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On December 14th, 1652, Lady Genevra Bleak had been found appearing in a dark alley.
On January 1st, 1653, she was burned on the stakes.
Little did they know that that same morning, she had given birth to Lord Klarion Bleak, gifting him with immortality.
-
For a century, everyone went on with their lives.
Everyone but this starving poor, poor demonic child, full of hatred and loneliness.
After all, no one was here to feed him bread and kind words.
-
His Magic was oh so protective.
Aged sixty, but really only three, She made him food and brought it to him. And, as the hunger stopped, he decided that the world would end in ruins.
His hair grew horns.
-
The boredom was consuming him. Outside of re-reading his late mother's goodbye letter, trying to give the letters some sense, and practicing Magic, he didn't have much to do.
So, he'd learned to get out.
Looking back, it was both the best and worst choice he'd made.
A two hundred (five, Magic told him, humans would call him a toddler) year old shouldn't see one of his kind be beaten up to death.
Maybe it did make him go crazy.
-
He started stealing books. Most of the words didn't make sense, but from the little he could comprehend, magic was evil.
Was he?
-
In 1897, he gave his powers a try, in the Mortal world. Keeping it to himself would be selfish.
He ripped their bodies apart. The men whose ancestors ruined his life before it even started, making him raise himself.
It was only the start.
-
At three hundred and thirty-three (sixteen, fucking sixteen) he had killed thousands, and as he achieved the ten-thousandth, he felt the balance change.
A new magician was born.
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He followed her for quite some time. Zatanna Zatara, daughter of the famous Giovanni Zatara.
He didn't really care about the man; he had less potential than she so obviously did. When she turned fourteen, he'd thought about giving up. While she emanated strength, she didn't seem the kind to be able to develop her powers properly.
And then, she met them.
The Young Justice.
-
He kept looking after her, then.
Did Klarion believe that teamwork was pointless and weak? Maybe, maybe he did.
But when she started growing stronger, he got it.
Humans needed that.
-
It wasn't love at first sight. After all, he'd found the boy to be annoying and idiotic.
The way he wasn't able to notice that Miss Martian was head over heels for Superboy made him cringe.
-
He realized, as he threatened Nabu, alongside Kent's pleas for the boy's freedom, that he started caring for them all, including Kid Flash.
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He fought them, more than once. It wasn't exactly made to hurt them. More to make them grow stronger. He refused to admit it, even to himself.
-
He couldn't recall when he started liking him. Maybe it was when he finished puberty and had grown to be a handsome young man.
Or maybe it was when he gave up on exclusively wearing bright colors.
What he knew was that he didn't care that the boy (man, he was almost an adult now) mentally matured.
After all, a man of his importance didn't care about anything other than appearance.
He had flings, before.
Personnality was superflu.
-
Maybe it wasn't so superflu, he realized, as he saw Richard Grayson sobbing in the redhead's arms, on April 1st.
As he reassured Conner Kent over his brainwashing by M'gann M'orzz.
As he calmed her down, too, and told her she could be better.
As he swore to Artemis Crock that she wasn't like her family after they encountered Cheshire.
As he hugged Zatanna tight on her father becoming-Dr-Fate's anniversary.
As he patted Kaldur'ahm's back as he learned about Tula's death.
Magic told him, "He cares. This may be what you need, Witch Boy."
-
He completely fell for him, quite literally, when Magic let him go and fall.
Kid Flash opened his arms and brought him closer when he caught him.
(Fucking hell.)
-
On Wallace's 18th birthday, he went to his party.
When everyone got their weapons out, he regretted coming, yet still went to face the birthday boy.
He disappeared under the shocked screams, but not before noticing Wallace's blushed face.
Why were humans that weird? It was just a kiss, after all.
-
He left drawings, sometimes.
He'd leave notes, but somehow, at three hundred and sixty, he was still unable to write.
-
One day, Wallace caught him.
"Klarion! Here you are! I've been trying to get to you for ages!"
-
Surprise was human.
But why did he feel it, then, as these lips crushed against his once again?
If only someone reminded him that, if surprise was only Human, his love made him worse than that.
Love made him Mortal.
-
It became a weekly routine.
Every Saturday evening, Klarion would appear at Wallace's flat. ("Please, Klar, call me Wally. Wallace sounds weird as hell.")
They'd share a few kisses.
Wallace, or "Wally", would tell him about his week, unaware that the other boy already knew.
-
It had been three months.
Three months of following, appearing, kissing, leaving, then start again.
This time, as he was leaving, a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Can I try something?"
-
Their lips crushed together, with such strength that Klarion could feel their teeth knock together. (Oh, that's what he meant then. Sure, he had more than enough experience for that.)
-
As he tried to unbutton his... friend's? Shirt, he felt water drip on his hands, as if he was burning hot. For Chaos' sake, he was sweating.
-
The ginger's torso was covered in freckles, he let his instinct take over. He made sure to kiss them all.
-
When the younger (much, much younger, but also just as old) man started moaning his name, as he pushed inside, it hit him. He had known, for a little while now, that he loved him. It was only now that he truly, fully realized it.
-
A year into their... partnership, they got into an argument.
"I thought we were serious! I thought you wanted to stay with me, goddamn it!"
And he did, he really did.
He simply didn't get it.
Why did it matter if he slept with someone else?
-
When Wally kissed Richard ("Dude, are you serious? You're Walls' boyfriend, call me Dick!"), it was obvious, why it mattered.
Kid Flash was his.
And Klarion was Kid Flash's.
-
He mimicked what he saw others do, what they used to express guilt, regret, culpability.
He apologized, as sincerely as he could, which probably wouldn't be noticeable for a human.
But his partner, his lover, understood.
He understood what his elder meant.
The kiss he got in return was the best he'd ever had.
-
He didn't get it. He simply, purely didn't.
It was a simple spell, a normal one, too. He and Wally would be linked, forever. No one else could touch the man he Loved.
Why did he make it sound so bad?
Why did he slap him?
-
"I'm full of love, Klarion! I need to express it! You can't- you can't just forbid me from showing love to others!"
"This is not what I'm doing, Lover. You can always tell them."
"It's not the same! Please, please, let me touch them!"
"You can touch them, though."
"Yeah, and? They get fucking burned! I hugged Uncle Barry and if it wasn't for his healing he would've needed a fucking skin transplant!"
"Then show them love otherwise."
"I will show YOU, love otherwise! Don't fucking touch me again or I'll slap you again!"
Fine. He reversed the spell.
If he cried that night, no, he did not.
He just wanted him to be his, fully and only his.
-
On the next Saturday evening, just as Klarion was ready to go, Wally stopped him.
"Hey, thank you, for, you know, reversing the spell."
"It was the only way to keep you."
"I know. I'm thanking you for loving me enough to let me go."
He did. He loved him so much, he could unleash Hell's wrath upon himself, simply to make the other man happy, would destroy the whole world to make him smile.
He could even ask Magic to leave him, just to stay with Wally.
Oh man, he was so in love.
-
They had so many arguments over the years, but he guessed it was alright.
Klarion would mess up quite often, unable to understand human feelings and actions, but Wally and his huge, oh so huge heart, always stayed.
He made him feel like someone, someone who was worth it. Someone worth forgiving.
So, standing in front of all of Teekl and Wally's (and now, his) friends and family, he said it.
"Yes."
(After the wedding, he muttered under his breath, "Dear Magic, please free me from my curse. Curse of immortality."
He knew, after 5 years, that he wanted to be with him, and only him.)