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Axe watches Killer from the window in the large kitchen, amused by the skeleton outside who is trying to make a fire in the stone-built firepit outside. He seems to be having quite the struggle, either having his kindling burn up before he can put on twigs, or putting on too much and smothering the fire before it even got the chance to start. He takes pity of the skeleton when he sees him giving up and just draping himself over the stone bench, chuckling silently to himself. He slips out the glass sliding door, quiet as ever as he stalks over to the much smaller monster.
“having trouble?” his voice is a low rumble, vibrating in his chest, breaking Killer out of whatever sulking trance he's in.
“Yes- wait, motherfucker we're you watching me?” Killer sits up, having to look up quite a bit to meet Axe's gaze. The large skeleton only responds with a low rumble, a hint of a grin on his face.
“maybe. why are you making a fire anyway?” Axe looks over at the stacked tinder, then back at Killer. Said skeleton gives him a blank look, bringing a bottle of pink tequila up and taking a large swig of strawberry flavoured drink. The two of them hold eye contact for a while, before Axe sighs, turning to the set up small twigs around the kindling.
“you need to do it like this.” he mutters, stacking some bigger twigs neatly around the small pile. He makes sure theres enough room for the fire to breathe, then turns to grab the lighter, snapping his head back quickly when he smells the sharp sting of alcohol, followed with the sweet scent of strawberries, only to see Killer pouring the liquor onto the stacked wood. He snatches the bottle faster than he himself can register, frowning as he looks down at Killer, his mind catching up to his actions.
“Wha- hey! Give that back!” Killer tries to grab it, but falls short, literally, as Axe holds it out of reach.
“don't waste. where did you even find this?” his voice holds a growl to it, glaring down at Killer.
“Around- look, it doesn't matter. I found it, so the bitch is mine-” Killer tries to climb up Axe's side, only to faceplant when Axe steps away.
“no. tell me where you got it.”
“I politely borrowed it from Boss' stash.” Axe's eyes widen at that, staring at Killer who slowly sits up.
“you what.”
“Look, he has so many drinks he's hoarding, he won't miss a few bottles. It's not like he'll find out anyway.” Killer scoffs, managing to grab the lighter from Axe.
“I won't find out what.”
Both of them turn sharply, staring at none other than their boss . They then quickly glance at each other, and Axe curses internally, knowing that if Nightmare finds out they have one of his drinks that's they'll both be in some shit. So, shoves the bottle into the gaping hole in his skull, tensing when he feels the liquor start spilling out from the bottle, as it's at an awkard sideways angle. Immedatly, the liqour starts effecting him, making his breathing turn heavier, his limbs awardly at his sides, feeling cumbersome. He makes some sense of Killer blabbering off about a prank they're going to pull on Dust, probably his cover story, though he can't make out if Nightmare is buying it through his blurred vision. He tries to act normal, but ends up hunching forward, regretting it immediatly as the liquid reaches his sockets, spilling out. His remaining eye burns, the pain almost as much as the day he got his eyelight ripped out by the two people he thought he could trust.
He slumps in further on himself, his hands going up to his face and clawing at his sockets. His skull is ringing with so many voices, unable to make out that of Killer and Nightmare, their voices laced with concern, but falling on deaf ears as all Axe could hear is that bitch and her little lap dog planned his death.
Someone grabs his arm, and his body moves on instinct, grabbing whoever it is with his large hands, his claws digging into them as he yanks them up by their arm, and in one swift motion, throws them over his body and slams into the ground. Before he could rip their limbs off and make them suffer for daring to try and mess with him, something cold and slimy wraps around him, quickly and effectively restaining him despite his best efforts to fight it off. Panic start setting in, his desperate need to escape making his soul scream in his chest, his breathing getting faster. There's voices, and he feels something getting removed from his skull, his eyelight, he can feel the blood gushing down his skull and face as his power leaves his body.
He thrashes around, Loosening the bonds on him for a second, before more hold him down. A gut-wrenching screech rips from his throat, piercing the air with panic, his panic as he tries to get out, to get away and hide, but nothing seems to be working. Even with his best efforts, his limbs only gets restained more each time he manages to loosen them.
There's another voice, something soft, familiar. With the voice is a strong magic presence, the smell of tobacco, old clothes, and a hint of something chalky filling his senses. He doesn't need to see who is in front of his to know the owner of the scent and voice, and immediately he stops fighting against the bonds to try and see through his tears (when did he start crying?). A blurry shape is standing in front of him, taking slow steps toward him. There's more voices, but he can't be bothered with them as he yanks his limbs free, and before they can be pinned down again, he reaches forward and pulls the smaller framed skeleton in close to hid body. He needs to protect him from them.
«Easy, I got you.» Dust's familiar, low grumbling voice mutters next to his skull, making him let out a shuddering breath. His smaller, cold hands rub Axe's back in slow circles, slowly easing his tense body. There's still talking, and some shouting, making him bury his face in the other's neck, trying to block all the noise and bright light. Dust talks, but not at him, so he doesn't bother to listen, but catches a few words, something about shutting up and needing some space. Then, Dust turns is attention to Axe, slowly talking to him, guiding his breathing, helping him finally calm down, or at least calmer than before. The burning in his sockets is still there, and Axe lets out a soft whine, unable to ignore it longer as rubs at his eyesocket, trying to get it to lessen the pain, but it doesn't help.
«C'mon, I'll help you clean up.» Dust gently pries him from the death hold he has on the smaller, slowly leading him to the bathroom, needing to use blue magic to keep him up as Axe stumbles on his feet. Once in there, Dust helps him sit in the bathtub, getting out a few of the softest cloths he can find, not wanting to cause Axe any more pain. He looks at him for a second, then down at his hands covered ingloves, letting out a soft breath. He'll deal with his annoying brother and his irrational fears later, Axe needs him right now. So, slowly, hesitantly, he removes his gloves, stetting them aside before turning to the large skeleton in the tub, who hasn't moves, just staring into space.
«I'm going to put my hand in your skull, okay? To get the liquor out.» Dust warns, looking down at Axe, who just blinks up at him with a large, fuzzy eyelight. Gently, Dust uses the cloth to trace the edge of the crack, earning a shuddering whine from him. Seeing he didn't react negatively, he slowly puts his hand with the cloth in. Magic buzzes around his hand wildly, feeling like static or painful pins and needles across his bones. Yet, he did not give up, going on far enough to reach the liquid in Axe's skull. His brother got aggravating and loud, metionging just how easy it would be to kill Axe, gather the EXP and maybe even increase his LV. But, he turns his back to the phantom, focusing in the task instead. The cloth absorbs as much as it can, before Dust has to remove it, setting it in the sink and getting a new one. It takes three fully soaked cloths, and a forth to get the last bit out, before Dust can finally start cleaning his skull. He takes a clean cloth, holding it under the running water to wet it, before twisting out the excess water, leaving it damp.
«It's cold.» he gives a warning, before slipping his hand in again, and tenderly starts wiping the inside. Axe shudders violently at the contact, letting out a whine as his one hand comes up to hold onto Dust's shirt, the other wrapping arounf his neck and pulling him in closer. The awkard angle makes it a bit harder for Dust, and his spine protests in discomfort, but he utters no complaint. It takes a while, but when Dust deems it clean he pulls his hand out, only to have Axe fall limp on him, making him fall to his knees under the other's weight. He hisses in pain, and there will definitely be bruises on his knees after this, but he manages to get up, using his magic again to move Axe. He strips him of his clothes, giving him a quick wash to rid all the grout off his bones. With that, he lifts him out of the tub, using magic all the while as he dries him off, slipping on a new pair of shorts, before taking them both to his room, knowing Axe needs him to stay close, and his own room was in a bit of a mess from his last LV flare. Dust get axe into his large bed, slipping in beside him before pulling the covers over them both.
Killer makes a soft sound of discomfort as Cross cleans up the slash wounds on his arm, actively avoiding looking at him and Nightmare. His soul is shifting in front of his chest, the messy rings becoming more circular.
“Killer.”
The skeleton flinches at the sound of his name, playing it off by glaring at Cross, who simply huffs at his reaction.
“Look at me.”
Killer avoids doing it for as long as he can, but eventually looks over at the corrupted skeleton, freezing at the look he's given. Nightmare has his eyelight narrowed to a slit, seeming ready to burst with rage, but there's a stronger look he's giving, a look of disappointment. He swallows nervously, but another twitch on his soul numbs him down, and he's able to meet Nightmare's gaze, almost glaring back at him.
“Mind telling me why you snuck into my study and stole one of my drinks?”
Killer is silent, staring at him. It stays like that for a long while, before he breaks the glare to look down at Cross, where he purposefully got a bit rougher with cleaning one of the cuts, sending stings of pain through Killer.
“I just wanted to have some fun.” he finally said, looking back up at Nightmare.
“So you consider this fun? Getting thrown into the ground, and causing Axe a panic attack?” Nightmare's patience seems to be slowly running out, his tentacles flicking and writhing behind him. Killer is, again, silent, just glaring at him, breaking it once again when Cross causes a sting of pain.
×He asked you a question.×
“How about you mind your own fucking business, and do what Nightmare told you to do, since all you're good at is following orders.” Killer hisses, glaring at Cross, even as he straightens up, towering over him.
“Oh look, you're offended. How surprising, I thought your fancy ass "royal guard training" would force you to stay calm and quiet, like a good little bitch.” he spits out, ready to quip another cutting remark at Cross, but his vision blacks out for a few seconds, pain blommosing on his cheekbone.
× -EVER, CALL ME THAT AGAIN, GOT IT?!× Killer holds his cheek in one hand, frozen to the spot as Cross fumes above him. He's never head Cross get this upset.
“Cross, go. I'll take it from here.” Killer's vision comes back, only to see Cross storming off. He stares at the spot Cross ran off to, before his vision snaps to Nightmare as he steps closer, and he tenses, staring up at him.
Nightmare just looks down at him for a while, completely silent, and with no clear expression on his face. Killer slowly starts to crumble, his breathing becoming uneven as tears mix with the liquid DT, making it a slimy, gross mess that falls down his face. Great, the alcohol is fucking up his already fucked up emotions, making his carefully built walls crumble. A soft hiccup, followed by a sob comes from him, and he looks away from Nightmare, shame and disgust for himself flooding his soul.
“... Clean up. When you're ready, meet me in my study.” Nightmare's voice is softer, not what Killer was expecting if he's honest. He watches Nightmare leave, waiting until he's sure he won't hear him, not that it matters since he can sense emotions, before breaking down in ugly sobs and hiccups. He really fucked up this time.