With only these details given to him, he correctly surmised he was in Asmodeus's bedroom. Yet he was having trouble remembering how he got here. It was vague, as if the answer was sitting on the tip of his tongue, but he believed he knew the reason. He tried to get out of bed to parse these thoughts, and attempted to push the endless ocean of blanket away. But the large piece of elegant cloth didn't move.
He made a face of annoyance and tried again, still with no result. He got worried, and did the only thing he could think to do. He called out for Asmodeus as loud as he could.
"Ozzie!"
It took a couple seconds, but his heavy footsteps could be heard bounding closer and closer to the door, before it swung open and he barged through breathlessly.
"Fizzy?" He asked, looking towards the bed in the low light of the room. His hand fumbled on the wall for a moment before it found the switch on the wall close to the door. When the lights flicked on he finally got a good look at Fizz wide-awake in his bed.
His face filled with relief at the sight. "Fizzy! Oh thank Lucifer you're awake," he said. He briskly walked over to his side and knelt down by the bed, placing his arms next to Fizz. "How are you feeling?"
With the room illuminated, Fizz took the time to look at himself in the mirror before answering. One eye was swollen shut, explaining why the room still seemed obscured despite the new lighting. Besides that there were small cuts scabbed over around his face. With the covers up like they were he couldn't see if there were similar injuries on the rest of his body, but he could feel tinges of pain that made him believe as much. It was obvious he went through something serious, something he still couldn't bring to the forefront of his mind.
Not wanting to leave his question unanswered, Fizz replied, "I'm fine Ozzie… but I can't move."
Asmodeus knew he was lying about his condition, but rather than point it out he looked away from Fizz and responded to his latter point, "About that… you won't be moving for a while."
When he looked back at Fizz he could see the statement panicked him, so he quickly explained himself, "After what happened last night your prosthetics will need total replacement, and a serious upgrade. That will take some time, so until they're ready you'll be staying with me."
Fizz didn't understand what he meant at first, but it all clicked in an instant when he vaguely mentioned the events of last night. Bruno and his twins cornered him, destroyed his limbs, and nearly killed him. Nearly, if it weren't for Asmodeus, who somehow found him and killed the three of them before that happened. Remembering this he pushed up off the pillow with his body and sat straight up, wincing as he did so, causing the blanket to fall lower down his form. Much like he guessed earlier, his body was wrapped in white bandages. In some areas they were stained with old, darkened blood, while others remained clean. But more importantly, like Asmodeus said, his arms were gone, back to the rounded ends he's known since the accident; he didn't need to move his legs to know they were in the same state.
The lack of appendages got to him as his expression became upset at the thought of losing the few things he had that made him feel normal, and complete. He knew Asmodeus told him it was only temporary, but the thought came nonetheless. To try and distract himself, he echoed a question that was floating in his mind to Asmodeus.
"How did you even manage to find me?"
Asmodeus grimaced slightly, as if even thinking about that night hurt him more than it did his partner. "Well, after you left for the night I did my usual sweep of the backstage to make sure it was clear of any remaining employees or those attempting to trespass. When I finished with that, I was about to leave when I noticed your jester outfit sitting on the floor by the costume racks. I figured you left it so you could change when you got back to work tomorrow, so I went over to hang it up. That's when I noticed these were sticking out."
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a shining ring with a couple of keys hanging around it. Fizz recognized it as his apartment keys, and he groaned.
"Ugh, I knew I left something in my other pants."
The joke wasn't registered by Asmodeus, as he kept his serious expression. He tucked the keys back into his pocket and continued, "When I searched further I also found your phone. Without that I couldn't contact you, and obviously you needed your keys, so I went out to find you. I went to your apartment first, thinking you were there outside your room. But when I saw you weren't there I began backtracking through anywhere you might have gone."
Fizz noticed the large hands next to him slowly clench into fists, and when he looked back at Asmodeus's face the rage he remembered from last night was once again present.
"It took time, too much time, but I came across the alley that led straight towards your apartment. And when I looked down there I saw three imps beating someone on the ground. I… I almost didn't give it a second glance, I thought they were just the usual gang types. But I heard one of them say your name, and I had to look again. That's when… I saw…" Asmodeus covered his mouth with a hand as tears welled in his eyes, "Oh Lucifer I almost left you to die."
Fizz had never seen the Goetia as upset as he was now. Even though he was the one that was beaten mercilessly, Asmodeus was the only one out of both of them that showed any realistic reaction to those events. Seeing it unnerved Fizz, and this time he was the one trying to calm the other.
"Ozzie, look at me, I'm fine alright? I'm ok thanks to you, those bastards aren't going to come back from what you did." He couldn't help but grin devilishly at what he said; their screams still resounded clearly in his memories.
But his attempt at comforting Asmodeus failed, as he shook his head saying, "You're not fine, nothing about what happened last night was ok. Fuck, it never should have happened to begin with."
"Oz, come on," Fizz started, trying again to comfort him, "you can't stop every crazed fan from trying to-"
"Fizzarolli please!" Asmodeus shouted, looking directly at him, startling the imp and causing him to drop whatever he was trying to say. Seeing the shock on his face, he sighed and said in a low whisper, "Please… don't hide from me this time. Just this once, don't."
For once, Fizz had nothing to say. He never used his full name before, so he could tell he was being serious, and he was asking him to be the same. The whole time Asmodeus was talking, Fizz was trying to ignore the pain growing in his body, only giving small winces as subtle signs that something was wrong. But upon hearing his plea, he nodded his head and decided to be honest with him.
"You're right Ozzie, I'm not fine. Everything hurts like a bitch and I don't think there's enough painkillers in Hell to make it better. Those fuckers really let me have it, huh?"
He tried to force a laugh, but it was strained, and all he did was flop back onto the pillow, panting slightly. Asmodeus reached out a hand in concern, but retracted it when he saw he was still ok. Clenching it back into a fist, he asked him a question.
"They were from the circus in Greed weren't they?"
Fizz grew solemn at the inquiry, and he croaked out a soft, "Yeah."
Asmodeus stood up from his position by the bed and walked away. At first Fizz thought he was going to leave the room, maybe to talk with Mammon. But he rounded the bed and walked away from the door, coming to a stop in front of the dresser. He leaned down onto it, putting his back towards Fizz. Although he couldn't see his face now, he could tell he was distressed by what he just revealed. Then, what he did next explained why he put distance between them.
"Dammit!" He shouted in anger, his fists coming up and slamming into the dresser with a resounding crash. The result left the wood splintered in the areas of impact, and Asmodeus breathing audibly. "This is all my fault," he chastised himself, "why did I think we could get away with what we did? From Mammon, sure. The place wasn't making him money, he wouldn't care. But I should've known we would've been seen, and those who saw us would want to kill you over what I had us do."
His seemingly constant shifts in mood stirred up Fizz, and he couldn't understand why he was behaving this way. Sure, he almost died, but he obviously survived as he's here now to witness this display. So why was he acting all guilty? As if he sent the people who tried to kill him after him?
One last time he tried to reason with him. "Hey, don't act like you forced me. I wanted it gone, remember? It was my idea. And I'd do it all again, even if I knew what would happen to me."
This statement prompted Asmodeus to turn around, worry now apparent on his face. Fizz continued before he tried to counter him again, "Those people were assholes even before we burned down their ugly tent. They've been hating me for a long time, so this is nowhere near your fault."
Asmodeus silently looked at him, all three heads peered along his body, studying his injuries. Fizz wished he had his arms so he could block his gaze, make him focus on his words rather than his appearance.
But, like before, Asmodeus continued to remain unconvinced. "You may think that, but the fact remains that if we had just left when you asked me to we wouldn't be here right now." He gestured at Fizz when he said this, his eyes downcast. And that's when he finally understood why his behavior had been in flux since he entered the room.
He pitied him. Asmodeus didn't suffer a single scratch that day, yet here he was nearly bawling his eyes out on his behalf. He had his arms and legs taken from him, his entire body beaten, and his skull nearly caved in. Not him. And although he still felt the effects of that night he wasn't acting anything like Asmodeus was.
His brow furrowed in irritation, lips curved into a slight snarl. The way he motioned towards him bothered him as well; was he simply referencing his injuries, or his disability too? Fizz never liked when anyone tried to pretend to understand what he's been through. He thought Asmodeus would never do that to him, but what other explanation could there be for his conduct? All the signs screamed the same thing, and the noise was starting to grate inside his skull.
"I was too quick with them," Asmodeus said, his thoughts becoming jumbled as regret continued to pour out of his mouth. "I should've ripped them apart piece by piece; one for every bruise they put on your body."
"Shut up."
The demand perked Asmodeus out of his ramblings. "Fizzy?"
"God dammit Ozzie, shut up! Just, shut up," he snapped. He could feel himself tearing up and he looked away from Asmodeus. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he said, "I don't need your fucking pity."
Asmodeus put a hand to his chest, slightly stunned by his reaction. "Fizz, I wasn't-"
"Yes you fucking were!" Fizz shouted at him, cutting him off. "What else would it be? It's like they said, I'm the broken Fizzarolli, not good for anything. The only thing people feel for me when they see me like this is pity. Pity, or contempt."
"They…?" Asmodeus questioned himself, not understanding who he was talking about. Fizz didn't catch the utterance, but unknowingly answered his question anyway.
"They may be dead assholes now, but they were right about everything they said. Without this job, without you, without everything you gave me… I'm nothing."
Fizz's ragged breath caught when he processed what he had just said, and he slowly sank deeper into the lavish cushion he had been resting on. "Nothing," he murmured, the tears stinging his eyes finally making their way down along his face. He couldn't wipe them away, so he shut his eyes trying to force them to stop. They continued to flow regardless, and that fact only made him more upset. He gave into his grief, one that had been building up slowly over the course of this year and had finally come to a head.
Now Asmodeus knew the truth about himself, and because of that he cried. Not just that, but also because he was afraid. Afraid of how Asmodeus would respond. He believed he would see him as he saw himself, a waste of time that he put a year of his life into. Fizz was going to lose him, he knew it.
He felt the bed sink lower towards one side, and he tilted towards it. Although he didn't hear him walk up, he didn't need to open his eyes to know Asmodeus had taken a seat next to him. This was it. He was about to be thrown out on the street again. With nothing.
"Fizzarolli," he used his full name again, "when have I ever pitied you?"
The question wasn't what Fizz had expected, and it caused him to open his eyes. With one leg on the bed, Asmodeus was twisted so he was facing him. He could see the Goetia was looking down softly at him, an expression that he found somewhat soothing.
Even so, he was still confused, and could only find one word to express that. "What?"
"In all the time you've worked with me, can you truly say I've ever shown pity towards you?" He elaborated his question, his tone as soothing as his look.
Fizz opened his mouth to counter him, but paused, his eyes looking around the bed as if he was searching for the answer on top of the sheets. Although he was still upset, he tried to think critically back on their relationship, remembering all the times they were together. But as he thought, he realized he couldn't really find a moment where he expressed such an emotion towards him. He could think of moments where he thought he was pitying him, but no real moments of pity. If anything, he had always treated him as an equal, and never brought up his disability. When he recognized he couldn't actually rebut his question, he simply closed his mouth and remained unresponsive.
Seeing this, Asmodeus continued, "I have always respected you Fizzarolli, ever since you walked into that interview."
"Oh come on," Fizz said hoarsely, "you can't ask me to be honest and then lie to me yourself."
"You don't believe me?" Asmodeus asked rhetorically with a raised brow. "I remember interviewing 288 candidates that day, of which were selected from 5,000 applicants. I know you well enough that I wouldn't be out of line stating that, if you saw the other 287 people, you would have found several you believed were more qualified for the job."
Fizz winced at the accusation, but besides that he didn't raise a voice against it. He was right. If Fizz knew the others who tried out for Ozzie's he would've recommended any one of them take the position before him.
Asmodeus gave a small smile and placed a large hand beside Fizz's body, gesturing that he come closer to him. He was hesitant at first, unsure if he should seek his comfort. But, eventually, Fizz rolled himself off the pillow and onto his hand, allowing him to pick him up. He brought him up to his face so he could more easily talk to him.
"But even if you did that, I'd still choose you. Because you had something they never had."
He paused, as if he wanted Fizz to guess what he was referring to. When it wasn't obvious to Fizz, he merely gave a shrug, not knowing where he was going with this.
"Heart," Asmodeus said with a smirk. "Anyone can shake their ass for a few dollars, and only some can do it well. But you did more than that. You didn't show me what you thought Ozzie's was looking for, you showed me what you believed it needed. And you did it all without my prosthetics. You gave me everything you had, and in those five minutes you impressed me over all 287 candidates."
Fizz was surprised by his answer. He was long done crying now, his eyes now wide by the words Asmodeus was saying. But he wasn't done yet.
"That is what earned you my respect, and has kept it during our time together. Inside and outside my business you showed me only the best of yourself." He paused and reached a hand over to stroke Fizz's face, gently petting him. "Even if you weren't always feeling your best."
Fizz leaned into his touch, his face turning despondent. He didn't care anymore what Asmodeus was going to do, or where he was going with his praise. He yearned for his gentle touch and more than anything now he didn't want to be let go.
Asmodeus could see he was becoming upset again, so he got to the point he was trying to make. Taking a finger, he placed it under Fizz's chin and directed him to look at him.
"So even if everything you just said was taken from you, your enhancements, your job, me… you would still be the heart that captivated me." He paused to take a small breath, then dropped a bombshell Fizz never would have expected.
"The heart I love."