Given the curse gift of prophecy, she receives visions and dreams that directly interfere with how she tries to do, well, anything. In an attempt to try to ignore them, she’s on a cocktail of medications that do anything but help her feel sane. Rarely, she will tap into her visions for her benefit. Otherwise she prefers to pretend they’re not there.
She’s punchy, bold, and just plain weird at times. But that’s just good ol’ Dora, right? Reliable as always, as long as she has her prescriptions!
aka where hazel and rosalina go to the meeting and actually see the ex
4.1k word count!! IM CRAZY
TW FOR VERY ABUSIVE EX BEHAVIORS IN THE FLASHBACK, INCLUDING PHYSICAL ABUSE, GASLIGHTING, VERBAL ABUSE, REALLY REALLY BAD EX BEHAVIORS- Hazel also lowkey starts the fight in the flashback- KINDA? AT LEAST THE PHYSICAL HALF- hazels also going to panic and start tugging at her fur to a point it rips out the tangles, so a tw for that too
The ride over to these meetings wasn't something Rosalina ever really talked about, and it wasn't like Hazel found anything interesting about it either. The Lust ring really didn't change much in the decade she'd been gone, and she swore she could recognize most of the clubs on the strip.... Though that probably wasn't the best thing. Other than that, the fact they were in a car and it was moving, was absolutely thrilling to Hazel. That the wind was passing through her fur with such a velocity that she had to squint just to focus on the road ahead. Her tongue dangled in the wind, and she could feel Rosalina's hand slip around to rest on her hip. She didn't know if it was just to touch or to keep her from falling out the window, which was definitely a possibility.
Luckily for Hazel, today wouldn't be one of those days, as eventually they reached their destination. It was a lot larger of a building than she'd originally thought, though it wasn't all that scary as it's décor came into view. It was actually a bit comforting, the swirling cloud designs and hearts making her recall that they were actually in Rosalina's territory full and proper now that they were in Lust. That much was clear- The straight amazonian build that Rosa had was rather similar to the sin here as well, Asmodeus, who's height put others to shame. Hazel didn't understand if it was something that the demons around here drank or what, but she didn't mind being shorter than Rosalina. Hell, it was even nice sometimes. On little expeditions like this, even if this was the first formal meeting she's ever really gone to, she never really had to 'protect' the literal dragon next to her. It was a bit of a refreshing feeling, though she felt a bit guilty whenever she thought about it too long.
Her attention was soon redirected to Rosalina once again, who gave the sweetest sounding laugh as they slowed to a stop, which had Hazel ducking her head back into the car, barely just catching Rosa's little comment about these damn meetings- She seemed to want to be anywhere else but here, and that much Hazel could clearly gather from the way the dragon's armed crossed in an almost protective sort of self hug. That made Hazel's brow quirk a bit, and she strode over to Rosa's side, gently bumping against her. Sure, she strained her neck a bit with how she had to look up to meet the succubus's eye. "C'mon, Rose, it's only a few hours at most, right? Y'told me yerself." It was a bit hard to read Rosa completely, the way her lips pursed and brow furrowed didn't really help that either, but soon she smiled, patting the hound on the head as they started to make their way to the entrance. "You always know what to say, hmm? Like a good dog," The smooth, near constant flirtatious tone Rosa had almost always had her a flustered mess, and this time it wasn't much different, Hazel's heart fluttering in her chest as they walked through the doors.
The building was stupidly large in size for a simple meeting, and the internal furniture was nothing simple to gawk at. It was all just as fancy as the myth Hazel was accompanying, and a part of her wondered.. Just how many couches did one need? Her odd question was strengthened as she watched a group of imps move more inside, and she could only give them a small salute before they'd reached the elevator. Each step closer to this meeting, she could sense Rosalina's growing worry and tension, and she felt for the taller woman. So, she interlaced their hands, giving a crooked grin up at Rosa. "C'mon, yer chariot awaits!" She said with the silliest tone she could muster, bowing as the elevator doors opened up. The laughter she'd pulled out of the myth was like music to her ears, and her tail was closer to a feather duster as the doors shut behind them
"So, Rose, what's this all about anyways?" Hazel asked as she watched the button for the top floor get pressed. "Just to check in. These meetings are boring as all hell, but we still need to be 'kept in place' and all that." The confused tilt of the head from Hazel had Rosalina chuckle again, and with her free hand she ruffled the top of Hazel's head. "Nothing you need to worry about, pup, I just brought you along so it wasn't as boring." This got a nod in reply, seeming to satisfy the hound for now. I mean, half the time she was dragged around by Velvette and Rosalina anyways, so this wasn't exactly new. "Well, still happy ya brought me along- Think Bolt's there?" Hazel's tone got a bit more excited as she brought up her brother, who'd she just reunited with when Erwin and Bolt had come to Rosalina's tower- She wasn't really focused on what the myth was doing there, admittedly, because at the smell of her brother, she'd already been halfway down the hall. "Perhaps. If Erwin is, I'm sure he would be too."
The doors to the elevator soon opened back up, and as they stepped into the longer hallway, Hazel could feel her own hackles rise as the overwhelming sense of being watched flooded through her, and she suddenly guessed that she wasn't just here to joke along with Rosalina, but more so as a comfort. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a... Creature, she didn't know how else to describe it, peeking out with the oddest color eyes, before scrambling away, and she assumed it wasn't alone either. Now, she just wanted to get the hell out of here as fast as she could. As she glanced up at Rosalina... It was clear that she wasn't the only one that saw that thing. She squeezed the myth’s hand, gently bumping against her to distract her, and it seemed to work well enough as the squeeze was given back, and she could feel a familiar tail slither around her waist, which made her all the more confident in the fact she was comforting her. Her own tail remained its wag, and she walked with a pep in her step as they pushed the main hall’s door open..
And her heart stopped in her chest.
It felt that way, at least.
Hazel blinked, trying to see if maybe her earlier recollection in the mirror had her seeing things, even if she'd never really hallucinated before. And, to her unfortunate luck, the sight before her was completely real.
She looked... Older, though Hazel supposed they both did. Her hair was far from being taken care of, that much was obvious with how it frizzed in every other direction, and with how frayed the ends looked, tattered and tangled with many dye jobs over the years. That wasn't her natural color, and it downright sickened Hazel that she remembered that. Darker bags framed the tired eyes that looked over the mountain of papers in front of the shark, and with one hand she sorted the bigger of the three stacks into the others. It was simple, mind numbing work that anyone else would be just as bored about.
But how was she here? Did she follow Hazel? It'd been nearly a decade, and now all of a sudden she just showed up here? Did Rosalina know?
Questions flooded the hounds head as she froze right in place, and her grip got deathly tight on Rosalina's hand, and she tried to swallow down the taste of bile rising in her throat to speak. "R-Rose- I.. I need to go. Now. I'll- Fuck, I just-" Her plan of simply explaining to her partner that the other hellborn demon in the room, right across from them, just doing mindless paperwork, was in fact the only demon who had ever gotten close to killing her- Who also happened to be her ex, which would open a whole other can of worms, had failed terribly. Why did she have such a visceral reaction? Even Hazel didn't know. So she did what she always did.
She ran.
She didn't know what door she threw open, but the familiar sight of a standard, normal bathroom with multiple stalls was refreshing. Anything was, after what she saw. Her eyes caught herself in the mirror, and she nearly lost her breakfast at the sight. Her ears were pinned back, she was heavily panting, and everything felt hot. Not in a good way, like when her hand was grazed by one of her lovers. In a gross way, where she felt like she was being boiled alive in her own skin, in her own fur. Her claws reached up to touch her neck, but the damned tangles of her fur had caught on them, and so she tugged. She tore, she fought every single knot that dared stand in her way, that felt too hot, every part of it. She didn't realize when the blood had started to seep through her golden fur, and as she continued to pull away at the matted mess, it started to tangle with the blood, too. She didn't realize when she started to space back out, all she could consciously think about was how wrong the image in the mirror was.
-
Where was that damned box? She could feel her breath quicken as she whipped her head around the already partially destroyed apartment- It was never really kept clean, they both would forget to put things away when it was needed. So, there was a bit of trash littering and decorating the table and couch, but she was already stepping over bottles to get to the bedroom. A part of her didn’t really believe that the box was gone. She’d hidden it decently well, she thought that somewhere up high where the shark couldn’t reach was a decent spot, at least… Apparently not, she growled to herself, and as the growl started, she really couldn’t stop it from growing louder. Deeper. This wasn’t like all those stupid times, where Indigo had taken something small and that she didn’t care about. This was the one damn thing she asked to not be messed with. But it wasn’t unusual that the one thing she wanted wasn’t listened to. Her fur prickled up as she started to genuinely tear the place apart, claws ripping through anything and anywhere that it might be hidden. She hoped to whatever deity was out there that nothing had happened to it, or worse, that it had gotten thrown away.
Her ears pricked up before she’d found it, the hound alerted with the surprised ‘What the fuck!?’ that had left the very target of her anger. Hazel turned, meeting eyes with the greed demon in the doorway, who was astonished by the state of the apartment. “Hazel, I say again, what the fuck?! Are you crazy?! What’s gotten into you?” The shark dropped the bag she was carrying, which clunk with the weight of the bottles inside. Though, even though she was talking to Hazel, the hound didn’t really hear much over the pounding pulse in her ears. ”Where is it, Indigo?” She growled dangerously, and she nearly snapped at the shark when she had the audacity to look confused. “What the fuck are you talking about? The whole place is a fucking mess how the hell would you expect to find anything?”
Hazel may not have been the smartest of the pack, that was for sure, but she was far from stupid, either. Her fangs bared as she stomped towards Indigo, who herself was already showing off her rows of teeth, tail swaying behind her dangerously. "You're acting fucking crazy, Hazel- Whatever you lost, I'll help-" "I didn't lose it. I hid it from you. It's the one thing I didn't want ya t'touch, yet ya did." Indigo's eyes widened at the admission, and the growl that laced from underneath her words became a lot more clear. "What, the box of junk in the closet? My closet? Seriously, Hazel, you're getting worked up over nothing- I threw it away, simple as that."
That really snapped away the last bit of patience Hazel was holding out.
"You what?" Hazel snarled, the venom dripping from her voice, claws balled up into such a tight fist that she'd pricked her palms, blood dripping out from her fingers as she stepped closer. "I threw it away! It was with my shit and we talked-" Indigo was sharply cut off by the actual punch landed next to her, which had easily broken the flimsy drywall, and she looked up just to meet the furious eyes of the hound, her teeth glinting in the dim light of the apartment.
Hazel didn't do much more after that, pulling her bleeding hand out of the wall, shaking her head as she tried to think somewhat straight. She knew she'd seen the box last night, she always loved to overlook her grandfather's letters at night, so it had to still be outside in the main dumpster. She slung her bag over her shoulder properly, taking a few steps back as she sighed. Time for the worst part of this. "Indi- Indigo. I... I can't do this anymore, I can't- This. The fightin'. The throwin' my shit away just cause ya ain't like it- How easy it woulda been just to give it t'me. Constantly ditchin' me off at yer parties, but when I try to go on a walk fer myself, I'm the one who's cheating." Hazel shook the dust from the wall off her hand, stepping towards the door as she wiped off what she could on her pants. "I'm done, Indigo. Yer finally gettin' rid of me, just like ya want."
The shark seemed surprised, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, and she looked serious this time, too. Sure, they'd gotten into fights, but this was much more than a simple fight. Hazel actually wanted to leave her. After all Indigo had done, after all she'd sacrificed for this mutt, she wanted to leave. Over what? Some stupid papers? "You don't get to just- Just leave! I've taken care of you for fucking years, and a stupid fucking box is it? That's all? You're a fucking child, Hazel." Indigo couldn't help the snarky retort that was already falling from her lips, but in her gut she instantly regretted it- At least with the look Hazel had given her.
The rest, admittedly, was a bit of a blur. Neither one knew who started the fight, and if you asked, they'd easily point the other finger, but all that was important was Hazel grabbing Indigo's shoulders, slamming her into the wall as the shark's jaws snapped at her. Hazel's hands had shifted downwards, to try and grip the damn demon in a way that mattered, trying to get her to stop. They were inches apart now, and a particularly lucky snap of those rows of teeth had dug into the skin of Hazel's neck, making her eyes go wide with the sting. She didn't know what to do. If she just let Indigo sink her teeth in a little more, that'd be it. Over. Done. So, she did the most logical thing she could think of.
The wall easily crumbled with the combined strength of Hazel's throw and Indigo's weight, and even if the shark was rather lithe, the resulting hole in the wall was anything but. Indigo groaned from where she'd landed, her tail laying limp halfway on the remaining wall, blood oozing out of each little place Hazel had used as a grip. Including half of the end fin itself, which Hazel threw haphazardly to the side, clutching her neck.
She could still breath, she could still swallow without tasting iron. That's what mattered. She was still alive. She was gone before Indigo woke up, too. Or came too. Hazel didn't know. Her biggest priority was actually heading to the back of the building, to loot around and find what she needed.
-
The door to the bathroom opening is what clued her back into reality, and her eyes shot over to see who had entered. Just her luck, the same damn shark that had started this entire thing walked through the door, before stopping right away- Now clutching the door a bit awkwardly as she looked over the scene in front of her. The once rather fluffy neck, and hell, the fluffy fur she'd seen as the dog ran in was gone. Well, not exactly- It was just pulled out, entirely. Every part of it was out. As her neck bled from the harsh treatment of clawing out every single last piece of fur, those old scars easily showed.
There was a bit more silence before anything else was done.
After raising her brow, Indigo hummed, walking to the other end of the row of sinks, as if the sight of Hazel was a day to day for her. She turned the water on, washed her hands, and as she dried them, that's when she spoke. "Didn't expect you here," Was how she started, and as she opened her mouth to speak again, Hazel was quick to interrupt. "The fuck do ya mean? What is yer ass doin' here?!" Indigo raised her hands in a sort of mock defeat, now leaning up against the marble counter as she searched her pockets for something. Eventually, she pulled out a pack of cheap smokes, lighting one with the strike of a match, and Hazel's brow furrowed at the smell. Sure, she'd gotten used to the sweet aroma of Rosalina's smoke, though she could be biased- But the downright nasty smell of the shark's favorite flavor of smokes didn't really match that.
"I know this is surprising for you, but my life doesn't revolve around you. I'm here for my job." Indigo said, breathing out a cloud of smoke, though taking note to not blow it near Hazel. That, the hound had noticed, and it made this whole situation even more confusing. "I work with those myth jackasses," The snarl was clear to hear as Indigo spoke, but she rolled her eyes and continued anyway. "And I came in here to go to the bathroom, but I think I'm gonna wait until you're done doing..." Indigo gestured to Hazel's whole predicament. "That. I could smell the blood from down the hall." The hound was the one to roll her eyes this time, scooping up the fur from the sink and starting the process of tossing it out, by each little handful. Sure, she'd have to explain to Rosalina her sudden lack of hair, but she figured she needed to tell her everything anyway. Tell someone, at least. The feeling of wrong and gross had faded by now, which was good.
Indigo watched with a careful eye as Hazel took her trips, brow furrowed as she continued to take her drags, still blowing them away from Hazel, who genuinely expected a cloud or two in her face- That's what she'd always done. But something about Indigo's demeanor had changed, and Hazel didn't know if it was because of the shark's gaze still being on her or not- She had to know. "Why are ya watchin' me? Why'd ya.. Follow me?" Hazel had just dumped the last pile of her fur away, now returning to the sink to wash her hands free of her own blood, keeping an eye on Indigo as she shrugged. "I.. I wanted to. Not like- In the weird way, I just..."
It was clear that the greed demon was thinking about what she was going to say, and thinking pretty damn hard, too- Another new thing, and it had Hazel tilting her head. "It's been a while, and- I'm surprised you're even here. You made it big in the city, it seems- Following after that myth of yours. I'm.. I'm happy for you, Hazel." That made Hazel's breath fall short again, and she looked over at Indigo completely, brows still furrowed. "You ain't get to say that- After all that. Yer a fuckin' asshole." Indigo nodded again, as if these claims were true, which they were.
"You're right."
"...What?"
"You're right, Hazel."
There was a pause before Indigo started to speak again. "I was terrible to you. I hit you, I nearly killed you when you broke it off, and I did every single bad thing that you could ever say I did." The words sounded wrong as they left her, and Hazel opened her mouth to rebut, but Indigo had already beat her to it. "It's been a rough few years for me, since we broke up. I only landed such a nice job because I was the last resort for my boss, which is pathetic in it's own right. I've seen you online, with your little 'group fling' thing, and- God, I hated it. I hated seeing you happy. It was terrible. I'm pretty sure it contributed to my near endless tab, actually."
"...What changed that? Ya ain't ever been the type to change fer somethin' like that."
That had resulted in Indigo laughing, smiling, even, which completely threw Hazel for a loop. What had changed in a decades time that nearly rewrote the woman she used to know, cause at this point she wasn't even sure she knew Indigo as well as she thought.
"Guess I found my own fling. I don't know, it's still fresh, and new- But, she's nice. Like you were. I'm.. I'm not going to ruin that. And.. I'm sorry I did for you."
Hazel paused, and for the first time in here, she found herself cracking a smile, shaking her head as she rubbed at her own neck, which had thankfully stopped it's bleeding for now, but what little fur remained was definitely stained red, and she'd need a bath for sure. "Well.. Shit, Indigo, I gotta say- Surprised that you could change all of..." Hazel gestured over to Indigo, much like how the shark had done before. "That." Indigo let out another laugh, which Hazel now joined, and for a moment- For a fleeting moment, Hazel recalled who she'd fallen for in the first place, all those years ago. It warmed her heart to see her back, but, Hazel knew that Indigo wasn't for her anymore... And that was okay. It seemed Indigo understood that too.
"Anyways, you should probably leave- I still need to piss like crazy, plus..." Indigo moved one of her sleeves back to look at a busted watch, though it still seemed to tick. "Yeah, the meetings getting wrapped up. Better go before your dragon start's stomping around and making a mess, huh?" Hazel nodded, now scratching the back of her neck as she started to make her way towards the door, though she stopped just in the doorway, turning back to the shark with a soft hum. "I.. I don't know if I forgive ya just yet, but.. I'm proud of ya. I'm glad yer happy."
That seemed to be a satisfying answer towards Indigo, who only smiled in response, and that's when Hazel took her official leave, and she only made it a few steps out in the hall before getting nearly tackled by a terribly worried Rosalina, who cupped her cheeks and was worriedly fussing over her- The most Hazel had caught was an "Aye bendito, Cachorro, ¿estás bien? ¿Qué te ha hecho así, amor?" But she did her damned best to calm the myth down, gesturing for her to lean down, which Rosa did, and she gave her a rather earnest hug. "I- I know ya got questions, I'm sure- No one hurt me, I just.. I freaked out. I'll explain it to ya in the car, alright?" That seemed to get Rosalina to calm down just a tad, though, she still stayed firmly at Hazel's side, gently tracing over the newly exposed scars that she'd never really seen before. She trusted Hazel to tell her all about them, which the hound was already planning to do.
As they reached the bottom floor, walking to the main exit, Hazel caught Indigo once more in the corner of her eye, not far from where she'd seen the movers from before. The shark was standing there, completely out of place with how she fiddled with her hair, fixed her glasses. Hazel was admittedly confused, but that was before she saw Indigo light up at the sight of one of the movers, a particularly tall imp, who scooped up the little demon and spun her around, to which Indigo burst out laughing, leaning in close to steal a kiss. It was sickeningly cute, something Hazel knew the old shark would've detested.
It was nice seeing her get over it all... Guess it was her turn, too.
-
WOW. WOW HAS THIS BEEN A POST IN THE MAKING- i am SO so glad its all done, i love it, its my baby, also fucking god i cant believe i got so wrapped up in this- ANYWAYS!! hope yall had fun :]
rosalina, the myths whole lore thing, and indigo's new girl, scarlet, all belong to @mirconreadzztuff22 !!! expect more sharkbox (indigo and scarlet) content because DAMN I FUCKING LOVE THEM IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A GAG-
#project hail mary
#lana del rey
#photography
#heated rivalry
