Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the abandoned, forgotten desert, a wooden stake painted yellow-green stuck out of the sand. The petals of the flowers placed at the base of it were beginning to wilt from the hot, hot sun. It beat down on the stake now, not a single cloud in the sky—only chaos forces that had escaped Inkopolis long, long ago.

The quiet tranquility surrounding the stake was suddenly broken, by a winged figure landing onto the sand, scattering its particles in all directions. The winged figure stood up straight, glancing around as he spread out his dark wings. Before long, his eyes—deep blue, with electricity deep within them—landed on the yellow-green stake.

It seemed it wasn't forgotten after all.

This person wasn't just any Inkling with dark, feathered wings. He was the feared Chaos Lord of Splatsville.

And yet, despite his reputation, he was back here, to visit an important piece of his past.

The Chaos Lord walked up to the stake, stopping just in front of it. He observed the dryness of the flowers for a few moments, before saying—

"Hey Riri."

The lonely grave of a person long dead didn't answer, of course.

"Uh…it's been a while, huh?" the Chaos Lord—Raven—said. "I've…I've been busy. I, uh, I'm the Chaos Lord now…did you know that, Riri?"

Raven paused for a few moments, as if waiting for a response.

"Everyone…everyone respects me now…they bow down to me with the fear that…uh…if they don't, they'll be killed."

Raven sighed. "Which…to be fair…that's probably something I'd do."

More silence.

"Yeah…I know, that's pretty tyrannical of me. But…I don't have much of a choice, now. They're scared of me, and it needs to stay that way. Or else, I…I don't know what would happen."

"I…miss you. I miss you, I miss my friends, and I miss the way things used to be…the closest to that I can get is the Chaos League. A group of…friends, though everyone thinks they're my henchmen or something."

"But the truth, Rider? I just don't want to be alone."

Rider. That was the name of his dead lover. Not Riri, that was just a cute nickname. Rider.

He had been strong. Stronger than anyone Raven knew. Stronger than anyone Goggles knew.

He had been strong even when he was bleeding out from that stab wound.

"I hope you're doing well, wherever you are." It had taken this long for tears to form in Raven's eyes. "If there's an afterlife…if you're up there with Team Blue…I hope it's better than this apocalypse. I hope you're happy, Rider."

"Also…I brought something for you."

In his hand, Raven had been holding another wooden stake—this one painted blue. He placed it next to the yellow-green one, planting it firmly in the sand.

Though there was no body to bury under this stake, it too marked a person who had died.

His name was Goggles.

And it was only natural that his stake should be right next to Rider's, because the two of them had loved each other so, so much.

"I…wonder if Goggles is up there, too," Raven said, wrapping his arms around himself as his gaze drifted up to the sky.

The tears were flowing out of his eyes steadily now, and he just stood there for a while, sniveling softly.

Grieving the loss of Rider. Grieving the loss of Team Blue.

And grieving the loss of Goggles himself.

Eventually, Raven found it in himself to at least rearrange the flowers a bit so they lay in front of both stakes.

He could almost imagine Goggles and Rider holding hands right below him. Lovers forever, even in death.

—

Army stared at the paper in front of him, a pen gripped in his shaking hand.

There were words on the paper, but what was the point of them? They were worthless, worthless, worthless—they simply wouldn't do.

Army took the paper in his hands, crumpled it up, and tossed it aside. It bounced off a pile of several other crumpled balls of paper.

He was about to pick up another piece of paper when somebody entered his room. Army turned around to see a familiar face—the one of his boyfriend, Aloha.

"Hello, dear," Army said, hoping Aloha wouldn't notice the pile of crumpled paper—

"I have…something to ask you," Aloha said.

"Oh, of course," Army said.

"I…" Aloha hesitated, as he sat down on a chair. "Y-you know Raven?"

"Uh, yeah? He's the Chaos Lord," Army said. Of course he knew that the Chaos Lord had changed his name to Raven recently—his name before was obsolete now.

"I…uh…" Aloha seemed very nervous for some reason— "I think I like him."

Army went silent and wide-eyed for a few seconds, before starting to say, "You mean—"

"Romantically? Yes."

"Th-the Chaos Lord—"

"I may have kissed him."

"You what?!"

After Army's exclamation, the room was silent for a few seconds.

"I mean…" Aloha continued, "we did say our relationship was open—"

"Yes. It's not about that, it's about the fact that you kissed the Chaos Lord, Aloha."

"I was wondering if—"

Army sighed. "You can date him if you wish, Aloha. I…I'm fine with that."

"R-really?" Aloha stammered.

"As long as you still love me, and don't ditch me for a powerful dictator."

"That won't happen, love," Aloha said, taking Army's hand. "I'll always love you, okay?"

At this, Army smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Aloha's lips. "And I'll always love you, Aloha."

There was one thing Army didn't admit—he wasn't ready to.

He didn't admit that he was jealous of Aloha…because he had managed to kiss Raven.

He didn't admit that those crumpled up papers had been several failed drafts of a written confession.

He didn't admit that he, too, was in love with the Chaos Lord.

Chapter Text

Vintage stood over the bloodied body of…somebody, they could barely even remember who the victim was. Who they were before Vintage's knife plunged into every crevice of their body.

The victim's blood was splattered all over Vintage's hands and jacket and knife, but the vampire squid barely gave a shit.

That's what corruption gave you. Murderous urges—and when acted upon, little to no remorse.

As Vintage stared down at the body and contemplated, they suddenly heard a voice behind them.

"Hey, good kill, Vin."

"Don't you dare call me that." Vintage turned around to see the person the smug, accented voice belonged to. "—Emp."

"What an undignifed way to refer to a king." Emperor's arms were crossed as he leaned against the wall.

"You're delusional."

"Thank you."

Vintage sighed. "And confusing," they said, before fishing a small box of cigarettes out of their pocket. Emperor simply stared at them as they lit one and put it in their mouth.

"What's that stare for? You want one?" Vintage said, before puffing out smoke into Emperor's face.

Emperor coughed at the cigarette smoke before wheezing, "You have got to cease that disgusting habit."

"I said it once and I'll say it again, the unhealthiness of smoking doesn't matter in the fucking apocalypse."

Emperor didn't say anything.

"What's the matter?" A smug smirk spread across Vintage's face. "Do you want to try again?"

Emperor scowled at Vintage, then snatched their cigarette away from them and put it into his mouth.

This angered Vintage. "At least ask first—"

Emperor didn't acknowledge the rudeness of this. Instead, he just took a drag of the cigarette and blew out smoke into Vintage's face.

"How does that feel? To be disrespected?" Emperor said.

Emperor laughed as Vintage fanned the smoke away from their face. And, once they were able to breathe, Vintage started laughing too.

"Emp, you're such a fucking idiot," Vintage said, elbowing Emperor teasingly.

"You're even more so," Emperor said. And then, as if he thought they wouldn't notice, Emperor took Vintage's hand in his.

Vintage did notice this, of course. And they blushed and gave Emperor a glare, but they didn't reject the gesture.

"We should get back to the Chaos Tower," Vintage muttered, glancing back at the corpse covered in stab wounds.

"And take care of that body, I assume?" Emperor said.

Vintage hesitated before saying, "Nah."

—

"This really shouldn't be this difficult," Shadow Goggles said, his ghostly form emitting static as he hovered above Raven. The Chaos Lord himself sat at a desk, a paper with messy handwriting in front of him.

"I'm not experienced in the actual governing part of all this!" Raven whined, slamming his face on the desk. He then lifted it slightly to squint at the writing he had down—writing about a new, tyrannical law to be put in place.

Being a dictator was all fun and games until you actually had to rule the city.

"C'mon, it's just making a new system for citizens of Splatsville to follow. Not that difficult at all."

"It is for an idiot like me…" Raven mumbled.

"Didn't that idiot die along with Ri—"

"Shut the fuck up, Shaggles."

"Not my name."

As Raven groaned and placed his face onto the paper again, somebody suddenly came into the room. He immediately sat up and glared at the person who had burst in—but his gaze softened when he saw that it was Aloha.

"Allie…" Raven said—

"I have good news, Ravey." Aloha had a smile on his face as he said this.

Raven raised his eyebrows. "Do you mean—"

"We can be boyfriends!" Aloha ran forward and suddenly wrapped Raven in a hug, and at this, Raven didn't know what to do. He just stood there, muscles tensed, as Aloha pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"S-so…are we official…?" Raven muttered.

"I mean, if you want to be!" Aloha pulled away from the hug but held Raven's hands in his. "Y-you did enjoy that kiss the other day, right?"

"Well, yeah, of course, but…"

"What's the matter?"

"Is this…okay…? Like, I love you too, but you're also technically my henchman and—"

"Pfft, are there suddenly rules about this? We can do whatever we waaant~!"

Raven hesitated, before leaning in and pressing a long kiss to Aloha's lips. Aloha leaned into the kiss, cupping Raven's face as they pressed their lips together passionately.

No tongue got involved in the kiss—at least, not before Raven pulled away and said, "Nobody but Army can know about this, okay?"

"Awww, why noooot~?"

"It'd ruin my reputation," Raven said. "The Chaos Lord…doesn't kiss members of his Chaos League."

"So the people of Splatsville wouldn't bow down if they thought you were gay?"

"I mean, they probably already know that, but if they knew that I was gay for you—"

"What's wrong with me?"

"Are you not hearing me? You're part of the Chaos League, you're supposed to work for me."

Aloha sighed. "Okay…fine, dear."

Raven couldn't help but to blush at the nickname. He didn't say anything else.

He didn't want to say anything else. What needed to be said had been said, and now—

Raven kissed Aloha again. And it wasn't long before this kiss did involve tongue.

And as Raven savored the feeling of Aloha's tongue against his, he could sense his shadow hovering above him.

"This is…rather unprofessional of you," was all he said. "Don't you care about being intimidating?"

Raven's mouth was too busy to respond verbally, but he did send a thought to his shadow.

They'll never know if it isn't public.

—

Soon enough, the makeout session was over, and Raven found himself alone with his shadow once again. He simply ignored said shadow as he walked over to his mirror.

His eyeliner was smudged, and there were remnants of Aloha's pink lip gloss on his lips and cheeks. He looked…quite unprofessional, but that was what having a boyfriend did to you, apparently.

As Raven redid his eyeliner and wiped the lip gloss off his face, he could hear his shadow talking behind him again.

"So…the people like this new Raven identity, huh?"

"Just one person," Raven muttered.

"But he likes you. He loves you. So much that he's willing to put his tongue in your mouth."

"What's your point?"

"You're not as alone as you thought you were, Raven."

Raven didn't say anything at this, but he did stop applying eyeliner, eyes widening.

He slowly turned around to face his staticky shadow.

"You…you really think so?"

"You always whine about missing your friends, missing Rider. But people love this new identity, Raven. They're worshiping you, bowing down to you…and I bet Aloha's not the only one who wants to kiss you."

Raven blushed at this, but Shadow Goggles just continued.

"My point is, you're not alone. Your new life is wonderful and full of love, and there's no need to even think about your old one."

At hearing this, Raven dropped his eyeliner pencil in shock—and realization.

He had always mourned his life before the apocalypse…

But he no longer needed to.

Because he was no longer alone.

Goggles was dead, and in his place was Raven.

Raven was an evil dictator, and yet…

People loved him.

And, standing there in front of the mirror, the Chaos Lord made another realization.

If Aloha and all those other people really did love him…

He could do whatever the hell he wanted.

There was no need to hold himself back anymore. He didn't need to seek love from people who were dead and gone—and from people who no longer mattered.

Even if, deep down inside, he still loved those people. It didn't matter anymore.

Chapter Text

Aloha's heart was still beating fast when he left Raven's room.

He could hardly believe it…he had pulled the Chaos Lord.

Aloha hummed to himself, a skip in his step as he walked to find Army. He wondered how his lip gloss looked right now—probably smudged, but Raven was a really good kisser—

His radio, stuffed carelessly in his back pocket, suddenly came on. And through it came Mask's voice.

“Uh, heyyyy, somebody wants to assassinate the Chaos Lord.”

"Again?!" Army exclaimed. That's when Aloha realized that in his thoughts about Raven, he had barely prosessed what Mask said.

He picked up the radio and pressed the button on the side. "Heyyy~ What's up, Masky~?"

"Did you not hear what she just said?" Army asked.

"Nope~!" At least Aloha was telling the truth, somewhat.

“Somebody wants to assassinate the Chaos Lord…multiple somebodies, actually," Mask said.

"Oh." Now that Aloha truly knew the situation, he became a lot more serious. "That's…not good."

"Barely an issue," Aloha heard Skull say. “The Chaos Lord is impossible to assassinate. He would never let that happen.”

"Not just the Chaos Lord," Army said. "We won't let that happen."

Aloha smiled at Army saying this—because he was right. The rest of the S4 all at least respected Raven, and with Aloha being his official boyfriend—cod, he could still hardly believe that—Aloha was not down to let him get killed.

Well, he does have lightning powers, Aloha thought, stuffing the radio back into his pocket. Ravey's really hard to assassinate. He'll be fine…

Right?

—

And now, Aloha had a secret to keep.

He may have been a little bastard, but if Raven asked him to do something, he sure as hell was going to do that.

Raven had asked him to keep the relationship between him and Aloha a secret. Aloha was certainly going to do that—yes, nobody else in the Chaos League except for Army knew about it.

Now Aloha was walking with the rest of the S4 through Splatsville, and he felt rather proud of himself. What a good secret keeper he was! Mask and Skull had no clue!

"Aloha, stop daydreaming," Skull said, snapping Aloha out of his thoughts. "We have a job to do."

"Oh yeah, of course!" Aloha said, pretending that said daydreaming was not about Raven…again. "We gotta…make sure everyone's being good, right?"

"That nobody is disrespecting the Chaos Lord's rule," Army said.

"Aloha, you know this. We do this patrol at least once a daaaay," Mask sighed.

"Yeah, of course I know!" Aloha said. "Who said I didn't know?"

Skull groaned. "You're exasperating."

"Thanks~!"

With that, the walk through the streets was awkwardly silent for a few more minutes. At least, until the S4 came across a group of Inklings, mint-green in color. In response to this, the S4 all hid themselves behind a wall, listening to the group's conversation.

"Pssh, I wouldn't worry about it," one of the Inklings said. This guy was wearing three pairs of sunglasses for some reason, two of them stacked on his head. It looked incredibly tacky. "The Chaos Lord barely even knows how to run a city."

"Y-yeah, but he's dangerous," another Inkling said. "He created an entire death game…"

"And it was horribly planned out and messy," the sunglasses-wearing one said. "Face it, he doesn't know what he's doing. He'd be easy to overthrow."

"Uh…lightning powers aside?"

"Okay, fine, he's strong physically, but not mentally. We just need to outsmart him."

The S4 had heard enough. They suddenly revealed themselves from behind the wall, and Mask and Skull went ahead and restrained the sunglasses-wearing Inkling, forcing his hands behind his back.

"Wha-what?!" the Inkling exclaimed. "Who-who are you guys?!"

"We're part of the Chaos League, under the Chaos Lord," Army stated, taking out a pair of handcuffs and latching them around the Inkling's wrists.

"Yeahhhh, and you know the laws around here~!" Aloha chimed in. "Talk shit, get hit! Or something like that."

"You know you shouldn't be disrespecting the Chaos Lord," Skull said. "There will be consequences."

"Especially if you do it so damn loudly. Are you stupid?" Mask added.

"Pl-please…! I didn't mean it…!" The Inkling stammered. Mask and Army held him back, and the rest of the mint-green group tried to fight against the S4, but to no avail—Skull and Aloha fought them back with ease.

Aloha loved the feeling of adrenaline in his veins as he fought against those three Inklings. But soon enough, it was over, and the S4 was walking back with the sunglasses man in handcuffs.

Their prisoner.

—

Soon enough, Mask and Army flung the prisoner onto the ground in front of Raven—the Chaos Lord. One of his sunglasses pairs fell off his head as this happened, but before he could grab it, Raven stomped on it, breaking it.

"M-my…" the prisoner stammered. On the way to the Chaos Tower, the S4 had learned his name was Trisun.

"Your precious sunglasses?" Raven said in a mocking tone. "Tell me, why do you need three pairs?"

"S-so I can look…dazzling…"

Aloha couldn't help but to chuckle quietly at this. Was this guy serious? Stacking three sunglasses on his head in an attempt to look dazzling? He didn't know the first thing about fashion.

If Trisun wasn't about to die, maybe Aloha would give him some tips.

As Raven called Trisun pathetic and sat upon his throne, Aloha couldn't help but to smile, subtly swooning at his beautiful, edgy boyfriend.

"You know he was defying your rule. Talking shit about you, or whatever you call it," Army said.

"Oh, is that so~?" Raven said. "Tell me, dazzle man, what did you say?"

"I…I'm sorry—"

"What the fuck did you say about me?!"

Aloha watched as Trisun shook in front of Raven, and wondered if the prisoner was going to confess. He wondered what Raven was going to do to him once he did—

"Just some stuff about how…stupid you are…"

Aloha sucked in a breath. He knew Raven hated being called stupid, it was a particularly sore spot for him—considering his past reputation. His heart then started to pound as the lights in the throne room began to flicker—even though he knew it wasn't a threat, at least not to him personally.

"Stupid…?" Raven said, his frown deep and dark.

"Your Evilness, what should we do about this criminal?" Army asked. "Is an execution in order?"

"An execution…sounds like a great idea," Raven said. "But…I don't think it's necessary."

This confused Aloha. "What do you mean? I thought you loved seeing people die."

"Well, our Chaos League could always be bigger."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Trisun stammered.

With a laugh, Raven said, "Trisun, have you ever wanted to work under the most powerful guy in the Splatlands?"

Trisun shook his head, but Raven continued. "Well, too bad! Show me your wrist, Trisun."

Trisun held out his wrist, and Raven proceeded to do the same thing he had done with every other member of the Chaos League—even Aloha himself.

In seconds, Trisun was branded with a lightning bolt symbol.

"Welcome to the Chaos League, dazzle man. Enjoy your punishment."

Cod…that badass voice made Aloha's heart swoon.

—

Army sat at his desk again, his pen flowing over the paper in cursive handwriting. Finally, he reached the bottom, and set his pen down.

Another love letter to that gorgeous, gorgeous Chaos Lord.

And as Army took the paper in his hands and started to read over the letter he had just written, his eyes widened when he realized that this one was actually good.

As in…presentable. He could show Raven this one…

…but should he?

Well, Aloha and Raven were dating now, and Army had been yearning for Raven for a long, long time. What did he had to lose…?

His dignity…his spot in the Chaos League…

Raven wouldn't kick him out of the Chaos League…would he? He had literally kissed another member of it.

Army signed and got up from his chair, love letter held delicately in his hand.

He then sealed it into an envelope—one unlabeled other than with Raven's name—because he felt shy going up to Raven in person…and letting him know that he was the Chaos Lord's secret admirer.

—

A mere hour later, Raven came up to Army, and Army jumped when he said his name.

"Y-yes, your Evilness?" Army said, panic rising in his chest. Why was Raven coming up to him? This must be about the love letter Army had dropped off by his bedroom. Did Raven know it was Army who wrote it? How did he know?! Was he going to banish him—

"You know how to read cursive, right?" Raven asked.

"W-what?" Army stammered.

Raven took Army's love letter out. "This is clearly some kind of love letter…but I can't read it…could you help me?"

Army sighed in a mixture of relief and…almost humiliation. Of course Raven couldn't read cursive…Raven used to be Goggles and that bumbling idiot had never learned how to read it. What was Army thinking?

"Oh! Uh…sure," Army stuttered. "But…shall we go somewhere more…p-private?"

"Sure," Raven said. With that, he took Army's hand—cod, Raven was holding Army's hand—and led him away.

Soon enough, the two of them were standing in Army's bedroom, and Army was trying to hide the fact that his heart was pounding out of his chest and he was sweating bullets. Here he was, in front of the majestic, beautiful, powerful Chaos Lord, about to read him a love letter that he had written.

"Here," Raven said, handing Army the love letter. "Read it aloud to me."

Army's hands shook as he stared at the words he had written just an hour ago. "U-uh—"

"Any day now."

Army sighed. Just do it.

"Raven…your name suits you…it seems you named yourself after a bird as darkly beautiful as you are."

"The people in Splatsville fear you, they bow before you, but I bow before you for an entirely different reason—and that reason is love, my lord."

"You're majestic and powerful, how could I not? Your lightning powers bring people to their knees in utter awe—and I fell in love as soon as you transformed into what you are now—terrifyingly beautiful. Even that smile that spreads across your face when you triumph…more corrupted than before, more evil…but it still makes my heart swoon, Your Evilness."

"I wish you would smile at me, a genuine smile, caused by more than just satisfaction. I wish you would feel the same."

"It's unlikely that you will, and I do not intend on guilt-tripping you to return my feelings. I simply wish for you to know them, to know that there are two people who love you in this Chaos League—Aloha, and me."

"And you must know that I would do anything for you, my lord. I would kill as many people as you please, I would create a trail of blood in your name."

"Because I love you, Raven. I love you ever so much."

Army's hands were noticeably shaking as he read the last line, and once he was finished, he couldn't help but to drop the love letter to the floor. He looked up at Raven with wide eyes—and cod, the Chaos Lord was blushing, blushing at Army, and it was almost as if—

"Army…do you know who wrote that?"

Army's heart almost flat out stopped in his chest. "I…uh—"

"It's really okay if you don't, I…" Raven hesitated, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm just curious as to who really feels that way about me."

Army's hands shook violently, and tears formed in his eyes before he dropped to his knees. He clasped his hands before exclaiming to the Chaos Lord,

"It was me, okay?! It was me who wrote that love letter to me, it's me who feels those feelings towards you…please please please don't kick me out of the Chaos League…don't kill me…I cannot control these feelings and who I fall in love with…please…!"

Raven stared at Army as he made his confession and begged to not be let go…until Raven interrupted him by saying, "That's enough, Army."

Army looked up at Raven with tears in his eyes. Raven looked at Army with utter confusion.

"Why…" Raven stammered, "Army…why would you feel this way?"

Army's breath caught in his throat. "I…I don't—"

"After all I've done…the Chaos Games…why fall in love with me now?"

"It started before the Chaos Games, my lord—"

"Don't…don't call me that."

Army hesitated, and for a few seconds, the room was silent other than the sound of Army's hitched breathing.

"And get off of your knees, you look pathetic."

I am pathetic, Army thought, as he stood up—and he couldn't stop the sob from escaping him.

"You may leave now," Raven said. "But before you do…"

He put his hand out towards Army.

"Give me that letter."

Army hesitated before he did what Raven asked of him—before he obeyed his Chaos Lord.

How he wished he could be taking his hand instead…

—

"I would create a trail of blood in your name…because I love you, Raven." Raven murmured this segment of Army's love letter to himself as he lay on his bed, the love letter resting upon his chest. Army was gone, of course—Raven dared not cry in front of him.

Which was what he was doing now. Crying.

Of course, he appreciated the love coming from Army. But it was just…so unexpected.

Why would Army, out of all people, fall for a murderous, tyrannical villain?

Why would he fall for Raven?

It perplexed Raven even hours later. After all he had done…even after the Chaos Games…Army still loved him?

And Aloha too…but everyone knew he had a strange taste in men.

"Don't go contradicting yourself, now."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Raven didn't even have to look up to know that it was Shadow Goggles talking to him.

"You just pledged to yourself that you didn't care about all your evil actions, because you're loved. Now you're doubting more love that is coming your way?"

"I'm just…surprised," Raven said. "Because…why Army? Doesn't he have morals?"

"Apparently they're skewed in some way if he's falling for you."

"I guess…" Raven muttered. He thought about when Army had been comforting him after the Chaos Games…

Do you consider me a friend? I’m…I’m not mad at you.

Army wasn't mad at Raven for the Chaos Games…

Maybe Captain Curry was less righteous than he seemed.

"You need to let go of the notion that you're horrible. You're just doing what's right for you."

"Yeah…" Raven said. "You're right…"

But no matter how much he said otherwise, or tried to believe otherwise, he would always hold this notion—himself being horrible—to be true to some capacity.

Because he felt like he had betrayed somebody. Somebody far from the past.

He had betrayed Rider…and he had betrayed Goggles.

…Would Rider be disappointed in him now, seeing what he had become?

Seeing that he had kissed Aloha…and that, maybe, he kind of wanted to kiss Army as well?

"No, no he wouldn't be. Even if he would be, why should you care?"

Raven frowned. "Because…I loved him…? He was my boyfriend…?"

"He's dead and gone now. He can't be disappointed in you, because he was stabbed to death by that bastard whom you killed."

"What are you saying?" Raven said.

"I'm saying kiss whatever the fuck you want. Aloha and Army love you, why should you reject that?"

"Because…"

"Because what?"

"It…doesn't matter."

"Good. You know no excuse would work in this scenario."

"Now…you know I've helped you a ton. How about you do something to repay that favor…?"

Raven looked up at his shadow.

"Okay. Fine. What should I do for you?"