Seven Deadly Sins

Chapter Ten

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Previously...

Calix slammed the door shut after his little speech and for a while no one spoke...

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"

I don't understand" Tao said almost inaudibly. Tears filled his eyes for a new reason. It felt like his bond with Calix had strengthened and he could feel his pain so clearly. "I don't understand how all of you were okay with seeing each other hurt" Tao murmured. Fox's eyes widened and he rushed to the bed to be next to Tao. Idris left to grab a wet towel and a change of clothes for him. "We did not have a choice Tao. Asmodeus and Aslan, they made it so difficult to be affectionate in any capacity. It was always twisted around and they'd tell us we're enabling the sins. We tried but it always made things worse" Fox tried to explain.

Tao still did not get it. There was no way he would let Asmodeus or Aslan's words cause him to treat any of them badly. It made him sick to even imagine hurting Jules, let alone the others. He was sure his disappointment was clear on his face and he also remembered how Jules had acted now towards Calix. When he looked up at said man, at least the man had the decency to look ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry Tao. I guess everything Calix said was true. We've had a stigma around him for so long. I know it's not an excuse but..." Jules sighed, not knowing how to finish his sentence.

"No." Tao said firmly.

"N-No what?" Jules asked a little confused.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. Calix deserves an apology from all of you and you don't stop apologizing until he knows you actually care about him. You do care about him right?"

"Of course!" Fox exclaimed a little defensively.

"Then show me. Show him, because he is convinced that he means nothing to you. I can feel him. He's hurting so much. It doesn't feel fair that we're here in our own little world and your other mates are still suffering." Tao said matter-of-factly. He really wanted Calix to come back and fix his bond with the others but Calix's pain seemed to run so deep. It had destroyed something inside him and Tao was not sure a few apologies would ever repair that.

"Over the years, if a sin went rampant, it was always our fault. Before any of us knew how to control ourselves, the sins would dictate a lot of our actions. I am not entirely sure what happened with Calix before Asmodeus found him but it was enough for Asmodeus to think that treating lust as a vile sin would solve the problem. All of us had a life before the sins and we all had traits that made a specific sin compatible with us. I guess we just assumed that Calix used to love to sleep around and that sex was an action we had to control even amongst ourselves" Idris explained when he returned. He helped clean Tao up and get him dressed in fresh clothing.

"Who decided that Asmodeus was in charge?" Tao asked suddenly. There was a pause and the others looked at each other. "I guess it was mostly by default. None of us were interested in leading the others. Some of us did not see the need. So Asmodeus stepped up and Aslan, being the sin of pride naturally took up a beta position I guess" Fox said. It seemed the men had not questioned a lot about their lives together and it was starting to show that they went along with a lot of things they had no obligation to.

"I have a request" Tao said. He hesitated when the men have him their full attention, not because he was unsure of his decision, but because he was unsure of their reaction.

"I'm going to ask Calix to stay in this room with me. I barely go out of here since you guys bring stuff here and I'm basically avoiding Asmodeus and Aslan, so I won't get to see him very often."

"But he doesn't want anything to do with us" Fox said, his voice low and sad.

"I know. That's why I said he would stay with me. My request is that you guys return to your rooms or wherever you'd prefer to go. I-I want to get to know Calix. I know what I felt  from him and I won't be able to sleep knowing he's hurting like that and he has no one." Tao said.

"You want us to leave?" Jules asked, a little hurt by the request.

"Yes" Tao said firmly.

"But what if-" Jules began but Fox cut him off.

"Enough Jules! I get it. You think something might happen, but is it that bad? They are mates and I trust that Calix won't force himself on Tao. Besides if Tao is in distress you'll feel it through the bond. Maybe we should stop thinking like Asmodeus and Aslan and start thinking like Tao. He's only been here for a little over a month and already he has been a better mate to us than we have ever been to each other over the past few centuries. I say we take a page from his book and learn something!" Fox snapped.

Tao could tell that Calix's words had affected Fox a lot. He remembered how Fox had gone with Holden to calm Calix down and wondered if they were usually intimate with each other and whether Fox took that intimacy to heart a lot more than Calix realized.

"Okay" Jules said quietly. "Okay. We'll leave. Just... I'm sorry" Jules sighed and stood up. The bond Tao shared with him made his whole body itch to comfort Jules but he was also slightly upset at the way Jules acted with Calix. So he knew he had to do this. Idris, the ever quiet one, simply nodded and pulled Fox up to steer him towards the door.

"I'll give Calix your breakfast and tell him you want him here. If you need anything just shout." Idris said and pushed a still reluctant Jules, and a still upset Fox out the door.

Tao sighed as the door closed behind them. He rubbed his temples as he thought about what he had just asked. He was working on pure instinct at this point. An instinct that had kicked in ever since Jules marked him. It was the only reason why, a month later, he acted as if all of this was normal. He kept feeling the need to help and he could not ignore it for long.

His heart would not let him and it hurt to try. He just hoped he could make Calix feel better somehow.

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A/N

Tao is an important piece to the bond but sometimes you have to break something to fix it. Who or what is going to be broken?

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