Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

PvP, something Kab was not especially good at. Even at her best, she always managed to lose against her opponent, unless they had weakness, blindness, slowness and… well, you get the point. She always wanted to improve. She truly did, but had no idea where to begin. That was until ClownPierce approached her one day, offering to train her for a bit, in exchange for some diamonds of course. The idea of being trained by one of the strongest players on the SMP lit up a spark inside her that she didn’t even know existed, and she didn’t even hesitate before shaking his hand.

The demon had insisted on sneaking her onto the LifeSteal SMP for this, since he apparently had some important work to do and it would be a hassle to keep switching between the servers. Although weird, Kab understood that since she had been in a similar situation before, obviously involving less PvP training, but similar nonetheless. She was aware that she wasn’t exactly supposed to be on the server, not being an actual member of it, so the two took extra precaution to have a signal for when they were close to death so the message wouldn’t show up in chat.

So, that brought her here…

Panting, Kab felt the swear drip down her forehead as she tightened the grip around the diamond sword in her hand. Breathing in shakily, she swung at Clown, who blocked with his own sword just in time and pushed her away, making her stumble and fall down onto the grass with a grunt. “Hm. Maybe we should switch it up, since this isn’t going anywhere.” Kab sighed and nodded as she was helped up by the demon.

Clown rummaged through the chest at the side for a moment before taking out a wooden sword and an enchanted book. Placing down an anvil, he combined the two and observed the weapon momentarily before turning back to Kab. “Focus on attacking. And I’ll focus on blocking. Got it?” Kab glanced at the sword, swallowing at the lump in her throat, and muttered a small and feeble ‘okay’.

Inhaling sharply, she watched Clown get his sword in a defensive position already. Without a warning, she charged towards him and swung as hard as she could, missing by a bit due to the demon stepping to the right. “Always expect the unexpected, never think a target is open.” The advice was useful, but that didn’t make her blood boil any less. Spinning around, she tried hitting Clown but he blocked and pushed away her sword, it falling out of her clutch and onto the ground with a loud clatter. He looked… taken aback… by how easy that was.

Sighing, he picked it up for her and handed it to her and she snatched it back. “Let’s focus on the way you attack maybe?” Kab shook her head, remembering vividly explaining to Clown that she wanted to skip over that stage. “Then I can’t help you.” Freezing, she looked up at the demon who was eyeing her sternly. Grinding her teeth together, she glared at her sword, the same enchants as everyone else, she was just significantly worse at putting it to use.

“Fine. I’ll do your shitty posture improvement training.” Clown growled at that but didn’t say anything and just observed her as she held her sword like she always did. Harshly, the demon twisted the weapon in her hands so it was pointed higher up. Switching her hands, so that the right one was above the left one, he hummed lowly, almost like he was considering something. A tear pricked at her eye but she shook it off, promising herself that this would all be worth it in the end.

Clown scanned her for a moment before placing down two armor stands and doing the same right beside her. “When fighting, you have to know your enemy. Watch them.” Shuddering, Kab nodded carefully. “For example, some people may take their time and not take any risks, while some almost spam-click and hit at every opportunity they get.” Eyeing the demon, she tried to determine what kind he was but got ripped out of her thoughts. “You need to know which one your opponent is. Otherwise, your chances drop by way too much to win.” He stared at the armor stand.

“Oh, and some people also focus on defending, which is what I tried with you a bit ago. But it’s less common because it is quite useless, usually only used when they know they would lose in a regular fight.” Kab’s brain was overflowing with information but she managed to catch the general idea from that. “Most common type of swing…” Clown raised his sword above his head and slashed down onto the stand, making Kab jump and yelp quietly. The demon chuckled as he glared at the massive scar across the wood. “Overhead, also known as a simple crit. Many amateurs go for this, being the easiest to use. Although good, it does take a bit of charging up and is easily dodge-able since, well, no-one wants to be near someone holding a weapon above their head.”

She repeated the word ‘overhead’, thinking. That was the swing she had always used, not knowing how to do any of the other ones. An embarrassed blush spread across her cheeks as she realized that Clown had indirectly called her an amateur. “Next one…” Kab promised herself that she wouldn’t flinch, not this time. The demon tilted his sword so it was flat and hit the stand, making it nearly fall over. “Side-slash. Really useful since it’s hard to block. Also the quickest attack. However, it might be a bit hard to get used to since it’s easy to miss the target.” Blinking, she nodded slowly, somehow surprised that she was actually learning something from this.

Suddenly, Clown stabbed his sword directly in the middle of the armor stand and it broke apart, collapsing on the ground. Whole body tensing up, Kab cursed at herself mentally for getting startled at that. “I like to call that, the finishing stab. Only use it if you’re sure your opponent is low. Hardest, almost impossible, to block without a shield. But, it’s very easy to get hit right afterwards, which is why you only use it when they’re low, so they can’t strike you back.” Proud of himself, the demon collected the sticks and stones on the ground and shoved them into his pocket. “Those are the starter ones that I’ll teach you for now.” Kab nodded, not wanting to argue with that. “How about you show me your overhead?” Ignoring the lack of oxygen in her lungs, she took a step towards the armor stand. Raising her sword over her head, she crashed it back down and instantly snapped her head back up to look at the cut made, somehow not looking like Clown’s at all.

“Oh god. That’s so different from when you did it! Oh, I’m never gonna learn. I can’t do this, too hard,” she moaned, slapping her hands over her face and walking around in a circle. A scoff escaped the demon’s throat, not comforting at all. She noticed Clown scanning the slash she made with interest in his eyes and she already knew she was helpless.

To her surprise, he just shook his head. “No, that was good. Remember, not everyone has the same technique. We all find different things easier. Listen, try do that again, but focus on aiming it closer to the middle of the stand, alright?” Kab took a deep breath and a smile tugged at her lips as she followed his orders, hitting it again. They were silent for a few minutes while she waited for either Clown’s approval or disapproval. “Much better.” Her eyes lit up, way too excited over two words. “Remind me to work on your spin-sensitivity next training.” Even if she had no idea what those words meant together, she didn’t hesitate to tell him that she would.

Adjusting the armor stand back into place, he looked down at a piece of paper in his hands before back up at her. “Now, do continuous side-swipes with a two second pause in between each one. You’ll know when to stop.” Nervously holding onto the diamond sword, she turned it so that it was flat, just like Clown had, and hit it, missing entirely. “Lean in a bit more. Barely grazed it.” Pushing down on the ground with her feet and tilting her body towards the stand slightly, she swung again and actually hit it this time. A single chip of wood rolled onto the ground. Clown instructed her to aim a bit higher, so she did just that, but then he told her to make sure the sword was flat at all times, making her realize that it was almost directly pointed to the ground.

Steadying herself, she attacked the stand, all of the demon’s advice in mind. Hearing a pleased noise from him, she was about to stop but Clown told her to go on. Groaning under her breath, she repeated the action, again, again, and again until the stand couldn’t take it anymore and destroyed under her sword’s touch. Making an exhausted sound, she doubled over, heaving. “I can’t… how do fighters have so much stamina?!” Snickering, the demon pulled out a golden carrot and threw it up into the air, catching it perfectly.

“Golden foods are the jackpot for stamina.” Everything made sense now, why she was always mocked and teased for using bread as her main food source. Kab let out a small ‘oh’, earning a stifled laugh from Clown but he didn’t comment on it further. “You don’t need to practice the finishing stab one, at least I hope not.” The demon eyed her for confirmation, raising an eyebrow at her. Hastily, she blurted out that she wasn’t that bad and she heard the smirk in Clown’s voice. “Good.” Kab watched him as he leisurely paced between the chest and the broken armor stand, deep in thought. Without a word, he turned to study at her, seeming as if he was trying to decide what her capabilities were.

Clearing his throat, he finally spoke, “You know what? Maybe… Yeah. Okay. I have some potions that cuts off the nerve that allows us to feel pain. So, let me drink one real quick along with a healing pot so you can practice on a real human as much as you want.” Kab was silent as she watched him do just that before sliding on some simple un-enchanted iron gear and standing in front of her, crossing his arms. “Go on.”

Her heart pounded aggressively and regret bit away at her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on quite why. A reason came to her, maybe it was that she was attacking someone so… defenseless, not able to hit her back. Telling her to hurry up, Clown rolled his head instead of his eyes due to his mask blocking them. Taking a long breath, she walked up to him, hesitating. “Number one rule of fighting, no mercy. No matter who you’re against.” Kab understood this, she did, but she couldn’t help the regret wash over her as she struck the demon for the first time, watching him stumble backwards on instinct, but managing to stay on his feet and straighten himself.

Snapping her head away, she shook her head, whispering a quiet ‘I can’t’. Disappointed, Clown walked up to her. “I don’t feel pain. Just hit me. It literally doesn’t matter. I won’t care a single bit.” Sniffing, Kab refused to do it, putting her sword away, back into her sheath on her belt. It may seem easy to the cold demon, but she was a much more emotional and sensitive person, hating having to hurt people, which she had found out a while ago, was not ideal for PvP. Sighing softly, Clown said that he understood, even though he clearly didn’t. “Want a quick break?” Kab nodded, so they both sat down on two crafting tables, one block apart.

Calming down, she stared off in the distance, admiring the server, even if it wasn’t the most visually pleasing, it had some beautiful nostalgia in the air, making it feel incredibly welcoming. “This server is surprisingly peaceful to be called ‘The Deadliest Minecraft Server’.” Snickering, she glanced to the side, over at Clown, who simply shrugged and stated that it was usually more chaotic and it was only silent because the others were busy at their own bases. “Sure it is,” she replied sarcastically, gaining a light-hearted scoff from the demon. “Can we try normal PvP instead now?”

Clown darted his gaze at her, unsure if that was the best idea. Finally, he gave in and nodded, taking off his armor and making Kab squeal eagerly. “I’ll go really easy on you.” She rolled her eyes but thanked him. Standing on opposite sides of the fighting area, she took out her sword and got to her stance, ready whenever Clown was. “3…2…1… Go!” They rushed eachother and she immediately noticed how the demon tried to react slower and give her many chances of striking him. Gratefully, she took a few of them, but not every single one so she could take a few steps back to make sure she could dodge his attacks. Getting hit once, she winced and held her sword up in a defensive position while the weapons crashed together with a loud metallic shout.

Clown managed to get her up against a wall and paused to chuckle at her. Smirking, Kab stole this opportunity to push him and swing him around so their places had been switched. “No mercy.” Slicing at him, the death message appeared in chat and her eyes widened, both at her sudden burst of confidence, and at the fact that she killed him. She slapped a hand over her mouth, screaming at herself mentally. The demon’s voice spoke behind her but she didn’t quite catch the words. “Clown! Why didn’t you tell me you were low?! I wouldn’t have done that! Holy shit!” Panicking, she rushed up to him, apologizing profusely and gifting him back the heart she got upon murdering him.

“No mercy, am I right?” Clown snickered as she eyed him, worried. Kab started rambling about how she would get him in trouble since she was not even supposed to be here. “Don’t. That’s my problem, not yours.” Even if Clown assured her, she still couldn’t help regretting it and tried to tell him that he got a favor from her for literally anything he wanted but he shrugged, not wanting it. When she kept pushing, he groaned but accepted it. “Fine. But only to stop you from pestering me about it.” Kab nodded immediately.

A few voices emerged from the distance, making Clown open his enderchest and pull out his netherite gear, putting it on and clutching his axe. “Clown!” Parrot and a few bystanders stood around. “Who the fuck is Kabood…” he trailed off, laying his eyes on her. Awkwardly, she gave a small wave. Glaring at the demon for answers the avian tilted his head, confused.

Glancing back at Kab’s nervous expression, he eyed Parrot, who was still awaiting a proper answer from one of them. “Don’t worry. She’s just here temporarily… helping me with something!” He knew how unbelievable the lie was due to her killing him a few moments earlier, but just wished that they wouldn’t question it and simply move on. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and everyone was still standing there. “It’s nothing. She’s leaving soon anyway.” Parrot frowned at him, evidently not satisfied with that.

“You snuck someone onto the server?” Clown blinked, staying silent. Sighing, the avian made eye contact with the clueless Kab who was probably wishing she wasn’t there right now. “Well. Fine, just don’t so it again.” Nodding, the demon promised not to but he wasn’t too strict about the promises he made, and everyone knew that. Expecting them to leave, Clown turned to face Kab but grew confused when the others still stood there, observing.

Carefully, the demon darted his gaze between all of them before pausing on Parrot. “Do you… need something?” A grin grew on the avian’s face as he shook his head. He started explaining that, if they weren’t up to no good, then they wouldn’t have any problem being watched for a bit. Clown awkwardly stayed motionless before giving in, knowing they weren’t planning on leaving any time soon. It didn’t matter though, he didn’t care if they saw since they weren’t doing anything wrong.

Walking up to Kab, he spoke as normally as he could, not that he needed to since nothing was actually strange. “That was good. But in that, enderpearls would’ve been useful, right?” She nodded, wondering where this was going. Going back to the chests, he pulled out a stack of pearls, ignoring the whispers from the other members. He handed them to her and pointed to a target block that he had set up before, suspended on the top of a tree. “You can work on your aim. If you hit a bullseye, there’s a dispenser that’ll shoot out water so you won’t take damage when you fall, so keep doing it until that happens. Also don’t worry while falling, only does half-a-heart with no armor, tested.” Kab smiled at him in appreciation and backed up as far away as she could until she hit a wall and aimed the pearl. Taking a few seconds, she threw it and it completely missed the tree, making her trip over a twig on the ground and fall.

A snicker escaped Clown’s throat and she snapped her head to face the demon with strong hatred. “Don’t laugh at me, weirdo! I’m learning.” Getting up, she sprinted back to her previous position and didn’t even wait before throwing it, causing her to land in a pond a few blocks away from Clown. Swimming out, she sat on the ground sputtering and coughing, most likely accidentally swallowed some of the water when she landed. It took every muscle in the demon’s body to not start cackling and it was very obvious by the way his shoulders rose and dropped rapidly. “Shut up and help me up.” Clown scoffed and told her to help herself.

Grunting, Kab got up onto her feet and was about to throw an enderpearl again without a second of thought but the demon caught her attention. “Wait, don’t just rush to throw it. Take your time, otherwise you’re gonna land in an ocean next.” A wheeze traveled to his ears as he said that, reminding him of the audience beside them. Taking his advice, she stood there for a long while, staring at the tree. Eventually, she threw it and landed on the first red line of the target, sadly not the middle. She groaned and let herself fall down on the ground. “Make sure your only looking at the bullseye, not the tree, not the edge of the target, the bullseye.”

Kab took a deep breath, muttered something under her breath, and tried again. This time, she landed straight into the center of the target and water dispensed underneath her, protecting her from any fall damage she would have taken. Cheering loudly, she got up and zoomed around in joy. “I did it! Yippee!” Clown nodded and cheered in his usual monotone voice, sarcastically telling her that he was proud of her for managing to do the bare minimum. Scowling, she glanced at the other members before staring at him. “If you can embarrass me, I can embarrass you.” Everyone took a step forward so they would be closer and hear their conversation better. The demon tilted his head and asked her how she was going to do that.

Coughing shortly, she started in a baby voice, “How’s your husband that you love and care for with all your heart and compliment and hug and take on cutesy-lil wholesome dates all the time?” His face heated up instantly, not having expected her to bring Branzy up like that. Fiddling with the portal-opening device in his hands, used to hop between servers and worlds, he quickly opened one behind Kab as she spoke. “Oh and, not even mentioning your soft side with him! As secretive as you TRY to keep it, I can still hear you saying, ‘Don’t tell anyone I said this, but, Br—…” Her own yelp cut her off as Clown shoved her in the newly-formed portal without a pause. Clearing his throat and deleting the rift, he spun around and was met with the shocked faces of everyone who was there, gaping at him.

“You have a husband?!”

“You have a soft side?!”

Shaking his head, he denied both of these and clarified that she was lying, even though the only person lying was him. Remembering the first question, he hid his ring finger in his sleeve to make sure no one got a glimpse. “If I heard correctly, his name starts with ‘Br’?” Reddoons teased, making Clown’s hands shake in frustration as he snapped a loud ‘no’. However, this didn’t frighten away anyone and they only got even more intrigued with every guess of the mystery person’s name they blurted out.

“Brandon?” The demon shook his head sternly. “Br… Brock!” He shook his head. “Brady?” He shook his head again. “Brian?” And again. “Bradley..?” And again. They kept throwing out random names, even coming up with some ridiculous ones that weren’t even actual names or words, not any that had meanings at least. They weren’t getting any closer, that was until Ashswag decided to but in.

“Clown, I swear to go, if it’s that Branzy guy.” Everyone eyed the purple man, just remembering that him and Clown were, in fact, on a different server together, not just LifeSteal. Frozen, the demon didn’t answer, which was good enough of an answer for all of them. “Okay. What the fuck? Nah. I swear, you two can keep your weird ass lovey-dovey shit far away from me. Because that shit was strange as fuck.” Rolling his eyes, Clown scoffed and turned away from the crowd, gathering his essentials from the chests. People started asking Ashswag questions, and it was evident he didn’t enjoy answering them. “Bro. First time I saw them together on that server, Branzy called Clown MASTER.” Many of them backed up and shouted out multiple shocked ‘woah’s and ‘ayo’s.

Hearing someone cockily yelling ‘care to explain’ over the others’ voices, he briefly stared back at them before deciding they didn’t deserve an explanation and started walking into his house but Parrot stood in his way. “I mean, if you can invite a random friend of yours. Why don’t you invite your husband? I’m sure we’ll all love having him here!” Everyone nodded and Clown’s eye twitched as he was genuinely realizing that he was not going to get our of this one. Sighing in defeat, he replied with a ‘fine’ and was about to walk around the avian but was again blocked. “No, I mean right NOW.” Parrot smiled innocently, even though he was everything but.

Oh.

Oh, shit.

Chapter Text

Nervously, Clown clutched his phone with his DMs with Branzy open. Maybe, just maybe, could he get away with lying, and saying that his partner was busy? Probably not, but it was worth trying. “He’s busy. Can’t come right now.” The avian practically death-stared him, making the demon’s heart speed up ever so slightly.

Parrot rolled his eyes, “Is that so?” Clown didn’t respond. “That’s what I thought, now come on.” Smiling, the avian gestured for him to text Branzy. Sighing in defeat, he finally gave in and started typing hastily, making many spelling mistakes that he wasn’t bothered to go back and correct at the moment.

ClownPierce>
heey branzy
uhhmmr
soooo thr ppl on lifesteal kidna foiund out yu exists and know ur my husband and they rlely wanna meet you now soososoooooooo
wtff dod id do
arere you bsysy? sosrry if u arer but theye prob wowiuldnt believe me if i said that ansnd would defo justs wanna meet you another day.

BranzyCraft>
oh!
i’m not busy at all actually :D
i can come right now, if that’s what your asking? :)

Pausing, the demon hesitated before telling Branzy to come as soon as he can. Slowly, he put away his phone and started heading towards spawn. Parrot caught up to him and strode beside him, the others a bit further behind. “And where are you going?” Clown glared at the avian, surprised he hadn’t figure it out yet.

“Spawn… where new people spawn in?” Parrot’s eyes lit up as a grin sneaked onto his face, nodding. The demon couldn’t lie, he was nervous as hell, but seeing Branzy would probably help calm him down. Maybe. Possibly. Hopefully. A lump formed in his throat, making it increasingly harder to breathe but he hid it, not wanting to show how anxious he was.

When they reached spawn, everyone waited around patiently, not sure what to expect. The silence in the air was deafening, almost making his ears ring. A small sound appeared, a voice. And suddenly, there he was, his husband, standing in LifeSteal SMP. The members giggled and smiled, obviously intrigued. They all greeted him, making him smile warmly and say his ‘hi’s to each one of them.

Walking a bit, he stood a few blocks away from Clown and everyone waited, staring at them in anticipation, probably expecting them to kiss or something. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. “Hello… Branzy.” The scientist turned to him and waved politely. Everyone kept staring, making the two feel like animals in a zoo exhibit. “Uh…” Awkwardly, the demon glanced around, not sure if he should say something.

Luckily, Leo spoke up, asking about the ‘master’ thing. Branzy turned to face him. “Okay. When you put it like that, it sounds really bad!” He chuckled to ease his own nerves. “But actually, it’s cause Clown and I, before all of the SMPs, we used to ha—…” He cut himself off, thinking for a moment before turning to Clown. “Wait, does that exist here?” The demon hummed lowly before realizing what Branzy was talking about: magic. He shook his head, slightly disappointing the scientist but he remained cheery.

“Ah… Shame. Anyway, it doesn’t matter then, it’s not in a weird way, that’s all I can tell you.” Everyone’s eyes darted in between the two, probably wondering how two completely opposite souls ended up together. Smiling, Parrot eyed Branzy, and asked him about wholesome stories about Clown, causing the demon to snap his head towards the avian. “Ooh, well this one time,” He mentally pleaded that the scientist wouldn’t actually comply to Parrot’s wishes, “I saw a cute rabbit, just innocently hopping around and I pointed it out to Clown who, the kind-soul that he is, ripped it apart and turned it into a cozy and soft pelt.” A snicker escaped the demon’s lips as a warm feeling filled his stomach, adoring the man he chose to marry.

Everybody gaped at Branzy, as he kept ranting on about the gruesome things Clown had done. Rolling his eyes, Parrot repeated his question but replaced the word ‘wholesome’ with the word ‘sweet’ instead. “Ooo! I know a good one,” They all shuffled forwards, thinking they finally got him to expose the demon. “Basically, one time I told him that I was curious about what sweetened meat felt like, since I had never happened before. So he killed a rabbit, cooked it, put a lot of sugar on it and gave it to me. It was the sweetest! Not my favorite though. My favorite food is probably Clown.” Choking, Clown blurted out a quick ‘what’ and darted his gaze to his partner.

Branzy giggled, “Nah! Just messing with you, it’s probably donuts.” Caught off guard, the demon was glaring at the scientist, blinking harshly. He noticed the others’ expressions, resembling exactly how he felt like inside. Speechless, they tried to find questions to ask next but were completely lost.

Somehow, Reddoons was the first to find his voice. “Okay, hear me out. Hypothetically, who’s the big spoon, who’s the little spoon?” Branzy stayed silent and briefly looked over at Clown before clearing his throat and somehow finding a perfect answer, like he did with everything, whether that was with a problem or a question, he always knew how to respond.

“We’re not the touchy-type, either of us! We mostly just talk and keep eachother company.” It was scary how sincere Branzy sounded when he lied but he didn’t want to dwell on it for too long, at least not now. Carefully, Reddoons nodded and took a step back, having no more questions. Spoke let out a quick ‘ooo’ and the attention was averted to him as he asked them who started their relationship and who proposed.

Smiling, the scientist didn’t even stop to think about the answer, “Interesting question actually! Well, we kind of skipped over the boyfriend-boyfriend stage… we sorta just had a mutual unspoken agreement that we were dating. Then, I was the one to propose, very fun!” Spoke carried on, asking about the details of Clown’s reaction when Branzy had asked him. Glaring at the man, the demon evidently disapproved of the question but no-one payed his feelings any mind.

“Uhh… hmm. Well, like any other person would react! Minus the crying and squealing obviously.” Spoke was about to ask him to expand on that but Zam interrupted him with his own question, asking how long they’ve been together. This was the question that silenced Branzy for a good while as he tried to remember. “Quite a while… probably about, like, six years?” He glanced over at Clown for confirmation who just nodded.

Subz joined in, “Aww! Wait, that’s actually so cute!” A few people agreed making the demon’s cheeks heat up and feel as if they were on fire. He even noticed the gentle pink shade on the scientist’s face. The members all huddled together and started discussing, probably talking about what other questions they wanted to ask. This left Clown and Branzy to finally be able to talk freely, to some extent.

“They seem so curious about us!” Stifling a laugh, the demon just explained that it was because they wanted to find out if he had a soft side, but the scientist just nodded. “I know! But it’s nice, actually being open… it’s nice.” Pausing for a second, Clown soon nodded, agreeing, even if he was doing none of the talking, it was interesting to listen. Observing his friends, they were still talking, deep in conversation. “Can I give your mask a quick peck? For funsies?” Hesitantly, the demon sighed and faced his mask’s cheek towards Branzy, who kissed it quickly, making sure nobody would see.

Finally, the crowd turned around proudly and immediately blurted out questions. Someone asked if the scientist had ever seen Clown cry. “Nope! Never!” The demon raised an eyebrow at this. Branzy definitely had, was he just trying to make Clown out as being tough and strong? The idea alone nearly got a laugh out of him but he silenced himself, listening to the next questions.

Another person asked if the scientist had ever seen his face, which was a stupid question if you asked either of them. “Oh plenty of times! Sometimes doesn’t even wear his mask around me when we’re alone.” Multiple of them gasped and immediately asked for descriptions of his face but Branzy couldn’t make out a single word due to the overlapping of many people talking at once.

If Clown was in this situation, he would have gotten so overwhelmed right away and probably would have run away, but the scientist seemed as if he didn’t mind, he might even be enjoying this. The next question Branzy caught was asking about how many people were at the wedding. “It was an extremely small wedding, so only three people were there, not including Clown and I. Plus it happened on the day I proposed, so there wasn’t much time to prepare and invite people!”

When it quietened down a bit, Reddoons shouted out another question, “Have you guys fucked?” They both froze and the demon eyed him dangerously. Branzy, looking taken aback, only said a few ‘uh’s and ‘umm’s for a while before clearing his throat.

“That’s… a bit forward!” Chuckling quietly, the scientist tried to remove the thick tension in the air now. Reddoons pushed on, asking the same question again, gaining a gentle shove from someone else, also finding the question a bit much even if it wasn’t directed to them. “I’m just gonna move on from that. Any more questions?” Everyone glared at them, trying to decide, based on their reactions, if they had or hadn’t.

Parrot continued, “Okay, but HAVE you?” Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at the demon instead now, waiting for a response from him. Clown bit his lip, refusing to either deny or confirm that. “Come on! Simple question, simple answer! Yes, or no.” The avian fluttered his wings, enjoying this. The demon tried as hard as he could to ignore the beating in his chest, the lump in his throat, the tremble in his hands.

“Anyway, do I leave now? Do I stay for a bit? How does this work?” Slowly, Parrot thought for a moment before checking his inventory for something but cursing under his breath and pulling out nothing, probably because he forgot whatever he wanted, or something along those lines.

The avian glanced around at the others. “Well, you can stay for a bit. As a temporary guest!” That almost made Clown sigh in relief but he held it back, swallowing the sound back down inside of him. “I’m guessing you won’t need anywhere to stay…” Eyeing the demon, Parrot still looked back to Branzy to make sure, who shook his head joyfully.

The scientist’s lips curved upwards as he peeked over to the right, towards Clown. “Yup! I’ll be fine! Thank you.” Eventually, everyone accepted that this was the end and parted their own ways to resume whatever they were doing before this. The only people left now were him and Branzy. “Well that was… cool!” Scoffing, the demon shook his head.

“Not the word I’d use to describe it” Giggling, the scientist rolled his eyes, asking him what he would describe it as instead. “Something more like… painful.” Branzy snickered under his breath and muttered the word ‘amazing’ which Clown barely caught. “It was absolutely NOT amazing.” Pausing, the scientist stayed silent before cackling loudly, making Clown question himself.

“I was describing YOU.”

“What?”

“YOU’RE amazing.”

“…”

“…Thanks. You’re not too bad yourself.”