forum A Different Kind of Anti Villain (OxO with @Dayzed, MATURE)

Started September 24, 2023 by @Desvelarse pets

tune

Kohen narrowed his eyes at Vaughn.
"Can't or won't?" He asked, wondering if Vaughn was holding back for some reason. The guy was overall quiet and did seem very polite, but some part of Kohen felt there was a wall there and he couldn't seem to get the guy to let his guard down once. Kohen was usually good at talking to others but had found it incredibly difficult to keep a conversation going with Vaughn….
At first anyway. Right now, it seemed to be going well, even if he had mildly irritated the man.
"But yeah, you know what, you're right" He held his hands up defensively. "Just small talk, I guess nothing to be excited over…" He spoke, now feeling self-conscious and wondering if he had seemed too overly excited when he talked.

Kohen ran a hand over the fading bruises, the smile completely wiped off his face and into something more serious.
When Vaughn mentioned being with both men and women, Kohen tried his best to keep his composure, trying to play it cool.

"Oh wow, you're busy then.." Kohen muttered, giving him a small nervous laugh. He made it a point to focus his attention on Vaughn's face and not….anywhere else. The guy's face, however, Kohen had decided early on, was very attractive to him and it was hard to keep his thoughts straight. Especially with the topic at hand. The cherry on the top? Kohen was the one who had never dated more than once in his life and sex? He had no experience with that.
But Kohen liked to talk a big game and make himself seem more of something that he wasn't.

It didn't take long for Kohen to look away from the guy and frantically try to distract himself with one of the kittens that had made its way over towards him. Kohen's face was a light pinkish-red color, his ears a darker shade of red.
With Vaughn's encouragement however, Kohen's attention immediately snapped to the guy again, eyes growing a bit wide, now it wasn't just a faint blush on his face, it was very obvious that Vaughn had called his bluff- and yet Kohen opened his mouth to start talking.
"I-It was with my-" His words faltered. "It was at her….the house-" Kohen's eyes trialed over to Vaughn from the spot on the floor he had focused on, he seemed to be watching his every move. That made him tense up, not at all helping with his nerves- in fact, Kohen hadn't been this flustered in years.
"Is the staring necessary??" Kohen hissed, his attempt at being intimidating looking more like how a small animal would try to defend itself from a bigger animal, not really coming off as intimidating at all.
"We did it at her house okay?? I'm sure that's all the visual you need" He announced, even though the way his face was burning up from the embarrassment said something else. It looked and sounded like a lie, but Kohen would die on that hill, he wouldn't back down and embarrass himself further.

Vaughn's lips pursed as Kohen seemed to grow a bit more defensive about the topic of small talk. He hadn't meant to offend the other man with his lack of communication. He wasn't aware of how off-putting he could be at times. He was aware that his social skills weren't the best, and he wished that they could be better. His gaze shifted to the kitten on his lap as it stirred, and he gave it a small scratch on its head. Maybe he could afford to put in a bit more effort to be 'normal'. While he was trying to get a read on Kohen, he didn't exactly have any reason to be rude or standoffish.

"No, no you're right. I guess I could use to lighten up a bit, huh?" he said with a little laugh, scratching at the back of his neck. "Come on, what's your favorite animal? I want to know."

It became clear to Vaughn fairly quickly that Kohen was most likely a virgin. Not that it mattered in the slightest, but it was something that he noticed. The way that Kohen stuttered and grew red was enough of an indicator. He would give a bit of props to Kohen, though. It took a lot of guts to still try and lie through your teeth, even though it was horribly done. He wouldn't judge, though. He was the last person to be able to do so. He didn't pick up on the fact that Kohen may be blushing due to any sort of attraction, though. He couldn't usually pick up on someone's sexuality.

"Yeah, that's enough detail for me," Vaughn said, chuckling softly. He wouldn't press Kohen on the subject, seeing his clear discomfort. He had made the man squirm enough for the time being. "The lady fucked you up a bit, though. Looks like you got choked out."

He exhaled sharply, tilting his head to look over at Kohen. "This was a bad idea- coming here. Now I want to take a kitten home with me," he said, reaching out with a free hand to pat another kitten. He made tutting noises at it, smiling softly as it meowed loudly. "I'm fully blaming you for this."

"Maybe only a bit" Kohen mused. He didn't mind the oddness of Vaughn, but felt that maybe the guy needed to do more exciting things- I mean, how did anyone ever get by life without at least trying to explore all the things it had to offer? Reading books and visiting coffee shops were all nice things, yes, he did the former himself quite a lot, but what about adrenaline-inducing activities? Maybe running from the law was a bit much as a first-time thing to introduce to someone but a close second could always be an escape room, those were always intriguing- or even better, a sudden road trip! Not that he had anywhere in mind…
A road trip sounded a little like running away, if only temporarily, and it was a very appealing idea to him.
"Bats," Kohen said smiling. "I mean have you ever held one of those little fucks??" Kohen said, getting a bit worked up at the thought of holding one again. "They're so small and soft and sometimes they'll hiss at you because they want you to back off even though you're literally holding them but they're so tiny that their hisses are laughable" There was a giant smile on Kohen's face now as he rambled on about bats as if he knew from personal experience.

The more embarrassed expression turned into a warm smile from Kohen as Vaughn dropped the subject. He, however, thought he had done an excellent job at convincing the other he was not a virgin, which was a bit funny in hindsight.
Even though the embarrassment had passed, there was still a slight dusting of pink on his face when Vaughn mentioned that it looked like he had been choked out. Well, that wasn't far from the truth, and they both knew it.
"You know, strangely I don't mind it" He commented, there was a somber look on his expression, a faint smile still there. "If I had been choked out, but I haven't so that does not apply here," He said rather stiffly. Kohen had fought his entire life to stay alive, it's all he knew how to do, he wasn't suicidal, but after his encounter that night he had given it a lot of thought, and had decided that if that night had been his last, maybe it would not have been so bad.
Still, he himself would not seek out death. There were still a lot of things he wanted to do and as impossible as it sounded for him, he wanted to experience love.
Actual love. Not some twisted form of it.

Kohen looked over at Vaughn as he messed with the kitten.
"Well, hey, maybe if you do adopt it and it turns out you can't take care of it, you could always give it to me, and uhm, maybe if it turns out I also can't take care of it, we could always bring it back to its mom" He gave Vaughn an encouraging smile.
"There will be no consequences and no one gets hurt- unless it gets attached to you" Kohen let out a soft laugh. "In which case you're trapped" He teased.

If Kohen had mentioned Vaughn needing to do more adrenaline-inducing activities, he probably would have laughed. Killing another human being was the most exhilarating thing in the world. Knowing the fate of another persons life was in his hands really got him going. The struggle of it all, having to fight and beat them into submission, was very appealing. Watching the life drain from their eyes, knowing that it was him that caused it. It was fucking addictive. He itched for it, like an addict craving their next fix. He didn’t seem to know how to stop, though he didn’t really want to.

A smile lingered on Vaughn’s lips as Kohen rambled on about bats. It was a bit endearing watching the man latch onto a subject he was interested in and run with it. Not having experienced holding a bat or really coming close to one in general before, he shook his head. “I’m guessing you’ve held one before?” he asked, content to let Kohen keep filling the silence. He was happy to sit and listen for the most part.

Vaughn wondered if he put his hands around Kohen’s neck would the bruises match up with his hands? Would his fingers fit perfectly in place with their spots on the skin? He knew that he couldn’t, but the temptation was surely there.

Now there was a decision to make. Should he take the kitten or not? He wanted it, but it was selfish of him. He didn’t have the time to take care of it, nor a proper home. There were a million things it could get into at the gas station that would leave it sick or injured. It didn’t seem right to bring a kitten into such an unstable and unreliable environment. It wasn’t fair to the kitten. “I shouldn’t, I can’t,” he said with a huff, looking away from Kohen and down at the kitten. It had woken up but still stayed in his lap.

Kohen didn't much know about how certain serial killers worked. He knew that on some level they liked what they did and were mostly likely cracked in the head but they didn't show much of people like that to the public. Kohen, however, had seen a lot of them- or the few caught anyway, face to face due to his father's work. But despite this, there wasn't a huge understanding there- or even that maybe some of these people suffered from a more underlying mental illness and had never gotten treated for those problems properly.

Kohen paused at Vaughn's question, his already giant smile becoming wider in an almost sinister expression.
"My house has an attic we never use, there's a lot of boxes up there but we never bother to clean it out. There are also holes on the side of the roof where animals sometimes crawl in through for shelter either at night or from the rain- well, I went up there one time and found a hissing bat on the ground. I'm not sure what happened but its wing was slightly torn." He stopped talking for a second to eye Vaughn suspiciously. "And before you try to lecture me about rabies, I know- but tell me you wouldn't pet a shark if you got the chance- yeah, that's right, that's what I thought," He said stubbornly, not even letting Vaughn answer the question.

"But uhm, to answer your question, yes, yes I've held a bat before- multiple times actually…" He muttered at the end, now trying to count on his fingers how many encounters he had with the small creatures. He couldn't remember all of them, but it had been a lot.

He stopped counting his fingers when Vaughn shot down his idea. A small sympathetic half smile on his face.
"That's alright, if you feel like you can't do it, then no pressure, but they'll always be here until someone adopts them" he attempted to reassure Vaughn.
"You wanna stay here for a bit longer or hit the arcade?" He questioned, wondering if Vaughn would want a change of scenery so he wasn't thinking about the kittens too much.

Vaughn hadn't planned on lecturing Kohen about the possibility of messing with an animal that had rabies, but now the thought was on his mind. He wondered if Kohen always put himself in possibly very dangerous situations. Between that and showing up at that house that night, it seemed to him like Kohen just did things. Though, he had no way of knowing why Kohen had shown up there. There would ultimately be no way for him to figure that out without essentially screaming 'Hey, I'm the killer!'

"Oh, I totally would pet one. When I was a kid, my family went to the aquarium, and they had those touch tanks with little sharks in them. I stayed there for quite a while," he hummed. He would have stayed there the entire time if his father hadn't snapped at him to get moving.

The kitten that had been in his lap got up, stretching dramatically before climbing off of him to go play with one of its siblings. It allowed Vaughn to feel less guilty now about having to get up and leave when it wasn't clinging to him. "That's cool that you have gotten to hold bats- despite the rabies," he said, scratching at the back of his neck for a moment. He thought about how Kohen said he should lighten up a bit. Was he able to do a friendly gesture? In a moment of hesitance, his hand reached out to ruffle Kohen's ginger locks before quickly retracting. He thought it was a normal thing to do, given his severe lack of social skills. He didn't think about it being weird or too intimate to touch someone on the head.

Now that his lap was free, he was able to stand up and stretch his legs a bit. Sitting for such a long time had made him feel a bit sore. His body was still a bit bruised up under his clothes, and getting stiff from sitting awkwardly for so long made him ache. Figure hissed from somewhere nearby, "What do you think you're doing, Finley?' It was asking about how he had touched Kohen. He wanted to explain himself to it but couldn't at the moment, so he ignored it for the time being. He could suffer any consequences at a later time. "Yeah, let's go to the arcade now," he agreed, waiting for Kohen to get up before they were able to leave.

Kohen hummed lightly at the thought of going to an aquarium. He hadn't ever been to one- well. He hadn't been to a lot of places like those. Aquariums, zoos, museums, planetariums, etc. He often found himself in shady places messing around with friends, or used to that was.

He still found himself going to shady places with no influence from anyone else but of his own volition…his and his father's mainly.

"Aquariums sound alright, never been. Kind of sounds like a zoo experience" He thought to himself, even though he had no idea what that was like. It didn't matter, he had seen enough movies to get a good idea, and by his conclusion, it all sounded pretty boring. Or well, boring wasn't quite the right word, but it was along those lines.

"Considering we have a lot of them and my father doesn't like the noises they make at night, I'd say it's a win-win. I get some quality time with a few dozen bats and my father gets to sleep." He shrugged lightly.

Kohen had still been lost in thought, thinking about the aquariums and zoos, a sort of confused frown on his face as he tried to picture it- more like picturing himself there. He couldn't do it. He looked over at Vaughn just in time to catch him reaching out. A lot of things raced through Kohen's head at the action, but instead of panicking this time, he froze, his heart skipping a beat as his shoulders tensed and eyes widened at the gesture.

It wasn't until after the fact that a deep redness settled on his face, his brain short-circuiting for a second as it tried to figure out why Vaughn had just done that.
When the brief moment of having a heart attack passed, a strange warmness spread across his chest. It was an odd feeling, one that felt like his heart was expanding but knowing that was impossible…
Right?

Kohen was on the opposite end of that mentality. For him, any type of touch or affection shown was indeed very intimate and meant that you were very close to said person. He had just met Vaughn and he didn't know any person who would warm up so quickly to another person- or maybe that was just him. He wasn't one to be so touchy with others and to this day hadn't met anyone like that either.
He gave Vaughn a shaky grin, one that told he was only slightly shaken up by the touch. It wasn't that he hated it, in fact, he was trying his best to keep himself together from melting, but he wasn't used to it either, and it felt like a shock to his system.
"What? I'm a cat now?" He snickered, gently poking fun at the guy before giving a sharp half-nod at Vaughn's words and getting up. He waited a second longer, his eyes still on the kittens before he started towards the door with Vaughn.

Finding out that Kohen had never been to an aquarium made Vaughn wonder what Kohen’s childhood had been like. He didn’t have the best childhood, but he had still gone to the zoo and aquarium. Was Kohen’s childhood a happy one or something similar to his own? That seemed like way too personal of a question to ask someone he didn’t know too well.

The startled expression on Kohen’s face made him almost immediately regret patting Kohen’s head. Was that not a normal thing to do? Growing up at home and in the foster care system, adults would ruffle his hair every once in a while. He had grown to like it, much like a cat, as Kohen would say. In general, Vaughn loved having his hair messed with. He would take any of it- petting, ruffling, pulling- he loved it.

“Ah- no, not a cat,” he quickly stammered out, holding his hands up a bit, “I… don’t know.”

It was just another clear sign that he really needed to brush up on his social skills. He should be thanking Kohen, really. Kohen was putting up with his awkward words and interactions, being much more patient than he would expect the average person to be.

His hands quickly stuffed into the pockets of his sweats, hiding away as a reminder to not touch unless told. Both times he had put his hands on Kohen were proving to be not positive- in his eyes, at least. From the choking to the head patting, he couldn’t read whether or not Kohen enjoyed the contact. Well, one was much more clear than the other. He wished he was able to get into Kohen’s head to know exactly what he thought.

When leaving, Vaughn held the door open for Kohen. Manners were important to him. His mother had always taught him to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, and her influence caused him as a child to run ahead of the family to open the doors for them. The idea of manners had only been hammered into his mind further when in the foster care system. After all, no one wanted to take in a kid with bad manners. He had to be polite to attract possible foster families.

At Vaughn's stammering, Kohen's grin grew larger. The guy really seemed to be like a mess to Kohen, but Kohen didn't mind it, he would much rather hang out with the mess of a guy than someone polished or overbearing.

Kohen nudged Vaughn with his elbow, a bit of the ice having been broken in the past hour as they talked and got to know each other. Kohen had concluded that they both were a bit rough around the edges personality-wise. Vaughn seemed to be on the softer side of things, but there was an edge there that hadn't been lost on Kohen. The guy may not have had any social skills and seemed constantly confused like a lost puppy, but he could be bold and even a bit intimidating if he tried.

A soft sound came from Kohen, almost sounding like a laugh but not quite as he seemed to get a little closer to Vaughn, not minding closing the space between them even though Kohen was generally anxious about getting too close to anyone.
"I'm messing with you, I don't mind. 's not like I completely hated it, or else I would probably be trying to fist-fight you" He mused.

As they left and Vaughn held the door open for him, a slight wave of heat made its way to his face. It's not like Kohen had a problem with it, but for some reason the action made him feel embarrassed? Maybe he should have been the one to hold the door for Vaughn but it hadn't crossed his mind- he hadn't needed to think about anyone else for a while now so he only did things for himself.
That probably had to change soon if this would be a common occurrence, though, Kohen's heart sank at the thought of this being a one-time thing. Maybe he wouldn't see Vaughn after this if the guy decided not to keep up with him, which seemed to be a common theme with Kohen's friends, or people who he had tried to be friends with.

"Oh- uhm, thanks.." Kohen had muttered as he made his way through and waited a second for the other.

It was around five days after Vaughn had last seen Kohen. They had gone to the arcade and chatted for a while that day. The time had actually been enjoyable. Despite being socially awkward, Kohen had started to push and claw at his mental walls that he had placed up. While he didn't get too comfortable, he had grown a bit less stoic. He had smiled a couple of times, even genuinely laughed once or twice. He couldn't remember the last time that another person had made him really laugh. The laughter hadn't been anything too lively, but Kohen had pulled a couple of chuckles from the closed off man. That was an achievement in itself.

The memories had been on Vaughn's mind the rest of the week as he found a new hit. He had met with a woman and her toddler child; both having been bruised up when he first came in contact with them. Her fiancé had been beating on them for quite a while now, but that would soon be over. The woman had given him a rundown of the layout of the home, along with the man's schedule. After a bit of planning, he decided to do it on a weekend night when he knew the man should be coming home from the bar. He set the woman and her child up in a hotel room before heading to do what he needed to do at the home.

Vaughn let himself into the home an hour before the man was scheduled to arrive back. Figure instructed him to kill the man with a hatchet, and he had groaned about it quite a bit. Hatchets were awkward and the strikes were easy to see coming. That, along with them easily getting stuck in things, made it not his ideal weapon of choice. Still, he went along with what Figure wanted, not daring to disobey. The consequences would be severe, after all, if he did.

He laid in wait for the time being, mask pulled up to cover his face. He hung around a corner, easily being able to jump out and take the man with surprise if he entered through the front door. Eventually, the front door opened, and he waited for a moment, holding his breath as he gripped the handle of the hatchet. His knuckles were white, showing just how tense he was in the situation.

Kohen rubbed at his temples as he tried to get the image of Vaughn smiling and laughing at his pitiful jokes out of his head. He was currently at the laundromat flipping through a magazine as he watched a few people trickle in and out. It was mostly empty at this time since it was late into the evening. Closing time was in an hour and Kohen grew impatient as he took out a binder from his bookbag that was by his side. It wasn't for work or school-related activities and if someone caught him redhanded with it, they would seriously question if Kohen was right in the head.
He glanced around to make sure no one would be sneaking up on him before he opened it.
Once opened, his eyes immediately gravitated toward the picture of a body lying in a pool of blood. Kohen may or may not have snuck a few pictures from crime scenes his father was working on from his office. He was allowed to go in with him sometimes and his father was careless with Kohen when it came to the police station, thinking that Kohen wouldn't be bold enough to pull something like this.
Well, he was, and clearly his father didn't know him well enough.

Kohen had made a few connections between the killings but it wasn't anything that hadn't been figured out already. Being a detective wasn't on his list of things to do while being a full-time student and part-time laundromat worker, yet here he was, a bit of excitement filling him at the thought that he might be able to catch who this was.
Ever since that night with that killer that had almost killed him, he had been mildly obsessed.
…
Maybe mildly was a bit of an understatement since he had a whole binder documenting his killings and certain victims around the area where he usually worked that could be potential targets.

Kohen's father maybe hadn't expected much of him but Kohen certainly had a knack for picking out the smallest of details, so it wasn't a surprise when Kohen's eyes lit up as he remembered the fact that the killer had taken a picture of him beside the body. Nobody knew about that small fact but him. It was especially helpful that Kohen had seen what type of phone it was. There was a lot he could do with that information but he needed clearance- access to certain places outside of the police station that he wasn't sure he could get into without thinking of a really creative way to gain access to them.

Still, it was another lead.
He had a main one, but it would take a lot of skating, running, and careful checking.
Kohen had jotted down the addresses of a few victims he thought the killer might be targeting. There were about ten of them on his list. There were more of course, in fact, Kohen had been appalled at seeing how many more there were, but he hadn't written those down, only the most likely ones.

So when the hour was up and Kohen was relieved of his part-time, he nearly slammed the binder closed, shoving it into his backpack, nearly racing to the door. He locked up the establishment and hauled his bag onto his shoulder. There was going to be a lot of cardio exercise for him tonight as he checked each address, some farther away from the others, but Kohen was determined.
If he hit a dead end this time, he would try again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and so on. He didn't know the killer's schedule, which was why this was about to be his nightly routine.
Kohen wasn't too worried about his father finding out either, he could easily make up the lie that he had gone out running to stay in shape, maybe change things up a little. It wouldn't exactly be a lie either, he was doing some running, maybe not to stay in shape but it was close enough.

Once he was out in the street, he threw his skateboard on the ground and hit the pavement, now dashing down the sidewalk. It had been quite some time since he had done this and he had forgotten how fun it was. His old skateboard retired and replaced with the one underneath him that he had bought recently.

Everything went exactly according to how it was supposed to. The man was a prominent figure in the community, being the pastor at a local church. He wondered what the congregants would think if they knew that their pastor was beating his wife and child in his free time, or about his drinking problem. It had made him scoff when he found out about what the man did for a living. A holy and godly man, a messenger for their god. It was an absolute joke. If god even was real, then why did he allow for people like him to walk the earth and do what they did? If he was real, then Vaughn surely had to be some sort of angel sent down to take care of those sinners and purge them from the Earth.

The preacher arrived home, walking through the door. Well, walking was not the word to describe it. It was more like stumbling, the man clearly being blackout drunk. The man was so drunk that he walked further into his home without closing the door. Vaughn was unaware of that as he jumped out in front of the man, swinging the hatchet and striking the man in the shoulder with it. The man screamed, the sound surely echoing throughout the neighborhood due to the open door.

Vaughn, now noticing the open door, cursed under his breath. The cops would surely be called much quicker as the struggle could be heard much easier. He ripped the hatchet out of the man’s shoulder with a sickening squelch, the man stumbling and falling backwards. The drunk man, seeming to have sobered up a bit due to the adrenaline rush, scrambled to his feet and ran straight for the door. Vaughn’s eyes widened, and he pursued the older man, close on his heels.

The man got out on the front porch before Vaughn struck him again. He had thrown the light hatchet, it hitting the man in the back of one of his calves. The man cried out again, tumbling down to the front lawn. The man struggling, sobbing and pleading as he did his best to drag himself away from the approaching killer. Only now did the preacher truly call out to his god, making Vaughn laugh. How hypocritical.

Now tired of the games, Vaughn reached down, grabbing onto one of the man’s ankles with one hand and ripping the hatchet free with the other. A blood curdling scream echoed through the air as Vaughn drug him by his leg back to the house. That was where the man beat his family, and that was exactly where he would take his final breaths. The man struggled, clawing at the lawn and wood of the deck. He left bloody scratch marks as his fingernails broke against the ground.

Vaughn drug the man fully inside before letting go of him, stepping over him to go back to the door. He looked out for a moment, shaking his head in annoyance before he slammed it shut, sealing the man’s fate at his hands.

Kohen crossed off the sixth address he had written down, which had also turned out to be a bust. He muttered a string of curses under his breath as he absentmindedly grabbed one end of his skateboard, his foot stomping down on the other end so it boosted it in an upright position, just in time for Kohen to catch it.

His heavy eyes blinked tiredly as he squinted at the next address. Kohen wasn't a stranger to sleepless nights but it felt like he had depleted his energy day after day without a break in both the physical sense and emotional sense for days now- a lot more than he had in years.
Maybe he should give it up for tonight. Tomorrow he could come back and continue patrolling neighborhoods, surely then he would-
And just as he was about to finish that thought, an ear-piercing scream came from down the road. Kohen jumped out of his skin at the shrill, quickly getting down to cover his head as if something were coming to get him.

Well. If he had thought of giving up just moments ago, he sure as hell wasn't now.
Kohen immediately got up, his adrenaline-pumping heart hammering loudly in his chest as he decided to run towards the noise instead of skating- or going the opposite way like a sane human being.
It was a lot of things.
A lot of things as to why Kohen did the things he did and also the reason why he didn't think about them. As he ran, all Kohen could think of was "I did it! I did it! I'm good for something!" a huge grin spreading across his face, wondering if now this would count for something. He had predicted a murder even before it was going to happen, how many people could say that? Maybe only a handful and Kohen was now part of that handful.
Kohen stopped after a while, panting as he wiped the sweat from his brow, having lost where the screaming had come from. That was, till he heard the sound of a door slamming closed, the voice of the wounded man muffled as it was trapped in four walls once again.

Now, Kohen new better than to get himself caught again by the same person- er, killer more like. But his excitement got the better of him, now bolting towards the house he was certain the murder was taking place.
It was dark out and Kohen couldn't see much of anything. If he used the flashlight on his phone it might alert the people inside and he wouldn't be able to catch a glimpse of the killer. Kohen's plan wasn't just to find the killer, but to know who the face under the mask was. He hadn't thought much further than that. It would give him everything he needed to turn the killer in, but he hadn't decided yet if that's what he wanted to do- it would certainly boost his reputation by a lot and his father would maybe finally be proud but…
Kohen's thoughts turned over again and again, trying to think, however, not getting far as begging could be heard coming from in the house. His eyes grew wide as he looked around, deciding to quickly sneak his way onto the porch of the house, pressing his back firmly against the wall, hesitantly peeking inside to see what was going on- a murder, yes, that much was obvious but he wanted to catch the exactly moment the mask came off. If it did. His mind scolded him.
It didn't matter. He'd stalk the killer if he had to.

The kill went very smooth, as far as Vaughn was concerned. There had been the little mishap with the man being allowed to get out of the house and cause a disturbance in the street, but that was done and over with. Besides, he hadn't heard the sound of police sirens just yet, so he figured that they were either slow moving or maybe the man hadn't screamed loud enough. How unfortunate for him.

It took place in a calculated fashion. After Vaughn had shut the door, he made his way back to the man who was dragging himself across the floor in a pitiful attempt to escape. The man sobbed, rolling over onto his back when Vaughn came to stand over him. "Please, don't do this to me," he cried, holding his hands up like that would shield him from the killer with a hatchet, "Is it money that you want? I have that, I can give that to you! I won't tell anyone, please!"

Vaughn sighed, like listening to the man was an annoyance. It was, really. With a swift movement, he striked one of the man's outstretched hands with the hatchet, almost hacking halfway through it. This caused the man to jerk his hands away with a pained howl. "You think I want your dirty money? You're delusional for even thinking that," he spat, sounding disgusted at the thought of doing so. What kind of person would he be if he just let the abusive man go for a bit of cash?

In a swift movement, Vaughn knelt down, knee digging into the man's ribs. "You're a man of God, right?" he asked, tone taunting as he tilted his head, "This is your lucky day- you get to meet the man you have so highly worshipped."

With that, Vaughn brought the hatchet down as the man screamed, the blade connecting with his neck. Over and over, he struck the man with it. Blood sprayed out of the growing wound, making the whole thing look like a bloodbath. It sprayed all over Vaughn's mask, effectively blinding him momentarily. He tried to wipe away the gore but only managed to smear it around. He ripped the hatchet out of the man's throat, dropping the weapon off to the side. He had struck the man with it eight times, effectively leaving his neck looking like a mound of minced meat. His head had been separated from his body; the expression frozen in a state of terror.

"Fucking disgusting," Vaughn grumbled as he stood up. Figure hovered next to him, whispering praises of a job well done. He reached up, pulling off his blood covered mask and wiping at his eyes. with the back of his hand to try to get the blood out of them. He was ready to go and get a shower. Thankfully, he hadn't been injured beside a bit of bruising from the initial takedown. That was a win compared to his past serious injuries he had sustained. He brushed his hair back out of his face before leaning down to pick up the hatchet, giving the body one last nudge with his boot. He turned, making his way towards the front door to leave, unaware of Kohen's presence right on the other side of it.

Kohen knew the blood-curling screams and the way people were killed was nothing to scoff at, but he had been around it for as long as he could remember that it barely fazed him.
However.
Just as he had taken a look inside the window, catching the moment the killer nearly sliced off the other's hand, a cold chill ran up his spine. Maybe it was the cool night air making him shiver, but something about how his body felt strangely cold and empty and petrified in the sudden realization that if caught, he would most certainly be next, made him think otherwise.
Kohen didn't flinch at much anymore, but occasionally he was proven otherwise, his body's way of reminding him that he was still terrified of dying, despite loosely hanging onto the idea that he wouldn't mind if he did somehow die. Still. Being brutally killed was not how he wanted to leave this plane of existence.

Many more thoughts kept passing through Kohen's head, it seemed like his brain was working overtime to provide both comfort and ideas as to what he should do after the fact. But once he had been brought out of his head by the killer's words, Kohen's insides froze over. Nearly all the blood drained from his face as he recognized the familiar voice.
He didn't move. His lungs ceasing to inhale air as felt himself be paralyzed. Surely it was just all in his head, there were a lot of voices that sounded similar to others and it didn't mean he should be pointing fingers just yet.
Rationalize. Rationalize. He told himself, trying to convince himself that the voice was not Vaughn's and that he was simply caught up in the fact that he had actually been hanging out with an attractive guy who surprisingly, brought out the more flustered side of him. His mind had been stuck on the man for some time so it wouldn't come as a surprise if Kohen was seeing- or in this case, hearing things where he wasn't supposed to.

The moment of truth, however, was when the killer finally took the mask off in a desperate attempt to clean himself of the blood.
Once it came off and Kohen found himself looking at none other than Vaughn's face, he felt his legs turn to jello.

Oh. Oh fuck. Oh shit.

And just like that, he felt his stomach twist into knots, a sick feeling that threatened to purge his stomach's contents. He needed to get out of this place. Now. But even if he screamed at his body to move, it wouldn't, as if firmly glued to the place he stood.
A trembling had taken over his body at this point, and the thought that made him panic the most was that although Vaughn was the killer, that didn't stop his attraction towards him- if anything, somehow it only fed it. But even with all that, he wondered if Vaughn would still kill him- he knew who he was, but did that mean anything to the other in the bigger picture?

It felt as if his body only decided to move at the last possible second when Vaughn had reached the door, twisted the door nob, and was in the middle of opening it to leave.
Kohen bolted.
Fuck his skateboard and his backpack he had set down and anything else that had been in it. Vaughn terrified him as equally as he made his heart skip a beat in ways only a lover could- but Kohen wasn't about to admit that last part anytime soon.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Panic rose inside of Kohen as he ran. Please dear fuck, god, let me outrun this- He pleaded with a force he wasn't entirely sure existed. He had been raised in Christianity but had renounced most of its teachings by the time he had turned sixteen.

Footsteps. Vaughn could have sworn that he heard footsteps moving off of the porch when he reached the front door. He whipped it open without hesitation, pausing in the doorway to search for the source. There was nothing or no one there by the time he had done so, leaving him a bit stressed. Had someone actually been there watching the murder take place or was it an auditory hallucination? His auditory and visual hallucinations usually calmed for a day or so after he killed, but maybe his mental health was declining further. Looking around, he noticed a backpack and a skateboard left on the porch. He wasn’t sure if that had been there before, but opted to take it with him, tossing both into the trunk of his car.

Real or not, the footsteps left him on edge and paranoid for the remainder of the night, taking the long way home. He didn’t turn the lights on at the gas station that night, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He took his time washing himself clean of the blood and scrubbing at his stained clothes. It wasn’t long before he gave up, opting to toss them in a pile of clothes that were in a similar state. He needed to burn those soon.

The next day, Vaughn woke up in the late afternoon. He was feeling the aftermath of the kill much more than he had the night before. His body ached from the impact of the takedown. His knees were bruised and his calloused hands had cracked open again due to his grip on the hatchet. He considered wrapping them to hide the marks, but remembered he could save himself the trouble and blame them on boxing.

Vaughn had to meet up with Kohen that day. He only had a short time to get up and get ready before he was set to meet Kohen at the bus stop. It was thankfully in walking distance from the gas station so he was able to avoid using his vehicle. The seats were still smeared with blood and smelled of iron. He had been tired enough the previous night that he avoided cleaning up immediately like he usually did. All he had done was shower, take care of his clothes, and collapse on his cot to rest.

Vaughn had tried his best to appear somewhat put together and not like he had committed a brutal murder not even twelve hours ago. He waited at the bus stop, dressed in a pair of blue jeans, white t-shirt, grey crewneck sweatshirt, and grey sneakers. A black baseball cap was on his head, covering the hair that he had failed to tame that morning. He looked at his phone every minute or so, watching the minutes pass by as he waited for the ginger haired man to make an appearance.

It had been a struggle to commit to meeting up with Kohen again. The first time had been purely coincidence, but now he was making a conscious effort to. It was the first time in a while that he had done that, so he was a bit antsy waiting there. He had considered not showing up that morning, knowing getting close to Kohen could only put himself in complicated situations. Meeting the man who had unknowingly seen him murder someone was a testy thing. Was he making a stupid decision that could end with him getting screwed over in the end?

Kohen hadn't stopped once all the way to the porch of his house. He hadn't looked back once either. It felt like a death sentence if he dared to look back even for a split second.

Once he did make it to his house he collapsed right before he got to the door, his chest heaving as he took in deep breaths and he stared up at the roof that was over the porch, now lying on his back.

The sickness still stirred in his stomach every time he thought about it. He had already not been too much of a fan of murders and whatnot, despite his experience with killing others himself. The way Vaughn had done it- his blood froze over when he realized that the first encounter with the guy had been at the scene of a murder. He hadn't known at the time, but now that he put two and two together it made sense.
Kohen very slowly brought his hand up to his neck, his fingertips brushing his throat. There was a slight shake to him as he did so and a million thoughts ran through his head. One of them being this: Vaughn had tried to kill him. Strangle him. And yet, when they had bumped into the coffee shop he acted like he hadn't known him. Maybe he genuinely hadn't remembered him. But then….
He swallowed harshly as he remembered Vaughn asking him about the marks around his neck. Oh. He had known. The knowing look he had given him, made the blood drain from Kohen's face, yet strangely, after a beat longer, the color returned, now in the form of red-hot embarrassment.

Kohen had sat outside on the porch for the rest of the night, thinking things over and picturing that night's events. Would he even show up tomorrow to meet Vaughn? His mind told him no, but whether he would listen was still debatable.

---

The sun hit Kohen right in the face as day broke through another night. He scrunched up his nose, squeezing his eyes shut as the sun blinded him when he tried to open them.

His brain was slow to catch up, having slept in an awkward sitting position in the corner of the porch, his head against the old railing. And although he knew he had to get up to get ready for the day, his body ached. He didn't want to go anywhere today, Vaughn's blood-splattered face flashing across his mind and a crippling heat jolting his body when he thought about it for too long. Oh, fuck that.

Kohen forced himself up from the sitting position to dust off the back of his pants, reluctantly making his way into the house. Maybe, if his father was home, he'd given him a good beating to snap him out of whatever thoughts were passing through his head at the moment. Because as far as he was concerned, he was going to go take a shower and still meet up with Vaughn anyway. Even with all the blood and guts, Kohen didn't listen to warnings and his morbid curiosity was getting the better of him.

…

He was late. He had taken too long getting ready and his father, who had in fact been home, had ripped him a new one. Well. He had said he needed it, but it only added to the ache in his body. Wounds and bruises weren't something he was new to, he even had a good excuse for them. He skateboarded. Without padding or a helmet, so it made sense. He got hurt all the time whether that was in fights or practicing new tricks, he had a plethora of excuses.
Well. For someone who didn't know what certain bruises meant. Certain things bruised differently and wounds from another person were very telling.

Kohen had just been making his way down the street when he saw someone waiting at the bus stop he had suggested to meet up at. The familiar figure made him pause as his eyes landed on Vaughn.

Today he had thrown on casual loose blue jeans that looked to be faded with chunkier worn-down white, red, and black sneakers, a plain black t-shirt underneath a similarly colored racer jacket as his shoes. He had gone as far as to jell his hair so it was slightly spikey, however, in the end, he pulled it back with a wavy metal headband. Some of the hair pieces were too short to be pulled back and ultimately fell back onto his face. He wasn't a fan but it was too late to turn back and fix it.

He took a deep breath before quickly going over to Vaughn, playfully nudging him when he got close enough. He didn't want to give away that something was different today, that if he met the guy's eyes fear would be hidden behind them. So he wouldn't. He wouldn't look at his eyes. But he'd do his best to act normal- as normal as someone could be after witnessing a brutal murder and realizing he had almost been killed by that same person too.

"Sorry for the wait!" Kohen gave the other a faint shaky smile. "I couldn't sleep last night and woke up late today" A soft nervous laugh left him as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"But I'll make it up to you. Is there anywhere you wanna go before we head off?" He questioned.
Kohen hadn't eaten yet, he didn't usually eat in the mornings, but he had gotten paid that week so there was at least enough to use for food and a few other activities. There was a thought of going to eat but he wanted to hear Vaughn's suggestion first.

Vaughn hadn’t even realized Kohen was approaching until the other man was right on top of him. He suppressed a flinch when Kohen nudged at his bicep, looking up from his phone to gaze at Kohen instead. He took in the others appearance, and wondered if he dressed too casually. It wasn’t like he needed or wanted to draw attention to himself with brightly colored clothes. There was no reason to think otherwise. Pretending to be normal was out fo the question. It would always better to stay under the radar and go unnoticed. Doing so had kept himself safe for almost a decade, so there was no real reason why he should stand out.

Though, it was clear that chain had been broken when it came to Kohen. What was the real reason he kept meeting up with the ginger man? There was the easiest answer- to get close enough to kill him for what he had witnessed. That’s what should be happening. Alternatively, he could be hanging around Kohen to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t tell anyone what he witnessed that night. But, there was a third reason- one so pathetic of him that it made him want to sneer out of disgust: Vaughn wanted company from another person. The way that the thought made Figure lurch away was enough of an answer, but it was difficult to accept. What was it about Kohen that made Vaughn want to continue this dangerous companionship?

Kohen not meeting Vaughn’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed. He could tell when someone was uncomfortable around him. He remembered that look all too often. As a preteen in the foster care system, it was the norm. People who knew his story and what he had been through always avoided his cool gaze. It was almost as if they were afraid of having a conversation about the night his family was killed. It was the same in high school. His peers never made eye contact with the quiet kid who was rumored to have had his family murdered ruthlessly. That treatment growing up was what had pushed him further into a self-made solitary confinement. Kohen seemingly doing the same only made him want to run away with his tail between his legs.

Yet, Vaughn endured. “That’s alright, I had quite the long night as well,” he replied with a small shake of his head. It was true that he had slept like the dead, but only after staying up late to commit a brutal murder.

When had he eaten last? It had to have been before the murder. Really, he had been in such a dissociated state all night and morning that he hadn’t noticed the hunger that made a deep pit in his stomach. “How about we grab a bite to eat? There’s a good place about a mile and a half away. I’m sore from boxing, so we can take the bus,” he suggested.

The bus pulled up to the stop moments later. Vaughn nodded for Kohen to follow him before stepping on. His wallet was taken out quickly, paying for their two tickets without a word. The two went to the back of the bus, and it began to move again. The bus was decently full. There weren’t many seats, save for a few handicap reserved ones, and he wouldn’t take those from someone else just because he had a little ache in his bones. So, he opted towards staying standing, hand gripping the metal pole he stood by.

It didn’t take long for the ride to get a bit bumpy. The streets in the area had clearly
not been maintained properly due to them being outside of city limits. The government didn’t care too much due to them not being traveled on as often.

With a thud, one of the wheels on the bus bumped over a good sized pothole. Vaughn tensed his grip on the pole to keep standing, but was quick to notice Kohen stumble. Out of reflex, his free arm shot out. His arm went around Kohen’s waist to grip firmly on his hip. He steadied Kohen, jaw clenched tightly in annoyance as he looked up towards the front of the bus. “Damn road…” he mumbled, large hand still holding onto Kohen’s hip. The movement had pressed Kohen against him slightly, keeping him trapped against his body for the moment. It was easy to feel his muscular frame, even though the crewneck sweatshirt he wore.

Kohen seemed to pale slightly at Vaughn mentioning his long night. Here he was, trying not to think about it, but the words out of the man's mouth- hell, the man himself was a reminder and it was impossible to escape those thoughts…those…images. Kohen knew murder and brutality, he had been around it his entire life, but Vaughn took the cake on that one. It wasn't solely because of how strong and built he was, but the way he carried himself when he killed someone. It looked like it didn't bother him one bit. Murders were usually like that- Kohen knew that of course he did, but….right now…
Kohen looked up at Vaughn to briefly meet his eyes before they darted away again. He didn't look like a killer right now. He was awkward and well, kind of sweet too…. the memory of Vaughn playing with the cats still fresh in his memory, like it was something he cherished greatly, his prized possession he didn't want to forget. It was stupid as he had just met the guy but there was no stopping it once the thoughts started.

Kohen smiled at Vaughn when he pitched where they should head, his smile only faltering slightly at the blatant lie. Boxing. It made sense that it was a cover-up lie, he didn't know how he hadn't seen that before- how he had not put two and two together? The voice, the body type, and the eyes…
He shifted slightly on his feet as he tried to push the thoughts out. Maybe it was futile but he didn't care. They would leave him alone if it was the last thing he did.
Kohen swallowed the lump in his throat.
"The bus sounds great, I'm also very sore" He mused with a slight shakiness in his voice. The warm shower had been great but it didn't stop his bones from hurting. God, he was going to regret today. He had been looking forward to this but his curiosity and poor decisions was going to ruin this for him. Why couldn't he have just left things alone? What was it that they said? Ignorance is bliss? Yeah.
Perhaps he would just pretend he hadn't seen anything and do what he always did best which was ignoring the problems around him.

Once they had boarded the bus, Kohen followed Vaughn's lead, giving a polite nod to him once he paid for the both of them, he would definitely pay him back later for that. These days money came hard and he had no idea what Vaughn's financial situation was like.

Kohen watched as Vaughn opted for standing. He wondered why he hadn't taken the open seats, he knew they were for the handicap but- but they…. he tried to come up with something to justify himself taking a seat but found he had none and decided to take the spot next to Vaughn. Maybe it was a little close for his own comfort, the air of the bus suffocating him slightly, but it would have to do for now. It wouldn't be too long of a ride, it would be alright.

There was a knowledge that the streets were absolutely screwed to hell and back, the craters enough to cause accidents, which they had, on multiple occasions but no one did anything about it. It irked Kohen a lot. Such a simple thing could have prevented deaths and injuries, but like most things, he turned a blind eye. He wasn't a bad person- he didn't think he was, but he couldn't handle the knowledge of certain things and not be able to do anything about it. It was torture to know people got hurt and he was powerless.

As he seemingly stared off into space, his eyes trained down at his shoes, there was a sudden jolt he hadn't been expecting, though he should have. And in return, should have held on tighter so that his balance wouldn't be lost, but hadn't, and before he knew it he was instinctively reaching out for Vaughn.

However, he hadn't realized that Vaughn's cat-like reflexes had gotten to him first and so Kohen had gotten a fistful of his shirt as he got pressed against the guy. At that moment his mind blanked, the only thing he could hear being the nearly silent static that overwhelmed him. Oh. Oh fuck. Oh fuck no.
He was aware of Vaugh's arm around him and he didn't want to move, because as things were, the touch could barely be registered by Kohen despite his strong grip. It was one fo those things that became more noticeable when motion was applied.

The moment went on for too long, the seconds feeling like minutes as he didn't dare to breathe.

There was a sudden nervous quiet laugh that came from him as the feeling of everything made his brain short-circuit.
"Wow you are fast, I wasn't expecting that…" His eyes trailed down to where his hands were, still bunching up Vaughn's crewneck, and in a blind panic frantically let go as he realized he had also held on longer than he had meant to. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to ruin your shirt, now it's all wrinkly" He scrunched his nose up slightly, an apologetic look on his face as well as a deep redness that was now very pathetically visible. He was trying to keep it together but his mind kept wandering to places that maybe weren't the best to think about at the moment.
"O-our stop should be next I think" he stuttered out slightly, now standing properly.
There was a long moment of silence as Kohen stewed in his thoughts.
"And thanks, for uhm, catching me?" He questioned. It was a bit embarrassing to say. "Yeah, for catching me, would have knocked into the others" He swallowed harshly as he avoided eye contact for what felt like the thousandth time already since he had met up with the guy. He wasn't used to being all jumpy around others but Vaughn had that type of effect on him for obvious reasons and less obvious reasons that they both knew, but were unaware that they both knew.

What an interesting situation the two found themselves in. Vaughn, with his hand on Kohen’s hip, and Kohen, holding onto the front of his sweatshirt. After getting over the initial annoyance of the state of the road, the realization dawned on Vaughn. His hand left Kohen’s hip almost immediately, like it had been suddenly burnt. His face did turn quite red, matching the similar shade of Kohen’s. His hands quickly went into his pockets, stuffed out of sight as he looked down at his shirt. “It’s no big deal, it’s not that wrinkled,” he breathed, shaking his head.

Why did he feel so strange after the encounter? All he did was keep Kohen from falling on the floor. There should be no reason why his stomach was doing flips and his face felt feverish. There should be no reason why he was trying to place the smell that Kohen gave off, or pick up on the shampoo he used. He blamed the strange feelings on being pent up. He hadn’t slept with anyone in at least a year by that point, maybe he just needed a bit of human contact to fix himself.

They reached their stop, and Vaughn was eager to get off to escape the awkward situation. Figure laughed from somewhere behind him, and he had to keep himself from looking over his shoulder at it. “It’s not a problem, you’re welcome,” he said as the bus parked at the stop, “Here we are.”

Vaughn walked to the door, making sure Kohen was following behind him. He stepped off the bus, saying a quick word of thanks to the bus driver. They were less than a block away from the restaurant he had been planning on going with Kohen, so hopefully the quick food would ease the tension. “So, did you have any other plans for the day?” he asked as he walked down the street next to Kohen. He didn’t have anything planned himself. Going out with Kohen had been something he fully cleared his schedule for. That, and rest after the kill. It was usually up to a week between kills. Killing was such a physically taxing thing, often leaving him sore and bruised for the days following the event. It was an unseen side of a killer- the rehabilitation.

Kohen was going to be sick. His stomach was tied up in knots and his anxiety had now skyrocketed. Butterflies? Isn't that what people said it felt like? Kohen had never believed them, a scoff always leaving him whenever a mushy couple talked about the feeling, but at this moment, he understood it. He understood it and it was ruining him.

So with all of his determination, he made it a point not to remember the way Vaughn's clothes gave off a pleasant aroma. Or the way his hand had held onto him so firmly- the same hands that just the night before were forcefully shoving a blade into someone else.
Kohen staggered a little after Vaughn had let go, a combination of the shock and the memory working together to throw him off balance. There was a moment of vertigo as he realized the last part. Vaughn was a murderer- maybe one with morals with the way Vaughn specifically picked out each victim, but still. A murder.
And yet? His heart raced in his chest, his body kicking his senses into overdrive with things he hadn't ever felt before. Kohen was no stranger to crushes but this? This was all new- and he was a virgin to boot. He had no idea what he was doing. Cornering others and beating the shit out of them was what he knew how to do best. It was his go-to when he found someone attractive, it was the little bit of human contact he could get without seeming like he was interested in the same sex.
"Y-yeah, alright.." Kohen muttered, subtly rubbing his palms on his jeans to get rid of the clamminess. He hoped the action wasn't too obvious given how close they still were- and he sure as hell hoped that Vaughn didn't catch on to the fact that Kohen shifted on his feet slightly, there being a slight frustration to him as he was also eager to get off and away from Vaughn. He needed to get to a bathroom he decided. Quickly.
Once their stop came up, Kohen trialed after Vaughn as he made the first move to leave.

Embarrassing. Kohen hissed at himself through his other thoughts once they had disembarked the bus. The casual small talk seemed to relieve Kohen a little, however. He didn't like the silence much and found that it weighed heavily on him, an uncomfortable feeling settling into his bones when there was nothing left to say.
"Plans…?" he questioned softly, trying to shake off the still persistent heat on his face….and in other places. "N-no plans." his voice involuntarily hitched. Fuck.
Kohen glanced over at Vaughn as they walked, looking him over for the first time since the incident. He gave him a friendly smile, a bit of an awkward dorky smile that didn't often show up on his face.
"I was actually looking forward to today. I don't get out much but when I do, it's usually on my own, just- you know, dicking around I guess" Kohen's eyes panned down to the ground as his shoulders hunched up slightly, his overall demeanor tensing as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Did that sound desperate? Maybe weird? Did it make him look like a loser who didn't have a soul to hang out with? Probably, he concluded but tried to pay it no mind.
"What about you?" a smile found its way onto Kohen's lips again as his eyes landed on the larger male once more. "I'm probably pulling you away from work huh?" He mused, though, knowing that there was no way Vaughn would skip going to work just to hang out with some stranger he had just met a few days ago. No one in their right mind would.
That thought, however, sparked a new curiosity in Kohen. He knew Vaughn's main thing was to…kill. As wrong as it felt to put it casually. But when he wasn't going around slaughtering people, he wondered if Vaughn had a more stable day job like he did.

"Speaking of which, you never did tell me what your job was- er, if it's something you don't mind sharing" Kohen nervously added at the end, knowing it was a bit of a touchy subject if he was getting paid for his killings. If that was the case, there really was no need for an actual job.

Vaughn was relieved to find out that Kohen wasn't being bothered by their meetup. He had been slightly worried that Kohen was only hanging out with him because he had to. Hearing that Kohen had been looking forward to their meetup, though, was surprising. He had a slightly shocked expression for a split moment, his stoic facade breaking. Kohen was excited to see him? Why would he be excited about that? It was hard for him, who had been a loner most of his life, to believe that. He reached up, rubbing at the back of his neck. He couldn't deny that he had been excited to see Kohen. He had been anticipating their meetup all night, going over what he would say and do repeatedly.

"I was… really looking forward to seeing you too," he admitted, sounding a bit sheepish. His cheeks were lightly flushed, and he didn't look at Kohen when he said it. There was something about the way that he had said it- that he was happy to see Kohen, not just go out. He didn't seem to pick up on his own implications, though. "I don't get out much with other people either."

The only time that Vaughn would usually get out would be to meet up with people he was to help, and when he went to kill. Besides that, he could be found in the gas station. He preferred to be alone. He would never admit to himself that he secretly craved company from another person. Admitting that sort of thing to Kohen, to his face no less, was very out of character for him. He cleared his throat, ready to move on to the next topic.

Holding down a stable job was something that Vaughn had never been able to do. Growing up, he got his first job at sixteen. He hadn't wanted to, but his foster family thought it would be a great idea for him to have something to do besides hide out in his room. He lasted a total of three days at the fast-food place that he worked at. Something happened to trigger a breakdown, and that was exactly what happened. He was fired for causing such a scene and in trouble with his foster family for it. After that, he had gotten two more low level jobs, both ending in the same way as the first. He had given up at trying to have a normal job when he turned eighteen and began killing. The way that he got money was just as sinister. After he killed the men, he took whatever they had in their wallets. The amount varied, but it was usually enough to get by.

"I work as a gas station clerk," Vaughn came up with on the spot. He lived in an abandoned one, so he knew the ins and outs of them, "I was off today, so it worked out. What do you do for work?"

Kohen watched Vaughn's mannerisms for a second before his eyes flickered down to the ground once more. However, when Vaughn nearly echoed his words, the hairs on Kohen's back stood on end at the surprising tenderness there- an involuntary shiver running up his spine. Those were words too soft for a killer.
Still, Kohen acknowledged how fucked he was at this point. His mind kept going back to his belongings and how he hoped to God that Vaughn hadn't given it a second thought and left them. There was that and also the fact that his name was written all over the crime scene now- he didn't know which one was worse. Jail for life, or most likely, in this case, the death penalty? Or pushing his luck with someone who had buckets of blood on his hands?

He swallowed harshly at both options. Though, it wasn't like he could control it now, whatever happened, happened.

"You seem like a pretty cool guy to hang out with, 'm surprised you don't have more people" Kohen breathed, though, he took a wild guess that maybe, just maybe, it had to do with things being easier to get away with- you didn't have to cover yourself constantly from people you were close with.

A more genuine smile formed on Kohen's lips as Vaughn told him about his job. He didn't know if that was true, but he was inclined to take Vaughn's word for it, the reason partially because he needed to believe that Vaughn had some normalcy in his life. His mind taking the small piece of information and running with it. See? He's just like you and everyone else.
It soothed his soul somewhat, but whenever he looked at Vaughn's hands, his heart wavered and sped up. Kohen wasn't an anxious person per se, but it was more prominent around Vaughn for a number of reasons.

"Oh, that's nice.." Kohen muttered, silently smiling to himself before looking up at Vaughn to answer his question. "I work a part-time at an old laundromat- not a lotta people swing by but the shift I work gets a bit of traffic since it's in the evenings… er- not that I do much, just clean and stuff… watch people while I do my schoolwork… that kind of thing.." His words transitioning from confident and bright to small and hesitant. He gave the other a meek look at the end. He knew it didn't sound like a lot, in fact, he knew it was quite pathetic when he could be working better jobs more suited for him- or so his father always told him. Still, his father's words seemed to control a lot of Kohen's thinking, and the area of his work was no different.

"But!" Kohen quickly added. "I do plan on putting my resignation in and taking a job at the coffee shop we met at" He gestured with his hands a little as he spoke. "It's fast-paced and someone I know works there- he asked if I wanted the last spot available, and since they pay better.. I mean, why not, right?" He gave Vaughn a huge playful smile, bordering on mischievous. "Maybe if you swing by while I'm on shift I can give you free stuff" He mused, his rule-breaking tendencies still rampant as ever, like he never left his teenage years.
"And hey, maybe I can also swing by your work hours and hang around for a bit, I imagine it's just as slow and dull as the laundromat" He made a displeased face at the thought of a slow day that made him want to rip his hair out. Watching the clock tick by was not something he wanted to be doing for the rest of his life, it was too mind-numbing- and not in a good way.

It wasn't long till both the males arrived at their location, Kohen running up to the door and holding it open for Vaughn, remembering how it had been held open for him the last time. There was a shit-eating grin on his face at the thought that he had gotten to it first as if it were some sort of competition.
Once inside, Kohen did let Vaughn take the lead to pick out where they would sit.
And of course, it wasn't surprising when he led them both to the booth in the very back, the space feeling more private. But Kohen at this point knew Vaughn was a private person and his mind dismissed it entirely as one of his odd quirks.

Vaughn fidgeted with his fingers, glancing down at his own hands. As he stared, he noticed something reddish-brown tinted under the thumb of his right hand. Knowing exactly what it was, he picked it out from under his nail. He was usually very meticulous about leaving no trace of a kill behind on his person. He had been distracted by the meetup with Kohen, so he must have not cleaned himself up as well as he should. He wondered if there were any other dried blood stains on him, and the building anxiety made his stomach churn. All he could do was brush off his paranoia and focus on Kohen.

Kohen complimenting him, calling him cool of all things, made him chuckle nervously. "I wouldn't say all of that. I just tend to keep to myself, that's all," he said. Sure, part of it was the fact that he was a serial killer. Having a large group of friends would make things complicated and put himself at risk of being caught. But along with that, he was generally antisocial. He had never been formally diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. It had always been a point of conversation with psychiatrists that he spoke to after the murders of his family. But, due to his age, he could never be diagnosed. They could say there were signs but could never slap the label on him until he turned eighteen. By that point, though, he had run off and started avoiding his therapist's calls.

Listening to Kohen talk about his job at the laundromat, Vaughn almost felt a bit jealous. Kohen seemed to have such a normal life. It was something Vaughn would kill for. He wished that he could handle having a normal job like every other person around him. Having some sense of normalcy in his life would be good for him. His mental illnesses and current criminal situation were things that got in the way of that, though. Going back out to try and find a job scared him, especially due to the fact that he was unmedicated. If he couldn't hold down a job when he was medicated, how was he supposed to do it without medication?

"I think you would do well at the coffee shop. It does sound a lot more interesting than working at the laundromat," he commented as Kohen talked about his future work endeavors. It took Vaughn a moment to process the joke about getting free drinks from time to time. He was taken aback by the expression on Kohen's face- that smile. It made his stomach sway, and not in the nervous was that he had been previously feeling. It was something warmer, like butterflies in his stomach. He probably looked out of it, gaze locked on Kohen's smile for a bit too long for it to be normal. His throat cleared as he dragged his gaze away, pink dusted on his cheeks out of embarrassment. "Ah, no need for that. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for anything."

Kohen visiting Vaughn at his imaginary job could clearly never happen. "It is usually fairly busy, actually. It's right off of a highway exit, so we get a lot of traffic. If you did stop by, I don't think I'd be able to talk much. I'm always running around doing something," he lied, thinking his excuse sounded decently believable.

Once they arrived at the diner, Vaughn had planned to open the door for Kohen, but was beat to it. Kohen running to the door to get there and open it first, that damn grin on his lips, was endearing to the man. He thanked Kohen with a small chuckle, stepping inside and leading them to a booth in the back. It was a moody and warm looking restaurant. Most of the decor was a dark wood, the smell in the room matching. Lamps provided a nice mood lighting, and the lack of sunlight added to it. There was a bar off to the side, the kitchen around the corner. He slid into the booth, watching as Kohen sat across from him. "This place has decent food," he commented, folding his hands. He had been about to speak when a waitress approached them, setting a menu down in front of each of them.

"Hi, how are you two doing this afternoon? Can I get you two started off with something to drink," the young woman asked with a smile, clicking her pen as she took out a small notepad.

"I'll just take a beer- bottled, whatever you have. I'm not picky," Vaughn replied, not looking at the menu. He seemed familiar enough with it to not need to look at it. The waitress took down the drink order before turning to Kohen, looking at him expectantly for an answer.

"Mmmm…" Kohen hummed thoughtfully at Vaughn's words. "Maybe, but I still think you're cool" He grinned, although it faltered when his mind reminded him that he was complimenting a killer. He quickly looked away, his smile dropping and turning into something of unease, however, not to the point that he looked out of it or discontent- just slightly guilty that he knew who the murderer of all those people was and yet here he was- going out to eat breakfast with him. He really couldn't stop thinking about it. If there was something he was good at- it was overthinking everything.

As Kohen had been talking excitedly, he had gone back to facing Vaughn and making eye contact, an eager look on his face as he thought about making the small change in his life- a little too happy that he had someone to share the news with.
Still, the look on Vaughn's face hadn't been lost on him as he stared for longer than Kohen was comfortable with. Despite this, he didn't look away from the man, a faint red making its way onto his cheeks.
He only snapped out of it when Vaughn turned down his offer to visit him, his heart sinking a bit at the rejection. He quickly looked away after Vaughn did. He wondered if he didn't like meddling in his life- him being a killer would make sense in that regard, but if he was working and meeting people… what was the harm? Kohen's brain worked hard to try and understand it from a killer's perspective but came up empty in the end.

However, the excuse lie from Vaughn that followed did make sense and put Kohen somewhat at ease, his mind immediately jumping to the conclusion that maybe he was being too much- or getting too involved more like. But he was glad that wasn't the case- or well, it was, but not because Vaughn thought him annoying- he just liked to focus on his work.
"Oh- I see, I guess that makes sense" He smiled, his mood lifting.

Kohen seemed to beam when Vaughn thanked him, reveling in the fact that he had "won" this time.

The inside of the restaurant brought an awe-struck look to Kohen's face, never having been to a place like this before. The dim lights and smell shook Kohen's core with excitement, like a kid who was experiencing something for the first time.

As they sat and Vaughn spoke, Kohen was still looking around at the interior as if he couldn't get enough. It was so dark, the moodiness giving him chills. Kohen couldn't help but keep a half smile on his face throughout it all.
If there was something about Kohen, it was that he was a huge fan of horror and places that brought mystery. Seeing a real murder was maybe pushing it- that genuinely did strike him with fear, but abandoned locations and a dark atmosphere was bound to thrill him. It was the same reason why Halloween was his favorite holiday- despite what his father would say about the day.

"Looks expensive" He breathed, though, Kohen didn't dislike that idea. If Vaughn would be paying this time, Kohen made a mental note to step up his game for the next time they went out. He might not have had enough money currently but once he switched jobs he could take his new friend out somewhere fancier. Making plans in his head seemed to rile Kohen up, his leg bouncing as the waitress came over to take their order.

Vaughn's reply drew a charmed smile from the woman.
"Not picky, huh?" She spoke as she wrote it down, her eyes flickering to Kohen.
"I'll get uhm…" Kohen trailed off as he scrambled to look over the drinks section of the menu. He wanted to make sure they had what he wanted- he didn't need to be looking like a fool in front of everyone. "…a cherry cola," He said confidently once his eyes read the words.
The woman quickly jotted it down, taking slightly longer to write something more down before she ripped the ticket off the notepad, and then tore that paper in half.
"If you're not picky, does that mean I've got a shot?" She mused, extending the ripped ticket to Vaughn so he could take it. On it, was a quickly scribbled series of numbers- a phone number, Kohen quickly figured out.

He watched as the interaction happened in front of him, his smile dropping in an instant. Kohen seemed to stiffen a little, averting his gaze, wondering what Vaughn would say. But as the seconds felt like minutes, Kohen's mind wandered to Vaughn and this woman in the same bed… sending time together….
It sent him over the edge- he didn't want someone to steal the one person he had finally been able to convince into spend time with him.
So before he knew it, in the heat of the moment with blind panic, he suddenly bolted from his seat, snatching the paper from the woman's hand.
"No-!" Came his tongue-bitten words, not quite coherent as he stopped short.

Once the paper was in his hand, the woman's eyes wide at the outburst, Kohen froze in place. His heart hammered in his chest at his impulsive nature and the realization of what he had just done. It was then that he had to make up an excuse for this- but nothing he came up with would be good enough. Still. He went for it.
"I-I'm sorry miss," He swallowed harshly as he forced the words to come out of him. "It's just that I'm here with my…" His face burned with embarrassment. "…with my boyfriend."
There was a moment of silence as the dark-haired woman blinked at Kohen, the words processing in her head.
"Oh…" Came her disappointed voice. "I'm sorry, I didn't know" She gave a kind smile to Kohen, reaching over to take the piece of paper from him. Her eyes flickered over to Vaughn, the look of want and a light dusting of pink on her face.
"As an apology, I'll bring free deserts if that's alright" She spoke.
Kohen could only numbly nod at her, the horror overtaking him once she left. His teeth were gritted as he stared intently at the table in front of him, not being able to look up at Vaughn.
With every second that passed, he felt sicker, the anxiety building in his stomach threatening to make him throw up.

Now he had done it. What if Vaughn had wanted that woman's phone number? She was pretty. She seemed very much suited for Vaughn- so why had he thought of himself in that moment? Was he that selfish?
Kohen attempted to swallow the lump in his throat as his eyes panned up to Vaughn, a nervous twitch of a smile on his lips.
"I-….I don't even-" The words faltered on his lips. I don't even have an excuse for that. He wanted to say but immediately jumped to spit out any excuses his brain could think of.
"I-I figured that maybe you didn't have time for that- I mean, you seem like a very busy guy and all and people can be so annoying- you also don't strike me as the type to pick up a one-night stand- or uhhh, well, you do get around- but that's a bit uhm weird to think about- anyways!! I'm sorry that was so sudden- I didn't mean to call you my boyfriend either- oh wow, that was absolutely crossing a line wasn't it?" As Kohen rambled, he had pressed his hands to his face, feeling the heat there and attempting to cool himself down with his hands and maybe also trying to hide the clear shade of red he had turned into.

"It was just the first thing that came to my mind- I mean, how are you supposed to explain that one? Oh, he's my friend but I don't want him going out with you- that seems a bit mean and stupid because obviously I don't have a say in what your dating life looks like- if you wanted to you could, I-I can't stop you- or uhm, I just did but- but-" Kohen seemed to short circuit, finally giving up after stuttering through his words and sentences. He laid his head down on the table, wrapping his arms around himself, a small groan leaving him.
He was stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. And he wouldn't blame Vaughn if he didn't want to hang out with him after this. He was acting overbearing and that's all Kohen knew how to do, so why not get rid of him now?

Vaughn found himself making notes about Kohen’s preferences. So far, it was clear that Kohen liked cherry flavored things. First it was the cherry slushee, now the cherry cola. In Vaughn’s mind, the flavor seemed to fit Kohen. It looked a fiery shade of red, but turned out to be all sweet once you finally got a taste of it. He bit his tongue, wondering where his brain was going with those connections. It threatened to bring a memory from his childhood to the surface- one of a warm spring afternoon and the smell of cherries filling his childhood home. He couldn’t quite place it, though, the image being fogged over in his mind. He was deep enough in thought that he hadn’t even registered that he was being hit on until a piece of paper was shoved his way.

Shell-shocked was the only way to describe how Vaughn looked. Despite being an attractive man, he still found himself surprised when he would get approached with such offers and comments. He couldn’t fathom anything seeing him in any way that wasn’t a scared little kid or a blood soaked killer. He looked towards the woman, lips parted with nothing escaping them. She was pretty, he couldn’t deny that, but she wasn’t exactly his type either. Then again, what was his type? He wasn’t exactly sure if he had one, but ultimately, he felt no inclination to accept the woman’s phone number. He had planned on being polite and taking it, but never giving her a call or text.

That was until Kohen suddenly snatched it away before Vaughn was even able to lift his hand off of his lap.

Vaughn’s gaze left the woman and shot over to Kohen instead. What was he doing? Why had he felt the need to intervene? Maybe Kohen wanted her number instead. If that were the case, he would have (reluctantly) given the paper over right after. But that didn’t seem to be Kohen’s intention.

Boyfriend.

The word hit Vaughn’s ears like a sledgehammer, weighing heavy in his mind. For a moment, he wondered if he had simply imagined Kohen said it. It seemed like a sort of trick Figure would play on him. But seeing the woman’s reaction and Kohen stammer through the rest of the sentence solidified that it had in fact been real.

Vaughn didn’t say a word. He didn’t agree with or deny what Kohen claimed. He just stared, appearing like a deer in headlights. It took a lot to get him rattled like that. He had seen so much violence and gore, been through so much trauma, but Kohen claiming to be Vaughn’s boyfriend had been enough to shake the killer to his core. He was as still as a statue, the words processing slow in his emotionally stunted brain.

Kohen’s rambling apologies and explanations fell of deaf ears. Vaughn wasn’t listening- in fact, he felt like he wasn’t even present. When the waitress had walked away, everything around him crumbled in an instant. To him, everything fell under a cloud of black sheets. All of his surroundings became indistinguishable around him in an instant. It was all a delusion, one meant to try and help his brain cope with what had just happened. The only things present in the void he now sat in was Figure’s floating grin and Kohen.

’Well, what do we have here?’ Figure hissed, its sharp teeth the only thing visible in the blackness. It cackled, making Vaughn tense as his gaze snapped to his hands that were now in tight fists resting on the table. ’You? His boyfriend? He could have said anything else, why did he say that?’

Figure slid out of his peripheral, and Vaughn dared not to look up to see where it was going. That was answered, when he heard Figure voice behind him, the sound grating like nails on a chalkboard, ’Kohen would only say that if he liked you, wouldn’t he?’

That idea caused Vaughn’s chest to tighten with emotion. Figure was right, Kohen could have said anything at all- he could have even said nothing. But no, he chose to say that they were boyfriends. That little word planted a seed in Vaughn’s mind. Kohen could like him. He glanced up from his hands, looking at Kohen, whose head was now resting against the tabletop. Could Kohen be his type? Kohen was attractive, and he was surprisingly fond of Kohen’s rambunctious yet awkward personality. Did he like Kohen? It was hard for him to distinguish between liking someone and obsessing over someone. Either way, the damage had been done. Maybe Kohen really did like him.

Vaughn’s twitched, and the moment they did, the darkness fell away and he was back in the restaurant. The sudden change of scenery came with a bit of vertigo, and he had to take a moment to focus on not swaying unsteadily in his seat. His mouth opened, then closed again. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? In the end, he decided on reaching out a hand to lightly place on Kohen’s shoulder. It didn’t feel like the same hands that had been used to kill a couple dozen men. He touched Kohen like he was worried about damaging him or scaring him off. Really, he was worried Kohen might end up being a figment of his imagination and vanish if he tried too hard.

“It’s ok- I’ll pretend to be your boyfriend,” Vaughn stammered out, sounding unsure of himself. Just pretend, he reminded himself before swallowing sharply, “I didn’t want her number anyways, she’s not really my type. I wouldn’t have called her even if I had taken it. And I didn’t exactly hate being called your boyfriend, so don’t worry about it.”

Vaughn hesitated, contemplating his choice of words as he gave Kohen’s shoulder a small squeeze. “We can take advantage of the free desert, though. Get something cherry flavored,” he suggested, a small smile on his lips. His hand moved to ruffle Kohen’s hair, much like he had done at the pet shop, before he leaned away. He nudged Kohen’s foot with his own under the table, chewing on his bottom lip before he spoke. “I guess this is a date now, huh?”

It had been a long time since Vaughn had been on a date. He had gone on one or two as a teenager, but never had been in too interested in who he went on them with. This time, he was actually interested. It didn’t take long at all for him to look at Kohen with a sort of softness in his eyes that didn’t often see the light of day. It was a look that was reserved for the women and children he helped, and now Kohen was on the short list of people who had seen it.

It didn’t take long for the waitress to return with their drinks. Vaughn didn’t recognize the brand of the beer, it being some dark blend, but he was honest when he said he wasn’t picky. While it was unclear whether it was intentional or not, he didn’t look towards the woman, his gaze staying set on Kohen. When asked about their food order, he spoke up first, “I’ll just have one of the classic burgers, everything on it and medium rare,” he answered. He didn’t make eye contact once with the woman as he spoke to her, soft eyes left on Kohen.

“Do you know what you’re getting, babe?” he asked Kohen, the pet name feeling foreign on his tongue. He mentally kicked himself, knowing how dumb it must have sounded. He was clearly getting eager at the prospect of pretending to be Kohen’s boyfriend.

During the interaction, the woman noticed the surprised look on Vaughn's face, her lips curling into a smile. He seemed clueless to his looks- or more like he didn't think anything of himself, and for some reason that only piqued her interest all the more. It was a shame he was dating the smaller redhead. Her eyes heavy with the letdown.

After she had stepped away, Kohen had clearly noted the look on Vaughn's face, his heart sinking further and further down as he realized how mortified Vaughn looked- or well, how mortified he seemed.

Ah.

For some reason, it stung. A lot. He knew he wasn't much of a looker, his appearance too feminine for his own liking. In Kohen's mind, a lot of those who were interested in the same sex were probably attracted to the heavier build- like he was. And he was just- a shiver ran up his spine when he thought about it.
Pretty boy. He could hear the echo of past acquaintances who he had thought had been his friends, accompanied by their sinister laughs. He had quickly realized that that hadn't been the case. To compensate for those comments and his looks, though, he had indulged in many sport-heavy activities and refused to hide his anger. He tried to appear as masculine as he could, even if the claw machines in an arcade filled him to the brim with joy when he managed to pull out a stuffed animal.
…
Right. And then there was his personality which was also horrendous- he could learn to be a little less rough and loud and mean, but the mere thought of becoming softer threw him into a panic. Maybe that's why he hadn't ever had anyone interested in him. He was too "fight or flight" and never froze- he only froze when he dissociated. And that didn't happen too often. Unnllleesss he was witnessing a brutal murder, in which case, his body gave him a pass to freeze up.

The thought brought the image of Vaughn slamming the sharp object through someone's neck to his head again, his heart racing as the memory was still too vivid.

Once he had set his head down, Kohen seemed to have calmed down, the red wiped off his face and now replaced with a crushed look, his mood tanking- though, not that Vaughn could see it.
It was wrong anyways- a guy with a guy- so why did it still feel so bad? Why was he so upset about it? He'd go to hell for his thoughts and these feelings. Fear ripped through him at the thought, his breathing picking up slightly. He still hadn't gotten over it. His father's teachings. It never left him no matter how hard he tried not to think about it. It made him feel sick. His attraction to Vaughn, who was a man, and then the cherry on top- a killer.

However, Vaughn's gentle touch made his shoulders tense slightly, bringing him out of his thoughts and back to reality.

He didn't know what he thought Vaughn would have said, but it certainly wasn't… that. The words made Kohen lift his head, his eyes watery as if he might have been on the verge of crying, but never got to the tipping point. There was a distant look in Kohen's eyes as the reality of everything hit him. The edge of his lips twitched into a smile- a sad one at that, but still, a smile.
"Right…" Kohen said, forcing a laugh. Though, he didn't seem quite the same as before. To be truthful, Kohen had never felt like this before Vaughn and he didn't understand what was wrong with him. Why couldn't he just brush this off like he usually did?

But then Vaughn was making excuses. And that seemed to draw a curious look from Kohen. He wondered why- maybe it was to comfort him, but Vaughn didn't need to. He didn't need to explain himself to Kohen, even if his heart did shake and lighten when Vaughn told him he hadn't minded it.

A light rosiness dusted Kohen's face at that, shifting in his seat a bit. It looked like excitement laced with heavy anxiety, and it only seemed to amplify as Vaughn kept talking.
Something cherry flavored? His eyes trembled as he searched Vaughn's face for something, but he didn't find it. He hadn't thought Vaughn would have picked up that his favorite flavor of literally anything was cherry-related. But it was the small details he noticed that gave Kohen a light fluttering feeling in his chest. No one had ever been that quick to notice something about him.
The ruffling of his hair only drove the nail into the coffin, Kohen's nails digging deep into his skin as he clenched his fist hard. He swallowed harshly. The knot in his stomach tightened when Vaughn labeled their going out as a date, his eyes widened with horror- or what seemed like horror.

"Oh- that's…." And before Kohen knew it he was covering his face again, the familiar heat rising again as he peaked at Vaughn through the gaps in his fingers- an annoyed look on his face that Vaughn was causing his turmoil. The other's look, however, was enough for Kohen to second guess himself- wondering if maybe there was a chance he had been mistaken that Vaughn was the killer. That look was too soft and too genuine, but he knew what he had seen and it was hard to forget the sheer strength he possessed along with the blood everywhere. Even the similar build and the small details of his face…

Kohen's eyes darted away when he realized he had been staring.
"I-I guess it is" He frowned, now slouching against his hand that he had pressed to his cheek, elbow on the table. He was trying hard to seem normal and cool about everything and it showed in how he seemed "disinterested", even though the blatant red on his face gave him away.

However, he seemed to quickly scramble for his menu again as the woman came to take their order. The woman wrote down Vaughn's plate of choice before she turned to Kohen.
This time he wasn't so quick to pick something out. He had no clue what he wanted and he didn't want the lady to come back a second time and then have Vaughn wait for their meals on top of it all.
Kohen's heart stopped at the pet name, his hands freezing as they had been mid-turn to flip the menu over. Vaughn had not. Was he trying to kill him??
Well. It would have made sense. Though perhaps not in the physical sense.

Kohen choked on his words as he blurted out the only thing he could think of.
"I'll have the same!" He gave the woman a fake awkward smile, looking too eager and panicked. He knew he looked stupid at the moment with the expression he was pulling but he couldn't help it.

It wasn't long before they were handing over the menus to the woman, Kohen immediately kicking Vaughn hard underneath the table when she had left. He had seen the soft eyes Vaughn was giving him and he needed to do something before he fell into them.

"Do you mind" He hissed, a strained look on his face as he gritted his teeth- though, nothing about his expression indicated that he was angry, but more so that he was trying to put his "tough act" on so it didn't seem like he was falling apart at the seams. "Don't you think you're acting a little too cute now" Kohen continued, though, in his mind, that had been meant as an insult.
He suddenly leaned back into the booth, taking the cherry drink with him as he huffed. There was a slight pout on his face as he sipped the cola, now avoiding eye contact with Vaughn.

If he didn't look at him, his stupidly handsome face didn't exist.

It was difficult for Vaughn to read what was really going through Kohen’s brain. The redhead seemed to deflate in front of him, and he couldn’t guess why. There was no way he had been mistaken about Kohen’s intentions, right? No, not with the way Kohen’s face turned red with every soft word and action. Kohen was clearly holding back, but the reason why was unknown to Vaughn.

If Kohen had brought up the assumption about Vaughn surely only liking more large and buff men, he would have shot it down. The way Kohen was, smaller and lighter than him, was just right. Kohen was small enough to protect, small enough for Vaughn to hide him away where no one’s prying eyes could reach. Maybe he could just keep Kohen all for himself. Though, that level of possession would involve something much more dark that he would resist crossing over into. It brought along the thought of holding Kohen against his will, but Vaughn couldn’t do that- he wouldn’t. No matter how selfish he got.

The kick from Kohen sent a jolt through Vaughn’s body. Kohen’s foot connected with his shin, making him grunt. That would surely leave a bruise, joining the many that he already had under his clothes. He wondered if that was why it had hurt so much, knowing that he had been reckless with himself at the past couple of kills. Had Kohen meant to hit him so hard? The words rose in his throat but never ended up passing his lips. Figure snickered out the word ‘masochist’ as it took a seat next to Kohen in the booth. Vaughn’s jaw clenched, not liking how close it was to Kohen.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he argued with a little frown, “I was only trying to play along. I thought I was supposed to be your boyfriend- that was your idea. People call each other pet names.”

Vaughn exhaled as Kohen sat back, who seemed to try and avoid his presence altogether. He picked up his beer, taking a quick swig from the bottle. His nose scrunched up as the dry alcohol coated his tongue. He wasn’t the biggest fan of beer, being more of a whiskey drinker, but he hasn’t expected it to taste so cheap. “I couldn’t go out with her. Her beer recommendation is not good,” he murmured, setting the bottle down on the table again. His gaze flicked up, looking to see Kohen’s reaction to his words. Kohen seemed to enjoy when his personality was a bit lighter, so maybe attempting to make a joke could lift his spirits.

Really, Vaughn wasn’t sure what was wrong with him calling Kohen ‘babe’. Kohen said it was too cute, and he took the meaning behind the words a bit different. He could tell Kohen was trying to use it in a negative sense, but that didn’t change the fact that Kohen called him cute- technically. Figure hissed out an agreement, only solidifying his thoughts.

Vaughn let out a hum, nudging at Kohen’s foot again with his own under the table. “I could have held your hand or kissed you, so I guess be grateful I only called you ‘babe’,” he tried to ration, though he knew he wouldn’t have had the confidence to do either of those things. He would have gotten choked up and just as flustered as Kohen if he tried to make those moves in the moment. It was easier to think about in theory. That brought to mind a scene of him moving across the table to kiss Kohen in front of the waitress. In his imagination, Kohen would have reciprocated, then they would go to the bathroom and- no, that’s not how it would have happened.

“If you kicked me that hard for calling you ‘babe’, I don’t want to know what you would have done if I pulled that sort of thing,” he breathed with an awkward chuckle, red dusting his cheeks as he tried to get rid of the dirty thoughts that had begun to appear in his mind. Kohen would have likely hit him in the face or possibly even between the legs if he had tried to kiss him, which made him cringe at the thought of.

Kohen side-eyed Vaughn at his words. There it was- the oddness. However, Vaughn's cluelessness made Kohen's eyes soften from their glare. There was something about the way he didn't quite understand or pick up on cues from others- like he had been raised isolated and didn't know how to react. It was something he saw again and again each time they met to hang out- or well, from the very few times they had hung out so far.

Then, the red was back on his face as he listened to the man before him. Clueless idiot. He hissed in his mind, though, it did bring a smile to his face. He thought it quite funny, and maybe even charming. The fact that he had latched onto the idea of them being boyfriends and was sticking firm to it. Anyone else in his position would have grown uncomfortable right away and dropped it- maybe even brushed it off as a joke to be kept in the past.
"You're odd, you know that?" He said suddenly, instead of addressing what the other had just said. "Not a bad kind of odd though, just different- different how regular cherries taste different than the ones you get on a sundae" Kohen spoke, a thoughtful look on his face at the comparison. Damn. Now he wanted actual cherries.

"But fineeee, call me babe till your heart's content" Kohen smiled widely at Vaughn, the giant grin back on his face as he poked fun at Vaughn further. His smile dropped, however, when Vaughn made the joke.
The attempt at bringing his spirits back up made Kohen want to cry. Cry laughing that was. And it did work, but for all the wrong reasons. He thought it was stupid, a cute kind of stupid really. Clearly, the guy didn't know what he was doing, and the "joke" wasn't exactly funny to Kohen, but it made him smile like an idiot at the botched attempt at one.

Kohen immediately turned his face away, pressing the back of his hand over his lips and part of his nose. A slight tremble had started across his body as he closed his eyes. The only thing that came to Kohen's head was the word "Loser" but he knew that would be too mean to say and he wasn't a bully in high school anymore. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he always found himself gravitating toward those types. The awkwardness. It attracted him in a way no other personality could, and he didn't know why that was the case with him.

It took a moment longer for Kohen to collect himself, and when Vaughn nudged him, he finally turned all his attention back to him, there still being a ghost of a smile on his lips.
The words, however, threw him for a loop, nearly choking on the drink he had been so eagerly sipping on the entire time. He was already halfway done with it.
He had avoided spitting the drink in his mouth everywhere, but in return, had given himself a coughing fit that he tried to hold down so it didn't draw too much attention.
Once he had gotten it under control, his glossy eyes shot Vaughn a glare. A playful one, but still, a glare.

"Yeah fucking right" Kohen announced loudly, gathering his courage and now crossing his arms to give Vaughn a proud smug look. He knew there was no way he would have done it- it was just pretend as he had stated before, and doing those things would have taken it too far. Though, he mused at the idea. He would have actually bitten the guy had he done that- along with shoving his knee between the other's legs to cripple him. So Vaughn had been right in that regard.

Kohen's grin grew as Vaughn spoke, a small cackle leaving him at the thought of Vaughn being scared of him. He knew it wasn't the case at all, but it was funny to think about.
"Wow, looks like you got me all figured out, huh?" He teased. "For the record, I only kicked you that hard 'cause I know you can probably take it. I honestly would have hit harder if it wasn't so difficult from the angle I'm sitting in" He joked, now scrunching his nose up with displeasure at the table. His wicked grin hadn't fallen once at the exchange, even as he joked. He hoped that it would come across as one and not that he meant it seriously- if the dorky smile on him said anything.
"But you're right" Kohen hummed proudly, a slight arrogance to him as he spoke, though it was all for show. "I would have done worse if you had dared- maybe you should be the one counting your lucky stars" Kohen gave him a knowing smile as his teeth bit down on the straw in his drink. He quite liked the back-and-forth "threats" so to say. It was fun to joke and mess around with someone, something he hadn't realized he missed so much.

Vaughn was very emotionally and socially stunted. It was partially due to the trauma he experienced as a child, along with him growing up in the unstable foster care system. From the start, he was set up for failure in that sense. The abuse from his father as a child started it. The physical and emotional abuse caused him to be more closed off from his peers. The murder of his mother and sister only caused him to isolate himself further. They had been some of the only people he felt safe around, but they were taken away and he was left with nothing. Jumping from family to family in the foster care system meant he never got comfortable. He was never able to get settled with the family he lived with or at the new school he was thrust in to. The longest he had ever stayed in a foster home had been about two years, which in the long run, was no time at all. There had been no chance for him to flourish and feel safe enough to even attempt to recover. He wondered if he had found a foster family that could have handled his issues, if things would have ended up different.

Being called ‘odd’ was nothing out of the ordinary. If Vaughn had a penny for every similar word that had been used to describe him, he would be filthy rich. There had always been something off about him. Something about the way he spoke, and about the way his gaze shifted, made people uncomfortable. He was never able to place why. He had done his best to try masking and fitting in- trying to do that exact thing in that moment- but it clearly wasn’t working.

“It’s not the first time I’ve heard that, and certainly not the last,” he said, trying to brush it off with a dry chuckle. Kohen said it wasn’t a bad thing, but the memories brought with it certainly were negative.

Though, Vaughn was distracted by Kohen mentioning cherries again. Yeah, that was clearly his favorite. He smiled softly, glad that he knew that thing about Kohen. It would be engrained into his memory, along with anything else he learned about Kohen. He felt the urge to tease Kohen about it, but held off when he watched Kohen begin to laugh. His stomach flipped, excitement bubbling in him as he watched Kohen’s mood lighten. He bit down on his bottom lip in an attempt to hide the delighted smile on his own lips. Seeing Kohen laugh and smile, almost in tears, was something he wished he could take a photo of. It was enough to push his anxieties aside, and he felt it was similar to taking whatever medications he should have been on.

Vaughn chuckled when Kohen talked about hitting him harder. For a moment, his mind went back to the first night they really met- when he had held Kohen by the throat. He could have snapped Kohen’s neck with ease. He had killed larger men with his bare hands, it wouldn’t have been difficult. Why didn’t he kill Kohen that night? Did something in his subconscious know that leaving Kohen alive would lead to something like this?

“Right, right. How could I forget that you’re a professional street fighter,” Vaughn commented, a smirk twitching at his lips as he poked fun at Kohen. Kohen was so cute when he was trying to act big and bad. That attitude reminded him of his most recent foster sister, the only one he had even remotely bonded with. He started to speak his mind. “You would get along well with my foster sister. It’s endearing when y-“

Vaughn was cut off by the waitress returning with their food, probably for the better. He had been about to say he found Kohen’s silly confidence very endearing. He quite liked that about Kohen. That attitude came with that smile and laugh that made him want to open up, despite all of his instincts telling him otherwise. They were given the food, and when asked if they needed anything else, he asked the waitress for a water. He didn’t say that the beer wasn’t to his liking, keeping his manners towards the woman. He most likely wouldn’t end up touching the beer all that much.