Work Text:
Emizel crouched on the ground of the motel room between the bed and the window that opened up outside. The blinds were closed and the curtains had been pulled shut as tight as possible to keep any sunlight from sneaking in through unknown holes. The sun was pretty close to rising now, but Arthur had told them to stay put while he was out for the moment. Emizel would have gone with, but it didn't seem like Shilo was too keen on the idea of leaving the motel room right now.
And considering the news that the prince had just gotten, Emizel decided that he would stay here with Shilo for now. Just to keep him company and make sure that he was alright. Sure, Grefgore was there, but Emizel didn't know how good of an idea it was to leave those two alone without any sort of supervision. That had already gone wrong before when they were left on their own.
Shilo was currently sitting on the bed, one of the pillows clutched tightly to his chest as he leaned his chin on his knees. He sniffled occasionally and wiped his face on the back of his hand whenever a few tears started to well up in the corners of his eyes, but for the most part, he had stopped crying. Emizel had turned on some nature documentary for him to watch on the TV, something that hopefully would get his mind off his home. Though Emizel didn't know how much Shilo was actually paying attention to the documentary or not.
The volume on the TV played quietly, the narrator talking in an excruciatingly boring drone that was only broken up occasionally by the sounds of nature or some animal. Emizel was only catching bits and pieces of it as he tried his hardest to tune out most of the sounds around him.
The air conditioning rattled loudly right next to him, and he was about to get up to see if he could find a way to turn it off. All the noise was really starting to irritate his heightened senses that he still didn't have full control over yet (although Arthur claimed that he would learn how to eventually). Emizel rubbed his ears and hunched his shoulders, pulling one knee to his chest.
He tapped his hands on his thighs as he sifted through the ratted bag that he snagged quickly before leaving his house a few nights ago. It was an old canvas messenger bag that he had gotten from the thrift store a few years back and had spent his time covering it with patches and repairing it whenever a hole got too big for him to ignore.
There were only a few things in it at the moment, an extra t-shirt and a pair of underwear, some snacks that were useless to Emizel now, a set of needle and thread, his headphones that were a little uncomfortable with his pointed ears now, an extra phone charger, an extra pocket knife, and some other things that Emizel had needed at one point or another. It was basically just the main bag that he took anywhere he went.
Despite the headphones being a little uncomfortable and his ears being a bit more than a little sensitive, Emizel did his best to untangle the cord and slip them on over his ears. It didn't do much to help block out all the sounds around Emizel, but it made it a little easier to bear so he wouldn't get overwhelmed.
Emizel sighed and hunched his shoulders, pulling the collar of his jacket up so that he could bury his face into the fur-lined edge. He was at least glad that with the fire of the party, he was wearing an outfit that he didn't actually care about. He still had his jacket which was covered in almost more patches than the original fabric and had buttons and safety pins strewn across the surface of it. The fur on the hood was almost completely worn out after wearing it for so long, but Soda had made a few attempts to fluff it back up.
When Emizel buried his nose into the fur, he could just barely make out the familiar scent of the demon's hideout. It calmed his restlessness just a bit.
He sat back on his knees and looked up at Shilo on the bed above him. Shilo's ear twitched in Emizel's direction when he shifted, but the other boy didn't even glance over to see what Emizel was doing.
Emizel shut the flap on his bag and began to push himself up to his feet, wanting to find a better place to relax than the floor. He nudged his bag closer to the wall with his foot so it was a little out of sight but wasn't completely hidden. He was sure that he didn't need to worry about any of them trying to take his stuff, but still, Emizel couldn't be sure.
Emizel's eyes traced across Shilo's form curiously as he fumbled with the cord of his headphones to plug into his phone.
His eyes widened slightly as he noticed something that he hadn't even seen before, he wondered if Shilo even noticed.
”What happened to your coat?“ Emizel blurted, plopping down on the edge of the bed with little care. The mattress dipped and Shilo flinched, looking over at Emizel like a deer in the headlights.
“Huh...?“ Shilo asked, his voice hoarse. His expression morphed into that of confusion as he tried to look at what Emizel was noticing. His eyebrows furrowed and he made a noise from the back of his throat, one that Emizel had understood to be an unhappy sound.
Emizel grabbed at the edge of the long cape that Shilo hadn't taken off once in the time that he had known Emizel, at least not that he had seen. The silky fabric was a little rough under Emizel's fingers from years of wear and the color which Emizel remembered being as bright green as the vest that Shilo also wore, was a little faded and dark with soot. Shilo still smelled like smoke, and Emizel swallowed down the warble of anxiety in his throat.
On the back of the cape, a hole about the size of Emizel's thumb was torn through the fabric, the edges of it blackened and singed. The fabric crumbled a little bit when Emizel ran his thumb along the rough edge of it, opening the hole a little bigger.
Shilo startled, his red eyes widening significantly as he tried to twist around to see what Emizel was referring to. His own hands twitched to grab at the fabric of the cape, and he made another unhappy sound, ears drooping. Emizel watched him carefully, a little confused at the range of emotions that crossed his face.
Shilo's hands brushed against Emizel's as the other vampire grabbed at the green fabric as if he were upset that Emizel was touching it. He pulled the length of his cape into his lap, immediately noticing the large hole that wasn't there yesterday.
”Oh...” Shilo's voice trembled as he spoke, his thick accent wobbling in a way that made him sound like he was about to start crying again. He ran his thumb over the large hole, feeling the texture of the fabric and flipping it over each way to see how it would affect the make of his cape. His hands shook and Emizel almost felt bad that he had pointed it out at all. “The... The fire... it must've gotten burned...”
“It is ruined... my cape...” Shilo whimpered through a broken accent, biting down hard on his lower lip, enough that a little bit of blood began to trickle down his chin from his teeth piercing his skin. “It... this is all I have...”
Shilo's eyes started to get watery again and he sniffled. A few tears rolled down his cheeks and Emizel felt a spike of alarm go right through his chest. Although they were both vampires, Emizel could see Shilo's chest rising and falling shortly with small, panicked breaths as he continued to stare at the hole in his shirt. He traced his fingers over the fabric repeatedly, feeling the texture as if he were hoping it would help calm himself down. But the sight of the hole just seemed to distress him even more.
”Hey, hey, hey,“ Emizel couldn't help but feel his own voice shaking with worry (Why did he care?), “Hey, man, it's alright, it can be fixed.“
Shilo shook his head and whined again, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his face in his legs. He hugged himself tightly, shaking like a leaf next to Emizel, who now was scrambling to figure out what to do.
Small yet audible sobs spilled from Shilo's lips as he did his best to hide his face from Emizel, shivering with the effort it took to keep himself from bawling. His ears pinned back against his skull and his neatly slicked back hair fell down in front of his eyes.
Emizel didn't know whether to wrap his arm around Shilo's shoulder, or if he should leave the other vampire alone for now, or if he should try to say something else that might somehow console him. He was never good at these kind of situations. Comforting people was probably Emizel's worst trait. He was more of a pat on the back and a “Hope you feel better” kind of guy rather than comforting someone who was crying.
“There, there,” Emizel said awkwardly, trying to wrack his brain to figure out what Soda or someone else always did whenever he was upset. He tentatively put an arm around Shilo's shoulder, figuring that the other boy had responded well to physical contact before. He rubbed Shilo's back awkwardly.
While looking around for a solution, Emizel's eyes trailed over to where he had dropped his bag on the floor earlier, and then he remembered all the patches that he had painstakingly sewn onto his jacket and the bag.
“Shilo, hey” Emizel's eyes widened as he suddenly had an idea, he pulled away from Shilo for a moment so he could hook his foot around the strap of his bag and pull it up into his lap. “I got this, don't worry, I know how to fix it.”
Shilo's ear twitched in acknowledgement of what Emizel said and he very slowly peeked his eyes over his knees to look at Emizel with concern.
“You do?”
“Mhm,” Emizel hummed, shifting his headphones a little bit as he shouldered off his jacket to bring in his lap.
He used the knife that he had in his bag to break the stitches on one of the newer patches that he had added to his jacket. One that would be big enough to cover the hole in Shilo's cape, and would be strong enough to actually keep the hole from getting bigger. It was one that he had painted of the demon's logo, but he figured Shilo wouldn't care about the design.
It was easy enough to get it off, a few key stitches here and there and it was loose enough that Emizel could pull the thread out through the fabric of the jacket and produce the patch for Shilo to see. When he finished, he chucked his jacket behind him and fished out the needle and thread that he kept in his bag.
“What are you doing?” Shilo asked cautiously in a small voice, watching Emizel curiously.
He still sniffled softly and looked on with worry, but his tears had softened a little bit at the prospect of a solution to his problem.
”It's a patch,“ Emizel said, gesturing to the rest of the patches on his jacket for Shilo to see, ”They fix holes in fabric... Or they can be for decoration if you want. Most of mine are for decoration.”
“Isn't that yours, you need that on your coat?” Shilo looked up, stretching his legs out so he could see what Emizel was doing better. His eyes widened and he looked at Emizel with worry. “You tore it off?”
“Yeah, I had to cut the stitches,” Emizel said, already beginning to thread his needle, the patch resting on the edge of his knee, “It's alright, I can make a new one the next time I get the chance, it's not a big deal. Besides don't you think it'll look cool?“
”But I do not want you to damage your own clothes for mine,” Shilo's ears drooped again like a sad puppy.
”I can make another one, this one wasn't covering up any holes anyway,“ Emizel insisted with a shrug, tentatively reaching out to hook his fingers along the edge of Shilo's coat, watching to see how Shilo would react. He didn't want to do anything without Shilo's permission, but he wanted to help out in whatever way he could. Emizel knew that he was no good at comforting people, but he knew how to solve this issue at least, and maybe that might make Shilo feel a bit lighter.
”Are you sure?“ Shilo's lower lip wobbled and more tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
”Mhm,“ Emizel hummed and nodded. This wouldn't be the first time that he had fixed up someone's shirt anyway. And it definitely wasn't the first time that he had taken a patch off his own jacket for someone else. Soda and he had given each other patches they made all the time.
Emizel was used to patching up clothes, whether it was his own or someone else in the gang. They were all prone to ripping clothes, so they often had patches whether decorative or not somewhere in the headquarters that anyone could use. Scraps of fabric, sewing supplies, and anything else that they might need for some emergency repair job. Emizel always carried a needle and thread with him wherever he went, it just made it easier whenever something happened. And things happened.
Emizel thumbed along the edge of the spool of thread and considered the fabric and the size of the tear in front of him. He tilted his head to the side and thought for a moment, absorbed in his task of repairing Shilo's cape.
“Might have to take it off so I can fix it, I promise I won't do anything to mess it up more,” Emizel swore, his tone serious in a way that he hoped Shilo would believe him. He wouldn't take advantage of Shilo for some joke when he was upset. Emizel at least had a little more compassion than that. Shilo was already in a sensitive enough state tonight, Emizel didn't want to make it worse.
Shilo didn't seem too happy about having to take the cape off. But he sighed softly and nodded slowly, unclasping the delicate gold-colored chain from around his throat, allowing the fabric to slip down his shoulders gently. The silk bunched up behind him, falling softly without so much as a rustle. Emizel's ears twitched from underneath his headphones and he curled the fabric in his lap.
The two of them shifted around a little bit so that Emizel could sit with his back pressed up against the headboard of the bed, and Shilo could lean up against him. Emizel bunched up the silk cape in his lap, allowing a little of it to drape over Shilo's lap, just to allow him a little more comfort without the item around his shoulders. At the same time, Shilo watched carefully, his hands folded in his lap, occasionally curling around the green silk.
Emizel hummed to himself softly, tilting his head to the side as he flipped the cape around to see the damage on the back, and then back to the front just to compare. He wanted to make sure that he wouldn't make anything worse by adding stitches to it. But with the size of his patch compared to the size of the hole, it seemed like it would probably be fine. There was enough good fabric around the edges of the hole, and the patch was big enough to cover the entire burn tear that Emizel figured it would work good enough.
And besides, Emizel didn't think that Shilo would be getting into as much danger as he did, there wasn't as much risk of him ruining his clothes compared to Emizel (who was careless in every way possible). Shilo was a lot softer, a lot more careful, and a lot more hesitant to jump right into a battle. Emizel couldn't think if he had seen Shilo fight at all. He would be pretty impressed if he got to see the scrawny prince throw a punch.
“Do you like the patch facing this way straight on, otherwise I can do it however you like,“ Emizel asked, thinking that he might as well give Shilo some options. It was a pretty visible fix, he wanted to make sure that Shilo even liked it before he started sewing it. It wouldn't be difficult to take off, but Emizel didn't know how much time they had to work before Arthur would drag them out on some mission that neither of them knew the context of.
”I think I like it straight,” Shilo mumbled, reaching out and putting his hand on the back of Emizel's bruised knuckles, tilting the way that he held the patch so that it was straight with the creases of the cape and would line up correctly. He let out a small sigh, a breath that he didn't even need to have exhaled from his lungs. He furrowed his eyebrows.
“Okay, sounds good,” Emizel said, wishing that he also had some pins in his bag so that he could make sure it would stay in place while he was sewing it. He just had to make sure to be really careful not to mess it up. Although he didn't care too much whenever it was on his own jacket, which was covered in enough patches that one of them being a little misaligned wouldn't matter, this would probably be the only patch on Shilo's cape.
Emizel wanted to do it right, he didn't want to make Shilo upset by ruining what he assumed was a treasured garment even more than the fire already had. If he could do his part to make Shilo feel a bit better, he would take off any number of patches from his own jacket to fix the holes in Shilo's.
Shilo sighed softly again and leaned against Emizel's shoulder, allowing his head to drop a little bit. His hair tickled the underside of Emizel's chin as he snuggled a bit closer to the other boy, basking in the familiar and comforting presence of his sibling.
Emizel smiled softly to himself, his headphones digging into his ears a little painfully, but he figured that he could take them off at this point. His hearing had settled a little bit.
With one hand, he took his headphones off, carefully setting them down on the nightstand while he used his other hand to hold the patch in place. Then, Emizel began stitching as carefully as possible, allowing Shilo to sit against his side and watch him intently.
The needle slipped in and out of the fabric, pulling through the soft cotton of the patch that Emizel had chosen, and securing tightly around the remaining good fabric of his cape. It wouldn't fix it exactly the way Shilo would have wanted. It definitely wasn't going to look the same as it was before, and maybe Emizel should've waited until they could get back to the demon's hideout and figure out if they had something that would be closer in color.
It was pretty obvious for Shilo to have a black and red patch right on the edge of his green cape. But Shilo would have said something if he was bothered by it, at least Emizel hoped that he would. The prince was strong-willed enough that he certainly would've expressed something if he didn't like it, a prince wouldn't stand for something. And Emizel figured that since Shilo was snuggled up against his side and allowing him to provide this small act of kindness, he didn't mind all that much.
The texture of the patch rubbed against his fingers as Emizel slid his thumb over it, using his nails to press it a bit tighter against the silk so it didn't move whenever he was sliding the needle up from the bottom of the cape.
It was one of the patches of their demon logo, not the newest edition that they were still workshopping in the hideout, but one of the older designs that Soda and Emizel had worked on in private but had made their own.
They had really only made the two patches with the design, but Emizel knew that they still had the stencil, so he could easily make another one if he really needed to. But the look of it on Shilo's cape made something warm and familiar swell in his chest. The logo of the family that had always been there for him was given to someone who wasn't even part of the demons (but... part of his family nonetheless).
Emizel slid his tongue across his lips and sighed softly just to feel the cold rush of air in his lungs. He shook those thoughts out of his head, he didn't need to be admitting that he felt fondness towards Shilo, or that he cared for the prince at all. He was just another person. Just another vampire.
The cape was almost like a blanket as they draped it over the two of their laps, the faint sound of the TV still playing that same nature documentary that Emizel didn't even know what it was about and the rattling of the air conditioning the only sounds that could be heard. And at least they didn't bother Emizel's ears all that much anymore.
Shilo fidgeted quietly with his hands in his lap, sniffling softly from the remnants of his tears. Emizel wouldn't admit that he relaxed a little bit with Shilo so close. Shilo still smelled like smoke from the fire, but there were the undertones of his scent that were strong enough that it allowed Emizel to relax, the comfort of familiarity (when had Shilo become familiar?) washing over him.
Sewing was familiar, the texture of the fabric beneath his fingers and the needle sliding in and out of the fabric was familiar enough that it calmed Emizel's racing mind. It added a bit of normalcy back into Emizel's unlife, something that he had been struggling with for the past few nights as he tried to adjust to living (or not living) as a vampire the best he could. But this was familiar. This was normal. This is what Emizel knew how to do.
Repairing clothes for family. That was something Emizel had always done (even though it had never been for his blood-related family before, only ever for Soda or the other demons).
It wasn't any different for Shilo, except the realization that Shilo was quickly becoming part of his family definitely was new. But that was something Emizel could unpack later. Now was the time to just focus on the task in front of him and the feeling of Shilo resting his head on his shoulder.