forum Hell of a Time :D // oxo // romance // open

Started July 15, 2020 by @PaperHats business

tune

Zaelis twirled about, smiling widely as his bright eyes flitted this way and that. The city was so abuzz! Almost as wonderful as the parties the Crater threw once there was a champion. But this seemed much more… relaxed. No one with weapons, surprisingly enough. And, frankly, Zae was okay with that.

He had slipped his tail back into his pants, and while it was uncomfortable, he could deal for now. His hood was back over his head, horns short enough to where it could actually cover him enough.

Although, one thing was rough: he was absolutely freezing.
In hell, it was extremely stifling every single day. Up here, there wasn’t any lava pools. No fires just out on the street. It was unfortunate, in Zaelis’s eyes.

So he just slipped one clawed hand in his pockets and latched onto Ace with the other, just so he could keep tabs on the small human and not get lost, himself. Plus, apparently humans were warm, too. Of course, lesser than demons, but that was okay.

The drive home was quiet and cold, the winter night was welcoming and teasing all at once. Neither of them spoke much, a gentle smile played on Ace's lips, watching the demon lay his head on the door with the wind darting eagerly through his hair. He almost resembled a puppy, something sweet and innocent rather then a prince of hell, which Aaron still couldn't wrap his head around.
Their hands were still intertwined, and with his racing mind, he was sort fo grateful for it. Something grounding him to the moment, not letting him rush ahead like he was so used. Not letting him stress himself into an attack.
He wished, suddenly, that he had that kind of support all the time.
Ace leaned back in the drivers seat with a sense of defeat, breathing out slowly and pulling into the apartment's driveway.

He waved Zaelis inside, opting to take the stairs instead of trying to explain the elevators to the demon. It had been a miracle that he hadn't interrogated Ace about the car, both of them seemed a little spaced out. Ace felt like a gun had been reloaded twice over, taking deep shots into the tried curves of his spine.
He tried not to think about the studying he still had to do, and the early shift he had in the morning. He was good at putting other people in front of him, let the heated wars in his head freeze over long enough to let him work out peoples problems.
Right now, Z had a whole list of problems and Aaron had never wanted to help more in his life, but, agonisingly he didn't
't have all the answers.
He led him into the apartment, releasing his hand, kicking open the apartment and barely turning on the hallway light, giving them just enough light to navigate the hall without looking around the place too much.

Tomorrow morning, Zaelis would be able to see the once-loved home, painted in photographs of giggling, bright versions of Ace and his brother, faded white stars danced on the plain roof by his late mother, countless terrible pottery attempts from his father. An all too empty home.
Ace didn't count himself anymore, it wasn't a home and he wasn't that kid. A shell of what was a bubbly, confident kid on the way to a structured future with a support system.
Yeah. Life doesn't work out like that.
Not for Ace.

"You can sleep in my room."
Ace turned back to look up at the demon for the first time in a while, squinting to make out his features in the dark apartment. He didn't want to see someone else in this house. He didn't really want to see himself in the house either, but he had no where else to go.
Still. That was his choice.
"Uh, I mean, like, I'm not going to bed for a while and I don't have time to fix up any of the other bedrooms. So, it's the first one back down the hall. One the left."
He tried for a grin, feeling miles older then he was in a fleeting moment.
"Night, Z."

It was absolutely an excruciating drive home, the cold biting at his skin as he smushed his face up against the door of the car. There was something comforting in having his hand curled up along Ace’s, even if the human’s skin was miles colder than his own. Still, it was some kind of heat in an otherwise icy night.

He had already let his nearly glowing yellow eyes flutter closed by the time Ace pulled up to the apartment. He perked up in just the slightest at the sight of a new place, of course wondering how similar or different it was from the club. It already looked loads darker and much, much quieter— two qualities Zaelis could admit he hated.
He reluctantly let go of Ace’s hand— maybe a bit too reluctantly as he accidentally tugged on it before noticing he should probably let up. Raising an eyebrow and letting his attention break away, his eyes soon wandered the lengths of the walls and caught the dim outline of pictures and various personal objects.

His mind was tethered back when Ace spoke up, his words cutting through the deadly silence. Zaelis nearly jumped— out of joy more so than surprise— but they words’ effects didn’t last.
“Excuse me? No,” he muttered in response, voice noticeably raspier as he grew more tired. “That’s not how this works. Or not how I think it works— humans are odd. But if I ever slept on another demon’s rock, I’d be killed before I woke up. Your bed is your rock, right? Don’t wanna risk that, bucko.”

That was a complete lie. Zaelis could tell Ace grew groggier by the minute, and hoped to somehow grab that little giggling man he had eaten fries with and shove him back into his body. This human was not the human he remembered, and if he looked any different, Z may have just unsheathed fang and claw.
“So,” he began, putting an exceedingly warm hand on either of Ace’s shoulders, “you’re going to sleep because I’ve learned humans need to recharge, and I’m sleeping on the floor or in the oven or whatever with six blankets. I am the Prince of Hell, ‘Son’ of Carcian—“ he used air quotes with his fingers— “Heir to the Reaper’s Throne, Champion of the Crater, yatta yatta.. and your will do as I say. Rodger?”

It was the most human demand he had ever heard from a demon. Ace didn't exactly have eons with the species to compare from, but, he knew what Zaelis had proposed was kind, oddly so.
Like the demon really was worried about him.
It was a strange feeling, the one that resounded from his stomach and fought it's way to his lungs, he tried to blame it on tiredness, but the dancing glint in his eyes every time they landed on Z wasn't exactly mistakable.
His voice was scratchy and broken. "Maybe sleep would be alright."
Aaron threw down his keys, stepping over various items, nameless to him now,, and flicked off switches on his wall that he was previously planning to make coffee and keep his computer on, both in order to keep awake.
His head was hung low as he moved around but he was still aware of the demons presence.
"Have you ever slept in a bed, Zaelis?" His friend's name sounded soft from his mouth. "I promise not to kill you for it."
From the cupboard, he pulled out a bunch of blankets, they spilled from his arms and towered up against his head but he managed to hold them upright from his unfortunately tiny stance.
"And if you keep reminding me that I have the heir to the Reapers throne in my living room, I will absolutely not sleep." It was meant as a joke, but he shivered at the thought.
Maybe, he'd wake up and it really would be a dream. The thought made sleep seem all that more enticing. Still with the overflowing uni work, messy house, usual insomnia and potentially world threatening problem on his shoulders he wondered if sleep would even come to him.

With the little light left, that from the moon and the hallway light, he motioned for Zaelis to follow him back down it, towards his room with the strong intention of letting him sleep in his bed.
"I'll sleep on the pull-out from under my bed, but you sleep up there ok? The sheets are fresh so no human cooties guaranteed, but this is a human thing. Demons kill for their rocks and we show the hospitality of letting others sleep on ours. Honestly Z, I will go to sleep, but you deserve to try a bed."

Zaelis followed Ace around like a sort of puppy, tail giving a light wag every time he was addressed or looked at. He usually didn’t care much for attention, but it depended on who was giving it. Carcian… well, if Zae got some attention from that man, perhaps he wouldn’t be here in the first place. The guy was extremely distant, and Zaelis relied on other people more than he liked to admit. Especially if they were important people of authority.

“Contrary to popular belief, I have not,” he replied, although the sarcasm didn’t seem as biting as it normally did. His posture was dipped slightly, and he still held Ace’s jacket tightly around him. It was absolutely freezing in here. The blankets in Ace’s arms looked more inviting than he had ever seen, even though they weren’t his standard sheets of magma.

“I also do not care for human germs,” he continued, taking the statement a little too literally. “You don’t seem too horrible. That— that was meant to be a compliment? It sounded better in my head.” He narrowed his eyes, pursing his lips as he held up a finger. “Just… Never mind.

“As long as you’re telling the truth.” He stalked up to the side of the bed, watching intently as Ace went about. “You better sleep. I know it’s important. Demons don’t really have to sleep, ‘cuz the underworld doesn’t have day and night cycles. This is an odd change. But I know humans have to. So cute and fragile—“ he let out a diminutive laugh— “and adorable. You guys are like… mice. Nice, little, delicate, but you could probably bite like hell if you tried. I like that about you guys.”

"Mice, huh?" Ace grinned at the thought. "Might be nice to be something that simple and thoughtless."
Humans definitely caused more problems then mice, that Aaron was sure of.

He busied himself with setting up the beds, his pull-out was dustier then he remembered but the springs still creaked and poked up in strange patterns. He piled a few more blankets on the bed, figuring the demon might need some extra layers considering the heat of hell. Which he still couldn't wrap his head around.
It didn't make sense that a demon would be friendly and worried about him. It didn't make sense that Zaelis was a demon at all! I mean, Z was a demon, the hot version that Netflix oversold for sure, but it shouldn't make sense.
He tried not to think about it
Usually, whenever his old friends took interest in his health, he'd brush them off, make some meaningless problems and continue on his destructive path, but there was something about Zaelis that stopped him.
His whole body ached with exhaustion, he was nodding numbly at everything the demon said, stifling a yawn and smiling meekly through towers of blankets he was organising. Ace half-wondered if it was some sort of demon power, a persuasion method, deep pools of yellow stared him down with a mix of amusement and concern, genuine.

"You don't drink tea do you? Since I'm actually going to bed, I'm going to need some chamomile or something because-" his hand whipped to his head.
He wasn't about to tell Zaelis about the car accident was he? He hadn't just gone to explain why he had all the things wrong with him from the deep scar on the side of his head to his terrible self-care, had he? After a day of knowing him. To a demon.
He let his words trail off.
"I can grab you pyjamas too, I wear really big ones so you'll be fine."
He cast his eyes down, horrified and amazed at how quickly Z had grown on him.