You asked for it, now you got it...again. Keep checking back, as the next chapters are on their way. Author's Note: This happens to be a crucial chapter in HB/Fox relations. I carefully considered each character. If you have any complaints (if you think I didn't follow Hellboy's character well enough) drop me an email: GossamerGargoyle at AOL.com. Read on! I'm doing this because of you guys, not for me. I hate writing, weird I know. I started this fanfic for the love of Hellboy and I'm ending it for you readers out there. I never expected to get ANY good reviews, let alone like 5.
Chapter 5: Swapping Secrets and Demonic Possession
One of dozens of televisions flickered a black and white glow around the room. As with a lot of men she had met, Fox noticed that the room was most definitely in a constant state of disarray.
"So..."Hellboy said, his voice trailing off so that Fox might finish it. He was always so nervous around her.
"So...do you have a bathroom in here?" Fox finished, fingering the lock to her baggage. The potato-guard had brought it down for her. She sat cross-legged on the stiff cot, making sure to steer clear from the many candy bar wrappers littering the hard floor. She draped her leg over the side of the bed and kicked up, sending a veritable tornado of garbage flying in circles. She didn't mind the mess; it was something she was used to and almost liked. Hellboy's room definitely was not the worst she had ever seen.
"Uh, yeah. In the back corner behind the Samurai Armor display." he said nervously. She figured the bathroom was pretty bad.
"Thanks." Hellboy looked over at her from behind one of his wrinkled comic books.
"Hold on a second, did you really do this?" he asked, pointing a large finger at the thin paper with almost wide eyes. Fox could read the cover from where she was, regardless of the dim light.
"Yeah, I did that big guy. Can I please go change my clothes now?" she asked, a grin spreading over her face.
"Change? It's like 8 in the morning. Why would you need to change your clothes?" he asked, his voice concerned. Fox shook her head, then picked up her luggage bag.
"Because I dress so that I am very concealed when I'm outside. But around here I don't have to be. And besides, my tail is killing me!" She stood up, her fingers locking around the metal handle.
"Wha?" Hellboy muttered almost silently. She took a few steps around the cats and climbed over more stacks of magazines. Most of them were for auto-body repair.
"Watch out, there might be some cats in there." HB called. Fox continued on her way to the bathroom, then stepped inside and closed the door. Hellboy sat in silence, waiting for it...
The door creaked open and a small swarm of cats stampeded out. The door shut behind the last one. He grinned.
"That's it." he said to himself, glancing up from his comic book and looking at the only television that was on. An old Bugs Bunny cartoon was on the screen. Hellboy shook his head and said, "Man, I need to get some new cartoons."
He flipped around the comic book some more and looked at the pictures, half interested. If he had wanted to do something like this it would haven taken him years. He could barely write so drawing was out of the question, especially something so intricate. He turned the page clumsily with right hand, his enormous fingers folding the cheap paper over.
"They need to make these Hellboy-style." he said to himself. Quite often he had a hard time reading the comics because they were so small. It took him almost a day to finish a comic so he just looked at the pictures and guessed at what was going on. A lot of the time he was featured as having mystical powers, and most of the comic was just him fighting monsters. He chuckled. There was one time when he had some sort of laser beams that shot of his eyes. Thankfully that wasn't in Foxley's comics. Suddenly he wondered how she could get a job looking like she did. As if on cue, she stepped out of the bathroom and made her way over the cats and candy and magazines and Samurai armor. He didn't look up from his comic when she said, "So what do you do for fun around here other than wrangling cats and reading old comics?"
"Sleeping and watching television." he replied blankly, turning the page awkwardly again. She noticed how he didn't look up and sighed with relief. He heard this and looked up. Hellboy tried his best to keep his jaw from dropping. Seeing as he was different, too, he knew how people felt when others stared. But he had never seen another fellow....demon.....before. Demon. He hated that word. It made him felt as no-good as the scum he fought.
"I know, I know. I hate it myself." she said in annoyance. Hellboy thought she meant the word demon.
"How did you know what I was thinking?" he asked. She laughed.
"I don't know what you are talking about. I was talking about the way I look." she said, pointing to her tail. Her skin was an extremely pale gray, which shone almost pinkish in the light. Her eyes were an icy blue, and the horns that had stood out so much before were vague and almost blended in with her outlandish appearance. Her tail was long and the same pinkish gray color. It looked prehensile, and was probably twice the size of Hellboy's tail. She was wearing a tight black tank-top and green army- style camouflage pants, hiked up so that her feet and ankles were exposed. She had an extra toe, Hellboy noticed, so that her feet almost resembled an ape's. And each of her toes had long, sharp looking talons just like her fingers. Her hair was pulled back in a loose and messy ponytail. She made a snarling face and flexed a lean muscle, trying to be funny and ease the growing tension in the pit of her stomach. Hellboy continued to stare, regardless of the fact that he shouldn't.
Her long bat-like wings were folded neatly on her back. Each of them brushed the floor lightly, and the cats were batting at them. For once in his life, Hellboy felt normal.
"Yeah, I know. I'm different. But look at you. You have no room to talk." she blurted with a playful smile. When Hellboy didn't stop staring at her wings, she exclaimed, "Don't look at me in the tone of voice!"
"Uh." he stammered. It didn't seem as though he were shocked, just surprised. She just shook her head. He snapped out of it and looked back up at her. She dropped her luggage where she stood, sending a tremor through the floor, and bent down to get something out of it. Hellboy kept watching.
"It's in here somewhere...aha!" she said. In her hands was a large sketch pad and a thin marker. She walked over to the cot and plopped down, the cotton groaning. She looked deep into his eyes and said, "I don't suppose drawing is on your agenda?"
"I've never tried it, but I can barely write" he said in his deep voice.
"So?"
"So I don't think I can." He opened his big right hand and dropped the comic on the dirty floor. He scooped up the remote off his couch and flipped off the TV. A lamp flicked on.
"It's set up that way." he explained quietly. Fox nodded and began sketching gently on the thick white paper. She noticed that Hellboy's couch was nothing more than a truck with pillows and cushions in the back.
"What's with your hand?"
"I dunno. I mean, I was born this way. Noone can figure out what it is, but its my hand for real." he said, touching his left hand to his right arm gingerly.
"Your turn." she said. Hellboy looked confused. If he had eyebrows one would be raised in question.
"What?"
"It's a game. I used to play it when I was really bored back in Romania."
"Okay. Um..."
"Just think of something you want to know about me."
"Oh. Then what's your favorite color?" he asked. She laughed.
"I like pink. Not that really annoying magenta color, but a really nice rose. They say at first pink is calming but then it drives you insane. My turn?" Hellboy nodded, considering what she had just said.
"Why'd you saw off your horns?" Fox asked, her wings twitching. Hellboy looked uneasy.
"Because I don't like them. I don't like what I am. I started shaving them after Stalin became so fond of them. So my question to you is how did you get a job in comic books if you look like you do?" he asked, avoiding her gaze. She could tell from this that it was a touchy situation with him.
"Because I sent an application through the mail. They sent the assignments to an address I had set up, and from the address the assignments were forwarded to me wherever I was. The comics gave me something to do while I was away on assignments. I gave them up a few months before I left France for Romania. My question is why are you so freaked out over my wings?"
"They're just weird. Why did you get kicked out of Romania and sent here." When she heard this Fox gulped hard. She really didn't want to have to...
"Because when I get sick I get monstery. It's like, I have to suppress my inner demon so that I don't get all evil and crap. But when I get sick my resistance is low and I...revert back. That's why I never want to be cold. I'm just afraid." she said, her eyes welling up with tears. She remembered.
"They thought I had just gone crazy but the truth is that the cold from the Romanian snow had gotten me sick. A lot...a lot of people got hurt. That's why I was sent here." she finished. A single tear trickled down her pale cheek. And then, something amazing happened.
"I know whatcha mean. I know exactly whatcha mean. There was this one mission I was on, and I was sent to the pits of Hell. My horns started growing back and all that, and I felt powerful. It was like I wasn't even myself. I hate it." he said, looking on the ground. He eased himself up out of the truck bed and walked over to Fox. She dropped her drawing and stood up. They just sort of looked at each other for a moment....(I know you're expecting some sort of kiss, right?).....
"Why?" she whispered. Hellboy's eyes stayed gleaming, unfocused. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. His left hand.
"Even if it means living in eternal pain, we still have to live. That's the way it is, kiddo. I like not knowing why. I've lived not knowing why, and I really don't want to know why. Especially now." he said in a hushed voice. It was warm yet emotionless. His grip on her shoulder tightened, and he pulled her closer. She stumbled a bit, then pushed gently against his warm body.
He wrapped his arms against her shoulders and hugged her softly. There was nothing romantic about it. They just needed each other. Two demons in jeopardy.
"I'm not cold anymore."
Silence.
"We...we have each other, right?" she asked, stumbling over her words this time rather than discarded candy wrappers.
"That's right." he said.
(you were wrong about the kissing thing! HAHA)
They just stood there for a long while, thinking. Until a shrill alarm went off and a flashing red light illuminated the room. An intercom not unlike the one Abe had crackled to life.
"We've got trouble!"
Chapter 5: Swapping Secrets and Demonic Possession
One of dozens of televisions flickered a black and white glow around the room. As with a lot of men she had met, Fox noticed that the room was most definitely in a constant state of disarray.
"So..."Hellboy said, his voice trailing off so that Fox might finish it. He was always so nervous around her.
"So...do you have a bathroom in here?" Fox finished, fingering the lock to her baggage. The potato-guard had brought it down for her. She sat cross-legged on the stiff cot, making sure to steer clear from the many candy bar wrappers littering the hard floor. She draped her leg over the side of the bed and kicked up, sending a veritable tornado of garbage flying in circles. She didn't mind the mess; it was something she was used to and almost liked. Hellboy's room definitely was not the worst she had ever seen.
"Uh, yeah. In the back corner behind the Samurai Armor display." he said nervously. She figured the bathroom was pretty bad.
"Thanks." Hellboy looked over at her from behind one of his wrinkled comic books.
"Hold on a second, did you really do this?" he asked, pointing a large finger at the thin paper with almost wide eyes. Fox could read the cover from where she was, regardless of the dim light.
"Yeah, I did that big guy. Can I please go change my clothes now?" she asked, a grin spreading over her face.
"Change? It's like 8 in the morning. Why would you need to change your clothes?" he asked, his voice concerned. Fox shook her head, then picked up her luggage bag.
"Because I dress so that I am very concealed when I'm outside. But around here I don't have to be. And besides, my tail is killing me!" She stood up, her fingers locking around the metal handle.
"Wha?" Hellboy muttered almost silently. She took a few steps around the cats and climbed over more stacks of magazines. Most of them were for auto-body repair.
"Watch out, there might be some cats in there." HB called. Fox continued on her way to the bathroom, then stepped inside and closed the door. Hellboy sat in silence, waiting for it...
The door creaked open and a small swarm of cats stampeded out. The door shut behind the last one. He grinned.
"That's it." he said to himself, glancing up from his comic book and looking at the only television that was on. An old Bugs Bunny cartoon was on the screen. Hellboy shook his head and said, "Man, I need to get some new cartoons."
He flipped around the comic book some more and looked at the pictures, half interested. If he had wanted to do something like this it would haven taken him years. He could barely write so drawing was out of the question, especially something so intricate. He turned the page clumsily with right hand, his enormous fingers folding the cheap paper over.
"They need to make these Hellboy-style." he said to himself. Quite often he had a hard time reading the comics because they were so small. It took him almost a day to finish a comic so he just looked at the pictures and guessed at what was going on. A lot of the time he was featured as having mystical powers, and most of the comic was just him fighting monsters. He chuckled. There was one time when he had some sort of laser beams that shot of his eyes. Thankfully that wasn't in Foxley's comics. Suddenly he wondered how she could get a job looking like she did. As if on cue, she stepped out of the bathroom and made her way over the cats and candy and magazines and Samurai armor. He didn't look up from his comic when she said, "So what do you do for fun around here other than wrangling cats and reading old comics?"
"Sleeping and watching television." he replied blankly, turning the page awkwardly again. She noticed how he didn't look up and sighed with relief. He heard this and looked up. Hellboy tried his best to keep his jaw from dropping. Seeing as he was different, too, he knew how people felt when others stared. But he had never seen another fellow....demon.....before. Demon. He hated that word. It made him felt as no-good as the scum he fought.
"I know, I know. I hate it myself." she said in annoyance. Hellboy thought she meant the word demon.
"How did you know what I was thinking?" he asked. She laughed.
"I don't know what you are talking about. I was talking about the way I look." she said, pointing to her tail. Her skin was an extremely pale gray, which shone almost pinkish in the light. Her eyes were an icy blue, and the horns that had stood out so much before were vague and almost blended in with her outlandish appearance. Her tail was long and the same pinkish gray color. It looked prehensile, and was probably twice the size of Hellboy's tail. She was wearing a tight black tank-top and green army- style camouflage pants, hiked up so that her feet and ankles were exposed. She had an extra toe, Hellboy noticed, so that her feet almost resembled an ape's. And each of her toes had long, sharp looking talons just like her fingers. Her hair was pulled back in a loose and messy ponytail. She made a snarling face and flexed a lean muscle, trying to be funny and ease the growing tension in the pit of her stomach. Hellboy continued to stare, regardless of the fact that he shouldn't.
Her long bat-like wings were folded neatly on her back. Each of them brushed the floor lightly, and the cats were batting at them. For once in his life, Hellboy felt normal.
"Yeah, I know. I'm different. But look at you. You have no room to talk." she blurted with a playful smile. When Hellboy didn't stop staring at her wings, she exclaimed, "Don't look at me in the tone of voice!"
"Uh." he stammered. It didn't seem as though he were shocked, just surprised. She just shook her head. He snapped out of it and looked back up at her. She dropped her luggage where she stood, sending a tremor through the floor, and bent down to get something out of it. Hellboy kept watching.
"It's in here somewhere...aha!" she said. In her hands was a large sketch pad and a thin marker. She walked over to the cot and plopped down, the cotton groaning. She looked deep into his eyes and said, "I don't suppose drawing is on your agenda?"
"I've never tried it, but I can barely write" he said in his deep voice.
"So?"
"So I don't think I can." He opened his big right hand and dropped the comic on the dirty floor. He scooped up the remote off his couch and flipped off the TV. A lamp flicked on.
"It's set up that way." he explained quietly. Fox nodded and began sketching gently on the thick white paper. She noticed that Hellboy's couch was nothing more than a truck with pillows and cushions in the back.
"What's with your hand?"
"I dunno. I mean, I was born this way. Noone can figure out what it is, but its my hand for real." he said, touching his left hand to his right arm gingerly.
"Your turn." she said. Hellboy looked confused. If he had eyebrows one would be raised in question.
"What?"
"It's a game. I used to play it when I was really bored back in Romania."
"Okay. Um..."
"Just think of something you want to know about me."
"Oh. Then what's your favorite color?" he asked. She laughed.
"I like pink. Not that really annoying magenta color, but a really nice rose. They say at first pink is calming but then it drives you insane. My turn?" Hellboy nodded, considering what she had just said.
"Why'd you saw off your horns?" Fox asked, her wings twitching. Hellboy looked uneasy.
"Because I don't like them. I don't like what I am. I started shaving them after Stalin became so fond of them. So my question to you is how did you get a job in comic books if you look like you do?" he asked, avoiding her gaze. She could tell from this that it was a touchy situation with him.
"Because I sent an application through the mail. They sent the assignments to an address I had set up, and from the address the assignments were forwarded to me wherever I was. The comics gave me something to do while I was away on assignments. I gave them up a few months before I left France for Romania. My question is why are you so freaked out over my wings?"
"They're just weird. Why did you get kicked out of Romania and sent here." When she heard this Fox gulped hard. She really didn't want to have to...
"Because when I get sick I get monstery. It's like, I have to suppress my inner demon so that I don't get all evil and crap. But when I get sick my resistance is low and I...revert back. That's why I never want to be cold. I'm just afraid." she said, her eyes welling up with tears. She remembered.
"They thought I had just gone crazy but the truth is that the cold from the Romanian snow had gotten me sick. A lot...a lot of people got hurt. That's why I was sent here." she finished. A single tear trickled down her pale cheek. And then, something amazing happened.
"I know whatcha mean. I know exactly whatcha mean. There was this one mission I was on, and I was sent to the pits of Hell. My horns started growing back and all that, and I felt powerful. It was like I wasn't even myself. I hate it." he said, looking on the ground. He eased himself up out of the truck bed and walked over to Fox. She dropped her drawing and stood up. They just sort of looked at each other for a moment....(I know you're expecting some sort of kiss, right?).....
"Why?" she whispered. Hellboy's eyes stayed gleaming, unfocused. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. His left hand.
"Even if it means living in eternal pain, we still have to live. That's the way it is, kiddo. I like not knowing why. I've lived not knowing why, and I really don't want to know why. Especially now." he said in a hushed voice. It was warm yet emotionless. His grip on her shoulder tightened, and he pulled her closer. She stumbled a bit, then pushed gently against his warm body.
He wrapped his arms against her shoulders and hugged her softly. There was nothing romantic about it. They just needed each other. Two demons in jeopardy.
"I'm not cold anymore."
Silence.
"We...we have each other, right?" she asked, stumbling over her words this time rather than discarded candy wrappers.
"That's right." he said.
(you were wrong about the kissing thing! HAHA)
They just stood there for a long while, thinking. Until a shrill alarm went off and a flashing red light illuminated the room. An intercom not unlike the one Abe had crackled to life.
"We've got trouble!"