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“Chaz? You’re up early for a day off.”
Chaz winced, his hand barely touching the doorknob to Millie and Moxxie’s apartment; he was so close! The shark demon turned around, seeing a tired Moxxie watching him in sleepy bewilderment. “Oh! Yeah I was just…going to get some air!” Chaz explained, laughing nervously.
“We have a fire escape,” Moxxie reminded him, his tone suddenly becoming suspicious. “Where are you going so early?”
“Just uh…to talk to someone important,” Chaz told him, glancing away. “I’ll tell you about it later but for now, I gotta go.”
Moxxie was about to stop him but Chaz left, leaving the smaller imp more confused than ever. Normally Chaz would tell him about whatever his plans were even when they were in the middle of breakfast or in the shower. He was usually a big chatterbox when it came to whatever crossed his mind. He even told them about meeting with Andrealphus and would’ve talked about their sexcapades but they stopped him. Ruby May was right there playing with cereal puffs so she didn’t need to hear that.
Though he didn’t say why he suddenly dashed down to Wrath not long after their trip had ended so that was just as strange.
“Was that Chaz?” Millie yawned, rubbing her eyes as she left their bedroom.
“Yeah he just left saying he had to talk to someone,” Moxxie told her. “Wouldn’t say who though…”
Millie pursed her lips before going to make some coffee. “Well Chaz knows the rules. If he brings any danger around our baby, he’s out on his ass,” she replied promptly.
“Oh I know he wouldn’t these days but you should’ve seen his face when he left,” he replied. “It was almost…sad.”
Millie’s eyebrows raised a bit as she got two mugs out. “Well, did he say what kind of meeting this was?”
“Just that it was important…” the white-haired imp muttered.
Millie moved up to him, taking his hand with her free hand. “You’re worried, aren’t you.”
“Well yes. He might’ve been a crappy boyfriend but I still care about him in a way. And if he’s running off to do the deed with Andrealphus and go to meetings with who knows who, that could affect us,” Moxxie rambled.
“Ya think we should follow him?” Millie suggested, smirking at Moxxie’s sputtering face.
“N-No! T-That would be an invasion of privacy!” Moxxie explained. “We don’t need to go Blitz on him, spying on his private business.”
“I know you, hun,” the slightly taller woman explained gently. “This is gonna eat at you until you interrogate him like a parent askin’ where their teenagers go on a school night. We’re professional assassins so trackin’ ain’t exactly a problem for us.”
“I don’t know…do you think he’ll get mad?” he wondered.
“Well let’s just not get caught,” she shrugged, pulling out her phone. “I’ll call a sitter so we can go Shark Watching.”
“I’ll just keep in mind that we’re also doing this for Ruby’s sake…” Moxxie muttered, feeling conflicted.
On the one hand, he wanted to make sure that whatever Chaz was up to wouldn’t affect their little family negatively. Yes he was earning back their trust and actually trying to become better than the partying fuckboy coward that he was but secrets weren’t a good sign. On the other, would this just prove they still didn’t trust him? He did hurt them in pretty personal ways by ditching them when they needed him but he went out of his way to try and do better because he cared about their kid. Why was this still so hard for them to fully trust him?
Or for that matter…did he not trust them fully about whatever this meeting was for?
(...)
Once Loona had been dropped off by her dad to watch Ruby May, the duo used the ‘Find My Friends’ app on their phones to track Chaz down. It seemed like he was at a pretty nice coffee house in Envy; very hipster-esque.
Putting on their disguises–Moxxie in a beanie and thick glasses with a medium bob wig and Millie with a mustache and sweater vest and a fedora–they were dropped off and soon made their way inside. Wanting to fit in, they ordered some hipster coffee and went to sit down at a booth that was across from where Chaz was sitting. He actually looked nervous, fidgeting in his seat as he glanced around the coffee shop.
“Maybe he’s going on a date?” Millie whispered. “He was a little nervous when we first went on a proper date.”
“Mmm…I don’t think so. He’d be preening himself for someone he was trying to impress,” Moxxie reasoned. “No this is different…”
As they watched Chaz waiting for whoever he was meeting up with, they began to think over what else could make him act weirder than usual. In the times they were with him, he just seemed like a very laidback kind of guy that just went with the flow. Almost to a fault if they were being honest since he was very much a party dude back then that didn’t think about the future. Or the past if they were thinking about it.
“Did Chaz ever tell you about his family?” Moxxie wondered, smoothing down his skirt.
“Not really. We never talked about that stuff,” Millie admitted, adjusting her mustache. “He was a little reluctant to meet my family back then. Probably because they would’ve kicked his skinny butt.”
“Yeah…he was always a little on edge when it came to family,” Moxxie nodded, absentmindedly stacking coffee creamers. “Whenever my dad would be hard on me, Chaz would say we could just run away from that life one day. Forget our pasts. When I questioned the ‘our’ there, he’d quickly correct himself to say my past and not his. I didn’t think much of it at the time but…maybe he had his own family issues?”
“Wait someone’s comin’!” Millie whispered, picking up a menu to hide behind while Moxxie did the same.
They peeked from behind the plastic covered papers and saw a…surprisingly similar shark demon stepping into the cafe. Actually…he looked almost exactly like Chaz right down to the swoopy hair. The only thing different was he had a full set of teeth while Chaz was still missing one tooth. Even after his teeth had grown back after Crimson ripped them out of his jaw, his one fang was still missing.
They always wondered about that even before they broke things off with him.
“That guy…” Moxxie whispered, suddenly catching on.
“Is that…his brother?” Millie gasped.
“Holy shit!”
Chaz’s brother, who actually looked a bit more serious than Chaz, stood by his table. “I take it there’s a reason you wanted to meet here?” He guessed.
“Well it’s close to your work and I know you’ve got the day off too,” Chaz laughed nervously before standing up, offering his hand to his brother. “It’s…good to see you again, Zahc.”
Zahc’s expression softened before shaking it. “Likewise,” he nodded before sitting across from him.
The two brothers ordered their drinks, Zahc a black coffee and Chaz a sugary seasonal drink. Even their drink orders showed how different they were.
“So…how’ve ya been?” Chaz asked, trying to keep things light.
“Well…I’ve been better considering you’ve disappeared for months and only NOW decided to reach out,” the older brother snarked before giving him a serious look. “What happened?”
“It’s…a long story…” the younger shark admitted.
“Well I’ve got time,” Zahc reasoned, leaning back and crossing his arms. “Spill.”
As Chaz began to explain everything that had happened leading up to that point, Millie and Moxxie were talking amongst themselves about the revelation that Chaz had a brother.
“I can’t believe he never told us!” Millie whispered, more shocked than angry. “Ya think he would’ve said something!”
“To be fair, I didn’t really pay much attention to when Blitz mentioned his sister until we got into that fight with her at the summer camp so…maybe they had a similar falling out?”
“I guess…but we’re totally interrogating him when we get home, right?”
"Let's just keep listening.”
“And…that’s everything up to this point,” Chaz finished, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “I’ve got a good job now that I really like that won’t get me in legal trouble and I’m living with two great people and their cute kid.”
“That’s…a bigass information dump,” Zahc admitted before looking his brother in the eyes. “Why didn’t you come to me right away?”
“Well I wasn’t exactly thinking,” Chaz told him before glancing away. “And I didn’t think you’d want to see me after all the trouble I caused you.”
“You’re still my brother, dumbass. Of course I’d want to help,” the slightly taller brother retorted before letting out a sigh. “Look…what happened that night at the club? I know it was an accident now but…you can’t just skip through life like a school kid where your past won’t catch up to you.”
“Tell me about it,” the lankier shark laughed weakly, absentmindedly rubbing the side of his jaw with the missing tooth. “But I just got so mad at that guy trying to move in on our dates.”
“And you and I both got our asses kicked out,” Zahc finished. “I was just trying to look out for you…even if I could’ve phrased things better…”
{FLASHBACK}
“Will you quit mothering me like a damned hell-hen?! I’m fine!” Chaz snapped, wincing as Zahc placed an icepack on his jaw.
“You’re lucky that tiger demon just punched you once after you taunted him!” Zahc reasoned. “You can’t keep doing this! When are you going to grow up?!”
“I AM grown up! At least I’m not picky calling real hotties 6 out of 10s!” the injured shark retorted.
“People expect me to pick up YOUR leftovers when I just want to work right now!” the older brother growled. “I don’t want to be seen as a playboy like you!”
“Oh like you’re SO much better than me! I’ve seen you flirt after a few drinks!” Chaz reasoned.
“I know when to halt the breaks on my dicks!” Zahc shouted, standing up with his hands on his hips. “Honestly, you wouldn’t survive without me looking after you!”
“Fuck off!” Chaz growled, standing up and tossing the ice pack at his brother’s chest. “I don’t need you to watch over me like I can’t take care of myself! You just like feeling like you’re better than me!”
“I’m just trying to make sure you don’t get killed, you idiot!”
“Don’t call me an idiot!”
“Well quit acting like one!”
“Shut up!”
“No, YOU shut up!”
The brother’s squabbling got them both panting like cave demons before Chaz turned away from his older brother. “I’m gonna make my own way without you! You’ll see you were wrong about me!” Chaz ranted, tripping over some garbage before flipping his older brother off and disappearing into the night.
Zahc felt his heart sink into his stomach; was he actually serious right now? After saving his ass over and over? Making sure he wouldn’t get punched in the balls for hitting on someone else’s partner? Or flirting with someone that was having a bad night? After all that…he’d be that ungrateful?!
“You wanna be stubborn?! Go ahead! If you crash and burn, don’t come crying to me!” Zahc called, furious and hurt. “See if I care ASSHOLE!”
{END FLASHBACK}
“That…wasn’t a good night…” Zahc sighed, running a hand over his tired face.
“No…and the worst part? You were right,” Chaz told him, letting out a bitter laugh. “All I did was fuck up over and over…and ended up in the worst trouble I could’ve put myself in…”
“Even if I was still pissed, I would’ve helped you a little…why didn’t you come to me when you were in trouble?” the older brother shark wondered.
“Because I was ashamed…” the younger shark admitted, catching him off-guard. “I was so sure I could actually be a functioning adult without you saving my ass but all I’ve done is pissed off two people I did love because I was just a damned coward that would run away when shit hit the fan.”
“Chazzy…”
Moxxie and Millie felt their hearts breaking for their former lover. After a stupid argument with his brother, he just wanted to make it on his own but was scared. It didn’t excuse the shit he pulled when they were with him as partners on the streets and in the sheets but it explained it a lot.
No wonder Blitz felt a kindred spirit with him.
“So why’d you contact me now?” Zahc wondered.
“Well…I guess to show you I am still trying,” Chaz told him. “It’s not perfect but I’ve got a good home with two great people. I’ve got a job that I love. And…I dunno, I guess I just wanted to tell you that…I’m okay.”
Zahc took a sip from his drink, taking a deep breath. “Normally I’d ream you out for getting involved with some dangerous as fuck demons and nearly getting yourself killed–AGAIN.” He then softened his face. “But I’ll cut you some slack because…I missed you, you idiot. You might be a pain in my tail...but I'm gonna be there for you if you need me. So...can we start over?”
Chaz, feeling his lip start to quiver, tackled Zahc in a hug and started to bawl dramatically. “I-I-I missed you to-hoo-hoo-hoo!” he wailed.
“There there it’s okay…” Zahc sighed, feeling like they were kids again. “Just let it out…”
“I-I missed you too! And I want you to meet my friends and coworkers and my friends’ baby! She’s the cutest thing in all of Hell!” Chaz bawled.
“I don’t know about a baby but I don’t think I’ll need to wait long to meet your friends," the older shark commented, looking over at Moxxie and Millie, smirking when they flinched seeing him.
“Shit…” Moxxie cursed.
“We’re busted…” Millie sighed.
Chaz looked up, stunned to see his roomies. “Mox? Mills? What’re you guys doing here?” he questioned.
“We were worried when you left so suddenly and have been acting odd since we got back from Millie’s parents’ place,” Moxxie started.
“We wouldn’t have bugged ya while you were talking to your brother,” Millie promised. “Unless he tried to fuck with ya.”
“Believe me, I have no intention of messing with my brother. Honestly, of the two of us? He was the jokester,” Zahc explained.
“Oh that I believe,” the white-haired imp nodded before looking up at Chaz. “Sorry for intruding. We can go if you want.”
“Ah I was going to introduce you guys to him anyway. Move your drinks over here,” Chaz suggested.
“If you can call this a drink,” Millie snarked, holding up the test tube display of sugar, cream, hot water, and coffee beans. “Seriously, who chews up the coffee beans and then eats the rest of the fixin’s?”
“Envy Hipsters,” Zahc joked, making the group laugh.
[END]