“Please, I told you I can do this…” Cyial was practically pleading. “You shouldn’t be in any condition to do this anyway. I’m fine...”
Varhi however apparently wasn’t having any of it. While the other three of them walked over the gentle rolling hills of the meadow in the morning sun, Varhi shifted his grip slightly that he had with Cyial on his back to make the smaller boy’s purchase a little less uncomfortable.
“You know, you’d think your weight would be the most inconvenient thing on this trip for me, but it's actually your constant pestering that’s making this entire walk more difficult than it needs to be.” Varhi lamented as he glanced behind himself to look at Cyial as best as he could. “Could you just accept the piggyback ride and be quiet? Please?”
Cyial grimaced. “But Sairek is the one who has an—”
“Had an injured leg and arm. Thanks to your and Nayleen’s care, both of those limbs of his are fine now. Congratulations, you're good at your job! He's healed now—unlike you.” Varhi cut him off. “Look Cyial, I’m not doing this because I don’t think you can walk at all, but if something was to show up and it comes time that you guys need to run away to safety, I want you to be able to. I’m not going to be the one responsible for something bad happening to any of you; that includes you Cyial. I've already fucked up enough; so please don’t make me risk having to wear that burden on my shoulders. You're heavy enough for me right now as it is.”
“Ugh…” Cyial groaned and buried his forehead into the back of Varhi’s coif that was a part of his cape. “I feel so useless…”
"Hardly. If it wasn't for you, I doubt Sairek would be walking right now." Varhi looked back at Cyial for a moment, his expression suggesting he wanted to say something else, but he opted to just remain silent instead and resumed leading the march. He glanced back towards Sairek and Nayleen who were walking closer together in pairs, gave them a frown and simply shook his head gently. Sairek gave an empathetic expression back. Nayleen returned the frown.
They had finally left the beach, but Cyial had been incredibly moody the entire time so far today. Uncharacteristically so. Sairek had to admit it was annoying him a little, but more than that, it was worrying him a lot. He knew it wasn’t Cyial’s fault. The demon was going through a lot right now; not just the situation that had evolved in front of them.
Still, he was thinking back to last night. They had gone to sleep after their… ‘private time’, Cyial had woken him up by accident as he moved to get out of the tent in the middle of the night and when he inquired about it to Cyial, the demon just said he needed some fresh air. Yet when Cyial had returned many minutes later, his mood had visibly darkened, and when pressed, Cyial merely said it was nothing and to go back to sleep. It didn’t seem time had caused whatever was on the other boy's mind to go away. He doubted Cyial had gone back to sleep himself, and his behavior has been brooding ever since.
If Sairek had to guess though, he imagined it’s because Cyial’s hunger - the voice, from what he’d been told of at least, was probably being ‘noisy’ again. The demon had said that the voices were quiet even though the hunger was rampant before, however that was the only explanation now that he could think of that made sense.
With the other two boys up ahead having gone silent, at least for now, Sairek took the opportunity to glance back towards Nayleen as they were about twenty feet away in their march – Varhi’s orders, and spoke in a hushed whisper. “How did it go last night?”
“Err? How did ‘what’ go, exactly...?” Nayleen asked.
“...Getting Varhi to feel emotions?” Sairek tried. She seemed slightly on edge for some reason. Though he supposed it could be because of the Crowern and Cravenbats Varhi had told them about.
“O-Oh, that.” Nayleen breathed a little in relief, confusing Sairek a little more. “I made a breakthrough, so that’s good, right?”
“Wait, you actually did it?” Sairek blinked in surprise, but his eyebrows were still quirked in confusion. Cyial being on edge was one thing, but Nayleen was being emotionally guarded too? What was going on today?
“Yeah! I mean, can’t you tell he’s more annoyed at Cyial than he usually would be?” Nayleen grinned.
Sairek blinked once more. “I, ah… uhm… I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
Nayleen put a hand over her mouth and quietly snickered. “It’s still a work in progress. Give me a little more time to work out everything with him. So, how about you with Cyial?”
“N-Nayleen…!” Sairek hissed. Great, now he was on edge too...
“What? It’s important, right?”
Sairek groaned and hung his head to look at his feet which he dragged across the meadow grass and sighed before looking back up at her. “I mean, you can tell from his attitude he’s more moody today, so that should be enough of an answer for you. He won’t tell me what’s going on…” Sairek frowned as he looked back up at her. “I’m... not doing anything wrong, am I...? I, I tried to be more... 'proactive' as Varhi said, but... It was like Cyial kept me at arms length still... He wouldn't—” Sairek hesitated, shuddered, but pushed the embarrassment out of his system. "He wouldn't even do anything with me, really. It was like he was passive the entire time..."
“Sairek, of course it's not your fault...! It’s not an easy situation. You know better than any of us that’s the case. Don’t feel like you have to ‘deal’ with Cyial’s situation on your own though. You know I’m here to help. Varhi too—in his... own unique way?”
“I know… but Cyial is acting like I’m some fragile thing. I think it hurts me more seeing him like this than whatever his hunger would do to me.” Sairek frowned.
“Why do you think he feels that way?” Nayleen asked.
“Because of what happened in Lamen…” Sairek sighed. “He’s not entirely wrong to think that, I guess. Sure the thought makes me apprehensive, but—”
“You both realize that I can hear you, right?”
Sairek and Nayleen both flinched and froze mid-step. Varhi took a second to react before stopping and turning his head around to glance at Cyial in confusion, who himself had his head turned, staring at the back pair behind both he and Varhi. Sairek reverted his front leg behind himself in a half-step back while looking at Cyial in the eyes and his breath hitched for a second. “C-Cyial… Your eyes…” he whispered, his tone uncomfortable.
He saw Nayleen in the peripheral of his vision glance at him, then back at Cyial for a moment. Sairek meanwhile couldn’t help but stare. The usual gentle garnet eyes were completely morphed into a more feral, almost feline-like appearance. The dark pupils were more oval now, narrowing into slits than the usual circle they were, and around the iris, the pattern of his eyes had shifted into spots of speckled black. Though the pupils were more slitted, they were enlargened; almost twice the size as normal despite their narrow nature. It was... uncanny.
“Oookay. That's it. Time out for a moment.” Varhi groaned in a weary tone, shifting Cyial off of his back and plopping the smaller boy’s rear onto the ground. Cyial shifted his gaze slowly to watch Varhi, who watched him in turn and bent down to study Cyial for a moment. “What’s the problem now?” He asked finally, not shirking away from the strange look Cyial had..
“There is no problem. I just said I could hear them… Talking about me behind my back...” Cyial growled.
Rather than respond, Varhi instead moved and poked Cyial hard in the side of the forehead. Cyial recoiled in surprise and reacted by attempting to bite Varhi’s finger with a snap of his teeth, who quickly pulled his finger back in reaction and moved to stand up slowly.
“Umm…” Nayleen and Sairek both let out at the confusing interaction, though it was Sairek who spoke first. “Varhi... Why did you just poke him like that? Can’t you tell he’s already agitated?” He asked with a bit of irritation in his voice.
“Because you can tell a lot about what someone is thinking or feeling based on their physical reactions to something. I may not know what most things 'feel' like, but I can still judge what’s going through their mind by watching how they react to certain things.” Varhi explained, making Sairek and Nayleen’s expressions contort in confusion. Instead of asking what he meant though, Sairek moved his left hand to cup the royal jewel into his palm, though not to use it; more as a self-comforting movement. He reached his consciousness out towards Cyial's own, taking a few moments, blocking out the response Cyial gave to Varhi and the back and forth they were having for a moment. He was getting better at this, but it still took a bit of work and a couple of tries before he touched the demon’s consciousness…
feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed—
"Get, OUT, Sairek!!" Cyial screamed at him, sending him a viscous glare, his hands reaching up, feverishly grasping at the sides of his head, gloves fingers tangling through his own ashen hair.
Sairek physically recoiled and sharply inhaled, stumbling back a step. It had only been a couple of seconds, but just from that he already broke out into a sweat. Worst of all, all of that… that urge, desire, thought was centered at him. Cyial shifted his glare back to Varhi, but it was brief as he looked back towards Sairek again instead. The garnet eyes briefly appraising his reaction before he spoke. “Too late now I guess... I didn't want you to know... Now do you understand why I'm so... so... pissed off?!”
Varhi and Nayleen glanced at Cyial, then Sairek for a moment as the Prince controlled his currently irregular breathing. “D...Do you hear it like that all of the time…?” Sairek whispered.
Cyial eyes softened somewhat, looking almost normal if not for the irregular pattern in the color of his eyes. He slowly nodded—then shook his head, visibly swallowing, and then threw his head downwards as he pulled his knees up to his chest with his arms, curling into almost a little ball where he sat. Sairek watched wearily as Varhi moved to reposition himself behind Cyial slowly and quietly as Cyial sulked for a moment. Sairek gave Cyial a moment to release some of his distress before he continued. “But if it was quiet before, why did it start again now?... I know what we’ve been doing is only a tiny bit for you, but—” Sairek expressed, also frustrated at the situation.
Cyial pulled his head up from his knees, the feral look in his eyes having returned, and it was even more scary-looking than before. Cyial glanced at Nayleen, then glanced to where Varhi had been, then looked behind himself to glare at Varhi who had repositioned himself. “Why...? Because of those two...! They…” Cyial began in a raspy voice.
Nayleen looked like a spooked deer as Sairek looked at her, Varhi on the other hand merely moved his left hand to his hip and arched a slight eyebrow. “Man, we were pretty far away too. Was I being that loud?” He asked bluntly as he glanced at Nayleen, moving his right hand to tuck it underneath his chin in a fist.
Cyial chuckled sourly. “No, but I sure felt it…”
“Wait, you two last night—? W, ...What is he talking about?” Sairek pressed, turning his full body towards Nayleen, who flinched. "Nayleen, you didn't...!"
Resigned that the cat was out of the bag, she sighed and looked apologetically at Sairek. “Um... I know it’s very cliché, but would you accept the good old ‘I can explain’ excuse?” She tried.
Sairek just stared at her.
"...It was hands only... I even kept my clothes on!" She gritted her teeth and hung her head. "I just wanted him to feel something nice for once after all he's been through, y'know...?"
Sairek rolled his eyes at her and shook his head, though not in the negative to her question. Honestly, he didn’t really care what she and Varhi did with each other. They were their own people, and with how hard Nayleen had been crushing on Varhi, maybe it wasn't that surprising. He was just concerned and upset that Cyial was upset about this... for some reason, anyway. “You speak as if it was done so selflessly, Nayleen... W-Whatever. We'll talk about it... l-later... maybe...” he answered, his voice going more quiet to a near mutter. Why Cyial had left the tent though was starting to make a lot more sense...
Meanwhile, Varhi continued. “If you felt what we were doing, then wouldn’t that mean it was just free ‘food’ for you? What’s the problem?”
“I’m like a starving animal and I smelled a most luscious scent far away… and I couldn’t have any of it! That’s what it’s like for me, Varhi…! You think I can just feed from that far away??"
Varhi's expression shifted into a sympathetic one. "...So just being near doesn't work. You genuinely have to do it yourself or it's no good, huh?"
Cyial let out in a whine, shaking his head affirmatively vigorously. "She—She taught you... instead of me... And—And now the damn thing won't shut up! It's angry... that it lost its chance to be the one! She stole the opportunity from me! She—"
“Cyial, calm down.” Varhi ordered, the tone of voice he had was authoritative, but collected, trying to instill order into the other boy.
“How can I be calm?! You have no idea what it’s like! You only starved for a couple of weeks… imagine several months; maybe even longer! I don’t even know at this point!!”
“I’m not telling you to pretend the hunger isn’t there and I’m not pretending that it’s not tough to deal with. I’m just telling you to take a moment to breathe and relax.” Varhi said, still keeping that same calm tone in an attempt to descalate.
“Hey!! Cyial—!” Sairek cried out. Cyial stood up and spun around, taking an abrupt swing with his right hand at Varhi. The movement was so quick; so... feral and unnatural. Nayleen intercepted Sairek as the Prince attempted to rush forwards by grabbing him around the waist.
Varhi, in how he casually positioned his stance with one hand on his hip and the other tucked under his chin was able to react quickly to Cyial’s sudden attack. Sairek realized in just how quickly Varhi reacted that the gesture he had adopted wasn’t actually a thoughtful one, but a defensive one that was ready to react to such an outburst. He'd been prepared for Cyial lashing out in attack. The mercenary boy easily caught and snatched both of Cyial’s wrists, controlling him as he yanked them away to overpower him with ease. Varhi was keeping his own arms in the middle and Cyial’s hands on the outside so there was little that Cyial’s arms could do to retaliate and limit his options if he tried to continue. On top of that, Varhi being half a foot taller than the demon boy meant he had much more leverage as he pulled Cyial’s hands apart so they were truly of little threat.
Cyial kicked, squirmed, then screamed in frustration, tugging within Varhi’s grip, who was barely budging. Then almost as abruptly as he tried to attack Varhi, the smaller boy let out an anguished cry and fell submissively limp. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to!! I’m sorry Varhi!”
Varhi blinked once at him, then realization dawned on his face. “I know, Cyial. You’re way worse than you’re letting on. Your hunger—that ‘alter ego’ you was talking to me about earlier, it’s starting to control you, isn’t it?” He spoke matter-of-factly.
Cyial’s silence seemed to be more than enough of an answer for Varhi who sighed. “Look, we need to figure this out of course; but we cannot do that here. We need to keep moving and get to shelter. If one of those bats come here, we’re in big trouble. Or if a Masirean soldier spots us, we're in shit. If more than one comes, we’re in deep shit and it’s a matter of when, not if.” He declared. Varhi paused for a second, looking at Cyial appraisingly, then frowned. “Um… Cyial?” He pressed, pausing for a moment before looking back up at the other two who were watching intensely. “...Cyial seems to have fainted.” Varhi finally announced bluntly.
“He… He—What…?” Nayleen almost whispered.
Varhi let out a frustrated sigh as he moved Cyial to lay flat on his back in the grass. Nayleen allowed Sairek to move now, who was at Cyial’s side in seconds as soon as he felt her hold release from him.
Varhi removed the gauntlet on his right hand and gently checked Cyial’s pulse, then checked his forehead. “He’s a bit warmer, but not enough to start a fever. His pulse is a little weak but not critical. It shouldn’t be enough to pass out like this… It must be a combination of all of those factors, plus stress.”
“It might be like what happened in Karvadean.” Nayleen mused, jogging up to them. He practically passed out then too, right as we were escaping.”
“...Sweet Lands, Cyial…” Sairek whimpered, digging his gloved fingers hard into the grass as he knelt down next to the other boy on his hands and knees, grabbing a fistful of grass and dirt into his palms. “Dammit… What can I do to help him…!? I've been trying, but he just won't...!”
Varhi gave him a glance with his eyes while still having his face down towards Cyial. “Calm down.” He said in a commanding tone. “It’s probably better that he’s passed out for now. At least he won’t have to deal with the symptoms for now. He’s in no immediate danger. The best thing we can do for now is get him out of here and get to that monastery. After that, we’ll force him to ‘eat’ if we have to until he’s had his fill. Here, help me get him on my back again.”
“Can’t I do it…?” Sairek plead.
“Sairek, you know I can’t allow that. You may be walking but you really shouldn’t be in the first place, let alone carrying him.” Varhi rejected him, pulling his gauntlet back onto his hand.
“No... No, fuck that!” Sairek swore at Varhi, ripping the grass clutched in his hands as he shoved himself up from the ground to stand up. Nayleen twisted her head in his direction in reaction to his sudden abrupt language, while Varhi merely slowly looked up at his sudden outburst, but Sairek didn’t care. The blades of grass Sairek's grip fell away as he raised his right hand to point his right index finger into the other boy's chest.
“You were—ARE in worse condition than me and yet you are carrying him! You were starving, beat up for two weeks and further tortured afterwards! Yet somehow, I get shot by a pistol twice with enchantments to reduce the damage and even after days of careful recovery thanks to the support of everyone else, you still deem me incapable of helping my best friend—no, my boyfriend, even though I went through more effort carrying you on my back out of Karvadean!? For crying out loud, I’m not fragile baggage! Stop treating me differently just because of my title, Varhi!”
"I'm not—"
"Bullshit you aren't! I tolerated it in Karvadean because as much as I hate to admit it, your argument had a valid point, but we're not in Karvadean anymore Varhi, we're beyond that! Like it or not, right now we're a team and you need to start acting like it!" Sairek hissed.
Varhi paused for several seconds trying to process all of that and choosing his next words carefully. The silence between the three of them hung in the air for a moment before Varhi finally exhaled a breath. “...Sairek, try to understand that I’m also used to this—way more than I should be. You’re not. You’re carrying a damn entire lifeboat in your jewel. That’s more than you should be handling and probably already heavier than Cyial... So I am sorry, but no, I’m not going to allow that. If you push and hurt yourself during this march, that's only going to set Cyial off more after he wakes up.”
Sairek glared at Varhi for a few tense seconds, then wordlessly he began removing his gloves, letting them drop to the ground, then he began undressing his upper half. He heard Varhi give out a languid groan while he pulled his shirt and everything else above off over his head and balled the clothes up, holding them towards Varhi with both hands as he stood with his chest exposed to the open summer air. "Then let's switch." Sairek finally spoke, his tone tense but also leaving no more room for discussion.
“Yggdrasil, give me strength… You don’t know how to take ‘no’ for an answer, do you? FINE…” Varhi surrendered in an annoyed huff. He reached out to grab the clothes with the royal jewel begrudingly and then swore himself as Sairek released his grip and it was heavier than Varhi realized, nearly falling over on top of the demon had he not caught himself.
Varhi had to give Sairek credit, maybe it wouldn't be that much more weight after all. The Prince had been carrying more of a burden than he realized. Sure, he knew the lifeboat was in there, but he thought the jewel reduced the weight better. Sairek never spoke a word of complaint, nor shown any signs of struggling...
Putting the clothes underneath his arm, Varhi struggled to open his satchel and shoved most of the clothes in; it poked out a little bit as did the royal jewel. Such an object could not go into the inter-dimensional space within as it housed an inter-dimensional space itself, but the satchel could also just function like a normal satchel on its own accord as well, which was what Varhi did.
“Maybe being closer to me will keep Cyial calmer if he wakes up… Hopefully.” Sairek tried to reason and change the rather uncomfortably tense mood, but he knew the chances of it were slim. Based on what he felt, keeping Cyial closer to him could totally do the opposite effect and it made him a little nervous, but all he knew right now is that he wanted to help Cyial as much as he could. Somehow; anyway. He was tired of feeling useless to him. He bent back down to sit on his knees, slowly fitting his gloves back onto his hands.
“I guess I’ll carry your staff for you, then.” Nayleen muttered, picking up the weapon, which Sairek only realized he had discarded in his haste to see what was wrong with Cyial. After she returned, she settled it back on the ground momentarily to help Sairek lift the demon up and settle him onto the Prince’s back.
“This is starting to feel like Karvadean all too soon… I thought things would have started getting better once we got out of there, but things are just getting worse, aren’t they…?” Sairek said, his voice breaking a little. “I… I’m sorry for yelling at you like that Varhi. I—”
“I’m not offended, relax. The physical part that’s wrong with Cyial is technically the easy part to fix.” Varhi tried to console him. “It’s whatever that's going on in his head where he is refusing himself to eat that’s the problem we need to fix and you’re probably the only one who can do that. Once we get to that monastery and set or find a foundation for camp, I promise fixing him will be the first priority of business.”
“You don’t even know if it’s safe there…?” Sairek asked.
“Well duh. It’s an abandoned building for who knows how many years. Someone or something could have moved in. It’s the general location I want rather than hiding within the actual building itself anyway.” Varhi clarified. “Camping outside is no problem, just being out of bat territory and the immediate vicinity of all the sea traffic and a location with some resources we can scavenge to ensure our survival is my priority right now. We can handle living slightly uncomfortably for a few days while we forage for supplies, that isn't the issue; the bats tend to stay clear of any man-made structures; such structures let them know that it's something elses territory, even when those structures are in ruins, so just camping near the monastery will keep us safe. They tend to pick off and ambush strays, they don't like packs of other things. Buildings typically have those most of the time.
"Anyway, I have a location in mind that's suitable, it'll do a good job of keeping us out of sight, I think. I also don’t know how long it will take for the Ceareste troops to march up towards Karvadean. They probably already passed us, but if not, they will pass by the monastery. We can overwatch the road to see if any army passes by. If not after a few days, then we probably missed them. We can head back down south afterwards to Cyvolta to start the plan whenever we're ready.”
“If my army passes by, why wouldn’t we want to go to them in the first place?” Sairek asked, shifting Cyial on his back to make the boy’s weight as comfortable on him as possible as he slowly stood up. He resisted a wince as his leg protested at the additional weight, but it was a dull ache that he could handle.
“Because Avotash and probably some of his men will most likely be with them. Maybe he will, maybe he won't, but we cannot know for sure. Are you sure you want to open that can of worms?” Varhi cautioned. “I know you feel fine, but you’re still technically recovering from two gunshot wounds. I wouldn’t recommend adding more to the count.”
“...Avotash wouldn’t—” Sairek began to argue, but stopped. It was hard to argue against Varhi’s logic, considering he had already been, in fact, shot twice by the man.
“Of course, maybe he won’t if he is with them, then I’d say go ahead, but the chances of that happening are probably slim. He clearly wants to know what’s in Karvadean badly. He may still be recovering from the pot lid throw to the head I did, though.” Varhi reminded him. “Either way, he wants it badly enough that he was willing to attempt to take the Ceareste jewel and use me as a punching bag for his troops to get one of us to talk, let alone shoot you, the Cearestian Prince. That in itself would be a declaration of war if there was any reason. Again though, this is assuming they aren’t ahead of us in the first place anyway."
“Alright, whatever, let’s keep moving, then.” Sairek grumbled with a shake of his head.
“Yes sir.” Varhi agreed, standing up himself and adjusting to the new weight of his satchel. “Nayleen, stay behind Sairek. Make sure he’s able to keep up and keep an eye behind us. I’ll march twenty feet or so ahead. If there’s trouble over the crest of a hill I want to be the first one to spot it so you two can lay low, and I need to be ready to toss Sairek his jewel back if needed.”
“Okay.” Nayleen acknowledged.
Over the next hour, Sairek was beginning to feel the strain of Cyial’s weight. While yes, the jewel was heavier, the weight was all centered onto a point, and wasn’t draped over his back to literally weigh him down, nor did he have to keep the muscles up in his arms working the entire time. The morning sun that had already made its way past noon. It was paving the way towards the full day's summer heat, and that wasn't helping matters, either. The exertion with the heat was causing him to already start to become covered in a light film of sweat over his upper half. It wasn’t so bad when exerting himself in the morning with Fuyiki because the mornings were still relatively cool, and all of the mental stuff happened when the day became hotter. When he thought about it, he actually had to admit to himself that the way Fuyiki made him train physically was actually a kindness. The man could have made him exert physical activities later in the day and they would have been far more punishing to deal with.
However, Cyial being dead weight didn’t last for much longer. Sairek felt the other boy finally shift from his back and groan. Sairek kept walking, but glanced backwards to try and look at Cyial, who lifted his head briefly, inhaling deeply through his nose, then hummed a sound deep in his throat.
Sairek swallowed nervously. The fact Cyial was quite literally smelling him wasn’t exactly a good sign of the other boy thinking logically at the moment. However, he did feel Cyial after a couple of moments tighten his hold around Sairek on his own accord, which made him a little bit easier to carry.
“Cyial…?” Sairek whispered gently. Rather than articulate a word though, Cyial merely softly grunted into his ear. “We’ll… talk soon, okay? Just keep it easy for now.”
Another grunt, and that was that.
“Varhi, how much further do we have to go?” Sairek yelled up ahead.
Rather than answer right away, Varhi stopped where he was, allowing the other two to catch up as he struggled with his satchel. When Sairek got closer, he heard the other boy muttering about the clothes being in the way and unceremoniously tossing the fabrics to the ground as he rummaged through his satchel and pulled out a rolled up parchment which Sairek recognized was a map by now, and not the same one he pulled out for Karvadean. Varhi glanced around himself looking for any landmarks, then back at the map, then up again, then at the map…
“Gah… This map sucks,” Varhi lamented and shoved it back into his satchel with zero care to whether he would damage it or not. “Had I known I’d need it for more than just making sure I was going the right way to Karvadean, I would have bought the more expensive one than the crappy one that was only three seru…”
“...In other words, you don’t know, do you.” Sairek asked him dryly.
“I do, I have a rough idea. I mean, I’m not on the road, but I’m trying to remember how long it took before given our relative position now to where I rode up here. We're practically retracing my steps... or ride.
"Hmmm... I do remember passing it, being in the back of a cart, much faster than we’re going now. I wasn’t looking outside the entire time either.” Varhi explained as he recollected Sairek’s clothes to put back in the satchel. "I have an idea in my head but it's hard to explain it when we're in nothing but open fields..."
“What else were you doing while riding?” Sairek asked.
“Looking at my great sword. Wasn't much else to do in there, you know.” Varhi answered simply. "Why?"
“...Ah. Of course.” Sairek drawled.
“Hey, I had just finished battling four bats by myself and one of the bastards tried to swallow my sword. I wanted to make sure it was okay and not damaged!” Varhi defended himself.
“Are you sure that’s what happened…?” Sairek asked, unconvinced.
“Ehhh, close enough.” Varhi shrugged. “So, how are you holding up? You’re sweating a lot.” He asked Sairek.
“I’m okay.” Sairek answered. “Cyial woke up a few moments ago. Lucid enough to hang on, so that’s making it easier for now, and also more reason we need to hurry up and get there.”
“...Yes, I can see that he's awake, Sairek. Especially since he’s staring at me. Rather menacingly, too.” Varhi retorted dryly, moving his hand to his right hip..
“Eh…?” Sairek let out, and turned his head as much as he could to look at Cyial, who indeed had his head up, staring at Varhi. The feral look in those garnet eyes made him flinch slightly. “C-Cyial…? Are you okay?”
“Uhhh-huuhh…” Cyial let out slowly, his tone somewhat raspy. Sairek gulped.
Even Varhi looked uncertain and a bit on edge with that response, giving Cyial a quick appraising glance before turning to Sairek, though his eyes remained on Cyial. “...Maybe I should increase our distance between us another ten feet or so—just in case." The mercenary continue to drawl in that dry tone. "Look, I think it’s not too much further. It can’t be more than an hour out. If we get a good vantage point we may even be able to see it, though I don’t think there is one...” he explained, then looked back to Cyial with his undivided attention. “Cyial, try to endure it for a little bit longer, okay? But if you need to stop for any reason, let us know okay? If you don’t feel like speaking, you can pinch Sairek’s nipple or something to let us know.”
“H-Hey...!” Sairek barked in protest.
Indeed, rather than speaking, Cyial merely buried his face back against Sairek's neck, but he did lift his left hand to give a thumbs up to Varhi before moving to wrap his arms tighter around Sairek.
“Perfect, just like that.” Varhi nodded.
“Cyial! Don’t just agree to that!” Sairek whined.
Cyial’s tail gave a slightly amused little wag despite his condition, which Sairek could feel against his lower back, but that was the only indication of amusement Cyial gave him as he sank the weight of his head back on Sairek’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
Varhi wordlessly began marching on ahead, though not before giving Sairek a very obvious wink with an eye. Sairek paused, looking back at Cyial with concern. Nayleen walked over and rubbed Cyial’s back gently without a word, before gesturing to Sairek to get a move on, so he did.
Their walk only lasted half an hour without incident before Sairek noticed Varhi crouch down low over the crest of the rolling hill they were walking over. Considering that the other boy was worried about bat-type creatures, Sairek’s first instinct was to look up as he copied Varhi’s movement as best as he could with Cyial on his back and crawled his way closer. Nayleen too copied that movement, however, Sairek couldn’t see anything in the air, so he slowly crawled his way over to Varhi, the long blades of grass tickling his exposed stomach and chest as he inched forward to try and get a viewpoint. He felt Cyial lift his head slightly to examine what was going on, and then drop it again a few seconds later as if he already gave up interest on what was happening..
“What is it?” Sairek whispered quietly.
Varhi didn’t reply, instead he was merely looking ahead of them in a deep intensive gaze. Sairek looked more downwards to examine the scenery that was unfolding before them. He could see the path Varhi had been talking about to their right, although only barely. And if he looked hard, he could see some cliffs to the west where the ocean was which would have been where they had been sailing up towards Karvadean on Jimmy’s ship. The mountains where Karvadean was located behind were far, far, far off in the distance, barely visible on the horizon ahead of them. In between all of that, still considerably far away was a fairly large structure off the path and sitting in the middle of practically nowhere. The building from the path sat alone about sixty or seventy yards away.
“Is that it?” Sairek asked.
“Yes, that’s the monastery. And it’s apparently manned...” Varhi growled.
“...What?” Sairek blinked.
“Manned by… guards?” Nayleen questioned more clearly than Sairek realized he was articulating.
“Yup…” Varhi replied.
“How can you even see people from here?” Sairek asked. “I see nobody. Heck, I barely see the building...”
“I don’t see people. I see signs of people. There’s three carts in front of the monastery for example. Those shouldn’t be there.” Varhi explained as he raised his right arm under his chin. "They weren't there when I passed by last time, I'm pretty sure."
“I don’t see those, either!” Sairek hissed in complaint.
“I can.” Nayleen chided in.
“Y...You’re both insane…” Sairek mumbled.
“And you can use magic.” Varhi countered.
“Anyone can use magic, they just have to practice at it!” Sairek argued.
“And anyone can train their eyesight to notice subtle things so long as their eyes are healthy.” Varhi countered again. “Regardless, we’re definitely not going to be going in there without a fight. Though I could probably take them. I know the fighting style. Most security is totally lax.”
“We’re not killing anyone…!” Sairek exclaimed in his whispering.
“Who said I was going to kill them? I want names, times, dates.” Varhi retorted dryly, glancing at Sairek. “I want information on what’s going on, not lives to snuff out just for fun. Come on, who do you take me for?”
“If you did that then they will know we’re here in Masirean.” Nayleen reminded him.
“Mmf… fair point. Fine. They can continue to work at their boring job. We’ll set up camp behind them right under their noses. We’ll have to keep fires to an absolute minimum, though.” Varhi explained. “Probably obvious, but when we go scavenging, we’ll give a wide berth to the monastery. I don’t want to risk being seen.”
“You sure they won’t notice us? This sounds extremely risky… just camping at the back of the ruins?” Sairek mumbled in protest.
Varhi nodded. “They shouldn’t with the spot I have in mind. They’re guarding the building, not the area around the building. I’m guessing there’s probably only like, two or three people there. They're probably there to sniff out squatters, or maybe trying to deal with the damn bats finally. Dealing with the bats isn't a popular commission job that mercenaries tend to take.”
“That’s a lot of guesses and ifs.” Sairek continued to protest.
“The other alternative is we go back down to the beach south, but sooner or later some ship is going to pass by and probably spot us. The chances of that happening here are so much lower. There’s no reason for ship traffic to go this way, unless they were doing something nefarious themselves or fishing. There's no ports or other traffic that comes this way.” Varhi argued. "For what its worth, this was my expected outcome."
“Fine… You seem confident, so I'll trust you.” Sairek lamented. He didn’t like it; but there weren’t many options. He didn’t believe Cyial would be able to handle another eight hours of literally walking back. They didn’t even have the food for that anyway and Sairek wasn't sure his arms could handle much more. The remaining fish they had eaten for breakfast was starting to wear off and Sairek was beginning to feel his own hunger creeping back in and he had eaten the most out of all of them. The other two were feeling worse, most likely. Reluctantly, Varhi's argument made sense.
“Let’s get to the ocean side on the west. It’s time to do my plan. Stay close to me.” Varhi nodded, crawling back down the crest of the hill before standing up so he was out of line of sight from the monastery itself. Nayleen and Sairek copied him and followed behind.
They walked until they were at the cliff side edge overlooking the ocean, about a ten to twenty foot drop, depending on where they were standing. Varhi walked back north from here along the side of the cliff until a few minutes ahead of them there was a natural formation that guided down towards the water that they could walk down, although it was a bit steep. Nayleen helped steady Sairek down knowing he’d struggle with balance with Cyial on his back.
When they touched down on actual sand, Varhi kept walking more northwards, speaking again, but abandoning his hushed whispers to speak freely instead. “The sound of the ocean should cover much of the noise we make. There should be a little cove around here somewhere.”
“You would know this, why?” Sairek asked.
“Been down here before a few months ago on a job.” Varhi answered simply.
“And you couldn’t tell us this earlier?” Sairek replied dryly.
“As much as I expected we'll probably have to, I still didn’t want to camp down here. It’s a bit annoying to get back up, but it’s well hidden. There is—or was, a small little hideout down here that I took care of single-handedly.” Varhi explained.
Nayleen looked at him. “You handled a group of bandits by yourself?”
“No no, less impressive than that. Just prisoner runaways. They weren’t even armed with proper weapons.” Varhi clarified. “Even for me, subduing a small group of runaways isn’t exactly impressive. Of course, they thought they could just subdue me back because of my age and size. Their impression changed very quickly once I pulled out the sword and showed them I knew how to use it. After that, they just simply surrendered. It was an easy job, one of my first over here. I don’t quite remember where it is though. Just somewhere along here. If it could fit four of them, it should fit the four of us.
“If it’s not under the water by now.” Nayleen warned him.
Varhi glanced back at her. “I’ll take my chances. It doesn’t hurt to look. It was a decent set up they had going on, to be fair. I think someone dug it out some years ago. It didn’t look natural to me. I thought they built it themselves at first, but it had too much water damage to be that new. It should still be good for us.”
“What about the other resources we need?” Sairek asked.
Varhi adjusted his glance towards Sairek instead. “Fresh water should be pretty close by to it if I’m remembering correctly. Hunting for food will be a little harder because of having to climb back up top. ...Well, aside from more fish, I guess, though we'll have to be careful to not go too far out for the boat be seen from the monastery. Getting back up onto the land will be a bit of effort, but you let Nayleen and I handle that part. For now, your job is to focus on taking care of Cyial.”
“Alright…” Sairek allowed, glancing on ahead. “Is that it there?” He asked, gesturing with a nod of his head for Varhi to look forwards.
“Yes that’s it I think. Good eye. See? You aren’t blind all the time.”
“...Thanks...” Sairek replied sarcastically.
Varhi approached the entrance to the cove, though Sairek wondered if they should even call it that. It wasn’t much of a cove; more of a tunnel looking thing on the side of the cliff that looked like it had been dug out. It was about eight feet above the sand, piled up with rocks and boulders to get up to it. It was fairly wide though, about a six to eight foot ceiling and about double that in width. Once they had climbed up, with the other two helping Sairek with Cyial so he could climb up himself, he could see that somebody had filled the bottom with lots of sand to level the ground and make it easier on the feet. There was no way the sand got up here. It was a bit uneven and had some rocks and pebbles that were scattered that he could probably toss out himself. At the end was a sort of circular room that was about fifteen feet around, slightly wider than the entrance and about a foot or two taller, fairly spacious, given their sizes. There was light coming in and as Sairek stepped inside and looked up, there was a small hole where the sky appeared through, providing illumination into the cove, at least for now. It would allow a small campfire to poke through and filter the smoke out, but it would be a big problem if it rained. How much light seeped through the hole would be hard to gauge unless they tested it, but it was definitely better than being out in the open.
“Yeah, there’s absolutely no way this is natural.” Sairek commented as he looked around. “You weren’t kidding about the set up, though. This isn’t a bad hiding spot at all.”
“As long as they don’t know about it as well.” Nayleen cautioned. “You said you were hired to find the guys hiding here, right?”
“No worries. It was only myself that went to snatch them up. Jimmy was my support for carrying the runaways back to Cyvolta. No Masirean soldiers were involved.” Varhi reassured her. “The hardest part was finding them. Cyvolta knew they were hiding somewhere around the old monastery but didn’t know where. Patrols in Osha didn’t see them and they didn’t run east from Cyvolta, they ran north. To top it off, Masirean capital didn’t see them. So my job was just to search the zone. They probably just assumed they were in the monastery if I had to take a guess.”
Sairek settled Cyial down to sit against one of the boulders and settled himself down next to the boy, allowing Cyial to lean his body against Sairek’s form. Varhi pulled out Sairek’s clothes and handed them to the Prince, who took them into his hands.
“Find somewhere to stash the boat, or keep it in the gem for now if you want I guess.” Varhi instructed him. “I will go looking for whatever sticks I can find around the area. It can get cold and damp down here at night if the weather isn't favorable. We’ll keep the fire small when we need it though.” Varhi then glanced towards Nayleen. “And for you; I want you to do what you do best with that bow of yours. Anything you find that can help. I don’t care if it’s a squirrel, a bird or even a snake. If we can feasibly eat it and it’s not a moving mushroom, you snag it.”
Sairek became a little horrified at that thought, but Nayleen merely saluted him in acknowledgement. “H-Hold on, you wouldn’t really... eat… those?”
“Are you seriously asking me that question?” Varhi replied as he spun around to face Sairek again.
“W-Well, no, not you anyway.” Sairek retorted. “I already know you would since you stuffed your face with worms.”
“Oy vey…” Varhi shook his head.
“I’ve eaten a couple of snakes before.” Nayleen replied simply to Sairek. “And bird, and squirrel. I think the snakes taste the best, actually.” Nayleen opinionated, then glanced towards Varhi, who merely shrugged at her in response.
"Eh, they're okay." The older boy replied.
“Yech…!” Sairek wretched.
“Oh come on, you ate Werebbit meat last week and you loved it~” Nayleen reminded him, leaning his staff against some rocks next to him.
“Yeah, thanks to your generous amount of seasoning among other things... I still think I’ll pass…” Sairek groaned.
Nayleen waved her hand dismissively. “Ah whatever. I’ll just change your mind again. Too bad I don’t have seasoning though this time. It might end up tasting a bit bland. Look, are you going to be okay by yourself here for a while?”
“Yes, I will be fine, and besides I won't be alone.” Sairek sighed, quickly taking a glance at Cyial.
"...That last part is what bothers me." Nayleen clarified.
Sairek rolled his eyes at her. “Just don’t be gone for too long. Being in a new place with just Cyial near close proximity to any Masirean patrols kind of makes me nervous.”
“We should probably come back before it gets dark.” Varhi agreed, looking towards Nayleen. “That’s probably about four hours left before the sun sets if I were to take a guess. Maybe five. Well, it won’t take me that long to gather sticks obviously, but I’ll get water too and just generally survey the area. I might take a closer look at the monestary too just to make sure I'm not underestimating anything. I'll be very careful. After that, we'll handle the Cyial situation.”
“Kay.” Nayleen answered simply, and began to lead the way out. Varhi looked appraisingly at Cyial and Sairek one last time, gave a reassuring nod to the Prince, then turned around to follow Nayleen out.
Sairek sat in silence for about five minutes, just listening to his own breathing and Cyial’s more labored yet slower breathing. However, it was Cyial that broke the silence first as he lifted himself off of Sairek’s side and sat upright.
“They’re gone now, huh…?” Cyial asked, blinking his eyes a bit, to which the garnet irises glowed in the darkness of the cove.
“For now. Are you feeling... better?” Sairek asked, watching him carefully.
“No…” Cyial sighed. “It gets harder every day… to stop myself. I didn’t think the difficulty would exponentially get harder like this… It hadn’t for all these months been this bad; a little worse everyday, sure... but now, suddenly, it’s just… just...” Cyial released a deep exhale and bowed his head, unable to finish the sentence. "I can't believe I did that to Varhi..."
“Why are you trying so hard, Cyial…?” Sairek asked, looking at the demon with a frown.
Cyial looked at him back, directly in the eyes. The eyes of his friend were still feral and wild, though there was a small bit of ‘composure’ within them that he could recognize as actually Cyial, rather than the hunger just leering at him. “W-What do you mean ‘why’ Sairek...?! Because I care about you, that's why!! I care about you… and it wants you because I care–!” Cyial exclaimed, his tone exhasperated. “I… I won’t let it! I won't...” he broke into a sob.
“I care about you, too,” Sairek said firmly, “but… what you are doing to yourself right now though… it is far more painful than anything else you might do to me, Cyial.” He tried to reason as he shook his head gently. “Watching you go through this… it hurts me Cyial. And not just for me, but for Nayleen too… We don’t want to see you suffer like this.”
A guilty look crossed Cyial’s features despite the feral eyes he had on them and he ran his fingers through his hair slowly. “I just—can’t… do it… It’s so taboo…” Cyial mumbled. "Sairek, you don't understand... The things I vision that it not just wants to teach you, but perform on you... You'll never look at me the same way again if it goes all the way… If I let it slip… I won’t be able to control myself—control it…"
“What is taboo is making have to watch you… you, expire like this!” Sairek retorted with irritation in his voice, but he moved his clothes to the side and clasped both of Cyial’s gloved hands into his own. “Do you think I just agreed to be your boyfriend without realizing what you are and what I am? It’s ‘taboo’ but I don’t care because I realized that is how I feel about you back...! I realized that at that moment. That's why I... I kissed you back then." Sairek blushed slightly, then cleared his throat. "Look, I never loved someone like this before... so I am going in blind, I am going in completely inexperienced, but the feelings you felt for me, I felt for you as well...!
“...Look Cyial, I may be a bumbling, ignorant moron in a lot of things given my sheltered life, but I at least know what I want and I also know sometimes sacrifices may need to be made by me to get those things that I want. I’m not that helpless and I'm not ignorant of my own feelings about you...”
Cyial tried to avert his eyes from Sairek. Sairek released one of Cyial’s hands and cupped his chin to force the other boy to look at him, trying to be assertive to the younger demon. “Stop running away from this. We’re dealing with this problem here and now, before the other two get back. And by we, I do mean we, as partners in a relationship, boyfriend to boyfriend. I am not going to accept you burdening this on your own any longer.”
Since looking away had been an option sealed off by the Prince, Cyial instead squeezed his eyes shut. “Sairek, I can’t…”
“You’re not going to kill me or injure me, right?” Sairek asked rhetorically.
“No…” Cyial lamented, squeezing his eyes shut tighter. “B-But I—”
“Then stop worrying about the details and please just eat, Cyial…” Sairek cut him off, but retreated back as he let go of Cyial’s chin for now, allowing the other boy to open his eyes but move back to immediately avert his gaze. "I don't care what you do, but I'm not letting you starve yourself like this. I won't!"
“Listen, Sairek... no matter how this goes, you should put away the boat first at least…” Cyial mumbled, almost inaudible for Sairek to hear despite being mere inches away from the sound. "I need to... to think alone... for a moment... and if I do go through with it, you're going to be drained in more ways than one, but especially of your Ethereal... I can't... control the black magic in my saliva..."
“...Okay, yeah, I should probably do that first...” Sairek agreed, glancing away from Cyial towards his clothes. He leaned over, touching the jewel still attached to his shirt for a moment, examining the color. It had become a red-orange already, which gave Sairek a little bit more urgency as he cupped his shirt into his hands and pushed himself to stand up to walk out of the cove.
He needn’t look far for a suitable place to ‘park’ the boat. Though he probably didn’t need to hide it from the view of the ocean, it was better safe than sorry. He certainly couldn’t keep it inside of the cove anyway, it was way too big. He released it in a nook of rocks and the cliff where it would stay and was hidden from plain view both from anyone looking down above, and out from the ocean from most angles. He walked and climbed his way back inside of the cove to see Cyial had shifted his position, having reverted to pulling his legs close to himself and returning to that ‘ball-like’ appearance again. Sairek sighed and tossed the upper half of his clothes into the corner and moved to sit beside Cyial again. The other boy didn’t move at all, so Sairek waited.
The wait was for several minutes, before Cyial finally broke the silence by lifting his head from his arms.
“I’ve been fighting my hunger for so long, Sairek…” Cyial spoke quietly, softly, a slight hoarseness in his voice.
“I know…” Sairek replied solemnly.
“After fighting against it this long… to just let it go after all of this time… I…” Cyial sniffled.
Sairek took a moment to speak. “Cyial, you eating isn’t a sin. How you eat sucks, I know, but… we make the most with what we have. That’s something I’ve learned lately…”
“Varhi probably told you that one…” Cyial mumbled dejectedly.
“No, he didn’t. You did. Varhi merely confirmed it for me. And he certainly has a much different way of going about it than you do.”
“Me…?”
“Despite what Balgira was doing to you, despite people unfairly treating you and despite struggling with your hunger, you still did your best to help people; to make them medicine, to work to save lives and help others. You made the most with what you had. Despite all of that pressure and the responsibilities you had, you did them willingly. I believe that you made those sacrifices and went through all of that hardship because you care about people, Cyial… That is how highly I think of you as an individual. That’s how kind I believe you are. Now, I am going to go through the same things; hardship, and sacrifice, because I care about you, Cyial, just like how you care about others. Just like how you care about me. You deserve to be happy and at peace, Cyial. There's not a lot of things I wouldn't give up for that to happen. Including this. To me, this is a small sacrifice, one that you are blowing way out of proportion. Its thanks to you in the first place that I am even comfortable with my own body now.”
“N-No, I don’t… deserve that…” Cyial barely spoke above his own breathing in a whining sound.
“You do. You’re valuable Cyial; especially to me. No one should have to suffer going hungry and not eating. And that includes you.” Sairek stressed, then swallowed. He pushed his consciousness out to the other boy. Unlike earlier this morning, it was much easier. The much closer proximity, the silence, and just already being next to his presence made establishing a connection easy…
...and yet he was absolutely buffeted with what could only be described as a typhoon of emotions from the other boy. Most of it being fueled by Cyial’s hunger. That constant noise he heard in the other boy’s head was louder than the first time and it was chanting more than just one word, now. Too many for Sairek to really make out but the intent was pretty clear; it was fighting for control, and for what it wanted. And what it wanted was… him.
Sairek gasped, as the hunger found him and practically snatched him up in its grip, bombarding him harder with all kinds of sensations. Some were lusty and lewd to be sure, which were the most powerful, while others were utter agony and distress; and even more that he just couldn’t filter out through all of the noise; the context behind them just too twisted and tangled with each other to understand.
Rather than retreating away, which was his instinctual reaction, he instead pushed forward, ‘shouting’ as if it were above the noise. He let his companionship be felt, how important he felt Cyial was to him – his admittance of the love he had for him. He pushed that through over and over again into the torrent of utter distraught Cyial had swirling within him.
It was like chipping away a boulder chip by chip, piece by piece but Sairek didn’t give up. Though it felt like hours, Sairek had come to realize that time felt like it could be both slower and faster in this state, he felt like each time he slammed into the noise, the storm calmed just a little bit. Even if it didn’t, there was no way he was going to stop and let Cyial go through with this alone in his head anymore with his inner demon.
Indeed though, his persistence paid off. The noise was lessening, the hunger’s constant mantra began to quiet down; though still very much present and focused, its anger and feral nature became one of noticing him more and feral interest; something he had felt the first time. Rather than trying to avoid it and retreat like he had the first couple of times, including earlier today, Sairek willed himself to stay and just ‘accept’ the fact he was being ‘sniffed’ by this feral entity inside Cyial’s mind, even when it began ‘testing’ him with more lewd imagery and thoughts, almost provoking him to try and leave. Sairek had no intention of trying to evade it this time. He openly confronted it.
He would be lying to himself to say some of it didn’t elicit a response from him down below his waist or cause blood to flow to his cheeks in embarrassment at the open and raw interest he was receiving, even in this deep state of concentration. That alone would have probably caused the connection to sever if he wasn't prepared for the rather explicit content he was currently receiving, but the entire time his focus whilst bombarded with imagery and emotions that made him blush heavily; he kept that single thread of focus of trying to help Cyial who was finally becoming more calm, yet more taken over by the hunger in him. Sairek hoped he was making the right choice...
His mental confrontation with the feral hunger was finally interrupted however when Cyial suddenly moved, clasping both of his shoulders with his hands and what could only be described as abruptly tackling Sairek roughly onto the sand, where he landed on his back with a grunt and accidentally knocked his staff which had been leaning against the rock they’d been both resting against away into the sand as well, out of reach. Just like that, he was outside of Cyial’s mind again, conscious of his surroundings. He blinked, trying to regain his focus back to the actual reality around himself and the situation he was in, then let out a shallow gasp, feeling Cyial’s tongue drag across his torso up to his neck like he was some kind of dessert. The tongue felt oddly strange though… The saliva left a tingling, almost gentle burning sensation where it trailed, which began to burn a little more as time passed. Sairek sighed as realization dawned on him. It was, unfortunately, a feeling that wasn't entirely foreign to him, as he had felt it before back in Lamen... He had felt a little bit of it as well when Cyial gave him a kiss, but this was far more potent. The aphrodisiac toxin in Cyial's saliva was fully awakened. Sairek's breathing picked up for multiple reasons, but he tried to swallow one of those reasons - panic, reminding himself that Cyial was not one of those three, even like this.
“Sairek… I can’t hold the hunger back anymore…” Cyial growled, looking up into Sairek’s eyes, which the Prince noted had shifted and transformed completely. They were slitted completely like a cat’s. It was almost unrecognizable. There was only a subtle hint of that gentleness in the demon’s eyes he was used to, and it was fading, fast.
“I know… And it’s okay.” Sairek breathed out slowly. “B-Besides… I think I remember saying your saliva was quite… potent in this state… I can feel you weren’t j-joking around… I can feel the black magic seeping in,” he blushed. He was beginning to feel quite heated indeed. And that was just because of the little taste test Cyial just gave him. His heart hammered in his chest from fear of the potential unintended consequences; but he couldn't let Cyial wither away from him. He had to take initiative.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” Cyial began, but Sairek grabbed him and pulled him closer, pressing his lips against the demon’s to quiet him. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, but if this would make Cyial feel better, he would do almost anything. His body feeling flushed and like puddy for a few hours and most likely getting to what surmounted to a hangover for probably a day or two really wasn’t that big of a deal at the end of it, though. Not if it helped Cyial.
Sairek wasn’t sure if it was at that point Cyial lost control of his hunger or not, but it was definitely the point where it was as if a switch had been flipped within Cyial, because after their lips pressed against each other there was definitely no turning back. The kiss the two shared turned into a hard bite on Sairek’s bottom lip, that made him gasp in pain; then Cyial retreated to bite his neck equally as hard, and when he pulled up to try and stop him or at least get him to ease up, Cyial grabbed his wrists and pinned them above his head, then secured them by wrapping his tail around both of his wrists to keep him stuck there, bounding them together tightly
“C...Cyial…?” Sairek asked, concern edged in his voice. He felt himself beginning to break out in a cold sweat. He tested the strength of the tail and he may as well have been trying to struggle against thick rope despite how thin Cyial's tail actually was. The contact of the saliva on his lips was causing him to feel dizzy and even more difficult to think straight, though it was ironically helping him feel oddly more calm than he thought he would normally be given the circumstances. Admittedly, tying him up was not the kind of response he was expecting considering he was ‘willing’ to participate…
“Sairek…?” Cyial responded; but the tone was different than he was used to. Cold. Taunting, even. Sairek swallowed nervously. He recognized that tone of voice. Natallie, Trisca and Pararis all had that exact same tone with him. He remembered the dream he had back in Lamen shortly after Cyial and Lavian had rescued him from his three kidnappers, and this was extremely similar to what was happening in that dream...
“I, I…” Sairek began, hesitating. He swallowed again, it was even drier this time. “I just ask that, um, you be more gentle… Unlike those three were…” he pleaded. “Also… this time we don’t have ethereal to fix me afterwards, so—so that’s why…”
Cyial’s expression shifted. He wasn’t sure what, but it changed. Empathetic, maybe? Cyial retreated from him for a bit, as if appraising him for the first time, but the appraisal was brief.
“Hmm…” Cyial hummed, his voice deeper, more gravelly, though unmistakably still Cyial’s voice, but the way he ‘spoke’ was just… different and foreign. Predatory.
“Fine. ...I can do that.” The demon acquisted after what felt like minutes. Slowly, the grip around his wrists loosened and pulled back, and Sairek drew his arms back down to his sides, watching the demon carefully.
Cyial’s tone was still different, and that was definitely true where after a brief pause, he continued. “Strange that you make such a request after kissing me like that though, Sairek. Well, either way… The others have been gone for only twenty minutes, and won’t be back for a few hours I'd wager… Not until the sun is beginning to set...
“I am going to savor every single second of this, Sairek… For the next few hours, you are mine to do with as I please...” Cyial growled, leaning mere inches from his face. “I am going to teach you many, many things during that time… Things you are curious about, things I know you will enjoy. Maybe I will even get to demonstrate the pleasure of these acts on you~?” He hummed in a pleased tone.
Sairek inhaled a deep breath to try and calm his nerves—and libido, then nodded slowly in resignation. “Pararis, the incubus who captured me initially from the monastery, told me that each ‘ubi’ has a distinct flavor they enjoy the most… If... If that's true, then what one is yours, um... Cyial's Hunger…?” He dared to ask.
"What?" the demon snorted. "Why are you addressing me like I'm a different person... the hunger and I are still one and the same... Now, to answer your question;" Cyial hummed a rumble moving from his position to sit on Sairek’s lap, causing him to writhe and grunt in much discomfort, yet the position Cyial took was as if he was just casually seated on his lap for a normal conversation. The demon—or hunger, he wasn’t sure which by now, contemplated the question genuinely. After a good twenty seconds or so, Cyial leaned forward, resting his hands on Sairek’s chest as he leaned his weight onto him, staring directly into Sairek’s eyes. “Teaching you." He finally answered. " Teaching you the pleasures I am about to give you. The first time in Thalnar… it was absolutely divine, just that little taste. The ignorance was so endearing and cute. I cannot wait to have a full feast of that taste... Gradually shaping you, making you more bold, more confident, more willing; like unpeeling a delicacy from its wrapper.
"It is like an instinct within me, Sairek... The urge to teach—to share that knowledge of how to make you feel bliss and to physically demonstrate—it is so strong…” he murmured. The thought of it caused Cyial, or the alter ego to shudder at just the mere thought.
“I see you are nervous; quivering in apprehension, but there is no rush, Sairek. We will begin slowly with a continuation from before in familiar territory for you. Then we will slowly branch out and escalate with each feeding session from here on out... But do not worry, there are many things for you to still learn and experience but you are still apprehensive. You won't feel a single ounce of pain as long as you stay still as you are. No stopping me. No running away… Or I might get more forceful again. But who knows, maybe you are a masochist?”
Cyial leaned his weight forward even more. He slipped off his gloves before bracing his hands on Sairek's chest once again. The Prince flinched in discomfort as he felt Cyial's fingers dig into his torso roughly the claws that Cyial now apparently had were threatening to break the skin. It seemed Cyial’s eyes certainly weren’t the only thing that had become more feral. "If you try to flee now... Then I will have to be even more forceful to try and persuade you to stay." The demon growled feral in warning. “You persuaded me to come and feed off of you… To try and deny me now would be a grave mistake. You are my food now. Be cordial to me, and I will respect your wish to hold back—for now… And take things at your own pace. After all, there is only so much I can teach with words… But the longer the main course takes to feast on, the better it will taste in the end…” Cyial crooned, licking his lips.
Sairek gulped. “Um... I… I see…” he replied quietly, then took a slow, deep inhale. “Okay… Feed, Cyial...” he said in his exhale in an attempt to try and quell the apprehension he had that Cyial correctly predicted.
"And yet, I was not asking." Cyial grinned wickedly at Sairek's reluctant acceptance. He pulled back, bringing Sairek relief that the nails were no longer digging into him. Canine fangs were glimpsed within his teeth. "One way or another, for them, for us... Let us commemorate the relationship with something simple to start with to prove that this was never a bad thing..."
The hunger took the opportunity to get started with teaching at long last.
