"Okie dokie! Everything's done! Anti...or Sean...sweetheart! I'll be on my way home now! You enjoy your stay with Dark...or Mark tonight for whatever he needed to do. Make sure you come home on Sunday night! Toodles Lisa!" shouted Anti's mom as her skipped her way back home.
"Bye Heather!" Dark's mom waved goodbye to her newest best friend and closed the door. "So." she started as she turned around. "Dark told me what to do. Which isn't much at all. I dislike the fact that I do technically nothing in this situation." The woman pouted. "I just want to see the fluffy moments between you two!"
Dark sighed and palmed his forehead and eyes for the umpteenth time he stepped into this house. "Mom." He said, letting go of his face and wrap an arm around Anti. "If you would please stop rambling and be faaaaaaar away doing whatever you're supposed to do, then we can get started."
Dark's mom pouted. "Fine. Be grumpy about it. All you want is Anti. Your mom isn't worth anything anymore!" She sobbed dramatically and ran off upstairs to her room.
Dark and Anti sweatdropped. "Was she always like this?" Anti asked.
"I don't know. I wasn't developed enough to be aware at least." Dark stated.
"No, she wasn't this delusional before." Mark answered in Dark's head.
"Thanks for the info." Dark replied Mark. He then hugged Anti's waist. "Anyway, you ready, devil chops?" He asked the Irish demi-demon.
Anti sighed and closed his eyes. He nuzzled into the crook of Dark's neck, purring a bit. "Jack and I may have to talk."
"Sure, I'll be in my room. It's upstairs, last door facing the stairs at the end of the hallway." Dark informed and let go of the comforting hug, walking to his room.
Anti sat comfortably on the couch and leaned back. He grabbed a big handheld mirror and watched his reflection turn to his human half.
"I actually do have a question." Jack said. "Just what exactly is your relationship with Dark?"
"What do you mean?" Anti asked.
"Well, you two never said the actual three words to each other." Jack raised a brow. "Do you love him at all?"
Anti froze. Does he love the son of War? He thought he can answer this smoothly with all the affection they shared. Was it love? He knows what the two fathers have done to force them to like each other, yet he does not see anyone the same way he sees Dark at all. Should that be called love? What exactly is love?
"I..."
Jack tilted his head. "Can't answer that, huh?" Anti can see his human half looking at him worriedly. "What about Dark? Do you know if he loves you?"
Anti growled. "Why are you suddenly asking this?"
"After hearing mom said something about making Mark and me feel." Jack answered. "It makes me wonder if you two actually feel what you two are supposed to feel."
"Why do you care?" Anti started to feel agitated. "We weren't meant to be created anyway. Just let Mark into your world and solve this mistake!"
"Look, even if we are mistakes, we're still creatures with emotions, no matter what the fuck we are." Jack shouted back. "I worry about you not because of myself. I worry about you because you're my demon half! I can feel your overly sensitive insecurity and jealousy all the fucking time. Don't think I can't figure it out. Of course, I would start exploring on my own in our mind when I realize your existence within me! I constantly felt this growing up, knowing you're the demon half would only mean you feel worse than I do."
Anti can feel tears flooding up. "I don't fucking know! Ok?! I don't know if he loves me! I don't know if I love him! I don't know if it's pure lust from the sin his dad is able to control! I don't know!"
Jack sighed. "I don't know what Dark's planning and it's not that I don't trust him, Anti. Obviously, everybody is trying to figure out plans for the best of us in this form to avoid troubles in the future. But if you two can't keep your emotions in place or even figure them out, how are Mark and I supposed to cooperate here?"
Anti hugged his knees on the couch. "I guess only time will tell for now." He said quietly. "Let's switch now."
***
Meanwhile, upstairs in Dark and Mark's room, the two halves are discussing by looking at the same mirror doors of the closet.
There, where the supposed reflection of Dark should be, stood Mark with his arms crossed. "So I dug through your memories and found out what you and dad are planning."
Dark chuckled and shook his head. "Why couldn't you just stay in my mind and be still?"
Mark ignored Dark and continued. "First of all, I don't agree to this plan. It's only going to hurt Jack."
"I'm just doing what I'm supposed to."
"By forcing affection?"
"If the plan does work, it's not forcing."
"Dark. Look at you and Anti. You two were already forced to like each other from the beginning, even before you two were born. If our dads never made this spell or curse or whatever the hell it is, would you still like Anti the way you do now?"
Dark furrowed his eyebrows, not wanting to listen. "What do you know?"
"I know because I'm the human half. If you do like Anti the way you do, you'd care about his human half as well. We both know that this plan will only hurt Jack in the end."
Dark growled. "You think you're so great just because you're the human half?! You never had a choice from the start either. Why do you think you always felt off and wrong with all your past lovers? If you don't want to hurt Jack, why not you just give in and go with what our dads and Lucifer planned it to be?!"
"Because that's not how things work, Dark!" Mark shouted back. "You think forcing affection would solve everything?! Have you ever thought about the effects of the whole thing? If I give in, it would still hurt Jack for we both know it is gonna be fake!"
Dark calmed himself down. "What makes you think you don't like him?" He asked. "What makes you think he doesn't like you? You've felt some sort of connection from the start when you first met him and you knew it. You both felt it. You both denied it. Then you both ignored it. It's not me, Mark. It's only you two, refusing to embrace what you two feel."
"What am I even supposed to be embracing?!" Mark questioned. "I probably would if I didn't know that all this was planned even before I was born into this world. It's fake. Nothing's true! I hope your plan fails just to prove this. All of this! They're all fake and no real affection is involved. Then Jack wouldn't get hurt."
"What if the plan succeeds?" Dark gave the Mark in the mirror a blank look. "You're so worried about whether he's hurt or not, Mark."
"I worry because he's my friend. I worry because he and I are stuck on the same fucking burning sinking boat with no life jackets or any other ways to escape alive!" Mark let out an angry sigh. "If the plan succeeds...it will hurt him bad."
Dark scoffed. "Did you even try? How about trying to understand from your dad's point of view? Do you want destruction amongst humanity?"
Mark clenched his fists. "I am aware of why you all are doing this. But saving humanity by hurting the offsprings? I don't think that saves humanity when either of the human halves can't control our extreme emotions over all this. And I don't need to try. I don't like him that way. And you do realize you're just gonna be using Jack. You're not even sure if you actually like Anti, and now you dive in for his human half." Mark took a deep breath. "Even if you do like Anti, he and Jack are the same demi-demon. Do you even like Jack like how you like Anti?"
Dark went quiet for a while. "I don't know. But I'm about to find out." He said, hearing footsteps inching nearer towards the door to his room.
"I think by that statement, we can already determine the answer." Mark glared and disappeared, turning back to Dark's reflection in the mirror, indicating War has forcibly made Mark sleep.
Dark took a deep breath, trying to calm every molecule of him so he would appear normal in front of the human half of Anti.
He then heard a knock. "Dark?" came Jack's voice. "Are you busy?"
Dark went to open the door. "I wasn't, but now I'm busy admiring you." He smiled.
Jack felt himself blush. "Um...u-uh."
Dark chuckled. "Just come in." He said, grabbing the Irishman's wrist, pulling him into the room, and closed the door.
Jack felt nervous. It is his first time meeting to demon half of Mark physically. The fact that he knows this red eyed humanoid has planned something relating to himself and not anyone else to be aware of what he's about to do does not help with his nerves or fear.
"Why are you so tense?" Dark asked.
"It's my first time physically meeting you. Cut me some slack."
Dark chuckled and stood closer to the fidgeting human half. He held the back of Jack's head, his fingers tangling into his mop of green.
"Calm down, will you?" Dark whispered into Jack's ear, feeling him tense up even more.
"Then stay farther away from me." Jack replied quietly.
Dark stepped back, as far as possible but still holding onto Jack's wrist. "This enough?"
"You're still touching me." Jack said annoyed but still quiet.
Dark rolled his eyes but gave Jack a warm smile. Jack has no idea what to do and is internally freaking out. How he wishes that Anti is witnessing this and would help him get through his. He feels nervous and jumpy, like a bunny rabbit trapped in a wolf den and any movement would be trouble.
"Come on, Jack." Dark pulled Jack close again. "Relax. I won't hurt you. It's a good time to get to know you in my physical form."
There's the shiver running down Jack's skin giving him goosebumps from Dark's voice again. "S-sure?" He said, unsure.
Dark lifted the hair away from Jack's forehead and stared into the beautiful pools of blue. He felt a sense of peace and tranquility flowing through him which is something new for he is the son of War.
Jack wants to turn away but he couldn't. It is the first time he's ever seen this handsome face up close. Even if it is Dark that's in control, it is still Mark's body and face. Jack's eyes took in every detail of the closed up face in front of his, trailing up from the strong chiseled jawline up to his mesmerizing eyes that can make you feel like you're melting into a giant puddle of pink goo right then and there, even though they're red.
Dark let go of Jack's wrist and held Jack's waist instead, squeezing it softly.
Jack squeaked and accidentally jumped closer to Dark, chests almost touching.
"Still so tense, Jackaboy?" Dark chuckled.
"Shut up." Jack turned his head, blushing lightly.
"Alright fine." Dark forced Jack to turn, back facing him. He then wrapped his arms around Jack like he usually would do with Anti, pulling Jack closer. "This better? You can't see me now."
Jack let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He feels uncomfortably comfortable if that even made sense to himself. All this seems so deja vu for him right now. "Dark. Just what is it you need?"
"Oh, going for a direct approach?" Dark let his chin on Jack's shoulder. "Then will you be able to give me a direct answer quickly?" He whispered into Jack's ear.
Jack felt himself shudder. He internally groaned, as if the voice wasn't enough to torture him. "Depends on what the question is."
"How about you tell me your gut feeling?" Dark said as he placed his palm on Jack's abdomen. "The first answer that comes to your mind when I ask you this question. And..." Jack turned his head and saw Dark giving him a stern look. "No. Lying."
Jack gulped. "And why must I answer those?"
"Well..." Dark started. "Seeing as you're so tense of my touch, Jack. I would think you would want all this to end as quickly as possible, right? Besides...does this not feel very familiar to you?"
Jack blushed. Yes, he is very aware of the familiarity with the very comfortable warmth radiating from the demi-demon behind him into his back. As well as the feeling of want to get out of this position but his body refusing to let him move at all.
"Just ask, you arse." Jack growled out of embarrassment.
Dark laughed. "Alright. First question. Have you had any sort of feelings of attraction for this physical being behind you?"
Jack's eyes widened. What is he even supposed to say? "I-I...It was only at the start when I first met him! I don't feel anything intense for him now. It was just a moment! I- "
"Shush." Dark interrupted Jack's rambling. "Just yes or no. Nothing in between. Nothing vague. Nothing to run off topic. And no lying. So, I'll ask you again. Have you had any sort of feelings of attraction for this physical being behind you?"
Jack clenched his teeth. "Y-yes."
"Good boy. Now, are you feeling those feelings right now as I hold you?"
Jack hesitated to answer. He can feel the discomfort growing stronger within his stomach. They weren't butterflies, it's a complete hurricane.
"Come on Jackaboy." Dark held him tighter.
"Yes!" Jack blurted out.
Dark chuckled. "Ok. So who are these feelings directed to right now? Mark? Or...me?"
Jack froze. "Wh-wha?"
"You heard the question. Answer it." Dark said.
Jack shook his head. "I don't fucking know!"
Dark pressed on his abdomen a little harder. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean I don't know!" Jack shouted. "Stop it, Dark! Let me go!" He struggled, trying to get out of Dark's grasp.
"You're lying." Jack froze. "No need to deny it. I can feel that you're lying. You forget I am the demon half." Dark smirked.
"Then you should know the fucking answer already! Why the fuck are you asking me at all?!" Jack shouted.
"Because you have to acknowledge it yourself. You saying it out loud to me means you're admitting it. And after that, you cannot deny it to yourself anymore."
"I'm not admitting anything! I have nothing to admit!" Jack continued to struggle out of Dark's grasp.
"You're lying again."
"Shut up!"
"No. Say it."
"There's nothing to say!"
"Say it loud and clear."
"I said I don't know!"
"Bullshit."
Jack had enough. "Well then what do you suppose the fucking answer is?!"
"It's either one or the other, Jack."
Jack stopped his thrashing and bowed his head. "What if it isn't...?"
Dark loosened his grip but still holding onto Jack. "What?"
"You heard me!" Jack glared at Mark's demon half. "And you know perfectly well what I'm talking about!"
Dark breathed slowly. "I thought...you..."
Jack bit his lower lip, hesitant to talk. "Look, we both know it's practically nothing ok? These feelings will pass for I am the human half. I'm not stuck in this spell cast upon my demon half. It's just me and my stupid feelings. It's not strong feelings, but they're there! It'll pass. And soon all will be back to normal."
Dark pressed his cheek behind Jack's ear and let out a low sigh. "We both know I won't let that happen for a possible solution to this mess."
Jack shivered, again confused whether from being afraid or being attracted. He wants to be angry, but his emotions aren't allowing him. "Are you going to fucking use my feelings?"
"I'm not going to do anything that isn't beneficial to us, Jack. You know that."
"You mean beneficial to this mistake we happen to be." Jack snarled. "Can you let go of me please?"
"No."
"But I asked nicely!"
"You asked nicely." Dark said, yet holding on Jack tighter. "But I have to right to refuse."
Jack sighed, giving up for a moment, leaning onto Dark, and letting silence settle between them. He closed his eyes to just enjoy the warmth and security he feels from this position for a bit, even though all this to him is very wrong.
Dark, on the other hand, is deep in thought. The plan did not actually go as he thought it would but it did sort of work in his favor in a way. Yet, the conversation between him and his own human half reappeared in his mind. He thought he would have everything under control. He thought for sure Jack was going to answer just as he planned. He furrowed his eyebrows and sighed.
"Never thought Mark would be right about this." Dark muttered, releasing Jack from the backhug.
Jack lifted his head off Dark's shoulder and turned his head to look at Mark's half demon. "What?" He asked softly.
"I'm sorry Jack." Dark said even quieter. He never wanted to hurt Jack on purpose.
Jack was confused, but he had the feeling that if he asked about it, he would regret it. "Should...I be worried?" Jack asked.
Dark moved to stand in front of the confused Jack. "Allow me to experiment something first. So just look at me, and do not move."
Jack furrowed his eyebrows, even more confused, but not letting his guard down from this absolutely perplexing demi-demon. He kept his eyes fixated on the two shining red ones in front of him, scared to move.
Dark slightly tilted his head and raised a brow at Jack's nervousness. He stared at Jack's blue eyes and rested his palm on the pale man's cheek, caressing down his face, to his neck, down his arm, and eventually holding his hand. He can feel Jack slightly shiver from both fear and excitement with a slight spark in his eyes.
Dark stepped closer and pressed his forehead against Jack's, still staring into his eyes. He frowned. He feels nothing. Nothing as intense as he feels for Anti that is. Sure, he has some sort of feelings for the human half, but it was not much and mostly physical for he looks and feels almost exactly like the demon half. He closed his eyes and sighed. That also indicated that he does not like Anti as much as he thought he does. If he does, Jack should make him feel at least something emotionally right when he walked through the door. Jack should him feel all heated up inside as Anti usually does by just one look. Mark was right. He hated it that he's right.
Jack, on the other hand, is having an internal conflict. He was almost sure that his own feelings for Dark just started to blossom even more from that little gesture and replaced the fear and paranoia of what the demi-demon is going to do with him.
"I'm such an easy guy." Jack mumbled, disappointed in himself.
Dark, who guessed what Jack meant, sighed. "Jack, I'll be honest with you. I don't like you."
Jack felt something hurt inside of him but ignored it. "Well, you barely know me."
"I mean, I don't like you for the right reasons right now." Dark continued. "But I want to."
Jack raised a brow as he wonders if Dark is bullshitting him. He's not the type to immediately fall into a hopeless romantic mindset, even though his uncontrollable feelings practically forced him to this situation. Doubts still clouded his mind. "Is this only for the mess our fathers made? Are you only forcing yourself to like me to fix this? If so, I don't need it Dark. It's like pity and fake and disgusting."
"Partially." Dark admitted. "But I do know I like Anti. Not just by the thing our fathers cast on us before we were born. If that's so, I wouldn't be finding you so intriguing to investigate into." Dark smiled.
Jack blinked. "How do you know if you-"
"I know because I'm willing to at least try." Dark interrupted. "Let me."
Jack shook his head slowly. "What if it all fails? What if in the end, it was all fucking bullshit? What if I get left alone to deal with all this stupidity?" He will not allow himself to be trampled on.
Dark gave Jack a stern look, showing how serious his next statement is. "I will take responsibility."
Jack raised a brow. "How?"
"I have my ways. I am the demon half after all."
***
Lisa widened her eyes and pulled off her headphones. She heard it all from bugging her son's room to find out exactly what's going on. She quickly grabbed her phone to text Heather.
Lisama: Heather, I need to talk to you! Is anybody with you?
Heathen: No. What's going on, Lisa?
Lisama: The bugs worked in Mark's room. Good idea btw, you hid them very well. I overheard everything that happened in his room. Including Dark and Mark talking to each other.
Heathen: What? What did they say? What exactly happened? Every single detail please!
Lisama: For now, let's just say they seriously need a push. A big strong shove right down the hole. Jack seems to like both Mark and Dark. That can grow into actual love easily but my damn son seems to not want to get involved. Dark is being responsible and trying to protect Jack. A lot is happening. I'll call you in an hour to tell you everything.
Heathen: This sounds bad.
Lisama: Damn right. I hope their dumbass fathers are watching.
***
"Damn right we're watching, you crazy woman!" War shouted at Death's mirror.
Death sweatdropped. "That was your plan?"
"It didn't work as I thought it would, ok?! Plans fail!" War pouted.
"You realize because of you, we started a whole new problem, right?"
"Hey! This problem is there to start with! We're making it all float up to the surface. So everyone can solve it quickly and easily." War retorted.
"Yeah and build up on top of the previously unsolved problems to everything harder before the deadline like a highschooler with too much homework who doesn't know how to deal with time management." Death said.
War glared at Death. "Well, I don't see you helping at all! At least I thought of a plan!"
"That caused more trouble." said Death, finishing War's sentence with a smug tone. "Way to confused our children even more."
"Have you two forgotten that I'm here?" Satan grumbled, his arms crossed.
"Actually, yes Lucifer." Death laughed sheepishly. "When did you get here?"
"When I entered your domain as a giant black smoke bomb." Satan answered, grumpily. "Well, now what are you two gonna do? Obviously, War, your human half of the child refuses to get along with your plan. Death, your child as a whole is fucking confused. We need them get along and like each other at least slightly more than friends, pronto."
"Do you have ideas, Lucifer?" War asked.
Satan's right eye twitched. "You two are the fathers, you morons! How about you do your job correctly instead of asking me all the fucking time?!
Death puffed his cheeks and turned his head childishly. "It's not like I wanted this to happen. I didn't even do anything." He muttered.
"That's exactly why you're not doing your job!" Satan shouted.
War sighed. "This teen stuff is not our strong suit. This LIFE stuff is not our strong suit!"
"No duh. We're literally named Death and War." Death said.
"Enough with the smart remarks, Death." Satan grumbled. "As if Anti and Jack weren't enough."
"They don't live with you at least." Death said.
"I said enough smart remarks!" Satan shouted. "It's like I'm raising two of my own kids."
"You technically did. So you technically do have experience on being a father. So technically asking for your help is doing our jobs correctly." Death said, finishing with a smug look.
"You're never gonna stop, are you?" Satan sighed.
War covered his mouth to hide his laughing.
"No, I'm not. You ripped my hood off and took War's helmet. It's the best way to annoy the hell out of you for that." Death said.
"Well gee, I'm sorry I want to expose both your exquisite beauty and sinful hotness to the underworld." Satan rolled his eyes.
"I can smell trouble from just that." Death said.
War took a deep breath to calm his laughing. "We're getting off track here."
"We always get off track." Death said. "It's like a must whenever we talk about something related to our children." Death shrugged walking to his mirror. "So what the hell are we supposed to do?"
Satan sighed. "We need to talk to Pain and Panic. Now."