Chapter Text
The sound of running water permeated the bathroom, water swirling around the drain as fingers gripped the porcelain of the sink. A hand pressed to his chest, feeling the crimson stain of his latest kill still wet against the contrasting colour of his own hue. His eyes narrowed in repulse, fingers and thumb rubbing together as he grimaced.
Disgusting. Filthy. Insignificant.
Grabbing a few handfuls of paper towels from the dispensary and cleaning himself up. Bloodied, wet sheets tossed in the garbage as he rinsed whatever was left off of his hands before staring at his reflection placing his hands back on the sink. Contempt grew in his eyes as he remembered all that happened in the past hour. Who did that assassin think he was calling him such meaningless insults? It didn't matter anyways; he took solace in relishing in the carnage he caused as a heavy sigh left him as he regained composure.
"Fuck…"
The chime of a bell rang out delicately as the front doors to the establishment were pushed open inquisitively. It seemed… empty, though there was someone working the counter confirmed that it certainly wasn't closed. When asked, they silently gestured to the bathroom as they sorted through the cash register. Was someone injured? Sick?
She sat herself at one of the counter's many stools as she unfolded one of the menus as she struggled to consider what she'd be having at this time in the morning. Lost in thought, she managed to ignore the sound of the bathroom door nearby being loudly pushed open. Lucent eyes looking around, taking notice at how much less people had remained here since he entered not too long ago, although now his interest was fixated on the woman at the counter. She was petite, with long brunette hair, a bit of a plump physique but that's besides the point as unbeknownst to her two pairs of eyes glared at her in intrigue as he walked alongside the other unoccupied seats. He sat himself behind her, leg crossed across another with his arms folded against the marble of the counter.
The woman beside him took a while to notice his presence once she had looked up from whatever she was preoccupied doing. Her body jolted from the surprise before turning her focus to whatever was beside her. Sleek, cerulean skin and silky white braided hair and an abundance of colours and patterns across his clothes that caught her attention, subconsciously staring at him and taking in every unique feature on him. The alien beside her noticed, he definitely did. However he had already enjoyed himself earlier today, perhaps he’d play nice for now.
“You gonna say something? Or are you just gonna stare?”
His finger traced the countertop patiently as he slowly turned his glance to her. Upon realising how long she had been staring, the brunette quickly looked down to her feet, a look of embarrassed flush painted on her face, what a curious member of this species. Quite the tame reaction compared to the others who had feared him as the to-be conqueror of this miserable planet. Did she not catch his broadcast? He narrowed his eyes as thoughts ran through his head, trying to mentally piece together how this human woman operated.
“Um…” Her voice was meek yet sweet. A tremble in her voice as she fiddled with her dark sleeves that hung over her petite, delicate hands. “...What are you?”
The corner of his mouth crooked into a smirk, bemused by her innocence.
“So, you didn’t see it after all, huh?”
“See what?”
Their conversation was briefly halted as one of the waiters delivered a strawberry milkshake in front of the brunette, shooting a few worried glances at who she was conversing with, second-hand fear clearly stained across her face.
“The one I set up earlier today, about conquering your planet.” He focused all of his attention on her now as he watched her stir her straw in circles through her beverage, generally confused on how such a simple-minded species could miss such an important announcement. “You really didn’t see all that shit?” Maybe he should’ve had more bravado.
“I had my headphones in on the bus ride here.”
“I see.”
He pursed his green lips before staring back down at the countertop. His focus should’ve been on his appetite but this earthling seemed to have completely thrown him off his balance. She was lucky that he already got his fill of violence for the day.
“Well, if you ever feel like you’re worthy enough to fight for your shitty, garbage planet, you’re more than welcome to meet me at Damon Tower. Something to consider.” He smirked at that last part.
She didn’t reply. Maybe she wasn’t interested, or was she simply afraid? He sighed in agitation, he couldn’t get a good grip on this human’s behaviour at all compared to the others he’d met. She continued drinking her milkshake as he felt a creeping, gentle reminder that he should’ve ordered something for himself minutes ago.
Maybe coffee? He’s always seen Damon drinking that espresso shit at this hour of the day. The Prince would probably like it with sugar or milk, though.
“What’s your name?” He looked back to her puzzled by her inquiry. “I… I’m Tay.”
“...FU. But in your case you’d be addressing me as Lord FU.”
Their conversation was broken up by the vibration of her phone stowed away in her purse as she pulled up to look at it. No matter, he could focus on himself now. Especially with him finally deciding what he wanted to drink. He gave her occasional glances, maybe he was curious on what kind of people she occupied herself with, maybe one of her friends was asking her about the news. Would give her a good reason to show him some well-deserved respect and submission.
FU took a sip of his coffee. First time for everything, right? As the flavour settled more with the aftertaste, he looked back over to her drink. Maybe he should’ve just gone with what Tay was having. However one of his pairs of eyes caught something out of his peripheral vision, she looked… worried.
Maybe it was his announcement after all. It surely wouldn’t take long for coverage of it to spread his brutalities all over social media, though something was itching to ask what had gotten her to change her mood so fast as he rinsed the flavour out of his mouth with an extra sugar packet.
“What’s wrong?”
She looked back, paler than usual as she struggled to string the words together in a delicate manner.
“Nothing. Well… I- Someone I know died.”
Okay then, he was way off the mark with his guess. He clicked his tongue to get the remnants of sugar off the roof of his mouth as his mood changed a bit.
“Were you close? Like, friends?”
“Y-Yeah.”
His hands clenched a little, his knuckles tightened. As much as he hated to relate to a human or show any shred of weakness, it couldn’t be helped. Maybe he was still feeling melancholic, although the way he was handling his grief was a bit more extremist.
“I get that. One of my friends died too.” His emotions were mixed, death didn’t bother him at all. No, in fact he relished in it sometimes, but it certainly hit differently for a while. It made him mad enough to do things. Violent things. “Do you know how your friend died?”
She nodded as she glanced back to her phone for updates on the situation. She looked to be more at ease finding comfort in FU’s words.
“Um… You know that motel in Santa Destroy? Someone showed up earlier and…” She couldn’t finish her words as anxiety clogged her throat. FU perked up fully upon hearing her story. She couldn’t possibly be… Now things started getting really interesting…
She’s one of them? Friends with that… assassin. Seems like she’s been kept out of the loop until now too.
He could see it vividly; how easily he could wring her neck in his hands, her blood staining his hands, the anguish it’d cause her little friends knowing they were none the wiser to their friend’s murder with not a single one of them being aware of how it was happening. No… he couldn’t let himself get carried away with such an opportunity. One of the unscathed friends of that “Travis Touchdown” was sitting just a few inches away from him without knowing how much danger she was in. He had to play his cards right. She stood up suddenly cramming her phone into one of the pockets of her purse.
“I-I’m sorry. I should get going.”
Shit. If he didn’t act now, he’d lose his chance.
“Hey. Do you want to stay in contact?”
“What?” She clutched the strap of her purse, her face flushed. “You… want my phone number?”
“Yeah. I guess that’s how you do it on this planet.”
She swallowed nervously, her face was a noticeable shade of pink as she nervously fiddled with the zipper trying to open it.
“I’ve… never had a guy ask for my phone number before.”
He tilted his head puzzled at her timid response. Did she think he was trying to court her?
“Yeah? Well one’s asking right now.” He rolled his shoulders back looking more lax than before. “Don’t leave me hanging, Tay.” He pulled out his own phone, how confusing and primitive this tech was compared to the communication devices on his home planet. “...Actually, you mind helping me figure this out?”
After exchanging contacts, she took a good double check of his contact information to make sure she didn't get anything wrong.
“Jess-Baptiste?”
“The sixth.” He corrected as he put his phone away. “Don’t call me that in the future by the way. Just “FU” is fine.”
“Jess…” She hummed softly, mumbling it a few times under her breath, fidgeting with her sleeves. He watched her confused but fascinated by her mannerisms as she briskly walked out from where she came from. To say the prince was overwhelmed by his encounter was an understatement.
The familiar ding of the elevator reaching its destination rang out as the doors separated as FU stepped through making sure not to let his horns hit the door on the way out, carrying a pastry in one of his hands from his venture earlier.
“FU, you’re back.”
“‘Sup, Damon.”
FU lounged back in his throne, taking a bite out of his snack as he looked over towards his friend. “So, turns out we’ve got a lot to fuckin’ unpack.”
Damon shook his head agreeingly, though he didn’t want to know the details of what sort of chaos he was causing, there was a part of him that felt compelled to know what specifically needed to be unpacked, and whether or not he was interested at all, FU would be telling him about it anyways.FU licked some icing off his fingers as he recalled the incident at the diner.
“So, Damon. I met a girl. She’s friends with the assassin. Travis Touchdown.”
“Did she try anything?”
“No. Hell, she didn’t even know who I was.”
Damon clutched the periwinkle fabric of his coat. He felt his blood vessels tighten at every mention of Travis’s name, his friend group was just barely exempt from the same treatment. He wondered which one in specific FU had encountered, or more intriguing, whether they were alive or not.
“Did you… Did you kill her?”
He tried to maintain composure, pushing down his frustrations as FU’s eyes lit up. The alien stayed silent for a few seconds as he sat up more and pulled out his phone, showing Damon the screen.
“No, not quite. But… I did manage to get this instead.”
He smirked, her contact info present on the screen for Damon to see. He did recall hearing of a “Taylor Sundown” who was affiliated with Travis. They never met face-to face, but he was quick to assume that she was about as much of a violent miscreant as Travis was.
“You know what this means right, Damon? It means I have a way to get closer to their inner circle. Find out all their little weak points, their blind spots. I mean, it’s playing a little dirty, I get it, but as long as it’s not getting in the way of the rankings, it shouldn’t be an issue, right?”
Damon’s lips pursed. Whether or not he had any empathy or not for this woman, it was still a manipulative and undeniably selfish play from FU, but it was also an unsurprising one. It’s not like he’d be able to influence him to stop either, not that he had any desire to do so.
“So, you’re going to go on little dates with her to get closer to Travis?”
“What!? No! Seriously, what’s with-”
FU paused for a bit to think over his accusation. He recalled her flushed face when he asked for her number, how delicate and fragile she looked with her soft face turning such a pink hue. She was so timid over such a simple request for her number due to her inexperience with intimate relationships. “Dates” seemed like an avenue worth exploring. He stared back at his phone, thumb idling over the texting tab.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea, Damon. Clever boy.”
Damon’s gaze shifted away, as the alien’s blue hand ruffled his hair from his throne in a playful manner like one would an animal. It felt patronising, and Damon loathed it, fixing his hair as he watched FU still looking over his phone. He wouldn’t involve himself with whatever FU was planning, just to idly watch on the side like he’d done since he arrived here. Thank God he had plans tonight that’d get him out of here, maybe his secretary could placate FU in his stead.
FU sat there struggling to find the terms to send at least one text to this woman. Not because of an inexperience with the tech, but because he simply didn’t know how to word all of this. He had never even had the slightest thought of having some sort of intimate relations with anyone else. He was Prince Jess-Baptiste VI; the King of Destruction, he simply couldn’t bother taking the time to settle down and date someone else. He considered himself a very picky man after all.
Fuck. Why’s this shit too hard to figure out!?
This was all just pretend to him, but he thought of how far he’d even need to go to pull this off. Maybe he should start with a friendly outing? No. She probably had too many friends, it’d make him less of a priority. It had to be a date. Maybe this would be harder than he thought…
“What’s wrong? Are you gonna ask her out, FU?”
“Fuck off, Damon. I don’t see you getting girls’ numbers. Mind your fucking business.”
I’m losing my cool over a girl. What the fuck’s wrong with me!?
“Anyways. I’m going out tonight, FU. Let my secretary know if you need anything.”
“Yeah, and I bet it’s not going to be a date, either.”
Damon’s throat was lumped with agitation. All he could do was exhale through his nose loudly as they both managed to try and contain their mutual frustrations. FU narrowed his eyes as Damon entered the elevator before focusing back on his phone. Might as well bite the bullet.