Chapter VI
Eon’s heart leapt in his throat, those empty eyes staring him down, devoid of emotion, the white’s a startling black, and the pupils as thin as needles. Like glass beads, Eon could see himself reflected seamlessly within them. There was no trace of the Max he knew in those eyes. Only a deep, raw, primal instinct. As though he was looking into the eyes of a feral animal.
“...What-” Eon was trying to process the situation, gears turning slowly as he truly didn’t want to believe the sight before him...And in an instant, his back suddenly hit the floor with a loud thud, clawed hands pinning him down with surreal force.
He...He couldn’t move. Max bore down at him with strength Eon couldn’t conceivably comprehend. Was Max always this strong?
A low growl resounded just beside his ear, and pain suddenly flared throughout Eon’s shoulder, a strained sound escaping him in protest.
Teeth sank into his body with piercing force, pulling, threatening to tear skin and flesh away from him.
Dread settled within the pit of his stomach. He had to push Max off of him...He had to. If he didn’t, he was seized with the realization that he would probably die right here. At Max’s hands.
“...Max…! Get ahold of yourself!!” He rose his voice, struggling fiercely. Yet, no matter how he writhed and fought, the force keeping him down didn’t lessen. He was hopelessly faced with the notion that he would be killed by the very person he was so desperate to help. The irony.
But, it was just as he braced himself for such a possibility, that the unearthly force bearing down on him suddenly lifted.
Bewildered, emerald eyes met his own, confusion coloring Max’s expression. As though he didn’t realize what he had done, or was even doing.
“...E...on?” The voice, barely audible, escaped Max. Steadily, his hazy vision began to clear to see Eon just below him, looking strangely flustered and out of breath.
Why was he…? Max couldn’t understand, his thoughts feverish and turbid, his blackened arms reflecting in his narrowed vision.
...His arms.
The sight of that striking black burned itself within Max’s eyes, and he immediately recoiled, pushing himself up and staggering back.
All around was red. Red. Red. Red. The floors, the walls, the ceiling, himself. He was drenched in red. The stench of blood, fear, and death mixing together, making his stomach churn.
Behind him, the horribly mangled carcass of the Demon remained. Upon seeing that sight, his vision shook, the taste of blood lingering in his mouth. Sweet, like poison, it stirred something terrifying within him, and he retained the urge to vomit.
Just...Just what had he done? He couldn’t remember for the life of him. He felt as though he had tunnel vision, unable to see anything at all, but a fresh wound lining Eon’s shoulder seemed strangely vivid to him.
He somehow recognized it, realizing it was Max himself who had inflicted that wound. He felt and looked as though he had been struck by the sight of it, finding it difficult to keep his feet on the ground.
Eon was shaken, but he soon realized that, while himself again, Max was spiraling out of control. He was losing his grip over himself.
His fear all but gone, all Eon could do was try to approach him.
“...Stay back!” Max’s shrill voice echoed loudly throughout the room as he took a fearful step backwards, refusing to allow Eon to get any closer to him. He desperately tried to maintain that distance.
He hurt him...Hurt Eon...No, rather than hurting him, Max nearly tried killing him. He was afraid of himself, of what he might do. His dream revived graphically in his mind. The familiar faces, their bodies crumbling away to dust before him. At his hands.
Even Eon...Would he too, crumble away? Would Max defile him?? With these hands of his???
Not Eon...Not him too.
These hands could touch no one.
Suddenly, Max was seized with the sensation that he might fall through the floor. That perhaps it wasn’t even truly there. As though he may be swallowed right up by it.
Eon watched it all unfold, saw the hysteria in his eyes. Max was spiraling into a deep, dark place where no one would be able to reach him.
Eon wouldn’t let him go there. Instead, he hardened his jaw, and began closing the distance.
Max was alarmed, his fur swelling out in panic and denial, refuting Eon’s advances. He wanted to reject Eon with all his might.
“I said stay back!” He screeched, retreating as far back as he could, until his back hit the wall. There was no where for him to run to. He was frightened, yet despite his profuse denials, Eon closed that distance, refusing to allow Max to escape...And then...Arms encircled Max’s body, holding him close, his body stiffening in protest. “...No-!”
“It’s okay.” Eon hushed him, not allowing the squirming Max to wriggle his way free. “I’m fine, see?” Eon tried to reassure him, arms remaining firmly across him...It was difficult to believe that this small body had him so completely overpowered mere moments ago.
Max’s heart was racing, his face squished against Eon’s chest.
“...Let go…!” He hissed, still wriggling about in vain.
“But if I do that, you’ll try running away.”
“…!! Obviously!!”
“Then that’s why I won’t.” Eon shot back stubbornly, his arms not budging in the slightest. “Guess we’ll be staying like this all day.”
Max was outraged, but try as he might, there was no getting away. Instead, slowly, Eon’s body heat began to seep into him, an indescribable feeling overtaking Max. That feeling of warmth calmed him somehow, Eon’s scent brushing past his nose...And finally, the black along his arms steadily began to recede, along with the various, blue markings.
Silence ensued, yet Eon’s arms remained snugly around him.
“...I’m calm now, so let go.”
“Mmm...Don’t wanna.” Eon replied on the dime. “Didn’t know you were so huggable.”
Max was clearly displeased, but he had calmed down considerably by now, those strong arms still wrapped around him, supporting him. Comforting him. If Eon let go now, Max was hit with the illusion that he would fall into a dark, empty abyss, with no hope of ever climbing back up, far beyond anyone’s reach ever again.
“….I’m sorry.” Max whispered, his voice quiet, meek, defeated. He felt nothing but agitation and shame towards himself.
“Don’t you worry about it.” Eon consoled him as silence passed between the two before he spoke up again. “...So...What’s with the Demon? What happened??” He hoped he would get answers, but Max was silent, and Eon feared he may not say anything for a moment.
“...Asato...By the time I realized…” Max explained feebly, but his words trailed off before he could finish.
“Asato?” Eon echoed, appalled as he glanced back at the corpse.
That was Asato? Eon had never picked up on the scent of a Demon from the man, so it was hard to believe, but Max had no reason to lie.
“...And what about back there? What was that??” He questioned, referring to Max’s strange behavior and form.
Silence. Once more, Max didn’t seem as though he would answer...But eventually, that answer did come.
“...A monster.”
Eon winced at these thoughtless words.
“...If you’re a monster, then I struggle to imagine what I am.” He frowned.
“...You don’t know me, or the things I’ve done-”
“Who cares?” Eon interrupted him, unconcerned with these trivial details. “The only Max I see is the one standing in front of me. To me, you’re just that. You’re just Max, and that’s all that matters.”
Max had no immediate rebuttal for these straightforward words.
“No, the only monstrous thing here is the state of this room.” Eon grimaced with a sigh as he glanced around the room, wondering how he was going to explain all of this. “...Well, never you mind that for now. Ally-oop.” Suddenly, with those last words, Eon hoisted Max off of his feet before walking off towards the bathroom.
“…!! Eon…! Hey…!!” Panicked, Max couldn’t help but cling to Eon, fearing that if he didn’t, he might fall. “Put me down!!”
“Yes, yes.” Eon hummed, finally setting Max down on the edge of the bathtub.
“What are you-mrph-!” Max’s protests were swiftly muffled as Eon rubbed at his face with a dampened cloth.
“You’re practically marinating in blood. At least let me wipe it off.” Eon explained, wiping away the drying blood from Max’s face, his hair, and his ears. He feared that the lovely, snow white fur may be dyed with that red, but the blood came off cleanly. He didn’t feel as though Max had sustained any injuries either, but even so, he was relieved when he finished wiping the blood away and didn’t discover any. Not a single cut, bruise, or blemish. “Well, that’s a relief.” He nodded, feeling satisfied.
Max fell silent, his eyes catching sight of that horrendous, bite wound along Eon’s shoulder. It looked as though he had just barely avoided having the flesh torn off of him.
...Max couldn’t bear to look at it. He felt an overwhelming sense of spite towards himself, reaching up to heal the wound. Such was the least he could do. He owed Eon that much.
“...I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.” Eon blinked, still taken aback by the feat. “...Come to think of it, how come you didn’t heal your own shoulder that time??”
“...I can’t use it on myself.” The flat response reached Eon’s ears.
“...Well that’s inconvenient.” He frowned, waiting for a response from Max, but...No such thing came. There was only that all too familiar, awkward silence.
...This again, huh? It seemed like they’d taken a few steps back now, and Eon rubbed at his neck. He was used to it, but...He felt disappointed, all the same.
“...Why…?” The sudden question from Max was weak, his head hanging down, gaze fixated on the tiled floor. “...Why are you going so far for me…? I even hurt you, turned on you...Any way you look at it, it’s troublesome, isn’t it?”
It was Eon’s turn to fall silent as he mulled over Max’s words.
Why...He’d been asking himself that very question quite a lot as of late, hadn’t he? Yet, no matter how profusely he thought on the subject, he wasn’t sure he came any closer to an answer.
Perhaps in the end, that answer wasn’t nearly as complicated as he was making it out to be.
“...I can’t really say why for certain...Because I want to? Because, for some reason, I can’t leave you alone?? Or perhaps you would be satisfied if I said it was something about you, yourself??” Eon turned to face Max. “And to be honest...I’ve never once thought it to be troublesome.” He smiled, reaching his hand out and gently lifting Max’s chin, looking him in the eyes. “The way you’re surprisingly bad mouthed at times, how you’re never afraid to state exactly how you feel in the moment...The way you do that little thing when you tilt your head and those ridiculously fluffy ears of yours flop over just right...Or even the way you’re always trailing that little ways just behind me, like you’re afraid I might go on off somewhere without you.” Two-toned eyes captured emerald ones, refusing to release them. “...Do you think I’ll disappear somewhere? Does that thought frighten you??”
Max felt trapped within Eon’s gaze, somehow seeing right through him.
“Why are you so afraid?? Where do you think I’ll go??”
“...I…” Max didn’t know how to respond to the barrage of questions, his ears and tail trembling as he tried to avert his gaze, but Eon wouldn’t let him.
“I’m not going anywhere, Max.”
Eon’s voice was soft, gentle. Terribly so. Max found himself wondering why Eon’s words always rattled him right down to his core. It was as though Eon knew everything, as though he reached deep into Max’s heart, drawing out his fears and insecurities, and exposing them at the surface for all to see. He was helpless to resist it. No one else bore holes through his walls so efficiently, tearing them down effortlessly, as though they were as brittle as thin glass. His eyes, one, that deep crimson, and the other, that splendid silver, saw everything. Somehow, Max was struck with that impression as he rolled Eon’s words about in his mind, over and over.
...Was he afraid…? That much should have been obvious. He was terrified. Terrified of letting anyone in, of letting anyone close. If he did, it would only be to lose them in the end...Always...Always, he would lose those most precious to him. They would all wind up lost in the end, and that pain tore away at his heart far more than any mortal wound ever could. He wondered if the scars left behind would ever heal. Would ever fade.
He couldn’t bear that pain again. He didn’t want these hands to destroy anyone else. Didn’t want anyone else’s lives lost, because of him.
“…I...I understand, so let go. Please.” He finally spoke, pressing one hand against Eon’s chest, and gently pushing himself away, putting distance between them.
Please...Please don’t get any closer than this. He silently begged these words. Prayed them. He wanted nothing more than to lock his heart away, somewhere no one could reach it. So that he may never involve another into his problems again.
More than seeking the warmth of another, he feared for the loss of that warmth.
Eon of course, let Max go, feeling as though he had calmed down plenty, though he could also feel Max purposefully maintaining a slight distance, drawing a distinct line that Eon was not allowed to cross.
Once more, that awkward silence remained between them, making the air feel stale.
Whatever moment had passed between them, was gone.
“...I’ll go get you a change of clothes before letting Azuma know about all of this.” He finally said, receiving no response in return before leaving the bathroom.
A strange sense of frustration overtook him, but eventually, he partially informed Azuma of the events that took place.
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