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"Do you think there's really a god, Sarion?"
The sun was bright in their eyes as the two siblings sat on a craggy hillside looking down on the moors. It wasn't often the sun broke on the Kimmerios isles so the mesmerizing sight was always welcomed.
"I don't know. If there is one I don't think it's a god like they've been teaching us. No way is it both an all-knowing or all-loving one! If there isn't one, I'm just not sure where – all this – came from." He motioned around them with arms outstretched "I want to find out though. Maybe there's lots of gods, like what the other religions spoke about!"
"I don't think mother would like to hear you talk like that…but… I really hope there is. I don't like that god. It scares me…"
"Icelyn, I don't think mother likes anything. She's a bit scary too, isn't she?"
They both laughed after a quick nod. Sarion stood up and stretched. He stared down at the flock moving its way through the valley, followed by sharp barks from the collies. His midnight-violet hair flipped and whirled in the wind.
"Isn't it amazing that sunshine and starlight are the same thing?" Sarion closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm rays on his face while he could.
"I think it is. I love the nights we can see the stars. It's like we get to stand under a thousand suns all at once."
"More than one thousand...hundreds of thousands. Maybe millions. I've lost count so many times!"
"I wish it wasn't so dark here all the time...I wish we could see the sun more."
Sarion gazed off for awhile then gave a vibrant smile back.
"Care to join me in running with the sheep?" He grinned, his eyes agleam with unapologetic mischief, then readied himself to take off down the hill.
"Mother wouldn't like that either!" In a flurry of high-pitched giggles they were both off together, running and slipping in the dewy grass.
But this had already happened. Long ago. Before. As real as it felt he was only dreaming again. That Sarion was gone long ago and wouldn't be coming back; he was someone different now, wherever he was.
Dylin had bit through his lip as he waited for a response on the snail. What seemed like a century of silence passed before a sly and sultry voice sounded from the other end. The accent made him cringe.
"Oh? Did I hear that right? Do my ears deceive me perhaps? Did you just say you needed me? And what is it exactly that you need, hmmm?"
"I've haven't got time to fuck around right now! Where are you!?"
A light chuckle and then a sigh could be heard backed by the sound of crashing waves.
"I only just made my way inland earlier this evening. I'm visiting some old friends. What's got you so stressed, candy-boy? Are you really craving me that much? Quite a different tune from the one you played last time, isn't it? Let's say we have our little meeting earlier than scheduled, hm?"
"Goddammit, will you just shut your perverse mouth and listen!? I need your help! I'll do anything you want afterwards but I need your help now!"
"Oh, I just don't know. Do I even want anything from you right now? Hmm…"
"Ivankov! I swear -" His voice broke.
"Dylinae…are you crying?"
"Iva!" He dropped his head against the armoire.
"What have you done now, you naughty thing?"
"IVA!"
"You'll never guess where I am." They giggled softly with the knowledge of how they were taunting him.
"Can't you tell I'm begging you!? Please!" He looked back to Iceburg and winced.
"I'm… at… the window!" They leapt in from outside and spread their arms out wide. "Admit it! You're surprised! You can say it, it's okay." With an enthusiastic bow they blew a kiss to him.
Dylin stared up at the scantily dressed figure with his mouth agape before scrambling up to them.
"There's no time for your shit, Iva! Please…save him!" He grabbed onto the hem of the short black cocktail dress they wore and sobbed into it. "Please!"
They looked down at him and smirked while they made a show of adjusting their voluminous violet hair.
"Well, well baby, I've never seen you so shaken up." They cast a gaze over to Iceburg and raised a brow at the state he was in. "What happened here? Concussion… Brain damage, perhaps? Dylinae…tsk…was this your doing?" With a raised brow they rested their hands on their curvaceous hips.
"I don't know! Maybe some of it… I think he might've done something to himself too, though - maybe drugs or some kind of poison, or - I don't fucking know! Can you save him or not!?"
Iva yawned and stretched before waltzing towards his still body. They reached over and checked for a pulse.
"Are you sure you want me to save him? You've already got yourself so deep in my debt. I won't do it for free for you, you sassy little thing. You've caused me so much trouble." They fanned themselves with their hand and grinned. "I was having a most wonderful time with my favourite people on Water 7 before you called."
"Please, I'll do anything - everything! Forget about my conditions from before!"
Iva looked back to him and licked their lips.
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yeah." he forced the reply out through clenched teeth.
Iva leered at him.
"Why is this boy so important to you? You don't care about anyone anymore. Isn't that what you always say, Dylinae?"
"He's different than anyone I've met. At the same time – not sure if its good or bad - there's something about him that kinda reminds me of you though…"
Iva looked to him, unable to hide the surprise on their face, then back to Iceburg. They gave a sigh of defeat.
"You know I don't like messing with junkies. I told you last time I won't help with anymore overdoses." They eyed up Iceburg "This doesn't seem to be caused by drugs though, but regardless I'm not sure how much I can do at this point. Have we tried chest compressions yet? Mouth to mouth?"
"I don't know how to do that shit!" Dylin drifted in behind them "You do though, right!? If you could just try that on him or - or use your powers maybe…or…wait!" Dylin leapt at Iceburg and tore his shirt open; buttons scattered across the room.
"Well, I never!" Iva bit their lip and watched the scene unfold. "I'm feeling a bit jealous. You've never torn off my clothes like that."
"He said he had a prior injury that he had to keep compressed!" he pointed at the tightly wound bandages and quite purposefully ignored their remark.
"That would be more than enough to take anyone down after too long. It's bound way too tight. Take them off of him and open his airway: to do that you should put your hand on his forehead and tilt his head back then use your other hand to bring his chin up."
He fumbled shakily with the bandages but his limp fingers burned and fought to respond ; he realized his hand was bruised and bleeding.
"Christ, Iva! Can you do anything or are you just gonna sit there and watch!? I think my hand is broken!"
"Hmm…well yes, I could just watch you - all night if you'd like. Did you break your hand on his poor little face, Dylinae? Is that what happened?"
"Fuck you! Just go already if you don't wanna help, bastard!"
Unwilling to waste more time arguing he leaned over and grabbed up as much of the wrappings as he could with his right hand and ripped them with his teeth. From there he unraveled the rest as quickly as he could. A sharp gasp shot from his mouth when he saw his bare chest.
"Oh my, my, my… in all my years! You were right. He did do this to himself after all! Why, he's just like you, isn't he, Dylinae? Is that perhaps the reason why you like him so much?"
"No, I didn't know! I thought he…I thought…" the words hardly came out but the tears couldn't stop. "I wish you wouldn't call me that! Why won't you just leave!?"
Iva smirked as he ensured his airway was open and ready.
"Kneel closer to him. Now."
Dylin followed without question.
"Now put your hand on his chest!"
"What!? N-no! He wouldn't want that!"
"Oh, so would he want to die? Do you want him to die?"
Dylin placed his hand on his sternum and took great care not to touch anywhere near his exposed breasts.
"Now what!?"
"Feel for the end of his breastbone."
"Do I look like a fucking Doctor, you raggedy bitch!?"
Iva rolled their eyes, leaned against him from behind, grabbed his hand and traced it down along Iceburg's sternum.
"Do you feel where it ends? Where the ribs meet and it gets softer?"
"Yes!"
"Place the heel of your hand right underneath that spot and keep your fingers up; I'm sorry but it'll have to be your injured one. Then put your other hand on top. It's going to hurt like hell."
"Like this!?" He cried back at Iva, shaking.
"Yes…good boy…now lace those fingers together!"
With his best attempt to ignore the pain he did as instructed.
"Keep your fingers raised off his chest and start doing compressions! Faster than that!"
Dylin cried out and picked up the pace. Iva began to tap one of their red stilettos against the floor.
"Follow this exact beat! Push harder! Don't be afraid to crack some ribs; broken bones will heal – death won't!"
"I don't wanna hurt him anymore!" Tears splashed against Iceburg's cold skin as he pushed as hard as he could.
"Then make sure he survives so you can have the chance to protect him! He can't feel a thing right now, Dylin…do you want him to feel again or not?"
After a few seconds of pumping, he began to cry harder.
"Goddammit! You stupid little shit! What was the point of binding yourself so tightly!? You've hardly got anything there to bind! No one would've thought twice if you just went without!" He couldn't bare to look at his unresponsive face.
"Save your breath for his lungs, he can't hear you! Now cover his nose, take a deep breath and blow your life into him; gently but not too gently!"
Dylin filled his lungs with air and pressed his mouth against his and released into him. Iva closely watched Iceburg's chest.
"Now keep pushing!" Iva set a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "You're doing well, candy-boy. Give another breath now."
After several minutes of it Dylin crumpled into himself on the floor beside Iceburg.
"He's not in the clear yet! You'd better get back at it if you want – hey, little baby?" It was only then they noticed that blood had pooled on the floor around Dylin, not just from his hand. "Hey! What's all this!?"
"Don't worry about it." he murmured, hardly conscious, and tried to get up but collapsed again.
They did a final round of compressions on Iceburg then quickly moved on to Dylin. After they peeled his jacket back they shook their head at the bloody shirt and bullets lodged into his chest and shoulder.
"This boy really is special to you, isn't he? Not once did you think to mention you needed help too? Baka." They glowered and used their razor sharp nails to tear his shirt open - then the bandages that he had bound around his own bust. They looked into his dark eyes before they plucked the bullets from his flesh. "How is it that you grew so close to anyone?"
"We just met earlier this evening…we're not exactly close." Dylin smiled weakly.
Iva was nearly blown back in shock.
"Only for the night!? You never cease to amaze me..." They leaned forward and narrowed their eyes "Are you interestedin him?"
"…Well, he hates me."
"Oh I just can't imagine why! That doesn't really answer my question though, does it?"
He didn't reply.
"Well then, I don't think I really need confirmation then. Anyways, I'm assumed you're all stocked up?" Iva indicated towards the armoire.
Dylin nodded.
"Tut tut, such a bad boy… what's going to happen if you get caught in the midst of your double life and lose your comfy little hideaway? Hmmm? Do you think I'm going to pull your sorry little ass out of jail?" They strolled up to the armoire and opened the door. After a moment of rummaging they pulled out a large bottle of vodka and a first aid pouch. "You ready?"
"He's going to be okay now…isn't he?"
"Look for yourself."
Dylin turned his head to Iceburg and sighed out relief he'd never felt as he watched his chest rise and fall steadily.
"Bottoms up!" Iva took a drink of the vodka, held it over Dylin's mouth and poured it in when he opened it, then promptly dumped it over his wounds.
Dylin grimaced but didn't take his eyes off of Iceburg.
"Thank you..."
Iva gave him a curious look.
"Well, in all my years! I never! Manners, from you? You're welcome! It's no favour though, remember, my candy-boy.You'll be paying for this…big time."
"I don't care." He squeezed his eyes shut as Iva worked on the holes and patched them up.
"So what's the story here then?" They indicated to the wounds.
Dylin laughed and pulled a gun out of his jacket and laid it down, followed by another. With great difficulty he reached to his inside pocket and pulled out one last one - a miniature pistol.
"I had to take out some trash. Guess I got myself some new guns while I was at it."
"You got me one too!" Iva plucked up the small one and smiled before tucking it between their cleavage.
"Take them all, I don't give a shit."
"You know I don't care much for guns. This one is just too cute to pass up though…kind of like you." They winked and pinched his cheek.
Dylin made a disgruntled face and looked away.
"I got a lead from all this though. Turns out Ghylls is heavily involved in the trafficking here after all."
"Oh? Now there's a surprise. Hmm. What are you going to do about that?"
"I'm dealing with it. Seems like nowhere is safe after all."
"I don't know, looks to me like you're having a pretty rough go of dealing with it. We'll talk about that later though, over dinner, hm? Can you move or should I bring you to bed myself?" They gave a quick wink and an evil smirk then traced a finger down his abdomen towards his belt buckle.
"Just give me a quick boost of energy and I'll be fine!" He hastily pushed their hand away and glanced to the younger boy; Iva stared at him with brows raised high.
"Oh, boo then. If you're sure." They shrugged then jabbed their nails into the inner side of his thigh.
"You bitch!" He inhaled sharply as their power coursed through his body. Despite the pain he was finally able to sit up.
They chuckled and injected another handful into the opposite thigh, just beneath his groin. He shouted out and rolled to the side then growled up at them.
"It's only a small amount so conserve your energy well. We're going to have to clean this place up after all." They laughed down at Dylin's grumpy face. "What, do I look like a maid? I'm not cleaning up all this blood by myself! Cheeky thing!" They scoffed and gave a quick slap on his face.
He grumbled under his breath as he pulled himself up from the floor.
"What was that? I can't hear a thing you're saying!" Iva laughed as they meandered to the washroom to find supplies.
With a pained grunt he pulled Iceburg up and laid him on the bottom bunk. He collapsed against the wooden frame of the bed and held his hand tight over the wounds while his left hand dangled to the floor; he was grateful that his knuckles had at least stopped bleeding at some point so it wasn't leaving a mess behind anymore. By the time he managed to pull a blanket over Iceburg he had to lay back against the side of the bed. He laughed and shook his head.
"What the fuck am I even doing?"
When Iva came out with several towels and a bucket of soapy water they chuckled at the sight of Dylin on the floor, slumped against the bunk sleeping peacefully with his head close to Iceburg's.
"Candy-boy. You should've waited for me to help you move him." They leaned over and brushed the dark hair from his face; he snored quietly but didn't awaken. "You always try to do it all by yourself, don't you? I'm glad you got over your pride and managed to ask for help. How hard that must've been for you." They gazed at his serene expression then turned to Iceburg with eyes full of intense wonder.
"Who are you then, who could sway my candy-boy in just one evening; have him lay by you with his throat exposed like this, hmm?" They traced a finger across Dylin's neck and breathed out a long, wistful sigh before they moved on to cleaning the room.
Bucket by bucket they cleaned the floor of every drop of blood, emptied it down the shower drain and tidied up nearly every spot of evidence that anything had ever happened. Afterwards they gathered up some stray laundry and pulled a blanket down for Dylin. They hummed softly as they stoked the fire and took another few sips of vodka before returning it to the armoire along with the medical supplies. When they were done they paused, blinked several times, then stomped angrily on the floor.
"I said I absolutely would not clean this whole place by myself! Unacceptable! You're paying me double for this!" They fumed around for a moment before returning to the armoire to look for clothing. "I'm letting him borrow something to wear," they spoke calmly again as they waved a hand back at Dylin "I'm sure you won't mind, considering."
Soon they'd dressed him in one of Dylin's soft white undershirts and they were on their way out the window. At that moment, Iceburg sat bolt up in bed. He panted heavily as he searched around in a daze.
"W-who are you!?" He cried out and pulled the blanket back up to his chin "W-what-"
"Shhhh…you'll be fine now, little baby. Do us a favour and don't bind your chest so tightly next time! It's not good for you." they winked "That cheeky devil can teach you how to do it a little more safely…okay?"
"Um..." he brought a hand to his chest and gave an awkward nod. "Thank you."
"Make sure you thank him, would you?" Iva smiled and shook their head at Dylin who was still sitting fast asleep against the bottom bunk "Coz he won't ask for the thanks himself…and you wouldn't be here now if not for him. Just remember that."
Iceburg cast a quizzical look to Dylin.
"Him?"
"The very same."
He stared quietly for a moment then turned back to Iva.
"Well…I don't know exactly what's going on but I feel very grateful to both of you…"
Iva grinned.
"Grateful? I can't quite say the same to you…" they glanced at Dylin then shrugged "but anyways, I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other soon enough. Until then, try to stay out of trouble. Take it easy on him, too…he's so soft on you after all." They blew a kiss then shimmied out the window with an exuberant laugh.
Iceburg rubbed the back of his head and looked back at Dylin with great curiosity.
"Soft?"
