Chapter Text
Raven pushes his white hair out of his eyes as he walks out his front door into the bright sun. He still looks nineteen, the same as when he died, and he has unfinished business with the only person he's afraid of.
Except for his little brother, Griffin, this is also the person Raven loves the most.
They killed each other. They've always been the most intimate when they're in combat. It's not affectionate and there isn't any prolonged contact like with physical intimacy. Their intimacy is that of rivals who love to fight each other more than anyone else. Baphomet considers Raven to be the best to fight against. Baphomet lives for combat and no normal person or demonic beast, no matter how strong, can satiate his bloodlust and hunger for a good fight. Raven is the only person who can entertain Baphomet the way Baphomet truly desires.
To Baphomet, Raven is the apex of perfection, the gold standard that Baphomet compares his enemies to. To him, no one is better than Raven, and Raven knows it.
Raven would feel the same if dying to Baphomet hadn't ruined his chance to undo his heinous crimes and past mistakes. Every foul deed Raven committed was to complete his quests and win that reward, to restore the lives he'd taken and give his little brother the life he deserved.
Baphomet took it all from him when he killed him. It inflicted Raven the trauma of death combined with the trauma of loss, and Raven still can't get Baphomet out of his head.
Facing him is terrifying, but living without him…
…isn't an option.
There are a lot of Central Agency Hunters milling around just inside the police barrier surrounding his home, about a block away in each direction. How long has my tower been here? Long enough to draw a crowd and warrant security measures, but not long enough for people to be desensitized to its presence.
People are starting to recognize him. He doesn't mind. Everyone should know that the Abyssal Tower is his home and off-limits to anyone other than the man he loves and the boy he left behind.
Raven takes time to look around at the street signs to check his new address. He'll need to know it when he renews his Hunter's license. For take-out deliveries too, knowing Baphomet's appetite.
Raven continues to walk towards the police cordon and is intercepted by a familiar face.
"Hunter Raven?" Taeyoung Kang asks with suspicion.
Raven looks at him and says, "Marker. It'd be good to see you under different circumstances. Report to the agency that no one but my brother and Baphomet are permitted anywhere near the Abyssal Tower. Access is restricted by the system anyway, but if someone tries to break into my house, I will break them. You don't have to worry about a dungeon break either. The system restricts access from both sides of the tower gates."
"Good to hear. I'll report it right away. Would you please come with me to the Hunter's Agency?"
"No," Raven replies curtly. "Take me to Baphomet. It's time for him to come back home. Let Griffin know he's welcome to move in with us too."
Taeyoung nods stoically and puts his hand to his ear as he relays the messages through his comm.
Running footsteps approach and the two of them turn to face the one approaching them. The flood of demonic bloodlust is overpowering and they both recognized the presence even before seeing him.
"Raven?" Baphomet breathes out in a whisper.
He's shocked and his eyes are wide with anticipation and what Raven hopes is some amount of affection.
"Baphomet," Raven says in desperate longing. "Come home? You won't be trapped. Our tower is programmed differently now."
Baphomet grins and takes a few steps forward. "I don't care about the tower right now. All I want is you."
Raven had to beg Ra for this, but he knows it's the one thing that Baphomet can never resist.
"If we die, we'll respawn in our bedroom. We could fight to the death over and over every day. Please, just—"
Baphomet leans in face to face with him and whispers, "—You want us to share a bedroom? Why? So we can try to kill each other in our sleep."
Raven leans his face forward only two inches and their mouths are pressed together, lips sliding over lips and tongues fighting for dominance.
When they pull away from each other, huffing deep breaths and staring into each other's eyes, a string of spit is still connecting their mouths and Baphomet is more confused than he's ever been in either of his lives.
"I can't live without you," Raven replies as they rest their foreheads against each other's. "I'm not stupid enough to think you'll marry me, but I want to share the rest of my existence with you."
"Deal," Baphomet says with a feral grin. "Let's do that again. That kiss."
Raven takes Baphomet in his arms and kisses him hard, sweeping Baphomet off his feet and turning back towards the tower.
"What the– HEY! Put me down, asshole! I'm not some damsel!"
"Fine," Raven says impatiently as he drops Baphomet on his ass. "Then keep up. I'd rather kiss you without an audience, but I've been waiting for this long enough to rip your pants off right now and fight you right in front of everyone to show them which one of us is the damsel!"
Baphomet doesn't know who'll win that fight, but he's eager to find out. He picks Raven up in his arms and starts running inside and up the flights of stairs.
"There's a teleporter on each floor!" Raven says quickly. "Over there!"
Baphomet runs to it, bashes his knee on the panel and says, "100th Floor!"
The moment they're in the Boss Room, Baphomet looks in awe at the twin thrones, ceiling-to-floor banners of their emblems hanging behind them.
"So we're both the tower bosses?" Baphomet asks as he takes Raven the throne with the goat emblem and sits down, pulling Raven into his lap. "You really like me, don't you?"
Raven nips at Baphomet's lip and whispers, "I love you, you idiot."
"Fuck, you're annoying," Baphomet snaps as he turns to look to the side. "Are we making out or not?"
"I knew you loved me back!" Raven says victoriously.
"You talk too much," Baphomet growls before attacking Raven's lips with his own.
Kissing isn't natural for Baphomet, but he's not going to lose this battle! Even love is competitive to him and he's going to beat Raven at it.
Telling Raven he loves him isn't something Baphomet can do without showing how weak he feels. But proving he loves him?
Baphomet's gonna kick ass.