Once again, here he was, lurking in the shadows of a brothel, watching, waiting for the distinct golden man to come into view. It had been a solid hour since he had arrived on the street and it concerned Azrael that he had yet to see or hear from Pavel. On the other hand, he was of a mind to be relieved that he had seemingly decided to stay home tonight. Either way, Azrael would stay put for a couple more hours just to be sure.
"Hello, handsome. You look pretty lonely – I can change that." A sudden voice startled Azrael out of his worried thoughts, accompanied by a soft, grey hand gripping his upper arm, long nails pressing into his bicep. His thoughts had been too all-consuming if someone could sneak up on him. Azrael looked down to see a young demoness looking at him, her face painted in vibrantly seductive makeup, horns adorned with vibrant, but cheap, jewellery. The remaining youthful fat on her blushed cheeks belied that she was probably barely twenty. Her deep, red eyes glinted hopefully. "I'll give you a discount as a first-time customer."
Awkwardly, Azrael gave her his best attempt at a gentle simper as he kept his eyes trained on her face so she didn't misunderstand his intentions. "Oh, I'm… not interested in…" His voice was husky from misuse. This happened more often than Azrael liked, but he still always felt uncomfortable rejecting the hopeful men and women who came up to him, as he knew they probably needed the money if they were in this line of work. "No, thank you."
Her sharp-toothed smile dropped as she sighed with thinly veiled disappointment. "Ah, not for you? Mhm, yes, that is obvious now, from your heart's song. Is there someone else you want me to get from the Lotus – if you come with me, anyone will be willing to help you out for the evening." Azrael had heard that demonkind could read the desires of anyone they locked eyes with, but he had never had the opportunity to experience that firsthand. It had been mentioned so off-handedly he had almost missed it.
Pavel did work at the Lotus, so Azrael automatically glanced back at the building he had taken his eyes off of for the brief moments he had been speaking to the demoness. Azrael quickly looked back at her, making sure to keep his face straight so none of his thoughts would be conveyed easily, though he could feel his lips quirk slightly at her words. "You don't need to worry about doing that. Just go about your evening."
The girl furrowed her brows at him in confusion and pursed her lips as she mulled over what Azrael had said. "Why are you loitering over here then, if you don't want one of the workers?"
She is far too curious for her own good, this one. That won't do her any favours in this business. Azrael could feel himself beginning to scowl slightly, frustrated by the sudden questioning, but he kept himself in check. There was no reason to get annoyed with her; she was just a kid. Probably.
"It's not something to discuss. It's best that you just leave me be and find someone who'll pay you for your time." He was firm with her, but not cruel. She was a small woman, even if she was a demoness. Azrael didn't want to scare her – working on the streets was hard enough, he didn't need to add to that.
Clearly annoyed by his reticence, she let out a loud sign now, before rolling her eyes. "Fine, whatever. It's not my business, I know."
With that, she finally sauntered away, wandering down the road with her arms wrapped around herself to fight against the biting chill of the night. Azrael observed her movement down the road, curious to see if she was going back to the Lotus or if she would stay on the street to proposition more customers. However, before she made it there, a tall woman came rounded the corner at the other end of the haggard road and called out to her, a name that was caught in the breeze and lost to the night. They met at the doors of the Lotus and went in together, her arm around the worker's waist.
At least she has even less of a reason to come back over here now or mention the strange man down the road. He relaxed against the brick wall in relief at being finally alone again and went back to watching for Pavel, hoping that he hadn't managed to miss him during conversation with one of his apparent co-workers.
It wasn't a problem either way, fortunately, because Azrael could identify his voice if Pavel was already at work and encountering any problems with a client. His sensitive ears and long attuned himself to his sound, even within the confines of that building. Pavel had a loud voice. Azrael decided he would stay until just after midnight, which was a few hours away, so he could be certain the man had stayed home.
-
Time stretched on, seemingly endless in the vast darkness of this unlit, forgotten street. The only illumination was the flickering, gaudy neon sign spanning the front of the Lotus. An unpleasant, burning blue bathed the world.
Azrael let out a yawn as he stretched, checking the time on his dying phone only to be relieve that it was almost time for him to head back. He found himself to be glad that he hadn't seen or heard Pavel all evening – it meant that he was safe at home. Or, at the very least, he had not encountered any danger if he had gone into the Lotus. With a final prolonged look at that building, Azrael dragged himself back up onto his feet properly before beginning to walk back to the car a street over.
That was until he heard footsteps echoing out from the Lotus, causing Azrael to turn back around as his curiosity rapidly piqued. His feet screeched to a halt when he saw Pavel's golden hair glistening in the blue neon as he suddenly appeared on the street. Brows furrowing, Azrael watched him, confused about how he had actually managed to miss Pavel getting into the building when the man suddenly burst into a run.
Azrael froze in place as Pavel beelined towards him. His distressed face becoming clearer as he got closer meant Azrael could see that the man wasn't looking at him at all, just past him. It was obvious that Pavel was trying to get away from something and he didn't care where he ended up. Azrael was just an unintentional roadblock that he would have to go around.
As he watched Pavel gaining ground on him, Azrael was unsure what to do, whether he should stop him and ask him what was wrong or if he should cross the street, move out of the way, and let him keep running, only to follow him later. However, his decision was made for him when Pavel suddenly collapsed to the ground, his body going strangely stiff for a moment before he dropped. Azrael darted a petrified glance at the empty street behind him, the supposed pursuers or whatever he was running from not making an appearance.
Azreal's body refused to move for a moment, entirely stunned about what had just happened. Fortunately, his mind kicked back into drive and he ran over to the man, dropping to his knees beside the unconscious form so he could check for his pulse. Azrael let out a grateful breath that Pavel's heartbeat was strong, just slow, before he realised he could feel his own heartbeat thundering in his chest. It was deafening in his ears.
This was the closest that Azrael had ever been to Pavel. The first time he had ever lain a finger on him and he realised he couldn't figure out how to deal with that. Azrael had made a point to never interact with him face-to-face – his actions were not to force Pavel to know him or to make himself a part of his life. They had always been just to protect the man from afar, to repent for not helping him as a child, so Azrael had very conflicting feelings rumbling through my head. The most overwhelming and tangible one was fear.
What the hell am I supposed to do with him now?
Pavel had been unconscious for longer than a minute now and Azrael was sure that couldn't be healthy. There could be something seriously wrong internally that Azrael wasn't able to see but he knew he couldn't take the man to the hospital – they would ask about his injuries or for some ID to prove who he was or, worse, who Azrael was. That couldn't happen because his profession was illegal and he didn't have anything of the sort because he was victim of human trafficking; he didn't exist as a person of this country. I don't even know if I have a single ID on my person or at my house. People poking their noses into this business could have serious consequences for the both of them that Azrael was entirely unequipped to deal with. At the worst, it would end with deportation and, at the best, it would end up with incarceration.
Time marched on around Azrael as he felt overwhelming panic rising through my body, terrified of the decision he knew he had to make. To make sure he was safe, to make sure he would get better and wouldn't die on the street, Azrael would have to nurse Pavel back to health. He would have to be under his roof for the night, at least: there was no other option.
It broke the most fundamental rule of everything Azrael had been doing for 7 years: do not interact with him. Ever. But he knew he had no choice because this was how he had to keep Pavel protected, which was Azrael's prerogative. It was a conundrum that he never thought he would encounter. He felt himself do what could only be described as buffering, like he really was just and automaton made to protect the man before Azrael. Pavel's nose scrunched and Azrael could suddenly gained control of his limbs once more.
Tentatively, he reached his hands out and slipped them underneath Pavel's limp for, Azrael's left arm supporting his neck and head while his right arm caught his legs. As he stood back up, he pressed Pavel to his chest, staring down at his slack face, his mouth slightly agape. Azrael knew time was of the essence but he couldn't help but study the rabbit man, looking at the blond fuzz that covered a lot of his visible skin and finding himself counting the light freckles on his cheeks that Azrael never realised he had. There was a dark beauty mark right below his bottom lip that one could almost look over, nearly hidden behind the beginnings of red and purple bruises that were blossoming across his face.
A little noise escaped him and it shocked Azrael out of his trance, abruptly remembering that he had to get moving, lest Pavel wake up while in his arms or the car and panic before there was a chance to explain anything. This situation wasn't something Azrael could have predicted but that would not stop him from keeping as much of it under his control as he could. Under no circumstances could he allow this to spiral out of his control – he had to be able to keep everything on track.
The first step was getting Pavel to Azrael's house and doing a brief examination of his body so he could identify any injuries that could need treating before the unconscious man woke up. All Azrael could do at the moment was hope he was just fatigued or stressed but considering those developing bruises, he knew it wouldn't be so harmless. At the least, Azrael couldn't smell any blood yet but he could easily be overlooking it because it felt like he was malfunctioning.
Azrael shifted how he was holding Pavel, making it look more like he had become tired on the trip home rather than having just been pick up off of the street. Tucking Pavel's head into the crook of his neck, Azrael set off at a quick pace towards his car, trying to avoid making himself look too suspicious. Though, in this part of town, no one would really care.
After a short walk, no more than a couple minutes, they arrived at the car and Azrael breathed a sigh of relief that no people were nearby at the moment and whatever Pavel had been running from hadn't followed them. Looking around again to satisfy his ever-present paranoia, Azrael unlocked the car and loaded Pavel into the passenger seat. It took a moment but Azrael managed to get Pavel's limp body strapped in with the seat belt. Finally free to move with some speed, he rounded the front of the car and got into the driver's seat to get moving as fast as possible, not bothering to put on his own seatbelt for the short drive. The late hour meant the traffic was non-existent, which made it so Azrael was back at his house in less than 10 minutes.
As soon as they pulled into the drive, it was all a blue of movement. Azrael didn't even are if anyone saw them at this point because he knew he could explain it away – he just knew that he had to get Pavel somewhere safe. Rehearsed movements propelled him forward into the house as he held Pavel to his chest, clambering the steps in hurried succession before Azrael shoved open his bedroom door and laid the unconscious man on the duvet. With a sigh, Azrael fell to the floor.
Sitting down next to the bed, too tired now to check Pavel for injuries, Azrael resolved to just let him sleep and wake up in his own time. Sniffing the air, he was satisfied that there was not a heavy scent of blood. Azrael had to hope that his olfactory sense were doing their job properly. Before sleep got him too, he pulled the shoes off of Pavel's feet and placed them on the floor. I've gotten myself into some shit now.