"I need a list," the gremlin man said. "Has anyone made a list, or are you all too useless to think of that?"
Duke sat on an antique settee, listening to the buzzing in his head. (His heart. His soul. . . .) The gremlin man snapped his fingers and Duke idly looked at him.
"Hmmph." The gremlin man peered into his face. "I sank you too deep." He pinched his fingers together and the buzz receded a little. "Now. Idiot. Who has a list of all the troubles?"
"The Teagues," Duke said. Still off-key. Sparse as the branches of a tree in winter. "Vince and Dave."
"The mewling half-breed and his oaf of a 'brother'?" the gremlin man scoffed. "I should have noticed. I already dispatched of them."
Duke let himself drift into the buzz again, admiring his fingers as he set them on fire. That'd been a good trouble to pull. He hadn't known the man well, and the flames were pretty.
The gremlin man snapped his fingers again. Duke let the flames go out and looked at him.
"Focus, please," the gremlin man said. "I've given you just what you always wanted, Duke. A little gratitude wouldn't hurt you."
Duke tilted his head, curious. "What I've always wanted."
"Purpose," the gremlin man said. "Submission. The pure, perfect freedom of surrender to the Void." He pressed his fingers into the soft space under Duke's jaw, pressing his face upwards. "You belong to me, Duke Crocker. I've brought you home."
Warmth and pressure and soft words. Water and wind in dark hair. Lucifer's laugh. Octavia's tiny smiles. The smell of Thai food and ripe fruit freshly opened.
Duke twitched. The gremlin man tightened his hand. The buzz roared.
Cold. Absence. The bright zing of pain in an otherwise empty space. Hunger.
"Home," Duke said.
The gremlin man let him go with an angry huff. "Go get the list, boy. Before I have to put you down."
Duke slipped away between one blink and the next. Following his master's will.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Duke and the Croat
Date: 2024-12-31 07:14 pm (UTC)Duke sat on an antique settee, listening to the buzzing in his head. (His heart. His soul. . . .) The gremlin man snapped his fingers and Duke idly looked at him.
"Hmmph." The gremlin man peered into his face. "I sank you too deep." He pinched his fingers together and the buzz receded a little. "Now. Idiot. Who has a list of all the troubles?"
"The Teagues," Duke said. Still off-key. Sparse as the branches of a tree in winter. "Vince and Dave."
"The mewling half-breed and his oaf of a 'brother'?" the gremlin man scoffed. "I should have noticed. I already dispatched of them."
Duke let himself drift into the buzz again, admiring his fingers as he set them on fire. That'd been a good trouble to pull. He hadn't known the man well, and the flames were pretty.
The gremlin man snapped his fingers again. Duke let the flames go out and looked at him.
"Focus, please," the gremlin man said. "I've given you just what you always wanted, Duke. A little gratitude wouldn't hurt you."
Duke tilted his head, curious. "What I've always wanted."
"Purpose," the gremlin man said. "Submission. The pure, perfect freedom of surrender to the Void." He pressed his fingers into the soft space under Duke's jaw, pressing his face upwards. "You belong to me, Duke Crocker. I've brought you home."
Warmth and pressure and soft words. Water and wind in dark hair. Lucifer's laugh. Octavia's tiny smiles. The smell of Thai food and ripe fruit freshly opened.
Duke twitched. The gremlin man tightened his hand. The buzz roared.
Cold. Absence. The bright zing of pain in an otherwise empty space. Hunger.
"Home," Duke said.
The gremlin man let him go with an angry huff. "Go get the list, boy. Before I have to put you down."
Duke slipped away between one blink and the next. Following his master's will.