Chapter Text
Damien says something to Brian that strikes a nerve.
Brian was already in a shitty mood before Damien sauntered up to him at lunch, a cocky smile on his face.
“Sup, noob.” the demon said, placing a foot on the empty chair beside Brian, leaning on his knee.
“What do you want, Damien?” Brian replied coldly, staring at his lunch while he pushed it around the tray.
“Woah, what’s with the attitude, Rotface? Worms eating at your brain, finally?” to Damien, that insult might have been a clever little jest between sort-of friends, but to Brian, it was the final straw.
He stood from his chair in an instant, taking Damien by the collar, and by surprise.
“I’ll tell you what’s with my attitude , Devilbreath,” he grit his teeth as he stared the demon down. “I. Am. Sick . And. Tired . Of. Your. Shit.” Brian growled, jabbing an accusatory finger at Damien, emphasizing each word.
“Every Goddamn day you’re bothering me, calling me names, getting me into trouble, doing reckless shit for no fucking reason. I don’t understand what the fuck I did to piss you off, but I want you to leave me the fuck alone. Got it?”
Dumbfounded by the reaction from the usually passive and tolerant zombie, all Damien could do was nod. And with that Brian let go of the other man’s collar, storming out of the room, leaving behind his lunch, and a silent cafeteria.
That only lasted for a moment before the usual chatter began again, but Damien still stood where he was. What the Hell just happened? Snapping out of his stupor, he began to run after Brian, he had to find out what the fuck caused that scene.
Damien walked in on Brian leaning over the bathroom sink, knuckles white and muscles tensed. The demon cleared his throat, he tried to get the attention of the zombie, but Brian wasn’t having it.
Suddenly, and without warning, Brian punched the mirror, shattering it into little pieces and letting out a deep growl. Damien stood wide-eyed, feeling his cheeks heat up into something warmer than he’s used to.
“I told you to leave me alone , Damien.” The zombie turned, almost looking like he was showing off his glass-filled knuckles. Damien then shook his head, huffing.
“Listen, I’m just jokin’ around with you, man.”
“Yeah, real fuckin’ funny. Ha ha .” Brian went to crack his knuckles, only to notice the shards of glass jutting out of his hand. He stared at them for a long time before letting out a deep sigh and letting his shoulders droop.
“Just. Piss off, okay? I don’t have the energy for this shit today.” he waved at the demon dismissively, then shuffled over to the far end of the bathroom and dropped down onto the floor, resting against the back wall.
Damien wandered over, sitting about five or six feet away from him, almost in caution. Brian noticed this almost immediately as he looked over and huffed, clumsily picking the glass shards from his knuckles.
“Here.” Damien then scooted over closer to the zombie, grabbed his hand and gently started to pull the out shards one by one. Admittedly, it didn’t bother Brian as much as when he tried to himself.
The demon started to speak again, “Hear me out, okay? The only reason I fuckin’ mess with you is because I goddamn like you. Not like, like as a friend, but like-like.”
Brian looked over and huffed, “Yeah.”
Really? That’s it? Damien furrowed his brow and stopped pulling out the little shards. “Seriously? I spill my fucking guts to you and all you can say is ‘yeah’?” he scoffed, maybe worms really did get at his brains.
Brian shrugged, “I thought you hated me, to be honest.” he began to fiddle with the zipper on his coat. In all honesty, Brian kinda-sorta-maybe liked Damien too, but he figured that it was a one-sided affair.
“Fuck no, that’s like, the opposite of what I feel.” Damien replied as he continued to pull shards of glass out of the zombie’s hands, gesturing for Brian to give him his other hand. He wasn’t avoiding eye contact, not at all.
“Uhh. That’s, that’s cool. Yeah.” he watched as the other man pulled the shards from his knuckles with surprising efficiency and grace.
“Does this hurt you at all, even a little bit? You’re not even flinching.” Brian watched Damien’s face, now. He was making a point of avoiding looking back. Was he actually, embarrassed?
Brian cleared his throat, remembering he was supposed to reply, “Uh.. No? Not really? I can feel the glass in my hand, but it doesn’t really hurt at all. Perks of being undead, I guess.”
“Well, that’s all of it.” Damien said after a while longer, he then helped Brian to stand. Brian rolled his shoulder and flexed his fingers, all better. The two then stood in an awkward silence for what seemed like forever before Brian spoke, “Do you uh, want to come over and talk more about it later?”
“Yeah, that sounds cool.” Damien replied with more readiness than he intended, kicking at the debris on the floor. “We should probably get out of here before Crazy Martin finds the broken mirror and pitches a fit.”
“Oh shit, I totally forgot I did that, fuck. Fuck, my social worker is gonna be pissed if she hears about this.” Brian grabbed his bag from against the wall and ran out of the bathroom. Once again leaving Damien dumbfounded and standing alone.
“I didn’t even get his number...” Damien muttered to himself, kicking at the wall.