Inspiration for this story is like a firework: it's fast, flashy, all over the place, and gone within seconds.

So, with that said, yes, updates for what I write WILL be all over the place and I'm NOT apologizingnowaityesIamI'msosorrythisisallovertheplaceahahahahaha

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS, WE TAKETH TO THE SKIES!

When she woke up, it took a moment for Violet's head to remember where she was rather than panicking. Slowly, she pulled herself up, yawning as she took the empty room in. She didn't realize she'd fallen asleep, but if the empty chair to her left was any indication, she had been out for quite a while.

The moment she'd steadied herself on the cold floor, the sound of glass shattering made her jump. At first her head whipped towards the door, expecting to see someone walk in with an irritated scowl and glass shards underfoot. Instead, she heard echoes of shouts and groans coming from underneath her.

She winced at the creak of the wooden door, pressing herself along the wall before moving to close it behind her. There was light coming from the right, leading down into a narrow set of stairs going down. She inched closer to noises, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"-Fifth glass this week. I don't know how many times I need to ask you to stop crushing the glasses in your fist."

Something about those voices…

"In my defense, Arthur bet that I couldn't do it!"

Sounded so… familiar…

"I don't care what you and my idiot brother agree to; someone is going to pay for these, and Vincent hates finding glass stuck under his shoe."

Before she could even place why, Violet's foot slipped. She yelped, reaching out for the railing that wasn't there. She tripped over her feet, light invading her eyes as she broke free from the staircase, only to slam face-first onto the polished wooden floor.

"...Huh."

Violet barely had time to get her bearings before two large hands clasped down on her shoulders, lifting her up so fast she could have sworn she'd gotten whiplash. She was quickly moved from her spot on the floor to a circular chair, nearly falling right off of it as it spun around.

"Zaki, she's going to vomit at this rate, and I'd really rather not clean the floor again."

The same meaty hand came down on her shoulder, stopping her spin in an instant. Violet's eyes couldn't help but trail up his arm, locking onto the inside of his jacket, eyes locking onto one of the many knives dangling from inside of his vest.

"Sorry about that!"

Violet's gaze snapped up to his face, barely able to register how oddly yellow his eyes looked before glancing down to his mouth. It was the only thing on him that didn't look threatening, but now that she was looking closer, each passing second made it look like he was baring teeth rather than smiling…

The man behind the counter cleared his throat, a hand sliding a cup of water over the bartop to her. She couldn't help but stare at the man, more than okay with studying his… Wow, his face. His face. He had his long red hair tied back into a messy ponytail, some loose strands escaping to dangle over his eyes. They were a deep, dark brown, almost red.

For some reason, it was very hard to look away from them.

She almost jumped when something came down on her hand, looking down to watch the giant of a man next to her tap the back of her hand, a toothy grin on his face, "You know, if you stare any longer, Scott might get the wrong idea."

"H-huh?"

They both laughed, the shadow of a smile stretching across the red head's face, before he pushed the cup forward again, "Here, drink."

Violet uttered a small thank you, doing her damndest to cool the burning of her cheeks with each chug.

"Woah, slow down there! It would suck to choke, and Vincent would kill us if he came back to you dead." The giant muttered the last part under his breath, casting a glance over his shoulder towards the door, as if daring someone to walk through.

Instead, hurried footsteps came from the stairway, Arthur gasping for air as if he'd just ran a mile. Hands on his knees, he threw Violet an unreadable look, "Oh thank God, for a second, I thought you had jumped out through the window or something."

"Nice of you to join us after your beauty sleep, Arthur." The red head murmured, tossing Arthur a wet rag as well as a displeased look, "Waking up a bit early at halfway through the afternoon, don't you think?"

"Oh haha, hyuck it up, Scotty." Arthur muttered, moving to furiously scrub away at the bartop, before throwing Violet a look. She didn't know what was on her face, but apparently it was enough for Arthur to straighten up, clearing his throat quickly, "I see you two've met my new friend there. How long did it take for you to scare the crap out of her, Zaki?"

"Hey!"

"About five minutes."

Had it been any other kind of interaction, Violet may have joined in on the laughter. But, she couldn't. She felt like an intruder, sitting there with a cup of water in her hands, watching a conversation she had no right to be in the middle of.

It also didn't help that this whole scene looked so familiar, if anything it only made her feel more creeped out.

Finally, a hand came down lightly on her shoulder, Arthur giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "No need to be on edge, Zaki looks like some giant muscle head, but he's really just a teddy bear."

The giant, Zaki, looked like he wanted to object, only to shake his head with a small scowl, "Was there really no other way you could have worded that?"

"And that dry yet breathing corpse of a man over there is Scott." Violet couldn't help but look between Arhur and the redhead he was gesturing to, growing more confused with each glance.

There was no way that they were related.

"Oh yeah, this little miss is Violet, and she doesn't like being called 'kid'."

Maybe it was the nerves, or maybe it was her mind coming to terms with how normal yet odd the situation was. Regardless of why, she couldn't help the small giggle at Arthur's words, much to Arthur's pride, "And you said I was a horrible idiot with kids, Scotty."

"Just because I'm reconsidering 'horrible' doesn't change the 'idiot' part." Violet couldn't help it anymore, nearly falling off of her chair as she howled with laughter. The only thing that kept her upright was a large firm hand on her back, Zaki helping her stay upright with a small smile on his face.

"Hey, there's no need to burn me like that, especially in front of the kid!"

"If I'm not mistaken, you were the one who insisted we don't call her 'kid'."

Before Arthur could retaliate, the front door was thrown open. Violet would have fallen off of her chair had Zaki's hand moved, nearly throwing herself from the chair as she whipped around.

For a split second, she couldn't help the cold chill that ran down her spine, eyes widening as she took in the all too familiar tall build. The dark silhouette stood there, and for a second, she felt the anger rolling off of his shoulders, the calm roaring fire behind his eyes, his boiling wine red eyes-

"God, close the door, Vincent! It's cold enough as is, and you're letting rain in!"

She blinked as the door shut, all traces of an angered devil quickly washed away with Arthur's quip.

"Don't take that tone with me." The man, Vincent, all but spat. His irritation was palpable, even from where she sat. He took a moment to run his hand through his bright yellow hair, his blue eyes as frosty as his expression. He pulled his soaked orange raincoat off, leaving it to hang on the coat hanger near the door, only to give the quickly growing puddle beneath it an icy glare.

Violet could have sworn she saw the water recede from the look.

If he noticed her, he did a good job of ignoring it, plopping down on one of the tables behind them, reclining fully into the chair like he was trying to melt into it. With the amount of water still pouring off of him, Violet wouldn't be surprised if that was his end goal here.

"I take it your search didn't go too well?" Scott murmured, walking around the bar with a cup, placing it on the table in front of him.

Despite the concern in Scott's voice, Vincent lets out an irritated huff, moving his glare to the cup before him, as if it had personally insulted him, "You don't need to rub it in."

To that, Scott shrugged, moving back to his spot behind the bar, "Well, maybe if you had taken a second to listen to me rather than rushing out into the pouring rain, maybe this could have been avoided."

Unsure of what else to do, Violet looked to Arthur for some sort of visual hint, only to find him tensely watching the conversation, eyes shooting between the two as if he were watching an intense tennis match. Zaki wasn't much help either, reclining as best as he could in a backless chair to watch the dialog trade before him.

Vincent seemed to huff at that, rolling his eyes as he turned his chair to stare out through the window, silently watching the rain crash down against the glass, "I thought I said you didn't need to rub it in."

"Aww, come on, no need to be like that, Vinny! I get that it's a freezing hellhole out there, but there's no reason to bring it all inside!" Arthur tried to laugh, only to start uncomfortably hacking into his elbow.

That seemed to be the final straw, Violet nearly jumping when Vincent shot up from his seat. The glare he sent Arthur was enough to get Zaki to back up uncomfortably, the pure ice in his eyes more than enough to freeze Arthur in his place, "...I'm going to take a shower."

With that, he pushed his way towards the stairs, barely sparing Scott a glance before disappearing past the wall.

The moment the wood of the stairs stopped creaking, Scott moved to stand behind Arthur, the only thing between the two being the bartop. He didn't so much as breathe a warning before slamming his hand into the back of Arthur's head, nearly sending the boy flying from his chair, "Scott, the hell!?"

"You just never know when to stop running your mouth, do you?" Zaki smirked, watching as Scott gave Arthur one more whack for good measure before finally taking a step back.

"You are free to stay here for as long as you wish," Violet almost didn't realize that Scott had been addressing her directly, not until he turned to give her a look. It was hard to place a single emotion to his gaze, the bags under his eyes and the slight downward tilt of his mouth making him look as if he'd just aged ten years in the past few seconds, "There is no need for you to worry about paying us back. Hopefully, come tomorrow, Vincent will be… open to further discussion. Then, we can begin searching for your family."

Before Violet could speak, Scott picked up one of the glasses on the bartop, eyes narrowing as he inspected the near perfect clear surface he had tried so hard to upkeep, before putting it down behind him, "Zaki, Arthur, clean up and close down for me, yeah? I'm going to see if I can clear the air before I go to sleep."

"I'm telling you, just suck your husband off and he'll calm down." Arthur muttered jokingly under his breath, Zaki taking Scott's place in slapping the back of his head as Scott ascended up the stairs. Before Arthur could lash out at the much taller Zaki, the stronger of the two took to pointing at Violet, who was still mentally reeling from… All of that.

Arthur huffed, walking over to put a hand on Violet's shoulder, slowly but surely rosing her from her head, "Hey, don't worry about all of that, okay? It's just… Things have been a bit tense as of late."

"If that isn't an understatement, I don't know what is." Zaki muttered as he rose from his seat, moving to close and lock up the door, "But, we shouldn't worry. If Scott says he'll deal with it, we have no reason to get into it."

"Of course, how could I forget? My brother is nothing if not omnipotent." Arthur made a show of "whispering" it to Violet, who couldn't help but crack a small grin, "Yes, all hail our lord and savior Scott Shaw, the almighty deity of clean glasses and sparkling countertops."

Violet wasn't sure what was funnier: Arthur's need to have the last laugh, or Zaki's efforts to put him to silence.

Either way, there she sat, cracking up at Arthur and Zaki threw what could have been seen as scratching remarks at each other, each one watered down with a knowing smile or a huff of laughter from the recipient.

There was something here that felt familiar, but at the same time, Violet couldn't care to figure out why. She was here now, and it was enjoyable to watch, so… What was the use in overanalyzing it? Yes, after everything she'd witnessed so far, what was the rush? She could figure things out later, she reasoned with herself, leaving back against the counter top as she watched Arthur and Zaki trade verbal jabs with each other, throwing in her own two cents when asked for it.

She was so caught up in the moment that, for once in a very long time, she failed to notice the odd silence that rang out in her head.

Normally, it was Jade who needed a moment of peace.

Normally, their "alone time" went as follows: Jade needed someone to keep her calm while she came down from her emotional high, and Hope… Well, Jade wasn't sure what Hope needed, nor what she got out of it. Regardless, Hope would be there to help her out, doing whatever she could to help bring Jade back down.

Normally, Hope was the one to stand firm and be the anchor Jade needed, Hope calling the shots while Jade was just along for the ride. Hope would say her piece, wait for Jade's breathing to go back to normal, and then they'd go back.

So, here was Jade, past the mental breakdown and mostly through with the stuttered breaths, and yet…

"So… I'm feeling a lot better." Jade prompted, shifting ever so slightly to sit on her knees.

"That's good." Hope said, eyes locked onto something in the distance, bending slightly with the wind.

"Yeah." Jade mumbled, looking around. Okay, now this was feeling ridiculous. Either Jade was missing some sort of important cue, or Hope was so stuck in her head that she'd forgotten her initial drive to get back, "I think I'm good."

"Hmm."

"So…"

Her trailed off thought brought Hope's attention back to earth, twisting around to look down at Jade with a lost yet knowing look, "Yeah?"

"I think now would be a good time to go back." She did her best not to sound too irritated, but it really did feel like they were beating around the bush here.

"You're probably right." Despite the eye contact, Jade felt like Hope was staring right through her, picking her apart piece by piece, "We'll go soon."

With that, Hope fell back into silence, eyes drifting off as her mind wandered about.

And, honestly, it was beginning to tick Jade off a bit. Her head spun as she shot up to her feet, staring down at Hope with a pointed look, "What's wrong?"

"Hmm?"

"No, don't 'hmm' me, there's something going on with you." Jade was quick to pull on Hope's hands, doing her best to the other up on her feet.

Hope looked up at Jade with confusion, refusing to budge, "What are you talking about?"

"You're being all distant and shit!" When pulling her up didn't work, Jade moved instead to try and push Hope to her feet, finding it stupidly difficult to get the arguably weaker demon to her feet.

"Jade, please." Hope's voice was too quiet for Jade to hear, said girl pushing her back against Hope as she tried to lift with her legs.

"No, you're either going to tell me what's going on, or I'm going to haul your ass back so we can give that stupid beak-busting bird-brained bitch of a devil EXACTLY what we think-"

Jade blinked and she missed it. One second, she's doing all she can to get this tiny woman on her feet, and the next, she's face down on the ground, with grass tickling her nose and dirt on her face.

"Stop." Hope muttered, her voice just barely above a whisper, "Just… Stop. I need a moment."

Jade wasn't sure what to say to that.

So, she didn't say anything.

She sat next to Hope, silent as she slowly shifted herself backwards; close enough where, if she wanted to, Hope could rest against the shapeshifter's shoulder. Words weren't necessary, quips were irrelevant, nothing else really existed in that moment.

For once in her life, Jade managed to withhold any and all sarcastic retorts she had popping up for the situation, instead helping to maintain the calm air that Hope seemed to so desperately need. And, even if she thought this to be a waste of time, it wasn't like it was going to affect her directly.

Yep.

That's it.

That's definitely the only reason she was okay with this.

She wasn't concerned for the mental chaos going on in Hope's head.

Nope.

That was the last possible thing Jade could care about right now.

Or any given moment, really-

"Jade?"

"Ah, umm, yes?"

"Your thoughts are really loud."

"Oh, right, bit of a mind reader, sorry 'bout that." Jade shot up almost sheepishly, like someone had just then lit a fire under her ass, moving to dust her pants off in the most nonchalant manner possible, "If you want, I can just head back and let you-"

Jade nearly backhanded in fear when Hope's arm whipped out, hand grabbing her own before it could withdraw completely. "Don't." She didn't tug, but the way Hope clung to her, Jade couldn't find it in herself to pull back, "I can't be alone right now, so please don't leave."

Jade wanted to roll her eyes. She wanted to complain about how absolutely over the top she was being, and that they really shouldn't be wasting time on something like this. She wanted to argue that leaving would probably be the best option for both of them, giving Hope time to reflect while Jade did literally anything else.

She wanted to be irritated with the parts of herself she was seeing in the other demon.

But, deep down, after all Hope had done for her… She couldn't.

So, instead, Jade plopped back down. She didn't bother to look over to Hope, instead resting back as far as possible before finally pulling her hand free to pull Hope's head onto her shoulder.

She didn't give Hope any time to speak, instead letting out the most forceful irritated sigh she could muster, "Alright, but only because I probably owe you this and much more at this point."

Arthur grumbled to himself as he stumbled his way down the stairs, one hand grasping at the handrail while the other pressed up against his temple in a vain attempt to subdue the throbbing.

He'd be the first to say he deserved it, but by God could Scott swing.

"I try to apologize for once, and what happens?" Arthur grumbled, nearly tripping over his own two feet at the last step, taking a sharp turn behind the counter to stare down his prevalent foe.

The sink filled with the dirty dishes of the day.

"I'm not an idiot, damnit." Arthur muttered, filling the sink with water as he grumbled to himself, glaring down his own warped reflection in the suds. As much as he wanted to hold his one-sided staring contest, it wasn't helping the dishes get done.

With a heavy sigh, he grabbed the damp rag hanging over the sink, nearly gagging as moldy bits of the fabric brushed up against his fingers.

"Sweet Jesus this is absolutely disgusting."

He nearly jumped at the sudden rumbling snore from behind him, nearly throwing his rag in a mock sense of self defense. He leveled a heatless scowl with the sleeping child on the other side of the bar, arms coiled around her head like a snake curled in on itself. Her hair looked almost like a plume of smoke pouring out from a volcano, shifting and curling about with each inhale and exhale.

He all but glared her down, as if daring her to interject once more, "I don't suppose you wanna help me out here?"

He wasn't sure what she'd mumbled, but he doubted it had anything to do with his question.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

With that, he set to work on the dirtied plates and cups in the sink, doing his best to fight down the instinctual groans and gags. Honestly, he didn't know what this brown moldy sludge was, and at this point he was too afraid to ask.

"Oh God oh God it moved," Arthur nearly vomited, turning his head to the side as if that would really help. He could ignore the smell, but the way it jiggled about on the plate? Like a piece of rotting jello? Yep, no thanks, that was a phat fuck no from this guy. "I'm gonna be sick, holy crap what the hell was even on this plate- FUCKING HELL I TOUCHED IT, I FUCKING TOUCHED IT-!"

"Do you mind?"

Arthur refused to believe that the high-pitched yip came from his throat, instead eyeing the tall silhouette stepping out from the stairway, "Depends on what I'm supposed to be minding here."

Vincent didn't give any verbal response, taking a moment to survey the dim room instead. He took a moment to rub his hands together, tugging at the sleeves of his coat as Arthur's patience ticked away. Before Arthur could turn back to his own personal hell, Vincent sighed, "You just left her down here? How classy."

"She fell asleep while we were closing up, I think." Arthur was quick to add that last part, nearly spitting it out with the rest of his sentence. Heaven forbid that Vincent find even the smallest inconsistency with anything he's ever said, especially if it was something he could lord over him for, "I thought that Zaki was gonna take her up when he was finished down here, don't know, I was too busy letting Scott beat the hell out of my face."

"You don't need to tell me that," Vincent mumbled, the smallest of grins crossing over his face, "I was there to watch it. Oh, and for future reference, maybe you shouldn't begin an apology with a crude joke."

"How else is Scott supposed to know I'm being genuine?" Arthur scowled, taking his rage out on an unfortunate fork, "Besides, if I didn't open up with a joke, he'd think there was something wrong with me."

"Sorry, let me rephrase that. You didn't need to bend over, spread your cheeks, and say 'I'm sorry I'm a lil' shit'."

Arthur stopped washing for just a moment to throw Vincent the dirtiest look he could at him, "There is no other way to apologize."

"There are many, I can assure you."

"Yeh, well, I can assure you that I did not ask." Arthur mumbled to himself, ignoring Vincent as the taller man took a glimpse over his shoulder. Finally, when the looming lasted a bit too long, Arthur whipped around with a scowl, "Look, I'm doing what I can to make it up to Scott, so unless you're gonna help out or something, why don't you just go back upstairs to your husband-"

Vincent cut him off with an aggressive shut-up shove, elbow jabbing at his ribs when Arthur was too slow to move, "Oww, dude, the fuck!?"

"Scoot over," Vincent muttered, rolling up his sleeves before plucking out another dish from the water, nudging at Arthur's arm when he refused to move, "At this rate, you'll be here till next winter."

"Oh, curses!" Arthur moaned, nearly bashing the back of his head into Vincent's chest cradling his hand against his forehead, "To be held here for such a crime, forced to work against my own will! Whatever shall I do!?"

"You could start by tossing me that rag."

It took all of Arthur's willpower not to slap Vincent across the face with the wet dishrag, nearly rolling his eyes when Vincent gently pried the plate from his hands to wash on his own.

"...So, weather's been a real treat as of late, yeah?"

"You're terrible at small talk, you know that?"

"You know what, up yours dickhead, I'm fucking trying here." Arthur all but growled. If he rolled his eyes any harder, he was sure they'd get stuck there. He couldn't help himself, silences were already uncomfortable as is, but to share one with Vincent?

No, he wasn't ready for that level of intimacy yet.

Also, Scott would probably kill him.

Or, get Zaki to do it.

"No need to be so hostile, little Arty." Arthur's fist clenched up around the rag, squeezing the life out of it as Vincent's chiding tone sunk in, "I'm just trying to help."

Arthur nearly spit into the basin, disgust quickly infesting his mouth, "Help? Oh that's a rich word coming from you of all people, Vinny."

He couldn't help the swell of pride at seeing Vincent freeze up, slowly placing the rag back down on the side, "Pray tell, what exactly is that supposed to mean, Arthur Charlotte Shaw?"

"Oh, exactly what it sounds like Mr. I know everything in the goddamn universe." He couldn't help the grin spreading across his face, veins filling with fire as he watched every minute detail. It wasn't often he could get Vincent to snap, but when he managed he took it upon himself to memorize every single detail.

It would be a shame to forget such a stunning view.

"All those words and you still fail to get your point across."

"I'm a lot of things, Vinny, but I'm not naïve." Arthur went on, absentmindedly rubbing away at the knife he was cleaning, "I don't care what you've told Scott, I can see right through you. And don't think that playing hero is going to be what helps you, not after the hole you buried us into."

"I DID NOT-." Vincent had to take a moment to steady himself, hands plated in the edge of the basin in front of him as his breathing grew heavier. Arthur all but reveled in Vincent's spikes and lulls, watching him force his breathing back under control. "I've done nothing but work to help this bar's debt in any way I can. Not that I'd expect you to understand that."

"Oh?"

"You're either gone for days on end or drunk off your ass and howling with Zaki. Not that it matters, no, you always manage to find time to give Scott shit." Vincent's grin grew as Arthur's fell, "Oh, sorry, did I cross a line there? I assumed all is fair when trading jabs."

"Trading jabs? Is that what this is?" Arthur scoffed, rolling up his sleeves, "Well, in that case, why don't we give your past friends a bit of a nudge, yeh? How about those absolute gems, diamonds in the rough?"

"You know damn well that I cut ties long before I came here-."

"Oh, did ya? Well, next time, you should probably make it clear with them, huh?" Arthur's sneer was palpable at this point, all but burning itself into his face. God it just really did feel too good to give Vincent the shit he'd been deserving. "I don't know about Zaki, but if more of your 'former friends' show up and introduce themselves with slaughter and death threats, I think Scott might really lose that final marble bouncing around in that thick skull of his."

"Well that's odd, last I checked, you weren't there during that scuffle." Vincent nearly growled, fingers slipping from the remaining dregs of his self control, "You were, let me think; ah, yes, unconscious somewhere in the back after trying to drink yourself to death."

"Like you haven't done worse."

"I'll be the first to admit that I have tried before. Multiple times." At this point, Vincent's face had fallen back into it's usual stoic expression, retreating once again behind his mask of cool indifference. The only thing giving him away was his tone, at this point, "The difference between you and I is that I didn't get reduced to an irritating, sobbing man-baby and then make others put up with my shit."

"Oh, pardon me, I've nearly forgotten who exactly I was speaking to!" At any other time, Arthur would have been in Vincent's face, all but screaming and spitting until either Zaki pulled him away or he passed out. "I mean, you are the Vincent White! God's remix gift to us mere mortals after Jesus got nailed! Too perfect for his own problems, and much too manly to ever make a mistake that wasn't planned out two years in advance!"

"If that's the case, it wouldn't be a mistake."

Arthur's irritation fed into his sneer, taking a moment to exhale as condescendingly as possible, "Oh, so I'm going to guess that everything with Sarah was pre-planned, yeh?"

Arthur had meant to light a fire under his ass. He had thought that this would get Vincent to snap in a moment of righteous anger, and honestly, Arthur was positive it would be worth the broken bones and black eye. This was his final move, the checkmate moment he'd been building up to.

He almost felt bad when Vincent's expression plummeted.

The slap to the face never came, Vincent's hands much too busy trying to imprint themselves into the counter, nails dragging against the top. He mumbled something under his breath before choking out a laugh, throwing Arthur the dirtiest look he could muster with watering eyes and a shaking inhale, "Congratulations, Arthur. You've officially gone below the belt."

Arthur wasn't sure what to acknowledge first: the spike of burning pride that came with bringing Vincent to his knees, or the overwhelming guilt for pulling that one card from his hefty hand.

And then came the confused irritating at the overwhelming guilt due to the burning pride. Honestly, it was just a mess of pointed fingers at this point.

Vincent silenced his thoughts with a shuddered breath, bringing his fist to his chest as if he were trying to force it out, "I did what I had to, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed it. You don't need to chide me for being heartless, believe me, I know."

He looked like he wanted to go on, only to shake his head, turning back to the sink, "Once I'm done with this, I'm going back out."

"Wait, now? It's the middle of the night!"

"The sooner we find that kid's parents, the sooner we can move on and deal with our own problems." All of the bitterness drained from his voice, replaced with a level of impassive deadpan he thought only Scott could achieve. "If you wanna throw more shit at me for my priorities, best do it now and get it out of your system."

It almost bothered Arthur with how little comebacks he said to that.

And so, the tense silence returned, only cut through by the sound of rushing water and snoring. Each passing second only added to his guilt, until finally Arthur cleared his throat. It took a long time to swallow his pride, and even longer to figure out exactly what wouldn't be a waste of breath.

"Look, Vince, I didn't mean to go that far."

Vincent's answer was instantaneous, "Yes, you did."

"Yeah, I did." Arthur muttered, before waving it off, "But I didn't think that it would… That you'd get so… That, ya know?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't."

"This is why I don't bother trying to apologize to you." Arthur muttered under his breath, dragging his fingers down his face. "Look, I know I'm shit at it, but I am trying to say I'm sorry."

"No you're not. Your guilt is just eating away at you."

"...That too."

Arthur was positive that, if Vincent rolled his eyes any harder, they were going to transcend and leave his body behind.

"Come on, I know you don't hold grudges. We really don't need to do this whole song and dance."

"No, I think we do." He tried to hide it, but Arthur could see it. The tiniest of smirks ghosting across his face.

"You know what, fine." Arthur made a whole show of putting the plates and cups away, "I wish to prove that I am sorry for going below the belt. What can I do to make it up to you?"

Vincent didn't waste any time with his request, "I want you to do the sorry dance."

"...No."

"I don't think you get to make demands right now."

"Oh, come on! Seriously, you could ask me for anything right now, and my guilt would force me at gunpoint to give it to you."

"Then you best start dancing, young man."

"Come on, there isn't anything else you'd want? Like a drink in the future? Or silence?"

"As amazing as that sounds, instant gratification seems a bit more… enticing."

"...Hey, do me a favor and never say that word again."

"Start dancing. Then we'll talk."

Arthur sighed, doing a quick glance around the room as he took a few steps back, pointing Vincent down with as much fury as he could muster, "Whatever happens next, it's on you. Are you gonna be able to sleep tonight knowing that?"

"That'll be Scott's problem, not mine."

Arthur's snide remark died in his throat, shaking his head as a large grin broke out of his false irritation expression, "You sly dog."

"I'm just building on your joke, no more and no less."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, now shut up and dance."

Arthur did a little curtsy, doing a quick warm-up/jumping jack thing before breathing in deeply.

This was it. Everything he's said, everything he's done, it's all led up to this moment. This very moment. The personification of his collective existence as of the here and now.

The time hath finally come.

If you were to ask Vincent, he'd admit that he had no idea what Arthur was doing. He wasn't even sure if his seizure-inducing movements could be considered "dancing". If you asked him to paint a mental picture, he'd describe Arthur's movements as "an octopus being electrocuted", and "a perfect blend between stiff and robotic jerks and a fluid, borderline melting, posture". By now right should Arthur be physically capable of pulling off half his movements, but there he was, attempting what Vincent could only assume was a backflip of sorts?

Finally, Arthur struck a teapot-like pose (Vincent really didn't know how else to describe it), the moon's rays shining off of his sweaty forehead, "I, Arthur Shaw, am very sorry for what I said. I hope that this is enough for you to accept my apology."

"...I guess it's sufficient." Vincent finally shrugged, watching with just a tiny bit of glee when Arthur dropped to his knees, chest heaving as if he'd just run a mile. "Are you alright?" Vincent's smile grew with Arthur's thumbs up, shaking his head as his mouth opened.

Arthur stared up at him from the floor, confused as Vincent seemed to mentally freeze. He seemed to be staring at something, eyes hazy yet focused, as if he'd locked onto something in the distance. Finally, he snapped his mouth shut, turning around to face the bar as he took his coat off, "Vinny, the hell- Do you want me to do another dance? I don't know if I have it in-"

"Shh." Vincent chided, draping his coat over Violet's shivering body, "Keep it down. You're gonna wake her up."

With that, Vincent moved around the bar, handing moving to fiddle with his collar before grabbing hold of the doorknob, "If I don't come back in four hours or so, I either fell asleep or I got mauled by a bear."

"Here's to hoping for option two," Arthur said as snidely as he could, arms struggling to pull himself up by the sink's ridge, "Just play dead, I'm sure you have more than enough practice with that from your wrestling matches."

Arthur was too busy laughing at his horrible joke to notice that Vincent had already gone, door left ajar in his haste. "Hold on," Arthur muttered, staring the dishes down before throwing his head back, "Hey, you said you'd help finish!"

His whisper shout fell of deaf ears, however, as the only response he got was from the wind blowing in through the doorway left ajar.

Corvus wasn't sure how long he'd stood there.

For all he knew, months had passed. For all he cared, seasons had come and gone.

It could have been years, decades, centuries; time seemed to blur together into one endless spiral.

The only thing keeping him anchored was that all too familiar laughter.

He couldn't bring himself to look up at her, a voice whispering that she wasn't really there. That the hand gripping his shoulder was a phantom one, the laughter a trick of the mind and wind.

"God this is so cathartic."

"Don't you think you're enjoying this a bit much?" Despite how hard he tried, he couldn't pull his eyes away from the ground, locked onto the long shadow casted across the ground. His eyes traced the outline, following where the feminine silhouette melted into his.

No, from here, it looked like it was consuming his own.

"If anything, I don't think I'm laughing hard enough!" He felt the hand trail from his shoulder to his back, nails tracing along the top of his spine, "If this all really is God's plan, then this must be the ironic comedy bit."

Her fingers trailed numb lines along his shoulder blades, his clothing doing little to protect him from the deceitful cold her nails elicited. It felt like she was trying to lull his body into a frigid sleep, one area at a time. The feeling trailed up his spine to bounce around in his head, mind little more than a chilled blank.

"So, how does it feel?"

He'd almost missed those words, the question thrown in with all the other disconnected thoughts bouncing about in his skull, "Sorry?"

He could hear the grin in her laugh, the smirk in her tone, "How does it feel to mess up this badly?"

"Cause I mean, really now-" She had to break through her own sentence with a bark of laughter, as if she'd been fighting to keep it out of her throat, "-To fuck up that bad. That bad! Holy hell it's almost too funny. And here I thought you were a demon of tenacity, planning each and every step years before taking them. Anything to get what you want."

"But no," He felt her shift closer, teeth all but threatening to catch the shell of his ear, "Turns out you're just too stubborn to stop and too prideful to admit you've lost. But then again, this is more or less second nature for you at this point, huh?"

He could only assume that she was either bored or irritated at the lack of response. Either way, she scowled, hands snapping back up to grab at his shoulder, "Really? You're just going to ignore me now? After all of this?"

"Quiet."

A tick of silence passed, quickly followed by what he could only assume was a huff, "Really?"

"I need a moment to think, and right now, you're more of a nuisance than I ever remember you being." He felt as if he was choking up his own words, like he needed them out for more space to think. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a lot to process and, quite frankly, not enough patience to do so."

"I need to find her, yes, finding her should be the easy part with the dog…" Corvus muttered under his breath, doing all he could to help sort the foggy mess in his head. Perhaps laying it all out in front of him would help, sorting physical notes sounded a lot easier than fighting his way through his brain-

"You seem deep in thought."

"Whatever could make you think that?" His spite fed off of her amused tone, hand nearly reaching up to stop her own from moving somewhere else, slap her down before she could make more of a mess.

"I'm just curious as to why this all matters is all." Her voice had that false air to it, as if she'd stolen the mouth of a child just to chide him. It sounded too light, too innocent. It irritated him to no end.

"If you are trying to say something then just spit it out." He finally found the strength to get up off the ground, rising to his feet as his hands moved to dust off his jacket. He still couldn't bring himself to remove the offending hand, nor could he rid himself of the light weight at his left, seemingly unaffected despite their vast height difference.

No, it felt like she was sitting on his shoulder almost, leering over him almost eagerly.

Hungry, almost.

"Why does this matter? Why does any of this really matter?" Her words coaxed him, running along her nails as they traced along his jaw, her smile prevalent in her shadow. "I mean, this is quite a bit of effort and worry on your part, and for what?"

His hand flew up on its own, moving to wave her away as his legs took him down the stairs. The direction didn't matter, and even if it did, he doubted he could alter their course at this point, "For you."

"Hmm?"

"It's all for you." Almost on instinct the words had slipped out. He felt as if he was bleeding words from the mouth, all the turmoil bubbling up for this crystal clear confession, "Everything I do, everything I've done, it's all been for you."

He nearly melted into Kuro's touch, pressing her cheek up against his own in an all too innocent nuzzle. He could feel the dimples creasing themselves from her face to his own, her smile threatening to leak onto his own, "Exactly my point."

Corvus froze, hand threatening to break the handrail now locked in his grip. It all hit him in a single rush, as if he'd been body slammed by every misjudgment and sin he'd ever committed, drowning in every action he'd ever enabled.

"And here I thought I'd have to spell this out for you," Kuro cooed into his ear, giggles sickeningly sweet as she hovered over his shoulder, hands curling around the edge of his shoulders as she leaned in closer to his ear, urging him to turn, "Look at you."

He allowed the phantom touch to direct his eyes to a broken fragment of glass on the floor, half of his face staring in clear disbelief.

He could just barely hear her laugh, ghosting over the shell of his ear as he moved to pick his mirror up, "Careful, dear; you might cut yourself."

Her false warning just made his grip tighter, glass threatening to bite back at his glove. He stared himself down, twin levelling a look of hatred right back. His mind was abuzz, each thought slipping through his fingers before he could fully grasp them, leaving him with this cold empty feeling closing around his chest, threatening to crush his heart.

"...Why?"

"Hmm?"

"Why me?" He ignored the slight shake of his reflection, the tightness in his throat; it fueled his arm to throw the glass, ignoring the sound of shattered glass in favor of whipping around, eyes locking with an image he knew wasn't really there, should have known wasn't real. "Everything I do, everything I've done, it's all been for you! Every step I've taken, all the hardships and pain, it's all been to see you one more time! So why do you haunt me? Why do you seek to break me down!?"

Her grin, as false as it was, felt seared into his mind as she leaned forward, hand raised like a child about to share a secret, "That's so like you; cursing someone else for not accepting you've bestowed upon them so graciously."

He fell to his knees as her hands gripped his shoulders, pushing him down. Or maybe his knees had finally given out, having long grown numb from the demon's negligence.

"Ah yes; how could I choose to haunt you, of all people, after all you've done to me?"

Her sarcasm dripped into his ears, threatening to drown out all his other senses in that addictively noxious noise, that oh so familiar noise that would engulf him for the rest of his immortal life.

"How could I, a lowly demon who began life with nothing, ever scoff in the face of someone who gave me everything I ever could have wanted and more?"

She hovered over him, and he didn't need to look up to know how she stood there with a curved spine and a bent grin. How she was positively grinning down evilly at him, hands clasped behind her back as she bent down lower, the perfect balance of grace and crudity she'd always somehow seemed to manage flawlessly.
"I must be nothing but spiteful, correct? To spit on your good will and selflessness. To think I'd spit on the kindness of a demon, one too pure for something like me to deserve-"

"Stop." If he could feel his hands, they would have covered his ears long ago. In that moment, everything felt cold, unreal, as if he were watching from the outside peering in. Everything felt disconnected, fake. "Stop. Leave."

She didn't argue. She didn't shout about the unfairness of it all, nor did she tempt to drag him down deeper in this new pit of his.

She didn't need to, and she knew it.

Or, rather, he knew it.

She didn't laugh, she didn't curse, nothing. Instead, her hand finally left his shoulder, voice clearing one last time. "You could have stopped me at any time, love."

And with that, she was gone.

Regardless, her laughter echoed in his head, sarcasm threatening to overtake the pounding headache that had taken up residence alongside an unhealthy dose of guilt. He felt stuck in his own body, left with nothing but the mental chaotic mess he had to sort, with the calming background of dog barking to help drown out the pounding in his skull.

"The Moon can't be real, I've never been there before."

-A person I went to school with and wonder, to this day, how he made it out of the womb.