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Night had long settled onto the city, and though Scarlet tried her best to distract herself with the computer, relearning how to play Fatecraft, it didn’t take too long for her to abandon that in favor of looking at Chase.
The human was fast asleep by now, his beloved cat snuggled up next to him, it was good that he was sleeping, he needed sleep, especially after everything he’d been through.
Scarlet watched his face, taking in every movement and detail. He looked peaceful, no signs of stress or discomfort, had he always looked like that while sleeping? Scarlet didn’t know, she had never watched him before.
‘You’re being creepy.’ Her thoughts told her. ‘How would you like it if he watched you sleep?’
…
She’d like him to touch her, so that was a bad example for her brain to give her. She was kinda being a creep right now… but it helped to see Chase, just hearing him wasn’t enough, and truthfully just seeing him wasn’t enough either.
Scarlet kept her hands close to her own body, though they itched to reach out, to brush the hair that had gotten in Chase’s face away, to pull the blanket up so that she could climb in, to hold her link to humanity, her human, close.
Wait…
Her human?
Where did THAT come from? Chase didn’t, he didn’t belong to her!
Scarlet shook her head, she knew full well that her time in Hell had messed her up, but she hadn’t expected her to affect her like THIS. Sure, she knew she was pretty overly protective of him, but…
Chase was his own person, he didn’t belong to anyone, just as Scarlet didn’t belong to anyone, despite what Satan claimed.
He had called her his judgement…
Again, Scarlet shook her head. What was WITH her brain right now? Bringing up such a thing, there was nothing good about Chase calling her that!
So… Why did it make her chest blossom with warmth?
His judgement, his… Scarlet found herself imagining him saying something different.
‘My Reaper…’
Scarlet’s face was set aflame as she imagined those two words with Chase’s voice, soft yet firm. Her heart, which shouldn’t function, stuttered.
Oh no… ooooh no. Scarlet’s warmth was quickly replaced by cold dread and mortification.
Why had she allowed herself that moment of weakness in Hell? Why did she verbalize her feelings?!
She just had to tell the fake Chase, just had to try and kiss him, just had to make it real, now here she was, pining after her best friend like a lovestruck FOOL!
Chase would never return those feelings, that moment they had before she left, it didn’t mean anything romantically! It didn’t! Not to him!
Scarlet buried her face in her hands and let out a suffering groan. “Noooo…”
She was god awful at lying, even worse at hiding her feelings, especially around Chase, how the hell was she meant to hide THIS?!
Her stupid, stupid mind was NOT helping, it flashed back to the time he had hugged her after she got shot, the time he had touched her face when she was in demon form, the time he had goddamn cuddled her on the ground, the time he held her so tightly, the time he leaned down and forward to whisper into her ear-
‘Chase trapped her between himself and one of the elevator doors, there was still anger in his voice and his eyes, anger at Judah for what he had asked her to do, for what he had done to her in the past.’
Wait, wait, hang on, hold up brain, what are you doing?!
‘He leaned close to her, so close she could feel his breath on her ear, it made her shiver slightly, never in her whole life had she felt so protected and cared for.
“You’re mine.” He hissed. “No one gets to put their filthy fucking hands on you.”’
Scarlet screeched as her face turned supernova, falling back and away from Chase as her heart began to beat rapidly and painfully in her chest. “Jesus fucking CHRIST!” What was that?! What the fuck?! Why the hell would she think of THAT, much less enjoy it?!
——
There was nothing like a sudden and loud scream to wake you up quickly, Chase found.
The second his ears had registered the sound, he was awake, and the moment he realized that it was SCARLET who made that noise, Chase had jumped up, alert and looking around frantically.
‘What happened?! Did someone break in? Was she getting flashbacks?! Was-‘
Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Chase found himself looking down at a very flustered and panicked Scarlet.
She was tugging harshly at her hair, a brilliant and deep red from the tips of her ears to her neck, eyes widened and looking to the side, her mouth was held closed so tight that Chase couldn’t help but to assume she was still making that scream he heard but holding it back.
Many, many questions came to him.
One. Why was Scarlet on the ground next to his bed?
Two. Why had she screamed?
Three. Why did she look like a tomato?
Four. Why was her tail wagging behind her like it was on a sugar rush?
Five. Was she okay?
“Uh… Scar…” He called out to her, and she flinched, looked at him, and proceeded to hide her face in her hair and bring her knees up to her chest.
What… what the fuck???
“Hey, it’s okay, everything’s okay.” Chase reached out and grabbed her hand.
Scarlet’s head snapped up, she froze in place, and her eyes zeroed in on the hand that was holding one of hers, she didn’t breathe.
Chase almost pulled back, but at the smallest twitch of his hand, Scarlet grabbed it in an almost painfully tight grasp.
‘… Oh my god, I’m an idiot.’ Chase thought to himself with dawning horror. ‘She’s fucking touch starved, anyone would be, she was probably by my bed because she was worried about not being able to see me, maybe she had a flashback?’
This was something he really didn’t know how to deal with, Scarlet, to his knowledge, was not normally a touchy person, Chase always, always initiated contact, never her. And out of the three times it had happened in a serious way, he had simply hugged her.
Carefully, Chase entwined his fingers with Scarlet’s, embarrassment flooding him as he did so. Scarlet let out a breath of air, a gasp really, eyes widening.
“Hey… I’m here.” He whispered to her, and she shivered. “I’m not going anywhere, it’s okay.”
Scarlet didn’t say anything, just kept staring at their intertwined fingers. Did she want him to let go? Probably not, given her grip.
“Can you stand?”
She nodded.
“Okay, I need you to stand up and sit down next to me, I’m going to let go of your hand for a moment, okay?”
“Wait what?” Scarlet looked up at him, voice finally found. “Why-why would you do that?”
Chase thanked his years of practice as a detective for hiding how goddamn flustered he was. “So I can hug you.” He replied.
“I don’t-Why-I don’t need a hug why would I-?”
“… Scarlet you just stood up and sat on the bed.” Chase pointed out.
Somehow, Scarlet got even REDDER. “Oh! Uh, my bad I’ll just get off…” She chuckled nervously and began to sit up.
“It’s fine.” He assured her with a smile. “I’m literally offering, I understand, it’s been a long time since anyone has touched you, it’s perfectly reasonable for you to be touch starved.”
“… Right, t-touch starved… I… what’s touch starved?” Scarlet asked, sitting back down, hands in her lap.
“All humans require positive physical touch, especially from other humans.” Chase explained. “It’s as important as eating, and people get stressed, depressed, or anxious when they are forced into a situation where they aren’t capable of receiving that. Like what happened to you.”
“So, you experience it too?”
“I mean, of course I do, Lightstalker is my main source of physical contact-OOF!”
Chase nearly fell backwards when Scarlet practically threw herself at him and wrapped him in a tight hug.
“Why didn’t you TELL me that sooner?!” Wait, why was she panicking? “Christ Chase, first you don’t eat, then you don’t sleep, and now this?! It’s like you’re trying to die! Wait, are you?!”
“No! No, Scarlet calm down!” Chase put a hand on her shoulder, damn she was an intense hugger. “Touch starvation isn’t lethal, and like I said, I have Lightstalker.”
“She’s a cat, you said that human touch is needed.”
“When you’re really young, yeah, but as you get older a pet is good enough if you don’t have anyone.”
“You have me…”
Chase felt his own face begin to heat up, goddammit why did Brook have to say what he had said out loud? Why did Scarlet have to be so warm and feel so safe, why did he have to fall in love with her? And why did the way she say that break his heart?
“I…I know.” He tentatively hugged her back. Wasn't this supposed to be about her and not him? “But, I didn’t think you’d be comfortable with me asking for physical affection…” Plus it would’ve been awkward as Hell to ask.
“That’s stupid.” She was still as blunt as always. “You’re my human, I’m supposed to take care of you.”
“I know, I kno- Wait what did you just say?” Did he imagine it or did she call him…
Scarlet pulled away quickly, panicked again and just as red, she looked anywhere but at Chase and began to chuckle awkwardly. “My friend!” She practically shouted, smiling nervously. “I said you’re my friend! What else would I say?”
“It, I thought I heard you say ‘my human’.” This was like when she had called him her link to humanity only WORSE, and by worse he meant that it made his heart soar.
“Nope! You-you must be hearing things!” Scarlet said, not at all convincingly. “Probably because you’re tired, I mean I woke you up you’re probably half asleep here-” She shoved him down onto his bed, seemingly unaware of how she was now half leaning over him.
God, he wanted to reach out and grab her ever so badly, he wanted to hold her close and feel her body against his, wanted to bury his face in her hair, wanted to kiss her, kiss her scar, her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, her lips…
Without realizing it, Chase had grabbed Scarlet by the shoulders and sat up, pulling her close to him, a longing look in his eyes.
Scarlet had frozen up again, her eyes wide as she stared at him in shock and… anticipation? She looked so cute when she was confused… Her long hair had gotten in her face, and Chase pushed it away with a hand, delighting as he felt her shiver under his touch.
She had always been pretty, albeit in an intimidating edgy way… but now? She looked beautiful, like a demonic goddess. Chase certainly wouldn’t be opposed to worshiping her.
“G-Goddess?!” Scarlet stuttered, voice squeaking slightly.
Chase snapped out of her daze, horror settling deep in his stomach as he realized he had said that last part out loud.
‘When did I get so close to her?! Oh my god what is wrong with me she’s traumatized and needs comfort and here I am taking advantage of that, great going Chase, you’re such a good friend.’ He let go of her, mentally berating himself. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid!’
Scarlet played with her hair, a shy and uncertain look on her face, though Chase had pulled away, she hadn’t.
Scarlet looked at him, nervous. “Do… Do you really think I look that good?” She asked.
‘Lie. Lie right now, holy shit think of an excuse do not let her-‘
“Yeah.” Chase said with a nod. ‘GODDAMNIT!’
A small shy smile found its way to Scarlet’s face, she looked away briefly and gave a flustered chuckle. “O-oh… I uh… wow…” She kept stealing glances at Chase, always looking away quickly. “Sorry I uh… don’t know what to say…”
Oh no, oh no this was really cute, shy Scarlet was incredibly cute and endearing and he wanted to shower her with praise and compliments.
“You… you’re… you look nice too, uh… really nice actually.” She scratched her cheek.
What.
What?!
“You… you don’t need to compliment me back.” Chase told her.
“I mean it!” Scarlet insisted quickly. “Really, I do… you’re attractive, Chase.”
….
Chase covered his face with a hand, no longer able to hide how much he was being affected by her. God, he had never been complimented like this before, not once!
“… Do you… remember when you called me… your judgement…?” Scarlet asked.
He nodded shyly.
“… What exactly did you mean by that? Like… did you mean I was your executioner…?”
“No, I didn’t…” Chase admitted softly. “I… I meant it like… like I was… yours, to judge…” Hahaha why was he still talking?!
“… I don’t want to judge you… you know I’d never hurt you willingly…” Scarlet leaned over. “I care about you, a lot.”
“Because I’m your link to humanity?”
“… You said you liked it when I called you that…”
“Well… yeah, imagine being someone’s connection to humanity… that’s… pretty flattering…”
Scarlet thought for a moment, Chase both wished she would move away but also not to.
“… When you asked me if I wanted to kill Judah…”
“Yeah…?”
Scarlet leaned closer, almost pressing their foreheads together, a vulnerable tenderness in her eyes. It stole Chase’s breath away.
“That was the first time anyone’s ever… stood up for me like that… I never knew what it was like to feel protected… and… I kinda liked it?” She admitted.
“… You did?” Was this happening?! Was this actually happening? There was no way he could be imagining this.
She nodded. “I did… can… instead of calling me your judgement… Can you call me your reaper instead…?”
“Wha…?”
“Please, just… just once.” She pleaded.
Chase took a deep breath, closed his eyes, found his voice, opened his eyes, looked right into Scarlet’s and said;
“My Reaper.”
The statement rolled off his tongue far too easily, and he found that he liked how it sounded.
Scarlet seemed to feel the same, as she gave a full body shiver, complete with a tiny gasp. She pressed her forehead to his.
“My human…” She cooed, there was so much warmth and affection in the words she spoke and how she said them. It forced a giddy smile to Chase’s face.
“My Reaper…” He reached out and placed a hand on one side of her face, rubbing her scar with his thumb. Scarlet leaned forward, and he leaned back a little, they were still touching foreheads, but now she was kind of leaning over him. Her hands were placed beside him, keeping her grounded. How easy it would be, to grab her by the arms and pull, to make her fall into him and to wrap his arms around her.
“My human… my Chase.” Scarlet said with a smile.
And just like that, Chase’s walls were shattered, gone with the wind. All there was was him and Scarlet. His Reaper, his Scarlet. His, his, his…
Chase captured Scarlet’s lips with his own softly, closing his eyes as he caressed her face with one hand and tilted his head. Scarlet was quick to kiss back, to lean into the kiss and angle her head to make it better.
Aside from the scar, her lips were smooth and soft, wonderfully so. Maybe it was his imagination, but their lips seemed to slot perfectly together.
/Chu, Chu, Chu/
Again and again their lips met, soft but firm kisses.
Each press of her lips to his fuelled Chase’s addiction, making him want more. He moved his hand from the side of her hair to the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her hair. His other hand kept him up, palm flat against the bed.
“Mmmf-” Scarlet gasped against him, and he just pressed more, held them together longer, shortened the time they spent pulling away. Soon enough they were barely separating, breathing into each other and gasping after particularly long kisses. Warm puffs of air hitting their lips.
More, more, he wanted more.
Chase tugged Scarlet’s bottom lip with his teeth, gently at first, but when she didn’t get the memo he got a tiny bit rough, almost biting down.
“Chase what-MMMF-”
When she opened her mouth to question him, he tightened his grip on the back of her head, smushed their faces together, and shoved his tongue into her mouth, silencing her.
Scarlet melted into it, so much so that Chase had to lean up so he could wrap one of his arms around her middle just to steady her. He ran his tongue along her teeth, making sure to be careful when he got to her fangs. Scarlet gripped the front of his shirt tightly with both hands, mewling as he pressed his tongue against hers.
The sound sent a pleasant shiver throughout his body, he wanted, needed, to hear that again.
Chase continued to push, taking control with ease, swallowing each wonderful and delicious sound Scarlet made. Each gasp, each mewl, each whimper, all of it.
Whenever he pulled away, Scarlet was the one left the most breathless, and he delighted in the sounds she made when he returned his lips to hers before she expected it.
The next time he pulled away, he pulled away a little further, opening his eyes as he did so. A trail of saliva connected his mouth to hers.
God, she looked gorgeous.
Scarlet was panting, lips wet and bruised as she clung to Chase and looked at him with hazy half lidded eyes and face dusted red.
He removed his hand from the back of her head and placed it under her chin, tilting it up ever so slightly. He smiled, quite proud of what he had done. Of how he had made her look, and especially how he made her sound.
“You look beautiful, kitten.” He cooed softly, voice unintentionally husky.
“Kh…kitten…?” Scarlet didn’t seem very bothered by the nickname, mostly surprised and confused.
“Do you like me calling you that?” He had no idea where his confidence was coming from, but he hoped it stuck around. “My Reaper? My Scarlet? My Kitten?”
“S-stop it…” Scarlet murmured, not meaning it in the slightest.
Chase chuckled. “How about my darling? My love? Or…” He leaned to whisper in her ear. “How about… my wolf?”
Scarlet’s grip on his shirt tightened as she let out a stuttered gasp that easily gave away how much she enjoyed that last one.
“Ch… Chase…” Oh, oh she sounded amazing saying his name when she was like this.
“You're missing something~” Chase teased.
“Hggn…. m-my Chase…” Scarlet correctly herself.
“There we go.” He smiled and pressed a kiss just under her jaw. “Come on, say it again, can you do that for me? My wolf?”
“My Cha-Chase…” She slurred her words slightly when he kissed her jawline. “My human.” He moved down and placed another kiss on her skin. “M-my sinner.” And another. “My link.” Another. “My humanity.” Another. “M-my love.”
Chase didn’t reward her with a kiss that time.
Rather he rewarded her by attacking her neck. “Again.” He muttered.
“My love… A-Ah!”
A small nibble of her skin rewarded Chase with a breathless gasp, so obviously he did it again.
And again.
And a few more times, just for good measure.
Scarlet eventually began to try to pull Chase up, saying his name with a whine. “Chaaase, kiss me again..” She demanded softly.
“I am though.” He retorted.
“No, on the-AH!~ah… on the lips…”
“I dunno, you seem to be pretty content with this.”
“Come on, please? My human, please?”
“Well when you put it that way…” Chase pulled away from Scarlet’s neck, though not before glancing at his work.
Bruises were already forming, red marks littered her skin, Chase licked his lips.
He was so distracted with admiring his own work, that when Scarlet grabbed his shoulders and lightly bit his neck, Chase let out a strangled gasp, eyes widening, breath stuttering, and hands loosening.
Again, she bit his neck and licked the bite, dragging a pleased sigh out of him.
Scarlet didn’t spend as much time on each mark, but she made up for quality with quantity, going so far as to mark up Chase’s shoulders. Her tail wagged, clearly she was pleased with her little trick.
“St-starting to feel like you’re trying to eat me…” Chase joked.
Scarlet bit down a little harder, and sucked on his skin this time. “Maybe… I want a little taste test…” She replied.
He laughed. “You really ARE a wolf!”
“YOUR wolf.” She corrected him.
Chase wrapped his arms around her, pulled her face up, and pressed soft kisses to her cheeks. “Yes, yes you are. And I love you very much.”
Scarlet smashed her lips against his, shoving her tongue into his mouth with a previously hidden strength and intensity, nearly toppling Chase over.
Now HE was the one gasping for air and getting lightheaded.
“Say that again.” She all but demanded.
“I-I love you…”
“I love you too.” She said before kissing him again.
After a bit of time she suddenly pulled away, and even went as far as to cover Chase’s mouth with a hand when he tried to follow her.
“Scarlet?-”
“Your cat is staring.” She muttered.
Chase glanced at where she was looking. Lightstalker was sitting down beside them, looking in their general direction, but…
“Scar…” Chase spoke with amusement. “She’s cross eyed, she isn’t staring at us.”
“She’s looking in our general direction and if she wasn’t cross eyed she’d be staring!” Scarlet hissed, somehow turning redder.
“She’s a cat.”
“I can feel her judgement, and I am NOT going to make out with you in front of a cat!”
“… Are you embarrassed?” Chase asked with a smile.
“Aren’t you?!”
“….” He looked at his cat again. How long had she been watching them…? “A little bit.” He admitted.
“Exactly!”
“Can I still hold you though?”
Scarlet nodded, allowing Chase to pull her down and pull the blankets over them. She snuggled into him, resting her nose against his collarbone. “Don’t even need to ask…” She let out a little yawn. “… Oh wow… I’ve… never felt tired like this before…”
Chase chuckled, wrapping his arms around her. “I tired you out with kisses!” He laughed. “I took down a reaper with kisses!”
“You caught me off guard, if I had any idea of what I was doing from the beginning, I wouldn’t be tired, you would!”
“Heh, would you kiss me till I passed out?”
“N-no! Unless… unless that’s what you wanted, that is…” She mumbled the last part.
“I dunno, never done that before… maybe we could try it out sometime?” Man he was killing it with his flirting tonight!
“I-I- Go to sleep!”
“Sorry, sorry, I’ll stop teasing you.”
“Hmmf!”
…
“Hey Scar…?”
“Yeah?”
“I really do love you…” He carded a hand through her hair. “A whole lot.”
Chase felt Scarlet smile against his skin. “I love you too, you’re the first person I ever loved but I know for a fact that I love you more than anyone I’ll ever know.”
“Cause I’m your human?”
“No, because my human is Chase Carter.”
Chase yawned, making Scarlet giggle.
“Let’s… let’s go to bed…” He murmured. “Night Scar…”
“Night Chase…”