Eial watched Drokn, switching from one eye to the other. Rubbing the demon’s cheek once more, Eial softy spoke, "I'm happy to see you feel better."

Pushing his face forward, Drokn left himself from Eial's touch and bumped his forehead with the other’s. He levered down, making sure his face hovered over Eial's with a commanding demeanor. "Don't change the subject," he chided in a fierce calm.

Green eyes glided upwards at the authoritative figure as the soft voice started an, "I-," before the lips stopped, hushing the room.

"Speak," ordered Drokn, not once blinking, piercing his gaze, a mixture of amber and red, into Eial's. Their breaths touched one another and each word grazed the other’s cheeks. Their closeness casted a deeper shadow to a side of their faces, seeming to darken Drokn’s features further.

Thinning his lips, the elf breathed in deeply and, unexpectedly, he retorted. "I asked first, Drokn."

Stunned, the two then came to a stand still, or a sit still if you will, until a vein popped on the back of Drokn's neck. Mixed with frustration, amused by the elf’s rebellion, Drokn was unsure which voice to take. Yet then, in waves, Drokn's memories started to resurface- Of the emptiness he had felt, the loss, the confusion, blistering into near madness as his nails clawed into his skin. And the elf dared to ask why he was here. "Of course, I'm here to take you back! Now, answer me!"

Eial's expression was muddled with genuine astonishment hearing Drokn, and his eyes left Drokn's stare momentarily to dart to his side in contemplation. Biting his lower lip, he glanced up at the demon with a flash of a blush, but as soon as that rose had come, it had withered and been replaced by a distant nothingness.

Wavering his lips, his voice dimmed softer than it had been, barely heard. "I can't leave with you."

Lifting his forehead away from Eial, a lightly reddened indent brandished on both their skins from where they made contact. Immediately, Drokn spurted, "I knew it! They're keeping you here aren't they? The lying elves. Let's get out of here, okay? Can you teleport? What if we-"

"That's not it, Drokn, I'm staying here by my own will."

Many words attempted to come out of Drokn’s lips to no success, until in pitiful denial, he blurted, "D-did they brainwash you? There's no reason you would want to stay here of your own will. You need me. You—" Welling up in emotion, watching Eial's guilt-ridden face, Drokn’s lips quivered. The sorrow and loneliness that held little place for understanding for the demon diverted rather into a growing anger. "Why did you leave? Why did you leave me?"

Brows curled up in sympathetic hurt for Eial as he felt a darkness crumbling his chest. He couldn't tell if it was his own emotion or emotions through their bond. The depth and power of the emotions prickled his skin and pounded his heart, as if his heart was beaten by his own self. He could no longer look at the honest expression pouring with hurt across from him.

"Was it because I had mistreated you? But I thought... I thought we were okay. I thought you cared for me. I thought you needed me. How could you just abandon me? Without a word?" Pain etched voice shrilled with hurt, anger rising anew with each accusation the demon presented, the betrayal and ignorance of his own feelings. Spiteful words of abandonment were at the edge of the demon's teeth out of impulse, and with forceful difficulty, held back from being spoken.

"I'm sorry Drokn, I didn't think you would care that I was gone—"

"How could I not care?! Are you sure it’s not you who doesn’t care?!” Drokn cut off Eial in a hiss before the elf’s breath finished. His blood boiled at the absurd words from the elf. What had the past months they’d spent together even meant for the elf? “I thought... I thought we had grown close. But then I discover our bond hadn't strengthened for a while now. For all the time I thought we were... How long had you been planning to leave? How long have I been deceived for? For how long have I been a fool?!"

"I didn't think of you a fool, Drokn! It has nothing to do with that.” Tears started to well, dawning an orange glimmer reflected by the lantern light. His breath ached as much as his heart and he was lost into a pit of his own confusion and his past resolution. “I just... Drokn, your goal had always been to become king. I'd taken that from you before, but now you finally get to be king. Demons don’t take kindly to elves. By staying, I’d only tarnish your reputation and hurt your goal further. I’d only be a hindrance. I don’t—” Eial’s voice cracked, “I don’t see how I can be useful to you now by staying there, so I... I didn't think you'd need me anymore."

"Why do you care about being useful or not—,” yet before the demon finished, a flash of a memory resurfaced. The memory of when he, himself, had declared that he was keeping the elf to use him. But that had been so long ago. So much has happened since. Was it just that moment that had etched into Eial? Is there something else? “I don’t care if you’re useful or not, Eial! We’re frien—,” he paused, “We’re bonded mates!”

“But bonded mates mean nothing to demons…”

"So what? You’re an elf! Bonds matter to you! You'll hurt yourself if we're separated. I don't want you to get hurt!”

"But I don't want to make you stay with me just because I need you."

“Why are you so fucking stubborn?!"

Heavy pants through bared teeth, Drokn stared at the elf with wide eyes. Somehow, there was a disconnect, a rift between their thoughts. Why was the elf so stubborn to separate from him? Yet speaking as if in the demon’s favor despite his words? How could the demon convince the elf of his words without such defiance? It was as if they were in an abyss where the demon outstretched his hand, only to be met with an invisible wall and an elf standing far away.

In the silence between them, the demon calmed, breathing steadily. He shifted his weight to sit back on his feet, his shackles behind him clanking distinctly in the movement. The lantern light beside them had stopped dancing after the momentary fit it had just moments prior. Then, hushed, his whisper loud among each other's company, Drokn simply and slowly asked, "Do you not want me anymore?"

Woefully gazing at the other, the elf's fingers trickled down the demon’s cheek. "How could I not want you?"

"Then," Drokn responded,

"Then, just stay with me."