You awoke with a migraine pounding in your head, your skull feeling as though it had been cracked in two. The memories that flooded you of what happened the night before only made it worse. Clutching your head in your hands, you rose, slowly and steady, squinting at the light that streamed in through the windows. Blinking, you made to look at the nearest clock, noticing that it was nearly noon- meaning the Graysons had let you sleep in for once. The house was empty and quiet, which was a startling realization, as it was rare for all three of the Graysons to be gone. Turning to stand from the couch, you noticed a notepad on the living room table. It was a short note from Debbie.
Had to go to work, Nolan is away and Mark is at school. Feel free to help yourself to food :)
P.s. if you plan on going out, be careful and make sure no one sees you. Cecil's orders.
With a sigh you lowered the notepad, albeit with a soft smile at the fact that Debbie cared. Well that's good at least. Guess that means I won't be training then. With a long groan you got to your feet, cracking your back and massaging your head, hoping it would lessen the pain. "Bane? Can we talk?" You rumbled, feeling him slip from your finger in a wet blot of ink, none of which stained your finger, thank goodness.
"What is it?"
You scowled, rolling your eyes as you made your way towards the fridge. "Oh, I think you know very well what "it" is." Even with your attitude, Bane remained poised, hands folded behind his back as he stood across the counter from you. "I'm assuming from your current disposition, you are upset about last night." Taking meat and cheese from the fridge, you slammed the door shut, glaring daggers at your familiar. "Oh really? You're assuming? And why would you make the assumption that I am upset?" You egged him on, taking bread from the pantry and setting it on the counter beside the meat and cheese. "Because you killed people." Bane replied, nonchalant and with an apathetic tone. "And...?" You waved your hand at him, setting a plate on the counter and placing two slices of bread on it. "And, once again, I am assuming, you'd prefer not to kill." You snapped, flashing him an angry and mocking grin. "Bingo! Now, what the hell was it you did to me that compelled me do that?" You asked, adding in your meat and cheese.
Bane stood quiet, eyes glossed over in thought. You arched a brow. "Uh, hello? What did you do?" He blinked. "I did not do anything. I merely encouraged you." With barely leashed rage, you slammed the slice of bread on top of the sandwich harshly, eye twitching. "And by encouraging me, you mean what, exactly?"
"As Death Kin, you already hunger for blood and death, and the souls of those who wronged you. I was merely showing you how famished you were, numbing you to your ethics and morals and making you see that in order to survive, you must feed. And those men that were after you were the perfect candidates, seeing that they had tried to kill you."
You froze. "How often do I need to feed?" You asked him, terror flowing through your veins.
"It varies. The longest you could go would be a century, but in that case it would take over a billion souls to satiate your appetite. Doing it in little bursts makes it so that you have to do it more, but in smaller numbers.
"Being the amount you consumed last night, though, I doubt you'll be needing to do it again for a good amount of time. Unless, that is, you feel the need to get ahead of the curve."
You gestured at your familiar erratically. "What "curve??" Why wasn't I told that in order to live, I'd need to kill people?!" Something flickered behind Bane's eyes. "You... don't have to. It will shorten your lifespan, though." A sense of something more grave came over you as you held your sandwich, brows furrowed. "By how much?" He folded his hands over the counter. "Your lifespan would be that of a regular human's. If you feed, you'll live as long as you're meant to, and have power within the Underworld to do what you were born to do."
"And that is..?"
"To be the Dead King's heir."
Eyes widening and breath hitching, you blinked rapidly, the abruptness of the news making you breathless. Though, it made sense. You were Death Kin, child of the Dead King. He had said this was all a test, or something like it. He was testing you to see if you were fit to rule.
"Well, shit." You muttered, taking a bite from your sandwich. It was dry as sand on your tongue- you had lost your appetite. Swallowing harshly, you groaned, weakly tossing your sandwich back onto the plate. You hunched over and held your head in your hands, the stress of the realization becoming unbearably overwhelming, the weight of your life and the Underworld on your shoulders.
Bane sighed, taking the steps to be by your side and setting a hand on your shoulder delicately, but with enough pressure to bring some comfort and relief. "You don't have to worry about it too much. That's why I'm here. I'm meant to take the brunt of the stress that comes with being Death Kin until you are strong enough to bear it." You stared up at him from the corners of your eyes. "And when is that?" He leaned closer to you, eyes tender and kind. "That will be decided by myself and the King. It won't be thrust upon you until we know you're ready." A laugh forced its way through your lips. "You're making the Dead King sound like some caring father." Bane breathed a chuckle. "That is because he is. You simply don't know him well enough to see that.
"He is harsh. He is strict. He will not protect you, but he will most definitely not harm you."
"Because I'm his kin?"
"That, but also because you are his heir."
A heavy sigh escaped you. "Yeah, his heir." Bane pursed his lips- for the first time you noticed he had taken on his more humanoid form, with dark skin and long black dreadlocks, but still with the same slitted and mystical purple-black eyes. There was concern in his expression. "He would teach you himself, but he cannot walk the land of the living like you can. That is how you are different. I am here in his place, in a way." Lowering your hands, you tilted your head towards him. "Well, that's good at least. This way I don't have to constantly deal with his intimidating aura." He let out a soft laugh. "Yes, see, there's an upside to everything." You snickered at his words, picking up the sandwich and taking another bite, finding it easier to eat now. After all, you had just woken up. You needed to have some breakfast.
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"Agh, crap." You cursed, staring at the lack of ramen-cups in the pantry. "What is it?" Bane asked, perking up from his spot beside the island counter. "There's no more ramen. I'm gonna go out and get some." You stated, closing the pantry door. "Didn't you already eat?" He asked, to which you shrugged. "I'm still hungry. Also, instant ramen just sounds good right now."
Only after slipping on your shoes did you realize the fault in your logic. "Oh, right, I'm supposed to be dead." Turning to Bane, who waited on the stairway railing in the form of a snake again, you posed a question. "So, I'm supposed to be able to shapeshift, right?" Bane gave a nod. "Yes, why? Would you like to learn now?" You tilted your hand in a "so-so" gesture. "Eh.. kinda. I was wondering if I could change my appearance? Just so that no one recognizes me." Bane shook his head, slinking down from the banister and returning to his humanoid form, but keeping his snake head this time. "Doing something such as that takes much practice. Even I have a hard time doing so. I only have one human appearance, and if I were to try and change it, it would take me months." You prused your lips, letting out a small "oh" as you held a hand to your chin. "Welp, guess I just have to look super shady then."
Grabbing thicker clothing, a hoodie, a hat, and a pair of sunglasses, you made yourself as unidentifiable as possible. "How do I look?" You asked Bane, lowering your glasses to look him in the eye. "Lovely." He said, turning back into a snake and coiling around your shoulders. "What are you doing?" You questioned, the snake shrinking as he wrapped around your arm, heading for your ring finger again. "I'm coming with you." He said, no longer able to speak aloud. You sighed. "You know you could just come with me in your human form." A rumble escaped Bane, the snake already wrapped around your finger again in the shape of a scaly ring. "...No." He grumbled, and a chuckle escaped you as you rolled your eyes. "Alight, fine. Let's go." Guess he isn't a huge fan of being seen in his human form. Wonder why why he's okay with me seeing him like that though... maybe it's a familiar thing?
Since you didn't have your car, you had to walk to the nearest grocery store armed with nothing but spare cash you had found from Mark's wallet. "I'll pay him back later," was what you had told yourself, when in reality you were hoping that the ramen would be payment enough, seeing that you had no idea what happened to a majority of your possessions and money after your death.
The store was as crowded as it usually was- if anything it was actually more crowded, being that it was now late afternoon and everyone was either scrambling to get something for a late lunch, early dinner, or were trying to get their life together and buy groceries. Luckily for you, you knew exactly where the ramen cups were and what type you wanted, so you grabbed a lucky bunch and tossed them into your basket.
Turning away from the shelves, you froze, noticing a certain someone staring right at you.
Detective Parr.
The man looked like a wreck- unshaven with messy hair and puffy eyes, dark bags beneath them and wrinkles more present than ever, whether they be in face or his clothes. He wore a pajama shirt with a jacket in an attempt to hide it, but without zipping it shut, as it was too hot to, left it out and easily visible. That, sweatpants, and heavy boots finished off the ensemble of a broken man.
He rubbed his eyes, blinking rapidly with wide eyes, running a hand through unwashed and unkempt hair. "Y-Y/n?" He questioned, rushing up to you as you remained paralyzed. Brian held you by the shoulders, grabbing you harshly and staring you in the face. Luckily your glasses obscured the pure panic and heartbreak in your eyes. "Is it really you?" He whispered, desperate. As much as you hated yourself for it, you struggled from his grip, breaking free and running off in the opposite direction.
"H-hey! Y/n- wait! Please!"
You heard as he gave chase, his boots thundering against the tile. Shit shit shit shit! I'm sorry! I'm so fucking sorry! You cursed, dashing one way and the next, trying to lose the beloved detective in the aisles. Skidding to a stop, you noticed the doors to the back sections of the store, where only the employees were allowed. "Agh!" You hated breaking rules like these, but at the same time, you had massacred a building on Russian scientists and guards the night before, so you supposed running around an "employees only" section wasn't so bad in comparison.
Charging through the doors, you ran behind the nearest shelves, waiting. The moment you heard the doors burst open again, the telltale sound of Parr's boots against the ground, you sped off again. "Hey!" He called out, continuing after you.
Employees yelled at you as you passed, Parr close behind and calling out to you, uncaring of the workers he bumped into. Sliding and jumping, twisting and turning, running and rushing through the open expanse of the open area full of stocked groceries, you thought you had nearly lost the man, only for your stomach to drop as you ran into a dead end. A door was to your right, and you immediately ran towards it, only to jiggle the handle and find it locked. "Shit-" You turned back towards the entrance of the aisle to see Parr, head turned away from you as he checked the opposite direction first. Cramming yourself into the corner, you shrunk down, trying to make yourself as small and unnoticeable as possible. Footsteps approached you, and a shadow passed over your form.
"Sir? Is there something you need?"
You pried your eyes open to see Bane standing there in his human form, arms crossed and form blocking you, speaking to Parr. "Er- I-" You shot up, clinging to Bane, but hiding behind him still so Parr couldn't see your face. Even if you had barely gotten a glimpse, you could tell Bane was feigning an angry expression, trying to intimidate Parr away. It helped that your familiar wore a suit, making him seem important, or as though he held some sort of authority. Brian, on the other hand, looked incredibly lost and in complete despair. "I-" He stopped, staring at you, letting out a sigh as he shook his head. "Sorry, I- I thought I- nevermind. I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to bother you, I'll be leaving." Parr told him, backing away and heading back to the nearest exit.
After Parr was out of sight, Bane patted you on the shoulder. "Are you okay?" He asked, looking down at you. You sniffed, tears filling your eyes as you cried. "Who was that?" He questioned, brows furrowed in concern. "My- my uncle. Kinda. His name is Brian Parr. He's a detective, and I worked with him for awhile, and he became a role model, or a mentor to me." Bane nodded slowly. "I see. I'm.. I'm sorry." He said, quickly recognizing the reason behind your distress. "It's okay." You sobbed, wiping your tears, even if they seemed to have no end. "I'll be able to see him again. I hope I will, at least. If Cecil doesn't let me for much longer, I might just tell him to go fuck himself and go see my uncle anyway." You laughed, trying to rid yourself of the horrid guilt you felt.
A moment of silence passed as you wept into Bane, your familiar rubbing your back softly. "Oh." He said, to which you drew yourself from him, sniffling still. "What?" You croaked, throat dry. "You still have your basket." You held your arm up, snickering upon seeing it, ramen still resting within, arm suddenly sore upon having the handles moved across it. "Well, might as well finish what I started." So, puffing your chest back up and clearing your eyes and throat, you began your march back into the main section of the store. You paid for the ramen and ended up back at the Grayson's with little trouble after that.