Felix smiled, feeling as if he would finally be more useful than copying things down. Surely there would be other obstacles to jump through, for both Darren and Felix, but if he proved himself... Maybe he'd be accepted. Surely the spy master would see him as some kind of useful. If not for a fighter, for an information gatherer using his form of natural seduction or silent moving ability. That being, if he couldn't master any fighting or offensive skills. "Do you make your own arrows?" He asked. "I've read a good amount on fletching and tried it myself, it's difficult... but I think I've got the fingers for it." Nimble, thin fingers---he needed those, accompanied by patience, to position the feathers or hairs or fibers the right way so that the arrow struck true. He'd never fired one, but had always made sure some form of perfection was achieved.

And hand-to-hand combat. It didn't frighten him---Felix could take a hit, and move flawlessly. He'd been the object of shakedowns on more than one occasion and felt he would learn anything more brutal in a simple manner. Maybe he could surprise Darren... Maybe he could surprise the spy that looked to have seen it all.

He hated the thought of Felix going into battle. He would teach him regardless, because it was necessary. "You seem to have misunderstood me. I don't want you living my life." To see the other man having to close off his emotions, tucking them away until someone came along to shatter the walls built painstakingly over years.

"I refuse to let you stay with me longer then necessary ..." He had made up his mind about that earlier, and had tried to prolong that time. "It would be too dangerous." For them both. As a spy he had a target on his back, as an assassin he walked into dangerous situations without a second thought. Though a painful decision, Darren was certain it was the right one.

Felix lifted his head, pointedly crawling up and sitting on top of Darren. "People are after me, Darren. People want me dead because I had to copy their most confidential documents. And they were afraid I would translate them. Which I have. If you aren't with me, I'll go find them on my own. Maybe I do want this life. I live far longer than humans an am not subject to their poisons and diseases, I don't eat, and can withstand torture in massive amounts. I live far longer than a human does as well, and easily extract whatever information I might need with a little..." He leaned forward. "... Convincing. So if you send me away, I'll simply go about it on my own."

He studied Darren, feeling as though he were again in control. He was clamped to the human, after all. But then his gaze softened. "I know... you worry. For some reason. Call it love, and I'm trying to understand... these emotions... that are strange to me but I can't name... it feels warm, but also painful. Like I desire something I just can't have, or will never have... But the point is, Darren... I don't want you to send me away. I don't want to leave you. I feel it'll be easier... if you stay with me. Teach me. Help... me." He breathed in shakily, easing the rush he suddenly felt.

Darren shivered as the other man shifted about above him. It distracted the spy for a few moments, precious ones that made him miss some of what Felix had to say. The demon's intensity was almost frightening. If Darren hadn't been certain that the pale haired man care for him, for some odd reason in a strange way. He still couldn't let himself believe that this care could turn into much more then that.

"What is it you want, but can't have?" The murmured words seemed to leave his lips without any conscious thoughts on his part. "I'll help you, and teach you all you want. And ... I'll protect you." He didn't quite relish Felix taking control just then. The spy needed to be the one dominating the conversation. Swiftly, Darren lifted a hand to tug down the other man's head by the hair. He was rough, deliberately so. "What do you mean, you live longer then humans?" The thought left him shaken for some reason, more then he liked.

Felix gasped, turning his head up to Darren's hand and grabbing it in his own, pulling it away. "Incubi live, and don't seem to age, twice as long as humans During their childhood they rely on the energy their parent gives them, and after reaching early maturity they begin... 'extracting' their own energy from humans. After they reach adulthood they don't age anymore in appearance, but will die the same way they look now to retain the allure that attracts humans, their food source." He lifted his head. "Don't you know... anything about my kind?"

It felt oddly insulting. Succubi and incubi were very notable, and people knew quite a bit about them in general. It almost seemed like common knowledge. The fact that Darren was so... dumb to the concept was frighteningly frustrating. And what did he want? Felix couldn't say. Maybe the love of a human. But his kind were conditioned not to feel it, or accept anything more than a temporary exchange. It made them good brothel workers.

The words left him reeling, so much so that he didn't even try to resist his hand being pulled away. Felix would live for twice as long, and remain just as enchanting for the entire time. He closed his eyes, feeling quite inadequate with himself. It was a feeling he'd never really felt before, never thought he could.

Darren forced his eyes open wide. "No, I don't know anything about your kind. Nothing save what you've told me and the most common of knowledge. That you feed on energy. " The spy took a moment to breathe. "Are you an adult yet? Of your kind?" It didn't matter, Felix would never return his feelings. Darren couldn't help but feel conflicted, his mind wavering to and fro constantly.

Felix tilted his head at the question. Was it really that odd? It was coming from Darren, who didn't know much of anything about his kind. "Yes, Darren, I am an adult." He said with a chuckle. "I'm sure you'd know a thirteen year old when you see one." And he certainly wasn't thirteen. He sat up straight, brushing back his hair and sliding to the floor. "I... ought to go check my papers' conditions." They were dry by now, no doubt about that. But he didn't necessarily want to leave Darren. But, if he went back, and laid down at his side again... and drained him more... he would die. Felix felt his breath hitch, but he turned quickly and hurried out of the room, back to his. How stupid...

How... Stupid...

Feeling something more for a human! What would his kind think? What kind of incubus fell for someone...? Thought of them as more than food, a source of energy and life? But he did. He knew what it meant. And it hurt. The feeling hurt. Felix gritted his teeth and snatched up the papers.

He shook his head with a laugh. Darren didn't know how demons like Felix aged, so the question was a reasonable one to his eyes. A sigh escaped his lips before he could stop it when the other man slipped away. Darren shook his head as he stood to rid himself of any unwanted thoughts. It hurt too much, surprisingly so, when any hint of Felix's true feelings crept up to the surface. Wasn't that what his weak excused departure had been?

Enough! Darren's bare feet hit the floor with a loud thump. He shoved himself up from the bed and moved to his dresser. From within he pulled a cream colored tunic, and a pair of dark brown deer hide pants. They were more comfortable then they looked, tight as they seemed. The spy didn't bother jamming his feet into socks or boots. He didn't need them just then.

Shaking his head at himself, he walked past Felix's room. "If those papers are ready, bring them out to the main room. I would like to take a look at them." The words sounded so cold and impersonal to his ears ... But Darren's heart was still hurting. He stopped once he stood before the oven. Practiced movements had a fire burning again, and the stew he'd made the night before was warming up. It would be his breakfast now, since Darren disliked the thought of wasting any kind of food.

Felix returned to the living room and deposited the papers on the table. "Twenty pages." He mumbled. He hadn't reread them, but knew they rang true to what the original documents were. He turned, sighing, flicking his tail. What would he do when this was done? Would Darren just... sever ties with him entirely? He wanted to get done with these, so the king could react fluidly with the mannerisms of those that opposed him. But now Felix was sure Darren had... perhaps, come to a conclusion or got over his feeling for Felix. Maybe it was his nature that had Darren as strongly-inclined to feeling as he was. It couldn't be of Darren's own accord, absolutely not! Maybe. But Felix wanted to know that it was all Darren, all Darren's decisions and thought processes, not hindered by Felix in any way.

He crept back into his room, but didn't get to work immediately. He let his hair loose and leaned forward, staring at the desk with his head in his hands. And he was a demon. He shouldn't be feeling like a human. But he did. And it got stronger a little at a time. It didn't seem right. He pulled out a quill and stared at its tip, pricking the soft point of his finger. Would he even be taught...?

Darren lifted his head from spooning the spicy soup into his mouth. The other man sounded ... down. More then the spy had expected him to feel, and for reasons unknown. All he could think of were his own words, spearing through the air in an attempt to protect Felix through separation. Could that really have been the cause of the pale haired man's sudden change of mood?

The young man lifted a hand to ruffle his hair. He was so confused. Turning to the pages, Darren read them through carefully. These were old, but explained quite a lot about odd things which had happened in the past. The next time they moved, Darren decided to pass through a city where a trustworthy contact lived. His friend would be able to send the papers off with ease, and with only the barest chances of detection.

Once done with his reading, he set the pages aside and moved down the hall. Darren stopped before Felix's room. After knocking at the door, his knuckles smarted. The spy pushed the door open and walked inside. Rolling his eyes, he plopped himself down upon the rough desk and lifted a hand to capture Felix's quill. "Brooding like this is unusual for you." It was statement rather then question, a good way to hide his worry.

He was thinking about starting on document twenty-one when Darren entered, and took up most of his workspace. He'd only half-heard the knock at the door. "And you would very well know what's usual for me after having known me for only five or six days." He retorted rather snappishly, trying halfheartedly to grab back the quill and failing. "Don't try to coddle me." He said quickly. "If these human emotions weren't already difficult to comprehend, I have to deal with your emotional switches from kind to frustrated to angry to snappy. I don't want to guess anymore, but I find... myself... hoping I can make you happy. And when you go against it... and take my departures as... as anger or fear... I grow frustrated, and feel I..." Felix sighed.

"I don't run off because you bother me or because I'm afraid or ungrateful, Darren." He spoke as he turned away from the man. "I am... I'm not like the others, not like my kind, because I can feel more than initial manipulative thoughts or ideas. I just can't comprehend them as easily as a human. And..." He pulled his own hair, a more frustrated maneuver than anything.

Darren's face crisped up as he forced himself not to retort violently. He let out a deep breath, trying to let calmness seep into his mind. "I only switch emotions so quickly because I struggle between my duty, and what I feel for you. It confuses me. And anger comes to me when I think of you leaving, though it seems rather inevitable." The spy smiled, though it was tinged with sadness. He let pressed the quill to the table as he leaned over to brush his lips against the other man's cheek.

"I know we've only know each other for a short time, but knowing that you are safe, will be so ... That makes me happy. Knowing that you aren't afraid of me, that warms my heart in ways I never thought possible." All the while, his green eyes rested upon the other man. He supposed it was about time to be straightforward with Felix. The demon deserved that much, and far more, from him. "I"m glad you aren't like the others."

He only hoped he could keep Felix safe.

Felix shivered, but didn't back away this time. It was about time he didn't reflexively back away every time the human did something, though to fight that was difficult as it had been ingrained into his person. "You may be." He muttered, but nodded his thanks. "My kind won't accept me back. If I leave. If I go anywhere." He shook his head. "I'll be an outcast among those that fear me based on what they do. They won't feel I'm different because I have a tail---eventually I'll have horns that I can't hide."

He reached up, feeling the tiny horns that were barely there at all. "I find it more productive to become a spy than to be shunned by some and feared by the rest." Felix added, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a new piece of parchment, smoothing it out on the desktop and uncapping the ink on the desktop already. He didn't lean over the paper as if performing surgery, but instead leaned on one arm and scratched with the other.

The realization that his own interactions with the other man had barred him forever from others of his kind made the spy's heart sink. He hadn't understood what it could mean for an incubus to feel, or how others might react to such a thing. "I had no idea .... I ... I'm sorry, Felix." Darren shifted, letting his feet meet the floor with a thump. He was careful of the paper Felix had been working on though, as if just doing that might make up for the greater mistake he'd made.

He reached out, pressing a fingertip against one the tiny horns. "How long will it take for them to grow?" Would he even be alive to see Felix reach his full maturity? Probably not. "No matter, I'll teach you ... Just not today." Darren had learned far too much about how he had changed the other man's life unknowingly to be able to concentrate enough on passing on his own knowledge.

Felix only shook his head. Of course Darren wouldn't know. Only humans that knew his kind, or read of his kind and their customs, would know what would happen. Felix was aware, of course. He'd tried to keep himself closed off. Afraid. Like any human could be. But how ridiculous a thought. He couldn't hold it back after the first cut. The rest had only opened the pit more, and when the human had found his tail, Felix had fallen in.

"Years." He muttered. It would take years. A couple decades at best, for his horns to grow up and backward. It would take a couple more decades for them to curl behind the ears. Darren might not be alive to see that. The life of a spy, he knew, was difficult. Deadly. He could die tomorrow, an hour from now. But then again, now, so could Felix. "Not... today." Then he would write. He would write and get it all out of the way. He didn't have to copy the documents now. He only had to write. And write. And write, until his hand cramped and his eyes bled and his mind buzzed and screamed. He sighed, feeling a tremor in it.

He swept his fingers through the demon's hair with a sad smile. "I should have known ..." There was something so awfully right about falling for someone who would live on after he did. Darren knew his life would be woefully short, had known since the day he'd become one of the king's spies. It was nice to think that Felix would remember him, long after his sadly short life had passed.

"You sound so sad. I thought maybe we could spend time together, talking, learning about each other. It would be ... nice." And a memory to treasure. He knew Felix had to work, and he intended to stay away for a while to let the scribe do so, just not at the moment. Darren was horribly addicted to the other man's presence, and he knew it too.

Felix hesitated in his writing, a focused pause. Darren just didn't seem the same. He'd changed so drastically in just some days. Like a whole new human had stepped into the skin that was the pointed, serious spy Darren was. But of course that was still there, Felix knew that. Darren---that spy, the harsh, bluntly honest spy---was still there. He just didn't need to show that stony side now. But still, Darren seemed far too interested in Felix for the good of his curiosity. "I'm not sure how much you want to know about me." He said, glancing up to Darren. He didn't mind the human staying. In fact, he hoped Darren would stay much longer. Perhaps it would make incessant writing a little more interesting.

"I have a feeling you've led a far more interesting life than I have." He added. "Perhaps you could... tell me what led you to become a spy of the king?" He glanced up, but continued writing at the same time.

Darren smiled slightly at the question. He'd never told anyone that story. It made him too vulnerable, and gave them too many chances to take him down, back to those times when he'd had no one, no purpose. He supposed telling Felix wouldn't hurt though. The other man already had so much power over him that giving him a little more couldn't bring Darren anymore pain then he already knew.

"I was found in a house by the current spymaster as a young child. My parents are nothing to me, nothing save people who couldn't protect me when they needed to and let me get into the hands of mages. Oh how they tested things on all the others and me ... I can't remember it all, a lot of what happened is a blur still. Somehow I survived, and my training as a spy seemed like nothing in comparison.

My first missions were rather dull, until it became obvious that I had no qualms about doing anything that's needed for any given situation. So I became the spy sent in where no one else could manage. Danger never frightened me, and never did I become attached to those I was supposed to seduce, hurt and sometimes kill. " He laughed. "Until now ..."

He didn't want to elaborate about his childhood, about the woman he considered to be his mother. She was always called Spymaster, despite the fact that she was female. It helped confuse information, making it harder to figure out who she was in truth.