Hi hi!
I'm getting a lot more support on this story then I originally thought I'd get, so thanks to all you reviewers, followers and favs out there!
If we can hit fifty reviews, I will be giving away Kuro t-shirts!
Amy: You barely have enough money for lunch, how you gonna make products to give away?
Me: I don't know, it's Kuro's story, so it's Kuro's problem.
Kuro: Dude, don't even. I've got enough shit to deal with here.
Me:...Okay...In that case, no shirts. Not like I have the artistic talent anyway.
Oh, that leads me into my next thingy; I can't draw. So if someone would like to draw a sort of fan art cover for this story, please be sure to PM me and, if you're okay with it, I'll use it as the cover image for this story!
Lilith: That's more then a lot of your stories get.
Azazel: Well at least you're decently remembered!
Miu: I'm sure p-people remember a-a-and like you.
Katrina: Apparently people know me, I just don't get updated anymore...
Nyx: Well tell me now, were any of you canceled?
Amy: Nope, 47 chapters of awesome typos baby!
Me:...This is why I don't do author's notes with you guys anymore...
ONWARDS!
The moment Vanth had bid her good night and left Kuro alone in the room, she pulled the tattered garbs from her body, throwing it to the ground with a sigh of relief. She hadn't taken the fabric into consideration, which led to a rather uncomfortable itch that now took over most of her torso.
In hindsight, Kuro cursed herself for not asking Vanth for a wet cloth to wipe herself down, or something.
She pulled the closet open with a sigh, eyes quickly settling on a rather simple nightgown, "Oh thank God, I thought I'd have to craft clothes out of the drapes or something." She muttered to herself, looking the silk thing over before throwing it on.
In all honesty, she wasn't too much of a fan of what she and the others called "open sleepwear". Kuro shuddered as she held the material close, pulling it tighter around her body as a shudder rolled through her. Now that she thought about it, she could recall never feeling comfortable wearing anything open around the bar, and honestly, it was probably because of Abraxas' stupid pranks.
Tugging at the bottom of the skirt, she couldn't help but think about the kilt incident.
Way back when she was still relatively new, before her last large contract, Abraxas had convinced Zagan that the only way to become "more manly" and "really prove his fortitude" would be to wear a kilt to sleep.
"Ha, you're more of an idiot that you let on, Abraxas!"
"No, dude, I'm being 100% serious here. You go to sleep in a kilt, and I kid you not, you will become the very image of macho."
"What makes you think I'm this stupid, Abraxas?"
"The Scottish, I guess."
"...Sorry, the who?"
"The Scot- Wait, do you have any idea what a kilt is, meathead?"
"It's a skirt."
"And that's where you're wrong, my mentally deficient friend."
"When you're trying to convince someone to do something, I don't recommend insulting them at every possible turn."
"Okay, I'm sorry and all that, but hear me out here. You know who the Scots are?"
"No."
"Seriously? I just, huh, I can't believe that… You really don't know?"
"What are you trying to get at here, Abraxas?"
"I just can't believe that you've never heard of them. I mean, they're only the most fearlessly gallant race on the Surface."
"Oh?"
"You're seriously telling me that you've never heard of William 'Braveheart' Wallace, the Scot who bravely ripped out the hearts of his enemies?"
"Umm… No."
"Jesus, okay, take a seat. I can't believe that I tried to get you to wear a kilt without knowing about it's origin of power and mantra of masculinity."
"Mantra of masculinity?"
"Zagan, Zagan, did you hear me stutter?"
Kuro remembered standing right next to Abraxas as he spun his lie, his grand gestures and grander words more than enough to pull Zagan into the idea. After a while, Zagan had been reduced to little more than an intrigued child, hanging off of every word Abraxas fabricated together, completely engrossed in the tall tale of how Braveheart had slaughtered the last unicorn and wore its horn over his crotch in the ultimate act of manhood.
Suffice it to say, Zagan didn't wear the kilt only to bed.
Kuro nearly doubled over with laughter, recalling the time he'd walked down into the bar with a wide grin, doing a "savage spin" (As Abraxas had described it) when Vale asked what he was doing. Zagan's explanation brought Abraxas to silent tears, the scorpion demon's eccentric retelling of Abraxas' fable enough for Shax to put down his rag, excuse himself from the bar, and then remain outside alone to stare at a patch of red dirt for the next two hours.
She remembered Abraxas pulling her aside afterwards, laughing about how he had just planned to plant a bug in the kilt while he slept or something stupid like that. The two had spent hours laughing on the roof, coming up with increasingly horrible things to wake up to between their legs.
If she remembered correctly, they had fallen asleep on the roof, finding comfort against the jagged rock wall and their hefty guns. Did they wake up with stiff backs and achy knees? Of course. But, given the chance, would she have done it again? Without a second thought.
Not that she'd ever get anything close to that ever again.
She was quick to shake her head, throwing her hair about before plopping herself down on the bed. No, no, she refused to think like that. She wasn't going to even approach that idea, nope, not going anywhere near the thought that she just might not ever see any of them ever again, nor was she going to dwell on how each passing second added to the weight on her chest.
Nope, none of that, not now. With that, she flew herself backwards, head bouncing against the bed as she stared up at the ceiling. She nearly jumped upon seeing her reflection staring back, eyes squinting before letting out an irritated huff, "Of course the prideful son of a bitch wants to watch himself in bed. Why would I think anything else?"
Regardless of how high up the ceiling mirror was, she could see herself as clear as day: the irritated quirk in the corner of her mouth, the mischievous gleam in her eye, the stress and panic built up behind her carefully constructed mask-
Kuro buried her face into a pillow with a groan, trying to drown out the cacophony with a verbal one of her own, only serving to add to her growing headache. It was like her mind split into separate pieces for the sole purpose of screaming at each other, each one louder and more sporadic than the last.
With a deep breath, she pulled herself back up, pulling the smirk back over her face. Her irritation, her anger, her fear, all of it was dragged back behind the iron doors of her mask, slammed shut as her smirk locked it all back in.
Kuro groaned, bashing her head into the pillow as if that would help to solve her mental conundrum. When the pillow did nosuch thing, she instead took to picking it up and throwing it against the glass balcony doors
"Stupid pillow," Kuro grumbled, sneering at it, before pulling on her dress, "Stupid dress, stupid room, stupid cieling mirror, stupid prince!"
Clutching her head, she pulled a grin over her face, almost challenging her reflection to stare back with a different expression, "God, everything fucking sucks, huh? Got any advice for me, any words of wisdom or hymn of humor I can use before I'm completely swallowed up?"
The mirror offered nosuch words.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Kuro grumbled in a dry tone, throwing herself back, turning her head to toss a hateful look to the fallen pillow, "I don't suppose you wish to add anything?"
The pillow responded in a very similar fashion to the reflection, choosing to instead slump over.
"Yeah, I thought as much." Kuro grumbled, grabbing hold of another pillow to press against her face, muffling her own shriek as best as she could.
"You're okay." Kuro grumbled into the pillow, repeating the mantra into the fabric of the pillow as if it would change anything, "You're fine, this is all just an overreaction. A bad dream, You're going to go to sleep and wake up back in your shitty apartment. You're going to wake up to Vale knocking against the door and complaining about your snoring. You're going to go to the bar and bother Shax for watered down drinks, and start one-sided fights with Zagan. You're going to bitch about the idiots that live here, and relive memories back when-Oh who am I kidding."
That pillow was quick to follow the other to the floor, Kuro forming a messy little nest on the floor with all the bedding she was throwing about. She didn't stop till a knock came to the door, Kuro's head whipping up just in time to scowl at the intruder, "What do you want?"
"I was wondering what the commotion was about," Corvus sighed, amusement lighting up his eyes as if to counter her own icy glare. He let out a huff of laughter upon seeing the mess on the floor, as if he found the clutter to be charming rather than, well, messy, "How adorable. I don't suppose you're having fun here?"
"How could you tell, I'm having an absolute fucking blast." His stupid smile persisted, despite the sarcastic bite Kuro had forced into each and every word.
His only response was a hum, surveying the room for any other areas of damage as he walked over to the closet, stripping his jacket as he went along, "At first I was worried I'd walk in on you changing."
Kuro barked out a laugh at that, eyes trailing the Crow as he disappeared behind the closet door, not daring to move from her spot on the bed, "Would that have really stopped you from walking in?"
She missed how his smile fell, kicking some of the pillows out of the way in his search for nightwear, "I suppose not."
"I thought as much." Kuro muttered, turning to the bed for something to throw at him, only to find it barren. She glared at the pile on the ground as if it had personally offended her.
The corner of her mouth was tugged upwards when Corvus took a step back, nearly tripping over the pile of comfort on the floor. She nearly laughed at his audible scowl, "You've thrown most of all the pillows down here, I see."
"Oh? Is that a hint of distaste I'm hearing?" Kuro chided, her grin only widening when the Crow bent down to pick it up, nearly giggling as his frown deepened, "I could have sworn you thought this was adorable."
Corvus huffed, tossing the last pillow over his shoulder before straightening himself back out, "Forgive me, it would appear as if leaving you unattended was a bad idea."
"I have noidea what gave you that impression."
"Despite my preference, I doubt I'll be able to keep you at my side like a good little Kitten." He continued on, Kuro grabbing hold of her wrist to keep from chucking a cushion at him, "In which case, I guess I'll have to have your personal maid watch you-"
"Oh, that's right, I wanted to talk to you about that." Kuro mumbled, scooching towards the edge of the bed to let her legs dangle off the side, kicking her feet about like a bored child. Despite her rather calm tone, Kuro could see the inflamed reflection of herself in those wine-red orbs.
"About?"
"How do I put this as simply as possible…" She made a show of putting her hand under her chin, scratching at it as she looked off in deep thought, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"...I beg your pardon?"
"I won't lie, I'll be the first to admit I ain't no saint, I'm not too fond of kids and would love to punt a few choice ones right over the Rift." A fire once again began to well up within her, the same one that had fueled her one-sided rant and pillow toss from before. Before she knew it she was on her feet, toe-to-toe with the prince, hands seconds away from grabbing his grabbing hold of his collar and wringing him out like a wet rag, "Hell forbid I have to deal with a Rifter Rascal again, and God be damned if I ever have one."
Corvus stared down at her, furrowed eyebrows and slight frown unable to make sense of… This.
"...If this is about our future children, I can assure you-"
"Wait, what? Eww, fuck, no!" Kuro all but growled, unable to resist the urge to poke at his chest, "No, not with you, not in a million years! Especially when you have children maids!"
Kuro watched as Corvus' shoulders sagged, eyes jumping to the mound on the bed, "Is that what that was all about?"
"Yes, I mean no, I mean partly!" Kuro felt like pulling at her hair, barely able to form a coherent thought past the building headache.
"You'll have to be more explicit with your words, dear."
"Don't fucking call me that you-" Kuro had to cut herself off, nearly pulling her lungs inside out with the deep breath she took, before clapping her hands together, "The last thing I need or want around here is a maid, especially if it's a little girl! I'm not handicapped, I can do shit myself, and that's ignoring the fact that you have a kid running around to serve your every whim."
"Someone obviously doesn't understand how things work around here." Corvus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. After a deep sigh, a smirk pulled itself across his face, shaking his head before petting her own, "But that is understandable. You will learn, and I will be more than happy to teach you."
Kuro slapped his hand away, his shit-eating grin throwing verdure into her flames, if the smoke coming out of her ears was anything to go by, "Don't fucking touch me."
"That's not a very nice thing to say. Rather unbecoming of a young lady, don't you think?"
"If you're offended by that, I can't wait to introduce you to the rest of my vocabulary."
A smile. "You're adorable when you're mad."
"Well, in that case, I hope you're ready for the cutest meltdown you've ever seen."
A twitch. "Surely we don't need to resort to such measures."
"Hah, watch me."
A frown. "Do you not understand what I've done for you? If only you were more considerate, maybe then you'd see how I've saved you."
"Saved me." Kuro repeated, voice soft with disbelief. For a second, her rage ran cold, a hand coming up to help support her suddenly very heavy head, "Is that what you think you've done? Save me?"
A scowl. "Is it not obvious?"
"...Listen here you pompous piece of bird shit-"
"I don't suppose you could refrain from insulting me and getting to your point, Kitten?"
"Or what?" Kuro nearly laughed, having long since reached the boiling point, "What will you do? Cage me? Collar me? Throw me out the window? Or no, maybe you're benevolent and put me in timeout so I can think about what I did and why I'm a bad whittle gurl."
"Trust me when I say I'd really rather not." Corvus growled through his teeth. Kuro was anything but oblivious to his anger, instead leeching off of it like the gleeful little irritant she was.
"Oh, but I do." With a grin, she pushed him back, hands planted themselves in the dead center of his chest, "Go on then, do it. Hit me, yell at me, kick me out, clock me so hard I see angels! Do it, I dare you to do it."
For a second, just a second, Kuro swore that she saw it: the moment Corvus snapped. It was the most enraged he'd ever looked, eyes narrowing into the most condescending glower she'd ever seen. She nearly backed down in that moment, feeling like less than an ant under his stare.
But just as quickly, he took a deep breath in, eyes closed as he took a step back to pinch the bridge of his nose, "...Why must you put up such a fight?"
"Sorry, that's just part of the Kuro experience." Kuro deadpanned, finally coming down from her high. She felt how he looked: mentally and physically exhausted.
"...Look," Kuro mumbled, words just barely tumbling out of her mouth, "You look tired of my bullshit, and quite frankly, I'm not exactly faring too well either."
Corvus took a moment to sigh, shaking his head with a hooded expression, "To think you could be this sensible, how very intriguing."
"Hey, don't even with me right now dude." Kuro grumbled, the sound half-growl and half-yawn.
She almost wanted to start another fight, but being how light headed she was, as well as the sudden energy drop, she would sooner drop to the floor than dropkick the Crow. It was enough of a fight to keep her eyes open, how was she going to fend off the Crow?
One thing was for sure, the cozy pile of comfort on the bed was calling her name. And she wasn't going to think twice before answering it's call, "I'm just starting to come down from this high, I'm barely lucid enough to keep from punching my… 'beloved' in the face." She nearly gagged at the use of the B-word, regretting it the moment it slipped from her lips.
Regardless, it seemed to have the intended effect, if his small smile as relaxed shoulders were anything to go off of, "I promise I will do all I can to gain your affection. You will come to love me, I'm sure of it." Kuro didn't have time to think of how weird that had sounded, instead ducking under the hug he'd tried to instigate.
"Don't mistake this as some kind of surrender." Kuro did her best to pull herself up, only to drop her hand to her mouth to try and cover her yawn, "I may be tired, but I'm not about to roll over and let you walk all over me."
"I would never-"
"Save it for literally anyone else." Kuro grumbled, hiking up her nightgown ever so slightly before plopping herself on the pillow pile, burying her face, muttering out something akin to a goodnight before finally passing out.
Corvus hadn't stuck around to hear whatever she'd mumbled into the heap on the bed, instead excusing himself to the adjoined bathroom. The moment the door was locked and behind him he moved to the mirror, tracing out the dark bags that had seemingly just appeared on his face before covering them in his palm.
He glanced down at the counter, tracing a finger over the thin gold line that danced across the white marble. It had been a design he'd wanted in his new shared room, from the specific shape and curve to the thickness and the shade, it had to be perfect. And, like everything else in his life, all he had to do was ask and it would be done.
He knew from the start that Kuro wouldn't be like that.
If anything, he thought that this would be something new, an excitingly fresh person to mold as he pleased. It was one thing for the maids and help to bow because they had to, but the idea of breaking someone in on his own? It was too tantalizing to ignore.
He had little to nodoubt in his ability to get what he wanted, even with someone who wasn't the most flexible. Even Aranea could be bent into shape with the right words and ploys.
But it felt like Kuro could see right through him, like she could sit there and pick him apart in seconds. Not to mention her unyielding attitude, which only added to the confusion as to why a follower of sloth would be so stupidly resilient.
Or maybe she normally wasn't and was only doing it to spite him?
Just thinking about it made his head spin.
And yet, regardless of all of that, Corvus couldn't help but find her enticing. She was like the unreachable treasure, the forbidden fruit. Just the idea of snatching her away from his brother was euphoric, so the thought of grooming her into the perfect bride, effectively ripping away any and all chances Aranea would have?
If that wasn't the very idea of pure bliss, Corvus wasn't sure what would be.
It was almost funny, really, to think that someone with the rank of a devil would be so easily shattered. If Corvus had found this out sooner, who knows how he would have been able to twist it around. But no, it probably didn't work with any girl, which only made having Kuro all the sweeter.
At the end of the day, he had the girl and Aranea would be reduced to a deplorable mess.
Now, if that wasn't worth driving the point home, he wasn't sure what would be.
Vale opened the door just in time to watch the newcomer nearly fall through, "You're late."
"I'm never late." The new guy grinned, pushing past Vale a cheeky grin, shooting him a pink-tinged wink as he strided into the bar, a hand reaching up to adjust the hood over his head, "You're all just early."
"Oh great, he actually showed up." Zagan muttered, choosing to toy with the glass in his hand rather than turn around.
"Zagan! Haven't changed a bit, I see." A hand made its way to pat Zagan's back, jumping back when his growl became palpable. He moved back to pull his hoodie up to reveal a white t-shirt underneath, pulling up his baggy black cargo pants before letting it fall back down over his skinny form, "I wonder, is that skull of yours as empty as I last remember-?"
"If you plan to start a fight with the biggest guy in the yard, I'm going to ask that you take it outside." The unmistakable voice made the newcomer flinch, like a child being caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Shax seemingly apperated behind him, his mouth set in its usual casual frown, arms crossed over his chest to really sell that "why are you like this" parental look. The parallel forced a similar expression onto his own face, "Do not expect me to help you out of your own mistake, especially when it's one you've made often, Abraxas."
"Dude, define help." Abraxas got a good laugh out of that, a hand sliding into one of his many pockets to fiddle with the aviators within them, "Last time old Zig-Zag here beat the snot out of me, all you did was throw me a cold glass and a disappointed look."
"And you expected more from me?"
Abraxas cackled at that, leaning over the bartop to give Shax's shoulder a squeeze, "I missed you too, big bro."
"Not to break up this truly heartwarming reunion," Vale intervened, finally moving from the front door, "But can we please get to the task at hand?"
Shax nodded, removing Abraxas' hand from his shoulder as Vale sat down, levelling a calculated look with his brother, "You know why you're here, correct?"
"That's the only reason I'm here." His laugh was as fake as the smile he wore, cheeks looking like they were held in place by invisible toothpicks, "Because some big-shot devil thought they could just whisk Lilim away?"
Vale looked confused for a moment, only to shake his head, "Sometimes I forget how long you've been gone."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We'll have you caught up later on," Shax interceded, shooting Zagan a warning look before he could sneak a hand into his jacket, "We still need to plan for her break out."
"Wait, what do you mean, 'plan'?" Abraxas muttered, eyebrows knit together before levelling a finger at Shax, "Am I not here to help you break her out, you know, here and now?"
"We are working on it, we will have her out in time-"
"In time." Abraxas repeated softly, as if he couldn't believe the words rolling off of his own tongue. In a matter of seconds Abraxas had lurched forward, grabbing hold of Shax's collar, "How is this not the first order of business here!? You call me down here to what, sit back and fiddle with my dick while you and Vale play 'sit around and stare at a circular table' all day? Nofucking thanks. If that's your plan, I'll pick up my shit and go get her myself."
Shax didn't speak until after his brother had worn himself out, huffing from the strain his rant had put him under. After a few tense seconds, Shax finally rolled his eyes, snapping Abraxas' hand from his collar while his other hand moved to push him back into his chair, "Calm down, at this rate, you're going to hyperventilate, and I don't want to waste more time than you already claim we are."
"Oh, up yours."
"We will get to it," Vale insisted, staring between the two of them before giving Zagan a look. The scorpion shrugged, mumbling something about sibling bickery before walking over to the window, peeking out through the closed blinds, "We just have other things to deal with for now."
"Oh yeah, like what?" Abraxas scoffed, voice high enough to put a yipping chihuahua to shame.
"For starters, we'll need to hold this place down." Shax grumbled, staring down at Abraxas' hands before finally pulling them from his collar, silently moving to fix it, "Despite recent events, the bar has been able to stay at its usual income rate, but not nearly enough to cover all of our expenses."
"What are you saying here?" Abraxas muttered, his tone knowing fully well the answer to his question.
"Dropping our jobs isn't an option, and with our sniper gone-"
"-You expect me to fill in, huh?" Abraxas grinned, throwing his head back with a bitter chuckle. His eyes lingered on his brother's blank expression, eyes trailing down to follow the finger dancing across the top, "Each and every second I sit here, I'm reminded why I left in the first place. I don't suppose you know why I left?"
"I don't suppose you know why she stayed." Shax muttered, the only thing giving away his rising impatience being the click of his dress shoes against the floor, "To think how far she went for you, and this is how you repay her?"
"Don't you dare try and put that condescending bullshit on me, especially when you know it isn't there!" Abraxas scowled, "Acting like I don't want to save her, she's the only reason I'm here! Hell, if it wasn't for Lilim, I'd be back on the Surface TPing Foraii's hut."
"Big words from the guy who booked it the moment she filled in for you." Zagan growled from the window. His irritation sent ripples through the ground.
Before he could fly out of his chair, Vale put a hand on Abraxas' shoulder, pushing him back down onto the stool, "Don't."
"Whatever." Abraxas muttered, finally backing down from Vale's glare, turning to face Shax, "So, you wanna tell me the full reason I'm here, or are we gonna keep playing this ring around the rubbish nonsense?"
"...You're correct in assuming one of the reasons we called you in was so that you could fill in."
"Fucking knew it." Abraxs spat.
"Don't worry, it's a temporary fix." Vale was quick to cut him off, knowing he wasn't the only one who couldn't take another Abraxas rant. Shax took his time to pull a pen from his back pocket, whipping out a small booklet before jotting something down, looking almost relieved with the menial task, "You'll be filling in while we work on a plan, even if it's to break Kuro out for just a day. We will figure this out."
"...Why didn't you just start with that?" Abraxas grumbled, slowly reclining back into his seat, only to stiffen up as he shot Vale a look, "Wait, who's Kuro?"
"We have so much to catch you up on." Vale deadpanned.
"Anyway, now that we know you won't try to backflip off the Edge," Shax mumbled, finally tucking his pen back into his back pocket before ripping the piece of paper out, folding it up to hand to Vale, "You think you can get this in?"
"If my buddy is on shift, it won't be an issue." Vale took the note, stuffing it into his pocket before his curiosity could persuade him otherwise.
"I wouldn't have lost it if we had just started with this, you know." Abraxas grumbled, throwing a fake pout over his face.
"Knowing Kuro, she's either already trying to bust out, or she's annoying the hell out of that prince. For the sake of the plan, let's hope for the latter."
"You know, Shax, you can at least acknowledge when I say something. On the note of acknowledgement, noone's told me who this Kuro chick is yet!"
"Vale, sit him down in the spare room upstairs. You can catch him up on what he's missed while Zagan and I prepare."
"Oh, fun. You two get to plan and I get to play history teacher. Wonderful."
Sorry if this felt like a filler chapter, it's gonna take a bit of time for anything to really happen, so I have to lay down all the ground work first.
It's been a while since I wrote a quirky character like Kuro, and if I'm honest, it's a nice blast from the past. She feels so similar to Amy and Erin, that same happy-go-lucky character, with a nasty vocabulary and a whole lot of comebacks.
One of the main tropes I like about Kuro is when she makes references to what the humans like. I know back then they didn't have video games, which is my opinion makes the story a bit more meta, since no one else but the reader knows what she's talking about. (Story of my life, tbh)
Another is the lazy I-don't-give attitude. While it's hard to work in at times, I try to make it so that she's constantly jumping from one emotion to another, so she can go from being too lazy to get up to being pumped up for a fight for no real reason.
I'll stop dragging this one now so we can end. Hope you guys liked it, I'll cya next chapter!
Till then, bai bai!