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Chapter 10

Kiani hummed to herself lightly, working around his horns carefully. Before long she had placed a beanie carefully over his head and fixed the hair under it to place it over his eyes slightly. Afterwards, she smiled and stepped back, admiring her work before looking at him. His eyes were glazed over, he was distracted. No matter what he was thinking about. It was not her business.

She put her hand on his shoulder. "All done, let's get you to the tavern before we run out of time." The color returned to his eyes and he looked up at her, before looking at himself in the mirror. He was shocked. The boy sitting in front of him did not look like him. Though the blinked as he did and moved when he did, this was not him.

"I can take off the beanie right?" He asked curiously and lightly touched his head. She nodded and stepped back.

"You can but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are alone and in private. You can always come back to see me whenever you want and we can figure out what to do with it if you want it down," she explained and cleared her throat. "But right now we need to get you back."

He nodded and took his time standing up, flinching once the other shouted at her father that he was going to escort Elias out then left the house, Elias shyly following in case Excalibur did come down the stairs at his daughter's announcement.

The walk to the tavern was a silent one, the only sound was the harsh winds howling as it passed through the compound. Finally, after several minutes she finally spoke.

"What is it like working with him? A-Actaeron I mean?" She asked, stumbling over her words.

Elias shrugged. "It has only really been one day. So I don't know yet." He looked at her and even through the dim lighting he knew that her face was a light pink.

It wasn't that difficult to see that she liked Actaeron, more than just friends. No, she loved him, absolutely loved him, and wanted him as her own, but she also knew that she could never happen. Ever since Actaeron was enlisted here, everyone knew the outcome. As young as he was, he also found interests in male trainees, trainers...

She just brushed it off. She was his friend and he was hers, they were there for each other and that's all she could ask. Once reaching the door she looked at him and leaned against the outer wall.

"Thank you, again, Kiani," Elias said quietly. She nodded and gave him a faint smile, almost fake.

"I would do it again in a heartbeat." She assured him softly before slowly walking back towards her home, her figure nothing but a shadow walking across the quiet land back to her warm and comforting home.

He turned back to the door, shivering slightly. He took a deep breath and walked in, being rushed with a strong smell of different kinds of alcohol, all kinds in fact. The smell of the food only made him remember the consistent rumbling of his stomach as a whole contracting in on itself. He held his stomach and looked around, his ears ringing with the overwhelming sound of voices and laughter.

His eyes scanned the crowd nervously from underneath his hair looking for Actaeron, which he found sitting in the middle, sitting with very large, very intimidating men. He slowly began to walk to Actaeron, his nerves pulsing through his body, shooting up his spine. Once he got a clear view of the men Actaeron was enjoying his time with, he realized the one sitting across from him was the same man from earlier, who stepped out of line and threatened him and ignored Excalibur's authority. He didn't sit down, just lightly tapped Actaeron on the back.

He was no longer hungry, now his abdomen was uncomfortable, and he felt nauseous. All he wanted to do was leave. He was too focused on Actaeron to notice that the other man had stood up and made his way to the table to Elias. He grabbed him on the shoulder and swiftly pulled the beanie off his head, pulling his hair in every direction other than it had to be in order to hide his shining black horns, they were now exposed and visible. The man growled under his breath and pushed him back, eventually pinning him back against the wall.

The whole room went quiet and the attention was focused on the two. The small demon shook with fear and whimpered, hoping for nothing but to be able to get free or have Actaeron save him, it made him feel weak, hoping for another to save him. The man hit him several times, before lifting his small and frail figure off the ground by the neck, showing him off to the rest of the personnel in the tavern, like showing off a bloody prize. "This is what we hunt! We will not be undermined and degraded by having this thing being treated as one of our own!" He announced, before slamming him back to the ground, Elias' knees buckling under him.

The crowd stood and cheered, they had all agreed to this, but the top of the ranks, Excalibur's personal soldiers were alerted. They had no opinion. So far the boy did not pose a threat and he was welcome in their commander's eyes. Actaeron was the first, however, to intercept and stop the situation from escalating. His eyes were glazed over in foggy grey as he held the man against the wall, his hand on his throat. Armored men with high technological gear came through the doors and the crowd dispersed, leaving the Elias, Actaeron, and the man, all of whom were bleeding, surrounded. The one who seemed in charge of the squad took charge of the situation, ordering to others to cuff the man and remove him. Afterwards, Actaeron was ordered to stand down and remove Elias from the situation. The gloss covering his eyes slowly faded and he turned around, gently taking the demon by the arm and pulling him away from the situation, leaving the beanie on the floor of the tavern.

Actaeron's room was dark and cold. He gently set him on the bed and went into the bathroom, turning on lights to see what he was doing, and soon returned to dress his wounds. "You always seem to be running into trouble." He muttered quietly, sitting next to him and lighting a candle to illuminate the room but only enough to avoid migraines if he did have a head injury.

"You need to be more careful," Actaeron said sternly, gently cleaning the cut on his forehead running along the younger male's hairline. "I am serious Elias. Not everyone approves of your presence here, just because of who you are. They don't care if you are different or that you can change." He said honestly and looked into his eyes. He sighed. "Get out of those clothes, you are soaking them in blood."

Elias nodded and stood slowly, his body still shaking violently from the event. He slowly removed his shirt and looked back at Actaeron. He nodded, signaling to him that it was enough, and motioned for him to come back over. He reluctantly went over to him and sat back down. He looked over at him and checked the rest of his body for injuries. Afterwards, he disappeared into the bathroom and dressed his wounds.

Slowly the demon looked at the small bed on the floor, what Actaeron told him was his bed. He sighed and stood up, slowly walking over to the small bed on the ground and laid down, curling tightly around himself and brushing the hair from his eyes. Even with the pain, he fell asleep rather quickly after the adrenaline rush forced the energy from his body.

Soon Actaeron returned after removing the bloody shirt from his body and stitching the cut above his cheek after being hit with a glass by accident. He looked at the bed and seemed almost confused why he didn't see Elias there, his heart skipping several beats before he turned his attention to the sleeping demon on the floor. His head tilted slightly and smiled, the room now warm with a comforting peace. He slowly walked over to the boy and picked him up lightly, moving slowly to not wake him. He gently laid him on the bed and then laid down next to him.

He did not know what was happening. He laid on the bed for a straight hour, staring at nothing but his back, watching the movement of his ribs as they expanded with each breathe. He eventually forced himself to look away and turned away from him, laying on his opposite side and falling asleep slowly. 

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