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“Wait, are we counting up or down?”
“Down, down, we’re counting down.”
“Okay, okay. 3... 2... 1...”
“Go!”
Sprinting through the dark, the two vampires made a beeline for the audience, however the spectators got in the best shot they had at getting out. It took no time for them to climb up the side of the pit, swinging over the railings and easily landing in the spectator stands above. The multitudes of people present made a good distraction for whoever was tasked with stopping them, letting the boys blend into the crowd and lose their pursuers even if they struggled to find the exit. Taking a moment to scan their surroundings, Emizel was grateful for the comically large glowing exit sign placed right above the entrance, steamrolling through the audience to get there and not turning back to see if his sire was still following. It was ultimately the Fang’s decision whether he ran or not, even if the Demon did try to convince him, and judging by the yelling over the loudspeakers, Emizel didn’t have the time to check if the other actually stuck to the plan.
The moment he managed to squeeze past the crowd and through the exit, the Demon crashed head first into what felt like a wall, only to look up and see a ghoul that they probably placed for security blocking the way. Still reeling from the crash, Emizel saw a large fist hurling straight at him, aiming for his face, and he barely reacted in time to duck out of the way. The force of the swing seemed to throw the large ghoul off balance, and Emizel took no time to land a hit straight through its jaw while it’s distracted, causing the hulking figure to stumble backwards even more. Hearing footsteps rushing closer, he made quick work of the ghoul, throwing another punch square in the nose just hard enough for it to lose consciousness, before dashing up the steps of the staircase leading above ground. Hearing the footsteps following close behind and the commotion happening in the mud pit below, urgency gnawed at him to get out of there, and Emizel had no reason to not comply.
A rush of cold wind hit his face the moment he emerged above ground, but Emizel was too focused on the two guards outside to take notice, catching them by surprise by immediately hitting them both in the face at the same time, one of them crashing into the ground unconscious while the other stumbled back from the shock. The Demon’s eyes widened when he caught sight of something lighting up and the crackling of electricity coming from whatever the guard pulled out, taking a few steps back as he readied himself for the next attack.
“It’s supposed to be for the ghouls but I’ll always use this bad boy whenever I can.”
“You know tasers don’t last that long, right? It stuns for like five seconds, trust me, I know.”
“Of course I know that. But this one isn’t like the rest. One shock would probably kill you.”
The guard grins despite blood running down his face and Emizel swears that there’s no way the dude’s weapon was legal. Not having the time to dwell on it too much with the guard charging towards him, Emizel prepared to dodge only to watch as the guy tripped over his colleague and landed face first in the pavement, the weapon thrown out of his grip and sliding across the ground. Without missing a beat, the Demon swiped up the weapon and turned it against him, knocking the guard out before straightening up and catching his breath, fiddling with the taser in his grip. It was a little too late when he registered hasty footsteps emerging from the exit behind him, immediately turning around and tasing whoever approached before he could even see who it was.
“What the fu-AARGGHH!”
The figure collapses on the ground at Emizel’s feet and only then does the vampire realise that the person who rushed out was his sire, the Fang unconscious and eating dirt. He honestly thought Gabriel changed his mind last minute when he didn’t see the other at all while fighting, but clearly the sight before him proved him wrong. Uttering a curse, the Demon nudged Gabriel with his foot to see if the other really was knocked out, only to mutter another expletive at the lack of reply.
“Goddammit, Gabe...”
Emizel considered leaving his sire behind for half a second, contemplating whether the other really was dead just like the guard said he would be. It was hard to tell when you couldn’t exactly check for breathing or a heartbeat, but the Demon decided that surely his sire wasn’t one to go down that easily. Sighing and hauling him up over his shoulder, Emizel continued his escape, dragging the Fang with him and pocketing the taser. They’ve gotten too far to turn back now and they did have a deal, so it didn’t really seem fair to just leave him and run. The Demon would never admit that part of the reason he took his sire along was because the other was starting to grow on him — the bantering between them too much like his own crew — brushing it off as just needing insider information on whatever Edward and the Weylin twins were doing. Despite the added weight definitely slowing him down, Emizel was still fast enough to vacate the premises before any more guards left the building, giving him a head start as he navigated through the streets.
Figuring that getting up onto higher ground would raise their chances of escape, Emizel tried to find a way to scale up a building with unconscious dead weight with him. The most rational decision was probably to find some sort of fire escape or an abandoned building with stairs that led to the roof, but with Edward’s goons probably hot on their tails and not enough time to find something like that, Emizel settled with just crawling up the side of a building Spiderman style. The Demon racked his brain for some sort of way to carry his sire with him, wishing that the other would just wake up already even though the Fang’s current state was entirely his fault. Dropping Gabriel down onto the pavement, Emizel grumbled under his breath as he shrugged off his jacket, his only idea to use it to tie his sire to him so that the other wouldn’t fall off mid-climb. Hoisting his sire up into a piggyback, Emizel struggled to secure the guy on his back with his jacket, cursing with each failure and wondering if this really was the best idea he had. Patience wearing thin, he tried not to think about how this was more effort than it was worth, swearing that he’ll make the other pay for this somehow and finally managing to tie the Fang to him just enough so that he wouldn’t fall.
Emizel took a moment to regain his composure and to quickly heal whatever was broken, realising that scaling a wall with an unconscious body tied to him was difficult enough without the injuries. The alley he was in was just small enough to miss if they were searching, but he needed to work quickly if he wanted to escape and find a place to hide before the Sun rose. Another curse leaving his tongue, the Demon sharpened his nails and felt the side of the brick building for grooves he could hold on to, before finding his footing and starting to climb upwards. Using the metal pipes and growing weeds for support, it was surprisingly not as hard as he imagined it would be with dead weight messing with his balance, scaling up the wall with ease.
Of course, fate has a cruel way of messing with him and Emizel wanted to smack himself for jinxing it when he felt the body behind him stir, exasperation bleeding into his features as he slowed down his ascent. He was halfway up the three-storey building when the other started to shift around behind him, and fuck it if he fell right now.
“Oh my god, you just had to choose this time to wake up, didn’t you? I always knew you had shit timing.”
Emizel hissed as his sire started to regain consciousness, whether the other heard him or not none of his concern as he held onto the brick wall for dear life. He did wish for the Fang to wake up soon just moments ago, but this was such bad timing that maybe it was better if the guy never woke up at all. Gabriel — seemingly registering his voice — stirred even more, prying his eyes open with a disconcerted frown plastered across his face, not that Emizel could see it when his eyes were shut, feeling a headache gnawing at his brain. He half wondered if this was how Arthur felt whenever he and Shilo went around doing stupid shit, and he made a mental note that he would probably forget about being a little nicer to Arthur when he saw him again.
“Ugh... what? What the hell, where am I—”
“Shut the fuck up and stop struggling unless you want the both of us to fall.”
Gabriel’s attention snapped over to the Demon, immediately struggling despite just being told not to. He finds himself awkwardly tied to the other, as if whoever tied them just gave up and did whatever. It took a while for him to break out of the instinctual fight or flight response that seized him when he regained consciousness, and the Fang took a couple seconds to register what Emizel said before, scanning his surroundings to get a better grasp of the situation he woke up to before settling down when he saw the drop below.
“Mind telling me what the fuck is going on right now?”
“Running away, remember? Then you got electrocuted and passed out so I had to drag you along.”
“Huh. Kinda surprised you didn’t just leave me there.”
“...consider it payback for not finishing me off when we first met.”
Emizel felt like the rest of the ascent was taking way longer than the first half, or maybe it was because he was now way too aware of his sire latching onto him to focus on the climb. He didn’t remember Gabriel feeling this weirdly warm, the arms wrapped around his neck and legs around his waist taking up too much space in his mind. Gritting his teeth and pushing the thoughts out of his head, Emizel kept his eyes on the roof’s ledge trying to keep his focus, watching as it grew closer and closer as he got nearer to the top.
“Wait a minute, weren’t you literally the one that tased me?”
Gabriel recalled whatever he could from the moment they started running to the point where he lost consciousness, clearly remembering that he was running towards the exit when he got shocked, whoever that did it having dirty blond hair and an equally dirty jacket. Emizel didn’t reply to his question, just silently clawing his way up the side of the building and hauling the both of them over the ledge and onto the roof. The two of them rolled onto the platform in one swift motion, and once they were on solid ground, the Demon immediately tried to pry the other off him with the jacket still tying them together, pushing the other away without actually undoing the knot.
“Fucking finally! Now, get off me, dude.”
“Wait, I can’t- Can you stop fucking squirming around for just one second?”
Despite the Fang’s request, Emizel continued to struggle, causing the both of them to roll around on the ground in a tangled heap, definitely gaining a few grazes as they tried to untangle themselves from each other. The Demon just needed his sire to get away from him immediately, his mind racing from the proximity, too preoccupied with that to think of an actual way out of this mess.
“Fuck, this is all your fault! Why’d you have to lose consciousness right when we’re supposed to run?”
“What the hell, you’re the one that tased me! The fuck you blaming me for?”
“Agh whatever! Just shut up! Shut the hell up!”
“Make me, you bitch!”
“Damn right, I will!”
After a brief moment of struggle, the two of them stopped as a pile on the ground, Emizel finding himself stuck on top of his sire while Gabriel grinned challengingly as he looked up at the Demon. As if to make good his threat, Emizel’s gaze settled on the other’s lips, lingering for a couple seconds before snapping himself out of it. Fuck, what was he actually thinking right now? He didn't know what was running through his head at that moment but he knew it was all Gabriel’s fault, as was everything else about the situation they were in. Feeling his face heat up, the Demon pushed himself off the other, snatching back the jacket on the ground and pulling it on, his back facing Gabriel to hide the red in his features. The Fang’s grin widened seeing Emizel back off, counting it as a rare win against the Demon. Getting up, he could faintly see how his progeny’s face had changed colour under the dim lighting, and there was no way in hell he’d let that go.
“Heh, why's your face so fucking red? Embarrassed of yourself, I bet.”
“Tch, I told you to shut the hell up, didn't I?”
“And I told you to make me.”
Irritation bubbling over, Emizel turned around to face his sire, fixing him a glare as the other met his gaze still smiling. Shutting his eyes and exhaling deeply, the Demon bit back the curses he was about to throw at the Fang, letting his temper cool before acknowledging the other once more. He couldn't let his sire get another win in by losing his cool, so he had to hold his anger no matter what. Gabriel stared at him with an unwavering grin, enjoying getting under Emizel’s skin a little too much while waiting for his reaction, the Demon his favourite person to annoy the fuck out of. It took a while for Emizel to finally calm down again — the Fang waiting patiently — and he took a step towards his sire, clapping his hands on the other’s shoulders, nails digging into the fabric.
“Look, as much as I- we hate each other, and as much as I want to kill you right fucking now, we’re supposed to be working together. So, can you please get a fucking grip.”
Gabriel’s grin faltered slightly, his eyebrow twitching in a moment of mild disappointment at the lack of outrage before his smile solidified once more, already thinking of the next thing to test the Demon's patience. Despite the fact that they were still in the red and probably had to vacate the premises as soon as possible lest they got caught, he couldn't give up the perfect opportunity to watch the other crash out. Emizel was clearly glaring at him, as if daring him to see what would happen if he tried, but Gabriel continued unperturbed by the pointed gaze.
“Maybe if you say I'm better than you I'll consider it.”
“Are you- sigh ok fine, fuck it, whatever. You're better than me—”
“—so much better, by like a lot.”
“... SO much better than me—”
“—and stronger, I’m way stronger than you.”
“..... and stronger than—”
“—and smarter. Much, much smarter.”
“.....I actually doubt that one.”
“Nuh uh, shut up, dude. Just say it.”
“Tsk, fine. And smarter, but not by much—”
“—and—”
“Oh my god, can you cut it out? Fine, you're fucking SO much better and stronger and smarter and hotter and whatever the fuck else than me, okay? Holy shit, dude, is there anything else you want me to fucking say?”
Emizel was fuming, his already thin patience snapping, and he could clearly see his sire grinning like an idiot despite the dim lighting. The Demon cursed inwardly knowing he just fell for the other’s tricks by losing his cool but he knew more than anyone just how short his fuse was, and Gabriel was adamant on lighting it. His grip on the other’s shoulders tightened, and despite knowing he broke through skin, the Fang didn’t seem to care at all.
“That wasn't actually what I was gonna add but yeah sure, I'll accept it.”
The Demon could practically hear the glee in the other's voice and it took every last ounce of self control he had not to strangle the other or tase him again. With the deepest sigh only to be rivaled by Arthur's, Emizel looked at Gabriel expectantly, waiting for his sire to finally agree to be serious for once so that they could actually resume their escape and get away before they got caught. Honestly, he was way more tempted now to just run and leave the other behind, or better yet, beat him up and bring him to the twins himself. He didn’t even know what was stopping him right now, something inside him just not wanting to part with the Fang just yet despite the other testing his patience time and time again.
“Okay, okay, fine, I got it. We’re working together, I got it, dude, stop looking at me like that.”
With the same grin as before, the Fang pushed Emizel’s grip away from his shoulder, doing a quick scan of the streets below before looking back at his progeny, suppressing his amusement slightly and putting on a slightly more serious expression.
“So, what’s the plan? Where are we going from here?”
The Demon stared wide-eyed at his sire for a couple seconds, completely expecting the other to continue being difficult and having to drag him along again. It took a couple seconds for him to register what the other said, his frown faltering when he realised he didn’t really have a plan since he didn’t even expect to get this far.
“Uhh well, we could maybe go to one of our hideouts..?”
“That’s the first place they’ll look, dude. Is this your first time running away or something? And you said it yourself, they were the ones that made the whole gang thing, they know where all our hideouts are.”
“Oh shit, right. Then uhh sex motel, yeah. Default option. Obviously.”
Gabriel swore his ears must be broken or something from all the fights because there was no way Emizel just suggested the two of them go to a sex motel in the most casual and care-free tone he’s ever heard. Staring at the Demon wide-eyed only to be met with a laid-back gaze, it didn’t seem like he misheard or that the other was just joking.
“Dude, what?”
“What?”
“It’s just- I didn’t know you fucked with me like that, man, I mean like—”
“—What??”
Was Gabriel going crazy or something, why was Emizel acting like this was the most normal thing ever? Did he just not get that this was the most random and maybe obscure thing to suggest when they were supposed to run away? And here Gabriel thought he was supposed to be the weird one between the two of them.
“Are you like, not hearing yourself or something? The two of us, alone, in a sex motel. Are you not seeing what you are insinuating?”
“Oh, I mean like- like it’s cheaper than a hotel and it’s a place to sleep. I don't really see the problem here. We’re not even gonna do anything. Well, unless you want to, then like...”
Now it was the Fang’s turn to get a headache, shutting his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose as if that will somehow help him comprehend this madness. It wasn’t like he had any other choice, though, so he was forced to accept it either way. Exhaling, Gabriel looked back at the Demon, all the amusement from before completely fading away as he muttered for the other to lead the way, pretending not to hear whatever the guy said at the end.
The two of them continued their escape, leaping across buildings with ease and hidden under the cover of the night, Emizel a couple metres ahead of the Fang. They had been running for a couple of minutes by now, and if Emizel was honest, he would have admitted a couple blocks ago that he had absolutely no idea where he was going. The whole time, he was just taking random turns and going wherever his instincts told him to, avoiding the crowded streets in case any of their pursuers were amongst the people there. It was late enough that there wasn’t really anyone out, though, so the Demon continued following the lit up signs in the distance without worrying too much about them. Surely, one of the buildings would be whatever he’s looking for.
“Dude, we’ve been running for like, 30 minutes! Where the hell is this place anyways?”
Emizel heard his sire yell from behind him and he slowed to a stop, turning as he watched the other catch up. It took longer than he expected for the Fang to question if he knew where he was going, assuming that Gabriel would’ve noticed at most 15 minutes in that they were just taking random turns. As his sire approached, the Demon took a quick scan of the streets below, trying to figure out if he’s ever ventured this far out into the neighbourhood, and immediately realising that he hasn’t, or well, not this part specifically.
Gabriel lept over to the other with practiced ease, stopping right in front of the Demon with a questioning look on his face. He had no idea where the other was going the whole time, only following along because of whatever semblance of faith he had left in the guy, but seeing Emizel’s expression now made him realise that maybe that trust had been horribly misplaced.
“Fuck, dude, don’t tell me you have no idea where we are.”
“No, no, I know exactly where we are, okay? I’ve been here before.”
Emizel shakes his head, denying the Fang’s accusation, and Gabriel would’ve almost believed him if it wasn't for the fact that the Demon’s gaze darted to the buildings around them as if they were unfamiliar. Unconvinced, Gabriel’s expression twisted to a slight frown, questioning further and watching as his progeny scrambled for an answer.
“Fine, then. Where’s the place we’re supposed to go?”
“Uhh... it’s um...”
The Demon stalled for a second before he caught sight of the flickering sign on the building across the street, squinting to read what it said. Some letters on the sign were broken and barely visible in the darkness, but Emizel’s eyes lit up reading the words ‘Love Hotel’ in smaller letters under the establishment’s name. Gabriel — noticing a grin form on the other’s face — turned to see what the Demon was looking at, the frown on his face dropping as he realised what it was.
“Yup, there it is. Told you I knew where I was going.”
Emizel piped up, nodding to the shoddy building beside them and hopping down the rooftop into the alleyway below. Sighing, Gabriel followed, dropping down to the concrete below with ease and landing behind the Demon, something about this vaguely reminiscent of the first time they met. The two of them put their hoods up as they exited the alley, trying to block out their faces as best they could in case anyone spotted them. They were pretty sure they lost their pursuers a while ago, but with the magnitude of Edward’s influence, they could never be too sure.
Standing across the road from the building, Emizel stared up at the flickering sign. The building itself was so shady — with cracks in the concrete and a paint job stained by the rain — that the Demon would never have expected it to be an actual establishment building. With how run-down the place looked compared to the rest of the street, whoever actually paid to sleep there must’ve either been crazy or desperate, and it just so happened that the two of them fell into both categories.
Gabriel watched as Emizel crossed the road to the motel, silently following the other just like he had been doing all night. Looking through the dirty glass doors into the reception area, the Fang spotted a woman hunched over the desk with her eyes closed, as if dozing off while on the clock, and he immediately remembered something that’s been bugging him since he heard the plan.
“Wait.”
Emizel felt a tug on his jacket sleeve pulling him back as he tried to enter, his hand already on the door handle to pull it open, and he turned to face his sire that called out to him, wondering what was up now.
“Do you even have any money on you?”
Gabriel stared back at the Demon with an eyebrow raised, hands in his pockets as if he already checked his own person. Emizel frowned and rummaged through the pockets on his jacket and jeans, and even the secret stash in his boots, but failed to come up with anything. It seemed as though they were cleared of their possessions by Edward’s gang before they entered the ring, and Emizel grumbled under his breath at the realisation.
“Fuck, now what?”
The Demon ran his hand through his hair, brows furrowed as he stared through the dirty glass doors at the reception desk before scanning the injuries that littered his body from the fight. They were both battered and bruised, and it wasn’t plausible to hang around in the streets with Edward’s goons definitely still scouring the place for them. Gabriel hummed as he surveyed their surroundings. The streets here were mostly quiet and empty, and it didn’t seem like Edward’s minions had tracked them down this far yet, but it was only a matter of time before they were back on their tails if they don't find somewhere to camp the night soon. The Fang scrutinised the motel’s building like he had done countless times before with others, searching for a different way in, having broken into other random buildings too many times to count.
“There.”
Gabriel grinned as he nodded towards the building beside the motel that was just as tall as the third floor hallway of it and had a fire escape that easily led up to the roof. Emizel followed the other’s gaze, immediately catching on to the plan before grinning just as wide. It would take a little bit of parkouring to actually reach the hallway, but with their enhanced abilities, it couldn’t get any easier.
The two of them took no time to start dashing towards the adjacent building, effortlessly climbing onto the fire escape before sprinting up the steps, an unspoken agreement between them that they were racing to see who could get to the motel first. Gabriel lagged behind as Emizel stood on the edge of the roof and gauged how far he had to jump, whether slowed down by his wounds or just not as athletic, the Fang couldn’t tell with all he could think about the fact that he was losing. By the time he got up onto the roof, Emizel was halfway sprinting across the platform, gaining momentum for the final jump at the end. He watched breathlessly as the other shot him a smug smirk for a fraction of a second as he passed, easily leaping across the gap between buildings and catching himself on the ledge before swinging his body over it.
Gabriel stood exactly at the spot Emizel jumped off with a sour frown plastered across his face, irritation bubbling up as the Demon taunted him from the finish line. The gap between the buildings looked a little farther than he originally thought, but if Emizel was able to jump over it so easily, surely he could too. Backing away from the ledge to gain momentum, Gabriel felt the pain from all his wounds catching up to him right as he jumped, realising too late that he wouldn't make it the moment his feet left the ground. The Fang grit his teeth and braced for impact, his hands sharpening the moment his body slammed against the side of the motel, just barely missing the ledge. Sharpened nails scraping against the concrete and slowing his descent, Gabriel clambered into the second floor hallway, rolling onto the ground to ease his landing before sprawling out on the floor to catch the breath he didn’t need.
Emizel watched wide-eyed when he realised the other wouldn't make it, leaning over the ledge trying to see if the Fang had fallen before rushing down the building’s steps. He tried to ignore the panic he felt rise up his throat when he saw how the other had missed, not wanting to face the fact that maybe he did care about his sire even if a little bit.
”Oh shit! Hey, you good?”
Gabriel heard Emizel’s hasty footsteps approaching before he heard his voice, immediately sitting up and feigning wellness, ignoring the way his ribs throbbed with every small movement he made. He was sure it was broken, but whether that was from the crash or from the earlier fight, he couldn’t exactly tell. It was jarring the way the Demon rushed over to him, as if he was someone worth caring about, and Gabriel wished he couldn’t tell that the look present on the other’s face was more of concern than anything else. He squirmed under the gaze, not used to being scrutinised with such an expression or being fussed over like this, a small part of him flattered being worried over but every other part weirded out by the Demon’s sudden care. Emizel briefly scanned the Fang, quickly noting the new scrapes and how the other winced whenever he moved, before catching himself and remembering where they stood with each other. He eased his expression into one of neutrality, letting the sharpness back into his features, though it was hard to mask the slight worry in his gaze. As leader of the Demons, Emizel was responsible for whoever got hurt whenever they were out doing shit, so it was only natural to him that he’d fuss over whoever he hung out with if they got injured, even if it was the same person that was being such a pain just moments before.
Gabriel just nodded listlessly to the other’s question before slowly getting up, shaking off whatever just happened and suppressing the pain that rang through his body. He plastered a wry grin across his features before shoving his hands into his pockets, standing face to face with his rival and ignoring the gaze he felt piercing into him.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Takes more than that to kill me.”
Gabriel hoped his voice wasn't shaky from the way it hurt to even speak or squeaky from whatever just happened earlier. He turned around and sauntered down the hall as naturally as he could, brushing off the Demon’s concern and moving on with what they were supposed to do. Now that they managed to get into the building, all that was left was for them to find an empty room to stay in for the night and break in. The Fang stopped once he reached the middle of the hallway, closing his eyes and heightening his hearing to find any empty room on the floor they were on, trying his hardest to ignore all the other sounds he heard from the rooms that were occupied. Emizel trailed behind before standing right next to his sire, giving Gabriel one last glance before scanning the space around them to check whether anyone heard the commotion that just happened and went out to check.
“Holy shit, this is so fucking gross...”
Emizel heard the Fang mutter something under his breath and turned to face him, finding the other with a deep scowl plastered across his face and a slight redness in his features that just kept increasing. The Demon wondered for a moment why the other’s features kept growing redder till he realised that he could basically hear everything that was happening in all the rooms around them. Even though it was really late, there were bound to be freaks still up, and Emizel knew he shouldn’t laugh but the pure disgust radiating off Gabriel was enough to make him stifle a snicker.
The Fang opened his eyes a couple seconds later — the past minute probably already ranking amongst the top few worst experiences he ever had in his life — and dragged his hands down his face, trying to regain whatever composure he had left in him. Emizel tried not to laugh in his sire’s face, instead waiting for the other to point out the empty rooms and trying to recall when was the last time he picked a lock. Trying to shake off the sounds that invaded his ears just moments before, Gabriel pointed at the room at the very end of the hallway, his expression still twisted into a frown.
“That one’s free, I’m pretty sure.”
Emizel hurried off to the end of the hall to the empty room after his sire’s confirmation, eager to check whether his lock-picking skills were still as good as they once were. Now resigned to being on lookout, the Fang stood a couple paces away, watching as the other sharpened his nails and stuck them into the keyhole while making sure no one else was around to see him do that.
Gabriel didn’t know how long he had been standing there staring at open space but he swore it had been ages since the Demon started to pick the lock. Emizel grumbled under his breath as he messed around with the door handle, only now finding out just how rusty he had gotten. He ignored the way the Fang tried urging him to hurry up, shushing him with the excuse that if the other kept talking, he wouldn’t be able to hear the clicks in the mechanism. Truthfully though, he just wanted to keep trying to prove that he still knew how to do it, his pride not letting him give up and switch tasks with his sire.
The Fang groused about how slow the other was and how they could get caught any minute now — if not by Edward then by other people in the motel — at this point convinced that if he was the one picking the lock, they would’ve already made it inside by now. Despite his progeny’s shushing, Gabriel only shut up when he caught the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs at the other end of the hall, dread welling up in his stomach as it got progressively nearer. From where he was, he could see the shadows of the people going up the stairs cast on the wall, steadily growing bigger as they approached.
“Fuck! Someone's coming. Quick, act normal.”
Gabriel's eyes widened at the sight and sound of their impending exposure, immediately backing away and turning towards his progeny. Thoughts ran through his head at a mile a minute, the possibility that the strangers were Edward’s goons making panic rise up his throat. He only found the courage to speak again when he heard their voices — realising that they were just other people that happened to go to the motel at the same time as them — and watched as Emizel clicked his tongue and huffed in irritation as he shook his nail out of the lock, standing back up to face him.
“What? What would even count as ‘normal’ in this situation?”
The Demon shot back, eyes darting towards the shadows that grew nearer and racking his brain for anything that might help. Gabriel glanced back at the figures approaching before turning back to Emizel, shaking off the anxiety that almost froze him as the footsteps and voices grew closer. Thinking back on the sounds he heard from the other rooms, the Fang thought of an idea that he didn't really want to do, but with people about to catch them breaking in and no way to stop them, it didn't seem like he had a choice.
“Fuck this shit.”
Wincing, Gabriel grabbed Emizel by the shoulders before pushing him close to the door, boxing him up against it till their faces were so close they were barely touching. Not knowing what else to do, he tried to make the two of them look like one of those obnoxious couples that made out wherever they went to match the vibes of the place, a pained and almost apologetic expression plastered across his face at having to do this. The Fang's lips stretched into a thin awkward line as he watched the Demon's eyes widen at the abrupt motion — no doubt taken aback by the direction this went — and struggling against the hold, trying to push him away.
“What the fuck, dude! Get away from me!”
Emizel whisper-shouted, expression pulled into a bewildered frown as he tried to pry his sire off of him. The sudden invasion of personal space made the Demon fight back immediately, too flustered to think straight but too caught off-guard to actually do anything substantial to break free. Gabriel grimaced as he stayed unmoving, sweat running down the back of his neck and eyes slightly unfocused at the closeness, but he grit his teeth and shifted his grip to Emizel's face as if trying to squeeze some sense into him, whispering back in an annoyed tone.
“Fuck, dude, get a grip! What other ‘normal’ shit do people even do at a sex motel?”
The Fang's eyes darted to where the people were coming from, trying to ignore the churning in his gut at the basically nonexistent space between them, seeing the strangers turn the corner at the end of the hall and tensing up as they continued to approach. Emizel followed the other’s gaze to the nearing figures — both to distract himself from the proximity and to check where they were now — the fact that this was the best they could possibly do finally clocking to him as he stopped struggling and played along. He could feel the warmth radiating off the other, which was strange considering vampires were always cold, and he flinched when he felt his sire’s breaths ghost over his lips, which was also weird considering how vampires didn’t need to breathe. Emizel prayed that the strangers would just walk past, unwilling to interact with them and restless to widen the gap between him and the Fang, but it was clear that they wouldn't with how they slowed down as they got closer, staring straight at the two of them apprehensively.
It was only after a couple of seconds passed did one of the strangers approach the pair — a scrawny looking man that barely met their gaze through thick frames, black hair neatly styled into a comb over and a forest green plaid shirt cleanly pressed. It was clear he had barely mustered the courage to approach them, most likely to make himself look good in front of the lady he had with him, and Emizel internally wanted to kill him on the spot for being the sole reason that they were in this situation. Despite that, he knew immediately that it wouldn't take much for him to scare them away, so he held back his anger as best he could and shifted Gabriel’s head away from his face, fixing the pair a piercing glare.
“Uhm... excuse me... that is our room...”
The stranger started, pointing towards the door behind them at the room they were trying to break into. Emizel cursed in his mind at their luck, trying to think of a way to scare them away while ignoring the Fang that was standing way too close to him. Gabriel's head was now buried in his shoulder after the strangers approached, an arm wrapped around the Fang’s waist to keep him still, trying not to let them see how beat up and scarred he was and to not break the ‘normal’ act they were trying to pull off. Truthfully though, Emizel just wanted the other’s mug away from his before anything crazy actually happened. Gabriel had tensed at the sudden contact, but willed himself to play along instead of acting out with the two randos so close to them. Scowling at the pair that had approached, the Demon bared his teeth at them and put on the best irritated look he could, the fact that he was already pissed off definitely making it easier.
“No, it’s not. Fuck off.”
The Demon growled, watching as the man flinched and immediately backed away from them with wide eyes. The lady that was with him looked as if she was about to protest, but the man just tugged her away by the wrist nervously, saying something about how they could just request for a room change. Emizel heaved a sigh of relief the moment they disappeared past the corner again, pushing the Fang off him immediately after and dusting off his clothes, trying to regain his composure.
“Agh, shit, you got your blood on my jacket...”
Emizel grumbled under his breath — trying to wipe away the spots of blood but only smearing it out even more — knowing full well that it was already bloodied and dirtied before they even left the fight pit yet pointing it out anyways. He glanced up at the Fang expecting the other to say something sharp in response and continue their usual banter, only to see him covering his face with his hand, the hood of his coat low enough to block out his eyes. If Emizel looked closely, he could probably see the red that crept up the other’s face behind his fingers and the way Gabriel avoided eye contact, as if trying to hide from the Demon’s gaze.
“What? What’s up with—”
The Fang cut him off by shoving him away from the door, kneeling down to the handle and sharpening his nail to pick the lock, mumbling under his breath about how they wouldn’t have gotten caught if Emizel had worked faster. It only took a couple tries for a soft click to be heard and for the door swing open, Gabriel storming in as Emizel trailed behind. The Fang silently fumed at the fact that he let whatever just happened get to him, feeling his stomach churn and heat creeping up his face, his own plan getting the best of him. Emizel stared perplexed at his sire for a second before scanning the dark room, noting the single queen-sized bed in the centre and a bathroom to the left, before shrugging off Gabriel’s antics and turning around to close and double lock the door behind them, switching on the lights in the process. The moment he heard the sound of the second lock clicking into place, a thud from behind him followed soon after, and he turned back just a second later to see his sire crumpled on the ground, adrenaline wearing off the second they were inside.
“Ughh, fuck...”
Gabriel heaved as he stayed crumpled on the ground, groaning as the pain from his injuries crashed into him all at once the moment the adrenaline wore off. He could now feel every broken bone digging into his flesh, all too aware of the cuts and lacerations that littered his body. Even though he had all the blood he could need to heal from the body Edward provided them in the pit, Gabriel’s body was too fucked up from all the experiments for it to repair itself properly, leaving him with injuries from even before the fight. The Fang felt his chest tighten, the pain suffocating, and the more he noticed it, the worse it became. He should've known this would've happened sooner or later with all the fighting and running they did throughout the night, and yet he completely forgot about it amidst the chaos.
Cold sweat coated his skin, leaving his shaky limbs clammy, the searing pain that started from his core coursing through every inch of his form and causing a throbbing in the back of his mind that just made everything worse. Gabriel knew this wasn't the first time something like this happened, but each time felt like the very first, all having the same feeling of tethering between life and death yet without the mercy of actually dying. From the corner of his hazy gaze, he could barely see the Demon rush to kneel next to him — probably trying to check up on him just like before — and whatever was left of his sanity loathed the fact that the other was seeing him like this.
“Leave me alone. I can deal with this on my own.”
Gabriel hissed as he swatted Emizel's hand away, voice cracking from the sheer agony that was swallowing him whole. The Demon’s eyebrows furrowed further at the other’s hostility, feeling obligated to do something but not knowing what to do. To him, Gabriel looked like an injured animal that was cornered and ready to bite, and Emizel knew better than to aggravate him even more. He studied the Fang, trying to find out the main cause of the pain the other was experiencing, only to watch wide-eyed as a faint light started glowing from the other’s chest through his clothes, gradually growing brighter as the minute passed.
“Wha—?”
“Fuck, oh fuck, oh shit, goddammit no—”
Emizel watched as Gabriel’s eyes widened as well at the sight, dread bleeding into his features the moment he saw his own chest glow. Desperately clawing at the light as if that would somehow stop whatever was happening, Gabriel involuntarily shut his eyes as the pain that enveloped him surged, his head ringing as his surroundings faded to black. Emizel froze when the groaning and cursing from the other suddenly stopped, getting an instinctual feeling deep in his gut that something was wrong. He reached out to the other slowly, the churning in his gut intensifying, wondering what the hell just happened. The Fang's heart was still glowing despite him not being conscious, and whatever the hell it was, the Demon knew it was definitely not something good.
“Gabriel? Gabe?”
Emizel called out to the other, at this point not caring that his voice was urgent with concern and worry, shaking his sire carefully to somehow get him conscious again. Gabriel was boiling to the touch, so hot that even through the clothes, it felt like it was burning the Demon’s skin, yet he grit his teeth as he shook the Fang even more, trying to get the other to respond.
“Fuck, Gabe, are you seriously dying on me now?”
The Demon’s voice was strained, convinced that Gabriel was dead when he suddenly stopped moving just like when he electrocuted the Fang, except this time he had no idea what caused the other to lose consciousness. Truthfully though, it was likely that his sire would wake up again after a while like before and he was just panicking over nothing, but he didn’t really have any evidence right now to back that claim up. In the back of his mind, Emizel didn't know when or why exactly he started to care about the Fang this much, especially since they were so ready to kill each other not too long ago. Maybe it was because Gabriel kind of reminded him of the rowdier members of his gang, or maybe it was because the other kept going on and on about how they were one and the same while they were fighting that Emizel started to believe it too. Whatever it was, Emizel just felt like it would be a waste — and frankly, slightly irritating — if his sire were to die on him now after everything they went through to escape Edward's grasp.
—————
“Argh...”
Gabriel opened his eyes again to find himself staring at pristine white tiles, his head still ringing and his body still feeling like it’s been torn to pieces. The sound of metal clinking against itself paired with the constant hum of medical machinery broke the disconcerting silence that hung over the room, the smell of blood and antiseptics and stuff he didn’t know the source of filling his stomach with dread. Eyes darting to his own form, Gabriel recognised the shitty hospital gown he wore whenever they experimented on him, bloodied and torn and definitely used way more than once. A crumpled heap on the floor, the Fang dared not look up at his surroundings with the anxiety that froze him, his foggy mind drowning in thoughts and questions about how he even ended up back in the lab. Was everything that happened in the past hour just another hallucination? No, it couldn’t be. It felt way too real. Then did they finally find him and drag him back to this hell? How? Did he pass out? Why did everything still hurt? Did they ‘fix him up’ again? Fuck, fuck, fuck, did he mess up again? What happened to Emizel?
At the thought of the Demon, Gabriel could almost hear someone calling out his name through the haze, muffled and too quiet in the mess that was his mind. He shut his eyes to try finding the voice again, his instincts urging him to listen, but the whirring of the machines running and the smell of bleach in the air only grew stronger and louder the harder he tried, overwhelming his senses and muddying his thoughts.
“Gabriel.”
The Fang heard his name again the second it hurt to think, but before he could even process where it came from, he felt someone grab his arm, the grip tight as it pulled him from his crumpled position into a sitting one, jolting him out of his thoughts. With white lights too blinding, Gabriel couldn't make out any more than the silhouette of the person kneeling in front of him, the terror that gripped his heart and squeezed his lungs telling him to run, to get away.
“Let go!”
The Fang yanked his arm out of the person's grip, the ringing in his ears blocking out just how shaky his voice sounded, how small the words came out. He felt the blood drain from his face when he saw how the other paused, his mind running a mile a minute as he registered what he just did. Was this Viv? Vex? Someone else entirely? Gabriel couldn't tell who the voice belonged to when it echoed even before it reached his ears, distorted and distant yet sounding too close. Fuck, did he just make a mistake again? How many times was this now? What's gonna happen to him?
Gabriel reacted before he thought when he saw the figure reach out to him again, swatting gloved hands away and shuffling backwards, trying to run. That was the second time he acted out towards this guy, and Gabriel prayed that whoever this was was in a good enough mood to let it go. The Fang scrambled further back at the thought of what might happen, his heart sinking when he felt his back hit the wall. He was cornered now, and with nowhere to run, Gabriel didn't know what else to do but plead his case.
“Fuck, I'm sorry... I'm fucking sorry, okay? Just leave me alone...”
Gabriel hoped the figure would back off, trying to even out his voice to seem tougher than he felt yet the crack at the end of his sentence ruined the effort, the barely noticeable trembling breaking the facade he feebly tried to uphold. The Fang shrank back too quickly when the other attempted to reach out again, too preoccupied by the panic to process that someone was repeating his name over and over from somewhere he couldn't pinpoint. Before he could even react, he felt himself being pulled forward, immediately registering the coldness he crashed into like a bucket of ice thrown directly at him, the sudden change in temperature jarring enough to break him out of the fog that hung over his senses since he found himself here.
—————
Emizel tightened his grip around his sire, arms wrapped around Gabriel’s form, holding him close til the other stopped shaking.
Just moments ago, the Demon lurched back in shock when the Fang regained consciousness, half believing that the other had died on the spot when he stopped moving. Almost immediately, Gabriel had swatted Emizel away when the Demon tried to help him sit up, gaze unfocused and features sporting an expression so fearful that Emizel knew the other wasn't looking at him. Despite calling out to him over and over, Gabriel didn't respond, staring back at the Demon with wide eyes and thwarting any attempt to get closer, shuffling away like his life depended on it till he couldn't any more. If this was any other day, Emizel would’ve probably felt satisfaction stir within him at the pathetic display, but after everything they went through together, it felt too wrong to rejoice over something like this. Scanning the other’s trembling form, Emizel racked his brain for something he could do to break the Fang out of the fog he was in, his mind immediately replaying something someone said about how physical touch could help to ground a person who was shaken. He couldn't remember who or when exactly they said that or what the context was but either way, that was the best bet he had at the moment, and even if he didn’t really want to, it didn’t seem like he had any other choice.
Cursing under his breath, the Demon slowly shifted to kneel directly in front of the other, watching as Gabriel cowered away and mumbled something incoherent, arms raised as if to block hits that weren’t coming. How was Emizel supposed to ground him when the other didn’t even let him come close? It seemed like the only way to do it was to rip the bandaid off and catch him off guard before the other could fight back. Taking a breath to ready himself, Emizel stated Gabriel’s name in a last ditch attempt to get the other’s attention before yanking him close, wrapping his arms around the other’s form and squeezing just hard enough so that the other couldn’t break free. Just as expected, Gabriel struggled in the hold for a couple seconds before immediately settling down — though still shaking slightly — and Emizel let his grip loosen just a little. He was convinced that if he had told his past self he would hug his sire to calm him down instead of kill him, past Emizel would’ve beat him up for sure.
With eyes shut, Gabriel let the coldness that enveloped him drag him out of the mess in his mind, the tightness in his chest subsiding as he remained in the freezing embrace. Despite his best thoughts, the Fang buried himself further into the hold, hands clinging on to the other’s jacket, the cold helping to numb the pain from his wounds. If he was in his right mind, he would probably die from the sheer embarrassment of clinging on to his rival like some sort of child, his pride never letting him live it down — but he wasn't, so he couldn’t really give a shit right now. In the back of his mind, Gabriel wondered when was the last time someone ever held him like this, tight enough to reassure his worth but gentle enough to not hurt. Fuck, no, why was he even thinking about this? Now’s not the time to get all weird and sappy. Maybe he really was going insane.
“Uh... I’m fine now, yeah...”
It was strangely difficult for Gabriel to pull himself away, his body not exactly listening to him, not when the other’s coldness was the one thing that made everything stop hurting. Nevertheless, the Fang pushed himself away as much as he could with Emizel’s arms still holding on, heat rising up his face from the embarrassment that threatened to swallow him whole. The realisation of how pathetic he must’ve seemed the past 30 minutes or so crashed into him like a truck, and maybe he would’ve greater appreciated an actual truck hitting into him instead. Despite his fears though, Emizel wasn’t laughing or making fun of him — though he had no doubt the other probably would later — instead staring back with that irritatingly worried look again. Gabriel was so close to telling the other to stop looking at him like that before he plucked his eyes out when he got rudely interrupted by icy hands that cupped his face, immediately shutting him up.
“Are you sure? If you’re dying on me again, I might actually just diablerise you before you kick the bucket.”
“Not if I eat you first, dude. And yeah, I’m fine. Probably just need a cold bath to cool down my core before it explodes.”
Again, it was weirdly difficult for the Fang not to lean into the touch on his face, instead quickly swatting the hands away before he made a fool of himself any more than he already did. He watched through a slight glare as Emizel tilted his head at him, confusion clearly evident in his expression at what he just said.
“What? You want me to do a full lore drop right now or like what? What’s with that look?”
“Yeah, no, I think that’ll really help actually. I think I should know your story since we’re like, supposed to be working together here. I mean, it's kinda a little late for that but like...”
Gabriel sighed at Emizel’s answer, thinking about where he should start. There was way too much to go through and not enough time left in the night, and he really needed to get in the bath before his core actually blew up.
“Um okay well, you’re not really supposed to know this since we’re supposed to be rivals but since we’re working together right now, I’ll tell you just this once. I call that glowing thing you saw in my chest earlier a core. I don’t really know whether it’s a culmination from all the experiments I went through or something that they purposely put in but yeah, it’s there. Don’t know what it does except it heats up when I get really hurt and sometimes it glows. Usually, they throw me in a tub of ice before that happens though. Said it was to prevent it from overheating and blowing up.”
Emizel stared blankly as the Fang rapped out his exposition, trying to process what the other was saying as the information piled up. Truthfully, all he caught was ‘core’, ‘glows’ and ‘blowing up’, before noticing how the other’s chest was still lighting up faintly. Well, that wasn’t concerning at all. Now that he knew the both of them could’ve just exploded if he didn’t react fast enough just now, Emizel was grateful that he swallowed his pride and did something that quickly. The Demon was still registering what he heard and before he could think of something to say back besides ‘oh shit’, Gabriel was already getting up and walking away.
“That’s all you really need to know right now. I’ll tell you the rest later, maybe. Can’t really drop my whole backstory in one night, y’know?”
“Uhh yeah... No, yeah, totally.”
Emizel just watched dumbfounded as his sire scurried off to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him. He didn’t really know what just happened but all he could really tell was that he should probably get ready to sleep soon too, feeling as the effects of the night ending was starting to get to him. Getting up from the carpeted floor, he shrugged off his jacket that he never had the time to take off since they entered, leaving it as a pile on the ground before sitting on the edge of the bed. Despite already healing himself briefly on the way here, it was mostly just a quick fix to make sure he wouldn’t collapse while he was running. Now that he had the time, he quickly let himself heal, feeling the bones that were broken mend themselves and the cuts on his body close, bringing him back to his original state.
—————
Gabriel locked the bathroom door the moment he got in, checking twice to make sure it was actually locked before turning around and scanning the space. It was a little bigger than he expected, with a bathtub big enough for two taking up half the room, separated from the rest of the space by a frosted glass divider. Right in front of him from when he entered was the toilet and to his left the sink. Gabriel caught sight of himself in the bathroom mirror, seeing just how much of a mess he looked like at that moment. With remnants of blood tears smeared under his eyes and bruises and cuts all over his face, Gabriel looked like he came right out of a horror movie where he was the victim. Muttering a curse, he pulled off his jacket and shirt, splashing water over his face to wash off the blood and wincing slightly when the cuts stung. Looking back at the mirror again, he looked a little less like a murder victim with the blood gone from his features, but the everpresent scars and stitches that covered his skin made him look more like Frankenstein’s monster instead, and recalling the past few modifications he went through didn’t help with his case.
Before he could delve too much into his existential crisis and body dysmorphia, Gabriel turned to face the massive bathtub behind him, sliding open the dividing door and having to stretch way too far to turn on the tap. Whoever designed this needed to get sacked with how difficult it was to fill the tub without actually stepping into it, the Fang groaning as his broken ribs shifted with the effort. Fuck, he forgot about that. Rolling over and slumping down against the outside of the tub, he tried his best to focus on healing his ribs, gritting his teeth as the pain persisted. It took an agonizingly long amount of time for his body to mend itself, and even though the bone had returned to its original form, it still hurt like hell, another addition to the phantom pains that lingered under his skin. While waiting for the tub to fill, the Fang got up and stared back into the mirror even though he swore to himself that he wouldn’t, studying the face that peered back. That wasn’t him, or well, it couldn’t be, but the figure reflected made the same expressions as he did — the same frown and furrowed eyebrows, the same discontented scowl. Gabriel pried his eyes off the glass — something churning in his gut and tightening his chest — to turn back to the half-filled tub, exasperation gnawing at him at the thought of how long it’ll take for it to fully fill up. Impatient, the Fang shook off the rest of his clothes, dipping his foot into the water to test the temperature before submerging himself into it as best he could, lapping the water over his body to quicken the process. Now that he was in it, he realised that the tub was massive enough for him to roll around in, so he shut off the tap and swam a lap around in it too just for the sake of it. To be fair, when was he ever going to be able to swim in a bathtub ever again? Probably not anytime soon if he was to live the rest of his life on the run, or in captivity if things went south.
Honestly, it was practically unimaginable to him that he actually made it this far. Escaping the clutches of a primogen was definitely no easy feat when he has the whole state under his control, but somehow he did it. Maybe he owed some of the credit to Emizel, even if he really, really didn’t want to admit it. Closing his eyes and sinking deeper into the icy water, Gabriel thought about everything that happened over the course of one night. He knew something was up when Viv put him back to his mostly-original form instead of adding other weird parts to him, and maybe if she had told him sooner that it was for a fight against Emizel, he wouldn’t have struggled as much on the way there. He honestly didn’t know how his rival managed to convince him to run, let alone how they even managed to get out of that underground pit, but maybe all that mattered was the fact that they managed to get away. Despite finally escaping for the time being, the Fang couldn’t shake off the unease that lingered ever since they started running, the anxiety that they could get caught at any moment gnawing away at the back of his mind. Even so, he tried to let himself relax a little in the tub, drowning out his nerves in the cold water that made his body feel more weightless than he had felt in a long while.
—————
Emizel didn’t notice that the wall of the bathroom wasn’t completely opaque till he could see his sire’s hazy silhouette against the frosted glass window. Fuck, of course they designed it like that, this is a sex motel, what the hell did he expect? Muttering a curse under his breath, he pried his gaze away from Gabriel’s foggy figure — heat rising up his face the moment he caught himself staring — deciding to distract himself by exploring the room they were occupying instead. Maybe he should’ve mapped out the layout of the room earlier since they were literally on the run. He could clearly hear the annoying voice in his head nagging him for not planning out escape routes the moment they entered.
Taking a brisk scan of the room, from the front door, immediately to the left was a cupboard equipped with hangers, bath robes and hotel slippers. Right beside it at around the middle of the left wall was the bathroom door, and further down the room the frosted glass window that the Demon was desperately trying to ignore. In the centre of the room was the bed, queen-sized, pushed all the way to the farthest wall and sandwiched between two small nightstands, one of them carrying some kind of remote while the other had lube and condoms and whatever other shit you might need for the night. Moving on to the right side was the window covered by blackout curtains that went from floor to ceiling and took up half the wall, and nearer to the front door was a resting area with two tub-chair sofas — a small circular coffee table separating them — adjacent to it a small minibar with a couple of alcohols, glasses, and cigarettes on the counter.
For such a shoddy building, Emizel was surprised by the amount of amenities they provided, realising a little too late that neither of them checked the prices of the rooms before they broke in. Shrugging it off, he walked back to the bed once he was done snooping around, picking the remote from the nightstand and studying the buttons on the surface. Seeing as how there wasn't a TV in the room, he could only guess what it was for, randomly clicking a couple buttons to see what it did. Almost immediately, Emizel got jumpscared by the lights in the room changing colour to a bright red, sensual music playing from god-knows-where, yet the main thing that caught his attention was the fact that the window to the bathroom was now more glass than it was frosted. With wide eyes, he caught a glimpse of his sire soaking in the bathtub before immediately turning away, rapping out curses under his breath while he tried to undo whatever he just did, furiously clicking on the buttons once again and praying that it fixes everything that went wrong. Emizel heard the music in the room get interrupted over and over as he tried to stop it, skipping songs instead of actually turning it off. It took a couple of clips later for silence to finally fill the room once more, the Demon never regretting his decisions any more than he did right now. At least that was one thing that was fixed. Spamming other buttons, Emizel watched as the lights switched from red to purple to blue before returning to its original white, followed by the bathroom window finally regaining its opacity. Heaving a sigh of relief the moment everything went back to normal, Emizel tossed that godforsaken remote to the other end of the room and collapsed back onto the bed, exhaustion weighing on his bones. Speaking of, there probably wasn't much time left in the night with the way it got harder to keep himself awake, movements slow and sluggish as the sun started to rise.
Hearing the commotion outside, a frown creased Gabriel’s features as he opened his eyes, mind running a mile a minute as he tried to process what to do first. Seeing as how his core stopped glowing and its temperature was lowered enough, he shot up from the tub, quickly wiping himself down with the towel on the rack above the tub before pulling on his boxers and pants. It didn’t seem like anything huge was happening outside with the way the noises subsided soon after, but the Fang forced himself to find out what it was, knowing from past experiences that he could never be too sure. Despite the exhaustion that started to weigh on him, Gabriel stumbled out of the bathroom and back into the room, the first thing he spotted Emizel half-sprawled out on the bed staring at the ceiling. It didn’t look like anything serious, and he didn’t know whether to attack the other for making him panic or to let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.
Emizel sat back up the moment he heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, finding himself face to face with Gabriel — now topless with a towel hung around his neck, the hair drooping over his face still dripping wet and causing droplets of water to trail down his skin. His sire looked vastly different without his hair slicked back, even his expression was more mellowed out — though still slightly frowning as he met eyes with the Demon — as if the bath he took washed away most of his anger together with the pain that plagued him. Truthfully though, it was probably just because the night was ending and neither of them had the energy to put up a fight right now, the tense atmosphere in the room from moments before switching to something a little softer.
Emizel found himself scrutinising his sire, gaze tracing the scars and stitches that littered the other’s skin, most notably the somewhat star-shaped scar that took up the centre of his chest, split in half by a long line of stitches that went all the way down the middle of his torso. Gabriel shifted under the gaze, now regretting not putting on his shirt, uncomfortable under the pointed stare. Taking a couple steps towards the other, the Fang fixed his progeny a slight scowl, wiping away the water dripping down his face.
“What was that?”
“...What was what?”
“What was all that noise just now?”
Gabriel spoke up, mostly to redirect the Demon’s attention and do something about the extended silence that just stretched on with neither of them saying anything. At the question, Emizel immediately looked back up at the other before his gaze shifted to the controller at the other end of the room, trying to think of a response. It didn’t seem like his sire actually knew about what happened and didn’t notice the whole bathroom window thing earlier, so he decided to just brush it off.
“It’s… nothing.”
Sporting a grin that was a little too wide, Emizel prayed the other would just let it go when he saw how the Fang squinted at him skeptically, definitely knowing that he was evading the question. It took a couple seconds of doubtful silence for Gabriel to finally drop the topic, turning away to look around the room himself. Seeing as how nothing seemed super out of place and there didn’t seem to be any immediate danger, the Fang turned back to sit on the edge of the bed next to the Demon, staring at the ground blankly and letting the caution bleed out of his form. He felt like he was forgetting something really, really important, but the exhaustion from everything that happened throughout the night seemed to be catching up to him, muddying his brain and pulling him to sleep. Just as he felt his consciousness fade, he heard Emizel’s voice speak up again through the haze, and he shifted his gaze to meet the other’s eyes.
“You know, I've been wondering... Why do you always have that on?”
Emizel gestured towards Gabriel’s chest, and without looking, the Fang wrapped his fingers around the dog tag hanging from his neck, feeling the cold metal press against his palm before his gaze shifted back to the floor. Why did he always have it on? It couldn’t have been sentimentality, not when his military days felt so far away and he couldn’t, for the life of him, remember anything pleasant about it. Maybe it was because he felt like he had always been fighting a war he couldn’t win, that one day he would just cease to exist and no one would know that he ever did. Maybe it was hope that he would be remembered as ‘Gabriel Montez’ when he finally kicked the bucket, that he would just be him when he died and not an amalgamation of everything else sewn together, that he wouldn’t leave this world as the fucked-up monster he saw himself as. Usually, Gabriel would just ignore the question and tell the Demon that it was none of his business, but maybe the fatigue was getting to him when he found himself weighing the words on his tongue, mumbling out an answer just quiet enough for the other to barely catch it.
“To... remember who I am, I guess...”
Emizel was not expecting an actual answer when he asked the question, just trying to break the awkward silence that hung over the both of them after everything that happened. Truthfully, he half expected the Fang to just swear at him instead and start up the shouting match that always seemed to plague their conversations. At least with that, the tension in the room wouldn’t feel so strange. Emizel was about to muster up some sort of reply when the other just ignored him completely and crawled into the bed, dropping the towel onto the floor and pulling the blanket over himself as he laid on his stomach, face buried in a pillow. The Demon stared agape at the sight before him, frankly caught off-guard since he was actually about to say something serious, though by now that train of thought has long left the station.
“Wait a minute- hold on, are we seriously sleeping in the same bed?”
Emizel’s question sounded stupid to even himself with no other better option before him, but he said it anyways, staring at his sire’s unmoving form for some sort of reply. Well, he could think of other places to sleep like the floor or the couch or the cupboard, though none of those options seemed that rational when there was a big enough bed for the two of them to sleep in and still leave space between them. Honestly, if it was anyone else that he had to share a bed with, he probably wouldn’t have been so hesitant, but since it was his sire of all people, it physically pained him to even think about it. With each second that dragged on and the Sun practically already rising, Emizel eventually gave up putting up a fight with his pride and accepted the fate that awaited him, feeling his consciousness slipping. Huffing out a curse, the Demon plopped himself down on the other side of the bed, fumbling with the switch above the nightstand to shut off the lights before surrendering himself to the void. Now that he thought about it a little more, maybe sharing a bed with his sire wasn’t really the worst thing that had happened all night, whether that was a good thing or not escaping him as he drifted off to sleep.