Of Love and Death.

The Past Chapter 8: Strength to Speak Pt. 2

      Blood paced back and forth. Mind would be back from the market soon, and the two of them needed to have a conversation. Namely, about what Mind had been up to of late. Blood had been seeing less and less of the other Shadow, and he was concerned. Although it wasn't abnormal for Mind to go out into the universe from time to time, those trips were always at measurable intervals. Recently, he'd been going out more and more, but really only when he was supposed to be in his room, resting.

     The only reason why Blood actually knew that Mind was returning this time was because the Shadow had specifically told Blood as much. Which meant that Mind wanted to talk to him. Which could either be good, bad, or a mix or the two. Blood was hoping for good. 

      "You're really worried about Mind, aren't you?" Form asked.

       Blood turned around to face his boyfriend. Form was sitting on Blood's bed, his legs crossed and one hand resting on his knee, the other on the bed sheet. Form could take any form he wanted, and right now he was in his favorite. He had spikey white hair that pointed downward from his head, and black eyes. His skin was pale white, with purple lines all over it. Not that you could see much of Form's skin, he was wearing an outfit that covered him nearly head to toe. He had white pants that were tucked into tall dark purple boots, with lighter purple cuffs. He had a large, similarly colored hat with a feather in it, and a cape as well! Form had dark lavender gloves and gray sleeves, and a vest with the same colors as his boots. 

      In other words Blood's boyfriend was a bit of a fashinestia. There was a reason why Form always had a suit to lend to Mind.

        "I guess," Blood admitted. He rubbed his arm a bit self-consciously. He did care about Mind, but he wanted to make sure that Form didn't take it in the wrong way. After all, there was no reason for Form to be concerned about Mind. "Mind's kinda like a brother to me. Well, the kind you don't hate."

       Form chuckled, raising a hand to his mouth as he did so. "So a bit like me and Song?" He asked, lowering the hand back to his knee.

       Blood had to admit he hadn't been expecting that. "I didn't realize that you and Song spoke," He said, with genuine surprise. He sat down next to Form, his hand laying on the one that his boyfriend was resting on the bed. 

       Form shrugged, his white hair getting scrunched up on his shoulders. "What can I say?" He asked. "We both like roaming around the universe, and we have had the unfortunate opportunity of running into each other. Multiple times." He sighed dramatically. "But we've learned to deal with it. Even if we do get on the other's nerves sometimes."

       There was a knock on the door, causing both Blood and Form's heads to turn toward the entryway. Blood looked at his boyfriend, who shrugged again. Blood frowned. Even Mind, at the worst of times, had known he didn't need to knock on the door of his room.

      "Who is it?" Blood called out.

     "It's Cold. Now open the fudging door," Cold said, her voice making it clear that she was not pleased with something.

      Blood honestly wasn't sure he was actually going to open the door. The only thing that made him get up was that Cold would probably just knock it down if he didn't let her in. As much as he wanted to tick her off, Blood had to admit it was probably better to stay on Cold's good side for the time being. It was also advantageous to get this over with. That way Mind might just miss her.

      With a heavy sigh, Blood stood up and crossed over to the door. He placed his hand on the doorknob, but pulled it away quickly, hissing a bit. Apparently, Cold had gotten impatient and frozen the handle to spite him. At least, that's what Blood thought. He would be very surprised to find out that that wasn't the case.

      "Well, are you opening the door or not?" Cold asked, her voice had a bit of sadistic glee in it.

      Blood growled to himself, but nevertheless summoned up his courage and wrenched open the door. He didn't even have to fix his face to show Cold his displeasure. It was already quite prevalent. Judging by the look on the other Shadow's face, Cold could see that. Her smirk also made it seem like she was amused by Blood's utter disgust of her.

      So much for trying to stay on Cold's good side. 

      "Where's Mind?" Cold questioned, not even giving Blood a chance to ask her what she wanted.

      Time to choose your words, Blood thought to himself. He needed to get Cold to admit she had been a jerk to Mind, for lack of some better words. Well, maybe he didn't need Cold to tell him that. But he wanted to hear her say it. Part of him also wanted to tell the other Shadow exactly what he thought of her, but that would be what you call a bad idea. Blood didn't need to see his own blood anytime soon.

      "Why do you want to know?" Blood asked. That question was harmless enough. Maybe it would get Cold to admit her wrongdoings.

       Cold didn't seem to want to answer. She folded her arms and glared at Blood, daring him to back down. Oh, she'd underestimated Blood. He wasn't going to tell her where Mind was unless he knew why. Even then, Blood might not tell her Mind's location. Actually, he would definitely not tell her.

       "Why do you need to know that?" Cold asked.

       Blood rolled his eyes. He knew that Cold knew why he wanted to know. He had not tried to keep his intense dislike of the other Shadow hidden. Nor did he have any intention of hiding it right now. "Maybe because I know what you've done to him," Blood hissed, glaring daggers at Cold.

     Cold smirked. "And what have I done? I never laid a hand on Mind. And anything else that might be connected to me is too hard to prove." Blood paused, trying to figure out how to respond to that. Judging by Cold's look, the other Shadow had wanted to stump him. Blood knew that there was a way to prove Cold's jerkoff behavior, and a way to get her in trouble for it. Or, at the very least, get her away from Mind. He just didn't know what it was, or how to form it into a substantial response.

      Well, when you don't have actual words, body language works, Blood thought to himself. He made a conscious effort to draw up to his full height. He crossed his wing-like arms, and leaned to the side just a little bit. Finally, Blood let a small growl escape from his mouth.

     Cold narrowed her eyes, and the atmosphere of the room suddenly got very tense. It had already been kind of tense, but now it was very tense. Blood felt his mouth go a bit dry. He resisted the urge to run his tongue along his lips, it was too much a show of fear. Instead, he used a trick he'd learned during a, seemingly endless, conversation with Drag. Out of thin air, Blood summoned some blood into his mouth. Granted, the concept of using blood to work the same way as saliva was a little bit strange. However, Blood wasn't really bothered by it in practice.

      "Are you going to say anything?" Cold asked. Blood wanted to curse. Apparently his posturing hadn't gotten him off of the hook.

      Oh, just say something! Blood told himself. "Um," Blood began. Off to a great start he was. The perfect way to start off your retort to a rude comment. Um. ARGH! The one time he wasn't put together, knowing just what to say. He took a deep breath. When in doubt, just talk.

      "I know you're slippery," Blood said, not quietly, but not loudly either. So far he was off to a good start it would appear. "But I can take you down, Cold. Even if everyone is terrified of you. I'm not." That was a bit of a lie. He wasn't terrified of Cold, but he was definitely wary of her. "I don't know what you want. But I am going to stop you from getting it. Even if it's just out of spite."

     That was a good speech, Blood congratulated himself.

     Cold, apparently, didn't take too kindly to that. Which was a good sign. "You're not scared of me?" She asked, her voice speckled with icicles. Blood nodded, keeping his gaze steady. He was incredibly glad that he knew how to control his body. If he hadn't been able to, well, he would likely be a shaking mess. "Well then you're an idiot," Cold said, a wicked smirk on her face.

     "Wh-wh-who's an idiot?" A small voice asked from the hallway. Despite the fact that Blood's view was blocked by Cold, he knew who had spoken. The one person who Blood had really  been hoping wouldn't have arrived yet.

     Mind.