Love Me, Harm Me

I (still) love you

"I have had worse partings, but none that so
Gnaws at my mind still." - Walking Away, Cecil Day-Lewis

.☀.🌑.☀.🌑.

Why did people love to meddle?

That one question couldn't help but play in Meliodas' mind as he stared at his reflection, wondering why the fuck he'd let himself get roped into this plan. Most nights these days he'd end up working, burying himself within the routine before returning home to stare the ceiling down until he slept. Zeldris didn't bother his evenings most nights. Most of the time he was calling Gelda, talking about how Christmas was coming up and he might need to go back to Scotland to help her.

Part of Meliodas prayed that his brother would go back home - before shit hit the fan and he was called out to work for his father. At least then Zeldris would be safe, far away from the corruption of their father's legacy. But, like the stubborn mule he was, Zeldris seemed fixed on staying for a while. His excuse was not wanting his brother to spend Christmas alone. How lovely.

Tonight, though, Zeldris was disturbing Meliodas' norm of being a workaholic. Dragging him aside, showing him a text that he'd sent to Diane, Zeldris told Meliodas that he was going to movie night this week and he was going to grow a pair and talk to Elizabeth. Air everything out. At once. In front of everyone. No excuses to be accepted.

That led to Meliodas being forced into a stupid Christmas jumper - at the beginning of December - to fit the supposed theme. Zeldris, handy as always, also said he'd provide a ride, meaning Meliodas couldn't pretend to go.

Though, with the ride Zeldris set up, Meliodas would rather kill himself at this current moment. Never in his life would he have seen himself here, sat next to his brother as Zaneri waffled on and on about her day at work, fiddling with the heater in her car as they waited in the late night traffic pile up. Apparently, Zeldris had gotten the car for the evening by exchanging his invite to movie night; some kind of trade-off that was only working because they both lived to meddle.

"Trust me, this will work, Mel," Zaneri smiled, her eyelashes glinting silver from the mascara she wore. Apparently it was meant to mirror tinsel, silver and sparkly in order to distract the viewer. Nothing new for her.

"I don't trust anything that comes out of your mouth," Was Meliodas' natural response. When it came to Elizabeth, he didn't trust much about Zaneri and her opinions on it all. There was nothing for her to gain from supporting Elizabeth; she had everything to lose if Elizabeth did end up forgiving him, so much more than she could ever gain.

If there was anything Meliodas had learned about Zaneri then it was that she was gain-orientated. Nothing else mattered as long as she benefited from whatever she did. That was why she had approached him in the first place, one of the scariest members of their year group, known for getting sent to isolation whenever he ended up in a fight.

From the moment he'd met her, Meliodas knew that the only reason why Zaneri had approached him was because of his reputation. If he wasn't Meliodas King, the kid known for being a troublemaker, an angry, brooding mess, than she wouldn't have bothered. But the protection that status gave, the notoriety - she loved it. Even now it was the same: she was still chasing a long-dead image.

"If you don't trust her, then trust me," Zeldris grumbled, shaking his head as he shot a glare at Zaneri. A sign to shut the fuck up and not ruin the plan. "Showing up and saying the truth will fix whatever mess you've made."

"And what if he chickens out?" Zaneri fired back, determined as always to get her way. Again, nothing new. All evening, Meliodas knew, she would make his mission impossible because she didn't want him to succeed. Clearing the air with Elizabeth was the last thing she needed right now. For years she had been waiting for something like this to happen.