"Is – is, uhm… this… really necessary?" Silas asked quietly. He was being fitted for a suit at the moment, his face burning red. Ruk tilted his head, smirking.
"Well, I can't let people think I date just any slob! I have a reputation, you know," he chuckled quietly. "Besides, you really think you wouldn't be looked at funny if you showed up in your… well, regular clothes? This is a formal party, full of expensive people, Don's, and—"
"Murderers," Aarav cut in. Ruk shot him a small glare.
"Not quite sure why he has to come, though," he muttered, taking a swig from the drink in his hands. Aarav was also being fitted. He seemed a bit more at ease than Silas, but he still seemed out of his element.
"There's no way in hell I'm letting Silas go anywhere with you alone," Aarav muttered. Ruk shrugged indifferently, taking another sip.
Silas glanced at Aarav, noticing how he was fairly calm. He wondered if Aarav had perhaps been rich before death… he didn't dare ask, of course; Aarav never liked to speak of his life before death. Silas was fine with that; if it made him uncomfortable, he didn't want to push.
"Still," Ruk said. "I only have a plus one. I don't know how he will get in, but you know… if we have to leave him behind, well – that's life."
"What about that guy?" Silas said, furrowing his eyebrows a bit in thought. "The uhm… the one in the shed – that guy asking about the restaurant. Is he going?"
"Koska? Of course he's going. Why?" Ruk asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. A mischievous smile crossed Aarav's face.
"He's your little brother, isn't he?" he asked, his voice an oddly sugary tone. "I could go with him, you know, be his plus one."
Aarav watched in amusement as Ruk's eyes darkened. Ruk was staring straight at him. He gave a sweet, obviously fake smile. "Aww, did I strike a nerve, pervert?"
Ruk scoffed, looking away. He took a sip of the drink, quiet a moment. ���Don't worry, puppy-dog. I know your bark is more than your bite. Besides; if Koska doesn't kill you if you do something suspicious, trust me when I say Wings and I will make it slow and painful."
"You mention Wings a lot," Silas said, trying to distract from the tension. "Who is he?"
"My brother," Ruk said, finishing his drink. He set the cup down.
"Oh, you have two brothers, do you? Well, that's just twice the fun," Aarav said suggestively. This time, though, Ruk turned a smirk to Aarav. He looked him straight in the eyes, his own eyes burning with amusement.
"I dare you, puppy-dog," he said. "Flirt with Wings."
Silas looked around the room, face burning red in embarrassment. His arm was around Ruk's; he didn't like it, of course, but he had to do as Ruk asked for now. He felt extremely uncomfortable in the grey suit vest, but he tried not to show it too much.
He wore a red tie and a white dress shirt under the grey vest, along with black pants. Even this dress shirt is more expensive than a years' worth of my rent, he thought nervously. Silas chewed his cheek quietly, feeling very out of place.
"Relax, darlin," Ruk muttered, "these people are all fake. Just act confident and you can say any damn thing. It ain't that hard."
"Kurukkan! Good evening," a feminine voice came, making Silas jump. The pair glanced at her. A woman was walking towards them. She was wearing a dark blue gown that went nearly to the floor. Her hair was down and curly, a pretty light blonde color.
"Ah… Evening," he said. It was clear to Silas he didn't quite know this woman. Ruk unlinked his arm from Silas', bowing slightly. The woman glanced at Silas, and her easy grin faltered a little. She studied him slowly.
"Who is this? Your friend?" she asked suspiciously. Ruk straightened, raising his eyebrows slightly. He put an arm around Silas, making him tense slightly. He was trying extremely hard to not mess things up for Ruk.
"A very close friend, one would say," Ruk muttered. The woman didn't seem to get the hint; she smiled brightly, holding out her hand.
"Oh, well! Any friend of Ruk's is a friend of mine," she giggled. Ruk grunted, looking away. He tried with great difficulty to not roll his eyes. Christ, this woman is annoying, he thought.
Silas looked at her hand, hesitating. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do – did he shake it? Kiss it? He really wasn't sure. What was the procedure for this kind of thing? Was there even one?
Luckily, before he could fully embarrass himself, a new person walked over. "Evening, Aria," a deep voice came. It was deeper than Ruk's, smooth. "Evening, Ruk… I wasn't aware you were bringing someone with you."
Silas glanced at the man, holding his breath a little. Two scares adorned his face; one, the left one, went up past his eyebrow and about hallway up his forehead. The other, on the right, was longer. It went down, nearly touching the corner of his lip. His black hair was slicked back, and he was wearing a dark grey suit.
His grey gloved hands were behind his back, and truly, he looked quite handsome. But the thing that Silas thought stood out the most was his eyes. His right eyes was a strangely purple color, while the left was red. The red reminded him of Ruk's with the striking color.
"Well," Ruk said, "I think it only right to bring a lover to a party like this, don't you?"
Silas tensed quickly, not expecting the words. "Lo—Love—," he sputtered. The man with the scars cleared his throat. His eyes darkened, glaring at Ruk.
"May we speak in private, Kurukkan?"
Silas shifted his weight on his feet a little, hesitating. He didn't want to walk away from Aria, that would be rude, but he really didn't know what to say. He glanced around, really wishing he knew where Aarav was.
Of course, Aarav couldn't be far. It wasn't possible. But with the thick crowd of people, well – it felt like hundreds of walls separating them. He chewed his lip, hoping he would find him quickly… or, at the very least, Ruk would return and take him away from this awkwardness.
"So…," Aria said slowly, glancing around. "Lover?"
"Ahh… yea…," Silas said awkwardly, unsure how to respond. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, clearing his throat a little. God, this was so awkward….
"Are you his… partner?" Silas nodded slowly. "I wasn't aware he was… well…," she said quietly. Silas gave a sheepish smile. Oh, lords, why did he agree to go here? He was so foolish. For once in his life, he wished he had listened to Aarav and just stayed at home.
"Uhm… well," she let out an awkward little laugh. "Lia really won't like this."
"Erm… who?" Silas questioned. Aria gave a small smile.
"Well, you see… a lot of women like Ruk, here and every other place he goes. I'm… sure you know, but… but Lia, well," she paused, stiffening a little. "Well, its not any of my business. Just… be careful, ok?" With that, Aria walked away from Silas, leaving him confused and alone.
Aarav watched in amusement as a clean-looking man with slicked back, black hair quietly berated Ruk. They both seemed annoyed, yet Ruk looked more amused by the whole situation, but as though he was trying to hold that in.
"Him," Aarav said, gesturing to the man. "He's Wings?"
Aarav was sitting on a couch next to Koska, his arm around him. Koska glanced at the two, hesitating a moment. While he did, Aarav wondered where Silas was. He was supposed to be with Ruk, wasn't he?
"Yes… how did you know?" Koska asked. That distracted Aarav for a moment, along with the amusement of seeing Aleson pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"I've heard of him." A look of understanding crossed Koska's face, and he nodded. However, with Aarav's next words, Koska's understanding vanished, replaced with utter confusion. "What does he do?"
"You… you don't… know?" he questioned, sitting forward a little. Aarav moved his arm into his own lap. Finally, he looked at Koska. Koska seemed to be trying to mask the confusion, but he wasn't quite doing well. "He – he's the Don of Valcad City! How… how did you learn about him exactly?"
"Valcad…," Aarav hummed, glancing back to Aleson and Ruk. He chewed his cheek. He knew he'd heard of that city before. "Oh… the City of Monsters, right?"
"Yea… yea… uhm… how do you know him, if not because he's a don?"
"Ruk told me," Aarav said simply. That seemed to satisfy Koska, as he sat back, not questioning further. Aarav was quiet a long moment, thinking again. So… this man, the one that was so easily annoyed by Ruk's antics – he was the infamous Don of Monsters?
"I want to talk to him," Aarav decided.
"What? Oh, I don't think that's a good idea," Koska said quickly. Aarav glanced at him, raising an eyebrow in question. "Well… just – just look at him! Ruk's obviously gotten him in a bitter mood – do you really want to poke the bear?"
Aarav gave a thin smile. "Of course I do."
It wasn't long before Silas met this Lia woman. He had found an empty, secluded chair near where Ruk left him, and was sitting in it now. He held a glass of wine in his hand, though he never once went for a sip. A man had walked by with a tray of glasses, offering him one. Not wanting to seem odd, and unsure how to reject politely, he complied.
He was staring into the glass when Lia approached. At first, he didn't notice her. He was so busy watching the small ripples in the liquid to even realize she was standing before him. When she cleared her throat, though, her presence was made known. He jumped, looking up.
"Hello," she said. Her voice was a bit low, compared to the rest of the women in the room. It was eloquent, though, and truly quite pleasant. "I am Lia. And you… you must be Silas, yes?" she asked, giving a thin, clearly forced smile.
"Oh… yes, I – I mean… I am Silas," he said, standing. Oh, how he wished Aarav or Ruk would return to save him….
"And where it Kurukkan? I had assumed a man would not leave his… friend, alone at a party?" Silas was a bit too distracted to acknowledge the odd wording. Kurukkan… there was that name again. Then, that was Ruk's full name? Interesting…
"Oh, well… he, uhm, he had business to deal with," he said quickly, stumbling over his words slightly. The woman gave a disapproving frown.
"You know," she said, "you should be more confident… you seem like a bumbling child, speaking as you do." Lia smiled thinly as Silas' face exploded in blush. It was quite an elegant way to insult someone, he had to admit, adding insult to injury. Silas was quiet. He was unsure how to respond, not wanting to embarrass himself further.
Now, Lia gave a tut of disapproval. "I am unsure what it is Kurukkan has seen in you, but… well. I'm sure you have a good personality, don't you? In any case," she sighed, looking away. She seemed bored of him by now. "He will surely get rid of you once you bore him."
"And you won't?" Silas blurted out before he could stop himself. She glanced at him harshly.
"Excuse me?"
"I… you won't bore him?" he asked. No going back now, he supposed. "He wont rid of you, as he will rid of me? And what makes you so special?"
Lia gave a fake pitiful smile. Now, Silas wished he hadn't repeated himself. Or even say anything in the first place… what on earth was he thinking?
"Oh, dear," she sighed, "to think you are anything like me! Oh, I pity you… no. Kurukkan is a man of – of elegance, of the finer things." Silas almost snorted at that. He hadn't known Ruk awfully long, sure, but he was certain her depiction of Ruk was… well… a bit more than just slightly off.
Lie seemed to notice Silas was amused. She lifted her chin, narrowing her eyes in a haughty way at him. "What are you so arrogant about, boy?"
Before Silas could answer, however, a loud clapping noise distracted them.
Aarav walked towards Aleson now. He stopped in front of him, pausing a moment. Aleson glanced at him now, pausing the muttered conversation with Ruk, silent now. Ruk looked at him, surprised.
The hell is this boy doing? Ruk thought.
"Hello," Aarav said. He had to look up slightly at Aleson. The taller raised his eyebrows slightly, seeming very unamused. "My name is Aarav."
"I see," Aleson said, his eyes darkening a little. "You are the boy that came with my brother, are you not?"
"I am," Aarav said slowly. Aleson nodded slowly.
"Ah. Then I ask you," he turned a little, leaning down. "Do not touch Koska the way you have been. Your arm around him makes him uncomfortable. Understand?"
"My intentions with your brother are pure, I can assure you," Aarav said quickly.
Aleson straightened now. "Why do you interrupt my conversation?"
"I've heard many great things about you. You defied the Don of Domov, correct? Defeated him in many battles, resulting in you gaining much land from him… you truly are impressive, I must say."
"Is that all?"
Aarav bristled a little. A grin quickly grew on Ruk's face. Oh this is going to be good!
Aarav stood tall now, looking at Aleson in an unamused way. "Your name is Wings, correct?" Aleson's eyes darkened a little more. He narrowed them.
"You will call me Don Aleson," he said in an unyielding tone.
"The fuck I will," Aarav said calmly. This caught Aleson off guard, and a thick silence grew.
Ruk stared at the situation with his jaw dropped. Oh, fuck, he thought, this kid's going to fuckin die!
"You're not a Don here," Aarav said, looking away in a bored manner. "Sure, you own the City of Monsters – but Aleson, you don't own anything here. You're just another rich jackoff in this damned cit—"
He felt a stinging pain in his face as it was tilted to the side by a surprised force. He… had been slapped. Aleson had slapped him.