No Longer Freedom

8. Well fuck...

Paul's POV

"What is his problem? like- always In front of everyone. It's so annoying. We have talked about it so many times. Why won't he just believe me? Or is it just fun?" I hissed after the bathroom door shut. "What was I supposed to do in the first place?" I raised my thick eyebrows when my eyes scanned the raw dark wooden kitchen counter. Among the empty dishes and dirty cups there were a note I had wrote before about Tom's measurements. "Sewing...What else?" Rolling my eyes I picked up the fragile coffee brown paper and leaned against the wall.

"Black and blue...Maybe some white and purple details too. Nothing too shiny, it might backlash in action. A lot of pockets but not too tight...His scales aren't  flexible yet he had an athletic body before.. so he should use that as soon as he gets it back. The long pointy elbow spikes might be a problem though... I have to make at least two holes to the back of the coat so he could move his wings freely. But the huge tail, what am I going to do with it? Maybe a hole too? Or a covering belt." I spoke out my thoughts. Designing Tom's clothes were a tricky task but not impossible. It would just took more materials and creativity. Perhaps, a smoke would help me with this. I let out a sigh while I started to look for my smokes.

"You've been smoking more often, you know that's bad for you." Unexpected man's voice said worryingly. I raised my lashes towards him and his clearly disappointed look revealed his sadness and care towards my health. Unwanted feeling of guilt filled my heart before I managed to light it up the smoke. "It's just a bad habit. What about Tom? Does he enjoy the water?" Quickly changed the topic, I walked closer to Patryk. "Why can't you just stop for once in your life?" He looked straight into my stoned soul. Patryk's eyes drowned in mine as he opened his arms and stepped closer to me. "Come here my little hunter...Let me numb the pain for you. Whatever it is, you can always bury your face against my chest." He continued as he got closer. His words sounded comforting yet the same time it felt like he would had been stabbing my neck. I swallowed the pain and turned my head towards the opposite direction. "I know...That's the reason why I whisper my worries into the smoke... Otherwise you would be overwhelmed." I stayed strong. "Don't say stuff like that. You know that I'm jealous of those paper cylinders when they can touch your lips but I can't." He suggested smoothly. His sudden act made my heart skip a beat. How was he able to let out those honey words come out so easily, in a time like this. Was he insane or didn't he had any shame?

"You are a fool Patryk... You know our rules. If you break them again and we will get caught, both of us are dead." I hid my blush behind my crusty hand as I tested his will with my now glazed eyes. "But if we continue like this it's going to be the end of us too. I die everyday, piece by piece. When I walk past you, the temptation gets harder to resist every time and it hurts me!" Patryk whined desperately. "Paul, you have to listen to me for once. We must get help for Tord, I know, but what about us? You promised me this would be just temporary but now we've been here for 3 years. He was our final chance to get the money we needed! But now that's gone too. KOTLO will fall into a depression because of the inflation." Patryk's voice started to crack and shake as he dashed towards me. It made me jolted up. My eyes widened once again. I crossed my arms in front of me and raised them to protect myself from the sudden attack.

Patryk took a grip of my upper waist as he pushed me against the wall. Staring at myself from his suffering eyes, I felt crashing pressure in my repressed heart. Even though I had more mass than him, I was frightened, but only for maybe two seconds, until I realized Patryk wasn't about to attack. He would never do that. At first glace he looked frustrated but I knew that deep down he was just desperate and heartbroken.

He hugged me tightly as he buried his teary eyes on my neck. "I'm just so tired of waiting." He cried out with his hurt voice. "You are not the only one." I whined. My right hand reached Patryk's dark chocolate hair by rubbing them as I leaned closer to him. Rubbing his soft but messy hair seemed to calm us both down. "I do what I must do. For us. This is for our best. " I spoke calmly but Patryk only seemed to get more upset.

His hot breathing tickled my neck as I watched him closely. "Our best?" He paused. "This is not for our best. We are just watching how our sparkle is growing into a flame. It's not wise to hide it in the woods, is it?" Patryk sighed. "It's not but It's not wise to pour gasoline on top of the fire pit. It will escalate to a wildfire. That means it will lure people over." I complained.

Partyk knew what words he needed to use when he were arguing with me yet that didn't change the fact that both of us wanted the same things. The only proplem was that the other one was thinking with their pure heart, and the other one was making the decisions based on pure logic. That's why I wanted to be in control of those kinds of stuff. The heart felt the pain worse. I only want to protect him. Still, I managed to make it worse for him.

I failed...

Then, I felt soft and warm lips pressing against my jawline. I gasped lightly and pushed Patryk slightly behind. "Stop...He is still in our house. We don't know how long he will be here. Remember the first rule?" I mumbled anxiously. My heart felt like it would had ran out of my chest in any second. The fear of getting caught were too much for my body. "I know...but...Just a little bit?" He suggested with a begging tone. It made me feel bad for both of us.

"I'm sorry... but no. This has happened two times before already. I know already that if you get the so called little bit you won't be able to stop...Remember what happened last time? We almost got caught because of you." I hissed. The memory of another soldier walking past us when we were just about to kiss got my heart running even faster. "But wasn't it worth it?" Patryk joked while he slid his right hand to my right cheek. "Always...But we have work to do as well. We can talk about this when Tom is not in our house. I have to do his jacket and stuff-" I froze.

Two black voids watched at us from behind the corner with glowing light blue horns. Oh no... "Turn around, now..." I whispered. "What?" Patryk let go of me as he turned around to face a confused looking Tom. "Well fuck..." He whined as he took a step back. "This is not what it looks like!" He trembled while he stepped towards Tom. "That's bullshit. I knew there was something going on." Tom rolled his eyes. "You have secrets too." His mouth twisted into a playful smile. "What if we made another deal? You two are going to tell me exactly what's really going on that also includes your history and what are your goals. If you do that I will keep my mouth shut about this and play along." Tom giggled with derision. He truly had learned how to play this game. It was scary how quickly he managed to learn our ways and manners just by listening to how Tord, Patryk and I did it.

Yeah this chapter was supposed to be ready a week ago but I was struggling  with school and my job soooo that's why I'm going to publish two chapters today. I might not be able to write next week so I can't promise a new chapter. It depends on my mood to write. I hope u guys understand and keep supporting and commenting on my works. Love u !

byee.

Edited 24th of April 2025