Mini-fic based on fanart I came across on tumblr. Slightly crack. I have not written this pair extensively before so I ask for you to take that into your consideration. For the purposes of this story, I will be writing Crona as a girl, however I respect everyone's opinion on their gender. As usual, I am always happy to hear your opinions and reviews so don't be afraid to leave them! I hope you enjoy
The cold air hung in the dungeons. No breeze or movement disturbed the air as silence reigned over the dark corridors. Shining a weak light over the stone walls, bare light-bulbs hung from the ceiling. This still silence lasted for what would seem like an eternity for anyone trapped in it.
A door opened with a creak, the silence was sent scattering. A loud thud was heard as the door swung and hit the adjacent wall, causing dust to float down from the ceiling. Creaking once again, the door closed with a click that echoed through the corridors. Footsteps could be heard approaching from the entrance, they were light and were taken quickly. As the footsteps rounded the corner, a tall, skinny, pink-haired girl was revealed into the weak light of the dungeons.
"I don't like these dungeons" the girl muttered quietly, seemingly to herself. Her voice was soft, but shaky. "They're dark and scary, and I don't even know who lives in the other rooms". As she finished her sentence, she stopped abruptly and arched her back. Letting out a whimper of pain, her shoulders shot back and she stood bolt upright. A black mass of liquid burst from the girl's spine and congealed into a large black head. Soon after, two muscular arms twirled and formed from the same liquid. More of the black substance poured from her back as more features started to take form. Grimacing in pain, she made effort to keep quiet as the form grew two white eyes. As the last of the liquid solidified, she collapsed to her knees and breathed heavily as the new dark form loomed over her. Speaking in a low and husky voice, the form shouted as he grabbed the girls hair and yanked it back.
"Will you get a grip for once? If you had the confidence to get a job and earn some money, we wouldn't have to live down here! Why can't you hold down a stinkin' job? Twerp!" the figure looked on at the girl's face. Twisted in fright and pain, she shook violently as she closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself elsewhere.
"R-ragnarok... Please let go" she stuttered "If you keep pulling my hair, it will all fall out and I don't know if I can handle being bald".
"You think I care?" Ragnarok shouted at the girl as he let go of her hair. His voice took on a mocking tone of voice as he flailed his arms helplessly, also in mocking. "I'm Crona! I can't deal with anything! I can't even hold down a job I'm so helpless! Boo-hoo!" he ended his mocking with a light thump on Crona's head before folding his arms and holding his head aloof.
Crona stood up slowly and continued to shuffle towards her room. Pushing the door open the tiniest amount, she sidled round it before closing it once more. The room was dark, but the girl did not turn on a light switch. Instead she slid quietly to her bed and flicked on the small lamp on the bedside. Ragnarok began to make offhand comments about how pale Crona was, and began complaining once more about her lacking a job. After a while, Crona snapped and wailed loudly.
"I only have no job because in every interview I get, you pop out and insult the person interviewing me! If you weren't with me, I might have a job by now, and live in a nice apartment like Soul and Maka have...". The pair sat in silence for a moment as Ragnarok visibly boiled with rage before squeezing Crona's head between his clenched fists. Curses were thrown and names were called between both parties before Ragnarok finally gave up his assault and used his weight to pull Crona onto the bed. As Crona sat up and dusted herself off, Ragnarok leaned against the wall and drummed his long fingers on the mattress. The pair sat in silence once more.
Minutes passed before Ragnarok announced his boredom. Rolling her eyes, Crona opened a drawer in her cabinet and pulled out a MP3 player attached to a pair of large headphones. The MP3 player was emblazoned with the mask of Shinigami-sama, the grim reaper who had allowed the pair to stay in the dungeons for as long as they needed. His words rang through Crona's head as she slipped the similarly adorned headphones over her head.
"Stay in there for as long as you like ya? I won't stop you leaving if you want to, but if you do, it will be on your own accord. If you're going to adjust to life outside of the academy, you'll have to get a job of your own, and on your own. I will offer not help." his sing-song voice echoed through Crona's mind before she powered on the player. Scrolling through the large catalogue of music, Crona mentally thanked Justin Law for giving it to her. Though she'd never told anybody, she'd always liked music, but how Justin knew was a mystery.
Finding something she enjoyed, she closed her eyes and allowed the music to pour over her. Her mood instantly lifted as she allowed the words and the tune to fill her up. She smiled to herself before opening her eyes once more. Greeted by Ragnaroks face, Crona jolted back, only to pull Ragnarok back the same distance, so to her, it seemed like he hadn't moved. His head moved and his chest rose and fell, indication that he was talking. Crona ignored it and looked away with a huff, keeping the headphones on her head. Getting frustrated, Ragnarok tapped on the cups of the headphones.
"Hey twerp! What're you doin'? Don't ignore me! I'm part of you, you can't ignore me like this!" his tapping grew heavier until finally it grew too loud in Crona's ears and she removed the headphones.
"Go away" she grumbled as brought a hand up to her face. Music blasted from the headphones, causing her to jump loudly. She turned to see that Ragnarok had grabbed the player and was searching through of his own accord. He had cranked the volume up to maximum.
"Hey that Justin guy has a pretty wide music taste. He's even got heavy metal on here" he said, more to himself than his host meister.
"Stop it! I don't like that music! It's angry and they all yell and I don't like it. It hurts my ears." Crona argued as distorted guitars and heavy drums blasted from the headphones in her hand. "Wow these things go loud. I'm not surprised though. You can hear Justin's music from two blocks away." Ragnarok continued to list the bands he found in the 'Metal' section of the player, commenting on how he felt about them.
Though Crona had no interest in the bands themselves, the information that Ragnarok was listing intrigued her. After a while, she started asking questions. Usually, Ragnarok would have argued and told her to mind her own business, but he had gotten so immersed in the bands that he didn't seem to care. Suddenly, Ragnarok didn't seem as intimidating to Crona as he used to be.
"Oh hey, The Beatles. They're good. I like their stuff" Ragnarok nodded as he passed over their name. Crona perked up and leaned in closer to the screen. Once again, as Ragnarok travelled with her, she did not gain any ground on the player.
"C-can I see?" she asked gingerly. His head turning to look at her, Ragnarok stared at her for a moment before bringing the player closer to her. Advancing into the band's songs, the pair scrolled through as Ragnarok picked out his favourite songs. Crona looked at the screen in wonder as the happy sounding songs whirled up the screen.
"Can we listen to some? I mean, if you want to..." Crona asked sheepishly. Ragnarok gave nothing in reply and pressed a button on the device. Guitar chords and singing spouted from the speakers before abruptly stopping. "Hey, why'd you stop?" Crona asked, worried that he wouldn't start playing it again.
"You got speakers, don'tcha? Plug it in."
The pair continued to select songs and even let each other pick songs they didn't like. Music filled the corridors of the dungeons. Some of the nearby occupants whistled, danced or nodded their heads along with the music. Some others beat the walls and yelled for the pink-haired girl and the large black beast to turn it down, but the pair remained unperturbed by it as they listened to each others music tastes. The pair smiled (or Crona did anyway) before turning off the speakers and sitting on the bed.
"Ragnarok?" Crona asked "You know I have a job interview tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah. What about it?" he asked gruffly as he stretched his thick, muscled arms.
"Well I think I really have a shot at it, and I think I'd like to have it too" the girl rubbed her arm with the hand of the other "So could you... I don't know... maybe~"
"Yeah" the black form interrupted "I gotcha." Ragnarok said in a voice that might have hinted at kindness. He placed a large hand on top of Cronas head and ruffled her hair slightly. He paused for a moment and brought his face close to Crona's.
Snapping his other hand around and clamping onto her face, he held Crona's head between his hands and shook it violently.
"But you'd better get it this time! Because I don't know how much longer I can live cooped up down here. Alright?"
"Ow ow ow! Stop it! That hurts!"
"Well are you gonna get it? Because if you don't I'm gonna start keeping you awake again, and you know what that means!"
"No not the dark circles!"
"Yes the dark circles!"
As the pair continued to argue, the nearby occupants once again moved about in their cells. But this time, every one of them banged on the walls and doors. Chants and shouts demanding the pair to pack it in could be heard even from outside the academy.
"You caused quite a stir with those two, Justin" Shinigami-sama said cheerfully to the cloaked man next to him. After the information was relayed to him through Spirit, he chuckled to himself as he removed his hood. Tinny music blasted from the skull shaped headphones in the boys ears. As he smiled, he turned to the exit and began walking.
"Music" he thought to himself "The artwork of the soul."
Okay so this ended up a lot fluffier than I first imagined. And Ragnarok ended up being a little more violent too. As I said at the beginning of the story, I have not written any of these characters extensively. So any advice on future works is greatly appreciated.
This is a one-shot fic, so it won't be updated or added to. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.