RUTHLESS HEIR 🔪

Tav knew that he was likely overwhelming Alecto, it was unusual for her to be so quiet but she didn’t seem to have much to say. But for her sparse words and her hesitation, she said exactly what he wanted her to say. And she knew that killing his father wasn’t a wholly unhappy thing for him. She knew that he had been planning to eventually do just that, even before Cassius was murdered. Taking a sharp breath through his nose, Tav reached across the table in one fast and graceful movement, taking Alecto’s wrist and guiding the hand that still held their knife to the top of the desk, inviting her to, “better start now.” They gave her wrist a squeeze and helped her drive the knife into the wood the first time before letting go and letting her do as she pleased. He spoke as he turned to retrieve a hammer on a shelf across the room, explaining as he went, “he deserved worse. I had to make it quick, it wasn’t painful enough, he didn’t truly pay for it, not really.” “All I can do is succeed despite him.” When they turned back to face Alecto with the hammer in their hand, their teeth were bared and grit and they had such determination in their eyes, in the furrow of their brow. “AAAAAAHHHH!” He screamed his fury as he brought the hammer down onto the desk, breaking a hole in the top of it. One heel came up onto the desk, pushing it away to help them yank the hammer free so they could bring it right back down again. They were done talking, now only feeling the adrenaline of their anger, and they hoped that Alecto had been honest when she said she’d like to help them destroy it all. Because now there was nothing that could stop him until he was finished doing just that. The whole room around them had to go.

They kept their eyes on the table as they waited for his answer, but when they didn’t immediately get one they glanced to Rosier out of the corners of their eyes. He simply continued drinking, and the thought that perhaps he might be speechless from the news made Tav smirk outright. Maybe going out wasn’t such a waste after all, if he was finally finding himself amused after days of nothing but anger and misery. “You really didn’t know,” there was a bit of a growl to their voice, but they were still only teasing, “weren’t you friends with Cass? Some friend you were, I suppose.” He doubted that Cassius would expect much more from him, but Tav had higher expectations when it came to most people. All the same he wouldn’t give him too hard a time for missing the obituary, it would be a waste of energy to linger on it. No bar staff had noticed their empty drink yet but they itched for something to do with their hands. He reached to dip his fingers into his empty glass, grabbing an ice cube and popping it into his mouth. They crunched it between their teeth, finding it refreshing.

“I’ll start by destroying everything that’s left of my father,” their voice came out low and growl-y under their breath for the tension in their jaw, the gritting of their teeth. It was what he wanted most in the world at that moment, second only to Cassius. The sight of their own reflection through the scarred wood only made the aching worse for the way their perfect face reminded them of their brother’s. He didn’t want Alecto to see him like this, but he made no move to turn away when he heard the sound of her heels softly clicking with her steps. They couldn’t see her but they could imagine her graceful gait as she made her way around the desk to stand in front of them. Her fingers traced along the edge of it in his periphery when she came into sight. “Don’t,” the word came out in a deep breath and they shook their head, lifting their eyes to meet hers, “don’t apologize. Don’t treat me like i’m wounded.” He was tired of everyone’s apologies, he didn’t want anyone’s pity but he especially didn’t want Alecto’s, the thought of her seeing him any differently settled heavily in his middle. They pulled their hands back to their sides, letting them drag across the desk with the movement, correcting their posture so they were no longer leaning over it as before. “Of course he would find a way to ruin it for me. He deserved worse than what he got.” Thinking back to that night, he growled again under his breath, pausing for only a moment to decide if he wanted to take this secret with him to the grave instead. But Alecto wouldn’t betray them for this, and they wanted her to understand everything. “I killed him.”

“Why are you pissed?” They corrected theirself, downing the rest of their drink and returning the glass to the table with force. Why were they miserable? It seemed that somehow Evan really hadn’t heard the news. This finally amused him enough to at least have a smirk playing at his lips. “You’re an idiot,” they informed him first. “My brother was murdered by my father. They killed each other.” Something about saying it out loud had them chuckling a bit on the end. They knew where the lie was, but the worst part was true. “The world is fucking broken.”

“You don’t know what it’s like to be in hell, Rosier. You don’t know what you’re saying,” Tav’s voice came out in a low growl and he bared his teeth with a sneer up at the man, though it was no surprise that the oldest Rosier would invite himself where he clearly wasn’t wanted. On most days Tav would be inclined to remain civil, after all they needed to conduct theirself as the heir they wanted to be. But now they were. Today he wanted more than anything to exist outside of his responsibility, he wanted to dwell in the burning ache left behind by his brother. Letting out a seething huff through their nose, they turned their face away from him so they could take a deeper sip of their drink. It could be possible that Evan didn’t know, that he didn’t realize his offense, but Tav always expected everyone to know when his business was covered in the paper. Swallowing with a soft hiss, they made a small attempt in asking, “and what, apparently, is making you miserable?” He couldn’t help the trace of sarcasm in his voice. They didn’t actually care, they didn’t actually think he could understand their misery.

“I wouldn’t want to scar your pretty face,” he answered almost reflexively, though there was something lacking in his tone. It would be easy to fall into casual banter with Alecto, but she didn’t seem to know what to say any more than Tav did. They wanted to grab something heavy and smash the shelves still left on the walls, only waiting to be replaced. Instead he let out a heavy breath and responded with a tense, “hey.” Their eyes met hers for only a moment before they turned away, managing to speak in a tone that made them sound almost happy as they announced the least important thing that had happened, “I finally did it. Didn’t I always tell you I would?” As if it were at all the same thing to suddenly be the only one left to take over the title. His hands met the top of the desk, his palms pressing flat against it as he leaned over and met his own reflection between the lines he’d scarred into it. “Now I can do whatever I like, I can have anything that I want. Everything that I want.” But their fingers curled at the end of their sentence, their teeth gritting hard against the fury and misery welling up inside of them. It was impossible for him to ever have everything he wanted, now. Cassius was meant to be there to see it, his brother was meant to be apart of it and to reap all of the same rewards. They didn’t want Alecto to see them like this, but she was there and she would understand what was wrong. She knew all that he’d had planned, and all that he cared about.

Octavius sat at his father’s old desk, in his father’s old chair, carving crude lines into the otherwise perfectly polished dark wood and finding much less satisfaction in it than he should have. For years they’d imagined this day, they’d planned to keep their father’s old desk only for as long as it would take for them to ruin it, and then set it on fire to finally do away with the last of his influence. But now he only wanted to be rid of it. As soon as their new furniture arrived they would toss it out like the trash that it was. The chair was uncomfortable too, for something made with only the finest materials, as if he could feel the man’s imprint still sunk into the back and seat. With a heavy sigh, they pushed theirself away from the desk and all but threw theirself back out of it to pace the room instead, their footsteps heavy and angry. It had been days since it had happened, days since it had been reported on in the paper. At first Tav had done what he’d had to, allowed himself to be seen in public with his head high, eliminating any suspicion that he might have been wounded in some way by everything. Now with the renovations and the business of shifting all family matters into his hands he had an excuse to hole himself up in the manor, though this came with its downsides as well. The house had always been much bigger than their family needed, but it had never felt so empty as it did now. Even when Cassius had moved out in favor of having his own apartment, it hadn’t felt so empty. The occasional sounds of their mother’s drunken crying echoing through the halls only further grated on their mind. Tav hadn’t been expecting anyone, but he could hear footsteps approaching the door and a moment later when it opened he didn’t hesitate to whip the knife in his hand towards it, letting it fly just as it came open. The blade sunk into the surface of the door not inches away from where Alecto now stood, and they went still. He regarded her with a tension in his entire body, his breaths coming heavier than they should have been, unsurprised that she had shown up but unsure if he wanted to be seen the way he was. As if there were any secrets between them by that point. “Alecto,” he managed after a moment, a smirk tugging at one side of his mouth, but he glanced away from her as he said it, not meeting her eyes. As if it were somehow possible to hide their pain from her that way.

For once in his life, Octavius Mulciber went out of his way to make sure he wouldn’t be seen as he made his way to the Hog’s head. It wasn’t a place they would normally go, but they could be almost certain not to run into anyone who would want to talk to them there. He hoped there wouldn’t be anyone there who would want to go out of their way to talk to him, tired enough already of everyone’s condolences and pitying looks. Tav didn’t want their pity, Tav wanted their brother back, and they wanted to be able to basque in satisfaction for having succeeded in achieving their goal. In the end his inheritance and the power granted to him had had nothing to do with his own hard work or ambition. Of course his father found some way to ruin even this for him, something he’d looked forward to for years and should have been able to enjoy. The man had deserved much worse than what he’d got. They kept their cloak pulled tight around theirself, their hood up and covering their face, glancing around the bar as they entered to ensure they didn’t see any familiar faces. Only once he was certain did he make his way to a table at the far back corner and tuck himself into a seat. They ordered a drink and pulled their hood down, frowning at the tabletop as they waited. It had been days since it had happened but they still had the feeling like they were being watched, as if every other person in the world couldn’t help but stare. His drink arrived and he snatched it from the barkeep’s hands, tossing a coin vaguely in their direction and ignoring the way they cursed him out as they left. They sipped their drink, not really wanting it but for something to do. Someone else approached and when their shadow crossed over the table, he growled to them under his breath, “fuck off. I’m not in the mood for company.”