Glass

"What separates you and I – is glass. Are we not the same, hunter?" (Monster Falls AU)

Tad Strange x Mabel Pines

Monsters who wear human flesh.

Epilogue

An old boat rocks to the gentle sway of lulling currents; the moon hangs heavy over reflecting lake shores. Tales are shared between two brothers: one bears a crooked smile, while the other is indifferent; his knuckles are white from holding the fishing line, fingers curled in and greedily wanting – waiting for a trophy. He smells of blood and fresh ammunition, smothered ash and churned earth. Delirious eyes hidden under a bower-cut hairstyle, and he grits his teeth to the bear feeling of tugging at his lines.

"You're real hell-bent on catching this one," The one who smiles, leers - looming close and haunting space; he bites at the end of his Virginia Slim, embers making out the ghostly silhouette of his features. Stale blood clings to the fingers of his glove, but he doesn't mind when he pulls the cigarette out from between his thin and crooked lips. "Never been partial to aquatic life – not if you plan for a little fish-fry. Me? Well, I've always been fond of a nice rack."

"I plan to keep this one," The other brother simply states, keeping poise to his hunting technique. His stance is like stone – an expression to match, and a personality that could never be misplaced. One demon exchanges pleasantries, while the other is bound to silence. Their situation is hypocritical: demons hunting monsters. But in a perfect world – a perfect definition – just who are the true monsters in Gravity Falls? Still, no man is created equal. In the end, people are always knocking at the door to their own shallow grave. "She's young. Impressionable. She hasn't learned the ways of man-eating mermaids."

"You're going to need one damn big fish tank," The brother who smiles too much laughs, jubilant and evil; he's the wolf who hides amongst the pasture: preying, gnawing the wool from over his eyes, sweetly calling sheep to play his little game of chase and follow. He only finds love in the thick perfume of iron, and a freshly fired bullets. Enraptured to the steady hum of ragged lungs and cradled crying.

"I've planned ahead."

"Creepy. I like that. Let's catch our prize and terminate the rest. What's the point of genocide if you don't have anyone to tell the misfortune to?"

The brother in blue said nothing; he projected nothing. He didn't mind the killing, the extinction to a race who could never touch his. The demon is lonely; he's been watching his prize for years, hidden behind the parallels of the Fabric of Time. He only agreed to his brother's madness if he could reap something in return: a friend.

For who could trust a demon who dabbled in bets?