Chapter Text
By the morning, Agatha had cooled down a little. Sure, maybe she hadn’t exactly been thrilled when Rio pulled away from her. But she was fine with it. More than fine with it, actually. The pit in her stomach definitely wasn’t from rejection, no it was from… relief maybe? Whatever, it didn’t matter. She didn’t need anyone before, so she definitely didn’t need Rio now. Agatha used her power to put out the fire she had spent the night resting next to, and went to stand up.
Just as she got up off the ground, the pink flower she had forgotten she was wearing fell from behind her ear and tangled in the ends of her hair. She carefully plucked it out between her forefingers and examined it closely. Rio had given this to her, “ made it ” she had said. It must have been a conjuring spell. Obviously she had only done it to pay her back for her gift of a whole coven. But the look on her face? Agatha didn’t have a lot of experience, but she had thought that the way she had looked at her had meant she felt something . Clearly she was wrong. She ran a finger over the flower one more time before dropping it on the ground. It was time for her to move on.
She stomped away from the smoldering fire, as determined to leave her feelings behind as she was the smoke. Using her power to move anything that might be in her way, Agatha was able to move quickly. Another benefit was that it required her focus, leaving little room in her mind to think about anything, or anyone, else.
At least that was true, until pink flowers started to pop up in her path. The first couple she thought were a coincidence. Maybe it was just her seeing things. She walked faster, ignoring what the reminders made her feel until she watched as 10 more pink flowers sprung from the rocky, winter soil right in front of her.
Agatha froze and looked around. She couldn’t see anyone, but she could sense her. She could feel the power in the air around her like static, but she just couldn’t see her. She walked up to the flowers and plucked one, bringing it closer to her face. It was perfect, just like the first. There wasn’t a single flaw on the whole thing, not a petal out of place.
“I know you’re here,” Agatha stated simply. She looked around and watched as Rio, clad in her green clock as always, stepped out from behind a tree.
“I’m sorry,” she walked towards Agatha.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for, I already told you,” Agatha tried to keep any hint of emotion out of her voice, but she wasn’t doing a great job.
“Agatha, don’t,” Rio’s gaze softened when she looked at the witch. It always seemed to do that.
“Don’t what?” she flashed her a quick smile.
“Pretend that there’s nothing here. Nothing between us,” Rio looked almost pained. “About what I said-”
“But there isn’t anything between us,” Agatha watched the hurt flash across Rio’s face. She didn’t even try to hide it. “You’re the one that pulled back, not me.”
“I know…I just- I couldn’t. You don’t know who I really am,” Rio took another step closer, so they were within arm’s length of each other.
“Yeah, well you keep saying that,” Agatha snapped back, but her voice lacked any cruelty.
“I don’t normally look like this,” she hesitated before finishing. “I’m the green witch,” she looked into that all too familiar face.
“I know you are, I figured you were one when you made me like 20 flowers out of thin air,” Agatha said with a tease in her voice.
“No, I mean,” she hesitated for a moment until she looked into those blue eyes shielded by dark lashes. She must've seen trillions of eyes over her lifetime, billions of them blue. But she had never seen eyes like this. This she would have remembered. She would never have been able to walk away. “I’m the original green witch.”
“You’re…Death?” Agatha’s eyes widened and scanned Rio’s face, but she didn’t back away.
Rio looked away and nodded silently. She knew she had to tell Agatha the truth, no matter the cost. This time the cost would be her losing Agatha. She had never told anyone who she was. She had never interacted with anyone while they were alive except for Agatha, and the dead simply were too focused on themselves to have any concern with who she was. She figured the skull face certainly didn’t help encourage relationships, but she never cared. Until Agatha. She made a whole new face for Agatha, just so she could get closer without scaring her. Something about her made Rio crazy. She would collect a million souls, wait a thousand more lifetimes, if it would make Agatha look at her just one more time. Now here she was, scaring her off for good.
“That’s what all that power is, then. I can feel it from here too, but when I touch your skin…I can really feel it,” Agatha still stared at her in awe.
“You can feel it?”
“Yes. I just thought you were a really powerful witch, well I guess you are, but you're Death,” she stated so matter of factly, that Rio thought maybe she didn’t understand. Maybe she didn’t realize she was a cosmic entity. Had she confused her? Agatha was never confused, but maybe anything was possible.
“When you kill, you don’t have to see me anymore. I can leave you alone, I just had to tell you the truth,” she finished hastily, tightening her arms across her chest, and went to step back.
“Wait,” Agatha grabbed her arms to stop her from leaving. “What if that’s not what I want?”
“What?” The warm hands on her bare arms and her unexpected answer confused Rio.
“What if… it doesn’t bother me that you’re Death,” she looked away before adding: “What if it’s the opposite, huh? What if I like it?”
“I don’t understand,” Rio was flustered now, a blush she didn’t even know was possible until weeks ago crept across her human face. She had practiced this hundreds of times and in no scenario had Agatha once… enjoyed that she was Death? No, that definitely wasn’t possible. Nobody liked Death, not when it came for them. More than that, nobody would ever choose Death. Not when eyes and power like that could win over whoever she wanted.
“Rio,” Agatha hesitantly reached out a hand and softly traced her cheekbone. “It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change… whatever this is between u-”
Agatha froze and stood in silence as the cool flesh beneath her fingers turned to bone. Rio reached up and pulled down her green hood. Those warm brown eyes looked up at Agatha again, but this time from a face half skull. A way to push Agatha away for good, she deserved better.
She didn’t pull her hand away, which Rio at first attributed to shock. She couldn’t explain why Agatha then brought her other hand up and held her face. How could this be happening?
“God, you’re perfect,” Agatha breathed, she moved closer and put more of her warm hands on the chilled bones of Rio’s face. “Divine.”
Rio wrinkled her brows at the reaction and uncrossed her arms as it dawned on her. Agatha’s eyes weren’t widened in shock or disgust. She was in awe. Rio had shown her who she really was and she didn’t run. Instead she leaned in and pressed a firm kiss to her exposed teeth. Rio fluttered with something at the unfamiliar feeling and put her arms around Agatha, pulling her closer. They stayed like that: bone against skin, warm against cool, for a long time.
Death had existed for eternity without feeling. But Agatha Harkness? She was the only one who ever made Death feel alive. She made her feel human. Death would give her everything, all the special treatment she could. She knew Agatha was mortal, and their time in this dimension would eventually come to an end. And when it did, she would help her cross over to her realm, the Realm of the Dead, and they would remain together for eternity. Death and Agatha Harkness: the only one who loved Death more than life.