Zero was in his house. It was cold and empty as usual. He was once again writing down notes, hoping they would help with his research. He then heard a door open behind him, he turned around and saw Flake peaking his head around the kitchen door. "Have you figured it out yet?" Flake eagerly asked. "Not yet Flake. I still have a long way to go before I know what's wrong." Zero replied. Flake groaned and sat on the couch. "Oh don't be like that, I'll figure it out soon." Zero reassured him. Zero then heard a scratching noise against the wall, he spun around in his chair "flake! What have I told you about scratching my walls?" Zero yelled. Flake took his hand away from the wall and layed on the floor as if he was about to throw a tantrum. "These claws are just so... weird. I'm not used to them and I wanna know what they can do." Flake groaned. "Well you've scratched up my wall three times in the past four months, so maybe try to leave my walls alone." Zero recommend. Flake looked at his claws and stretched out his hands. "It's so weird not having fingers though..." flake sighed.
Zero grabbed a few of the papers that he had scribbled down notes on and shoved them into the drawer on his desk. "I imagine it would be," Zero started, he walked over to flake and crouched down next to him "but soon enough you'll be alright again." Zero happily explained. "...Will it help Fenn and werix too? Maybe even Rag if we decide to give enough of a shit?" Flake asked. "Hopefully it'll help all of you." Zero replied. Zero stood up and walked over to the coat rack (that only he used) and grabbed his favourite jacket. Flake looked at what he was doing and he started getting slightly concerned. "What are you doing?" Flake questioned. "I'm going out to meet someone, I'll be back soon don't worry." Zero replied, still preparing to leave. Flakes face dropped and his ears tilted down "Why? Who are you seeing?" Flake continued. "I'm seeing my new friend Pren, I met him a few weeks ago. He says he might be able to help me with my research too." Zero happily explained. Flake was sort of lost for words "...p-please don't go..." Flake whimpered. Zero looked back at flake, he had never heard him sound this sad before.
"It's okay Flake, I'll be back soon I swear." Zero weakly said. As zero opened the door and left, Flake deeply sighed. He looked around the empty house already feeling like zero had been gone for ages. He then started to think. Who was this guy? Pren, was it? Why does he deserve Zero's time? Flake's mind started racing as he started to develop a deep hatred for this stranger. Flake got up and started to pace around the room muttering insults about this new person. He realised that if he carried on he would get too enraged and end up breaking something, so he decided to let out his aggression somewhere else. He turned to the door and took a deep breath, he calmly walked over to it and opened it, he peaked his head around the door making sure nobody was on the street. Once he checked that the coast was clear he made his way down the street. He sort of jogged to the alleyways since he still had a fear of being seen. He turned into the alleyway and slowed down since it was less likely any humans would be down here. After a few minutes of walking he heard a few voices, exactly the voices he wanted to hear. Flake turned one more corner and saw Werix, Rag... and Fenn. Rag was sat in a dark corner while Werix was leaning against a wall and Fenn was sat on the floor reading a book. "What are you doing here?" Werix snarled.
Fenn looked away from Flake feeling a bit uncomfortable, Rag didn't even bother to look at him. "I'm here for, Rag." Flake replied while giving Rag a sharp glare. "M-m-me!?" Rag spluttered. Flake nodded. "What are you gonna do with him?" Fenn questioned. Flake blushed at the sound of her voice "I j-just need to let out some steam..." Flake sighed. Werix giggled "He's all yours, babe-" Flake groaned "don't call me that, werix." Werix scoffed at Flakes response "calm down, I'm just trying to lighten the mood," Werix walked over to Rag and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him to his feet "there, have him, do whatever you want." Werix continued. Flake took Rag by the wrist and walked him down to another part of the alley, away from Werix and Fenn. Rag whimpered as Flake's grip on his wrist become tighter. "F-Flake, whatever you're about to do, please know that you don't have to do it-t." Rag whined as his voice began to break. Flake grabbed Rag by the neck and pushed him up against the wall. "Listen here you little bitch, I'll do what I want and you can't stop me." Flake snarled. Rag felt tears start to swell in his eyes as fear built up inside him. Flake put the tips of his claws on Rag's chest and then trailed them down leaving deep cuts in Rag's torso. "F-Flake, please s-stop." Rag pleaded. Of course Flake ignored him and continued having his 'fun'.
Flake took his claws away from Rag and released his grip on him, letting him drop to the ground. Rag's wounds quickly started to heal up "please leave me alone, Flake." Rag whimpered. Flake kicked him in the stomach "you should be used to taking a beating, especially with your past." Flake blankly stated. "I'm not like that anymore, Flake! And it was all consensual!-" Rag was swiftly cut off by Flake kicking him in the face. Rag started crying, he hated having to be everyone's play thing. Flake grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to his feet. Oddly this was the only thing that made Rag feel some sort of pain, he's been through so much and having his hair pulled was the only thing that caused this sensation. Suddenly Flake smashed Rag's head into the wall next to them. This felt invigorating to Flake so he did it again, he then repeated the process while mumbling things under his breath. "Why do you deserve Zero's time?" Flake began. Still smashing Rag's head into the wall. "I deserve him more then you, I actually care about him, I love him," Flake continued. He started to ram Rag's head into the wall faster as he became more enraged. "I deserve him, not you! You don't love him like I do, Pren!"
Flake paused. He looked at Rag, his face was covered in bruises and gashes. and he was quietly whimpering. "Oh god..." Flake muttered. He let go of Rag's hair and Rag fell to his feet. he stumbled slightly before falling to the floor. Flake picked up Rag and carried him him down the alleyway back to Werix and Fenn. He finally got back but... only Fenn was there. "Ah, oh- uh h-hi Fenn." Flake stuttered. Fenn turned to him and gasped "good god! What did you do to him? He's not even healing up!" Fenn yelled. she quickly stood up and took Rag from Flake's arms. Flake felt even worse then he did before about what he had done. He tried to say something to apologise but it was as if someone had sewn his mouth shut. "Just go, you've done enough." Fenn snapped. Flake sighed and walked away in shame. He had done this before of course and most other elementals had but he knew this anger was aimed at someone else. Someone he didn't even know.
