D --> I find this most disturbing...

"Holy shit!" That was all the Brit said before collapsing onto the bed. He buried his face into the pillows, while his lover chuckled at the spectacle.

“Are you gonna be okay?” Pav asked as he sat beside him on the edge of the bed. Hobie turned his head slightly to face him. His makeup was smudged beyond repair, and he had the goofiest smile painted on his face.

“Yeah-” He replied nodding his head slightly. “Just a bit hammered,” He said slightly groaning, as he plopped his face back down on the pillows. “That party was fuck-fucking wild…”,Hobie tried to keep his speech from slurring but to no avail.

Pav just smiled down at his boyfriend. “Yeah..we got a bit carried away, didn’t we?” Carried away was putting it lightly. They got so drunk that Miles and Gwen had to return them to Pav’s dimension and sneak them back into his home without getting noticed.

But honestly besides that, a bit of throwing up, and the ungodly hangover awaiting them in the morning. Tonight was the most fun they’d had in a while! 

And, maybe it was the mix of booze and Pavitr’s curious libido, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Hobie. Even now with his makeup smeared, Pav couldn’t help but admire every part of him. Everything about him was perfect. The way his back curved down into his hips, the map of scars that trailed down to his waist and arms, and the way the dress he wore wrapped around his midnight skin, he was stunning. Without even realizing it, Pav had fully turned around and was running his hand down the punk’s back.

“Wha-what are ya doin’?” Hobie said attempting to look back at his partner. Pav stopped rubbing and gently kissed one of the scars on his back. “I don’t know,” He made his way down to another scar and kissed it as well. “You just look so beautiful.” Pav whispered against his skin before repeating the process, all the way down the taller man’s backside. When he finished his game of ‘connect the dots”, he made his way back to Hobie’s neck. What started as gentle pecks soon turned into deep bites and hickeys. Gradually the room was filled with subtle gasps and moans. “Shit-” Hobie began to squirm a bit as he felt his lover gently turn him over. Without hesitation, Pav kissed him deeply, further smearing his makeup. Eventually, the punk broke the kiss, playfully pushing Pav away.

“Stop it! Ya gonna mess up my makeup!” Hobie ran his thumb over Pav’s lipstick-stained mouth. He gave a slight chuckle in response.

“Oh trust me…you’ve looked worse hun.” “Oh shut up!”

Hobie swiftly hit his love outside the head with a pillow, slightly messing up the boy's perfect hair. Pav gave an exaggerated huff as he leaned his head against Hobie’s, giving him one more gentle kiss.

*1 month earlier*

Marvus was so tired. 

He'd been on his feet all day preparing for his set, and he finally got a chance to just breathe without some lovestruck groupie up his ass asking for an autograph, a hug, or trying to fill his quadrants.

 It was exhausting being loved. 

He was sitting in his dressing room alone for once, trying to relax while scrolling on Chittr. After scrolling past various adverts and stalkerish fan messages, he came across a video of some bronzeblood performing. They were in a seedy little bar, with a small crowd, and terrible lighting. He didn't have high expectations for them but he could always appreciate a fellow performer.

He watched the video to the very end and was mildly surprised by how much he enjoyed it. He went to the comments, and there were only a few. He wanted to comment but his publicist, and his fanbase, would kill him if he did. He could tell the few trolls that did comment were lower on the hemospectrum, they were pretty supportive. However, he did notice one from a familiar account that caused him to internally cringe.

THECODAKKEFFECT::  Great job, Bronzie boo! Sorry, I couldn't make it. I couldn't miss Marvus’s concert but you looked gorgeous on stage.

He stared at the screen curiously, there was no way in hell that indingdong was her matesprit. And if he was, there was no way he had any good intentions behind it, he was known for having his quadrants forever empty.

 Marvus rewatched the Bronzie’s performance, the shot was way too shitty to tell what they looked like. Morbid curiosity led him down the rabbit hole, he got the bronzeblood’s name from the video caption and started looking for anything he could find on them. 

Chixie? Chixie. Chixie!

He found a video with far better quality that finally showed what they looked like. Chixie was…shy? Nervous? He wouldn't necessarily say gorgeous, but she wasn't ugly either. She was…cute. She didn't have much presence or hype but she was talented. 

After watching at least ten videos of her performing and pouring out her soul he could reasonably say he was a fan. Her lyrics, composition, and the way she put her all into her performance even if he could tell she was scared for her life half the time. Honestly, her nervousness weirdly added to her cuteness. Like a hopbeast shivering in fear but still thumping along in an attempt to scare off predators. She was definitely brave, not fierce or powerful, but she held her own on stage and he liked that. 

He broke out of his thoughts to a knock at the door.

"Marvus, I'm coming in. I'm tired of all the noise out here," Chahut announced, busting through the door and entering the room with the rest of the purplebloods following her like quackbeasts.

"Honk!" The smallest clown, Karako, ran up to Marvus and hugged as tight as he could. As annoyed as he was with them barging in, he couldn’t stay mad at the little clown. 

"Hey to you too, little wriggler. Been causing trouble?" He patted the little clown’s messy fluff of hair, before actually holding onto him.

"Honk!" 

"Good. Never let 'em keep you in a box." 

"Honk?" Karako pointed at Marvus's palmhusk.

"What? Her? Nothing. I just liked her songs so I was giving ‘em a listen," He waved the runt off, quickly locking his palmhusk.

Chahut narrowed her eyes at him.

 “This another one of ya desperate lil’ groupies?”

“Nah, and mind ya business!”

"Mighty defensive are we?" Chahut stalked closer to Marvus. He instinctively moved the hand holding the device away from her, only for it to get snatched by one of the twins from behind.

They quickly opened the phone to see a video of the bronzie girl playing on a loop.

“Aww your love-sick for a lil’ Bronze girl,” Chahut said mockingly.

“How cute!” She quickly busted out laughing with the twins, before Marvus snatched it back!

“Didn’t I tell ya’ll to mind ya business!” Marvus responded with a clenched jaw. He didn't know why he was being so defensive, but he did find the invasion of his space and privacy annoying.

"Why should we? Mr. Unaffected is over here creeping on some bronzeblood. What happened? Embarrassed?" She said smirking and cocking her head.

The twins both shook their heads before speaking.

"You should be!"

"How embarrassing." 

Karako just looked up at the bigger clown confused.

"Honk?" 

Marvus’s face grew angrier by the second.

"I'm not feeling flushed for her little man. Why do y'all even care?"

“Cause we love to torture you!” 

Chahut commented as she gave the device back to him.

He immediately snatched it out of her hands, causing Chahut to jump back a bit.

“Jeez, we were just playin’!”

He glared up at her annoyed, before sitting back down. The room fell silent for a bit before the twins began to speak.

"You're not seriously developing feelings for the bronzie are you?" 

"..."

"You're not seriously developing feelings, right Marvus?!" They both repeated in unison.

His face became more annoyed.

“No, I ain’t!” 

"Good,” Chahut cut in sitting down on the couch.

”A troll of your status ain’t got no business foolin’ around with some lowblood girl. You remember what happened last time?”

"That ain't gon happen. A, I'm not foolin’ around with her. B, I don't even know her. C, she's not even a fan. D, most important of all, I ain't never even met her before. There is no business happening here. I saw a cool performance and I wanted to see if she had talent. You motherfuckers are the ones making it weird!"

"Fair enough. Just tryna make sure you ain't repeating that bullshit,"

"Time is money. Do you think I can afford to pay attention to every lowblood out there? Is my name Nova?" 

"Honk!"

"Right little man! I'm nothing like that fame chaser,"

“Honk! Honk!” Karako aggressively commented, while the other three just rolled their eyes.

“Whatever.” Chahut stretched her arms behind her head.

“I just can’t wait for you to finally be on vacation. You’re takin’ us with you, right?” 

Baizli asked.

“Yeah, we got everything packed up.” 

Barzum followed up.

“Honk?”

"You wanna go with me?" Marvus walked over to the smallest clown and picked him up, booped him on the nose.

"Honk!"

"I don't know, they been kinda annoying lately," Marvus teased the smaller troll.

Karako turned to the other purple bloods and shook his head side to side. 

"Oh, you not a part of they group? I guess you could come with me. We'll leave these losers behind,"

"Honk!"

"Hear that, it's me and little man's duo trip. But, maybe if ya’ll apologize, I’ll consider bringing yas along.” He and Karako gave a small chuckle

"We're so sorry," The twins enthusiastically responded.

"That's two more invited! Chahut you're next."

"As If I'm apologizin’ to your lame ass," Chahut crossed her arms. She barely moved to sit up before having three pleading faces staring at her. 

"Ooooh looks like the wrigglers are gonna miss you. How sad. But I guess you're too lame to hang with guys." 

"Fuck you."

"That's not an apology. Wanna try again?"

"I'm sorry, Marvus,” She said grumbling under her breath.

“That’s three!” He said, high-fiving Karako. 

"Vacation! Vacation! Vacation! Vacation," the twins chanted, flipping around the room.

"Honk! Honk!" Karako cheered along.

—

Marvus was sitting on his bed in the hivetel. He was wearing one of his old merch t-shirts, no point in wearing that clunky tux and scrolling through Chittr. Since the point Chahut made about that clingy lowblood from before he'd been trying to keep his mind off Chixie. Unfortunately, nothing like forbidden fruit makes you want to take a bite. As soon as he arrived and locked himself in his room he’d started watching more videos of the girl. In his scrolling, he came across a post on her actual account. 

Chixie:: I'll be performing at BloodBrawl bar tonight. Come out and show support!

Below the text was a picture of the lineup, there in big brown text was her name. She’d be the middle act and the bar was close to the hivetel. It was at that moment that Marvus got an amazing, and kinda stupid, idea. He did have a few toned-down outfits and his favorite black hoodie. It wouldn't hurt to just pop out for a drink real quick. 

He just saw a recommendation to come out to a local place that had good music. As an accomplished artist, how could he resist hearing fresh talent? If he just so happened to see the bronzeblood that he's been listening to for the past two days then so be it. It's their fault for choosing this hivetel, not his.

With his plan in mind, he memorized the time she’d be performing and went to gather everything he’d need, searching vigorously through his bags. He found his most raggedy hoodie, an old patched-up pair of sweats, and some platformed boots he wore for a concert messiah knows how long ago. To make things more convincing he decided to give himself a fake caste symbol. But there was only one person in their entire Hivetel with paint…Chahut.

He sighed walking down that hall towards her and Karako’s room. 

“Chachki!” He yelled knocking at the door.

He heard several large stomps before the door flew open.

“I thought I told ya to never call me that,” she looked down at him agitated.

“Whatcha want?”

“I need to borrow ya paint sis’.”

She cocked her eyebrow.

“What for?”

“I…Need to repaint some of my shoes.”

He all but mumbled out. It wasn’t a lie, after sweeps of performing a lot of his shoes and outfits were worn out. The bigger clown stared at him for a moment before sighing and going back into her room. She pulled a bag of spray paints out of her suitcase. She tossed them out to him, and he wandered off back to his room. He picked up the burgundy and quickly sprayed a fake caste symbol on his hoodie. 

He wanted to make sure  no one  recognized him, went into the washroom, tied his hair back, and did something he never thought he’d do. He washed his makeup off. It was weird seeing his gray skin after only seeing white on it for so long. For the piece de resistance, fake glasses and a face mask. 

He threw his newly painted hoodie on and slunk out of the hivetel room. He took the stairs to avoid any fans or press and snuck out the back of the building. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and hunched forward changing his overall image and hiding as much of his shape as possible. He didn't remember ever being able to leave a building without being watched or swarmed before but it was an exciting feeling.

Before he knew it he was on the streets, heading towards the bar. He did get a few looks on the way, he guessed they’d never seen a burgundy this big. Still, it didn’t stop some of the higher bloods from pushing and shoving him out of their way. To be honest he didn’t even notice most of them, they just bounced off of him. Plus he was too focused on seeing this gig to worry about any of them.

After a few minutes, he finally made it, and there wasn’t too long a line!

When he got in he noticed the place was fairly crowded, he thought back to the lineup, he did remember seeing some popular names. He looked around a bit to see if he could recognize Chixie before giving up and going to get a drink. He had a few songs to get through before he would get to hear hers anyway.

The act currently setting up was a purpleblood band. They were pretty good if he was being honest, but he wasn’t coming for them. He was here for one performance, and one performance only.

After them was a solo indigo.

And after that was another act and another…and another. If he was being honest, a lot of the acts were starting to meld into one another. 

Something else he noticed was how many of the acts were blatantly copying him. Not just his lyrics and beat, but his entire persona and style.

 Normally he wouldn’t mind this he loved it when people took inspiration from his work. But all of these acts felt the same, there was no flare or pizzazz. Just the same thing over and over expecting to get more applause than the last act, absolutely boring. But, it would all be worth it, soon, cause next up was Chixie!

Only the little bronzie didn’t come out, instead, it was another group of purples who, apparently came late. Marvus sat there confused, as to why Chixie wasn’t on stage.

Maybe they just rearranged her spot, so they could perform?

He didn't care for the abrupt change but it's fine he could sit through one more performance.

After them was another group, indigobloods. Then there was a teal solo act. Then two jade acts back to back.

It seemed like everyone but Chixie was performing tonight, as the show went on more and more trolls started to leave. Soon there was nothing but a handful of lowbloods and one indigo, standing in the front, left. Marvus was considering leaving himself, but he noticed a fairly short troll nervously walking on stage.

The last act came up, and there she was, Chixie. Despite his annoyance, Marvus felt a smile grow across his face when he saw her. He noticed her outfit, it was a long black button-down dress, a pair of white leggings, and a pair of black flats with baggy leg warmers. It wasn’t at all flashy, and it didn’t look expensive, but it was still cute!

His focus on her was broken by the sound of very out-of-place cheering; he looked forward to seeing the indigo loudly praising her and clapping. His eyes migrated back to the bronze girl, who was now awkwardly smiling and waving at him as she pulled down the mic off the stand.

A burgundy with a guitar wrapped around him stumbled out and started playing. 

She visibly sighed, before she started to sing.

The song she sang was a somber one. She didn’t do much, she wasn’t loud or flashy like the other acts. She didn’t have dance moves unless you counted hand gestures and hip sways.

She was just being herself, calm, but kind of nervous. Many would probably call her “Plain” or “simple” but that’s what made it all stand out. She wasn’t trying to be this big personality, she knew who she was, and that made her all the more unique to Marvus.

Soon the guitarist stopped and Chixie’s voice disappeared with the last few chords.

He was stunned. She was far better in person than the shitty video quality from Chittr. However, he did appreciate whoever was uploading videos of her performances. He sat for a while watching her interact with the few lowbloods left in the bar before visibly cringing as she turned to the indigoblood that was feeling a little too excited to see her.

"Hey Zebruh! I'm so…glad you could make it. I thought you were going to a concert for that purpleblood you liked."

"Marvus. His name is Marvus.”

The indigo corrected.

 “And I did wanna go to his show but I heard he went on vacation, so I decided to come support you in the meantime!"

"That's so sweet of you but you didn't have to-"

"What kind of manager would I be if I wasn't here to support my favorite bronzie!”

He interrupted getting in the bronze girl’s face.

"Oh. Well…You really didn't have to." 

"Nonsense! They already bullied you once. If you had let me, I would ' ve made sure they never changed your spot, but of course, you're just too kind," Zebruh smirked. Marvus eavesdropped for a bit and could feel the anger she was hiding from his backhanded compliment.

"I'm glad you think so," She smiled weirdly at the indigo, as he tried to put his hand on her but she turned away like she heard someone call her, barely missing his hand. 

"They called Trixie not Chixie," he said, dropping his arm to his side.

"Oh! Well, that's fine. Sorry, but I have to go, I gotta- feed my lusus! I'll see you later."

Without a second she turned and walked away.

"I love that about you. You're so responsible. Bye~"

He yelled at her from across the room.

The mousy girl quickly ran out of the bar, brushing past Marvus. His eyes focused on her face quickly taking in her features as she skittered past him. He wasn't expecting to get such a close-up- up but at least he was right and the trip wasn't a waste, she really was cute. 

Marvus made his way back to the hivetel. He figured using the stairs would be better but by the fifth floor, he started regretting his choice. He decided to just take off his sweater and take the elevator the rest of the way up. He managed to make it through the hall without being spotted or recognized. Soon enough he made it back to his room and he sighed loudly when he got in. 

His tiredness was soon replaced with panic when he noticed Karako sitting on the couch, legs and arms crossed.

"Honk."

"Woah! Hey little man, what you doing here?"

"Honk?" Karako glared at him, waiting for an answer.

"Where I been? What you mean, where I been? I just stepped out for a bit. I ain’t been gone long."

 Karako made an annoyed face at the obvious lie.

"Three hours ain't that long. Why were you in my room for three hours?" He tried to change the subject but the little clown steamrolled past it.

"Honk. Honk."

"Thanks for thinkin' of me but you really ain't have to and as you can see I'm fine."

"Honk?" Karako asked again.

"I just got a drink and forgot to check my palmhusk. Sorry little dude."

The little clowned glared him down, giving an exaggerated pout.

"Just down the block! Look, it's not that serious."

"…Honk," Karako glared at him suspiciously.

"No, I didn't go see that girl. What girl are you even talkin' about?"

Karako quickly showed the evidence on his palmhusk.

" I didn't go to see her! I just got a drink at a bar she just so happened to be performin' in."

“Honk!”

“My makeup? It needed to be redone, so I took it off!”

“...Honk,” The small clown pointed at the jacket, and glasses he still had in his hand. It was at this point Marvus knew the little clown wouldn’t give up, he sat next to him and began to explain.

“Okay, I ain’t confirmin’ or denyin’ nothing. But maybe,  maybe , I went to see her perform,” His panic was replaced with a small grin as he explained further.

“You should’a seen her! She was so sweet and so talented. I thought seeing her in person would, you know, scratch the itch. Sate my curiosity.”

Karako cocked his head at the older clown.

"Yeah, I probably should've left it alone but I couldn't not go after being told not to watch her." 

“Honk!” Karako began to chuckle as he stated the obvious.

“No! I ain’t got red feelings for her! I remember what happened last time!” He picked Karko up into his arms “Besides, you too young to be talkin’ bout that!”

“Honk?”

“Yeah…I did say this was different…”

“Honk!”

“No! I ain’t goin’ back to see her.”

Karako grabbed Marvus’s palmhusk again, going onto Chixie’s Profile.

He pointed at the red quadrant status, which was marked as empty.

"Karako, I can't do that again. Chahut would kill me if I brought another groupie around!"

"Honk!"

"I know she's not a groupie but still it's not gonna end well either way." Marvus slightly raised his voice, causing Karako to tear up a bit.

The little clown began to cry and fuss, Marvus sighed and brought him in for a hug.

“I’m sorry little man, it’s just I can’t be out here catching red feelings for a girl I don’t even know,” He pulled Karako back wiping his tears, smudging his makeup a bit.

“Besides, if I went chasing after her, you and me wouldn’t have time to hang out!” He booped the runt’s nose.

“And ya wouldn’t want that now would ya?”

Karako nodded his head “no”.

“Then let’s not focus on all that quadrant mess, okay?”

“...Honk!” Karako squeezed his arms around Marvus’s waist, pulling him in for one last hug.

The living room was filled with awkward silence and tension so thick a knife couldn't cut it. Moxxie, Blitz, and Millie had been called to do 'Business' with someone from Greed. And to Moxxie's surprise and dismay it was his father. He didn't know what to expect from this 'job'. Knowing his dad, it could've been any number of things.

Fucking up some guy that owed him money?

Stealing from a bank in the human world?

Or maybe just killing some innocent imp who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and knew too much? It could've been anything. But one question that stood in Moxxie's mind wasn't about the job, it was about a ring. 

The moment they landed he noticed a gold ring on his father's left hand, and he'd only seen Crim wear that ring once…in an old wedding photo. He'd never seen him wear it around, so it seemed weird for him to just have it on all of a sudden.

"So ugh, Crimson?" Moxxie's thoughts were interrupted by Millie's voice. The mobster looked up and stared her down, with his eyebrow cocked.

"What exactly was the job you had planned for us if ya don't mind my askin'?" She asked, doing her best to be as calm and sweet as possible.

"Yeah cause-", Blitz said, before taking a swig of his drink.

"We only kill people in the living world, shortstack. Last time we tried killing fuckers down here it did not go well, trust me." Crim took a sip from his own drink before speaking. 

"It's a simple job really," Crim said, staring down all of them from his seat.

"You see, I hid some valuables in the human world, to keep the weaselly fucks down here from stealing ‘em, unfortunately, some bastards must’ve found and taken ’em."

He took a final sip and looked straight at Blitzo.

“I want ‘em dead.”

His voice got more stern on his final word, and while the other didn’t notice it Moxxie flinched a bit at his father’s stricter tone. 

“And I want Moxxie to stay behind and assist me with some… assets.” The smaller imp’s eyes went wide when he heard his father’s words, the thought of being alone with him for even a minute was enough to make him want to scream.

“Wait,” Millie said, looking slightly worried.

“Me and Mox are a team! We-” Moxxie placed a hand on her shoulder, interrupting her.

“Mil…It’ll be okay.”

“But...” She said, her voice sounding shakier than usual. He took her hands into his and gently squeezed them.

“I can handle this.” He kissed her hands gently, only for Blitzo to squeeze in between them.

“So it’s settled!” He yelled, pulling them closer and squeezing them into a hug.

“You stay here and do whatever the fuck you need to do, while me and Mill go top side and get your dad’s shit back!” Crim laughed at the awkward display, while Moxxie still felt like his heart was gonna beat out of his chest.

After some further negotiation, Blitz and Millie headed to the human world, and Moxxie was left alone with the person he feared the most.

“Um, sir,” He said, fidgeting with his hands and keeping his head down.

“What exactly did you need my…assistance with?” The older imp didn’t respond, he simply looked at him before nudging his head, signaling for him to follow. 

They wandered around the house for a bit, stopping at a room Moxxie had never really noticed before. It was a normal-looking door; the only thing that made it stand out was the strange keyhole underneath the knob.

Moxxie had vivid memories, one of his dad dragging his mom behind that door, and her never coming out.

Crim dug under his suit, pulled out a key, and unlocked the door. A pungent smell wafted into the air, it was like a mixture of copper and saltwater. He gestured towards the door, inviting his son to enter the strange room.

The young imp simply stood there nervous.

He didn’t trust his dad one bit, and now he was trying to get him alone in some dark room, only he had the key to?

Moxxie almost stepped away, but Crim grabbed him, practically throwing him into the room.

He caught himself before falling down a small flight of stairs, at the bottom was a rough concrete floor covered in stains, 

“Come on,” Crim grabbed him again, dragging him down the stairs.

“We ain’t got all day.”

Underneath the sound of their footsteps, Moxxie heard the sound of moaning and the clinking of metal. His mind began to race through every possible scenario. And none of them ended well for him.

When they made it to the bottom of the stairs, he noticed a body on the floor.

Their head was down and their body was wrapped in chains and covered in bruises. As he looked at it further he started to recognize the figure.

“Chaz!?" Moxxie screamed out, his eyes widening.

The shark slowly lifted his head looking at the imp, one of his eyes was swollen and black, while his face looked lost. His usual goofy smirk was replaced with a look of dread. It was the first time Moxxie had seen Chaz actually look scared.

He slowly turned to his father, looking as frightened and concerned as ever.

“Dad…W-what’s going on?” Crim patted his son's shoulder.

“Well, you see,” He slowly walked up to the shark and pulled on the chains forcing him to sit up. His body was partially exposed, covered in teeth marks and purplish bruises.

“Chazzwick here came into millions,” He got in closer and squished Chaz’s face between his hands.

“And since you and ‘im were such good friends, I thought ‘So what if he’s a queer, money is money’. ”

Tears began to run down Chazzwick’s face, as he sniffled a bit. Crim pulled on the chain, causing him to jerk up a bit, a nonverbal way of telling him to shut up.

“Of course, our plan was for you to marry him, but you decided to run away from ya family.”

He shot Moxxie a judgemental look before continuing.

“So we decided to go for the next best thing,”

He raised his left hand to show off his wedding ring, but by then Moxxie had already put two and two together. He felt sick to his stomach.

“So imagine my surprise when I find out that this moocher lied to me.”

Mox recognized that tone, it was the cheerfully sarcastic voice his dad would put on whenever he was extremely pissed.

“And you know I hate being lied to, Moxxie.”

Crim pushed Chaz back down to the floor and walked over to a small table, picking up a pair of pliers.

He walked up to his son and shoved the tool in his hands. Moxxie stood there frozen like a deer in headlights. Crim returned to the busted-up shark forcing him to sit up again. He sat behind him and pulled his mouth open. Chaz attempted to struggle but was too weak.

“You know what to do,” He said, staring Moxxie down and waiting.

The younger imp stood there, his breathing getting heavier and heavier. He didn’t know what to do. As much as he hated Chaz, he felt bad seeing him like this. But his pity for the poor shark was outweighed by the fear of his father.

He nervously stepped up to the two and held the pliers up to Chaz’s mouth. Once again the shark attempted to struggle. He didn’t stop till Crim wrapped the rest of the chain around his throat, threatening to strangle him.

“If you behave and take one last punishment, maybe I’ll forgive you," Chaz finally stood still, his chest was heaving, and tears began pouring down his face.

“Get to it, I ain’t got all day." Moxxie resumed, clamping the pliers down, and gave a weak tug. Chaz flinched a bit, but Crim wasn’t impressed.

“Oh come on!” The older imp yelled.

“I know you can pull harder than that!”

Mox, with shaky hands, tugged as hard as he could. Chaz let out a slightly gargled scream as the tooth was roughly pulled from his gums. Immediately a coppery taste filled the shark's mouth, as he cried and groaned in pain. 

Moxxie stood back his breathing just as heavy as Chaz’s, he felt disgusting, he felt like he could throw up at any moment. 

“Only a few more to go! "Crim joked, chuckling directly into Chaz’s ear.

Moxxie took a moment to keep back his vomit before realigning himself to repeat the process.

He managed to do it again…and again. 

It went on for hours until there were no more teeth to pull. Moxxie backed himself into a corner and curled up into a ball. By then Chaz had passed out, his mouth was filled with a disgusting cocktail of spit and blood. 

And then Crim did something unexpected, he kissed Chaz right on the mouth. Moxxie didn’t witness it though, he simply heard the sounds of tongues fighting and lips smacking.

Eventually, the sounds stopped and he looked up.

Chaz was leaned up against a wall, barely clinging to consciousness, and Crim was wiping away the liquid from his lips.

“You did good," He got up and walked over to Mox, holding out his hand.

“Your friends are probably back by now, it’d be rude to keep them waiting,” Moxxie shakily took his father’s hand and got up. His dad guided him up the stairs, and he looked back to see Chaz still passed out, beaten, and his teeth scattered across the floor.

They had been on tour for about a month now, and if Murdoc was being fully honest, it was boring. Not that there weren’t any fun moments, seeing your fans scream and shriek was always a delight. Getting drunk backstage with groupies, wasn’t bad either. The problem was he wasn’t getting laid. Even the birds he brought backstage weren’t putting out. It felt like he was losing his touch, until one very faithful night. 

He was knocked out in his green room. Booze, pills, and half-eaten food littered the floor. His sleep was interrupted by the sound of glass falling and shattering. Despite being awake he barely made an effort to get up, and when the old man eventually sat up,  he wasn’t at all surprised by the scene in front of him. The small window in the room was wide open and right below it was you, mumbling curses under your breath.

 Murdoc wished this was his first time experiencing this, but it wasn’t. He’d seen this exact scene over and over, tho usually by now, there would be a bodyguard or some other staff busting up your face til it bled. But He didn’t mind it, gave him the chance to get a good look at you.

“I-I’m-m So-so sorry!”You stuttered out an apology as you stood there, jittering slightly.

 He got up and slowly walked over to you, eyes still covered in craters.

Despite him being short for his age, he did tower over you. He looked down to see a strange mix of fear and excitement plastered on your face. Which he actually found kind of cute.

He kneeled down grabbing a piece of the broken glass, chuckling as he stared at it.

“This was my dad’s old scotch bottle,”

He spoke in a weirdly calm voice and glanced up at you.

The excitement you had was replaced with worry, and he was loving every bit of it.

Murdoc gently grabbed the most intact piece off of the floor, and as soon as he got back up, he threw it at you. You flinched a bit as the glass sped past and hit the wall next to you.

“Good thing I nevah’ liked the bastard!”

He shouted, returning to his normal tone of voice.

He looked back at you, your mouth was slightly agape, eyes wide, and you looked more confused than ever.

“You know it’s rude not to knock.”

He said smirking, as he kicked the rest of the broken bottle to the side.

You stared at him, looking like a puppy that had just lost its mother.

“...I-I-” You began to stammer before he finally cut in.

“Use your words, love.”

“I-I just really wanted to meet you.” You stood there fidgeting with your t-shirt.

“Well, congrats,” He walked up to you, putting his hand on your shoulder. You started to quiver a bit under his touch.

“You did it ya crazy bird!”

He congratulated, before going to sit back on the couch

For a moment you just…stood there, still quivering and shaking, not saying a single word.

“So…did ya’ just break in for a free meet and greet or,”

He spread his legs a bit showing off the beer gut he’d developed, pants unbuttoned showing the hem of his boxers.

“Did ya come for something else?”

“U-Uh well I, fu-Fuck, I actually d-did have something else I…god-d”

You continued to stammer on until he yelled out.

“Out with it, already!”

You jumped back a bit before finally blurting out what you wanted.

“I wanna have sex with you!”

Murdoc almost busted out laughing at how direct they were but managed to compose himself.

“Well, all ya had to do is ask-”

“Not here.” You interrupted 

“Okay then, where?”

He tilted his head, in a bit of confusion.

“There’s a car park not far from here, we can do it there.”

You began to turn back trying to climb back out the window when you felt a sharp nail tap your backside. You turned around to see the green man pointing towards the dressing room entrance.

“We could jus’ use the door ya know?”

He said looking up at you with a mix of concern and held back laughter. 

You responded with a simple “oh”, before hopping back down, and apologizing.

He chuckled, grabbing a coat off the costume rack, and guiding you out the room.

He guided you the rest of the way until you were both out on stage. To both your relief none of the crew seemed to notice you escape. After that, it was less than a few blocks before you were outside a parking garage connected to an office building. You grabbed his hand running by rows and rows of cars, before stopping at a black one. You went up to the car lock digging in your pocket for a bit, pulling out a hair clip. You inserted it into the keyhole and jiggled it around a bit, but you couldn’t get it open. You looked back to see Murdoc raising an eyebrow, not out of worry, but rather judgment. The type of look a pro-football coach would have after seeing their star player fall on their ass.

“Gimme that!”

He snatched the clip from you and began wiggling it in the lock, after a few seconds you heard the click of the car door opening.

He pulled the door all the way open, gesturing for you to get in first.

You hopped in and crawled into the backseat, and the older man followed.

You were quick to go in and kiss him. He barely flinched at your sudden movement, in fact, he kissed back violently. His tongue slithered deep into your throat and he was surprised by your lack of gag reflex.

After a minute of swapping spit, you broke the kiss, moving your hands down towards his crotch. Your hands fumbling with the zipper of his pants.

“So…” He began to speak, as he put his hands over yours helping with the zipper.

“Ya gonna tell me whose car this is, or is the mystery of it what gets ya off?”

After he asked, you finally managed to get the zipper down and pull off his boxers.

"It's an ex's."

You responded bluntly as you pulled down your own pants.

You pulled him closer to you and he started to line himself up with your entrance.

"He cheated on me, so I thought I'd give him the ultimate f-fuck-!" Your explanation was interrupted by a feeling of being filled. You felt yourself being stretched out, in ways you've never felt before 

You let out a symphony of moans and whimpers.

Murdoc gave you a condescending smile.

"Aww, is this ya first time?"

He asked, not even giving you a moment to answer before starting to steadily thrust in and out of you.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure it's unforgettable!"

With that, his thrusts went from slow and steady to hard and violent.

Your mind was going blank. So much was going on in your head but sweet satan did his dick made you wanna just forget. 

Forget the fact that your ex dumped you over text. 

Forget that he flaked on you every time you agreed to go out to fuck some hussy. 

Forget that you’ll probably get arrested if you get caught like this.

It was all worth it to be getting your guts rearranged like this, even if it meant getting every possible venereal disease.

A few cars drove by, some sped off without a glance, and others seemed to slow down to get a better view. You lowered yourself further until your face practically melded with the seats, before feeling a hand tangle in your hair and rip you up from your hiding place.

"What's all this about, eh? I thought ya wanted your ex to know about ya gettin’ railed in ‘is car. Can't find out if you hide that pretty face of yours."

"But-ut I-I-," 

"It's alright love, I'll help ya out.” He pulled you up further till your face was clearly visible from the back window. "Make a pretty face for all the nice people. Maybe one of them will send ‘im a picture." 

You moaned at the thought of your ex receiving a picture of you defiling his precious car and becoming the joke of the year when all his little buddies recognized you. Sad to say it turned you on more than your entire relationship ever did.

"I can't say he'll regret dumping you but he'll definitely regret ever meetin’ you,"

With one last thrust, you felt a stream of cum pump into you. At this point, you weren’t even moaning you were just howling. Eventually, you came down from your sexual high and noticed he was starting to pull out. 

“Ya know…He doesn’t get off for another 10 minutes or so…”

You said slowly pushing yourself back down onto his cock.

“You up for another round?”

Without a hint of hesitation, he began thrusting into you. He laughed before turning you around and folding your legs up to drill into you. 

The day had been great. Hanging out with Joey and Xefros was everything Chixie had wanted it to be. They tried a variety of snacks and treats from vendors, witnessed many terrible, albeit very short, mini-performances, and they even joined her during rehearsals. She was having a good time for once, that was until her palmhusk began to beep and vibrate. She got excited, hoping it was Red, and that they were okay, but of course, it was the indingdong.

She checked the message:

THECODAKKEFFECT:: Hello my bronzie-boo! Cridea’s still having them set up your room, but you’re more than welcome to stay with me til it’s ready! 

A shiver ran up her spine, this could not be happening. She stood there staring blankly at the text til Xefros put his hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, are you feeling sick again?” He said pulling out the snacks they had accumulated at various vendors.

“We have more snacks if you’re still hungry!” He put on his cheeriest smile trying to get her to relax. His friendly demeanor was enough to get her to snap out of it and even grin a bit.

“It’s just…They haven’t set up my room yet, and my “manager” is offering to let me stay in his room,” Chixie responded, setting her palmhusk on vibrate so she could pretend she never saw the message.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“You don’t know Zebruh-”

“Zebruh?! Your manager is Zebruh? Ugh, that’s gr- ahem I mean that’s gotta be tough,” Joey started but Xefros elbowed her. She corrected herself but Chixie could tell where that sentence was going and she agreed with it.

“He’s not really my manager but he’s too pushy and influential to say no to," 

"You know if you don’t wanna stay with him you can hang with us for the night?” She offered with the sweetest smile plastered on her face.

 “Oh- Y-you don’t have to-,” Chixie began but was swiftly interrupted by Joey.

“If you’re uncomfortable staying with him, you shouldn’t force yourself to,” She said, with a glint of concern in her eyes.

“Well…If it ain’t too much trouble for you. I’d appreciate it,” Chixie answered with a shy smile.

“No trouble at all,” Joey said and Xefros nodded in agreement. Joey hooked arms with of them, pulling them behind her down the street. 

They were passing a palmhusk repair station when she caught a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look and just barely caught sight of Marvus being handed back a palmhusk. Once again the tingling in the back of her thinkpan started up again. She still hasn’t heard from Red, and the “coincidental” ringing on the platform wasn’t helping, but that was impossible. What would a purpleblood need to impersonate a burgundyblood for? It was a waste of time to think about. She might as well focus on her new friends, rather than being paranoid and delusional that an extremely famous purpleblood is stalking her.

They continued walking till they came across an area outside the event. A lot of lowbloods couldn’t get hivetel rooms, so there were small campsites set up all over the event. Joey and Xefros led Chixie to a tent.

“This is where we’re staying. Do you have anything you need to get?”

“No. It can wait,” Chixie shook her head.

They decided to retire for the night, Chixie did have to meet with Cridea to discuss the changes in the schedule, due to them arriving so early. 

For the first time in a while, she went to bed happy instead of sad, scared, angry, or some combination of the three. She was surrounded by friends, in a safe space, and nothing loud or annoying in a 100-foot radius. Life was great.

**

“And that should be everything!” The chipper sea dweller said with a smile on her face.

Chixie was currently in a meeting with Cridea, doing her best to hide her nervousness. They had just discussed the schedule for her performance.

“N-not quite. I know we’re here a whole week earlier than we were supposed to be but when do you think we’ll have accommodations available?” Chixie asked as clearly and politely as she could.

“Oh! That totally needs to be addressed. Well…Because of the changes to the schedule, we’ll need at least another day to find the space to accommodate everyone. By tomorrow night rooms will be available for everyone!” Cridea explained. Chixie felt angry, but also kind of relieved. Sure she still didn’t have a room, which sucked, but at least she still had friends she could stay with in the meantime.

"O-okay. Thank you.”

They ended the meeting, leaving Chixie with a mountain of papers that was the revised schedule. She headed back to the campsite, doing her best to keep all the papers in order.

“Hey, guys! My room will be ready tomorrow and I’ll be free from Zebruh!” She cheered as she met up with Joey and Xefros. She’d agreed to meet them back at the tent with news of how everything went.

The three of them cheered and giggled. To celebrate, she decided to bring them to her dressing room to get an actual opinion on things.

They went through all her outfits, trying to decide which would be the best one to wear, and checking all her equipment. During the fun, she noticed the worry painted on Joey’s face.

“Are you sure you wanna go through with all this?” Xefros and Chixie looked back in confusion.

“What do you me-”

“Your protest, are you sure you wanna go through with it?” A heavy silence filled the room, before being broken by the bronzeblood.

“I have to go through with it…If I don’t I’ll be stuck with Zebruh forever. Even if I get culled, at least I’ll go out with a bang.” she gave a nervous chuckle, that did nothing to hide the fear in her voice. Joey walked over to her and grabbed both her hands.

“We won’t stop you if you think it’s the right thing to do…but please be careful.”

Chixie felt weird, someone showing concern for her was an alien experience. She wasn’t opposed to it. If the protest went well, she hoped it would make people show concern not just for her, but for all lowbloods.

She decided to go on stage to practice her dancing and footing, and Joey decided to join her. The two had fun, just going with the flow. It was all good until Chixie bumped into a troll standing behind her. She looked up to see the face of a very tall, and very displeased, indigo blood.

She immediately backed away and apologized. The indigo didn’t respond; he simply turned around and took the hand of another troll, helping them on the stage. It was a female clown, that Chixie could only assume was a purpleblood.

“We reserved this stage for Miss Dviyr’s rehearsal. So beat it!” He shoved both of them off the stage landing on the hard concrete of the venue. Xefros rushed from behind the curtain to help them.

“Are you guys okay!?” He asked as he gently helped them both up.

“I’m fine,” Joey responded by rubbing her arm to soothe it.

He looked over at Chixie, only to see her walking away, tears streaming down the corners of her face. Joey was tempted to go after and comfort her, but the burgundyblood stopped her.

“Give her some time…”

“But…”

He shook his head at her before speaking, “Trolls don’t like showing their emotions to people not in their quadrants, Joey. You could end up making it worse. Give her a chance to calm down.”

Joey sighed and just watched her wander off.

Chixie found herself back in her dressing room, still crying. She looked at herself in the mirror and began to wonder if any of this would be worth it. What was the point of doing something this grand, if it wouldn’t change anything? Her thoughts turned more and more nihilistic. 

Maybe coming here was a bad idea. 

Eventually, she calmed down a bit. She didn’t want to leave Xefros and Joey waiting on her. She left her dressing room, walking down the narrow hallway to the exit. The dressing rooms, like the train, and everything else on Alternia, were split by caste, Highblood rooms were closer to the entrance and stage. While lowblood rooms were further back. Chixie always got nervous walking through the highblood section. Lowbloods were allowed to walk through these sections, for the sake of making getting on and off stage easier. But, she still got a sick feeling in her gut when passed through them. She tried to keep her mind clear but was interrupted by the sound of voices. Looking over, she saw that one of the room doors was slightly open. She read the name, on the door plate. It was Marvus’s. She started to quicken her pace trying to get out of there without being noticed. But she heard something that made her stop in her tracks.

“When are you gonna quit playin’ with this bronzie?”

Her whole body froze the minute the words hit her, and her mind started to wander. Who were they talking about? What were they planning? The most daunting question on her mind was, Was she the bronzie in question? 

She carefully peaked in to see Marvus and a few other purebloods. A tall one with hair as messy as his, her pants and shoes were covered in blood, a dazed young troll with a mask on, and one troll, who appeared to be a runt. She did her best to remain undetected.

“Can you stay out of my conversations? You don’t see me quizzing you on the little indigoblood you’re sweet on, Chahut,” He said, sounding uncharacteristically agitated. 

“No, She’s clearly not that into you. She runs from you every time she sees you!”

“We vibe. Mind your own damn business. Look, she was clearly blowing up my line yesterday.” He held up his palmhusk to prove a point. Chixie’s eyes moved from Chahut to Marvu’s phone, she could vividly make out what looked like her and Red’s profile pictures.

Her fear was further validated when Marvus turned back to his palmhusk. He was clearly focused on coming up with a response. She took out her own and watched as the typing bubbles came up, proving it was indeed him she had been talking to.

“No, she was talking to the rusty you were pretendin’ to be. At least Amisia actually likes me! She doesn’t give a damn about you-” Chahut responded, rolling her eyes at his smugness.

“My relationship with her is none of your business.”

“Stop pretendin’ there’s some relationship there. It’s creepy. I’m starting to feel bad for the bronzie, with a stalker like you sticking to her.”

“I’m not a stalker. I’m gonna come clean eventually. Just not now. Maybe when I can get her a little more comfortable with the idea-”

“Of what? Getting pailed by a highblood? With that fame chaser clinging to her, I’m sure that’s all that she’s used to,” Chahut snickered and the other purplebloods laughed with her. Though the tiniest one made more of a confused honk sound rather than laughed.

“Fuck off. I’m not just interested in pailing her. I like her music too.” Marvus sneered at her. The other clowns roared in laughter again while Chahut gave him a disgusted look.

By the time he finished his sentence, she was already back in her dressing room panicking. Only seconds later her palmhusk went off and she received a series of messages from ‘Red’.

R3dSplatter:: Hey, sorry. I’m fine. My palmhusk got wrecked on the train. I only just got it fixed. R3dSplatter:: Were you worried? Sorry if you were. I’ve been with my matesprit waiting for it to get fixed.  R3dSplatter:: Is everything okay with you? I hope you didn’t get hurt or anything. R3dSplatter:: Seems like you’re busy. Message me when you’re free. I can’t wait to hear about how jeevik week has been for you so far.

She had to steel her nerves as she got out her palmhusk and read the messages. Her hands shook as she then messaged Joey and Xefros.

Chixie:: Guys…I think I’m gonna leave.  Dammarchy:: What’s wrong? Is it about what happened before? I’m sorry those jerks cut into your rehearsal but that’s no reason to just leave. Chixie:: No, it’s not that. I just found something out and it’s really messing me up. Dammarchy:: Chixie calm down! Where are you? We’ll come to you. Chixie:: it’s fine I don’t need you guys to deal with this. Just have fun, okay? Dammarchy:: We are coming to help. We’re your friends, we wanna help you. Just tell us where you are. Chixie:: I’m in my dressing room. I’m in the middle of packing up.

A knock on her door spooked her a bit. She went to open it, she felt her frown grow more and more. Zebruh in all his annoyingness was standing in front of her. 

“Hello darling,” He barged in past her, seemingly oblivious to how upset she was.

“How’s my favorite superstar feeling?” 

“I’m leaving.” She responded bluntly going back to putting her costumes in her bag. 

“What do you mean leaving? You can’t leave! Do you know the strings I had to pull just to get you in here?!”

“I know and I’m so sorry, I’m grateful but I can’t do this. I have to leave. If I don’t I’m going to end up doing something we’ll both regret and ruining both of our careers.”

“No, hey, listen to me, babygirl. Just talk to me. What could possibly be so bad that you need to leave and potentially ruin any cred I have with violetbloods? Why don’t you just tell me what happened and I’ll handle whatever asshole made you feel the need to run?”

"Oh really? So you’re gonna fight an indigoblood for me? What about a purpleblood? I just got booted out of my practice session by one of each. So you’re gonna handle that for me?” she responded, far more agitated than she was trying to come across.

“Well I-”

“Oh you can’t? Then sorry I gotta go,” she crankily waved him away. He grabbed her arms and turned her around to face him. She could clearly tell he was getting frustrated as well by the tight grip on her arm and the stiffness in his jaw. The vibrant blue in his outfit is what knocked some sense into her. She almost forgot who she was dealing with. She should never have let her real feelings show in front of him.

“Do we wanna try that again?” The 'while I’m still being nice’ was left unsaid but clearly resonated in her mind.

“I’m sorry. I’m just stressed and I’m panicking. I didn’t mean to take it out on-” She was interrupted mid-apology by the sound of Xefros and Joey opening her dressing room door. They both froze for a moment at the sight in front of them, and Xefros immediately grabbed Joey and covered her mouth. The girl was ready to lunge at the Indigoblood for grabbing her friend like that.

“Do you mind explaining what’s going on here?” Xefros asked.

“It’s nothing,” Zebruh’s grip loosened a bit but he was still holding onto her.

“Chixie just has a bit of stage fright and needed a little pep talk to help her perform,” Zebruh explained with a fake smile.

Joey lunged out of Xefros arm’s, forcing herself out of his grip.

“Really? Cause to me it looks like she’s trying to leave and you’re trying to force her to stay!” She screeched out.

“Excuse me?! Chixie can speak for herself” He all but dragged her in front of him, waiting for her to defend and excuse his behavior. She briefly looked back at him and huffed. 

"I’m fine guys. Just give me a bit and I’ll let you know when you can come in.”

Joey was about to go off when Xefros stopped her and dragged her into the hallway, Zebruh closing the door behind them.

“There’s no way he’s giving her a pep talk in there! He’s just being the same skeevy creep he was before!” Joey ranted, taking no notice of the clown leaving his dressing room far down the hall.

“I know but what can we do if Chixie doesn’t want our help, and what could we do even if she did?” Xefros responded. The figure that was ambling through the stretch of doors stopped at the mention of Bronzeblood’s name. He was just far enough that neither of them noticed his presence and yet he could still hear every word.

“Zebruh is such a creep! And a jerk! I don’t like this! I don’t like leaving her alone with him.”

“We’re not leaving her alone with him. We’re right here. If he tries anything we can hear it all and get back in to help her.”

“I know, but it doesn’t feel good. We should’ve followed her. At least if we did she wouldn’t have been alone, he wouldn’t be able to corner her, and she probably wouldn’t want to leave.”

“But who’s to say that even if we were there she wouldn’t want to leave? She said she just found out something and that’s what’s messing with her. She would’ve left regardless of whether we were there or not. Plus it might’ve made things much worse if she felt embarrassed in front of us. We are not in her quadrants Joey.”

“But maybe if we were there we could’ve said or done something to make it better. I don’t know. She’s just so sweet and talented. I don’t want to see her being taken advantage of like this.”

“I’m sorry Joey but that’s the reality of being a lowblood. No way around it. She was 'lucky’ enough to have someone to protect her. Most of us don’t.”

The door opened behind them and the clown eavesdropping on their conversation made his exit. Zebruh came out of the room, clearly still upset but also calm. He walked out, not saying a word or even acknowledging them. They both immediately rushed back in to see Chixie frantically packing her things.

“Are you okay?!” Joey asked, her face filled with equal parts concern and rage.

“Yeah…” She packed the last of her things, the frown on her face still very much present.

“Chixie, please tell us what’s going on,” Joey begged, careful not to touch her and remind her of Zebruh.

She silently pulled out her palmhusk and explained.

“Marvus, That big clown guy, made a fake burgundy account to talk to me.”

She scrolled through the DMs.

“He was trying to warm up to me for…some reason, I didn’t stick around to find out.”

Joey looked at her shocked,

“That…That doesn’t sound like Marvus. Are you sure it was him?”

“I heard him and some other clowns talking about it. Plus I saw my dms to the burgundy account on his palmhusk! They do shit like this all the time,” Chixie sounded as defeated as ever, as she put the device away.

“B-but but, He was so nice to us-” Xefros sent her a look to stop talking but Chixie cut her off first.

“Look,” She began staring directly into Joey’s eyes.

“I know you have this naive trust in him, I used to be like that too. I used to think that maybe if I acted right the trolls above me would approve of me. But that’s not how things work here.” 

Her voice was starting to crack slightly as tears formed in the corners of her viewglobes.

“All of us are fools in their game, their prey…” She said wiping the tears from her face.

“Joey, maybe Marvus isn’t who you think he is. This is absolutely something a clown would do.” 

"But he-”

“Joey! Remember that little murder game on the train and the trial? He’s caused us and others trouble more than once! Just because he was nice once doesn’t erase what he made us do.”

“I know. You’re right he’s probably not who I thought he was. But why does that mean she has to go? Why can’t she just block him and move on?”

“It’s not a good thing being on a clown’s radar. Her blocking him could make him as unbearable as Zebruh. Who knows what he’d do if she ever crossed him in person.”

“Well…if you think this is the right thing to do, we’ll help you. Xefros you get her bags I’ll block her if Zebruh comes. Meet us at the train station so if he sees either of us separate he won’t realize anything. Let’s go Chixie, we’ll leave first.”

The burgundy grabbed the bag, while Joey took Chixie’s hand.

“Do you want to tell Cridea or just leave?”

“Just leave,” she replied without hesitation.

“If we tell Cridea, she’ll tell him…I’ll text her when I get on the train. ”

“If that’s what you want, let’s go then.”

They put their plan into action. Chixie and Joey took the back exit, while Xefros took the front. Avoiding a creepy indingdong was surprisingly easy. Apparently, Marvus coincidentally decided to do an early meet and greet near the hivetel. Every troll from Burgundies to Pinks were crowding near the building, leaving the streets open and weirdly quiet. Knowing what she knows now she’s sure everything has been on purpose. Marvus watching her on the platform, him being outside her dressing room, probably checking to see if she was still alive after the train sped up, and now he was 'coincidentally’ doing an event that’d keep Zebruh away from her. She was so done with stalkerish highbloods. She just wanted to be left alone.

Joey still kept an eye out at all times just to make sure they didn’t run into any unwanted pests. It wasn’t long before Chixie arrived at the station with Joey and finally got her bags from Xefros. In comparison to before the station was noticeably emptier. No one else was leaving before Jeevik week even started. Luckily the train was still running, and the last one for the day was about to show up.

The two each gave Chixie a hug upset to lose the new friend they made. Chixie was devastated as well. She had been looking forward to spending the next two weeks hanging out with them and getting to know them.

“Be safe okay?” Xefros said.

“I will. I’ll send you guys a message when I reach my hive." 

"Text us if you need anything we’ll keep an eye out on Marvus for you,” Joey pouted, stopping herself from trying to change her mind. She was enjoying her time with Chixie and was sad this could be the last time she’d see her once she found her way home. But at the same time, she was happy that she helped her friend escape her crappy situation. 

She hopped on the train waving goodbye. When her friends were out of view she sat down. 

It was your first concert and you were as excited as ever!

Your favorite band was playing, plus you also got an exclusive backstage pass! It would allow you to meet and hang out with whatever member you wanted for the rest of the night, and you already knew who you wanted to meet. It was a rare opportunity, and you had your eyes set on the band’s Bassist, Murdoc Niccals. Everything about him intrigued you. His skills with the bass, raunchy personality, and less-than-natural skin color all added to your interest in him.

The concert soon came to an end, the lights dimmed, the music was replaced with chattering voices, and people started to grab their things to leave. Pushing against the dwindling crowd you find the closest stagehand, and present them with your pass. They kindly asked you to follow them, and you happily oblige with a skip in your step. 

Backstage there are a million roadies working hastily to get everything cleared out and cleaned up. You bump into a few of them, causing them to drop a long microphone cable. Despite your best efforts to apologize and help, they still gave you dirty looks as they gathered the wire again. In all honesty, you really didn't care what they thought about you. You were here for one reason, to meet your idol…and maybe get an autograph or two.

After a bit of walking, you found yourself in a mostly clear hall with one door.

"Wait here please." The stagehand said, before unlocking the door and heading in.

You obeyed and stood looking around the hall. Equipment and costume racks were scattered everywhere. Although the hall still felt weirdly empty. You started to wonder, 'Were you the ONLY one to get this pass?'. They were a huge band with plenty of fans, so you'd think at least a few people would've gotten it. Maybe they only made one? Guess you were just lucky enough to actually get it. 

After another minute or so, the loud creaking of the door broke the awkward silence. The stagehand returned, inviting you in.

Behind the door was a small chamber with four different doors, each labeled with a name.

'Russel', '2D', 'Noodle', and last but not least 'Murdoc'.

Your heart was pounding out of your chest. This was it, this is what you've been waiting for! Your mind was racing like crazy.

They asked which member you'd like to meet.

"O-oh, M-Murdoc!"

You said cheerfully as you pointed at the door near the end of the hall.

They guided you to the door and gave it a gentle knock. A few footsteps, moans, and the sound of glass shattering echoed from behind the wooden plank, followed by a click of the lock. The door swung open to reveal the man of the hour. 

He had a smirk plastered on his face, showing his jagged teeth.

“I can take ‘em from here!” He said, his voice rough, yet weirdly calming.

The stagehand nodded, before wandering off.

Murdoc stepped out of the doorway before extending his arm in a welcoming gesture.

You stood there staring for a minute, in awe of the fact that this was actually happening!

Looking over at him, you could see his face slowly starting to get annoyed with you just standing there. You step into the room, and he slammed the door behind you, causing you to jump a bit. The green man audibly laughed at the sight, so loud in fact, you couldn’t hear the click of the door locking again.

The room was cluttered to no end, booze bottles, cigarettes, pills, and various gifts and other trinkets covered up the floor. The walls were also covered in various things from Pin-up posters to photos and letters from fans, there were even a few rather lewd photos up as well. The smell of smoke and cheap liquor filled every breath you took.

“Make yer’self at home!”

He said walking over to a busted-up fridge.

You looked over at the couch. It was covered in stains of god knows what, and was torn up beyond belief. You sat on the least messed up spot you could find, and just…Watched him. You had a million things you wanted to say, but you kept holding yourself back. He already seemed annoyed cause of you standing at the door gawking, and you didn’t wanna push it further. The clang of the fridge door closing broke you out of your self-deprecation, and cause you to vault a bit. He once again laughed at how fidgety you were, as he placed two glasses on the table in front of you.

“Yer’ a bit jumpy there, aren’t cha’?” He said sitting down next to you.

“So-Sorry…” you began to fidget with the pass in your hand.

“Just…nervous to be actually meeting you!” You said doing your best not to crack under pressure. 

He chuckled a bit, as he popped open another bottle of liquor.

“Well, this otta help you loosen up a bit!”

He poured the bottle out into the two glasses, sliding one of them over to you. You had never drunk before, nervously you reach for the glass and hold it. You look over at him, expecting some form of prompt or validation to begin drinking. Only to see him digging around in his Pocket for…something.

“Come on…Come on…Ah!” He exclaimed, pulling out what looked to be two small pink tablets. He dumped one into his drink, and immediately it began to fizz for a few seconds, before returning to being completely still. He looked over at you, meeting your gaze. He tried to do the same with your drink, but you pulled it away quickly. Drinking with a stranger was one thing. Drinking and doing hard, probably illegal, drugs with a stranger was another. He scoffed a bit, as his face became slightly irritated.

“It ain’t gonna hurt you, or nothin’.” He took a swig of his own drink, to prove a point.

“You might be a wee bit lightheaded, but it’ll pass!”

Your mind was bouncing back and forth before you caved, handing your drink to him. It went through the same process of fizzing before returning to normal. You nervously gulped it down to feel…nothing. He wasn’t lying, you were a bit lightheaded but it wasn’t too bad.

“So, You gonna actually talk to me, or just sit there gawkin’?”

“Well…I just love you and your music! Your skills are unmatched!” You start gushing, noticing a smirk reappear on his face.

“Thank you! You know if it wasn’t for me the rest of ‘em would fall to rubbish. Just wouldn’t be complete ya know?”

He began to ramble a bit, you were half listening, your concentration slowly leaving you.

You nod your head a bit too to give the illusion of full attention. A wave of dizziness hits you as you decide to rest your head against, what you can only assume is, a dried beer stain.

“But how about you, love? Gotta girlfriend? Boyfriend? Or whatever?”

You blink a couple of times as you process what was asked, it was taking longer than usual to think of something.

“N-nuh uh.” You replied with a slight slur.

“I-I was never much for dating…I mean, I’ve had a few lovers here, and there, but none of them stayed for long.” You slurred out, not really caring if it was too much information.  

He shrugged, finishing off what was left in his glass.

“That’s a damn shame, you’re bloody gorgeous!” He complimented as he scooted closer to you.

You chuckled, before responding.

“No, I'm not, You jus-just saying that. ” You responded with the goofiest smile on your face.

His hand slowly made its way to your thigh, but you didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m serious, even the hottest raunchiest birds in hell, would be jealous of you!” 

He slipped his hand into your pants,  prodding and rubbing wherever he could reach. Despite the movements being slightly erratic, they still managed to get a few moans and groans out of you.

“You know, we're gonna be performing here for a month or so,”

He sped up a bit, and you went from small moans to wailing howls. You could feel his nails ripping through the fabric, the tips of his fingers just barely entering you.

“And I’m gonna need someone to keep me company, on these lonely nights.” 

He pushed his fingers in further, making you tremble. You grabbed onto his arm, maybe for comfort, maybe to stop him. He kept going though, digging his fingers deeper and deeper. 

And soon your wailing turned into whines as you came closer and closer to release. You felt something long and slimy against your neck. You looked down to see his tongue dragging along your skin. Eventually, you couldn’t hold back, you tightened your grip on his arm as you came. He stopped and removed his hand slowly, wiping off your fluids on the cushion.

He looked up at your face, your pupils were wide, completely zoned out. With one swift movement, he bit your neck, leaving a bloody and noticeable mark. 

“You’ll be my personal backstage bird! ”

He began petting your head.

“How does that sound?”