Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first time Cesar had avoided Death, he was alone. A knife narrowly missing his stomach when he tripped and fell, the feeling of a burning wound flaring across his throat, though nothing was there. He flung it at the wall, tears filling his eyes before he knew they had appeared. It nearly made him sick, the thought of his mother coming home to find him like that. They lived too far away for proper help, and the MCPD was too focused on alternates.

Even though they always left the victims to die.

He took a breath, placing a hand over a rapidly beating heart, before shakily wiping his eyes. It was fine, nothing had happened, he was okay. That took a minute to sink in before he shook his head and walked away from the kitchen, away from the thing that was supposed to take his life.

When he walked downstairs the next day, the knife had been mangled beyond usability, metal mangled and handle broken.

( · · · )

The second time also involved a blade, though this time it was a small pocket knife he took with him on walks in the woods. Holding it when the blade was open still made Cesar feel anxious, as did any knife, but it was necessary to stay safe. It was like that when whispers started flowing from the trees, night falling while he attempted to find his house again. The flashlight he'd brought along had died minutes ago, leaving him in the dark.

Shadowy hands seemed to grab for him, eyes peered through branches, whispers full of hate filled words reached him. Cesar felt something cold touch his throat, and looked down to find the blade of the knife there, held by a clawed hand. He stared for a moment before gasping, making it let go and allowing him to throw the knife to the ground.

Cesar turned around, seeing a dark figure standing there, a grin splitting its face. Before he could do anything it lunged, only to get knocked to the side by another dark shadow, giving him enough time to turn and run. He never went back for the knife, just ran, tripping on branches and rocks. When he tripped he swore a hand grabbed his arm to help keep him upright.

The porch lights of his house came into view while something in the woods shrieked, and he locked the door immediately after he was safely inside. Cesar didn't pause to catch his breath, only moved the curtain and looked out the window. A hooded figure stood near the edge of the woods, what looked like a long curved blade in their hand and a red rose near their throat.

Then he blinked, and the figure was gone.

The knife appeared on his desk the next morning.

( · · · )

Cesar thought this was finally it.

He should've listened to the broadcasts, stayed far away from any place full of religious symbols and electronics. But no, he just had to explore this abandoned church, had to see if the rumours were true. The camera in one hand and flashlight in the other shook, the place under the desk he'd crammed himself into feeling suffocating. His lucky pocket knife, at least it felt lucky after that night, after it had been returned to him; was safely tucked into his shirt pocket, right over his heart.

A voice echoed out through the sanctuary, claws scratched into pews as Cesar tried to quiet his breathing. The alternate was cackling in between taunts, raspy voice challenging the crumbling building.

"Little Lamb..come out. You know it's safe." The sound of a pew being thrown into the wall made him flinch and close his eyes, the sound reverberating through the room. "Little Lamb..your prayers will not aid you. Nor will the betrayal of your heart."

Well that's fucking terrifying, but he couldn't run, not when it was this close. It walked up and down the aisles, humming a hymn as it did so. Then the things footsteps grew closer, claws scratching the surface of the desk and making him stop breathing altogether. Cesar held the camera tightly in shaking hands, mind racing with ways to get out of this, until another voice spoke up.

"You again? I thought I killed you years ago, durable bastard." The claws scraped again, the thing was turning away in order to growl. "It's not his time and you know it. So, you have to go."

The alternate above Cesar shrieked, making him drop the camera onto his stomach and cover his ears. Dust crumbled and drifted from the ceiling, a cross hanging on the wall nearby falling to the floor and bouncing under the desk. He grabbed it when the alternate stopped screaming, whispering a few half hearted prayers and willing himself to move while it was distracted.

Cesar pushed himself out from under the desk in order to peer over it, placing the cross in his pocket next to the knife while he watches the scene in front of him. The alternate was abnormally tall, limbs stretched and bones crunching against each other; a long robe with a rotted rose hanging from its neck. The other figure was about as tall as he was, wearing a tattered black hoodie with a bright red rose at their throat. A scythe was held in their hand, stained with blackened blood, which they waved around while taunting the creature.

"None of that! It doesn't work on me, not like- well, I'm sure you'll-" The persons voice hitched as the thing swiped, claws almost opening their stomach wide open before they jumped back and raised the scythe. "Try it."

"Has the flock followed the lost Little Lamb?" The alternate tilted its head, a cruel smile spreading across its face and making Cesar duck back down. "Or are you one of them? An omen of death masquerading as an angel? Either way, you can still die."

Cesar looked back over the desk right as it lunged, claws ready to tear the person apart. He should run, but he felt like he knew them. With a still shaking hand, he raised the camera and took a picture. The flash was off, he made sure of it beforehand, and any noise it made was drowned out by the alternate howling when the persons scythe buried itself into its throat before ripping away.

Dark blood and flesh hit the once white wall, dripping down in an oddly beautiful waterfall. The alternate hardly faltered though, managing to leave a nasty gash in the persons leg before pressing a hand to its rapidly bleeding throat.

"So can you." The person raised the scythe once more when the alternate bowed, plunging it down as it started to look up. It sunk into the things skull with a crack, making Cesar wince and blood spray again. It didn't phase the person however, they just wiped it off their face and sighed. "Rest well."

Now that they were standing still, over a dead body but thatwasfine-, he could see that half of their face was filled with shadow. His just calmed heart started to race again as he realized they might not have saved him. They could very well just be another alternate that got territorial, hence the sudden appearance. Cesar didn't have long to ponder as they turned to face him, face settling into a somber expression.

"Now for you. Please, tell me why on Earth you thought it was a good idea to come out here. Those things'll kill you with no hesitation, and that's what I've been trying to avoid. Third times the charm I guess." They sighed, wiping the blade of the scythe off with a tattered sleeve. "What? Cat got your tongue? Christ, did you fall asleep with your eyes open or some shit? Come on, wake up! Service is over!"

They clapped, making Cesar jump and hold the camera closer before placing it in a small bag slung over his shoulder, now dirtied by the floor. His flashlight was probably a goner, the lense broken and batteries dead as soon as he walked in. He stared, they stared.

"For someone living you look awfully dead you know." They walked closer, scythe swinging around so that the blade was positioned around his head, making him close his eyes again. But it didn't slice or stab, just gently guided him around the desk and in front of the person. "Are you hurt or something? I thought I caught it in time."

The blade dropped, and Cesar opened his eyes, pulling in a frightened gasp at the sudden close proximity to the person who had just killed an alternate. But there was that feeling again, the small flash of recognition. A knife mangled beyond repair, a hand on his arm in the woods keeping him from falling. He stared, noticing the small details carved into the scythes handle before speaking.

"I'm- I'm okay." That seemed to relieve the other person, making them blow out a breath and shake their head. "Who are..you? You seem familiar."

"Do I? You aren't supposed to remember that, but if you don't plan on running away and screaming, I suppose I can tell you now." He nodded while they fixed their hood, before placing the scythe over their shoulder in a practiced motion. "I'm Mark, and I'm the person that's been keeping you from kicking the bucket before you're supposed to. It doesn't make sense, I know."

But it did, at least a little bit. A helping hand here and there, two previous times Death was supposed to take him that were avoided. The figure at the edge of the woods.

"You helped me in the woods. I saw you." He watched the other person blink twice before cursing and lightly kicking some rubble. "Was I not supposed to? And why can I see you now?"

"No, you weren't supposed to see me then. Only the third time, and I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. But a certain someone likes dancing with Death, hm?" Two questions answered at once, though he seemed happy to elaborate. "You can see me now because that's just how it works for us reapers. Third time we save someone, they can see us."

"Reapers?" Cesar looked to the scythe and back, to the black hoodie and red rose. "You're telling me the Grim Reaper is a emo kid in a hoodie?"

Mark blinked again before rolling his eyes and turning away to kick at the alternates body, swinging the scythe around casually. Cesar half wanted to leave right now, night had fallen after all, but this was..kind of cool. Plus, now he had questions, and he wasn't about to let this other kid off the hook that easy.

"You're staring." He just nodded, though the reaper couldn't see, and moved a little closer. "Well what do you want? It's dead if that's what you're worried about."

"No, that's not it. It's just..isn't the Grim Reaper supposed to be kinda dead too?" Cesar waved a hand, gesturing to nothing in particular. The other teen turned back around to look at him, probably not expecting that question. He looked to the others chest, noting the even breaths. "You're breathing."

"Oh, am I? I didn't notice, thanks for telling me." Now it was Cesar's turn to roll his eyes while Mark pressed two fingers to his own wrist, a grin on his face. "And we usually are. I'm a special case you could say. Wanna know why?"

There was a wild note to his voice that Cesar didn't quite trust, but it didn't seem like he wanted to hurt him, so he nodded. Mark lay the scythe down in order to pull back his hood, revealing a bloody wound that looked scabbed over. A good chunk of his head was missing, not visible when he pulled the hood back up and shrugged.

"Had to deal with those things too. Wasn't lucky enough, and I'm guessing the police still don't care?" Cesar shook his head, a surge of protectiveness bubbling up at the words. "Hm. Well, you should be getting home, right? Since it died the others'll probably be looking for it."

"Probably. But it's dark out, my flashlight is broken, and I'm about fifteen minutes away from my car." Which was stupid yes, but he didn't plan on getting attacked. Speaking of which, that crucifix was still in his pocket, wouldn't be a good idea to bring it along for the ride. "So it's either walk around in the dark or stay here."

"I can help, just listen to what I say, okay? If I say stop moving, you stop moving Cesar." At his questioning look Mark tilted his head and grinned sheepishly, an embarrassed look to the way he held himself. "We usually know the names of the people we're supposed to protect, so that's how..yeah."

"I figured Spooky." The embarrassed look was replaced by confused shock at the nickname, before Cesar pulled the cross out of his pocket and threw it on the desk, noticing the way the reaper tensed. "What? Would that hurt you or something?"

"Yeah actually. It- it's because I was supposed to be dead and stay that way. But I'm not like those things." He cast a withering glare to the alternates body before holding a hand out for Cesar to take. "Come on. I wasn't kidding about the others coming to look for it."

He accepted the hand, slightly surprised that it was warm. Death was supposed to be cold and uninviting right? Not feel like meeting an old friend. But here he was, holding onto a once dead persons hand while being guided out of a church, leaving a body to decay. Thank God his mother wasn't home right now.

"So. Why are we holding hands?" That made Mark pause in the sanctuary's doorway, a hand tightening around the scythes handle. "I don't mind, it's just..you don't seem to like me that much."

"I thought you didn't have a light? Plus it's just uh something I did with my sister. Kinda a habit now I guess." The grip on Cesar's hand loosened, making him feel slightly guilty for no good reason. He just met the guy properly, so why did it feel like betraying a friend? "And I do like you, it's just you seem to like making my job a lot harder than it needs to be."

"I don't mean to. And it's cold, so I'm gonna hold your hand anyway." He tightened his grip on his friends - is that what they were? Maybe acquaintances? - hand, the other holding onto the strap of his bag. "Still weird that a grim reaper has a heartbeat though."

"Would you rather I didn't? That's rather morbid." Cesar looked at the scythe and back, making Mark sigh again. "Okay, I see the irony."

"Good. Now I'm pretty sure it was..that way? Once we get out of the door at least." He gestured to the left, a sense of unease filling his chest as they passed under the cross hanging above the church's main entrance. "Does something feel weird to you?"

"What do you mean?" He looked up, eyes scanning the cross before freezing. "There's someone up there."

Mark's hold on his hand tightened, the scythe coming back around and held at the ready. But it didn't move towards them, just swayed back and forth, back and forth, back and- it was a body. Rope hung it from the top of the cross, creaking from the strain of a dead weight corpse. Long dark hair covered their face, hands bloodied and curled. Cesar averted his gaze, not remembering having witnessed the gruesome scene earlier in the day.

It had been warm earlier, but the summer weather quickly turning to fall sent the temperature plummeting in this part of Mandela. Which made it oh so much worse when he noticed steam curling off of the body, it was fresh.

"That wasn't there earlier. I would've..we need to go." Mark pulled on his hand, dragging him along blindly in the dark. Cesar had no other choice but to follow, not wanting to stay with whatever had done that. The alternate from earlier had been alone, walking through the halls of the abandoned church and whispering to itself. "Don't let go of my hand, okay?"

He gave the reapers hand a quick squeeze, letting him guide the way. More than once Cesar tripped, but every time he would be held up. When the hood of his car came into view, he dug around in his bag for the keys and unlocked it, gesturing to the passenger side for Mark to get in. The other in turn waved to his scythe, making Cesar point to the back.

Once everything was situated, he started the car and locked the doors, not wanting to stick around any longer. Cesar saw the figure in the rearview mirror, staring after the car with a sickening smile. He ignored it, instead focusing on the dark road while Mark shifted restlessly, hands fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie.

"Are you okay? You seem a little..nervous there." He cast a quick glance to the other, who pulled in a breath and nodded. "You're sure?"

"No. Haven't had to deal with one of them in a while, but I'll be okay. Just need to get some sleep or somethin'." Mark leaned against the car door, tapping out a random rhythm onto his arm. "Don't worry about me. I can stay awake for now on my own, until we get back to your house."

"Well Spooky, if we're friends now, I think I have to worry. Just like you do for me." He jerked the wheel to the side, making the car jolt and Mark look at him in fear. "What? You looked like you were falling asleep, and I thought you wanted to wait until we get to my house?"

"You're gonna send me back to the afterlife, you know that?" Mark grinned though, pressing a hand to his heart and sighing. "And yeah. I guess we are friends. But I don't mean I have to stay at your house, just that you have to get there safely."

"I'm letting you stay at my house. No objections, you just said we're friends, so you have no place to say otherwise. Plus you look tired." He sounded like his mother right now, but it was true. "I don't mind, really."

"You're sure?" Another nod, come on take the hint already. "Thanks Cesar."

"You're welcome. Now hold on, because I'm about to go at least fifteen over the speed limit. I did not plan on staying out until ten." He looked over to find a wide eyed Mark, disbelief clear even with half his face covered in shadow. "Live a little Spooky."

"I am living, we went over this." But he didn't object, only held onto the seatbelt tighter than necessary. Cesar would've kept the joke up if a deer walking into the road far ahead didn't make him slow up, not wanting to see another fresh corpse. Mark didn't share his sentiment however, a look of confusion crossing his face before realization did. "Keep driving, that's an alternate. Don't pay any attention to it and it won't do anything."

Cesar didn't want to question it and complied, glad when the thing just stomped a foot and ran off, neck twisting horribly. Well, tonight was certainly interesting. At least the rest of the drive went normally, with Cesar honking the horn occasionally to wake Mark up and make him jump, a ridiculously funny thing considering he dealt with dead people on the daily.

They pulled into his driveway at ten thirty, a still adrenaline rushed Cesar followed by a tired Mark. He didn't bring his scythe along though, just watched with tired eyes as Cesar unlocked the door and stepped inside, flicking on the lights. Rain began to fall gently, yet Mark made no move to come inside. Cesar threw the keys in his bag and sat it on the floor before grabbing the reapers wrist and pulling him inside.

"You're gonna get sick." Or attacked, and he already looked halfway ready to pass out right there. "The couch is there if you wanna sleep, just don't answer the door if someone knocks. It's not a person."

"Okay. Lock the door though, others might have followed." Cesar nodded, walking back to the door and locking it before checking three times, a habit he hadn't been able to shake. "Night. And thanks.."

Mark was curled up on the couch, eyes closed and hood down, showing off the wound. It took a minute of Cesar staring to reassure himself he was fine, his new friend was breathing. And a grim reaper, but that was fine. Totally fine.

"You're welcome. But..how's your leg? That thing got you pretty good." He moved closer, enough to see that it wasn't bleeding heavily, but would still leave a nasty scar. Mark opened his eyes to glance at it briefly before shrugging and closing them again, making Cesar worry. "It doesn't look great dude. You want to wait until the morning to take care of it, don't you Spooky?"

Another nod accompanied by a small glare and Cesar grinned, dropping the subject in order to hunt for a blanket. There was one flung across a nearby chair, and he threw it over Mark before turning away towards the hall, hearing a small thanks in return. He made his way down the hall to his room, collapsing on the bed immediately and listening to the gentle fall of rain, leaving the door open just in case something happened.

Today had been..strange, but it was actually exciting too. Cesar pulled a blanket over himself and just lay there for a moment, a happy realization occurring to him before he drifted off.

He had a friend.

( · · · )

It was still raining in the morning, eight in the morning looking more like seven in the afternoon. Thunder rumbled and growled, and Cesar felt grateful for the fact he hadn't had to stay the night in the abandoned church. He didn't move from the pile of blankets he had gathered, still sore from cramping himself under a desk for minutes on end. The alternates call of 'Little Lamb' still taunted him, and he was sure it would never leave.

He honestly considered the possibility that Mark had never actually been there, was just a way to cope with the horror of the alternate. Cesar didn't entertain the idea for long though, it didn't make sense if that was the case. He sighed and closed his eyes, not falling back asleep but just listening to the storm, half hoping it didn't wake the reaper in his living room up. Ha, a grim reaper in a living room; he couldn't stop himself from grinning at the unintentional irony, but really did hope he got some rest.

Taking down something like an alternate seemed tiring, but one thing in particular stuck out to Cesar about the whole ordeal. Even after the alternates had attacked and hunted, had been a twisted creature of fear, Mark had been kind to it after death. As if it needed the little bit of reassurance. The thought of it was nice at least, and Cesar decided that if he couldn't get back to sleep from thinking so much, he might as well make breakfast and hope the power doesn't go out.

He sat up and pushed the blankets away, wincing when a joint popped loudly in his arm. It was just another reminder of how much of a bad idea it had been to go into an abandoned church full of alternates. Speaking of which, the cut on Mark's leg was still something to deal with, and Cesar decided to go ahead and get the first aid kit ready.

There were so many questions he had about the reaper, but right now he would settle on acting like friends. He walked down the hall and through the living room to the kitchen, making sure to stay quiet as he opened a drawer and searched for the first aid kit. It was buried under a pile of broken and bent knives, all of them found in the woods. Cesar didn't know why he kept them, but now they might prove to be useful against the alternates.

The dark haired teen pulled the kit out of the drawer, wincing when the knives fell against each other noisily. It didn't seem to bother the reaper though, who was still curled up on the couch, hood back up. What did bother him was a clap of lightning and thunder, and Cesar didn't miss the way he pressed a hand to the wound in his head.

Mark didn't seem to notice him until he walked into the living room, breakfast plans taking a backseat now that the other was awake and seemingly terrified of the storm. He thought it was strange for a being of death to be scared of some bad weather, but he wasn't about to judge him for it.

"Morning. You okay?" Cesar sat next to him, making sure he wasn't too close. "The storm's out there, it can't get you."

"I know that. It's just rain." Mark seemed defensive, voice tense and knees drawn up to his chest. He played with the tattered edges of his hoodie sleeves, eyeing the first aid kit. "I just need a band-aid or something, not the whole hospital supply closet."

Cesar just shook his head and dug around in the kit, side eyeing the reaper when he leaned back against the couch, looking out the window. The left side of his face that was covered in shadow stayed that way even when lightning flashed bright enough to light up the room. After a moment Cesar found a big enough bandage and held it out, making the other teen sigh and start opening it.

"You need to clean it first, it'll get infected if you don't." He received a blank stare, and realized he probably had no idea how to do that. "Hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol, your pick. My mom is a nurse by the way, I'm not like, a serial killer."

Mark grinned slightly before pointing to a small alcohol wipe in the kit, dramatically gagging when he opened it. Cesar rolled his eyes and got up to put the kit away, laughing when shouts came from the living room.

"Goddamn, you could have said it would burn! Smells awful too, and I've been around plenty of corpses." There was the sound of a band-aid being opened a Cesar put the first aid junk away and walked back in, greeted by a glaring reaper. "That wasn't funny Torres."

"I think it was hilarious Spooky." Cesar plopped back down beside him, searching for the television remote. "Now, wanna watch a horror movie and hope the power doesn't go out?"

Chapter Text

They settled on some cheesy slasher, though the storm outside did provide some spooky ambience. It was about two hours long, which meant huddling up in blankets and sharing a bowl of popcorn that doubled as breakfast. Basically a sleepover in the daytime, with a grim reaper who was apparently really fucking sarcastic in the morning, and a supposed-to-be victim.

Cesar was currently trying to see how many pieces of popcorn he could land in Mark's hood while the title card played, making the reaper frown. He'd pulled the hood down to show the wound off again, as per Cesar's request. It was cool is all.

"You know, I could kill you right? Or just let you choke on popcorn." He dodged a piece just as Cesar grabbed another handful and pouted, pretending to be hurt by the comment. "Well, no actually I would just get in trouble."

"Ha. I'm basically immortal then." He threw one more piece of popcorn before turning his attention back to the movie, pulling the blanket he'd gotten for himself closer. "So, you've seen a lot of bodies and stuff right?"

It did make him feel uneasy talking about death so casually, but there were a lot of questions he had about reapers, which meant a lot of talk about death. Also Cesar really hated plot holes in horror movies, hence the positively unhinged question he was about to ask the poor reaper. Mark nodded, a question clear on his face.

"Then tell me if these people would actually make it out, or die, because some of them should not make it to the end of the movie." He gestured wildly, nearly spilling the popcorn before Mark caught it and tilted his head. "I'm just curious."

"Right. I'm not sure I believe what you said earlier though, about you not being a serial killer." The reaper grinned before throwing some popcorn at Cesar, making sure to get it in his hair. "I mean, they usually survive no matter how fucked up they get 'cause they're the protagonists. But yeah if you get stabbed about five times you aren't gonna be running that far."

"Thank you. Like, I get the whole oh root for the good person or whatever but some of them are dicks. Wait look this guy is totally gonna die first look at him." He pointed to the television, where a lovey dovey couple were walking through the woods holding hands, talking about what they would do when they got home from their camping trip. "He's totally the first one."

Cesar glanced at the reaper, who nodded and stayed focused on the movie, still looking unsettled by the storm. It was a good chance to look at the head injury though, as morbid as it was, and line up some more questions. The thing was scabbed over and looked painful, making every bit of concern and panic go off in Cesar's head, even though he knew Mark was fine.

Just like his mom was fine. That wasn't her in the car it hadn't been her, why did she have to leave, the alternate attacks were worse now, so why didsheleave-

He couldn't let Mark leave him too. They were friends, and one might be a grim reaper, but that didn't change anything. Cesar blinked and tore his gaze away from the wound in order to watch the gentle rise and fall of the rose at Mark's throat as he breathed, trying to get it through his head that everything was okay. The television chose that time to scream as the couple got attacked, the guy being the first to go via a stab to the shoulder, before the masked killer dragged the blade slowly across his neck.

There were so many knives in that drawer. He could see his mother again.

The thought came out of nowhere, cold and horrible. Why would he even think about doing that? Unless an alternate had followed them. He stared blankly at the television as the girl ran, screaming for help that wouldn't come as the killer got closer. Mark seemed to pick up on his sudden unease, because a minute later the popcorn bowl was on the floor and a hand was on his arm.

"Are you okay there Sar? You look really upset about somethin'." The use of a nickname made him look at Mark, who stared back with a concerned expression. "Is it because of the knife..?"

He lifted his free hand to the rose, no look of understanding passing over his face. Cesar didn't want him to stay confused, and instead of nodding he just cleared his throat and prepared to answer. But how could he say that a random thought made him think of his mother and nearly spiral? He knew she was gone, there was no body and therefore no funeral, but it had been fun to pretend. Maybe now..maybe now that someone who knew Death was here, it wouldn't be as hard to face.

If his thoughts would stop being so fuzzy.

"I..I think an alternate followed us. There was a thought and it..it sounded like static, like it wasn't mine. That I could join her." The hand on his arm pulled away before hesitantly hovering over his hand, and he nodded, grateful for it. The reaper seemed disturbed by the mention of an alternate, but didn't say anything. "She's really gone, isn't she?"

"She? You mean your..oh. Oh, that's why you've been alone?" Mark was facing him now, a hint of desperation in his previously lighthearted tone. "I bet that's why an alternate followed you too, shit okay. But um what made you think of that?"

"I told you. I heard it. Maybe I could see her again." Cesar blinked, trying to stop the words. He had no idea what triggered the subject honestly, but it's not like he could go back. Mark seemed upset, but maybe this was for the best, right? They just became friends, but this way he wouldn't have to worry constantly. "Would that work?"

He could feel Mark's hand tighten around his, could feel the faint heartbeat there. He knew it was raining outside. But any coherent thought Cesar had was quickly drowned by static and whispers, just like in the church. The hand holding his let go abruptly, leaving a cold chill in place of the reassuring warmth. Something moved on the ceiling, but Cesar couldn't focus on it.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew what was happening, that the alternate was playing games. There was an unfamiliar hand around his throat, the claws just barely piercing the skin. He looked up, and was met with a smiling face, rotted rose petals falling down as it watched him gain control of his thoughts. That was a fucking alternate, and if he didn't do something, both of them would die.

Cesar clawed at the hand, making it smile wider and tighten its grip while more whispers started back up, sounding like a voice that should be dead and gone. He looked at it again, searching for any weak points, and noticed it had long, dark hair and a noose around its neck. That's why the body seemed so wrong, it hadn't been a real person. One thing though, this fucker hadn't been awake to see Mark murder its friend, which meant it didn't expect the blade of a scythe to get buried in its skull.

Cesar pulled in air and moved away from the thing as his thoughts finally became his again, mostly consisting of random questions and fear. There was blood on his face, mixing with tears that had apparently fallen. None of the past couple of minutes made sense, but right now he was just glad he was still alive. Speaking of which, that was a low fucking blow to use his mother as a way to get to him.

He supposed the thing didn't care. Unlike Mark, who pulled the blade out of its head and lay it on the floor in order to kneel beside Cesar, who was backed up against the arm of the couch. He didn't want to say these things, to bring up his mother's death. They were watching a movie, why did the thing have to ruin something like that? Cesar blinked away frustrated tears, trying to figure out what just happened.

A hand came into view, and he held onto it immediately, feeling like everything was suddenly wrong with the world. Was it because of the church? Because they escaped? Why didn't either of them notice it-

"Cesar. You need to calm down, it's gone now, you're safe. I know..I know how terrifying it is, but you're okay, you aren't alone." Mark's voice shook on the last word, making a unsure pang of guilt go through Cesar. "Whatever it said or reminded you of it isn't able to hurt you now."

"But it's right she's gone, she's gone and I should join her-" There was a moment of complete silence, aside from the rain outside, until a sob escaped. "I shouldn't say that. I..I thought I was doing better, I was..why are they coming after me?"

"I don't know. I have a theory, but that can wait." He felt the couch shift as Mark moved to sit beside him, just close enough to be comforting. "Do you want to talk about it, or talk about something else?"

"I don't know. I was pretending she was just on a trip or something because I..I can't believe it I don't want to be alone. I was doing better." Cesar hated this, he just wanted to go back to a couple of minutes ago. Why did the alternates keep targeting him? What was he doing wrong? Why did everything go wrong? "You said you have a theory. Talk about it."

It was harsher than he intended, but Mark seemed to understand. The reaper nodded before looking to the floor, where the alternates body was already crumbling away; strange, the other one didn't do that.

"I think it's because you're still grieving in some way. Reapers can pick up on that, and since alternates can also be unaccounted for reapers, well that just complicates things." Cesar tilted his head, trying to just calm down. "I'm not sure though. It could just be bad luck."

"Great. The universe really has it out for me huh?" Cesar shifted so that he was sitting normally, wiping his eyes before taking a deep breath and looking at the reaper. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up, but it wouldn't shut up and..you probably don't want to deal with me."

"Where'd you get that idea? Those things literally use psychological manipulation, I would know. If you didn't start randomly spilling your emotional baggage I wouldn't have been able to kill it." He laughed, and Cesar felt himself grin in return despite the morbid topic. "I'm a reaper who keeps people from dying before it's their time, so I kinda have to deal with you."

"Oh. Yeah, I- sorry. God I hate those things. Can we just pretend none of that happened? Please, I'll tell you if there's another one around as soon as something like that happens again but-" Cesar was stopped by hands on his shoulders, and a laugh from a slightly confused reaper. "What?"

"Okay. Just hold the phone for a second there, I have a suggestion. I'll agree, only if you also let me know when you have thoughts like that. I know it might just be a side effect of the encounter, but I want to make sure." Cesar blinked before looking down to the rose instead of meeting Mark's gaze, trying to count the petals to distract himself. "Torres? You with me?"

"Yeah. I'll let you know." After a moment of hesitation Cesar pulled Mark into a hug, careful not to crush the rose on accident, and tried to shake the alternates whispers from his head. "Thanks Spooky."

He smiled when the hug was returned, a gentle but reassuring gesture that seemed practiced. It would have to be considering the occupation his friend had. The rain fell harder outside, painting the sky a dark hue of gray.

But inside it was comforting.

Chapter Text

The rain had finally stopped about five minutes after the movie had ended, leaving the two to come up with some ideas for what they could do that wouldn't attract alternates. Which led to the whole day being spent on the couch watching far too many horror movies for people dealing with creatures far worse in their everyday lives. Cesar had mentioned the roof earlier, and decided to bring it up after about the fifth masked killer popped up on screen.

"Do you wanna go on the roof? We can look for constellations and shit. Might be nice." He lifted his head from Mark's shoulder, which had become a pillow over the course of the movies. It was still kind of strange how it ease the felt around the reaper, considering his morbid occupation. "Or watch more movies."

"The roof would still be wet, wouldn't it? I don't think that's safe." He shrugged, but a wary look still settled over his features. Cesar knew why, he'd practically had a breakdown and spouted nonsense about his dead mother because of an alternate, but come on. He wasn't going to throw himself from the roof or anything. "I guess we could just put a blanket down or something."

"There you go Spooky, it's just a roof." Cesar took a breath, still feeling extremely unnerved by the alternate but trying to pretend everything was okay. "Or are you scared of heights or something?"

"It's not that. I'm just used to dealing with..you know what forget it, let's just look at the stars." Mark stood up and held onto Cesar's hand, which seemed more like a habit than anything, but he didn't really mind. There was a certain unsure tension to the way he held himself now, almost as though he felt guilty about something. "I don't know how to get up there."

Cesar picked up one of the previously discarded blankets and nodded, pulling his friend along to the door. Sitting on the couch while desperately hoping another alternate wouldn't show up ways pretty tiring for some reason, but it would be nice to look at the stars. He hadn't done this since his mom passed, it felt too wrong, but now he had someone.

"There's a ladder around the back. Careful on the third rung though, it's loose on one side." He waited for Mark to nod before opening the door and walking out, shivering slightly in the cold air. Cesar kept ahold of Mark's hand, holding on even tighter when shadows shifted at the edge of the house. "Do you actually want to deal with me? I know what you said, but..we just met and you're fine with me acting like we've been friends."

Mark stopped walking, a slightly unnerved look on his face. He looked scared, as if he'd done something wrong or said the incorrect thing.

"We are friends, aren't we..? If..if you don't want me around I can leave, I mean I'm not exactly a normal person-" He stopped when Cesar shook his head, squeezing his friends hand gently.

"I didn't mean it like that, it's just hard to get used to I guess. Not being alone after..after so long." That earned him a concerned look that slowly morphed into a grin at his next words. "We are friends, and I don't want you to leave Spooky."

Cesar pulled the reaper into a hug, laughing slightly when he made a small noise of surprise. A hand eventually gave his back a small pat after a few moments, but he didn't let go, just stared to walk backwards while essentially dragging Mark along. Instead of protesting though, the reaper just went limp, laughing when Cesar stumbled backwards from the sudden weight.

"We could just lay down here instead of the roof. You wouldn't have to drag a body along that way at least." He lifted his head in order to grin at Cesar, a playful glint in his eyes. "And we won't fall to our unfortunate deaths because of a slippery ladder."

"Back to the morbid stuff already? Would that even kill someone?" Cesar let go, leaving Mark to fall forward until he grabbed onto his arm and glared before looking to the house as Cesar spread the blanket out. "Should I even ask that when a Grim Reaper is right beside me?"

"I won't kill you, I would get in too much trouble. But it probably wouldn't kill you unless you landed the right way. You know, if you broke your neck, or ended up paralyzed and choking on your own blood." He was talking about it far more excitedly than one normally would, but it was kind of interesting. "But even then if someone gets medical help they might survive."

Cesar nodded and lay down on the blanket, patting the space beside him to get the reaper to follow. Mark gave the roof a final glance before following suit, laying down and clasping his hands over his chest, making Cesar think of a corpse. He pulled one off in order to hold it instead, shrugging when Mark cast him a confused look.

"You looked too much like a dead body man, it's creepy." He smiled when Mark raised an eyebrow and gestured to the wound in his head, before closing his eyes and holding his breath. "That's really funny Spooky, but you have to breathe sometime."

"You don't know that." Cesar rolled his eyes and watched Mark smile before pulling in a breath and glaring at the sky, avoiding the grin on Cesar's face. "Okay maybe you were right but still. I'm a grim reaper, I'm gonna look like a dead body sometimes."

"But you're alive." Cesar didn't mean to say it, but the quiet words making the grin turn the slightest bit brighter made up for it though. He held onto said reaper's hand tighter, just enough to make sure it was warm and real, that the heartbeat there wasn't stopping. "Was it..scary? When you.."

He didn't say the rest of the sentence out loud, but Mark seemed to catch on, a small sigh answering before words did.

"The days leading up to it, yeah. Having to listen to that thing in the hallway and then..a loud bang. Wasn't a lot of time for it to hurt at least, I didn't miss." He was deliberately leaving out details, but Cesar didn't press the issue. "Why? I'm fine with answering questions, it's been a while now. Probably still some old missing posters around."

What got him to look over was the way Mark's hand was shaking in his, even if he seemed calm. Cesar didn't let go of his hand when he sat up and pulled him into a hug, just let him hold on. The reaper tensed at first, evidently used to giving comfort and not receiving it, but soon enough he returned the gesture.

"Sorry for asking, I wouldn't have if I knew it would..upset you." Mark shook his head and rested his chin on Cesar's shoulder, laughing slightly. "What's so funny?"

"It usually doesn't, that's what's funny. I guess I've been avoiding it for a while, so it..got worse. Damn, we keep circling back to sad stuff don't we?" Cesar shrugged and let Mark lean away, though he didn't let go of his hand. "Do you want to talk about something else? Like the stars, or I dunno. The weather."

Cesar blinked before shaking his head and laying back down, a smile on his face. Mark did the same once more, one hand resting on the rose and the other holding onto Cesar's. It was strange to think he'd been dead at some point, that they may have never met if alternates didn't exist. Looking up at the stars made Cesar think of something, his sudden gasp making Mark jump.

"Were you the one on the roof that time? When I almost fell off because I tried to jump up to look at the stars better?" He took a breath, looking to Mark and smiling even wider when a look of realization passed over his features. "You were! I thought I saw someone."

"You weren't supposed to! Maybe there's something wrong with you Sar, 'cause you are proving so much of the information we have on the living wrong." Mark blew out a breath, the hand on the rose easing its hold slightly. "That was the..first unofficial time I saved you. Let's say that."

"Hm. So that means I've almost died four times now, right? Mark?" The reaper just closed his eyes and smiled wider, ignoring the taps and pokes from Cesar. It didn't stop him though, only made him grab Mark by the shoulder and violently shaking him. "Holy shit, how many times then?"

"Do you really wanna know? I'll just say you've had way too many close calls." Mark's hand moved from the rose to his throat, a deliberate action that made Cesar shrink away from his gaze slightly. "Knives are not your friends, stay away from them."

Cesar placed a hand over his shirt pocket, feeling the cold metal seep through the fabric. It wasn't gonna hurt him, but the suddenly serious tone of voice Mark had made him nervous. The action didn't go unnoticed by the reaper, who visibly sighed and opened his eyes halfway.

"Just keep the blade closed, and nothing will happen. Trust me, you do not want to go from a stab wound, that shit hurts." Cesar adjusted his grip on the reapers hand in order to feel the calm heartbeat for reassurance, but instead decided to just throw an arm around his friend and hold him closer after a moment. It was like hugging a grumpy pillow due to the robe and fake protests, though Mark seemed to be fine with it. "Am I just out here to be a pillow?"

"No. But it's getting colder, and you keep talking about how you've died before. It's interesting, don't get me wrong, but dude it's really messing with my head." Cesar looked at his arm that rose and fell from its place around his friend, proving he was alive and well; and hadn't been lying when he said it was getting colder. "I thought you said you already died once and got another chance?"

There it was, that strange feeling of talking about someone's death even though they were very much alive.

"I did, but it's a little more complicated than that in my case. Reapers can kill other reapers, but we can't be killed by the living, and since I'm a bit of both it gets annoying sometimes." He shrugged, looking the the sky and pointing his free hand to the stars. "The moon is nice, hm? Funny thing, I talked to it when I was stuck in my room. No one else answered, but it was always there. It's silly."

His voice was eerily quiet and tentative, as if he was trying to tell a secret. It was a short fact, stated calmly and easily, but it made a pang of sorrow go through Cesar. No one else answered?

"It's not silly if it made you feel better. But you aren't stuck anywhere now." He could feel the reaper pull in a breath and hold it at the words, before a small smile spread across his face. "I promise you won't be left alone, okay?"

"Okay. Okay, if you promise." Mark's voice turned teasing when he looked at Cesar, that same mischievous glint back to his eyes. "But you have to promise me you won't nearly die every five minutes."

"I promise. Hopefully it'll be true but I can't help it if I keep getting violently attacked." Cesar placed a hand to his forehead and fell backwards dramatically, an arm wrapping around him right when he would've made contact with the ground. "What?"

"You are going to be the death of me."

"Says the reaper." With a smile he pulled said reaper into a hug, half tackling him and half embracing him. This was nice.

Chapter Text

After a mercifully uneventful night, Mark dragged Cesar out of the house and to the yard, scythe in hand. It was eleven o'clock right now, they'd stayed up practically all night before crashing, and the still-tired teen had no fucking clue what was happening right now. He held onto Mark's hand as they neared the woods, the rain from the day prior leaving fluffy trails of mist.

The reaper was silent, save for the low tune he hummed under his breath as they entered the woods, making Cesar look around hesitantly. It seemed normal enough, but something about the mischievous glint to Mark's eyes made him feel uneasy. He didn't let go of the reapers hand as they stopped, only opened his mouth to speak before the other could.

"What are we doing? You look ready to commit a crime." There was a pause as Mark twirled his scythe around and grinned, letting go of Cesar's hand in order to reveal his pocket knife. "When did you-"

"Like a minute ago." Cesar caught the knife when Mark tossed it, still very confused. "I want you to know how to defend yourself against alternates. Since I can't die from a human, don't ask, I don't know either, you get to practice with me. Stab me, whatever, just defend yourself."

Cesar backed away at the words, eyes scanning the wide smile on his friend's face. It seemed so casual the way he said it, and that was honestly really concerning. The reaper caught on, and just shrugged innocently, making Cesar speak up.

"I'm not going to attack you man. We can't just pretend or something?" He held the knife back out, the cold metal unnervingly familiar in his palm.

"No, we can't pretend. You won't learn anything that way, and I won't die you know." He shrugged again, that mischievous glint still present. "Look, I know it sounds..strange but it's fine. I think you need to accept that this is going to happen whether you want it to or not, those alternates won't hold back."

Mark shoved the knife back in Cesar's direction, a dark glint taking the mischief out of his eyes.

"Mark, nothing you can say will make me-"

"Your mother didn't go peacefully, you know." There was no warmth to it, no sugar coating or cushion from the blow. Cesar's grip on the knife tightened, anger breaking through the assured thoughts he had. "They never scream for long though."

Cesar took a breath, scanning Mark's face for any trace of danger or truthfulness. All he could see was curiosity, and as his thoughts calmed back down he realized what the reaper was doing.

"You're just trying to get me to attack you now. It's not happening Ma-" He flinched when a blade nearly scraped his throat, stepping to the side and pressing a hand to the area. "Dude, stop I'm not- I can't hurt you."

"Yes you can. Just pick somewhere vital, it'll be easier to come back that way, okay? I'm not exactly normal, remember?" Mark pressed a hand to his heart, a small grin on his face. "I've been there once, nothing can surprise me now."

He raised the scythe again, the smile turning challenging as Cesar held the knife out. There was no way he was serious right? But the lack of hesitation as he swung the blade in Cesar's direction proved otherwise, and a wave of anxiety washed over the teen, hand reflexively coming up and swiping at the approaching threat.

"There you go!" Metal hit metal, an awful noise that made Cesar cringe while Mark laughed, the absurdity of the situation seemingly amusing him. "Just wait for a chance to strike, then take it. I won't hurt you, okay? But I won't make this easy."

The sudden smell of copper made Cesar look to the knife, breath hitching at the sight of fresh blood. A deep gash was bleeding on Mark's palm from the impact of the weapons, though the reaper didn't seem to mind, instead grinning once more and walking further into the woods.

"Seriously? After all of those horror movies we just watched?" Cesar hated the way his voice shook, it was only Mark out there, but followed slowly. "Come on, we don't have to-"

He yelped when the cold sensation of metal wrapped around his neck, making him blindly turned and stab, fear taking over any logical train of thought. The scythe fell to the side, the hand holding it instead pressing against a new heavily bleeding patch of stab wounds. There was a moment of detatched confusion before things clicked, the knife dropping onto the ground while he moved closer.

"Told you. Maybe a single swipe would be better though." Despite bleeding out, a smile still rested on Mark's face, but didn't reassure Cesar at all. "What? Just give me a minute, it's fine."

But it wasn't, he was quickly coated in blood, the hand pressed against his throat shaking. With a careful movement Cesar pulled it away, grimacing when more blood flowed down in time with his pulse. Which should not have been calm or steady, but it was, making him turn the reapers head from side to side in confusion.

"What the fuck. Why aren't you..dying right now?" That earned him a small laugh, though Mark didn't make him move his hand away. "How is that funny to you, I thought- what the fuck man?"

"Sorry! Sorry, don't push down dude it still hurts, but I told you already that I won't die. Only another reaper can kill me, don't ask why because I don't have an answer." He slowly pried Cesar's hand away, revealing a perfectly unwounded throat. "Cool huh? Sar? Hey if it's what I said about your-"

He didn't get a chance to finish the sentence as Cesar threw his arms around him, unable to get the sight of blood out of his head. After a moment the gesture was returned, though a bit hesitantly. Obviously he hadn't expected this reaction, being surrounded by people already deceased was hard to suddenly step away from, but it sunk in the longer Cesar held on.

"I don't want to hurt you. Please, can we just..not? I don't- I don't want to see all of the blood." Oddly enough, the dark red previously coating their hands was gone now, but the phantom sensation of it still lingered. "I know it's important, I get it, but this isn't going to help me."

He pulled away when Mark nodded, leaning down to pick the knife back up and close it, a small sigh escaping. The reaper looked sheepish, eyes uncertainly looking anywhere other than Cesar's direction.

"I can..give you some time then. I'm sorry." It was quiet, hushed and hidden while Cesar tilted his head in question. "I should've known it wouldn't have helped."

Cesar took a step forward, closing his eyes when the scythes blade flashed in the sunlight. When he opened them the reaper was gone, a single torn off rose petal left in his place.

Chapter Text

Cesar was laying in the yard when Mark returned, eyes closed and one hand holding onto the petal tightly while the other lay limply on the grass. Stars peeked through clouds up above, the day had gone by in a blink after Mark left, as if he'd taken it with him. A shuffling noise and a sigh next to him made Cesar open his eyes and turn his head, not bothering to hide the concern he felt when a trail of tears caught the light from inside the house.

He sat up, immediately looking for any blood or sharp objects, finding that not even the scythe was present. Mark's breathing was halted and unsteady, a hand over his mouth as if to muffle the sound, the other holding the rose. Cesar looked at the petal in his own hand, realizing with a sinking feeling that it was wilted, despite the rose at Mark's throat being pristine.

Small drops of a dark substance spread across the petal before it crumbled, a pained gasp from the reaper making Cesar place a hand on his shoulder and turn him to the side in order to check for injuries. There didn't seem to be anything noticeable, but he acted as though something was hurting him.

"Mark? What's going on, what's wrong?" The hand holding the rose tightened slowly, and after a moment of closing his eyes Mark took a deep breath. "What did you do?"

"Nothing too terrible. Don't give me that look, it just..I felt bad about earlier so I-" He flinched when Cesar took his hand, prying it away from the flower.

"Don't tell me you hurt yourself Mark. That's not going to help anyone." Cesar kept his voice low, noting the weak way Mark held onto his hand. "I guess it has something to do with the rose?"

A nod was all he got in return, small and sad. He blew out a slow breath, wrapping a careful arm around his friend and pulling him close. The reaper tensed before leaning into it, burying his face in Cesar's shirt while attempting to hold his hand tighter. Tears quickly soaked through the fabric, making the ravenette pull him close before hauling him up and leading him to the house.

"I'm sorry- this isn't..this shouldn't be your problem." He went quiet as Cesar opened the door, only speaking back up when they were both safely inside with it locked securely. "You shouldn't have been out there like that."

"I'm fine. You aren't." An expression full of guilt stared back at him, Mark's eyes were full of unshed tears that shone in the dim light. He didn't say anything or protest when Cesar took his hand again, leading him to the couch and sitting him down. A nearby blanket was quickly thrown over the reaper before he sat down and wrapped an arm around him again. "Do you want to tell me what you did? I'm not mad if that's what you're worried about."

Instead of answering, Cesar honestly wasn't sure he even could through the tears, he just burrowed into his side as if trying to keep it to himself. He was trembling, and the sight of his friend so upset made Cesar feel terrible. The dark haired teen didn't press the issue, only held on tighter in a half hug.

"It's okay. We're okay." The words were quiet, but they seemed to ease the tension in the room. "But I'm your friend, I don't want to see you hurt."

"You aren't supposed to care about me. This is backwards." The reaper held on tight, a shaky breath betraying how much of a lie that sentence was. Something had pushed him over the edge, presumably the idea that Cesar was mad at him. He was concerned, sure, but not upset. "I hurt you so I..it's only fair."

Cesar pulled in a breath, blinking harshly and shaking his head while turning his torso in order to face Mark fully. Said reaper leaned away as if afraid, going still under Cesar's gaze. A hand once again hovered over the rose protectively, a slow creeping look of fear taking over his face.

"It's not fair Mark." He slowly reached a hand out, letting it sit in the space between them. "I do think we could have..approached it better but I never said you had to leave. It's just..do you think it was easy to see you covered in blood? After.."

"I- I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't-" Mark curled in on himself, hands coming up to cover his face. "Don't get mad at me please, I'm sorry. Please listen, listen, don't ignore me please."

"Woah woah, hey I'm not mad. I'm not ignoring you." Cesar held both hands up now, eyes flicking around nervously, unsure what to do. He didn't think it would be a good idea to try and comfort the reaper with a hug, but wasn't entirely sure reality really mattered right now. The words seemed aimed at someone else, something else even. "You're fine, nobody's mad at you."

"But I- you said. I couldn't help I didn't- mean for you to get hurt. Don't.." He took a shaky breath, no longer able to form words as nothing but sobs bubbled up. Cesar half wanted to pull him in for a hug, to make him believe everything was gonna be alright. But he couldn't, not when Mark flinched as he started to speak.

"It's okay Mark. It is okay. Just take a breath for me okay?" The reaper didn't move, hands pressing even harder against his face as nails dug into the skin and left crescents. It seemed like a practiced action, a go to defense, and Cesar realized with a cold wave of dread why. No one had been there to listen to him before. He'd had to hurt alone. "Oh, oh I'm listening okay? You aren't alone, I'm listening to you."

"Why?" It was a single word, tired and afraid, cracked and torn like a worn out record forced to play over and over. Mark had moved his hands at least, one covering the other and tapping a nonsense rhythm. With a slow movement he leaned against the back of the couch, all of the unneeded fight gone.

"Why wouldn't I? You're my friend Mark. It's just me and you here, and I'm listening because I care." Cesar reached out and readjusted the blanket around Mark's shoulders, careful not to move too suddenly. It must have surprised the reaper, because he moved forward and pulled Cesar into another hug, holding on and whispering small apologies. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

"I'm sorry Cesar- I thought I was fine. It's been so long now.." He trailed off, instead tucking his head into Cesar's shoulder to hide the tears. "You're okay."

"I am." With a final readjustment of the blanket, Cesar held his friend close and tried to ignore the feeling of dread settling in this chest when a glance at the rose showed a small drop of blood. "Maybe we should just get some sleep, okay? I'll lock the door and check everything."

Mark chose not to answer verbally, instead opting to shake his head, leaning back and showing off the newly rekindled fear that had settled on his face. The thought of going to sleep seemed to scare him, but the dark rings under his eyes and pale skin showed a severe lack of it. It was like he'd lost his second shot at life already, but when Cesar held his arms out for a quick hug the steady beat of his heart was clear. Quick and slightly too fast, but there.

"I won't leave this time. It'll be like a sleepover, okay?" A small smile worked its way onto his face when Mark tilted his head and wiped his eyes, the tiniest bit of what looked like excitement pooling in his eyes. "Is that okay or do you wanna just go to bed?"

Mark opened his mouth, nothing but what sounded like a death rattle coming out at first until he coughed, pulling in a nervous breath.

"Sleepover sounds fun. I've never been to one." Still quiet, but he wasn't sobbing his heart out now. "You promise you won't leave?"

Cesar stood up, trying to ignore the puppy-like expression the normally grumpy reaper had. But he let Mark hold onto his hand for a moment, letting the warmth from his hand seep in to combat the sudden chill.

"I won't leave, I promise. Now," He pulled his hand away in order to lean down and shove Mark backwards, earning a shout, before grabbing a nearby pillow and throwing it at the other's face. "You relax for at least five minutes, and I'll get some more blankets after I lock the door and check everything, deal?"

The reaper stayed still for a moment before going limp, the pillow shifting enough to reveal a small grin. Taking that as a sign of agreement, Cesar made his way to the door and locked it, checking twice more than necessary before glancing at Mark and finding that the reaper was holding the pillow close, eyes now shut.

He obviously wasn't asleep, but the terrified tension was gone from his face, breathing steady and slow. After a few seconds Cesar set off towards his bedroom, heading to the closet and finding two blankets. He carried them back to the couch and threw one over Mark, who startled and sat up before realizing it was just Cesar.

"Sorry, you were shaking." It was true, he was trembling as if sobs still threatened to escape, but if anything he just looked tired. "Are you cold or something?"

Mark's eyes shifted to the side before meeting Cesar's again, a guarded look to them. It wasn't distrustful, simply wary, and the reaper fell back with a sigh.

"Yeah. Probably from this." A hand waved vaguely in front of the rose, which peeked out from under the blanket, no sign of blood now. "Don't worry about it."

"That will only make me worry more." Cesar watched Mark's expression shift slightly at that, half open eyes closing entirely. He took the moment of quiet as a chance to turn the lights off and curl up in a nearby chair, the blanket tucked under his chin so he could keep an eye on his friend. "Goodnight."

"What are you..I thought this was a sleepover?" Cesar could see Mark's silhouette sit up again, an even darker shadow against the already dark room. "Is this it? We just go to sleep?"

"Yeah. I guess so." There was something else in Mark's tone, a hestating question that wasn't said. "Do you want me to come over there? I don't mind."

"Could you..? Nevermind it's stupid, I'm not a little kid, just go to sleep and ignore me." The sentence started out quiet before becoming a rush of words, hurried and clipped. "It's stupid."

Cesar resisted the urge to roll his eyes, even though Mark wouldn't be able to see it if he did, and got up from the chair, moving to the couch and plopping down. Now that he was closer Cesar could see his friend was pressed into the corner of the couch, knees drawn up to his chest. After a few moments the reaper relaxed when he realized Cesar wasn't doing anything, just sitting there.

After a few more moments, in which Cesar prepared to head back to the chair, Mark held his arms out as if expecting a hug. He jolted slightly when Cesar happily complied, pulling him down so they were both lying comfortably. There was a moment of silence while the reaper processed what basically counted as a tackle, giving Cesar the time to readjust the blankets yet again.

"So. To get me to sleep..you tackle me?" An arm wrapped around Cesar, holding him tight enough to feel comforting without being restrictive. He was practically being used as a teddy bear right now, but it was pretty much just a long hug so he didn't mind it.

"Yep. Maybe if I give you a concussion you'll go to sleep on your own." He could hear Mark laugh quietly before launching into a full blown giggle fit, shaking and flailing so much Cesar nearly fell off the couch. "Jesus it wasn't that funny!"

"No- no it's just..you would've been friends with Sarah I think." There wasn't any sadness to her name this time, and when Mark looked at him with a smile on his face, Cesar grinned right back. "Speaking of the brat..we tried to make up the dumbest names we could for her pet snake."

"Oh god. What were they?" Cesar shifted slightly while Mark hummed in thought, placing his head right by the rose. It seemed even brighter now, the petals visible in the dark room. He knew Mark had remembered when the giggles started back up, before the reaper managed to speak.

"One was- one was Shlongus. I don't know why but-" Mark gasped, more laughter taking over the sentence.

"What is a shlongus. Mark what the fuck?" The words only made him laugh harder, which in turn caused Cesar to laugh as well. It was stupid and silly, leaving them both breathless after five minutes, but it was happy. "Okay- okay stop laughing I'm gonna pass out man."

"I can't, the snake was named Shlongus Cesar. It was called-" Mark pulled in a sharp breath, and Cesar shoved a pillow in his face to stop the laughter, only resulting in a violently shaking pillow. "THE POOR THING'S NAME WAS SHLONGUS!"

Despite him yelling, Mark's voice was muffled and only added to the chaos of the situation. It took another five minutes for him to stop laughing and be able to form words again, with Cesar never letting go the entire time. He wasn't alone and he wouldn't ever be again, not if Cesar could help it.

"You okay now? Can you breathe?" Mark inhaled dramatically before letting it out all at once and making Cesar's head fall with a jolt. "A yes would've been fine too y'know."

"That's not as annoying." Mark pulled Cesar close again, eyes closing as sleep finally tried to take him. "Thanks.."

Cesar didn't answer for a moment, simply watched every bit of tension drain from the reapers face as he drifted off. The word held more than one meaning that was obvious, but he hesitated to bring it up. It would be better not to.

"You're welcome. Goodnight Mark." Cesar carefully shifted until he was hugging his friend, the blankets wrapped around both of them.

"Night Sar.." Within only a few minutes Mark was asleep, the rise and fall of his chest reassuring.

It still seemed so wrong to think of him as a being of death, not when so many things proved the life he had. Red rimmed his eyes from crying, his face was flushed from laughing. Cesar wanted to remember all the little things that made his friend himself, because surely it would end. Every time he'd gotten close to someone it ended in tragedy.

But when Mark pulled him even closer in his sleep, face drawn until Cesar started to hum, he realized that didn't matter right now.

They were alright.

Chapter Text

They made it to midnight with no issue when Cesar stirred, a particularly unsettling dream clinging to his mind like cobwebs as he tried to settle back into reality. It was still dark out, he was still on the couch, and Mark was fast asleep, no sign of distress. So if everything was really alright, why did he feel so uneasy? Cesar sighed quietly, trying to shake the images away.

Blood was something he'd always hated, a dark red colour that should be beautiful ruined by tragedy. Seeing it all over Mark had been terrifying enough once, but seeing him terrified and cornered by one of those things while desperately trying to wipe his own blood away? That was almost worse, all because there was nothing he could do to help.

Cesar shifted, throwing an arm around his friend, trying to feel the warmth there. He was not holding a dead body, there were no tears or upset screaming. Everything was okay, he could even hear Mark mutter something that sounded like 'idiot' in his sleep as rain fell harshly outside. Everything was fine.

At least he thought everything was, until he drifted off once again only to jolt up when the reaper shouted, hands flying up to cradle his head while his shoulders heaved. Mark's gaze was unfocused and terrified from what he could see when lightning cracked outside, breath coming in short gasps instead of even inhales. Cesar sat up, hands finding Mark's shoulders in the dark in an attempt to calm him now that he knew it helped.

He tried not to pull his hands away at the sudden chill his friend had, as if all the blood had been drained away, leaving only a cold corpse. Mark stilled, frozen like a statue in a cemetery as Cesar muttered small reassurances, fixing one of the blankets until it was wrapped securely around him. When he tried to pull his hands away Mark clung to them so tight a couple of joints cracked, his own hands now terrifyingly cold.

"Woah, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. It's okay." Did we both have nightmares? He didn't let the thought spiral as Mark tried to speak, hands shaking Cesar's in frustration. Nothing but frustrated whines escaped, like a trapped animal in pain. "Don't force yourself to talk, that won't help."

Another low noise of fear and the sound of panic as Mark realized he couldn't speak properly made Cesar readjust his grip on his hands, trying to warm them up and provide some comfort. He could feel a multitude of bumped up scars, most likely from tough scrapes with alternates, and the harsh, violent tempo of the reapers pulse. Small things that made him real, made him safe even if he couldn't realize that right now.

"Just breathe, don't talk. It's okay, I'll listen when you're ready to tell me, alright?" Cesar could feel a muscle twitch in Mark's hand as he attempted and failed to dig the nails into his palm, stopped by Cesar's grip tightening enough to prevent it. "Take a deep breath, just one. Maybe two, enough to stop you from shaking, okay?"

Cesar was over explaining it on purpose, trying to ground his friend with the words. It seemed to get through to him a little bit, even if the next couple breaths weren't quite complete. Though he did realize Mark's hands were no longer frigid, instead returning to a regular temperature as the colour came back to his face.

"There, just keep breathing. Don't worry about anything else, just keep doing that." He took a deep breath of air as well, hoping this would help ease the panic clearly clouding the reapers mind. "It's okay-"

A loud clap of thunder sounded, startling Mark all over and causing him to cling to Cesar like a scared cat, nails getting caught in the fabric of his shirt. The reaper buried his face in Cesar's neck, and he quickly noticed the tears that soaked into the collar of his shirt. Mark was still shaking, but at least his body temperature had risen to a normal state, no longer making him feel like a long dead corpse.

"Sar..'m sorry.." They hardly even counted as words, but it still made Cesar nearly go limp with relief at the fact he was talking at all.

"Don't apologize, you have nothing to apologize for. Maybe for having the coldest hands in the world, but other than that you're fine." Cesar let the poor attempt at lightening the mood die when the reaper just held onto him even tighter, arms visibly shaking with the effort. "Hey, you're going to hurt yourself, just relax a little bit."

He placed a hand on Mark's back and made small circles, trying to provide some kind of comfort. Said reaper didn't move or speak, simply stayed in the same spot, but Cesar did notice the way he relaxed the smallest bit. He also noticed the way his friends mannerisms seemed almost hesitant, possibly even embarrassed. Avoiding eye contact, clenching and unclenching fabric in his fists, barely breathing as if he wanted to stay unnoticed.

"You better now? Can you tell where you are? Nod if you have to." Cesar felt him nod against his shoulder, and muttered a small okay, relief once again washing over him. Things weren't as disorienting for his friend this time around, there were no jumbled emotions or confusing misinterpretations. "Would talking help, or would staying still help? Nod once for talking, twice for staying like this."

He felt kind of bad for treating Mark as though he couldn't understand, but all the tension seemed to suddenly drain from the reaper as he nodded twice, the option of choosing what he wanted putting him in control. Cesar was happy to comply, resting his chin on Mark's shoulder as the other slowly relaxed, hands letting go of the shirt fabric and instead falling to his sides.

The room was soon filled with the sound of rain, more thunder making Cesar hold his friend closer. It only dawned on him that the crack of lightning and thunder was loud enough to sound like a gunshot when Mark pulled his hood up and pressed his hands against his ears to drown out the noise. A nightmare and now this, wonderful.

"Hey, hey look, can you look at me?" Cesar smiled when Mark did, even if tears had welled up in the reapers eyes. "It's okay. You're inside with me, and we're safe."

He didn't let the smile fade as Mark searched his face, looking for any doubt or uncertainty. After a few moments the reaper blinked harshly and sighed, a shaky hand wiping away tears. Cesar slowly let go, moving around enough to shove Mark back down gently and once again fix the blankets. His friend was shaking once more, but as lightning flashed he could the colour hadn't faded away from his face again at least.

"Do you wanna talk?" Avoiding his gaze, Mark nodded before turning onto his side, an attempt to hide his face from view not really working. "Was it a nightmare or something else?"

Cesar didn't lay back down when he received silence, and instead sat on the edge of the couch, a hand resting near Mark's in case he wanted to hold it once more. The reaper took it almost immediately, and Cesar flinched at the chill his hand had again, panic rising like a rapidly flooding river when he noticed the shallow breaths and tears coming back full force.

Then it got worse.

It looked like he was dying, eyes looking at nothing before closing, only to fling open again moments later. A small smile would quickly morph into a terrified line, his free hand nearly crushing the poor rose at his throat. It moved past the rose to the space right under his jaw, digging in enough to leave small crescents. This wasn't just the aftermath of a nightmare, this had to be something else.

The blood hadn't returned to his face yet, but what sent Cesar into even more of a panic was when Mark simply collapsed, eyes shut and breathing shallow. That immediately sent him into medical emergency mode, he didn't even know if Mark could have a medical emergency due to being a reaper, but he wasn't going to risk it.

Cesar kneeled beside the couch and let go of his friend's hand in order to check his pulse properly, more worry running through him when it was far too fast before slowing down and speeding back up again out of nowhere. At one point it stopped altogether, and he went still with disbelief before Mark jolted and sat up with a gasp, reaching up to move Cesar's hand from his throat before realizing who it was.

The reaper stared, concern creeping into his features while he pulled in gasps of air. A mirrored look of terror was cast onto Cesar's face, and he pressed his fingertips down against Mark's pulse hard enough to possibly bruise, counting along in his head while staring right back at the reaper in confusion.

"What the fuck was that? You looked..what happened?" None of his words were coming out correctly, his thoughts nothing but worry and partial relief. "Fuck..don't answer if you can't but.."

Cesar ran his free hand down his face, frowning when tears clung to it. He could feel the words start and die in Mark's throat from where his fingers rested, and he let them sit there for a moment more before removing the hand completely. He leaned back, shaking his head slowly before getting to his feet and turning away, trying to calm down.

Whatever that had been wasn't a normal reaction, no nightmare leaves someone looking halfway dead afterwards. Cesar shook his hands, trying to get the feeling of a slowing pulse to dissipate, only turning around when a hand touched his shoulder.

"You okay..?" Mark looked as shaky as a leaf in a storm, a hesitant concern painted across his face. He took a deep breath when Cesar tilted his head in slight disbelief at the question, gaze dropping to the floor. "Sorry for scaring you..I should've warned you 'bout that."

"Warned me? Yeah, that would've been nice." The reaper seemed to wilt, hands playing with his hoodie sleeves while his eyes searched the floor for nothing. "I- sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not mad at you, I'm just worried. That wasn't..normal, that wasn't just some nightmare, was it?"

Cesar could see the lie start to form, the quick dart of his eyes from side to side, the harsh breath Mark pulled in before sighing and letting the soon-to-be lie crumble away. He brought a hand up when the reaper started to blink harshly, as if trying to keep new tears at bay. It was ignored, and Cesar let it drop to his side, unsure.

"No-no it wasn't. I don't..I don't think you want to know what it really was." Mark's voice broke and cracked, and he suddenly sounded exhausted, like every problem in the world had been handed over for him to solve by himself. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, please, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry for snapping at you but..wouldn't it be better for me to know?" He didn't meet the reapers gaze when it finally landed on his face instead of staring a hole into the carpet, just chose to look at his hands. Maybe he could convince Mark to let him paint his nails after this was over with. "It wouldn't be as terrifying for either of us that way."

"Terrifying..? I- yeah I guess it is terrible for you to see." Cesar could hear Mark's voice get closer for a second before a hesitant hand grabbed his own and led him back towards the couch. And like a sheep following its flock, he let himself be pulled along. "I'm..it's not fun."

"Then take your time." Despite the words, Cesar half wished his friend would just explain, not to get it over with, but so he could help. "I'm listening."

He sat down, pulling the reaper down with him before looking at their joined hands. They really weren't different at all, and yet they could never truly be completely alike. He took in the details of the others hand, more so to distract himself than anything else, and hardly noticed the blanket that got thrown over him. Even in the dark Cesar could tell there were more scars than what he'd noticed earlier, and started unconsciously counting them until Mark squeezed his hand.

Cesar finally looked up, just able to make out Mark's blanket covered form in the darkness. They were both bundled up in the same one apparently, and Cesar wondered if the reaper had done it on purpose or just out of habit. For a moment they were quiet, both waiting for the other to do anything, to say something so they wouldn't have to. Right when Cesar was about to suggest they simply wait until morning to talk about it, Mark spoke quietly.

"It wasn't a nightmare, you're right about that. But I don't know how to explain it without, I don't know, freaking you out even more. It isn't pretty okay?" At the final word he nudged Cesar's shoulder, trying to get a response. Cesar simply lay his head on Mark's shoulder and nodded, making his friend sigh. "It's not too bad when it's one. Maybe even two. But when twelve people drop dead at once? That's..that's not normal."

The sentence made Cesar sit up, a creeping dread stopping his breath and making him pull his part of the blanket tighter around his shoulders. He suddenly wanted to distance himself from the reaper, to get as far away as possible to ensure he wouldn't have to hear anything else. But instead of leaving, instead of abandoning his friend to deal with it alone, he simply found the reapers hands in the dark and held on tightly, feeling the bones and tendons shift before letting words spill.

"Alternates, that's what it had to be- I thought they didn't travel in groups, I thought they only targeted one person at a time." Before Mark could take control of the conversation again, he continued, another chilling thought popping into his head; unwanted as it was. "Who died? Who did they take this time?"

"Cesar-"

"Who did they take?!" He was nearly to the point of shouting, his anger at the alternates overshadowing any other emotion. For a moment that's all he felt, blinding panic and anger at those things for taking even more people away. Until Mark tried to pull his hands out of Cesar's bone crushing grip, and he immediately stopped holding on. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Mark I didn't mean to hurt you-"

"You're fine, it's okay. You're upset and scared, I get it." The reaper pulled his legs up onto the couch in order to sit cross legged, and face Cesar fully, even if he couldn't see him. After he was settled again, he slowly reached out and gently grabbed one of Cesar's hands before resting it on his knee and placing one of his own hands over it. The palm of it was warm now, none of that corpse-like chill present. "Trust me, I understand."

The tone he had didn't sound forced at all, instead just sounded so genuine and patient it nearly hurt. Mark waited for Cesar to respond, and after a moment started tapping on the side of his hand, a habit the dark haired teen couldn't seem to shake as well. It was still so strange that the person right in front of him had been dead once, especially when he did small things like that.

Simple things that made him alive, and made Cesar realize he was just another scared person. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out, which caused the tapping to cease.

"I'm still sorry. You said it wouldn't be great and I still freaked out, I didn't mean to.." He waved with his free hand, even if the motion was only visible when some more lightning lit up the room. "Get so worked up."

"I honestly thought that was a pretty calm reaction, considering the subject. But you might've broken one of my fingers by accident." At that Cesar placed his free hand over Mark's and pressed down, earning a loud pop from a knuckle shifting into place. He could hear a quiet 'what the hell' before hand under his pulled away while the owner let out a quick laugh. "Maybe not by accident then."

"I think you're just dramatic. There's a giant hole in your head, but cracking a few knuckles is the limit?" He blinked as a dark shape flew towards his face and collided with a small poof, knocking him back slightly. The pillow fell to the ground innocently, and as yet another strike of lightning lit up the room, he could see the wide grin on Mark's face. "Do not, I don't feel like cleaning up feathers right now."

"Aw, you're no fun." The cushion under them shifted as the reaper flung his legs over the side of the couch again, sitting on it properly. When he leaned down to retrieve the pillow with a fake sigh of defeat, Cesar pulled him sideways in a half hug, cocooning him in the blanket before he could protest. "The pillow is still on the floor, you know."

"I know." He didn't resist when Mark practically fell the other way and dragged him along on account of the shared blanket. "Are we playing tug-of-war right now?"

That got him an actual laugh, and all attempts to grab the pillow were quickly abandoned as Cesar buried his face in the reapers shoulder, an arm lazily draped across his chest. When the lightning gently flickered outside, he could see the hood was pulled back up, and Mark was burrowed down into the hoodie he wore; one of the strings was lazily threaded through his fingers.

It reminded him of a rabbit for some reason, and the mental image of a tiny fluffy rabbit holding a scythe made him smile drowsily. A small noise repeated a few times made Cesar realize Mark was quietly saying his name, fingers playing with the hoodie string as more rain poured. After opening his eyes again, he didn't know they had closed in that brief of a timespan, Cesar gave a small hum in response to let the other know he heard.

"I'm glad you're my friend." It was quiet and full of drowsiness, but it was genuine. Mark pulled him closer after a moment, and he shifted until his head was resting comfortably in the crook of the reapers neck. He could hear the sound of Mark's breathing slow as he fell asleep, but despite his own need for rest, Cesar couldn't do the same.

Maybe it was just the amount of random information he'd just received, or the feeling of a pulse stuttering to a stop under his fingers that lingered, but as the seconds turned into minutes that feeling of unease from earlier slowly creeped back into his chest. Despite being half terrified of what he might find when the room was briefly lit up, Cesar looked at the ceiling, scanning for any hidden alternates. Nothing.

God he was stressed. Maybe there really was nothing to worry about now that things had calmed down. He really hoped so, but it seemed to be true as he caught a small smile resting on Mark's face when the flickering light returned, meaning no nightmares or messages of death. After a few minutes his breathing slowed to match the reapers, and he finally fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Dim sunlight shining through a window woke Cesar up, even though the sky was still muddled and grey. He could feel an arm resting on his stomach, and felt relieved when Mark was still fast asleep, even if he was holding him like a stuffed animal. He finally looked like a living person again. Cesar's gaze kept dropping to the rose, which seemed to almost glow even in the small bit of light, as if correlating with the reapers' well being.

Not a single petal was out of place, the exception being the one he had torn out; but looking at it felt wrong, as though it would take away the colour, leaving it rotted and dull. So he pulled his gaze away in order to look at his friend, checking for any sign of tears or distress. When nothing of that sort was found, he decided to look for any injuries from last night.

But now that he knew of them, Cesar unconsciously looked for scars, and found three from what he could see. Maybe it was partly because his mother worked in the medical field for so long, but anytime he saw one, he looked for others. Plus it was simply interesting to try and figure out the stories behind them.

There was a thin but long one right under Mark's left eye, whatever had scratched him got dangerously close to it, making it look like a permanent teardrop. The next one must've been deeper, as it was raised up along his cheekbone, almost as if someone had played connect-the-dots with the freckles there and a sharp object. The last one was in a more concerning position, right under his jaw.

It was hidden by the hood before, or Mark had always been turned in the other direction, but the sunlight made the large scar visible. He knew most of them were probably from being a reaper and getting into fights, but that didn't stop Cesar's concern for his friend. He slowly lifted a hand, slightly pausing when Mark inhaled deeply but didn't stir, and carefully pulled the hood down the rest of the way.

This one had obviously been much deeper, cutting across the reapers carotid artery dangerously. It seemed to go all the way around the side of his throat, starting under his chin and presumably stopping at the base of his skull. Cesar had heard enough stories to know that kind of injury was deadly if not handled right, and decided that learning the story about that particular scar might not be enjoyable.

He abandoned that activity in order to gently move Mark's arm off of himself and get up, wincing when joints popped and bones cracked. It didn't seem to bother his friend though, who just immediately took the entire blanket and curled up in the spot he'd left behind. Cesar half wanted to take a picture for the fun of it, why not tease him a little, but decided against it when he realized it would be better not to chance waking the reaper up.

So that meant either sitting in the chair and waiting for Mark to wake up, which meant possibly falling asleep again himself, or go make breakfast and try not to accidentally set something on fire. Option number two sounded better, if he was careful at least, and Cesar gave the blanket covered reaper one last glance before walking into the kitchen.

It was slightly brighter than the living room due to more windows, giving him just enough visibility to see clearly without needing to turn the lights on. Cesar hummed quietly while looking around, trying to figure out what he could make that wouldn't cause much noise. There was a box of premade pancake mix, the only thing to do would be to add water, and he quickly decided that even if there were other options they wouldn't be worth it.

He quickly made his way around the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and mixing spoon while absentmindedly avoiding the knives out of instinct. Of course the bag - inside of a box for some reason - of pancake mix was loud and aggravating, making Cesar silently curse whatever person had created the packaging. After nearly throwing the bag at the wall in frustration, he managed to pour some into the bowl and not spill it everywhere.

If he was more awake he would've noticed the hand creeping close to his shoulder, that hesitated slightly before falling down. Cesar jumped and spun around, causing some of the pancake mix to fly out of the bowl and onto a still half asleep Mark. He blinked in surprise for a moment before grinning at the confused look on the reapers face.

"Morning. I'm making pancakes." He got a slow blink in return before Mark nodded and made his way to the kitchen table, absently wiping the powdery mix off of his face. "You okay?"

"It's too early for pancakes." Was the answer as his friend practically fell into a chair and laid his head in folded arms. "Way too early."

"You just aren't awake yet, it's never too early for pancakes." Cesar earned a tired huff in acknowledgement as he searched turned to the sink and added some water, before sticking a spoon in the unmixed batter and sitting it in front of the reaper. "Wanna mix it while I look for blueberries?"

Now that he was looking, he could see the blanket was wrapped around Mark's shoulders, and he was shivering ever so slightly, just enough to be noticeable. Probably just the chill in the morning air, and any concern was lessened when Mark lifted his head to look at the bowl and nod, eyes a little less dull. Something still seemed off about him though, as if he was trying not to let a secret slip.

Cesar ignored it for now, no need to ruin the peace over what was probably nothing. He flashed a quick grin in his friends direction before basically throwing everything out of the fridge and onto the counter in order to find the blueberries, tuning out Mark's mutters of 'what are you doing' in the background. When he finally found the fruit and turned back around, he was met with the sight of Mark trying to not so discreetly eat some of the batter.

"What? It's just liquid pancake." The reaper proved his point by picking the bowl up and shaking it slightly, showing off the fact that it was in fact practically liquid right now. "Bet you could drink it like this."

"Please don't, I can't drag you to a hospital if you get sick from pancakes, not with that hole in your head." Cesar quickly shoved everything back into the fridge before picking out a blueberry and tossing it, trying to get it inside the hood of Mark's hoodie. "Stop moving I wanna score a point."

"No, I don't want blueberries in my hoodie thank you very much. First it was popcorn," Mark paused in order to duck before continuing on, though Cesar could see the grin threatening to break through his annoyed act. "Now it's fruit. You really are trying to annoy me to death."

"I would never." Cesar stopped his blueberry attack in order to dump them into the mix, stepping to the side when Mark fished one out and threw it at him. "You aren't any better."

Mark let out an over dramatic sigh before slumping onto the table again, a hand waving around at nothing in false anger. His antics were ignored while Cesar turned the stove on and found a pan, dropping a small bit of butter onto it before turning and retrieving the bowl, pouring enough batter out for one pancake. Hopefully it wouldn't burn.

But there was no point in standing next to it for no reason he supposed, and Cesar sat in the other chair across from Mark, who was resting his chin on folded arms. He didn't seem hurt or upset, just distant, as if arguing with himself about something instead of taking in what was really going on around him.

"Mark." His gaze immediately shot up from the table in order to meet Cesar's, wavering slightly. "Are you really okay? You seem kinda..nervous about something."

After everything that happened last night, Cesar couldn't help but feel a little hurt that has friend was keeping something from him. But now that he watched closer, when Mark raised his hand it didn't pause at the rose, and instead made its way to his throat, right to the start of the scar there. Cesar not so subtly inched a hand towards his friend, glad when Mark chose not to ignore it, instead holding on as if Cesar would disappear if not.

"I'm just thinking about something. You don't have to worry 'bout me Sar." He flashed a less than convincing grin, making Cesar tilt his head. "You aren't gonna drop it, are you?"

"No, because I care about you. So what's going on? Does it have to do with last night? The..alternates." Cesar blew out a quick breath after fumbling the last word, ignoring the concerned glance from Mark. Then the reaper looked to the table, the ceiling, their hands, anywhere but directly at him. "You aren't planning on checking it out are you?"

"What if I am? It's just a bunch of bodies now, nothing I haven't seen before." That didn't sound true, not with the waver in his voice and the way his grip on Cesar's hand tightened. "I need to make sure that's really what it was, not just some freak accident I'm getting confused about. Kinda hard to keep track of every death in this county."

Those words didn't help at all, and Cesar was dimly aware of the smell of smoke, but he couldn't care less. Mark seemed weirdly okay with talking about the deaths now, a far cry from last night's panic. He seemed so distant, and Cesar half wondered if he was planning something. Which is exactly what led to the moment where everything just broke.

"What are you really doing?" Way to be subtle. Cesar let go of his friends hand when he pulled it away, receiving a small huff in response to his words. Mark looked more aware now, more guarded. "You can just tell me you know-"

"Maybe you don't need to know Cesar. This is why..maybe you just don't need to know." Mark leaned away, eyes searching Cesars as if daring him to speak. He didn't at first, couldn't unless he wanted the kitchen to catch on fire due to the now burning and inedible pancake, but it also because this all felt..strange. After getting up and turning the stove off completely, something told Cesar pancakes weren't the priority now, he realized Mark had cut himself off.

"What do you mean by 'this is why'? Why what? If it's something to do with alternates I would really appreciate it if you could just tell me instead of dancing around it." A small thread of annoyance had slipped into his tone, but Cesar was genuinely more worried than anything. He braced himself on the table and stared down at his hands before taking another breath. "I don't want you to end up hurt."

"You shouldn't care about that, this is what I meant. If I go do my job and get hurt, it's gonna lead to you following me around and ending up injured or worse." The hand that still rested on the table closest to Cesar drew all the way back, fingers playing with the frayed edge of the reapers sleeve. The next words were so quiet Cesar thought he might have imagined them. "I never should've.."

Despite the sudden feeling of being dunked in ice cold water, Cesar opened his mouth to ask a question.

"Never should've what?" Mark went deer in the headlights, that glazed over look coming back full force before suddenly receding.

"I never should have tried to be your friend." He blinked, hands coming up in front of his chest and waving, as if realizing how that sounded. "No- not like that, I didn't mean-"

It didn't matter what he meant, because the world suddenly felt off kilter, as if Cesar was nothing but a speck of dust being blown around by a strong gust of wind. Not that it appeared to matter to the reaper, it seemed now that he may not have thought of Cesar as a real friend at all. But that was stupid, that was stupid so why was that all he could think about? The words that slipped between clenched teeth weren't the ones he wanted to say.

"Just..go Mark. If it means that much," He nearly flinched at the harsh tone his voice now carried, the volume slowly but steadily rising. "Just go and look at some very significant dead people."

These words weren't his why was he saying them- Cesar didn't know. They were like blood, steadily dripping and welling, waiting to bleed out whoever spoke them. He could see the way Mark's hands stopped fidgeting, the small but shaky inhale he pulled in before his expression dropped from concerned to nothing. Just nothing, it even looked like the blood had vanished from his face.

"Fine. Fine, I will. I thought I could explain why, but..don't make my job any harder while I'm gone." Mark looked directly at him, eyes boring into his own as if searching for something. Whatever it was he seemed to find it, because the reaper exhaled the smallest but in what sounded like relief. "I know you aren't really upset."

"How would you know that? Maybe you're right and I never should've bothered you. I should've just found a way to die." Cesar refused to break eye contact, even as the next words crawled up this throat like thick blood. "Then neither of us would care and none of this would matter."

"Cesar do not say that-"

"Why? Didn't you die before? Why can't you just do it all over again? Maybe use a knife this time, it would look prettier." He placed a hand on the back of his abandoned chair, nails digging in as more words and vile thoughts flooded his head, searching for vulnerable footholds and digging in. "You would finally open your eyes."

"Stop. Stop fucking talking, I've heard all that before." Mark finally broke eye contact and looked up, before slowly walking around the table and moving to stand directly in front of Cesar. He smiled, a small, spiteful grin that made the words quiet for a moment. "If you want to get to me you're going to have to try something new."

Mark held out a closed fist, and Cesar was dimly aware of what he had. The pocket knife had once again been taken, and rested on his friend's palm innocently as he opened it. The whispers grew louder, and Cesar wanted to close his eyes, keep his mouth shut and apologize for saying anything. Instead what came out made him feel sick.

"You know Sarah used a knife, don't you?" A hand was over his mouth in an instant while Cesar tried to breathe correctly, noting the way Mark's grip on the knife's handle tightened considerably. "Mark, that's not-"

Forget what he thought before, now was the moment things shattered. The knife hit the floor with a crack, though it didn't break unfortunately, and suddenly any carefully maintained light Mark had kept in his expression so far went dark. He looked more than upset, breathing shaky and eyes cold.

"Not you? I thought I apologized for what I said about your mothers tragedy the other day, how did you even find anything about Sarah?" But his gaze wasn't fixed anywhere near Cesar. "Actually? I don't want to know. Just..don't come looking for me."

He backed away, and Cesar swore he saw a tear fall down his face before the whispers swelled and everything became a sheet of black.

( ° ° ° )

Things made even less sense when he woke up for the second time, arm bent uncomfortably under his stomach and his face cold from where it had rested on the kitchen floor. Cesar sat up in a panic, hands pressing down over his ears before realizing no whispers were present, and he could hear nothing but his own nervous heartbeat.

One two, one two.

He never should have pressed for answers.

One two, one two.

The bitter taste of the words still lingered, sour and metallic in his mouth.

One two, one..

Cesar's heart seemed to stall in his chest as he realized why the words felt foreign, why Mark hardly said anything against the words he shouldn't have known to say. He'd lured an alternate away, kept it from feeding stale words into Cesar's head and forcing him to spit them out through gritted teeth. That's why his gaze never reflected the anger he should've felt until the end of the 'conversation.'

He was playing along, even though not all of the words were swayed by an alternates influence and manipulation. Mark knew, he had to know, but he was still trying to protect the person he was supposed to. Cesar ignored the spinning of his head in order to stand, though a low whine still escaped when the start of a headache flitted over his skull. He had to find Mark, make sure he was okay, that he didn't think Cesar was the one to mention Sarah.

A pang of guilt echoed through his chest as the earlier parts of the conversation came back to him, making him once again hold onto the back of the chair. His unfocused gaze made its way to the abandoned mixing bowl, and he frowned at the sight of dead flies suddenly scattered between the blueberries. He was just concerned for Mark earlier, that's why he kept prying when he should have just stopped.

Right? It wasn't like he was trying to hurt his friend to get answers about the alternate attacks. Alright maybe not on purpose, but he should've..god he should've just stopped talking. Cesar slowly let go of the chair and half walked half shuffled into the living room, wave after wave of dizziness making him want to simply collapse. But he had to find Mark, he had to..

Something by the door caught his eye, and a dim thought broke through the dizzy pain. His bag, the one he took to the church, it had the camera in it. That shouldn't have been important, it shouldn't matter, but for some reason he walked towards the bag and took the camera out, searching for the photo he'd taken. Cesar's hands were shaking, did he hit his head on the floor or something, but he managed to hold the photo up.

It was blurred and slightly out of focus, but his friend was there, his stance defensive against the alternates' claws that reached out for him. He was doing the same thing now, luring an alternate away despite some of the things Cesar had said, and the sudden thought of never seeing him again made the ravenette feel horrible. He had to get up, he knew that, but instead Cesar just sat staring at the picture, the aftereffects of the alternates manipulation slowly but surely fading.

When a drop of water fell onto the picture, he looked around, before realizing tears coated his face, making Cesar hastily wipe them away in frustrated embarrassment. Mark was fine, he would be totally okay. Unless there were alternates still hanging around to watch the aftermath of the carnage. Glancing outside showed the start of the sunset, and he realized he'd been out of it for the entire day, shit. That meant at any point Mark could have already died, he could be dead and gone and Cesar wouldn't know.

Instead of making him break down though, it just made him stand and reach for the door, before realizing the photo would get ruined if he took it with him. Cesar took a breath and shoved it back into the bag before searching for some shoes and a jacket, throwing them on and hoping in the back of his mind that the latter wouldn't have to become a makeshift bandage. The knife, ever present it seemed, was heavy in his pocket.

Rain, of course it had to be raining right now, poured as he stepped into the soon to be night air, soaking his clothes and making him shiver. Cesar hurried to his car, practically falling into the driver's seat and muttering curses when the vehicle didn't start immediately. His hands were shaking again, his heart felt too fast, and the looming possibility full of dread that he could lose his friend made him go over the speed limit, not that it would matter.

Nothing mattered but finding Mark, finding him and making sure he was unharmed and okay. Making sure he wasn't going to do anything to himself. Cesar bit the inside of his cheek nervously, he never even thought of that, and looked around for any signs or clues that would point him in Mark's direction.

A faint glow made him hit the brakes, slowing down as it slowly got brighter, until he was essentially parked in front of a burning pile. Dead and rotted roses surrounded it, and the smell of burning flesh reached him before he processed what he was seeing. Those were bodies, thrown on top of each other and burned like garbage. Smoke lazily drifted up as rain fell down, though it did little to stop the flames.

Cesar took a breath, then another, eventually abandoning that in order to simply bite down hard enough to draw blood, the metallic taste grounding him just enough to notice there was something else. No, someone else, just standing on the other side of the pile, face concealed and a hand pressed to their side. Mark.

He wasted no time in throwing the door open and practically sprinting to his friend, hands outstretched but not touching him, hesitant to do anything out of fear that it might hurt him. A small mumble of his name was all he could hear before Mark looked at him with tear filled eyes and weakly wrapped his arms around him, making him return the gesture immediately. He could make out small apologies that weren't directed at him while the reaper tried, and failed, to hold him tightly, making Cesar worriedly pull away and inspect him for injuries.

Instead of letting go as well though, Mark held onto his hand instead, looking utterly distraught at the possibility of him leaving. He looked tired, eyes dull yet focused on Cesar, his free hand pressing against his side once again. Ignoring the rush of worry, Cesar carefully pried his hand away, but only succeeded in tripling the panic when doing so revealed a dark stain that left red on Mark's hand.

"Mark, what happened? I know you're probably still upset, and I'm still not sure I really understand what happened earlier, but I need to know what's wrong so I can help." He was rambling and knew it, and squeezed the reaper's hand gently, receiving a weak squeeze in response, but it was better than nothing. Cesar moved his thumb to the pulse point on Mark's wrist, counting along while trying to figure out what to say. It was steady, and that took some of the tension off of everything, the bleeding was most likely just from a cut. "Please tell me?"

He was expecting silence or to be flat out ignored, but Cesar did not expect Mark to shake his head, fear clearing his eyes of that dull sheen. The hand holding his tightened the smallest bit, and Cesar decided it would be better to get out of the rain for now, then ask questions.

"Come on, let's get out of the rain." And away from the bodies, though he didn't say that aloud, just carefully pulled Mark up and led him to the passenger side of the car. "Careful."

Once he was situated, Cesar ran a hand down his face as he stood in the rain for a moment, glad that the water hid any remaining tears. He blew out a sharp breath before getting into the car as well, locking the doors after doing so. Mark looked at him, stared really, before extending a hand again. He took it without hesitation, though the temperature of it made him flinch slightly.

"What happened Mark? What..did that." He scanned the surrounding area for any sign of alternates before backing up, listening for the sound of Mark's voice over the rain. "If it's because of what I said earlier-"

"Cesar, that wasn't you, I know that." Then he smiled, a genuine smile that held the smallest bit of sadness. "I've been around you long enough to know you would never say anything like that."

"That isn't creepy at all, Spooky." He let an uneasy laugh escape, followed by more when the reaper smiled wider. "But I'm still sorry Mark."

"You're fine Torres. If anything I should be apologizing, I mean I ran off and left you there by yourself. If another alternate found you? I don't think it would have ended well at all." He sighed, before looking out the window and going still. "Cesar. Cesar, do not slow down."

Mark held his hand in a death grip now, his head turned to fully face the window. Cesar couldn't see anything past the sheets of rain, but the seriousness of the reapers tone led him to not question it at all. Then the screaming started, shrill and loud, deep and horrified. The sounds of twelve people calling for help that didn't come.

"PLEASE, PLEASE I CAN'T SEE PLEASE HELP ME-" it shuddered before the tone changed, becoming even louder over the noise of the car and rain. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE, PLEASE ANSWER ME-"

Each one got cut off by a fleshy thud, and even though those bodies were long dead by now, the alternate had no trouble using them to taunt. Cesar checked the mirrors, gaze flicking to all the windows nervously every couple of seconds. Mark was silent save for small mutters of 'I tried to save' them under his breath. Rain was all he could see as the screaming crescendoed, a harsh cry morphing into one voice.

The brakes screamed in tune with the voice as he hit them, the sudden appearance of a person in the road forcing him to stop. Mark was looking at the figure as well, but his expression was less confused and more horrified. Cesar didn't even notice he'd unlocked the doors and stepped out into the downpour until Mark was reaching for him, words drowned out by a familiar voice.

They had been caught.

She was just standing there, illuminated in the headlights like a ghost, clothes covered in dirt and grime. A small sad smile rested on her lips, though her arms were wide open as if asking for a hug. Cesar barely registered the sound of Mark opening his door and stepping out with a cry of pain, maybe the cut was pretty deep but that could wait, because his mother was here.

"What are you doing all the way out here sweetheart?" Tears filled his eyes at the sound of her voice, warm and comforting against the cold and stinging rain. He knew it sounded slightly wrong, slightly distorted, but it was only because she hadn't spoken in a while, right? "Come here honey, let's get you home."

Cesar took a step forward, then another, until he was right in front of her. A small tilt of her head and a wider grin made him collapse into her arms, which immediately wrapped around him in a tight embrace. One hand rested on the back of his head, the other held him close to her shoulder. Then she started to hum, and that was all it took for him to positively sob, unable to breathe as he took in the reality of what was happening. She was back, she had to be.

"Mom, I'm sorry, I'm sorry- I missed you so much but I couldn't see you like that I.." He gasped, choking on the words and inhaling the smell of old dirt and decay. "I couldn't see you like that."

"Like what honey? Did the nightmares start back up again?" Cesar wanted to hold on and never let go, but he pulled himself out of the hug slightly in order to wipe his eyes and shake his head, only looking away when a bloodied hand fell onto his shoulder. "Who is this, a friend?"

"Cesar- I know what you think, but that's not her, just back up and let me handle it." Mark sounded like he was on the verge of tears, breathing harsh and gaze locked with Cesar's. "Please. Please don't be the thirteenth person-"

He stopped talking and removed his hand when Cesar was pulled into another hug by his mother, who suddenly seemed much colder than only seconds before. Something landed in his hair, and Cesar pried himself away yet again to get it out. A maggot rested in his palm, wriggling and bloated, and his gaze slowly trailed up from it to the alternate.

"Holy shit. Mark- Mark what the fuck did it do to her?" He stepped back, tugging Mark along with him by his hand. It was warm, it wasn't cold like that things. The foggy happiness of seeing his mother again was quickly fading, the realization that her corpse was being used as a puppet filling him with dread. "Mark?"

His friend squeezed his hand, the one not holding it pressing against his side again. He looked more angry than sad or scared now, a small smile cast in Cesar's direction before it zeroed in on the now grinning alternate.

"If something happens to me you drive like hell, got it?" It was quick and quiet, giving him no time to answer as the reaper just lunged at the thing, hands wrapping around its throat while its skin fell in decaying clumps to the ground, maggots wriggling in the mud.

But the thing simply pried his hands away and held him up like a ragdoll, its free hand quickly digging into the wound on his side. Mark cursed, feet kicking against its chest so hard ribs snapped, but it didn't stop the thing from throwing him to the side and looking at Cesar, who had stayed frozen, unsure whether to intervene or run. He looked away as it drew closer, finding Mark's curled up figure on the ground in front of the car.

It noticed, and gently placed an icy hand on his cheek, forcing him to look away from his friend. Warm light gray eyes stared into his own, but Cesar refused to let that false comfortable feeling sink in again, and instead glared at it. The smile dropped off of its face, and he was suddenly aware of every breath he took, every beat of his heart. Every whisper that traveled through the air.

Cesar, you miss me don't you? You want to see me again right? The things other hand came up to cradle his head, obscuring his view of Mark. Don't you want to know what happens after you leave?

His even breaths were suddenly shaky as one of his hands searched for the knife and held it tightly, the pain grounding him for only a moment before his focus fled. Cesar felt his head tilt up, saw the reassuring smile before cold metal pressed against his neck. Before that cold metal blade entered his neck, easily cutting past flesh and arteries as he carelessly dug it in. The alternate lifted his head even more, causing warm blood to flow down.

Then a new blade flashed in the cars headlights before burying itself in the things decayed skull. It fell, with Cesar following moments later. He was choking on the blood clogging his throat, his heart felt like it was beating too fast and too slow at the same time.

One of his hands shakily came up to cover the wound. He could feel a hand on his own, loud words broke through the haze of pain as he realized Mark was there. Tears were congregating in his friend's eyes, while small pleas and attempts to tell him everything was alright were muttered. He tried to sit up, free hand slipping on a puddle of quickly congregating blood mixed with rainwater, crashing to the already rain soaked ground and causing more pain as Mark shouted in surprise.

So this is how he was gonna go, lying on the ground while his best friend cried above him. Cesar blinked the tears away in order to offer a small shake of his head, accepting it. He'd avoided death for this long, it was only fitting for it to catch up with him eventually. But Mark just shook his head violently, eyes scanning the wound in an attempt to assess how bad it was.

"No, no Cesar you aren't going to die okay? Just look at me, it's okay." Mark was holding onto his hand so tight it hurt, but he didn't try to pull away. Cesar could feel Mark's frightened heartbeat if he held on tightly as well, and figured if he could focus on that he would be alright. "I can't let you die now, that's not- that's not happening. I can- shit. I can try something, but you have to agree to it first."

Cesar could hardly breathe, could hardly think, but he nodded, letting Mark know he heard. The reaper took a breath before placing a hand on the rose over his throat, over the heartbeat that wouldn't slow no matter how long Cesar stared through tear filled eyes.

"I can try this, it might hurt, but I promise you'll be okay. We'll both be okay." Cesar nodded again, still counting along to the heartbeat on Mark's hand.

Until the reaper pulled the rose away, making a harsh noise of pain while petals dropped. He didn't let go of Cesar's hand as he tore the flower apart, even though more tears fell from his eyes. Mark placed the flower over the bloody wound, and Cesar pulled in a gasp of air when the petals made contact. He coughed, the taste of blood sour on his tongue, before looking to his friend.

Even over the loud pouring of the rain he could tell Mark's breathing was uneven and pained, his free hand pressed to the place the rose had been. Cesar sat up despite the flurry of dizziness it caused, concern multiplying when he spotted the blood trailing from Mark's mouth. It matched the red staining his side. He realized with a slow and seeping horror that the ever steady heartbeat he'd been counting along to was slowing, hardly even there a his returned to normal.

"See? You're okay." Cesar pressed a hand to his own throat, shaking his head when he found smooth skin instead of a wound. Petals fell to the floor, and he desperately picked them up before shoving them in Mark's direction, earning a small, sad laugh. "That won't work. I figured I've been here long enough, and I don't really want to keep Death waiting. They're nice, but I've been avoiding them for a while."

Cesar felt new tears prick his eyes when Mark smiled, and threw his arms around the reaper, not wanting to accept it. But Mark simply held him in return, an accepting air to his actions. Despite his throat still stinging, Cesar forced himself to speak, holding onto his friend tightly.

"You can't. You don't deserve to die, if I couldn't then you can't." He pulled away, placing his hands on Mark's shoulders and staring into slowly dimming eyes. "Why did you do that? You said we would both be okay, this isn't okay Mark."

"Yes it is. I told you, Death has been waiting for me. Why do you think I had that extended life in the first place? They were kind enough to offer, so I'm doing the same for you Cesar." He still smiled, even as more blood fell from his lips, rain causing it to flow down quickly. "I'll wait for you, don't worry. And Cesar..?"

Said teen wiped his eyes again, that feeling of denial making his movements jerky and tense. Then he realized the heartbeat under his palm was stopping, slow and unsteady as Mark waited.

"Yeah Mark?"

"I'm glad I got to be your friend."

Cesar pulled him into one last hug, bittersweet sadness running through him when Mark weakly returned the gesture. A few moments later, nothing but a bright red rose was held in his arms, watered by the tears that fell uncontrollably and the rain that refused to let up for over an hour.

( ° ° ° )

The days went by slowly, turning into weeks then months, until years had passed and Cesar sat alone on the anniversary of the day Mark had left. The rose had stayed bright red, its petals hadn't wilted and it never lost its vibrancy, though it didn't have any smell to it. He held it carefully, tears falling when no tap on his shoulder alerted him to a certain reaper's presence, no cheerful greeting rang out.

Cesar held it close, pausing in every movement when the distinct smell of fresh roses floated through the room, making him smile slightly. Mark had said he would be waiting for him after all.

"I'm coming Mark. Just keep waiting for me." He wiped tears away and laughed, knowing it would happen. They would see each other again.

(· · ·)

Years later, after a life well spent and a never dying rose wilted away, a figure stood near ornately carved gates. He wasn't hesitant like most, instead bearing a smile on a face once again youthful, a laugh ringing out when a familiar scythe looped around his neck. Cesar held onto his friend tightly, noting the lack of a rose on his hoodie.

"You look exactly the same Cesar. Just as stupid and worry inducing." Mark was holding on just as tight, a smile gracing his face for the first time in years. "I missed you dumbass."

"I missed you too Spooky." He got a laugh in return, before pulling away and looking at his friend. "And you look exactly the same as well Mark. Emo kid in a hoodie."

"Says you. You're in the same boat I am now, forever seventeen, welcome to the club. How was being an adult? Any fun?" He smirked when Cesar frowned, stressful memories floating to the surface while Mark laughed.

"No. Be glad you missed it." But now he was back with his friend, both of them able to take care of each other through the years they never properly got while alive. "So. Wanna show me around or remind me of the horrible thing called life?"

Mark laughed again, making some nearby reapers smile as he held onto Cesar's hand, trying to solidify the fact he was actually here.

"Sure. Just don't let Life hear you talk about them that way." He winked before pulling a confused Cesar along, excitedly pointing his scythe around while more reapers smiled. It had been a long time since he'd laughed like this.

"You're joking right?" Cesar faked a terrified expression, smiling quickly after. "Whatever, I have my friend Spooky here to protect me."

"Dammit, I forgot I would have to deal with that for all eternity now." But he held onto Cesar's hand tighter anyway.

The two friends walked around hand in hand, catching up on lost time while other reapers felt the liveliness of the two despite their being dead. Despite what people might think, the afterlife wasn't cold and harsh. It was made of rose petals and laughter.

Cesar was home, that conclusion was inevitably true.

Chapter Text

Rain, of course it had to be raining right now, poured as he stepped into the soon to be night air, soaking his clothes and making him shiver. Cesar hurried to his car, practically falling into the driver's seat and muttering curses when the vehicle didn't start immediately. His hands were shaking again, his heart felt too fast, and the looming possibility full of dread that he could lose his friend made him go over the speed limit, not that it would matter.

Nothing mattered but finding Mark, finding him and making sure he was unharmed and okay. Making sure he wasn't going to do anything to himself. Cesar bit the inside of his cheek nervously, he never even thought of that, and looked around for any signs or clues that would point him in Mark's direction.

A faint glow made him hit the brakes, slowing down as it slowly got brighter, until he was essentially parked in front of a burning pile. Dead and rotted roses surrounded it, and the smell of burning flesh reached him before he processed what he was seeing. Those were bodies, thrown on top of each other and burned like garbage. Smoke lazily drifted up as rain fell down, though it did little to stop the flames.

Cesar took a breath, then another, eventually abandoning that in order to simply bite down hard enough to draw blood, the metallic taste grounding him just enough to notice there was something else. No, someone else, laying next to the burning bodies. They were on their back, one arm twisted and mangled, the joint bent the wrong way and bones poking through the flesh.

He didn't want to get out and see the person, see the blood and smell the charred flesh from the pile next to them, but a cold thought made him freeze. What if that's Mark. Cesar immediately threw caution out the door when he opened it and stepped out, the rain stinging against his skin even through the fabric of his jacket.

The smell of copper mixing with the smell of burning bodies as he approached nearly made him gag, but the truly horrific sight was enough to make him retch, though nothing came up. Cesar took a tentative step forward, a hand outstretched as if willing the reaper to simply sit up and grab it. But there's no way that could even be a possibility now.

He kneeled in front of his friend, a mix of rainwater and dark blood soaking his pants as he took in the carnage. Mark was staring straight up, eyes dull and half closed, a small trail of blood flowing from the side of his mouth. It seemed to be too little of the substance for what lay inches below, a mess of red and white. His throat and chest had been carelessly torn into, some of the ribs peeking out through the muscle surrounding them.

Looking around his friend revealed bits of the broken off bones, and a fist sized lump with a too familiar rose harshly shoved into the side of it. It was laying beside Mark's broken arm, as if put there for him to grab. Cesar took a deep breath, ignoring the cold rain and warm tears that fell down his face, and leaned closer to the thing, knowing based on the mutilated state of his friend's torso exactly what it had to be. He'd paid attention to his mother when she talked about her work at the hospital.

It was the reaper's heart, surrounded by the fallen petals from the rose that had rested right above his pulse. Cesar choked down a sob as realization settled in, that had to be an intentional blow from whatever alternate had done this. He tore his eyes away from the now useless pair of what were essentially dead and unimportant objects in order to stare at Mark, at the too pale tone of his skin and the horrible lack of breathing.

He held one of the reaper's hands, thumb instinctively checking the pulse point at his wrist. There wasn't anything there of course, the heart had been removed from the body. It was strange, the way he looked at the situation like it was just an operation. Like it wasn't real, like he would blink and be back at his house safely curled up on the couch with his friend. Cesar held on anyway, noting the way Mark's hand still had some warmth to it. Maybe it was just from the fire, but that's what made him take a breath and lean away.

Not the hand on his shoulder that had been there for minutes now, keeping him stuck in that spot. He didn't have anyone left now, but if what Mark said was true, they could see each other again. Cesar readjusted his grip on Mark's hand as the other quickly found his knife, and without a moment of hesitation dug it deep into his throat, making sure to hit an artery. Then again. Again. Again. Again and again and again until he couldn't stay upright.

Cesar fell to the side, though a shadowy hand prevented him from hitting the ground. It lay him down gently, right next to Mark, and as Cesar slowly bled out onto the ground, he weakly pulled away from the alternates grasp in order to hold onto the reaper. There was no reassuring heartbeat or gentle humming, there was only the smell of blood and the sound of his own gargled breathing.

In, and out, it was wet and thick, like he had inhaled water on accident. In, and out, did it have to hurt this much? Is this what Mark felt like? In, and out, he wasn't scared though. He knew it would end, that was inevitable. Cesar has cheated death for too long, but at least he would be with his friend. In, and out, he felt more numb than anything, but he could feel Mark's hand in his. In, and out..

As everything finally faded to a soothing black he desperately hoped he wasn't completely wrong.

____________

There's a field of flowers. There are two figures, one in formal wear and the other in a simple black hoodie, though small floral designs are embroidered on the hood and sleeves. Wind blows gently, the warmth of a nice summer day blowing comfortingly around Cesar's shoulders. He's laying on his back, one hand holding tightly onto his friends, the same friend who has made a small chain of flowers and draped it over the large gash in his throat.

Mark himself has about three chains of flowers resting on his own head, as if the delicate petals would hide the gaping wound that still remained. A small grin rests on his face, though Cesar notices the smallest bit of sadness in it. They know each other, they're familiar with one another, even if their memories haven't quite come back. Cesar knows being around Mark feels safe, and lets his eyes close for a moment when the former reaper hums gently.

The hand in his lets go in order to find some more flowers and make another chain, but a small whine of distress from Cesar makes it come back immediately. A small 'sorry' reaches his ears and he gives Mark's hand a gentle squeeze. There's the sound of fabric against grass, and Cesar opens his eyes to find Mark sitting closer, and lifts himself up enough to lean against his friend's leg.

The chain of flowers against his throat falls, and Mark gently fixes it before working on another flower crown, and Cesar watches intently. He doesn't watch the flowers though, just stares at the person he knows and calls a friend but can't quite remember. Tired eyes and a comforting presence are two things he knows from before, along with the small number of scars on his friend's face.

The small tilt of his head as he focuses on not messing up, but the action holds too much tension for what it is. It's like he's focusing on trying to keep someone alive, not linking flowers together. He doesn't remember why that seems familiar, why it suddenly makes the air seem chilled. Cesar stops his staring in order to play with a flower, tearing the petals off and letting them drift in the wind.

Red Dahlias and Forget Me Nots were a pretty mix he thought, though the red tints to some of the flowers made him feel slightly uneasy. Cesar took a deep breath, looking back to Mark when he heard a small hum. A finished chain of flowers was quickly placed on his head, some of the petals falling down and drifting slowly. He smiled, and that seemed to be enough to show Mark that he appreciated it.

They shared the silence comfortably, the only time it was broken was when Mark hummed gently, and Cesar found he didn't mind this place. Even if they couldn't fully remember each other, they still had one another, and that was enough for him. They would have to figure it out eventually anyway. It's inevitable after all. Plus, they have plenty of time.