ROTTEN STRAWBERRIES.

by  now ,  chipped  edges  and  hardened  shells  have  trained  him .    and ,   well ,   he’s  nothing  if  not  observant .   𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐄 𝐙𝐈𝐋𝐂𝐇 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐘𝐂𝐎𝐂𝐊  if  not  wholly  aware  in  every  slightest   !   this  very  well  may  be  his  reigning  achievement .   AND   PASSING   IT   UP   ?     𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐘𝐂𝐎𝐂𝐊 !  𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨. explain  thyself,  skeleton.        *   𝐇𝐔𝐇.  ❞       he  huffs ,  peering  to  it’s  very  heinzy         tomatoy  exterior .       *   say .  well ,  would  ya  look  at  that .             i  guess  i  am . ❞     an  obvious  observation  and  acknowledgement .   

*   suppose  i’ve  been  caught  𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 .  ❞      annnnndddd  here  we  go .      ( a shrug / a wink  ;  that cheeky bastard ! )  *                       𝐈 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐓.   you’ve  found  yourself  in  a  bit  of  a  jam .  ‘cause  that’s  weird .  truth  is ,  i  relish  in  it .   i  mustard  have  it .  soy-ry  you  had  to  find  out  this  way .   𝐁𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 .                            mayo - you  have  a  better  day  now  that  you  know  the  truth .   ❞     

    he actually really wants to be angry.  he really does , but that stupid perma - smile and the absolute onslaught the skeleton had ready for him chips down whatever hissy front ichigo had been trying to pull. 

        “ are you always like this ? “  there ‘ s a chuckle to his voice , no matter how much he doesn ‘ t want to admit it to himself.  that barrage of horrible condiment puns was definitely not funny.  definitely.  ugh.  it seems to be physically impossible to be totally & utterly SERIOUS around the other monster  --  that cheeriness is just going to get him in trouble !

        mrr.  

   “ best shut your  yap  before  you find yourself  catching  one of these  hands,  furball. “    cliff  said,   hands  on  hips.    “   i’d  offer  t’  help,   but  technology  ain’t  really my  area  of  expertise.     and  this  body  is  new,    so paws off. “

        “ you could at least help.  don ‘ t get your cables in a twist , bolthead. “  he yanked on one of the wires in his ship , and the entire left wing popped off , flopping onto him with a dramatic whump.  somehow.  at least his ship wasn ‘ t big , by any standards.  “ uh . . . please. “  he ‘ s stuck. 

trivia. 

 he purrs when he ‘ s upset.  it ‘ s a comfort thing , trying to feign his mind into thinking it ‘ s happier times. 

 knocks stuff off of counters.  a lot.  it ‘ s compulsive , if something ‘ s at the edge of the counter , it ‘ s getting knocked off.  sorry.  ( he ‘ s not )

 catnip ?  mm.  the good stuff.

 lays on warm stuff.  you can ‘ t move him , he looks so sweet n cozy …

 he play bites ??  but like if you ‘ re wrestling him or something.

   “ ichigo!   what a   beautiful  name  to  match a  beautiful  soul  underneath. “   danny was  always  saying  that  kind  of  thing :   the  implication  that he  understood  people’s  true  natures  underneath  their  appearances.   and,  well,  he  did.   danny didn’t  judge people  like  society  did.   danny was a misfit himself   –    counterculture to the max,    and  loving  to anybody  who  needed  just a  little bit  of love.    he had all that  and  more  concealed  within him.  

 “  what am  i?    well,   isn’t that  a bit of a  large  question  to  ask?  “    bright,  swooping  font  on the  poster countered  in a  tone  that  somehow   read  as  loving,   teasing   –   before  popping  into  nothingness altogether,  and  reappearing  on a  neat,  freshly-printed  newspaper  on the  table in front of  ichigo,   along with a cup of  tea that materialized  from  seemingly  nowhere. 

  prim  cursive,   along  with  a grayscale  print  of the very  street  ichigo  sat  alongside,    danny  wrote:      “ my name is  danny!   and  i’m me,  just like you’re  you.    everything  in this  place  is me  –   i made it myself!     i rather  fancy  hopping around the  galaxy and  making as many  friends  as possible.    you seemed like you could  use a  friend,   so  …    welcome,   welcome,    and   as   we say here:     bona to vada! * “

        “ if you ‘ re trying to play a trick on me , it ‘ s not funny. “  there was a bit of a bite to his tone , despite danny ‘ s incredibly welcoming nature :  but that was just it , wasn ‘ t it ?  ‘ a beautiful soul underneath. ‘  funny.  it would be funny , if it didn ‘ t just make him angry. 

    he clenched a fist , staring  --  frustrated  --  down at the newspaper on the table , the words scrawled in prim cursive , as if by magic.  distantly , he wanted a sip of tea to calm his nerves , but this really could just be some sort of mind game.  he had to be on guard.  stop fumbling.  stop trying to be so polite.

        “ are you trying to get information out of me ?  y - you ‘ re not of K - 11 , are you ? “  oh , that would be bad.  that group wanted his blood more fervently than any other.  he ‘ d seen the atrocious numbers on his bounty , climbing , climbing . . .  he didn ‘ t want this to be a trick.  he just wanted a break , but there was no time for a break.  there never was.  even if this wasn ‘ t a trick , surely , danny wanted something from him.

It’s no real surprise that there were NUMEROUS objects involving the ancient being. From the ones “ lovingly ” crafted by his multitude of DEVOTED FOLLOWERS to the objects that were there since the very beginning, Bill’s symbol was everywhere. Whether or not you saw them as his symbol or as a simple shape, there was no mistaking whenever there was the FOCAL POINT of his singular eye━it was a hard feature to ignore. Earthly possessions weren’t too special for the being, normally rolling his eye at the “ gift ” in question, but the disrespect that tended to be passed onto such DID cause IRRITATION of some form. While the person seemed interested in it - looking at it from every angle, dusting off dried dirt that had stuck to it - the CARELESS WAY it was held couldn’t help but cause the demon to give a SURPRISE VISIT. 

“ AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, TALL DARK AND DEPRESSING ? ”

Maybe the tall part was an EXAGGERATION on his behalf.

        he had seen this rune before.  many , many times over.  it almost had seemed to be universal , in a sense.  the triangle with the one eye.  he had never really thought too much of it.

     no , not until now.

     ichigo had just been observing it with mild interest.  he had heard rumors  --  that ‘ s all they ever were  --  about offerings and deals.  rumors and warnings.  when did he start heeding to those ?  with mild curiosity , he had decided he would try.  there was no harm in trying , was there ?  if something happened , he ‘ d just end it.  that was how it worked , wasn ‘ t it ?

    he had to offer something.  he ‘ d just had to , hadn ‘ t he ?  even as he ‘ d glanced a little boredly at the rune , expecting nothing as he haphazardly dusted it off and set his offering  --  one of his old tablets  ( not valuable to him anymore , but not invaluable )  --  and it ‘ d gone grey.

    a gasp , as the tablet fell to the floor , cracking at the edge.  he quickly whipped around , eyes wide , and  --  he stopped.  the triangle.  the triangle.  he couldn ‘ t help but snort.  it was a triangle in a bow tie and top hat.  so small and almost cute ??  oh , he had no idea what mess he was getting himself into.  he could barely even react to the demon ‘ s jab at him.