Lovestarved

paperhatcollection:

paperhats-and-evil-schemes:

(Since the ‘read more’ has apparently been an
issue on mobile lately, I’m posting this twice – this one for mobile
users, then the main one (please leave your notes on the main one if you
decide to leave any))

—————————————————————————————

Flug definitely noticed the starts of a change in Blackhat’s attitude since the… “ate-a-test-subject-in-front-of-him” incident.

At first, it was very subtle. For example, Flug was getting yelled at less. That isn’t to say it never happens, of course. One who didn’t pay close attention wouldn’t even notice the change.

But alas, Flug was a noticer of things like that. Especially when it came to his boss.

Another notable change was the occasional… praise? Granted, that was extremely rare, but it never failed to catch the doctor off-guard…

Surprisingly
enough, the demon had even kept Flug’s situation a secret from the
others, to which the doctor was, though confused, extremely
relieved. This was not a thing he was proud of, that’s for sure. “Eh,
it’s not like they need to know.” Blackhat would say. Flug wondered what
his motivations were, there. He would have thought his sadistic boss
would want to see him suffer. Flug’s best guess was that his
sadistic boss was just waiting for someone to walk in on him devouring
somebody so he could laugh at this. Of course, that must be it. Why
spoil the fun by telling anybody in advance? What other explanation is there?

Blackhat was making sure Flug stayed fed, too.

“Don’t go misconstruing this for kindness,
Dr.Flug.” He had hissed one time when the doctor had expressed his
gratitude. “You simply work better when you’re not starving yourself.” A
sly grin would then bedeck the demon’s face. “And besides, your
feedings have provided me with some extra entertainment these past few weeks…~”

Because if Blackhat was anything, it was self-serving. Of course he didn’t do any of this out of concern for Dr.Flug. He only sought to satisfy his own needs. Unsurprising.

Being
watched while he ate, though, was nothing short of uncomfortable,
especially when Flug had become so accustomed to hiding this part of
himself.

And Blackhat watched closely. Like, no subtlety whatsoever. Typical.

Sometimes
he would even inspect Flug’s teeth afterwards, too. Whether or not that
was out of some twisted sense of humor or out of a genuine curiosity of
Flug’s species, the doctor couldn’t tell. All he knew is that it was uncomfortable.
His boss leaning over him, slipping his hands under Flug’s bag, pushing
it up just enough to admire those vicious bloody fangs, all the while
with some kind of entranced, pleased look on his face… I mean, Flug knew
Blackhat was weird, but this was just a little to up-close-and-personal
for him. And Blackhat knew of his discomfort. That only amused him
more. Thankfully, there was hardly ever any talking in these encounters,
so Flug doesn’t have to deal with holding any awkward conversations, if
that’s any consolation… it’s not like the souleater could complain,
anyway. Blackhat does what he wants.

This time, however, was much different.

Their
domain had fallen under siege by a particularly persistent team of
heroes… It would’ve been an all-out attack if Dr.Flug hadn’t activated
an emergency forcefield just in time. But for now, all they could do was
wait these heroes out until they came up with a proper plan of attack.
Their anti-hero merchandise was good, of course, but with the sheer
amount of opponents waiting outside, the villains were in a tough
position at the moment.

Cutting them off from the outside world,
they simply had whatever was in the manor to sustain them. Not a
problem; they had plenty of food and water.

But this also cut
Blackhat off from getting a fresh supply of living victims to feed Flug.
And to make matters worse, they had recently run out before this blasted incident.

Though
Flug didn’t pay the problem much mind. He was used to going long
periods of time without eating. Instead, he was putting all his focus
into weaponry and strategies. Blackhat, for the most part, watched him
punctiliously.

“Watcha workin’ on, doc?” Dementia pried curiously, leaning over the doctor’s shoulder as he mixed chemicals.

It
had been a good few weeks since Flug’s last fix. He was… irritable, to
say the least. This was the longest he had gone without a meal in quite a
while. He did everything he could to keep his mind busy, to keep
himself distracted from anything that may lead to one of his episodes,
but it was so damn hard when these hunger swings can be so unpredictable. One minute, he would be completely fine, but the next…

Shaking
his head, he didn’t even give Dementia a glance as he answered
none-too-kindly, “I’m working on an explosive knockout gas – if we can
just launch it outside of the forcefield’s perimeters, it should inhibit
the heroes long enough for us to—“

He dropped the vial, sentence
cut short as the glass shattered and Flug nearly doubled over from a
pain in his abdomen, barely catching the table in time to save himself
from falling.

“Uh, woah dude, are you okay?” Dementia asked, eyes widening with confusion.

Flug
couldn’t answer. Already his vision had begun to blur, pain rushing
over him in waves. He glanced at the spilled liquid on the ground. One
might call it lucky that the mixture hadn’t been perfected yet and did
not take effect, but honestly, Dr.Flug almost hoped that it had.

With a short, shuddering breath, he tried to steady himself again, using the table as a heavy support.

Why was this one so bad? Why did it feel like his self-control was fading? He needed a meal and he needed it now.

“Flug?” Came Dementia’s voice once more.

Ah, Dementia. So clueless. So unexpecting. She would make an easy target. As would 5.0.5., for that matter—

Wait, what?! What is he thinking?!

“D-Dementia,
you and 5.0.5. need to—“ He couldn’t even finish his warning before
bending over and making a horrible retching noise, dizziness and
impulsiveness intensifying.

Dementia’s face twisted with disgust
at the noise. “Flug, you’re startin’ to weird me out, here.” She made a
move towards him. Flug tried to move away, but found his gaze transfixed
onto the oncoming prey. Instincts were becoming increasingly more
difficult to fight.

Where was Blackhat?! Why wasn’t he stopping this?! He had been hovering around him for days, and the one time Flug actually needs the bastard, he just—

“Dementia, stand aside.”
Blackhat’s familiar voice ordered from the doorway. With adept
swiftness, he strode over to the weak doctor and proceeded to drag him
out of the laboratory without any sort of explanation.

Exchanging a
confused glance with the blue bear, Dementia merely shrugged, quickly
disregarding what just happened and looking for something else to occupy
her attention.

Blackhat was basically carrying Flug through the
corridors at this point. Had the doctor not currently been delirious
from hunger, he might have noticed a wound or two on his boss’s body
that the demon hadn’t bothered correcting yet. Instead of being his
usual attentive self, the doctor was a mess, garbling words that
couldn’t hope to be understood in a sickly, feral manner, weakly
fighting Blackhat’s grip in some form of protest, but the demon was
hardly hindered.

He brought Flug into a darkly-colored room with
little to no decoration – a storage room of sorts – where a tied-up and
gagged unconscious hero lay.

“Eat.” Blackhat demanded, shoving Flug towards the man.

Didn’t have to tell him
twice. Within a second Flug was at the hero’s throat, shakily shoving
his paper bag just far enough to expose a ravenous mouth, and violently
tore into the hero’s flesh. This was far different than his usual
feeding self – he did not display that hesitant self-consciousness he
usually did, he held no concern for the amount of blood he scattered
across the room, he just relentlessly tore into this being.

Blackhat slowly drew closer, morbidly amazed at this savage display. Almost impressed by it.

When
Flug had somewhat returned to his senses, that sheepishness was quick
to return. Clearing his throat awkwardly, the doctor did not look
Blackhat’s way as he pulled his bag back over his face. Only then did he
realize…

“Wh—Wait, this is a- a hero from outside…?!” Flug
exclaimed with realization. Finally looking over to Blackhat, his eyes
widened at the damage done to his boss. While it wasn’t severe, it was
still evident that he had been in a fight recently. “Did… Did you go
outside the barrier for this…?”

Blackhat gave a very
self-satisfied grin. “Those that stray too far from the group are easy
enough to pick off~” He purred mildly. Walking around Flug to get a
better look, his grin only widened. “My my, and what a number you’ve
done on him, too…~”

Flug stared disbelievingly at his boss, barely even registering that last comment. He’d… gone to all that trouble for him…? He… didn’t want to see him break down in front of the others…?

“I-I… T-Thank you, sir…” Flug stuttered quietly.

“’Thank
you’?” Blackhat repeated, a ghostly twitch of annoyance betraying his
smile for just a moment. “What have I told you, Flug? Your… gratitude…” That last word was uttered with notable disgust, “… is gravely misplaced – I only—“

The
dark-clothed man was stunned into silence when Flug unexpectedly
clutched Blackhat’s hand. “You stopped me from hurting them.” He said
firmly, his own hands trembling just slightly. Flug dared not make eye
contact, instead staring directly at the floor. “Thank you.”

He
had almost expected to get lashed out at or shouted at for grabbing
Blackhat so suddenly, and when he realized his mistake, he immediately
let go… but Blackhat did neither of those things. He just stared,
expression completely blank to the extent of almost being comical, at
where Flug had touched him. That doesn’t happen. People don’t touch him. He touches people. On his terms.

After
the initial confusion wore off, his cold and calculative eyes pierced
right through Flug. “… Well.” He said finally, tone flat. “You can thank
me by getting rid of those pests outside.” With that, the demon took
his leave.

Flug watched him go, blinking slowly as he tried to process what just happened…

… No. He can think about this later. For now, he had an order to carry out.

He
re-entered the laboratory with a newfound determination, striding right
past Dementia and 5.0.5. despite their puzzlement and heading right for
his tools.

Blackhat had been waiting inside as well, seated with
one leg crossed over the other at one of the other tables, elbows on the
table and hands intertwined in front of his face as he eyed the
scientist intently.

Flug didn’t even cast him a glance.

Kicking
the broken glass from before aside, Dr.Flug grabbed one of the vials he
had been working with and a beaker of some clear, bubbly liquid. With
one hand, he began mixing chemicals, and with the other, started up a
bunsen burner.

Blackhat stared steadily, a slow smile creeping
along his face at the scientist’s sheer steadfastness. Soon he found he
was entranced by watching Flug work.

Flug completed the substance
within the hour, and it did not disappoint. Everything went according to
plan. Firing the gas bomb at their intruders did the trick, knocking
them out just long enough for Blackhat to successfully dispose of them.
(Albeit saving a few as prisoners for Flug later.)

When all was
said and done, Blackhat approached the doctor from behind as he disarmed
the forcefield, causing him to jump in surprise when the demon patted
his shoulder. “Good work, Flug.” He said simply before walking off.

Flug stared as he left, befuddled. Praise was not something he would ever get used to from Blackhat.

~~~~~~~~~~

One day, he had finally confronted Blackhat about the changes in attitude – well, not confronted, but rather made some off-hand inquiry about it.

It
was while Flug was working on a new product, Blackhat overseeing his
work. That was another thing he’s been doing lately. Just… silently
supervising.

Flug was crafting some kind of handray of sorts,
mechanism currently lying in pieces on the table while the doctor
fiddled a screwdriver inside. Blackhat leaned on the wall by the door,
arms crossed as he silently monitored the doctor’s progress.

Flug
nervously glanced back at him for a moment, quickly averting his eyes
back to the device when he was caught staring. Finally, he said it. “…
You’ve been… a-acting strange since you first saw me feed, sir…”

“So? What are you implying?” Blackhat replied coldly, examining his claws without a care in the world.

“… Nothing, sir.” Flug mumbled, shoulders slumping, disappointed in his own cowardice…

…
then he put down the screwdriver, turning around to face his boss.
“A-Actually…” He began again, catching the demon’s attention, “There is something I want to say.”

“Out with it, then.” Blackhat snapped impatiently. He cast the other man a challenging stare, just daring him to say something he’ll regret.

At
this, Flug hesitated. It seemed that a lump had started forming in his
throat, preventing him from speaking. Blackhat’s glare was definitely
making the doctor have second thoughts about saying anything at all.
Swallowing hard, he forced himself to speak. “Y-You’ve been treating me
differently.”

Blackhat’s visible eye slowly narrowed, but he
decided to amuse the doctor. “Oh really? How so?” He said in a sort of
sarcastic, dry tone, taking a step forwards.

No backing down now.
Straightening his back, Flug tried very hard not to flinch away at his
boss’s advances. “Well…” He began, “You’ve been… H-How do I put this…
nicer?”

That was a big mistake the moment he said it. His eyes
widened when he realized his error. Blackhat’s eyes flashed with rage,
growling lowly as he came closer. Flug flinched back and shielded his
face with an arm, almost falling over on the table behind him.
“W-W-Wait, I didn’t  m-mean it like tha–!” He cut himself off with a
fearful yelp as Blackhat yanked him forward by the neck of his shirt,
looming over the doctor threateningly.

“How did you mean it, then?” The demon snarled, voice dripping with a biting venom.

“You’ve been acting like you think I have more worth,
now!” Flug squeaked, eyes squeezed shut, a clear exasperation lingering
among the fear in his words. “Like because I’m half monster, that changes things!”

The
doctor had expected to get pummeled in the next few seconds, but much
to his surprise, Blackhat let him go. Shakily peeking at his boss, his
jaw almost dropped. Was he laughing?

“Of course it changes things.” Blackhat grinned, almost as if he was amused the doctor would think otherwise. “Now that I’ve seen what you are–”

“What?
What does it change?” Flug interrupted suddenly, a momentary boldness
seeming to take him over for just a second. “I’m still the same Flug
I’ve always been! What, now that you know I eat people, I suddenly have
more worth? Is that why you haven’t been kicking me around as
much?” His grip against the edge of the table tightened with his growing
frustration, averting his gaze. “Frankly, sir, I find it insulting that you’ve been judging my value on species this whole time.” Under his breath, he muttered, “It’s a wonder you haven’t just replaced me yet.”

When
Dr.Flug didn’t get a response for a good few moments, he hesitantly
looked at his boss again, frustration wavering as his usual
faintheartedness began to return.

Blackhat’s face was completely deadpanned. “Dr.Flug,” He said finally, voice unusually low and serious, “I have always valued you.”

“Ha!”
As soon as the disbelieving laugh left his mouth, Flug clamped his hand
over his mouth area to shut himself up. How has Blackhat not hit him
yet through this conversation? This must be a new record.

An
unimpressed snort was the only thing Blackhat did in response to the
laugh. Circling around to the table and plucking a piece of the
unassembled machinery into his claws to examine, the eldritch continued
with his point. “Do you really think you would be easy to replace? I don’t.” Facing Flug and holding up the part, he emphasized, “You think I would have hired some annoying, sniveling little human if you weren’t of significant value to me? I thought you were smart,
doctor.” Blackhat stepped closer, Flug flinching back against the table
as the space between them narrowed, as did Blackhat’s eyes. “Yes,
smart… Extremely smart. You are essential to the success of this business. Without your inventions, what do we have to sell,
you idiot?” Dropping the machine part into Flug’s hand, Blackhat
growled. “There are many scientists, yes. Inventors, plenty. But then
there is you. Very damn few people can do what you do.” None too politely, the demon shoved past the doctor as he walked by, back now facing him. “To hold some measly human at such a high regard – to rely on one –  has been no less than a major frustration.”
Flug could see the edge of a grin forming on Blackhat’s face as he
glanced back at the scientist. “But you are no human, are you? You are
something… better.” Turning completely around now to face Flug
again, his smile faltered out of annoyance. “But yes. For as long as you
have been in this house, I have always valued you. Didn’t think I’d have to spell that out for you.”

At first, Flug couldn’t even speak. He just stared, shocked, at Blackhat. He’s never heard such sincerity in him…like… ever. Did he…. did he really think all that…? He actually… appreciates Flug’s work….? W-Wow…

… b-but that doesn’t just excuse the way Blackhat treats him.

“Y-You don’t treat your valuables very well, then.” Flug muttered weakly, looking away.

With a boisterous laugh, Blackhat twirled his cane idly. “So what? That’s of no consequence to me.”

“One day you’re going to break them. It is a consequence if I decide to leave.”
If I’m really as valuable as you say, he added to himself silently.
Oh, what does it matter. Blackhat undoubtedly couldn’t care any less.
Looking down, Flug muttered, “It’s something I’ve considered.”

That
was no surprise to Blackhat. He’s seen the collection of house and
apartment ads the doctor’s compiled and occasionally glanced through
when his boss’s temper was especially testy. But surely he’d never actually go through with leaving. Not after all the work he put in to get here. It would be absurd.

Not
paying the comment much mind, Blackhat decided he was done with this
conversation and headed for the door. “Get that ray done. We start
filming in two hours.”

Flug watched him go, still rendered
somewhat speechless from the whole ordeal. Did that discussion really
just happen…? Why did Flug feel all weird and fluttered all of a
sudden…?

Today has given the doctor a lot to think about…

~~~~~~~~~~

Their
uncharacteristically genuine conversation didn’t mean everything was
sunshine and daisies, of course. After all, This is the house of evil.
Can’t expect much else. What Flug was used to was being yelled at. Though there was one recent incident in particular that had been… strange.

As
usual, Blackhat was eager to advertise anti-hero merchandise to their
viewers. The demon rarely ever began recording early without first
informing Flug, but today was, unfortunately, one of those days. He
already had the cam-bot recording before Flug even had come inside. It’s
not like he needed Flug there, anyway, so he just went ahead and
started without him. The product seemed simple enough; it was a sort of
fireball launcher of sorts.

Blackhat was well into the
presentation by the time Flug had gotten there. The doctor seemed
somewhat rushed, and was carrying with him a toolbox.

His eyes widened with terror when he entered the room to see his boss already wielding the product.

“… and with just the click of a button, your local hero will be enveloped in a Hellish blaze!” Blackhat took aim at a target across the room.

“Sir, no!!!” Flug shouted, starting to dart forward. “There’s a chemical imbalance that still needs to be–!”

Too late.

There
was a flash, then a blast of intense heat as the weapon backfired.
Cam-bot went toppling over sideways, making a series of distressed
beeping noises, and Blackhat let out a snarl of pain as his arm was
blown clean off. That wasn’t too much of a concern, however, as a stream
of inky black energy quickly formed a new one.

The demon wheeled around, eyes blazing with rage as he faced the now-shivering Flug. “You IDIOT!!!” He roared, storming over to the scientist and roughly gripping his arm. “Is your job to have our products ready in time or IS IT NOT!?”

“I-I-I’m
sorry….!” Flug yelped, cowering. “I-I thought I h-had more time…! I
just needed to make one minor adjustmen–” He cut himself off with a
pained outcry as Blackhat’s grip tightened, near threatening to break
his arm.

“I don’t want to hear EXCUSES, YOU BLOODY– You…” Blackhat trailed off, a whisper of a recent conversation with the doctor echoing in his head.

You don’t treat your valuables very well.

One day you’re going to break them.

Staring over the terrified doctor now, the way he immediately expected the worst, something felt off. Blackhat was the one that decided to start early and without Flug’s knowledge… but that still shouldn’t excuse not having it ready before the deadline, so–!

“Sir…?”
Flug’s voice, tiny and horrified as it was, managed to shake Blackhat
out of his thoughts. The doctor’s fearful eyes gazed up at him with a
hint of confusion on top of the pain. Very slowly, Blackhat loosened his
grip, then let go altogether and took a step back.

Flug stepped
back as well at the first chance he got, gripping his hurt arm to
himself tightly. He gave a puzzled frown. “S-Sir…. are you…. alright….?”

… How could he be asking that? Isn’t that… backwards?

…… Doesn’t matter.

“Get
this mess cleaned up…” Blackhat finally said, voice low, “… and fix
that infernal cam-bot…” Then he was gone before Flug could reply.

Watching
the door close behind his boss, Flug winced as he rubbed the arm.
Sighing, he picked up the dropped toolbox and turned to cam-bot. “Let’s
get you cleaned up…”

~~~~~~~~~~

A flood of blood trickled
down the now-lifeless body and onto the floor, Flug shakily wiping away
some from his chin. With a chunk of neck completely missing from the
corpse on the operation table in front of him, it was leaving quite the
mess. The doctor tentatively reached up to pull his paper bag back down
and cover his mouth, but Blackhat’s cane pulled the arm away before he
could. Flug squirmed slightly beneath the larger man’s touch as he
lifted the doctor’s chin , discomfort setting in him, but Blackhat paid
that no mind.

A gloved thumb lightly grazing across the edge of
Flug’s fangs, Blackhat’s expression was oddly monotone. “… So, tell me.”
He said suddenly. “If I’m so unbearable to live with, why do you stick around?”

“S-Sir….?” Flug responded, caught offguard by the question.

“You’re not being forced to
stay here.” The eldritch went on. “You said yourself that you’ve
considered leaving. Many other villains would be glad to take you. So
why do you stay?”

Flug was quiet for a long moment, considering what he should say. “… B-Because the other villains aren’t you.”

Now Blackhat paused, a twitch of surprise on his features for a second. That answer doesn’t make much sense. Then, his eyes narrowed slightly. “… Elaborate.”

Swallowing
a lump in his throat, Flug started to fiddle with the sleeves of his
labcoat. “W-W-Well, um… You’re… successful… Confident… Mysterious…” Oh
gosh, why did he have to be listing off things he admires about his boss
while they were like this? Hardly any distance between them, and
Blackhat leaned in with every word! Swallowing again, he tried not to
get too flustered as he continued, “L-Let’s see, what else… People respect you for your achievements… You’re f-fearless… um… P-Powerful… Nobody else compares, really.” Sheepishly, he looked to the ground, voice quieting. “You’re everything I’m not.”

Blackhat
was silent for quite some time, just giving Flug a dumbfounded stare.
The demon’s never had a tendency for modesty, but he honestly wouldn’t
have guessed that Flug thought that highly of him. Then, a smile began to form. “Well…~ Aren’t you the
little ego-booster…~” He purred, chuckling lowly. “Although…” Stepping
back and rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Blackhat tilted his head and
looked Flug up and down. “For one thing, if you’re really worried about
not being confident or fearless enough and all that, you really
shouldn’t spend your time hiding underneath that paper bag.”

Flinching back, Flug subconsciously ran his fingers across the edge of the bag. “N-N-No. I-I need it.”

“… Tsk. Fine, then. But still, I am curious…”
Taking a step forward again, the demon brushed at the bag with his
fingers. Flug jolted back, almost tumbling over the body table in the
process. Blackhat simply reached out with his cane, hooked it around
Flug’s neck, and yanked him forward. With the other hand, he reached for
the bag again.

“No!” In a panic, the trembling scientist grabbed his arm with both hands in an attempt to stop him, eyes squeezed shut.

And surprisingly, Blackhat did stop.

Flug
hesitantly opened one eye to evaluate the situation. Blackhat was
staring at where Flug had gripped him, same dumbfounded expression on is
face as from the last time Flug touched him.

Slowly
letting go, hoping that he wouldn’t try to remove the bag again, Flug
frowned. “… U-Um… sir… I-If you don’t mind my asking…. W-Why is it you
look so… bewildered… when I do that…?”

“Hmph,” Blackhat pulled his
arm back after being let go, absentmindedly rubbing the spot he had
been grabbed. He tried to cover up the bewilderment with a sly smile.
“Maybe because the only time people ever dare to touch me is when we’re fighting or having sex. Why else?”

….
Flug chose to ignore that second one. His frown deepened, a touch of
bewilderment of his own setting in. “… So you’ve… never been, like…
just… casually or platonically touched?” The concept of going through
life without that ever happening seemed farfetched for some reason, but
he supposed if you’re a guy like Blackhat, maybe it’s plausible…..?

Blackhat
had to pause for a moment to ponder it, looking up and to the side as
he thought. “Hrrmm… Nope. Never.” Then his gaze flattened with
annoyance. “Unless we count you.”

Normally Flug would’ve
winced back or something at the slow return of hostility in the other
male, but he was just… flabbergasted. After a long moment’s thought, he
hesitantly reached out a hand, pausing near Blackhat’s right shoulder as
he looked over for permission.

Blackhat’s eyes narrowed with skepticism watching Flug’s hand, but he made no protest.

So,
Flug gingerly placed a hand on the demon’s shoulder. It was strange to
see the hostility slowly drain from Blackhat’s face. The scientist
slowly ran his hand down the other’s arm, stopping near his wrist. If he
wasn’t mistaken, he could’ve sworn he felt the slightest shiver from
his boss as he had done so. Another quick glance to Blackhat’s face
confirmed that the eldritch was just as confused as Flug was.

Very
slowly still, Flug raised his other hand to Blackhat’s chest, just
letting it rest there for a while. Then, as if snapped out of a trance,
Flug realized all at once how weird this must be getting and jolted
back, actually startling Blackhat a bit. “I-I, um… s-sorry, sir….” There
he was, getting all flustered and strange-feeling inside again. Why
does this keep happening?

Blackhat raised an eyebrow slightly, but
other than that, his expression remained vaguely passive. He ran his
own fingers along where Flug had touched him, quiet for some time. Then,
his familiar smile crept back along his face as he looked back to the
doctor. “Seems only fair that I’d get to look beneath that bag of yours
now, doesn’t it?”

Crap. Flug was hoping he’d forgotten about that.
Looking down and beginning to tremble, he gave a very hesitant nod.
“I-I-I s-suppose so, s-sir…” He stammered nervously.

A victorious
purr rumbled in Blackhat’s throat, and he came closer to Flug. Gripping a
top corner of the paper bag, the demon slowly pulled it all the way
off. Almost instantly, Flug let out a hiss and hid his face in his
hands, his floofy, dusty brown hair bobbing down in a mess.

“… Seriously, Flug?” Blackhat deadpanned, unimpressed.

“I-I-I’m s-sorry. It’s t-too b-bright.” The scientist stuttered, trembling worse now.

After a moment, the demon spoke again. “Open your eyes, doctor.”

Flug
already felt dizzy and anxious without his bag, so to be made to endure
the harsh lights on top of that was going to be overwhelming and he
knew it. But not wanting to anger Blackhat, Flug stifled a sob and
lowered his hands, but was surprised by what his eyes were greeted with.

Rather
than the headache-inducing brightness he was expecting, Flug was
greeted with a well-dimmed room, black smoke swirling above them to
significantly dull the lights. No doubt compliments of Blackhat.

Having
finally gotten what he wanted, Blackhat grinned wider and cupped Flug’s
chin, lifting his head to get a better look. He could feel the
half-human swallow nervously, but was to focused on taking in his
appearance to notice or comment.

Honestly, Flug looked like any
normal human being if you looked past the eyes and teeth. But Blackhat
didn’t. He was especially focused on the eyes, this being the first time
he’s ever actually seen them goggle-free.

Flug’s eyes were
without a doubt attention-grabbing. Where a human’s eyes would normally
be white, Flug’s were an abyss of pitch-black, glowing white pupils
being the only contrast. They were quite hypnotising, actually.

“Captivating…”
Blackhat commented under his breath to himself. While the comment was
not specifically addressed for Flug, he certainly reacted to it, feeling
an intense heat rise to his cheeks. Blackhat definitely took notice of
that, his smirk widening.

Embarrassed and feeling like he was
going to pass out, Flug quickly grasped for his bag and pulled away from
Blackhat, pulling it over his head again and taking short, shaky
breaths.

Evidently, having the bag and goggles was a comfort thing as well as a sight thing.

Satisfied,
Blackhat gave a firm nod and turned for the door, smoke dissipating as
he snapped his fingers. “Clean up your mess and get back to work.” He
ordered as he left.

Flug had to take a moment to regain himself,
doing everything he could to calm his nerves. Taking deep breaths, the
doctor slowly but surely found his composure again.

That was… quite the experience… Almost surreal….

Placing
a hand on the side of his head in confusion, Flug shook it off and went
to take care of the body. The entire experience didn’t stop running
through his head the whole while.

~~~~~~~~~~

Especially since that last encounter, Blackhat was definitely noticing Flug’s strange behavior. He played with
it, even. Testing out what kinds of reactions he could get from
different actions of his own, usually during or just after Flug’s
feedings, but sometimes around the house as well to mix things up a bit.
And so far, every assumption Blackhat’s had has been correct. Get close
to his neck, and his pulse starts to race and face heats up. Sling an
arm around his shoulder unexpectedly, he’s rendered momentarily
speechless. All that, among other things…

And these reactions were not out of fear. Blackhat knew fear. While Flug’s always had a lot of that going for him, there’s just something else the eldritch couldn’t quite place…

Flug wasn’t so sure how to feel about all this. His boss has been acting really strangely. Getting uncomfortably close, touching him in certain ways that almost seemed… suggestive? Though that might’ve been his imagination… After all, why would Blackhat do that? It just didn’t seem logical. Either way, Flug got the feeling he was being messed with in some way or another…

It wasn’t until things got out of hand that the problem was addressed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Another day, another soulless body. As per usual, Blackhat took his time in inspecting the souleater’s teeth.

When
he reached up to pull the paper bag back down, however, the demon
paused. As he finished returning the bag to its original position,
Blackhat’s hand reached back inside and cupped Flug’s cheek for a
moment.

Flug went completely stiff, eyes widening. What on earth is he doing…?!

The demon’s signature grin stretched across his face as he felt the heat rise in Flug’s cheek. Exactly as I had suspected.

Without
warning, Blackhat’s other arm snaked around Flug’s waist and sharply
pulled his body against the demon’s, causing the doctor to gasp in shock
and confusion. His grip was like iron, and he looked like he had no
intention of letting go anytime soon.

Blackhat lowered his first hand to touch Flug’s chest next.

“Your heart is racing.” He purred lowly, grin widening.

Flug
couldn’t muster up a reply. He was too focused on not hyperventilating.
The doctor’s breathing hitched audibly as Blackhat brought his face
close to his neck, long tongue slipping out to brush along the other’s
skin, and leaving a trail of cold saliva in its wake.

“S-S-Stop…” Flug tried to say, though his protest was so weak, it was not registered by Blackhat.

With
a dark chuckle, the demon’s hand slid down along Flug’s torso, claws
dragging over his body none too gently and causing even more shortness
of breath in the small doctor. The demon brought his mouth right to the
other’s neck, suddenly biting down on him. The gasp of aroused shock he
got in response made Blackhat laugh under his breath.

Dr.Flug
tried to pull away, but found he could not even bring himself to move.
He was petrified. All he could do was plead again. “P-Please…! S-Stop
it— D-Don’t–!” But again, the plea was too soft, too broken, falling
upon deaf ears. Unfortunately, it seemed the demon was going by physical
cues only.

By now, Blackhat’s hand had reached the smaller man’s
waist. There was a feral look in the demon’s eye that terrified Flug.
The doctor was shaking like a leaf. Blackhat only smiled again, slipping
his hand inside the doctor’s jeans and starting to remove them, fingers
slowly making their way between his legs. “No—No–!” Flug’s panic was rapidly rising, every part of him trembling uncontrollably.

The
demon’s tongue had started to slide out of his mouth again, running
along the smooth skin of Flug’s neck, fangs grazing teasingly along it
as they moved in for another bite-

“Stop!!!” Flug shouted, nimbly grasping at Blackhat’s hand in a weak attempt to halt his advances.

Blackhat
finally gave pause at this, that primal look in his eye starting to be
replaced with one of puzzlement. Flug is… God, is he crying…?

Indeed
he was. Eyes squeezed shut, small pools of tears started forming in the
doctor’s goggles before trickling down his paper-bag face. Voice thick
with sobs, he could barely bring himself to speak again. “P-P-Please—
N-No more– P-Please, please let g-go of me…!“ He begged between his
gasps for air. One hand frantically pulling up his jeans and the other
clinging to the edge of the table, he tried desperately to pull himself
away from the larger man.

Blackhat took far too long to register
Flug’s distress. Letting him go and taking a step back, the demon
blinked slowly. “I… thought you wanted this?” His voice held a genuine confusion, as did his expression. There also seemed to be a touch of… What was that? Concern? Needless to say, it was a look Flug had never seen before.

“I-I d-don’t kn–kn— Y-y-you can’t j-just d-do that to p-people–!“ Flug sobbed again, cutting himself off. He felt ashamed, on top of other things. In a way, he did want this. But definitely not like this.

Shrinking away from Blackhat, the doctor hugged himself tightly, looking away. “I am not a toy…!” He exclaimed, a subtle anger seeping its way beside the distress in his tone. “You don’t care about any of this…! You’re just—just playing with me…! Just because you can! Because you think it’s funny!”
The doctor drew a short, shaky breath, his head spinning as he found it
increasingly more difficult to breathe or even think. “Oh, who am I
kidding…?!” Flug sobbed, shaking his head again. “How could I ever think
that you could ever—“ Before the thought was even finished, Dr.Flug rushed out of the room, leaving behind a very troubled Blackhat.

“Woah,
wait–” Blackhat tried to call out to him, but it was too late. The
doctor was gone. He was alone. Left to ponder what the hell just
happened.

Did… Did he misunderstand something…? He… thought he was reading all the signs correctly… What was it that Flug wanted from him…?

He… He made Flug cry… That’s never happened before…

… Is this what guilt feels like…?

~~~~~~~~~~

Blackhat kept distance between himself and the doctor after that. Something in him just couldn’t bare
to look at Flug after what happened. Especially the first couple of
days, when he had been wearing that turtleneck to cover the bite… Holy
Hell, why did this all feel so terrible? This was the most horrible feeling he’s ever experienced, and the worst part is, he couldn’t flipping understand it!

He
couldn’t ask Dementia what to do, as her finding out about what
happened between him and Flug would undoubtedly be disastrous. He
couldn’t ask 5.0.5., because let’s be real, what the hell kind of advice
could that guy offer? And above all, he couldn’t ask Flug for… well… obvious reasons…

So he suffered in silence, staying as far away as was necessary. Hard to do when you all share a household, but not impossible.

Though,
admittedly, there were times when Blackhat would enter the laboratory
at night, long after the doctor had fallen asleep. To check up on his work, of course, not the doctor himself, Blackhat convinced himself.

Many
a time he would find Flug slumped over his work desk in a deep slumber.
This was one such time. Traveling in a wisp of inky smoke, Blackhat
slipped through the closed doors like a ghost, materializing in his
physical form after entering. With slow, silent strides, he wandered
over to the scientist’s desk. One glance over the blueprints sprawled
across it told Blackhat that he was still hard at work… but then he
noticed something else. Almost hidden underneath Flug’s arm were smaller
sheets of paper. Very carefully, the demon slid the papers out from
underneath the limb, leaning in slightly to get another look.

Oh….. oh…….

Flyers.
Advertisements for other living places. That would not have been
abnormal, considering that Flug would occasionally glance through stuff
like that from time to time…

But these ones had writing on them.
Some of the ads had been circled. There were scribblings of calculations
on a separate sheet, and Blackhat soon figured out that these were
comparisons of Flug’s income to rental prices of apartments and some of
the circled houses, calculations of how much would need to be spent in
certain allotted times, food expenses… it didn’t take a genius to figure
out what this meant.

He felt a knot twist in his stomach as realization sunk in, and the demon’s expression fell in a heartbeat.

… He’s… actually looking for another place to…

Slowly
sliding the papers back to their original position, Blackhat walked
straight for the door, evaporating in a puff of smoke and slipping
outside of the lab. The demon continued to stay away.

Flug didn’t
complain about the distance Blackhat was putting between themselves.
Thinking about Blackhat gave him a headache right now, and seeing him
was even worse. He dreaded heading to the back room for nourishment at
first, because he was sure Blackhat would be there, all too eager to try
something again.

… But he never showed.

He still left the prey for Flug, yes, but was nowhere to be seen when the time for him to feed was upon them.

Well, good. The last thing Dr.Flug needs right now is Blackhat poking around in his mouth, or who knows where else…

Shuddering at the thought, Flug proceeded to his victim’s side.

What was Blackhat’s deal, anyway…? He’s never showed remorse for anything he’s done to him before… What makes this situation any different…?

… And why did… Why did part of him miss Blackhat…? After what he did…?

With a sigh, Flug shook off the thought for now.

Blackhat didn’t. Much to his frustration, he
didn’t know what made this situation any different, either. He’s been
stewing about it for days, Flug’s words running through his mind over
and over again.

Sitting alone at his desk, the demon’s fingers
strummed impatiently along the wood, holding his head up with the other
hand, his cane laid out resting in front of him.

You don’t care about any of this!

You’re just playing with me!

Because you think it’s funny!

How could I ever think that you…

Burying his face in his hands, the demon let out a muffled, irritated groan. Flug should be right. He shouldn’t care about any of this. He’s fucking Blackhat – this stupid, menial shit is below him!

So why has this been bothering him for so long? Why did that terrified, pained look in the doctor’s eyes continue to haunt him so?

Blackhat does not care. Not about anybody. Especially not
that stupid, blubbery little scientist. The person that annoyed him to
no ends. The doctor that he merely kept around for his smarts, nothing
more. The one that did his job, did it well, and did it dedicatedly. The
one that would do anything Blackhat says. The one that… despite
everything he’s ever done to him, stayed loyally by Blackhat’s side
through thick and thin. The one that was… irreplaceable.

… And now he was the one who couldn’t even bare to live here anymore.

Goddamnit, Flug. Why does he make make Blackhat feel this way!? What even IS this!? That damned scientist is ruining him! How dare him!

In
Blackhat’s frustration, he angrily slammed a fist down on his desk,
snapping his cane right in half. For a minute he just stared at the
pieces, something about what he just did making him pause.

He broke the cane. He did. What’s he going to do, get mad at it? All it’s done is what it’s supposed to, helped him walk when he needed it.

He broke the cane.

……….

With a snap of his fingers, the cane melted into a dark matter and rematerialized itself, good as new.

…People aren’t that easy to fix, are they. Sometimes not fixable at all.

But if he just leaves it, all it’ll do is stay broken anyway.

……. Okay, this is ridiculous.

Rising
from his chair, Blackhat slowly made his way down the hallway. Dementia
and 5.0.5. are out restocking supplies… He and Flug are the only ones
in the house… If he was really going to apologize, now would be the best
time to do so.

He hesitated when he reached the laboratory doors,
taking a deep breath before raising his hand to knock… only to be
greeted by the sound of a loud crash from inside.

Blackhat burst the doors open, eyes widening at the sight in front of him.

Tables
and glass were shattered and strewn all over the place, Dr.Flug
collapsed in a mess of shards. The two superheroes facing him off were
without a doubt the cause. Greased Lightning, a tall, muscular man
dressed in the most gaudy of yellow outfits with a blue cape and mask,
and his sidekick, The Flickering Flash, a petite redheaded girl with a
similar clothing scheme, hair tied up in some sort of long rough
material– this pair was notorious for zipping their way past security
systems.

“It’s no use, doctor.” The male hero stated, crossing his
arms. “We won’t allow this company to supply villains everywhere with
its weapons any further. You have one last chance to surrender
peacefully.”

Flug, though clearly weak from a severe beating,
forced himself to stand, a fierce and hateful glare shot his opponent’s
way. Shakily, he quickly reached for a ray gun nearby. Unfortunately,
The Flickering Flash was quicker, letting down her hair by pulling out
the whip that had been holding it up. Sparks of light and electricity
danced around her as she did so. With one quick lash, she struck the
weapon and sent it flying out of Flug’s reach, then followed up with
another electrified strike right at Flug, sending him flying into a
nearby wall. He fell with a sickening thud.

Oh Hell no.

Letting
out a ferocious roar, Blackhat sped inside, standing between his
employee and the attackers as billowing black smoke began materializing
all around him along with demonic glowing-green soul-like beings, all
giving off echoed screeches at different frequencies.

Well, he certainly had everyone’s attention now.

Flug
watched in stunned silence. The two heroes shifted their focus onto the
newcomer, quick to prepare new attacks- something electrically charged,
it would seem- but they never got the chance to fire, as streams of
pitch-black energy knocked them both right off their feet. Then,
Blackhat started to change.

It was in that moment that Flug realized that he has never seen the true extent of Blackhat’s anger like he once thought he had.

The
heroes never stood a chance. The unholy abomination of a form Blackhat
took next was a thing of nightmares, demonic roaring coming from the
mass of pure darkness as he effortlessly smashed his opponents. Even
with their incredible speed, by some satanic miracle, Blackhat had them
pinned in seconds.

Greased Lightning sent massive electric
discharges up the demon’s arm, but it seemed completely useless. “I-In
the name of the law…! I demand you to release us and shut down your
organization, or else suffer the consequences!” The Flickering Flash
piped up, her bouncy curls bobbing to and fro as she struggled in the
monster’s grip.

Was she serious?

Blackhat’s massive fangs were bared in a vicious snarl, his voice a deep, hellish rumble.

“You come into my house…”

More shrouds of soulless black smog swirled around the furious demon.

“…Attack MY scientist…”

Claws effortlessly piercing his victims’ skin, the demon brought his face right up to theirs, eyes glowing a fiery red.

“…And then expect my to abide by your silly little laws JUST. LIKE. THAT?”

Showing
no mercy, the demon pummelled them into the ground again and again.
Just as he was about to deliver the final blow, a sudden flash of light
from the female blinded him just long enough for the heroes to escape in
the blink of an eye.

With a bloodcurdling roar of pure rage, the
creature slammed his energy-cloaked fist into the ground where they had
been, utterly demolishing the floorboards beneath.

After venting
his frustrations on the poor floor, Blackhat slowly melted back into his
original form, turning his attention to the speechless Flug. The red
rage in his pupils faded away and left a sort of hollow gaze behind.
There was a tense silence that stretched between them.

“… I’ll…
h-have to upgrade security in here…” Was all the doctor managed to
utter, stiffly brushing some debris off his clothing as he averted his
gaze for a second, subtly watching his boss out of the corner of his
eye. The silence hung in the air still. Deducing that Blackhat must have
something on his mind, Flug hesitantly stared directly over at him
again. “W-Was there… um… s-s-something you n-needed…?” He inquired
softly, voice quivering.

The demon opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again as he didn’t know where to start.

He took slow, tentative steps towards Flug, each move filled with uncertainty no matter how he tried to hide it.

Flug
blinked slowly. He’s never seen such hesitance in his boss before.
Especially after such a flawless victory. The doctor tried to get up,
but stumbled from his injuries. But Blackhat was quick to catch him.

There
was a pause. The demon’s face went completely blank when he realized
what he had just done. When the scientist’s balance had been corrected,
Blackhat swiftly pulled away, taking a step back for good measure.
Looking away and rubbing the back of his neck, Blackhat tried to speak,
“… Look… F-Flug…” Clearing his throat, he tried to go for a more stern
look. “Flug. I would like to… apologize.”

“A… Apologize, sir…?” Flug repeated softly, nervously fiddling with the cuffs of his lab coat.

With a sigh, Blackhat looked away again. Clearly this was difficult for him to say. “… I… treated you badly the other day…”

Blinking
again, Flug took a minute to let that sink in. Then he forced a weak
smile. “Ehehe… Well, I, uh, I’m used to being treated badly, sir…” Not
sure if that was the best thing to say right now. Flug looked down at
his hands, fiddling his fingers awkwardly. “It’s okay.”

“it is not.” Blackhat contradicted firmly, eyes snapping back to Dr.Flug. “I didn’t—I don’t know how to explain it—“ With a frustrated sigh, he pinched the bridge of where his nose would be, muttering to himself, “How do I put into words what I don’t understand…!?”

Flug
bit his tongue. Watching Blackhat try to express genuine emotion was a
sight to fucking see. Very slowly, Flug sat down against the wall. He
hesitantly patted the ground beside him as an indication for Blackhat to
sit, too.

Blackhat, just as slow and hesitant, complied.

They were quiet for the longest time, mindlessly staring at the destruction before them.

“… I don’t think you’re a toy, Flug.” Blackhat muttered, pulling the brim of his hat down a bit.

Dr.Flug watched Blackhat for a good long while, expression unreadable. He almost seemed skeptical. “…Really…?”

The demon gave a small nod. “I… I ca…” He trailed off.

“… ‘You ca’?” Flug urged, a weak smile tugging at his lips.

With an irritated groan, Blackhat buried his face in his hands. “… I care about
you, okay?” He admitted reluctantly. There was more than just a hint of
frustration in his tone at admitting it out loud, and it almost sounded
like he was going to gag on the word ‘care’. But still, he continued.
“I’m just realizing that now more than ever.”

Flug’s eyes shot
wide open. He held up a finger, seeming in an effort to find some way to
respond, but came up empty. Speechless, he just gave his boss a long,
blank stare.

Glaring at the wall across from them, Blackhat continued, “I don’t know why, but when I saw how badly I had hurt you, I…” A muffled, frustrated groan. “… It just felt awful. I’m… I’m sorry, Flug. I truly am.”

… Uh. Okay. Wow. Processing… Flug couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Such genuine words… from Blackhat? How… How does one react to that…?

Remorse…? Shame…? Were those actually things his boss could feel…?

Unable
to come up with a response, Dr.Flug instead leaned against the larger
man’s body, shyly resting his head on Blackhat’s shoulder. His hand fell
on the demon’s and held on firmly.

Blackhat tensed up at this,
casting the doctor a disbelieving stare. There was a sudden flurry of
emotion accompanying the shock that the eldritch couldn’t explain or
comprehend, and he shivered in his attempts to hold it all down. He
never thought he’d feel this kind of touch again. Unconsciously, he
leaned into the affection, trembling. Apparently the demon couldn’t
muster up much of a response, either.

The scientist closed his
eyes, sighing softly. “… Thank you, mister Blackhat…” Flug said quietly,
voice soft, but filled with meaning.

It took the demon a while
before he finally replied, clearing his throat. “I-I, ah… Ahem…
Y-You’re, uh, you’re welcome.” Any attempt to hold composure was
meaningless now, but that didn’t stop him from trying. This was… far
from what either of them had excepted.

For yet another long while,
the two were silent. But it was not an uncomfortable silence this time.
Flug subtly glanced up at Blackhat’s face, and he wondered what the
eldritch was thinking about.

This must’ve been a hard thing for him to do, considering his reputation and just how he is as a person all….
Flug wondered if he’s ever even cared about anyone besides himself
before. He certainly doesn’t seem the type. Chances are this is all very
new to him, considering he hadn’t even been touched affectionately, outside of sex, before Flug. No wonder he looked so comically perplexed about all this.

“…
So, uh… What’re we gonna tell Dementia and 5.0.5. when they get back?”
Flug asked, pointedly staring at the laboratory wreckage with a
tentative smile. He was trying to lighten the mood, it would seem.

“Oh,
this?” Blackhat smirked, his characteristic boldness slowly returning.
With a snap of his fingers, everything broken was once again well. “What
is there to tell?~”

~~~~~~~~~~

Much to the pair’s relief,
the days only got better from there. They could be near each other
again, they were pleasant to each other in such a way that only confused
the other two house residents, everything seemed to be looking up.
Granted, Blackhat was back to his usual spunky, overbearing, and
somewhat inconsiderate self, but there was a clear effort to not… well,
straight-up abuse Flug. Something for which the doctor was very grateful.

“You’ve
been recovering well,” Blackhat commented, looking over a particularly
bad gash along Dr.Flug’s left arm. It had been a good couple of weeks
since the attack, but Blackhat had insisted on regular checkups of
Dr.Flug’s healing. While his boss had made it excessively clear that
Flug didn’t have to wear the procedural hospital gown, he did so
anyways. Easier than working around his clothing.

“I have a good
doctor.” Flug mumbled in return, preoccupying his gaze with the scarring
along his arm, seated on a hospital-like bed.

A very faint smile
flashed across Blackhat’s face, but he turned away to hide it, going to
retrieve Flug’s clothes. “Well, coming from a doctor, that’s quite the
compliment~” He snickered, covering up any genuinity he could.

Lucky
for Flug, he could notice those little details before they were hushed
away by the demon’s stubbornness. The doctor smiled a bit, too.

Laying
the clothes down next to him, Blackhat turned to leave again… only to
be grabbed by the arm. Glancing back, he gave Flug an inquisitive look.

Flug
was looking down at the ground, holding tightly onto Blackhat’s arm.
Frowning slightly, the demon stepped forward so that he stood in front
of Flug again. “What is wrong?” He demanded to know.

Had he not
worn a paper bag over his head, one might be able to tell that Dr.Flug
was blushing. Gently pulling Blackhat closer, Flug leaned his head on
the other’s chest.

“… Flug?”

Aside from nervously swallowing
the lump in his throat, there was no response from the doctor… until
his head lifted slightly. Though there was still the paper bag remained
in between Flug’s face and Blackhat, it was obvious that a soft kiss had
been placed on the larger man’s chest.

Blackhat’s eyebrows shot up, but other than that, his expression was completely unreadable.

… Oh.

Soon,
his familiar toothy grin spread along his face, a seductive glint in
his eyes as he pulled off his gloves with his teeth, revealing hands
almost as grey.

Flug almost winced in response to the look on his
face. There was a feralness in his expression that was, honestly,
terrifying… but there were also undertones of something else beneath all
that. Something that wasn’t there before. Something… comforting.

Movements
slow and deliberate, Blackhat slid his hand around the souleater’s
neck, his touch unimaginably gentle in comparison to that sinister face.
He made no attempt to remove the bag, instead simply slipping his
fingers underneath it to feel Flug’s face. The demon trailed small, soft
kisses from atop Flug’s head down to his shoulder, then to his chest,
the doctor shivering all the while.

When Blackhat’s hand slipped
underneath the pale blue gown and up Flug’s leg, the doctor’s shuddering
intensified extremely, and he found himself trying and failing to keep
his breathing stable. Eyes squeezed shut, his grip on the edge of the
bed tightened.

“Flug.” Blackhat said again, calling the doctor out
of his anxiety for a moment. When his eyes opened, he saw that his
boss’s smile had disappeared once again, replaced with a more neutral,
calculative gaze, perhaps sprinkled with just a touch of concern.
His hand had stopped moving as well, pausing at the edge of Flug’s
undergarments. Blackhat was clearly not willing to make the same mistake
twice. “If you need me to stop–“

“No!” Flug exclaimed suddenly.
“Uh-I-I mean-“ He stuttered, looking away with embarrassment. “P-Please
don’t stop.” He whispered sheepishly.

So he does want this. A pleased smile forming once again, Blackhat purred, “As you wish…"

He
proceeded to pull down the underwear, gently leaning Flug into the bed
at the same time. Now on top of him, Blackhat left another kiss on
Flug’s cheek area while he pulled up the gown.

Extremely thankful
for the paper bag hiding his extremely flustered face, Flug couldn’t
help but stare in wonder at the man on top of him, this man he had known
for the longest time to be so violent and uncaring towards him, now
treating him with incredible gentleness… It was nothing short of
stunning. Never before would Flug have ever thought this creature could
be capable of any sort of tenderness, let alone this…

Flug
was shocked out of his thoughts at the feeling of Blackhat’s fingers
wrapping around the member between his legs, the cross of a gasp and a
moan escaping the doctor.

If Flug thought Blackhat couldn’t smile
any wider, he was wrong. “And here I was half-expecting to find a paper
bag on this head, too~” He smirked teasingly.

Flug laughed
shakily in-between breaths, covering his face with his hands. “W-When
did you g-get a sense of h-humor?” He asked jokingly, fighting to speak
through the shallowness of breath.

“I always have, you just haven’t appreciated my type of humor.” Blackhat chuckled darkly, placing another kiss on the other man’s neck. “When did you get so attractive?”

“Attractive?!” Flug blurted out in shock, another breathy laugh leaving his lips. “N-Now that-that’s a l-lie…!”

“On
the contrary,” Blackhat murmured, lightly dragging a finger in slow
circles along Dr.Flug’s chest with his free hand. “Would I be doing any
of this if I thought otherwise?”

Flug could barely hold composure
long enough to muster a reply. Blackhat’s touch left a tingling feeling
all over him. “M-m-m-maybe, i-if you were trying to p-p-patronize m-m-”
The doctor’s disagreement was cut short as Blackhat gave his phallus a
sudden squeeze. “Oh God…!” He wheezed, racking shudders coursing through his body.

Blackhat took great pleasure
in Flug’s reaction, an erotic purr rumbling in his throat. The doctor
was like puddy in his hands. Oh, but he hasn’t seen anything yet.

Blackhat
smoothly scooted back, leaving a steady trail of kisses along Flug’s
torso until he reached the doctor’s erection. His wet tongue slowly
began slipping out of his mouth again, but Blackhat halted upon hearing
his partner speak.

“S-Sir… D-Don’t you want anything…?” Flug huffed breathlessly, lifting his head slightly

Pausing
at this, the demon was quiet for a moment. Truthfully, this sort of
soft sex was not what Blackhat preferred. He would have loved to get
rough with Flug, to make him bleed and scream his name… but, well… That
would be hard on Flug right now, no doubt. Maybe some other time, after
some trust could be built.

… ‘After some trust could be built.’ What a strange thought.

When
he realized the souleater was staring at him confusedly, Blackhat
quickly shook those thoughts from his head. Then, he gave Flug another
toothy grin. “Don’t you think about that. Just relax…”

Moving up
the bed for just a moment, Blackhat pushed Flug back against the fabric
before backing away to again fix his attention on the doctor’s member.
Slick tongue sliding out of his mouth again, it slithered around Flug’s
organ, slowly slipping up and down the sensitive skin and toying with
its tip.

“B-Blackhat…!” Flug gasped, mewling from arousal as his whole body quaked and he started getting lightheaded.

There
was another low chuckle from the demon, him savoring every second of
Flug’s flustered state. Next, Blackhat took the whole thing in his
mouth.

Flug went rigid at the feeling of the other man’s sharp
teeth grazing along the edges of his penis, a sudden fear bubbling up
within him that felt downright strange alongside the pleasure.

Luckily,
Blackhat was paying very close attention in gauging his partner’s
reactions this time around, and the flinch did not escape his notice. He
wrapped his tongue around Flug’s member, deliberately shielding it from
his sharp teeth, and the scientist relaxed again almost immediately.

It
wasn’t long at all until he had Flug in a steaming, flustered mess,
blubbering gibberish as the demon served him, before eventually
climaxing… in his boss’s mouth.

Blackhat froze.

Gasping in
horror at what he just did, Flug jolted the front half of his body to
look at the demon. He hadn’t moved, and Flug couldn’t see his face past
the brim of the hat. “I-I-I am SO sorry, sir–!”

Slurp.

A
jolting shudder shook Flug’s entire body, immediately falling back into
a disoriented mess as Blackhat sucked him dry.“Oh my god, oh my god…!” He moaned.

Blackhat lifted his head, smug grin showing off his liquid-covered fangs before licking it away.

Ew.
Flug wasn’t sure whether or not to find that stimulating or disgusting,
which was a disturbing dilemma as is. Leave it to Blackhat to take
advantage of the situation.

“Looks like somebody enjoyed himself~”
Blackhat purred, picking up the labcoat they had knocked on the floor
during the ordeal. He walked around to the side of the bed as Flug
shakily sat up, taking a seat next to the doctor and wrapping the coat
over his shoulders. The smugness in his smile fell for a moment. “That… was alright, was it not?”

Flug
pulled the coat close over himself, staring into Blackhat’s chest to
avoid eye contact. He gave a shaky, but sincere nod. “I-Indescribable.”
He whispered, blushing insanely. He, months ago, never would have
imagined something like this would ever happen. Hesitantly
looking up at the man, he grinned sheepishly. “Honestly though, I’m
surprised you haven’t sworn me to secrecy about this yet…”

Blackhat
returned the grin with an incredibly self-satisfied one of his own.
“Now why would I have to do that~? You don’t strike me as the type to
kiss and tell…” Lifting Flug’s chin to gaze into the other’s eyes, his
grin widened. “Besides, nobody would ever believe you~”

Heh.
Maybe he was right. But if Blackhat was willing to keep Flug’s species a
secret, the scientist was more than willing to do the same about his
blossoming, rare softer side.

Anyways. Another day another dollar. Some days later, business continued as usual.

Blackhat
had been fiddling impatiently with the cam-bot for some time, muttering
curses under his breath as he prepared it for today’s filming session.
Usually this was Flug’s job, but he had to make some last-minute
adjustments to his new invention before they advertised it.
Unfortunately, the eldritch was so focused on dealing with the camera,
that he failed to notice two silent and speedy intruders slip by.

He
grinned, pleased with himself, when he got it working. Now that it was
on standby all that was left to do was wait for Flug. He began to turn
away from the machine…. only to be blindsided by the strike of an
electrified whip.

There was no time to react. In the blink of an
eye, The Flickering Flash’s whip was wrapped completely around Blackhat,
constricting him. “Sorry to interrupt the show!” She smirked.

“You bloody pest…”
He growled in response, only sounding mildly annoyed as if this was a
minor inconvenience, Which, normally, it would be. A slow grin crept on
Blackhat’s face with his next sentence. “Haven’t learned your lesson from last time, hero?”

As he said it, he began to change form, but the shapeshift was cut short by a sudden burst of electricity. “Argh!!!”
The demon shouted, falling to the ground. Flicker’s whip was now
glowing white as a steady surge of electricity pulsed through it,
continuously electrocuting Blackhat with no sign of letting up.

“Good
work, Flicker!” Greased Lightning praised from where he proudly stood
atop one of the shelves. “Keep it up!  Don’t give him even a second to recover!”

With
an enraged snarl, Blackhat writhed in the whip’s grip, hints of black
smoke starting to appear around him, only to dissipate when The
Flickering Flash intensified the electricity, an agonized shout of pain
coming from him. A normal person would’ve been dead a hundred times over
by now, she was surprised he was still putting up a fight. His
thrashing slowed almost to a stop as his body succumbed to the shocks,
muscles freezing up and his vision blurring. In a last-ditch effort to
fight back, Blackhat shot a poorly-aimed laserbeam from his eye, only
succeeding in singing the sidekick as she ducked to the side. Her grip
on him did not falter.

“Your reputation precedes you. You’re the
first to be able to withstand our sneak attack.” Greased Lightning
started, hopping down from the shelf and approaching Blackhat with
smooth strides. The eldritch glared up at the man as he bent down to get
at Blackhat’s current level, a weak, hostile hiss rumbling from his
throat. He wanted to shout a series of unpleasantries at this bloody
asswipe, but he couldn’t find the energy to move let alone speak at this
point. “You’re through, Blackhat. You may have won many battles, but the war ends here.”

Not
on Flug’s watch. The heroes didn’t notice him until it was too late,
and Greased Lightning was struck with a powerful red beam of energy,
sending him flying.

Everyone’s attention turned to the source of
the attack. A very furious Flug stood by the entrance, a basic attack
raygun in his hands and aimed at The Flickering Flash now. “Get. Away. From him.” Flug demanded, shaking with rage, each word dropping like a stone.

Damn. Blackhat didn’t know he was even capable of sounding that fiery. Is it wrong to be a little turned on despite being wrapped up in someone else’s whip?

Recovering from the blow quickly, Greased Lightning got up. “Don’t do it, Flicker! I’ll take care of this one!” After he said it, he bolted at Flug, sparks trailing behind him.

This
time, Flug was prepared. Next to him, a secret panel by the doorway
that he had recently installed popped open, and Flug immediately smashed
the button inside and sidestepped in anticipation of what would happen
next.

Zwarp

A faint blue field of sorts suddenly
dropped down surrounding the room, and as it did, both heros’s
electricity was drained. Greased Lightning, caught mid-run, ended up
tripping up on his prior built-up acceleration and slammed right into
the doorframe. Flicker’s whip lost all electrical charge and dropped
from around Blackhat, though the effects of the thorough shock was still
painfully apparent.

Flug looked pleased. “I have to hand it to you, you heroes are persistent. But did you really think I wouldn’t take the necessary precautions after last time?” His eyes narrowed. “Dumber than I thought. But you’ll be honored to know I created a specialized damping field just for
you two!~” There was a biting sarcasm and patronization in his voice at
that last part. “I would happily explain how it works, but seeing as
you’ve made the grave mistake of showing your faces again, I won’t waste my breath on such dimbulbs.”
He flashed Lightning an amused grin as he started to return to his
feet. “Get it? Dimbulbs? Your power is electricity?” Flug let out a
taunting laugh, twirling the device in his hand. Flug. Taunting heroes to their face. Will wonders never cease?

Greased
Lightning was up again. He’s a pretty buff guy, and Flug’s kind of a
stick, so he liked his chances even without his powers… but Flug seemed
far from worried. After casually twirling the weapon in his hand, he
reached inside his labcoat to exchange it with some other sort of
handheld device. One Blackhat’s never seen before, so he could only
guess it was the product intended for today’s viewing. He was only more
impressed after seeing what Flug did with it.

Greased
Lightning had readied a punch and swung at Flug, but before it could
land, the scientist aimed the device at him and fired.

Just like
that, the hero was enveloped in a plasma-like suspension ray, almost as
if frozen on the spot. Unfortunately, the guy could still talk, though.
“What is this?!” He exclaimed.

Rather than getting an answer,
Flug flicked the device in the direction of a shelf, effortlessly
launching the hero into it by doing so.

“Lightning!!!” Flicker shouted in alarm. She let out a battle cry and charged at Flug, preparing a strike with her whip.

With another sidestep, Flug managed to just avoid getting hit. “Well, if you’re so worried about him…” He hissed, trapping her in a plasma beam, “then go check on him!” With that, he flung her into the same shelf, knocking her into the other hero.

Before
either of them could retaliate again, Flug adjusted a knob on the side
of the device and fired, two beams shooting out this time and grabbing
them both, raising them up in the air. “Well would you look at that… not
such a good idea to come back, now was it?”

“…
Look…. Doctor.” Greased Lightning started, expression softening. “We’ve
seen the recordings. We know how you’re treated here. If you help us
now, we would make absolute sure that Blackhat can’t hurt you anymore.”

“You have such potential!” Flicker added, “With your talent, you could do so much good!”

Oh no. No no no. Blackhat just smoothed
things over with Flug, he can’t lose him now…! The demon tried to force
himself to get up, but every muscle in his body was working against
him. He couldn’t even speak. So he just watched, thinking for sure that
Flug would take this golden opportunity to leave him-

-but he didn’t. Instead, there formed a malevolence in his eyes that was unlike anything Blackhat had ever seen from him before.

The
doctor was icily silent for a long moment, his unwavering glare fixated
on the two heroes for the longest time. “… Cam-bot.” He said finally,
voice filled to the brim with icy poison. “Begin recording.”

The
robot swayed from side to side, looking for a good angle, and when it
found one, a red light blinked on its side as it began.

Flug
turned his full attention to the bot while still suspending the heroes
midair, his attitude doing a complete 180 for a second as he gave the
camera an immensely cheery grin. “Good afternoon, ladies and
gentlevillains!~ Doctor Flug here! You may remember a certain
anti-gravitational device from several broadcasts ago… but now may I
present to you, the new-and-improved gravitational-distortion ray!” Flug
then gestured to the two intruders, and the camera followed his gesture
to display them. “And here we have to lovely, volunteers, joining me
for a…. d e m o n s t r a t i o n .” On the last word,
Flug’s entire expression snapped. ‘Mad scientist’ in a nutshell. If
looks could kill, everyone in the room would’ve dropped dead. With a
flick of the wrist, the souleater mercilessly launched the heroes across
the room. “Perfect for lifting heavy objects or retrieving things out
of your reach, this handy little device has got you completely covered!”
He explained, voice a cross of utterly cheerful and fucking insanely mad. “Need to do some decorating?
No problem!” He pointed the device upwards, smashing the heroes into
the roof. All too happily, Flug violently dragged their now-bleeding
bodies across the ceiling, leaving abstract smears of red all above the
room. “And the best part? Neutralizes superhuman abilities in its
containment field! Perfect for crushing the opposition!”
Each of the last three words were emphasized by ruthlessly slamming the
heroes into the ground, leaving a massive dip in the floor at the last,
brutal drop. “And that’s not all…~” Flug grinned, striding threateningly
towards the fallen foes. “With one twist of a knob, you can increase
the pressure to your heart’s desire.” Narrowing his eyes, his hand
hovered over said knob. “A n d  g r i n d  t h e m  i n t o  d u s t .” With that, he gave the knob a twist, agonizing screeches of pain coming from the pair.

Blackhat was in awe, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he watched the wondrous display. My God. Flug is an utter savage. How has the demon never seen this in him before!?

Only
until the doctor had the electric duo on the brink of death did he
release the device’s grip on them. “Cam-bot. Pause recording.”

Cam-bot did so, scuttling back and remaining dormant until further needed.

Tossing
his invention aside, Flug knelt down to meet the weak, glossy eyes of
his fallen victims. Lifting the girl’s chin with a finger and the man’s
head by his hair, he looked between them with contemptful eyes and
whispered, “You hurt me. You hurt my boss. Then you have the audacity to
try and waver my loyalty?” He slowly shook his head. “Tsk tsk tsk… What
a shame it had to be like this…” Leaning in further, he added, “… Not.”

Flug
wasted no time in pushing his paper bag up to reveal the bared fangs
underneath. Then it was all over in a nightmarish, gruesome heartbeat.

The scientist was already feeling much calmer as their lifeless bodies fell to the floor, blood pooling out of their necks…

…
then he heard a weak chuckle. Eyes snapping over to Blackhat, he saw
that the demon had barely managed to lift the front half of his body
with his arms, unable to do much more, but he didn’t even seem to care
about that right now. He just sat there, laughing.

“Flug… Flug… That was the most glorious thing I have ever seen…” He choked out between breaths, a sadistically pleased tone chiming clearly through the pain, “And you got it all on tape, you bloody genius…”

“M-Mister
Blackhat…!” Dr.Flug pulled down the bag and rushed over to the demon’s
side immediately, extending a hand to help him up only to draw it back
with a surprised yelp at the static shock he received. Shaking off the
initial surprise, Flug bent down to hoist him up, the demon hissing in
pain as they did so.

One arm slung over Flug for support and the
other holding up his head, Blackhat and the scientist hobbled over to
the nearest wall, slumping against it.

Flug had concern written
all over his features, anxiously fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves.
“Is there anything I can do…?!”

“Yes, shut up and let me rest,”
His boss smirked, a joking glint in his eye. He let out a tired groan
and leaned back against the wall, laying his arm over his eyes. Then
there was a slight smirk again. “You’ve been holding out on me, doctor.”

Flug
looked away sheepishly, poking his fingers together. “O-Oh, um…
Ho-honestly, I…. don’t really know what c-came over me, ehehe…”

“I do,”
Blackhat purred, peeking out from beneath his arm. “Confidence…
Fearlessness… Powerfulness…” His grin widened. Even with the paper bag
over Flug’s head, he could tell straightaway that the doctor was
blushing as he hid his paper face in his hands. Leaning in for a kiss on
the side of the bag, he murmured suggestively, “I’ll have to think up
some ways to express my gratitude.”

Blushing harder, the doctor
glanced timidly at his partner. “I-I can think of a few ideas.” He
replied, doing his best to go for a bold grin.

“Oooo, very confident!~”
The demon chuckled. He leaned in further, flicking his tongue along the
skin of Flug’s neck, but tensed up from as the soreness of the movement
caught up with him. “Owowowow…” He hissed annoyedly, falling into the
doctor’s lap. “Perhaps… Perhaps another day, though…” He huffed,
exhausted.

Flug, carefully shifting to make himself a more
comfortable pillow, gently caressed the demon’s arm. “Of course, sir…
You get some rest.”

Despite the stressful events that just took place, an oddly serene silence eventually fell between them.

“… You’re going to clean this mess up, right?” Blackhat said flatly, breaking the silence.

Flug let out a soft chuckle. Sweetness wasn’t something Blackhat could handle for very long, was it.

“Of course, mister Blackhat.”

This is amazing 

@dogour