Fleur-de-lis

The good word: Side B

Vanitas's p.o.v.

"You're fucking joking right now." I accuse.

"No joke. Fifty, take it or leave it." The pawn shop clerk shrugs."

"Dude...do you understand that these are made of lonsdaleite; hexagonal diamond...crystallized over metallic hydrogen? Those are two of the rarest substances on earth. The fact that these formed naturally is a one in a billion chance." I reason, practically ready to slap some sense into this man.

"That also means that the gems are impure which brings their value down significantly." The clerk argues back.

"Oh my god." I say in disbelief. "Fine! Fine. Just give me the damn fifty dollars." I concede.

I give the clerk Wiccan's earrings for the fifty dollars. I just needed a financial boost to compensate for the fact that Pedro would be staying with me for a while. I didn't plan on letting Wiccan's heirloom stay here for long.

"Have a nice night." He says emotionlessly as he hands me the money.

'Go fuck yourself.' I say in my head before leaving.

The sun's going down. I should probably get home before all the night time crazy shit starts happening. With that in mind I start heading home, walking like I had somewhere to be. No work today which meant less money...but I knew that if I did have work I'd wish I didn't so I was decidedly undecided on how I felt about that. Really I just missed my old job and hanging out with the boys. It was always good times with them and even though I struggled...it meant something in the end. Now my struggles amounted to an empty feeling. I was struggling to survive but survival meant that I'd still be in this shit hole so ultimately I was fighting for nothing. One of these days I'd probably just say "fuck it" and give up. For now though...I at least had the will to believe tomorrow might be better.

Finally making it home I open the front door. "Hey Pedro, what do you want to e-" I stop short as I notice Pedro on the couch with a glass pipe in hand and a lighter ready to spark up whatever drug was inside. I sigh, already exasperated before walking in. I grab the pipe from him as I pass by and casually throw it in the trash where it shatters.

Pedro jumps up angrily. "What the fuck!? Eso era mio, tu perra!"

I give him an angry and soul strangling glare so intense that he freezes in place before calmly sitting back down. Even someone like him had instincts keen enough to tell when he was about to get the shit kicked out of him. My patience was already wearing thin today so he was lucky to get this one warning.

After a few seconds my gaze softens again. "What do you want to eat?" I finish my question from earlier, moving to the fridge.

"I wanted my drugs." He mumbles under his breath.

"Why would you even want to keep doing that stuff?" I question. "You're not too far gone to where it'd be a problem if you quit. Don't sabotage yourself."

"Maybe I have demons that need to be burried." Pedro sneers.

"You and me both." I comment, haphazardly.

"What demons could someone like you possibly have?"

I accidentally burst out laughing at the question much to Pedro's chagrin.

"What's so funny?" Pedro questions.

I manage to stifle myself and clear my throat, regaining my composure. "Ever heard of the church of Azrael?"

"The gente locas who hate everyone? Yeah." Pedro answers.

"They're my family."

Pedro stays silent for a very long time to the point that I began rummaging through the fridge, not expecting a response from him.