Roses Wilt, Bites Scar [boyxboy]

Chapter XX

~Saturday 11th June 2011~

"Do you really want to pierce me?" Arlo inquired, watching his own reflection as he buttoned up the shirt he had borrowed from Emeri. He was lucky they were of similar build, albeit Arlo was a little slimmer, but not by much. The clothes fit well enough, although Arlo hoped that maybe Emeri would let him get some of his own. He didn't really fit well with the man's style all too much. At least, however, Emeri wasn't making him wear a full suit, only slacks and a button-up.

"Hm?" Emeri looked up from his phone, meeting Arlo's eye when the boy turned to face him, "you look beautiful," smiling, Emeri rose from the bed, crossing the room to kiss Arlo. Clearly, he hadn't been listening at all.

"I asked if you really wanted to pierce me, babe," Arlo reached up, adjusting the collar of Emeri's shirt, finding that man was smirking down at him, that sly little expression that the boy found so attractive.

"If you would like that too," such a difference from when Arlo had first met him, Emeri actually just considered someone else's wishes over his own. It was practically unheard of.

"You said you wanted to put a ladder there, would it hurt a lot?" Arlo pushed back a stray strand of Emeri's hair behind the man's ear, feeling him keen into his touch. Emeri tilted his head slightly, pressing a kiss to Arlo's palm, a sweet gesture that made the boy's heart almost skip a beat. How could someone be so gentle, so kind, and yet so vicious? Arlo would like to find that out sometime, maybe tonight, although that heavy a conversation over family dinner might not be the best way to get to know Emeri's siblings and father.

"Not agonizing, but it hurts. It hurt when I had my prince Albert's done, it would probably be a little worse if you were having multiple done but no one says we have to do them all at once. It can be a slow process. Not afraid of a little pain, are you, kitten?"

"No," Arlo giggled, "but I want you to do it," Emeri arched an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly, "you said you'd want to, if I wanted it. We can do it soon, I don't really know how it's done or anything, I know it takes time to heal and stuff but I thought you might have ways to speed it up. Plus, it's not like I really need use of it like you do."

"We'll talk about it later tonight, OK?" Emeri laced his fingers into Arlo's, leading the boy over to the door. They hadn't really been out of there much yet, and certainly not together. Arlo was still having some serious pain from earlier that morning, but it was getting better. Slowly but surely. The medications that Emeri had brought for him were doing enough, taking the edge off, he hoped they would last. It really would have been embarrassing for Arlo to have some sort of break down over the agony in front of Emeri's family.

"Are you nervous?" Emeri inquired as the two walked the halls together, joined at the hand. Eyes followed them as they went, lingering on their backs, Arlo could feel it. They cast away when they passed, but watched from behind, when they believed no one could tell. The gossip would spread quickly, Arlo thought to himself, but somehow he couldn't find the mind to care.

"Should I be?"

"I suppose not, humans tend to over exaggerate though," Arlo smiled, tightening his grip on Emeri's hand for just a moment when he felt his whole body tense. He had never been to family dinner before, he could barely even remember those from his childhood, with his own parents and siblings. He wasn't sure how to act. They were sophisticated, they were royalty for God sake, and Arlo had no idea how to be around them. He only hoped he knew enough not to screw up entirely.

"I've been down here long enough to know that family dinner might not be the scariest thing. I'm kinda looking forward to having some sense of normality," thank God Arlo could lie well, even the demonic king of the underworld couldn't tell when he wasn't speaking the truth.