Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Honestly? Spooky Academy fucking sucked. That was the truth, put right out there. It just was. Damien wouldn’t even go here if it wasn’t for his dads asking him nicely but very firmly. And even then he barely stays on school grounds. The school is just his personal fire setting space, and that’s that. You couldn’t pay him to go to classes.

Except. A few. He would only go to normal classes if he would get in trouble with his dads for not doing so. And gym is just an excuse to dunk on noobs and chill with Scott. As for drama? Well… he basically has to go to that one. And he can’t ‘accidentally’ burn it down either. Mostly by virtue of Liam and Miranda— though mostly Miranda. Liam would be fucking insufferable if he burnt down the place, but it’d be worth it.

Miranda? Miranda would cry if he missed too many classes of it without good reason, let alone burn the damn place to the ground. And Damien is unfortunately weak to Miranda tears. She’s like, his precious little sister! He can’t make his forcefully-adopted sister cry!! 

So he dealt with going to drama class regularly. Luckily it wasn’t too bad. The violence was mostly pretend, but the costumes were cool, and seeing everyone else (that he gave a shit about) playing their parts almost made him proud.

But this time around it was getting real tempting to burn the place down. He’d been put on the tech team this time, as it was other monsters’ turns to be in the play or some shit. Damien suspected they were just getting tired of him covertly setting props on fire for dramatic effect. The role he would have was replaced by that girl Amira— Damien didn’t know her well, but he heard she rivaled him in arson charges, so at least his legacy was in safe hands, metaphorically speaking.

Still, he himself could not set any fires. Or do anything else to destroy this building. Because Miranda would definitely bawl. And Liam would be extremely fed up with him. After all, Vicky Schmidt was also in the play, and Brian Yu was once again reluctantly joining the tech crew, and Damien had heard entirely too much about how Miranda and Liam respectively favored those two.

They had Damien up in the rafters this time for… some reason. The teacher said someone would come to show him how the various controls up in the control booth and catwalk worked, but they hadn’t shown yet. It was dumb. All this was dumb.

There was no one even up here. And no one seemed like they were coming. Damien stared at the ladder that led up here, waiting for someone to start climbing.

“H-hey! Sorry I’m late!” Came a sudden voice from behind him, and Damien made a very manly shriek and nearly fell down the ladder. He turned around and saw a shadowy figure in a yellow cardigan suddenly behind him. Where the hell did they come from?! He didn’t see them come up and sure as hell didn’t hear them. Were they just waiting back there to scare him?!

“Oh! S-sorry, did I scare you?” The shadowy figure actually looked sheepish and apologetic, despite the cheerfulness of their voice. They didn’t have a mouth, but the way their eyes crinkled at him made it obvious they were smiling. They gave a sweet little laugh like church bells; unsettling yet gorgeous to hear. 

Damien felt his cheeks grow hot, and he scowled, not liking how this boy suddenly made him feel so fluttery. “As if you could fucking scare me. Whatever. You’re going to show me how things up here work?”

“Yes! Here, come with me.” The figure gently grabbed his wrist, and where they touched felt tingly. Damien found himself being willingly dragged along, suddenly too dazed to say no. The figure led him down the catwalk and started explaining how the lights and hanging props and sandbags worked. They stuttered a little bit, but seemed very passionate about all of it, which rendered Damien strangely quiet and enraptured by the way their voice lilted, how their hands moved to gesture and explain, how their eyes crinkled even more with that goddamn smile.

“So remember cues, aim spotlights at the main actors, and if you hit a stagehand with a sandbag that’s bonus points, right?” Damien explained back to them when they finished, joking with a smirk.

The figure snorted and laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. “Please don’t actually hit a stagehand.” They wheezed, and Damien thought for a brief moment that he would do literally anything this person asked him to.

And really, seeing that smile again, hearing that sweet laugh… that was the exact moment that the prince of hell, but still a boy, fell in love.

It was like a fairytale. Just like the ones of true love his dads told him growing up. Where you meet your soulmate and live happily ever after in Hell.

But unfortunately this boy was still Damien LaVey. And Damien LaVey was a dumbass.

So upon feeling these soft and fuzzy feelings, Damien decided that these feelings must be hatred. Yup, totally. That’s definitely what it is. 

This guy was throwing off his game, totally making him act lame! That was plenty reason to hate him. This guy was making him feel things he’d never felt before and he didn’t know what to do about it— so getting angry as usual it was. He turned away from the other, not wanting to look at him laughing any longer. It was making him feel weird. Probably because he wanted to wipe that smile off his face. With his fist. Yep.

“Are you… okay?” The figure asked gently, noticing his sudden bad mood.

“Nothing. Just tired of being up here  with your lame ass.” Damien scoffed.

“Oh.” In that one syllable was a several pounds of hurt. Damien felt his stomach turn, but didn’t take it back. The other continued speaking. “That’s okay… You can go back down now, I’m sure they can find something else for you to do.” They recovered, voice cracking a bit.

“Hmph.” The moody bad boy prince of Hell walked back down the catwalk, feeling miserable. Probably from being around that guy, right?

“By the way, my name is Oz!” The figure suddenly calls, weak.

Oz. Damien holds onto that name. Today he has acquired a new enemy.

Chapter Text

“Wait, so you had a meet-cute and then he ruined it?!” Zoe, Oz’s best friend since the literal beginning of their existence, asked them bluntly as they ate in the cafeteria. There was a screaming man strapped to the table that Zoe was eating the insanity out of, but they could easily talk over him using telepathy.

“Zoe, you know what I’ve said about comparing my life to tropes…” Oz mumbled, looking away.

“Oh, right! Sorry, I forgot. But yeah, he was nice and he suddenly turned on you out of nowhere?” She rephrased it like a normal person and not an obsessed fan girl.

Pleased with her compliance but still bummed out by what happened, Oz nodded glumly. Their little phobias appeared on their shoulders, patting them and comforting them.

“Damn, that sucks… Not exactly the kind of thing I would read. You want me to drive him insane for a few hours as revenge?” Zoe asked.

“No… I want to be the bigger monster about this. If he wants to treat me like garbage after I went out of my way to make him like me, then fine. Whatever. Hmph.” Oz crossed their arms, somehow pouting at the table even though they didn’t have a mouth.

Zoe observed the entity she’d known since the moment of her existence, trying to think of a way to cheer them up. They were just as close as they had been millions of years ago, when they were both nameless entities gorging themselves on the fear and madness from unfortunate mortals, but there was still a bit of relearning to be done. After all, Zoe had only recently been reunited with them after they disappeared for about 500 years, and Oz had changed a lot as a person since the last time they were together, back before they called themselves Oz and Zoe.

“You want to feed off the same person as me? You used to love doing that when we were young!” She offered the screaming man to them, thinking of the times when Oz was so young and wanted to do everything with her. Fear and Madness went hand in hand, after all. “There’s plenty of fear and anxiety in him that I can’t eat anyway, so waste not, want not, right?”

“I dunno…” Oz sighed, glancing away. “I’ve been on a cruelty free fear diet for a while. Y’know, only eating fear out of those that give their consent to have their fears eaten?”

“C’mon, every diet lets you have cheat days!! When was the last time you had one?” Zoe prodded.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had one since I started this diet.” Oz replied, rubbing their arm.

“And when did you start this diet?”

“About twenty years ago… give or take a few years, anyway.” Oz told her hesitantly.

Zoe stared at them with astonishment. “You have more self control than literally every creature on Earth combined.”

“Thank you?”

“You’re welcome! Now come on, have a cheat day! You’ve more than earned it after the shit day you’ve had!! You know you waaaanaaa~” Zoe giggled.

“Okay, okay, fine. You’ve won me over. This’ll be my cheat day for the month.” Oz relented, and their eyes glowed white as a grey fog began seeping out of the screaming man and into their body. Slowly the man’s screaming subsided as more and more of his fear was sucked out of him. Then he passed out from exhaustion. Zoe and Oz continued to feed from him, though.

It was an absolutely terrifying and very badass sight, that Damien LaVey very much saw from his table with Polly. He pretended he wasn’t affected, though, and looked away quickly with pink cheeks when Oz glanced his way and caught him staring.

Oz sullenly stared at Damien. “I kinda hate him now.”

“But you also still really really like him.” Zoe pointed out.

Oz sighed heavily. “Yeah…”

“Well, I’m sure it’ll all work out. There’s gotta be some way you can get his attention. Or at least get back at him without resorting to murder or psychological torture.” Zoe hummed. “C’mon, Oz, you can think of something! You might be shy, but unlike everyone else I know your highest stat is BOLD! You are the eldritch embodiment of fear! Make him rue the day he snubbed you!” She encouraged wildly.

“Y-you’re right. I don’t have to let him have the last word. I can do whatever I want! I-If he wants to make me feel like shit, I’ll bring him down with me!” Oz decided, banging their hands on the table.

“Hell yeah!” Zoe cheered. “And if nothing else, we can always go to prom together as platonic BFFs. I’ll be happy with you no matter what you do.” She kissed their cheek.

Oz chuckled bashfully, rubbing the back of their neck. Their phobias cheered and made grabby hands at Zoe, who giggled and pet one with her finger. “Thanks, Zoe… You’re the best relationship-impossible-to-define-in-mortal-words I could ever ask for.”

“You are too.” Zoe beamed. “But dang, we really need to come up with a codename for what we are that’s less wordy but also doesn’t drive people insane just to hear.”

“Yeah. Brainstorm sesh about it while we finish eating?” Oz offered.

“Sure thing!”

—

Damien was screaming. He was was ranting and raving loudly, disrupting the usual walk to the bathroom. Oz had come to get their boldness up to insane heights, but now the path was blocked by Damien, who was screaming.

Specifically, at a banana.

Oz stared at him from a distance, completely done with his bullshit. Why did they like this guy again? Right, because he wished he could be as cool as Damien. And because they knew Damien had some good in him somewhere. They could sense the fear produced by Damien’s toxic masculinity and fear of inadequacy from a mile away. They could sense that inside, Damien just wanted someone he could be himself with. And Oz wanted to be that person for him. They wanted to help him, and make him feel better. They wanted to hold Damien and tell him that they liked him no matter who he really was. That they liked him for the person they knew he was under the layers of bad boy persona he’d built up over his years of life.

But times like this reminded Oz that Damien wasn’t perfect. He was an extremely flawed and violent being who had no healthy outlet for his severe anger issues and his crippling fear of not being cool enough. Which meant that sometimes, he acted like a fucking idiot.

‘Make him regret messing with you! You’re the embodiment of fear! Make him rue the day he snubbed you!’ Zoe’s words echoed in their head. Meanwhile, anthropophobia and agoraphobia appeared on their shoulders and punched their tiny fists together, encouraging Oz to challenge him.

Oz thought about the hope they felt when they and Damien were getting along, and how Damien crushed that hope so easily. Then, they walked over to the ranting demon holding a banana.

Oz stood directly in front of Damien and opened their hidden mouth. No, opened was not the right word.

Their mouth tore open, the inky ‘flesh’ splitting apart to reveal a gaping maw of dagger like teeth, kept in six neat tidy rows. They encased the whole circumference of their mouth, like a lamprey’s, but somehow they still had a jaw, which they unhinged to open their mouth wider. Meanwhile, a long, white, snakelike tongue slithered in the gaping hell hole that was Oz’s maw.

Damien’s grip slackened on the banana as his face contorted in shock, and Oz’s tongue wrapped around the fruit, brought it into their maw, and chomped down on it with an audible GNASH. Then their flesh closed back up over their horrible mouth, and they were back to their normal, cute, shy self. Except that were staring down Damien with a completely unamused look.

Damien for a moment, was absolutely shocked. His cheeks were burning, and he had no words. Then he grabbed Oz by the shirt collar and lifted them up.

“That’s IT!! This is the last fucking time you make a fool of me!! You and me, prom night! I’m gonna beat the shit out of you and break all of your fucking bones!” Damien screamed. By now, a crowd had gathered around them, watching the confrontation.

Usually, Oz wouldn’t want to cause trouble. But right now, they were real tired of Damien treating them like shit when they tried so hard to get his attention and make him like them. Oz was completely and utterly done with the demon’s bullshit, and if Damien wanted to take them down, Oz was going to drag him down with him. So they decided that they weren’t going to take this lying down. They lengthened their legs until their feet touched the ground, clamped their hands around Damien’s neck, and grew in height until Damien was dangling in their grasp, choking. Their phobias’ faces warped, growing longer and more sinister as they chattered and cackled, whirling around Damien as the shadows pulsed around the two of them.

Oz spoke, their voice warped and demonic. ”No, you listen to ME, LaVey! I’ll fight you on prom night, alright, but you’ll be begging for mercy by the end of it!! I’m going to tear you apart molecule by molecule, feast on your mind, and D̴̡̉R̶͙̀Ą̵̓G̴͖̿ ̵̖̎Ă̶͈R̵̯̈O̸͎͋U̸̧͒N̴͇͝D̴̡̑ ̵̯͒W̶̫̏H̴̞͋A̴̜̓Ţ̸̚’̷̪̎Ṡ̶̟ ̶̧̚L̷̻͝E̵̡̊F̵̫̉T̵̰̀ ̸̠͗O̶̦̊F̶̰̅ ̴̰̈́Y̵̭̕O̷̝͆Ú̶͚R̴̀ͅ ̵̲̓Ŕ̷̼O̶̺͋T̷̢̓T̷͙̒I̷̱͋N̷̦͑G̶͉͠ ̷͚́C̸̝͐O̸̮͝Ŗ̷̒P̴̝̓Ṡ̴̙E̷̯͛ ̵̯̏F̶̥̂Ơ̵̞Ŗ̵̅ ̷̯̾Ȧ̴̹L̷̼͋L̷̤͛ ̷̪͌Y̴͙͆O̴̦̾Ũ̷̮R̵̯͝ ̴̙̄F̴̼̀Ŕ̷͕Î̵ͅḚ̸͋N̸̤̿D̸̿͜S̵̀ͅ ̷̓ͅT̵̟̊O̵̰̕ ̴͍͝S̵͜͝Ȅ̷ͅE̷͔͒!̶́͜”

+3 BOLDNESS.

Then, roughly, Oz dropped Damien to the ground, sunk into the shadows, and slinked away. What was left after that was Damien LaVey, equal parts terrified and horny.

“Dude.” Polly Geist finally said, from the crowd that had gathered. “They are going to actually kill you.”

Liam nodded in agreement. “Well, it was nice knowing you, Damien. I’ll attend the fight, but we all know how it’s going to go.”

Damien looked at him with rage. “You seriously think I’m gonna lose to that noob?!”

Liam met his gaze and stared him down. “Damien. Let me tell you something. When I first became a vampire, I met an eldritch creature so powerful it had a cult following it around, hoping for even a scrap of its mercy. A cult that I joined for fifty years when that creature saved my life. It favored me, unlike the rest of the cult, and kept me close. I was that creature’s right hand man for fifty entire years, and for those fifty years I saw the destruction it could cause when someone managed to actually make it angry. That creature could level entire civilizations if it wanted to. That creature could drive millions to insanity if it wanted to. That creature could eat the sun if it so desired. And that very creature… was Oz. So there was never any way you were going to win this fight. You’ll be lucky if you walk out of it alive.” Liam finished, and nonchalantly took out his phone, reading a message from someone. “Anyway, bye.” And then he left, leaving Damien shocked.

“So…” Polly crooned. “It’s not too late to tell them you like them. Oz is super nice! They’ve helped me through a lot of stuff, so I know they’re a good guy. They’ll forgive you straight away. Especially if you give them flowers and stuff.”

Now Damien was blushing for other reasons. “I don’t fucking like them! I hate them!! That’s why I’m going to beat their face in!!”

Polly grinned. “Suuuuure. You hate them so much that you ranted to me all throughout lunch about how ‘annoyingly pretty’ they are.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

Damien doubled down. “Exactly! And I’m going to kick their ass at prom!”

“Man, you’re a lost cause.” She sighed. “Oh well. It’ll be super cool to have another ghost buddy!! Oh, I should go tell all my ghost friends that you’re going to die soon! See ya!” And with that, she blinked out of existence.

Finally, Damien was left totally alone as the crowd had dispersed by then. For some reason, knowing that he was going to fight Oz didn’t make him feel any better. It made him feel fucking frustrated. He didn’t get why.

Maybe it was something about their eyes and the way they looked when they were furious. The way they looked so different from when Oz smiled with their eyes.

Nah it was definitely that Damien seriously hated them.

Chapter Text

Oz didn’t have anymore classes that day, so they went straight home to their apartment that they shared with their best friends.

Brian was already home as he had an off day of classes and work. He was on the couch, watching the Office But For Ants. He looked up as Oz came in. “Welcome home.” He greeted.

“Mm.” Oz responded, coming to sit on the couch with him. They were shaking with anxiety, and several of their phobias had popped up to cuddle into them to try and make them feel better.

“Rough day?” Brian asked.

“Mhm.” Oz responded.

“Would cuddles make it better?”

Oz thought about it. “…Yeah.” They said, and then melted into a shadow puddle and moved into Brian’s lap, where they rematerialized.

Brian put an arm around Oz’s middle and used the other to pull a blanket over from the side of the couch to toss over them. For a while they just sat there in silence, watching the show, with Oz cuddling into their best friend. It was nice. Oz felt just a little bit better.

“I’m home!” Vicky called as she came in the door, lugging a book bag with a mass amount of books in it. She deposited her book bag in her room (well, more like tossed it, really) and came over to the couch, noting that Oz and Brian were cuddling.

“You okay, Ozzie?” She asked gently, knowing full well that Oz only asked for cuddles after class when they were feeling extremely bad. “Want me to make it a cuddle pile?”

“Yes please…” Oz relented. They could really use the extra support.

Vicky wiggled under the blanket and latched herself onto Oz’s side, half sitting in Brian’s lap. “You wanna talk about it?” She asked.

“Mm… I dunno.” Oz sighed. They thought it over in their head. “I’ve just had a really weird day.”

“We’re here to listen to it if that’s what you want. Or we can put on your favorite anime and cuddle until you feel better.” Brian reassured, trying to give them embodiment of fear options.

“Well…” Oz thought of how to start. “I had my first real conversation with Damien today after trying to get his attention for weeks. Professor Caesar asked me during drama class to help teach somebody the ropes of working on the catwalk. And that somebody was Damien. And I met him up there, showed him how everything worked, and he was… calm, collected. Staring at me a lot, but not at all seeming angry. We seemed to be getting along. He made a funny joke. Then he suddenly insulted me to my face and stormed off out of absolutely nowhere.”

Both Vicky and Brian visibly winced.

“Yeesh.” Vicky cringed at the mental picture painted. “How charming.”

“So I sit with Zoe at lunch and she comforts me, and tells me that I shouldn’t let him talk to me that way. And I agree with that.”

“I also agree with that.” Brian piped up, with Vicky nodding in agreement. “You don’t have to take that shit from him, Oz. Anyway, continue.”

“And then after my afternoon classes I saw Damien in the hall screaming at a banana, and I was just so done with his bullshit that I opened my mouth and ate the goddamn thing.” Oz kept going.

“Fucking nice.” Brian interjected and kept listening.

“Th-then he picked me up by my shirt collar and started screaming at me about how he was going to beat me up at prom. A-and that really pissed me off, so I grew several feet in height, grabbed him by his neck and dangled him by it, and told him that at prom I would kill him and feast on his mind. Then I ran the fuck away.”

Their two friends are silent for a solid minute. Finally, Brian speaks up. “Damn. Well, good riddance then I guess. Was nice knowing LaVey. By which I mean it was shit.”

“Brian!” Vicky scolds. “Oz, I know you were really angry, but I don’t think you should actually kill him, okay? I mean—“

The front door slammed open. “What’s up, nerds, I’m home!” Amira yelled, carrying in the usual smell of smoke with her. She shucked off her jacket, tossed it carelessly on the kitchen table, and walked over to the couch. “Ah shit, cuddle party?” She asked, and grabbed Oz’s hands in hers. “What’s wrong, Ozzie? Somebody hurt you? Just give me their names and I’ll fuckin’ burn ‘em to a crisp, baby, I promise.”

“Y-you won’t need to. Apparently, Damien wants me to fight him at prom and I k-kinda got mad and threatened to kill him on prom night instead?” Oz tried to explain quickly.

Amira was shocked silent for a moment, like the two friends before her. She recovered much faster, though. “Sucks for Damien. Fuck him anyway though. See ya in the afterlife, fuck boy.” She deadpanned.

Vicky looked at her, aghast. ”Amira!”

The dijinn shrugged her shoulders. “What? We were all thinking it.”

“But we shouldn’t encourage Oz to kill a man!!” Vicky told her.

“Okay but consider: that man is Damien LaVey.” Brian pointed out.

”Brian!”

Oz finally spoke up against the Damien slander. “I don’t want to kill him.” They protested.

“So are you going to ditch him at prom?” Amira asked.

Oz considered it. It would be a lot easier… but it would make them look like a coward. And besides, Oz had already decided that if they were going down, they were taking Damien down with them. “No. I’m gonna fight him.”

“Yeah? You better not be telling me you’re gonna let him win, now, Ozzie.” Amira challenged, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m— I’m not gonna let him win. I’m going to beat the shit out of him, and th-then I’m going to ditch him for Zoe.” Oz decided.

“Attaboy.” Amira smiled lovingly, and squeezed them in a hug. Then she went back to the kitchen table, grabbed her jacket, put it back on, and started out the door.

“Where are you going?” Vicky asked incredulously.

“I’m gonna go start a betting pool! Literally nobody else knows how powerful Oz really is, so they’re totally gonna think Damien would win! I’m gonna make fucking BANK off these bets!” Amira called with a grin.

“Amira…” Vicky griped.

“It’s okay, I condone it.” Oz assured. “As long as I get decide what happens to the money. I’m earning it after all.”

Amira smirked. “This is why Vera likes you. But no prob, that’s what I was planning anyway. I’ll be back before ten. Ozzie, if you’re still sad by then, just tell me and I’ll come sleepover in your room and be your heated body pillow for the night, yeah?”

Oz blushed a little bit at the phrasing. “Y-yeah.” They agreed.

“Sweet! Love you guys! See ya in a bit!” And with that the door slammed shut and locked as Amira left to swindle people out of their money.

“You really have a thing for arsonists, huh?” Brian drawled.

Oz’s cheeks went white. “Sh-shut up.”

“Honestly, I wish you would’ve gone for Amira instead of Damien. She’s more moral, less murderous, and she actually most definitely likes you.” Vicky sighed.

Oz looked away. “M-maybe in another timeline…” They mumble. “But I like Damien. I really really like him. And I’m going to see this through to the bitter end. Th-then… maybe once I’ve gotten over Damien. Maybe I’ll ask.”

“Hey, take it at your own pace. Life’s not a race.” Brian advised, now holding them close with both arms.

“Brian’s right. You don’t have to have it all figured out now. Take it one step at a time, Ozzie.” Vicky encouraged.

Oz nods tiredly into Brian’s shoulder. For now, they weren’t going to think about crushes and pyromaniacs. They’d had a very long day, and they were going to just take a goddamn nap.

Chapter Text

It was several days later, while walking to class, that Oz was suddenly yanked back by the collar of their shirt and held at knifepoint. Luckily, Oz recognized the knife, and the hand attached to it. It was Aaravi.

Aaravi and Oz had an odd friendship. What started as an extremely awkward first encounter (Aaravi trying futilely to kill Oz, who could not be killed by traditional means, until the point they felt so bad for her that they pretended to die) turned into an infinitely more awkward second encounter (Aaravi saw the monster she’d supposedly killed eating in the lunchroom as if nothing had happened and was understandably very fucking confused) turned into an unbearably awkward explanation followed by Oz sitting with a pouting Aaravi at the lunch table she was hiding under and trying to make her feel better about the fact that she’d encountered a monster that she had no feasible way of killing. Along the time of lunch they’d managed to actually have a conversation, find a common interest (magic), and slowly click. Then Oz just started occasionally joining her at whatever lunch table she was hiding under next and listening to talk about her latest hunts and adventures. She was honestly probably one of the most noble monster hunters that Oz had met in their extremely long lifespan, and they’d met a lot of monster hunters, so Oz liked her and liked keeping her company. Plus tending to the various bruises and cuts she accumulated during her adventures was good first aid and healing magic practice.

“Oh hi Aaravi. You know you can just walk up to me and say hi, right?” Oz greeted, still held at knifepoint.

“Yeah, but I’ve got a reputation to uphold. Anyway come with me for a second.” Aaravi said from behind them. She took the knife away from their neck and dragged them by the back of their shirt through a few twists and turns of the hallways until they came to a secluded dead end where a bunch of empty classrooms lay. Once there, she took out her infinite bag (“Bag of Holding”, she’d once explained) and started digging through it. “Did you and the demon decide if weapons are allowed at your battle?” She asked.

“Not really, but fight on prom night implies fists.” Oz pointed out.

“Damn.” Aaravi swore, continuing to rummage through her bag. “You should still take… Ah, here it is. You should still take this, just in case.” And from out of her bag Aaravi pulled a small inconspicuous hilt with nothing attached to it, that, when a button was pressed, popped out into a huge ass sword. “This does +10 against infernal creatures. I don’t usually lend it out, but I’m not about to just let my healer fucking die.”

Oz was touched by the gesture, but also wasn’t sure how to explain to a literal monster slayer that it was unnecessary without making themselves seem threatening. “A-Aaravi, I seriously appreciate it, a-and I’m really happy you’re thinking of me, but… Well… I’m capable of a lot of damage?”

Aaravi looked at them like they grew three heads. “You’ve literally never hurt anyone in the months that I’ve known you. I saw you actually cry real tears over a bumblebee stinging you, not because it hurt, but because you didn’t want the bee to possibly die or be left defenseless.”

Oz straightened up indignantly. “Bees are innocent creatures who’ve never hurt anyone on purpose!” They told her earnestly. “A-and that’s not the point. Aaravi, I’m not sure I’ve explained this properly, but I am Fear Itself. I am basically a god in my own right. I am c-capable of a lot of hurt. I-it’s just… not really my thing.” They decided to leave out the fact that their morals were flimsy at best and that they had happily enabled their best friends to hurt others. The point was that they themselves were kind of over hurting and murdering other people for fun. They did that song and dance for… well, their entire lifespan, actually, up until a little less than 400 years ago. They’d still do it if need be, but they were just so fucking burnt out on it still, to be honest.

Aaravi slowly nodded. “Sooo… you’re a boss monster by origin but a healer by choice?”

Oz thought about it. “Honestly, not a bad way to put it. I like helping others. I enjoy making other people feel better and feel happy. I-it’s my favorite part of living among monsters and humans. But I know very well how to hurt people, and I can do it if I have to. And unfortunately, I think I’m going to have to.”

Aaravi contemplated this for a moment. Then she put up the sword and started rummaging for something else. “If you say so, I guess. I’m gonna trust you on this one, mostly because I know from experience that you’re basically impossible to kill.” She pulls out a small silver ring and hands it to them. “But just in case you need backup, I’m giving you my ring of calling. Just think my name three times in a row uninterrupted and I’ll show up in full armor and skewer him.”

“I don’t want to kill him.” Oz protested.

“Then I’ll gently knock him out with the blunt side of the sword.” Aaravi compromised.

Oz sighed, weighing their options. They decided to take the ring, just to be nice. They weren’t actually going to need it, that was for sure. “Thanks Aaravi.” They said, and smiled tiredly with their eyes. They’d been feeling more tired, the more the news of the fight circulated and the closer the day of prom got.

“No problem. I figured I owed you one, after you’ve healed me so many times.” Aaravi put her bag of holding back on her hip. “I gotta head out, I have some hits I need to get done today. See you at lunch?”

“Sure, though Zoe’s gonna be sitting with me. Is that okay?” Oz asked.

Aaravi nods. “Yeah, sure. She’s weird but it’s not like I can kill her either, so might as well. Anyway, later.”

Oz watched her as she hurried down the hall, intent on slaying some monsters as usual. They looked at the ring she’d given them and gently put it in the dimension of shadows so they could return it to her later. They were most definitely not going to need Aaravi’s help with this one.

—

Damien meanwhile, had been skipping class to set shit on fire. His mood had been fucked ever since his confrontation with Oz some days ago. Prom was getting closer, and the more he thought about the fact that he was going to fight that noob, the more he felt frustrated and anxious. It was the fucking worst, and not even setting shit on fire helped. So he finally took a break and dialed the only person he was comfortable trying to talk about his feelings with. Someone he’d known since childhood, who has put up with him for most of his life. Sawyer.

“You know how you said you would help me with my problems if I asked nicely?” Damien asked as soon as they picked up. “I’m asking nicely. Please.”

“Uhhh… Okay? Nice to talk to you too, Dames. So what’s the problem?” Sawyer asked.

“There’s this person I met a few days ago. Total noob, usually shorter than me, terrifying badass hidden mouth, stupidly pretty white eyes, annoyingly nice-sounding laugh, slim waist that makes you want to grab it…” Damien was just listing off qualities on autopilot, but he realized a little too late the direction his autopilot turned.

“Oh. Congrats on your new datemate.” Sawyer said genuinely.

Damien’s face went pink. “They’re not my goddamn datemate!”

“Damn so you haven’t even tried to woo them yet? Lame.” Sawyer chuckled.

“That’s not what this is!! I hate them! They’re my number one enemy! I want them dead!”

“So like… you want to hatefuck them?” Sawyer asked bluntly.

Damien’s face felt extremely hot. “No!! I’m not fucking attracted to them! It’s just hate! That’s all it is!!”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone call. Then a snort.

Damien’s blush spread further across his face. “Don’t fucking laugh at me, Sawyer!”

Too late, Sawyer was cracking up over the line. “Holy shit. You really do think you hate this poor person. Damn. I’m gonna tell Susanne.”

“Don’t tell Susanne, asshole! She’ll never shut up about it!” Damien swore.

“Too late now.” Sawyer snickered.

The prince of hell groaned. “Why do I even fucking call you anymore? Half the time you don’t even help me!” Damien seethed.

“I’ll help you when it’s a problem that doesn’t have a solution so obvious it’s visible from Venus. For example, you want to talk to me about your dreams of being a hairdresser and telling your dads about that? I’m game to help you figure out a good way to go about that.” Sawyer told him. “But you deluding yourself into thinking that a person you find cute is actually your enemy is fucking stupid, Dames. Literally just talk to them. Have a damn conversation with them. C’mon.”

“I don’t think they’re fucking cute, and I dofucking hate them!” Damien screamed into the phone.

“Literally an entire minute ago you were going on about how stupidly cute they were.” Sawyer pointed out.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! FUCK YOU!” Damien shouted and hung up the call. Then he screamed at the sky and set the nearest trash can on fire. Fuck all of this. Fuck it all to heaven, because hell was lame as shit.

—

It was while rushing to lunch that Damien spotted Oz in the hallway with Brian Yu. The two were talking quietly about something, and after a moment Brian brought the smaller person into his arms and hugged them tight. Damien paused and watched as Oz leaned into him, nuzzling their head into the zombie’s chest.

Damien felt a hot surge of hatred well up in him, though, strangely, it was for the zombie. Who told that guy he could just hold Damien’s worst enemy whenever he wanted to?! Damien glowered to himself and continued onto lunch, resolving to try and burn down something Brian loved later. Wait no, Liam would kill him. Damnit.

Already pissed just from passing by that dumb cute nerdy noob, Damien sits at an empty table. No one’s brave enough to even look at him. That is, until the one girl in the entire universe who can get away with talking to him while he’s angry sits down next to him, serfs flanking her.

“Hello Damien!” Miranda chirps. “I will give you fifty million dollars if you don’t kill Oz.”

Damien stares at her from where he had been previously shoving food in his mouth. “Whaf?” He asks, muffled.

“Oz is a great friend and ally of mine who has helped me in quite a few circumstances for no other reason than out of the kindness of their heart. They’re like a willing serf, or perhaps a knight! Also, I fully intend on making Vicky mine, and Oz is Vicky’s best friend, so them dying would make her sad. If Vicky is sad, how will she say sweet and romantic things to me?” Miranda fussed.

Damien swallowed his bite. “My dads are the kings of the eighth circle. I don’t need money.” He shoved another hot dog in his mouth and started angrily chewing.

“Alright, then I will cry and I will do so loudly and as ugly as possible.” Miranda threatened.

Damien gasped and nearly choked on his hotdog. “You wouldn’t.”

On command, Miranda started tearing up.

“Alright alright alright! Fine, I won’t kill the noob. Happy?” Damien relented with a sigh.

Miranda beamed. “Very. Farewell!”

And with that she was rushing over to another table, where Vicky was waiting with a small crowd of Miranda’s servants. Damien watched them glumly while shoving more food in his mouth. Something about seeing them giggling over each other made him mad, especially now that he was still thinking about Oz.

Damien didn’t have time to look for long at the two of them, though, because two hands slammed on the table in front of him.

“Damien Lavey if you even think about seriously hurting Oz I will fucking end you.” And there was Vera. Damien remembered that he’d seen Oz before they formally met them in theatre class, and they’d seen him a lot with Vera. Kinda made sense that she’d have a soft spot for such a wimp. Either that or Oz was a valuable asset to her. Could be both, actually. You never knew with Vera.

“Too late, I’ve already thought about killing them hundreds of times today.” Damien mocked.

To his shock, Vera grinned. “I figured. Good thing I poisoned your food while you were talking with Miranda.”

Damien’s jaw dropped open. “Are you fucking serious?! Again?!” And it was too late to spit it out this time, he’d been shoving food in his mouth throughout both conversations and had definitely eaten some with poison on it by now.

“I might be willing to give you the antidote if you promise not to seriously hurt Oz. No amputation, no disfigurement, no critical injuries, no hospitalizations.” Vera bartered. “And believe me, if you do it anyway, I can poison you again. I have my ways.”

“I already fucking promised Miranda that!” Damien yelled.

“Then promise again, bitch. You don’t have time to prove you’re not bullshitting me.”

“Fine. I fucking promise I won’t kill him.” He seethed.

Vera patronizingly pat his head. “Good boy.” She said, and tossed him a small bottle. Damien caught it and chugged it. Demons might be extremely hard to kill by poison, but being poisoned still fucking sucked and Damien knew very well that Vera’s usual choices could put him out of commission for weeks.

“Why the hell do you care so much about that noob, anyway?” Damien asked, still very annoyed at all of this.

“That’s none of your business.” Vera huffed.

“C’mon. We’ve known each other years. You wouldn’t threaten me like this for just anyone. Hell, you wouldn’t bother with poisoning me for just anyone.” Damien needled.

She sighed. “Fine. Then I’ll tell you that they’re very shrewd, they know intimately how fear works and can use it to their advantage, and they can cause a lot of damage when given the right motivation. Also… I found out something about them that endeared me to them.”

Now Damien was curious. “Yeah? What?”

Vera rolled her eyes. “I’m not telling YOU of all people. It’s sensitive information, and you’re about to fight them at prom. Anyway, I have an appointment to keep. Remember your promise, or else.”

Damien scowled at her retreating back. All of his friends sucked.

“Hey bro!” Scott said as he sat down next to him.

“I swear to god if you also threaten me into not hurting Oz I will burn this whole fucking school to the ground.” Damien ground out.

Scott looked stupefied. “Wait, you want to hurt Oz? Why?! They’re so nice!! They’re always helping me with my homework and helping me remember not to eat it, no matter how tasty it looks!”

Great, now he had walked himself into this conversation. Damien sighed heavily. Prom could not get here soon enough.

Chapter Text

On prom night, Oz got ready with their roommates. Music blasted across the apartment as everyone dressed up and got fancy. Brian had Liam on speaker phone in his room, and Amira was loudly humming along to the song playing as she did her makeup. Oz helped Vicky zip up her dress in the back, because she couldn’t reach.

“So, dinner, then prom?” They asked about the game plan as they helped her do her hair.

“Yup! Then movie, with whoever can make it whose dates are down to come.” Vicky confirmed.

“Zoe will totally be down but she’ll probably talk about the writing the whole way through.” Oz chuckled.

“Hey, honestly, Miri’s probably gonna talk the whole way through too. And Liam, if he joins us.” Vicky giggled. Finally satisfied with her hair, Vicky turned and hugged them tight. “And you’re still gonna go through with it? Still gonna fight him?” She asked, voice much smaller.

Oz hugged her back, just as tight. “Yeah. I don’t really want to, but it’s too late to back out now. The sooner I get it over with, the better.”

Soon everyone was ready, and they all went to pick up their dates and meet at the restaurant.

Oz popped into the dimension of madness, where they knew Zoe would be. “Zoe? You ready?” They knocked on a column of cursed flesh. “I’m here to p-pick you up.”

“Oz!!” Zoe greeted as she ran from a building with impossible geometry. They met her in a hug, and as they parted, her tentacle slithered around their arm to hold on tight. “This is going to be so much fun!! And such good research for my fanfics!!! Hey, just curious, but would you ever consider wearing a dress to prom?”

“Uhh… y-yeah, I wouldn’t mind. I’d prefer it be yellow, since that’s my favorite color. But o-overall, sure, I don’t see a problem with wearing a dress.” Oz answered as they strolled out of the dimension of madness and into the restaurant.

“Awesome! I’m going to have you wear a dress in my fix-it fic where Damien isn’t a little bitch and asks you to prom because he’s stupid in love with you!” Zoe chirped cheerfully.

Oz sputtered. “You’re writing a fic about us?!”

“Oh sweet Ozzie. I’m always writing a fic about you. You are very very shippable.” Zoe booped their nose.

“Zoe! Oz!” The two turned to see the rest of their group waiting on them. Vicky was waving wildly with one arm, her other arm hugged on tight by Miranda.

“C-C’mon, let’s go.” Oz mumbled, embarrassed.

They all sat at their table and ordered. Luckily, conversation flowed easily since the color squad had been friends for several years, and their dates could mostly roll with the topics presented.

“So why don’t you have a date, Amira?” Miranda asked.

“Didn’t they tell you? I’m Oz’s second secret date.” Amira joked.

Oz, despite not having lungs, quietly choked on their drink.

“But nah, seriously, I decided to go stag. I got the stats for it. Plus, I want to hang out with Oz, some. Hope you don’t mind me tagging along, Zoe.” Amira smiled brightly.

Zoe, who had written like five fics off the top of her head where Oz and Amira fucked, just smiled and tried to pretend she wasn’t getting all the material she needed for her next one. “No problem!”

They finished dinner soon enough, and all headed to their respective cars to head to prom. Or lack thereof, since Oz and Zoe could basically teleport.

As soon as they got in, Amira and Zoe dragged Oz over to the photo booth. “C’mon, let’s get one with all three of us! One on each side of Ozzie.” Zoe grinned.

Oz sighed as they went along with the insanity of their two best friends. Of course, it was a half-exasperated, half-happy kind of sigh. After all, Oz absolutely adored their friends, and was just happy to be there with them.

But there was still one more thing Oz had to do, and it appeared right after they were done taking pictures.

The door slammed open as the loose end himself show up to prom. “ALRIGHT, WHERE THE FUCK IS OZ?!” Screamed the prince of demons.

Oz sighed from their place with their friends and stood up. This was a sigh of pure exhaustion, though, contrary to their last one. They sunk into the shadows, moved through them, and popped up behind Damien like they did the first time they officially met him. “Boo.” They said monotonously, making Damien jump and turn quickly to face them.

Polly appeared as they started to circle each other. “Okay! I want a clean, fair fight! No—“

“Fuck that noise!” Damien snarled. “Anything goes. This noob’s going to fucking need it.” And with that, the ravenous crowd around them cheered loudly at his response.

Oz doesn’t look scared at all, though. Their face is completely unreadable, eyes blank and tired. “Okay, if that’s what you want.” They sigh drily. A much smaller group cheers in response to them.

“FUCK HIM UP, OZ!” Yells Amira at the top of her lungs.

They circled each other a little longer, tension growing. Everything was in place, now someone just needed to throw the first punch.

Damien took the first strike, aiming at Oz’s stomach. But as his hand went through their shirt into their stomach, it went in a little too easily, and Damien realized a second too late that Oz had shapeshifted their shadowy mass out of the way, and as Damien’s hand went all the way through their stomach with nothing to stop it, Damien stumbling with the force, the shadowy flesh suddenly congealed around his arm, rendering him stuck. Damien faltered for a single second as he stared at the solid blackness that had wrapped around his arm, questioning Oz’s abilities, and one second was all Oz needed. With Damien hunched over, his arm stuck all the way through Oz’s stomach, he was in the perfect position for Oz to knee him right in the shapeshifting dick. Hard.

Damien swore loudly, because getting a knee to the genitalia hurts no matter what species you are. While he was doubled over in pain, Oz released his arm, grabbed Damien by his hair to drag him upwards, and drove punch after punch into his face, supernaturally fast. Damien thought Oz would punch weakly, with no experience, but maybe Liam was right when he said Oz was capable of mass destruction because Oz clearly knew how to drive their knuckles into Damien’s face, and they knew how to do it in a way that the demon could already tell would be bruised for weeks.

Damien finally recovered and ducked under their punches, aiming an uppercut to Oz’s chin that actually hit, finally. But Damien realized he’d already made a critical mistake in this fight— he severely underestimated Oz. He’d only gotten a single hit in and Oz had hit him four times. He had to start being careful or he was going to get his ass handed to him in front of the whole school.

At least, that would’ve been his thought process if he were anyone else but Damien Lavey. But unfortunately, he wasn’t anyone else, so instead of trying to think rationally and outsmart Oz, he saw red when he realized that he wasn’t doing so good and went into a rage, firing punch after punch at fear itself.

Oz took some hits, but they weren’t making any noise or reacting to them in any way. They just let the hits collide and kept meeting him blow for blow.

It was when Damien aimed for their face that Oz did something unexpected again. Damien heard a familiar tearing noise, and saw Oz open their horrifying mouth and unhinge their jaw as Damien’s fist came flying at them, heading straight towards the back of their throat. But Damien saw the razor sharp six rows of teeth about to literally amputate his arm if he continued and flinched, pulling his fist back at the last second and missing. And that gave Oz ample opportunity to grab Damien around the middle, lift him above their head with surprising strength, and slam him down on the ground. And it wasn’t a normal kind of slam— this one left an actual small crater in the concrete ground from how hard of an impact Damien’s body had with it. The wind was knocked out of Damien, and Oz jumped on top of him and threw a punch into his windpipe, just to keep him down. Then Oz kept punching, alternating fists until a punch went directly into his nose and hurt in a way that Damien was very familiar with— the fucker had broken his nose. Finally Damien recovers from his staggering and tries to flip them over— and he succeeds, or at least he thinks he does, until Oz fades into the shadows under him. Damien looks around frantically for where they went, and that’s when a foot kicks him directly in the head. Damien yells out and crumples to the ground. He tries to get up, but Oz interrupts by yanking him by his hair back to the ground and drags him by his hair as Damien kicks and screams. Oz grabs onto his hair with both hands and flings Damien’s body into a wall with such force that there’s a dent. It hurts like fuck, and his entire body screams with the abuse. And as Oz descends on him again, Damien finds himself too out of breath and in too much pain to throw a good punch. It’s when Oz notices this that the assault finally stops.

As Damien lay bleeding and injured on the prom floor, Oz calmly removed themself from him and stood up. They raised their fist in the air in victory, and though the crowd was silent at first, they soon roared deafeningly loud as they cheered for Oz. They chanted Oz’s name, and in the background, Amira made absolute bank off the bets she was collecting.

Loudest of all, Zoe cheered and whooped. “Fuck yeah!! Go Oz!!” She screamed.

Oz looked at her with indescribable fondness. After all this time, she was still here for them, just as she was thousands of years ago, just as she had been from the beginning of time, from the moment they met. Oz started to walk towards her, ready to put all this behind them and spend the rest of prom with the ones who loved them just the way they were.

And Damien watched them, and suddenly was struck by the worst fear of his life. “Wait!” He yelled, pushing himself up even though his entire body hurt. “Rematch. In the bathroom.”

The crowd burst into laughter, and that made him angrier. Damien was very obviously beat, but he didn’t want to give up. Oz looked at him with a unreadable look.

“Okay.” They finally said tiredly.

—

The fight in the bathroom was going just as well as it had on the prom floor. Damien was already extremely uncoordinated due to his body screaming in pain literally everywhere, and this time Oz wasn’t even doing further damage to him. They just kept dodging. It was when Damien had finally tired himself out that he collapsed to the ground. And when he did, Oz sat directly on top of him with glowing eyes.

Damien realized something grey was wafting off him and into Oz. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Eating your fear.” Oz said plainly, staring at him with unblinking eyes. “It took a lot of out of me to restrain myself in that fight. I’m hungry.”

“What the hell do you mean restrain yourself?! You kicked my ass!” Damien yelled, trying to get up from where he was pinned.

“Damien. I’m basically a god. The embodiment of fear. I have been around since the first creature ever felt complex fear, and I draw strength from all the fear being felt all over the world. If I didn’t restrain myself in that fight, I would’ve easily killed you, and I don’t want you dead.”

Damien still felt himself bristling at the idea that this punk had went easy on him, but something else about what they said grabbed his attention. “You don’t want me dead?”

Oz sighed, and Damien finally registered how tired and overall disheartened they were. They looked like they would rather be anywhere else but here with him, having a fight in the bathroom. “No Damien.” They said softly. “I don’t want you dead. Which is more than I can say for you, apparently.” They laughed bitterly, and it was nothing like that amazing laugh from the first time they met, the laugh that made Damien feel warm all over.

“I don’t want you dead either!” Damien suddenly exclaimed defensively. His heart was beating fast, and he realized at this moment that 1) Oz could leave at any moment and 2) Damien didn’t want them to leave.

Oz was quiet, staring at him with squinted white eyes. Then after a few minutes, they tilted their head and spoke up. “…Really?” They asked, sounding confused beyond all belief.

“Yeah.” Damien affirmed softly.

“Then… what did I do? Did I say something wrong? Did I do something you didn’t like? Am I just that hateable? Why exactly do you hate me so fucking much when all I wanted was to make you like me?” Oz asked, voice wavering with emotion.

Damien looked at himself, at the two of them and the mess they were both in. They were both in bad shape after two fights, with scuffs and bruises all over them. Their clothes were ripped to hell, and while Damien was obviously the one who’d taken the most heat, Oz had taken a lot of hits too. He thought about his supposed hatred for Oz and where all this bullshit had gotten him. So Damien decided for once in his life to force himself to be open and vulnerable.

“I… don’t hate you. I really don’t. But you make me feel weird and I didn’t know how to process it other than violence so I took it out on you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve to put up with all this bullshit. I shouldn’t have made you fucking fight me. I shouldn’t have made you rematch me in the bathroom. I shouldn’t have done any of this shit. I know saying sorry doesn’t do shit, but I seriously am. And I’ll leave you the fuck alone from now on if that’s what you want.” Damien told him, genuinely, and cringed at himself for it. He didn’t take it back, though. It was time to put his true feelings first for once.

Oz stared at him for quite a while, and then sighed heavily, their eyes crinkling into a tired smile. “If you were anyone else, I would’ve left right now and never spoken to you again. But in all my years of hearing about you and watching you, I know you’ve never said sorry to anyone and meant it. Not to mention… I can taste your fear. And you’re most afraid of me leaving.” Oz got off of him and offered him a hand up.

Damien felt his cheeks go pink as he took it. “Thanks.” He said, both for the hand and for not leaving right then and there, which would have been a fair reaction.

Oz smiled with their eyes, and let out that soft, melodic laughter that started it all. Damien’s cheeks went pink, feeling that weird feeling rose up in his chest again. But this time he wasn’t fighting it. He was just enjoying it, was just letting it happen. Being around Oz like this, without fighting him, was like a fairytale. Just like all the stories about love conquering all that his dads told him growing up.

But Damien Lavey was still Damien Lavey, and therefore did not know how the fuck to react to the fact that he was currently looking at his soulmate.

“So, uh… Wanna go burn down something?” The demon asked awkwardly, not knowing what else to do with the person that gave him fluttery feelings who he was no longer fighting.

Oz giggled at him, glancing away sheepishly. “How about we get some punch and just talk. Like have an actual conversation where we’re not trying to kill each other. Get to know each other. Then we can go from there.”

“Yeah. Right. Cool cool cool.” Damien nodded rapidly, once again thinking that he would honestly probably do literally anything for Oz. “We can do that. Whatever you want.”

Oz smiled again, and took his hand in theirs. Damien’s heart skipped a beat, and he let himself be pulled out of the bathroom and back to prom.

Damien still had a long way to go. He still had put himself in the stupidest situation on the fucking planet. He still would have to explain to all his friends how he suddenly made up with the guy he supposedly hated. And he was definitely going to have to prove to Oz’s friends that he wasn’t going to hurt them again.

But for now, at the very least, Oz didn’t hate him. And Damien was realizing that that’s all he actually ever wanted, right from the beginning.

Chapter Text

Many years in the future, Orre Lavey watched their papa as they made pancakes in the kitchen. Their papa’s little phobias were watching the kids seated at the table behind them, waving and cooing at them happily. It was Saturday, so Orre didn’t have to go to elementary school, which was fine with them because they missed their parents a whole lot when they were gone. Besides them, their older brother Orion was half asleep at the breakfast table, his glasses sliding slowly down his nose.

Orre played with their purple hands, looking around the kitchen of the nice house they lived in. There were a bunch of photos hanging on the walls of their parents and their family, from all the years they’d been together. Orre also knew that they had a photo album somewhere, full of old Polaroids from over the years.

It was then that Dad finally came into the kitchen. He was yawning loudly and stretching as he beelined straight for Papa, wrapping his arms around them from behind. “Morning, babe. Thanks for making the little hellspawns breakfast.”

Papa giggled. “Morning, darling. I only learned to cook so we could feed them, I might as well put the skills to use.”

Dad’s tail wrapped snugly around Papa’s thigh as he held them close, burying his face in the crook of their neck. A loud purr started out rumbling out of Dad’s chest as he held Papa close to him.

Orre’s parents were always very affectionate, even in the early morning. They were always hanging off each other, always physically touching in some way. Whenever they came to pick up Orre from school, Dad always had his arm around Papa’s waist. Whenever they all watched the in the living room, Papa sat in Dad’s lap. Whenever Dad left for work in the morning, he and Papa spent about ten minutes telling each other bye, not wanting to be parted for even a second.

It made Orre curious.

“Papa, how did you and dad meet? Did you always love each other? Was it like in the fairytales that grandpas tell us?” They asked sweetly.

Dad stiffened quite a bit, and Papa shot him an extremely amused look. “Well—“ Papa started.

“No, they didn’t. Dad hated Papa at first.” Orion chimed in, apparently more awake now and ready to make everything worse. He really did take after his dad.

Orre, barely six years old, teared up at the mere thought that their adopted parents had hated each other at one point. “Dad hated papa?!” They cried, distressed.

Dad rushed over to his youngest, shushing then gently. “Hey, it’s okay, Orre, everything’s okay. And no, Orion, I didn’t hate your papa. It was love at first sight for me.” He chuckled fondly, thinking back to that day in Spooky Academy. “But unfortunately, your dad was a fucking idiot who thought he was hot shit, so I didn’t take it well.”