The three of them settled into a routine after a few weeks. It wasn't too difficult, especially when Elly worked nights and Shota went with her for support and protection. Hizashi normally stayed awake during the day, and though he claimed he didn't need sleep at all enjoyed bustling about the apartment by himself when the others were gone.
It was during one of her days off that he called her over to talk. Elly had just showered and left the bathroom open for Shota, who gleefully set the water to near boiling to relax while he woke up.
"Mmm, what's up." She sat on the couch, blinking sleepily at the golden-haired angel.
"I wanted to talk to you." He smiled and took her hand. "I'm amazed at how you adapted so quickly to us being here. Is it really okay? Are you happy?"
"You guys are different. I don't trust <i>humans</i> because they've hurt me too much. You're not, so it was easier to accept you."
He pressed her hand with a low, sad sound. "Poor baby," he hummed unironically, oblivious to how the phrase sounded. He truly meant it and she understood. It caused her to squirm a bit, suddenly shy as he tugged her hand close to his heart. "You haven't healed, and you're going to need a lot of love to get better."
The demon of the house, of course, had impeccable timing.
Shota came around the corner at that very moment, stretching his arms over his head. He was wearing jeans that were just tight enough and a cropped t-shirt so when he stretched, his abdomen flexed on display. "Well, then. I'm an expert at making love. If you need it, mistress, we should probably get right to it." He smirked at the angel, who was blushing uncomfortably at the mention of carnal knowledge. "Hell, <i>Zashi</i>, you could spice things up quite a bit. She's into you, too, you know. And now I'm curious." He sat on the edge of the couch, his tail manifesting to slide around the shocked being's wrist. "Do angels screw? I mean, you look and act like you're innocent, but I can smell desire, you know... and you positively reek of it when you're in contact with her."
Hizashi fled.
"You're evil." Elly desperately tried to hold back a severe case of giggles in his wake. Shota noticed this and grinned impudently at her, sliding off the arm of the couch and laying his head in her lap with his legs curled over the side.
"I'm just living up to my nature." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Mmmn. You smell good. Mind if I take a quick nap here?"
She opened her mouth to retort that he'd just woke up, but his eyes were already closed and his breathing slow and even. Elly mentally shrugged and picked up her phone to pass the time, but in minutes the weight and heat from his body made her sleepy, too. She set the phone clumsily back on the table and ran her hands through his hair, yawning a little. Eventually she drifted off as well.
A buzzing text from her phone about an impending storm woke her half an hour later. It had turned dark outside and the wind was rattling the panes in the windows. Elly grunted, wincing at her stiff limbs, and carefully picked Shota's head up so she could set him down without disturbing him. Her knees popped loudly when she stood and she swore.
"Zashi?"
No answer.
He wasn't in his bed in the corner. She stretched her legs and arms and looked casually around, but he wasn't anywhere she could see. She needed to ask what he wanted to eat, so she went looking.
"Zashi? Are you in here?" She knocked on the bathroom door but there was no answer. When she pushed gently it opened right away, so he obviously wasn't inside. The angel had strict rules about anyone seeing him in there. She tapped her foot on the floor, thinking.
<i>He usually doesn't go in my bedroom.</i>
Yet that was where she found him, hunched over and quiet.
"What're you doing?" She knelt beside him. He was looking out at the parking lot outside the window, though the view wasn't particularly glamorous. His hair was frazzled, pieces hanging down on both sides of his cheeks from his previous neat bun.
Hizashi wrapped his arms tighter around his knees. "I'm not helping you at all, am I."
"Look," she sighed, "Maybe I'm hopeless. I don't want you to go through so much trouble for me. It doesn't seem right."
"Trouble? I'd go through Hell to save you, little one. I want to. You don't know it yet, but you're worth it."
She smiled weakly and ran her fingers through his hair as she stood. "Thank you, Zashi. I'm going to make some coffee and order us brunch. Do you want anything?"
"Waffles," he sniffled.
Elly's heart skipped a beat. He was so childlike and innocent, especially in this state. She wished she knew how to help but barely knew how to hang on herself. She met Shota on the way to the living room, and he gave her a mischievous pat on her lower back in passing. Her eyes narrowed, but he hadn't touched low enough for her sense of outrage to truly kick in.
"Did I wake you when I got up?"
"Nah. Oh, I'll have bacon, beautiful," he told her. "And lots of it."
Elly rolled her eyes and went to unplug her phone from the charger. Meanwhile, the demon wandered through the rest of the house until he found Hizashi where he sat brooding.
"What's wrong, <i>sunshine</i>?"
"Shut up."
"Pouting in the back because you didn't get a cuddle? Or are you still maintaining you want me gone for other reasons."
"I only wish for <i>her</i> safety. And I'm not pouting."
"Hnf. Well, I'm not hurting her."
"Not yet."
"Your impure thoughts betray you." He grinned and bent his leg, placing his foot on the wall. "Your desire for this mortal has your ideals jumbled into a mess. I won't harm her and you know it. Why are you really still here?"
"I'm here to protect her," he insisted stubbornly, pushing his gold-rimmed glasses up on his nose. His mustache twitched.
"That's bullshit. You might've started out that way, but it changed real quick. You have another motive now." Shota rubbed at the back of his neck in thought. "She might not realize it, but I do. The concept of incorruptible otherworldly beings is a bunch of bullshit, if you ask me. We have the ability to have emotions, and love is one of them."
Hizashi tensed. "Love? Why would you use that as an example?"
Shota stared at him, impassive. After a minute the blond man averted his eyes, blushing. "That's better. Don't try and fool a sex demon. I know all about love, desire, infatuation - seen 'em all. Never really experienced much of the more wholesome ones, though."
"No kidding," Hizashi said sourly, resting his head on his knees.
The incubus snorted derisively at him. "Stop seeing me as the enemy, you idiot. It may take an angel to mend her broken heart, but only a demon knows where the shattered pieces lie."
Hizashi uncurled slowly, a deep frown drawing his forehead almost into a point. "Wh - how did someone like you come up with ..?"
But Shota had left.
No comments:
Post a Comment