Daevas -I- ✔️

Chapter 8.2: Intimacy

Ari loitered around the fish market before his nose became desensitized to the smell. Although he could ignore the smell, he could not ignore all the stares he was getting from the people surrounding him. Ari had never noticed the difference between him and humans, but now he understood just where that difference lay. Without Freir here, everything became more apparent making him become overly cautious and wary around those around him. Truly, Freir was the only person who cared for him. Now, he was out looking for a man who did not want to be found.

He looked all over for Raoul, but he could not find him. He was not at the food market, so he tried the fish market. The only place left was the stalls that sold wares from the farthest reaches of the world. Since he was young, he did not like it. It always made him feel awful. Still, he ventured off towards it.

As the days passed, his throat became parched and his heart ached more and more. Some part of him wanted Freir to find him and another part of him wanted Auovin to. However, there was Sai here, a growing attraction by the seconds. It was his knowledge that Ari wanted, but Ari would not mind if he would be willing to give him his name... and something more intimate as well.

Ari liked the way Sai's hands felt and the way his breath tickled his ear when he whispered into it. He knew for a fact Sai was toying with him and held no interest in him, but in doing so he only roused the fire burning inside of him since Auovin pushed him away. Ari licked his lips and put a finger to them as thoughts on how his blood would taste lingered in his mind.

Was he so fickle now? Ari stopped in his tracks at the thought. How could he want someone in the way that he wanted Auovin and Cyrus? It did not seem right, but some part of him was telling him that it was. That he did not owe any loyalty to either of them, especially if they were using him as Sai had insinuated.

Ari chewed on his lip in deep thought. He compromised with his self then. He would settle for a kiss or two. Maybe a light touch or misplaced sigh here or there. However, how was he to go about making someone grow an interest in him in that way? It was never a worry or care for him. With Auovin and Cyrus, things seemed to happen on their own. The way Sai treated him only had the opposite effect on him and Ari was not sure whether it was intentional or not.

"Bracelets, necklaces made with fine gems and rose gold here!" a burly man cried from a stall. A long beard peppered with gray covered his entire lower face. The man's brown eyes crinkled into a smile making Ari think of crows feet. "A couple qurts will get ya something fine and pretty-like for a lady friend or two."

Ari stared, unsure of what he meant by his words. Maybe those words were not meant for him, he thought as he turned to look around. People continued to push pass and chatter amongst themselves. They were like mice skittering and scattering around in their muted colors. All of their faces were like blurs, to him. He had never noticed such a thing before.

"Aye, boy, what say you? Five qurts for a bracelet made in the rich lands of Vemur."

Ari shook his head and started to walk away, but the man hailed him down.

"Jewelry isn't what interests you, I see. What about these?" The man pulled out a pair of stones from the bottom of his stall.

As he sat them on top, Ari backed away and narrowed his eyes. They hurt his eyes and being near them, made him want to move away as far as he could.

"Blessed stones from the order. Them Sancliatus get 'em, as you know. Protectors of the Faith and the people. Wards off evil."

They were blue and they gleamed with a glow that seemed to pulsate.

"Go on and touch it. Smooth as a baby's bottom. Hard as a diamond, I's say."

Ari shook his head again and thought to leave once more. The sun was going down, and it was best to be inside by then. The feel of the air did not feel right. It smelled like rain.