Death was always sudden, one never expecting to be wrapped in its vice-like grip. And once Death came for you, there was no escape. Air was forced out of his lungs in one sharp movement, leaving the soldier wheezing under the heel of his heavy boots. It took a moment for him to regain his composure and lost breath, once being able to speak retorting with his usual snark.   ❛   You’ve always had a shitty sense of humor, Gabriel, but this takes the cake.   ❜

A swathe of dark poured out like a Hound of Tindalos from a crevice in the corner of the room. Seeking and coiling around red sneakers tip-toeing far too close into the abandoned ‘minefield’.

Without giving them room for so much as to breathe, there was a jerk as Reaper swept the balance from their feet and slammed them down on their back. As quickly as the other fell, he ascended from the veil of murk, omnipotent and preeminent and pinned his heel down against his chest. “My, my. What do we have here? You shouldn’t be here, should you?”

Reaper’s voice chafed behind the mask, ignoring the outburst and curse and swift dexterity culled the shotgun from  beneath his coat, aiming the muzzle down at his face. A talon curled and readied on the trigger with the kid’s likelihood of survival depended on their response. For your sake, you better not say anything stupid. “I reckon your conscious isn’t so clean is it?”

             Jack had been awake for HOURS now   —   mindlessly staring at the dimly lit ceiling, eyelids closing every couple of seconds, his body tense and still. He couldn’t help himself. He had a million and one problems to deal with on a daily basis and not even the night, not even after begging the other man to share a bed that night for warmth   &   comfort, had he managed to let his eyelids close for more than two minutes. He sighed, hands rising to rub at his tired eyes for a moment, when he felt a shift in the bed beside him. Gabriel had been asleep for hours now, after the initial discomfort of having Jack cramped in the tiny bed with him, and had not stirred the entire time until now. Jack dared to steal a peep at the sleeping figure and that’s when a pillow socked him in the face and he heard Gabriel complain.   ❛   I can’t. Don’t you think I would’ve by now if I could’ve ?    ❜   He murmured into the pillow, pushing it out of his face with a frown.   ❛   Stop hitting me. You’re only going to wake me up even further.   ❜   He’d never fall asleep at this point.