Chapter Text
heavy steps echoed throughout the hall of the underground prison, catching the attention of one of the most important prisoners.
A lone flame marched down the corridors. Shoulders hunched as if attempting to pass on unnoticed although looking heavily out of place. The warmth the demon radiated was constantly being absorbed by the cold environment that was characteristic of the history-full prison.
On the end of the corridor a lynx raised his head to stare head on at the demon intruding his reading. This had happened before but it was never real. Being so much time alone was beginning to do things to Lettuces head, none of the good kind either.
He stood from where he was laying down on the bed, taking his sweet time to get close to the bars but still far away from that creature in front of him.
The demon raised an eyebrow silently, just observing the once powerful man in front of him. “You are treated fairly well for a prisoner.” It spoke firmly, voice steady but just a whisper by the time it reached the other's ears.
“You know that right?”
Lettuce hummed, loud and clear from behind the bars.
“I am charming you can't deny it, ” The lynx paused for a second to clear his throat, “and I surrendered, don't know if you remember. But the least you guys could do was give me a nice cell.”
The demon scoffed full of poison, “Just like the ones me and Wemmbu had, right?”
“A little bit more cozy,” the lynx said smugly with a shit eating grin.
Silence came in and quickly took power of the room like a running freight train. Both of the parties stayed quiet just watching each other, analyzing the other.
From Lettuce's perspective the thing standing in front of him was no more than a weapon who carved nothing more than to be human.
A pawn that the lynx had tried to convince, someone that received countless chances to change and didn't give them any thought until it was too late for it to actually change. That was the reality, the demon in front of him had poured every bit of itself into being the strongest and that doesn't come without sacrifices.
Slowly but surely, the lynx's eyes landed on the flame's body. Not in a weird way, not at all. Quite the contrary, Lettuce's eyes fell on the other just like how a gardener's eyes would land on a broken but still useful tool. The scars were really prominent on the other's form. Multiple pale pink scars were present on its face and its arms creating a really unsettling contrast against its dark skin. That was just the places Lettuce could see, he was sure there were tons more where those came from.
But what always caught the lynx's attention was not the demon's horns, its panther ears or tail, neither were the sparkles that escaped the other when the emotions got the best of him. No, it was his characteristic blindfold.
The dark red cloth that covered its eyes for some reason Lettuce was clueless too. Maybe it was because the other was sensitive, maybe to match with its brother, maybe even because the other was truly blind. The lynx didn't really care about the reason honestly, he just knew one thing.
The blindfold made the other just as vulnerable as it made it strong.
Many would argue on the contrary, saying that it just made the demon harder to read and therefore predict and reason with. But Lettuce knew something many others didn't, Flame yearned to be treated as something other than a weapon, something other than some wild beast that did things without justification. And that had given him the perfect path to try and convince the immortal demon, but he failed though, curse Parrot and the other pests.
The lynx sighed in frustration. If it wasn't for the other noisy players part in the rebellion, he could have made the demon surrender, maybe even join the law… But that was in the past now and he had failed and was currently paying the consequences.
After another moment of thought he took a breath and spoke with a careful and snarky voice, “You wanna know something, Flame?”
The demon paused his thinking for a second and its ears flickered in his direction. Lettuce smirked at the other’s curiosity, it was clear now that the other had come searching for something.
“It's funny,” As soon as he spoke, a dark glint shone in his eyes and the temperature of the room dropped.”Even though you are the strongest, you are so fragile.”
He didn't even give the nether demon a chance to respond before he continued.
“Just like a brittle and cold glass, that's why I never pushed you too hard.” It was never about its temperature, no. This was about how the other claimed that he was one of the strongest even after being one of the only players on this wretched server that would turn back and risk everything for a friend.
Not saying that was wrong, no, but Lettuce had been there. He had experienced just what the demon was going through right now and it had been taken from him, take lopezz for example, the cat hybrid had been with him through it all. And she didn't even receive an ounce of mercy. “Maybe things could have ended differently if you didn't break from so little pressure. And didn't try to cut everyone else with every broken piece left.”
“Yeah right, just like when you cornered me at my base that last time?” It clutched its fists tightly, as if it was holding back from lashing out and saying something. Lettuce smirked, the other was just about to prove his point.
“I wish that you would have been clearer and seen it from my point of view, maybe it all would have been better for the both of us.”
The Flame sneered at the other for even thinking that it would have changed anything from what it did before. Its breath, a calm and hot exhale that turned into white puff once it came in contact with the cold environment, making his breath visible. It didn't affect Lettuce thought, he was already acquainted with the cold, he could thank the snow civilization for that one.
From the other side of the bars, he raised an eyebrow at the other, it seemed like the other wanted to say something.