THE END IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Hector’s eyes came alight with recognition, his smile, for some, something contagious. But to the cambion, it was natural, its purpose benign.

“Mary Shelley! Ah! I haven’t read that in ages.” Books such as hers were stepping stones of his childhood. He often wondered what conversations with her must have been like, if she had been an ardent philosopher, questioning everything, as the book had once made him question the motives and consequences of everyone around him.

But that had been short-lived, striking him now as a wave of bittersweet nostalgia.

The other's smile was not contagious to the witch. Rather, it was like a mockery. An insult. He almost wanted to bite at him Why are you looking at me like that? With so many positivity in his face? Was Hector confused, or lost? There was no reason to believe anything good about Guai had caused such an expression.

"How 'bout some -" Nevermind that. The little klutz was put back upright. Maybe he'd keep his hands on those ribs. He could make it work. Let's try that again.

He fumbled around, missing his pocket several times before managing to slip his hand inside. A baggie was felt through, two black pills were brought out and settled on his own tongue. Stuck out, lucid smile on his face.

A confused and irritated look settled in his face.

The familiar squeezed her eyes shut, biting down on her pink lip so hard she drew blood.

being made to wait just makes him bristle even further. gian was not renown for his patience, but it says a lot for him to sit there and. obey. like a good dog. disgusting. he pulls out his phone and starts scrolling through the dick pics in his instagram dms so he doesn't think about it too much.

"don't be a fuckin' prick about it." hissed harshly because tangguo had tugged at a particular nerve. nearly cracks his phone and thank god he didn't because he really can't afford to replace another one this year. he's been there before. not as a purchaser. prostitute back when that word was all there was to describe people like him. it was surreal to see sex work become so normalized in the time he's lived. sometimes he's bitter about it because if he had just waited it out maybe he wouldn't be so ashamed and boiling to his core right now.

"i don't pay to fuck. you think i have organize something to get attention? i was just ordering coffee and you offered to take me out to the most expensive restaurant in town. be so fuckin' for real." oh, he needs to count to ten. adjusts his bangs and takes a breath. "all offense, but you seem like the type to go into maid cafes and proposition the underpaid workers. it's not my fault you dress like a creepy 4chan weeb." he really needs to learn to reel it in. especially with someone who is admittingly fascinating.

He found being on one's phone at dinner with another quite rude, but he said nothing. Tangguo eyed the other carefully. Just because he did not do anything about it right then and there did not mean he was letting it slide. Rather, he would keep it in mind. For later.

"I'll be however I want, whenever I like." he still made no move to order that dessert. "In fact, talking to me like that only makes me want to take longer. Maybe saying something nice will make me speed up." So, he started to eat even slower. He sipped his water, cleaned the corner of his already clean mouth with his napkin. Ah. How relaxing a nice meal could be.

Tangguo hummed, laughing softly, "You're right about that. The curse of beauty can be very convenient when things fall into place. But when you're bored, or the attention is unwanted, isn't the story completely different?" the image only made him laugh harder. "You'll find I'm usually the one in a maid's dress. They're very convenient to clean in." whatever that meant to Gigi, however the other might take it. He was sure he'd just opened himself up to ridicule.

"The chase is half the game, hmm?" She cocked her head, letting silence hang in the air between them for a brief moment. A smile appeared, a calculated glimmer of a thing, perhaps even genuine. "Would you prefer I be crass? Would you like all the sordid details?"

The sorceress drew in a breath, as though preparing for something. Regarded him with a critical look.

"Is that so?" he should not expect anything less of a being like her. A spawn of something just as cruel. "If you're asking what I prefer, I prefer you did not speak at all." but that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

Sang listened to her description. Patiently. A blank expression as void as his unfeeling reaction. The construct was in a rare position. He was a composite being. Someone had already torn him apart and stitched him back together. His very birth had been no birth at all, but a surrection of the best parts of various creatures sewn together. He could not feel violated by the image, because it was his very nature. His organs had all been touched and toyed with before.

He trembled, feeling his body fighting against the poison he'd mistakenly drank. It was foolish. Had it been a sword, a bow and arrow, he could dodged it. A fight, he could have win. But to be blindsided...

What damage would there be to speak, he thought. Outright rejection was already on the table. Thrown in the ocean?

"Where I grew up, everyone in the community was Catholic. I would see symbols everywhere. Jesus on his cross, Alpha and Omega, Chi Rho. The smell of burning incense, the priest's robes looked like art. It was all like magic to me. And then I met Nachim, and others. I saw a witch performing a ritual over a symbol on the floor. All of the crystals she used, and incense," he scoffed. "Again with the incense. You must be very powerful, to do magic just like that." His snapped his own fingers for emphasis, and nothing.

But that wasn't what came. A compliment came. It started to feel a little clearer why Hector was so popular. And why Guai was not.

He sighed, shaking his head at the apology, continuing to mark the ropes he would later use magic to change. "You have to be taught how to use crystals, candles, and incense. Before I joined the coven I was forcing magic out of myself like a crazed scientist, desperate, eager, frothing at the mouth to accomplish something. The world did not spin fast enough for me. Snapping seemed to make things go faster. It worked for me, I stuck with it." A quote came to mind. Frankenstein. Fitting. "'A resistless passion drove me forward; I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit. It was indeed but a passing trance'."

I use no Generative AI to write for me.

I use no Generative AI to create images for me.

I do not wish to write with people who actively use Generative AI.

If you write with me, you won't ever have to fear any AI being used to doing my replies for you. I will not feed your writing to ChatGPT and the like, and I would appreciate it if you don't feed my writing to any kind of Generative AI either. You do not have my consent to do so.

But with his leg hanging out of the shroud, and his other foot not faring much better, Hector was otherwise distracted - and further distracted as something invisible pressed upon him in four places. The hand above his head remained firmly gripped as he was readjusted, not realizing until he was set to rights whom his savior was.

The cambion sighed, grateful, practically lying on the shroud as he caught his breath.

Guai took a deep breath. That was the most he's ever spoken to the other. That was more than he'd ever wanted to say to him. But, it wasn't like he'd sworn off the guy and had committed to being an asshole towards him. Wanting to avoid someone was not the same as bullying them. He wouldn't refuse to answer an innocent question like that.