sunset yesterdays

          {{ ❈ ;; }}“ Fufu… fufufu… fuwahahaha!!! ”

A sinister laugh escaped the demon as he was simply incapable of containing his excitement. Halloween, huh? The best time of the year by far. Oh the infernal plans he could hatch. The evillest seasons of them all, an entire occasion dedicated to trickery and cheats. Oh how he loved this time of the year! And oh, did he not have the best costume for this Halloween? Of course he did. He was after all the most evil, most nefarious of demons with an Evil Quotient of 1.8 million, Overlord (Spawn) Mao!

Many eyes rested on the seemingly young boy with his apparent anticipation – or possibly because of the sudden outburst of laughter – and fixing his glasses, Mao let his attention shift to a gaze that lingered for just a bit too long.

     Others who’d been distracted by this guy eventually moved, but Takane couldn’t take her eyes off of him, and it turned out that was going to be her downfall. Takane jumped upon being called out, but really, despite this guy’s way of speaking, he wasn’t scary at all, so she relaxed immediately.

Okay maybe it wasn’t as bad as he was making it sound, but he didn’t want to deal with this. He could’ve handled maybe one singular article of clothing here and there, maybe the odd piece of trash as well, but this was beyond irritating. Chances are he was going to have to stay here for a while because of what the guidebook had stated. Add did not want to temporarily live in a damn trash heap.

Shuffling from the other room brought him out of his daze and he turned to watch a small girl peek, retreat, and then come out only to yell at him. This was getting old already. A sigh. She certainly didn’t look strong, and from her behavior he could only guess that he was already going to have a bad time. Great. Basically everything he didn’t want he got.

“That’s not introducing yourself. And you listen to me,” he growled, maybe a little harsher than intended. The chair squeaked as it was moved back, boots knocking aside an empty can as he strolled over to her. If she wasn’t going to initiate the greeting then he would. “I’d rather be somewhere else but I’m stuck here with you for the moment.”

     ...Only to see him right in front of her.

     Of course, that ruined her somewhat-determined demeanor entirely, and Takane jumped back with a childlike shriek. Her eyes flicked up and down, actually bothering to take in the appearance of this Add more thoroughly. It wasn’t just his appearance that had changed, even his demeanor and the way he stood changed. It didn’t make much of a difference, as Takane was still visibly shaking, but it kept her from turning and bolting on the spot.

     “A little less violence? With Add? You’re joking, right? Basically every interaction I’ve had with him ended... badly for me,” she paused. “Bet I couldn’t even say ‘hi’ without making his skin crawl. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be doing anything else to provoke him for... a while yet. I don’t feel like dying again anytime soon. Sorry to disappoint.”

‘Hmm, that’s true. At least I’m not arrested for not picking a dress.” When asked how she was faring, a mischievous smile quirked upon her lips. The past hours of dragging Add around came to mind, each time with her succeeding o have him to something outside of his comfort zone. He hasn’t killed her yet, ( miraculously, she’s think ) so perhaps it was a sign he was still enjoying himself. Just very begrudgingly. 

     Although, A’s next statement provoked a laugh out of Takane. Imagining the scene was pleasant, but ah, it’d probably never happen. As funny as it’d be to see that guy in his stupid fancy suit, absolutely drenched, she wasn’t going to get her hopes up. She might’ve tried before, but she certainly wasn’t going to again.

That didn’t mean he was expecting the shriek from the other room. Once the initial shock wore off he placed his little welcoming bag on a nearby table with a sigh. “Keh… What a warm welcome. I feel like I’m home already.” He took another glance around the apartment. “Look, I have things I’d much rather be doing, but I’m stuck here for the moment so loosen up a little.”

Now that he wasn’t being ushered along by the soul binding he could only wonder what kind of girl she was. Sure it was a little rude to go snooping around in the apartment, so he just took a moment to think. Whoever ran this place, the afterlife, certainly they wouldn’t pair him up with someone that’d be nothing but a burden, right? He didn’t want to deal with weaklings, he didn’t particularly want to deal with children either, and he especially didn’t want to deal with someone who would hinder his work.

     “Loosen up a little?” Was he joking? Loosen up, when she’d been murdered by him (as far as she knew, him, at least)? He had to be joking. Sick joke. Ridiculous. She wanted to puke. But it looked like she didn’t have much choice. Either she was going to get up and go find him, or he was going to come and find her. And she’d had quite enough of being hunted down.

     Forcing down the sick feeling, Takane stood up, her entire body trembling, but she wasn’t going to bother to stop that. She knew for a fact she couldn’t, no matter how hard she tried. Slowly, cautiously, Takane made her way to the room where he waited, peeking around the corner to see him.

     He certainly looked different. Different hairstyle, different build, different atmosphere, even, but the face was the same, except he didn’t have those weird eyes. She hid back behind the corner, failing to steady her breathing. Now or never, Takane. Get him out of here before something bad happens.

@cyberneticactor

Dead.

Alright sure, let’s say he was dead. Let’s say there was no way of returning back to Elrios. Let’s say something just fucking killed him off and he had no idea what could’ve done it. Angry was the understatement of the year, and as Add made his way up the winding staircase to wherever the hell this force was taking him, he couldn’t help but crush part of the railing under his glove. Dynamo was bristling behind him, feeding off the frustration he felt. It didn’t help his already intimidating appearance.

He couldn’t believe it. He just needed to get to the room, meet his partner, and then start researching on this new world. Probably drag whoever he was now bound to around as well - he wasn’t going to let someone keep him from doing what he wanted. Not here. Not when he had too much to do.

Tch. The biting failure of actually dying weighed down on him. What happened with the El Search Party? Did they die too? Had their world been thrown into disarray with him being the only casualty? Or maybe they had all died and he’d been the first one to arrive. Crushing the railing once more he shoved away from it, the pull leading him to a nearby room. He could think about it later. Right now he had to meet his so-called “partner”.

     One of those days couldn’t have been a worse day to introduce Takane to her new partner. When she’d been informed that she was being partnered up with Add, she absolutely lost it. No way, right? There’s no way anyone would be dumb enough to partner her up with that guy. No way. It would cause problems for her, for him, for everyone around them... right? And since then, since she’d stupidly declared that to try (and fail) to rid herself of the pit in her stomach, she’d lived in denial.

     Takane jumped as the door creaked open, sitting up like she’d heard a gunshot. Had she really been so stupid as to leave the door unlocked? Shit. She’d gotten back to her apartment in such a rush that it was definitely possible she’d made that mistake. God knows it was probably no big deal, but she couldn’t help shifting into panic mode as soon as she heard the noise.

      And of course, the all-too-familiar voice that followed didn’t do anything to calm her down.

     It wasn’t the kind of tone she would have expected from the Add she knew, but really, the simple sound of his voice sent a jolt through her body, no matter the tone. It sounded like he didn’t know her. But she didn’t care. She wasn't going to take her chance and look in his direction to see that it wasn't the same person who'd...