Two Hearts

"You steal me away
With your eyes and with your mouth
And just take me back to a room in your house
And stare at me with the lights off, to feel something."

Touch- Daughter

He awoke in a cold sweat, screaming. Nothing changed. His eyes pierced the air, not the warm orange they were naturally, and his pupils clearly stuck out from his iris. He was growling continuously, seething with rage; growling like an animal with a killing intent, but, there was nothing to kill. Death turned on himself.

He dug his clawed fingers into his chest, making a sickened laughing/growling noise that echoed in the dark room. Death was so numb he couldn't feel any of his self-infliction, and either way, his healing factor would do just fine in fixing him up after the anger subsides. The warmth of blood was felt on his hand as it dripped from the gash in his chest, something then flooded his mind:

"I'm insane, I feel my blood seep into my skin. So good, so warm." Death slammed a bloody hand on the nearest wall with an ugly *splat*, then raised both hands near his face, to feel the warmth creep through his mask, he began to cry. *Growling* "My dear, where have you gone?! Why did you leave me?" Death then created another gash in his chest to fill the void of his anger.

*Crying* I...I don't like my name. It hurts me, mocks me! *Guttural scream* I DON'T LIKE IT! TAKE IT AWAY, MAKE IT STOP!" He crawled to her corpse, bloody and weeping. "Oh...My s-sweet...sweet dear. Why?! I've bled for you,"

He stopped shortly, gasping heavily. The Horseman raised a shaky hand and touched her pale, colorless face. When he noticed the veins popping out from behind withering and dying skin, he couldn't take it.

"I'VE TORN MYSELF OPEN FOR YOU!"

Death yanked his mask off and violently threw it into the darkness to show his face. His true face, emotionally crippled with fear and anger, which shows that the love he had for her was precious.

"I...I RIPPED MY SKIN, POURED MY BLOOD OUT FOR YOU!" He calmed down slightly in the midst of a mix of pain and sadness, "I shared my secrets," then once again his voice rose in agony. "I GAVE YOU M-MY..." Death stopped once more, placed his bloody hands on his face and just cried beside her body before continuing with a growl, "MY HEART!" He wept and wept, occasionally cradling her and whispering something to himself. His exhaustion eventually led him to black out.

He awoke on the floor of the small room where he found the door to the one holding her lifeless body. Death stared at the ceiling before sitting up, his head throbbing as the blood rushed through his body. The stains of his blood stood out in the white room and on his pale skin, he covered his face with his arms and laid his hands into his hair. Death's face was covered in his own blood from his breakdown before passing out. He looked up to find that the door to the dark room was gone, and had then noticed that his mask was laying right in front of him on the floor looking up at the ceiling, he picked it up and, oddly, did not place it on his face.

"Death."

It was her voice. His head shot up in surprise and began to scan the room for the source. Death's breathing sped up as the realization that no one was there had hit him, hard. He slipped into a severe panic attack, heartbeat speeding up twofold, head spinning, and eyes unable to focus. The Horseman screamed out with all his strength,

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!"

It was a painful wail, , an angry yet pleading scream for her to return into his arms. There was no focus, he couldn't, he shrouded his face with his right hand, and screamed violently as he sunk his claws into his lower abdomen, through pure muscle until he felt the blood pour out. The red fluid dripped down his abdomen as his hand shook uncontrollably. Tears strewn down his face, Death looked down at his stomach.

The land he lived on was remote. There was silence between the two of them, Death got to know her very well and had quite a hand of conflicted feelings towards her.

She was beautiful.

They stood inside his home in a secluded room that Death considered a bedroom or quarters. She cared for him a lot, and he had never seen anyone who would give him such attention as she did.

"Why do you wear the mask all the time? We are alone, its fine."

"I'd, rather not remove it." He replied.

"If you won't let me remove the mask, then at least let me get close with you. I love you."

His eyes widened, he didn't know she had strong feelings for him, and he tried to deny it himself, but he felt the same way. Yet Death felt cut off in a way, he never let these emotions escape before.

she moved closer to him and raised her hand to caress his cheek, Death flinched when he felt her fingers, but then allowed her to continue. Her fingers brushed his cheek and then gently moved a lock of his hair out of his face. She then brought her face closer to his neck, and Death felt her warm lips under his chin. He closed his eyes and cautiously held her hips. She felt that by the way Death was giving into her that he needed this more than she. She stopped and looked up at him,

"Are you okay?" She whispered softly

Death did not answer.

All he did was place his forehead against hers and exhaled behind the mask. He looked sad, like he was about to cry, but there were no tears. Her hands now resided on his chest as he brought her as close as he could to his body. Death felt the warmth of her skin and got chills, he growled with satisfaction.

What Death did next took her by surprise, he picked her up by her legs and carried her over to the bed. With one arm supporting her legs and another supporting her head, Death leaned over and ever so gently laid her across the bed. He stood up momentarily and removed the armor covering his left shoulder and detached the scythes from his belt, the lack of upper armor revealed his bare muscular torso. Death then returned on the bed and straddled her legs.

"You may take it off."

She was puzzled at first, but then Death pointed at his mask, "Go ahead."

Her eyes widened for a moment, and then she raised her right hand from where it laid on his leg to the mask. Her fingers and thumb gripped the sides and gently pulled it away from his face, it made a small cracking noise as it was removed. She tossed it on the other side of the bed, and when her eyes made contact with his true face, she couldn't help but to smile warmly. Death's jawline was low, his deep orange eyes locked on hers. His lips looked soft, yet stern, and he had a scar running down the right side of his face.

Death looked down at her, saw her smiling, and smiled right back. To him, his smile was awkward but a smile nonetheless. He could not describe this feeling, it was warm, comforting, very alien to him. And that smile, he saw it, and felt overwhelmed.

Slowly, he leaned forward and gently kissed her on the lips, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Death broke the kiss to look at her, now that they were literally face to face with each other.

"I ... I love you. So much." He could not deny his feelings anymore, and he trembled slightly when those words left his mouth. When she heard what Death said, her face lit up. His forehead lowered so it touched her own and out of nervousness, Death laughed silently to her, and then planted a kiss on her lips again.

That memory surged back into his mind, and made him feel sick. He covered his hands with his face.

"Oh god."

She taught him so much about himself that not even he knew. In the time they spent together, Death was able to open up to her. He spoke with her and she listened with an open mind, and in turn, Death did the same. Those three words, "I love you", he only spoke them to her in that intimate moment, never before had he even thought of them.

He remembered waking up to her beautiful sleeping face right beside him in the bed, in a content and quiet slumber. It was dark, very secluded in the room, they had fallen asleep for quite a while and now Death lay awake beside her. He turned on hi side to look at her, and a half-smile formed on his lips. He was still half asleep, but what he saw amused him: her body covered in a blanket up to her neck, and her sleeping face looking in his direction. Death rose his hand and gently caressed her left cheek, she was so warm. He had then remembered something she had told him before they had fallen asleep together:

"Stop denying the fact that you care. You are a gentle being on the inside an I am thankful for your choice in sharing that with me. When you said that you loved me, you were so sincere that I almost started crying. The tone in your voice was so different, and I know that you meant it."

Death smiled at the thought, then leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

Author's note:

Took a while but it's here!

In the beginning, I do feel that I did go out of character a bit, but that was due to that burst of emotion. I'm kind of showing a very broken side of Death, like, almost on the verge of insanity.

Death has recurring memories of an intimate moment he shared with his unnamed lover. I loved writing the first memory where she tells him she loves him, and Death doesn't know how to react, it shows that Death hasn't really been in this situation before. It also delves into his emotions a bit, how conflicted he feels, and then finally admitting that he loves her in turn. UGH I love how it came out! I'm happy with how personal I made it feel between the two of them, it's almost like you can feel their emotions as well!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, in the next one, I do plan for more flashbacks like these. I like writing intimate scenes, they're so fun!

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- SB