I'm Coming For You

Who: @hellhath-fury​ Where: Valentine Ball

The diamond heart cuff-links he wore sparkled in the moonlight. It was always a welcome night when the cursed city decided not to be clouded in fog and general malevolence. The silver beams cut through the buildings, casting shadows that seemed more ominous than they actually were- and tonight would have been a perfect night to hunt - if he cared enough to do so. The club was closed down in lieu of a valentine party, and he waited, a little impatiently, at the cusp of the crossroad for his date. Ikaros would not traditionally call Elliot a date but it seemed rather unkempt to disregard that they were both going to be dressed to the nines - he hoped - and arriving together. Never the less, he smoothed his hands down the deep currant blazer he wore to ensure there were no stray threads, or even worse, fuzz.

He smelled the man before he appeared, but made no move to acknowledge Eli’s presence as he fished a hand-rolled from his inside pocket. “If I look up and you’re wearing a stained, eight year old hoodie with holes in so help me, I might kill you.” He spoke with the cigarette between his teeth, lighting it a moment later with a match that had been dipped and dried in cognac - purely for the flavor of it - following with an inhale, he raised his gaze and smirked softly. “Much better than I expected.”

When it came to fashion, Elliot had very little sense of it. He hadn’t ever really cared to. His life hadn’t made time for time for that sort of thing. All he cared about was being able to move quickly in whatever he was wearing. For the most part that left him in jeans and t-shit or hoodie when the weather called for it. However, he did have a few nice pieces. Nothing special. Nothing flashy. Just a pair of black dress pants, a white button down and- Well, okay, he couldn’t find his tie but he did his best. He even kicked the dirt off his black, lace up, boots. It was better then nothing. It was Elliot actually trying to look good. Which was stupid considering he spent most of his time naked when Ikaros was around. 

As he approached Ikaros, Elliot straightened out his sleeves and adjusted himself a bit to stand a little taller. Not that it mattered. He was still shorted by more then a few inches on his best day. Fucking tall-ass, tree looking mother-fucker. If he wasn’t so god-damn- Ikaros- Elliot would have taken him out a long time ago. “I’m not a child.” Elliot deadpanned back to the other man. “I know how to dress up for- Whatever this is.” He motioned to the main entrance. He cocked an eye brow as the other man gave him a half complement. “You look dramatic.” He pointed out right back. It was meant as a back-handed sort of complement but he had a feeling Ikaros wasn’t going to feel the sting of it. “You been- Uh- Waiting long?” He asked scratching the back of his neck as he glanced around as others walked up and into the building behind them. 

-

“I don’t blame the person that made me Second for making me it. I blame him for getting himself turned into a fucking vampire and leaving me with the Hideout.” Axel said in a serious tone of voice. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. He was attacked, turned, and is now living with the blood suckers.” As far as Axel was aware, anyway.

“You missed me?” Axel tilted his head to the side as he eyed his friend. The friend that he had spent several nights with in the past. “Drunk calls in the middle of the night is the best time though!” He let out a laugh. “It means I’m in the mood for something that you might be able to give me.” Axel winked at Elliot before clearing his throat and adding: “But on a serious note, I’m trying to remember that. It’s hard delegating sometimes.”

“Shit.” Elliot mumbled as he scratched the back of his neck. “I guess we have to blame whoever made you second then?” He asked offering the other a small smile. He wasn’t good at these serious conversations. Not when he had a drink in him. This city was a goddamn mess. One that Axel had clearly gotten himself deep into. The guy had been through so much in the years they hadn’t seen each other. “Hey, some of us get fucked up. Comes with the whole hunting thing. Put your body in the line of fire enough times and your bound to catch a bullet.” He mumbled. “He caught a big one. Sorry that happened.” Elliot spoke softly now, his hand moving to Axel’s arm. 

Thankfully the mood lifted a little. The shift to something much easy was a welcome one. His thumb pressed into Axel’s wrist as Elliot laughed as well. “Might be able to give you? Might?” He asked sounding slightly offended. “When have I not fulfilled whatever you asked of me, huh? I mean, I never heard any complaints before.” He teased as he leaned forwards a bit on his stool. “Ah well, we all have our flaws, Axel. It was only a matter of time before you showed yours.” He pointed out with a grin. “And for the record not delegating is a pretty mild one.”

There was very little in his life that he did not explicitly control. Including his own emotions, and the actions of those who sought to harm Kazimir and his favorites - and being this out of control set him entirely on the edge of a knife blade. He was only waiting to fall off of it. He could not help that he had barked at Elliot prior to the confessions, he needed to feel like he had a handle on something in a time like this. If he could only take a moment to realize that controlling Axel and his bullshit was impossible he might’ve been able to calm down and think about things rationally, but alas, there was a reason Ikaros wore a flogger and put collars on people. It wasn’t just for fun.

He swore the world was going to start tumbling down around him and though his pacing did nothing to make him feel any better about the situation, it gave his legs somewhere to go and his body something to do while he processed the ever-present feeling of impending murder. As Elliot stopped him, mid step, he nearly caught himself off guard to shove him back but stopped at the sound of his voice. While the hunter might not know it, or ever learn it, his cadence was calming.

“As far as I know, yes. I didn’t press the Overlord for details regarding the whereabouts of it, or even how it was to be made, I just know that they were working together to stop the hunting. Which I fully support because I don’t believe in the bullshit that the outliers do.” He gritted his teeth and gazed down at Elliot, determined to keep his temper and stop that nagging urge to rip his clothes off just to tie him up. The need for control was a cruel mistress, but how he loved her.

“I can not promise you that those who are loyal to the Overlord and love him will not make a move on Axel. I can promise you that until you give me word of the outcome of your discussion, I will remain in my place here.” The secession was not easily stated, but if he wished to maintain the trust they had placed in one another, at the very least he had to secede to Eli’s wishes. “I need something else from you. After all of this is over - I want to offer you a place in the club. If you want it, that is.”

Fuck.

Fuck this town. Fuck this mess. Fuck this whole thing. What the hell was even going on? Hunters were supposed to kill monsters. That’s the only thing that Elliot knew for sure. It was the bases of his up bringing. His life as a whole revolved around making sure shit-eaters couldn’t hurt those who couldn’t defend himself. So why- Why the fuck would Axel blow up a what was basically a cure for vampires? Why would take something that could kill the monster in all of them? It didn’t make any sense. There had to be some reasonable explanation that Elliot couldn’t rationalize or find now. Something had to be going on. Maybe it was just out of reach. Just being pushed away by the anger that was bubbling up under his skin. 

He could feel his stomach twisting as Ikaros spoke. What the fuck had Axel been thinking? Had he told anyone else about this cure? Was the plan always to blow it up? Fuck. Fuck. None of this connected. None of it. Elliot pushed one of his palms to his forehead and tired to calm himself down. He was torn between wanting more information and wanting to beat the daylights out of Axel for letting something so valuable go up in flames. 

Swallowing, he cast his eyes back up at Ikaros and tried not to show just how emotional he was feeling. A sense of betrayal was starting to sweep across him. A cure for vampire’s sounded like a dream come true. Anyone who took that from them wasn’t a friend to Elliot. 

“Thank you.” He admitted in smaller voice. Clearing his throat, he looked at the ground. It felt like too much to ask for but Ikaros gave it to him anyways. “Fuck, I’ll let you know what he says afterwards. This whole- It’s all fucked. I-” Elliot shook his head. He almost apologized but what did he have to apologize for really? He hadn’t blown the hideout up. He hadn’t put on that stupid show and threatened everyone. God damn it Axel. 

When Ikaros went on to ask Elliot to join his club, Elliot’s eye brows knit together. “A place in the club?” He asked looking confused. “Like, as a feeder?” He asked sounding a bit put off. “Listen- I- Uh, I am fine with you feeding off me. I think we both know we like that but I am not down for just anyone taking a drink.” He pointed to his own neck just then. A smile cracked his lips then and he shook his head. “I can only take being a slutty blood bag for one of you assholes at a time.” Elliot teased hoping it might ease the tension that had made the room feel otherwise way to heavy. 

Besides that humor was his defense. He was scared of what may happen to Axel if things went sideways. Or even more sideways. He was scared of what Ikaros might get into. Scared that the food for vampires that required no human blood was gone. Angry that he was scared. Sad because he couldn’t snap his fingers or shoot a bullet and make everything better. Joking was all he had now. 

he had been in the store not only to get a few snacks and soft drinks, but to pick up a jerry can of fuel for one of the guys’ bikes. turns out he owed a lot of people a lot of favours from his time as an addict, but luckily most were easy enough to fulfil. jack was stood behind the other in line, watching the interaction with a furrowed brow, “what do you mean you won’t serve him, are you kidding? most of your customers are humans, you can’t afford to not serve them. just let him purchase his things and get on with all of our evenings, hm?” 

the man clearly didn’t take well to jack either, thinking him human until he gave him just the tiniest of light shows in order to prove that he wasn’t a human – of course, the man didn’t know that he was a hunter for axel and the refuge but those details were fine being left out if it helped a human in need. “ah, give him that twenty back. you inconvenienced him, not the other way around.” it was amazing how much most people didn’t want to piss of angelics – most were either trying to impress them or trying to avoid their light, it made helping those in need a little easier, that was for sure. 

jack paid for his things afterwards, flashing a small smile at elliot, “they’ll all get past it soon enough. it’ll blow over, like everything does in this town and they’ll forget why they were even mad in the first place. besides, not all humans are associated with the hideout and they seem to forget that.” 

Glancing over his shoulder at Jack, Elliot was surprised to see another hideout member here. He didn’t think they’d ever actually met before. Of course they’d seen each other around. What with the moving and everyone working together to get their new home set up. When he turned back to the man, things actually went rather smoothly and Elliot was thankful for that. Sometimes that’s all people needed. A little push. The way that Elliot would have gone about it was a lot different than Jack’s approach but that hardly mattered because it worked. In the long run that’s all the counted for anything. 

Grabbing his things off the counter, Elliot went out to his truck and started to fill up the gas tank. Soon he was joined by the other human. Putting the now empty gas can in the back of his truck he turned towards the other. “Or they’ll start a war over it.” He growled out. “Have you heard the number of dead? This wasn’t just some house fire. He sent them there to die.” Elliot rambled as he opened the door of his truck and tossed his things inside. His frustrations seemed to be too much to hold in anymore. 

“Yeah well, I am and I always will be.” Elliot pointed out. “What he did was short sighted at best and stupid at worst.” He admitted out loud for the first time. Pushing a hand into his hair he glanced at Jack. “Sorry, I am just annoyed. I love Axel, a lot. I just wish he’d thought about this more.” He covered his tracks quickly. The last thing he needed was for this scrawny motherfucker to start telling people Elliot thought Axel was a moron or something.

.

Impulsive…but smart after all, will you look at that? As the male left the store, Jaxon was quick to purchase his own items and join him outside, not at all bothered by the rain which had only started. “Good choice back there. Didn’t think you had it in you..” he chuckled, carefully eyeing him, “I thought you lot were a bit more…suicidal and all that but you must have someone you value at home.” -or perhaps, he was just a goddamn coward.

Reed slid one of his hands into his pockets, and paused. “Well first you’re gonna hand me the cash. And then, I’m interested in the gun you’re carrying.” he sneered, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but those are silver bullets, aren’t they?” The ex-beta did not hesitate to point out exactly which weapon he was referring to, tilting his head before asking again, “May I? I’m Jaxon, by the way.”

Grinding his teeth, Elliot did his best not to snap back at Asher for his comment. He didn’t like being underestimated. Even if it did give him the advantage. “My temper got the best of me for a moment but I am not a moron.” He hissed back, eyes narrowing even more as the man looked him over. Elliot would have been dead a long fucking time ago if he was stupid. Any hunter would be. He had no time for this cocky son of a bitch. He should just head across town. Try another place that had less of a rep for hating humans. 

.

Jaxon could really not get enough of this. That look that human gave him? The tone he used? Shit, the smile? He wasn’t sure what he was intending but fuck, it sure as hell was funny. Arching one of his eyebrows at him, the beta did not step back one inch and observed instead.

Observed the male slam the other’s face on the counter..and by the sounds of it, break his nose. It got the attention of everyone else in the shop –and not necessarily the good kind. The beta frowned, shifting his stuff over to the basket he carried so that he could reach out and grab the human’s shoulder. “..damn. Cool the fuck off, will you, Speedy Gonzales?” Jax got in his space, unsure what motivated his own speech there as he whispered, “Look around ya. I mean, I’d love to see it, but it’s gonna get ya more trouble than a couple of shit items are worth.” he scoffed, “How about I get it for ya somewhere else?..for a price, of course.”

“Let go of-” Elliot grabbed at the guy behind the counter as Jaxon pulled him away from the cashier. He huffed and shrugged the mans arm off his shoulder. He opened his mouth to say more but the wolf got in his face before he could get it out. Part of him thought maybe he was going to have to fight both of these guys at once. His mind started to twist around a plan to get that done but to his surprise, Jaxon warned him. 

Glancing over Jaxon’s shoulder, Elliot looked into the store and saw the many faces looking back at him. Okay, well, that was not great. As confident as he was in his hunting abilities, he also knew when too much was just too much. His brown eyes shifted back to the man in front of him. “Fine.” He grunted before turning to walk out the side door. “Fuck!” He yelled as he pushed the door open and stepped into the cooler air. 

Going to his truck, Elliot leaned against the driver’s side of his truck and watched throw the window. Some other worker came over to take the cashier’s job as he shuffled off. Hopefully he wasn’t anything that could heal up really fast. Elliot was not in the mood to come back here every other day just to break that asshole’s face. He’d do it, he just didn’t want to. 

Once Jaxon came out of the store, Elliot gave him a deadpan stare. “What do you want in order for me to get my groceries?” He demanded with his arms crossed over his chest. 

-

“Good.” Axel said with a nod. “Well… not good about the girls, but good that you managed to take them all out.” He knew there were crazies in the world – but virgins? Really? Axel thought he’d seen and heard it all. Clearly not.

“That’s what happened when you’re Second.” Axel snorted. And while he didn’t want this position, he was going to do his best to make it work. Not only for him, but for everyone else as well. His priority would always be those in the Hideout – now, Refuge – and that would never change. Whether the others saw it that way or not, was another story. “I’m fine.” Lie. “Well. Better than I was.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t want to bother you. Or anyone, for that matter.”

-

Shaking his head slowly, Elliot thought over that case again. It had been insane. Axel wasn’t the only one that was happy to hear Elliot had gotten those girls out. What a mess. Not as bad as this whole city but it was a mess. A small, more manageable mess. This place was starting to remind Elliot of ball of unkept yarn. All tangled up around itself. Pull on the wrong string and the knots would just tighten up on each other till it would be impossible to untangle. 

“Oh, so, now we are gonna blame whoever made you second.” Elliot chuckled as he took a sip from his drink.

The lighter mood fell away. 

Shaking his head, Elliot glanced at Axel. He had a hard time believing that he was okay. How could he be? Losing that much in so little time could not be good to anyone. Especially with the responsibility that Axel had on his shoulders. “When has calling me ever been bothering me?” Elliot asked. “I fucking missed you, Axel. A lot. Being here isn’t a bother. I am happy to help.” He promised looking at his friend. “Okay? The only time you bother me is when you drunk call at four am.” He teased trying to lighten the mood a bit. 

*

Satisfied that the situation had played out to his advantage, Fenn gave a terse nod to George before gliding through the door the other human was holding open for him. Adjusting the bags in his arms, he shot the man a quick, scrutinizing glance. 

Fenn didn’t know him, but that (of course) didn’t mean much. He hadn’t been in town long and, in that time, he’d only met a small handful of humans. Apparently, those without protection rarely survived in Calamity for long. Perish the thought. 

“…So it would seem,” he replied, scrunching his nose at the other’s rather uncouth language. “Though I can’t imagine they’ve ever been fond, to begin with.”

Fenn chanced a look back at the shop, only to see George peering at them through the window. The cashier looked hastily away after their eyes met, but Fenn couldn’t shake the feeling they were still being watched. 

“Don’t mention it. Really. It was actually rather selfish. If I had waited on you two to short out your issues, I would have died of old age in there. I honestly just wanted to speed things along.” Fenn shrugged, all ruthless efficiency. “I’d advise you not to take it personally, but I don’t really care what if you do or not.”

At the offer of a ride, Fenn stilled. He’d walked all the way here and, if he was being completely honest with himself, the thought of trudging all the way back to Lan’s place with an armful of groceries was… not entirely pleasant.

“I…. wouldn’t be adverse to a ride. If you’re offering.”

The rest of the world wasn’t a walk in the park for humans. It never had been. However, Elliot hadn’t ever been denied groceries because of his status as a human. That was just stupid. Nothing made him angrier than stupid. No one could fix it or stop it. All stupid did was get in the way of everything and everyone. What an annoyance. Now he’d be running late for the rest of the fucking day. 

Grunting in agreement, Elliot started towards his truck. He could feel eyes on his back as well. If he hadn’t been so used to it, he might have hated it. Ever since he arrived in Calamity it felt like someone was always watching him. That was just his luck. Arriving two days before Axel pulled some wild card shit out of his ass. He couldn’t help but wonder who knew about the whole plan. If anyone had, who had let this happen? Did no one say: Hey maybe we shouldn’t blow the place to kingdom come with a bunch of supes in it? Did he just have yes men working for him?

“Noted. Not personal.” Elliot grunted as he pulled open his driver side door and tossed his things into the middle seat. “I am offering..” He paused getting into the truck. “It’s not personal. Call it tit for tat if you want.” Elliot shrugged before jumping up into the drivers side. The truck wasn’t in the best condition. His driver side window was stuck down at all times. The paint was chipped. The sound of it starting up wasn’t exactly smooth but what car was now a days?

The throne wasn’t very comfortable to lean against, and he decided that a moment after resting against it. As he passed, he knocked Elliot’s boots off his table, before hopping into the chair, swinging his legs over the arm. Finishing the rest of his drink before he spoke, he sighed heavily and set it down on the floor beside. This wasn’t an easy thing to discuss – especially because their history, while wrought with back and forth bickering and violence - it wasn’t exactly what one would normally refer to as a friendship.

All of that pacing had been filled with memories of their encounters, all the way back to the beginning. Funny how they’d both ended up here. Almost as if fate had intervened and decided that these two very different men, would make a very unlikely - not - couple.

“I don’t know what the fuck is eating you to shit but you better watch your tone.” He hadn’t meant to be that commanding but - he needed to be sure Elliot was listening. Really listening this time. Because gods knew he had a habit of picking out selective words from a sentence and deciding he knew what the entire conversation was.

“I’ve never killed anyone,” he started, shifting in his seat so that he could be level eyed with Eli. “I’ve never hunted for the sake of it. I’ve never compelled any human to do anything they didn’t want to do. Every human I have brought through these doors, into the feeding ring, have all come because they wanted it. I am sure you find that hard to believe but I don’t really care right now.”

He paused to shuffle in his pocket for a cigarette, fingers shaking just so - only a slight betrayal of his rage, “I am telling you this because I need you to understand that I have never, in my life, felt more murderous than I do right now. What Axel did is fucking unspeakable. It is the worst possible thing he could have ever done. He-” Ik took a deep hit and blew it out, before standing to pace the room again, “we were working to find another way - to stop feeding from humans - it was..it was going well and then he just-”

“I need you. I need you to help fix this, Eli. Because if you don’t - he will be the first person that I kill simply for the thrill of watching him die.”

Rubbing his temples as Ikaros warned him about his tone, Elliot’s eyes slipped closed for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself. If would have told Ikaros off but he seemed really annoyed. Not sexy, frustrated, annoyed but something was off. The air seemed too thin. Tension. Lots of tension sat between them but it... wasn’t... sexual. How odd. This was different. He wasn’t here for sex. At least, not souly for sex. Elliot took a moment to pray to whatever god might be listening that Ikaros was not about to confess his love for him. That was something that Elliot could not handle right now. Well, possible not ever but especially right now. 

Finally, Ikaros started to speak and when he did, Elliot opened his eyes and watched the vampire carefully. He didn’t seem to be lying. He wasn’t breaking eye contact. His body movements were in sink with his words. Which seemed to flow naturally. He was either a remarkably good liar or he was telling the truth. It was hard to believe that Ikaros hadn’t killed anyone. He was vampire. Didn’t most fledglings at least kill one person? Elliot listened anyways. For once he was quiet through the whole thing.

“Wait- Hold on-” Elliot finally piped up. “You where working on something that would stop all of you from needing to feed on humans?” He asked as he stood up as well. That sounded too good to be true. If vampires didn’t need to feed on humans than they could really live like humans. Without the need to feed they’d be free to, well, not be monsters. Even those with control issues could simply use whatever this was to keep feed. “What was it? What-” 

It blew up.

“Please tell me that shit wasn’t in the hideout.” Elliot stated through clenched teeth. Though he didn’t wait to have Ikaros’s answer. Instead he walked over to the Vampire and stopped him watching. Putting a hand on each of his shoulders, Elliot looked up at the taller man. “Look at me. I had no fucking idea this is what he had planned. We were told he would distract the super’s while we moved and that’s it.” He explained. “Axel crossed a line, I agree with you. He has made all of the humans have bigger targets on our backs and hurt so many-” Elliot shook his head. He never would have done that. He was hunter of monsters. There were good people that died their. It wasn’t right. 

.

To say that his morning just got ten times more interesting was a grave understatement. In fact, grocery shopping had not proven to be this amusing in a while, and it was just that he was finally witnessing one of those filthy, little cockroaches dare set a foot out of their new hiding spot. Bold. Very bold. And the truth is that he was not beyond acting to make the fool regret it even more..but the wolf was going to try and behave, join the queue and see what was truly going on there.

And there he was, arms full and a basket filled to match, when he caught the conversation.. lips curling into a smirk before he huffed. “..just a question. Do you plan on holding up the queue for long or..?” his eyes went to the money on the table and up, detecting a strange smell about him that felt..oddly familiar.

Turning slowly on his heel, Elliot’s eyes flicked over the wolf that spoke up from behind him. Everyone just had to make a comment, didn’t they? Get their little quips in. Make light of a situation that Elliot really, really did not want to be in. Part of him wanted to start shooting but the other part reminded him that he lived by a code. No killing unless a monster is proven to be just that. So far this asshole was just impatient. Which, Elliot could understand. He wasn’t exactly known for his patients. 

“No, no, no,” He shook his head. “Just one more moment.” Elliot flashed the man a smile, which fell as soon as it appeared on his face, and turned back to the cashier. 

-

Axel almost spit out his drink from laughing. “Sacrificing virgins? Seriously?” He couldn’t help but smile at how ridiculous that sounded. “What the fuck were they trying to accomplish?” Axel asked, as if Elliot would know the answer. “Did you manage to kill all of the witches or just a few?” Axel missed the hunting days. 

He shrugged his shoulders. “Well for one… I’m Commander now.” He told Elliot. “Damien…” Axel tilted his head from side to side. “He’s a vampire. Bram is now a wolf.” Axel let out a breath. “A lot has changed.” 

Shrugging his shoulders, Elliot shook his head. “I don’t fucking know!” He admitted with a laugh. “The spell book they were reading out of looked like it came from the dollar tree.” He grinned at the memory before taking another sip from his drink. It was nice to be back with other humans. To have someone close by he could relax around. Be himself around. Trust. “Got’em all. They had ten girls- It was bad.” Elliot recalled his tone flatter than before. That had been the ugly part. The state of those girls. At least he got them out. 

“I heard.” Elliot hummed as he scratched his neck. “Who ever made that choice doesn’t know you well.” He teased lightly and put a hand on Axel’s shoulder. His smile faded and his grip on the other grew tighter as he went on speaking. “Fuck. That- Fuck, Axel. How are you holding up? You could have called me sooner, man. I had no idea.”

-

Usually Dodger wasn’t the kind to intervene, much happier and much safer observing from the sidelines, blending in to the point people forgot he was there. Sometimes, however, his instinct kicked in, and he found himself unable to hold back. Maybe there was a repressed part of him, the truly demonic side that barely awoke, that craved to join in with the chaos the state could provide, and this cashier had invoked enough annoyance within him to actually step in.

“He ain’t dead,” Dodger clarified, shuffling his now technically stolen goods from the counter into the equally stolen bag, “I just sapped him of energy completely. He’ll wake up eventually, recover, but he won’t physically want to do anything for a few hours,” he turned to head towards the exit, clocking eyes with some of the other customers that had been scowling in Elliot’s general direction, directing his next words loudly towards them, “and if you fuck with my friend again, your sleep is gonna be permanent, got it?”

Outside, the fresh air hit him and he took in a deep breath, the sudden coolness with the slight increase in energy stolen from the cashier at least made him feel less tired. But he’d already requested the ride, hoping to conserve the little he had left for later in the evening. “You don’t deserve it. It wasn’t you that did all that,” he shrugged, leaning on the side of the truck as Elliot refilled the gas, “not everyone within the same species should be painted the same.” He felt that personally. He wasn’t like the other demons, not to say that he wasn’t completely good, he wasn’t, but his selfish needs had a lot less impact on anyone else and the rest of the city than the intentions of his kin.

“Look, I know you don’t like my kind, and you probably don’t trust me, but I’m the least likely demon in this entire state to try and do anything to you. I just wanna get home, nap, then try and cook something nice for my man.” Assuming Lenn was coming over tonight. He needed to stop making those assumptions. Dodger opened the truck door and slid in, slumping onto the seat, holding his bag of items in his lap. “Dodger,” he replied, “and anywhere you’re comfortable on the East side. I can manage a short walk, I just don’t want you to be driving into territory you’re not safe in.”

For the most part, Elliot was grateful that Dodger had stepped in. He wasn’t in the mood to put someone else in their place. Could he have? Sure. He could have put the fear of god into that Cashier. Given him a really good reason to hate him but a break from having to do everything for himself was a welcome one. Even if it was from a stranger that could have been looking for something more. Hell, he kinda was. He was looking for a ride. Whatever, the cashier was dealt with. Elliot had his things. That’s all that mattered. 

A little laugh slipped from his lips at Dodgers comment as they left the store. He supposed not everyone in this city was a complete asshole. Himself not included. The glares they got as they left burnt Elliot’s back as he walked out to his truck with Dodger. The beat to shit, old, ford has seen better days but the fact that she still ran at all could have been considered some sort of magic.

“Yeah. No shit.” Elliot agreed with Dodger’s statement about not being behind the bombing. “Trust me, that shit would not have happened if I’d had any say.” He added but he knew that the guy had no reason to actually trust him. He was hunter. The monster to the monsters. “That’s a nice sentiment. One that’s clearly not shared by many others here.” Elliot grunted before starting up the truck. 

His shoulders tensed a bit when Dodger admitted to being a demon. Of all the fuckers on this planet, Elliot had a special sort of hatred for demons. Could you blame him? They killed his mother, his father, and stole his brother’s memories. They took his family from him. However, they had just been talking about no painting all creatures with the same brush and the only thing Elliot hated more than demons was a hypocrite. For now, Dodger got the benefit of the doubt. A luxury that most demons would never see. 

Pulling out of the parking lot, Elliot hummed. “I’m not going to lie, I’ve met some of you that are nasty fuckers.” He agreed. “But hey, you don’t stab me and I wont stab you.” Elliot shrugged once and glanced at Dodger as they shook hands quickly. His eyes flicked back to the road. “Just tell me the street name. I’ve been hunting since I was ten. I can handle it.” He promised as he turned up main street and headed East.

-

He had been one of the rare few that managed to escape the Hideout’s explosion without a scratch on him. Though it took most of his power, Remy was able to shift into his shadow form just as the building burst into flames, then traveling through the smoke the fires created to get out of harm’s way.

The move was reckless, but that was to be expected after seeing how the Commander handled himself throughout the night. He sought no retaliation, a seeker of balance could never, and instead just returned to his home and continued reading the book he was reading before he left to watch the play.

He had spent the day traveling through Calamity, checking on his willows, listening as they told him about the severity of the damage done. He found himself at a small shop after, grabbing a few snacks and waiting behind a man as he argued with the employee behind the counter.

A human being denied service, a direct result due to Axel’s actions. Usually he’d intervene, say something, but perhaps this was the path balance wished to take.

Seeing no resolution to this, Remy walked in front of the human and placed his items down. “Just these,” He mumbles, handing the man his own money. He senses something in the cashier, a type of anguish, before he turns to the man beside him. “Your money cannot be the solution to everything, thinking so is only going to leave you as you are now: frustrated and stuck.”

-

What the fuck?

Was this guy really so bold as to add insult to injury? Elliot watched as the other moved past him and began to buy his own items at the cash register without any issue. Not only that but he had the nerve to say something not to the man working but to Elliot. Was he stupid? Or was he just that confident that Elliot wouldn’t do anything in a public place? Either way he must have been new to this city. Public or not, no one was going to stop him from putting this guy in his place. 

He cleared his throat first, glanced at the guy behind the counter and threw a punch square at the blond guys jaw. “Do I look like someone you want to fuck with?” Elliot hissed before grabbing Remy’s shoulder. “Seriously. Do have a note on back or something? Does it say: I planted the bombs myself. It was all me. Because it wasn’t.” He tried to shove the other aside. “None of us did. So you both can take your raciest motherfucking views and shove them way up each others asses!” Elliot nearly shouted. 

*

Lately, Fenn felt as of he couldn’t keep his head above water. He’d been so proud, a few weeks ago. To have made it here - to Lan. To purpose and comfort and luxury. But then, he’d learned of Lan’s girlfriend (or wife, or whatever the bitch was) and, directly after that revelation, Kaiden had shown up and promptly fucking ruined everything.

Now, he was struggling to figure out his place (though, naturally, no one else would ever know that.) He hadn’t been unsure of himself since he’d first come to the compound, all those years ago, and given himself up to Lan. From then on, he’d always known what to do. Doubt was… new. New and unwelcome. 

Out on an errand for Lan, he secretly let himself enjoy the silence. The simplicity. Alone, he didn’t have to worry about the endless balancing act between himself and the others. He could simply exist - a rare indulgence, for one of his kind. 

At the connivence store, he’d taken his time gathering the items on Lan’s list (and a few extra necessities) before making his way to the check-out. Lan’s “acquaintance” George was working, which was a stroke of luck. He was one of the few employees here who didn’t harass Fenn, knowing his affiliation with Lan.

Obviously, the same couldn’t be said for all humans in this territory. In front of him, another man was beginning to lose his cool at the lack of service. He was attempting to bribe George with little success. Glancing down at his watch, Fenn rolled his eyes. He had to be home soon, and at this rate, these two jagheads would be sat here staring at each other all fucking night.

Mildly annoyed, Fenn finally shouldered his way past the other human in front of him with a huff. Hoisting his basket onto the counter, he raised a brow in quiet defiance. 

“Afternoon, George. He’s with me. We’re out on an errand for Lan, so I would like to speed this up, if you don’t mind. You know how he gets when he has to wait.” 

When the blond moved in front of him, Elliot nearly lost it. Just another supe trying to get away with being a rude ass motherfucker. But before he could jump out of his skin, the guy was talking. Wait what? Elliot’s face twisted with confusion. Lan? Who the hell was that? Did it actually matter? At the moment, no it did not. Whatever the guy had told him, it worked. With a huff, George started to ring everything through. 

“Hurry up. He didn’t like waiting.” Elliot pushed because he could. If George got to get a little bitchy with him than he was happy to return the favour. Everything was quickly bagged up and handed across to the two men. Eli made a mental note to look into this guy George. It wasn’t a good trait to have but if he could find some reason to put this asshole down, he probably would. 

Grabbing the side door, Elliot held it open and nodded for Fenn to follow him out. As soon as the door closed behind them, his shoulders rolled back and he shook his head slowly. “Fuckers really hate us these days.” He grunted. “Thanks.” He added as he tossed his bag into the back of his truck. “You need a ride anywhere?” Normally, Elliot wasn’t one to just offer rides to strangers but the guy had just helped him out. He seemed... Human enough for the time being. Hopefully that meant that he could give him a lift with no problem and get back to what he’d been doing originally. 

Trouble had a habit of finding him, and yes. While Lenn welcomed it most days. Keeping a pretty low profile was the way to go. After the night of betrayal, to say that Human’s were on most sups shit list was the biggest understatement of the year. And while Lenn was all for the bombing; he also knew that provoking people wasn’t the way to go.  All the connections he had been in talks with, weren’t answering his calls. Or running him out of places most of the day today. Again expected, they just had to make sure not to push it . They really couldn’t afford to lose anyone.  He’d wandered into the establishment with one goal in mind. Getting some supplies and taking it back to the Refuge. He had just gotten his things and bad for them – using his flirty nature to persued the person behind the counter to ring him in. God, he really was going have too but in the extra work it would seem.  Moving towards the exit he caught the sound of a familiar voice.  Elliot looked pissed, and the person refusing to ring him in looked even more so. Sighing, he slung his bag over his shoulders and moved towards the hunter in the midst of the confrontation.  “Hows it going guys?” he said clapping the other Elliot on the back as he slinked in next to him. His eyes on the guy behind the counter. A smile on his face, “ Listen, Jerry my guy. Are you seriously going to turn down a paying customer. You hate our kind– who doesn’t. You are in good company I’m sure. There’s got to be something we can do to work this situation out yeah?” blue eyes shifted towards Elliot pointedly. Signaling for him to put a little more money down on the counter. Before his attention was back on the other man. pushing more money towards him. “ We get what we need, you get us out. No issues, right Elliot?” 

To say that Elliot was grumpy would be an understatement. He was going from a little ticked off to angry pretty quickly. Which wasn’t good when you were the person he was angry with. None of what had happened was his fault. It was one mans plan. One. As far as Elliot was aware very few of the humans had any idea of what Axel had been planning that night before it happened. He hated they all had to suffer now because of a choice one person made. It was irritating to say the least. They were already disliked in this town. Axel had just poured fuel on the fire. 

Whatever. 

If this thing in front of him wanted to hate him than so be it. Elliot could play this game and he could play it better. 

Opening his mouth to say more, Elliot stopped when Lenn’s voice cut in. He paused and looked over his shoulder at the fellow hunter. It had been a long time since he’d seen the man. Last time he’d been leaving in the early morning to get back on the road after a hunt. A quickie before they said good bye and promised to see each other again soon. That had to be at least a year ago. If not longer. Time slipped by easily these days. 

Without a word, Elliot nodded. “Sure, no issues.” He nodded and pulled another ten out of his pocket. Putting it down on the counter he kept still before Jerry, the guy behind the counter, reached for the extra money. Once his hand was flat against the money and desk, Elliot moved quickly. He grabbed Jerry’s wrist with one hand and drew his knife with other. Pushing his knife down throw the top of Jerry’s hand, Elliot pinned him to the counter. 

“I’m going to take back all that extra cash I just put up and your gonna ring all this shit up like normal.” Elliot hissed as Jerry shouted. He tried to pull his hand away but it was stuck to the counter via Elliot’s knife. “No issues.” He grunted as Jerry nodded. 

Grabbing his things, Elliot put them in a bag and finally removed his knife from Jerry’s hand. He then turned to Lenn and pushed both of them out the side door. “I had that.” He promised as he wiped his knife off on the sleeve of his jacket. “But thanks.”

-

This particular store wasn’t exactly the most easily accessible from Dodger’s apartment considering the amount of walking it took just to get there (let alone back), but, it had been the first place he had stopped when he first arrived in the state, and Dodger was nothing if not a creature of habit. Familiarity. Ease. All things he craved in day to day life. Even if it was a little more effort to get there than he’d like, knowing he at least liked the wares on offer was good enough for the demon.

People seemed off as he collected what he needed, not at him specifically, but there was a definite tension to be felt within the store. He brushed it off. It had been a long few days for everyone so it should have been expected that everyone was on edge. High alert. Waiting for the next thing to blow up unexpectedly. The thought tickled the back of his mind, a realisation that maybe the people’s noticeable tension was the right way to be, and a first for the Letharger, he picked up his pace. Feet moved a pace or two quicker than they usually did, steps off the ground rather than the sluggish shuffle he’d often do.

Only one person was stood in front of him by the time he got to the counter, piling up his things and asking for gas. When he was denied, Dodger cocked an eyebrow, watching the conversation spiral downwards. More money was slapped down and passed across but again to no avail and the demon’s foot began to tap on the floor impatiently.

Again, as the seconds ticked by, there seemed to be no progression. “Y’know what-” he hadn’t intended on intervening, but this was taking the piss now, “- I haven’t got time for this.” He knew people were pissed at the humans, and they had every right to be, but if their spite towards them was going to start interrupting the Letharger’s day, then that was an issue.

He stepped forwards, nudging the human to the side, placing his own items onto the counter before reaching over to the clerk, grabbing him by the collar. “Can he pay?” He asked, but was met with another denial, warranting a sigh to leave the demons lips. “Time for your break ain’t it?” Before the clerk could protest, Dodgers eyes swirled into inky pools of pitch black, his sin manifesting into the man in his grasp, a slight grin on his face as he watched the clerks eyes grow heavy, limbs weaker as his body slumped to the ground.

He let out a sigh, turned, his own eyes back to normal, sliding the other human’s money back towards him. “You guys have enough shit to deal with without some asswipe making things difficult.” He leant over the counter, grabbing two bags, one for his own things and one to offer the stranger. “If you’re driving back, you can drop me home as a thank you. I really cannot be bothered to walk anymore today.”

When Dodger shoved Elliot to the side, the hunter reached for his gun without hesitation. He was about to draw but the demon’s attention wasn’t on him. It was on the man behind the counter. It looked like not all the supernaturals in this city were as brain dead as the guy behind the counter. After all, it wasn’t Elliot who set those creatures to their deaths. Nor had he set off the explosions' that caused such destruction. If it had been up to him, and it wasn’t, things would have been in a much different manor. 

Glancing over the front desk at the man slumped on the ground, Elliot raised an eye brow. His chest was still rising and falling normally so he wasn’t dead. That was... sort of disappointing. Oh well, there was no need in making more of a scene here than they already had. Elliot leaned over the counter and messed with the system behind it that would allow him to get gas. 

Standing up straight he grabbed his cash and things from the demon as they started out the front door. “Thanks.” Elliot nodded after he spoke. “Seriously did not need that shit today.” He admitted before walking to his truck. Dumping his shit in the driver seat, Elliot walked around to start pumping gas into the tank as Dodger spoke. Sloth then. Made sense why he intervened. Oh well. Sloth demons were, literally, the lesser of seven evils. If he was going to drive one home it might as well be this guy. 

“Fine. Get in.” Elliot agreed. He finished filling his trucks tank and got into the cab of the truck himself before starting her up. “Elliot, by the way. Where am I taking you?”

Nick flashes him a smile once he’s handed over the drink, leaning his palms against the bar. “I guess it’s your lucky night then. Both in taste and free drinks.” He replies with a wink while he waits for his hopefully good review. “Now you’re spoiling me, I like it.” The wolf smirks, picking up the cloth next to him and flicking it onto his shoulder. “Does what mean I at least get you until you’ve finished your drink?”

“Oh, flattery will get you everywhere.” Elliot grinned as the man leaned forwards and gave him that smile. Goddamn. Was everyone in this city this good looking? Was there even one ugly person walking the streets? “Maybe you’ll get to have me all night. I mean, if you play your cards right.” He teased before taking other sip of the drink Nick had just made him. As much as Elliot was trying to flirt this was actually the best drink he’d had in years. Perfectly smooth. The way an old fashion should be. “Elliot, by the way. Pleasure to meet you.” He offered his hand to the other once he put his drink down.