Ashe moved slowly through the halls of the dorm, tail hanging low in an almost dejected way. A small piece of paper, the words “Meet me on the roof,” printed on it, was clutched in his left hand. The message was unsigned, leaving Ashe with no clue as to who could have slipped it under his door. He knew he probably shouldn’t go, some students at Daeva weren’t above setting traps similar to this, but it gave him something to do. Besides, he needed to get his mind off a certain redhead, who he hadn’t spoken to in a while.
The silverette paused in front of the entrance to the roof, contemplating one last time whether or not he should step through that door. Making his decision, he turned the knob and gently pushed the steel door open. Blue-gray eyes widened at the sight on the other side.
A deep crimson blanket was spread out over the concrete, a small wicker basket and Cormac sitting on top of it. The redhead looked up as the door creaked open, a soft, sort of apologetic smile settling on his face when he saw it was Ashe.
“Surprise.”
Ashe stared at the redhead for a second, completely expressionless; then he turned around, meaning to head right back down the stairs.
“Wait!” Cormac leapt to his feet, almost tripping over the blanket, and hurried to stop the silverette before it was too late. His hand locked around Ashe’s wrist, keeping the fox-tailed demon from going down the stairs. “Please, wait.”
Ashe refused to look at the redhead, his gaze fixed resolutely on the first stair, so close to him but so far away. “What do you want?” he said softly, his voice weak.
“I… I want…” Cormac was stuttering, obviously not used to being the one on the bottom, “I want to apologize, I think.”
Ashe turned just enough to raise an eyebrow, scowling. “You think? It doesn’t mean anything if you’re not sure,” he said scornfully, “Now let me go. I have more important things to do than help you decide what you want.” His heart ached at the words that spilled from his mouth, poisoned honey, but it needed to be said- because otherwise that poison would stay in his heart, and that would be even worse.
Cormac hauled in a shaky breath, eyes closing for a second to hide the pain that filled him after hearing those words. He’d only been trying to apologize. To make things better after what had happened that night- though he wasn’t sure what he regretted, having kissed Zakeri or that Ashe had caught him doing it, even if it was only indirectly. With his eyes still closed, he gave it a moment’s thought, and quickly came to a realization; it was a little of both, that regret, because he’d hurt four people that night.
“Just… sit with me for a while… please,” Cormac said, his voice just as shaky as his hands and his breathing. “Don’t want the food to go to waste, do you?”
Ashe sighed, shaking his head at the elder demon’s attempt to lighten the mood. “Fine,” the silverette said shortly.
Cormac smiled in response, sweet and hesitant- and Ashe couldn’t help the way his heart fluttered, even if he silently lectured it afterwards. The redhead held out his hand, green eyes wide and bright with hope. Sighing his defeat, Ashe took the offered hand and let Cormac lead him to sit on the blanket.
They sat in silence, Cormac unsure of what to say next and Ashe doing his best to ignore the other demon. He looked out at the grounds instead, taking in the beauty around the ugly school building.
Whoever had designed the grounds had an eye for aesthetics; there wasn’t anywhere- Earth, Heaven, or Hell- that could compare to the absolute beauty of the Daeva Institute’s grounds. A lake glistened not far in the distance, crystal blue, surrounded by the lush green trees that composed much of the grounds. Even the layout of those trees had been designed; certain types of trees blended, creating patterns of evergreens and deciduous trees that drew in the eye and could hypnotize demons for hours. Closer to the school building and the pretty red brick dorms, paths of iridescent stone threw back the fake sunlight and created their own swirling, mesmerizing patterns.
“Ashe.” A hand waved in front of Ashe’s face, red-painted fingernails blurring slightly.
The fox-tailed demon glanced sideways. “What?” he asked, slightly irritated. He would have said more, but the words that had been ready on his tongue died as his eyes went wide.
Cormac was on his knees, and looked disturbingly like a man who was about to propose. “Ashe, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice fervent and almost desperate, “I really am, you have to believe me. I never meant to hurt you. I wasn’t even thinking- it wasn’t something I planned to do. I just… I heard how Abriel had kissed him and I just got so mad.”
“Abriel kissed him?” Ashe said with interest. His uncle wasn’t the kind of demon who liked to talk to other people, much less kiss them. Though the fact that it was finally Zakeri he’d broken down for didn’t surprise Ashe, if he thought about it; for all the differences they had, those two boys were a lot alike.
Cormac huffed a sigh. “That’s not the point,” he said, irritated.
“Then what is?”
“Ashe, I’m sorry,” he repeated, and there actually seemed to be tears brimming in his eyes, “I didn’t… I didn’t realize…” There was a hand on his chest, over his heart, and Ashe understood the pained expression- because it was the same way he’d felt since he saw Zakeri fleeing Cormac’s room.
Something in Ashe softened, and he found his stiff carriage melting away, his head tilting forward as an exasperated sound pushed between his lips- directed at himself or Cormac, he didn’t know. “Don’t do it again,” he said, trying to make his voice sharp past the relief; Cormac really did care about him.
“I promise!” Cormac said immediately. Then he realized what the silverette had really said, and the hope that shone in his eyes was truly beautiful, “So… we’re okay then?”
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
The happy sound Cormac made was muffled- because he’d immediately thrown himself forward, hands on Ashe’s shoulders as he kissed the silverette soundly.
Ashe shoved him away immediately, his face flaming red and his eyes once more on the grounds. “Yeah well, don’t let it go to your head,” he muttered- but he didn’t draw his hand away when Cormac put his own over the top of it, and they sat there in content silence, the breach between them patched for the moment.
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