Chapter 4

Somehow staying until he's recovered has turned into months. Three months that Sora has been living with him and he's ingratiated himself into every part of Riku's life. Riku has barely been to work these past few months. Not that Riku can really say he's complaining anymore. Despite everything, it has been a nice change having someone else around. Other than his housekeeper, he doesn't really talk to anyone. It's easier to keep his secrets when you don't have people close.

Sora is curled under his arm, unsurprisingly reveling in the closeness when Axel appears in his living room with a blonde boy that seems about Sora's age looking around curiously. He's never met him before, so he can only assume it's the human Axel chose to steal. "Hey Riku, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Can you use the doorbell?

"No, seriously, it's important," Axel inclines his head towards the back. Riku gently extracts himself from Sora despite the other's protest and leads Axel to the back. "Hey, so I need you to keep Roxas here for a little while."

"What? Seriously. Does it look like I'm running a home for misplaced teenage boys?"

"Dude, just shut up and do it. Things are getting hectic down below and I'm not going to be able to watch out for him. It'd be better if he wasn't discovered just yet."

"Oh, so what you really mean is, no one knows you stole him yet."

"Don't say that," he hissed. "We don't need to talk about that. Just let him stay for a little while, keep him out of trouble. He and your little pet seraph can keep each other company.

Riku gave him a sour look. "Fine." Axel always seems to cash in on his favors in the most annoying way, keeping a newly made demon who Axel most definitely broke the rules to keep is pretty high on that list.

"And it'd be awesome if you could teach him a few things about being a demon. I haven't had much time, the timing of his death was pretty shitty."

"How am I supposed to do that with Sora here?"

"You don't have to teach by example, just kind of instruct him, tell them that you learned from me. You're smart enough, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"How long will he be here?"

"Not long, just until I can take care of him full time. No one knows he exists, so you should all still be safe here."

"Great," Riku deadpans.

"Thanks! You still owe me some." Axel heads back to the front and Riku rolls his eyes, of course Axel wouldn't let him forget that he owes a lifetime's worth of favors. By the time he gets back to the living room, Axel is quietly telling Roxas goodbye and Sora wastes no time running over to grab his hand.

"What's happening?"

"He's staying here for a while?"

"What!" Sora jerks back in surprise, "you're letting a demon stay here?"

"I let you stay here."

"But, that's different! I'm a seraph!"

"Don't be speciest, Sora." Sora pouts and Riku chuckles, squeezing their joined hands, "I promise it'll be fine."

"….."

"Roxas is a new demon, I'm sure he hasn't stolen any souls," Rku teases.

"You won't be joking when it's your soul that's stolen."

"Good thing I have you here to protect me then." Sora simply shakes his head.

"So, guys this is Roxas," Axel states. "This is Sora and Riku," he points to each of them in turn. "Don't get too close to Sora, he may burn you alive, just a warning." He turns to Riku, "Thanks again for doing this, I'll see you guys later." Then Axel vanishes, leaving a slightly tense atmosphere. Sora squeezes closer to Riku, for some reason he doesn't like this at all.

"You hungry, Roxas?"

"A little."

"Come on, I'll fix you something."

Riku heads to the kitchen, freeing himself from Sora, much to the other's displeasure, along the way. Once, he's fixed lunch and they've settled around the table, he observes Roxas. He wonders what turning someone into a demon entails, Axel never went into much detail when they talked about half demon origins…

"Soo…how exactly are half demons born?"

"Just, like you'd think with interspecies mating. Most die though."

"What?! I might die?"

"Nah, if you've been alive this long, you're good. You're actually pretty well formed."

"Well…formed?"

"Most times if a demon mates with a human mother, the baby usually dies because the demon blood is too strong and the mother can't handle it. The rare times it survives, it's usually a deformed blob and its killed anyway. If the mother is a demon, even rarer, most demons don't want weak halfling kids, it's about a fifty-fifty chance of it coming out deformed or normal."

"And then what happens?"

"If it's deformed it's killed of course and if it's normal, it usually becomes a slave. Human halflings are usually very weak with little magic, so what else can be done with them. They're kept as slaves, it's a pretty miserable existence. They're already weak, so they rarely last long."

"…and half seraphs?"

"They're rarer, but they last longer. Whether the mother or father is a demon, there's a lower chance it won't be a blob. Usually they come out fine, but sometimes the genes just don't mix."

"Ah, so well formed."

"Yep, you look human."

"Are they slaves too?"

"Uh huh. Unless their parent actually wants them. If a seraph actually carries the kid to full term, which is rare because they don't want the disgrace of a half demon child and it only happens if they're held captive, they usually kill the kid or abandon it here in hell with us. There are a few here with demon mothers who aren't slaves, but most are. They're stronger than the half humans, but still weak with magic, but that too can also depend on the strength of their parents."

"Oh. I thought demons and seraphs didn't mix, how are all these halflings born?"

"It's usually rape. Also having sex with a seraph is healing because of their natural abilities, but more have since learned to stay away even from the human world if they want to avoid us."

Riku feels queasy, he never gave too much thought to the circumstances of his birth, but from what Axel said it probably wasn't a happy union. "Don't feel bad Riku. I don't know who your parents were, but whoever your mother was, she had a good heart and was sympathetic to you. She put you in a human orphanage to give you a chance for survival rather than kill you or abandon you to be a slave. You should feel lucky, not many can say the same. She saved you from being a high quality slave."

"….Thanks."

"No problem, now get up and let's practice your weak magic some more."

Riku brings himself back to the present, there really is so much he still doesn't know about demons and he knows next to nothing about seraphs. Although, he does pick up a few things here and there from observing Sora. Well if nothing else at least he can help Roxas out.

"Roxas, Axel wants you to practice your new…abilities."

"What are they?"

"He hasn't taught you anything?"

"No, I haven't been with him long and he's been pretty busy."

Riku sighs, "I guess we'll start with the basics then."

"You're going to teach him?" Sora questions incredulously.

"Hey, Axel's mentioned a few things to me before, it's only the basics." Roxas shrugs and follows him out into the front yard. "Okay, so I think one of the simplest things is making yourself invisible to just one person, like me. You have to concentrate on changing my awareness…."

Sora sits on the porch resting his head on his knees watching Riku guide Roxas and he feels his heart clench. Riku actually does seem to know what he's doing, how long has he known Axel anyway? Riku's a pretty good teacher and Sora's feeling left out. But, he knows nothing about demon abilities, so it's not like he could help even if he wanted to and he most certainly does not want to help a demon learn to steal souls.

However, he does feel a little jealous of Roxas being the sole focus of Riku's attention, that's been him since he got here. He doesn't understand the sad feeling welling up inside of him that makes his heart ache, but he doesn't like it. They've been at it a while now and the invisibility thing apparently didn't go so well, so now they're trying to summon fire. He's tired again, he's been feeling more and more tired lately and sitting here alone isn't helping. Sora stands up and drags himself inside to curl up on the couch, he's out almost instantly.

It's a little while later when he feels Riku's hand on his back waking him up. Sora opens bleary eyes to look over at him before reaching out to wrap his arms around Riku's neck, pulling himself over to straddle Riku's lap and bury his face in the crook of Riku's neck. Riku chuckles before standing up to turn around and take a seat on the couch still holding onto Sora.

"Is Roxas gone?"

"Not yet, I'm going back soon, we're just taking a break."

Sora doesn't reply, but Riku feels a rush of emotions. What's this? Is he starting to be able to perceive emotions, he wonders. That's never happened before. He focuses in on them and to his surprise he feels both jealousy and possessiveness emanating from Sora. Riku internally laughs, he guesses he has spoiled him rotten these past few months, it has been just the two of them.

"You're so spoiled, you don't have to feel threatened by him."

"I'm not!"

"Uh huh," Riku kisses the crown of his head, "sure you're not." Sora makes an annoyed noise and tilts his face up, letting his lips meet Riku's. Riku freezes for a split second before shoving Sora off to the side with a hand to the face. "Not a good idea."

Sora's not having any of that, though. He jumps back on Riku and connects their lips again without missing a beat. Sora's very insistent and Riku's not even surprised, Sora is the type to go after what he wants. Riku knows this is probably a bad idea, but he allows himself to kiss Sora back, reaching up a hand to cradle the brunette's head and he could swear Sora practically melts into him, sending him another rush of emotions, this time positive. Seriously, what is with that?

Putting those questions aside for now, Riku lets his free hand trail down Sora's side while using his tongue to gently prod at the seam of Sora's lips and he's rewarded with Sora eagerly opening his mouth and pressing closer to him. Riku slides his tongue in, intent on exploring and –

"Riku?" Roxas questions from the porch.

His eyes fly open, "Fuck." He abruptly dumps Sora on the couch and runs towards the door, "I'm coming!"

Sora remains on the couch annoyed, of course Riku would leave him hanging like that to go help a demon learn magic. He'd get up and go after him, but his body is feeling heavy again and he can barely keep his eyes open. He's asleep two seconds later.

~~~~~
Riku dodges a burst of energy that Roxas sends at him, he's a lot better at this than masking his presence. Fortunately, he's not too fast at it or Riku would likely be hit with how distracted he is. Kissing Sora back was the last thing he should've done, not only is that extra entanglement when he should be leaving soon, but he's also been lying to Sora this entire time, letting him believe he was human. The last thing he wants is another headache.

Granted, he has gotten very fond of Sora, but following through with this won't end well for either of them. He'll just have to tell him nicely and if he's lucky, Sora will go back to his world, he'd miss him, but it would be better for both of them this way.