Work Text:
The notification glowed like an ominous omen in the dark.
[CrowDad] commented on your post: "Your use of negative space is intriguing. The crow’s wing curvature is incorrect and looks crooked ,however."
She blinked at her screen, curled up in bed with a chipped mug of cold tea and a stray cat meme open in the next tab. The comment sat smugly under her hand-drawn digital sketch—a self-insert in her favorite oversized sweater, perched on a crow’s back, grinning like an anime sidekick.
She squinted.
Who even was this dude?
His profile pic is a literal mechanical crow too close to the screen, No art. Just one line in his bio: "Vinyl enthusiast. Dislikes sunlight.Professional boxer"
Oh great,she thought, *I’m being judged by a gothic batman with bird beef.
She cracked her knuckles and typed back:
“ok but have u ever SEEN a crow irl??? their wings DO that. This is my art style, if U don't like it ,just don't comment "
Surely he’d ghost.
He didn’t.
[Crowdad]: "Yes. I actually own one."
Her mouth fell open. She reread it three times.
" It's illegal and I'm pretty sure u probably a troll"
[Crowdad]: "Obviously I am not ,and I actually enjoy the artistic choice,yet I think you need more realism to your art."
She made a noise halfway between a wheeze and a laugh, buried her face in her pillow, and tried not to scream. And she goes into a rant about art and her own art style to a stranger ,maybe because It's fun or the insomnia insanity finely kicking in
---
[Sylus’s POV]
This was beneath him.
Sylus had once dismantled a government by breakfast. Negotiated with black market scientists while bleeding from the ribs. Held power over 12 armories across the world.
Now? He was arguing with an student named artdumpzz about crow anatomy
—Luke—stood nearby, shifting awkwardly.
“Sir, the Protocore batch is—”
Sylus raised a hand. “Later.”
He zoomed in on the girl’s post. It was… messy. Charming. Her brushwork was unsure but full of affection. The crown on the crow was crooked. Her self-insert wore the wrong ratio of limbs to torso, but somehow… it worked.
He typed into the chat of hers:
“You’ve misrepresented the tail feathers.”
He didn’t expect her to respond so fast.
" And Ur pfp is definitely ai generated,U lost Ur opinion privileges"
His lips twitched.
" I assure you he is not made of such artificial intelligence, and he is a rather intelligent one too"
She is typing....pauses.... typing again...then she sends the following
" Pic or it's not real "
He stared at the blinking cursor for a moment, then let out a short, breathy laugh—an actual laugh. Luke is left .... surprised? Shocked? Amused? He isn't sure..but boss surely in a good mood , he sees sylus calling Mephisto over and taking a picture of him ( the picture is somewhat very bad like when a grandma is trying to take a picture of it's beloved pet)
" Thank you Mephisto...,now here you go"
He sends it to the curious girl,his smirk is too proud, too smug about it
" Damn your taking pictures skills sucks,is that a mechanical rat?"
His smirk drop ,yeah the audacity????
" You just have a bad phone ,clearly, Mephisto is as clear as a fullmoon"
" Yeah ,a full moon that been shaken up that I can't see his head from face"
Huh.
He breaths out ,he won't be arguing with her, to the point. Yes to the point.
"That's not the point, his wings, don't you see them? Your drawing of the crow was not very accurate ,cute but hardly realistic"
She replies rather fast to him
"Yeah I'm not trying to be realistic,U can't exactly ride birds , unfortunately, can you stop criticising me for crow autonomy?"
"Also ,I guess Ur cool since U own a cool crow ,wanna be art friends , you can show me cool mechanical stuff you have,I show u doodles,we become art mutuals! "
Sylus stare at the screen. Friends? That...is ridiculous, does she think he makes mechanical animals???? , he is a leader,a crime lord a man who install fear in anyone who glances at him-...well-he does like her lil doodles of cats, and well, it's been nice , this lil back and fourth...he finds it amusing enough
"Sure"
This sounds like a start of...an interesting dynamic, he can almost ,taste it
Crowdad started following you ✨
______
It started as a joke. A one-off exchange. Just him begin sarcastic to an art account he followed by enjoying to rule up a stranger and following her out pure amusement
Yet it didn't stay that way ,a one off exchange
But Before either of them noticed, their messages became a nightly ritual:
(Y/n) sent pictures of street cats she found near her dorm, captioned:
" he looks like he is a thug ,look at his street Stance!! ”
Sylus sending her vinyl covers she’d never heard of: “new record , if only you had good taste I would have sent you a copy”
She debated about pigeons (she says they are skyrats. Sylus called them misunderstood).
She doodled her self-insert sipping tea with a suspiciously red-eyed crow in the background. He didn’t comment, but he saved it. And definitely was in a good mood for the rest of the day
______
She didn’t know when it shifted.
When the sarcasm turned softer. When his critiques stopped aiming for accuracy and started asking about brush techniques. When she found herself checking her notifications before brushing her teeth.
And when he didn’t respond one night—no new message, no passive-aggressive bird facts, not even a grumpy “your shading is a crime”—she surprised herself by worrying.
Then, the notification came in at 3:47 a.m.
[CrowDad]: “Mephisto got his talon stuck in the heater. Had to fix the entire wing mechanism. He’s fine. But now he squeaks. Loudly.”
She snorted so hard she scared the cat off her windowsill. Then she typed back, instinctively:
“Send squeaky Mephisto. I demand proof.”
And minutes later, she got it: a grainy video of a mechanical crow skittering sideways like a Roomba possessed, emitting the most offended sqnkkk! with every step.
She laughed until she cried. Then cried because she was laughing too hard. Then wiped her nose and typed:
“Glad he’s okay. And you too, I guess. Art mutuals gotta stick together.”
A pause.
[CrowDad]: “You’re not terrible company, you know. For someone with bird anatomy crimes.”
She smiled. Hugged her knees. Let the cold tea sit one more night.
The internet was weird. Life was weirder.
But maybe—just maybe—it was okay to let someone stay in your inbox a little longer.
Even if they were a gothic weird guy with odd taste in music & mechanical crow as a pet...