Erasthais Across Time

12 - Benefits

Danielle's POV:

He gave my hand a gentle squeeze every few steps as if reminding me he was still there. As soon as we get home we need to get them out of those clothes and never leave the bedroom for a few days, Xena pressed. Hush, you're making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. He's just holding our hand, I said, trying to soothe the beast inside. No, you're not thinking clearly. They are our mates. We have been together for long enough to know that they would never do anything to hurt us intentionally or ever again. What happened that night was horrible and we stayed a hundred years away from them and now they are back, within inches from us. We have an opportunity to get back what we lost! Time! Xena insisted. I hear you and I understand. We can see how things go tonight. Okay? I'm not agreeing to marking...maybe something more intimate though, I said. Hmph! Xena exclaimed, and went into the space in my mind when she wanted to be alone – "her room" is what I called it. I let out a louder sigh than I meant to. "Everything okay?" Damien asked quietly. "Hm? Oh, yea. Just a discussion with Xena that didn't end in agreement," I said. "Oh, okay. Anything we can help with?" he asked, as Zeus shone through. "No, that's sweet but I think we're okay, thanks," I said, offering a kind smile. We reached the main lobby as Suki turned around to face us. "I'll be right back, okay? Don't leave yet," she said, and walked off. As soon as we were alone, Damien pulled me into a tighter embrace. "Damien..." I said, ready to scold him. "Shh, let me hold you. We've been surrounded by so many people today, it's been hard for me not to touch you and yet be so close to you," he said, leaning down to nuzzle my neck. I let out a quiet moan out of reaction. When I looked up, his eyes were turning dark blue. "I need you Danielle. We need our erasthai," he said, whispering into my ear and kissing my neck, around where my faded mark was. "Damien...we...not now..." was all I could say before we both heard multiple footsteps coming our way. He released me and I fixed my outfit. Suki and two other assistants came back carrying bags of what I was assuming were clothes from today. "Here you are! They are washed and ready for wear!" Suki said, handing her bags to Damien as the assistants placed theirs on the ground. "Thanks very much for everything Suki. I'm glad you were able to fit us in today," I said, giving her a hug. "Oh nonsense! We love you! It was SO nice having you both today. And thank you SO much for lunch. Everyone's talking about how they're taking leftovers home," she said, releasing me from her cobra-hold. "Good, they should. I ordered plenty. Please send me the bill when it's ready & when you can, update me on everyone's phone numbers so I can tip them properly," I asked. "Anything for you love," she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. She then turned towards Damien. "It was SO nice finally getting to meet you. Danielle's mentioned you several times but I wasn't certain if I'd ever meet you. Please let us know if you have any issues with your wardrobe or if you need anything else. Here is my card," Suki said, as she offered him a handshake as well. "Thanks very much. I appreciate everything that's been done today. Your team is amazing," he said, shaking her hand. Just then, Aldo sent me a text. "Aldo's downstairs. Thanks for everything Suki!" I said, picking up some of the bags as she walked away. "Here, I'll take them," Damien said. "It'd be sweeter if they were my bags, but these are all yours love, so I can take two at the least," I said, making a face. Damien rolled his eyes and grabbed the other four bags, and we made our way downstairs.

Aldo met us halfway and took some of the bags. "Boy, after 4 hours I thought there'd be more? Ha!" He said, putting them into the trunk. "The rest is being delivered," I said, about to open my door when Damien beat me to it. "Allow me," he said, with a smile. I smiled back and got into the car. "Allow me," Aldo said, clapping Damien's back as he opened Damien's door. Once we were all inside, I sent Aldo a text of our next destination. "Aldo, did you eat today?" I asked, concerned because this old wolf is always driving around for others but never stops for himself. "Ehh, I ate a baconeggandcheese this mornin' but I'm alright. Why?" He said, driving away. "Because you need to eat something more than that. After this next stop, I want you to pick a place for all three of us to eat at and we will go. And we'll bring back some food for your mate, okay?" I said, leaving no room for disagreement. "Alright, you're the boss," he said, closing the partition. "if you're not hungry after lunch, we'll take back whatever is left and eat it later," I told Damien as I closed my eyes for a moment. "I'll eat whatever's in front of me at this point," he said with a chuckle. I smiled and felt his warm presence wrap around mine, filling my nose with his firewood and pomegranate scent. "Lean on me and I'll let you know when we're there," he said, gently kissing my forehead. "It's not a long drive. I'm just a little sleepy..." I mumbled. "Mhmm..." was all he replied. I must've dozed off because in what felt like seconds we arrived at the tech shop. "Love? We're here. I think..." he said, kissing my temple to wake me up. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to sleep. And yes, we're here," I said, stretching as I looked through the window. "We didn't mind at all," Zeus said, overlapping Damien's voice. Aldo opened the door; "Here we are folks!" I got out and Damien slid behind me. "Thanks, Aldo. We shouldn't be more than an hour. In the meantime, figure out where you want to eat and I'm paying. Okay?" I said, slipping him another hundred bill. Aldo looked at me with a disgruntled face. "Fine, Ms. Bossy-pants. But I'm taking you two to the best place around. Doesn't mean expensive – means the food is outta this world!" he said, getting into the parked car. "Works for us," said Damien. I walked us into the tech shop and saw that Finn was already helping a couple already. "Why are we here?" Damien asked, looking around. "Since we've gotten your wardrobe updated into the 21st century, we need to update your methods of communication, specifically getting you a phone...and a laptop," I said. "What? No. You've already spent so much money today – I can get a job or something to pay for a phone. And do I need a laptop?" Damien asked, looking a little flushed as he was out of his element. "Yes, this is happening. And don't worry about the money. You'll have your own soon enough. And sure, if you want to get a job go ahead but I'm sure Konrad wouldn't mind your expertise in training his warriors. And honestly, even though a phone is a mini-computer nowadays – it's still a good idea to have one. I already have the phone picked out for you. Why don't you walk around and take in the tech while we wait for Finn?" I suggested. Damien nodded his head and explored the store. I walked over to the phone cases figuring I'd buy one now and then get one I liked more online. "Hey, what's up Danielle!" Finn said, walking over to me and throwing his arms around me immediately. Phew, hit the bong a bit strong this morning, Xena said. I heard a low grumble from Damien as he walked over to us. "Hey Finn, how's it going today?" I said, inhaling some fresh air. Finn was a very nice, very smart college kid, with his curly brown hair tied up in a bun and his clothes hanging off of his lanky body. "Ahh, it's pretty chill today, not going to lie. I was pumped when you called earlier! It's always nice seeing you D!" he said, with his heart beat pumping. I knew he had a crush on me but I always kept him at an arm's reach and kept it as professional as possible to avoid any misunderstandings. "Well I'm glad I could give you something to do today. Finn, I want you to meet my partner, Damien," I said, as Damien closed the gap. Finn's face dropped but then he realized and put a fake smile on. "Pleasure to meet you, Finn," Damien said, extending a hand to Finn. "Uh, hi. Nice to meet you. I've never seen you before," Finn said. I blinked a few times at Finn to silently show him he was being rude. "Damien was in the marines for a while and officially just got out a few days ago. He lost his phone and laptop in an explosion and needs new tech as a civilian now," I said, hoping Damien would catch on. "Uh, interesting. The marines, yea? You like working for the government and doing their dirty work for them, huh?" Finn said, going behind the counter and getting out the two phones I requested. "Working for any government requires sacrifice and respect. I may not agree or like the job I am assigned at times, but it is what I signed up for and I do it as I am told. I left before the work got to me and compromised me more as a person," Damien said in a quick response. "Uh huh, what about killing innocents? And being a mindless worker bee for them to direct their commands to?" Finn said, hesitating to set up the phones. "Finn –" I began but Damien stopped me. "You may not understand or agree with the line of work I have done but you will never understand what I've had to do to protect the ones I love. I may not agree or understand why you do what you do, such as sit behind a protected glass table while you smell like poorly grown and cured cannabis, but I come to you for a service and appreciate the service you offer. Now. If there's nothing else about this topic that we need to discuss, I believe we are here to make some expensive purchases," he said. Finn just stood there taking in what was said and realized he was acting like a child. "Right...sorry about that. I was out of line," Finn said, unwrapping one of the phones. "No worries. We can put this conversation in the past," Damien said. I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Well, he definitely got control over his anger over the last hundred years... Xena said. He was always good about keeping it in, unless it came to this topic. I've always been the hot-head between us, I retorted. "Now! Danielle asked me to save a black one and a silver one – which one do you want?" Finn asked Damien. Damien chuckled with a smile, then looked back at me. I smiled in return with a shrug. "I'll take the black one – she wants the silver," he said. "Ookay then. Now are we setting up a new number? New Account?" Finn asked, unboxing the black phone. "New phone number but under my account until his paycheck comes in. Then he can do whatever he wants with it," I said, offering Damien the chance to be independent if he wanted when he had his own money. "Gotcha! Give me some time to set this up," Finn said. Damien stayed with him, asking different questions about the phone, making it seem like he knew how a phone worked but didn't know how this phone worked. Finn offered him the more indepth version of the manual since Damien was exhausting him of all the questions he could answer. Damien took to the manual as it was sacred text. "Alrighty! We're all set! New phone who dis, am I right?" Finn said to Damien. Damien didn't get the new colloquial term and stared at Finn. "Anywho...This is your number...I already put in my number if you need help and Danielle's number. You have the manual and us if you have any questions on it. Got it?" Finn said enthusiastically. "Yes, thank you," Damein said, taking his new toy and moving down a seat to explore it. "Pick out a case, man, before you leave. Alrighty, now your turn," he said to me. Finn swapped my number and information over to the new phone in less than 5 minutes. "Great. Now you too, pick out a case – they come free with the phones," he said. I showed Damien where the cases were and we brought our phones back to Finn so he could fit them. "Awesome. Now we're looking for a laptop, right?" Finn said, looking in between Damien and I. "Yes. The best you have. Damien is heavily into research and needs a lot of RAM," I said. "Got it. Come with me, pal," Finn said, and Damien followed him to the other side of the store. I let Aldo know we would be done soon. Once they picked out a laptop, I saw that Finn persuaded Damien to get a gaming mouse, headphones with a detachable mic, earbuds, and cases for everything. I crossed my arms and stared at Finn. "Really?" I said. "What? I thought about what I said earlier and realized I was being a dick. This laptop is great for research and gaming. Ya know, like a therapeutic outlet for any PTSD..." Finn said, bouncing his foot. I rolled my eyes, realizing where he was coming from. "Fine, fine. Add it to the charges," I said. We checked out and said our goodbyes to Finn. Finn apologized once more to Damien, and me, and said while Damien was adjusting back to civilian life that he would be available to talk if Damien needed him. Damien told him he appreciated the offer. We walked outside and Aldo let us into the car. "Alright! Next stop – heaven!" Aldo said, and drove away. The restaurant he took us to was back near the condos but a bit further in the opposite direction. I found out it was his cousin's restaurant: Gino's. We were treated like VIPs and were escorted to the back of the restaurant and given that the owner of this establishment was a shifter as well, we got special privileges on refills. We stayed until 7p after everything – the salad & bread course, the appetizers, the entrees, and the desserts – were all finished. Even then, leaving took a half an hour as goodbye wasn't just a one time saying, no – we had to say it three times. I made sure that Aldo's wife, Rebecca, got a bit of everything as she was a good woman but weaker than Aldo in their stage of life.