(I'm finally done! Spent the whole time trying to decide to make it bother him or not XD)

(awww<3 I enjoy writing spooky stuff far too much xD)

Lieutenant Dwyer

"It grows back?" Glory asked, "What are you, some kind of lizard?" Hell, maybe he knew someone who could grow limbs back, and now he could do it too. She scowled at him, trying her hardest not to laugh, and huffed, "It's not that funny!" Although, it very much was. Cocky was a pretty good way to describe her, though should someone call her that, they'd wind up with a concussion and a few less teeth. "Because I'm in the dark!" She answered almost gleefully. She was the monster under the bed, the thing that went bump in the night, the figure outside the window on a stormy night. "You're the one that heard what you wanted to," She muttered. She only shook her head at his next words, he was far from feeble-minded, but this felt unfair. Glory watched him carefully for any sort of reaction, but he did well to keep any and all feelings stuffed away inside. She winced slightly as Not-Glory spoke- yes, it was her doing, but she hadn't thought it all the way through. Leannan was reserved just for him, and she felt terrible for using it against him like that. You've royally fucked up this time, She told herself.

Why must she be so competitive? She should've just accepted defeat or picked something less... disturbing. She shook her head at his words and said, "Not impressive." Far from it. She could've picked ANYTHING else, yet she just had to pick the worst one. She examined his face for a moment, and what she found only made her regret her actions more. His smile was ever so slightly tight, and the look in his eyes made her feel as though she'd just kicked a puppy. "No no, it was a terrible idea," she sighed, "I'm so sorry, I- I didn't think." It was an understatement of the ages, but that was pretty standard for Glory-Speak. "Okay, your turn, do your worst," She said, trying her best not to be a sorrowful puddle on the floor. Challenging, to say the least.

(that took too long- I'm using the hotspot on my dad's phone for my laptop since we don't have wifi >>;)

General Anubis

AKA: Craptain Jack Spare-Ribs

+++

"I meant it scars over." Leo rolled his eyes. "And no, I haven't met someone who can regrow limbs. That'd be helpful, though." He guessed what she was thinking with a snort, then reestablished his grin, a chuckle or two escaping as she huffed. "Is too! If I'm ever trying to find you, I could literally go up to a random stranger and ask if they've seen a cocky full of themselves person saunter past with a deadly gleam in her crazed eyes, and they would IMMEDIATELY know it was you." He teased, chuckling quietly. "I always hear what I want to. It's called selective hearing." He pointed out helpfully.

After their initial bantering, he tried desperately to look the same, have the same expression, the same voice. He didn't WANT to have her know that anything changed. He definitely didn't want her to know it bothered him. No one needed to know what bothered him- it only made him seem weak. Weak and helpless. Overall, he hated, loathed, despised being helpless. He knew his expression wasn't completely the same, and he only prayed she didn't notice. Of course, by the look on her face, he immediately could tell that she knew. He poured more energy into fixing his face, even sucking out some of his own emotion to make it more bearable. "It is impressive.. the idea. It would make even the strongest mind, if you knew their weak point, shatter." He answered. "It's a good torture device." He added, quieting as she repeated her words. Damn it. He hadn't meant for it to be that EASY to tell. "No, stop, shush, wheesht." He pronounced the word perfectly, adding a small huff. "Stop being sorry, you're way less intimidating and more human looking when you're sorry. It's scary for me." He stated firmly, then frowned. Well, of darn course he wasn't going to try and get revenge. It was a petty thing to do. He guessed he'd just put his next lame plan into action. Why not.

He flicked his hand, and Glory was suddenly in a jail cell, alone. Bones lay around her, dim light filtered in a crack in the concrete wall, and it was so dusty you could barely see. He then twisted her emotions, knowing it would not even be entertaining if she wasn't feeling at least some fear. He poured his own fear of seeing her in the mirror, his fear of her dying, into her, knowing that it was a much stronger, wilder fear, and would work better for this. He then had her feel desperate. In the illusion, there were scratch marks in the wall, indicating she had been in there for 2 years now. After making sure she WANTED to get out, that she felt like she had been trapped there for centuries, there were footsteps. A young man rushed in, with blonde hair, an earnest expression, and some very human blue eyes. "Quickly! Let's get out of here!" He gasped, opening the cell door with shaky hands and a key. Leo altered her emotions slightly again, filling her with hope. "We need to go now! He's coming!" He man cried, then froze as the cell door creaked open. His eyes filled with terror, and just as Glory was halfway through walking out, his face peeled in half. He uttered an awful, blood curdling scream before splitting all the way, blood gushing out and staining the floor, and a twisted figure appeared. Muscle, bones, and blood, this character was ugly and wretched looking. Instead of dull teeth, it had sharp fangs, and bloodshot, crazy eyes, with one too big for its head, then other too small. It's arms were far to long, and it crawled on all fours. Or ran. It's claws flashed up, and it let out a guttural scream, lunging towards Glory. After filling her with as much terror as he could, like how someone would feel right before they died, Leo had the illusion disappear- before the monster actually killed her. Cause that would be bad. "That's just a draft I've been working on. Jekyll and Hyde. Someone comes to save the desperate prisoner, and then splits into the very thing that kills them." He explained with a faint, gruesome smile. He wasn't going to try any harder than that. He didn't want to hurt her. A very small part of him whispered 'like she hurt you?' But he immediately beat the thought down, annoyed he would even attempt to think that. She had certainly scared him, even if not directly, but she had gotten him thinking about what would happen if she died, and that scared him. His mind would be clouded with those thoughts for a while, which meant he'd have a hard time falling asleep. Her goal had been achieved- that's all she had been trying to do. No folly there. The way she went about it wasn't his favorite, but he couldn't get mad at her for wanting to win.

Lieutenant Dwyer

Glory snorted and said, "I'm sure I could find someone." She was a professional eavesdropper, so she was bound to come across someone who knew someone who knew a guy. "Nuh-uh, most random strangers don't see me at all; I specialize in NOT being seen," She retorted, trying not to laugh or smile. He was maybe just the slightest bit right, though she wasn't about to agree with him. She rolled her eyes and said, "Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious. I had no idea."

"Sure, the idea was good, but the execution wasn't," She said. A small, wry smile spread across her face as he used the Gaelic word she'd taught him, and it grew a little at his next words. "So you actually like it when I'm intimidating?" She said, trying to put her mistake behind her. "I must be doing something wrong."

All of a sudden, she was in what looked to be a dusty old jail cell, with bones on the floor. There was nobody around, and frankly, she didn't mind all that much. Then, without warning, nothing but fear. Panic. Desperation. She saw marks on the wall - 2 years. It felt as though she'd been there an impossibly long time. She wanted to get out - needed to. She kicked at the bars in frustration, then heard footsteps. Hope. Freedom. She flinched slightly at the sight of the man; he resembled her father before her mother died. Young, maybe early to mid-twenties, with light hair, and blue eyes. That alone bothered her without Leo's help, though there was no way he knew what either of her parents looked like. It was just a coincidence, though the fear he'd so helpfully given her made her nervous about him, but it went away as he opened the cell. She started walking out, her whole body trembling uncontrollably, and it took half a second to realize what the man said. "WHO? Who's coming?!" Glory all but shouted at him, then froze and winced as he screamed. The flesh of his face peeled away, and she stumbled backward a few steps as he practically fell apart, a disgusting, skinless quadrupedal creature appearing from what used to be a person. Fight-or-flight kicked in, fight apparently being the best option, and Glory tried to roundhouse kick its face as it lunged toward her, catching the side of its grotesque face and falling backward, panic rising to the point she felt like she'd pass out from the adrenaline. Then, it was gone. She was back in her room, with Leo still sitting in front of her. She took a slow, deep breath, trying to slow her heartbeat, and smiled at him. "Not bad," She said, then gave in somewhat and added, "I like it. You should give it a couple rows of rotating teeth." Now that would be functional AND fashionable- always a plus. Thinking about it now, she may have laughed a little at its appearance, with its malformed eyes and too-long arms, had Leo not filled her with terror, though it made it all the more entertaining.

General Anubis

AKA: Craptain Jack Spare-Ribs

+++

"Ooo, please do. That'd be a valuable ability to have in store." Leo grinned, then let out a snort. "If you looked like how I described you, they would. Usually you're a bit more hidden with your strutting." He snickered, his eyes twinkling. They dulled just slightly a couple seconds later, but he kept up a mostly normal face. "I may have to agree with you on that." He grumbled, then raised his eyebrows. "Umm, when you're not your usual intimidating self, I always wonder whether you're just faking being nice to try and make good on the 'make me feel better about my sorry life and kill at least 10 of my braincells' dare, or if you actually mean it. I mean, like, I REALLY can't tell." He explained drily. "At least when you look all intimidating and cocky and rude, I KNOW you're going to try and do something." He smiled faintly, chuckling at her words. He couldn't help but smirk just slightly at her reaction in the jail cell, although he knew it was 100 percent from his prodding with her emotions. However, something troubled him as she flinched- that was real. What was wrong? He paused, thinking. Well, his Jekyll entered just as she flinched, so it must be something to do with Jekyll. Leo then thought back to the Mirror Ghoul, and it clicked- Jekyll could possibly look like someone from her past. DAMN it! He had tried to AVOID actually making her feel bad! Or unhappy! He scowled with irritation, and worry, his eyebrows knitting together slightly. He looked at her as he let the illusion disappear. Her breathing and heartbeat were obviously elevated, but that one little thing still bothered him. "Not bad in Glory Speak meaning awesome?" He asked with a small snort. "Rotating teeth- duly noted." A nod followed, but the question was still gnawing at his mind. "You recognized Jekyll. Even if he didn't look exactly like someone you knew, because he was completely from my imagination. Who, if you don't mind me asking?" He finally inquired, glancing at her. He wanted to know what had bothered her so much.

Lieutenant Dwyer

"I'll see what I can do," Glory said, though made a mental note to track down a lizard-limbed individual. "I do not strut," She sniffed, "I lurk." That was very true, and only aided by the fact she used the servant's passageways frequently. She only nodded at his next words, then frowned slightly. "How do you know intimidating is my natural state and I have to pretend to be nice?" She asked. Truthfully, the intimidation was more of a mask, the outer layer of her personality. The 'nice Glory' was hidden deep down, and rarely saw the light of day. To be nice was to be vulnerable, one of the few things that scared Glory. In all honestly, Leo's Jekyll bothered her not because of the man who neglected to take care of her, but because he reminded her of the father she could've had if her mother hadn't died. The day her father had to identify his wife's mangled corpse, it was as though all the best parts of him died with her, leaving behind an empty shell of the man he once was. "Mhm," She confirmed. Awesome was close enough, and there was no point in trying to argue otherwise. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment at his question, then looked back at Leo. She sighed and finally said,"Just my dad." Dad - not 'my father' as she usually referred to him, but dad. "Before-" her voice caught in her through, and it took a moment for her to say softly,"Before she died." That somehow was harder to say than just about anything she'd ever told anyone, and Glory wasn't generally someone to hold her tongue.

General Anubis

AKA: Craptain Jack Spare-Ribs

+++

"Good." Leo nodded, happy with that answer. "Your lurk is suspiciously strut like, then." He snorted. She lurked in a cocky way. Like she was the queen of the lurking world. "I'm taking a wild guess, because intimidating is the only thing I've seen you do!" He scoffed. "Maybe try being nicer a couple seconds out of the day, and I won't assume you're naturally a cobra that is just waiting to strike." He teased, then paused for a second. Questions filtered into his mind, and since he seemed to be asking hard questions right now, he was going to continue. "I know you can be nice. Why don't you, most of the time?" He asked, tilting his head slightly, his voice quieter than normal. His face flickered with a smile as she confirmed what he had said, but it returned to his slightly worried expression afterwards. Of course. Her father. His eyes glinted with even more anxious worry as she paused, and he quickly regretted asking. This was obviously not fun for her. He stayed silent for a couple moments, contemplating what to say. "I guess I can't understand, considering my parents never even tried to be nice." He mumbled, mostly to himself, staring at the floor for a moment before speaking. "I'm sorry for asking... I just wanted to know so I could avoid using that image again." He explained quietly, his golden eyes darkening slightly. "I didn't mean for it to bother you. I didn't know .. he looked like that." Leo said slowly.

Lieutenant Dwyer

"Is not," Glory huffed, "I just happen to be good at it." She was more like a badger than a peacock, strutting about. Or a fox, that was the most accurate comparison. A stealthy, nocturnal solitary hunter- that described Glory perfectly. She started to open her mouth to argue but closed it again. He was right, unfortunately. She hadn't exactly learned to be nice as a child, and while she was certainly capable of it, she didn't default to being nice. She thought for a moment at his question before answering with, "Because if you're nice to people, one of two things can happen; either they take advantage of you, or you start to care about them, and then through some twisted turn of events they wind up dead." That was the blunt truth of it, and was why she tried to hold people at arm's length. Neither option was safe, and therefore not worth the risk, in Glory's eyes. It wasn't exactly easy, answering Leo's questions, though it felt nice, in a way, having someone to ask them and not judge her for her answers. As he spoke, she moved to sit next to him, snuggling against his side and resting her head on his shoulder. "Don't apologize, leannan, you couldn't have known," She murmured. He had nothing to be sorry for whatsoever.

General Anubis

AKA: Craptain Jack Spare-Ribs

+++

"Whatever you say." Leo chuckled. He would go to any length for some friendly banter, but that was the small distinct difference between their senses of humor. He preferred witty jokes and she preferred witty insults. He could insult others and she could joke around, but they both tended to stick to their own things. As she thought about his question, he stayed silent, wondering why he couldn't just shut up. He was most likely just making everything worse. When she did end up replying, he paused for a moment, then spoke. "Well I do have to say, in my experience with you, anyone who even hinted at trying to take advantage of you would get their tongue cut out. For your next reason, you've already started to care about me from what I have seen, so you may just have to enjoy life while it happens and stop worrying about what's going to come." He said quietly. The last part was way more for him than for her. He was terrified of what would happen if she ended up dead, especially since she was the first person he actually cared about since Joey, and the last female he had ever cared about since that lying snake that had tricked him. Both had ended badly, one with his best friend being tortured and killed and one with him realizing the friendship wasn't real at all, so he was on treacherous grounds. His deep thoughts had prevented him from noticing her moving at first, but as soon as she sat down he snapped out of his pondering, glancing over at her. He was trying to figure out how to react to that, if at all, when she spoke. The word immediately brought her not grey hair and pale skin flying back into his mind. The sobs. [Gah, just erase your memory... it doesn't matter] Leo thought, pushing the thoughts out of his mind and focusing on her. "If I don't apologize then I feel guilty and wonder if I should have, so I'd rather just apologize." He mumbled, gently stroking Mari's neck as she purred lowly, a rumble that seemed to make his entire knee and thigh vibrate. Axl was laying down with his head on the floor, though one ear was perked towards them. Obviously listening. Leo let out a small huff, wondering if the dog could just sleep for once. Silly robot programming.

Lieutenant Dwyer

Glory tried to smile, but it was more sad than anything. "Why do you think that is?" She asked, then sighed and stared at the floor. "For most my life, there hasn't been anything to enjoy. I- I'm not sure I even know how," She said so quietly, it was barely more than a whisper. What was there to enjoy about not knowing when you'd be able to eat next, learning to hunt for food the hard way, setting broken bones yourself, and just trying not to die? That wasn't thriving, it was hardly above surviving. She mentally smacked herself and thought, But it's not like that anymore. You're fine, and things are better now. For starters, you've got arguably the best person in the world right next to you. That was... so very true. "Okay," She murmured, "You've apologized, so no feeling bad." She lifted her head off his shoulder and glanced out the window, where night had fallen, then at the cookie jar. That should probably get put back before Cook noticed it was missing, but Glory kind of didn't want to have to walk to the kitchen and back. Y'know what, no, Cook was just that- a cook, and if Glory wanted cookies, she'd have cookies. The jar stayed, at least until she decided not to be lazy and put it back. There was one other problem, however. "Sooo, sleeping arrangement- I didn't really expect you to accept my invitation, so I didn't plan that far ahead." Whoops. The options were limited to the floor, the couch, and... Glory's bed.