|
Gian didn't mean to destroy such enthusiasm but he was just pointing out something he'd observed not very long ago. Shadow could be in the depths of depression. Even worst, he could be succumbing to depression and welcoming it so openly. Isn't that going to be a bad sign for all of them? Especially Hebs? To think, too, that their snake man cared so deeply and so much for their ringleader. Love's a really stupid thing.
"Unpacking sounds good. And, a nap, too." The boy pulled Alfie into a tight hug and relaxed against him. "Though... a nap sounds good now." With the excitement having died down, the exhaustion just dawned on the boy. He was tired. Kratos felt a little better with that kiss to his cheek. It were one of those times where he appreciated Léan initiating something like a kiss. "I'll be back then." He slowly set Léan down onto the bed and quietly hissed at the pain that crossed his mind. That hurt. A lot. Massaging the bridge of his nose, he gave Léan a light kiss on the lips before he'd finally headed out to the door to follow after Hebs. Hebs was knocking on Shadow's door when Kratos had arrived and he opened the door to have the life man step in ahead. "I'll get you that medicine." Once Hebs was gone, Kratos finally looked back up at Shadow. "I've gotten his soul." The man raised his eyebrows a little, "I've also had a little conversation with him." Frowning, he crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't fully recover him. An hour is a maximum. If you want me to recover him from the dead..." The life man stopped and looked at Shadow rather seriously. It was strange to see him act this way. "It will take months." |
Alfie snickered. "Yeah, I think a nap would be better, now. I didn't realize I was so tired..." He began to make his way over toward the bed, plopping down and shifting over to make space for Gian. He patted that space on the bed,a smile on his face. "Come cuddle." His sour mood from before the flight appeared to have vanished completely. It was a good sign--maybe he felt he didn't have to worry about being jealous with Johnny on the other side of the world.
Shadow was startled when Hebs suddenly opened his door, and even more startled when he saw Kratos following him. He noted Kratos' condition at once, and he decided that whatever he had to say, it would be best if he was sitting down to hear it. "...The sooner, the better. We need to get this over with. I do not care if it can only last for an hour. At the very least, I won't have to feel miserable anymore while I'm here." And he would be able to give Hebs an answer quickly. Waiting months...that wasn't an option. If they waited that long, then Shadow's depression about being in the villa would only worsen. That was not good at all... |
Gian agreed with that. It was definitely better to take a nap. When he'd seen the other patting the space on the bed, he found himself laughing again before he'd moved to dive back onto the bed. The boy snuggld up against Alfie and kissed his jaw before he'd relaxed against him, his cheek resting on his chest. "You might be cold," he mumbled as he pointed at the sheets below them, "You want me to pull the sheets up?" As he asked this question, he'd propped himself up on his elbow as he looked down at Alfie with his brows raised just a bit.
Kratos nodded. "Tomorrow early morning then. Around three." That was the time when the spirits were easier to pluck out. Now that he's, well, taken Damon from the pack, he'll just have to make sure he finds him while Shadow prepare Damon's corpse. "For now..." Hebs seemed to have come right on time as he caught Kratos just when he was about to fall. The snake man had Kratos drink the medicine before he'd smiled softly. "Rest for you. You're worrying Léan." Hebs turned to look up at Shadow and gave him the most gentle of smiles. "Try and get some rest, too. We'll skip dinner. I'll cook early breakfast tomorrow." He was well aware, though, that Kratos was going to try and revive Damon. Perhaps, he could cook breakfast after he'd have a talk with him - that is, if Shadow will let him first. |
Alfie shivered as if on cue and nodded, starting to move and tug at the sheets. He wanted to be nice and warm. He'd forgotten it, but Shadow had remembered to bring one of his heat lamps--he'd told Alfie on the drive from the Austrian airport to the villa. "We can get that heat lamp later, too. But right now, it's time to nap. And boy, am I ready to nap! Today's been a long day." He snuggled up against Gian once he himself was under the sheets, waiting for him to get settled.
"I will wake you an hour early so we can find his grave and prepare. I'll probably be awake, anyway. If by chance I do rest...set your alarm for an hour beforehand." The way Shadow said that sounded worrying. He was about to stride forward, having sensed that Kratos was going to fall over, but Hebs was there to catch him, instead. Shadow stood slowly, leaning against the wall. He looked so much older than he usually did, for some reason. Hebs would probably have a chance at seeing Damon first. Shadow didn't want to be there for the initial revival. "I will try." He stayed where he was, then, and fell silent. He didn't know if Hebs would feel more comfortable sleeping in another room or with him in his current state. |
Either way, Hebs didn't mind. After he'd settled the life man to his room with his siren, he tucked the two in and left a few words for Léan. It was mostly, "Keep an eye on him," and, "Be sure he takes a rest." Well, Hebs didn't really have to worry. Kratos had fallen straight to the arms of sleep just after he'd snuggled close to his lover. Apparently, with Léan, Kratos could sleep better and Hebs thought the same with Shadow.
With the way he is, he couldn't leave him, really. Hebs returned back to Shadow's room and shut the door behind him. "You may not like me around but I suppose these are some of the days I have to make sure you get some rest." Hebs motioned for Shadow to come to bed with him and met him halfway before literally pulling the fallen angel to his arms. Kissing his forehead, the snake man smiled slightly. "At least an hour's sleep. Give it to yourself." Gian pulled the sheets up with Alfie on them before he'd chuckled. Resting against the other, he nodded and yawned. "Sure had been," he mumbled, "I hope things will be better for Shadow." Tightening his hold on the naga, he slightly nuzzled him before he'd yawned widely again. It didn't take long for Gian to fall asleep. |
Léan was worried about Kratos and reached for him immediately when he returned, holding onto him with a vice-like grip and cooing softly at him. He nodded absently to Hebs' words as he focused on rubbing his human's sides and cuddling close to him. Kratos was asleep quickly, to the siren's delight, and he settled down to join him. Which he promptly did in a matter of about five minutes. It had been a long trip for him, too...he didn't like traveling.
Shadow was uneasy about approaching Hebs for some reason...but he did so anyway. Slowly. When Hebs reached out and pulled him into his embrace, Shadow snaked his arms around him, holding him close. "...You can speak to him first," he murmured, softly. "...I don't want to be there to see the body." There was a pained tone to his voice, but it quickly faded as he recalled that Hebs wanted him to rest. "I will try to rest..." He started leading the way toward the bed, and when he reached it, he collapsed onto it, pulling the blankets up around him and shrugging them open for Hebs to crawl in. Alfie, too, didn't take very long to fall asleep. It seemed that this trip had knocked the wind out of all of them. Hopefully, things would settle down, soon. |
Hebs nodded at this and joined Shadow in the bed. He smiled and brushed a few strands of hair away from his face. "We'll handle things with Kratos," he assured Shadow as he held him close. Tightly close. It was like he didn't even want to let go of him. Tomorrow, though, he was going to know as to whether he should keep his distance from Shadow or still remain the same, by his side. As much as he'd like the latter, he supposed he'll just have to wait until he'd get to talk with Damon.
By the time two-thirty had hit, Hebs awoke by the knock on the door. Frowning a little and feeling a sharp pain in his head, he turned to see who it was. Kratos. He was motioning them his wrist watch, which clearly told a lot. Knowing that Shadow didn't want to deal with seeing the corpse of his ex-lover, he decided to find Damon's grave. It wasn't hard to know which one was his. After all, Hebs was cold-blooded. He could easily feel the change of temperature as soon as he was about three miles from that certain location. "Though... how do we get him out?" he asked Hebs, who was puzzled himself. It seemed like there was nothing but ice around the place. "I'm not sure." |
Shadow stayed soundly asleep in bed through Kratos' knocking. It had taken him a long time to fall asleep, but now that he was asleep, he was completely out and sleeping like the dead. He didn't stir when Hebs got out of bed, either, so they were all in the clear.
Alfie, too, was still sound asleep. Kratos hadn't woken Léan, either. So the two tail-bearing freaks were sound asleep, one warm and the other slowly growing colder because he didn't have his cuddle buddy anymore. The siren would probably wake within the next hour or so, but he would know where Kratos was and wouldn't worry. The graveyard was home to many different spirits. Most didn't make themselves visible or audible. There were a few odd noises and sights here and there for the spiritually sensitive. But it would be clear when a strong or stubborn spirit was speaking to such a sensitive person. And so despite being trapped beneath the ice, Damon's spirit was eager to help. His words were soft, but he told Kratos of a silver lighter with red trim around the edges of it. It was in the drawer of the nightstand in his old room. Pressing it to the ice would cause it to disappear, and then opening the lighter back up and envisioning where one wanted the ice to go would make it reappear. This way, they could keep Damon's body preserved, still, after they put him back in the ground. |
Kratos felt the hairs on the nape of his neck rise. And, if Hebs had hairs on his skin, he was pretty sure he'd be getting goosebumps with the vast land of graves. Honestly, this villa was beautiful but it was just plain depressing way out the back. Even he'd be depressed himself if he had the knowledge that all his relatives was close to him, in his backyard. Rubbing his arms and then crossing his arms over his chest, he turned to look at Kratos who seemed to be in a daze. It had him blinking for a second. "Kratos? You okay?" he asked, worried now. If he didn't take care of him, after all, he'd be killed at by the siren. That was for sure.
"Fine." He mumbled that word and made a face before he'd looked back at Hebs. He remembered he was the one who was standing with Shadow in front of Damon's room. So, he should know the dead man's room, right? "Silver lighter. In the drawer of the nightstand in Damon's room." That was a lot of words spoken in just one go. Idly, Hebs wondered if Kratos had been possessed. When he was looked at weirdly, though, he only grinned and nodded before he'd brushed past him. Apparently, he'd understood what Kratos was trying to tell him. Hebs was back about ten minutes later. Kratos did the magic. He was the one who knew how to work with it when he'd explained to Hebs that he'd just, well, been told. Probably by Damon. Hebs was rather surprised when he'd seen Damon just after Kratos pulled the coffin out with the magical thing. Honestly, it was really all too, well, much of a fantasy. "Is that him?" he asked Kratos who was rather surprised, too, at seeing a corpse that wasn't decaying at all. A hundred years had passed, right? Looking at the item in his hand and then back at the corpse, he shook his head. "I want to call Shadow a necrophilia." Hebs snickered and Kratos frowned. No more than sooner did three o'clock strike. That was when Kratos handed to Hebs the lighter so he could concentrate to do his magic. |
Damon's body, with the enchanted ice covering it, had been perfectly preserved. There wasn't a single decaying spot on him. He was very pale, of course--deathly pale. He had been dressed in all white to be laid to rest, probably by Shadow. Just like Shadow, he looked incredibly good in white...angelic, almost. He was small, very small...smaller than Blake, even. This was probably a result of being stricken with cancer at such a young age--it had stunted his growth. He was young, still--almost seventeen. A child...
As Kratos began to work his magic...it at first looked like it wasn't going to work. Damon stayed perfectly still, emerald hair splayed out behind him. It seemed that his spirit was having a lot of trouble, even with Kratos' help, returning to his body. His brain appeared to be the main issue--it had been eaten away by cancer, and this made it even harder for his spirit to even temporarily re-bond with his body. Then, Damon did some fiddling around of his own. He unintentionally connected himself mentally with Kratos--with the extra brainpower in tow... All of a sudden, he shot up and out of his comfortable resting place, eyes still closed. He shook his head a few slow times, a pained expression twisting his facial features--they were slow to move, as he'd been frozen all this time. When he did open his eyes...they, too, were still perfect in every way. Shadow had been prepared...he'd buried Damon in the hopes that one day he could have him back. He didn't say anything. He appeared to be in a great deal of pain and unable to form words, yet. He would need help getting out of the coffin. |
Kratos was concentrating. Very hard. He was pretty much fearful of the fact that if he opened his eyes, he was just going to let go of this connection and probably lose Damon again. This was already taking much of his energy. Hebs, on the other hand, was in awe. He was, after all, still human so seeing such magic was just amazing. Quick to come to Damon's side, he put his hand gently under his own as he crouched down. Hebs didn't want to break Damon. He looked so fragile, it was almost scary.
"Brain cancer," he mumbled, frowning every now and then as he, too, could feel that connection with Damon. It hurt him too and it was honestly energy consuming just to keep the corpse, Damon, up. He was glad he was sitting down. Hebs almost forgot about that. Would Damon be all right? How long will Kratos be able to keep Damon up? As he thought these thoughts, he put his hand on the back of Damon's head. "Slowly," he told him gently, his white hair framing his face as he worried over Damon's limbs. It's been a while since he's used it. Will he be all right, as well? "Shadow's still asleep," he started as he smiled softly, "I'm sorry you have to see me first thing in the morning." |
"It is no trouble..." He had a soft voice...a gentle voice. Damon slowly used his stiff arms to press himself up into a sitting position, taking some of the pressure off of Hebs. Those arms of his shook as he did this. For some reason, Damon looked almost relieved that Shadow was still asleep. He hadn't seen Shadow in decades, most likely, but he still didn't want to see him just yet.
He closed his eyes again, brow furrowing with pain. It was difficult to think. Without Kratos nearby, he probably wouldn't have been able to. That cancer had eaten most of his brain away, and even though his soul had all of its old intelligence, this body wasn't sufficient enough to support his soul without a major amount of assistance from Kratos because of the terrible shape of what was left of his brain. Once he seemed to have gotten the hang of channeling his energy through Kratos, Damon was able to sit up comfortably. He wasn't going to move out of the coffin. It would be too much of a strain on both him and Kratos. "All right...I believe I'm stable, now." |
Hebs was surprised the nth time that day. The other's soft voice made him still. Almost too still. Somehow, he was berating over watching the other and handling him with care. "Are you sure?" he asked him as he continued to crouch down. He didn't let go of his support for him. Hebs continued to have his hand resting on Damon's back while he raised his eyebrows a little. "Ah, I believe I've been rude. My name's Hebs. I'm pretty much useless except this; I'm a snake man and..." He turned to look at Kratos. He still seemed to be focused.
"This here is Kratos." Hebs smiled softly and put his elbow on his knee. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Damon." |
"The pleasure is all mine...Hebs, Kratos," was Damon's kindly reply as he turned to smile at each of them individually. Damon had many quirks--one was that he never or very rarely showed his teeth when he smiled. His lips just turned upward. It was oddly like Kratos, who also didn't seem to smile like that too often.
Damon leaned slightly into that hand on his back, grateful for the support. He felt that in his condition, a small breeze could knock him over. He paused a second later to squint in pain again before he returned back to normal. "Forgive me, my brain is not in the best shape," he murmured, glancing downward briefly. He was going to wait for Hebs to start the main conversation. He didn't want to seem rude or imposing. |
Hebs chuckled lightly. "No, that's all right." When he saw the other glancing down, he supposed he should give themselves a few minutes of silence before he'd start onto the main conversation. After all, he didn't want to tire Kratos any more. "The issue about Shadow, I love him." Hebs felt his cheeks color just a tad as he scratched his cheek lightly with his index finger. "But he's still in love with you." There was that odd feeling in the pit of his stomach and Hebs had to sigh quietly before he'd continue on. "If you only saw your room, he's kept it the same."
There was the most gentle of smiles on Hebs' lips as he slid his eyes shut. "I do apologize for taking a jump at him when you are still all he thinks about. But, I'd be willing to let him go if you ask me to do so." |
Damon listened closely to what Hebs had to say. The entire time, the young man had his emerald eyes fixed solely on Hebs' face, studying his features closely as he spoke. He didn't look away, not even once, and he didn't blink all that much, either. When Hebs finally finished speaking, Damon remained in this position, watching Hebs even though his eyes were shut. He had to pause just once to wince in pain, but after he finished with that, he leaned forward and very gently laid one of his hands, which had long, spidery fingers--pianist's fingers--on Hebs' cheek.
"Why do you love Shadow?" he asked, quite plainly, a gentle smile also on his face. There were no signs of anger in his expression nor in his voice. |
Hebs' eyes fluttered open upon feeling those cold hand against his cheek. He didn't flinch nor did he move away at all. In fact, he'd even welcomed the touch. It was warming him despite its true temperature. "I'm not sure why," he answered, honestly as he met the other's gaze. They seemed to be piercing him and he could feel his heart ramming against his chest. "I just do." Bringing up a hand to have it rest on Damon's own, he smiled another gentle smile.
"Everything about him. It's just hard to not love. It doesn't matter if he's slept with countless of people in the past. All that matters to me is Shadow himself. Now." Nurturing, caring for him, spoiling him; these were just three of the many things Hebs wanted to give Shadow. The first two may be shared to the others in the freak family but Shadow was getting his utmost attention. Kratos' features seemed to have scrunched up in this part. He also grunted. Hebs only smiled in amusement. |
"But what is it that draws you to him?" Damon asked, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. "What about him makes him so different from anyone else you've ever had even slight feelings for? What about Shadow makes you love him so?" He wanted to know more. It was obvious from the way he was questioning Hebs that Damon wanted to judge his character, and see just how much he cared for Shadow. It was a sweet gesture concerning Shadow--he wanted to make sure that if he was going to let Shadow go, he was releasing him into good and loving hands.
Damon ignored his pain and kept up his smile as he waited for Hebs' response. He would be able to hold out as long as Kratos could hold out, so...there was no need yet to hurry their conversation along. He was hoping Kratos would let them know when it was starting to be too much. |
"I'm sorry," Hebs started as he shook his head, "It's not just one part, personality or trait that I love about Shadow." He smiled slightly. "So I believe I can't have an exact answer for that." There was a snort from Kratos to which Hebs only chuckled to. Though, when Kratos had started to grunt, Hebs knew better than to stall any more. It was almost time for Kratos to let go. "I know I may not be up to par compared to you, being human yourself... but I don't intend to compete at all."
"It doesn't matter to me whether Shadow chooses to be with you or with me. I'll stand by my promise to him to stay by his side forever." |
Damon understood Hebs' response...but he didn't have enough yet to make a proper decision. He noticed that Kratos was starting to look a little strained, though, so he settled on asking just two more questions. He was hoping that these questions would be easier for Hebs to answer. They were a little different from the others.
"How has he changed you? And...how does he make you feel?" Damon was starting to feel a little weak, himself, but he needed those questions answered. He had to have time to mull it all over, too. Hopefully, these answers would give him a little more to go on. After speaking with Shadow at a later date, he would make his decision. |
Hebs continued to support Damon. He blinked, though, at the questions and felt his cheeks color out of embarrassment. "I didn't start off as a caring friend like I am now, at all. Like everyone else, I had a history but he still took me in." The snake man continued to look down as he played a little with the edge of the coffin. "I didn't even think I'd fall in love with the way I am. He..." Hebs stopped for a moment to have his hair hide his face. He was turning unusually red. "When he told me how fine I was the way I am... it made me see him differently. I know he's kind to everyone but that just made me stop to think. The time I... shared my first time with him, I was insecure about myself but he just held me close. I wanted to give him my all then... but then there was you."
Bringing up a hand to cover the lower half of his face, he continued on with a muffled voice. "I want him. I really do. But... I can't take him away from you. He loves you a lot." Hebs inhaled sharply and exhaled before he'd gathered up his composure to smile again at Damon. "If I knew you could've been revived, I shouldn't have had said anything... so I wouldn't be hoping like this." The sharp pain in his chest returned and he had to grit his teeth in his closed mouth and looked away. "I'm sorry for coming in between you two, Damon." "Couldn't there have been a reset button for this?" he added in a low voice, hoping to lighten things up a bit. Kratos snorted again but he'd slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't hold it anymore. "Few seconds more." |
Success! Damon looked pleased--pleasantly so. Now he had a lot to think about. He wouldn't leave the villa--if he did, he might break the connection he had with Kratos. But he would steer clear of Shadow while he thought. He didn't mind Hebs being around, though--it might give him more to think about.
"...Our time is growing short," was his short response to what Hebs said. His longer answer was in his eyes, though--they were warm and understanding. He knew how Hebs felt. This was a good sign--Damon, too, was starting to look like Hebs. Feeling somewhat hopeful, and yet hopeless all at the same time. He had a lot of thinking to do. "Whenever you have more to say...just come find me here," he offered good-naturedly as he shifted, starting to lay back down in his soft coffin. "I won't be able to speak to you, but you can speak to me. Goodbye. When you revive me again, I will give you my answer." |
Kratos finally cut off the connection just after Damon had said those last words of his. It looked like it will take time to revive Damon again now that Kratos knew how freakishly hard it is. "His head," the life man started as Hebs quickly came to his side to catch him just in time. Kratos didn't mind at all the close contact. In fact, he was rather glad it was Hebs. "I need a... solution..." The life man's eyes drifted shut and Hebs' face was instantly filled with worry. When he'd felt a pulse, though, he was relieved. But hell, if holding Damon up like this was taking so much of Kratos, there was certainly a need for him to seek for a way to make sure he rid of the cancer of Damon's brain.
Is there a possibility for a revival though? Hebs shifted to carry Kratos to his back. He made sure to come back for Damon's grave. Moving back into the villa and managing to get Kratos to bed with his siren, he gave a small smile of apology to the merman before he'd hurried off back to Damon's coffin. Shutting the lid and using the lighter again, he gave a mental image of the ground and blinked in surprise when Damon's coffin was gone. It was a lot cold again despite the sun rising up in the sky. Right. Breakfast. He stopped though to look back at the tomb stone of Damon and smiled slightly. Hebs felt a little better sharing that to Damon but he had to be prepared for whatever decision the musician was going to make. Such irony that he had to talk to Shadow's ex-lover who died just because of a brain cancer. Somehow, he found it really unfair in Damon's part. If he were still alive, would Shadow still be with them? The thought was oddly disturbing and Hebs pushed that to the back of his mind as he went to prepare breakfast for his family of freaks. |
(( SKIPPING FORWARD. ))
"This game is silly," Alfie moaned after he missed his seventh question in a row. Trivial Pursuit was the game that Shadow had picked to play after a timid Léan, after being snapped at by Shadow, had suggested playing a game to keep everyone occupied for a while. It was a game of wits and knowing useless bits of trivia. Therefore, Shadow was phenomenal at it, having lived for as long as he had, and he hadn't missed a single question, yet. Alfie was not so phenomenal. He'd been sheltered a lot of his life and hadn't had any advanced classes school-wise, as his mother had home-schooled him up until he'd reached his mid-teens. Léan was doing better than him, but not by much. He didn't know too much about the human world as a whole. "Then perhaps we should do something else." Shadow had had an edge to his voice and an uncertain, vulnerable air about him for a while, now. He was unfortunately quick to snap at people and just wanted to be left alone most of the time...unless Hebs offered to sit and cuddle with him for a while. He didn't know what happened between Hebs and Damon during their talk. He was trying not to use his powers at all on Hebs...not until things were settled. |
Gian, like Léan, was doing okay in the game but he was feeling rather beat with the way Shadow was answering all the damned questions. Hell, the guy didn't even act like he didn't know. It was getting sort of annoying. Hebs, on the other hand, was really amused watching all of them. He'd taken to sitting beside Shadow and often offered to cuddle with him. He didn't go as far as to kissing the man, though. After all, he was respectfully waiting for Damon's reply. Like Shadow, he was feeling a little, well, squirmy for the lack of a better word.
Kratos took this time to enter. With a friend. Two, actually. Hades and Elysium. "We might be able to fully revive Damon." He moved to sit beside his siren's side. Hades, grunted as he crossed his arms and Elysium smiled at them lot. "I need to see the corpse first. I thought I'd ask for your permission, Shadow, to touch him." Hades was quick to butt in, though. "Not touch-touch him if you know what we mean." Elysium elbowed him at the side and the god of death rolled his eyes. "Fine. I was only making a point."Gian was in awe and Elysium noted that he was a cute kid. Hades slapped Elysium's head to get the god of life back on track. "We're not here to hunt out for humans. We're here to help him. And, with this, I owe you." Elysium nodded and turned to look at Shadow again. "Well?" |
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