Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Branzy never prepared to protect someone like Him.

Branzy Cello.

Now, in all honesty, Branzy never stood out. In Life, he wasn’t quite eye-catching nor interesting at first glance. Natural white hair, and eyes that were as purple as amethysts, apparently didn’t stand out as much to other people.

Though Branzy was pretty much a rare gem, people just thought he was faking it. Even though his hair and eyes were natural. It hurt a lot to be called a complete liar when he said his eyes were natural, that he wasn’t old.

Other people just used him for attention, or tried, since no one believed him that much.

Then. . .Branzy never really told anyone about it, but he just. Started to hate how he looked. Hated how completely unnatural looking his eyes looked to him.

And that was why Branzy never really liked attention from public eyes. Ever since he was a teenager, he learned from childhood he just hated it when people targeted him for looking his natural self, so he would try his best to hide.

Somehow, it worked and no one noticed him that often. He was just regarded as an outsider.

But in the Afterlife? Well, that was way different.

When he first made it in the limbo, a lot of souls told him he was beautiful. A bunch of astonished and shocked expressions just came over soul’s faces when they saw him, and found out he wasn’t at least a Divine soul. That he looked so much like an angel despite not even entering the Aether yet, and Branzy appreciated and loved the compliments.

Was it the first time that Branzy felt appreciated? Sadly, yes, it was like his mother’s love except from actual other people.

Branzy would never understand why, but he made it into the Aether. Despite the uh. . .Sins, he did, he made it in. It was amazing, and absolutely astonishing.

The landscape was pure white clouds that were shaped like islands, it was cold to the point some clouds would become ice. The sky was a beautiful light blue, but sometimes it would melt into colors of the galaxy, and oh dear, it was beautiful. The souls there were absolute angels, pun intended, but they were so insanely nice to Branzy.

Branzy never quite appreciated the cold weather, nor the fact that apparently Saints didn’t look the same to every soul, but he loved it. Branzy felt at home in the Aether, and was full on ready to take on anything he was given.

It was more than exciting for Branzy when he started to grow his wings, when he was given privileges, when he started to make friends with others, when he was officially given the rank of an Angel.

But then, he somehow became more than that.

A Guardian Angel.

Branzy wasn’t a good fighter, he’d admitted so many times and even told the Gods about it, but he became a Guardian nonetheless. It wasn’t like he thought, but it was still terrifying having responsibility over another person when he could barely care for himself, but he somehow managed to keep his Guardian role.

The people he would protect were mostly kids, but he didn’t quite appreciate it. Children were somehow always so much more messy and clumsier than Branzy was, and that was definitely impressive.

But regardless of his own exhaustion of taking care of unwatched children, he’d puff and flutter his wings, hold the child he was protecting close to him, and kept them from harm's way. He wouldn’t have it any different, but he’d never say that.

There was always something to love about those demon spawns.

Branzy loved his job, really. Sometimes he’d meet really cute and nice kids, and he was surprisingly a good mother figure.

He just really loved those kids, didn’t he?

Then, he got an absurd person to protect.

“ An. . .An adult? “ Branzy muttered, looking into the image of the man he was going to protect. He looked over at Saint Lucid, confused and clearly afraid, “ I-i thought I only protected toddlers and kids, why am I suddenly getting handed a grown man?! “

Saint Lucid responded calmly, “ God figured you needed to try at least one adult. “

“ God is too expecting of me. “

Saint Lucid laughed, before stifling it with his hand. Branzy could still see him smiling as he continued to explain, “ They figured that you needed, and had to, at least try to protect another man rather than a child. “ Saint Lucid put his hand down, smiling at Branzy, “ You’ve grown up enough, We believe in you. “

“ W-well, I don’t! “ Branzy put a hand in his hair, still having his eyes glued onto the image in his Dream Catcher, “ Lucii. . .You cannot do this to me! I’m not old, or skilled enough for this! “

“ You’re Twenty-Four. You’re a Guardian Angel, Have been for Five years in Aether time. “ Saint Lucid said sternly, his eyes suddenly focusing on Branzy. Branzy stepped back in apprehension, he still wasn’t used to Lucid, and his eyes, staring right at him.

Branzy sighed, putting his hands in front of his chest and fidgeting with his hands, “ Can’t I just go back to chaotic children? Like, why can’t I watch over Spepticle anymore!? “

“ You gave him a lighter. “

“ By accident! “

“ Look, Branzy. “ Saint Lucid stepped forward, putting a hand on Branzy’s shoulder, “ You have to now. There is nothing that I, nor any of the Saints can do about God’s Judgment. Be thankful you aren’t assigned to a murderer. “

Branzy laughed at the last part of Lucid’s talk, though he felt absolutely helpless and nerve-wracked about being responsible for someone as important as an adult.

Branzy prepared what he had to. He was going to visit the Overworld for a few months, as that was his job. He wouldn’t come back until a problem arises and it was his fault, and it somehow took him months to make a single mistake.

It was so, so nerve-wracking every time he visited the Overworld to protect who he could. Not only was it too hot for him, it was also somewhat rare for an adult to have a Guardian anyway. And it was Branzy’s first time protecting a grown adult.

He breathed in and out, his heart racing like it always did when he was nervous. His hands were shaking as he stared into his Dream catcher, trying to remember the man he was going to protect well enough to find him.

Dark, red hair, burgundy and sharp eyes, intimidating aura, beautiful, looks like he could murder. Branzy shivered at that thought. Wait, did he call the man beautiful?

“ Pierre Claussen. “

Branzy stared hard and intently at the name, as if it would disappear. He wasn’t sure if he was going to remember it, but he had to remember it. He closed his eyes, envisioning the person, rather Pierre, in his head, to train himself to know and remember him.

Though he had been a Guardian for so long, he still had a few memory issues. But, it was easy to remember such an intimidating person, especially with the scars he had on his face. Dark, red and sharp eyes. A contrasting and complimentary color, to Branzy’s light, lavender eyes.

Funny, Branzy’s pupils were white, while Pierre’s were black.

Branzy fluttered his wings as he stretched his fingers, it was going to be a long, long time before he came back to the Aether. He looked around his room one last time, looking over the trophies and gifts he got from past Guardianships, mostly so he could have a sense of comfort.

He walked back to his Dream catcher, closing his eyes.

He put his hands together, and sat on his knees. He muttered a small spell to himself, wishing safety for him and the man he was going to safeguard with his entire Afterlife.

Soon, the sounds of wind and crystals shimmering filled his room and ears. His wings wrapped around himself, and he squeezed his eyes tighter so as to not scream out of stress. Branzy listened to the loud noises, as much as he didn’t want to, until he felt himself fall through the floor.

This was the most terrifying part about visiting the Overworld, getting there.

It took Branzy years to keep his eyes shut as he fell, and even then he struggled to scream. It was absolutely terrifying to be falling through the air, and Branzy learned that the hard way.

The wind pressed against his back as he fell and fell through the sky, the hot atmosphere engulfing him as he did. Branzy would have joked that his halo would fly away from the fall, but he didn’t have one.

He fell for what seemed like hours, his heart pounding in his ears, before he unfurled his wings from around him, and fluttered them before he could hit the ground. Branzy never knew he would be able to tell when ground was near, but there he was, slowly flying down, only opening his eyes when he heard his shoes tap the floor.

Branzy blinked a couple of times, before rubbing his eyes and then looking up to see where he landed.

The dark blue, night sky stared back at him as he stared at it. It was beautiful, and Branzy could probably stare at it for hours, but that wasn’t why he was there. He looked down at his surrounding area.

The first thing his eyes landed on was something dark. A pool of crimson red, something that he couldn’t miss, which confused Branzy.

And then a person. A-a bleeding person.

Chapter Text

The crimson red was blood.

Branzy’s wings immediately puffed up defensively as he stepped forward without thinking. The person was slumped against a crate, he seemed to be inside a warehouse, and by the amounts of blood, They were definitely dead.

Oh god. Branzy cautiously rushed over to the person, making sure that he was invisible to any other person other than the man he was protecting. The body wasn’t Pierre, Branzy internally thanked the Nether and Aether, but the sight of the body was still disturbing to him.

They suffered a clean wound to the neck, expertly cut in a way that would make them bleed out fast. Branzy would have vomited if he were alive, but all he could do was stare in disgust and absolute fear.

The blood was everywhere, dripping on the collar of their shirt, down their torso.

Branzy, an angel who had never seen that amount of blood before, just couldn’t quite believe what the hell he was looking at.

His heart, well, not really a heart, was racing. The person’s eyes were just closed, as Branzy accidentally brushed his hand against their skin, he felt the last bits of their warmth fading.

But the dead person definitely wasn’t his protectee, their hair was too brown, so where was Pierre? Branzy slowly got up, his wings involuntarily covering up the body as he turned away from it.

Branzy looked around him, seeing high and big shelves carrying bigger crates was not comforting to him at all. The shelves reached until the ceiling, they were tall and considering what Branzy found, brooding.

There were drag lines and splatters of blood on the gray cement, leading away from another pool of blood. As Branzy nervously turned the corner, another body came into sight.

He had no idea what to do, and neither body looked like Pierre. Branzy hesitantly started to walk forward, he could barely see in the dimly lit warehouse, no, Murder house, but he was trying his best to not cry over it.

The person was lying face down, but the shade of white their skin was starting to turn into, and the large wound in the middle of his abdomen made it clear they were gone.

God, what did he do to deserve this?

Branzy was afraid to even call out his name, since he felt as though he’d put Pierre in danger. He wasn’t even sure what was happening, Branzy froze up and stepped back in horror as he realized he stepped in blood, his translucent, now bloody, footsteps being left behind as he did.

He could taste the blood in the air.

Oh, Branzy never prepared for this out of everything to happen. He didn’t even train for a time like this, he quietly and fearfully started to levitate off the ground so he could avoid noise, and stepping in blood. The one thing on his mind was if Pierre was there, and was okay.

He searched around, only to find like six more bodies laying around. All dead, bleeding profusely, killed in different manners. One had a gunshot wound, the other had his head smashed in.

Branzy was wishing he didn’t have to see all of that, the pained yet empty expressions all the people had as they just laid. Dead. In pools of their own blood.

Branzy shouldn’t have been, since he was a Guardian, but he was scared out of his fucking mind. His wings were puffed high above his head, and he couldn’t keep his hands in one place, Branzy would be lying if he said he wasn’t about to cry at that moment.

Branzy was scared and progressively stressing out. Too scared for his own good, if he could cry he definitely would have already bursted into tears.

He heard something.

Branzy turned his body in the direction where he heard the noise, it sounded like a soft little squeak, but it couldn’t have been innocent, considering the bodies.

Because of his job and duty to protect Pierre, he had to see what the noise was, in case it was his Pierre. Was Branzy considering setting the building on fire just to get back to the Aether? It was so tempting.

As he rounded another shelf, he saw another body.

Branzy stared at them for a second, looking in fear and remorse at the dead body that was sprawled across the floor. It seemed like whoever killed them just didn’t care enough to move them.

He hesitantly and cautiously flew towards them, as he didn’t want to see his bloody footprints, making sure to still levitate over them so he wouldn’t accidentally step in their blood. Branzy grimaced at the person, she seemed to have a knife stuck into her throat. He saw the defensive wounds and general wounds on her arms, and for a moment Branzy almost forgot to look away.

The blood seeped onto the floor, the blood slowly pouring out and around her neck.

He almost didn’t catch the sound of footsteps behind him.

“ You. “ An ominous and unforgiving tone of voice spoke behind him, and Branzy froze up immediately. He almost gasped, but he tried to keep himself as quiet as possible.

“ hi. “ Branzy quietly and nervously muttered back, putting his hands up beside his face as if he was getting arrested, “ um. . .who are you? “ His wings were slightly stretched out, but not enough to completely cover him.

“ Oh. No no no. “ The person started to walk towards Branzy, his boots clacking on the cement floor, and he heard a sharp blade be quickly brought up, “ I ask questions here. Who are you. “

Demanding. Branzy never really liked it when people would yell at him, as stupid as it sounded.

“ I-i’m. . .I’m a Guardian Angel. I was sent here for my protectee. . “ Branzy tried thinking of a cover up name for Pierre in case he wasn’t talking to him, “ . . .C-clown. “

The person stood quiet, and Branzy was silently panicking his ass off.

“ Ah. “ They hummed, Branzy could feel their eyes on him, “ Turn around. “ They mused ominously.

Branzy held his breath, pushing the thought of “ His name is clown? “ to the back of his head as he hesitantly turned around to face his protectee.

He somewhat wished he didn’t.

Tall, maroon, dark eyes and hair, horns, Horns? Branzy took a double take at the man’s face again. It was definitely Pierre, but his face was covered by a face mask. A devilish grin with sharp fangs was clearly and expertly painted on the porcelain, the lines were perfect, and he had something on his head that looked awfully like massive horns that slightly curved inward.

“ An Angel? “ Pierre narrowed his eyes at Branzy, his pupils turning into slits, which gave Branzy a heart attack, “ Oh, why did I get an angel? “ His eyes scanned Branzy up and down, which was scaring the hell out of him.

Pierre looked slightly mad, or annoyed, or whatever!

“ My name is Branzy and. . .are you okay? “ Branzy put his hands together, he probably looked like a scared child at the rate he was going at, “ I-i saw. . .um. .dead people. . “ He trailed off, his pure heart not being able to take it.

Pierre stared at him blankly, like he was looking into Branzy’s core, before he started to laugh. He laughed for a brief moment before quickly stifling his laughter, but Branzy already caught onto the villainous vibes that Pierre gave off.

“ Oh, Branzy. I’m fine, but I made sure they aren’t. “ Pierre chuckled and looked at Branzy with a tone that made Branzy feel like he was prey to a predator, “ What good is an Assassin if they don’t even do their job? “ His tone was menacing and taunting, which made Branzy almost forget what he said.

Then he saw blood on Pierre’s face mask. The blood painted the ivory of his mask, specks of more seeped into the cracks of the porcelain.

Then it clicked.

He was assigned to a murderer, and oh god he was definitely like prey to predator.

The realization must have shown through Branzy’s expression, as then Pierre smiled deviously at him. Even with the mask on, and the fact it was dark, Branzy knew the man was menacing.

And he had to protect him.

“ so, can you tell me about yourself? “ Branzy asked quietly, fidgeting with his hands as he did. The dark lighting of the dimly lit lanterns in Pierre’s room made Pierre so much more scary looking, “ just wanna know the guy I’ll be protecting for. . .months. “

Pierre hummed, sharply sliding his blade over his knife sharpener, making Branzy wince. Pierre responded simply, “ Since I can’t avoid you and I have to keep you around, I guess I’ll open up. “ He cleared his throat. Before he continued, “ I’m an assassin. “

Branzy’s wings gently wrapped around him, he clearly looked and acted afraid, nervous of his own protectee, and it was damn embarrassing. For a Guardian, it was. “ w-well I know that. “ He muttered to himself, watching Pierre pull out another dagger to sharpen.

“ I go by the code name, ‘ Clown Pierce. ‘ Usually, I assassinate or, by your words, Murder. “ Pierre paused as he said that, Branzy felt his eyes locked onto him, before he continued, “ People who deserve it, or have a bounty on their head. This isn’t the best neighborhood if you’re looking for peace. . .But for Power and Wealth. .Respect. . .Fear. “

Pierre chuckled lowly, swiftly and sharply throwing a dagger at the wall beside him, the blood on the tip trickling down as it flew. Branzy flinched, hiding in his wings, before he peeked out one of his feathers.

“ It’s really simple, Angel. “ Pierre’s tone made Branzy uneasy, even more so with his addition of Branzy’s rank, “ I kill people for the money, or just for the fun of it. Before you say it, yes, I’m insane. Everyone tells me that. “ Pierre chuckled again.

Branzy was down-right terrified of that man, and Pierre knew and decided to make him even more afraid.

Pierre never took his mask off, only taking his hat and costume off. It seemed as though Pierre didn’t trust Branzy enough for him to see his face, and as much as Branzy wanted to see his face in-person, Branzy was too afraid to ask.

Pierre was tall, menacing, his eyes were as sharp as Branzy saw them to be, he had various tattoos, and even without the brooding costume he was still terrifying. His hair was medium length, unkempt at best, and a few strands were stained with blood.

“ What about you, hm? “ Pierre put the sharpener down, before he turned around to face Branzy. Pierre seemed to scan Branzy again as he looked down at him, and Branzy would be lying if he said Pierre didn’t look predatory, “ I haven’t been given an Angel for a Guardian before. Usually, it’s the demons I get. “

“ um. . . “ Branzy’s eyes darted around the dim room, his hands fidgeting as he tried to find his words to describe himself as a Soul. Pierre leaned backwards, his back now to the table as he stared down the very terrified angel.

“ M-my name is Branzy. . .I um. . .I have been a Guardian for five years, And I have no idea why I was given you to protect. “ Branzy practically blurted out of fear. Pierre slightly tilted his head to the side, before he chuckled loudly.

“ Oh? You don’t know why you’re My angel now? “ Branzy could still see Pierre’s eyes, pupils, staring at him through his unkempt hair.

Branzy slightly flushed pink when Pierre called him “ his angel “, but he just ignored it. He inhaled, holding his breath in an attempt to calm down, “ Well, I’m usually protecting children, and I have never protected an adult before. . .especially one like you. . “

“ Makes sense. “ Pierre mused, chuckling, seemingly without another thought, “ You’re pretty skittish, for someone who’s supposed to ‘ protect ‘ me. “

Branzy sighed quietly, covering himself with his wings. .

Chapter Text

Branzy would have been lying if he said he was calm. He was currently watching his supposed protectee prepare weapons and bombs of two sorts if they ever needed it.

Pierre just nonchalantly and promptly told Branzy that he was going on mission, an assassination on a decently wealthy man was placed, and Pierre took it out of spite. Was Branzy terrified? Yes, of course he was.

It was nerve-wracking and absolutely petrifying to walk into a room full of deadly weapons and explosives. Branzy could still smell the blood in the air, despite Pierre insisting that he clean his weapons often.

Branzy was just standing there, holding his arm with his other hand as he watched Pierre pack up a large knife. It was a hunting knife by Pierre’s words, a gigantic and unnecessary weapon in Branzy’s.

From the two days they spent together, Branzy simply couldn’t shake off the feeling that Pierre was a super villain or something. He definitely was, but Branzy still couldn’t comprehend or understand it. Oh, and he hadn’t seen Pierre sleep at all.

There was one thing Branzy knew, and it was the fact that Pierre was purposely scaring him for fun. And it was working wonders.

As Pierre hid the last dagger he had in his shawl, he closed the toolbox that held most of his weapons and turned to face his angel, “ Ready? “ He sarcastically said, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Branzy with mocking suspicion.

Branzy inhaled, holding his breath as his grip on his arm tightened, “ I don’t think so- “

“ Too bad, “ Pierre cut Branzy off before he could even finish, and Branzy could see the mischievous glint in his eyes as he stared into Branzy’s, “ You’re stuck with me, Branzy. “ Pierre started walking towards Branzy, which almost made him trip.

Branzy briefly forgot how to move as Pierre slowly walked towards him. He could tell that Pierre was smiling menacingly, or maybe that was just his mask talking his emotions. Branzy still hadn’t seen Pierre take off the damn thing, and he was actually starting to forget what he looked like under it. .

Branzy stepped to the side, letting Pierre walk past him. He could’ve sworn that Pierre’s eyes were on him the entire time he walked by, but Pierre walked by too quickly to tell.

Branzy just breathed in and out, nervously fluttering his wings and following behind the literal murderer he was assigned to.

Another thing that unsettled Branzy, as if protecting a murderer wasn’t enough, was just the fact that Pierre’s base was massive. Now, according to Pierre, he didn’t live with anyone else. It was just him, and now Branzy, but Branzy had never been in a base that was practically a mansion.

The halls were way too long and it made Branzy even more apprehensive. The longer the walk, the longer he had to be with Pierre.

The dim lighting that definitely had specks of blood on the lanterns did not help.

First mission. It was the first mission, and first murder that Branzy was going to help commit.

Pierre had brought Branzy to a field, where he said his target was. Branzy had no choice other than to follow, even if both of them knew that Pierre was more than capable of taking on anything.

Saying Branzy was scared, apprehensive, and absolutely terrified was an understatement.

Branzy was hovering over Pierre, watching the man they were going to assassinate very carefully. Pierre told him a few rules that Branzy already forgot, since he was too busy thinking about the fact Pierre had rules.

Initially, when Branzy talked and interacted with Pierre back at his home, Branzy thought of him as a mischievous child.

Of course Branzy would be qualified to think that. Pierre seemed to try to scare Branzy, and it was working. Pierre was intimidating and terrifying to him, Pierre was tall and knew what he was doing.

The fact he would throw knives that were definitely bigger than an average throwing knife with ease made it clear. The fact he would show Branzy those said knives with blood still on them made it clear.

Branzy was obviously horrified, even if he did think Pierre acted like the usual mischievous and playful kids.

But as Branzy stared at the oddly stiff, seemingly cold hearted Pierre beside him, Branzy was even more afraid. Pierre was experienced and he would tell. He had never seen such a cold, dead stare, even with the demons he called children.

Pierre was watching his “ target “ intently. His body was still, and he looked like he was ready to attack at any moment.

Branzy stared at Pierre for a good minute, making mental notes about the literal murderer, Pierre was quiet, his pupils were narrowed in focus as he watched the every move of his, their, target. His hands were steadily placed on his hips, on the daggers in their holsters.

Pierre made sure to tell Branzy very threateningly not to make a sound, and Branzy of course listened.

Their target was standing in a clear area, while Pierre and Branzy were crouching down in some tall grass behind a boulder. Pierre muttered something about his target being stupid enough to come alone.

Branzy nervously tapped his shoulder, flinching even though Pierre only looked at him with his eyes. Pierre pressed a finger to his mask as he stared at Branzy with a harsh expression.

Branzy nodded in apprehension, his wings slightly fluttering as he fidgeted with his hands.

Pierre slowly started to crouch walk, Branzy silently sighed and started to follow. Their target was none the wiser as they started to get closer to them, seemingly not noticing the faint noises of the grass crunching under Pierre’s feet.

Their target seemed impatient, tapping their foot with their hand on their hip. They were holding their phone in their other hand, and Branzy could see their holster on their waist.

Branzy tried to shake off his fear and nervousness, he still couldn’t forget about the bodies and pools of blood he saw in the warehouse when he first met Pierre. He wasn’t sure what was worse, seeing the blood or having Pierre clean it up in ten minutes.

Branzy followed Pierre as he slowly walked towards his target. Branzy noted how Pierre seemed hyper-focused on the person, Branzy could tell just by his body language, while Branzy was struggling to even focus on walking at the moment.

His eyes kept darting around him, the shadows of the trees made him feel uneasy.

They were getting close to the person, who apparently was allergic to turning around. Branzy could make out what they were saying, mumbling complaints about a “ Planet “ and “ Bacon “ being late for their promised meeting.

Their trench coat moved with the soft breeze, and they now had their hand on their hat as if it was going to fly away. Branzy felt bad for the person as Pierre walked closer to them, his footsteps being silent.

Snap.

Branzy’s eyes widened as he felt a twig snap under his foot. Pierre froze immediately, hiding down in the tall grass before looking over at Branzy in bewilderment.

Branzy saw their target turn around, but he couldn’t help but get paralyzed at the way Pierre looked at him. His eyes looked like they held no emotion, but Branzy could feel annoyance emanating from the way Pierre just stared at him.

Even in the dark light, he could tell that Pierre’s pupils were dilated.

“ Guys? “ The person spoke, which made Branzy immediately turn back to them, “ You’re finally here! “

The person started to walk towards the grass, right where Pierre was. They couldn’t see Branzy but to him it felt like they were staring right into the core of his soul.

Branzy started to panic. He looked over at Pierre, who had already looked away and at their target. Pierre reached for his ankle gun.

His hands started to shake and he felt sick. Without realizing, Branzy stretched his wings high and above his head, his hands turning slightly purple, and then Pierre dissolved and disappeared in purple particles.

“ Why are you guys in the grass? “ The person’s voice was laced with amusement as they took a step into the grass.

Branzy looked them in the eyes, they were smiling, which almost made Branzy smile back.

Then purple mist appeared behind them. Then something lunged towards them, pulling them back, their hat falling off as their eyes widened in surprise.

Hand over their mouth, and then a knife in the side of their neck. The blood spattered as the knife dug deep into their flesh.

Branzy gasped and stepped back, suddenly starting to tremble as he watched the blood start to pour out the gash in their skin. Their eyes widened, he couldn’t tell if they screamed or not.

The crimson red poured onto their coat and toned blouse as their body went limp, falling against Pierre.

As the deep blue color of their eyes started to fade to a grayish tint, their body was shoved to the side.They didn’t even have the chance to move, and yet their eyes were already shut. Pierre was standing there, blood dripping off his hand and dagger as he stared at Branzy.

Branzy stared, horrified and sympathetic at Pierre, who seemed the complete opposite. He seemed apathetic.

Pierre narrowed his eyes as he put his dagger back into his holster. He looked mad, yet he also looked emotionless.

“ I told you to be Quiet. “

Branzy couldn’t say anything else, as he was too afraid to.

Branzy hovered over the dead body, a hand over his mouth as he stared at the dead person. Their expression was stuck in a state of shock and fear, the blood still pooled out of their wound.

“ Angel, come on. “ Pierre’s voice sounded cold as he spoke. The cold and apathetic tone ran through Branzy’s already jumbled mind.

“ c-can we. . “ Branzy felt terrible and pitiful for the poor person they just killed, “ can we bury them? “ His arms were tightly wrapped around him, his shoulders slightly raised as he muttered his words.

Even though Pierre was behind him, Branzy could feel his eyes boring into the back of his head.

“ No. No one will find him, No need to. “

Branzy sighed, closing his eyes as he tried to keep his wings from wrapping around him. The image of the dead body still showed up in his mind, and he couldn’t help but feel so afraid and remorseful for him.

“ okay. “ He shakily replied, turning away and looking at Pierre instead, “ let’s. . .go. . “ Branzy’s voice was quiet, but Pierre could tell he was scared and sad.

The whole ride home, Pierre could tell that Branzy was shaken up. Even without looking at him, Pierre could tell that Branzy was terrified of him.

Branzy looked sad and pitiful as he sat in the passenger’s seat of the stolen car, he clearly felt sympathetic for Pierre’s target. When Pierre reached over to lock Branzy’s door, a speck of blood got onto his finger, and he couldn’t stop staring at it until he forcefully wiped it away.

Pierre liked that. He liked that he already put the fear of hell into the poor angel.

Pierre, himself, was a full contrast to the sympathetic Angel. Rather it was just another midnight for him, and plus, he never really knew Jaron that well at all. Nor was he that remorseful as much as Branzy was.

Plus, he wasn’t an Angel like Branzy was.

But, Pierre knew that he needed to have Branzy get used to the blood and murder, as there was no way Branzy could leave him alone and it would be impossible to do his job when Branzy was so skittish.

Unfortunately, Branzy would have to become his side-kick when Pierre was on missions.

Their second mission couldn’t have gotten any worse.

Branzy wasn’t quite sure what the hell happened, as he put his hands over his eyes when Pierre lunged and attacked his target. He already learned that he’d rather not see what happened. He only heard the choked scream of their victim slowly turn into gargling, and then nothing.

The ground was soaked in blood that was slowly seeping into the grass, and Pierre was victorious and bloodied, as always.

Branzy nervously flew to and beside Pierre, making sure to hover so as his shoes didn’t touch the blood soaked ground. Pierre turned his head to look at Branzy, the blood dripping off his mask.

Branzy was looking down at the ground, just staring and looking at the blood drenched ground and body. He would look to the side every now and then, looking at the abandoned and torn, striped scarf that the person was still holding.

Blood gushed out of their chest and throat, which caused the blood to seep into their clothing and strands of their orange hair.

Their eyes were so. . .empty. Soulless. They were staring up into the night sky, into Branzy’s eyes, until he looked away.

He felt so guilty. So, terribly, guilty.

But he couldn’t stop looking at the blood, god, he wished he was blind just so he wouldn’t have his sight fixated on the pool of blood.

“ Branzy? “ Pierre said, his tone sounded as if nothing ever happened. The blood stained his mask, which made the sharp teeth look worse. Branzy could still tell there was blood on his clothes despite Pierre’s clothing being black.

His eyes flickered to Pierre’s, before flickering back to the blood. “ um. . .yeah, yeah? “ Branzy finally turned his head to look at Pierre, barely able to look away from the bloody scene.

“ Do you know how to clean up blood, Branzy? “

Branzy clenched his fists softly, his throat started to hurt like he was about to cry. He inhaled, and held his breath, “ I wouldn’t say I’m good at it but, hydrogen peroxide and hot water could be good. “

“ Hot water isn’t very reliable for clothing, but accurate enough. “ Pierce put a hand on his chin, nodding, “ I assume you don’t want to clean up with me, do you? “

Branzy’s eyes widened as he looked away, putting his hands over his face, “ please don’t make me. “

Chapter Text

“ Alright, remember what I told you. “ Pierre said sternly, putting a hand on Branzy’s shoulder, making Branzy slightly jolt, “ Stay quiet this time. “

Branzy nodded, fidgeting with his hands, “ d-don’t make a sound, right, right. . “ He nodded to himself, Pierre noticing how he slightly dug one of his nails into his finger.

“ Don’t make the same mistake twice, alright? “ Pierre pulled his hand away, stepping away from Branzy, “ You do, you face consequences. “ He muttered loud enough for Branzy to hear. Branzy winced, maybe at the monotone harshness of Pierre’s voice, before quickly nodding, Pierre noticed how tight his grip was on his other hand.

Pierre stared at Branzy for a moment longer, seemingly observing him for a second, which made Branzy noticeably apprehensive as he tried looking away. He smiled deviously under his mask, before taking a step back and walking away and to the open door.

He heard Branzy shakily sigh, before getting up. Branzy fluttered his wings, which Pierre noticed he did a lot, and then he jogged behind Pierre, a few steps behind.

As they walked down the dramatically long hallways, Pierre would keep his watch on Branzy, but he only watched with his eyes. Pierre had walked his halls before, so he knew it well enough to walk without looking, Branzy hadn’t. Branzy looked uncomfortable, his glimmering purple eyes only focused on the floor in front of him.

Branzy would fidget with his hands when he was nervous, Pierre caught on to that faster than Branzy probably wanted him to. Branzy tried to be subtle when he was nervous, but it was hard not to notice it when he would trip over his own feet at times, and would have his wings slightly flexed.

Two days into protecting him and Branzy was already scared, unsurprisingly. Pierre was always a force to fear.

Branzy would try to glance at Pierre every other step they took, maybe to just see what Pierre looked like. It would take him a few seconds, since Pierre hadn’t turned his head to look at him, but when Branzy would realize that Pierre was looking right back at him, he would jolt and look away.

Pierre didn’t at all look away from Branzy, to Branzy’s obvious dismay.

Branzy’s wings were slightly fluttering as they were slightly stretched out, his head down while he was walking, seemingly contemplating himself and his soul. Branzy probably felt awkward, scared more than anything.

As they continued to walk, they started to near the end of the hall, the dark, silver metal of the vault door started to peek out of the corner of Pierre’s eye.

Pierre walked slightly slower, still staring at Branzy. The angel didn’t seem to notice the fact they were approaching the door, as his gaze was focused on the ground as he walked. Pierre could still see the growing anxiety on Branzy’s face. Pierre looked at Branzy for a little longer, before swiftly looking away.

Even though it had only been a second, and though he wasn’t directly looking at him, Pierre could feel Branzy's slight relief. Maybe it was the soft sigh, or the noises of Branzy fluttering his wings gave it away. Branzy must’ve really liked to puff his wings, or was just his way or freeing his anxiety.

Pierre put both his hands on his hips, checking for his holsters. His gloved fingertips brushed against the metallic grip of his gun, his other hand gently grasping the specially chiseled handle of his dagger.

He smiled to himself, then started to walk faster. Looking up at the dimly lit vault door, with the burgundy lanterns being the only light source, the metallic door looked ominous.

Pierre quickly approached the keypad, which had a flickering red light, not checking if Branzy followed him. Branzy, of course, did follow him, the faint sound of wind and the feeling of cold ice gave him away.

They should talk about that. Though Pierre wasn’t sure Branzy could prevent the aura.

Pierre swiftly pressed and entered the code, the door beeping before the vault door started to open. The vault door slowly scraped on the floor, a major flaw which Pierre couldn’t fix since Cube was out, before Pierre shoved it open and walked in.

Pierre stepped into the spacious room, crossing his arms. The room was quite underwhelming, he didn’t put much thought nor work into the entrance of his base, just built a small room with a ladder leading up to a trapdoor.

The entrance didn’t quite need an extravagant look, Pierre was already glorious in himself.

. . .And also it would have been pointless.

Pierre stared up at the ladder, the faint stains of bloody fingerprints ever so slightly being seen under the dark light, only turning away when he heard Branzy step beside him, the feathers of his wings slightly brushing against Pierre’s shoulder.

He looked at Branzy, straight into his eyes. Branzy slightly jolted, putting his hands in front of his chest and stepping back as Pierre made eye contact. Pierre raised an eyebrow at him, before he smiled at him,

Menacingly.

He put a hand up, pointing to the ladder, “ You go first. “ Pierre’s words didn’t even sound like a question, it just sounded like a calm demand.

“ . .what? “ Branzy quietly muttered, his eyes darting to the floor as he got more nervous. Pierre narrowed his eyes threateningly at Branzy, smiling deviously under his mask.

“ You’ll protect me, “ Pierre’s menacing grin widened even more under his mask, his other hand gently clenching, “ Won’t you? “ He cooed.

Branzy froze for a moment, his expression of anxiety mixing with confusion as he realized what Pierre meant and wanted him to do. Branzy’s wings slightly lowered, his eyes softening,

“ r-right. . “

Branzy looked to the ground again, shakily sighing as he put his arms to his sides, his wings slightly fluttered. His hands, which were in fists, were shaking, as he seemed to debate on what to do with himself.

Pierre stepped to the side, slightly extending his arm to gesture Branzy to go.

Branzy stared at the ground for a little longer, his hands fidgeting with the pockets of his jeans, before he slowly stepped forward. He slowly walked forward, he seemed so fidgety and shaken up.

Branzy almost froze up as he walked past Pierre. He breathed in shakily, and quickly stepped away.

Pierre turned his head to the side, watching as Branzy just walked up to the ladder. He turned around, watching as Branzy nervously put his hands on one of the rungs of the ladder.

Branzy sighed to himself, Pierre heard it, as he shakily and nervously climbed the ladder, as Pierre just casually stood back and watched.

Was Pierre telling Branzy to climb the ladder first just another tactic to scare the shit out of the poor angel? Yes. Considering how Pierre knew how easy it was to make Branzy apprehensive, Yes it was. That was exactly why Pierre just stood back and watched as Branzy climbed up.

Branzy’s wings slightly fluttered and puffed as he went up the ladder, he seemed quite indecisive about if he wanted to go up quickly or slowly, as the way his legs moved were inconsistent in speed.

Pierre just stared up at him, silently chuckling at the poor angel’s clearly discomforted movements. As he heard the sound of the trap door being pushed open, and saw Branzy quietly pull himself up, Pierre decided to finally walk over.

As he pulled himself out of the hatch, he looked up and in front of him, up at the poor angel he called his Guardian.

Branzy didn’t say anything, he just looked down to the side as Pierre stood up without using his hands. He made sure everything was in their holsters, despite already checking before, before Pierre kicked the hatch harshly, closing it.

Branzy winced. But he said nothing.

That was another thing Pierre noticed, Branzy hated loud noises. He had mentally noted that as soon as he saw Branzy wince at the sound of Bacon’s screaming.

Pierre looked at him, but Branzy didn’t look back at him. The Angel had his arms crossed, one of his hands rubbing his elbow as he stared down at the ground, his wings slightly spread out. Branzy seemed to be slightly spaced out.

Pierre stared at him for a little longer, just casually observing his Guardian for a little longer, before he took a step forward, and started to casually walk off. He couldn’t be late, afterall.

He walked a few steps, before he heard a soft “ huh? “ as he assumed Branzy turned around to look where he was going. Pierre heard his soft and light footsteps as Branzy quickly shuffled behind Pierre.

And that was where he stayed. The entire time they walked to the lake where his victim, Planet, usually hung out. Branzy seemed to mindlessly yet nervously follow behind him, though he definitely didn’t want to.

Pierre found it amusing that Branzy would just follow him around like a little sad puppy, but he couldn’t blame him. Branzy’s fear of Pierre hadn’t worn off yet, what else was the Angel supposed to do? He was reasonably afraid, and Fear wasn’t something that you could get rid of immediately.

Pierre knew that best.

Branzy’s wings would brush against his back a few times, the soft feathers gently grazing Pierre’s rugged shawl that was covered with dried blood he never cared enough to clean out.

As they continued to walk through the neatly cobbled trail, Branzy’s footsteps being the only one audible, Pierre saw the glint of water that illuminated the soft moonlight.

Pierre hummed, they must’ve torn the branches and leaves down, since he could see the lake perfectly. The trail used to be shielded by the low tree branches, obstructing the lake that they were commuting to.

He stepped to the side, stepping over the poorly made fence that had surrounded the trail and crouching down in the grass. Pierre turned his head to the side, looking at Branzy, who was behind him.

Pierre put a finger to his mask.

Branzy nodded without a second thought.

Pierre started to silently crouch walk forward, his hands gently and slowly pushing the tall grass to the side as he did. The soft soil pressed against the sole of his boots, the small grass being crushed as he walked.

. . .Humming.

He stopped for a moment, Pierre heard humming from the edge of the lake, slightly echoing through-out the water’s surface.

“ Hm. “ Pierre silently scoffed. He continued to walk, this time slightly faster as he shoved the grass aside, the noises becoming slightly louder.

Pierre pushed the last bits of grass out the way. Without even looking, he knew what was there.

In front of the shimmering water, a figure was kneeling in front of it, their head tilted up to the sky.

Pierre scoffed, exasperated yet also in a sarcastic manner. Planet, his victim, must’ve gotten there a few minutes earlier.

Planet’s back was to him, the moonlight probably shining on his face as he looked up at the moon. He was wearing the same galaxy printed hoodie he always did, Planet was kneeling on the soil, the faint figure of a flower crown on his head, his hands placed in front of him.

He was humming a soft song as he stared up into the sky, his pointed ears down turned.

His voice would cut out a few times.

Branzy’s wing slightly brushed against Pierre as he took a stance beside him. Pierre turned to look at him, but they were way too close to Planet for him to say anything. Planet had quite good hearing, maybe it was because he was another worldly creature, but no one was ever sure.

Pierre put a finger up to the mouth of his mask again, before he signed for Branzy to stay. He nodded. It was a little difficult to see his expression but it was clear that Branzy still looked a little scared, preparing his mental state for what Pierre would do.

Pierre briefly stared at Branzy as he started to walk backwards, to threateningly make sure Branzy wouldn’t move an inch, before he did eventually look away and start to properly crouch walk to the left of where they were.

This wasn’t what Pierre had planned. From his own knowledge from stalking him, and calculations, Planet should have arrived right as Pierre had his hiding spot. Not a few minutes before Pierre arrived at all.

The left of their original position had slightly taller grass, but in less quantity. Basically, Planet would be less likely to see him, but Pierre could see him perfectly.

As Pierre slowly walked over, he could see Planet’s face more and more.

Pierre stopped at one point, his knees resting in the soft dirt as he watched Planet closely.

Though it was hard to tell because of his pale skin, Planet was crying as he stared up into the moon. A pained and devastated expression displayed on his face.

Planet was quiet as he cried, he was holding two sets of bouquets, one with rosemaries and red zinnia’s, the other with yellow and light pink roses.

Tears were streaming down his cheeks, his void colored eyes staring up helplessly and devastatingly at the sky, his tears and black eyes glinting in the soft moonlight that beamed on his face.

Ah.

Pierre then realized why Planet was there way earlier than he should have been.

Grief.

Planet was still humming the soft tune, his hands shaking as he tried his best not to just break down completely.

Pierre had heard about Jaron, Bacon and Planet being friends, The Three Heart Trio, but he never quite saw any of them together at all. Maybe they met in secret, as Pierre had never even seen them bat an eye at each other. It was clear that Planet cared about his two friends, however of course.

Planet brought a hand up to his unkempt hair, gently pulling the flower crown off of his platinum hair and placing it in front of him.

Planet slid his legs out from under him, his knees being up to his chest as he tightly hugged the bouquets of flowers. He tilted his head down as he started to sob into the beautiful flowers that were neatly tied together.

Pierre stalked him for a little longer, observing his emotion. Then his fingers brushed against his rubber gun handle, his hand wrapping around it as he slowly pulled the gun out of its holsters

What? Did you think he would sympathize with the poor, grieving fool who was named Planet?

No. Of course not.

Pierre slowly stood up as his gun was fully out of its holster, but the grass obstructed most of him, so it was hard to even see him.

His hand slightly brushed against the grass as he tried to get a good angle, making a shuffling sound, and then the humming stopped.

Pierre wouldn’t have been seen through the grass, but, he could see out of the grass.

And he could perfectly see that Planet was looking straight at Pierre, his ears now perked and pointed up as Planet stared at Pierre.

Planet shouldn’t have been able to see him, but it was like Planet immediately knew. His eyes were wide open, the practical milky way being shown through them, the tears on his cheeks now being more noticeable as he stared.

Pierre didn’t even care that Planet knew. It made everything so much more fun, it would have been better if Planet had brought his sword with him. He cocked his gun, letting the click echo through the mostly empty landscape and letting Planet clearly hear it.

And Planet immediately leaned back and backed up, his shoes harshly kicking against the rocky ground as he did so, somehow not letting go of the flowers.

Within a damn second, Planet’s grief and sadness was replaced with hatred.

“ No no no no no, NO! “ Planet shouted through his teeth, his voice was strained, and he sounded more frustrated than scared. He turned around, almost tripping over his own shoelaces, already preparing to run away before he even saw Pierre.

He didn’t have a holster on, meaning he didn’t bring a weapon. Foolish.

Pierre chuckled lowly, before he pushed through the grass and started to run after Planet before he even got step forward. Planet didn’t even look behind him, he just started to run as he held the bouquets tightly against his chest.

Planet screamed, screamed as loud as he could. His voice cracked in a manner of frustration and emptiness, he wasn’t even afraid of Pierre. Planet was swift and quick, his sneakers thudding against the stone filled soil as he ran, he seemed to almost stagger since he was sitting for so long.

But of course, Planet didn’t get too far.

Pierre didn’t expect Planet to run that far off, thought Planet was a good runner and escapee, but he didn’t expect Planet to trip over something that was thrown under his feet.

Pierre couldn't quite tell what it was, all he knew was a giant mass had been thrown out of the tall grass beside where Planet used to stand,
Though Pierre was somewhat confused, but he didn’t care. He stood over his body, and before Planet even moved his arm to try and get up, a pop rang out through the air, and there was a bullet in his head.

Planet’s body relaxed as he fell back against the ground, the bouquets of flowers being gently crushed. Pierre looked over to what had tripped Planet, which was just a big rock.

The gunpowder rested in his hair, the blood pouring out as he took a final breath.

“ oh. “

The tall grass beside them shuffled, the feathers of Branzy’s wings peeking out of the grass. A gloved and translucent hand gently pushed the grass aside as Branzy stepped out of the grass, a soft expression of grimace on his face.

“ . . .I forgot you could. . .do that. . “

Pierre looked beside him, looking at Branzy, who was standing in front of the tall grass he was supposed to be hidden in. Pierre chuckled, shaking his head.

“ You did, huh? “ Pierre mused, blowing the smoke of the gun because putting it back in his holster., “ Is that why you essentially helped me kill him? “ He turned his attention back to the dead Planet, staring and thinking about what he should’ve done to get rid of the body. He stared down at the body, observing and figuring out what he should do.

“ Hey, angel? “

“ . .yes? “ Branzy’s answer seemed to be hesitant despite it only being one word. He seemed to be realizing he just aided Pierre in the murder of Planet.

He had an idea. An idea that no angel would like.

Pierre squatted down, his hands grabbing the hem of Planet’s hoodie, before harshly pulling him up and into a kneeling position. Branzy’s sight went from Pierre to Planet, presumably at Planet’s face, before Branzy gasped and stepped back.

Branzy must’ve been staring at Planet’s face, the expression on his face displaying fear and remorse as he put his hands over his face, his wings being stretched out and above his head.

“ Would you mind if you helped me. . “ Pierre tugged Planet towards him as he signaled to the lake, “ . .Dispose of him? “ He signaled to the glimmering lake behind them.

Branzy didn’t respond. He continued to stare at the dead Planet, at the blood that was pouring out and down his face as Pierre held him up. Branzy’s hands were shaking, his eyes progressively going from fear to pure remorse and sympathy.

“ Branzy? “ Pierre gripped the hem of Planet’s hoodie harder.

“ I- No! no, no, I. . . .don’t. “

Pierre glared at Branzy, his eyes narrowing as he stared him down. Branzy stepped back, his eyes now locked with Pierre’s as his expression was more of a plea.

He shrugged, “ Alright. “ Pierre said lowly, before grabbing Planet’s body and throwing him over his shoulder, Planet’s body practically ragdolling.

What, did you think Pierre would be upset that Branzy wouldn’t help him? No. Branzy just accidentally helped kill Planet. The poor soul had been through enough.

Pierre wasn’t that bad.

“ why do you do this? “ Branzy muttered softly to Pierre as he watched him throw the person, Planet, he thinks, into the lake. Branzy found himself somewhat impressed that Pierre managed to pick up the body with ease, but at the same time he found it horrifying.

“ Hm? “ Pierre didn’t even turn around to face Branzy. He stood over the edge of the water, maybe watching as the body slowly sunk into the deep waters of the lake. Branzy sighed, both in frustration and new-found boldness.

“ just. . .why do you choose to kill a person? Why? “

“ Ah. “ Pierre stopped talking for a moment as he stared into the water, before he continued to speak.

“ Because it’s what I need to do. “

“ you, you don’t. . .you don’t need, nor have to kill someone, “ Branzy’s eyes fell upon that two discarded bouquets, the beautiful hues of blue, yellow, and pink of the flowers being covered with the crimson red of ‘ Planet’s ‘ blood, “ what if they had a family? Or friends? Just, no one deserves to be killed! “

Branzy felt guilty already, but then finding out that they had essentially killed ‘ Planet’s ‘ friends, then him, made everything feel worse for him.

Pierre sighed and shook his head, Branzy could feel his disappointment.

“ You only say that because you never knew Planet Lord. If you did, you wouldn’t be saying what you are now. “

“ . . .what did he do? “

“ He was a murderer. “ Pierre crossed his arms, tapping his foot as he continued, “ The difference between an assassin and a murderer is one of them have a reason for their crime. Planet took hearts for nothing more than to feel the blood on his hands, and to know that he had another soul to his ‘ debt ‘. “

Chapter Text

“ BREAKING NEWS!! “

“ Jaron Yates, Travelling Boston Detective, along with Bacon Wallace, a Photographer Prodigy, both found Dead within 30 miles of each other. Authorities say that- “

Branzy couldn’t help but watch and listen to the television of the cafe they were in. His expression turned into a soft emotion of pity and guilt as he continued to listen to the inevitable news flash about their victims. 

The reporter started to describe what had happened to Jaron and Bacon, and oh boy, Branzy already knew that the gruesome description of the former duo contrasted the calm and relaxing nature of the warm cafe.

As the reporter started to talk about the bloody scenes, a few other customers watched the TV intently, some gasping and covering their mouths while others just looked in disgust or plain anger and looked away. 

The exhausted barista just looked up at the TV with a tired expression, not tired from their work. No. Knowing Pierre, that was probably the third news flash about his killings.

Just wait until they find Planet.

Branzy couldn’t help but feel like the worst person in the world.

“  - - Detective Jaron Yates was one of the best of the police force. “ The commander on the screen said with a solemn face, his voice being monotone, maybe because of the pity he felt, “ Without him, it will be quite difficult to solve the crimes he was working on, but my squad hopes to be able to continue his legacy and bring justice. We will do our best and keep our heads up, despite this terrible tragedy. “

“ May he, our best personnel, best Detective in the Seven Years we had him, rest in peace. “

Branzy felt even worse .

He clenched his fist, slightly hunching forward as his expression turned into one of sadness, his eyes becoming half lidded as he thought. Detective Jaron was the “ best “ in the police force. . .and Branzy had aided in his murder.

Branzy had just prevented a lot of crimes and victims being brought to justice. He killed someone that could have been the good in the world. God forgive him, because at that moment he felt like he could never forgive himself.

Pierre, who was sitting beside him, didn’t seem to notice the news flash. Though Branzy’s fluffy, and now messy hair was in the way, he could still see Pierre’s care-free body language and general emotion as he casually sat like he wasn’t the reason for the news.

Branzy had spent the entirety of the five days they were together just observing and collecting bits of information, specifically about how Pierre’s emotions worked, and yet he found himself surprised and disappointed that Pierre didn’t even seem to care.

Branzy wanted Pierre to care, but as he watched Pierre casually just sit on the counter stool and type on his burner phone from his peripheral, he didn’t have to ask to know that Pierre didn’t care that much.

It was one of the things that he somewhat didn’t like about Pierre, not that he didn’t also hate the fact that he was a murderer. It was just Pierre didn’t seem to have empathy for his victims. 

Branzy wished, wanted and hoped that Pierre, deep down, did care. But after he saw the amounts of weapons, bombs, and bleach that Pierre just so casually had in his base, he knew that Pierre was too experienced to care that much anymore.

As Branzy slowly got out of his trance, the section about Bacon had already finished. All Branzy knew was that a woman with ginger hair was crying as she finished her words,

“ I'm so sorry, Bacon. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I love you and I always will. “ She didn’t even look into the camera, she just wept and hid her face in her hands as she did, her silver ring still being able to be seen through her curly hair, the roses tucked over her ear being visible.

Branzy wished for nothing more than to just straight up die. 

Pierre obviously still didn’t care as much as Branzy did. He never looked up, only doing so when the commander said they may have had a lead on who killed the Detective and Photographer, and then quietly chuckled when they pin pointed to another serial killer.

Pierre was somehow untouchable by the police force, and apparently that had been going on for Years.

Why else would Pierre so carelessly just wear a dark red hoodie with black as a complimentary color? Why else would he so confidently go out in public without a care. . .Pierre and even Branzy knew that somehow he would evade capture for as long as his career went on. 

As the Television switched to another channel, Branzy kept thinking about turning himself and Pierre in to the police, but of course he couldn’t, and wouldn’t do that. One, because, well, Branzy was technically dead, and Two, he unfortunately started to somewhat become attached to Pierre.

Of course, that was normal for Guardians. Especially Guardians that were meant for children, Guardians are supposed to have a special bond with the person they protect. But Pierre was not a child, and he definitely was not an ideal person to like.

Branzy honestly wouldn’t be able to avoid being attached to his protectee, and it wasn’t like Pierre acted like a bad person to him.

Pierre wasn’t mean to him . Though Branzy’s literal first night and day with him was chaotic and nerve wracking, because they were killing people and because Pierre simply did not give either of them a break, Branzy found that Pierre was actually quiet.

Pierre just scared the absolute shit out of Branzy, but, Pierre was fairly. . .

Nice?

Branzy wouldn’t say “ Nice “ as in “ Hey neighbor, I baked you cookies! “ , not that he didn’t think PIerre could bake, but rather “ Nice “ as in “ Despite being a murderer I haven’t tried to kill you yet. “ 

After the act of being devious, Pierre showed he was a calm and collected person, in and out of base. Maybe the devious and mischievous play he had put on the first night of Branzy’s arrival was just how he acted with new teammates. Though he seemed to have no sympathy, nor mercy, it wasn’t like Pierre had forced Branzy to commit the crimes himself.

Maybe it was Branzy’s terrible sense of judgment, but maybe he was somewhat adjusting to Pierre’s mischievousness.

Pierre suddenly looked up from his phone and to the door, to which Branzy immediately sat straight up and looked where Pierre was looking. Nothing was there, but Pierre seemed to be focused on something.

What was that man looking at? Branzy turned his head to look at Pierre, and then back at the door. Pierre didn’t even say anything to Branzy, he just stared ahead, seeming observant about something invisible.

Branzy didn’t say anything, either. He figured Pierre must’ve heard something, as Pierre had the habit of hearing things from afar. Branzy learnt that when Pierre somehow heard his, Branzy’s footsteps, which were near invisible to the human ears, from ten feet away. 

And also when Pierre heard a cat meowing from 2 miles away .

Branzy wanted to scoot over and closer to ask Pierre what he was looking at, but before he even moved an inch, Pierre had already stood up and slid off his stool. Pierre didn’t say anything, he just quietly shoved his burner phone into the back pocket of his cargo pants, and casually shuffled to the glass door.

Branzy didn’t ask, he just quickly stood up and almost tripped over his shoes, which did prompt another customer’s guardian to smile and chuckle at him. Branzy figured that if Pierre was being that quiet, there was probably something important happening.

He totally didn’t figure that because of his years of only being a Guardian for Children.

Branzy nervously smiled back at the other guardian, trying to hide his clear embarrassment as he scurried over to where Pierre was standing. Pierre had pushed the glass door open, and he held open as he seemed to wait for Branzy? No, no, that wouldn’t make sense, Branzy didn’t deserve that kind of stuff. .

Branzy stepped right behind Pierre, who then fully stepped out as soon as he felt, or maybe heard, Branzy do so. Pierre walked out and into the cool and stale night air of the sidewalk, the cold being the reason why  Branzy hesitated to continue after Pierre.

The warmth and comfort of the Cafe had already been replaced as soon as Branzy took one step onto the sidewalk. But as Pierre continued to casually walk farther and farther away from him, Branzy’s impulses swiftly made him go after the man.

( He wouldn’t notice this, but each step that Pierre took became slower and slower, since he was subtly waiting for him, and if Branzy didn’t follow after him, Pierre would have stopped walking completely. )

Branzy  followed behind Pierre, who continued to act casually as he walked, as if he hadn’t just inexplicably stood up and walked out and said nothing to the entity that protects him. Branzy’s fingertips briefly brushed against Pierre’s shoulders, and for only a moment, Pierre slightly turned his head to the side to look behind him, his burgundy eyes looking into Branzy’s.

Though, the glint of evil and devious bloodthirst was not present, instead replaced with something. . .light? 

Then, the faint and soft noise of a bird’s caw filled the stale air, Pierre quickly turned back around, starting to walk a little faster. Branzy figured that was what Pierre had caught onto, but Branzy didn’t know why.

Pierre doesn’t even like birds. . .well, that’s what Branzy thought.

As they walked down the barely lit up street, a few people would pass by them, some saying greetings while others simply turning their head low and noticeably walking faster. Branzy was indifferent and kept saying Hi’s and Hello’s, ( Pierre was probably silently laughing at him as he did, it’s 1AM, Angel, they’re tired. )

Does Pierre like birds?

They continued down the sidewalk, not saying a word to each other. Some of the light posts would go out as Branzy and Pierre walked under them, the soft yellow lights flickering off and on, but Branzy relished the fact it at least wasn’t pitch black.

The bird’s cawing was slowly getting louder and louder as they got closer to. . .something, and Branzy started to wonder where Pierre was going. Branzy wondered if they were going on a mission again, but he quickly brushed that thought off, Pierre wouldn’t do that without telling him first.

They passed by a couple of shops, most of them closed, the lights being turned off and ‘ closed ‘ signs being hung in front of the glass doors. The soft light of the lamp posts lightly illuminated the inside, however! Branzy would look through the glass and into the inside of the shops. 

And as Pierre wasn’t talking to him, Branzy continued to casually look into the closed shops, mostly out of boredom but also out of curiosity. Branzy had never seen the shops in their closed states, unlike Pierre, his previous protectees were not night owls.

It was unusually calm.

Pierre was unusually quiet this time round, he strided along the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets as he didn’t say anything to anyone or anything. Pierre was unnaturally. . .relaxing. It was conflicting for Branzy, as Pierre’s aura usually felt apprehensive. But, he somewhat appreciated the non-murderous vibes.

And then Branzy quickly got distracted by another thing, though it was unavoidable. A shop was open. Well, he quickly concluded that because of the soft but bright lights pouring out of the glass doors and brightly illuminating the previously dim sidewalk. 

Pierre didn’t bat an eye as they passed by, still focused on something, but Branzy tilted his head and curiously looked into the shop, the lights blinding him for a second. Branzy stopped following Pierre for a moment, curious about what this shop was.

What? 1AM, and a shop is still open? Anomalous. 

The interior was soft pastels, the little stars that were stuck to the walls being illuminated by the fluorescent light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Branzy put a hand on the window as he curiously looked inside the store definitely for children. 

His eyes scanned around the room he was looking into, the bright lights softening as his eyes got used to it. Plushies, the store was for stuffed animals. Small teddy bears and stuffed cats sat on the shelves. 

Branzy looked around the shop's interior, his eyes flickering down from the front window he was standing at, then proceeded to stare at the little stuffed camel that sat in the front window as soon as he saw it.

Now, Branzy wasn’t a big fan of stuffed animals, but in the few seconds he stared at the camel, he had already, impulsively, decided that he needed the little sweetheart. He obviously wasn’t going to ask Pierre for the camel, that would be embarrassing.

Branzy really wanted the stuffed camel. The cashier at the register was probably staring at him weirdly but Branzy forgot the existence of everything else. 

The little stuffed camel looked so stupid and fluffy and adorable. Spepticle’s squishmellow collection really rubbed off of him, huh. 

Sadly, from the corner of Branzy’s eye, he could see Pierre was getting farther and farther away from where he was, seemingly not noticing Branzy’s absence as he casually continued on. Branzy took one last glance at the stuffed animal that he already fell in love with, and tried to quickly run to Pierre. 

Pierre didn’t notice Branzy’s quick footsteps behind him. 

Pierre then suddenly turned to his left, going still for a moment as he seemingly observed something intently. Though confused and a little sad, Branzy followed behind him as Pierre suddenly crossed the street and walked onto the sidewalk of the People’s Park. 

The bird's cawing abruptly stopped as soon as they stepped on the soil of the park grounds.

The soft grass quietly crunched as it crushed under Pierre’s unnecessarily thick boots as he walked. Branzy hadn't seen nor heard what Pierre did, though he knew that must've been what Pierre had either heard earlier. The trees were scarce, Branzy could see the entire park just from where they were standing. 

The park was dim, the lamp posts only illuminating the sidewalks and not doing much for the middle of the park. The dark blue sky was void of any stars, the moon had already set hours ago. Branzy’s wings fluttered and raised above his shoulders as he looked into the empty sky, nervous.

Branzy thought the park was empty except for him and Pierre. As Pierre was walking towards a certain part of the park, Branzy had moved to Pierre’s side, keeping his distance. He looked at Pierre, curious to know what he was so interested in, but as they got farther from the lamp posts, it was hard to see Pierre’s face.

Branzy turned his sight back to where they were walking, maybe he could get a hint about what they were about to walk into. 

It was quite dim in the middle of the park, even more dim under the trees, but as Branzy squinted and tried to focus on what, or rather, who he was looking at. Under a fairly big tree, Branzy could make out the silhouettes of two people, who were directly staring back at him.

One was sitting on the ground, their legs crossed and their hands either inside their pockets or on their waist, the other was standing straight up, standing close to the other figure. The other had their own wings outstretched, like they were protecting their protectee.

Before Branzy could even process the duo, Pierre and him had already gotten close to them. He looked at Pierre, right as his expression turned into one that was devious. Branzy internally braced for a fist fight. 

And for the first time in the hour, Pierre spoke. “ Hiya, Parrot. “ Pierre said softly, his tone laced with an amused taunt, “ Learned how to fly yet? “ 

‘ Parrot ‘, sigh in an exasperated manner. They looked up at Pierre through their colorful hair, Branzy immediately noticing how their eyes glowed a mint-green as they looked disappointingly into Pierre’s eyes.

‘ Parrot ‘ looked at Pierre with a look of pure disappointment. He pursed his lipstick black lips, “ No, But. “ ‘ Parrot ‘s tone was stern, he crossed his arms in an act of disappointment, sighing again, “ Learned how to pull any bitches yet, Pierce? “ Their green-blue wings fluttered.

Pierre reacted the polar opposite of what Branzy thought he would, gasping dramatically, putting a hand over his chest, “ Parrot! “ He said in a tone of bewilderment. He even took a step back to express his shock.

Branzy was taken aback by the bluntness of his words. He sputtered a laugh, confused about how someone could joke about. . . that , to Pierre, and amused about how damn unexpected the statement was. But, since he was standing next to a murderer, Branzy immediately composed himself and went quiet, afraid that Pierre would tell him off or something. 

But Pierre didn’t even turn to look at him, didn’t even acknowledge Branzy’s brief snicker. He just continued to bicker and converse with Parrot in a joking manner.

It was. . .conflicting. Pierre, the murderer that Branzy had spent five days with, watching him murder three friends in cold blood, seen Pierre rid of all the evidence, was acting like he was in a dramatic theater play. Pierre tried to yell quietly, maybe out of respect or just not to get caught, as he dramatically tried to get Parrot to ‘ take it back. ‘

Parrot did not take it back. He just continued to sit on the soft grass and lean against the bark of the wood behind him, giving Pierre vague answers to his accusations..

Branzy awkwardly stood beside Pierre, confused, conflicted, and on the verge of laughing. It was so sudden, just seeing his murderer bickering with another person, especially one that Branzy hadn’t known, it was weird. He kept his sight down as he listened. 

Parrot’s guardian hadn’t even said a word, rather, from the corner of Branzy’s eye, they just looked disappointed as their eyes darted from Pierre to Parrot, their hand on their nose bridge. They seemed as awkward as Branzy felt, too. 

From what Branzy could tell, they had brown hair and hazel eyes. Eyebags, a thick, yellow and blue jacket. .

. .wait. 

Branzy knew that Angel, didn’t he? 

Branzy looked up, a new sense of curiosity seeping into his mind, did he know Parrot’s guardian? No, what are the odds of that? Though he was somehow growing shy, now he had to know. He looked up, and pretended to look at Pierre’s face, before he awkwardly and swiftly glanced at the other guardian’s face. 

And then he did a double take, not expecting to actually know the other angel he was looking at. 

“ Oh, you know what? “ Pierre said in a taunting and offended manner, putting his hands on his hips, “ Fine. You win. “ he was definitely satirical. 

Branzy stared at the other guardian, ignoring what Pierre was about to say. Parrot’s Guardian must’ve felt a paranoid sense like he always did, because then he looked up and right back at Branzy, and also paused.

Pierre huffed, and glanced at Branzy, “ But before I absolutely obliterate you, “ Parrot scoffed and rolled his eyes before Pierre continued, “ You should meet my angel, first. “ Pierre gently nudge Branzy’s arm with his hand, in an attempt to not scare him, ” This is- “

“ Branzy? “

Parrot’s Guardian murmured softly, cutting Pierre off.

“ . . .Rek? “ 

Branzy muttered back, his voice slightly hoarse from not talking. He took a step to the side, hopefully, looking into Rek’s hazel eyes. Rek looked more tired than he’d ever had, and that was including the times where he had to protect workaholics who couldn’t stop having heart attacks.

Rek’s wide eyes softened, his wings slightly fluttered and his face contorting into an expression he, Branzy, couldn’t read as he stared at Branzy. Branzy’s overall concern and worry melted away and was instead replaced with relief and overall happiness. 

Branzy wasn’t quite paying attention to Pierre nor Parrot anymore, but he knew they were still there. Both of them went quiet. But Branzy could feel Pierre’s confusion.

Before Pierre or Parrot could ask them how they knew each other, Branzy could tell they would, Branzy, compulsively stepped forward and lunged at Rek for a hug. 

Until now, Branzy hadn't met a Guardian Angel he knew, especially not reunite with one of his best friends. 

Maybe that was how Branzy forgot that Guardians were translucent to touch. Branzy almost didn’t feel himself fall through Rek. And fell face first into the grass. 

" I- Oh my gah- Branzy! " Rek whipped around, stammering a laugh, laughing at his friend's stupidity. He sounded so tired. What? Of course Branzy knew the pitching of Rek’s voice, and could tell when Rek was exhausted. 

Branzy sheepishly and quickly rolled over, a habit he got from Pierre, and sat up, gently rubbing his cheek. He pursed his lips, gently brushing his wings as if dust could cling to his feather. Branzy stood up, slightly staggering.

“ hii! “ Branzy said in a soft voice, a voice free of the usual apprehension he had. He gently wrapped his arms around Rek, as that was the best Guardians could do, “ Missed you. . “ 

“ Yeah um. . .I can actually, really tell. “ 

Branzy giggled, for once in a few days, he giggled, “ excuse me, young man, how dare you talk to me like that? “ In his head he was internally squealing out of excitement and happiness. 

“ Like what? “ Rek smiled a tired and parted lip smile, his lofty and concerned expression being so much more readable from up-close. Branzy blinked, once and twice, now becoming worried for his friend, “ have you slept, like, at all? “ He didn’t whisper, but his voice was soft enough to be one. 

“ Does it look like I have. . .? “ 

“ Huh. “ Parrot said flatly, watching his and Pierre’s guardian angels suddenly talking to each other like they’ve known each other for years on end. It was probably the first time he’d heard Rek genuinely laugh. It certainly was the first time Pierre had heard Branzy laugh.

“ They probably do. “ Pierre put his hands on his waist, simply just watching Branzy as he obviously couldn’t see Rek’s face from behind. Parrot then looked up at Pierre in a blank manner.

“ Probably do what? “

“ First of all, why are you angry at me? “ Pierre made an exaggerated gesture with his hands, raising his eyebrows in a bewildered manner, “ Second, They probably do Know each other. “

“ . .Now how the hell do you know I thought of that. “

“ Well obviously, I already told you, I have telepathic abilities. “

“ We’re getting off topic here. “ Parrot put a hand to his forehead, sighing in an annoyed manner, though Pierre knew that Parrot wasn’t mad at him for anything, probably just mad about Mapicc not following orders, or maybe mad about a spy mission where they say things they wished they didn’t.

“ To summarize. Your guardian, “ Parrot looked back over at Rek and Branzy, who were now sitting in the grass, Branzy talking Rek’s ear off happily, “ Knows mine , probably friends, and he is obviously an angel, and his name is Branzy. “

Pierre grimaced at Parrot’s tone when he said Branzy’s name. 

“ Please don’t say his name like that. You make him sound like a bastard, which he isn't.  “ Pierre glanced at Branzy, his eyes fixated on Branzy’s soft and nervous smile as he continued to talk about how much he missed Rek, punctuating his words by moving his hands around. 

“ He’s amazing. “

“ Better than Rasplin? “ Parrot raised an eyebrow.

“ . . .Don’t make me choose.  “

Chapter Text

Branzy didn't feel right with himself, not that he ever had felt great in the few days, but he felt especially terrible.

Because he had just helped Pierre kill another target.

Again.

It was horrific. Branzy swore, even though he was sitting in the corner of a room in Pierre's base, he swore he could feel the blood all over his hands. He could still remember how it felt to push the person right to Pierre, right to their doom. He could still feel the fabric of their coat, the adrenaline and impulsive nature of his own actions, he could still see the person's facial expression as they died a slow and painful death.

It was horrific because of how sudden and impulsive it was. It was horrific because of how quickly Pierre took the opportunity and plunged the dagger deep in their throat.

It was horrific because they couldn't even scream.

It was horrific because Branzy didn't feel completely guilty. Even when he realized the poor victim was staring at him for help. Until they died, of course.

The moments replayed in his mind on repeat, thinking of dozens of other actions Branzy could have done, but that didn't really matter anymore, but at the same time it mattered like everything.

Branzy was a mess.

An impulsive and regretful little mess in the corner of the random room he decided to walk into and try to compose himself. He was silent as he held his knees to his chest, thinking about the entire thing over and over again, his wings gently draping over his shoulders in a form of comfort.

He felt so wrong in his own skin. His wings didn't feel right. He felt terrible.

It was all his fault. His role was to protect people from harm, not be the harm. His role was to hold people close.

Not to shove them into a blade.

Pierre didn't say anything when Branzy forcefully pushed the target to him, but his expression showed that he was impressed with Branzy. Pierre didn't seem to expect Branzy to act, either. Of course Pierre's eyes just had to be expressive enough for Branzy to read him through that mask.

That cracked and bloodied porcelain mask with that smitten smirk. That mask that Pierre always wore when he'd paint the walls with guts and blood.

Pierre, Pierre, Pierre what? Branzy couldn't remember his last name anymore, but he should know it, he should know what his own protectee's name is. But he didn't.

What he did know was the blood. That was all that plagued Branzy's mind when he thought of Pierre.

Blood.

Branzy gently rocked back and forth, softly humming to himself as he just tried to think of anything else but that. Anything but his own stupidity and failure as an Angel.

Branzy only randomly walked into the room, not quite knowing what it was and not quite caring.

It felt a bit taunting to see glints of gold and silver while he was practically shutting down, though it was his fault for waltzing into a random room.

Branzy looked up from the ground and scanned the room, his breathing louder than normal, looking at all the sculptures made from different types of metal. Or was it plastic?

It was a trophy room. The question was if the trophies were Pierre's, or if they were stolen from his past victims. The room was bedazzled to its fullest, little trinkets and knick knacks intricately placed on high and small shelves, the ceiling lights casting a soft light on the plastic and metal surfaces. The amount of objects made Branzy feel a bit claustrophobic.

It was nice. The metal looked shiny, probably the only things that Pierre fully polished, since Branzy couldn't even see a speck of blood.

Though, he was at least a few feet away, tucked in the corner, how would he know for sure? Still, it was nice to not see bloodshed for once.

Most of the trophies just looked like medals, some looked like masks, others looked like insignificant items. Said insignificant items did have little platters placed under them, Branzy was too far and blind to read them, but they must've meant something great if Pierre put them in glass containers and given them platters.

His hands were still shaky and he still felt wrong, but he was at least a little better about it all. Of course, his thoughts always seemed to poke fun at him when Branzy was genuinely trying his best.

It wasn't fun. It never was fun for him.

Soft footsteps echoed through the hallway behind the wall he was pressed against, making Branzy slightly jolt and puff his wings.

The footsteps seemed to go to the other doors, before they finally stopped in front of the door of the trophy room.

" Knock knock. " Pierre's soft voice came from behind what Branzy thought was a soundproof door, " Branzy? " He added.

" yes? " Branzy cleared his throat, putting his hand onto the wall he was leaning against, his glove sliding against the wall as he stood up. He inhaled and exhaled, trying to quickly compose himself.

" You okay? " Was the next thing that came through the door.

Of course he wasn't, what kind of question was that? " sure. . "

" Can I come in? "

Branzy raised an eyebrow in confusion, " why are you asking me this? This is your home. . " He fidgeted with his hands, gently rubbing his palm with his thumb.

" Because I'd rather not walk in on something you don't want me to see. Can I come in, or do you just want to stay there? "

" yeah, um, " He softly sighed,, " okay. . . " Branzy gently brushed his hair with his hands, as it was the best a translucent soul could do, and stepped back, expecting Pierre to come in.

The knob turned, and slowly pushed open, rather than bursting open like Branzy expected, to reveal Pierre, not wearing his usual attire but rather a black hoodie that Branzy hadn't seen before and was obviously a size too small. A change of clothes was reasonable, blood felt sticky and uncomfortable.

Pierre put his arm on the doorframe and leaned on it, tilting his head to the side and most definitely hitting his head on the wood, " Hello, Branzy. " He said, his expression blank through his mask.

" helloo. . " Branzy awkwardly did a small wave, " what, um, what's the agenda, tonight? "

Branzy internally facepalmed.

" Eh. . " Pierre leaned a little more into the wood, looking down to the side and then up at the ceiling, before meeting Branzy's eyes again.

" Good question. "

That. That was somehow way worse than Branzy was expecting. Branzy looked at Pierre with confusion, quickly shaking his head, " you don't. . .know? "

" Psh, me? Never. " Pierre shook his head, " I'm just complimenting your ability to question. "

" . . .you totally don't know, do you? "

" I assume I'm going to kill somebody. Double kill. " Pierre said so seamlessly. Branzy quietly sighed, it wasn't uncommon for them to have two missions in one night.

" . . .Great. " Was all that Branzy could force out of his throat. His voice always cracked when he said too much about something he didn't quite appreciate.

Pierre had a habit of looking too long at Branzy. He took a step out the door frame and onto the concrete of the hallway behind him, " You can stay here while I prepare everything, " He waved his hand dismissively.

Branzy made a noise of surprise, Pierre looked down and to the side, seemingly not caring if Branzy actually followed through with his offer.

" what? " Branzy looked back at Pierre in confusion, furrowing his eyebrows, " No, no no, I can't do that. " He said in exasperation. Pierre only replied by looking up at Branzy with his own confused face.

" Why not? " Pierre asked, to which Branzy took a moment to think before he shook his head.

" it-it's my job. " Branzy said in a soft, but gruff tone.

" Surely you realize that I can take care of myself? " Pierre paused for a few seconds, before he shrugged his shoulders ( He could see the determination in Branzy's eyes, albeit, he knew Branzy wasn't scary. ). Pierre motioned for Branzy to follow him. Branzy stepped towards Pierre in a heartbeat.

It was funny how quickly Branzy so easily followed Pierre out of the room, considering how fidgety Branzy got as he knew they were walking to the weapons room.

He didn't say anything as Pierre grabbed a few weapons. Though counting the knives Pierre took made Branzy notice how Pierre was missing at least three of his daggers. Of course, four was more than enough, but Branzy found it odd.

Odd how Pierre only grabbed a few. Odd how he was also quiet as he dug through his enderchests, as usually he'd be able to listen to the clattering of metal as he tried to zone out.

But it was routine enough for Branzy to go on autopilot, and next thing he knew, he was suddenly in the hallway, walking with Pierre in silence.

The awkwardness wore off after a day or two, instead just replaced with uncomfortable silence that Branzy could barely stand. He wasn't sure if the hallway was closing in or if he was just suffocating on his own anxiety. Was it even fear anymore, or just being too silent?

Branzy just kept his head down and tried not to look over at his own protectee.

Pierre softly muttered something, not too loud or quiet, not too unusual since Branzy would expect the most silent voice from a silent serial killer. Branzy didn't even pay attention to what he said, just walked.

Pierre continued to talk, but Branzy started to drown out his voice more and more, thinking he was talking to himself. Until,

" Branzy? " Pierre's voice cut through his thoughts.

" huh? "

Pierre was looking at him, his head turned to look Branzy straight in the eyes. " Didn't you hear me, Branzy? " He asked with the same soft voice that Branzy thought was just his zone out voice.

Branzy immediately got nervous, but tried to say something, atleast, " eh, yeah! " He said in his sickening cheery tone, which he obviously regretted since he only used that voice for kids.

" Then what did I say? " Pierre paused, but didn't even give Branzy another second to not reply before he continued, I'm not quite sure where or who our target will be tonight. "

Pierre's voice was unbearably so soft. " how- how do you not. . " Branzy finally replied back after a second of processing, reasonably confused. Knowing that Pierre himself somehow didn't know where they were going made him nervous.

Pierre shrugged and looked around, before looking Branzy in the eyes again, his tone and pitch becoming softer, " My very secret spy team hasn't said a word to me. " He flicked something off of the fabric of the hoodie.

" pfft !- sorry, come again? " Branzy turned his head to look at Pierre, a small smile on his lips.

" My team hasn't talked to me yet. " He said in a more formal tone, though Branzy was sure he was somewhat mocking him, " You haven't met them yet, but you'd know that they're the forgetful type. "

Pierre took his eyes off of Branzy, promptly striding forward and pressing in the pass code to the door. Branzy muttered a confused ' huh? ', as he was surprised, they were already at the entrance? In such little time. .

The vault door clicked open, Pierre shoved it fully open without another thought, " Not sure why they didn't tell me anything, though, just told me a random ass location. " He casually continued.

Swear. Pierre stepped in before Branzy did, he always walked in front of Branzy, while Branzy almost got hit by the vault closing. Again.

" You? " Pierre motioned to the door with his hand, a curious expression on his face, replacing the usual dreadful one. Branzy quickly shook his head and prayed that Pierre would make it less traumatic this time. Instead, Pierre just nodded. " Okay. "

Branzy got a little confused on why Pierre didn't say anything else. Well, Branzy should have gone first since he was the guardian, yes?

Branzy swore he saw Pierre threateningly glare at him as he walked past him, but it was a usual thing, just another one of Pierre's habits that scared the poor guardian angel. Branzy deserved it. 

Pierre wrapped his hand onto the last ladder step and pulled himself up, completely skipping the rest of the steps and opening the hatch to the outside. He did that a lot. Branzy wasn't sure if he was just showing off or if it was a tactical thing.

Branzy shortly followed behind, normally climbing up the steps of the ladder. He wasn't even sure why he was manually climbing the ladder since he could most likely teleport right behind Pierre, but his grasp of the metal steps and the grass on the edge of the open hatch didn't falter.

Branzy hastily and terribly clumsily pulled himself out and up onto the grass of the outside, noticing Pierre standing right beside him.

" a-are you mad? " Branzy absentmindedly asked, worried about the blank expression that he read through Pierre's eyes. Branzy slightly flinched when Pierre was suddenly looking at him.

" What? "

" Why on earth would I be? " Was Pierre's very exasperated but light ( somehow. ) response, " No, of course I'm not. " He said in a softer voice. Pierre genuinely seemed surprised.

Him confirming he wasn't mad just made Branzy think he was mad even more, but Branzy just shrugged and nervously stepped behind Pierre, and stayed right behind him.

Habit. Branzy wasn't sure if it was a nasty habit per say, but at least he could excuse that he was making sure Pierre wouldn't literally get back stabbed. Though, he really only started walking behind Pierre since he didn't want to walk right beside him, in peripheral sight. It was a past thing from an old family he protected. They never liked seeing him.

And after Pierre put a ton of sticks and leaves over their hatch to hide it, they just walked, the only sounds being of their footsteps .

And they walked.

. .and walked. . .and. . .Definitely walking too far. .

After a few too many minutes, a few too many steps, Branzy started to look around in anxiety.

They weren't going to the city, were they? Branzy felt dread wash over him as he realized they had already passed their usual route. And when he focused on their dim surroundings, he did not at all recognize anything.

Branzy’s instincts and anxiety spiked, now feeling more uneasy about their environment. No, there shouldn’t have been anything to worry about, Pierre didn’t seem to be afraid of their environment. Branzy realized how stupid it was to compare himself to Pierre when it came to fear.

Branzy shouldn’t be afraid. He told himself that a few times, and of course it didn’t work.

The noises of the city started to drown out as they dreadfully passed the usual paths to it. Branzy nervously looked behind him, only to realize that the lights were long gone.

Dark, it was too dark, he could barely see anything, he could barely even see Pierre! Looking down at his hands, Branzy noticed that he emitted a slight glow, like a little night light.

Pierre didn’t even look behind him, and neither did he feel nervous. Branzy, on the other hand, was looking everywhere else but behind him, his hands shaking and his wings slightly fluttering.

He should’ve really gotten used to the overwhelming darkness that they usually traveled in days ago. He should’ve really stayed in the Aether.

Branzy tried to think of something else, not about the dark, not about the probable murder he expected,

“ Pierre. “

He quietly and absent mindedly whispered the first thing he thought of.

Branzy’s voice was quiet, but the forest path they took was quieter, “ No, Don’t call me that, “ Pierre almost immediately responded, like he was waiting for Branzy to say something, “ Out of base, you should call me Pierce. “

“ . . .I’m sorry, Pierce. “

Pierce nodded, humming a noise of approval, “ Thank you. Now, what were you going to say? “

“ . . .well, nothing really. It’s, um, very dark. And scary. “

“ So you proceed to say my name, in public, where potential enemies of mine could hear and use against me. . “ Pierce nonchalantly said, “ That sounds like you. "

Branzy wasn’t sure if that was an insult. He was sure, however, that Pierce was holding back a joker impression.

That thought made him feel a little better.

At least this wasn't like the first mission.

Then, it fell silent again, a comfortable silence that Branzy quite liked. Like the silence they went through after meeting Rek and Parrot a day ago.

Branzy kept his head down after a few seconds of looking around. Though, he had noticed how their terrain was slowly transitioning from trees to empty and abandoned sidewalks.

He didn't want to bother Pierce anymore, he must've been unbearable, but Branzy’s eyes started to dart around, taking in the very broken lamp posts that stood on dilapidated slabs of concrete. Poor sidewalks.

But that made it very clear that they were not going to a city place and they were going somewhere remote and easy to die in.

And of course, Branzy just had to be right.

Pierre was leading them to a dilapidated warehouse. A dilapidated, falling apart, warehouse. In the middle of nowhere. As soon as Branzy laid eyes on the not so flattering building they were approaching, he internally sighed and regretted coming out of the trophy room.

It looked terrifying.

And of course that was where they had to be for some reason.

Walking up to the building itself was somehow nerve-racking in it of itself, despite Branzy walking behind Pierre and trying to hide his eyes so he wouldn't see the wilted terrain around them, he was still nerve wracked.

Oh, that was another thing. The grass and what was left of a few trees were wilted and dry. Every step they took, the grass underneath would disperse into dust under their feet. The far trees had no leaves and were most likely just husks of what they used to be.

At night, it was terrible. Maybe in the day it would have been better.

The features that Branzy couldn't see from far away were slowly developing as they got closer to the god forsaken, broken down warehouse. Red axolotls, purple snakes, purple egg looking things and other stuff was gratified into the wall. Punks.

Pierce straight up walked up to the building and turned around and leaned against the disgusting and gratified wall. Branzy would have looked at him like he was crazy, cause he was, but Branzy couldn't even conjure that .

Branzy proceeded to almost step in a pile of broken glass from one of the windows.

He would have loved to be anywhere but here, but he had a job to do and he was unfortunately committed to his job.

Branzy's senses and anxiety were on high alert, while Pierre was just casually standing and leaning against the wall.

Though afraid for his afterlife and Pierce's life, Branzy tried to somewhat calm down. He stood beside Pierre, preferably a little out of sight, and didn't say anything.

He felt stupid, which he was, for acting the way he was.

Branzy jolted at the sudden noise of a crackle from somewhere. That. That was a noise he didn't appreciate when he was in darkness. Branzy stepped closer to Pierce, not touching him.

Then a few more cracking noises. It was best to assume it was from the building considering how messed up it was.

Branzy's wings puffed up defensively. He was not a fighter by any means at all.

" Hey, " Pierce softly said, tapping Branzy's shoulder and quickly retracting his hand, " Don't worry. They always do this to try and scare me, never works, it's just them. It's okay. " He said in what seemed to be his comforting tone.

They ? Branzy got confused and even more nervous, and before he even got the chance to ask who in the hell They was, he heard quick footsteps coming from somewhere.

And then something, or some people proceeded to drop in front of them

Without thinking, Branzy immediately tried to expand his wings and cast a protection bubble around Pierce, but Pierce put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back.

Branzy's hands fumbled to find Pierce's so he could grab him and run, but he tried to stop himself after Pierce nudged him with his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

Pierce wasn't threatened. Branzy slowly pulled his hand away and reflexively looked at the people that just randomly dropped from the sky.

Two people are standing there, one having his arms crossed and standing straight while the other crouched down with his hands on his knees, giggling.

One of the persons was wearing a business suit with a yellow tie that he could barely see in the night, but Branzy could see that he also had white hair like him. They wore a white mask with the initials " L.W. " and had yellow eyes.

The other person was. . .yellow. They wore a Prince costume, Branzy assumed from the red sling that covered a bit of their torso and the gold accessories that decorated his outfit.

And they had two Guardians standing behind them.

And. . .they were. . .Branzy took a small step behind Pierce. .Demons. A feeling of fear proceeded to flood Branzy's mind again, one of them had dirty blond hair with purple horns, while the other had black hair and red horns. Horns. And tails. 

The yellow one huffed, before straightening his posture and smiling brightly at Pierce, before collapsing and hitting the ground with a thud.

One of the demons looked down at him and laughed maniacally, his sharp teeth visible to Branzy's poor eyes. " L.W " just sighed in disappointment.

" I fucking told you the roof was a terrible idea. " They spat, not literally, at the poor person on the ground.

" My faacee! " The other person whined but also cackled as they got up. The red demon proceeded to kick them in the shoulder.

Pierce cleared his throat, bringing Branzy's attention back to him. Pierce looked Branzy in the eyes, " As you can see, those idiots, " He pointed towards the four persons, or two persons and two guardians, " Are my team. " He deadpanned in a tone of disgust.

" You should know them first. "

Branzy nodded, suddenly looking back at the team. " L.W " seemed like they were trying to help the Prince, to which the red demon just kept kicking him while the purple one egged them on. His expression contorted to confusion.

" That one, " Pierce pointed at ' L.W ', who seemed to notice and look at Pierce, " That one is named Leowook. One of my bestest teammates, and probably the most competent here. "

Leo nodded proudly.

" Hey! " The Prince shouted, causing Branzy to slightly back away.

" That little shit, " Pierce pointed at the Prince, slightly chuckling, " That one is Zam. He likes to climb trees and be stupid. "

Zam gasped in offense, clutching his chest, " Excuse me?! " He snarled.

Pierce ignored Zam, instead pointing at the two demons, who stopped to look at Pierce, " The red one is named Mapicc. Hates Zam, once tried to throw him into water. " Pierce slightly leaned closer to Branzy, " Zam can't swim. " He went back to his original pose, " And the purple one is Midmystic. Gaslight, gatekeep, girl boss. "

Mid put her hands on her waist and grinned, smitten. That was before Mapicc kicked her boot and caused Mid to try to punch him in the face.

They didn't seem to notice Branzy yet. Branzy very much appreciated that.

" And! And before you all beat each other up, " Pierce raised his voice only slightly, just so he could regain everyone's attention. They all looked back up at Pierce, though Zam looked more dirty than before.

" This is Branzy. " Pierce looked behind him and at Branzy, before slightly stepping off so they could see Branzy a little more, " Tada! “ He made mock jazz hands.

Zam, Mid and Mapicc all collectively looked at Branzy, and Branzy saw Zam's eyes light up and spark with awe. Oh, god. Branzy shuffled right behind Pierce again, trying to hide his wings and his face.

" Holy shit! " Zam cheerfully chirped, ecstatic . Zam quickly got up, and went up to Pierce, obviously meaning to talk to Branzy, behind him, " Hi!! " He waved viciously, excited like hell.

Branzy crouched behind Pierce so he was out of sight, his anxiety now just becoming social anxiety as he realized he was afraid. Pierce sighed but slightly pushed Zam away, not too harshly. Zam didn't react, just patiently waited

" They don't bite, Branzy." Pierce whispered to him, before adding, " Well, as long as they like you. But they have to know you to like you, I promise I won't let them punt you in the face. " He paused, " That experience stays with Rasplin. "

Branzy hated how softly Pierce's voice was to him, considering how his voice to his own teammates was less than. But, Branzy nervously stepped out from behind Pierce and looked Zam in the eyes.

Zam smiled brightly, almost as bright as his eyes as he looked at Branzy up and down. Mapicc and Mid somehow made their way behind him, too, also looking awestruck to see Branzy.

" Dude, stop smiling at him, your ugly face is going to drive him away! "

Zam whipped around and tried to smack Mapicc in the face. It didn't work for a multitude of reasons.

" Eh, hi! " Mid casually said, her tail swishing around,  " Did Clown introduce you to us yet, or what? " She continued, acting as if Zam and Mapicc weren't currently trying to slam each other into the grass.

" um. . . " Branzy kept watching Zam and Mapicc trying to kill each other, " yes, he um, told me about you guys. . "

Mid looked behind her and at the scene occurring, before turning back at Branzy and grinning, " Let's go. “

" what? "

Mid grabbed Branzy's wrist, not too forcefully, before starting to walk away from the other two. 

Zam immediately noticed, maybe it was because Branzy was nervously asking Mid what was happening and impulsively flailing his free hand around.

" HEY! SHE'S STEALING THE ANGEL! " Zam yelled from behind them, the noises of Zam and Mapicc stopping and instead being replaced with quick footsteps right behind them.

" Well! " Mid yelled in a panicked but cheery voice, " There's nothing to worry about, new parental figure, NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT! " She started to run while dragging Branzy behind her.

Branzy already felt a massive headache forming as he questioned what the hell he got himself into.

He missed Pierce.

" What does he look like? " Leo asked Pierce, pulling out a candy cigarette. Leo never smoked, not even candies, so he probably stole those from Zam.

" White, either fluffy or messy hair, purple and wide eyes, which shine like gems, and a scar on his cheek. Most probably from a papercut. "

" Bro, how on earth do you know those details? Now I think you watch him, man. " Leo offered Pierce a lollipop, which Pierce happily accepted and put in his pocket, “ I don’t get the guardian things. “ 

" So what if I do, dude? " Pierce tapped his foot, " Least I know what he looks like. "

Leo nodded and listened to the noise of ' the demon children ', as Leo called Mid, Mapicc and Zam, fighting about something. Probably Branzy. Probably who got to drag Branzy around.

" Do you think they like him? " Leo unwrapped his lollipop.

" Yep. And he was a child protector before me, so that's a great touch. "

" Oh thank god. He looks pretty and he's good with children. Now I won’t have to deal with them. “

Pierce raised an accusatory and questioning eyebrow, " How do you know he's pretty? "

Leo pulled down his mask and put the lollipop in his mouth, " Because I can tell when you have eyes. "

" I always have had eyes. How else would I see? "

" Not those eyes you son of a bitch. "

Chapter Text

It was wrong. 

It was wrong how Branzy was already getting used to the blood spatter when it came to victims. It was so, so wrong how Branzy already knew when and how to get out of the way when it came to their job.

Their job.

It was conflicting for Branzy, a sworn guardian angel , to just cover his eyes and look away when he should be protecting the poor victim.

Somehow, Branzy had already lost count of the victims he and Pierre had managed to lay to rest. His sympathy wasn’t dying, he just got used to not caring, he’d tell himself. It was true, genuinely. 

It was so wrong how Branzy stopped caring that much when it came to specks of blood on his cheeks.

Branzy watched Pierre kill so many people, he lost count. All he knew was there should have been dozens of other news reports , but there weren’t.

The police force wasn’t able to find them, yet. 

And now? He was aiding in their murders. Branzy wouldn’t do much, just silently sit somewhere and watch Pierre in case he needed help, which he almost never did, but when their targets would get finicky and start to run, that’s when Branzy would strike.

They never really agreed on it, Branzy just acted on his instincts and Pierre let him do so. 

The first time was Jaron. Branzy didn’t mean to. He really never meant to. He didn’t want to teleport Pierre behind Jaron, he never, ever wanted that. Jaron was a vicious attack. Jaron didn’t deserve to die that way, never. Branzy stayed quiet as he had to face the reality of what happened. He felt so terrible. So wrong. Because he was wrong. That wasn’t what an Angel should have done. Jaron didn’t even see them, he didn’t deserve to die that way.

He didn’t touch Bacon, though. Never laid a hand on him. And that was the problem, he didn’t do anything when Pierre grabbed him by the hem of his sweater, just quickly covered his eyes and shuddered as Bacon’s screams turned into indecipherable gurgles. 

The second time he helped, he threw a rock at the person’s, Planet’s, feet when he tried to run. He wasn’t sure why he even did so, he just blamed his own instincts and they left it at that. Guilt gnawed at his heart and mind, but not as strongly as the first time.

Then, the third time, he never knew their name, but yet he accidentally pushed the person right into Pierre. Branzy noticed the person was starting to run, subtle enough that Pierre hadn’t noticed, so he did what he had to. He felt bad, yes, but not as bad.

His gloves felt too loose after that. His hands didn’t feel okay, and they felt more cold, but he pushed through. He felt guilty, but wasn’t sure if the guilt wasn't as strong as before or if his heart got more resistant.

And then, the fourth time. Branzy had seen Pierre kill so many times at that point. It was terribly wrong how Branzy had helped four times, but at that point? The guilt was wearing off.  

Pierre asked him to. Pierre probably didn’t even expect Branzy to act.

But Branzy did. 

Branzy pushed their victim off a cliffside because they got too fickle to stay put.

Their name didn’t matter anymore.

Branzy realized that his guilt was wearing off when he caught himself watching Pierre as he butchered the screaming and flailing victim. He realized his guilt was wearing off when he listened to Pierre when he asked Branzy to get a towel to muffle the dying person.

It was impressive how the person managed to survive the fall and continue to flail when Pierre dug his blades into their skin. Impressive. Branzy cursed at himself for thinking it was impressive.

The first time he saw a body was terrifying for him. Poor little angel, confused and afraid for his protectee since the first thing he saw was blood and a dead person.

How did he change in such little time. .

Maybe the better question was how Pierre managed at least twenty assassinations in little time.

As he stood over the butchered and bloodied corpse of what would be the next week’s news headline, he really, really regretted something.

Branzy didn’t regret helping to kill the person, No, not anymore. He just regretted that he was getting too used to it. 

He regretted not feeling sorry for the butchered corpse.

Blood looked so pretty. The victim didn’t. They never did. 

Branzy regretted preferring to stay right by Pierre’s side. He didn’t even look down at the amount of blood that was on Pierre’s clothes and hands, or his , to be frank. 

Pierre was starting to influence him, wasn’t he? Speaking of the devil. 

Pierre looked him in the eyes and thanked him. Genuinely. 

Branzy smiled. 

Chapter Text

" Bro . What are you saying. " Parrot dead panned in his flat and blank voice, though Pierre could hear his confused and frustrated undertone.

Pierre chuckled and shook his head, mocking Parrot in a way, " Nah, nah, nah, you know what I'm saying. " He inhaled, putting his hands together, " Is ravioli a sandwich or a cake? " He asked with fake curiosity.

" Why the fuck would it be a cake?! " Parrot half whisper-shouted, his green and blue wings puffing angrily as he tried to figure out what Pierre was saying.

" Why would it be a sandwich? "

Pierre laughed, patting Parrot's shoulder before quickly withdrawing to avoid getting his wrist broken. If looks could kill, Pierre would already be in the ground.

On the other hand, though Pierre could barely see them since he and Parrot weren't facing them, a few feet away from them were Rek and Branzy messing around.

He wasn't sure what they were doing exactly, but Pierre could tell Branzy had Rek in a hug while desperately begging Rek for something in a high pitched voice.

Pierre assumed they were messing around, as Branzy was quite a troublemaker with Rek.

" How the fuck. " Parrot put a hand to his temple, not even rubbing it, just clutching his head and dying inside, " How the fuck did we go from routine talk to fucking ravioli . And no. Ravioli is neither a cake or a sandwich. "

" You gotta choose one, Parrot. "

" It is ravioli. "

Pierre nodded thoughtfully, " But is it a cake or sandwich? " He peered another look at Branzy before looking back at Parrot.

" Clownpierce . " Parrot said through gritted teeth with a soft but hoarse voice. He had his eyes squeezed shut in confusion and frustration, probably holding back from punching Pierre in the face. " Ravioli. Is. Fucking . Ravioli. It is not that deep. "

" You know what is deep? Your mother. " Pierre tried to flip his hair, only realizing half way he had styled and tied it into a manbun. He looked away from the very done with life Parrot, who audibly sighed in disappointment, and at Branzy and Rek to see. . .something.

" no! " Branzy cried, shaking Rek by the shoulders, " come to Italy with me, please! "

Rek was laughing nervously, smiling.

Pierre furrowed his eyebrows, before he chuckled quietly. His angel was strange and somewhat dumb when it came to Rek.

" Don't you laugh at me. " Parrot broke his disappointed silence, though it sounded like he was scolding a child rather than angrily talking to another man.

" Okay, fine, what about this? Is the ocean sou- "

" Don't you dare finish that sentence. " Parrot cut Pierre off with a glare, his voice softening as his throat probably hurt from the constant growling. Sorry Parrot.

Parrot put his gloved hands over his face, sighing harshly and visibly dying inside as he spent more and more time with Pierre. His wings fluttered as he breathed out another heavy and disappointed sigh.

And Pierre just casually turned to look at their Guardians instead of giving Parrot another dilemma.

From what Pierre could see, Branzy finally pulled away from his and Rek's tight hug with a fake sad face. For once, Branzy's wings weren't raised up above his head, instead they neatly rested on his back.

" promise me I'll see you on the other side. . " Branzy sadly said to Rek, crossing his arms and frowning, " I don't want you to travel to the country of Europe without me, but if you say so. ."

" Europe is a continent . . . "

" . . .and Italy is a far country from Europe! "

" Italy is in Europe?! "

Branzy theatrically and beautifully dramatically put a hand on his forehead, drawing a fake tear with his finger as he walked away with his sad face. Rek still was confused, Pierre could see it in his smile, but Rek didn't even look surprised.

Seeing as the discussions were over, and the two Guardians were coming back, Pierre turned back to Parrot, putting his hands on his hips and clearing his throat to say goodbye, " Since you're so stupid, I'm losing brain cells. " He started, which in hindsight was a terrible way to start.

" You're the one losing brain cells? Please . "

Pierre and Parrot stared at each other in silence.

" . . .Goodbye, codename ParrotX2. " Pierre finally said in his normal and threatening voice, " I will strangle you with a coloring book. " He added blankly and nonchalantly, taking a step backwards before turning to walk away.

Parrot just stood there unmoving, Pierre assumed he was waiting for Rek.

While he walked away and closer to the street, he turned his head and signed ' call me, if needed ' to Parrot as he slowly walked away. Parrot nodded, waving a small goodbye.

Since they decided to instead talk closer to the sidewalk rather than the very middle of the park, it didn't take long for Pierre's boot to hit against the hard concrete of the sidewalk. He stood next to a dying lamppost, then waited for Branzy to come with.

Branzy and Rek were still talking, up until Branzy noticed that Pierre was standing next to the lamppost on the sidewalk. Branzy nodded, maybe to signal that he knew they had to go.

" I'm gonna go home now, Rek. " Pierre heard Branzy say, then watched as he gently shoving Rek's shoulder. Rek looked at him with a confused smile, to which Branzy just giggled.

Home was a weird word to describe Pierre's base, he noted.

Branzy stopped walking and did a small little wave to Rek, " bye! " He cheerily said. Before Rek could say bye back, Branzy looked down at the grass, and then grinned.

Rek stepped back.

And then seemingly compulsively, he leaned backwards and started to fall, before puffing his wings and disappearing in purple mist before he hit the ground, which would have undoubtedly happened.

Pierre and Branzy had a thing or two in common, one being that they were both dramatic.

A gentle cold breeze softly grazed Pierre's shoulder before he even turned to look at the purple mist that reappeared next to him. Pierre still turned to look at Branzy, to confirm it was him and to confirm he was fine.

Branzy was smiling stupidly at Rek, looking proud of himself for the little trick he stupidly decided on doing. It was hard to see from how far they were, but from what Pierre could guess, Rek was smiling back. Pierre smiled briefly under his mask, then gently tapped Branzy on the shoulder.

Branzy looked over at Pierre, his smile dissolving into a curious face of expression.

" Playdate's over, Branzy. " Pierre whispered just loud enough for only Branzy to hear, which made the other break out in a flustered smile. Branzy nodded, finally waving a final bye to Rek as Pierre turned his foot to start walking away.

Branzy waved goodbye again, smiling in a way that made Pierre wish he was Rek, before stepping right behind Pierre. His eyes met Branzy's for a few seconds, before he got himself to walk forward, Branzy following his every step.

Pierre could see Branzy's excitement in his eyes, and practically feel it.

The air was cold and stale as always, it was late, barely any cars and other people were present anymore. That was on purpose, of course, Pierre was a night owl and a murderer who didn't like to be seen.

The moon was already setting, their only light source being the dim and disgustingly yellow lampposts that lined the sidewalks

Speaking of which, walking through the sidewalk, Pierre had noticed how dark it looked unlike before, though he couldn't tell if it was because the lamps were dying or because the night sky had started to become lighter. But, the lights were bright enough for Branzy to look into the closed shops.

What, did you think Pierre didn't notice?

When they would break their usual murder streak, maybe when Pierre didn't land any other hits, they would walk around the city. It originally was just a plan that Pierre had to see if there were a lot of cameras on the street, but sometimes he'd take a glance at his guardian, only to find Branzy mesmerized by a random shop.

Childish, yes, but Pierre was a murderer, not an asshole, hence why he would subtly stop walking whenever he noticed that Branzy was admiring a shop.

Pierre blinked, stifling a yawn with his hand as he absentmindedly continued to walk. Was he getting tired? No, that couldn't happen now. Had it been eight days? 

" Hey, Branzy. " He muttered, stuffing his hands back in his pockets. Pierre waited for a response, which only took Branzy a few seconds to conjure, somehow.

" yes? "

Even from his voice, Pierre could tell he was in a good mood, " Are ravioli a sandwich or a cake? " He asked in a genuine tone of voice, kicking a little pebble off the concrete.

Silence.

" . . .what? " Branzy said in a voice lower than a whisper, " what on earth does that mean? " He stammered in confusion.

Pierre chuckled breathily, deciding on staying quiet instead of answering Branzy's confused questions about Pierre's. Branzy persisted for a few seconds, " why would ravioli be a cake? " He kept repeating, Pierre could hear a laughing undertone in his voice. Branzy stopped after a little bit when Pierre didn't reply.

He decided on keeping his head down this night, simply just staring at the sidewalk he stood on. He knew his route to base well enough.

Then, though it was somewhat surprising to feel all of a sudden, Pierre had to stop himself from whipping around when he felt what he assumed was Branzy's aura graze his back.

It had to be a Guardian aura, as it wouldn't have made sense for a sudden emotion of comfort and playfulness, but feelings of cold to come over Pierre for no reason.

Pierre still felt shock from the sudden aura and was still processing it, but he immediately learned to get used to it, though he had completely forgotten that Guardians had auras.

But sometimes, especially when Branzy had watched Pierre stab someone to death, Pierre would feel the feeling of ice and serene slowly and gently embrace him, until Branzy was on edge again. 

But it meant that Branzy was starting to not be nervous around Pierre. It was a nice but laughable thought, how could an angel like someone like Pierre? It made Pierre smile, though.

He yawned again, involuntarily rubbing his eyes as they drooped. He was getting tired, Pierre could feel himself moving slower and more sluggish.

How could he have only noticed then? Oh right, impaired memory and slow thinking.

" Goddamnit. " Pierre quietly muttered under his breath, quiet enough that Branzy wouldn't hear, scowling at really, himself.

He felt his pockets for a potion of some kind, but he knew that he couldn't just live off of potions forever. He tried that once, didn't work.

Pierre sighed in exasperation, but it came out sounding more like a cough than anything.

As a supposed professional murderer, Pierre had learned a few tricks he used to not consume so much personal time and instead put that time into his job. One of those tricks was drinking regeneration potions instead of sleeping like a normal human being.

He did it all the time, yes, but there was always a limit to everything.

And Pierre just so unfortunately reached the limit of when the regeneration potions stopped working, and he needed to actually sleep.

It was a big pain in the ass, as Pierre hated sleeping.

Pierre sighed again, absolutely disappointed in himself for forgetting about how long he had gone on potions. Branzy's aura did somehow calm him down a little as he unclenched his fists and put them back in his pockets.

Speaking of Branzy. . .Pierre turned his head to look at him, only to see him standing in front of the still open plushie shop. The lights were bright in the dim sidewalk, and they seemed to pass through, yet illuminate Branzy’s face as he stared in the shop. 

Pierre fully turned around to look at what the angel was looking at, Branzy didn’t seem to notice. Pierre didn’t take Branzy as a stuffed animal person, though it should have been quite obvious when he learned that Branzy was a child protector. 

Every time they walked the streets of the city, Pierre would notice how Branzy would stop following him and drift away to look at the plush shop.

Pierre never really paid attention to the shops, especially not one made for children, until Branzy’s curiosity affected him too.

Pierre hadn’t really thought to look up at the name of the shop, and he still didn't do so, instead silently cursing whoever designed the damn shop to have so many lights.

Branzy stared inside the shop, specifically at the stuffed animal in the front window that seemed to be a camel. Pierre knew he was excited, unsurprisingly.

Branzy liked the little camel, eh? Pierre also stared at the stuffed animal, noted. Before Pierre could nudge Branzy’s shoulder again, Branzy seemed to withdraw, stepping back and away from the front window, albeit sad and still looking at the camel.

Pierre decided on turning back around and staying quiet, waiting for Branzy to follow behind him again.

And he does, though obviously sad. 

Dreadfully, as Pierre and Branzy continue their walk back to base, sleep deprivation and tiredness slowly start to take over Pierre’s mind, stupidly.

Pierre rubbed his eyes and stifled another yawn, a strong wave of fatigue and drowsiness washing over him. For a moment he completely forgot where he was going in the first place. 

Falling asleep in public was something that no one, especially Pierre, could afford to do. 

His eyes darted around for a bit as he walked, before landing on the very ominous alleyway that cut through the shops. Knowing the city well enough, Pierre knew that the alley had a camera, but he could care less about being seen at 12AM.

His usual route didn't have cameras, but the alley was way faster. 

Pierre could evade police capture any day, any night, and plus, the camera had been severely beaten up from the one time Mapicc tried to throw Zam at it. 

When Pierre walked directly in front of the alleyway opening, he walked straight in without another thought other than going back to his base and collapsing in bed.

Branzy’s aura slightly faltered as they entered, though Pierre couldn't think of what to say to him. Thankfully, the worst things in the alley were simply very bad graffiti drawings and rats that scurried away as Pierre and Branzy walked through the alleyway. 

The alleyway wasn't long at all, which is why Pierre took it as a shortcut, but the way back to base was. 

Pierre continued to speed walk through the streets, taking quick glances at Branzy every now and then. The city was unbearably massive, and the park was right in the middle of it. 

Getting out of the city felt like forever for Pierre, who was slowly dissolving into fatigued tiredness. But if getting out of the city was a pain, so was getting back to his base. If only he remembered that he’d already reach the damn day limit. 

He made the same journey all the time, since he would forget about his terrible sleep schedule sometimes, though this time it somehow felt worse.

Pierre started to really regret catching up with Parrot instead of sleeping as he painstakingly set foot on the increasingly abandoned sidewalks that led out the city, but Parrot was free, and Branzy looked ecstatic when he gave Pierre his burner phone and showed him the message.

Painfully. Pierre had to walk all the way back to his base, which he made sure when he built it was at least ten miles out the city. He could feel Branzy slowly becoming more nervous, as Branzy probably didn't at all recognize the path they decided on taking.

The city lights behind them slowly started to fade away, until it was just them and pitch blackness as they walked through the  overgrown grass.

It was a good idea in Pierre’s head for his base to be ten miles out. In his head, it was.

At some point, Pierre started to feel in his pockets again, looking for maybe another regeneration potion to drink down and perchance help him with his unbearable sleep deprived self.

As soon as he felt the smooth surface of the glass vial, he practically yanked it out of his pocket. Pierre undid the cork and held it in his hand as he tried to chug down the entire bottle.

Branzy let out a concerned noise behind him, which startled Pierre and almost made him choke on the potion. He almost forgot that Branzy was even there.

Unsurprisingly, as Pierre wiped the remaining potion off of his lips and put the vial back in his pocket, the potion effects did nothing that helped Pierre. He felt more disappointed in himself rather than slightly energized.

Somehow, Pierre managed to not pass out while painfully walking back to base, he wasn’t sure if the thought of waking up to a gun to his head or the thought of Branzy dragging him back to the base kept him awake enough.

It didn’t quite matter, as the sounds of constant cricket chirping and grass being crushed was starting to annoy Pierre more than it should have.

He almost walked right over his own hatch, but as soon as he noticed it was his base, he immediately crouched down and cleared the leaves and sticks. Very erratically.

Pierre gladly pressed in the long code for the hatch, not paying a lot of mind to Branzy, who was looking down at him with what he thought was a concerned expression. It was dim and he was tired.

He, as quickly as a sleep deprived man could, grabbed the hatch and aggressively pulled it open. Pierre wasted no time dropping inside the base, dangerously not even touching the ladder when he simply just jumped in. 

Pierre, after composing himself to keep from passing out, made his way to the vault door. He punched in the code, the adrenaline he had wearing off as he pressed each number. Did he even remember the code? Had to, or else he’d blow the entire base up if he messed up too many times.

He heard rustling, and then the sound of the hatch slamming shut behind him. Pierre assumed it was Branzy, which was confirmed by the quiet noise of someone climbing down the ladder and Branzy’s soft voice asking him if he was okay, if he was mad. 

As much as he was offended that Branzy would think he could ever get mad at him out of everyone, Pierre finally managed to type in the correct code of the door, pushing it open before it even tried to itself.

Pierre didn’t look back at Branzy, which probably was nerve wracking for his poor angel, but he couldn't quite think straight. Instead, he just went straight to his room, somewhat disappointed when he didn’t lock the door and was easily able to open and walk in, but that wasn’t important.

He closed the door behind him, flipping the light switch open. As soon as the lights were on, Pierre begrudgingly pulls his hoodie off by the end of it, deciding on just putting it on a chair in his room and undoing his bun.

Pierre was about to pull his mask down, until he remembered that he didn't quite trust Branzy with his face yet. Of course, Branzy couldn’t have possibly reported him, though he just didn't trust Branzy enough for that.

He sighed begrudgingly, pulling his mask up to his chin and prompting to change out of his pants to a pair of leggings.

Pierre flipped his desk mirror up to look at himself, really only to check if he had any cuts he hadn’t noticed. His messy, grunge black and red tipped hair rested on his shoulders, his eyes sharp and unforgiving.

Well, that’s what Rek said.

He turned his face in multiple angles, checking to see if he was fine, until he was fine with how he looked and flipped it back down to face the wood of his desk.

His sleepiness was at its peak, which made Pierre waste no more time to get into bed and go to sleep. Pierre wrapped the blanket around himself, he made it so that it only went up till his forearm. It wasn’t as cold inside his bed. 

Pierre laid in bed, awake, for a few minutes, not even covering his mouth as he yawned. He turned on his side, crossing his arms and letting his head fall against his pillow.

And then he started to hear near inaudible footsteps in the hallway. Pierre sighed in exasperation, of course, how could he forget about Branzy? He was too tired to get up and tell Branzy he was in his room.

He was starting to fall asleep, going against the thought of straight up yelling for Branzy to come in. He could hear a few knocks, and doors opening, and barely hearing Branzy’s voice calling for him in the random rooms.

Unfortunately, after more noises of shuffling and knocking coming from outside the hallway, a knock finally came to Pierre’s door. And it was Branzy.

“ Pierre? “ Branzy’s voice came from behind the door, Pierre could see the knob slightly turning.

He was fucking exhausted. But even though he was on the brink of falling asleep and sleep deprived, “ Yes? “ He tiredly called out, his head hurting from not laying down, “ Yeah, here. “ Pierre yawned.

And now he was awake again.

The knob turned, and the door pushed open. Branzy walked in, and looked around the room for  a little. Pierre expected that, as Branzy hadn’t actually been in his room yet, but Branzy’s expression started to look more confused than anything.

Did he not see Pierre? Fair enough, his bedsheets and his clothing and hair were both black. 

Pierre, too tired to just laugh or say anything to Branzy, decides on knocking on his bed frame to get Branzy’s attention. 

Branzy suddenly jolted and steppped back from the sudden noise, before seeming to finally notice Pierre and staring down at him.

“ oh. . “ Branzy quietly blurted out, staring at Pierre.

Branzy awkwardly stands next to the door for a few seconds, maybe just thinking. “ wait. . “ He drawled, his expression contorted into one of concern and care, “ isn’t this the first time I’ve seen you sleep all week? “

“ You got me. “ Pierre yawned again, curling up in bed.

With a worried and curious face, Branzy for some reason, cautiously approached and kneeled, at least Pierre thought he was kneeling, by his bed. Pierre blinked at him as Branzy put his arms on the bed and rested his chin on them.

“ are you like, okay? “ Was the first thing Branzy managed to mutter after a few seconds. 

Pierre hummed, “ Sure. “ He replied quietly, yawning again. He looked at Branzy again, which made him realize Branzy was staring at him like he’d never seen Pierre sleep before.

Oh, wait.

Pierre and Branzy talked for a little bit, or rather, Branzy talked to Pierre while Pierre just hummed responses since he was tired. After a while, Pierre simply turned his back on Branzy, facing the wall and closing his eyes to sleep.

He felt Branzy’s hand slightly slide onto the bed and right behind his back, but he was already on the verge of passing out, so what was the point of asking?

A while after, he assumed, Pierre opened his eyes again, awake. 

He didn’t feel drowsy at all, though he knew deep down he probably only slept not enough hours. It was normal for him, and plus, he knew he slept enough to be able to at least get drunk of potions again and last the week.

Pierre sat up abruptly, rubbing his eyes and yawning. The sudden movement jolted the sleeping Branzy next to him awake, but Pierre didn’t mind him, just tried to inch out of bed and get ready.

Though, seeing Branzy looking up at him with a confused face made him stop for a moment just to see if he was okay.

“ Yes? “ Pierre asked, letting his attention focus on the angel for a minute.

“ what’re you doing? “ Branzy said, his voice sounding more tired than Pierre’s, which made Pierre think he genuinely fell asleep, “ it’s like, 3AM. . .go back to bed, I-i have a pretty good internal clock. . “ 

Pierre, though still a bit tired, chuckled and shook his head, a small smile under his mask. But Branzy looked even more confused and then just worried. 

“ I-i’m not joking.It is like 3AM. “

Pierre sighed gently, exhaling through his nose, “ It isn’t that, Branzy. . “ He yawned, waving his hand over his mouth, “ It’s just funny that you think I care about myself enough to sleep sufficiently. “ 

Pierre said it like it was a lighthearted joke, but Branzy wasn’t smiling. He just looked so concerned and worried for Pierre, a look that no one gave him before.

“ this can’t possibly be healthy for you, Pierre. . .please go back to sleep. “ Branzy said softly, his hand almost touching Pierre’s as he looked at Pierre with genuine care. Branzy was being sincere with him.

Pierre fixed his sight and attention on Branzy, eyes softening as he looked back at Branzy with confusion. 

“ No, I don’t need to. “ Pierre hesitantly replied, furrowing his eyebrows. Branzy looked at him with disbelief. “ I’m serious, Branzy, really. “ 

“ It’s not healthy to not sleep. “ Pierre could barely hear Branzy’s voice, one because he was talking quietly and two because he sounded so tired, but Branzy persisted regardless. 

Somehow, Branzy went from gently educating Pierre on how bad it is to not sleep to passive aggressive arguing that wasn’t really arguing.

It was a bit stupid how Pierre, a serial killer, was in an argument with Branzy, a not-anymore pure hearted angel, about going the hell to sleep. At 3AM. A murderer and a guardian angel were arguing about going to sleep.

( Pierre didn’t notice, but Branzy did. Branzy noticed that Pierre was using a sickeningly soft voice while also cursing. Pierre didn’t talk to anyone the same way he talked to Branzy, same way around. 

And even more unbelievable? 

Branzy won the argument. Pierre didn’t expect Branzy to actually try to convince him to go back to sleep, and he really didn’t expect Branzy to be so determined yet so caring about Pierre’s sleep schedule. And, he didn’t expect to actually start to listen to him.

Branzy’s voice and tone were soft, and his words were caring, but both were laced with genuine determination, and sassiness. Pierre wouldn’t have ever guessed that an Angel could be a sassy person.

Pierre sighed and placed his hands by his side, leaning on them, “ Why do you care so much? “ He asked, though he wasn’t about to continue arguing that he was going to be fine. Branzy wouldn’t take it.

“ . . .um. . “ Branzy looked away from Pierre, before shaking his head and slightly leaning in, “ that’s besides the point, but it’s because I. . .care about you. Because that is my job. “ He said, sounding a little too much like Parrot when he would scold Pierre. ( Pierre didn’t seem to notice the slight pink on Branzy’s face. )

“ Fine. “

Ultimately, Pierre disappointingly laid back down flat on his back and wrapped the blanket around himself again. He heard Branzy make a noise of approval, he could practically feel Branzy’s smitten smile.

Pierre could still feel Branzy’s aura, which was starting to lull him to sleep, too. Now that he was back in his bed, laying there, he actually felt really tired. This time he decided on having his blanket up to his shoulders.

He could sleep in tonight. Or maybe if he convinced Branzy, he could wake up at least an hour later and see if they had another hit placed, which they most definitely would considering Pierre’s success rate.

Pierre was determined to not sleep in too much, but that thought slowly faded away as his consciousness did, too.

“ goodnight. . “ Branzy muttered softly, unmoving from his position as Pierre slept. 

Pierre did in fact, not wake up after an hour or two. Branzy made sure he didn’t by trying to use his aura to get Pierre to go back to sleep. As much as he respected Pierre’s choices, he didn’t respect the unhealthy ones. 

Pierre wiped the sweat off of his forehead, which only really smeared blood on his skin, as he greedily grabbed the diamonds and heart that his supposed ‘ client ‘ was going to trade with him.

He held it up to his face, marveling at the very admirable beauty of the glistening gems. Though, Branzy must have strayed too far, as when Pierre turned to show him the glory, Branzy wasn’t there. 

But before he could open his mouth to potentially call Branzy’s name, the sounds of rustling met Pierre’s ears, prompting him to swiftly turn around to face whoever was foolish to approach him.

Unfortunately, the blade of his scythe only barely met Branzy’s neck. Pierre pulled the scythe away from him, muttering an apology.

Branzy tried to not seem fazed, though it was obvious through his entirety that he was shaken up, and instead continued to smile as he held something close to his chest. He brought it up to Pierre’s face.

“ look! “ He cheerily beamed, obviously trying to keep himself from smiling too widely. Branzy was holding up a little rose, its petals a nice lavender and pink.

Pierre put the diamonds down for a second, instead reaching for the stem of the flower. 

“ Pretty. “ He muttered with a hidden smile, twirling the rose around in his bloodied fingers. Branzy didn’t seem to care about the blood.

Soon, the body of their ‘ client ‘ is forgotten. Really left to rot. 

Chapter Text

" I will warn you, Branzy. " Pierre twirled his dagger between his fingers, which Branzy was fascinated and entranced with, " Though I'm not fighting him directly and I hate that guy, I have to admit Reddoons is a smart man. The people he is teamed with and even who serve under them are strong. "

Branzy raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised by what he was hearing, " stronger than you? " He asked like it was untrue, as Branzy had never met someone as good as Pierre.

“ Oh? “ His question prompted Pierre's reaction of a quiet chuckle, Branzy could tell a smirk had rose from behind his mask, " Endearing. I didn't know you were like that, Branzy. "

" . . .what? "

Pierre cleared his throat, " Stronger than me, yes, beware. "

Pierre's words replayed in Branzy's mind as he stared at him worriedly.

Pierre was panting, though it wasn't as loud as it should have been, he could still hear his heavy breaths although he was a few feet away from Pierre.

The little rascal of a victim was being held up by Pierre's tight hand that gripped the hem of their shirt. Their face was red with their own blood, but their expression told a story of anger instead of fear.

Tough for someone who was about to die.

Pierre held his eye contact with them, raising his blade up one more time. They tried to struggle, tried to throw another punch at their doom, but it was a bit too late to cheat their death.

He held it parallel to their neck, before Pierre quickly slid the blade through their skin, the sharp end of the blade sticking out the other side of their neck. They were dead from the start, and yet they reached the end of the line with the same expression of anger.

Pierre threw them back as they finally slumped over and relaxed, their own blade clattering to the ground and spitting specks of blood, going to sleep for a long time.

They bled out quickly, Branzy and Pierre watched.

After they were definitely dead, Branzy stepped out from the crate he hid behind, " Pierce? " He called out softly. Pierce heavily breathed in and out, turning his head to look at Branzy, a familiar look of exhaustion in his eyes. He nodded, putting his hand over his arm in what Branzy assumed was a tired movement.

Branzy took that as permission to get close to him, and quickly rushed over to him, worried and afraid for Pierre. He stepped over the bits of clothing and skin that was strewn around, afraid to stain his not so real shoes.

He sighed with relief mixed with guilt, " oh, I'm so sorry I didn't help out, I'm so sorry! " Branzy said, a pang of guilt and panic washing over him again as he tried to step closer to Pierce, " are you okay, Pierce? Do we need Parrot!? "

Pierre stepped back again, putting a hand up and sighing, " No, I got it, see? " He pointed to the now bleeding out corpse, " He's dead. I'm so good at my job. " Pierre laughed tiredly, but Branzy didn't even smile.

" are you okay? " Branzy repeated with a softer voice. He tried to bring his hand up to Pierre's mask to inspect the new crack in the porcelain, but Pierre pushed his hand away with a warning glare.

" Mhm. " Pierre hummed tiredly, " I'm so fine. "

" you're sure your nose is okay? It was a pretty hard punch. . " Branzy winced, remembering how the now dead victim inexplicably whipped around and punched Pierre in the face. He'd never really seen anyone do that to Pierre. . . .let alone when they hadn’t even seen him yet.

Pierre nodded again, " I am really okay, Branzy, please don't you dare worry. " He assured, his voice breathy and tired sounding. He was breathing quite heavily.

Branzy nodded, though he couldn't shake off the weird feeling in his gut.

Something was wrong.

His instincts were always correct. . .sometimes. It wasn’t normal for Branzy to be on high alert when there was supposedly “ nothing “ wrong. 

" you're sure? " Branzy couldn't help but compulsively bring his hand closer to Pierre, his impulses almost swallowing his movements. Pierre couldn't be fine, as Branzy's nerves were a part of his spell of safety and his spell of safety activated his nerves and his nerves were not going away!

Pierre nodded his head, but stepped away as soon as Branzy tried to step closer to him.

There was something wrong. 

Branzy worriedly looked Pierre up and down, trying to figure out what could have been wrong. The victim proved to be a rascal, screaming and fighting for their life until they were incapacitated, something had to have happened, even if Pierre was a fine fighter

Pierre's breathing was too audible. . .as weird as it sounded.

Not knowing what was really happening, he brought his hand closer to Pierre's left arm, which emitted his glow onto Pierre's black clothing. Branzy looked at Pierre's hand, noticing how it slightly trembled while it was tightly grasping his arm. 

Though his clothing was dark, the spot Pierre was holding was darker in color, and the color seemed to slowly seep to his gloves.

Branzy, horror sinking into his head, as he slowly looked over at the victim’s discarded knife. The knife laid still, the specks of blood slowly dripping to the floor under it.

Branzy looked back at Pierre, his expression changing into a dark realization. He almost choked on his words as he tried to figure out what to say.

" . . .d-did you? " Branzy looked into Pierre's eyes. He sucked in a non-useful breath when Pierre's expression shifted into one that told him to stop. 

He didn’t, instead saying what he knew. " did you get stabbed?! " Branzy said in his tone of disbelief, as if he couldn’t even believe what he was saying. Pierre furrowed his eyes, a look of regret dawning on him as he brought up his other hand to somewhat block Branzy away from him.

" Branzy. Please. " Pierre replied, his voice more serious than before, shaking his head, " Don't worry about me, I'm fine. " He added, covering his arm.

Branzy gasped, covering his mouth with his hands.

" oh my god. "

His panic consumed his rationality, instead glossing over Pierre's plea to not worry.

" oh my god. " Branzy repeated, his own breathing suddenly getting faster. His anxiety and guilt grew with each passing moment, " why- why didn't you tell me?! " 

Pierre looked at Branzy with pity and regret, though the undertone of his expression was dark, " Because I knew you'd react this way. " He said, sighing as he looked away, " I'll be okay, I've been stabbed before. “ Pierre tried to casually add, but it didn’t make it any better.

Branzy scoffed in disbelief. How could he let Pierre get stabbed?! How could he let that happen?! He was supposed to protect him! 

" no, you won't be! " Branzy half-shouted, prompting himself to wince at the volume of his own voice. He was panicking, he was so panicked, " let me see it, please, let me. " He tried to refrain from stepping too close and yelling too loud.

Pierre looked at him with discomfort, but he moved his hand regardless.

As he laid eyes on the gash in Pierre's flesh, Branzy felt guilt wash over him. He was so goddamn stupid, how could he let that happen, how could he not even notice?!

“ come here, I’m- I’m gonna try to bandage it. “ Branzy stammered, his hands shaking as he tried his best to get his hands near Pierre’s terrible wound. He felt like he was being suffocated with his own panic.

Pierre’s eyes widened, a little shine of vulnerability, before he stepped back and practically hit Branzy’s hands away. Pierre’s expression changed into one of upset discomfort.

“ No. “ 

Pierre said it so simply that Branzy barely caught and understood it. The discomfort in his voice was either inaudible or so obvious, “ I’m going to be fine. “ He said much more firmly.

Branzy stammered in disbelief, his own empathy failing him, “ oh my god, please, no you won’t. “ He practically pleaded, his voice cracking with guilt.

Pierre acted okay, or at least he tried to, but Branzy couldn’t understand how he acted so fine.

“ just- just let me do it, it’s going to be better! “

“ No. Branzy. No. “ Pierre said much more quickly than before, his voice became more stern and upset sounding. Branzy felt another pang of guilt, hurt , even, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Pierre with a stab wound. 

“ you are literally bleeding, bleeding! “ Branzy almost smiled to make light of his discomfort, but he held it back before he did, “ I’m not leaving you like this! “

“ Branzy. “

“ no no no, please, this is not at all a healthy wound, do you see that guy’s knife?! It’s rusted and oh my god you might’ve been infected with something! “ Branzy tried to shuffle closer to him, but Pierre stepped back and blocked him before he got close.

“ Branzy. “

“ Pierce, please. I can’t afford to just leave you like- “

“ Branzy , You aren’t even leaving me. “

“ literally, no, but metaphorically I don’t want you to just be bleeding out this entire time! Oh my god, oh my god, what if you did get infected with something?! “

“ Branzy, for fucks sake, stop. “

“ I can’t stop because I’m not stopping until you let me- "


“ Stop. “

Branzy paused for a moment, his breath hitching as he winced at Pierre’s harsh tone. 

“ I can’t. I have to help you somehow and I will help you by bandaging that nasty gash in your flesh, please, just let me care for you!- “


“ I don’t need to be taken care of! “ 

Pierre snapped at him, stepped closer to him and practically yelled in his face. 

Branzy felt his stomach drop as he stared into Pierre’s eyes again. Pierre looked mad. Branzy had never seen Pierre mad at him, and of course he was stupid enough to finally experience it. Branzy stopped breathing, staring Pierre in his eyes. 

Pierre’s wrath and anger still looked scary from afar, but as Branzy stood in front of Pierre, whose hand was ever so slightly shaking as he stared into Branzy’s soul, he was scared. More guilty than scared. Branzy stepped back hesitantly, his wings, that he didn't even notice had puffed, fluttered nervously.

“ I’m not a child , Branzy. “ Pierre spat, sounding more angry than Branzy had ever heard him be, “ Let it go. “ He stepped back himself, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes stabbing through his soul.

Pierre was using the same tone he used for his own victims towards Branzy, instead.

His feelings took a minute to sink in, but when it did, it hurt. 

Branzy tried to hold eye contact with Pierre, but staring into the eyes of someone that was upset at him felt suffocating. He had to look away, he couldn’t stand Pierre’s literal piercing gaze.

Pierre stepped back again, away from Branzy, effectively making a bigger draft between them. Branzy’s eyes looked down at the floor, feeling Pierre’s upset gaze drilling through his head.

“ If you want to help me, please get rid of the body. “ Pierre said bitterly.

Branzy didn’t look up at Pierre, but he looked over at the body.

He needed to do something. Something to redeem himself.

Branzy was so stupid.

Oh, who was he kidding? He was always stupid.

They finished up after a while. When Branzy looked back at Pierre, he had a crude bandage over the wound that didn't look quite right. Branzy felt more guilt for not being able to help him. When Pierre met his gaze, he looked a bit surprised, but it quickly subsided to something pleased.

Branzy actually managed to get rid of the body and the blood, but now he couldn’t fly.

Pierre didn’t say a damn thing to Branzy, and neither did Branzy, but he could hear Pierre’s wrath. Maybe it wasn’t as bad, but he couldn’t tell. He couldn’t let go of the feelings of guilt, though, and it overwhelmed him more than Branzy could handle. 

He hadn’t felt guilty in days, and now he was guilty because he annoyed the person he was supposed to. . . care for? God.

Pierre didn’t say anything, and he clearly tried to not even look at Branzy, but Branzy knew better than to just wait for Pierre to call him over. Branzy was about to walk right next to him, wanting to talk about how managed to hide away all the evidence, then his slight excitement disappeared as he remembered what just happened.

They didn't say anything to each other the entire time they walked right back to the entrance of the mutilated warehouse. Rather, it was like Pierre had tried making space between them. It was odd how quiet it was, and how much colder Branzy felt even though he wasn’t directly looking at Pierre.

Branzy felt tired, though, so he couldn’t even say anything. It wasn’t like he was going to talk to someone who was upset with him.

He hadn’t seen Pierre so cold. Branzy knew that he had a bad side, but he never knew how terrible it felt to be in the eye of that storm. 

It was just a small argument, it was just a misunderstanding that Branzy should have immediately seen, no, that’s a stupid thought to try to convince himself. They haven’t walked in such silence in a while, not ever since meeting Pierre’s kids- The M.O.B , so it sucked more than it should have.

He hadn’t felt regret or guilt in that while, too. Branzy felt like he was suffocating from the discomforting silence and his own regret. Here he thought it was all gone, but of course, regret made him empathetic, and he clearly didn’t lose that.

It wasn’t even that much, it wasn’t supposed to be that bad.

Branzy still felt bad about it. His thoughts were scattered into bits of questioning what was wrong with him and why he couldn't just stop insisting when Pierre looked so uncomfortable. 

He was. . .really dumb.

Soon, the forest beyond the entrance and the two familiar figures waiting for them there became apparent to Branzy as they got near.

Without another thought rather than just trying to distract himself from what he did, Branzy went straight to Rek, and Pierre went right up to Parrot without even telling Branzy he would. Branzy looked over at Pierre, dare I describe it longingly. .

Branzy stared at him for a bit, just waiting for him to call him or something. 

Rek hummed awkwardly, “ So? “ He said after a few seconds of awkward silence. Branzy almost jolted from his voice suddenly meeting his ears, as he completely forgot he was actually existing. Branzy blinked, now breathing again.

“ it was as fine as you’d think it’d be. . “ Branzy muttered as his response as he fidgeted with his gloves, ignoring Rek’s conspicuous and suspicious eyes, instead looking over at Pierre and Parrot again.

Mistake number two.

When he looked over, Parrot was holding Pierre’s wrist, Branzy couldn’t tell if he was holding it tightly, but Parrot was looking down at the bandage. Branzy’s breath hitched, Pierre’s words echoing in his head as he prepared to hear them again.

“ What on earth is that. “ Parrot said flatly, grazing his other hand over it. Pierre hissed, but he didn't move away at all. Instead, Pierre let Parrot twist his arm around, although his pain was obvious.

“ Accident. Asshole stabbed me. “ Pierre admitted so effortlessly, no fighting whatsoever. Parrot looked at him disapprovingly, sighing out of disappointment. “ Hey! Not my fault I didn't see it.“ Pierre defended himself.

Parrot sighed again, gently tugging on the top of the bandage to undo it, “ Come on, this is a terrible bandage. “ He said disappointedly, unwrapping the entire bandage off and balling it up, putting it away in his pocket.

Pierre said something about it being unhealthy, but Parrot didn’t care, instead taking out a new roll of bandages from his bag and gently wrapping a new bandage around the wound while scolding him about being careful.

Maybe it was wholesome and nice to other people, to other people it meant Pierre trusted Parrot with his life.

Branzy thought the same thing. But the gut wrenching feeling as he realized Pierre didn’t trust him distracted him from everything else. Of course Pierre trusted Parrot more than Branzy, of course he was more comfortable, but it stung.

Maybe it was the overexerting of his energy to get rid of the body and blood, or maybe it was just his own common sense that made him feel more terrible than he should have felt.

Were they even that close? Well, it already had been a week or two and Branzy managed to convince Pierre to go to sleep the day before, but did that mean they were close?

No, they probably weren't. 

“ Branzy? “ 

“ y-yes, Rek? “ Branzy responded almost immediately, though he used to be in deep thought. He looked back up at Rek, barely being able to rip his eyes away from Pierre and Parrot, meeting Rek’s worried eyes. 

Rek was looking at him with concern and worry, which made Branzy’s stomach drop. 

“ What’s up? “ Rek asked softly. 

Branzy could barely say a lot, not with the annoying lump in his throat that hurt. He coughed to clear his throat, quickly putting on a smile to try to divert Rek’s obvious suspicion.

“ what? Rek, I’m very, totally okay. “ Branzy replied with faked enthusiasm, trying to force out a gentle laugh. He thought that he could possibly trick Rek into believing him, Branzy was a good actor , anyway! 

Rek furrowed his eyebrows, more suspicious and more concerned, simply disbelieving whatever Branzy tried to convince him. God, Rek knew something was up. He was a terrible liar . 

Rek sighed, running a hand through his brown hair, probably thinking of what to say. “ No offense, but. . .Bull crap. Branzy, c’mon, man. . “ Rek said, his tone and face softening as sympathy filled his expression, “ What’s up? You know I hate it when the people I love are upset. “ He stepped forward and closer to Branzy, putting a hand onto his, “ What’s wrong? “

Branzy pursed his lips, swallowing and holding back from breaking down and sobbing. 

“ I-. . “ Branzy tried to say, which only really made him choke on words he hadn’t even said yet. 

“ Yeah? It’s fine if you don’t wanna tell me, I just wanna know if there’s something wrong, man. “ The seriousness in his tone gently melted into care. 

Branzy quietly chuckled, genuinely, phantom tears forming in his eyes, “ why are you so goddamn persuasive? “ He smiled at Rek. Branzy sucked in a breath, cutting off Rek from whatever he was going to say next.

“ so you know him and I, “ Branzy somewhat signaled to Pierce, the feeling of dread coming back over him and almost halting his words as he saw Pierre and Parrot casually talking again,  “ r-right? “

“ . . .Yes? “

“ soo. . . “ Branzy tried to find his words and to tread them carefully, “ we had an argument and- and I totally messed up and he totally hates me more than anything and it was all my fault! “ He blurted out, maybe a bit too loudly. 

Before the other could say anything, Branzy closed his eyes shut and turned his head down, afraid of the judgment Rek would undoubtedly give him. Which. . .didn’t come as fast as Branzy hoped it would.

And then his anxieties and guilt came back right to him.

He probably looked so stupid. Pierre and Parrot were probably judging him! Branzy's hands were slightly shaking as they balled into fists. Rek's hands became more softer, like they slightly lost their grip on Branzy's fists, maybe as a comforting gesture that didn't really do much.

He could just feel Rek’s judgment. . .yet Rek didn’t say anything for a good while. Rek wasn't one to be quiet for that long, what if he was silently laughing at Branzy? It made sense to, but Rek wasn't that type of guy.

After too many seconds of silence, Branzy hesitantly opened one of his eyes to look back up at Rek, really nervous, though he shouldn't have been.

The immediate thing he noticed was that Rek’s expression had changed, which almost gave him a heart attack. But it wasn't one that was inherently bad, but his face of empathy and concern had morphed into one that asked Branzy if he was insane.

Branzy's phantom heart was racing, so were his finicky thoughts that weren't leaving him alone. He looked at Rek, trying to rationalize why he was looking at Branzy like he was insane.

“ . . .My brother in christ. . “ Rek slowly and hesitantly said, as if waiting for Branzy to sike it and say he was just joking.

Branzy didn’t say anything else.

Rek looked like he was actually on the verge of asking him if he was crazy.

He shook his head in disbelief, slightly tugging on Branzy’s hands to bring him closer, “ No, Branzy, no. “ Rek softly said, looking into Branzy's eyes with more concern.

“ what do you mean no?! “ Branzy whisper shouted with too much desperation in his voice, his wings puffing up as he died a little more.

He looked at Branzy with sympathy, “ I’m going to be blunt here. . “ Rek inhaled, keeping one of his hands on Branzy's and putting the other hand on his temple, not rubbing it, just holding his head and dying inside, “ Clownpierce does not have the time nor will to hate his Guardian . He’s not like that. “

“ really? “ Branzy muttered softly, not believing the one guy that wouldn't lie to him, “ but. . .you literally haven’t even talked to him yet, how can you be sure? And you don’t even know what I did!- “

“ it probably doesn't matter as much. . “ Rek exhaled and cut him off, shaking his head, still looking back at Branzy with empathy but still like he was crazy, “ And no, Branzy, not at all true, whatever is going on in your head. “ He said bluntly.

Branzy looked around, slightly panicking, “ you’re sure? I mean, he seemed really mad at me! " He wanted to rant a lot more, but was cut off by Rek's disapproving stare.

“ Branzy, I have been around that man for months. He’s not that mad, maybe at first, but Clown is not easy to anger. “

“ but!- “

“ I practically know him, if he was really angry, he would’ve walked right past me and Parrot! “

“ well, I guess, but- “ Before he could even finish his stupid reasoning, Rek cut him off.

 “ Nope! “ Rek pulled his hands away from Branzy’s, putting them over his ears, “ I am a deaf man now, can’t hear you. Can’t hear your buts. “ He dramatically mused.

Branzy stifled a laugh, covering his smile with his hand. 

An easy and lovely smile grew on Rek’s face, “ Aw, there’s the Branzy I know, an idiot who probably laughs at twenty-twelve jokes. “

“ hey!. . .they are funny though. “

“ . . no . “

Branzy put his hands down and in front of his chest, gently fidgeting and rubbing his thumb with his other, giggling to himself. Rek seemed to relax himself, softly sighing with his comforting smile.

He sucked in a cold breath, his eyes trailing back up to where Pierre was, “ but, um. . .you’re sure he’s not that mad at me? “

“ yeah. He’s Clownpierce. You’re Branzy. “ Rek said very matter of fact and confidently, Branzy giggled at his genuine determination.

Rek went quiet as Branzy looked over at Pierre and Parrot, rather it was like Rek curiously joined in on looking at them.

Pierre and Parrot seemed to still be talking, the new bandage that tightly held Pierre’s wound visible to Branzy. He tried to ignore it, ( It stung to think about it. ) instead continuing to curiously try to listen to what they were saying.

Branzy couldn't quite hear them, but from the look on Parrot's face, they must have been talking about something serious.

" What'd you even do, anyway? " Rek asked, pulling Branzy back into the conversation with him.

Branzy thought about telling Rek the details as he tried to find his words and push away the undeniable guilt and regret he held strongly against his heart.

" ehh. . . " Branzy played with the loose thread of his gloves, " so you see, Pier- Pierce ! Has a bandage, right? "

" right? "

" . . .he got stabbed. "

" You stabbed him? Not even surprised! "

" what?! " Branzy exclaimed in disbelief and surprise, not that he wouldn't have stabbed someone, " no! Pierce got stabbed, I tried helping by trying to bandage him, he didn't want to be, I still insisted, I fucked up! "

Rek stared awkwardly at him.

" Well. "

" . . .where? "

" not an actual well. Just, well. The colloquial well! "

" well is a colloquial? "

" We're getting off topic- uh , okay. " Rek put his hands together and put them up to his mouth, " I get why he got mad, first of all. Clownpierce isn't a touchy guy, he hates it. "

" really? " Branzy muttered more nervously, dread and guilt washing over him again, “ so he really hates touching and I proceeded to immediately break that boundary and now he probably hates me? “

“ Stop it! “

“ but I’m right?! “

He was still gentle with his words, but Rek was clearly getting restless, “ no! You aren’t! Jesus christ, Branzy, give yourself a break!- “ Rek gently hit Branzy’s hand, “ Literally, if he was really mad, you’d be dead . “

“ I mean, you don't even. . . “ He sighed and shrugged, forgetting what he was about to say. Rek put his hands to his side again, sighing with him.

Branzy stepped much closer to Rek, gently reaching for his hands, which Rek let him do so. Branzy casually intertwined Rek’s hand with his, Rek continued to stand there and let Branzy hold hands.

Was it a bit awkward to suddenly hold hands? Well, yes, but not to Rek, nor Branzy. Branzy was a touchy person. And as he casually held Rek’s almost intangible hands with his own, Branzy started to regret everything more.

Pierce hated to be touched and Branzy outright just broke it, even though it was so obvious he was uncomfortable about it! Branzy was so, so stupid, that thought kept running around in his head, mocking him.

Branzy was a terrible guardian.

Absolute crap. Horrible. Branzy gently rubbed Rek's hand with his thumb, mostly over the notable scar on his hand. Branzy hated it when the people he loved got hurt. It was an old scar from sparring years ago, but seeing Rek slightly flinch when Branzy ran his thumb over it made it hurt just a little more.

" I'm sorry. " Branzy managed to force out of his throat.

Rek shook his head disapprovingly again, scoffing, " nothing to be sorry about, Branzy. You didn't know, you know you didn't. " He sternly muttered to him.

He smiled, " you sound like Parrot. " Branzy chuckled.

Rek looked at him with accusatory confusion, " what? I don't at all sound like- "

" Yo, Rek. " Parrot called out to him, which made both Branzy and Rek turn to face Parrot, " Let's go. "

A little smile grew on Branzy’s face. Rek was going to say something, but he decided against it, tilting his head to the side in defeat. " bro? Already? " Rek asked, his enthusiastic voice shifting to one of disappointment. Did that mean Rek was sad that he had to leave Branzy? Aw!

" Yeah. " Parrot deadpanned, putting his arms up to do a mock shrug, " Now get your ass- "

" brass. "

" . . .Brass. " Parrot scoffed as he paused and glared at Rek for a moment, before seemingly continuing without another thought, " Over here. "

Branzy giggled, wanting to look at Rek to say some more stupidity, but as he looked up from the floor, his eyes got caught on something.

Pierre. Though Pierre had his head down and his arms crossed, and from the look in his eyes, he looked like a child that just got scolded. Branzy had to look really hard to notice the little purple in his hands. The barely stained bandage contrasted against his black clothing.

And now Branzy felt regretful again, but his worry quickly got swept away from Rek tugging his wrist. 

“ man. “ Rek said solemnly, before breathily chuckling. He put one of his hands over his forehead,  “ Our playdate’s over! “ Rek dramatically exclaimed, before dispersing into more giggling.

Branzy ignored the jab in his heart, instead choosing to laugh with Rek, “ yeah, guess so! “ He said, his enthusiasm sounding more forced than when he actually was trying to force it. 

Rek’s look of fondness faltered to one of empathy and concern. He looked over at Parrot, nodding at him, “ in a bit, bro! “ Rek called over. He turned his attention back to Branzy as soon as Parrot sighed, though all of them could hear the fond undertone.

Rek slightly pulled Branzy closer to him, “ Branzy, man, Clown’s a killer, but if he really wanted you dead, he’d still be scheming, and as you see over there, “ Rek briefly pointed over to Pierre, who Branzy could still see just looking into his hands, “ I don’t think that’s how people usually scheme. . “ 

Branzy gently laughed, more genuinely, though he still felt nerve wracked from the thought of Pierre being mad at him.

He wanted to ask Rek a lot more, Branzy really wanted to ask if he was sure, but as Rek looked back over to Parrot, their time was out. 

“ bye? “ He hesitantly said, hoping.

“ Bye! “ Rek stepped away from him and gave him a reassuring smile, giving him a little thumbs up as he walked away and towards Parrot. Branzy watched ahead as he did. Noticing how Parrot then turned to look at Pierre before Rek could look at him.

Branzy raised his eyebrows, wondering what Parrot was telling Pierre before Rek got to them. Branzy didn't hear him, but he could tell Parrot spoke softly and briefly, while Pierre gave him a small nod in response.

He internally grimaced, ignoring the dread in his suffocating chest.

Though he died inside with every second, he inhaled and forced himself to walk. He walked over to Pierre, almost abruptly stopping and tripping over when he was too close. Branzy would have liked to stand right next to him, but he stopped before he could even think of it again.

Parrot didn't pay Branzy any mind, even when he stepped away at least a few feet, instead just nudging Pierre with his elbow and whispering something in his ear.

The one word Branzy caught, despite Parrot’s voice being low, was “ Iris. “

“ Yes, I know. “ Pierre quietly hissed in response, his tone not at all matching the one Branzy heard earlier. Parrot patted him on the shoulder which made Pierre slightly shudder, muttering something about calling him when there was trouble.

Parrot turned to Rek, “ Let’s go. “ He said in a soft tone. Rek smiled fondly and nodded.

Parrot and Rek bid their goodbyes again as they walked away, with Rek turning around before they went out the entrance to give Branzy another reassuring smile that he nervously returned, and Parrot casually raising a hand up and waving. . .despite not even facing them.

The duo walked off, Parrot leading the way away from the warehouse entrance. They steered to the left, now out of sight.

And then Branzy was left with the guy who hated him. 

Though he didn’t say anything, Branzy could feel Pierre’s disappointed emotion.

They stood in silence for a few seconds, Branzy decided against bothering Pierre again. As Branzy looked over at Pierre with only his eyes, he could see Pierre’s disappointment, and his stomach sank farther.

Branzy really wanted to say something, but before he even got the chance to, Pierre muttered something, turned around, and was already walking away. Branzy stared at the back of Pierre’s hair, confused, before quickly following suit before thinking about it.

Neither of them said a word.

Branzy felt really awkward, which he hadn’t felt about Pierre in at least a week. He kept his head low to the ground, with his hands pressed together and against his chest as he walked behind Pierre, not even knowing where they were going.

Pierre took the lead, while Branzy walked behind him, keeping his space. As in walking really far away from him, at least a few feet away. It was a terrible idea, but as he saw, Pierre didn’t need Branzy. 

That, and the horrifying thought that occurred in Branzy’s panic ridden mind that Pierre might hate him if he remembered he was there.

The following walk out of the warehouse was taking too long. The way back to the base was going to be so much longer. Where Pierre and Parrot had chosen to try and talk with the spokesman was far from any city, let alone Pierre’s base.

Branzy internally sighed. He already felt tired, hiding a body away in a purgatory apparently used up a bit too much energy for the angel, his guilt slowly crawling up his throat. He held his hands together and against his chest, letting his head down so he wouldn’t see Pierre, most especially the bandage around his arm.

He wanted to say something, tell Pierre that he was sorry and that he wanted to just help him. But the silence was deafening, the warehouse too big, they both hated it when their voices echoed.

Pierre wouldn’t hate him for that, right? He was Clownpierce, Clownpierce doesn’t easily get mad. Right?  

Rek was right, Pierce wasn’t that type of person, but Branzy could barely believe that thought no matter how hard he thought of it.

It somehow became more uncomfortable.

“ Hey. “ 

Branzy almost perked up upon barely hearing Pierre’s voice, but his excitement wiped out immediately. He hung his head lower, holding his hands tighter together.

The silence swept through again, Branzy felt relief but also sadness as Pierre didn’t say anything for a few seconds. It was quiet, to the point where he could hear Pierre sigh.

“ Hey.  “ Pierre repeated more sternly, loudly. Branzy pressed his hands deeper into the intangible cloth of his vest.

He didn’t want to ignore his protectee, absolutely not, it was just the clump in his throat that told him he should waste his invisible breath over him. 

Pierre sighed again, more harshly. Branzy saw him clench his fists, but then gently soften around something. Through his nervousness, Branzy could see a little color of purple being held in Pierre’s fist. 

“ Branzy. “

Now he really was starting to panic.

“ . .yes? “ Branzy said after a few seconds with a soft voice, although he really had to force himself to say it.

Pierre didn’t say in response at first, but stopped walking as soon as Branzy said that. Branzy could see that he was hesitant about something.

Was he about to die again?

Pierre was standing in a spotlight-reminiscent spot, with the moonlight from the hole in the ceiling illuminating him. “ Here. “ Pierre said after a few seconds of hesitant silence, sucking in a breath that was audible from the unbearable silence, and slowly holding something out.

In the moonlight, Branzy could tell it was a purple flower.

A flower.

Pierre stood still for the few moments that Branzy used up to process what was just happening.

Was the Clownpierce, who was angry at him, offering Branzy a flower? For a second, Branzy thought it was just a ploy to stab him, but Pierre made no effort to say or do anything more.

“ for me? “ Was all Branzy could manage with his scattered thinking. Pierre simply nodded, tilting the flower to the side as he subtly danced it around in his hand.

Branzy had no idea what to even tell him, a new type of nervousness creeping up on him as he thought of what he should have done. He took a few steps forward, only then noticing how far he had strayed, and slowly reached his hand out to grab the flower in Pierre’s hand, as if the other was going to snatch it right away.

Pierre didn’t. As he took the flower out of his hand, Branzy could tell his harsh fist had faltered into a gentle grip, the stem of the little thing not at all broken. 

Branzy took the stem of the flower with his fingers, laying it down on his palm as he held it there, admiring it like a child. 

“ . .thank you. “ 

Pierre hummed a reply, suddenly starting to walk away again.

Branzy jolted, running to catch up to the man, gently wrapping his hand around the flower that he identified as an iris so it wouldn't accidentally fall out. 

It was such a pretty flower. Branzy couldn't keep his hands nor eyes off of it as they continued their long walk. 

As Branzy finally looked up and caught Pierre in his sight by accident, He couldn’t help but feel warm inside his chest. The more he thought of Pierre giving him the flower, it was like a little spark lit up, and he was melting from his core.

It probably was nothing, he told himself.

Pierce owed a lot to Parrot, making Branzy feel better now was one of the new things Pierce owed him.

When Branzy tried to insist to bandage Pierce, when he yelled at him, when he saw the hurt in Branzy’s face, Pierre was angry. More discomforted than angry.

There was a reason why he didn’t let Branzy touch him, multiple, actually, one being that Branzy wouldn’t do much and the other being Pierce’s discomfort with being touched that he should have evaluated with Branzy beforehand.

As he walked away and to the entrance of the warehouse, he was slowly starting to calm down, yes, but looking at the bloody bandage on his arm made him more worried about what Parrot would say, so maybe that was one of the reasons he calmed down more.

When Pierce walked up to Parrot, he was somewhat expecting Branzy to still be right beside him, but he saw Branzy run to Rek instead. Pierce didn’t mind as much, he needed the space, anyway.

The first thing Parrot did was look him up and down, unfortunately immediately catching sight of the bandage over his bicep. Parrot immediately grabbed onto his wrist, glaring at the wound.

“ What on earth is that. “ Parrot said flatly, grazing his other hand over it. Pierce hissed, but he didn't move away, instead just standing in place and letting Parrot scold him and move his arm.

“ Accident. Asshole stabbed me. “ Pierce admitted quickly, not feeling the need to hide it unlike with Branzy. Parrot looked at him disapprovingly as he sighed out of disappointment.

 “ Hey! It's not my fault I didn't see it.“ Pierce defended himself.

“ Should have. “ Parrot sighed again, gently tugging on the bandage and continuing his tangent, “ Come on, this is a terrible bandage. “ He said disappointedly, which almost made Pierce mockingly call him a mother, but he digressed. 

After the unnecessary bandaging, Parrot and Pierce went back to usual business as they were supposed to.

Except. Parrot seemed too distracted.

Before Pierce could even ask him, before he could even turn to face the direction Parrot was undoubtedly looking at, Parrot spoke first.

“ What’s wrong with Branzy? “ 

Though Pierce tried his best to avoid and ignore the question, Parrot managed to get him to answer through simply glaring at him.

“ Branzy and I got into a fight. “ Was all Pierce intended to say, trying to immediately go back to his business talk.

Parrot looked at him funny, raising an eyebrow, “ You? Him? A fight? What, was he the one who stabbed you. “ He said sarcastically, before adding, “ You know there’s more. “

Pierce tried to ignore it again, but he eventually surrendered peacefully.

The more he calmly explained, the more Parrot’s expression changed into one of confusion laced with disappointment. Pierce strongly expressed how uncomfortable he felt, Parrot understood without another explanation.

“ Reasonable, I’m so proud of you. But. “ He’d say, and Pierce held back from sighing heavier than Parrot did, “ You have to apologize. “ 

It caught Pierce off more. Codename ParrotX2 was asking him, Clownpierce, to apologize to an angel?

Pierce expressed his confusion, and Parrot went on a little lecture about guardian’s and their feelings. How Rek was so tired from protecting Parrot non-stop and how detrimental that was for Parrot and him, how if Branzy still felt hurt, which Parrot said he was, it would also be detrimental for him and Branzy.

Pierce didn’t want to listen at all. He just wanted to go back to business, not relationship advice!

But the seriousness on Parrot’s face told him he really needed to do something about Branzy. Pierce begrudgingly looked over at Branzy, wanting to prove to himself that Branzy was fine.

Only to see Branzy’s smile. But it wasn’t his smile. It was, but it was like a terrible clone of it, and without the usual cheery emotion behind it.

Pierce couldn’t help but be more discomforted, this time being from Branzy’s “ smile “.

“ Branzy seems like the type to give gifts, no? Why don’t you try giving him back a gift he gave you? He won’t notice. “

“ Bro. There is absolutely no way I’m giving him what he gave to me. Plus, he’s a guardian, he should. . “ Pierce gave up on the sentence as soon as he saw Parrot’s disappointed glare.

“ What else are you going to do, kiss him? Nah. You know you can’t even pull your own guardian. “

“ . . .Seriously. “ Pierce scoffed, but he thought about it. He was in for it now, if Parrot was telling him something, he had to do something.

After a few seconds of thinking, he went through his pockets, remembering a little something. Looking through his front pocket, he found it.

A small little iris flower that Branzy gave him a few hours ago. It wasn’t as fresh as it was when Branzy happily picked it out of the ground, but the purple was still vibrant enough.

“ Is this good, mister good at relationships with his guardians? “ 

Parrot looked at the flower without at all touching it, just staring it up and down.

“ Branzy gave that to you? He must’ve thought it was pretty, huh? “ 

Pierre could see it in Branzy’s eyes, even in the dim forest. Branzy was smiling, holding up yet another flower he found near the path.

“ look! “ Branzy said in his usual cheery tone, gently tilting it towards Pierre as he held it up, “ for you! “ 

“ Again with flirting with me? “

“ . .Yeah. “

And that was how he somehow ended up holding the iris in his hand, twirling it around as he tried to scheme how he should give it to Branzy.

Before they left, Parrot gently elbowed Pierce’s arm, leaning in to whisper, “ He found it pretty, he’ll love the iris and you better give it. “

“ Yes, I know. “

Without Parrot and Rek, it was just Pierce and Branzy left alone together.

It was disappointing, he liked being around those two, but he could tolerate Branzy. Or, his usual Branzy.

Even before he said anything to him, as Pierce looked at Branzy, he saw the fear in his eyes. Pierce couldn’t even bring himself to say anything more than a barely audible ‘ let’s go. “ after seeing Branzy’s face.

Fear. Branzy was afraid? Of him? Again?

It took a few more minutes, a few too many steps, but Pierce managed to give Branzy the flower. The obvious nervousness in Branzy’s voice as he responded to Pierre was horrible.

From the moment he saw Branzy’s horrible, discomforted smile, the moment he gave Branzy the flower and to now, when he was simply just sitting in his storage room with Branzy behind him, he realized he much preferred Branzy when he was better. 

“ I’m sorry. “ 

Branzy said, but Pierre could hear his obvious attempt at sounding more serious or monotone. He didn’t like that, either.

“ I’m sorry too. “ Pierre said back, trying his best to sound genuine.

Branzy almost believed it, too. But he knew Pierre was cold, colder than the Aether, so Pierre couldn't be telling the truth.

But it didn’t matter. He melted again, relaxing into the chest behind him as he held the slightly wilted iris in his hands.

He was fucked.

Chapter Text

Guilt was an emotion he thought he got rid of weeks ago, and loneliness was a suit he didn’t quite like.

But as Branzy sat against the metal door of the trophy room, he was alone and guilt was gnawing at his heart, just like the first time he let Pierre kill someone. It had been a few days, yes, but he still couldn’t quite shake off his anxieties.

It wasn’t because of a victim of theirs, Saints, no. That wore off weeks ago.

No, it was about Pierre.

His protectee, his Pierre.

It was one thing to let his protectee hurt another, but it was an entirely new thing to hurt his own protectee. Yes, this was about Pierre’s injury and of course Branzy felt more than responsible for it.

It was his fault! Not only did he let Pierre get hurt, he proceeded to break a boundary and good god Branzy had never felt as bad as now. He was skittish when he was nervous and guilty, he hated it too, so Branzy tried to act more distant instead of saying another word to Pierre.

Which was a horrible idea for both of them.

Sometimes he’d hear Pierre scoff when Branzy tried to distance himself, and it made Branzy more apprehensive. Sometimes the glint in Pierre's eyes when he looked at Branzy told a story of frustration, but Pierre would look away, and Branzy’s fear would spike.

Sometimes Pierre himself would try to look Branzy in the eyes, but Branzy would look away before his face heated up and his gut would close in on itself. In a bad way, of course. Including when his face and heart would burn. It was a bad thing, Branzy told himself. 

Loneliness never felt quite right, especially for Branzy of all angels, but neither did awkwardly trying to force himself to talk to someone who probably hated him. 

( . . .Though it was very obvious he, in fact, didn’t.  )

And so, Branzy sat alone with only his thoughts to accompany him as he tried to silence them, which was where he was now, his shaky hands running through his stiff feathers as he tried to calm his very uneasy nerves.

Branzy liked preening, as most angels did.

What no angel liked was doing it out of apprehension, it ruined the calming practice, but Branzy couldn't find another thing to do with himself. His fingertips grazed over his feathers, over the little lines on the stems of them, as he picked out a little piece of dirt in between some of them.

His gloves were too harsh, Branzy realized almost immediately. He wasn’t sure if it was the dried blood that they sucked up or just its natural texture, but it was horrible and it made the entire thing uncomfortable, but it wasn’t like he was going to take them off.

As much as he wanted to.

Branzy’s eyes stayed focused on his wing as his hands reaped the dirt out of his feathers, slowly zoning out. When he snapped back, his fingers stopped roaming, and a feather was in between them.

He narrowed his eyes, confusion sinking in, bringing his wing closer to his face as if he didn’t believe himself.

The feather was gray.

Gray. Worry immediately formed as the feather didn’t go back to color, like Branzy hoped it would. His wings, like all angel’s wings, were supposed to be as white as clouds, as white as the clouds in the Aether. Not gray like the smoke in the Nether.

Branzy didn’t even think about it too much, his mind clouded with too many thoughts of how that could have happened, as his fingers wrapped around the feather, covering it completely.

And he pulled .

He winced, the pain feeling like someone just stabbed him with a needle. Branzy refrained from holding his breath, instead bringing the feather closer to his eyes to see it more clearly, it had to be a little illusion from his brain, had to.

The color his eyes met was gray. His feathers from his wings were gray. Before Branzy could more on start either screaming or crying, the feather in his fingers started to dissipate, before it was truly gone, his hands left without anything in them anymore.

Branzy breathed in deeply, jerkily putting his hands back down onto his wing. It was just an illusion, right? Right. The silver trophies and trinkets must have done something and messed up what he thought he saw,

He figured it out, Branzy thought he was just seeing things and he was right.

( He was not. )

Branzy didn’t dwell on it for long, deciding to ignore it and instead go back to his preening. He breathed softly, his hands starting to become much more gentle and stable as he continued to roam his own feathers again. Branzy sucked in another breath and closed his eyes, making sure to not force his movements all too much,

It didn't hurt as much as it used to, good. Branzy learned how to be gentle with his gloves on. Gloves that had dried blood on them. Dried blood that bled from the innocent. Blood that could have been Pierre's. He inhaled again, almost choking on his last breath. It wasn't Pierre's blood on his hands. Pierre didn't bleed.

The rock was a bit of a stupid idea, but he needed to try something. He noticed Planet saw Pierre before he did, and Branzy knew. And he panicked. Panicked like he always did.

It was heavy for a moment, maybe the overbearing guilt that he knew he was going to carry on himself would be heavy, too, but he needed to do something.

The edges stabbed at his hands and yet he didn't stop to think another rational thought.

He didn’t notice how his hands slowed, how his fingers were subtly and slowly starting to tug on his feathers, but he did notice the small specks of blood that rested in them. Branzy told himself that he wouldn’t ever get the blood on him but look at him now.

And then there was the other person who he never even knew the name of. Neither did Pierre, but there was business to be over. Business to end for good.

Then the other one who he very much helped kill. More than the others.

He placed his hands on their shoulders, he didn't even know he could, and shoved them. Branzy shoved them off the cliffside and watched as they fell.

Branzy stood there, more confused and shocked than anything. He snapped out of it when Pierre nudged him and quickly ran down the cliff. And he watched a few feet away when Pierre pulled out his sword instead of his gun.

Pain shot through his flesh, he gasped and choked on the air that came in, a pained noise coming out of his throat. Branzy's eyes started to fill with phantom tears. Branzy's eyes darted, before stopping to look down at his hand and wing.

His hand was clenched into an discomforting fist, and the tips of a few feathers were sticking out between his fingers.

Branzy slowly lifted his once again shaky hand, and dreadfully, the few feathers dropped out of his grasp. He inhaled shakily, his hands twitching as they pulled away from his wing. The feathers flowed in the air before finally laying back down on where they were ripped from.

He gasped again, more because of the pain rather than the shock that he felt. 

He ripped out his own feathers. Branzy sharply breathed in, his heart racing as the terrible pain slowly started to become worse. It hurt. He was shaking all over again, he knew it hurt but he didn’t know it hurt that much.

His feathers slowly started to dissipate as he stared at them, Branzy slowly but barely was calming down.

Branzy closed his eyes, leaning back and letting his head hit the door behind him, his hands still slightly shaking out of shock. He breathed in and out, his breaths too shaky and scared, slowly calming down before any phantom tears could drop.

He ran his trembling hands over the spot, Branzy learned to not press too hard the hard way, jolting at the pain that shot through him when he pressed too much. His gloves were too harsh for his skin, he really needed better gloves.

Branzy breathed in and out, in and out, in and out, god help him. His fingers twitching, making them accidentally press into his flesh, making him breathe in sharply again. Branzy kept his eyes shut tight.

And he stayed like that for a few minutes, his shaking slowly calming down and the pain slowly being soothed by his hurting hands. Branzy slowly opened his eyes, and they landed straight onto the point where the pain had been.

His feathers were back, Branzy let out a sigh of relief. At least Pierre wouldn’t know that he ripped out his feathers. But the feathers that grew in their place were all slightly darker than they should have been.

Branzy was on the verge of disappearing.

“ Branzy! “ A muffled voice suddenly called to him, and suddenly he seemed to forget everything beforehand.

His head perked up before he could think more about disappearing. That was Pierre, wasn’t it? His voice was muffled and he probably had to yell, as Branzy and him were in different rooms, but that was Pierre.

Branzy knew his voice quite well, anxiety went through him, but he stood up regardless, putting his hand on the steel door when he almost tripped from the sudden movement. His boots slid against the floor, which pushed him more into the door.

Casually, he looked over at his hand, which should have been on the door, which wasn’t . Before he panicked, he realized his wrist seemed to be coming out of the door. His hand was through the door. His hand phased through the door and that was why Branzy couldn’t feel his hand and why it instead felt like it was amputated. 

Branzy, panic sinking in again, quickly pulled his hand out of the damn door before he accidentally phased through fully. 

Branzy breathed in, his hand, which felt like static, against his chest, rubbing his knuckles. He was unreasonably nervous, he’d admit to himself more than anything else. Phasing was a fun thing, if you knew what you were doing. It’s not very fun to somewhat dimension hop by accident, it's vomit inducing. 

Everything kept happening to him all at once, it wasn’t fun at all.

He didn’t dwell for long, as hearing Pierre call his name a second time made him almost forget what happened. Branzy turned the knob with his other hand and pushed his way out, keeping his hand close to his chest to let it recover. 

Branzy closed the door behind him, looking around in the hallway to see where Pierre could possibly be. 

The door at the end of the hallway, which Branzy learned quickly was Pierre’s weapons room, was open. Pierre had a bad habit of not closing doors, and Branzy could see a silhouette in front of the table. He assumed it was Pierre. He hoped it was.

If that was where Pierre was, that was where Branzy would go. He tugged at the knob of the door behind him to make sure it was closed, and then he started the short walk to the door of the weapons room.

Branzy walked straight into the room, stepping to the side to push the door close behind him, the dim red lights that then filled the room making it harder to see clearly. He tried to squint to see what was going on, before Pierre’s voice cut through his thinking.

“ Oh my. . “ The figure that loomed over the table, Pierre, sighed quietly, “ Keep the door open. “ He muttered, seemingly crossing his arms.

Branzy giggled awkwardly, his hand pulling the door open again. The light of the hallway filled the room again, making it much easier to see. Maybe that was why Pierre didn’t close doors, he had terrible lights.

Speaking of the man, the light that entered the room shined on Pierre too, Branzy recognizing the glint of his porcelain mask first, the glints of the knives and blades that hung on the wall behind him being the second thing Branzy’s eyes darted to.

Including the large knife in Pierre’s hand. Which Branzy immediately locked eyes on and froze once he saw it.

Pierre didn’t seem to even acknowledge the light nor the blade in his hand, instead looking straight into Branzy’s eyes with the usual glint of evil gone. He wasn’t in his usual costume, instead just a normal outfit for the time and leaning against the table behind him.

Pierre raised his free hand and made a slow waving motion, his eyes narrowing, “ Hello. “ He said in a softer voice than before. Branzy felt his heart stop as his eyes met the somehow friendly eyes of the other.

“ hi? “ Branzy made a small wave with his normal hand, looking away from Pierre’s gaze, instead asking, “ what’s with. . .that? “ And pointing to the large knife, practical sword in Pierre’s gloved hand.

“ Oh, this? “

Pierre raised up the blade next to his face without fear, almost like he didn’t even know he had the damn thing. He tilted his head, his eyes finally leaving Branzy and instead observing the blade itself. His eyes traced the sharp edges of the thing,

Before Pierre swiftly pointed the thing straight in Branzy’s direction seemingly without another thought. Branzy’s wings slightly puffed, which made them sting, as he stepped back almost immediately, his eyes widening in fear.

Pierre’s eyes are back on him, and he chuckles gently, as if he isn’t pointing a sharp object at his poor guardian.

“ Wonder why you’re here, Branzy? “  He asks, a rhetorical question sounding more soft than sarcasm should have brought it, “ Because I’m going to take one of these, “ Pierre extended his arm, showing off the other blades per say.

“ And I’m going to put it with you. “

Branzy swallows, resisting the urge to just run away, clenching his fists tightly close to his chest and trying to prepare to run. Pierre narrowed his eyes again at Branzy, but instead of friendly, it morphed more into a face of concern.

“ Are you. . “ Pierre said, as if waiting for Branzy to interrupt him or something. Branzy didn’t say anything, far too apprehensive to say anything proper. Pierre looked at him more like he was crazy, “ Sweetheart, relax, I’m not actually going to stab you. I can’t even do that. “

Part of Branzy doesn’t believe him, the other part caught the “ sweetheart “ and started to make him blush, but hopefully Pierre didn’t notice at all. Branzy inhaled relief when Pierre continued on talking without another word.

“ Now, come here. “ Pierre pulled the blade back, putting it on the table. Branzy awkwardly stood in front of the door, unmoving despite the request.

He looked at Branzy expectantly. Branzy compulsively took another step backwards. Pierre raised his eyebrows in confusion, “ Branzy, come here. “  Pierre repeated a bit slower, beckoning him closer.

Branzy didn’t move again, like a deer in headlights.

“ . . .Branzy. I can't hurt you. Come here. “ Pierre tried to meet Branzy’s eyes, but he looked away before Pierre could. 

Pierre sighed quietly with his head down, his hand slowly going back to grab the handle of the large blade.

Branzy practically jumped from fear, “ okay, okay! “ Branzy put his hands up as if he was going to get shot, quickly shuffling to be right in front of Pierre. Pierre withdrawed his hand from the handle, happy to have Branzy where he needed to be.

Pierre then went to the side of the table, reaching up the wall of knives that Branzy couldn’t bear not look at. He seemed to be trying to find a certain one, from how his hands moved. Pierre’s hands grazed a few of the handles, a few of the blades themselves, before his hand swiftly wrapped around a sheath of some kind.

Branzy took a step back as Pierre pulled it down from its hook, observing it before he took the mediocre blade out of its sheath.

“ This, “ Pierre flipped the knife in his hands, pointing it sideways to let Branzy see, “ This is what we call a survival knife. “ He said calmly, his thumb going over the little speck of blood that still remained on the steel.

“ It’s called that because it’s more used to survive than to kill. It’s dull, too. This isn’t a good knife for either of us assassins. “ Pierre said simply, then sliding the knife back into its sheath and  throwing it back up before Branzy had the time to ask who ‘ us ‘ and ‘ either of us ‘ were. 

Pierre grabbed another blade’s handle, that one being a lot bigger than knives should have been, Pierre brought it down swiftly, making Branzy flinch as if it would cut him, seeing as the damn thing didn’t have a sheath.

Pierre himself seemed to be interested in the thing. He twisted and twirled it around, “ This one’s a hunting knife. “ Pierre stopped to trace the steel of the large knife with his gloved fingers, the edge being too sharp from what Branzy could tell. 

“ This one’s used to cut, “ He raised the blade slightly higher, Pierre’s eyes tracing the blade, “ Used to skin someone. “

Branzy should have felt uncomfortable with that statement, but he couldn’t quite remember to, when the steel of said knife was sharp and shiny. Pierre brought it back up onto its hanging hook, “ It gets bloody when they’re still alive and you use that. I sharpen it a lot more than I should. “

Branzy nodded, his eyes suddenly catching onto another blade,“ what’s that one? “ He pointed at a long and bloodied one, so much for cleaning his blades. Pierre looked up to where Branzy was pointing, and his expression dropped.

“ That’s a cleaver. I hate that one. “

Pierre went on and on about his different swords and daggers, Branzy listened intently. Maybe it was because he was bored, maybe because the ache that missed Pierre’s voice, or maybe because of something else, but Branzy was interested.

Even the ones that still had blood on them, especially the ones Branzy had seen Pierre use before.

Maybe it was a bit wrong for an angel like Branzy to, but he was fascinated. Fascinated with the knives themselves and how many Pierre somehow had, from small to literally impossible to hold up.

Pierre sounded quite proud of all of them, excluding the switchblades and cleavers, which made Branzy more interested in them, really. Seeing the amount of passion Pierre had for bloody knives made him like them, too.

At one point, Pierre seemed to stop to think and look over at his knives, while Branzy quietly waited for him to do or say something. Pierre put a hand to his chin for a moment, observing the knives in front of him, before he finally reached up and grabbed a knife that was massive.

“ This one, “ Pierre said with a prideful tone, turning the knife around in his hands, “ We call this a bowie. It hurts as far as I know, used to be for close combat since it's much shorter than swords. . “ He turned the knife up, tapping the sharp tip of it.

As far as Branzy could tell, the knife was clean. Rather it looked quite like it was unused, Branzy noted almost immediately. It shined brighter than the other ones, there weren’t blood drops, it wasn’t rusting. That made Branzy more interested in the blade.

Pierre stopped talking, starting to turn and twirl the knife around in his hands, doing something.

Pierre nodded approvingly, “ Yeah, I think this one’s fine. “ He muttered under his breath. Pierre turned to face Branzy, the knife sliding down and leaving his hand holding the steel of the blade instead of the handle.

Without any explanation, Pierre held the bowie knife out, expecting Branzy to do something. It took Branzy a small moment to realize Pierre wanted him to take it. Pierre tilted his head when Branzy looked at him with confusion, and Branzy just knew.

Despite the new found nervousness growing in his gut from the sudden offer, Branzy nervously and slowly wrapped his hands around the handle, slowly taking it and bringing it closer to him. 

Pierre nodded in approval, taking his hand back, “ It’s not quite as good as a hunting knife, but this is for you. “ He said, before using his finger to tilt the tip away from Branzy’s face.

“ oh, this. . .this is mine now? “ Branzy asked. He felt horrified staring straight into the blade, but at the same time he felt fascinated. He wanted to trace and really just bring the blade closer to his face, though he wasn’t sure if he was holding it right.

Because he didn’t know how to.

“ Yes. I figured you needed a weapon instead of just using rocks. “ Pierre responded, an undertone of hidden amusement laced his words. Branzy tried to hide the small smile on his face when he heard that.

Branzy, with shaky hands, started to awkwardly twist and turn the blade, only to nearly drop it from the unexpected weight of it. Pierre reflexibly and quickly grabbed the blade with his hand, pulling it back to balance while looking at Branzy with confusion.

Branzy had no idea how to hold nor use the blade, Pierre realized. Branzy knew he realized when he saw the look on Pierre’s face as he almost mounted the blade to the floor.

Pierre would have been lying if he said he wasn’t tired at that point. Yes, give his lovely and totally stab-knowing guardian angel, Branzy, a knife.

He knew that Branzy liked the look of the knives, hence why he gave one to him.

Branzy clearly was confused on how to wield the damn thing, and so Pierre painstakingly taught him how to. Pierre kept his hand on the blade while Branzy’s was the handle, as he guided him on how to properly hold it.

Branzy got the hang of it quickly. Pierre stood and proudly watched Branzy figure out how to theoretically stab someone with it.

As Branzy tried giving it back to Pierre, he refused to take it back. Branzy seemed confused, but Pierre told him to keep it, keep it close.

“ Keep the blade close to your heart, in case you need to rip out someone else’s. “ Pierre told him, bloodthirsty words with a sweet tone,“ Make their blood run cold, sweetheart. “

Branzy finally looked him in the eyes again, a soft red on his cheeks and a devious smile growing on his face.

Pierre quite liked Branzy’s smiles, that one the most. 

Chapter Text

As his eyes slightly roamed from Pierce to the angel behind him, Zam’s jaw dropped. His hands dropped and he put them near his chest, and Branzy could just hear the demons scoff.

“ Woah woah woah, wait! “ Zam pointed a finger to Branzy, who was subtly hiding behind his assassin, “ He’s coming with?! “ He said, weirdly happy and ecstatic. Branzy took a small step behind Pierce from Zam’s tone alone, and Pierce adjusted so Branzy was more hidden.

Pierce didn’t seem to mind Branzy’s hiding, instead letting Branzy shuffle and hide more behind him. Branzy was not used to Zam's affection by any means, Pierce knew well.

“ Of course, Zam. “ Pierce shook his head, crossing his arms, “ Where else would he go? “ He chuckled breathily. Branzy’s stomach twisted, and that made him move a little farther away. Zam just looked past Pierce and at Branzy, a big smile growing on his face.

" Yes! " Zam said in a huff.

And without warning, Zam ran forward, recklessly shoving Pierce to the side and throwing his arms around Branzy, gently tugging for a hug. Branzy, though extremely shocked with adrenaline pulsing through him, still awkwardly moved his hands to Zam’s shoulders, pulling him closer and hugging him the best an afterlife entity could.

It wasn't much of a tight hug, Zam obviously must have known not to grab too tightly, Branzy was very fond of the prince the same way Zam was fond of him, but it still felt awkward for the angel. Branzy tried his best to keep up his smile as Zam was practically jumping in his arms.

Branzy looked over at Pierce, who had stumbled back in a stiff manner, as if acting like he wasn't pushed at all. He went to stand next to Leo instead, dusting off his shoulders like Zam gave him a plague.

When Pierce finally met his eyes, Branzy mouthed an ' Are you okay? ' to him. Pierce nodded, ' Of course. ' he signed, looking away and at the back of Zam's head, which seemed to be a bitter gesture. 

Before Branzy could really clarify, Zam started slightly shaking him back and forth, “ It’s gonna be so much better with you! “ He chirped as he pulled away from the awkward hug, still smiling brightly at Branzy, “ It’s going to be so fun with you! Finally, I don’t have to deal with that feral dog alone! “

Mapicc scoffed. Branzy could see that he clenched his fist while drilling holes through Zam’s head.

Zam must have not heard him, as  he instead pulled Branzy back into the hug, “ But don’t worry, mom . " Don't even ask, Branzy doesn't know how he got there either, " I’ll protect you from everything! You are going to be so safe with me around, I promise so hard! “ Zam says proudly, and Branzy’s surprised he isn’t jumping out of his skin at the rate of his excitement. He kept his hands on Branzy’s arms as he kept talking.

Zam's eyes were looking into his, the little stars that he claimed were his pupils slightly dilated as Zam explained how much of a good fighter he was and how he would totally protect Branzy from all harm.

“ Real tough coming from someone who got doubled over. “ Mapicc mumbled all too loudly to be on accident, but all Zam did was breathe in deeply before continuing talking.

Branzy didn't quite notice, but behind them, Leo had nudged Pierce’s arm with his shoulder, “ I don’t even know what’s weirder. “ He started in a mumble, his tone sounding judgmental and awkward, “ Seeing him happy, or seeing him hugging air. “

Pierce silently chuckled, sounding a bit too bitter for his own taste, “ Branzy doesn’t even need to be protected. “ He muttered back to Leo despite it being completely off topic. “ Branzy is a guardian himself. “ Pierce added before Leo could shoot him a questioning look.

All Branzy could really think of while Zam happily talked about how he would heroically save him was the ice covered knife in his holster. It was surprising how Zam hadn’t accidentally knocked it out from moving his hands everywhere.

Branzy might have not known if he could, and full heartedly believed that Zam would save him if he needed to be. But the sharp bowie knife that hid in its sheath told him it would be the other way around. It was telling him that blood would be spilled and it would be on his hands. 

And the knife was right .

He was breathing softly like he didn’t just do a crime, his bowie knife in his hand. His glove was soaked in blood, dripping onto the handle of the knife which then dripped onto the ground, a little bit of blood mixing into the ice that lightly covered the blade itself.

There was a body in front of him, bleeding out from the big stab wound in his back, in his spine. The person was still twitching and trembling, and Branzy had to convince himself from throwing his blade into their skull. At least he wasn’t screaming anymore.

He simply stood there with his blade, he probably looked terrible. When the adrenaline wore off, the clouds in his sight disappeared, and it felt like something was just ripped out of his chest.

The second thing he saw was Zam. Zam was sprawled in front of the body, his sword out of his reach, his crown fallen from his messy hair. He was looking up at Branzy with a shocked and amazed mixed look, his eyes were wide and his lips slightly parted.

When Branzy saw Zam's expression, he simply smiled warmly at him. But the warmth barely outshone the cold blood that outlined his entirety. And he could just feel how the loveliness of his smile had the blood of his enemy seeping into it, the thick red more attractive than the safety he was trying to portray.

Zam seemed to come back to their reality, frantically looking for his sword. Branzy watched as Zam's fingers wrapped around the handle of his gem studded sword, clumsily sitting up on his knees, and swiftly plummeting the dull blade into the body's head with slight trembling hands.

Blood spurted from the wound, and with one final cut scream, the body stopped twitching. Finally dead. Branzy breathed a soft sigh, his demeanor shifting back to angelic rather than murderous.

Zam was heaving, Branzy was pretty sure he accidentally mounted his sword into the ground from how Zam was struggling to pull it out of their skull. He pretended as if he didn’t get knocked back as his sword came free, grabbing around for his crown and then shuffling to stand up to Branzy. 

Branzy just looked into his eyes, for once Zam looked worse than the corpses themselves. Messy hair, sweat going down his cheeks and his eyes were blown to hell.

“ I. . “ Zam breathed in deeply, his clenched fist coming undone. He put his free hand on Branzy’s shoulder, more like he was going to collapse if he didn’t, while quite inefficiently putting his sword back into his holster. Branzy put a hand up to Zam’s hair, gently brushing it back into a more proper looking place. 

 “ God. Damn. “ Zam breathed out, a smile growing on his face. His eyebrows were furrowed and his smile was shocked sounding, like he didn’t expect Branzy to stab someone in the back.

Really, no one expected him to.

From behind him, two figures emerged from the shadows of a random room, both having blood on their claws and clothes. Branzy could see Mapicc and Mid slowly walking up, Mid looked surprised while Mapicc looked proud, but he wasn’t looking up at Branzy.

“ That- that was so. . “ Zam caught his breath, breathing in deeply before continuing, “ fucking cool! My god, Branzy, that was. . .great. Oh my gosh. “ 

Branzy smiled, this time more warmly, and chuckled quietly. He wasn’t sure what he was giggling about, the genuine surprise that was the situation, or the badly hidden shock that was Zam’s tone. Or maybe it was the way the body laid there.

Mapicc slowly started to approach Zam from behind, slightly crouching down. Zam nervously chuckled, too, the nervous undertone more apparent. He looked to the ground before meeting Branzy’s eyes again.

“ You. .. you wouldn’t stab me like that, would you? “

Mapicc lunged forward and roughly punched Zam in the back. 

Branzy quickly caught Zam in his arms when Zam fell forward, Branzy’s wings fluttered and were puffed above his head as he pulled Zam to his side. Mapicc was cackling like the maniac he was, Mid was snickering to herself but getting closer to her counterpart. 

And suddenly Branzy’s babysitter instincts kicked in. For the few days Branzy knew the demons, he somehow had been adopted as a new mother, and this exact scenario had already happened a few days prior.

“ You bitch! “ Zam yelled, his tone making Branzy tighten the grip he had on the collar of Zam’s blouse, and his sweet demeanor gone. “ that hurt! “ 

Mapicc abruptly stopped laughing, his sharp eyes meeting Zam’s, “ Good. “

Zam sneered at him, but before any of them could get into the second fist fight that week, Branzy instinctively pulled Zam closer in a tight hug. Mid stopped smiling, and quickly, Mid’s hand somehow managed to grab onto Mapicc’s horn and pull him back by the head before he lunged forward. 

At first Branzy thought that Mapicc was hurt in some way, as Zam had told him that horns hurt to grab, but as Mapicc’s eyes contorted into a glare of anger, he realize no. Demons apparently only knew madness. 

Mid slightly turned Mapicc towards her as she pulled him back. She wagged her index finger in his face, “ Now now, calm down, now is not the time to kill our own. “ Mid said in a scolding tone, still holding Mapicc by the horn. Mapicc tried to look over at Zam, only for Mid to immediately pull on his hair. 

And somehow Mid’s finger was still on her hand, and neither did Mapicc try to snap again. Branzy didn’t even think Mapicc was mad enough, until he noticed the tip of his tail spark with fire. But even then Mapicc was holding back, the glint of anger still lingering in his eyes. 

Mapicc’s talons were slowly retracting further out, and somehow Mid’s throat was still intact. Maybe it was because her hand didn’t stray away from her tight grip on his horn, or the fact that he’d be dead again if he did. 

“ that’s not allowed in the handbook of what we can do, and you know it isn’t! “ Mid scolded, her tone sounding tired but still frustrated. 

Branzy felt Zam relax in his hold. He turned to look at his son, and saw Zam’s smug smile as he stared straight at Mapicc. 

“ This is the third time they’ve talked about this. . “ Zam muttered to Branzy, snickering wickedly, “ fuckin’ idiot. “ He added, tone laced with amusement. Mapicc must have heard something, as his eyes turned to glare at him for a second, but then turned his attention back to Mid before another hair wrenching pull. 

Branzy gently shunned Zam in the shoulder, as a quiet but harsh ‘ don’t say that. ‘ that prompted a hurt noise from the other that Branzy ignored. Zam was right, it was the third time that week that Mapicc had to be restrained from killing another person, but Branzy digressed and let them be. 

With one final glare of intimidation, whatever it meant, Mid pushed Mapicc slightly forward to face Branzy and Zam, “ Say it. “ She muttered to him, barely under a normal word of conversation. 

Though with unadulterated, pure wrath that laid in Mapicc’s eyes, he sighed and crossed his arms angrily. 

“ Sorry. “ He huffed, furious. 

Branzy turned to look at Zam again, his arms gently relaxing around the other as Zam relaxed himself. Though Mapicc still looked furious, as Mid’s hand slowly freed itself from the other’s horn, he didn't lunge nor attack. Surprising for him, but Zam didn’t pay more mind. 

With a big smile, he turned to face Branzy, “ Back to what I was saying! " Zam happily started to talk, quite loudly and pridefully, “ that was so fucking cool! Did you guys see that, or are you as blind as Mapicc that one time he ran into a wall? “ He quietly chuckled when Mapicc nearly snapped his head off. 

Mid smiled, not before hooking her fingers onto Mapicc’s hood, “ Yeah, didn’t know you had it in you, Branzy. “ She said all too softly for what he had done, her own eyes too soft for what she was. 

He sighed, but Mapicc joined in himself, “ Pretty fuckin’ cool. “ Mapicc nodded, retracting his talons back into his skin, “ I didn’t even know angels could do that. I was thinking that God would take you back or something. . “ 

Branzy’s lips curved into a smile, “ really? “ He laughed softly, his tone soft as he put his hands to his sides, “ I think I would have given the other angels a heart attack if they saw me like this. “ 

“ Pah! What, the others would be afraid of seeing their fellow angel with blood on his face? “ Mapicc scoffed in a laugh, smiling wickedly as he turned to Mid, “ We do that all the time. “ 

Mid had nodded, and Zam giggled and seemed to agree. 

But Branzy was confused. 

“ b-blood? “ He barely managed to say above a whisper as his hand shot up to his cheek. And suddenly it was like his demeanor had changed right back to what he used to be. 

Mapicc nodded, “ Yeah. Blood. You look sick man, don’t worry about it. “ 

The tips of his fingers grazed over his cheek, and when he slowly pulled it back to his own sight, he really didn’t have to check to know. There was barely anything on his gloves, but he knew the texture of dried blood from anywhere. 

Suddenly it felt like he was just pulled into the Abyss or the Void, his heart sinking as the supposed angel he was supposed to be got sick. 

Suddenly he could feel it on his skin, despite Branzy himself not even being a part of the overworld. The blood was thin, but he could feel every single crack in the layer that formed when his cheek slightly moved.

There was blood on his face. There was blood on his own hands. 

There. 

Blood. 

His own wings gently and slowly went down as he just stood there. His own gentle hands had dug into the skin and blood of the people he had promised to protect. His own hands held a bloody knife and his own hands plunged it into someone’s chest. His own wings made of soft feathers were rough with blood. 

The fresh blood on his gloves weren’t just from who he had killed right in front of another person, no. No. He did so much more. 

“ Mom? “ Zam’s voice softly said, gently nudging him by the arm but Branzy didn't respond. It was either he couldn’t bring his voice up and just look Zam in the eyes, or the void truly pulled him deep. 

He didn’t respond to any of their calls, really. Branzy didn’t say anything as he silently stood still, as his hands started to subtly shake. They were worried, he knew, but he didn’t try to say anything. His fingers curled shut as he just stayed still.

What happened to the little guardian angel that protected children from setting fires? What happened was that he felt the blood seeping into his own skin and staining. 

After a few more failed nudges and calls of his name, Mid spun on her heel, a soft worry on her face as she slowly stepped back and walked away instead of trying to call to him again. Zam and Mapicc followed shortly after, but Zam tried to shake Branzy a little before he quickly gave up and decided to leave him alone.

Zam looked back at him with a worried expression, but kept walking away.

That was nice, wasn’t it? Branzy was now alone, without another person to splatter with blood. But he didn’t mind that a few minutes ago, but now he was. He was back to being the angel he was supposed to be, to be the innocence he swore to spread to the ones he protected. To be the safety he needed to give. 

To be the one who wiped the blood away. 

It was like a cold hand had his heart and throat in its grasp, holding both tightly as to crush them while Branzy was still alive. As best as alive as a dead soul could be.

But it didn’t matter how much of an angel he was supposed to be, did it? He was dead. 

No. Branzy sighed, clenching his hands into soft fists. The blood of his hands wasn't going to bother him again. He gave safety to his protectee, he gave gentleness to harsh hands. 

Wings of fire burn for eternity. Extinguishing said fire would rid the wings all together. 

Branzy breathed in, stepped back and turned around, walking the other way and back to the entrance of the empty hallway. He put his blade back into his holster despite it being bloodied, knowing that Pierce would kill him for not cleaning it properly. 

What the Aether made him think of himself did not matter in the overworld. 

Branzy just continued to watch, his arms gently crossed over his chest as his feet avoided the shrapnel and abandoned debris that was left on the ground. He gently rubbed the dried blood off of his cheeks, though his wet with blood gloves barely fixed anything.

Every now and then his eyes would wander right down to his hands, and though his gloves were black he could still make out the shapes of blood in its flaky texture. His eyes would dart right back up after almost tripping on another fallen brick, however. 

While walking through the halls of the building, his attention slowly went down to his hands, his clothes.

A piece of glass crushed under his boots, almost making him flinch from surprise and making him stop for a second. Branzy slowly lifted his boot off and took a step back, a broken syringe laid on the tiled floor. 

Of course. Branzy stared at it for a few more moments, before just stepping right over it and promising to be more careful of where he was walking. He wasn’t sure what Pierce or Leo were thinking when they chose to attack when the targets were in a damn mental asylum, but Branzy didn’t mind. Pierce chose to, anyway, and of course Branzy could deal with it. 

The damn building was mutilated, dilapidated beyond repair. It was somewhat tricky to navigate around the broken off blocks, Branzy kept almost phasing his foot through the rocks. But he was okay, and soon enough, after walking for what felt like an hour, he was able to see the entrance.

Wind blew through the broken entrance, small rocks slightly moving under the gentle breeze. 

The doors were gone completely, and the first time Branzy walked in, the doors were laying on the ground. The door frames were destroyed and crumpled away. Bricks broken off from the walls. Branzy watched his steps as he walked through the broken up frame, watching as the pieces of brick didn’t move as he tried to kick them off.

The cold night air blew against his face, almost feeling as cold as Branzy’s own skin. It wasn’t like home for him, and that somehow made him shiver. His hands tightened around his arms in his own little attempt to keep warm, freezing. 

It was cold. 

Branzy lifted his head up and looked up into the night sky that was drawn all over the atmosphere. He could barely make out the little sparks of light that they called stars, but he barely could see them all over the dark blue night.

It was beautiful, the one thing Branzy admired from the overworld aside from the plush store was the sky that was projected at night fall. 

His eyes slowly drifted from the sky to his surroundings, first to his left. Nothing except dead grass and more broken bricks on the sad soil. Branzy turned his head down, gently sighing as his hands unclenched his poor arms. 

Branzy looked to his right, and almost had a heart attack. 

Alone, and leaning against a breakable wall of an abandoned mental asylum was probably a terribly vulnerable spot for Leo to be in right then, but as his blazer slowly fell off his shoulders as he stared straight up at the sky, his hands firmly on his hips, he could confidently say one thing.

Leo did not care less. He’s a strong man, and a fucking ally of a serial killer. Leo himself was a killer. He’s got it going.

It was a lonely little evening, and hearing the shrieks of Zam and Mapicc coming from inside the building was not making Leo any better. It was one thing to not be able to see two of his allies, another thing to somehow hear them. A very annoying thing at that.

His face-mask stayed on despite no one being with him, of course it did. Leo’s white hair was slightly messed up, maybe it was from having to stay in the ceiling for an hour, but his suit was perfectly intact and clean. 

Leo played with the edges of his clean and white gloves, tugging and pulling at the loose threads. After killing the first many targets, leaving Clown and the other members with at least just eleven more men, Leo silently excused himself outside. Clown most likely rolled his eyes when Leo walked right out, but he didn’t give a damn.

As he stood still in the cold night, listening to no more victims screaming their heads off, with his sword cleanly in his holster, Leo felt fine. Not safe, neither endangered. He wasn’t scared, nor was he relaxed, his eyes always roaming to the forest in front of him and wondering if anyone would emerge. 

And then without the normal noises of hooved boots clacking against the ground, a small rock suddenly started to float in the air.

Leo didn’t even notice at first, until the rock dropped to the ground and it was like someone was trying to catch it and failed multiple times. He immediately stepped back without another look, unbuttoning his holster and putting his hand on his sword with quick ease.

The rock stopped in mid air, before dropping straight to the ground.

Leo scoffed, “ God, what the fuck did I tell you about warnings before trying to bash my head in? “ He said. He hated the element of surprise that was his voice, but he knew his eyes didn’t show that, they didn’t show his confusion.

He barely heard a soft sputter from where the person was, before the no doubt, guardian stopped continuing what he was going to say. Leo furrowed his eyebrows, Mapicc didn’t stutter.

Leo’s hand slightly relaxed, suddenly aching from gripping the handle of the sword too harshly, “ Who is it? “ He still asked, although his suspicion that the troublemaker was Mapicc was slowly fading away.

The guardian didn’t respond, instead trying to pick up another rock for. . .some reason.

He was confused. “ Ah. “ Leo drawled. He took his hand off of the handle of his sword, buttoning the holster again. The guardian also stopped what they were doing, without a single word. They must have not known that Leo could hear them, which crossed out Mapicc from the list of who it could have been.

“ Alright. “ Leo said in a soft tone, sighing as he thought on what to do.

Although the guardian would undoubtedly have been confused to hell if he did so, Leo put his arm out to the sky, and a stick of something appeared in his hand out of thin air. Leo heard a confused sputter, again, which confirmed he had no idea who he was speaking to.

Leo pulled the device apart, which revealed to be a whiteboard, and gently put it to the ground with the marker balanced on the smooth surface, “ Now. . .Who are you? Mapicc? “ He asked to the guardian, standing up but still looking down at the board.

He didn’t quite expect the guardian to even look at the damn thing, but after a few moments, the whiteboard slightly tilted up and the marker was being held by an invisible hand, writing something down. Leo refrained from giving the entity a questioning look as they kept erasing.

The marker cap clicked closed, and the whiteboard was gently put right back to where Leo had put it originally. Leo slowly stepped forward and loomed over the board, reading the handwriting despite it the whiteboard being upside down.

‘ Branzy.. ‘ Was scrawled on the whiteboard in pretty writing.

“ Ah. . . “ Leo softly muttered, nodding, “ Clown’s angel, of course. “ He said louder for Branzy, a silent chuckle coming along with his lightened words.

The marker was picked up again, the cap pulled off as soon as it was in Branzy’s hands, ‘ Clown’s angel? Such a… flattering name. ‘ Branzy wrote down quickly. Leo leaned over to read the words, and let a chuckle come out of his throat.

Leo smirked, shaking his head and chuckling, “ Really? What else do you want me to call you, Branzy, that’s all I know of you. “ Leo crossed his arms, looking down at the board, “ Plus he talks about you, and you’re his anyway.  “

The marker was abruptly dropped onto the board and rolled off.

Leo stepped back immediately out of reflex,confusion appearing and lingering as the marker laid still on the whiteboard. Leo quickly decided to wait for Branzy to write something again, instead of pestering the guardian. 

And he did, the marker slowly being picked up, the ink slowly forming words on the board as the chiseled tip slid on the surface. Leo leaned over, to see what he was writing. 

‘ He talks about me? ‘ Was first written, the hand writing a little shaky and slow. Then Branzy added, ‘ I’m his?? What does that mean?? ‘ 

“ . .I mean that you are Clown’s guardian angel. “ Leo slowly said, giving where he thought Branzy was a questioning look, “ And yes, he talks about you. “ He said as if it was common knowledge, which it really was. 

‘ …oh my god. ‘

Leo deciced on not asking if Branzy knew that he was the only one in quite a while that Clown would talk about, instead calmly sitting down as Branzy hastily changed the subject. 

“ Piercy? “ Branzy silently muttered, half hoping that Pierce would not hear him and yet also hoping he would. Unfortunately, as Pierce started walking more slowly and quietly, Branzy knew that he did hear him.

“ Yes? “ Pierce replied with a softer voice, “ Are you going to tell me how much you love the necklace? “ He added on before Branzy could say another word, and that made Branzy giggle in a mix of embarrassment and an emotion he could not admit. 

Branzy’s hand gently found its way back to the heart pendant of said necklace, his fingers wrapping around the smooth glass texture.

“ Branzy, there you are. “ Pierce had said as he walked outside from the building right before Leo could finish his statement.Branzy looked up at him, unable to control the soft smile that grew on his face when he saw his protectee.

“ yes? “ Branzy replied and put his marker down, his eyes scanning Pierce before quickly landing on the object in his hand. Curiosity was evident in his eyes, and Pierce’s own face seemed to just get softer. 

Pierce had revealed it to be a necklace, the chain made of gold and the pendant a cute heart. Branzy’s eyes immediately widened as he saw it and as it was offered to him, and he took it without another question. Pierce had smiled at him, he thought, but when he looked back up he saw that the other wasn’t smiling. Instead looking back at Leo from behind him.

“ I like it, but, that’s not what I was going to ask. “ Branzy laughed softly, but at the last word it felt like his throat closed in. Maybe it was the whiplash of the image of Pierce smiling at him or the thought of it completely. 

Pierce was listening, Branzy knew he was and that he and Pierce had all the time in the world to talk about it, so with one hesitant breath of air, Branzy continued.

“ why’d you punch Leo in the face? “ 

“ . .Hm. . “

“ Don’t. “ Pierce said lowly as he came to Leo’s side and as Branzy walked in the building to put the necklace on. 

Leo simply just laughed mischievously, and Pierce could just hear his own knowing smirk under his own mask, “ Come on, just four words, Clown. “ He said all too knowingly, all too deviously.

Pierce sighed harshly, begrudgingly, “ Go. “ 

Leo smiled even wider, his eyes with a glint of something that Pierce hated seeing, knowledge. 

“ You like him more. “ The words came out quickly, and as if they had been sitting on Leo’s tongue for months. 

Pierce laughed, masking the nervousness of it, “ Private. “

Branzy came out of the building, smiling happily and lovely as he opened his mouth, only to see as Clownpierce's fist collided with Leo's face.

Chapter Text

The buzz of people talking behind them and the television that displayed some news about a dog or something were loud, and yet the little heart in the middle of Pierre’s coffee cup was what Branzy put his focus to.

The cafe was quite warm, which made Pierre regret wearing a hoodie, but Branzy liked that warmth so he didn’t mind. The soft lights illuminated the place’s entirety, and overall it was a comfortable place. 

The steam slowly escaped out of the cup, floating in and filling the air with the smell of sweet coffee beans.

Pierre was sitting in front of him, if Branzy looked closer at him then he’d see the smile in Pierre’s eyes. But Branzy didn’t look at him, too focused on watching the cup with curious eyes.

Pierre just casually watched him as he did, a terribly hidden smile behind his black mask.

Did Pierre really just abandon going to base early because Branzy asked to go to the cafe? Yes. He absolutely did. Pierre couldn't even find the thoughts to ridicule himself, as the way Branzy tried to grab the handle of the cup but then pull away immediately, made him giggle.

Having just come from a mission, Pierre’s hair was messy and if anyone looked closer, they would see the blood on his arms and hoodie itself. But everyone was indulging in their own selves, and he wore gloves that hid the suspicion, so no questions were asked in his direction. 

Branzy was laying his head in his arms, one of his hands trying to touch the cup of coffee, and his waffles very much untouched beside him. It was more on Pierre’s waffles, but Branzy couldn’t stop staring at the plate’s design. 

Branzy didn’t quite seem to be able to touch the cup, though, and it was both funny and pitiful to see him struggle to even try to graze the rim.

Pierre really couldn’t stop staring at Branzy the entire time, he was ridiculous. The waiter that took their order made it more obvious, Pierre saw the badly hidden smirk as she walked away.

He realized pretty quickly that it was most likely quite weird for people who couldn’t see Branzy, as they’d only see him just staring ahead. Thank god they couldn't see the stupidest grin on his face.

Though he really didn’t want to disturb Branzy’s curiosity, Pierre brought his hand forward, his fingers wrapping around the handle and practically taking it away from Branzy. He was half expecting blood to get on the glass handle, but as he turned the cup towards him he saw there were no traces.

Branzy instantly looked up at him as he brought it closer, and Pierre barely felt a tug of guilt.

Branzy frowned and raised an eyebrow, but didn’t mean any harm in the gesture. Pierre just replaced his smile with deviousness as he slightly leaned down and away from sight to drink his coffee.

Pierre pulled his mask down and drank a little bit, before putting the cup back onto the table and pulling his mask back on. 

Branzy looked into the cup as soon as he put it down, and an emotion of disappointment washed over his face. Pierre just chuckled maliciously, knowing damn well he only drank the coffee so the heart would be in disrepair. 

Branzy was utterly disappointed. But deep down both of them knew he wasn’t mad at all. Pierre just smiled more lovelier for him, getting up and going through his pockets to pay for the coffee and take out for the waffles. 

Going out to a cafe was a bad idea, the fact that Pierre couldn’t eat nor drink in public. Pierre would normally never ever go out, really. 

But if it was for Branzy. .

As Pierre casually walked out with Branzy by his side, holding the cup in his hand and the paper bag with waffles in his other hand, he knew that his limits were flexible when it came to his angel.

As Branzy’s hand slightly brushed against Pierre’s fingers, the cold of Branzy’s hand digging into his hand, Pierre just knew that was no accident. He just wished Branzy would bite the bullet already, but since Branzy digressed, so would he.

If it was for Branzy, then to hell with himself.

Chapter Text

Pierre was a private person, especially about his face. Of course, as a infamous killer who had killed dozens of people, of course he would hide his own face. Now Branzy completely understood. Frankly, he learned to love Pierre’s mask, but Branzy really wished that Pierre wouldn’t hide his face from him. 

But since Branzy was outside, sitting with his back against the door of Pierre’s room while Pierre was inside and casually eating waffles, he assumed that maybe it would take a while to see his face again. Branzy had already forgotten his face, besides Pierre's warm eyes and how the corners of them crinkled upon seeing Branzy. 

He did remember thinking of how pretty Pierre was. 

But that didn't matter right now. Nothing mattered right now, not even the way his heart beat quickly. Not when Pierre made the dumbest joke imaginable. 

Not when Branzy’s hand is over his mouth as he’s pressing himself against the door, keeping in the laughter that otherwise would be filling the entire base. 

Pierre, from what Branzy could tell from behind a metal door, was laughing too; the menacing tone of Pierre’s voice was replaced with more or less, sincerity. 

Branzy shook his head as he laughed, a small joke shouldn't be as funny as it was, and yet he was still laughing. It took a bit for either of them to quit laughing, it wasn't even that funny and yet it took them a bit to calm down. 

God, Branzy loved to hear Pierre's jokes. Even as they were the worst. 

“ soo. . “ Branzy’s breath gently hitched, his head falling against the door, “ how’s the very cold waffles that we didn’t eat yesterday? “ He muttered jokingly. He’d hate to admit that he felt the slightest little flutter in his heart as Pierre’s soft chuckle came from the door. 

He loved Pierre's laughter too. It made Branzy feel warm, which always got stronger when he'd remember only he got to hear that side of him. 

Maybe why Branzy needed to stop telling Leo how Pierre treated him. 

Pierre still sounded breathless from the laughing,  “ Only cold because you distracted me, Sweetheart. “ He still replied, a little hint of affection in his voice that was muffled by what Branzy assumed was him continuing to eat.  Pierre quietly giggled again, and a smile was starting to regrow on Branzy’s lips. 

Branzy sucked in his feelings, his hands playing with the heart pendant of his new necklace.  “ Ha-ha. It isn’t my fault you think I’m cute! “ He sarcastically replied, nervously smiling as soon as he realized how damning that was. 

Pierre seemed to pause, before a brief laugh came out of his mouth, laughing at Branzy again, “ What did you say? “ He asked, and Branzy just assumed, knew that he was smiling, even from behind the door. 

“ noothing! “ Branzy quickly said, drawling; half out of taunt and genuine embarrassment. Really, he didn’t expect and quite hoped that Pierre wouldn’t hear his comments, but after hearing Pierre snicker after hearing Branzy’s ‘truthful’ reply, they both knew. 

“ Oh, whatever you say, angel mine. “ He says before, Branzy assumes, he continues eating his waffles. 

The embarrassment wore off at an instant. Branzy chuckled softly, real happy that he could joke with his protectee. 

Even if it was taunting him. Branzy didn’t even know that Pierre could laugh until he said a snide comment about a victim, then Branzy suddenly heard a soft snicker that turned into brief laughter. And oh, it was Pierre. It was Pierre who was genuinely smiling. It was him that didn’t even know that Branzy could say that. 

It was Pierre's laughter that really made Branzy hit rock bottom. As in rock bottom of realizing he wasn't such a bad protectee, of course. Not- not that. 

After that, Branzy realized that it was a bit hard to be afraid of Pierre. Not when he saw the way Pierre’s eyes always melted when Branzy joked around, but maybe Branzy was just imagining that. 

They finally fell into comfortable silence after neither of them didn’t say any more, the air no longer filled with tension or apprehension as Branzy technically had his own back to an assassin. His smile still playing on his lips, loving and adoring, and not at all for the other man. 

His fingers wrapped around the pendant of his necklace, grazing the somehow uncracked and gentle glass of the heart. 

Branzy wondered why Pierre would give him such thing. Maybe the only reason Pierre gave him the sweet thing was a pride thing, or maybe he wanted to look nice, or maybe another way to just link themselves together. Not that Branzy would really leave Pierre’s side, never. 

Cold crept up his own cheeks at the haunting thoughts, fuzziness filling his stomach. His hands gently placed the pendant back down to his chest. Maybe it was just a friendly gesture that both of them found nice. 

It didn't stop the way Leo looked at both of them after that. It didn't stop the way Branzy continued to look at Pierre, either. 

Branzy closed his eyes. Not to sleep, just to enjoy and bask in the moment that he shared with Pierre then, to enjoy the fact that Pierre stopped moving around so much when both went quiet because he'd known that Branzy was trying to think. Just to enjoy the state of the base. 

Quiet. 

Branzy couldn’t never complain. Why would he? 

Well, he did have one complaint, and it was that Pierre’s lovely voice wasn’t filling his ears. 

He heard Pierre's voice all the time, even when both of them stopped talking, Branzy could still hear his voice at the back of his head. But it didn't really stop Branzy from wanting to really hear his voice, of course not. 

Pierre's voice was like the music in a ballroom, and without it ringing in his ears, Branzy couldn't dance. Only then when Pierre talked, sang the song he loved, Branzy could smile sweetly and silently dance around the man like he always would. 

But for now, as Branzy laid his chin on his knee in the quiet hallway as Pierre ate his probably gone-cold-again waffles, he decided to let the silence stay. 

It took a while for Pierre to finish what he was doing, but for that time being, they spent it in comfortable silence. Branzy's wings no longer felt the need to hide him away, and Pierre's demeanor was as sweet as an assassin could be. 

When the door swung open while Branzy was leaning on it, well, he wouldn't let anyone else know what happened then. All he will tell and all he valued from it was the way Pierre laughed at him while he scrambled back to his feet, without any help from the other man. 

" you are terrible, " Branzy told Pierre as he scrambled to his feet, holding onto the door for support, " absolutely horrible. " He said in the most intimidating, angry voice he could have managed. 

Pierre just looked at him with sweet eyes that were his only hint of an even sweeter smile that hid under the mask. And then he turned his foot the other way, and starting walking down the hall to the weapons room. Branzy assumed it was, stumbling but managing to immediately follow suit beside Pierre. 

" what are we doing tonight , " Branzy gently brushed off his arms, although dust could get on him in the first place, " Bossman? " 

Pierre snickered, putting a finger up to his mask, " 'Bossman'? Really, Branzy? " He asked, sounding endeared and also offended at the same time, " Not approved by the nicknames of Clownpierce agency. " 

" the what? " Branzy briefly laughed out, confused but at the same time understanding. 

Pierre cleared his throat, " Piercy's good. " He muttered quietly, almost as if Branzy wasn't supposed to hear. But Pierre quickly continued, to talk about the mission they were assigned. 

And Branzy looked up at Pierre, expectedly, waiting to hear the details and manage to guess what they'd do now. 

Branzy was used to talking about the tasks and ' missions ' they were assigned to, living with an assassin for months made him comfortable enough to listen to every single detail Pierre had to say and suggest his own ideas, even if his ideas sucked and Pierre looked at him like he was mad. He was used to it enough, to the point he thought he heard it all. 

He knew what to expect, and he knew what Pierre would plan and he knew those plans. Branzy knew what he could do.

To the point he thought he'd be able to predict what Pierre would say. 

Pierre met his eyes, and for once in a while, his eyes contorted into a worried expression. “ You won't like this one. “ He said, in a more cautious voice than his usual soft-spoken one, like he was worried about his own words. “ I know you won't. “

Branzy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and smiled nervously. 

It was true. Branzy had times where he hated the tasks and assassinations that they were assigned.Of course, as much as he made sins in his life and was now adjusting to the murders, he was an angel. An angel with angelic enough morales to not want to murder every other day.

But the genuine worry in Pierre’s eyes made Branzy ever so slightly more afraid than how he usually was. And endeared, but that didn't matter yet.

It was one thing for Branzy to be concerned and frustrated about a mission, but it was another thing on another level for Pierre to be concerned for Branzy.

“ what? “ Branzy nervously laughed out, not really sure if Pierre was serious. Pierre averted his eyes away, like he was thinking of his words and how to say them, before looking back at him.

“ Well, “ Pierre started, “ The task I’ve taken pays well. More than a hundred diamonds, and even a ruby. “

Branzy cracked a softer smile, “ that’s great. “

“ But you won’t like it, at all. “ Pierre looked Branzy in the eyes again, “ The client requested us to kill her brother and sister-in-law. Parents of a family, three kids, as revenge. “ 

Oh. Branzy’s shoulders slightly tensed and his wings slightly fluttered.

“ , , ,that’s not great. “ Branzy silently added, pre-regret filling his veins. 

“ I know it’s not. “ Pierre stopped walking and reach for the doorknob of the weapon’s room. The door clicked open and Pierre let Branzy go in first. Branzy didn’t even notice that they were already at that door, and that didn’t matter at all. He was about to aid in the murder of the parents of three children, of course it didn't matter.

Pierre shut the door behind them as Branzy sat down at the chair next to it, dread and regret going through him. From the corner of his eyes, Branzy saw Pierre quietly glance over at him as he closed the door, but neither said a word.

Branzy blinked, once, twice, and the feelings of dread flooded his entire being.

Branzy’s fingers twitched at thinking about it again. Being an assassin’s Guardian sounded just as terrible as every other Guardian Angel would claim it would be. But after a while, Branzy adjusted to the job and undoubtedly liked Pierre too. He knew what the blood looked like after it dried, he knew what it looked like when it was just gushing out.

Branzy knew his own limits, and the ones that Pierre and doing the missions they had to, reached were expected. Sometimes the blood was too red, too fresh, too much of a reminder that Branzy did that. Sometimes he had to look away.

But Branzy never thought the job would touch the soft spot he had for children. He cared for children for his entire Guardianships until Pierre, and that already left a mark on his judgment.

“ I know you, “ Pierre said as he loomed over the table, slowly taking out weapons that Branzy now couldn't bear to look at, and putting them on the table, “ I know, Sweetheart. “

It was one thing to kill a person, it was one thing to kill multiple, but it was something else completely different to Branzy to kill the guardians of children. He worked with kids for years, and that made a soft spot that Branzy didn’t know would be touched.

Branzy tried to conjure up the words to say. If Pierre really knew, then why did they take it? He wanted to say something like that, at the same time he wanted to object and say they couldn't take that, but every little thought about how he felt turned into words that he couldn't say. And eventually they both fell into silence as Branzy tried to think rationally. 

“ why? “

Pierre paused for a moment as he glided a blood-soaked cloth against the knife he held, “ It pays. “ He responded. Branzy scowled as he heard Pierre ever so casually just state such a thing. 

Branzy never frowned, children got sad if he did and that made him sad. But even though he hadn’t met a child in months, he was scowling, bitter and yet also scared for the first time in those few months. The first time he got to meet the innocence of a child in the mere months that he spent with a murderer , it was murdering important parts of their family.

Pierre put the cloth down, reaching for and unhooking the knife sharpener from the wall, “ They said one hundred and fifty diamonds, and that was if I killed just the father. “ He stated, a tone of hidden glee in his voice.

“ that’s a lot more than we usually charge. “ Branzy objected, ‘ we ‘ . Pierre really rubbed off of him.

“ Exactly. “ Pierre said with a quick and sharp hit into the knife sharpener, making Branzy slightly wince, “ I could buy a lot with that. I could pay for this entire base, which is not at all cheap, I could buy a lot more weapons, I could buy you something. . .It’s worth it, “ Pierce, more gently, struck the blade against the sharpener, “ Right? “

Branzy looked up at the back of Pierre’s head, which slightly turned to the left in a way to awknowledge him, and he sighed quietly. That was always one thing about Pierce, greed. Branzy was greedy too, but not to the point of becoming a worse murderer just to get a few handfuls of rare gems.

Branzy couldn’t find the words to tell him that it wasn’t right. Pierre took his silence as an answer, turning his head back to the table and continuing the sharpen each of his blades.

Branzy let his head fall back down as his wings puffed up again in negativity. He intertwined his fingers, rubbing his thumb with his other thumb as he nearly looked over at his own holster that held a dull bowie knife.

“ Money, “ Branzy muttered, “ so this is what it’s always been about, huh? “ He added, much quieter. It was a small statement that was merely just for his own ears, but from his pheriperal, he saw Pierre pause and go stiff, another dagger in hand, as he caught the last word Branzy had said. 

Branzy lifted his head up instinctively to apologize, but Pierre had already continued to sharpen his dagger, albeit more stiffened and slow than before.

“ I can't do it without you. “ Pierre hesitantly said after an uncomfortable amount of silence, “ Couldn't. “ He put the dagger away into his blood-coated shawl, and put the sharpener back on the wall.

Branzy stared at the back of his head as he didn't want to look Branzy in the eye, instead leaning on the table with his hands planted onto the edges. Pierre stood uncomfortably, and it made Branzy silently sigh.

He wasn't sure if Pierre was telling him the truth about it. It paid more than they usually received, if they received money instead of a head at all , but they'd have to take away the most important people in someone's life. Branzy liked blood and money and Pierre, but not when it came to a child seeing an angel like that.

Branzy looked down at his holster that held a dull and bloodied knife he couldn't have bothered to clean, out of laziness and shame, dangling off of his hip in in the air. It held a knife that bled the innocent, the unlucky. The ones who gambled their lives away.

Branzy slightly lifted his head up, gently brushing the hair out of his eyes.

“ We won't do anything like this again. . .will we? “ He mumbled.

Pierre briefly thought about it, “ No, never again. Our clients would never pay so much. “ 

Branzy nodded. He adjusted his sitting position into one that made it easier to stand up, clumsily unholstering the blade from his holster. He walked towards the table and beside Pierre with gentle footsteps that neither of them paid mind to.

Branzy held up the knife up, looking down at it's morbid beauty with dread and hesitation.

He let his blade clatter onto the table, “ just, once. “ Branzy stated through a shamed sigh as he leaned forward and on the table. He knew it was important to the both of them.

Pierre turned his head to look at Branzy in a silent question, his fingertips gently brushing up against the iced blood. Branzy gently reached out for the recently rehung knife sharpener. Pierre understood.

Was it really right? As Branzy watched Pierre gently clean the blood off the metal of the knife with an already bloodied cloth, he decided that no. It was wrong, more more wrong than the first murder he associated with.

Would it be the last time they did this? As Branzy watched Pierre gently strike the bowie against the sharpener, he decided he really didn't know. 

Pierre kept his promises for Branzy, but there was going to ultimately be a time where Branzy mattered less.

But he trusted him. As he glanced over at him, he knew that he trusted him.

“ where's your clown costume? “ Branzy absentmindedly asked, watching Pierce make calculated movements to input the password to the vault, “ What, did you lose it in the cafe? “ He half-joked.

Pierce breathed out a laugh, making Branzy's heart jump, “ Would have been suspicious. “ Pierre pulled his face mask higher up, “ Don't want a random jogger to use a bloody clown. “

Branzy briefly chuckled as the vault door opened, striding in front of Pierce to open the hatch himself, a habit he wouldn’t admit he liked, “ ah yes. It’s not already suspicious. “ He retorted, putting a hand on the ladder and quickly climbing up the steps, “ makes sense, Piercy. “

Branzy’s wings gently fluttered as he pushed the hatch open, and not because Pierce silently chuckled at his remarks. He pulled himself up to the surface, the cold air hitting his face and breezing against his wings as he got up and looked down the open hatch.

“ Yes. “ Pierce nodded in agreement as he grabbed the ladder himself, “ But it’s ever more suspicious when you see one 10 miles off the city. “

Branzy froze.

“ . . .how many miles do we have to walk? “

Pierce’s expression changed one to thinking as he quickly pulled himself up out the hatch, “ 20 Miles. “ He replied casually as he slammed the hatch shut, already starting to grab the leaves and cover the metal. 

Branzy stared at him, already feeling more exhausted than he already did.

“ 20. . .miles? “ Branzy repeated, kicking a log into place and nearly hitting Pierre’s hand. Pierre nodded as he stood back up, dusting off his hands.

Pierce turned to Branzy, his eyes meeting Branzy’s already hesitant and tired eyes. Pierre grinned from under the mask.

“ Don’t you worry. “ Pierre started cockily, holding out a hand for Branzy to hold. Branzy looked down at his gloved hand, feeling confused and already flustered.

“ I’ll carry you if you want. “ 

Branzy’s mouth snapped shut, a slight cold rising to his face as Pierce still smiled at him. He brought his hand down and started walking off into the path.

Branzy immediately followed after.

The forest was nice most of the time. Yes, it was terrifying to walk through the dark and gloomy paths knowing that they walked with the purpose of a criminal. But the forest was gloomily beautiful .

Sometimes it felt safe. No one would find Pierre’s bloody hatchets that Branzy buried for him, just because he asked. Sometimes it felt uncertain. Someone could find the roots of the trees attached to bloody corpses. It made Branzy wonder how could nature embrace people like him and Pierce.

It made him wonder what else the stars witnessed. What else the soil absorbed. It also made him wonder why on earth Pierre chose the most secluded forest off the city.

Branzy wondered why he stood and walked by Pierce’s side.

He refrained from glancing into Pierce’s eyes, instead letting his sight fall onto how their hands nearly held each other, how, how he sheepishly wanted to. 

Branzy’s hand moved closer, before he looked away and kept his chin up afterward.

It made him wonder what the stars would soon witness if he ever got the courage. 

Branzy heard Pierce’s boot hit against solid concrete. “ Ah, there it is. “ Pierce said with no hint of weariness, looking forward and at the house they were going to.

Branzy looked up himself, kicking his foot to relieve some of the ache that he somehow still felt even after death, “ finally. . “ He mumbles tiredly, heaving a soft sigh as they both stopped walking to observe the house.

The house looked like a sweet cottage, standing tall at two stories. The single little lamppost that stood next to the mailbox barely did it any justice, other than highlighting the clearly peeling paint of the walls.

“ Cute house. “ Pierce turned to Branzy for the first time that trip, raising his eyebrows when he noticed how tired Branzy looked and how his wings were puffed up from exhaustion. Branzy nodded, giving him a small smile.

“ they’re probably asleep. “ Branzy added on, the familiar dread suddenly flooding back onto him. He shuddered, “ they’re. . .probably still sleeping. “

Pierce frowned from under his mask, Branzy knew he did, “ I know, Branzy. I’m not proud of it either. “ He softly said, taking a small step onto the road towards the house. Branzy believed him, nodding again and following his action.

They walked closer to the house in silence, Branzy’s nerves on fire.

Said silence was pierced by the muffled yelling from inside the house. Branzy jumped, his wings immediately puffing up as he stepped forward before Pierce put an arm in front of him.

The words weren’t clear, the walls doing a half-good job at concealing what was being said or done, but from the street light they were already at, Branzy could hear how a man's voice slurred while Pierce heard glass breaking.

They both looked at each other in concern.

Branzy wasn’t sure if he was more upset than Pierre was, still keeping his own ground with his wings high in the air, “ Aren’t there. . . “ He trailed off.

“ . .Kids. “ Pierre finished his sentence, a look of concern and bewilderment in his eyes as they both continued to listen to the muffled yelling. Branzy could see how his expression contorted from the corners of his eyes.

Branzy felt himself growing more angry than sad. His shoulders and wings tensed up in motherly anger.

He gently pushed Pierce’s arm away before he continued to walk the side of the house, folding his wings back in as he stepped in front of Pierce. The other followed behind him, as usual routine. 

Since Branzy insisted on protecting Pierce somehow, Pierce let him take the lead when it came to entering homes. Though Pierce could see the bubbling concern and frustration in Branzy's face, and he knew the real reason why Branzy went first this time.

Most of the worries that Branzy had were immediately brushed off as he carefully approached a glass door, which lead to a kitchen that both parents were in. Branzy paused as he looked through the glass and at the man and woman, who were obviously fighting. Pierce came up next to him, looking in himself.

The woman had her back to the door while the man seemed to only focus on her, and the yelling was much more apparent behind the thinner glass.

The man yelled loudly and violently, tightly holding a bottle of alcohol by the neck as he flailed his arms around and shouted swears at his apparent wife. He yelled something before he threw the bottle near the woman's face.

Branzy gasped, his eyes widening as the bottle nearly hit the woman before she backed away. Pierce cursed under his breath, making Branzy jump. He forgot the other was even there. The woman was shouting too, yelling back her own swears and curses as she pointed accusatory fingers at her supposed husband.

She fumbled over her words and he spat more curses at her in his slurred tone.

Her hand reached over to the knife rack, and Branzy heard her yell, “ I'll fucking kill you. “

“ Oh, no. “ Pierce said menacingly, “ I'm the ‘murderer’ here. “ He retorted, before gently pushing Branzy from the glass.

Branzy fell back a bit, but all he focused on was wanting to tell Pierce to knock it off and stop it, to not go inside just yet. But Pierce had already slid the door open, making the pair pause but not getting enough time to shout at him instead.

Two shots went off before Branzy could pull himself up. Both of them screamed in agony, but it was odd that Pierce kept them alive for this long.

Pierce fully entered inside as Branzy got up and walked in behind him. Branzy saw both the woman and man on the ground, bleeding from their legs and screaming in pain instead of at each other. But, Branzy watched the father writhe in pain, still trying to grab at the woman's hair instead of his own leg.

It made Branzy wonder if these two never shut up.

Pierce stared down at both of them, stepping on the man's foot to prevent him from trying to grab anything and staring at him as he screamed in greater pain.“ Get rope. “ He asked Branzy softly, though never looking away from the man.

Branzy nodded, refusing to look at either of the people's faces. He couldn’t stand to look at them, really. He stepped near the man’s head to give him a scare as he walked towards a drawer.

No normal people or family would keep rope in drawers or cabinets, Branzy knew this as he dug through one of the drawers. From the corner of his eye he could see a picture frame. There sat a small photo of the family on top of the pristine wood, two parents and the three children. It looked wrong.

Branzy pulled his hands out, empty, for obvious reasons. He looked around, then noticed a yarn project on the couch in a nearby room. He looked back at Pierce and wordlessly told him he’d go get it, which Pierce nodded to without saying anything.

He walked to the couch, the floorboards making no noises even though he could barely control the loudness of his own footsteps. Branzy grabbed what he assumed was a crocheted something, good enough.

Branzy turned around, having no time to react as he saw a devil holding something in his hands raise it up above their head.

He stifled a gasp as he backed away, instinctively punching the other entity in the jaw before it slammed a book into his head. Despite being in the afterlife, Branzy could feel all the pain that the devil caused him, stinging like he got a hole drilled into his head. 

The entity must have approached without neither of them noticing. Not something Pierce, who seemed to yell something to him, would be proud of.

Branzy dropped the yarn, and he felt his hand tightly grip onto his open holster.

Unlike the devil that stood before him, Branzy wasn’t tall or strong-looking or scary. But unlike Branzy, the devil did not have a knife.

“ Sweetheart? “ Pierce called from the other room for him, and suddenly Branzy was back to his own reality, feeling the hot blood pouring onto his hands as he stood over the first carcass of the night. Ice formed over the slit in the devil's throat just as the hot blood seeped into the ice on his knife.

Branzy’s breath hitched as he felt as though his skin burned . “ I’m okay. “ He gently mumbled back to Pierce, who offered him a nod and an open hand. Branzy threw the make-shift rope in Pierre’s hand, the devil's blood burning itself into the yarn.

He stood there for a moment, breathing in and out as he accounted for the sensation of feeling burnt. Devil's blood was hot just like how angel blood was cold, and just as angel blood froze, devil's blood seemed to seep and burn into your soul.

But that wasn't possible, Branzy could not be burned.

“ Go find them. “ Pierce said as he pulled the man up by the hem of his shirt, who seemed close to bleeding out to death and was slowly shutting up, “ She would kill both of us if they don't find them safe. “

Branzy knew what he was talking about and what he meant. Them, the children who had to suffer through a horrible pair of parents. Branzy offered him a thumbs up and looked up the stairs. 

The downstairs was too small to fit a children's room, Branzy hoped they realized that as he calculated only the upstairs was the biggest.

He slowly walked up the steps, looking down at Pierre as he tied up both parents until they disappeared from view. The stairs led to a hallway, ones that looked familiar to Branzy. But the walls were missing the childish sketches that were usually present, and the hall itself seemed to not have life at all.

Branzy's phantom heart pumped and his nerves were on fire, both senses making him nearly forget the burning blood already on his hands.

The doors on each side of him didn’t matter as much as the door he immediately recognized as a children’s room, but only because of the crude drawing on the door.

Branzy walked towards the door, feeling all the anger wear off and instead be replaced by concern and care for whoever he would find inside. The wallpaper seemed to be peeling in certain places and the floorboards made the quietest of noises.

As he reached the door, he looked at the small drawing on it. One bigger child in the middle and two others next to them with the background as a sunny sky and grassy fields. It made Branzy smile.

He grabbed the knob and gently twisted it, making sure to be as quiet as he could.

He pushed the door open, the hallway light illuminating the darkened room. The first things he saw were the three beds that were closely knit together, like it was either there was no space or all three of the children found comfort in being together.

Branzy frowned at the thought of their fear of their horrible parents. The next thing he saw was someone poking their head out of their blanket, only seeing their eyes as they tiredly looked towards the door.

Their eyes seemed to widen in fear, then contort into anger as they seemed to grab their two other siblings closer, “ w-what do you want? “ a small boy’s voice asked in what seemed to be a forced tone of voice.

Branzy slightly winced, but eased into his babysitting personality.

“ Hi! “ Branzy softly called out, opening the door wider, hoping Pierce taped the parent’s mouths shut, as he let more light in and kneeled down to a level he thought he could still be seen in.

“ what do you want?! “ the boy yelled louder this time, his tone faltering as he nearly sobbed, Their siblings seemed to wake up from the yelling, one of them shuffling under their blanket and the other one peeking out themselves.

“ No, no no, it’s okay. I won't hurt you. “ Branzy put his hands up to try and make the kid feel better, to show he wasn’t holding anything, “ It’s okay, I promise.” He added in a softer tone of voice, noticing the other two slowly waking up.

The one who peeked their head up seemed to also become afraid, grabbing onto the boy’s sleeve as she muttered, “ please-please don’t hurt us. “ In a raspy voice.

“ go away! “ 

Branzy’s heart broke. He saw their pain.

Branzy backed up and sat down near the door, the farthest he could go, “ I won’t hurt you. “ He gently whispered after a few seconds of panicked silence from both ends, “ I, I won’t hurt you, I’m an angel, I couldn’t. “

The sibling next to the boy seemed to shuffle awake, although it was clear they just rose from a fake slumber. They peeked their eyes out of the blanket, their eyes gleaming at the sight of Branzy alone.

Big and curious eyes stared at him from under their blanket, “ an angel? “

“ Yes. “ Branzy smiled as comfortingly as he could. He softly flexed and flapped his wings, which slightly shimmered under the bad light of the hallway, as subtly and slow as he could.

All of the children seemed to ease up a little to marvel at the beauty of his wings, the boy’s eyes softening from his anger and fear, and the other two seeming more star struck than anything.

“ can. . .can we touch them? “

Branzy’s smile grew, and not in the usual way they always did, as he crawled a little closer to them all, hoping to distract them from the muffled screaming downstairs, “ of course. “

The other two children seemed to fall asleep after a while. Branzy smiled and closed the story book in his hands. The boy in the middle, however, wasn’t asleep. He carefully watched over his siblings, but less with fear.

After looking at them for so long Branzy noticed all the scars on all of their sweet faces. The boy had bags under his eyes and had scars on his cheeks. Branzy could barely look away from any of their faces without feeling so guilty they had to go through anything.

Branzy wanted to stroke their hair and hold their hands but he wasn't sure if that would push their comfort too far, so he couldn't. He couldn't break the trust.

The boy looked up to Branzy, a small shimmer of hopeful grief in his eyes, “ are you going to stay? “

Branzy felt guilty as he looked deep into the boy's eyes. From the way they all nearly started sobbing, from the small bruises on the girl's neck to the black eye the other sibling had, Branzy knew they'd been through a lot.

He tried his best to be as gentle as he could before, and yet no tone of voice could properly voice his care when it came to his words.

" I'm sorry, I can't. “

The boy just looked sad, “ I. . .okay, it's okay. “ He mumbled quietly. It broke Branzy's last pieces of heart that weren't shattered to bits. After a while the boy buried himself in the bed and shuffled his siblings closer, letting Branzy tuck him in himself, before hesitantly shutting his eyes.

Branzy looked back to the open door, now noting how quiet the house seemed to be. He didn't really care why.

 “ there’s a. . there’s a necklace with a ruby in the middle. Mom always hid things from dad so. . “ he mutters quietly, “ can you take it so you never forget me? “ 

The boy's description of his parents made Branzy's blood boil, but he kept a soft expression as he shifted and thought about it.

“ . . .Of course. “ Branzy replied back in another soft voice. How could he tell him no? Branzy would have remembered him for a long time, but the boy wouldn't have been sure.

He watched the boy slowly fall asleep, a small hint of a smile on both their faces as one of them slept the most peaceful sleep he had in a while.

It made Branzy sad to stand up and walk away, but he needed to. Branzy had another person he cared about, and at least the people who hurt those sweet siblings wouldn't see them, or the light of day ever, ever again.

Pierce stood over the mangled remains of the man and woman he had ‘assassinated’, although authorities would say he did more than he’d say he did. Of course, the client requested he'd do so.

His arms were covered in blood, his favorite black hoodie now had blood on both sleeves even though he rolled them up. Pierce couldn’t help it, really. For once the alcoholic stench was replaced with a metallic sense in the air.

Pierce looked over at the clock on their wall, noting it was midnight, before looking back down at something that caught his eye. A camel plush stared back at him with its beady eyes, the same one Branzy liked a lot.

The shattered glass that the man threw still laid down on the floor, but the red wine looked a bit redder than it should have.

Pierce went to the sink and gently washed his hands of blood with his gloves on to avoid leaving fingerprints, turning on the cold water. The blood seeped into the metal knob, which Pierce knew would make it rust nicely.

Pierce didn’t have to turn around to recognize his angel’s footsteps coming down from the upstairs. He didn't have to tell Branzy to close his eyes either, as the other came up beside him with a small smile, ignorant of the blood everywhere.

“ oh! Oh, and I um. . .I got this for you. “ Branzy gently muttered, pulling out a necklace with a red ruby from his vest pocket. Pierce stopped walking just to look at it.

“ . .It’s gorgeous. “ He stated with a horribly disguised tone of awe, gently reaching for it and watching the blood from his gloves blend in with the gem itself, “ For me? “

Branzy clicked his tongue nervously, sheepishly fidgeting with his hands, “ yes. “

Pierce hummed in approval and appreciation, pulling out the camel plushie he himself stole while Branzy wasn't looking. He paused to examine the little bab it had on, thanking God that he washed his hands enough when he grabbed it.

Branzy’s eyes sparkled as he gently grabbed the plush from his hands, Pierce’s eyes watched him the entire time he pretended to admire the ruby again.

Chapter Text

Branzy remembered a lot of things.

Although sometimes his memory was not the greatest, he still managed to remember. Like how one of the teenagers he protected loved her friends and making up characters to talk about, how her best friend liked to listen to her ramble while he listened, how one of the girls he protected hated chocolate and cheese. How apparently Pierce didn't usually smile at people the same way he smiled at Branzy.

Branzy didn't remember this, though.

As Branzy took in the darkness around him, slowly coming together, he saw a gloomy looking environment, the air felt thin yet so suffocating, his surroundings barely visible even in Branzy’s slight glow.

He did not remember going somewhere. Branzy squinted his eyes to get a better look, puffing up his wings to have his natural light spread around. He did not remember going anywhere, especially an office building out of anywhere he could have ended up in. He’d never actually been in one before, really.

Branzy looked around, he saw no one and yet felt as though he wasn’t alone. He wasn’t supposed to be alone. Endless amounts of cubicles extended far from where he was standing, which seemed like a random empty space in the middle of the office. 

He looked up, in time to see a lonely light bulb that had sparks coming out of its wire, but seemed to be dead. Rather, from what he could see, all the office lights seemed to be dead and sparking, desperately trying to light up again.

He took a small step back, his back hitting a small painting that was hung on the wooden wall of a cubicle. 

Branzy was more than confused. He took a small step to his right, slowly and cautiously making his way past all the hopefully empty cubicles. It felt so cramped whenever he walked even though the halls weren't so tight.

There was something wrong and he couldn’t figure it out. Maybe it was the fact he couldn’t see any signs of the cubicles ending, or maybe not being able to see any windows like he thought most offices had.

It was eerily empty and silent. He felt like someone was going to attack him.

He felt for his holster, gone. Now he really was worried, his one weapon had disappeared. Pierce always told him to never lose any of his weapons, especially in open spaces where either of them could be ambushed at any given moment.

Pierce.

Branzy wasn’t supposed to be alone. He whipped around, suddenly hearing the deafening silence and feeling as though it judged him for not realizing any sooner that his sole priority was missing. Branzy and Pierce never separated, and if they were, only a few feet apart from each other, not to the point one of them was missing.

Branzy scoped out the environment, Pierce was obviously much taller than all of the cubicles and yet, Branzy couldn’t see him anywhere.

Pierce wasn’t supposed to be alone.

Branzy wasn’t supposed to leave him alone.

Panic started to surge through his veins and head as his instincts kicked in, he had to find Pierce. It was one thing to protect an assassin and it was another thing to fail him, both of those would most definitely cast Branzy away to never be a guardian again.

Branzy opened his mouth to yell out for his protectee, and yet it was like someone silenced his own voice as nothing came out. He had to find Pierce, he had to, who knows what could happen to him in such an ambiguous and massive place. Branzy had no weapons, meaning someone must have taken them and maybe they took Pierce too.

Without a voice, it would make it so much harder to call for him. Pierce always responded to him, always, but how would he if Branzy had no voice to tell him anything.

‘Pierce!’ His brain called, but no voice came out of his mouth, ‘Are you there?’

He blended in nicely with the silence. It was irritatingly worrying for Branzy. He felt so alone yet also felt as if someone was watching over him, judging him for not finding his Pierce.

Without thinking, Branzy turned his foot and bolted the way he came from. He couldn’t find Pierce, but he had to, he had to find him or else Pierce would be gone and then he’d be gone, he had to find him.

His wings barely managed to escape being scraped against the cramped office cubicles; Branzy feeling his feathers harshly brush against the smooth yet hard wood. He couldn’t care right now

His sight got far darker with his wings now furled back behind his back and barely emitting enough light in front of him, but he continued to run and run, occasionally almost tripping over his own feet or loose leaves from wilting plants.

Branzy, for the first time in quite a while, prayed to God that he would find Pierce. Something was wrong and Branzy couldn’t figure out what.

Why was he here anyway? Branzy assumed this was some stupid mission that Pierce took up, but Pierce was an intelligent man. Even if the lights were dead, implying that maybe the cameras were too, Pierce never took chances unless he truly knew that they would escape with their necks intact and their wrists unbruised.

Why was he even assuming the other man was here? No, that was a bad question. Wherever Pierce went, Branzy followed right beside him. Wherever Branzy was, Pierce was nearby and ready to come to his aid if he was needed. It would be impossible for them to be separated now.

Branzy had been going in random directions for some time now.

‘Piercy!’ He tried so hard to yell out, but the dark maze of an office building never heard it. Branzy rounded a corner, being in another free enough space to flutter his wings up and try to see his surroundings using his light.

Nothing. His surroundings felt and looked the same as he looked over rows and rows of office cubicles that looked just like the one he was running from at least five minutes ago. Or was it ten minutes? Six? Branzy couldn’t tell at this point.

Branzy needed to find his protectee now and fast. It was beyond just because it was his job, now it was that he most probably would never forgive himself if Pierce was hurt.

He missed him and he wouldn’t admit it yet.

BANG !

Branzy nearly jumped out of his skin. He knew that sound very, very well, and he knew the light that it created even better. He quickly looked over to the direction he thought it came from as soon as another gunshot broke the dark silence of the office building

The light it briefly emitted lit up a porcelain mask he knew very well.

Branzy bolted towards where he last saw the bullets without a thought, his wings getting caught on the wooden frames before he involuntarily furled them back in place.

‘Piercy!’

He ran faster than he'd ever ran in his entire guardianships. 

Branzy practically fell onto his knees as he approached his Pierce, putting a hand on his abdomen and two fingers onto his neck, before he puffed his wings up to see his protectee. His gloved fingers brushed over two obvious holes that embedded in his stomach just as his fingers felt nothing.

He had ran so fast.

Pierce bled faster.

Branzy jumped up from his sleeping place, gasping as if he was being choked before he had woken up. He felt his body accidentally press harshly against his feathers, making him wake up even further. He had woken up, it wasn’t real, it was just a bad vision.

Branzy clamped his hand over his phantom heart as the adrenaline continued to pulse through his head. Whatever room he was in brought him much needed comfort, instead of stale and dark air was a warm and real atmosphere. A familiar place he really did know.

It wasn’t real. Branzy rubbed his fingers against his palms, feeling for the warm blood that he could have swore his gloves had absorbed, instead feeling his smooth skin. He took his gloves off before he’d ‘sleep’.

It, it wasn’t real, of course it wasn’t real. He scratched at his sleeve, immediately feeling his nails graze his skin through the soft fabric that was slightly dried with blood.

It didn't entirely help him calm down his own nerves, which were still on flames.

It felt real. The panic and the anguish, the defeat, the grief. The unusual cold that radiated from his Pierce’s skin. It felt all too real and Branzy wondered if it would become real one of these days.

As his sight adjusted to the now sudden brightness of his surroundings, he recognized this room. It was Pierre’s room, he knew from the fact that there was a dresser and the fact there was a red framed mirror on his cabinet and the fact he was leaning against something soft.

Pierre.

Branzy stood up on his knees, his thoughts still jumbled and terrified as he looked around the room for him, Pierre. It was a small room, enough for Pierre and him to stay in, and yet Branzy’s head was too panicked to recall where on earth he could find his Pierre.

His eyes flicked up to the clock, midnight. Midnight, they, they went to bed at eight. Bed. Ah, it clicked in Branzy’s still jumbled head what that should mean.

Branzy whipped around just as he did in his own nightmarish vision, nearly falling over if he hadn’t put his arm over on the bedding. Actually, his hand rested on the silhouette on the bed that was covered by a pretty red velvet blanket.

He breathed in deeply, his heart still racing in his body, “ Piercy? “ He barely managed to say over a whisper, gently shaking the person with his hand.

The person shifted, waking up easily just like how Branzy knew he would.

He made a small groan as he immediately woke up from Branzy’s shaking, before tiredly sitting up with sluggish movements, “ Branzy? “ Pierre softly grumbled, rubbing at his eyes.

The blanket fell down to his stomach, his other hand still holding it up by its hem. He was sleeping in a sleeveless shirt, letting the bandage on his bicep known. Branzy avoided looking at it.

Branzy sighed in relief, the panic subsiding but not quickly enough. “ Piercy. . “ He breathlessly repeated, letting his head fall onto his arm which was still laid right next to Pierre’s leg.

Pierre was okay. He was okay. It wasn’t real and yet it felt so real, but his real Pierre was okay now, the bandage was a day old at this point and they weren’t in some office building. There were no bullet holes in the other’s stomach.

He was really tired now, the adrenaline finally wearing off and making him realize how his soul hadn’t reformed fully yet. Branzy sighed heavily, trying to let out the stress of panicking so much in his head. 

Branzy didn’t notice how Pierre’s expression changed to one of pure concern and worry as he looked down at his angel. Pierre rubbed his eyes again, putting his hand near Branzy’s head to get his attention.

“ What’s wrong? “ Pierre asked in a softer voice than he usually talked in. It was always sickeningly sweet for Branzy hearing this killer talk to him in a voice that no one but him had heard, “ C’mon, you’re worrying me. “ He added, gently tucking a strand of Branzy’s hair behind his ears. 

“ . .nothin’. “ Branzy responded, ignoring how his face was turning colder as he stared Pierre in his eyes. Fierce and unforgivingly beautiful. Pierre narrowed his tired eyes, his face expressing disbelief and growing worry.

Pierre looked at him with bewildered disbelief, reminding Branzy he was not a good liar.“ You never wake me up for nothing. “ Pierre threw his blanket off of himself and stuffed it beside him, sitting up straight as he continued talking with Branzy, “ Tell me. “

Branzy watched Pierre’s eyes soften as he talked to him like a scared animal. He looked away from him for a little, thinking hard about what on earth he was going to tell Pierre. The entire sequence was embedded into his head, he remembered every single second of running, he remembered how his feathers felt against wood, he remembered how quickly Pierce turned so cold in his hold.

He wondered if he really would be that useless if Pierre ever needed him to save him.

Pierre moved far enough from Branzy so he wouldn’t hit the other in the head as he swung his legs off the bed and sat right next to him. Branzy looked over at him with now tired eyes, sitting up properly and turning his head to Pierre.

“ It’s alright, I’m right here. “ Pierre gently reassured him again, and Branzy felt as though they wouldn’t be able to properly sleep if he refused to tell Pierre what was wrong.

Branzy was still terrified. He’d hate to admit that he was afraid of a simple nightmare but he couldn’t shake off how real it felt. The cold and gloomy air that suffocated him, the feeling of constantly being watched as he ran, the tears that pricked his eyes as he held Pierre so loosely.

Branzy reached his hand out for Pierre to hold. He wasn’t sure if even this was real, and he wasn’t sure if holding onto something would prove it.

Pierre took his hand without looking down, gently pulling the other closer to him doing so, making them shoulder to shoulder with Branzy’s hand laying with Pierre’s on his thigh.

He raised an eyebrow at Branzy, signaling him to start talking.

Pierre’s thumb started to gently rub at his fingers as Branzy struggled to talk, feeling his cheeks turn cold.

He was starting to realize how fake Pierre’s blood felt in that vision. 

Blood and body temperature were near identical, and yet the fuzzy feeling in his stomach and Pierre’s thumb pressing into his cold skin were warmer.

“ What are you looking at? “ Pierce remarked, his voice slightly muffled from his porcelain mask. He felt the cracks as he wiped off blood from his face. From behind him, Zam and Mapicc snickered.

“ You’ve been giggling like little high-schoolers, what do you want? “ He added, looking back at them. They both had big grins on their faces, and Pierce already felt the headache of their new discussion with him.

It wasn’t everyday that Zam and Mapicc agreed with each other about something, but when they would, it was obvious and would always come right back up no matter what. Zam smiled at Pierce with the same shit-eating grin as Mapicc as he talked. 

“ Do you like him? “

Pierce paused from wiping the blood off his mask. He knew what they were asking and he knew who they were referring to. He slightly turned his head to see where his Branzy went, smoothly going back to wiping his mask as he saw Branzy was most likely out of earshot.

“ Ask me that again, “ He started, walking around the dead body right in front of him and stopping right behind it, where Zam and Mapicc could see him, “ And I’ll sew your mouths shut. “

Mapicc scoffed in disbelief and persistence, “ Just answer the fuckin question, Piercy-boo. “

“ What the hell did you just call me? “ Pierce said in his intimidating and low voice, putting his hand right over his holster. Zam rolled his eyes, slightly frowning as Pierce assumed he probably planned to say so much but now wouldn’t.

Most of his teammates assumed he was in love with his Guardian, rather Parrot and Rek were the first ones to ask and the only ones who got a proper answer. Leo was the third, absolutely insufferable about it, constantly taunting Pierce for it.

The demons were the last, and Pierce knew that they would never stop asking him about it. Knowing Zam and Mapicc were probably theorizing about it and Mid probably set on the idea already, Pierce was mentally preparing all the stupid grins he would get while he talked to his angel.

It was a ridiculous thing, really. Falling in love with your own guardian was barely heard of and somewhat frowned upon on the guardian’s side, so falling for a guardian wasn’t the most beneficial thing.

It was even more ridiculous that his own teammates thought that he’d do it himself, falling in love with a guardian apparently seemed like something that Pierce would do according to his team.

Of course, no one but Pierce himself would know that they were absolutely right .

Chapter Text

“ It’s just a diamond.. “ The unknown man mused in a sing-song tone, grabbing a pouch from behind them and untying its knot. Pierce tensed slightly, preparing for an attack that he knew wouldn’t commence, but still taking two steps back.

As the top of the bag opened, Pierce immediately recognized the gleam of payment that he knew well. Pierce took a small step forward as he saw the shine of something shiny.

The man threw the bag on the ground, the diamonds that were well kept inside the bag falling out onto the dirt. They shone in the small amount moonlight that the trees let in as a few fell out of its container, one even falling right in front of the tip of Pierce’s boot.

He marveled at the familiar beauty he always bargained for in these types of clients. Pierce relaxed to a less defensive stance as he looked up at the soon-to-be-client, expecting them to state their business.

“ Or multiple. “ The man smiled as soon as they saw Pierce look up at them, or maybe they had been smiling the entire time. Their grin slightly gleamed in the small amount of light they let onto their face that only shone on their mouth. Pierce couldn't see their eyes or entire face, which was fair enough.

They turned their foot to their left and took small and brief steps, Pierce shifted to his right, mirroring them in a somewhat pace before a duel. The man kicked a diamond from the ground as they stopped right where Pierce stood before.

“ As long as that… Traitor.. “ They paused, for once in the entire interaction their expression changed to a mean snarl, “ Is dead meat. “

Pierce let out a small chuckle, oh how many times he had heard that sentiment before. This one wasn’t even close to how angry his best paying customer was when she said her words like they were hot coals that she hoped would fall into the eyes of her wretched brother. Pierce wondered if the police found the kids yet, he knew Branzy couldn't stop thinking of them.

Pierce nodded, already ensuring his plans would work flawlessly.

The man then stepped forward, setting the tip of his boot upon a fallen diamond as he pulled his fabric mask up to his nose. Pierce could only see his eyes, doe eyes that were full of betrayal and hate.

“ You will, “ They stated as fact they kicked the bag a little more to watch the diamonds tumble, “ Yes? “

Pierce noted their boldness in amusement. He stepped forward himself, feeling the moonlight gently fall onto his cracked porcelain mask as he continued to eye and count all the diamonds he could see in that moment. He could see less than fifty, but he’d like to know how many there really were.

The other man snapped their fingers impatiently.

“ You will. “ They repeated, their tone more annoyed and hostile this time. “ Yes? “

This was an insufferable one, Pierce realized a little too late. He silently rolled his eyes as he stood back again, now looking the other man in the eye again. Now all he really saw was a fool.

Pierce frowned under his mask. He originally admired this man for being so willing to meet him in a forest instead of the bar they proposed before, but now he just realized this guy was a bit stuck-up. Arrogant. 

Pierce hated it when they were like that.

“ Do I have to? “ Pierce mocked in a stupid tone, the first thing he actually had said in this entire hiring process. The man sneered in response, a noise of frustration and disgust.

“ You must. “ They insisted, dialing up their tone to a pitch too high for Pierce’s liking. They carelessly stepped forward as they got restless, nearly stepping over the diamonds as they tried getting closer. Pierce stood his own ground, hoping the stupidity and arrogance of this one wouldn't make him signal so soon.

Though, as every arrogant, blood-hungry, one was, they persisted. “ No one will ever pay you as handsomely as I will. “ They argued, now the anger in their eyes were directed at Pierce instead. They pointed at the bag of diamonds, “ No one. “

Pierce really should have known they'd be just the same as most. Watching a man unravel in anger, arrogance, in front of you is not the most fun activity to be in.

Pierce softly laughed, menacingly, as they finished their small speech. That seemed to anger the other man even more. Pierce couldn’t care less.

The man got closer to him, now in arm’s reach. Pierce stepped back, Branzy just cleaned his costume three days ago, he wasn’t going to bloody it just now. “ God knows those aren’t real. “ Pierce retorted back.

Being an arrogant person never helped his other victims, what made this one think it’d help him? Nothing helps a victim, especially not his.

They paused for a moment, a small wave of shock and confusion going through their head as they processed what Pierce meant, “ How did.. “ They started for a moment, before their expression turned back to one of hostility.

They jumped towards him, one hand reaching out for him and the other reaching for whatever hidden weapon they had, and Pierce just moved away to the side and watched them fall onto their chest. What a fool, what a fool.

Arrogance was foolish. 

The man tried to push himself up with his hands, which were already full of hard dirt. Pierce assumed his face also had dirt in their eye as he quickly kicked their hands down. Hard enough to hear their fingers crack.

Pierce loudly faked a yawn, although it could have been real since Branzy hadn’t caught him awake at night yet. Speaking of his guardian.. 

“ Angel. “ He called for him in one of his softer tones of voice, and waited. The man still struggled under him, but Pierce already spotted the purple-to-white feathers stupidly sticking out of a bush as Branzy got up. Honestly he wasn’t sure how the man bought the idea that it was just a little dove, but it was funny seeing them look over every now and then, not knowing their suspicions were correct.

Branzy grabbed something as he got up, and he slightly dusted himself from the leaves that caught onto his vest and wings. Pierce smiled before dropping it as Branzy smiled at him, too.

Branzy threw the gun over to Pierce, something he had to plan out since the man was so paranoid of him having weaponry. Of course, he decided that if he couldn't hold onto it, Branzy would. Paranoia never made anyone smart, even if they really tried. Pierce cocked a single bullet into it, and slowly aimed it at their head. Mockingly.

“ Wait! Wait! Please, you- “ They begged, but Pierce barely heard it.

Bang.

Pierce lowered the gun and stared down at them. He knew Branzy was, too.

Branzy slowly made his way out of the bushes and over to Pierce, gentle footsteps cracking every single damn twig that was in his way. Pierce kept looking down as the blood poured, his fake-client slowly bleeding to death and losing the control in his muscles, confirming they were lifeless.

“ were they actually fake? “ Branzy asked him in a soft huff as soon as he got out of the brush, nearly making Pierce jump. Pierce turned to his right, before he realized Branzy was not beside him, rather situated near the bag instead. Pierce internally sighed in disappointment, only because he really didn’t.

 Pierce stepped off the corpse’s hand, walking over to where Branzy was squatting, inspecting the diamonds carefully, “ How would I know? “. God knows he can’t tell if it's real or not, but Pierce doesn’t comment on that. “ I didn’t know at all, I was just bluffing. “ He admitted with a real sigh.

“ ..n’aaw. “ Branzy mumbled in disappointment, tossing a fake diamond back into its bag. Pierce softly laughed, a real laugh instead of his intimidating chuckles, of course, he accidentally taught Branzy to be as greedy as he was.

Well, of course not as greedy. Though Branzy was now able to understand how beautiful he found diamonds and blood was. 

“ and here I thought we’d have an entire monopoly on the diamond supply.. Actually now I think of it of course these are fake, why on earth would anyone give these away for a little hit? It’s totally unreason..“ Branzy rambled, like he always did, before pausing and fluttering his wings nervously, “ uh, sorry. “

“ No, no, “ Pierce sat right next to him, ignoring the bleeding body right next to the both of them, “ You’re right, really. The only person who’s ever paid that much was her. “ He continued, tilting his head up to look into the sky above them, “ One-hundred-and-fifty diamonds. One-fifty! Oh, Branzy, how I really wanted to rub that into Leo’s face! “

Branzy listened intently, Pierce couldn’t really tell, he was just guessing he was. Branzy grabbed the bag completely and dumped out all the gems there were. Pierce looked back down at the big pile when he heard Branzy make a noise of disapproval, more like disappointment.

“ there’s so many. “ Branzy huffed in bewilderment. Pierce huffed a laugh, there were. Branzy was right, there would be absolutely no way anyone would pay this much for a hit on one person, especially just on some guy that betrayed them.

Pierce internally thanked the bastard’s victim for getting to him first and paying him actual diamonds. He slightly leaned over, grabbing a handful of what was now obviously glass gems to inspect. Branzy copied what he did after realizing how unconventional it was to peer over Pierce’s shoulder.

They stayed in silence for a good while.

Pierce was glad they chose the forest instead of anywhere else, it was nice to stay in a place for a little longer. Especially a space outside where no one, especially searchers and officers, would think to go to. Of course the idiot agreed upon the remote area, they probably thought Pierce would agree immediately. He chuckled lowly at the thought.

Pierce twirled a glass gem in his fingers for a bit. Maybe the police will find these and hope there’d be fingerprints, but all they were going to get were bloody splotches of his gloves and residue from Branzy's. 

He threw the glass gem onto the corpse’s back, the glass capturing and projecting a little moonlight before it hit black fabric with a quiet thud. Pierce heard Branzy react to the noise, his head shooting over to where the diamond landed and slightly puffing his wings up, a sweet protective reflex Branzy never managed to grow out of.

Pierce gently put a hand on Branzy’s shoulder for a moment, a little sign to tell him to back down. He didn't do that often with his other team. Despite not being fully tangible, Pierce could still feel how Branzy tensed as soon as he felt his hand on his shoulder.

Pierce pulled his hand away after giving Branzy a little pat on the shoulder, looking down at his other hand that still held more fake gems, and pretended to not notice Branzy nervously smiling as he looked off.

Pierce wondered what other things the stars would see someday.

There were a lot of missions on the hit-market, and the two most notorious assassins were of course, Clownpierce and his team, but also Reddoons and his team. They clashed and fought all the damn time, for a number one spot. They were rivals who wanted each other to their lowest. 

Pierce knew things Reddoons didn't want him to. Reddoons knew things Pierce wished he didn't. 

“Whoopsies! Seems I accidentally fucked your base up again, Clown. Seems I also fucked your mother. Better luck next time! xo - Your favorite. Redd.”

Pierce glared down at his burner phone that held the petty message. His hands were shaking in frustration as he tried not to crush the fragile phone in his angry grip. He read every word with annoyance, mumbling curses under his breath.

“ God fucking dammit. “ Pierce spat out angrily. He knew that Redd knew where the M.O.B base was, but he didn’t realize they'd raid and burn down their base so soon. Neither him or Branzy anticipated seeing a hatefully orange glow emitting from their isolated base as they approached it, and Pierce was less than happy to see what had become of their beautifully sculpted building.

Now, their base was engulfed in flames, Leo and Zam coughing and hacking behind them as they struggled to get the smoke out of their lungs. Embarrassingly, none of them noticed when the building was set on fire from within the walls until the smoke filled their meeting room and they barely made it out alive. Zam likely sprained his ankles and broke an elbow, and Leo, a broken arm from the falling debris.

Not even Mapicc spoke to taunt Zam at all, a rare thing that he barely did but was appreciated greatly, and he just watched the base burn. Pierce assumed Mid was with Zam, as he couldn’t see Mid next to Mapicc as he just stood there with a face full of emotions Pierce couldn't name.

Right about now, Pierce really regretted not gutting that fucker when Reddoons was down on his knees in luck.

After every single thing they’ve worked for, every single valuable, potion, souvenirs, after all of that.. Just to burn away as they watched with hatred and anguish as they couldn’t save those. The fire crackled and burnt down their building, each ember that Pierce heard crackle felt like his own anger.

Of course even after Pierce helped him, he'd come right around to fuck with him again. Maybe it was to keep their rivalry streak, but this.

Branzy was standing right next to Pierce, and he read every message that Pierce received on the burner. If it weren’t for Branzy pulling him back, Pierce wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from charging into his base. What they fucking worked for. Branzy just barely caught him by the shoulder, and Pierce resisted the urge to resist the pull and ignore whatever words Branzy was telling him.

Branzy very obviously swallowed a chuckle, before looking back up into the burning building.

“ …what a pain. “ Branzy mumbled in a tired tone, the illumination of fire glowing on his cheeks. Pierce let out a chuckle, a mix of genuine amusement, disbelief and absolute malice, watching the tips of Branzy’s feathers barely graze his shoulders. Pierce was somewhat glad his angel didn't let him charge into their burning building.

“ Yeah- “ Buzz. Pierce glared down again, focusing his attention back to the screen.

“Also solve that boy problem, it’s embarrassing.”

What the fuck.

Pierce felt his fingers tighten around the metal casing, his hand started to shake from the pressure he was applying to it. He made a quick decision, either he was going to crush this thing with his own hands and possibly get lectured by Branzy, or… He shut the phone off, making sure it was completely offline, and threw it as hard as he could into the crumbling and fiery building.

Branzy looked over at him in bewilderment, that wasn’t usually how he trashed his burner phones and both of them knew that. It was an unsafe choice and both of them knew it. Pierce just looked back and smiled, out of genuine amusement and absolute rage. 

That motherfucker. Burn his base down, injure his teammates, and then give dating advice? That piece of shit.

Reddoons had no damn right to narrate about his love life after what he'd just done. Pierce didn’t even have a single idea as to how he even fucking knew that, but Redd knew, Redd-fucking-doons, knew.

Pierre knew that in the end, Branzy was worth the hassle of being asked over and over again about liking his Guardian more than a protector, but if his enemies knew and his teammates were only guessing, Pierre was fucked.

Branzy was worth it all, he knew he was and Pierre would wait forever for him, but people knew.

God, too many people knew.

‘Always listen to your Guardians.’ They’d tell you when you reached the age to acquire a Guardian. ‘They’ll always know better than the most intelligent human.’

Bullshit. Pierre slightly shifted, not enough to disturb his own Angel, thanking himself that he got carpeted floors when he made up his base. He supposed Branzy was right and worth listening to sometimes, he did manage to save Pierre from going insane a few times. Sometimes.

But never all the time. Like, how Branzy had another bad vision, yeah right, that Pierce had died, and how Branzy described how Pierre died in his arms and he couldn’t help him. Yes, it was possible for Pierre to die, he was human. Pierre knew. Branzy wasn’t, but Pierre was fine with it.

What he wasn’t fine with was someone lying to him, especially one that he cared enough about.

Pierre wasn’t stupid and unfortunately, Branzy was. After years of working as an assassin he could tell when someone lied to him.

Branzy told him he was fine. Pierce knew he wasn’t, he could see the fear and distress in his eyes and Branzy talked too quietly. The only times Pierre remembered Branzy talking like that was when they first met, and no doubt Branzy was afraid then. Yet Branzy insisted he was okay and alright.

Like hell he was.

Pierre simply sat down on the floor with him and talked to him with an embarrassingly soft tone for an assassin. Branzy looked at him like he was crazy for trying to get him to talk about a ‘dumb vision’ that ‘wasn't important and didn't bother me too much, I'm fine.’, but Pierre managed to nudge Branzy enough to talk.

Now Pierre was breaking one of Branzy’s very enforced rules by being awake this late. It was at least 2AM at this point, an hour after being awoken by a frantic Branzy. Normally Branzy would notice, of course he would be able to, and tell Pierre to go back to sleep. But they didn’t have anything in the early mornings, and Branzy was asleep now.

Pierre never realized how soft Branzy’s wings and hair were until now, with his wings wrapped around the both of them and his head laid onto Pierre’s shoulder.

Despite how freezing Branzy felt at first, which made Pierre think about maybe not wearing sleeveless shirts when they went to sleep, the cold slowly disappeared from his thought process completely. While he did feel stabs of small icicles into his skin every time he shifted into a more comfortable position, there wasn’t really anything he could do now, huh.

Plus.. Pierre tended to forget about the freezing feeling since it wasn’t all the time that Branzy found peace right next to him.

This was likely not how usual Guardian-Protectee relationships were like, but it didn’t matter. 

Branzy was a man before, and so was Pierre. But instead of being covered with layers of blood, scars, and debris, Branzy was simply just an Angel that was sent down from the Aether to Pierre, no sin on his hands according to his Gods.

Guardians deserved to have some peace sometimes. Especially Pierre’s. His Angel was good at his job and letting Pierre do his without any more judgment, and Pierre was biased about that fact. Branzy, although stupid sometimes, saved his ass multiple times before, as his good guardians would have. Although none of his past Guardians were angels.

Sure. Maybe Branzy was becoming his most favourite out of all the Guardians he had had before. He was peaceful and what he thought an angel would be like, but also a madman, just like how he used to be when Pierre first started his own job as a freelancer serial killer. That's what Branzy described it to be, but Pierre swore it wasn't accurate at all.

It was. 

Pierre somewhat hoped that God didn’t realize that he loved his angel more than he was supposed to.

He also hoped that God wouldn’t realize Branzy loved him too. Pierre knew he did. He hoped that the Angel that slept in his base, in his room,  and now in his arms knew it too, otherwise they were absolutely doomed. 

He silently doubted that Branzy did as he pulled Branzy closer and closed his eyes for the night.

They’ll just talk about it tomorrow, or maybe never. But, they’d wake up together and be with each other either way. They'd be with each other for as long as Branzy needed to find the words Pierre wanted to hear from him.

“ Goodnight, Angel. “