Daemons
Chapter 4

Lust looked over in the mirror to the dress he was currently wearing, not quite sure if he really wanted to be seen in something so... repulsive. Sure he was confident when it came to his looks and sexuality, and it wouldn’t be the first time he’d worn a dress in public. But the skeleton did have limits, and this frilly disaster was pushing them. Seriously, what woman would ever willingly buy a ‘designer dress’ that made a garbage bag look sexy? The dress was covered in white, frilly lace in a flowery pattern, which itself wasn’t bad. It might’ve looked nice, if not paired with a green that made Lust immediately think of baby food and such an unflattering shape. Even with Lust being able to form an ectobody to try and perfectly match the dress, it still looked awful.

He peeked his head out from behind the curtain, only to see Ink not even paying attention. Lust had brought his artistic friend shopping with him as the colorful skeleton was an expert when it came to judging the appearance of something. Yet it seemed that bringing him along this time was pointless, as Ink had barely looked up from his phone all day.

Honestly, the taller skeleton wasn’t surprised in the slightest. This had been a running theme for the past four or five days now. Anytime anyone asked what he was doing, if they were lucky enough to even get a response, they would get the same line of ‘I’m just texting a friend’. This ‘friend’ had remained nameless despite everyone’s efforts to get something out of the artist, but no luck. Judging though from the near permanent rainbow blush on his cheeks, Lust didn’t have to think hard as to why Ink had been so distant and secretive.

Curious as to just how aware of his surroundings Ink currently was, Lust decided to see just how much he could get away with. He purposely modified the shape of his ectobody, somehow making the dress even more hideous. It’s a good thing he wasn’t easily embarrassed as he threw the curtain back with as much pride and flair as he could muster. Pretending to not notice how bad the abomination looked, Lust walked right in front of his shorter friend, displaying the dress and twirling to give him a full view.

“What do you think, Ink?” He giggled, trying not to gag on his next words. “I really think this one’s a winner. I don’t even care what the price tag is, it’s perfect!”

The other skeleton barely glanced up from his phone. “Looks nice,” he muttered in a monotone voice before blushing at whatever new message had popped up. Lust froze, shooting his friend an ‘are you serious?’ look. Not expecting any response, the taller simply stalked back to the changing room, desperate to rid himself of the hideous piece of fabric. After that disaster, Lust had lost all faith in the store’s sense of fashion and decided to change back into his normal clothes. Though he still wanted to test how far Ink’s current state of obliviousness really went.

As he changed, the taller skeleton began talking to the artist, praying for at least some response. Wanting to provoke some reaction, Lust just started blurting out the most ludicrous things he could think of.

“Did you hear that Sci actually failed his last midterm? From what I hear he completely bombed it!” Yeah, the day Sci bombs a test is the day hell freezes over.

“That sucks.” Ink’s voice maintained its monotone nature.

“Also, Dream finally got the guts to ask Cross out the other day. Funny thing was Cross was secretly in love with him this whole time!” Sorry Dream, but I know for a fact Cross doesn’t see you that way.

“Good for him.”

Damn, Lust thought for sure he’d get him with that one. Honestly, the only one who didn’t know about Dream’s horribly one-sided crush seemed to be Cross himself. The next idea that ended up popping into his head did make him hesitate though. This one was going to make him feel guilty, but it might be the only way to get anything more than a couple words out of his friend. He took a deep breath to calm any tremors in his voice before stepping out of the changing room.

“Blue just texted me that he rolled Geno off the side of a cliff. Said Geno’s about as broken as Humpty Dumpty right now.” Even thinking about it made Lust feel sick. Come on, I know you care about Geno as much as I do, say something!

“... Uh-huh.” That was barely even a response!

Okay, enough is enough. “Dammit Ink! Would you look up from that stupid screen and listen to me?!”

The colorful skeleton ripped his head up in surprise, staring at the other with a look of confusion. “What are you talking about? I’ve been listening this whole time!”

The purple skeleton crossed his arms over his chest, clearly not impressed. “Oh you were listening were you? Then where do you think we should go to get some nice flowers for Geno’s hospital room?”

That finally got a proper response. Instantly Ink was on his feet, his phone completely abandoned for the first time all week. “Wait, Geno’s in the hospital?! Since when?! What happened?!” The artist’s frantic questions came out as a high pitch screech, drawing the attention of anyone nearby.

Not wanting to cause a scene in the middle of a department store, Lust quickly clamped his hand over Ink’s mouth, effectively stopping the ungodly sound he’d been making. “Yeah, Geno’s been in the hospital as of thirty seconds ago, when I made it up to see if you were really listening to me!” He hissed. The taller waited for understanding to replace the panic in his friend’s mismatched eyes before he dared take his hand away. Though he did make sure to take advantage of Ink’s rare lack of focus on his phone to snatch the device currently lying beside him. When the artist showed no recognition of what the taller had just done, Lust stood up straight with a huff. “Come on, we’re leaving.”

“... But weren’t you going to buy something?” Lust couldn’t help but facepalm, dragging his hand down his face before pulling the small, confused skeleton out of the store.

The taller skeleton wasted no time in putting some distance between himself and that store. His mind was racing, yet no real thoughts managed to organize themselves. He’d almost completely forgotten about the smaller friend he was dragging behind him, until Ink’s voice managed to cut through his cluttered thoughts. “Ow, ow, ow! Lust slow down! Your legs are way longer than mine, I can’t keep up! Also your grip is hurting me!”

He finally realized that he’d been subconsciously tightening his hold on Ink’s wrist and quickly let go. The pair finally stopped moving and stepped to the side of the mall pathway, allowing others to pass while Ink tried to catch his breath after practically running to keep up with Lust’s long strides.

“Sorry about that Ink, guess I just got lost in my own thoughts and forgot what I was doing.”

“I-It’s alright, just... give me a second...” The artist leaned against the wall, only to quickly slide down to the floor panting. Lust stood next to his friend, leaning against the wall himself and watching Ink’s hand slip into his pocket. The hand fished around for a second, before Ink’s eye went wide. His hands began flying all over the place, checking every little pocket and crevice in his clothes. “Shit, shit, shit! Where is it?!” Ink’s eyes flew up to meet Lust’s, distress clearly visible in his features. “We have to go back! I must’ve left my phone back there!”

The purple skeleton merely smirked at his artistic friend’s reaction. The shorter of the two shot to his feet and glowered at his friend’s smug reaction, silently daring Lust to say what was so funny. Enjoying the uncharacteristic hostility, Lust snuck his hand into the pocket where he’d stashed the device. “You mean this thing?” He wiggled it in front of Ink’s face, his eyes practically glowing with relief.

Yet when the short skeleton reached up to grab it and thank his friend, Lust snatched his hand back, keeping the phone out of Ink’s range. “Nuh uh uh, don’t think you’re getting this thing back so easily. Consider this your punishment for not paying attention~”

Ink’s mismatched eyes stared up at him in disbelief as the artist tried to get a hold on his emotions. “What? You can’t do that! That’s mine!”

“Hey, you told me to buy some abomination of a dress, I think I’m well within my rights. Besides, you don’t have to do much to get it back, just tell me about your new boyfriend and it’s all yours~”

Ink was about to ask what he meant about the dress, but froze upon hearing the word “boyfriend”. The rainbow blush on his cheeks grew considerably more opaque as his ability to speak almost disappeared. “B-b-b-boyfr-friend?!”

“Yeah. You know, the ‘friend’ you’ve been texting nonstop for the past week? Honestly, Ink, you really think with a name like mine I wouldn’t recognize when someone’s in love? Plus, Cupid’s arrow must’ve hit you pretty hard because you’re so obvious!”

The colorful skeleton was left a stuttering mess by Lust’s comments, unable to say anything in response. All he managed to accomplish is bury his head into his scarf and quietly scream into the fabric in frustration. Meanwhile, Lust was absolutely loving this.

“I guess if you don’t want to tell me, this little thing will probably give me all the information I need.” He wiggled the phone, turning his back on his flustered friend and making a show of unlocking the phone despite Ink’s protests. “You know, it’s one thing if you tell Dream your passcode, since he’ll likely have forgotten by the next morning. But if you really want to keep a secret, you should know better by now than to trust me~”

“No, no please, Lust don’t!”

Lust put the passcode in, unlocking the phone without issue. “Let’s see, let’s open up the messages...”

“Lust stop it, this isn’t funny!” Ink was getting mad, abandoning his attempts at begging, and trying to claw his way to the phone.

“Really? I’m finding this hilarious! Now then, most recent message sent to... Error, is that his name?” He clicked on the contact, opening up a plethora of messages. Scrolling to the top, the taller skeleton found that the start of the messages did coincide with when Ink’s attention became devoted to his phone. Scanning over a few, Lust was able to paint a pretty clear picture.

“Okay you win!” The sound of sniffling brought Lust’s gaze down to his shorter friend, noticing the tears at the edge of his sockets that Ink was desperately trying to hold back. Instant regret filled the taller as he saw the first few tears roll down the artist’s cheeks.

“Oh hon, I’m sorry. Looks like I took this stupid joke too far, didn’t I?” He crouched down to Ink’s level, much as a mother would to their child. One hand rested on Ink’s shoulder as the other handed the phone back and wiped the tears away that had already fallen. “You don’t have to tell me anything if you really don’t want to. I just want to help you, that’s all.”

“You... That’s really all you want?” His voice was so small, as if speaking any louder would cause the small bit of control he had over his emotions to break.

Lust nodded, grabbing hold of Ink’s hand, and standing up. “Course it is, if anyone knows how difficult dating is, it’s me. Come on, let’s go somewhere a little quieter and more private, then you can tell me whatever you want.”

The pair wandered over to a nearby café, ordering some food and drinks before sitting down in a quiet booth in the corner. Both waited in a slightly uncomfortable silence until the food arrived, not wanting to be disturbed.

“So... what do you want to know?” Ink poked at the pastry in front of him, not really looking up at his friend.

“Well, let’s start with something easy. How did you two meet?”

“I nearly got hit by a car.” Lust choked on the drink he was sipping. “Nearly,” he stressed. “Then, out of nowhere I felt something wrap around me. I didn’t even have time to look at what it was, but next thing I knew I was yanked out of the way. When I finally opened my eyes, this guy had me in his arms, like he was protecting me. Then he looked down at me, and his eyes...” Ink trailed off, a dreamy expression taking over his face as he rested his chin in his hand that was propped up against the table. “His eyes were so beautiful, I couldn’t help but instantly get lost in them...”

The taller skeleton allowed his friend to ramble on for a bit about how gorgeous this mystery man was, at least until he couldn’t stop himself from snickering. That snapped the artist out of his daydreaming, causing him to ask his friend what was so funny. “Oh, nothing hon. I just never would’ve pegged you as a ‘love at first sight’ type of guy.” Ink’s blush got darker at that comment. “So, besides meeting your exceptionally refined standards of beauty, what’s he like?”

Ink almost immediately started laughing as he jumped back into thought. “Honestly, he’s a complete dork. That first conversation I had with him was so awkward, and his creepy friend certainly wasn’t helping things.” The smile Ink had as he continued was so genuinely sweet, Lust wanted nothing more than to snap a photo of his love-struck friend. It was simply too perfect.

“Okay, so creepy friend that makes guy seem way better by comparison, check. As dorky and awkward as you, double check. What else can I check off the list?”

“Well, he’s really sweet, and thoughtful, and kind, and considerate, and... hey!” Lust couldn’t help but burst out laughing as Ink finally caught on to the playful insult the taller had snuck in.

However the shorter’s list of all these amazing qualities his mystery man had gave Lust an idea. He continued to tease and make fun of his friend for a bit, waiting until Ink was completely distracted and flustered. Too much so to notice Lust swipe his phone once again.

The purple skeleton quickly excused himself, coming up with some random excuse about having to make a quick phone call about a date. It wasn’t completely unbelievable, since the two had initially been shopping for Lust’s upcoming date earlier. It also made things easier that Ink looked almost relieved when Lust left, clearly enjoying the short break from all the teasing.

Lust wandered a short distance from the café, finding a quiet spot in the mall before pulling out Ink’s phone. He went straight for the contact listed as Error, and pressed the call button.

It ringed for a little bit before a glitchy voice came through the line. ”Hey Ink, what’s up? I thought you said you were out with a friend right now and would call me later.”

Lust couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “He is, you’re actually speaking to his friend right now. The name’s Lust, sweetheart~”

The other guy on the line seemed taken aback by the flirty tone the purple skeleton had used. ”E-e-excuse me?"

Yep. Definitely same amount of dorky and awkward as Ink. “Oh relax hon, you just passed the first test, congrats! Some guys would’ve flirted back with me, at least you’ve got more class than most.”

"What? What are you even going on about? Where’s Ink?" The other voice was starting to get more hostile.

“Oh don’t worry about him. He’s still poking that poor pastry with his head buried in his scarf. The point is, he’s not here. So that lets me ask you what your intentions are. When it comes to Ink, that is.” The glitchy voice was getting more frustrated and agitated, but Lust wasn’t intimidated by the growling he kept hearing. He steeled his own voice, wanting to get his point across properly the first time. “Look, I care about Ink a lot. And while he’s a really great guy, he can sometimes be naïve or oblivious. I’ve had my fair share of bad relationships, and the last thing I want is some random guy taking advantage of one of my friends. I’ll just come right out and say it, but Ink’s fallen for you, hard. So, this is your only chance. Tell me what your intentions are with my friend, and be honest. If I think you’re lying, I won’t hesitate to delete everything involving you from this phone, got it?”

"W-wait, what?" The earlier bite in the voice was gone, replaced with a bit of panic at Lust’s threat. ”N-no, please don’t do that! I swear, I don’t want to hurt him in the slightest! Please, just don’t..."

The harsh coldness in Lust’s voice faded away as he smirked. “Alright, alright, calm down. I believe you. Man, sounds like the lucky bastard actually got a keeper. Since that’s the case, let me help you.”

The two spoke on the phone for a bit longer before Lust went back to the café. As expected, Ink was still sitting there, though he’d actually stopped poking his snack and ate the thing. He managed to slip Ink’s phone back without getting noticed, having made sure to delete the recent conversation from the phone’s call history. To keep up appearances, Lust proceeded to keep pestering Ink, this time steering the conversation towards the topic of dates. It was subtle, but the artist’s blush did in fact grow darker as they continued to speak.

When they finished their snack, Lust practically dragged Ink to a nearby store, except this time he wasn’t looking for himself. The artist seemed to quickly catch on the second the taller started presenting him with outfits he thought the shorter one would look cute in.

“Lust, we’re supposed to be shopping for you, not me! You’re the one with a date!”

“Are you sure about that?” Lust looked at his own phone to check the time as Ink just gave him a ‘what do you mean’ look. “If I were you,” he checked this phone once again, trying to get the timing just right. “I would check your phone in three... two... one!” Just as he finished counting Ink’s phone began to ring, startling the smaller.

He pulled it out, only to frown at the contact displayed. “What. Did. You. Do.” The short skeleton was practically glaring daggers at his friend, but the other seemed unaffected.

“If I were you, I’d answer that phone. Wouldn’t want to give the poor guy the wrong idea, now would we~?” With that, Lust left the flustered skeleton to quickly answer the call. He kept picking out and setting aside a few outfits, trying to keep Ink’s tastes in mind. All the while he made sure to keep an eye on his friend, judging his reactions to try and get a feel for the conversation.

When he finally finished the phone call, Ink practically lunged at his taller friend, wrapping him in a big hug. “I still don’t know what you did, but I know you did something! Thank you so much!”

“No problem shorty, now come on. I’ve picked out plenty of things for you to try. There’ll be something in this pile that you’ll like for your date, I’m sure of it!”

Ink looked up at him, a conflicted feeling flashing across his eyes. “But what about your date? We were originally looking for you.”

Lust placed a gentle hand on the top of Ink’s skull. “Hon, you know me. I’ve got enough clothes at home to open my own little outlet store! I’ll just pick something random from the closet. Besides, I’m not too hopeful for this date anyways.” When asked why, Lust simply shrugged. “He just doesn’t feel like he’s the one, you know?”

Ink seemed to think on that for a bit as they headed towards the changing rooms. “How do you know when you’ve found the one?”

He sighed. “When I figure that out, I’ll let you know.”

The pair managed to pick a single outfit out that Ink had practically fallen in love with. Lust wasn’t the biggest fan, mostly since it didn’t include the bright skirt that Ink adamantly refused to try on, but the smaller skeleton was the one that had to wear it, so he got what he wanted. Once the clothes were bought the pair ducked into the nearest restroom, allowing Ink to change. Despite the outfit possessing no skirt, Lust couldn’t help but admit that Ink’s choice of clothes were quite striking.

His cream colored dress shirt was tucked into his dark slacks, both somehow still pristine and free of wrinkles. He’d opted to keep his typical sneakers, not wanting to be put through the agony of shoe shopping with Lust. Over top of his dress shirt was a rainbow hoodie with the zipper left open, the colors blending smoothly into each other. While not what the taller would consider a good match for the outfit, it certainly screamed ‘Ink’. The final touches were Ink’s scarf and satchel, making it something that his friend deemed acceptable for a first date. It was formal enough to say he put some effort in, while playful enough to highlight Ink’s colorful personality.

“How do I look?” The shorter skeleton looked up to his friend, seeking his opinion. His nervousness was clearly visible from the way he clutched at his scarf, a slight tremor in his fingers.

Once again Lust bent down to his friend’s eye level and gently placed his hands on the shorter’s shoulders. “Hon, you look fine. Just try to relax a bit. I get you’re nervous, but you’ll be fine, trust me.” He gave his most convincing smile, seeing his actions have a noticeable calming effect on the jittery skeleton.

The two skeletons left the bathroom, Ink’s original clothes somehow shoved into his satchel. Lust didn’t know how so much junk could fit in that poor bag, and he wasn’t going to stick his hand in that thing to find out. For all he knew, it was some extradimensional wormhole or something. The pair wandered to the large fountain in the center of the mall, only for Ink to go rushing over to a random tall skeleton with black bones.

Not wanting to intrude on the couple’s cute moment, Lust stood back and simply watched, taking the chance to watch how the taller skeleton treated Ink. And honestly, the two of them were adorable together. The purple skeleton had to content himself with silently cooing over the two of them as he watched from a distance. The taller wrapped an arm around Ink’s shoulders and led them away, never dropping the large smile he had. As they were leaving, the artist turned around to where he knew his friend was, mouthing the words ‘thank you’ before the two skeletons were lost in the crowd of people.

A small sigh escaped Lust as his eyes lingered where they’d been. “I so ship it~”

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