze suddenly wracked out of him. He blinked in disbelief, as if he had never sneezed in his life. Maybe he really did get sick.. He threw the towel to the side, looking back to his room where his clothes lay on the ground, water soaking out of them. Was he stupid..?

He let out another sigh, going to grab his clothes and get changed.

— — — —

Artful was now bundled up in his softest pj’s. It was dark and gloomy outside, night threatening to grasp its hand over the land. Though now he was merely staring at the tv that played before him, the light from it became a blur as his eyes unfocused. He just needed the thing to play to fill the uncomfortable silence of the place, though at this point his sneezes and sniffles should've been enough. He was so caught up rubbing and blowing his nose while the tv played he didn't hear the loud metal footsteps of a large robot behind him. He nearly screamed when he felt the arms wrap around him, throwing him up into the air before catching him against their metal chest.

“..WELL LOOK WHO CAME BACK FINALLY!” Their text-to-speech voice rang out cheerfully as they spun the man around in their arms. Artful clung to their cold metal body for dear life, praying he wouldn't be flung away and slam into a wall.

“I-I’VE BEEN HERE FOR A BIT- S'IL VOUS PLAÎT, POSEZ-MOI PAR TERRE!” (1) Artful cried out, the translation registered quickly within Badwares code, they stopped, and gently set Artful down, his balance was unsteady from the spinning, but he slowly got it back, a low scowl now on his face as he looked up at the virus.

“Maybe I didn't see or hear you cause I was charging up my body, heh.” They knocked a metal hand against the side of their monitor, the light emitting from it blending in with the tv’s glow.

“Makes sense- but uhm, where are the others? I would’ve thought at least Killdroid was here, no?” Artful gestured around himself, looking around the living room as if the killers would just magically appear before him.

Badware looked around for a second in confusion then made a ‘Ting!’ noise, as if a lightbulb had appeared above their head. “Harken is probably out in the rain watering her flowers, Pursuer got hungry so they left and Killdroid went with him because they didn't trust it to come back when it needed to.” Badware then looked back down at the shorter magician still standing before him, a sneeze only coming in response.

“Did I really take that long to come back..?” 

“Yeah you were a good couple hours, no hard feelings though LOL. But uh.. Are you okay?” Badware started to circle Artful like a predator stalking prey, looking at Artfuls rough appearance. He looked disheveled, a small shiver came from him and he was still sneezing a few times.

“I think I got a bit sick. I was dumped on by rain for a good majority of that match.” Artful rubbed the back of his head with a hand, gritting his teeth. “À mon grand agacement.” (2) 

Badware stopped circling him, now thinking to themself, a million possibilities running through their code for a moment. “You should go lay down. Even on the couch if you really wanna watch TV, but TBH I can play somethin’ on my screen in your room.” Badware’s tail flicked as if jealous of the first option they gave.

“Being in my room would be nice.. Uhm thanks. Are you going to like- make something for me?” Artful sneezed again, then slowly raised his arms to hug himself, he could feel himself getting colder.

“I dunno what you like but I was gonna try to make soup or whatever shows up for ‘TOP 10 RECIPES FOR SICK PPL.’ And you're gonna like it.” Badware played a small laughing sound effect.

Artful had a skeptical expression lacing his face, the virus couldn't cook for the life of it so.. How was it supposed to make anything for the magician? “I’ll trust you.” Artful was honestly too tired to really care, his body still felt beat up from the round earlier and the sickness was slowly creeping up on him.

Badware nodded with a small squeaking noise coming from their neck. They lumbered off to the kitchen, their loud footsteps following in pursuit.

Artful lingered for a moment, still hugging himself, he let out a soft sigh, a few coughs coming from his now scratchy throat. “Je ferais mieux d'aller dans ma chambre…” (3) He whispered to himself, he turned to the staircase, not even bothering to turn off the TV that would stay blaring to a non existent audience.

He set a slow pace as he made his way to his room, taking his sweet time going up the stairs, then through the halls, he heard a sudden crash and loud thump down one of the halls, only to see Harken had somehow gotten in and was running full speed in his direction. He nearly screamed as she raced past him, directly to her room, slammed the door, then another loud thump followed as it seemed she just collapsed onto the floor. 

Artful blinked in confusion, WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED- ??? He wanted to go in there and pry for an explanation, but if he pissed her off he might as well be choked to death or torn to bits, a gulp elicited from him and he shook his head. No, he would rather not.

He turned, suppressing a cough as he wandered down the hall to his room yet again.

— — — —

Badware scrounged around the internet for a good bit, trying to find an easy recipe that they couldn't fail. It was getting a little annoying as they stared at the complicated recipes that they knew would be a fluke. A sighing sound effect elicited from them, and they instead, turned to the pantry. Their camera scanned over the items scattered around the shelves in a disorganized manner, finding the silver lining to the problem at last.

A packet of Chicken noodle soup.

They played a confetti noise to themself in happiness as they grabbed it, turning it over to stare at the instructions.

Boil water, pour the mixture in, let it settle, enjoy. Simple enough. They turned back to the kitchen still holding the packet, walking back towards the stove. They set the packet down onto the counter and grabbed a pot from a cabinet, spinning around to the sink, now filling it up. They were especially careful to not get any water into their circuitry.

Once done, they set the pot onto the stove, cranking the heat up to max, now the waiting game. They set an internal timer, leaning back against the opposite counter while they watched a video on the screen to cure their boredom. For a virus, Badware was quite easy to bore.

Soon enough, the alarm rang within their head, snapping them out of the trance of watching the video. They stood up straight judging the condition of the water which was in fact, bubbling and radiating with heat. Badware tore open the package, letting the contents dump out into the pot that eased the water slightly as if it had been hungry for it. Badware now had to play the waiting game yet again, just for the soup to finally be ready. 

Once the soup had finally boiled, an aroma slowly wafted around the place, though Badware could not smell it. They poured the soup into a bowl, putting a towel beneath it as it heated, not wanting to burn Artfuls lap off with the thing that was supposed to help essentially.

They wandered upstairs, noticing leaves and other floral and fauna scattered in the hall leading off to Harken's room. Did she tear up her garden or something? They shrugged to themself, noting down in their notepad app they would check on her later.

They continued over to Artfuls room, slowly sliding the door open with a hand seeing the man was sitting in bed, for once reading a book which was a shocker. The french man never came off as a reader to the virus, but they weren't about to criticize that. Artful looked up at him, a hint of a smile roused on his face before being rudely interrupted by a spasm of coughs. Badware took that as an alert to give Artful the soup. 

They walked over to his side and gently set it down into his lap along with the towel and spoon. Artful putting the book away onto the bedside table.

“Merci.”(4) Artful dipped his head in gratitude and began to eat the soup up like he hadn't eaten in forever. Badware nodded in return, sitting themself down beside his bed on the floor.

“Artful.” Badware suddenly addressed making Artful stop in his tracks. “Did something happen with Hark? There were leaves and torn up flowers in the hallway. And now Killdroids gonna throw a hissy fit about cleanliness.” Badware played a grunting sound effect, the thought making them shiver internally.

“Well. I was walking to my room and she just bolted down the hallway to her room like the scariest thing in the universe was chasing her.” Artful’s face scrunched up as he recalled the moment, then resumed his eating.

Badware put a question mark on their screen. “No indicators of something actually chasing her?” 

“Non.” (5)

If Badware could, they would scratch their head in confusion. It didn't exactly add up, nothing was chasing her, and often when she was scared she could easily defend herself, she was strong and capable, so what could've possibly scared her so bad to make her turn tail and run inside?

“Though I do have a hunch.” Artful took in another spoonful of soup. “Do you notice how she's always inside before sunset? And doesn't come out of her room when it's night?” Badware nodded. “I wouldn't say she’s nocturnal, I don't even know if she sleeps, but maybe she's scared of the dark?”

It then clicked.

“Or what's in it.” Badware added. “Maybe where she came from, night is really bad or somethin?” Artful nodded. “Well case closed we’re geniuses.” Badware played a snickering sound effect which made the magician laugh in return. “How are you doing now?”

Artful gulped down the rest of the soup, letting out a content sigh at the empty bowl. “My throat isn't as scratchy but my nose is still off. The soup really did numbers. Or it's because I'm warmer now.”

“Well I am glad I could help in some way. ^_^” Badware suddenly stood up, heading towards the door, but they were stopped.

“Attends ! Où vas-tu?”(6) Artful called, reaching out to them. They slowly turned, tilting their head to the side. 

“To leave you be? Dont ya need rest?” Badware put their hands on their hips. Tail flicking in confusion.

“No- I MEAN- Yes but why dont you stay and keep me company??” Artful’s speech was quick as if terrified of the idea of them leaving him alone. He clasped his hands together in a pleading manner.

“Mmmmmmkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy… I’ll stay then!” Badware suddenly leapt onto the bed on all fours like a cat, careful to not land on Artful as they laid down beside him. “Lemme guess, you wanna watch that cheesy romance show again?” Badware was spot on, that's all Artful really watched nowadays.

“Of course! Oh, allez, un homme n'a-t-il pas le droit d'apprécier ses émissions?”(7) Artful huffed. “And besides, I need to see what happens with Candice and Jacob. Their relationship is sooo interesting.”

“No it isn't."

“WELL WHO DO YOU THINK IS COOL?”

“Dude, it's gotta be the one gay couple. Duh.”

“Carter and Ethan?”

“Yeah, yeah those guys. I only even pay attention when they're on screen LOLZ.”

Artful facepalmed himself with a groan coming from him. He flicked Badwares monitor making the virus blare an alarm sound effect. “Go on, put it on.” Artful pressed on. Badware vibrated in slight annoyance at the flick then calmed down, flicking the tv show on for them to both enjoy for the night.

“Jacob, you and I are over!”

A gasp fell from Artful.

“Candice.. It was a misunderstanding! Please, sweetheart don't leave me!”

“Okay, now this is interesting.”

Chapter Text

!!!! WARNING. THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS, BLOOD, DEATH, AND GORE. !!!!















Paranoy stood tall and proud in the conscience of a civilian’s mind. This one had been broken down, taunted, beaten until they had nothing left to fight back with. They didn't respond, yell, or try to hit Paranoy like they used to. They learned it was useless to try and fight back against the entity, merely accepting them, now standing shamefully on their knees. Paranoy’s already big grin twitched with amusement. It was always a good sign when they stopped. Paranoy was merely trying to help them! Bring them mercy from the ‘Tomorrow’ they spoke of. A lower being such as a civilian should never witness such an atrocity.

“DO#YOU#UNDERSTAND#WHY#I#DID#THIS?#I’M#HELPING#YOU.”

Its voice brushed over the civilians' ears. They barely managed to look up at Paranoy within their own mind, the place that was supposed to be where they were strongest, the place they were supposed to know better than anyone else. Their gaze hardened, then softened, it would waste their already thin mental capacity to take their anger out on it yet again. 

No response to its words.

“WILL#YOU#ACCEPT#MY#HELP#FINALLY?#OR#IS#THERE#MORE#WORK#I#MUST#DO?”

They spoke yet again. Paranoy started to circle them, slow and carefully placed steps, ringing within the civilians' ears like bells tolling with a warning. A warning that something bad was coming for them.

“Why must you destroy me from the inside out to help me.. I don't understand.” 

The civilian finally answered. They sat up, their eyes now following Paranoy’s slow yet predatory walk.

“ITS#BEYOND#WHAT#YOUR#MIND#CAN#COMPREHEND.#I#FEAR#I#CANNOT#TELL#YOU.”

A light chuckle glided out from its mouth. It stopped in front of the civilian, their final step being a harsh stomp that echoed out in the blank space. Their hips swung in a fluid motion as they leaned down, now nearly nose to nose with the civilian looking up at it.

“BUT#YOU#MUST.#TRUST.#ME.#OR#YOU#WILL#SUFFER#FAR#MORE#THAN#THIS.”

They extended a simple hand, the motion innocent yet the gesture was laced with something beneath it. Its head tilted slightly to the side. The civilian’s gaze dusted over its hand, switching between their hand, and its own gaze staring expectantly down at them. They recoiled, a disgusted expression now laced on their face. They backed slowly away from Paranoy.

“ITS#NOT#LIKE#I#NEED#YOU#TO#WILLINGLY#ACCEPT#MY#OFFER#TO#DO#THIS.”

. . . .

Paranoy felt like it had awoken from a quick nap, they blinked a few times, looking left to right, judging its surroundings. Its memories came back quickly, but only now did they realize they had been laying down, a bit unusual. It sat up in a quick and swift motion, bringing its hands up to cup their cheeks. They noticed they sat in a meadow, the wind roaming slowly along the grass and now Paranoy, it was a refreshing cold, not the one that sent a chill down your spine.

Paranoy took a few sluggish blinks, eyelids giving some resistance from the energy they spent earlier. It was tiresome, and it took a lot to save all of the civilians from the Tomorrow, it still didn't understand why they put up so much resistance, Paranoy was merely helping the weak fleshy beings out.

It wasn't long after it heard footsteps approaching, they didn't turn, if it was a threat it could be dealt with quickly, Paranoy was a being nearly incomprehensible with great power after all. The noise grew louder until it was next to them, then came to a halt, a sound of grass being shifted then settling followed as the other sat down beside it. Paranoy finally turned to look.

It was Clawsguy, its own blank face was turned to look at them as well, the stare somewhat being returned.

“GREETINGS!” Paranoy chimed to their cousin, their grin somewhat widening. Clawsguy nodded in a greeting back to Paranoy. It rested its long claws down in the grass at their sides, careful as to not prick either of the two. “DO#YOU#FARE#WELL#MY#KIN?” Paranoy suddenly asked, sometimes it was hard to pick out a conversation with Clawsguy as the thing couldn't speak too well, but Paranoy always enjoyed some sort of response other than a nod or action from it.

“..yEs.”  Paranoy hummed in acknowledgement of the response.

Despite the two being cousins, they didn't exactly resemble each other in any way, they didn't look related in the slightest, the only ‘similar’ feature being the rust that caked parts of their limbs or body. You could argue about the claws, but Paranoys was more comparable to something like a bear, Clawsguys was like a dinosaur, specifically something like the therizinosaurus. So really, the only comparison would be the rusted areas on their bodies.

“THERE#ARE#SOME#CIVILIANS#WHO#ARE#RESISTING#MY#HELP.#DO#YOU#CARE#TO#ASSIST#ME?” Paranoy tilted their head to the side expectantly. Gaze squinting with a mischievous glint within it. “THERE#ISNT#MUCH#LEFT#TO#DO.#THEY#WOULDNT#SURVIVE#MY#TRUE#FORM.#ITS#MORE#MERCIFUL#TO#KILL#THEM#NOW.#QUICK#AND#SWIFT.” Paranoy added. Clawsguy looked like it was in some sort of thought even though the thing wasn't as bright as it led on to be. Really half its brainpower was spent thinking about how killing the next thing it saw would go. Would it entertain Clawsguy? Or would it be a simple uneventful killing that it wouldn't even remember in the next 5 minutes? Oh the suspense. It finally nodded.

“CivILIans. MaNy HOw?” It asked, its voice was scratchy, it sounded painful to talk in a way, like nails on a chalkboard or even a fork against teeth.

“LAST#I#CHECKED,#EIGHT#OF#THEM.#BUT#THATS#IF#SOMETHING#HASNT#GOTTEN#TO#THEM#FIRST.” Paranoy let out a small giggle afterwards, as if the thought of the civilians being ‘freed’ from the tomorrow was entertaining to it. Clawsguy nodded, standing up, raising its dual-colored claws to the sky, flexing them menacingly. Not only was killing civilians with Paranoy rewarding in more ways than one, it was helped with filing Clawsguys claws down. Similar to that of a beaver chewing on bark and trees to keep its teeth in check, Clawsguy was able to use the bones of Civilians to keep its own claws in check. Who knew such fleshy and soft beings carried preciously tough bones and cartilage within? Clawsguy gestured forward as if enticing Paranoy into leading it along.

Paranoy hauled themself up to their feet as well, staring along the vast meadow into the sun that now slowly dipped into the soft hands of the rolling hills that would guide it to bed. “COME#NOW#MY#KIN.”

Paranoy broke out into a run quicker than most eyes could catch onto, but Clawsguy followed in pursuit at its own ever so slower pace. They ran along the meadow until it was swamped and taken over by deep and elderly tree’s, their roots engraved into the very dirt they grew upon, the leaves and branches reaching over the forest floor like a large tarp, cooling the inside down and preventing solid light from casting through. Paranoy and Clawsguy slowed, but stayed at a steady stalking pace, careful as to not make too much noise that would announce their arrival.

The group of civilians seemed to be taking a quick break by an abandoned cabin, it looked as if they had stayed the night and were staying once more as the campfire had just been set to life. How foolish.

Paranoy and Clawsguy came to a halt within a good range of the civilians, still hidden, it was a miracle Clawsguy hadn't charged in and started some sort of carnage by now but this time it was certainly good to not do so. 

They had a Gunslinger, a revolver, and a punch.

Despite Paranoy's promise of them all being weakened from within, that didn't always change how they physically reacted. In fact it could be worse, less predictable, but also more stupid. They could actually get some serious injuries if they didn't play it safe here, and that wouldn't be good. Paranoy nodded off in one direction, then they headed the other way, Clawsguy stalked off in the way they nodded, now both of them parallel from one another on either side of the civilians. All of them bunched up, unaware, unnoticing. 

Paranoy began with its tormenting, to get them all confused and scared like cattle. At first it was a dull whisper, nothing bad, just something that tickled the brain at the wrong angle. Then it would get louder, and they would all notice, all back away, bicker and argue amongst themselves. That was another thing, civilians let their emotions get the better of them so painfully easily. Confuse them and they just turn their backs on those around them! Simple as that.

They started to shout, yell, and cry at each other, the calm turning to a storm within seconds. These simple creatures managed to add so many reasons to the list of why Paranoy had to save them from the Tomorrow. Paranoy slowly emerged from the bushes now, making their presence scarily known. The civilians were too consumed amongst themselves to actually notice that Paranoy was there until it stepped so close, it nearly bumped into the Taunt just in front of them. Only now, did they notice them there. Only now was their anger directed at them.

Before the Revolver could even take a chance at aiming, the claws of something deadly sank smoothly into their chest, snapping through their bones like something as simple as a chip. It was effortless. The claws tore down through their stomach and guts then were ripped out. With nothing to hold the civilians now soupy insides, the guts, blood and disgusting fluids poured out like a thick slushy, the body fell over with no resistance. The grass was now stained with the beginning of a murder.

“WELL#DONE.”

The simple words of praise were enough to send the civilians in scatter mode. They all turned tail screaming trying to run from the two, but it only made it harder for both ends. Paranoy grabbed the Caretaker attempting to run past, and in one fluid motion sent them hurtling into a tree. The force was enough to knock the wind out of them and break a bone or two.

While Paranoy took care of the Caretaker Clawsguy had to round the following 6 civilians up and not let any escape. It pursued (PURSUER!!! HAHHAHAHA I'M SO FUNNY!!!) those who had gotten far and intimidated others into staying back near Paranoy.

Paranoy continued to toy mercilessly with the poor Caretaker, giving them no room to breathe, run or recover, repeated beating them down into the bark of the tree, blood, bruises, and the breaking of bones bloomed from the harsh kisses of Paranoy's fists against their skin. Eventually, they were left with a simple mangled corpse, the body unrecognizable, but the face was battered and bruised, stuck in a state of agony, like a silent scream. It now lay alongside the other corpse that had its guts out for the forest to digest on the floor.

Paranoy now scoped out the civilians they remembered were strongest. They had a chance against their true form. 

The Gunslinger. Taunt. Cloak. And maybe, just maybe the Banana had a chance. They needed to make quick work of the Dash and Hotdog or they would be wasting more energy than needed. Second form it was. But first-

“MY#KIN.#AFTER#THE#DASH.#I#SHALL#MAKE#WORK#OF#THE#HOTDOG.#FOR#NOW#LET#THE#OTHERS#RUN#LIKE#ROACHES.#IT#MAKES#FUNNER.#AND#FUN#WOULD#SOUND#GREAT#ABOUT#NOW.#DONT#YOU#THINK?” Paranoy yelled out to their cousin. Clawsguy perked. A wretched howl of agreement tore through the air making the Civilian it was chasing fall over in fear and agony from the noise. It instantly lost interest and barrelled after the Dash who had their guard down. Its claws made quick work of the civilian, dicing them up as if preparing for a charcuterie board. They fell to the group sliced open and bleeding, the other 5 civilians now making a break for it.

How useless.

The Hotdog fell behind, stamina unfortunately lower than the others. As much as they pumped their legs they couldn't just escape. Not when Paranoy loomed over them. The large clock ticking, each tick ringing in their ears, breaking their spirit down with a simple noise. Paranoy slammed themself down on top of the Hotdog, shattering their entire skeleton and body structure. Paranoy slowly brought itself back up, seeing the Hotdog was now dead, half squished down and destroyed, blood and bones peeking out of the red skin. They ran off towards Clawsguy who was now herding the last 4 civilians, Paranoy scuttled along on its four legs just beside Clawsguy swerving around the trees. Clawsguy took the message and hopped onto Paranoy, hanging on the side of its grandfather clock form.

The sun had now set, everything dark and black with still shadows that only moved for the civilians and killers who disturbed the silence. But since the sun had set, a new hour, and a new dawn had arrived. The clock had to announce every new hour didn't it?

Tomorrow was here.

— — —

The civilians awoke on the cold hard ground, groggily sitting up from seemingly blacking out of nowhere. They all managed to stand, walking around hesitantly, inspecting the odd rock structures, the dark and gloomy unnatural sky, the buildings that seemed to lie ahead.They didn't notice the pair off in the distance. Watching carefully.

“..UnFaIr.”

“HOW#SO?”

“..Y..YoU. KilLE TheM.”

“I#PROMISE#YOU#WILL#GET#TO#K-SAVE#THE#NEXT#ROUND#OF#CIVILIANS.”

The ground and walls started to vibrate as the structure hidden behind began to move and show itself. The disgusting, horrifying, incomprehensible wall that would now be in pursuit of the civilians. The blockage now moved, showing off to an obstacle course or track of sorts they had to run down like hamsters in a maze. They started to yell and shout as they ran as quickly as they could. Paranoy followed along with Clawsguy still hanging onto them as they both watched from above on the cliffs. The first civilian to go was the Banana peel as expected, too distracted with other things to focus fully on running. After followed the Cloak. Then the Taunt.

Finally the only one left was the Gunslinger. They looked tired, but they persevered as the wall got closer and closer. Even then, the end was in sight. Maybe they could do it after all. Maybe they had enough guts to actually survive the Tomorrow. 

But despite Paranoy even having a sliver of hope for the poor thing, they tripped, and with no stamina left were caught within the walls merciless hands of death. How pitiful. Most civilians are too weak and die the same way. Over and over again. The few who manage to escape are blessed with forgetting it all and living peacefully for a long while unless something else gets them. It almost gets Paranoy to feel bad. Almost.

— — —

Paranoy and Clawsguy sat in the same meadow, dawn now cascading its happy gaze out upon the world. Clawsguy was busy rubbing its claws against the grass, trying to wipe the blood and left over chunks of flesh still on them. Not like Clawsguy was often a hygienic being but crusted blood was never a good feeling.

“DID#YOU#HAVE#FUN?” Paranoy suddenly asked. Did Clawsguy even have a concept of fun? Not like Paranoy even asked whenever the two hung out.

“YEs.” Clawsguy coughed out pathetically. Its voice slowly dying out yet again. “..CoUSiN. I haVe fUn wiTh.” It managed to add on. It left a bitter warmth in Paranoy's chest. Appreciation was it? Paranoy did appreciate their cousin. Both for being company when needed, and for the help in saving those from the Tomorrow. Even if their cousin could be braindead or had a horrid lack of communication. It was better than talking to the ungrateful civilians.

“THAT#LIGHTENS#AN#UNLITTEN#SPARK#WITHIN#ME.” Paranoy turned to look Clawsguy in its blank face. They hummed happily at Clawsguy who fully turned to them now. Claws, for the most part clean.

“..yAY.” Clawsguy sounded unenthusiastic. It was almost funny. “.HeLP. PlEasE.” It lifted its claws up at Paranoy, shaking them lightly at them, asking to help with cleaning.

“I#FORGOT#HOW#USELESS#YET#USEFULL#YOUR#CLAWS#CAN#BE.” It took the others claws in their own hands, inspecting them and started by picking off the fleshy chunks that somehow stuck to them. It was relaxing for both of them in a sense. It felt odd to do such a simple and kind favour. But it was Paranoy's cousin, and only friend in a sense. The only one Paranoy trusted with anything, their plans, their safety, their life. 

It made them realize the importance of this ‘feeble’ life before them.

And they wanted to keep it important.

But would that really stay forever? Would the tomorrow also consume and take Clawsguy away from them? Would they never see their cousin ever again when the time came? It hurt to think about. They wanted to keep within the moment, a distraction from that was necessary.

They focused now on cleaning the excess, now crusted blood on its claws.

“MY#KIN.#DO#YOU#FEAR#WHAT#DEATH#MAY#BRING?”

Paranoy halted the cleaning.

“..I doNt ThINk so.”

Not a proper response, but it was better than a ‘yes’. They simply gave a nod and looked up at the sun that had now risen higher up into the sky. What a scary yet magnificent thing. They looked down when Clawsguy flexed its claws, prompting for Paranoy to finish up.

“KNOW#THAT#NO#MATTER#THE#CIRCUMSTANCE#I#WILL#STAND#AT#YOUR#SIDE.” Paranoy suddenly promised, looking Clawsguy dead in the eyes. The other simply nodded back in response.