Silas closed his eyes as he walked. It was dark out, and with eyes closed, even darker. Yet he was so tired, it didn't really matter to him. Though the extreme dark did nothing to qualm any fears, it made him feel like he had some sort of power. It was dark, and he hated that, yes – but at least he was the one making it dark.
Aarav was staring at the floor, his eyes struggling to stay open himself. It had been a long week for the two. Especially Aarav; typically, he could stay up for a long time without feeling the least bit tired. Yet… with recent events… the anxiety of being seen, being heard – it was all so… so… overwhelming.
Perhaps that was the reason they didn't even notice the men following them until it was too late. They knocked the two out in a matter of seconds, immediately picking them up and pulling them into a nearby alleyway.
Tops stared at Ruk, a smug smirk on his face. His eyes were half lidded, quiet as he watched Ruk repair the door. Ruk didn't look back, but he was certain Tops was staring at him. He grunted quietly, wiping his forehead.
"Could use a little help," he muttered.
"Oh, yes you could," Tops said, wiggling his eyebrows. Ruk was quiet a moment, before stopping his work to look up at Tops. His face showed he was clearly unamused. And of course, as always, Tops didn't care.
"Enlighten me, Tops. What do I need help with?" he asked dully. Tops sat forward, not breaking eye contact.
"You need help," he said slowly, "with your… what do you call him? Barmaid? Yes. You need help with that."
"What are you on about, Tops?" Ruk sighed.
"You… like him, don't you?"
Ruk was silent at that. Like him? Silas? No, that wasn't right. Of course not! Ruk scoffed at the thought, shaking his head.
"The boy…" he said quietly, looking away. "He amuses me, that's all. Really, Tops. Besides, who are you to help? You aren't an expert or anything."
"I'd say I am," Tops said, sitting up proudly. "Sirek and I—"
"Have been together for, like, ever. You've never even looked at another man, Tops. Besides, he's nothing like my type… you know, people I've dated before. Fancy, pristine – those are the ones I date."
"Maybe that's why you like him so much," Tops said, as if he had just proved the biggest conspiracy. "He's cute – you have to admit that. And I've seen the way you look at him, too…"
Ruk rubbed his face, groaning. "Oh, you are so annoying, you know that?"
"Of course I do. But I also know I'm right, Kuruk."
Ruk gave a deep sigh. "What does it matter anyway? We're supposed to be working. If Wings – oh, lords, if Wings even had a hint I was dating – he'd be pissed, you know that! He'd think it'd get in the way of… y'know… work."
"Well, he sort of has a good reason, Kuruk," Tops said slowly, glancing away. "Your track record of dating… it uhm… well, it's not the best."
"What are you on about?" Ruk said indignantly. "I could get anyone I want."
"Exactly," Tops said in an exasperated tone. "You won't get out of bed, you slug! You were always sneakin' off to meet a mistress or mister, ruinin' his plans… oh, I don't even know the half of it, and I knew you were a pain!"
Ruk chuckled lightly. "Maybe."
That confused Tops a bit. "Maybe? Maybe what?"
Ruk glanced at him a moment. "Maybe I wasn't always getting in bed. Maybe I was getting a uhm… another form of pleasure, one could say," he explained slowly.
Tops furrowed his eyebrows, confused a moment. Then, he gagged a bit, going pale. "Ugh – don't tell me you were still knee-deep in drugs?"
Ruk shrugged. "Either way, Wings caught on, and things changed."
Tops shook his head, trying to shake off the thoughts of drugs. Ruk grimaced a little as he remembered it too, though not for the same reason. While Tops could see what his friend was going through during that time, Ruk couldn���t. Yet, he remembered the way his brother dealt with it. And that… that was what made him fearful.
"Anyway," Ruk sighed, "it was good to see you, but Wings wants us back before sunrise. I'll see you around, alright?"
Tops nodded, smiling. "See you around, friend."
STILL NEEDS TO BE FIXED VVV
Silas held his head, groaning. His eyes flickered open, but quickly shut again. He covered his eyes quickly, groaning even louder. The room was so bright. Why was the light on? Did Aarav turn it on? His head ached painfully.
Slowly, he allowed his eyes to adjust to the bright light. Then something made him jump. He sat up quickly, realizing something was… off. He looked down. That's right… this bed was far too soft, too warm to be his mattress back at home. And it wasn't.
He was sitting on a large bed, with an extremely thick, bright red – almost pink – comforter resting on top of him. He remembered the night before and his eyes got wider. He wasn't exactly sure what happened, but he knew he had never made it home.
Quickly, Silas looked around. He felt so filled with relief to see Aarav on a large chair next to the bed. He got off the bed – it was quite high off the ground, for some reason – and moved closer to him. He shook Aarav carefully.
"Aarav, wake up… where are we?"
Nothing.
He shook him a bit harder, getting a little worried. Aarav was an exceptionally light sleeper most of the time…. "Aar? Hey, wake up!"
Still, nothing…
"He won't be waking up for a while." Silas twisted around at the foreign voice that had randomly appeared behind him. His eyes widened in fear immediately.
In front of him now was a large man. He hadn't been there before, Silas was sure of that….
He towered over Silas by at least a foot – that couldn't be natural, could it? He wasn't just tall, either; he was large. But it wasn't fat; no, it was more like muscle. So much muscle. Silas felt vulnerable at that exact moment.
The man was wearing extremely fancy clothing now; if wearing a suit vest made you look like a don, he certainly looked like a king. He wore a three-piece pin-striped suit. The suit itself was a dark blue color, with matching pants. The vest was a medium grey color. He had a tie, and the top half of what he could see was white. The bottom half was blue, with a golden strip separating the two colors.
The buttons going up his vest, the metal on his belt, his cufflinks, the watch on his wrist, even his hair was golden. His hands were also adorned with many golden rings. He had a thick beard that matched his equally golden hair. His hair was a bit long, but it was combed back in a smooth, handsome way.
"What did you do to him?" Silas said, nearly breathlessly. The man frowned.
"He didn't leave your side. Couldn't, apparently – that was not the problem, though… the problem was, he wouldn't stop fighting. So… we had to… well, deal with him. Of course, you understand." His voice was powerful. Deep, commanding, and immensely powerful.
"What did you do?" Silas snapped, voice shaking in fear. The man frowned at his loud words.
"Do not," he said, leaning forward. "Ever… speak to me like that again. Do you understand me, boy? Do you know who I am?" Silas was silent. In fact, he did not know who this man was. But from the looks of his clothes, his mean face and that powerful, knowing voice… he had to be a large killer. There was no doubt.
The man stood straight now, eyes trained on Silas. He was silent for a while, thinking. Was it true that this boy did not know who he was? How could he not?
"I am Don Amer. I am surprised you have not heard of me, for I am in control of many cities around here… well. Since you did not know me, I will let your… rudeness, slide." His eyes got a little dark, narrowing. "But do not test me, boy."
Silas was quiet a moment. He hadn't heard about this Don Amer before. "What do you want from me?" he asked, trying to keep most bitter hatred out of his voice. Amer lifted his chin a little, pausing.
"I am not sure yet."
Ruk grumbled, shifting over as he was lightly shaken.
"Kuruk, get up! Or else Wings'll come in and wake you instead!" Koska's voice came. That was a bluff, of course; Wings was off doing business in the early morning – but Ruk didn't need to know that.
Ruk turned his head, his tired eyes landing on Koska; he had been all ready for the day before the sun had fully risen.
"Too early," Ruk grumbled. Koska pursed his lips.
"It's nearly noon, you great lug! Now come on, we need to finish our work." Sighing deeply, Ruk got out of bed, slow as ever. He grumbled quietly as he threw on clothes, but paused, glancing back at Koska, who was waiting quite impatiently.
"What? You don't have to wait for me."
"I…" Koska paused. "I want you to come see the park!"
Ruk was quiet a moment, trying to hold down a laugh. His younger brother had said that in such a proud way – it was nice, really. He liked that his brother was proud of his work. But as he looked at Koska again, he realized there was an odd expression on his face. One of confusion, and a slight bit worry. That made Ruk nervous.
"Did something go wrong?" he asked, pulling on his dress-shirt.
"Well, no," Koska said slowly. He wringed his hands together, looking away. "You see… I… I had this theory."
"Oh?"
"Yes… yes, a theory… that… well, that… that humans have magic!" Koska blurted.
Ruk almost laughed. Almost. Then he saw the completely serious look – he'd even go as far as to say determined to be correct – on Koska's face.
"Oh yea?" Ruk said carefully. "How uh… how can you tell?"
Koska's eyes widened a little as he thought back to yesterday. He got a little closer to Ruk, his voice low. "They kept me from my work!"
Ruk's eyes darkened almost immediately as the obvious answer popped into his head. "Did they try to hurt you, Koska?"
"What? No," Koska said, shaking his head fervently. "Nothing like that! Which is why I'm confused! They – they just… talked! They complimented me—" his cheeks turned a bright red as he said that "—and told me the park was coming along well! But I was so distracted, I didn't realize the park wasn't even going fast enough!"
Now, Ruk couldn't help but laugh. Koska watched him, dumbfounded, but Ruk just laughed. He shook his head, chuckling still. "Kos… they just talked? That's it?" Now Koska seemed undignified. He puffed out his chest, staring at Ruk.
"Come with me, Kuruk! I'll show you, they really do have powers!"
Reluctantly, Ruk followed Koska. They arrived at the park, and Ruk was quite impressed. He thought Koska said they hadn't gotten any work done? Well, the park looked amazing for no work! It had previously been overrun with weeds and vines, and now all that stood were proud, tall, pretty trees.
There was also equipment. The old equipment was so old and rusted that the brothers had decided not to try and clean them, repair them, but to replace them as a whole. There were slides, swings, even a jungle-gym, painted in bright, appealing colors.
"No work?" Ruk asked aloud, baffled. But Koska wasn't looking at the park in pride, rather frustration. He crossed his arm, quiet a moment.
"I'm certain we could have finished yesterday!"
It was then Ruk remembered how much of a workaholic his younger brother truly was. This much work, while a weeks' time for some, seemed like a mere hours' worth of work to Koska. And now, Ruk understood.
Now Ruk sat on a bench – brand new, of course – and watched as Koska ordered people around to work. It didn't take long for what Ruk assumed was the magic to happen. A small crowd began to gather, watching Koska and his men.
They almost seemed awestruck. They waved at Koska, who waved back slightly, his face completely red. After a moment, Koska was closer to the group, and they started to yell out praises. Flustered, he turned to talk to them.
Really? Ruk thought. This is the magic? He shook his head at his brothers confusion, but stood. It would be interesting to hear what they said, would it not?
"It was your idea to build this park?" someone asked in an awe-filled voice.
"Well, uh… yes, I – I suppose it was."
"Oh, that's wonderful! My children will have a safe place to play again!" Then, they hugged him. A proud, happy look came over Koska's face. A grin, something Ruk seldom sees. That made Ruk happy, seeing his brother finally proud.
"I remember this park when I was a lad," an older gentleman said. He smiled warmly at Koska. "It takes a real good man to do what you're doing."
The crowd nodded and voiced their agreements, throwing him compliment after compliment. And soon, an hour had gone by.
"Well," Ruk said, catching his brothers attention. "we'd better get back to work."
Koska nodded, walking away from the small group, who were still shouting their thanks to him. His face was set in a happy yet flustered expression, cheeks burning red.
"Say," he said, furrowing his eyebrows again. "What time is it?"
"One o'clock," Ruk said, amused at the show that had just played out. He was even more amused at his brothers surprised reaction to the news.
"One o'clock? Are you sure? Oh, what did I tell you, brother! Those humans –" he shook his head in utter confusion "—they're simply magical! Perhaps they put me under a trance!"
"They were just being kind, Kos," Ruk chuckled.
He got a bit sad after saying that. Koska wasn't used to kindness. He was used to kissing up, of course, but that wasn't kindness. Not real kindness. Genuine kindness these humans showed? It simply couldn't be, in his eyes. It had to have been magic.
"Oh, I have to get to work!" Koska said. "So much time gone!"
Ruk smiled softly. Perhaps he'd get Wings to explain that one.