Drop of a Bag // [Paperhat]

Chapter Sixteen: Catharsis

A/N: HEY. did you read the note? if you didn't go read it. if you did already you get a forehead kiss. smooch.
if you did and came back, you get a gold star. boop. ⭐️
if you ignored this anyways and kept going, your name is being moved from green to red. get owned nerd.
anyways, on with the show

"Demencia?" Slys called into the empty lab, bag clutched tightly in hand and a peace offering in the other. "Are you there?"

"No," a voice left the rafters. It sounded hoarse and tired, as if it had been screaming and/or crying for a long time.

"...Well. Unfortunate. I really wanted to give her this delicious, juicy slab of raw zebra meat, but I guess—"

In moments, Slys had an entire grown lizard woman attached to his arm, tearing the offering out of his hand with her teeth.

"AY DIOS MIO," he screeched in terror, flopping backwards and letting the meat go for the safety of his almost-removed limb. "Not all raw meat is on the menu, Dee!"

"Don't call me that," the woman hissed back around a mouthful of zebra, growling as she ripped out chunks from the slab with her razor-sharp fangs.

Flug did design her to be a predator, after all.

Slys gulped down a lump in his throat, trying to clear it enough to muster a proper sentence.
"...Listen. I know you're upset—"

"Upset?" she grumbled lowly, thankfully pacifying her obvious rage with yet another mouthful of the peace offering. "I'm not upset, jackass. I'm fucking furious. You've known I've been in love with Blacky, for, I dunno, how long ago did you make me? And here we are, finally being kinda cool with each other, just for you to go and steal him from me!! And he's not even super evil anymore!!!! It's like you want to betray me."

A bit of her acidic dribble escaped from her lips between words and bites, droplets hitting the metal floor and evaporating into a hissing singe. Slys eyed the scorch, adjusting his collar in discomfort.

Man, if Demencia didn't hate Flug so much, he'd be much better suited to handle this whole "calming down" situation.

"We never meant to hurt you," Slys reasoned slowly, trying to tread as carefully as he possibly could while still being honest. Any word could be a landmine.

Demencia watched him carefully over her food. Well, it at least seemed like she was open to listening, so Slys continued.

"...We also thought he was super endlessly evil, and he hated us much more than you. I mean, I've had a huuuuuge crush on him since we started working here. But Flug knew you loved him, and he was super scared of the big boss, so he kept it quiet. Turns out our Jefecito isn't anything like any of us thought he was, huh..?"

Demencia processed for a long moment, the only sound in the room being her thoughtful chewing and Slys' heartbeat in his ears. She could go berserk at any moment.

Finishing the last bite of her meal, Demencia stared at the floor with an alarmingly calm expression. Slys found this significantly much more unnerving than her usual crazy self, and braced himself for the other shoe to drop.

What he wasn't expecting was a quiet sniffle.

Refocusing his attention on her, Slys could see Demencia's eyes glistening as the conversation caught up with her.

"He never—snf—loved me," she whimpered softly, looking up at Slys with the most heartbreaking expression he'd ever seen.

"Did he?"

Flug and Demencia had their differences. Like, a lot of them. But he still cared about her, and seeing her like this was a sucker punch straight to the heart.

"Oh, cariña," the pale man sighed gently, red eyes softening as he scooted towards her and subtly opened his arms in invitation. "C'mere."

Much to his surprise, Demencia lunged into his lap, and seemingly without intent to go for his jugular. She immediately buried her face in his shirt and let out violent, sobbing screams, her acidic tears rolling down the fabric.

Thank the devil I made my clothes myself, Slys thought in relief as he wrapped his arms around her. One hand held her loosely around the torso like a halfhearted hug, while the other gently trailed down her hair in a repetitive soothing motion.

"He never loved me!!!!" she screamed into his chest, one hand pounding on his back as her cries turned into violent sobs. "Never ever!! I was fine with it before because I thought he couldn't love but he clearly loves you because he looks at you the way I look at him and it means he could've loved me but he never did and I just—"

"Hey," Slys cooed gently, lifting her face up and smiling softly down at her. He used a sharpened thumb to gently wipe away a tear, suppressing a wince as he silently appreciated his reinforced claws against her chemical burns. "It's okay. It'll be okay. You're the most evil person I know, even compared to Jefecito!! No terrible villain's ever been taken down by some measly heartbreak. You're way too strong to let this stop you!!"

She sniffled, surprising Slys once more as her eyes shined with hope instead of patronized malice. "...Really?"

"Of course!!" the doctor reinforced, nodding enthusiastically for dramatic effect. "Super evil and scary, and nothing can hold you back. You could take over the world all on your own if you wanted!! Remember how many customers were so crazy about hiring you after you hijacked the ads? A devious plan with super spooky after effects!! Nobody else can do it like you can."

She seemed to absorb each word very carefully as the man spoke, more confidence appearing in her expression with each syllable.

"Yeah... Yeah! I am pretty evil!!" she agreed, sitting up and wiping her face to reset it for a devious grin. "Who cares if Blacky's secretly a pansy? He's still got the scariest henchmen in the universe!! There's no stopping us!!"

Us? Slys noted internally, allowing his smile to escape both at her upturning mood and her supposed inclusion of him in her world domination fantasy.

"Right!!" he reaffirmed, flashing a sharp-toothed grin to match her own. "Nothing can stop you now!!"

After a bit more laughter and super evil, not-at-all-adorable cheering, they each let out a sigh in unison, allowing the atmosphere to settle into its naturally loosened state.

"...Listen closely, dork," Demencia commented quietly after a few moments of comfortable silence. "I'm only gonna say this once."

"Hmm?" Slys responded, returning his attention to her.

She had her eyes seemingly locked on the door, though Slys couldn't quite tell where she was looking with part of her bangs blocking her face. He could swear he saw a dust of pink on her cheeks, though.

"......Thanksforhelpingme."

"Sorry, could you speak up?" Slys teased, grin widening mischievously. "I didn't quite hear you there."

"I know you heard me, asshole!!" Demencia screeched, though the smile on her face betrayed no malicious intent even as she went to swing for his jaw.

"Yeah," Slys laughed, arms held up in guard position as her claws came down towards him, "I know."

A/N:
yaaaaay they're bffs again :D
some of y'all are so mean to demencia :(
she's secretly a sweetheart she's just Going Through It y'all just give her a break /lh/nm
aaaanyways i miss interacting w everyone!! prompt for the day: what would you like to see in this story going forward? i'm kinda running low on ideas bc my hyperfixation brain is trying to drag me down a completely separate path rn (it's been doing so since the fifth chapter but i WON'T GIVE IN)
i'd love to hear your thoughts!! they don't even have to be abt the chapter. you can tell me abt your day or a recent hyperfixation or anything!! please talk to me i'm so lonely—