Cherubplay

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She nodded as she was given the directions to show she understood. Once she said her goodbyes, she exited the apartment, and headed to Terezi's home as well.

2015-07-23 22:16:14

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Zane's shift was over, and he'd changed back into his casual clothes. The walk home at night was no longer as beautiful as he'd once found it. Now all he wanted, more than anything, was to see the sun. Of course, he knew that would never happen again. So he'd just have to make do with moonlight.

His mind was in another, darker place when he heard a voice from his left calling "Money for food, please, just a dollar or two is all I need," to the empty street. He looked over at the small Hispanic woman huddled under a cardboard shelter tucked into the safer shadows of an alleyway, her dress stained with dirt and weeks worth of toil. Pausing, he dug in his pocket for some cash. He could barely afford it, but she needed it more than he did. It wasn't as if he had to eat anyways.

He approached her and held out the five-dollar bill, and her eyes sparkled at the sight. She reached out and took it, squeezing his large hand gratefully and saying "Thank you, thank you so much sir." He nodded and started to smile, but it froze on his face when he caught a scent in the air. So sweet, so enticing, it almost made his mouth water. Her palm felt warm and slightly slick under his. Blood, from the blisters and calluses lining her skin. There was a sharp and sudden stab in his hollow gut, and the world spun. He only knew one thing, that he was hungry, /so very hungry/, and she was offering, money for food, just a little...

The woman let out a scream that was cut off short as Zane lunged into the shadows to join her, one hand still clutching hers, the other cradling her head as he sank his sharp teeth into the soft, supple skin of her neck. She tried to twist away, and his fangs tore at her flesh, her wrist snapping as he held her still. Her free fingers, blood-soaked from themselves and her throat, clawed at his white shirt, endeavoring to push him away but finding the effort a vainly spent one. Then they went limp and still, falling to the pavement.

The snowy-haired vampire stayed at his meal for several minutes, eyes closed, savoring the taste and wondering how a simple person could taste so good.

A person.

They opened again, dark and slitted, widening like his jaw as he tore himself away. He looked down at what used to be a person, but was now a broken, bleeding, terror-faced nothing. He raised his shaking hands to look at them, surely he hadn't done this, surely he'd just walked in on a crime scene, and all of this was some horrible mistake, but his bloodstained fingers betrayed him. Redhanded. The blood was everywhere, left on his clothes in the form of desperate handprints, trickling down his chin, even staining the bottoms of his shoes. No. No, no, God, please, /no/!

Limp as a broken toy, he fell to his knees, then to all fours, hands splashing on the blood-coated ground. The sobs started as inhuman choking and whimpering noises before escalating into full-blown sobs and howls of grief. What had he done?! He'd killed someone, Zane /killed/ someone! He'd always known he was too dangerous, too volatile and violent for anyone's good, but to end someone's life, he was horrible, he was nothing more than an animal, a machine built for nothing but despair, he should be put down, shut down, to protect everyone, an innocent, she was an /innocent/, and he'd killed her to save himself! Ivory hadn't killed him, he hadn't needed to kill anyone, but he /had/, he was the worst, a murderer, animal, MURDERER!

2015-07-24 07:34:03

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Usually, Ivory never took a walk this far away from the shop. Okay...Ivory never traveled this far in general. The surroundings were so new to her, and she wanted to know this city inside and out. So naturally, the new area tempted her. With the hood of her jacket up, her gaze memorized the area slowly. She put her hands in her pockets. No need for anyone to try and mug her tonight.

Her phone buzzed. She stopped and pulled it out of her jacket pocket. A text. From Lance? Of course.

'Didn't know you'd head out this far'

She tapped out a reply and hit sent. 'Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.'

She took a few more steps before another buzz.

'Don't need any help getting home?'

'Nope! I'll be fine :3. Thank you though.'

She took a few more steps, odd. This place was completely empty. In the distance, she heard something, cry. Slowly and careful, she took a quiet more steps forward. Then it hit her. The smell. The smell of blood. God, the air was /full/ of it. The cries sounded like they were coming from the alleyway. Wait...they sounded...so familiar. Oh no. That meant. Oh that can't be good. She knew who it was. Seems like he didn't catch on to her yet. Good. It gave her enough time to react. She looked back down at her phone.

'Actually...'

'I do need your help.'

'But with something else...'

'Possibly with disposing a body too.'

'Get Cale.'

'Then meet me at my current location.'

The put the phone back in her pocket and moved towards the alleyway, lowering her hood. "Zane...?" She called out, her voice calmer than normal.

2015-07-24 07:56:10

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He didn't respond or look up, just huddled in on himself, weeping and curled up on the ground like the scared animal that he was. No, don't come near him, please, /please/. His hair was streaked with red where he'd pulled and clutched at it with dripping hands.

2015-07-24 08:02:39

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Slowly, she moved towards him, and stopped once he stood over his now defenseless figure. She knelled down, now eye level with him. Slowly and carefully, she extended her hand, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. I'm here now." She whispered to him, as if her voice spoke any louder, she would scare him off.

2015-07-24 08:06:33

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His own hand flew up and knocked her fingers away before he slammed it back to the ground. "STAY AWAY I'LL HURT YOU!"

2015-07-24 08:08:28

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Her were hand was knocked back. He yelled at her. But....it didn't phase her. The sympathy and worry in her face remained. "You won't." She retorted, keeping that same quietness. "You can't."

2015-07-24 08:11:43

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He raised his hands again to bury his face, the dripping of blood and tears beating a steady rhythm on the concrete. Of course he would. He'd hurt everyone, would hurt them again, and deserved to die. That was the only way to stop him from hurting people. Because even if he tried, they'd all end up broken by his hands. "I....I........I...."

2015-07-24 08:15:47

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She reached out once more, with both her hands this time. She grabbed his wrists, and slowly pulled them away from his face. "Zane, look at me." She looked him in the eye. "You didn't mean to. It's alright."

2015-07-24 08:19:55

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His dark eyes weren't sad, but instead hollow as a black hole, haunted and desperately regretful. He'd ended a life. It wasn't alright, HOW could it be alright?! "No, NO! I KILLED..."

2015-07-24 08:24:08

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She gripped tighter on his wrists, as if that would show him some reassurance to his station. But it wouldn't. She knew that. Nothing could /truly/ fix this. "Yes, I know. But I'm still here, aren't I?"

2015-07-24 08:27:16

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Tears were still streaming down his face, tracing tracks through the scarlet smudges. ".......why? Why do you have to s-see me l-like this, I'm a monster, I....!" He pulled his wrists away and shoved himself heavily to his feet, stumbling over to the side of the alley. Where he slammed his head against the brick wall. Hard. Then he did it again.

2015-07-24 08:31:28

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Immediately, she stood up and moved to his side. Quickly, she moved between him and the wall. "You are nowhere near a monster. I know it. Cale knows it. Everyone knows it."

2015-07-24 08:36:04

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He rested his head against the graffiti-scattered stone, a bit of his own blood now joining the menagerie on his face. He closed his eyes against everything and choked down a meaningless breath. "Everyone's /wrong/, I've always b-been a fucking monster, let me m-make sure I never h-hurt anyone again," whispered he, the words riding on his rattling exhalation.

2015-07-24 08:47:45

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"If I can't hurt myself, then you can't hurt yourself either." She wrapped her arms around him tightly, preventing him from doing any more damage to himself. "I won't let you."

2015-07-24 08:51:04

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"....I deserve it....you did nothing, you've never hurt anyone, I, I...." He pushed her away again, he couldn't, he was scared, he didn't want to stain her with his own terrible, horrible mistakes.

2015-07-24 08:57:06

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"And neither have you." She moved forward when he pushed her back. "I've seen it, and I don't care if I haven't seen enough or not. My feelings won't change. Because right now you're not scaring me." She rubbed her eyes. Were those tears? Didn't matter. "What scares me right now is that /I'm/ going to hurt /you/."

2015-07-24 09:00:26

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He kept moving back until he hit the opposite wall, expression twisting between confused and empty. "You c-couldn't, if you do, I-I deserve it, for, for /this/, please just...." Please just what? Punish him instead, since she wouldn't let him do it himself? Leave? Make it all go away? Make it all go away. That sounded best. Just make everything disappear, so he wouldn't have to think about what he'd done, or regret, or be scared any longer....

2015-07-24 09:09:55

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She moved as he did, and stood in front of him. "The problem is you really don't deserve it. No matter what you think you did." She reached up, and tugged the zipper down on her jacket. She then pulled it off her body, a thin t-shirt underneath now exposing her arms. Getting on her toes, she reached up and draped the jacket over his shoulders. "It's not much but...I wanna help you. I don't want you to suffer alone."

2015-07-24 09:15:10

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Once again, he was thrown off by her reaction. Help him? No, she couldn't, no amount of help would.....oh God. Her arms. He didn't know why he'd thought they'd just disappear. Of course they wouldn't. The tears came faster, and he wanted to hug her, but he never could, whether she was scared of him or not didn't change the fact that he could break her like a fallen china doll.

2015-07-24 09:24:01

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She kept her hands on his shoulders, and slowly leaned forward to rest her head on his chest. "I'm not leaving, I promise." She mumbled. Then, a drop hit on the head, a cold one, then two more. Soon enough, they were showered by the cold winter rain.

2015-07-24 09:27:49

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He raised his head and flinched at the cold water, unnaturally freezing after the hot blood and tears. When it began to come down harder the blood ran off his face and hands, some of the stains on his white shirt fading as well. Make it all go away. This was the best he was going to get. He put his arms around her, keeping them several inches away from the definition of holding, careful not to touch any part of her. Maybe if he didn't move, either, he wouldn't break her arms or something....

2015-07-24 09:35:19

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She felt him make an attempt to hold her, and buried her head into his torso. This...was good enough. It wasn't what she planned, but it was a stay. He was okay. They were okay. No one was going to hurt the other. They would be fine.

2015-07-24 09:40:19

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They stayed like that for a minute or so, her cuddling him, him being too terrified of her touch to even move, until a dripping wet Cale charged into the alley and promptly slipped on the blood-and-rain-slicked concrete, toppling onto the body. He swore and picked himself up, then realized what had cushioned his landing. "HOLY SHIT --" he yelled before looking over at the the still red-streaked head of white-blonde hair and the little black shape snuggled into him. Humanity wasn't even aware a face could go through that many expressions in that span of time. Somewhere in there was panic, worry, anger, and self-resentment, all within about five seconds. Then he noticed Zane's own frightened look and pulled Ivory off him with a glower.

2015-07-24 09:54:27

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The small hum the engine was in the distance. Then sound of Cale coming towards them. Looks like they were here. With a yelp from her, she was pulled of Zane by Cale. Honestly, she somewhat expected it. They were /bonded/ after all. She went expressionless, and felt someone touch her shoulder. She looked up. Lance. He stared at her with a look of concern, but she was sure both parties understood why and what happened.

2015-07-24 10:01:22