A/N - hey guyssssss did you miss me
Ruv hated every bit of this.
He'd been reflecting on this thought throughout the entirety of the day's trek through town, following the couple that had so lovingly deceived him and Sarv out of everything they held dear. He dragged his feet along the misshapen pavement, autumn leaves decorating the rubble beneath his boots and occasionally delivering him the satisfaction of a crunching noise. He was barely conscious enough of his surroundings to focus on anything other than the floor, but still, he followed Sarv closely. It was more like inherently sensing her presence than anything; he'd gotten into a habit of doing that when he zoned out. Luckily, she had been relatively quiet as of late, so he didn't have to pretend to pay attention.
Maybe, just maybe, he hadn't yet allowed himself to fully process that he and Sarv had been completely excommunicated from the church where he'd spent so much of his life. Maybe he didn't want to think about the fact that Sarv was a demon, and that she never told him. The thoughts had plagued him for the entirety of the few months they'd been traveling together, sprouting like thorny vines in his mind and shutting his body down. He didn't know what to think anymore, so he just... didn't, the majority of the time.
The wind brushed past his face, bypassing the protection of his hood, and he pulled up the cloth in response, burying himself in the soft fluff of the interior. The couple, Boyfriend and Girlfriend (Ruv still couldn't believe those were their actual names), had started walking into an apartment complex – Ruv could only assume they were looking for somewhere to get away from people, considering they'd been out and about for the entire day.
Sometimes he felt strange about practically stalking them, but Sarv had insisted on the basis that she needed "food." The thought of what exactly feeding was for her made him shudder; he always made sure to look away and drown out everything around him.
The pair walked aimlessly for a moment, and then seemed to get distracted with something. Ruv took the opportunity to stop for a moment, tugging on the strings of his jacket before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cigarette – ah, it was his last one...
Well, he could just – run errands soon and get another pack, he decided, fishing in his other pocket for his lighter and breathing in smoke. He exhaled slowly and shakily, as if it was the first breath he'd taken in years. He tried not to smoke too much, but – it'd been a rough day. Sarv had been quiet, sure, but the two of them had almost gotten caught that morning, and Ruv just... felt off. He did that sometimes. He got some sort of guttural feeling that something was wrong, that something horrible was going to happen – and, sure, he was hardly ever right, but the feeling itself was enough to put him on edge and make him hold his breath in preparation for some terrible event that would ruin his life forever.
The last time he'd really gotten that feeling was the day he and Sarv got kicked out. The day that actually ruined his life. So, he felt a bit justified being horrified for now.
He was almost done with the cigarette when he felt a tug on the right side of his jacket. Looking down, he snapped himself out of the dazed trance he'd been in and realized that filling the air was a disturbing, pained scream.
Sarv was pointing down the alley to their right, leading Ruv to look in the same direction – and, almost instantly, he felt like his body was frozen in place, and he couldn't look away.
The first thing Ruv noticed was that the stranger who Boyfriend was now fighting had a bomb for a head – certainly, he'd seen stranger people living in this god-forsaken town, but it was still something he made note of. He was tall – somehow taller than Ruv, who stood at a solid six foot six – with an oversized hoodie covering his body down to his mid-thighs, and simple brown pants. More interestingly, though, his eyes were glowing and flashing symbols, spread wide on his face as he screamed. He looked like he was in pain almost, like the fight was damaging him in itself. Heck, maybe he was in pain - Ruv wouldn't be surprised, seeing as the wick sticking out from the top of his head was alight and steadily waning away.
