#demon shadow

“Should we play it off as intentional?” he frowns

“I think that’s the best bet. We can get Red to help in the chat.” Shadow curls a strand of Vio’s hair around his finger. It was messy half up in a butterfly clip but too silky to really stay put. “People don't actually want to believe it’s real. Sure, for fun. Not for real. That goes a long way.” He gives a reassuring kiss that makes him melt. “We could pull off more than that honestly. What tipped the scales was my tail. I used it to close the door while holding you.” Shadow wasn’t totally convinced of his own words. Some awful nagging feeling pitted in his stomach. He convinced himself it was biased from the last time he was outed. Worst case scenarios flooding his brain because of past pain.

“We could always claim it was a wire or string I was holding onto, or a pull that was attached to the door to make it look like it came from you because of the lighting?” Shadow nods.

“That could work. I’ll ask Red to spread that around.” Shadow once again stops his back and forth swaying. “You’re gonna spin away at this rate. Wanna do my nails and horns?”

“You just want me to get your hands on you.” Vio lets him be distracted anyway, he could use it. He stands and fake huffs annoyance, turning his back. “I suppose I can indulge you,” Shadow’s eyes sparkle in victory as he grabs the beauty kit. “Sit on the couch so I can reach behind you.”

“Aww. You don’t wanna just sit on my lap?”

“Not if you do not want them to look terrible.” He clicks his tongue impatiently. Shadow pouts but does as he’s told. Vio stands behind the couch and runs his hands through his soft hair. The mass of purple bedhead was choppy, but somehow worked. It was charming. He ran up over the curved horns. He hums under his breath, feeling for any nicks or uneven spots. Shadow’s body melts into the cushion, all but purring. Vio was the master of perfect pressure across the bone. Just enough to feel and check for damages, but not so hard it hurt and not so soft it tickled. “Hmm, no chips this time.”

“Well, I haven’t encountered any angry religious sects for awhile, or done any failed back flips for awhile.” Vio winces. That had been a bad scene. It was also when he found out Shadow’s horns were more similar to a goat's than he thought, with nerves and blood cells within. He scrapes his nail down to the base. 

“You have a few centimeters of growth, we probably do not have to worry about it for a few more inches, it curls naturally. Then we can worry about filing them or trying to shape them in certain ways.”

“Ya know, this has been the longest I’ve gone without losing them. It’s a little weird actually, having to worry about their size and weight.” Vio removed the gold cuff off the end, placing the jewels on the side table. He runs a warm wet cloth over the grooves, removing any lingering dirt and debris. It had taken a long time to trust even Vio with this. His eyes slip shut in thought. It was unfortunate, but his last exorcism was brutal. They had caught him off guard. He was pretty sure a pair of his horns still sat somewhere in a temple. Sometimes he wondered if they’d polished them like a trophy, hung them up like hunters do with deer. A knuckle taps on his skull.

“You are thinking too hard over there. Your pretty face will get wrinkles.”

“Sorry."

“Wanna talk about it?” He dries the bone, and gently pats it.

“I just… I dunno why sometimes I think about shit I don’t need to. Like imagining if the temple polished and mounted my horns like a fucking deer hunter.” Vio lets go as he shakes his head. 

“Do you…” he hesitates, Shadow was always vague about the details. “You can tell me about it, it might make you feel better.”

“You treat me so well, sweetheart.” he tilts his head back so he can look at Vio’s face. “You’re the only person I would ever trust to touch them.”

“Shadow…” He leans forward and kisses him. “You deserve soft and kind things, love.”

“Sap.” he grins. “Love you too.” Vio walks around to sit in the spot next to him and holds out his hand. Shadow fills it with his. Their space is a comfortable silence as he files the sharp claws to a decent size.

“I uh-” he hisses when a sharp tooth breaks the skin of his lips where he was chewing. Vio looks up at him for a moment to indicate he was listening.

“I stayed too long in a town.” he swallows, “Someone told the temple. They were more than excited to try out some enchanted shackles. They caught me from behind while I was walking home. The runes in the cuffs forced me to stay in this form, and blocked my magic. There was a lot of holy water and… and knives. They wrote it all down like some fucked up medical experiment.” He still wasn’t willing to go into details about what they did to him on that slab. Shadow shudders, a flash of the memory in his mind. He was sure Vio could handle it, but he wasn’t sure if he could. “They did everything conscious. I dunno how long it was. Days at least. They carved my horns out and the blood loss made me pass out. I woke up a century later in my world.” He looks at his hand not occupied with Vio’s attention.

“You were awake?” Vio’s tone was horrified. He isn’t doing his nails anymore, just holding his hand.

He nods. “Apparently after I passed out they submerged me in holy water. That’s why it took so long to re-form, it was mostly destroyed. I was lucky they didn’t know how to reap souls. Reincarnating a whole body, at least, left me with no scars on my skin.”

Vio brings his hand to his lips. “You still have scars, they are just inside. I am so sorry you went through that, Shadow.” Shadow shuddered, and shook his head. “I will never let that happen to you again. Ever. How about a distraction for us both? I think we could use it.”

“Hm. How about a movie night? Snack dinner.”

“Gurl dinner.” Vio snickers, imitating Dot. “Sure, but you pick.” He blows across his final hand, admiring his work. “Perfect. I am going to the restroom, set up the snackies?” He needed a good cold water face splash, or he might actually cry. The more he thinks about how vulnerable Shadow must have felt, the more emotional he felt about being allowed to touch his horns. Being trusted so wholly in the first place was a huge milestone after what Shadow had been through. To see him as he is, love him, trust him. Vio internally swore, he really had to walk away right now or he’s really getting sappy. Shadow didn’t want pity and tears, he wanted support.

“You got it baby!” He leaps up and raids the cupboards. Vio rushes away to collect himself. 

He pulls out a large bowl and some stashed candy while the microwave hums and bagged popcorn pops violently. A plan forms while Vio silently pads back, in comfort clothes and silly socks with hamburgers across them.

Vio sneaks up behind him, gabbing his sides and tickling him like Red would. He jumps, scaring the shit out of him. His startled screech is hilariously high pitched. The fact he isn’t punched and on his ass, means he chose a good move. Vio cackles and runs.

Shadow grins and chases after him to the living room. Vio peeks behind him to make sure he was following, expression totally giving away he was just being a brat. He flies onto the seat with one leg over the other in perfect elegant poise. His chest heaving was the only hint at what he’d done. Shadow tackled him on the couch while the microwave beeped.

“You asshole!” Shadow held him down.

Vio loses his composure, laughing so hard his sides hurt.

“Your voice went so high! I will have to remember your sides are a weakness!”

“Yeah yeah laugh it up. You forget I’m picking the movie!” He squeezes him in a hug that makes him grunt before letting go.

“As you should.” he puffs his chest. “Get to work, demon.” He pecks him and lets him back up.

Shadow went to do all the work of setting up the player and choosing. To an outsider it would seem rude, and a little condescending. To Shadow it was the opposite. He was trusting him with the choice and with touching his stuff. He let basically no one ever touch his technology. It was pretty obviously an open display of sharing in response to his story. He loads them up in treats and popcorn, shutting off the light as he goes. Once in the living room he grabs the remote, turns it all on, and plops onto the couch. Shadow presses against him, wrapping a super soft blanket from the back around them as the previews begin. Vio goes lax and presses back against his side.

He curls himself around Vio as shadows and darkness, resting his head in the crook of his shoulder. 

“We’ll be fine,” he whispers into his skin. He gets an appreciative hum in response.

They were not, in fact, fine.

At least none of the fans knew where they lived. Someone captured a single really good frame of them as Shadow came through their doorframe. He had streamed a few times since, ignoring any and all mentions of his partner. No mysterious sneak-ins occurred either. Apparently theory forums deep dove into every small appearance. His hands, a flash of his grin of bare gray face from the nose downwards, a second of his purple hair poking from the hood as he bent his head forward, not to mention his eyes. An ex police sketch artist drew a disturbingly similar approximation of Shadow and publicized it. They even picked up on his freckles.

Vio blew out a breath, looking at it on his phone. Shadow rested his chin on his shoulder.

“You stressin?” Vio just glares sharply. “Ouch baby, I’m just trying to lighten your mood.” His grin is all teeth. “My nose is not that small!” he exclaims dramatically, pointing. “Shit, I look like that demon boy band guy from the pop movie, those singers that fought demons. The one Red made us watch.”

“Ya know, it kinda does.” Vio hums. “It's the haircut. Does that make me your soda pop?” He snickers.

“Why baby, are you asking me to drink you up?” Shadow leans in closer and fake bites on his neck. “Grrararahr!” Vio flails at him with a comedic squeal.

“Shadow!” He scolds, more ticklish than anything. He ends it with a real but soft bite. His laugh peters off and he kisses the reddening spot.

“I will drink you all up, Vio.” Shadow's mood shifts the air in the room, his claws sliding down his arms to his sides and hips. He’s about to get really handsy when a loud voice startles them.

“Whaddup spooky bitches! Oohoho shit! Sorry.” Dot didn’t sound sorry as she walked right into their kitchen holding paper bags. “Didn’t mean to interrupt the party,” After she picked the lock enough times they just gave her a key.

“Yes you did.” Vio turns that beautiful sharp glare of purple onto her.

“Okay, I did.” She laughs. “But I have groceries for you fuckers. I swear to Din if I didn’t show up like this you’d eat pancakes, rice and tea only.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Vio crosses his arms. Shadow still hasn’t moved from his spot on his boyfriend. “Technically Shadow doesn’t even need a real diet.”

“A diet of pancakes and Vio is all I need.” he nods sagely.

“See? Pancakes and - hey!” Pink tints his cheeks. Dot howls and puts the bags on their counter

“You can get fat all you want, but I will not let you get scurvy or some shit.” she starts setting stuff on the counter in sections of where they’ll get stored. She has done this so often she knows where everything goes. She throws a pear at them and Shadow catches it with his mouth, fangs sinking in. Juice drips onto Vio’s exposed shoulder. The over sized purple knit sweater hung off to the side.

“anksh” He crunched the fruit and sucked the juice, finally prying off of Vio. He hands bim tbe fruit and licks the remaining juice off his skin where it dripped. “Hm.” he’s looking at Vio like he wants to eat him next

“What?” He rests his chin in a propped up palm.

“Just imagining you squeezing my head with really juicy thighs.”

“Down, demon boy.” Dot snorts, “your horns would be pretty uncomfortable.”

“Oh, yeah. I suppose.” Shadow deflates

“Too bad.” Vio sighs, crunching the pear. Dot leaves out some vegetables, a package wrapped in brown paper, a bottle of wine, and pulls pasta in a container from the cupboard. “Are you making something?” It was a little early, but neither of them would argue a home cooked meal.

“Duh.” She rolls up her sleeves and washes her hands. “My favorite youtube guy, -I am still convinced is retired mafia, by the way- posted his recipe for bolognese.” She talks as she works, setting out the wood cutting board, sharpening the knife on the steel, and bringing out pots and pans. “So you get to be the test dummies.”

“Yes!” Shadow pumps a fist. “I’m good at that!” Vio watches amused while he hovers in the kitchen to watch closely.

“So,” she starts while chopping and dicing celery and carrots. “I saw on readingthat they’re really going Chairlock Homes on you two. That sketch was impressive, anime boy artistry aside.”

“That’s what we said.” Vio nods, worrying his lip. “I know you make fun but…”

“Yeah, I know.” she sighs. “I haven’t had to bring you groceries in months, but I snuck through your cupboards when we were over the other week to check. You haven’t left the house since they found out, have you?” Vio’s easy smile slips, and doesn’t reach his eyes in response. “I’m here to help, don’t worry. I have an idea I want to run by you over dinner. It’s a conversation best said over wine.”

Vio looks at Shadow, silently asking his opinion.

“Never underestimate the mind of Zelda Dottie Hyrule.” He grins, but the worry in his eyes is evident. He’s had experience being exorcised and it wasn’t exactly pleasant, in fact barely survivable at best. Leaving Vio like that was one of his biggest fears

“Fair enough.”

For all her seriousness, she was a master of small talk and distraction. Dot keeps the topics light and fun. Some work gossip, some train wreck tv show that's fun to watch to make fun of. Dot serves them at their dining table, generously pouring wine. It wasn’t a pair to the meal, but it was Vio’s favorite rosé.

“I’m not gonna sugar coat this, but hear me out.” Vio sips as she folds her fingers in a practiced manner. “I think you should do a full reveal.” He chokes on his sip and coughs. He can’t deflect the conversation right away so she goes on. “If you embrace it, people will either think: it’s cosplay with professional skill level prosthetics, think you’re both crazy, or believe you.” She ticks off her fingers. “Or some combo of those. Don’t address it like a huge hyped reveal.” Vio wipes his mouth with the lap napkin no one but him bothers to use. He looks apprehensive, but he’s listening.

“Just, have a stream with the lights on. Maybe do a haunted house tour together for the excuse to be out of the low lighting, or something. Or be totally obtuse about it and post a ‘cooking dinner with my boyfriend, doing my boyfriend’s makeup, Ouija board with friends,’ video or some shit along those lines.” She waves her fork in the air now. “You’ll have to be more careful going out, sure, but I doubt anyone would try something bold in public spaces. With such a stigma still attached to believers of the supernatural, it’s less likely for a vigilante or wanna be exorcist to out themselves like that.” She explains even through a mouthful of pasta. Covered with her hand, of course, she still held some table manners.

Vio and Shadow were still at the table, having long since stopped to watch each other’s reaction to the idea. Shadow’s concerned furrowed brows, Vio’s worried expression, pensive pinched lips.

“Do you really think that would work?” Vio side glanced once at her and then back.

“Yes. I mean, it works for popular internet celebrities who get outed about something in their personal life. Make it a normalized thing right off the bat it loses its gossip shine.”

“Hm.” Vio looks over him closely. “Would you be comfortable being on camera like that?” He hesitates. “You do not need an immediate hard yes or no to that. Think about it, we will talk over pros and cons and feelings about them tonight, to help decide.” Vio cups his cheeks and keeps Shadow looking at only him while he thinks.

“Alright,” He breathes out, not realizing he had been holding it. “We’ll talk about it.”

“I can’t tell if you're being sweet, or weirdly possessive again.” Vio dropped his hands to hold only one of Shadow’s, thankful they had opposite dominant hands. His right in Shadow’s left.

“Both.” Shadow answers for him, completely unbothered.  “But it’s appreciated. So are you,” He points his spaghetti wrapped fork at Dot. “Wanna do a spa-day-pajama-movie hang out soon?” and just like that, any tension snapped into a comfortable atmosphere. They could do this. Shadow kept his hand in Vio’s the rest of the night.

Overall, Dot’s plan seemed to have worked. They went with making it comedic, first a video ‘doing my boyfriend’s make-up’ except Vio was on camera, and Shadow uncloaked was only hands and arms doing his make-up. That made them holler in laughter. They snuck in a full body shot of Shadow ‘accidentally’ from the mirror behind Vio. As if he did a full face plus galaxy eye shadow to not be on camera intentionally.

They felt comfortable, unguarded. They were walking close to each other in their local park mid-day. Vio info dumping about his serial killer tv show, Daxter, how his character changes as himself and how media influence changed his writing and how it affected the story bad and good, how stereotypically they wrote the sister. They weren’t paying attention.

Shadow was suddenly jerked sideways by his horn, which was a feat considering he was in Hylian glamor and they weren’t even visible.

“Augh! Ow!” Public space and surprise stopped him from reacting with magic or shadows, so did panic. Vio whipped around to see two people with cloaks they clearly got from a discount halloween shop. One held a water bottle and another the invisible horns of his boyfriend. His eyes narrowed.

“We’ll save you from the influence of this beast!” The one holding the bottle screamed, voice cracking. Vio sees red and he kicks out, striking the wrist as aimed, forcing their attacker to drop it. It rolled into the grass. They grabbed his ankle and yanked him onto the ground. Finally snapping from the panic freeze, Shadow growled and bared his sharp teeth. The teen squealed in terror and dropped him.

“You idiot! Don’t let it go!” The distraction loosened his grip enough for Vio to escape. He scrambled upwards. The cloaked attacker pulled out a knife. Vio brought his hands up.

“Woah what the fuck!?”  He looked back and forth, but the busy park had somehow cleared out, leaving just the four of them. It was either magic, or they were paid off. Shadow hurried to his side, barely missing being sliced by the other’s knife.

“We know what you are, demon! We’ll rid you of this world!”

Vio really just can’t help himself. “It is ‘rid the world of you, not rid you of this world.” he corrects. The fact it made the other cloaked figure snicker really pissed them off. The attacker grabs the water bottle laying down and sprays it at them. Vio steps as a shield in front of Shadow, getting hit with water and a slice of the other cloak’s lashing out. His arm drips from the gash. Shadow hisses in pain from spray drops hitting his skin. It turned gray where they hit, eating through the glamor.

“Fuckin Nayru’s tits it’s real holy water!” He shakes his arm out from the pain. “Ow!’ He worked hard to push down roiling violence in his veins. It wasn’t them, the people responsible for his suffering that day were long gone from this world.

“I told you!”  The taller one yelled, pointing at the smaller cloak.

“Holy shit.” They started to back away slowly. “Oh shit!” They froze when Shadow peeked his un glamored head out from behind his shoulder, sneering.

“Are you okay??” Vio doesn’t risk taking his eyes off the cloaks.

“M’ fine. Just stings and I lost concentration on my cover.” He puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding!”

The shorter cloak stops. “Amy, he’s not attacking.”

“It’s a trick! It just doesn’t want to melt!”

“They’ve only defended themselves so far.” the younger one’s voice is shaking. “This doesn’t feel right.” 

“It is not right.” Vio catches on quickly, the younger one wasn’t dehumanizing them like this Amy. “We were just having a date and out of nowhere you assaulted us? For what he looks like??”

“...” The cloak looks between them, pensive. “Sis that kinda sounds like raci-”

“Shut up!” She throws more water and Shadow ducks. “They’re manipulating you!”

“They were on a date.” her voice firms. “Amy, I cut him! He's bleeding red! He’s Hylian! What did the demon even do??”

“My name is Shadow, not “the demon!”” He snaps. “I’ve done nothing.” The cloak drops their knife, it lands stabbing into the grass.

“I’m not doing this.”

Shadow pokes around to see and gets a face full of water. Vio snaps, tackling her to the ground, holding her down with his body weight and knees and starts pummeling her. The smaller cloak runs over and pulls off the cloak, offering it as a towel.

“Shit! Are you okay??” he furiously wipes his face. The left side looks terrible, and it burns like hell. He has his eyes shut tight in pain. Shadow shakes his head, breathing heavy. “I’m so sorry!” His face stings awfully and his eye feels like fire, the spot his horn comes from aches from the hard pull earlier.

“Get away from me!” he growls and blindly swipes at her. He claws across her cheek and she shrieks, pulling back.

Vio gets up, bloodied hands, from the passed out woman. He runs over and kneels next to him, cupping his face.

“ Hey, hey, hey!” he catches his wrists. “It’s me. Let me see,” he worries over him, all but pushing the other aside. “Fuck.” Shadow can’t help the tears streaming down his cheeks. “We gotta get out of here. Red can help.” He helps Shadow up, leaving the other person standing there at a loss. He supports his weight and takes the back roads to Red’s apartment. By the time they get there, Shadow’s eye is dripping his odd black ichor blood.

“Hey!” Red chirps as he opens the door, “Wasn’t expecting a surprise vis-aah!” Red’s eyes widen and he pulls them into the room. “What happened!? Sit.” He shoves them both into kitchen chairs and grabs the med kit he keeps in the bathroom.

“Some extremists in cloaks decided we needed a shower of holy water.” Vio brushes aside Red’s prodding at his arm wound. “Shadow’s worse. Him first.” Red sits in front of him. Shadow takes his hand away and he gasps before he can cover it.

“Aw, geez if you react it must be bad.” Shadow tries a joke, the smile shaky. Red gets to work, professional determination, a mask on his face. He commands Vio how to put pressure and stop his arm from bleeding while he tries to heal and fix Shadow’s face. He made a special cream he thought would work for holy burns because of Shadow, but he’d always hoped he would never actually need it. A mix of  urn cream and stock of goop made from Shadow's magic essence. Red works diligently, applying numbing as well as pain killers he technically shouldn’t possess.

“Open your eye.” He does with a wince. Red hesitates, a bad sign. He holds some fingers to the side of his face, where his periphery would be. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“...uhm.” Vio’s attention snaps up to him from his arm.

“What do you mean “uhm”?” Vio sounded slightly hysterical

“It could just be from bleeding, but I can’t really see out of that side…”

“At all?” Red frowns.

“If you weren’t here to have told me if I didn’t open my eye, I would want to touch just to make sure I actually did.”

“Fuck.” Vio leaned over, “Oh shit- your iris color is white.”

“That’s what I was worried about.” Red sighs, “Maybe it will come back, but there’s a possibility the water burned it too badly. It must have gotten directly on your face.”

“It did.”

“That son of a bitch!” Vio got up to pace, swearing colorfully in a few languages.

“Violet.” Red reprimanded sternly. “Sit down. You’re still bleeding.” he wraps him with bandages and medicine and gives Vio a sharp look to make him obey. He turns to him next, cleaning him up, giving similar pain treatment, and stitches. Shadow’s gaze is distant, separating himself from situation for the time being. The dull aching throb at his horn’s base was dredging up emotions he did not want to deal with right now.

“Do not use this arm as much as you can help it, okay?”

Vio flexes his fingers. “Yeah, alright.” he glances with concern at Shadow, who is swaying a little.

“He had a high dosage of stronger stuff. You guys can sleep in the guest bed, I wanna keep an eye on his progress. Uh- no pun intended.”

“Thanks, Red.” Vio takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. “I am not sure how much I can sleep being so riled up about this.”

“Just rest at least. Please? I’ll let the others know what happened"