#theendofthebeginning

stormy night jason todd fluff “ in which… jason todd seeks you out during a rough and stormy night. ”

just really tooth rottin fluff for jason (he needs a break)

━━━━ JASON never minded storms. he was the scary one, not zeus, or god, or whoever was above gotham (if there was anything at all). but, this one was different. the sky was consistently bright with lightning and rumbling with thunder.

he hated it. that was something he knew for sure. maybe it had to do with the lazarus pit, but that had been so long and he had been working so hard to overcome it. yet, here he was, terrified of the loud booms outside and the bright flash of light.

comfort was the only thing he needed, his hands reaching for his phone to call you. you, his rock within the moving storm, his light and the end of the tunnel—as cliche as it was to say. but, he truly knew that was the easiest way to describe how much he needed you.

you practically kept him sane.

“hey,” your voice answered, soft and grounding. no longer could jason hear the storm outside, your voice bringing him to the surface as his mind was flooded with memories of the bright green liquid he was tossed into, “i’m on my way right now. will you leave the doors unlocked?”

“yeah, yeah i will. how much longer?” his voice was as level as he could manage, trembling lightly as another bolt hit the ground and shook the earth.

“three minutes. you okay, baby?” you turned to the apartment parking lot, turning your car off and keeping jason on the phone. another lightning strike.

jason winced and cowered under his blankets, before getting up and rushing to unlock his door. three minutes passed, painfully slow, and soon you were finally standing in front of him, a soft smile on your face as he tugged you into his arms.

“bad night?” you asked, pushing your hand through his hair as he looked into your eyes. you could tell, you could read him perfectly. he didn’t have to say anything, another smile pressing onto your face as he took your hand.

taking refugee in his bed, jason buried himself in the warmth of your neck. he felt better already, as your hand wandered through his hair and down his neck, your nails softly scratching at his back just where he needed it.

it hit jason then that you had been the only person in his life to care so deeply for him, to make him feel loved. the first of many things for him. he was more careful on patrol, keeping the injuries to a minimum, as to ease you. he wore biking pants in case he ever got into a crash, and he kept his location on at all times.

“i love you,” the words left his lips before he could stop himself, but it was like a dam shattering—he couldn’t stop talking, “more than anything. and one day, i’m gonna marry you.” his voice was slurring with sleepiness coating the edges of his words like a thick layer of honey. sweet, but evident.

“yeah? i can’t wait, jay.” you smiled, kissing his head and continuing to play with his hair, “better make it quick.” you teased.

“i will, i’d do it tomorrow if i could. can i?” his voice remained drowsy, not raising his head as his voice rumbled against your skin. you smiled wider (if possible) before letting out a laugh. you could see him moving as you did, letting out a soft chuckle himself.

“sure, baby. you do whatever you want, hm? how about you go to bed, at least.” you teased again, twirling a strand of hair around your finger.

and sleep he did.

peacefully.

for once.

carnation pamela isley / poison ivy fluff “ carnation — fascination, love and distinction. ”

this is for @poisonnivysgf my pookie bear

━━━━ YOU had no idea how territorial pamela seemed to get out of nowhere. of course, recently delving into a relationship and experiencing her trying to undo years and years of trauma, it was rocky.

regardless of how rocky or hard it was, you loved pamela, and she loved you—even if she had an odd way of showing it—and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

loving pamela meant loving plants, and isolation (not in a bad way, just being quieter and paying attention to the energy of the plants). for her it meant changing her ways, being a different person.

but it was a change she made willingly and happily.

you’d taken it upon yourself to pick up a book about the language of flowers. even if pamela never used it seriously, maybe you could.

so, when you woke up to the bed spot beside you empty, a frown crossed your face. but you could hear her, through the vines that inched across every square inch of your—now—shared house.

it never bothered you.

she was in the living room, curled into the couch with a book in hand and flowers sprouting from her hands subconsciously.

the domesticity of it made you sick with love. you smiled tiredly as you rose from the bed, making your way to where she sat without having to think much about it.

“morning, love.” you greeted her, sinking into the couch beside her, letting your head hit her lap as she moved her book, raising her hand from her leg to run through your hair. it almost put you back to bed.

almost.

“i’m hungry.” she hummed, grinning down at you. she did this often, a grin on her face whenever she did. you scrunched your face playfully, before rising up and moving to the kitchen.

from where the stove was, you could see pamela cooing to her plants, gently cupping the leaves and vines and talking to them quietly. your heart felt more and more content as the seconds passed.

you liked the adjustment that had been made—nearly every day was spent like this; aimless loitering around her apartment as plans for the day rose into the air, lazy cuddles and kisses shared as the clock ticked further and further into the day.

“do we have plans today, pam?” you called out, a grin hiding on your face. you knew the answer—no. no plans whatsoever. they never had any until last minute.

it was discovered by then that it worked better that way. no plans, no ideas, just instinct and sudden remembrance.

“nope.” she replied, gently removing her hand from under a leaf. “do you have something you want to do?” she asked, stepped into the warm kitchen and standing behind you, using her vines to pull you flush against her.

“mmm…” you pretended to think, “no. obviously not.” a laugh left both of you.

this was peace.

all either of you ever needed.

stray cats selina kyle / catwoman fluff “ in which selina finds solace in your presence as time passes by. ”

might dabble in smosh or marvel stuff soon…

━━━━ THE NIGHTS in gotham were never fun. sometimes you could hope to imagine a life in which gotham was peaceful and not full of criminals running around and banks being robbed.

nights passed as you would spend them sitting in front of you and your girlfriends shared living room window. she was out there, fighting alongside the dark knight, risking her life for a better tomorrow.

it terrified you, how selfless she could be when it came to her own life. but when it came to you? she would never imagine a day where you spent nights beside her, moving in tandem and taking criminals down. in her luck, you never imagined it either.

“you always worry so much about me.” selina’s voice was the best part of the night, coming from behind you as exhaustion bit at the edges. a smile crossed your face without warning—your girlfriend was home, safe, and sound.

“hard not to, lina.” you mumbled, sauntering closer to her and drawing her into a warm hug. “you fight dangerous criminals all while i stay here, worrying my head off.” you smile into her neck as he hands draw up your back.

“can’t get rid of me that easily, babe.” she teased, kissing your head.

“no cats to bring home tonight?” a frown crossed your lips as other cats selina had brought home surrounded the both of you.

“i think we’ve managed to get every cat in gotham.” she laughed, dragging you away as you moved into the bedroom you shared with her. it was a small room, but spacious enough for selina to rid herself of her suit.

“how bad was it tonight?” you whispered, standing behind her and kissing her head. you let your fingers dance along the edges of her old scars, which had become so faded through time, some of them couldn’t be found until you pressed into her skin with determination.

“not bad. don’t worry, nothing new you need to fix.” she grinned, spinning and holding you close.

“you always say that.” you chastised her.

“i also always tell you that we’re gonna get out of this shithole sometime soon. i wont break that one.” she vowed. you knew she was telling the truth. every penny either of you had, was saved towards a small house out in the country.

you could start a family there, something you always wanted to do with her. she was such a loving girlfriend when she was able to be there for you. a family is all you wanted with her in the end.

then, you could spend days doing laundry and walking around the open fields. that’s all you wanted—to live somewhere were a tomorrow with her was promised.

“theres a difference between those, lina.” you mumbled, laying down and holding your arms open for her. she smiled again, collapsing down on the bed next to you, her head hitting your chest and her eyes fluttering shut almost instantaneously.

“i know, but you trust me, right?” she raised her head to smile at you, a cheeky grin and wicked glint in her eye making you laugh quietly.

“yeah, for whatever reason.” you tased, leaning down to kiss her head.

“hey! that’s mean!”

Written by @Lassiter_SASBDB.

https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1srkf71

Written by @Lassiter_SASBDB.

https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1srinhn

It was a normal, blue-collar suburban neighborhood, filled with 1950’s ranch homes and split-levels. Mature trees lined streets that were probably filled with kids on bikes and dog-walkers during warm weather months, although now they were barren except for a couple of people shoveling snow off the sidewalks and a few toddlers playing in the white stuff with a stay-at-home parent in their respective yards. Shortly the Catholic K-12 down the street would let out and younger kids would trudge their way home while teens tentatively navigated the slick streets in 200,000+ mile Subaru’s and Nissans that had been purchased not by their parents but by working summer and after-school jobs and saving their money to do it themselves. Yeah, this was that kind of human neighborhood. So why was Devina here?

Short answer is hiding out. After I’d rousted her from that obnoxious ode to regentrification in yuppieville she’d gone deep. So deep I’d thought for a while she’d left Caldwell. But I knew I couldn’t be that lucky, so I’d kept looking. The easiest way to find her was to focus on missing persons. Not the bodies, although there would be plenty of those, but she was smart and careful. She wasn’t going to leave any of those where I might put together a pattern. But I’d been looking for the wrong /kind/ of missing persons.

Devina’s preferred prey was male and not too sober. A horny, drunk man was a sitting duck. She’d take females, too. Had all too often, but her bait for them tended to be emotional support or some such shit. She “bonded” with them when they were at low points. So I’d been looking for singles. People who had gone missing from bars or been depressed and just ghosted. I’d been over hundreds of missing persons reports…yeah, computer hacking isn’t my bag, but when you can go invisible and look over a cop’s shoulder for an afternoon it’s a piece of cake to get the right passwords. Then it’s just a little late night B&E into the police station and an empty office. But I’d looked for months and hadn’t found anything I couldn’t track down. And yes, some of them had been dead, but a few inquiries “up top” had let me know the souls had made it where they were supposed to. Obviously not Devina’s victims, as taking the souls was the whole point for the bitch. So I’d finally backed off that angle, taking a wait-until it-smacks-me-in-the-face approach.

For a while I’d turned my attention to the problems of the Brotherhood and the race. That whole deity-in-training thing was turning out to be a full time job. I kind of liked it. Who knew I had it in me? But while “tending my flock” I’d stumbled across something that sent me in a new direction.

Now,I’m not big into the whole “organized religion” thing, even for the race, but I tried to keep tapped into this one particular Catholic church. Most of the brothers aren’t big on prayers to the Virgin Scribe unless shit is going down hard, but Butch was a regular, so long as he could do it in a Catholic church like his human mother had taught him and this was his one of choice. I wasn’t 100% sure prayers not directed to the VS would get to me through the whole ethereal call-forwarding system the Creator had put in effect, so sometimes I went to hear Butch’s in person. I know, I know, I could have just tapped into his head when he was in the manse or the pit, but it seemed like an invasion of privacy to do it in his personal space. A church was basically public, so it felt more acceptable to go invisible and sit in the pew behind him while I listened in. I didn’t wanna neglect him. And it was a beautiful place. The serenity there was on par with my place in the forest so sometimes during the day, after my morning deity duty, I’d go back to the church and hang around and kinda veg in it while the Brotherhood slept. Or whatever. With all the shellans these days you never knew. Or, given the volume level, sometimes you did, but you didn’t /wanna/ know, feel me? So some days I decided to be missing during the fireworks and this place was calming. Ellen and Maury only relieve the stress of being a deity so much, you know? And if I followed the priests back to the rectory, well, hey, the nun who cooked for them made killer snickerdoodles. I kept trying to snitch the recipe for #Fritz but she did it all from her head and man, I am SO not going to pick a nun’s brain.*shudders at the implications* It was while I was looking over her shoulder as she baked that I overheard the three priests that lived there talking.

They’d lost a family from their parish that week. I mean literally LOST them. Dad, mom, and four kids, ages 4 through 9. Just vanished. The kids all went to the parish school and when none of them showed up four days running and the voicemails to the parents weren’t being returned one of the priests had gone to check on them. All he had found was an empty house. He’d called the police and filed a missing persons report to start a preliminary investigation but essentially both mom and dad had called into work one morning and said they were taking a week off, and since it’s not illegal to take vacation time, the cops had done nothing. But it was odd that the school hadn’t been contacted at all. So I did a little digging of my own and what do you know...a pattern.

Six families from different parishes in Caldwell had disappeared in the last four months. Thirty-seven souls in all. All the families had been Catholic. All the families had young children, one just a few months old. And the mother in all the families had attended a stay-at-home mom support group that met every Thursday night in the gymnasium of St. Phillip Neri’s Church and Catholic School. The same one that was just down the street. And the group was open to people from all parishes in the archdiocese, which explained why the missing families were from all over the city.

It hadn’t been hard from there. I’d stationed myself outside the gym two Thursday nights ago and waited and lo and behold, who should walk out, but Devina, bundled up in a puffy white coat that made her look like the Pillsbury Doughboy and fake giggling with a human female. It was “soooo tough to relax when the kids couldn’t get out much because of the cold” she said and then she said her condo on the beach in Florida was “sooooo relaxing” and such a help. And then she offered her nonexistent condo to the frustrated mom and her family for a stress-free vacay. And bingo, bango, done, I knew how she was luring the families in.

She’d left the woman in the parking lot as others came out, getting into a predictably boring, yet originally expensive, used Volvo, thereby confirming her image as a middle-class mom who could afford a few luxuries and putt-putted to the last house on a street that dead-ended at a dense woods with a “no trespassing” sign on the the fence that separated it from neighborhood. That gave me a good idea what she was doing with the bodies.

I’d done my recon in the past two weeks. While she hadn’t brought any new victims home, she did have a routine she invariably followed. In the mornings she made a public appearance with a pair of toddler-sized gollums she glamoured into looking like rosy-faced children. Playing in the front yard, a walk with a stroller in the park, going to the grocery store… it was always carefully planned to give her maximum exposure to her victim group without allowing them to get too involved in interacting with the “kids”. Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon she put the golems in carseats and left the house at 1:58 PM. I’d followed her those days and found Devina had a standing 2:30 appointment with a therapist. Good to know somebody else knew what a neurotic bitch she was. She’d deactivated the gollums and left them in the car in a parking garage while she had her appointment, magicking the rear window tint to opacity so no one noticed them there. Afterwards she indulged her inner compulsive shopper for an hour or two and then headed back home.

And now, on /this/ Thursday I was standing across the street from her modest hideout waiting for her to leave. Like clockwork, at 1:58 the garage door rose and the Volvo backed out of the driveway. I had stayed invisible while I waited for her to leave -- even though I’d taken the precaution of tucking my long black and blonde streaked hair down inside my coat with a black watch cap shoved over my head and added shades and a black scarf to obstruct most of my face, I’d decided discretion was the better part of valor here. While it was obviously a friendly neighborhood, 6’7” of unknown muscle encased in black leather standing on a dead end street would make anyone take notice and I did/not/want to be noticed. And I was glad I had. Devina must have sensed something off. She stopped the car after she’d backed onto the street and looked up and down it. She’d paused as her gaze fell on where I was standing and squinted. I simply stood there watching. If she saw me and we did this the hard way, it was no skin off my nose. I’d just thought it would be simpler if I searched for the souls and released them myself before deciding what to do about her this time. Finally, she’d given up and driven down the street to turn onto the main drag. As the last wisp of frozen exhaust from her car disappeared, I turned my attention to her house.

It was a tidy little brick ranch. No gargoyles or garishly macabre door knockers this time. The front lawn was fenced but otherwise unadorned. The curtains were drawn on the large picture window as well as the jalousies that were probably the bedrooms’ windows to the world. Down lower, hopper windows told me there was a basement. All in all, even if the basement is finished, there’s probably only 1400 square feet absolute max. A huge comedown for her. Devina liked luxury and lots of it. This probably was very nearly Hell for her. *smirking as I fold my arms across my chest.*

Getting inside wasn’t a problem. Although Devina knew how to keep me out she was just arrogant enough to assume this was enough of a change to keep me from finding her and maintaining warding requires power that she doesn’t have an abundance of right now. Thirty-seven souls weren’t going to be enough to keep it powered up and maintain the glamour that kept people from seeing the evil hellbitch she really was. But she could have put in ADT and that was going to take some finesse. I didn’t want her coming back before I was ready for her. As I dematerialized just inside the front door I took a moment and looked around. To the left, just behind where the door would hide it if I’d opened it was a control box with a steady green light. It was either set to trigger when the door opened or had motion sensors connected to it. Either way was no big deal. While it might have caught an unwary human, all I had to do was demat from room to room and stand still while I scoped them out.

As I stood in the doorway looked through the small living room it was apparent that Devina was maintaining her cover well. There was nothing here to indicate she wasn’t what she seemed. A photo of her in a wedding dress with a man in a tux graced the foyer wall surrounded by pictures of the “kids”. On the table beneath it lay a scrapbook, conveniently open to an obituary for National Guard Captain Alan Veckman, KIA in Afghanistan. A wife and two kids were listed as the only survivors. That explained why she hadn’t gollumed up a spouse for her image. She’d just tracked this guy down, photoshopped herself into their wedding picture, and probably taken the wife and kids as her first victims this time around. Instant sympathetic widow.

The house had had some modernization done on the inside. Instead of closed off main rooms the dining room walls had been knocked down to open it up to both living room and kitchen, forming the more-currently-popular “great room''. From here I could see all the public spaces were clean. No macabre art work on the walls, no horrific but trendy sculpture. Just a few framed prints on the walls and the typical kid’s finger paintings on the fridge. I popped into the kids bedroom and the hall bath, doing a quick check, but finding nothing then moved on to the master. It had been remodeled too, probably taking out the third bedroom to enlarge it and add the spa-like ensuite. This space, small by Devina’s norms, still felt more like her. Where the great room had been “Leave It To Beaver” tidy, this place was an overpacked disaster. Her shopping addiction was apparent in the overstuffed closet and bags of clothing laying on the floor. Jewelry strung haphazardly across the dresser and the unmade bed completed the total mess. The bathroom had every known brand of cosmetic, perfume and skin treatment known to man represented, and that was just a waste of money, given she relied on magick to maintain her outwardly pretty face and body. Lots of scented bath crap around the tub, too. Keeping the stench of evil down must require some heavy maintenance. But still nothing that hinted at her new well of souls.

Only one place left to check. The basement. I’d spied the door to it in the kitchen. If any door was going to be wired to alert her, it would be that one, but if it was her gateway to hell, ADT wasn’t going to be her alert system. Dematting to the kitchen, I look at the door and open my senses. There was nothing alive in that basement but there sure was a lot of pain coming from it. I dematerialize to the otherside of the door and flick on the stairwell light. The smell hits me immediately. The odor of death is distinctive. The odor of death by torture even more so. Blood, feces, spilled intestines, vomit….and the residual agony...I had to stop on the steps and take a deep breath to steel myself. I’ve seen a lot, done a lot, been on battlefields. But I never get used to this.

Jaw set grimly, I focus on the details of my surroundings to get me down the stairs. The walls are painted yellow concrete blocks, the ceiling exposed floor joists. The floor at the bottom of the stairs is smooth concrete. My eyes follow the slope of the concrete to the center drain, beginning to take in the blood and viscera still laying on the floor. She must have magicked the whole damned place to keep the smell down here. Nausea rises in my throat, but I force it down as my gaze rises to the table over the center drain. It’s a steel autopsy table, the kind sits on a pedestal and raises and lowers for the user's convenience. It has a sink attached to it and channels that run down the sides to let blood and body fluids drain away . But unlike standard autopsy tables this one also has straps attached. Ones for wrists, ankles and forehead as well as thicker ones that run over the chest and thighs. I guess Devina wanted options. Staked to the wall behind it is the mutilated body of a female. Early 30’s, blonde, fair skinned where the corpse wasn’t ripped open or stained with red. Before moving towards it, I flip another switch that lights the corners of the basement. I take in the empty cell in the corner. Makes sense. If she’s taking families she can’t work on them all at once and holding them immobile takes power she doesn’t have. And on the concrete wall that runs behind the staircase I see it. Instead of a well she’s created a wall this time. Faces frozen in agony are embedded along it. Male, female...children…

”Creator,” it’s a scream in my head “she did this to CHILDREN!” I can feel His pain, but the whisper enters my head “She has a part to play. She must live.”

I choke back an agonized cry and move towards the woman staked to the wall. Gently I close her already clouded eyes, murmuring “I’m sorry. I was too late for you and your family. But I’ll set you free.” I know she’s not in there anymore. She’s on that god damned wall. The body is just the alarm system. Devina will know if it’s moved. Well, I’ll get to that.

Moving to the wall, I let my wings become visible. The basement ceiling is too low for me to spread them fully, but I can feel the souls’ pain and terror. Going full angel will help calm them, I hope. The white light I normally suppress to a dim glow that can be at least partially explained by the light catching all my piercings is fully released to become a white light so brilliant it would burn the retina’s of a mortal.

“𒂼𒅈𒄄.” Release, in ancient Summarian, the language taught to humans by the angels. “Ama-ar-gi. Release,” I repeat it again and again as the souls gradually disengage from the wall and come to stand before me. Fathers, mothers...little ones, all confused and fearful. But even as they shimmer into existence, the rheapers come. I knew they would. As I serve the Creator, they serve Death. I help mortal souls find their way in life. They help souls move on and find their way once their mortal bodies can no longer serve them. And, like me, they’ve seen it all, but also like me, this sickens them. After the initial shock of pity passes, compassion settles on their faces as they begin to take the souls. Somehow they know which souls belong together and they take them as families.

After the last has gone, one rheaper remains. She’s small and dark-haired, her 5’3” frame barely reaching chest high on me, but she comes towards me, pounding her finger into my chest and hissing,

“They weren’t supposed to die yet! Take. Care. Of. This. Or we will.”

“I can’t. The Creator says she has to live. For at least a little longer.”

“Good thing we don’t answer to Him, then isn’t it? My boss doesn’t like waste of the life spark and this is incredible waste,” she shoots back at me. As I look at her, not a little shocked, she shrugs “What, you didn’t know? Everything dies. Even at the Creator’s level, there’s balance. Balance for Life is Death. Two sides of the same coin. So,” putting her hands on her hips and squaring off with me,” handle this before we do.”

“The demon has a part to play. I don’t like it, but I’m forbidden to kill her.” My frustration must be showing in my face, because she softens a little bit.

“Then get creative with it. Because the rheaper way won’t be creative. Just final.”

She disappears in front of me, a fine black mist swirling into nothing. ‘Get creative,’ she’d said. Biting my lip, an idea I really don’t like hits me, but one of the Creator’s early lessons pushes back on my initial rejection. ‘Being a deity often consists of doing things you don’t like.’ Yeah, this qualifies. With a sigh, I go to the body staked on the other wall and gently remove it, laying it on the autopsy table. The sudden drop in power when the souls were freed would have been enough to alert Davina there was trouble. At this point moving the female’s body was just respect for the dead. But I wouldn’t face the bitch over it.

As I go back up the stairs, I open the door to the kitchen and cross to take a seat at the table just as I hear the garage door go up. As she bursts through the door from the garage, she shrieks,

“YOU! What have you DONE?!!!!”

“Hello to you, too. Long time no see.” Everything in me wants to slam a lightning bolt through that glamored body just to see it twitch, but that’s not the plan. “You knew I’d still be looking for you. Did you really think hiding out in this hovel would be enough camouflage? You have a very distinct signature.”

“Those souls were MINE! They came to me freely. You had no RIGHT!” The last comes out as an angry wail and ok, I’m done with diplomacy. Rising from my chair I slam my hand thunderously on the table.

“I have EVERY right. You broke the rules. You took innocents…children. Babes in arms. You’re only allowed ones that have the ability to make their own choices.”

She glares at me, then crosses her arms and simpers, “The parents made their choices for them. Children have such power, You know, the more innocent the soul, the greater the energy. I’m short on that, thanks to you, so kids were a quick way to restore it. And the pain of the parents as they watched their brats die...it was sooo delicious. That kind of pain is almost as powerful as the kids' souls. So I’m stronger now than I was the last time we faced off. Whatcha’ going to do about it?”

Motherfucking bitch….Oh, so not getting away with that. Holding a hand out, I release a bolt of electricity that knocks her back against the refrigerator and spears through her body to pin her to it.

“What am I going to do about it?” I repeat. “I can do a lot of /very/ painful things to you Devina that won’t result in your --immediate-- death. You’ll just wish it did. I’m not that naive angel boy you once knew and betrayed. Deity-level upgrades come with deity-level thinking. And you aren’t strong enough to break free even from that,” nodding at the electric bindings holding her to the fridge, “Now are you? So I have a lot of pain in store for you. Maybe I”ll use your own autopsy table. But,” materializing a silver handled angel’s dagger, the blade flashing blue fire, “I think I’ll bring my own tools.”

The thing is, while I really would like to end Devina, torture isn’t my thing. It makes me wanna throw up. But ‘get creative’ the rheaper had said, so creative I was being. Devina doesn’t know what the kind of changes the Creator made with me when he agreed to bring me up to a deity, might have done to my psyche. In her fallen, psychotic brain the Creator is a cold, distant daddy figure capable of enjoying causing His children pain and she’s getting back at Him by embracing the dark side. So I can see the doubt growing in those dark eyes. She’s asking herself if I’m still the same egocentric, soft, gullible angel-boy toy she used and killed centuries ago or am I growing up in Daddy’s image? Have I turned into a being that is detached enough to use pain for my own ends? Thing is, I hope I am becoming more like the Creator. Because He’s nothing like what she thinks He is and nothing like who I used to be either. He’s just….more. But the doubt is good for my plan.

The energy trapping her against the refrigerator is doing its job. Not only is it keeping her immobilized, it’s sapping her strength enough that her true appearance is flickering through. Time to move to the next step. Calmly, I take the tip of my dagger and clean a nail with it before pointing it at her.

“You’re losing your mojo babe. Your face is showing. I don’t think all those creams and cosmetics are helpful for decayed, oozing skin.”

“OH!....Lassiter, please, don’t do this to me. To us. Remember what we were…”

Oh, I remember all right. In my nightmares. But this tact plays. I heave a sigh and look at her sadly, as though remembering something bittersweet.

“We did have some good times didn’t we. You were something special back then. We had something special.” Oh gag me, this is more likely to make me puke than torturing her. But she seizes on it.

“We did, yes, we did. Let me go, Lassiter and we can again. I never stopped loving you, I just got caught up in it all. It’s so dog-eat-dog on the dark side!”

Christ, how do I not kill her when she spews shit like this? But be creative. Creative. Think of it as an acting job. Ok… Sadly, I shake my head.

“Too much water has passed under that bridge for me to cross it again Devina. But…” pausing for effect, “for old times sake, maybe we could come to an agreement. Something that lets me not have to kill you.” Right now. Not have to kill you right now…. She makes a major effort to hold the glamour and pours a combination of pleading sensuality into her eyes that should have won her an Oscar.

“Oh, baby,” I cringe inwardly as she calls me ‘baby’, “I’m so sorry. But,” And there it is, the self-interest speaking…. “What kind of agreement did you have in mind?”

Bingo. Gotcha hooked. “If I let you go, you have to promise not to go after innocents. You have to leave them alone. And that includes their parents. And,people who are kind of lost, too. You can’t use that emo bonding thing with them to lure them in anymore.”

“But, but…,” she makes a pout, “what does that leave me with? I have to have /some/ leeway or I’ll die.”

And this is the part that irks me most. It goes against everything in me. But she’ll fuck it up, probably sooner that later and I won’t have to keep my end.

“Go back to trolling for your prey in bars. If they choose you, really choose you, you can keep them. You’ll have to work harder for it. A quick fuck in the backseat of the car isn’t going to be enough to get their souls. But if you can get them obsessed with you? You can keep them.”

“It will take me forever to restore myself that way!” It comes out as a wail but she’s almost there.

“It will take time,” I agree. “But meanwhile you won’t be stuck in suburbia living in a 1400 sq ft. dump. You can indulge yourself in the highlife again and I won’t hunt you. Think of it. A luxury loft, being able to wear Prada and Coach without blowing your image…think of the time it takes you to build back up as doing penance in the demonic equivalent of Club Fed. Payment for the innocents you took. All the perks, just a few restrictions. It’s the best I can offer you.”

“Fine,” she spits out, and I have to struggle to keep the uniquely male satisfaction of knowing that whenever a female says ‘fine’ it’s absolutely not fine but that she has no other options, off my face. “But you’re going to have to let me out of this restraint.” And then she coos “We’ll seal it with a kiss.”

Oh, hells no to that. “I’d rather we seal it with this.” Holding up my hand I materialize a contract containing everything we’ve talked about. And some very special wording. “You’ll sign it in your blood.” Laying the document on the counter, I release the energy restraints and grab her arm. Using the dagger I slice her arm as she howls in both pain and outrage, but not fast enough to do anything about it.

“Here. Use this. It’s appropriate.” My wings materialize and I bend one forward towards my hand. Managing to pluck a silvery secondary feather, I dip the tip in the blood running down her arm and hand it to her. “The magick in my feathers will make it doubly binding. Break the agreement and I’ll know. Immediately.”

If looks could kill, she’d be frying an angel right now. And with her, at full power, looks could. But she doesn’t have the juice right now and we both know it. She scrawls her name on the document and thrusts it at me, but drops the hand holding my feather. “Here. Take it.”

“Uh,uh uh...not so fast. I’ll take that feather back too.” Can’t let her keep it. No telling what kind of evil she’d use it to conjure up on me. Taking both feather and contract back, I step back from her and add, “You should have read the contract. In addition to specifying how you can attract souls it also specifies only /human/ souls.”

Dropping all pretense of cordiality now, I narrow my eyes at her. “I know you were imprisoned and I know how you were freed and by whom. Stick with taking the human souls agreed upon in the way we agreed upon and we don’t have a problem.” Until she breaks the contract. Then all bets are off. But one thing at a time.

“I’m going to make you pay for this Lassiter!” She yells as she grabs for the contract.

“Oh, please, bitch,” dematerializing contract and feather back to my room at the manse, “stop with the evil super-villain talk. It’s really cliche and Darkseid did it better.”

Walking to the door, I jerk it open, setting off the alarm system she’d neglected to turn off when she came in. As the earsplitting siren split the neighborhood quiet, I added...

“Oh, and if you want to avoid the police, I’d be vacating this place PDQ. I’ll be phoning in a dead body in the basement as soon as I’m out the door. Laters, babe.”

The resounding crash of what had to be the blender off the countertop hitting the door makes me chuckle as I dial 911.

Written by @Lassiter_SASBDB.

https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sriff1

I was finally getting the hang of this Deity gig. At least the Creator must think so because there hadn’t been any stop-motion events for a random deity lesson lately. And I had a routine now. Every morning after the manse locked down for the day I hit my retreat in the forest and went all Dali Lama, meditating until I could hear the prayers of the race and then decide what to do about them. This morning was no different, although as the weather was getting colder and snowier I was gonna want to find someplace a little warmer soon. No point in freezing my well-kept keister off sitting in the snow, know what I mean? Must be someplace with a hot spring around here. Or hey, maybe I can get Fritz to build me a sauna out behind the manse. But for now, this will have to do. As I settle down cross-legged on the ground my mind wanders to some of the species who were keeping me up at night –hardy-har-har – with their issues.

I was keeping an eye on the little girl I’d rescued and her mom. Her mom needed to make the choice to leave that male and then I could help her more, but until then I had to settle for comforting the kid and protecting her when I could. Hey, spandex can cover a lot of bruising and I heal quick, so no big. And there were others like this kid, in the same situation with a male who took his frustrations out on his female and young. I’d intervened more than once but without a place for them to go no amount of whispering in their brains could convince most of these females to leave. I was gonna have to talk to Wrath about it. Or maybe whisper an idea into the brain of one of the females at the manse. I’ll put it on my “to do list”.

I also had new concerns and, wincing to myself, all of them female. One was a civilian, Breehanna. I’d me her while I was on one of my scouting runs for she-who-shall-not-be-named….oh who am I kidding? I have no prob naming the bitch. Devina wasn’t gonna go psycho monster on me because I thought her name. She was just one naturally. Now, back to Breehanna… the female was being majorly taken advantage of by her ghardian. I couldn’t do a lot until she made some decisions, but I’d be taking myself over to her place in the now for in person visits from time-to-time just so she knew she had friends. Feeling alone can make people do damned stupid shit. Like another pair of females that I’d recently prevented from running headlong back into trouble.

Sloahne, I’d known for a while, but she’d shut me out and had made some epic bad choices that had almost gotten her killed, and they still could. I dunno what she’s hiding or why she’s so paranoid about the Brotherhood, but I’m going to be finding out. She has a future. Providing she doesn’t keep doing the stupid. And speaking of doing the stupid, what am I going to do about that pre-trans Chosen, Talia, that tried to make a run for it with Sloahne? I do /not/ agree with Annalise’s former breeding program for the Brotherhood, but Phury has pretty much gotten that set to rights, with Cormia’s help, so the kid does have options for a future that don’t include being an involuntary baby-maker and blood donor. She was just too stuck in the vampire equivalent of adolescent rebellion to see that. Unfortunately, that rebellion had taken her into some dark places in both her head and reality. Drugs and a human male had nearly ended her. And now that Phury had temporarily sent /all/ the Chosen back to Sanctuary she was going to be more bullheaded than ever. Maybe some Lassiter-style quality time is what she needs. But not the kind that’s spent watching rom-com’s and eating popcorn. No, this needs to be more serious. Maybe with her spending some time picking her butt up off of the floor on a regular basis. Now that might be a plan….

Get a grip, I chide myself. Focus or you’ll be out here freezing your hey-nonny-nonnies off all morning.

Clearing my mind, I inhale and exhale rhythmically until the prayers of the race come streaming in… a female who wants rehvenge on a cheating male….nope, not touching that one. Rehvenge is never a good motive. Now if she just wanted out, I could open a door for her but I’m not hanging him up by his ‘nads over a slow fire. She needs to ask for something else. Now, what else do I have.... a male praying for his female’s safety on the birthing bed as she enters labor…man, I wish I could guarantee that, but I don’t get to decide when somebody’s time is up. Even with medical help, all too often the races females die in childbirth, and it doesn’t help that the race’s only “doctor” is #Havers. He’s entirely too complacent about the number of females who die having young. But this male wouldn’t take his female to the clinic anyway. He sees #Havers as being out of his reach. Making a decision, I reach out and nudge an older female who lives down the road from them go check up on the pregnant female. She’s assisted in a number of successful deliveries and I trust her more than #Havers anyway.

There are a few more, odd and sundry. Some are easy, some are hard and some are a big “NOPE”, but all in all, it’s a light morning. Gives me time to take a trip into Caldwell for my own purposes. I’ve got a line on Devina. I think she’s surfacing again, although why the fuck she just won’t just leave Caldwell, I don’t know. Hmm…she went off radar after our last encounter. Maybe I can shove her off again. It's worth a shot.

Rising, I demat to a clearing and stretch my wings, their iridescent magnificence shimmering in the sunlight. Think I’ll go for the big glow here. After all, there’s nothing like shining a light in the darkness.

Written by @Lassiter_SASBDB.

https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sre1au