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Art by the always excellent https://www.furaffinity.net/user/ziegelzeig/ for my birthday!
...
Oceana didn't exactly know HOW the familiar stench of rotting compost was able to return to her after so long, nor did she understand WHY exactly it would dare show up in her tavern.
She did, however, know who it belonged to.
"Dread Doll." She said, not turning around from her stool as she reached into the cupboard; she knew it was in there somewhere.
"Well, howdy-do, Oceana Rydia." He said. "Haven't seen you since that one time I stuck an invisible spear in your chest."
Yup; that did it.
*Click*
And she found it: her old hunter's crossbow, still useable after all this time. She got it out, and pointed it right at the former dread doll's chest, looking her old enemy straight in the eyes as he entered her tavern. Surprisingly enough, though, Ziegelzeig was standing right beside him and seemed quite nervous to see his beloved wielding her old crossbow.
"Oce, just hang on." He said.
"Zieg, back away, and let me shoot him." She commanded.
"Well, you're certainly welcome to try, dear bunny," House said as he finally stopped walking. "But considering my current physical condition, I doubt it'll do much damage."
She looked him over as he spoke, and despite his familiar stench, he did look a lot more healthy. His body, specifically the organic parts of his body, looked healthy and well-groomed, if not a bit scruffy. He was at least 6 feet tall and wore a tight set of clothes, including a white zip-up vest hoodie, black pants with a belt and checkered straps, and a set of boots that went past his ankles. His ears and arms appeared to be made of metal, black, and red with a Tron-like design.
She did not know or care how he got this new form.
*Phew*
*CLANG*
She fired her crossbow without hesitation, hitting the former demon in the face and bouncing right off of him without any sign of damage to his body.
*Clink*
The arrow hit the floor, dented and incapable of being fired again. She looked at it, and then looked at him, her expression unchanged from the annoyed gaze that would pierce anyone else into making their legs shake.
Speaking of which, she turned said gaze to her fox, and sure enough, his legs started shaking.
"What is he doing here, why is he alive, and WHAT is he doing in my tavern?!"
"Certificate says 'Mick'." House grinned.
"Shut up you," she scolded. "Ziegelzeig?!"
Zieg's eyes darted from left to right, anxiously trying to find the right words.
"Well, uh, you see, I had, um..."
"He found me in a bar, watched me bump off some saps that wanted to pick a fight, and we caught up on the way here."
"Oh, so that was you who caused that incident a few blocks over." Oce deduced; House shrugged with a smile. "So, how are you alive again?"
"Oce...what makes you think I ever died?" the cyborg feline asked, placing a hand on his chest.
"The fact that your body was burned so bad, not even ash was left over?"
"Oh; y'all must be referring to that sack of woodchips with the doll fetish."
House looked to his right and took a seat next to the bunny. He motioned with his head for Zieg to come over, who at this point had calmed himself from the sight of his bunny shooting their former enemy. He sat down next to his bunny and rubbed the back of his neck in awkward silence.
"May as well get yourself a drink, hon, I've got a thing or two to tell ya," he said.
"Don't call me hon." The bunny replied.
...
"So...you were just...one of several different souls...shoved into a single body...which was made of several demons." Oce recounted.
"Well, according to him, his soul was the base for all the other souls to latch onto," Zieg said. "And also, the only one that didn't die with the dread puppet."
"Still went to hell though," House explained. "Confined to some tiny isolated area where no one normally went. Projected my spirit from its perch back to earth into some other bodies as the times changed, here and there."
"So when was the last time you were here, then?" Oce asked. She still had her crossbow out, but now it was propped to the side.
"From 1915 to 1933." House smiled. "From a war that took the whole world to giant parties and sparkling dresses, all the way to people kicking the bucket 'cause they had no work." He took another drink from the red mug he got for himself. "Good times."
"And what about the form you have now?" Oce asked. "Is that also...projected?"
"This one?" House showed the two of them his robot arm. "This is an android containing my soul. I've decided to leave hell and experience earth for myself again, this time goin' the whole nine yards."
"And what made you decide that?" Zieg spoke up. This was one of the things the cyborg didn't tell him.
"Oh, just a little persuasion from a..." he paused to find the right words. "...kindred spirit who needed to find his way." He said with a shrug.
"Find his way?" Zieg raised a brow again.
"And I helped him find it," House said. "A little act of thanks from me to him before I found some old friends from the good old days."
"Why? Because you wanted to try and kill us again?" Oce asked.
"Kill you?!" House seemed to react to this as if it were a tasteful joke. "Fellas, I've come all this way so I can THANK you!"
Both the bunny and the fox blinked a few times. "Say what?" They asked in unison.
"Bein' stuck with all those winey saps in that soggy burlap compost bin called a body was terrible!" He took another drink. "You and those other guys with you were the reason I was set free so quickly! Can you imagine how long it would've taken to sift through ALL those other souls by myself before I could finally focus enough to kill 'em?! It'd be possible, but it'd take way to long! Burning them all at once the way you did gave me Lord knows how much extra time to get my bearings!"
Zieg began to understand what he was getting at. "So what you're saying is: you want to be a patron to our tavern?"
"Absolutely!" The cajun cyborg declared. "What better way to celebrate my return to the earth and the stars above than to do so with the people who helped me save my sanity!"
The fox and bunny looked at each other. "...we don't allow fighting on our premises," Oce said.
"I know that."
"We also expect all services to be paid accordingly," Zieg added.
"I know that, too."
They looked at each other again.
"You...can't honestly expect us to just up and trust you after all the damage you caused so long ago," Oce said. "Even if you are free of those other souls, you hurt a lot of people. And judging from recent news, you're not exactly...reformed."
"Y'all can shoot me again if you like," House said with a sly grin.
"And dent another arrow? No thank you."
"Look...House...or whatever your real name is..." Zieg spoke up.
"House will do just fine." He said.
"At the very least, let us have some time to get our bearings. It's fifteen minutes past closing time, and Oce and I are, well...kind of beat."
House looked at the time and saw it read 9:17.
"Well, alright then," He said. "I'll swing by when I swing by. And y'all can guarantee I'll be swingin' by."
He finished his cup and left the tavern, allowing Oce the freedom to pummel her fox in privacy, batting her fists on his shoulders.
"I. Cannot. Believe. You'd let. Him into. Our tavern!" She declared. "After all the damage he'd done in the past! Not to mention the present, and possibly future!"
She let up and took a drink from her glass. "For God's sake, he didn't even pay for his drink!"
"Look, Oce, I KNOW how farfetched it is to even consider this, especially after Hallow." The scarf clad fox finally said. "But let's face it; one way or another, he'll come back anyway. Even if there were a way to kill him, he'd still come back. The best that can be done now is to find him some corner of the place where the customers won't see him."
Oce still looked angry.
"And besides," Zieg continued. "It could be worse. He could've come here for blood, intent on our fiery deaths, but he didn't. At least now, he isn't hellbent on worldly destruction! He's just an apathetic, sociopathic guy who happens to consider us his friends."
He rubbed the back of his neck again, now realizing how utterly stupid that sounded now that someone bothered to say it. The two sat there in an awkward silence, which was only removed once Oce took a whiff of the air.
"Whole place reeks of compost."
...
Oceana didn't exactly know HOW the familiar stench of rotting compost was able to return to her after so long, nor did she understand WHY exactly it would dare show up in her tavern.
She did, however, know who it belonged to.
"Dread Doll." She said, not turning around from her stool as she reached into the cupboard; she knew it was in there somewhere.
"Well, howdy-do, Oceana Rydia." He said. "Haven't seen you since that one time I stuck an invisible spear in your chest."
Yup; that did it.
*Click*
And she found it: her old hunter's crossbow, still useable after all this time. She got it out, and pointed it right at the former dread doll's chest, looking her old enemy straight in the eyes as he entered her tavern. Surprisingly enough, though, Ziegelzeig was standing right beside him and seemed quite nervous to see his beloved wielding her old crossbow.
"Oce, just hang on." He said.
"Zieg, back away, and let me shoot him." She commanded.
"Well, you're certainly welcome to try, dear bunny," House said as he finally stopped walking. "But considering my current physical condition, I doubt it'll do much damage."
She looked him over as he spoke, and despite his familiar stench, he did look a lot more healthy. His body, specifically the organic parts of his body, looked healthy and well-groomed, if not a bit scruffy. He was at least 6 feet tall and wore a tight set of clothes, including a white zip-up vest hoodie, black pants with a belt and checkered straps, and a set of boots that went past his ankles. His ears and arms appeared to be made of metal, black, and red with a Tron-like design.
She did not know or care how he got this new form.
*Phew*
*CLANG*
She fired her crossbow without hesitation, hitting the former demon in the face and bouncing right off of him without any sign of damage to his body.
*Clink*
The arrow hit the floor, dented and incapable of being fired again. She looked at it, and then looked at him, her expression unchanged from the annoyed gaze that would pierce anyone else into making their legs shake.
Speaking of which, she turned said gaze to her fox, and sure enough, his legs started shaking.
"What is he doing here, why is he alive, and WHAT is he doing in my tavern?!"
"Certificate says 'Mick'." House grinned.
"Shut up you," she scolded. "Ziegelzeig?!"
Zieg's eyes darted from left to right, anxiously trying to find the right words.
"Well, uh, you see, I had, um..."
"He found me in a bar, watched me bump off some saps that wanted to pick a fight, and we caught up on the way here."
"Oh, so that was you who caused that incident a few blocks over." Oce deduced; House shrugged with a smile. "So, how are you alive again?"
"Oce...what makes you think I ever died?" the cyborg feline asked, placing a hand on his chest.
"The fact that your body was burned so bad, not even ash was left over?"
"Oh; y'all must be referring to that sack of woodchips with the doll fetish."
House looked to his right and took a seat next to the bunny. He motioned with his head for Zieg to come over, who at this point had calmed himself from the sight of his bunny shooting their former enemy. He sat down next to his bunny and rubbed the back of his neck in awkward silence.
"May as well get yourself a drink, hon, I've got a thing or two to tell ya," he said.
"Don't call me hon." The bunny replied.
...
"So...you were just...one of several different souls...shoved into a single body...which was made of several demons." Oce recounted.
"Well, according to him, his soul was the base for all the other souls to latch onto," Zieg said. "And also, the only one that didn't die with the dread puppet."
"Still went to hell though," House explained. "Confined to some tiny isolated area where no one normally went. Projected my spirit from its perch back to earth into some other bodies as the times changed, here and there."
"So when was the last time you were here, then?" Oce asked. She still had her crossbow out, but now it was propped to the side.
"From 1915 to 1933." House smiled. "From a war that took the whole world to giant parties and sparkling dresses, all the way to people kicking the bucket 'cause they had no work." He took another drink from the red mug he got for himself. "Good times."
"And what about the form you have now?" Oce asked. "Is that also...projected?"
"This one?" House showed the two of them his robot arm. "This is an android containing my soul. I've decided to leave hell and experience earth for myself again, this time goin' the whole nine yards."
"And what made you decide that?" Zieg spoke up. This was one of the things the cyborg didn't tell him.
"Oh, just a little persuasion from a..." he paused to find the right words. "...kindred spirit who needed to find his way." He said with a shrug.
"Find his way?" Zieg raised a brow again.
"And I helped him find it," House said. "A little act of thanks from me to him before I found some old friends from the good old days."
"Why? Because you wanted to try and kill us again?" Oce asked.
"Kill you?!" House seemed to react to this as if it were a tasteful joke. "Fellas, I've come all this way so I can THANK you!"
Both the bunny and the fox blinked a few times. "Say what?" They asked in unison.
"Bein' stuck with all those winey saps in that soggy burlap compost bin called a body was terrible!" He took another drink. "You and those other guys with you were the reason I was set free so quickly! Can you imagine how long it would've taken to sift through ALL those other souls by myself before I could finally focus enough to kill 'em?! It'd be possible, but it'd take way to long! Burning them all at once the way you did gave me Lord knows how much extra time to get my bearings!"
Zieg began to understand what he was getting at. "So what you're saying is: you want to be a patron to our tavern?"
"Absolutely!" The cajun cyborg declared. "What better way to celebrate my return to the earth and the stars above than to do so with the people who helped me save my sanity!"
The fox and bunny looked at each other. "...we don't allow fighting on our premises," Oce said.
"I know that."
"We also expect all services to be paid accordingly," Zieg added.
"I know that, too."
They looked at each other again.
"You...can't honestly expect us to just up and trust you after all the damage you caused so long ago," Oce said. "Even if you are free of those other souls, you hurt a lot of people. And judging from recent news, you're not exactly...reformed."
"Y'all can shoot me again if you like," House said with a sly grin.
"And dent another arrow? No thank you."
"Look...House...or whatever your real name is..." Zieg spoke up.
"House will do just fine." He said.
"At the very least, let us have some time to get our bearings. It's fifteen minutes past closing time, and Oce and I are, well...kind of beat."
House looked at the time and saw it read 9:17.
"Well, alright then," He said. "I'll swing by when I swing by. And y'all can guarantee I'll be swingin' by."
He finished his cup and left the tavern, allowing Oce the freedom to pummel her fox in privacy, batting her fists on his shoulders.
"I. Cannot. Believe. You'd let. Him into. Our tavern!" She declared. "After all the damage he'd done in the past! Not to mention the present, and possibly future!"
She let up and took a drink from her glass. "For God's sake, he didn't even pay for his drink!"
"Look, Oce, I KNOW how farfetched it is to even consider this, especially after Hallow." The scarf clad fox finally said. "But let's face it; one way or another, he'll come back anyway. Even if there were a way to kill him, he'd still come back. The best that can be done now is to find him some corner of the place where the customers won't see him."
Oce still looked angry.
"And besides," Zieg continued. "It could be worse. He could've come here for blood, intent on our fiery deaths, but he didn't. At least now, he isn't hellbent on worldly destruction! He's just an apathetic, sociopathic guy who happens to consider us his friends."
He rubbed the back of his neck again, now realizing how utterly stupid that sounded now that someone bothered to say it. The two sat there in an awkward silence, which was only removed once Oce took a whiff of the air.
"Whole place reeks of compost."
Category Artwork (Digital) / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1188 x 1122px
File Size 595.7 kB
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