He hadn't remembered to lock the door, and that had been a mistake as soon as the door came open. It wasn't with a knock or any form of steadiness, but immediate, and the laugh... it was harsh and mean, like nothing he'd ever heard directed at him. Azure. He stared down, though he'd already pressed himself back, and the swift, quiet movement forward had Rune snapping his gaze up in a shocked gasp, and a sharp yelp was forced from him when Azure's strong fingers grabbed him up and slammed him down, forcing the breath out of his lungs.

Rune was already shaking like a leaf, tears pouring out of his eyes as he neglected Aki's warning and locked eyes with the incubus. Aki was... leaving? On his own decision? He couldn't do that... Rune always adored Aki's ability to drag him out of whatever horrible mood or feeling he might be subject to at any point, and had connected to such a friendly personality so immediately. He closed his eyes hard, tears sliding down his lashes. "N-n-o... I n-ever.. I-I ne-never t-t-touched... I ju-ust..." He swallowed hard, feeling sick. Azure looked so... crazy. "I'm s-sorry I... I---" He tried to struggle a bit, as if it would loosen the incubus's grip on him. Of course it didn't.

Azure hissed loudly, tightening his grip on Rune. "There is no point lying, I can see through lies." His tail was about to lash out when a knock on the front door below them distracted him.

"Hi, is Rune around?" The voice of Callum floated up to where they stood. Azure hissed again, dropping Rune and smirking. "I see your filthy human master is here. No need to look so sad now." He turned and as he did, his sharp point of his tail scratched across Rune's face. He laughed. "I best leave you two to your... Business."

He left without another word, moving down the stairs and watching as Callum climbed up them, pausing at the sight of him. He snorted and left the mansion, searching for Aki.

-

Callum found Rune's door open. He smiled, wondering if the demon was waiting for him. As he walked in, however, he suddenly became worried. Rune stood by a wall, looking visibly shaken. A large bleeding scratch ran across his beautiful face and it looked as though he had been crying. Callum rushed to his side.

"Are you OK? What happened?"

Tears mingled with blood and stung uncomfortably. He was in fear for his life, this pain was only that---pain. And it truly hurt. He didn't want to let Callum see him this way, but couldn't get his legs working, and collapsed against the wall with a quiet, sharp cry. No, if Callum saw him this way...

He gasped when the door opened, and tried to shield his face, but the plan crumbled quickly when the human raced to his side. He shook his head, and tried to play it off with a faint smile that faltered into a grimace. "N-nothing, Callum... I... It's just, he... he didn't mean to. It's okay, Callum, he just... he's a little rough sometimes, that's all... He doesn't mean anything by it..." Was he buying it? Rune didn't want any trouble, but it seemed so inevitable now.

"Who is he?" Callum demanded, feeling protective. He had asked for Rune to be his, to be exclusive. He didn't like the idea that Todd would disregard his clients and let Rune be harassed by someone else. His thoughts quickly stopped at the sight of the blue demon, casually strolling down the stairs. There had been something... off about that one. The way he sneered at Callum, like he was better than him. He buried his anger, so he didn't worry Rune.

He helped the small demon up, taking him to his bathroom and quickly finding a cloth. He ran the cold water, and wrung the cloth so it was only mildly damp. He then wiped up the tears and blood off Rune's pretty face. He made a note in his mind to make sure he talked to Todd about this. "Are you okay? Do you need anything else?" he asked Rune, feeling truly concerned.

Rune felt truly useless and much more than a handful as he was led into his bathroom, legs shaking under him and having a difficult time keeping him upright. He couldn't hold back the shivering, shaking of every fiber in his body, though was still grateful for Callum's gentle touch. He leaned against the sink, holding himself up with one arm. "No... I'm fine, I am." He said quickly. "Just... I just have to calm down a little." He tried to laugh, but it came out as a weak sob that produced no tears. He sniffed. "I just... overreact sometimes, is all... Nothing was meant by it, I swear." He grasped Callum's hand, glad that he was here now. Perhaps if he hadn't come in time... Azure would have done much worse.

But he didn't want to think about that. Or even Aki right now. He wanted to hold Callum and make the previous events go away. Rune put his arms around the human's neck. "Please, don't worry... I don't want to... be a problem." But he was. A big problem in a small package.

Callum was still worried, but didn't make a fuss at the incubus' request. He hugged the small demon back, feeling his urges raise as he got so close. It had to be Rune himself making him feel like this. He smiled, wondering if Rune had noticed the change himself. He wiped away some more blood, and then licked the scratch.

He recoiled, regretting doing so at once. It wasn't so much as the taste of Rune's blood that made him gag, but whatever had scratched him seemed to have left some sort of poison. Perhaps Callum had just taken it out of Rune's wound and nearly swallowed it? He rushed to the nearby toilet - a thing that Callum doubted Rune used and was there solely for clients - and retched. He wiped his mouth and blushed slightly.

"Er... Sorry about that..." he said, flushing the toilet and going back to the sink to wipe his mouth. "I think whatever scratched you had poison or something on it..."

Poison? Rune was shocked to hear that. Did Azure naturally secrete poison, or had he readied his tail to harm Rune in many more ways than one? His shaking hand reached up to his face, almost forgetting Callum was there. But at least he was okay. No doubt whatever the poison was had a terrible taste, and no wonder it had to be administered through a wound. As he took his hand away, the scratch tingled, but Rune focused on Callum.

"I'm sorry... I should have... I mean, I should have cleaned up before... before you got here." He breathed in, forcing himself not to cry yet again. Weak, so weak! He hated it so much. How did Callum stand such a weak incubus? How did he like Rune so much? What appeal did he have? He cried at the drop of a hat, he couldn't even stand up to an incubus! And his kind couldn't be affected by one another's natural charms. But what Aki had said came back to him. He'd not necessarily locked eyes with Azure. Rune dreaded that instance.

"It's not your fault," Callum said at once, stopping Rune from spiralling into blaming himself. "You didn't know I was coming."

He took the incubus and brought him back into his bedroom, sitting him on the bed. "Did you like your gift?" he asked, trying to take Rune's mind of things. The taste of the foul liquid was still in his mouth, but he ignored it. It didn't seem to come into affect if you swallowed it, else he would be dead by now.

"I hope you figured out how to use it. I know it is a human invention and my friend, Rory, told me that incubi and succubi rarely use cellphones."

Rune started to protest, but cut himself short. It was what Callum said, and he didn't want to go against it. But he knew it was the human's train of thought manipulated by his own demon aura. It was hard not to get wrapped up, though, in that feeling that Callum really, truly liked him for more than what he was, and what he offered. After all, a human belonged with a human. A demon was just a plaything. Temporary. Now, Rune had to force himself to remember that.

But he quickly nodded at Callum's question, digging in a pocket. He'd slid the phone there, and was glad that it was unharmed by Azure's advances. "Aki taught me how to use it." He said, flipping it around so it faced him. Speaking of Aki was difficult, suddenly---he wasn't allowed to speak to the demon anymore. Or touch him. Or get near him, in that regard. And he'd never even considered Aki as more than a friend. A close friend, someone that had eased him into this life.

"I'm glad you sent it... I didn't expect it, but I'm glad..." He smiled. The thought made him feel different, but still, good. It ebbed the hard stab of guilty shunniing he'd have to go through while Callum was gone and Azure and Aki were around. And he still didn't know much about the phone---who would teach him now?

"I'm happy you like it," Callum said with a smile. He noticed the demon's behaviour and wondered what was happening in Rune's life right now. Perhaps it was a bad time to come for his services, he seemed so distant and sad. "You can use it to listen to music and also go on the internet." Callum took the phone from Rune and showed him how to access the internet. Luckily the house seemed to have wifi on for clients.

He gave the phone back to Rune and smiled at the innocent incubus. He was just far too beautiful and adorable to even be considered a whore or evil. If it wasn't for his horns and tail, he could almost pass as a human. "Your horns are getting bigger," he commented, running his hands through Rune's hair and stroking the horns, careful not to touch the sharp edges.

Rune tilted his head slightly. Internet? He'd seen other clients using their computers and phones before leaving the house, but hadn't felt he had the chance to understand what it was. Internet, he knew. Websites, games, work, things that he was aware of but had never had the chance to get around to seeing or experiencing. He knew there was free Internet access on the surface, in libraries, but he was always ushered out because of his heavy jacket and hat that he couldn't take off in public because they hid his horns. But now he didn't wear a hat, and as Callum put his hand through his hair, Rune nearly purred aloud, loving the touch. “They are...?” Maybe it was a good thing, but now he wouldn't be able to go to the surface at all. “I guess that's a good thing...” He had to accept that. He'd wanted to be seen as older, because he was. Now, though, it felt like something he wanted to stop. Maybe he could have escaped... No... How stupid a thought. Rune would have liked to rest his head against Callum, but was worried about hurting him. Maybe he worried too much...

***

“No? No... Okay, I get it... No, I'm not insinuating nothin'! God, okay...” He sighed. The rich-types were so touchy when it came to asking them about their 'extracurricular' activities. Maybe it was only obvious they wouldn't want to admit to any liaisons with demons, even if it was commonplace Maybe they thought him to be a spy. A spy for their spouses. Or fiances. Or anyone else that might want to put a wedge between their family life or jobs. He huffed. Still in the same place... Maybe he should go to the underground. It was a long shot, maybe, but on the surface he was getting absolutely nowhere. No... The underground was too rough. He had to keep trying. Maybe go around to the bus stations, train stations... Maybe he got out. Left. Maybe he even bought a plane ticket somewhere.

"You seem uncomfortable with it..." Callum said softly, hugging Rune tightly in his arms. He could feel his energy being manipulated and drained slowly, but didn't care. If sharing his energy makes Rune happy, he was glad to do so. Even if it meant that he'd get tired at the end of the night, and could easily die if he spent more than six hours with him. It felt nice to know that he had someone that he could be with, to touch and make them feel good. He wondered if this was what it was like to have a girlfriend. He thought back to Janette, the accountant who seemed to have a crush on him.

"Well, I think it is a good thing. Like when you have to shave for the first time..." He had no idea if human puberty was anything like incubus puberty. "Makes you seem more... Mature." But he wouldn't want Rune to become like that blue demon he saw. He guessed that one thing that attracted him to Rune was just how innocent and girly he looked. Though, Callum would never tell Rune this.

Rune couldn't help that he curled into Callum's embrace and buried his face in the man's chest, breathing in the scent---the lifeforce---of the human. Once he got through the cover, he could smell the humanity, the natural scent, hidden away because their human peers felt such scent undesirable. They didn't seem to be in tune with the intimacy that such natural, real scents could convey. The way it lay on the skin, pierced the clothing, saturated whatever the person touched. He breathed it in, rubbing against Callum just enough to lay his scent onto Rune's clothing, and skin.

"A little uncomfortable, to be honest." He admitted after a moment, forcing himself back. The link between incubus and human had been formed and severed a little with the detachment. "I'm just worried. I don't... like change. I mean, the kind of change that involves me. I'm afraid that I'll change too much. And if I do, I'll lose the friends I might make now." He didn't like that thought. To change and be a stranger to everyone that knew him now. Maybe himself. If he lost himself, he didn't have much to keep hold on.

"Well, I'm sure if they are real friends, they'll stick by your side even if you change," Callum said with a soft smile. It reminded him of talking to his younger sister, when she started to go through puberty. She was afraid of changing so much that her old friends wouldn't like her. He blinked, tilting his head slightly. Why was he thinking of his little sister now? Rune was nothing like her...

He kissed the incubus softly, stroking his hair and his back, lightly touching his tail. The demon seemed very sensitive down there. Maybe if Callum got him riled up, he'd feel a little better and less sad.