Disclaimer: I do not own The Garden webcomic and I make no money from this.

Two Women

By ZetaFiveDelta

There were only two women Adrian could actually say had impacted his life in any way. Just two. The first was Abby. The girl who saved him and who was a demon like him. She who without horns knew the secret of how the angels and demons came to be: genetic mutation, by the humans, and their so-called 'gods'.

Abby was strong and beautiful and courageous, and it really only worked in looking back that he had actually cared about her. That she had actually affected his life and thoughts profoundly. He had let her go back and deal with her father alone. It had been years since they were reunited and she left just as quickly after she saved him yet again. She said she had a plan. She was going to change the world. For the better, that she could save them all.

But she hadn't come back. They had waited and she never returned. Eventually they gave up waiting. He knew she wasn't dead. Captured again, maybe; but she'd gotten away before. Somehow or another she always found him. In a way he thought he'd never have to worry or think about it, because she'd always find him; if he had tried to run there wasn't anywhere far enough that she wouldn't be there. But that wasn't such a bad thing. Abby he could acknowledge. Abby was one of the first people he ever formed any connection with. She probably was the first.

She was strong, and she had a plan. So he could never have foreseen this. He would never have guessed that her father's chains could finally and actually hold her down. Yet he was faced with photographic proof. She was close to his age now; they had always been close, but it had confirmed what he had never considered. But he knew Abby and he knew if she was captured, tortured, and restrained that she was still fighting, and it was only because the opportunity had not been presented that she was not free. Because Adrian knew Abby, and no prison could hold her, it never had.

So he had to save her. He had to give her that opportunity. There was a short list of people that Adrian would actually lift a finger for. Despite Adrian's general feelings of hostility for everything and everyone and a driving desire to not get mixed up in anything complicated, there was a list of people he considered important enough to discard those selfish feelings. That list consisted of maybe two names with hers at the top.

Once Abby had been everything. Then she had disappeared, and like an immortal idea it had never crossed his mind that she needed his help, that she had somehow failed in her plan. But then he should have suspected something long ago. Because she said she would be right back. She wasn't. So obviously something had happened. But he couldn't acknowledge that possibility. Abby was… Abby. She was too strong, she had a mission, she would not be stopped by anything; she was very probably stronger than he was. It was daunting to think that anything could have barred her path from what she wanted.

It was a very real reminder of her mortality, and his own. No matter how Adrian laughed or how many he killed he was the same; he was not unstoppable and he was not all-powerful. There were things that both he and she could not stand against. But if Abby had been unable to fight against it, what hope did Adrian have? She had always been better than him in some way. A fight between them was never fair, she always won, their difference in power was so evident.

Adrian didn't like things getting under his skin. That was his job. Adrian gets under other people's skin and makes other people squirm with discomfort and fear. Abby had been able to do that to him when she was angry. Now there was another. She did it with a smile.

Just an unassuming smile that split from ear to ear and never stopped. Karen. She was a human. She was normal. She was a weakling, and she was definitely stupid. The exact opposite of Abby, and yet she terrified him in much the same way. They were the only two women that had been able to affect Adrian this much. One for the better and the other… Adrian was still deciding, though he generally considered any changes due to Karen to be in the 'for the worse' category.

But he had come to her aid. She was stupid as usual. How else would a fragile human girl come to the conclusion that she could face Iri's old owner, who framed him for murder, and not end up dead? She would have died. Adrian had boasted that he'd let her. Iri wasn't going to have that though. So they went. Adrian didn't really put up a fight. But not because he was worried, Adrian wasn't worried about her at all. She was still stupidly smiling when they came to save her.

When they had entered the mansion and confronted the security systems Adrian had first felt a twinge of fear, but not for himself. He'd tell himself later it was that they had come too soon and the stupid human was probably still alive. But once he saw her smiling face again the fear was gone. Her eyes had looked somewhat watery then, surely she wasn't about to cry? She was too happy, too stupidly happy, for that.

But then she asked if he'd been worried about her. Well the answer of course was no, and their usual bickering ensued. Abby may have had a plan. Abby may have been strong and smart and everything Karen wasn't… but being with Karen felt like home just as much as being with Abby had.

It was strange and confusing and Adrian hated it. Being with them should not feel the same! Karen was dumb! She was sullying Abby's memory! But it wasn't all bad. After all, as long as Karen was smiling, and he could see that dumb look on her face, it just meant that everything was okay.

Even Iri seemed to acknowledge that much. Somehow the three of them had formed a unit. As much as Adrian claimed to wish for it, he couldn't imagine Karen not being there anymore. If she were dead, he'd say he's happy and probably try to dance on her grave to prove it. But that probably wouldn't be the truth. Because once he rescued Abby she wouldn't let him. Abby would smack him and he'd deserve it. He probably wouldn't if Abby was there. Because if Abby was there maybe he could admit that Karen wasn't so bad, that he'd miss her if she were gone, and that he worried when she wasn't, and that he'd missed Abby too.

It was strange. He felt honest around Abby, mainly because if he lied she could tell and she'd promptly drop-kick him in the unspeakables. But with Karen it was different, he could put up a façade, he could make things difficult and yell at her and berate her and kill people and do other nasty things and she'd just keep smiling. Somehow it didn't matter if he was honest with her. Because she kept smiling and that meant everything was okay.

There were only two women who affected Adrian so profoundly in two very different ways. Adrian had no way to choose between them and he never would. Abby was his past and present and Karen was here now. Both were vital. Abby he owed, and he had to save her, and Karen was helping too, standing right beside him. There were only two women. There would never be a third.

End Notes

So it's short and silly, I know. But whatever, I like to think it's a nice introspective look at the triangle between Abby Adrian and Karen. So I hope it was nice enough or whatever. PS: Reviews are appreciated.