Archive of Our Own

Isack kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, the faint warmth from the glowing lights seeping through his gloves. He took a deep breath, focusing on the expansion and reduction of his lungs. He clenched his fist around the hilt and slowly lifted each finger, stretching out his muscles in his right hand.

Footsteps. Isack opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the man he was sent to kill. Gabriel Bortoleto. He was taller than Isack, long and lean with a soft green glow emanating from his enhancements. Isack scowled at the colour choice.

Shifting along the shadowed rooftops, Isack waited for the perfect moment. A few of Isack’s fellow Gris Jihyua rebels stood nearby, ready to assist him should he call upon them. Isack was positive he wouldn’t.

Gabriel walked up onto the platform. A few armed guards stood at the front, shielding him, but they’d left him open to exposure from behind. Isack smirked and leapt across the rooftops until he was behind Gabriel.

“Good evening, citizens of Gris. Today, we discuss the prospects of making a better world,” Gabriel proclaimed. Isack rolled his eyes. It was the same usual diplomatic spiel, trying to soften everyone’s hearts so they wouldn’t notice the way their world was collapsing around them.

Isack knew that the Grisian Council wanted to make a better world, just not in the way everyone thought. They wanted to burn the current world to the ground. Make a new city out of the ashes of the old one. Like a phoenix.

Isack snarled.

Flicking the sword from its sheath, Isack stalked closer. He inhaled sharply, nodding towards Pepe as the younger man twirled a dagger on the nearest rooftop. A red glow haloed him, and Isack knew a blue one shadowed him. He took another deep breath, eyes closed, before he snapped them open, fixed on Gabriel’s body.

Pepe launched the dagger, distracting the crowd, before sprinting off. Isack took advantage and jumped down, sword elevated above his head. He swung it down towards Gabriel’s head but before the sword could land, Gabriel turned around, metal coating his palms as he caught Isack’s sword.

Isack’s eyes widened as Gabriel wrenched the sword away. Fuck. He ducked under Gabriel’s punch and kicked him in the stomach, shorter blades flicking from his wrists and tearing through his flesh. He slashed at Gabriel, determined to at least get a shot in. Gabriel fought back with ease.

Hands clamped down on his shoulders and Isack snarled, thrashing and trying to get free. More hands joined the previous ones as Gabriel leant down, smirking into Isack’s fury-riddled face. “I pity you,” Gabriel said.

Isack spat, watching with delight as flecks of spit dotted Gabriel’s skin. “I don’t need your fucking pity.” Gabriel smirked, his eyes darkening. Green shadowed his eyes from the small lights he wore on his face, and Isack hated them, wanted to tear them from Gabriel’s flesh and leave him screaming, skin on fire.

Gabriel’s fingers dug into his jaw as he forced Isack to make eye contact. Isack snarled and spat again, missing pathetically. He gasped as he felt his enhancements shutting down, scrambled and hacked. He was being weakened, hijacked. “Let go of me.” Gabriel’s smirk widened.

“You’ll need my pity, Mr. Hadjar.”

--

Isack jolted upright, a scream falling from his lips as his body thrashed. It was dark, he couldn’t see a thing, and the right side of his face was aching, fresh and tender. Something sticky dripped down his face and Isack realised with a ragged breath that his eye was gone. He gouged his fingers into his eye socket, meeting only cool metal and charred edges of his flesh. Blood coated his fingers.

“No. No, no, no,” Isack panicked. Looking up, Isack met the gaze of a black and green clad guard. He waggled an electrojolt at him before turning and walking away, a loud cackle falling from his lips. Isack sank against the wall, energy torn from his body.

Electrojolts weren’t legal, Isack knew that much. They could tear a limb from its body, rend a heart from its chest. As long as there was metal involved, nothing was safe, and Isack’s eye was a newly fitted model 6C20 that allowed him to analyse a body and find the metallic parts within it. And it was gone.

Blackness filled the right side of his vision. He blinked, gagging as blood dripped from the few remaining lashes he had left. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t relax. Everything felt wrong, off, broken. Some intrinsically strong part of him had been taken with the eye, and Isack wasn’t sure what it was. He couldn’t name it. But something was off.

And Isack was determined to find out.

- ☼ -

Gabriel gasped, his eyes wide as he stared at the bruised and bloodied flesh of Isack’s face. “What happened?” He barked, startling the guards. Isack was dropped into a chair, manacled in place, but Gabriel couldn’t tear his eyes away. “What happened to him?” Gabriel asked again.

“We don’t know, sir. We found him like that,” a guard said. Gabriel swallowed thickly before sighing deeply and gesturing for his guards to leave. “Sir, that’s not a good idea.”

“Don’t question my authority ever again. I might not be my father, but I still have command over you, so leave us,” Gabriel snarled. The guards exchanged a look before the leader gestured for them to leave, shooting Gabriel one last glance. Gabriel ignored it.

Once the door had clicked shut, Gabriel crossed to the other side of the desk. He cupped Isack’s face and lifted his head up, staring into the exposed chasm where his eye once was. The blue-hued mechanism was gone, only scorched metal and ragged flesh left behind.

“Who did this to you?” Gabriel whispered. “What happened?” Isack snarled, his left eye flaring with hatred.

“You did this to me. You sent that guard in with a fucking electrojolt, and he took my eye,” Isack snapped. Gabriel felt anger surge within him. Electrojolts were bastardly devices in his opinion, and he wouldn’t let any member of his guard use such a tool. It wasn’t what he wanted.

“I would never allow that,” Gabriel cursed. Isack scoffed, teeth bared.

“Then why did it happen?”

“Because the guards consistently undermine my authority,” Gabriel said dejectedly. He dropped Isack’s head and hitched a leg up, sitting on the edge of the desk. “Because I’m softer than my father and they don’t like it.”

“What do you want from me?” Isack said, sighing wearily. Gabriel felt something in his stomach knot, and he looked away from Isack’s bloodied face. It hurt him.

“I want you to be my bodyguard. My personal one,” Gabriel said. Isack made a noise and Gabriel turn to meet his gaze once more. “I mean it. I know what you’re capable of, and your links with the rebels will help me.”

“I’m not betraying the Gris Jihyua,” Isack hissed. Gabriel sighed and shook his head. He didn’t want that either. He wanted to honour the Jihyua and their demands. He wanted to make the world a genuinely better place. Not through razing the land to the ground and rebuilding it from the ashes, but through honest hard work and dedication.

“You have two choices, Isack. You play my guard and live to see another day. Or I let my father torture you,” Gabriel said. He knew Isack was smart, smarter than Gabriel’s father had given him credit for, but he wasn’t sure if Isack would pick the right choice. Isack cursed and shook his head before looking up, his left eye glinting with determination.

“I’ll need a sword.”

- ☼ -

Isack stared at the writhing mass of crowds, all clambering over and pushing past each other to get to the front, to get closer to hearing the words Gabriel Bortoleto had to say. It was pathetic, and Isack couldn’t help the scoff that fell from his lips.

Settled at the back of the stage, Isack looked around for his fellow rebels, for any potential assassins. It didn’t take him long to find Pepe, his red glow and his signature daggers alerting Isack to his presence. His heart clenched at the sight of his best friend, his almost brother, but he willed himself to look away, to look for more familiar faces.

A flash of baby blue that Isack knew was Jack. Pink and gold spirals that Isack associated with Liam. Tender white hues that signalled Kimi was nearby, and a pulsing black and red light that was surely Ollie.

It was like all of the rebels were there, hoping to catch a glimpse of their potentially dead friend, of Isack. It was only marginally surprising that Yuki’s incandescent purple glow wasn’t there too.

Isack knew they’d feel betrayed, hurt by seeing him supposedly on Gabriel’s side, but he had no way to signal that he hadn’t switched sides, hadn’t betrayed them. He’d have to speak to them, but he wasn’t sure he could. Gabriel could very well intercept his attempts at communication for all Isack knew.

Or interact with them.

Isack shook his head, focusing on the crowd before him. A glimmer of gold, different to Liam’s, caught Isack’s eye and he flicked his gaze over, noticing the gun trained at Gabriel’s head. His hand strayed to the hilt of his sword, the one Gabriel had returned to him, polished and shining. He took a deep breath, sole eye fixed on the indistinct shape that was the unidentified gunman.

“Good evening, citizens of Gris. Today I would like to talk about electrojolts,” Gabriel said. Isack’s heart stuttered and he stared at Gabriel from the corner of his eye. He wasn’t expecting this conversation, and something dangerous surged up in his gut, corrosive and unyielding.

Isack shifted his attention back to the gunman, drowning out Gabriel’s speech. He saw the second the bullet fired, and he waited, each second ticking by at a snail’s pace. He waited until the bullet was mere inches away from Gabriel’s face before he flicked his sword free. He swung it through the air, catching the bullet in its path. It dropped with a loud tinker, the whole crowd silent.

Turning to look at Gabriel, Isack blushed softly. Gabriel was wide-eyed, the lights on his face glimmering with anxiety, and Isack’s sword was brushing the tip of his nose. No damage had been done, but Isack had let the bullet get close. Too close.

Isack dropped his sword and ensheathed it, taking his place at the back of the stage once more. Gabriel remained frozen for a few moments before he cleared his throat, adjusted his tie, and moved closer to the microphone once more.

Gabriel continued on with his speech, shooing away his father’s guards who insisted he leave the stage, but Isack didn’t pay attention. He kept his gaze fixed on the crowds, on any glints of light or weaponry that weren’t Jihyuan in nature. He didn’t see anything. The other rebel factions had learnt that today wasn’t theirs.

Isack knew Gabriel was going to be furious with him. It’d taken him too long to react to the bullet, more than it should’ve. He’d waited until the last moment when he could’ve acted sooner. He’d been stupid, but a small part of him surged with a Jihyuan pride. He wasn’t going to play eager puppet under Gabriel’s hands.

Not if he could help it.

- ☼ -

Gabriel stormed through the halls of his family’s mansion, the lights on his face dotting and blinking in time to his rapidly beating heart. Isack was silently following after him, fingers tucked into the handhold of a dagger. He twirled it back and forth, a repetitive pattern that Gabriel couldn’t decipher the meaning or the routine of.

When the door to Gabriel’s study had been quietly close behind them both, Gabriel spun around, anger and fury radiating off him in waves. Isack stared at him, blank and impassive, his one gleaming with mischief. It was taunting.

“You were nearly too late,” Gabriel said. Isack smiled, huffing in amusement.

“Keyword: nearly,” Isack responded. Gabriel glared at him, but Isack didn’t seem phased. He just smiled and shrugged, fingers once more deftly twirling the dagger. Gabriel reached out and curled his hand around Isack’s, ignoring the stinging sensation of the dagger catching his skin.

“If you wanted to get me killed, failing to defend me won’t work,” Gabriel said. He lifted Isack’s hand to his neck, pressing the blade of the dagger to his skin. “If you want to kill me, do it now,” Gabriel whispered, voice low and husky.

Isack’s hand trembled and Gabriel smirked, nestling further into the blade. It snagged, carefully pricking his skin. No blood beaded, but Gabriel knew it was close to pushing through the surface. Isack released the dagger, and it clattered to the floor, but Gabriel didn’t let go of Isack’s hand, he just held him close, still smirking.

“Coward,” Gabriel whispered. Isack snarled and pushed him backwards, snatching up his dagger and slipping it into the sheath. It glowed with a faint red hue as the sheath locked into place around the blade and Gabriel tilted his head. “It’s red… you use blue.”

“What are you talking about?” Isack said.

“Your dagger. The sheath glowed red when it locked. All your weapons are blue, but this one isn’t,” Gabriel said. Isack sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was hiding the truth of the dagger from him. Gabriel knew all at once that it belonged to a member of the Gris Jihyua. A friend… or a lover. “It’s related to why you twirl the blade in a certain pattern, right?”

Isack sighed, rubbing a hand down his face before unsheathing the dagger once more. He laid it flat over both palms and held it in front of Gabriel’s eyes. Gabriel studied it, intrigued. Intricate embroidery floated over the hilt of the dagger, flowers and lacing knotted together in tiny lines. Each minute detail was sharp and firm, and Gabriel admired the attention. It glowed faintly red, and the blade had been polished to such perfection, Gabriel could see his own face reflected in it.

“It’s beautiful,” Gabriel said, awestruck. Isack curled his hand around the hilt and tucked it back in its sheath. He met Gabriel’s gaze and smiled.

“Thank you. I designed it for a friend. He uses red lights so… I’ll probably never get to give it to him, though,” Isack sighed. Gabriel frowned, eyebrows tucking together.

“Why not?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Isack said, bristling. Gabriel mentally prepared himself for another argument, another spat. He didn’t want it, but something in Isack made him switch to anger so easily and Gabriel wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.

“Can you not send them word on how you’re doing?” Gabriel explained. Isack turned to face him, eyebrows furrowed.

“You’d let me?”

“Of course I would!” Gabriel explained. “They’re your family, your friends! And… I don’t think the Gris Jihyua are really all that bad,” Gabriel murmured. That last part was the dangerous truth that had wormed its way into his heart and settled there. The Gris Jihyua, and most other rebel factions, weren’t bad. They were passionate.

And passion was something that the world lacked.

His father tried to make up for it with all the glowing lights, the waves of enhancements being produced that everyday citizens could get, the talks of reshaping the world. But Gabriel knew there was no passion behind it, no love.

The world needed the Gris Jihyua, and Gabriel was determined to give them the pedestal they needed, the pedestal they deserved.

“Take the night off. Talk to your friends. Assure them you are safe, you are not an enemy,” Gabriel said.

“Are you sure?” Isack said. He bit his lower lip before sighing and shaking his head. “Why am I asking that? I should just take the offer and run.”

“You can go. On one condition,” Gabriel said. Isack tensed, shoulders drawing up, and Gabriel felt bad. He shouldn’t tease Isack, but he found it easy and fun. The older man needed to learn how to cheer up and laugh once in a while, and Gabriel was determined to make it happen.

“What condition?” Isack asked.

“Teach me how to use a sword.”

- ☼ -

Isack pressed his hand to the censor, surprised when it beeped, a green light flashing to affirm he was allowed to enter. Pulling the door open, Isack carefully crept inside. He might’ve been allowed in, but that didn’t mean it was safe. Anyone could be waiting for him, weapon drawn.

Voices down the hall had Isack stilling and it was only after registering Chloe’s bright tone and Arvid’s sharp accent that Isack relaxed. He walked towards them, footsteps dim, and peeked his head around the door.

“I hope no one missed me too much,” Isack said. Both turned before Chloe was launching across the kitchen counter, her gun pressed to Isack’s forehead. Arvid was behind him, his knife pressed to Isack’s neck.

“Bastard,” Arvid hissed. Isack raised his hands in surrender. He had no weapons bar the blades burrowed into his forearms, and he hadn’t drawn them, refused to. Chloe looked him over before nodding and stepping back. New footsteps sounded down the hall and Isack could barely turn before Yuki was on him, fists in his shirt.

“You think you can just rock up here after betraying us like that?” Yuki snarled. The doorframe dug into Isack’s back, but he didn’t fight, didn’t squirm. He just let Yuki keep him pinned. He smiled and gestured vaguely towards the stronghold’s front door.

“It let me,” Isack said. Yuki’s eyebrows furrowed and he flitted his gaze towards the door before looking back at Isack. Isack smiled and raised his eyebrows, tilting his head to one side briefly. “I’m guessing it wasn’t supposed to.”

“Arvid, go and get Pepe now,” Yuki hissed before turning his attention back to Isack once the younger boy had left. He tightened his grip, pressing Isack back against the doorframe even more. “Why did you come back?”

“Because I didn’t betray you,” Isack said. Yuki relaxed momentarily and Isack took his chance. He wrapped his legs around Yuki’s back and swung them around, pressing Yuki into the doorframe before he pushed off, flipping backwards and landing in a crouch. Chloe’s gun followed his every movement.

“He’s… I think he’s telling the truth, Yuki,” Chloe said. Her hand wavered before she flipped the safety back on, slipping the gun down the back of her jeans. Yuki straightened himself up when Isack did, before the two stood facing each other once more.

“I didn’t betray you guys. Gabriel employed me, saved me from torture under his father’s hands. He doesn’t know anything about you guys, I promise,” Isack said. Yuki’s jaw was shaking, his teeth clattering together in his mouth as fury overtook him. “I mean it. He wants the best for the country, I think.”

“A week with these bastards, and you’re already thinking like them!” Yuki shouted, producing a glowing purple wakizashi from behind his back. Isack raised his hands in surrender again. Chloe flicked her eyes back and forth, cautious yet patient.

“What’s going on?” It was Pepe, Arvid right behind him. Isack met his gaze, watching the younger man’s eyes widen, tears welling in their brown depths. He darted forward and curled his arms Isack’s shoulders, a sigh of relief falling from his lips. “Isack…”

“He betrayed us, Pepe. As did you. What were you thinking not removing his handprint from the door censor?” Yuki snarled. Pepe detached himself from Isack and turned to meet Yuki’s gaze. He blocked Isack’s vision, so he couldn’t see what was going on, but he knew it wasn’t pretty. Once Yuki got upset, he really got upset.

“He didn’t. I… I hacked into Gabriel’s watch and listened in on it periodically one day. Gabriel… he wants to help us. Ally with us. Isack had no choice, Yuki, you have to understand,” Pepe pleaded. Isack froze, fear and confusion rushing through his brain in equal measure. Pepe had listened in? Gabriel had said all of that?

“What?” Yuki said, breathless. Pepe pulled out his phone, sliding the projection censor up until a visible soundwave could be seen. He tapped a few buttons before Gabriel’s voice rang out, sharp and clear.

“We should trust the Gris Jihyua, father. They have good ideas, and clearly, they also have good means,” the recording sounded out. It was undoubtedly Gabriel’s voice, as melodic and enchanting as Isack knew it to be. He shook his head. No, he was not thinking about Gabriel like that.

“Are you forgetting that one of them tried to assassinate you, Gabi? The same one that you now wield as your bodyguard, lest I remind you of that. Were my bodyguards not good enough?”

“Considering I had to lay my hands on Isack myself, no, they were not,” Gabriel said, his voice clipped and curt. Isack felt a warmth of pride surge through him. He’d overheard many such conversations, and each time Gabriel defended himself, it made Isack happy. It was a defiance he’d never expected.

“Oh whatever. I won’t have you off gallivanting with rebels, Gabriel. I’m already disappointed in your lack of interest in women,” Gabriel’s father said. A gasp rippled around the stronghold kitchen and Isack cursed under his breath, a small ‘bastard’ falling from his lips.

The sound bite ended, and Pepe tucked his phone in his pocket. No one moved or said anything. Yuki was frozen, hand still curled around the hilt of wakizashi. Chloe had her hands to her mouth, and even Arvid was wide eyed, a faint pinkish hue tinting his brown cheeks.

“Do you understand now why I didn’t boot Isack from our systems?” Pepe said. Yuki coughed and cleared his throat. He tucked his blade down the sheath on his back before crossing the room and taking Isack into his arms. Isack tensed before melting into the touch, his fingers settling on Yuki’s shoulder blades.

“I’ve missed you,” Yuki whispered. Isack hummed, unable to respond. Tears were pricking in his eye, and he didn’t want them to drip and fall, to sink into the mesh of Yuki’s clothing. He wanted to be strong.

“I’m okay, I promise,” Isack managed to say, his voice trembling and shaky. Yuki tightened his hold before pulling back, smiling gently. A hint of mischief tinted his dark eyes, and Isack prepared himself for the onslaught of questions coming his way. Chloe stepped forward and opened her mouth, speaking before Yuki could.

“Is the Bortoleto mansion really as lavish as they say it is?”

- ☼ -

Gabriel held his hand up, shielding his eyes from the harsh glaring of the sun. It was sweltering, and he’d long since abandoned his blazer, rolled up his cuffs and popped two buttons of his shirt undone.

The sight before him wasn’t helping him to cool off.

Isack was shirtless, taut muscles rippling as he worked through a series of sword strokes. Each one was clean and precise, the gleaming silver metal of his blade slicing through the air and casting a smattering of rainbow reflections off the ground.

His skin was shiny with sweat, broad chest rising and falling as he measured his breathing, slow and patient. He routinely clenched and flexed his fingers around the hilt of his blade, and Gabriel felt heat forming in his stomach, thick and wanting. Desirous. He blushed and pulled back from the railing, sitting down in his chair.

Gabriel let out a shaky sigh. He couldn’t be feeling like this. His father already hated his queerness, hated the fact that he loved men and only men. He wouldn’t react well to learning that Gabriel had feelings for Isack, for a member of the Gris Jihyuan. He would have to suppress it, but the rebellious part of him, the part that longed for freedom, rooted itself in place. It refused to shift or budge, to change. He couldn’t suppress it even if he tried.

Gabriel felt sick.

Standing up, he leant over the railing once more, watching Isack stop and take a break, his strew held to his lips. “Isack!” Gabriel called. Isack’s eye widened and he turned to meet Gabriel’s gaze, squinting against the sunlight.

“Gabriel?” Isack called back. Gabriel smiled and clambered up onto the balcony, swinging his legs back and forth as he stared at the older man. His hair was stuck to his forehead, matted with sweat, and Gabriel wanted to push his fingers through it, roughen it up. He shifted forward on the balcony until he was standing on the wrong side, feet barely stable. “What are you doing?”

“Catch me?” Gabriel asked, a smirk on his face. Isack’s face morphed into an expression of confusion and Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh, bright and happy.

“Why?”

“I believe you promised to teach me how to use a sword.”

- ☼ -

Isack couldn’t think straight, mind consumed with thoughts only of one Gabriel Bortoleto. Gabriel had jumped into his arms off that balcony with an efficient ease that made Isack wonder how many times he’d done it before. And when Gabriel had started stripping his shirt off, Isack’s pants had gotten significantly tighter.

He needed to focus. Gabriel was currently swinging Isack’s sword about like a lunatic, and Isack needed to stop him before he hurt himself. Catching Gabriel’s wrist, Isack stopped his movements. “What? I was just having fun.”

“You would’ve hurt yourself if you carried on. Let me show you the proper sword strokes you need to use,” Isack said. He took the sword from Gabriel’s grip and slowly made his way through the routine Yuki had taught him, carefully explaining each and every step. Handing the sword back, Isack shot Gabriel a smile. “There. Now you try.”

Gabriel started off well but immediately started making more mistakes, the sword threatening to fly from his grip with each swing. Isack stepped up and stopped him. “That was really bad, wasn’t it?”

“The start was very strong,” Isack said.

“Can you try guiding my hands? It’ll be easier than way, I think,” Gabriel said. He was batting his lashes, all sweet and coy, and Isack melted. Positioning himself behind Gabriel’s taller frame, Isack gently wrapped his hand around Gabriel’s wrist.

“Take a deep breath with me,” Isack instructed, “and then…” Isack trailed off, letting the movements of his arm guide Gabriel’s. Their skin was flush together, sweaty and sticky, but Isack found it didn’t distract him like it had prior. The feeling of moving the sword allowed him to breathe, to relax.

“It seems so easy when you do it,” Gabriel huffed. Isack chuckled, releasing Gabriel’s wrist and stepping back. He flexed his biceps, feeling the small plates of metal shifting within them. Gabriel blushed softly and Isack dropped his arms, suddenly shy.

“It’s an enhancement I got. There’s, um, metal in my arms. It helps me to move them quicker and prevent cramping and stuff,” Isack explained. Gabriel perked up at that.

“I helped make that! I’m glad it worked so well!” Gabriel exclaimed. Isack ducked his head, a fond smile on his face. Gabriel had often gone on tangents about his enhancement work, and Isack had found it fascinating. And also insanely attractive, but Isack hadn’t voiced that praise out loud. “Wait, was your right eye also an enhancement?”

“It was,” Isack said. He reached up, gently pressing his fingers against the cool metal of his eyepatch. It glowed blue and despite the fact that there was nothing in his eye socket anymore, Isack still swore he could see the lights from his right eyes.

Maybe he was losing his mind.

“It’s a shame its gone now. Will you ever replace it?” Gabriel asked. He’d stepped closer whilst Isack was musing, gently tracing his fingers over Isack’s eyepatch, dropping down to smooth over Isack’s plump cheek.

“I don’t think so. I’ve adapted to the blindness now,” Isack whispered, voice hoarse and dull in his throat. Gabriel’s fingers were so soft, so tender. Isack wanted to lean into them.

So he did.

“Gabi?” A voice called. The two jolted apart, Gabriel’s hand dropping to his thigh whilst Isack busied himself with his sword, half-heartedly analysing it for any stains or damages. They’d not done anything to affect the blade, but Gabriel’s father didn’t need to know that.

“Father, hi.”

“What’s going on here?” Gabriel’s father said, eyes flicking back and forth between the two. Isack dropped his gaze, fixing it on the faintly pulsing glow of his sword. He didn’t want to say anything, couldn’t say anything. Anything he said would be used against him, Isack knew that much.

“Isack was teaching me how to use a sword,” Gabriel said. Isack saw his feet shift and knew he was getting antsy, desperate to dash to safety.

“Why?”

“Because I asked him too!” Gabriel protested. “I figured I’d better learn as many weapons as I can so I can learn how to defend against them,” Gabriel explained. Isack lifted his head up, smiling at Gabriel slightly. Gabriel’s father huffed, pinching at the bridge of his nose.

“I wish you’d pursue better interests,” Gabriel’s father said before turning and stalking off. “We have a meeting in ten minutes. Clean up,” he called over his shoulder. Once his footsteps were no longer audible, Isack approached Gabriel, wary.

“He’s awful,” Gabriel cried, tears sliding down his cheeks. Isack shushed him, pulling him in for a hug, fingers soothing through his black hair. “I hate him!”

“It’s okay. He can’t hurt you if I’m here,” Isack muttered. He meant it. He’d defend Gabi until he was blue in the face, until his body was bloated in death. Isack paused. Gabi. He’d referred to Gabriel as Gabi. That was something his father did, and Isack didn’t want to be like Gabriel’s father. Never.

“Isack?” Gabriel questioned, voice shaky. He pulled back, damp eyes meeting Isack’s dry one. “You won’t like… leave me, will you?” Isack gulped. Gabriel’s eyes were swimming with hurt and pain, grief and agony. Isack knew in that moment that he could never. Not unless Gabriel asked him to.

“Never.”

- ☼ -

Gabriel sat upright, panting as sweat coated his skin, thick and sticky. He blinked sharply, taking in his surroundings. It was just his bedroom, thankfully. Isack was still asleep on his small mattress, curled up in an adorable ball.

Without thinking it through, Gabriel swung his legs out of the bed and stood up, crossing over to Isack. He sighed and sat down next to the older man, legs tucked underneath him. Gently brushing a finger across Isack's skin, Gabriel thought about how sweet Isack was, how much he treasured the Gris Jihyua, even if he never spoke about them much. How he’d been nothing but patient as he guided Gabriel through each phase of the sword practice. It warmed him more than any fire ever could.

A hand clamped around his wrist. The world blurred around him before Gabriel found himself on his back, Isack’s weight pinning him down. He snarled until he realised Gabriel was underneath him and he lifted up, face relaxing.

“Fuck, sorry,” Isack panted. “You okay?”

“I think so,” Gabriel breathed. He sat up, smiling brightly as he met Isack’s gaze before they both started laughing, loud and boisterous. Gabriel fell forward, resting his body half against Isack’s as he tried to regain his breathing.

Eventually the laughter quietened and the two exchanged a look, tender and wanting. Gabriel shifted closer, eyelids dropping, but Isack pressed his fingers to Gabriel’s mouth, stopping him. Gabriel frowned and pulled back, an apology falling from his lips.

“Gabi… why did you wake me up?” Isack asked. “Because if it’s for something physical, I’m not interested. I don’t do casual, okay?”

“Isack, no! I,” Gabriel swallowed, “I had a nightmare. About– wait… you called me Gabi?” Gabriel watched the blush spread across Isack’s cheeks. Cotton candy pink, and Gabriel wanted to take more than one bite.

“Sorry, it just slipped out,” Isack mumbled.

“No, it’s okay! I’ve only ever heard that from my father but… it sounds nicer when you say it. I like it when you say it,” Gabriel said. It was true. It sounded sweeter on Isack’s tongue.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Isack said. “But, um, you said something about a nightmare?” Isack yawned, his hand covering his mouth. He muttered a soft apology and Gabriel giggled, taking Isack’s hand into his.

“Yes, I had a nightmare. Will you sleep in my bed with me?” Gabriel asked. Isack blushed and wrenched his hand free, eyes wide. “Please? You promised that nothing would hurt me if you were around,” Gabriel pouted. He ducked his head and peeked up at Isack through his lashes. Isack’s blush thickened, strawberry cute, before he sighed and stood up, offering his hand to Gabriel.

“Let’s go then.”

- ☼ -

Isack woke, eye sticky with sleep dust. He dragged a knuckle across his eye to clear it before he tried to move, unsuccessfully. He panicked, worried his enhancements had shut down and left him unable to walk, until he turned and saw black hair. Memories flooded back and he blushed, body tensing as heat washed through his system.

The near kiss. Gabi’s fingers on his skin. They way Gabi had fallen against him as he’d laughed, the loudest and most carefree Isack had ever seen him. The fact that Isack couldn’t stop calling him Gabi.

The fact that Gabi liked it.

Isack shook his head and gently wiggled his way out from underneath Gabi’s soft body. He stood up and stretched, real bone and metal binding popping and clinking. When he turned around, Isack’s heart leapt into his throat.

Gabi looked stunning in the faint morning light. His black hair was tousled atop his head, soft and flowing yet rumpled by sleep. His skin was puffy, lashes gentle atop his cheeks, and his lips were parted softly, tender breaths slipping forth. The lights on his face were muted and dull, pulsing faintly. He looked gorgeous and Isack wished he had his 6C20 still so he could learn the exact angle and bend of Gabi’s body.

In that moment, Isack knew something had to change. Padding over to Gabriel’s desk, Isack fished around for some paper and a pen. When he found the materials, he wrote a short simple letter, placed it where Gabi would see it, and set about getting changed.

He couldn’t stay near Gabi anymore.

- ☼ -

Gabriel read the words over and over, a headache pounding at his temples. The lights built into his skin were blinking rapidly in time with his thundering heartbeat and without thinking, he tore them from his skin, ignoring the fiery pain that built there instead, exposed wires poking through the gaps in his flesh. Blood thundered down his cheeks and splattered on the page, blurring the words Isack had written.

He'd left. Abandoned his post as Gabriel’s guard not even a full day after promising to never leave. Gabriel felt anxiety and betrayal twist uncomfortably in his gut. It was jarring, disconcerting, sickening. Gabriel leant over the edge of the bed and wretched, vomit splattering the floor.

Falling back against the bedsheets with a weary sigh, Gabriel sobbed. Tears flooded down his cheeks and he couldn’t stop them. Didn’t know if he ever could. The tears were painful, biting into the exposed flesh on his skin. They burnt, but Gabriel didn’t wipe them away. They were something to feel, something to remind him he was human.

Gabriel wasn’t sure he liked the idea of being human anymore.

- ☼ -

Isack choked on a gasp as he watched Gabi walk onto the stage. His shoulders were slumped, eyes dark with sleeplessness, and stitches dotted his skin. His lights were gone, the green replaced by medicinal silver.

Isack hated it.

“Woah, what happened to him?” Pepe whispered. He shifted, dagger clenched in his right fist like usual. Isack swallowed and shook his head, shrugging softly.

“No clue,” Isack responded. A glint of black-hued light had them turning and they both cursed as they saw the shimmering green that accompanied it. Not Ollie then. Isack unsheathed his sword, holding it close to his chest. Pepe had produced a second dagger, ready should his first one not return to him.

The enemy figure produced a weapon and Isack nudged Pepe. He heard the faint mechanical whirring of Pepe’s 3C21 enhancement as it zoomed in, eye trying to capture minute details. Pepe cursed and turned to meet Isack, his eyes normal once more.

“Gun.”

“Gabi’s father must’ve sent someone to pick him off. He’s not…” Isack trailed off. Pepe hummed in understanding. “We need to stop it.”

“You protect Gabriel, I’ll go get the assassin,” Pepe said. Isack agreed, watching Pepe stalk off, his red lights dimming as he willed his heartbeat to settle. It was a trick Yuki had taught them, something to suppress the blinding lights that followed their heartbeat.

Isack turned his attention back to Gabi, watching the most beautiful man he’d ever seen present a speech like each and every word that fell from his lips was draining him of life. Maybe it was. Isack didn’t know what was happening in that mansion anymore. He hated that.

He couldn’t believe he’d walk out on Gabi like that, mere hours after promising to stay with him. Isack shook his head and focused on the figure of Gabi before him once more, desires filling his brain. Incomprehensible fluff that mottled his thoughts and left him unfocused.

Red flashed, a dagger embedding near his feet, and Isack looked up, meeting Pepe’s gaze. He gestured to the building behind Gabi, the same one Isack had stood on mere weeks ago, sword ready to strike down the man who he was rather tragically falling in love with.

Isack darted over. He slunk into the same hiding spot as before. Pepe was sneaking up on the gunman now, and before either of them could signal to the other, the gunman shot. Isack dropped down, a plume of purple smoke filling his vision mere seconds later.

Yuki.

“Gabi, it’s me, come on,” Isack said. He pushed through the smog and found Gabi’s arm.

“Isack?” Gabi whined. Isack shushed him as he helped him off the stage, careful of the steps and the many guards who could switch sides. Once they were off the stage, Isack urged Gabriel into a run. “Where are we going?” Gabi whined weakly.

“Gris Jihyua stronghold,” Isack responded. Gabi coughed, the sound sharp yet weary, and Isack knew he was too weak to make the journey on foot. He skidded to a stop and turned, halting Gabi in his path. “Let me carry you.”

“What?” Gabi panted.

“Let me carry you. You’re not in any state to run, and it’s too unsafe to stay here,” Isack said. Gabi shyly gestured for Isack to go ahead and Isack carefully hoisted Gabi in his arms before cradling him to his chest. “We’ll make it there safe, I promise,” Isack said. Gabi coughed weakly before smiling, faint and tender. It made Isack’s heart stutter.

“I know we will, Isack. I trust you.”

- ☼ -

Gabriel grunted as he sat up. His strength was still returning, but it was going quicker thanks to the delicious foods Isack fed him. When asked, Isack had said the food was made by the leader of the Gris Jihyua, Yuki Tsunoda. He was the one who’d thrown the purple smoke bomb onto the stage, allowing Isack and Gabriel to get away unscathed.

Gabriel had yet to meet him.

A soft knock sounded at the door and Gabriel recognised it as Isack immediately. “Come in!” He called. The door opened and Isack poked his head round, a soft smile on his face when he met Gabriel’s grin.

“Gabi. How are you feeling?” Isack asked. Gabriel shrugged before patting the bed beside him. Isack crossed and sat diligently, careful not to jostle Gabriel’s still recovering body. It was sweet, and before Gabriel knew what he was doing, he was cupping Isack’s face and pressing their lips together.

Isack made a noise of surprise before he melted into the kiss, his fingers curling in the front of Gabriel’s shirt. He pulled him closer and hummed delightfully. Gabriel couldn’t help but sigh in relief, fingers relaxing their grip on Isack’s jaw.

When they parted, Isack’s eye was wide and sparkling, hearts practically swimming in the haze of brown. Isack was stunning, and Gabriel was happy to fall into rebel hands if it meant he got to kiss Isack. Shifting, he pushed Isack to lay back and clambered into his lap, trusting that Isack would treat him with care.

“I’m feeling better now that you’re here.”