Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Elliot was in the kitchen by himself, cleaning up. The sun was set, and the lights were dim in his cabin. He was just cleaning up his mess after making dinner for his allies. There was no need for him to cook for everyone, but considering if anyone else just stepped foot in this kitchen it wouldn't be standing any longer; so he took the initiative to make sure everyone had something on their plate. If that were to even happen, he would have felt it was his fault anyways, so he just took the responsibility. Elliot drowned out the chattering of the others in the dining room and just cleaned in silence. It's not like he didn't like hanging out with everyone, he actually loved the company, but sometimes it's nice to listen to his own thoughts. Shedletsky talked about Ell hanging out with everyone else instead of keeping to himself busy with chores but he insisted on staying in the kitchen to clean up his mess. This time of day sometimes reminds him of his pre-Forsaken days, at his job. The only difference is that sometimes the others would stop by, to see if he ate or how he was holding up. It was nice to think they thought of him highly enough to even be worried about his feelings. No one ever stayed long, sometimes someone like Noob would just drop by to grab something from the fridge, and leave with a wave.
When Elliot heard footsteps he thought it was gonna be exactly that, but when he picked up on the sound of a coin flipping he knew it was gonna be different. Not a bad kind of difference, he actually liked when the gambler would stop by. Well he wouldn't just stop by, they'd find any excuse to stay even if it was in silence. Elliot wasn't exactly the best at making a conversation, and neither was Chance. He'd always bring something irrelevant just to continue the conversation. One time they were talking about their latest round together, laughing about how Chance’s gun went off on himself when trying to save Elliot from Jason. Yet when the conversation got just a bit too quiet he brought up something about baking with him one day. It was very unlikely because of his cooking skill, but he was smiling just at the thought of it.

“What are you smiling about?”
Chance questioned with smirk and one last flip of his coin. Elliot flinched when he heard the gambler's voice. He wasn't scared of it but was caught off guard. If anything, their voice was low, and calm to Elliot. He liked hearing this voice, no matter what the topic, but he would never admit that out loud. So instead of saying what he was actually thinking, Elliot whipped the smile and probably blush from his face and looked up at his friend.

“Oh, nothing!”
Elliot stuttered, caught red handed in his little revery. Which was always easy to tell because he'd get all giggly, and this time wasn't different. This made Chance chuckle a bit, hovering their hand over his smile. Oh how Elliot wishes he didn't try covering his face with whatever he thought looked better. Ell would sometimes try to watch for if he'll take off his glasses, or his fedora, just to see a glimpse of what they try to hide. He couldn't be caught twice in the span of a minute though, so he focused his attention on cleaning.

“You need help with that?”
Chance asked, pointing towards the spot Elliot was scrubbing with a wash rag. There wasn't even a stain there, he just needed something to do with his hands. Ell noded, and handed the cloth to Chance. They started to whip down the counter but not even a second later he stopped to talk about how Shedletsky was messing with Twotime and their spawn earlier while he was cooking. This didn't even bother Elliot much, he just smiled and started cleaning a different area. Chance didn't mind that the most in response he would get was a hum, he could tell Elliot was listening to his little rants even if he didn't add much commentary.
The kitchen was spotless, Chance didn't really make the cleaning go any faster but it went easier with their company. and they eventually moved out of it. The two of them went to sit on the couch with the others that were still awake. Chance wasn't just talking to Elliot but Taph as well, guest, and whoever was up to listen. Elliot was still listening, but he wasn't sure if he was gonna be up for much longer. He rested his head on Chance's shoulder, thinking he could just listen with his eyes closed. Ell would try to catch a glimpse of their eyes under their glasses but didn't want to be caught in the act again so he just observed their hand gestures, not having anything else to focus on while trying to keep himself awake. But it just put him to sleep faster.

Chapter Text

It was the crack of dawn, the sun was just coming out. The sky was beautiful, emitting a pink and baby yellow sunrise.
Normally this wasn't something Azure would see on a daily basis considering he likes to sleep it. Yet today was different, he wanted to take their partner out to see the sunrise with them. Even though their said partner had to wake him up themself, they appreciated the thought. Twotime might be morning person but they aren't the type of person to go out and smell the morning air, so when Azure asked the cultist to accompany them on his morning activity, they didn't know he was going to have to drag them by the hand to get them out of the cabins. Although they didn't mind, they couldn't help but be curious where their loved one was taking them. He was smiling ear to ear so Twotime assumed wherever they were going was good. When the two of them got close to wherever they needed to be, Azure told Twotime to close their eyes. This got him a questioning look.. But Twotime compiled and put their hands over their eyes to stop themselves from peaking.
When they got to where they needed to be, the buddhist asked their partner to stay put while he went to grab something. While he was gone, the spawn follower took in their surroundings. They took in that they were in some kind of field, one on a hill, considering they had to walk up one to get here. It wasn't that breezy so they know it's not that high up. They tried to take a few steps each and every direction with their eyes still closed to get familiar with his surroundings but the sound of one's footsteps approaching came up so they stood still.

“This better not be something stupid, the spawn is watching you know.”

Twotime let out with a chuckle. Which Azure reciprocated unintentionally.
He didn't say anything in response, but instead grabbed ahold of their hands and held them out, putting something circular in them.

“You can open them now.”
Azure spoke, letting go of Twotime’s hands, and they did just that. They looked around, seeing nothing but flowers. Not just any flowers, but nightshades, their favorite. There were even some in his hands, but these ones were shaped into a little crown. They immediately put it on top of their head, wearing it with joy. Azure was already smiling, being able to tell they liked his gift, which made Twotime smile as well.

“They're the same color as your eyes.. that's kinda why I like them.”

Twotime announced, taking in their partners eyes, comparing them to their surroundings.
Azure turned his head away at this compliment, covering their face with his scarf. Two noticed him getting flustered, so he took another look at their surroundings and sat in a patch of grass, patting a spot next to them for his lover. There wasn't much conversation between the two of them, but they didn't need that. Twotime placed their head on his partner's lap, and held his left, free hand. When Azure looked down at their beloved they stuck up a conversation.

“It's a nice break from.. you know.. Thanks.”

Twotime spoke in a whisper, like they're afraid of someone listening in. They took a look at Azure, taking in his smile before looking off into the sunrise.

“You know.. all the talk about respawning has made me curious.. I wonder if we'll ever do it ourselves, and not just the spawn.”

Azure questioned.. not asking anyone directly to answer, but letting it float out there in case someone.. anyone had an answer. This caught the young cultist off guard. They were a bit offended at first, but their face filled with worry for their fear partner.

“Possibly.. but it's best to not question the spawn.”
Two answered, their voice barely above the pitch of a mouse.
Although the follower had an answer, the question still lingered in his mind.
The silence that filled the air after Twotime’s response made it worse.

“Two.. I'm not going to respawn.”
Azure said, although his voice a bit darker now. Their heart dropped, brows furrowed with worry, but when they went to look at their partner above them.. suddenly they were on top now. There were still nightshades around their lover, but instead of the purple that reminded them of their beloved eyes, they were now crimson with blood. Along with the dagger they were now holding. It wasn't the crack of dawn anymore, if anything it was pitch dark now. The soft morning breeze was replaced with an eerie silence.. and the voices in their head.

“No, no. They said you would. You have to.”

Twotime exclaimed, their voice shaking with nervous chuckles seeping out. They dropped their dagger and looked at their bloody hands with a manic smile on their face. Even if Two was smiling ear to ear there were still tears drops that fell to their hands and onto the limp corpse they remember loving... even if the blood was warm to the touch, it still sent shivers down their spine.
They did this. It wasn't the spawns fault, it was theirs. They must have done it wrong, or- or it wasn't the right time. Maybe the spawn needs two sacrifices. Yeah! That's it, one is always better than two.
They picked the dagger back up and placed it up against their stomach, and didn't waste any time to use it exactly like they did on Azure.