Looking for trouble
No one can out-brood Cio Cioelle Estrella Von Maximus (the 3rd). At least she liked to think so. Calm introspection does not come naturally to devils, so her sessions of isolated fuming at the general state of things were often marked with swearing, doodling, and fidgeting. But Cio worked hard at it, and that’s what counts.
Cio was perched on the Yamga’s mast, staring over the aft to the dark side of Throne. Grey smoke from her latest cigarette drifted away in the ship’s wake. It swirled and disappeared into smog. Her clawed fingers tapped an irregular rhythm on the wood.
She was clearly brooding. Why couldn’t that damn angel take a hint and go stare forlornly into the distance on literally any other part of deck. The blue glow from the top of White Chain’s head and joints absolutely did not fit the romantic aesthetic of the twinkling lights of the eternal city. And running her hands over that orange scarf? Distracting, couldn’t she tell that Cio had already filled tonight’s sentimentality quota? Apparently not. Well, there’s only one thing for it.
“Bugger off, tha. Can’t you see I’m moping here?” Her heart wasn’t in it.
The angel spun around, eyes scanning. Her expression shifted, becoming an unreadable mask. The pair held eye contact for a moment before either spoke. Cio raised one eyebrow.
“I apologize,” White Chain started, awkwardly shoving the scarf into a fold of her ridiculous baggy pants. She turned to walk to the prow of the ship.
“‘Tis fine.” Cio valiantly surrendered herself to the possibility of conversation. Sometimes it’s better to be alone with your troubles with a friend. At least she wasn’t one of those confusing humans. “What’s got tha up so early?”
White Chain hesitated again. “I’m... preparing.” Technically not a lie.
“For what?” Asked the blue devil, evidently not satisfied.
“What do you want?” The question almost surprised White Chain as she spoke it. Cio inched down the mast, her mouth stretching into a sad kind of smirk.
“I think I just want to be happy,” she said, taking another drag from her cigarette. Her yellow eyes cast down, down below the deck of the ship.
White Chain had raised a hand to her chin in contemplation. Happy. Compared to the scale of universal wars, god-kings, and the cold eternity of law holding out against limitless chaos, happiness was something she’d never really had room to acknowledge. It was a thing that happened to people. But it wasn’t for angels. Happiness was not counted in the fate of worlds. Maybe the rogue angels, the petal knights, felt happy- those who turned their back on the worlds and sold their strength to petty criminals. They appeared to have fun, reveling in the new flesh in ignorance of the higher calling of Metatron’s thorns.
She didn’t even know their name. The four-armed petal knight she’d fought mere days ago. White Chain had wanted to shatter their armor, nearly banishing that pathetic deviant. She stared at the thought. Thinking like a thorn. White Chain didn’t know what she wanted now, but she didn’t want to be one of them. It’s just that working with them is the only way, she scolded herself. Fortunately there was a chance to spare the rogue angel. She was lucky that Nyave- A cloud of tobacco smoke drifted into her face.
“I said What Do You Want?” Cio was eye to eye with the angel, her expression quizzical. “By Aesma it’s like talking to a statue,” She muttered.
“I do not want anything,” replied White Chain. “I have a purpose, and I will fulfill it.” The light of dawn broke over the ships bow.
“I thought tha couldn’t lie,” Cio smiled glumly at her.
“Angels cannot lie.” White Chain looked away.
“And I’m sure tha’s purpose has lots to do with sniffing stolen lady clothes,” the devil prodded.
White Chain looked concerned. “That was…” What was it? A gift? An offering?
“I was given it,” She concluded.
“There’s no such thing as a free scarf. Famous devil saying,” Cio said, leaning forward. This was more fun than brooding. “Spill your guts, heat-eater!”
“I don’t have a heart to give, Cio,” White Chain’s glow wavered. “I do not know why Nyave would-“ her jaw stiffened, the feeling of the faintest hairline fracture threatening to form. Cio’s expression was insufferable.
“Almost makes me wish I hadn’t given up on fanfiction,” the devil taunted. She opened her mouth to continue, but White Chain raised an accusatory finger.
“You should be concerned about your own admirer. I do not need you interfering with Allison’s training.” Cio yellowed.
“What do tha know about it?” Cio snapped, her distracting venture torn apart. “Maybe I should brood alone from now on.”
“My masteries do not extend to interpersonal relationships, but you have not been subtle, Cio.” White Chain thought of Cio staying each night in Allison’s room, her worry, her erratic behavior.
“At least tha can tell! At least something’s happening, even if I can’t be assed to say what it is! A devil I am, but tha are the one wearing a mask!” Cio lept to the deck, frowning up at the confused angel.
“What do I want? I want something, and I just might have found it. What do you want?”
White Chain looked down at her. The sun reflected off Cio’s glasses in a pure-white gleam. A shadow loomed over the two of them.
“Girl problems, huh?” The growling voice of Princess J. Moonshine shocked the pair. The red devil’s smug grin showed a disturbing amount of teeth. Cio and White Chain whirled about to face them, mouths already open in indignation.
“I do not understand what you mean-“
“Piss off the edge of the wheel tha-“
“-and if we were talking about that it would not be your-“
“-seduced hundreds, and I never-“
“-gave me the scarf-“
“-haven’t even had that body for a week and tha mock us about ‘girl problems’“
The righteous fury subsided.
“Damn. Some problems,” Princess chuckled.
“I’m gonna go make breakfast. Catch ya later, nerds.”
White Chain and Cio looked at each other as the hulking devil walked belowdecks. They both seemed to sigh, tempering the tension that hung in the air. Cio flashed a nervous smile and White Chain nodded.
“Obviously it’s girls that have problems with us.”
“Someone should make sure that they serve more than just raw meat this time.”
“Ah. Yes. I’ll handle it,” Cio said. She followed Princess, leaving White Chain alone on the deck.