Chapter Text
Hyde knew that all he and Licht did was argue. His eve was an angel, and being around something as horrible as a shit-rat that also happened to be a demonic vampire that sometimes moonlighted—or would it be daylighted?—as a hedgehog was apparently enough to harm the poor diva. Part of Hyde was offended by being completely tossed away because he was a vampire. It wasn’t because he was a jerk, or that he was immoral, but because he was a demon that interfered with how angelic his eve was. Yeah, it ticked him off a lot more than he really let on to anyone, including himself most of the time. It was very easy to ignore, because tormenting the Angel-chan was so much fun, and so entertaining, it was very easy to forget that the only reason why the little brat hated him was the only thing about himself that he really couldn’t change.
Sadly, however, like all things between them, it came to a boiling point that neither of them could ignore, and then exploded out of nowhere.
All he had been doing was laying on one of his many plush pillows while he was in his animal form and listening to Licht practice playing the piano. He knew that his Angel-chan was good. He didn’t partner up with anyone that wasn’t talented beyond all points of reason, but Licht might have been the most promising eve he had come across in many years. He was definitely the most interesting to say the least. But sometimes Hyde would enjoy sitting there with his eyes shut, just letting the sounds sooth him into an almost peaceful trance where all of the horrible memories of his past faded away, and his mind was blank; he would register nothing but this completely soothing serene feeling that would take away all of the tension in his limbs and leave him completely content with the world.
That was exactly what he had been doing. The sound was so achingly beautiful that it was impossible to concentrate on anything else, and he felt his mind drifting into nothingness, as though he were a boat in a body of calm water.
Then the music abruptly stopped.
That should have been his first clue that something was wrong. Licht never stopped playing abruptly. He would always finish his pieces, no matter how noisy, bloody or dangerous his surroundings got. Hyde would give him that any day; the man had some serious dedication to his music, and would see it through to the very end…literally.
For some reason, Hyde didn’t see this as a problem. He simply laid there, not bothering anyone this time, as Licht yelled, “Shit raaaaat!”
Hyde cracked an eye open, suddenly feeling a pang of worry interrupt his peaceful trance. What had he done now? He pushed himself up groggily so that he was standing on all fours…just in time for the top of Licht’s foot to catch him under his stomach. He felt pain explode through his tiny body as he was propelled through the air.
His eyes widened as a wall came into view, and he shook his head, as though that would stop the impact that happened about a second later. He hit with a loud thud that resulted in a pathetic squeak from him. He kept his eyes screwed up against the pain as he slowly slid down the wall to the ground with a pathetic thump.
Letting out an annoyed breath through his nose he cracked open one eye and transformed into his vampire form. With a great amount of displeasure, he realized that he was in a tangled heap on the floor. “What the hell?” Hyde demanded as he pushed himself to his feet. His happy-go-lucky attitude was momentarily forgotten as he tried to pull himself together. Licht was such a pain in the ass sometimes that it was impossible for him to fake any kind of cheerfulness. “Are you insane, Licht? What did I even do this time?”
“Your demon wavelengths were distracting me,” Licht said, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at Hyde. Sometimes, though, Hyde was unsure if his eve was actually glaring at all. He’d never seen the man smile or do anything other than scowl at others and inform them that they were in their own predicaments because they lacked imagination.
Hyde’s imagination was rushing around in his mind at the moment, conjuring up vivid images of Licht’s bloody carcass ripped to pieces and flung around the room. It would be so easy too. Hyde actually let out a frustrated growl and took a menacing step toward Licht. “I could kill you, you know,” the Servamp of Greed informed him darkly as he cracked his knuckles together. “It would be so easy to see the light behind your eyes cut out. I could finally change this stupid name that you’ve given me, and go and find myself another eve that might just be grateful to have me around, unlike you. You’re not an angel, you’re a brat that likes making people feel inferior to him by pointing out all of their shortcomings and ignoring your own! Why don’t you just take a step back for a moment and realize that you’re not a damn angel! Try and remember that you’re very human, and that you’re very close to getting your pathetic life snuffed out before you can try and put some sort of meaningless touch on this stupid, twisted world!”
Licht laughed hollowly and sneered at him, “I’d like to see you try, shit rat.”
Hyde bared his fangs at Licht and crouched down slightly, his muscles bunching in his legs and his back as he prepared to pounce on his stupid, clueless eve. Licht looked nothing but bored, which angered the Servamp even more. Past the point of reason, he let out a maddened war cry and sprang forward. Licht tensed slightly, and stumbled back a step before he held his ground. He brought his foot back, and Hyde knew that he was about to receive one of his eve’s fearsome kicks. He didn’t really care anymore.
He felt the all too familiar burn of agony shoot through his leg for a moment, but he didn’t let it slow him down. Licht tried to strike out at him with his hands, but his arms were not nearly as strong as his lower limbs. Hyde caught both of them with his own and shoved him backward, sending him flying into the wall with a loud thud. Licht slid down to the floor, and managed to stay on his feet by what was obviously willpower alone. Hyde was there a moment later. His hand, which had morphed more into talons than anything else, latched around Licht’s throat and he slammed him against the wall once more.
He moved forward so that he and his eve were practically nose-to-nose and snarled, “I don’t care if you hate me, Licht-chan, but we need to come to an understanding now. You’re going to respect me, at the very least.”
Licht curled his lip at Hyde in obvious disgust. “I could never respect something as vile as you, shit-rat.”
Hyde felt something in him snap slightly as he applied more pressure to the boy’s neck. He was the Servamp of greed, after all. He would always want, and nothing would be enough. Right now, he craved respect, and if Licht wouldn’t give it to him….
He took a deep breath in and let it out. He repeated this exercise a few times before he came to a conclusion. He didn’t want just anyone’s respect…he wanted Licht’s respect more than anything else. He loosened his hold on Licht’s throat and his eve coughed as he began inhaling deeply, trying to replenish his lungs after Hyde had deprived him of so much air.
“Why do you hate me?” Hyde asked, his voice coming out as nothing more than a mumble as he looked at Licht pleadingly. “I know that I’m a vampire, but I haven’t actually done anything to you. I can’t help what I am, you know? No amount of imagination is going to change the fact that I was created this way. I can’t change that I’m a monster. I’m stuck this way, and you hating me isn’t going to change anything at all.”
“I’m an angel,” Licht said, though his voice was angry, he sounded a bit more unsure than he normally did. “I can’t like vampires. I’m pure and you’re evil. That’s just how it is.”
“Do you honestly believe that I’m that bad?” Hyde asked him.
“I don’t think that you’re good,” Licht said with a frown. “You kill your eves when you grow tired of them. The minute that you begin to find me boring, I know that you’ll kill me. Don’t try and play all wounded and innocent. You’re bad, and you can’t tell me any different.”
“I wouldn’t kill you,” Hyde said abruptly, though the fact that he still had claws wrapped around his eve’s throat said way differently. “That has to count for something, right?”
“I don’t believe you,” Licht rolled his eyes at Hyde’s inquiry. “You’re a killer, Lawless, and that’s just what you do.”
“You’re different,” Hyde insisted, unsure of what he was saying this for. He knew that it was true almost instinctively, but he didn’t know why he was saying it all to Licht, who was more likely to take his words and find a way to shove them back down his throat with razorblades than to actually accept them. “I don’t know how or why, but you’re different. You want to leave a mark on the world. You want to inspire people, just like…just like her. You’re the first eve I’ve had since she died that has made me….”
Hyde trailed off, knowing that what he had almost said would have been a huge mistake, one that he wouldn’t have been able to take back.
“Made you what, shit-rat?” Licht asked. His voice was sharp, but Hyde could tell that there was genuine curiosity there underneath his angry façade.
“Nothing,” Hyde said. “Go back to your practicing, Angel-chan.” He let go of his eve’s throat and turned around. “I’m going to take a nap in my room.”
He felt a firm hand on his shoulder before he could do more than put his foot out half a step. “Don’t turn your back on me when I asked you a question,” Licht snapped at him. “Answer me, damn it!”
Hyde spun around and before he could talk himself out of his very stupid decision, he pushed Licht back into the wall and kissed him. His angel, of course, didn’t move and didn’t respond. He just stood there stiff as a board as Hyde’s lips moved roughly against his. He pulled away after a few moments and just took in the dumbstruck look on Licht’s face. He smiled slightly and brushed some hair out of his eve's eye as he whispered, “Just go and practice, Angel-chan. I’m going to go to sleep.”
He turned around and walked out of the room. He couldn’t hold back a grin and a snort of laughter as he settled down into his bed. He was sure that the next time he saw Licht, there would be absolute hell to pay. He couldn’t bring himself to regret his actions, though. No matter how many kicks his eve dealt him, he knew that it had all be worth it, after all, they argued all the time.