Some weird person

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Friday eventually comes, as does your last exam. With a newfound sense of freedom, you rush to your dorm to hop into bed and sleep for a consecutive forty eight hours before you enjoy your summer off.

You strip off your outfit and put on your comfiest pyjamas. You snuggle up in bed and greatly appreciate the blackout blinds your room has. Just as you’re about to fall asleep, your phone beeps.

From: Caitlyn🔫

Girl… you've gone viral.

You snort as you push yourself onto your elbows and text your best friend back.

To: Caitlyn🔫

Wtf are you talking about???

How the hell would I go viral? I haven't done anything.

Two pings simultaneously come through onto your phone, the first one is maybe a thirty second video, and the second is Caitlyn just laughing at you.

From: Caitlyn🔫

https://www.tiktok.com/holy-hell-she-did-not-just-say-that

Are you sure about that? 💀💀

You furrow your eyebrows and cautiously click the link Caitlyn sent you. It takes a few seconds but the video eventually loads, and there you are.

You’re in one of your favourite outfits, it’s comfy but still looks nice. Your hair is framing your face nicely and you have one of your headphones behind your ear as you look confused at the beautiful woman in front of you. It’s quite obvious you’re exhausted.

She does her whole spiel regarding how this is for her journalism classes final project and how she’s going around the academy’s campus asking people at random a simple question. You look completely lost, you can see your dark circles have dark circles; you cringe at how tired you look.

The video is almost over and you’re wondering what made you go viral in the first place, it’s when there’s fifteen seconds left in the video where you get your answer.

“What do you think about the Hextech inventors, Jayce and Viktor?”

You look blankly at the pretty woman and just casually in a monotone voice state, “Smash.”

You then see yourself put your headphone back on and continue on your previous task of getting home. You then get to see the glorious hilarity of the poor woman sputtering as the camera man laughs. You feel your face burn, it becomes almost unbearable when you see the comments of the video.

They’re just saying what we’re all thinking

Slay

Not a thought behind those eyes except smashing Jayce and Viktor. Same. Ask them to go to Paris.

I love them omfg

On my personal device that my parents pay the wifi for?

Oop 👀 their inside thoughts accidentally became outside words

They got good taste

Quick! Somebody send this to them 💀💀

Don’t let the council see this…

You’re so funny. Please don’t die.

You damn near whip your phone across your room in embarrassment. Why. Why has the gods forsaken you this day? That video was posted two days ago and it’s already wracked up millions of views, over a million likes, and thousands of shares and comments. It’ll be a miracle if Jayce and Viktor haven’t seen that video yet.

From: Caitlyn🔫

Btw I sent Jayce the video, love you ❤️

You scream into your pillow after that. You were supposed to meet them after your final grades were submitted so that you could possibly start working with them on Hextech.

Guess those dreams are ashes now.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

You’ve essentially barricaded yourself in your dorm room. No one’s coming in, and you’re not coming out.

Your best friend has other plans.

“C’mon, we planned this meet up like a month ago. Grades are out, you got like straight As. You’ll get the job.”

You cover yourself in more blankets, your voice is quite muffled when you respond back, “Hell no! They’ve seen me embarrass myself in front of millions of viewers. You sent Jayce the video! I’m not going!”

Caitlyn huffs as she rips the blankets off you, you squeal and try to hide again.

“They’re curious about you! They want to meet you.”

“Of course they’re curious about me, I said I wanted to have sex with them!”

Caitlyn cringes at the thought. Objectively she can see that both Viktor and Jayce are very attractive men, but Jayce is her brother and well, she’s always had more appreciation for the female form.

“Seriously, we gotta go. Their schedules are always crazy busy. This is the first time in… forever since they’ve taken some time off.”

You huff, “If anything goes wrong, I'm blaming you.”

Caitlyn smiles at that and throws you an outfit to change into, “I’m totally fine with that.”

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The walk to the lab is tense. You keep fidgeting with your hair, your clothes, your fingers. Everything.

Caitlyn keeps lightly slapping your hands to stop you from ruining her hard work. She's got you in nice black slacks that show off your pretty legs, a burgundy button-down with a cream vest over top of it, highlighting your waist, and a simple pair of black boots. Everything about this outfit screams sophistication and highlights your beauty.

“Are you sure we can't go back?”

Caitlyn giggles at you, “We’re like a foot away from the lab doors. You should've asked earlier.”

You whip your head to look at her, “Are you saying if I asked earlier, we could have cancelled this meeting?”

“No.”

And with that, Caitlyn knocks on the lab doors and you feel yourself blanche due to nerves. You're gonna die, you're barely into your twenties and you're going to die.

You've had a good life so far.

You truly feel like you've seen the pearly gates when a tall, broad man with a beaming smile opens the door, “Sprout, you made it!”

He exclaims as he brings Caitlyn into a massive hug. Caitlyn squawks a bit at the strength but hugs the handsome man back. You just awkwardly stand there biting your lip, stopping your intrusive thoughts of jumping out the window. You'll probably break an ankle, but it'd be worth it.

A rhythmic thump breaks you out of your stupor and you see an incredibly attractive man come up to you. He's tall, lean, and has the most beautiful bone structure you've ever seen. His eyes are like molten gold.

He quirks an eyebrow at your admirative glance and holds a hand out, the other firmly holding onto his cane, “You must be Miss. Kiramman’s friend. My name is Viktor. Welcome to the lab.”

You hesitantly go to shake his hand. His palms are cool compared to yours. He's got small calluses everywhere yet his hands are deceptively soft. You ensure you have a good grip on his hand, you were taught a lousy handshake is quite insulting.

A hand is brought down onto your shoulder and you almost gasp in shock, “I’m Jayce.” the tanned man states as Caitlyn tries to fix her ruffled hair. Wow, they are like siblings. Especially since Caitlyn has a sneer on her face as she elbows Jayce in the ribs; effectively causing him to crumple a bit.

You bite your lip and lightly giggle, Viktor shoots you a fond look as he ushers everyone into the lab.

A casual conversation is held before Caitlyn leaves so that you, Jayce, and Viktor can talk privately. You're tempted to screech at her to stay. But you don't.

The atmosphere in the lab is a bit awkward as Jayce just blurts out, “So… What was that video about?”

“Jayce!” Viktor lightly scolds, “You have no tact.”

You choke on an inhale of breath, causing a coughing attack. Jayce pats you on the back, trying to alleviate the discomfort.

“I—uh. Well, I was functioning on about four hours of sleep after two back-to-back exams, and before that, I had an exam on each previous day. So I wasn't in the right mindset when that girl came up to me and asked… that question. I didn't even hear the question fully before I… y’know… answered her.”

Jayce lightly pouts as Viktor shoves his tongue into one of his cheeks, “So… you wouldn't smash us?”

You accidentally bark out a laugh before slapping a hand over your mouth, “I’d be an idiot to say no. But, if we're going to work together… mixing pleasure into it never goes well.”

Viktor and Jayce share a loaded look, “Well…” Viktor's accent purrs out, “If you ever change your mind… you know where to find us.” The man that just rocked your world just casually walks to his desk, his cane rhythmically thumping against the marble floor of the lab.

Jayce drags a hand on your lower back as he shoots a wink over his shoulder, ushering you to the blackboard.

As a mortician, you care for the dead. You give them the honour and respect they deserve. You clean them, care for them, make them look like themselves so the families and friends can grieve in peace. It’s your job.

You never thought you’d have to do your job on your two loves.

They were so young, just barely in their thirties. Full of bright ideas and world changing plans. But things got out of hand, people got hurt. People died. Your boys died.

So now you’re here, in your mortician lab crying silently as you sit by your desk. There are no bodies. Nothing to remember them by, as if they never even existed.

You were all supposed to grow old together, live your lives, and love each other unconditionally.

But they’re gone now, they left together. And you’re all alone.

You know it wasn’t planned, but your heart still aches. It’ll ache until the day you die. You can’t imagine a world without them in it, but now you have to.

You’ll make a shroud for them. Just one. They died together, you’ll bury them together. You just need some items of theirs to use.

So you have to go to their lab.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

If I could make days last forever

If words could make wishes come true

I'd save every day like a treasure and then

Again, I would spend them with you

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Their lab is a wreck. Broken windows, papers on the ground, their desks are splintered, the blackboard is ruined.

You see their wheelie chairs, and you break down sobbing. You remember how they’d sit there and bicker. Work on equations and prototypes. How your conversations would flow late into the night as you all sat by one another and appreciated the company. You’ll never get that again, your boys are dead.

And you’re all alone.

You pick some things to put in their shroud. Some pens, notebooks, a few hexgems, you even take a spare cane and hammer.

They’re your boys, and they deserve a proper burial. Even if you can’t give them one.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them

I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I want to go

Through time with

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

You go back to your lab, ensuring none of the other residents of the academy or the enforcers see you. You won’t let them stop you from honouring them, both of them. You can already see how Viktor will be forgotten, ignored, and villainized. You won’t let that happen, you’ll never forget him.

You’ll never forget his passion for helping others, helping the world. His sarcasm, his humour, how sweet he was.

No, you’ll never forget him.

You’ll never forget Jayce either.

But the rest of Piltover won’t forget Jayce. They’ll purposely leave out Viktor, and you won’t allow Viktor’s greatest fear come true.

You won’t allow him to be forgotten.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

If I had a box just for wishes

And dreams that had never come true

The box would be empty

Except for the memory

Of how they were answered by you

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

You finish the shroud, a basic linen fabric. You put all their items inside as carefully as you can. This is their stuff, it’s them. It’s a replacement, but it’s good enough. You won’t harm your boys, they’ve already been through enough.

You hum a melancholic melody as you write their names on a slip of paper. Your scrawl encapsulating the love you have for them, and your loneliness. You won’t ever see their smiles again, hear their laughter, watch them grow old.

You just pray as the years catch up to you you never forget them. You’re one of the only people who’ll remember the real them.

You place your shroud onto the incinerator and gently place the slip of paper on top. You start the fire and conveyor belt, and watch as your two boys leave you for one final time.

You can’t help but whine when you see them enter the blaze, the paper incinerating almost instantly as the shroud slowly burns. Eventually all that’s left is the cane and the hammer, and it takes a while for them to melt down.

As if they’re fighting, as if they’re trying to stay with you. But they can’t, your sweet boys are dead, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

You know they’d want you to live a long life without them, but you can’t imagine how. How will your life go on without them in it?

Hopefully you can still see them in your dreams.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them

I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I want to go

Through time with

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

What you don’t know is they can still see you. They see you cry, they see you scream in agony, they see you make their shroud, they see you break and become numb.

They desperately want to reach out to you, they want to comfort you, have you back in their arms as they fight away your worries and fears. They want to kiss your lips and hug you close.

But they can’t.

They don’t know how to get to you.

So they’ll sit and watch as you crumble apart, your sadness enveloping you in ways they’ve never seen before.

And they’ll pray.

They’ll pray to gods they don’t believe in anymore to save you, help you, love you. Maybe they can visit you in your dreams, maybe they can comfort you in the dead of night.

They just hope you don’t follow in their footsteps. Their hearts wouldn’t be able to take it.

(You do.)

(And their hearts shatter.)

II - THE MATTER OF SUCCESSION

We must note that Bhaal's plans heavily rely (as we can read in Durge's "diary" tab) on reproduction ; e.g "siring lots of Bhaalspawn".

This alone isn't coded as one sex or the other but, if we think of it in terms of convenience, a female heir wouldn't be your first choice for the task: women can only gestate one child per year and conceive in very specific windows of time within their cycle, while men can potentially impregnate countless women in the same time span and not suffer any physical disadvantages during gestation.

We should also consider women tend to develop a bond with their newborn and the latter needs to rely on them for survival during the first few months of their life, while a man:

1. has no such obligations from a social point view (especially in a medieval context, where bastard children were the norm)

2. isn't strictly needed by the child for survival, biologically speaking.

I doubt Bhaal was expecting his heir to keep track of her cycle, gestate for nine months with all the drawbacks that come with it, give birth risking death and spend the following months caring for a newborn – all of this, on repeat for years if not centuries.

"But he's a God, he could potentially speed up the process!"

Technically true, but why would he go through such trouble, if he could craft his ideal child as a male and avoid complications?

The game itself seems to agree with this theory, since you get the "Bhaal's stallion" line regardless of your Durge's gender, in one of the bad endings.

We could also consider the idea that reproduction = power, "spreeding the seed", to be a typically patriarchal concept.

Bhaal himself isn't fond of the idea of raising children, as he let Durge be raised by an adoptive family – a "regular" one no less, meaning he didn't even concern himself with choosing one.

III - IN-UNIVERSE MYSOGINY

There are many aspects of the religion that seem to glorify manhood, and for its leader to be a woman (by Bhaal's choice, no less) seems inconsistent.

Let's think of the infamous blessing granted to Bhaal's favourites, the Ecstasy of Murder, which basically consists in a pseudo prostatic orgasm.

Then we consider the presence of predominantly-male sexual crimes, both coming from Durge and other important figures within the cult.

We cannot deny necrophilia, for functional reasons, is extremely uncommon amongst women: necrophilic acts are typically carried out by penetrating a dead body, as it's almost the only pleasurable act you can perform on a corpse ; Durge being a known necrophiliac pre-lobotomy could be one of the many hints the character is meant to be read as male.

Not to mention the horrendous way in which Bhaalist female characters are treated in-universe, between Sarevok sexually abusing his daughter (and this concept being treated as completely normal by the narrative, as far as we know of) and Orin being constantly belittled.

We never hear of any male cultists undergoing the same treatment, meaning abusing women is the norm amongst Bhaal's faithful – yet again, a telltale sign of a patriarchal religion.

"But Orin isn't mistreated because of her sex, she's mistreated because she's not the true heir!"

Orin is, indeed, not Bhaal's biological daughter: she's related to Him by blood, but as Durge himself says, her blood is "diluted".

However, while he acknowledges she's not his biological sister, he still addresses her as such in multiple sources, meaning the cult leader himself doesn't care about her actual origins.

She's constantly portrayed as someone who gets talked down to, cast aside and her beliefs are harshly criticized both by Durge and others influential members such as Sarevok.

For Larian to choose a woman to fill this role could have been accidental, but we must admit the symbolism is quite clear.

Orin interprets murder as a form of art, while her Bhaalist peers frequently accuse of her misunderstanding her own faith, considering her too immature to lead the flock.

She's the only Bhaalist female character we're shown as remarkable, and she's coincidentally used as an example of someone the cult does not respect ; she's even biologically related to Bhaal and yet, she had to seize power by force.

IV - ROMANTIC SUBTEXTS

Another interesting matter are the characters commonly paired with Durge in fanworks: Durgetash and Durgestarion are the most popular romantic pairings according to ao3, and we cannot blame the fandom for catching up on the subtext.

Durge's "admiration" (as he calls it himself) towards Gortash is viewed as controversial and arises suspicion in-universe, to the point he feels the need to apologize to his Father and repent for an implicit sin.

While it would be scandalous to fraternize with Gortash even in a platonic matter – he's practically the leader of the rival cult –, the emphasis put on justifying their interactions has been interpreted by fans as romantic subtext.

The letter in which Durge addresses the issue is titled "Letter for Forgiveness", despite Gortash only being mentioned at the beginning, while the rest of the letter focuses on different topics entirely.

Right after expressing guilt for the way he views Gortash, Durge proceeds to repeat Bhaal's plan and promises to follow it, stressing that he would have made his Father proud regardless.

The letter overall comes off as an attempt to justify being attracted to Gortash and reassuring Bhaal that it wouldn't come in the way of their plans, as it would pose an enormous threat otherwise.

Durge being attracted to Gortash – if we choose to interpret him as a man – would come with a handful of important challenges: first of all, sympathizing with the 'enemy', implying Durge could abandon the idea of betraying him or even allow Gortash to do the same to him.

Second of all, being capable of such vulnerability that would come in the way of being a sentient weapon: a killing machine isn't supposed to feel pity, let alone experience something as foolish as forbidden love.

And thirdly, for Bhaal's heir to prefer the company of men is simply a disgrace, as it would come in the way of reproduction and possibly undermine his public image.

While all of this may have not been meant as a homosexual allegory, the fact you can find the Letter for Forgiveness on Durge's corpse if you play as Tav, still comes off as "bringing a secret to the grave".

Not to mention the note at the end of the letter, written by another cultist, reading: "Ha! Orin was right about her sibling." which is clearly a jab at what we mentioned above.

When you go to confront Orin in Act III (as Durge) about the fact she has been following you around town, she replies: "The little lordling has been whispering in your ears? He always knew how to tumble and twist your mind matter, leaving you knotted in his chords."

The matter of Durge's attraction to Gortash is seen as something silly and shameful at the same time: it's an open secret cult members dare to joke about, because they find it ridiculous.

If a hypothetical female heir of Bhaal had the slightest possibility of reproducing with the Chosen of Bane, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't find it as humorous – they find it hilarious because it's taboo, a powerful demigod developing a "school crush" on a male ally.

We should also talk about some of the in-game implications about Gortash, such as being someone who possibly "slept his way to the top": managing to charm and daze a much more powerful man on purpose sounds surprisingly in-character.

What we find even more interesting are the implications that come with Durgestarion, a pairing the writers are openly fond of.

We know both characters were characterized by the same writer, the latter going out of his way to include personalized romance interactions between the two: unlike other characters, romancing Astarion as Durge gives the player access to tons of new dialogue lines and greetings, sometimes making for a completely new experience compared to romancing him with a regular Tav.

Some hints may point to Durge being the "canonical" romance for Astarion, as many fans have speculated ; while one may disagree with that sentiment, we must admit it's not far fetched.

If we consider all of Astarion's canonical past relationships (meaning, the few ones he actually deems important and genuine) were with men, and the emphasis put on Durge's "admiration" towards Gortash + the incessant pressure Bhaal puts on him to reproduce, the thought of these characters romancing each other in an alternative timeline actually sounds liberating.

Some Durge-specific lines Astarion says during his romance arc seem to be aimed at a male character, rather than sounding gender neutral: the first example that comes to mind is "Are you alright now, or is today a 'I will wed you with a delicate veil of blood blooming over your white curls' kind of day?"

Astarion sarcastically references Durge "wedding him", thus putting the player in a stereotipical "groom" role from the start, with the veil resembling the one brides typically wear during the cerimony.

If we consider all other aspects mentioned in this theory, the line reads as somewhat... male-coded.

If we want to be truly insane about this theory – and of course, we do – , we could even add a "gay allegory" element to the equation.

A vampire and the spawn of an evil deity, excluded members of society who'd usually feel a compulsion to hide, are implied to fall in love by the narrative.

V - ACTING CHOICES

Finally, we come to the voice actor: while a specific actor was chosen to play the character and is regarded as the iconic Durge VA, Larian didn't concern themselves with choosing a female voice actor to include the possibility of a female Durge, which is why we can only hear his intro in Neil Roberts' voice.

VI - CONCLUSION

With all of this taken into account, a female Durge seems to be an after-thought, if not directly a fantasy or a headcanon that the game gives you the possibility to play out.

Which lead you to the current situation, standing outside of the building on alert and calmly asking fans if they could stay put and not push or shove each other. For their safety as well as the boys. But then you hear a fan scream out in front of you and you’re confused on why, then you feel a muscled arm swing over your shoulders and you feel the weight of Abs as he leans into you.

“Hey bud.” He chimes out, sly smirk on his face as he lets his golden eyes flash for a second and like he isn’t being a liability right now. He briefly glances at the fans in front of you and gives them a little wave with his free arm as fan service. Then you feel the arm slung heavy over your shoulders shift and he’s feeling up your opposing bicep which makes you freeze - what the hell?

“Oh you’re BUILT my guy.” He compliments as he steps back now, eyeing over your build with approval - what was your routine? How many hours do you spend working out to get this sturdy? Would you want to talk to him about it? Abs was a gym junky and everyone can collectively agree on that.

“...thanks...” You mumble out as you give him a quizzical stare, a little thrown off at his personality as you expected maybe a little more demonic slyness from him but the look he gave you as he eyed you was anything but hunger and more earnest curiosity. 

“CAN YOU SHOW OFF FOR US?” “PLEASE FLEX!” “ABBY I LOVE YOUUUU!” “YOU GUYS ARE SO HOT!”

Fans started to lose their minds a little at what they were seeing, two attractive men performing skin ship? YES! ‘Abby’ had stepped out of your space fully now and put his attention back onto the crowd of fans before you both and his signature smirk was still present on his face as he started to flex. Shirt clinging on for dear life and you realised the potential risk this could cause so what did you do? You stepped in front of him with your back to the fans and placed one hand on his shoulder, the other on his chest where one of his shirt buttons was begging to hold on.

“Let’s not do this.” You muttered to him as you proceeded to spin him around with no resistance from him and guided him into the venue. All Abby did during this was wave at the fans as he was ushered away and he just let you continue pushing him, tilting his head back slightly to try and talk to you a little more.

“Do you wanna hit the gym after this?”

There was a second instance where you were assisting the Saja Boys, per Bobby’s request again of course because he just wanted to make more connections with other idols. Most groups and managers were intimidated to work with his girls and he really wanted it to work.

You were standing off to the side, once again waiting outside the venue and checking in with fans to make sure they’re alright. Finishing up a quick up and down of the block and asking if everyone was okay or if they needed water, knowing full well how dehydrated some people ended up being because they’re too excited to care for themselves. You’d made it back to the front entrance and were discussing things with another staff member when you felt a pair of hands on your upper back, and then the familiar weight of someone trying to jump on your back.

Instincts kicked in and you leaned forward slightly so whoever was trying to hitch a free ride off of you wouldn’t fall backwards and your arms hooked up a pair of legs that you were not familiar with. You froze. Who the hell is hitching a ride off of you exactly?

“I didn’t even have to ask, sick.” Came Baby‘s voice as he draped himself over you, head coming to rest on your shoulder as you tried to process what just happened. Did Zoey train you to just... give piggy backs instinctively? Baby swung his legs a little in your grasp, enjoying this a little too much but he was fascinated. Admittedly he’s wanted to do this every time he saw photos of that hunter girl clinging onto you and sometimes it hurt trying to get a piggyback off of Abs. That guys’ like a brick wall and Baby’s just a lil guy.

“Ohmygosh, did you guys see that?” “Waaaaait I didn’t know [Name] was close with the boys!” “OMG the girls finally let him have friends!!!”

Fans were whispering to each other and Baby’s heightened hearing heard all of it, meanwhile you were still in shock at what had gone on - the staff member next to you was also extremely surprised because they’ve never witnessed any of the Saja members be so casual with staff like this. Then that staff member was left reeling as their eyes bugged out of their head for a moment, watching as the teal haired idol crossed his legs around your waist and smirked at his fans while he did so.

Oh he’s having the time of his life.

Then you were called again to help some sort of short-staff issue the boys had at another impromptu event, at this rate you were sure they were just eating their staff members because how can this happen so frequently that they’re left in these situations? As much as you weren’t a fan of the fact they were demons - you couldn’t help feel a little bad for them. Sure they’re not human and could handle it if a fan acted out at them, but you’ve seen how crazy some saesangs can get - first hand experience on that. Your face scrunched up in memory of one of the attacks you had to endure and it was not a great time that was for sure.

The girls weren’t pleased that you were working at these events but you’d reassure them you were fine, Bobby trusted you and the girls could trust you too. Zoey had even tried puppy eye tactics to get you to not go but you chastised them and reminded them that yes they were demons but they were also still idols - the girls were well aware of the potential harm that could come to them in this field. They’d moped a little but let you go after that.

What you hadn’t known was that it was Jinu‘s idea to continuously get you to work for them, he thought if he took you away from the hunters - surely they’d crumble right? One of their supportive pillars was stolen from them by beings they detested. But he didn’t expect to get along with you as well as he did. The brief conversations you’d had with him were primarily professional, you didn’t care they were demons and simply treated them like the idols they were pretending to be. There had been an instance where a fan had attempted to get a little too touchy feely with Jinu and you’d stepped in, pulling him aside and gently grabbing the squirming fan to pull them away from the panel.

After that happened, you’d come back and leaned down a little to quietly check in with him to ask if he was alright. Did he need a break? Was he sure he didn’t need to step away for a second to take a breather? Just say your name if he needed you. Why were you.. so caring? He eased up a bit more around you after that. The two of you even started bantering when the boys were given a break from the fans, instead of hiding out with the other members - Jinu had stepped out of the dressing room they were given and went directly to you. Just to chat and hang out. Nothing nefarious for once.

Safe to say you two had unintentionally become friends.

There was a second instance of a joint fan-signing and before the event began you were giving the girls a lecture about how important it is to keep up their image, you didn’t care how much they wanted to beat up the boys or that they’re demons and don’t deserve kindness. As idols they needed to maintain an image and you were NOT going to let them ruin it. The wrath of your mother had seeped into your tone and the girls had all nodded along because they did not want to be on your bad side today.

The tables were lined up side by side, Mira was in between Romance and Abby - Zoey between Mystery and Baby and then Jinu and Rumi were stuck together at the end of the row. What the fans and multistans were not expecting was watching the chaotic dynamic that is Jinu and Rumi both aiming to get your attention during the event. 

Rumi would flag you down out of habit when she wanted to ask if it’s okay to accept a gift or get something checked, then you’d be hovering a little longer when Jinu tried to ask you or talk to you as well. The horror and betrayal was evident on her face as you exchanged pleasantries with Jinu and when you’d turned your back to go check in on the others - he turned and smirked at her.

Oh you son of a-

You hadn’t interacted directly with Mystery or Romance much from the last events you’d been involved with, but you knew the former was relatively well behaved and kept to himself. He was surprisingly respectful towards you and didn’t show any major forms of hostility. You recalled the time you’d walked behind the scenes during a brief break the boys were allotted and found Mystery dissociating in a corner, you’d called out to him and he blankly turned to you and let you guide him to their dressing room so he could safely zone out - a hand hovering over his lower back as you did so.

So what you didn’t expect really was for Mira and Romance to be at each others throats the entire time, Mira at least had the decency to thank her fans with shining eyes before going back to grumbling about how she’s gonna kill this stupid demon. To the point that you had stepped up behind her, hands reaching up and pinching at her cheeks to stun lock her. Romance looked up at you curiously, his expression stayed the same dreamy look that he’s had the entire time and he couldn’t help the little cheeky smile that crossed his mouth as he watched you calmly berate the girl in front of him.

“Behave.” You’d simply said as you finally let go of her cheeks and she rubbed at them, expression softening from the hard scowl she had before as she looked up at you in mock hurt like ‘but I didn’t do anything wrong..!’ and you returned that look with a stern one. Figuratively and maybe even literally putting your foot down on her antics, which caused her to huff for a moment before going back to her idol sona as she prepped to talk to the next fan in line.

Before you could fully turn away though Abby had caught your attention, hand raised in the air waiting for you to dap him up which you did so without question then finally stepping away behind the curtains as another staff member was waving to flag you down to sort something out. Mira stared in shock as you did this. When did you become friends with the Saja Boys?

Zoey was next to ask for your attention, she’d been shaking her marker for a couple minutes and it was definitely dried up and there were no spares nearby. She straightened up and looked around for you, eyes pleading when she finally caught your attention and held up her marker in the air pathetically. You didn’t make any grand gesture, instead just grabbing a couple of spare markers out of a backup stationary box hidden behind the curtains then walked up and handed them to her - being mindful to take the dried marker from her as you did.

Mystery had turned his head when he heard you approaching and nodded at you in greeting, small smile on his face before he turned back to pretend to listen to the fan yapping at him. Baby was leaned back in his chair, waiting for another fan to sit in front of him when he sees you and he smirks up at you and nods a greeting as well.

“Sup man.” He’d said coolly at you before he looked back at the fan that had just sat down in front of him. It makes Zoey pause as she looks at him, then back up to you, then back to him and her brain feels like it’s frying because WHAT? Why are you guys being all bro and cool like to each other. When did this happen? You didn’t tell them that you were friendly!

Before Zoey had a chance to complain you’d placed a hand on her head and ruffled it a little, instantly all her thoughts dispersed at the familiar contact and she was left whining about you messing up her hair as you had stepped away again and off to the side to keep an eye on the fan interactions.