Chapter 32

Many feet over millennia smoothed a path out of the trees, to several rows of various, rugged stations, or structures that passed as market stations, stretching the length of the clearing. Voices intertwined with metal clashing, wings flapping to and fro, and lava sizzled and snapped in the distance.

Irunya asked, "Is it nice?"

"Yeah, it reminds me of medieval times," Matthew said, drifting from the confused she-demon. Stares from many narrow pupils followed his unoccupied back as he wandered further into the market.

"Matvey, do not wander too far." Irunya followed after to nudge his elbow and point, "Look, there is a butcher. Do you like hog?"

"Um, yeah, pork sounds good," Matthew padded closer to the stand, uncertainly staring at the beaming (and shirtless!) creature posing behind it. He began shyly, "Hi."

The demon quirked his wild eyebrows, "Hey, there." He flashed his fangs in a broad smile at Irunya, "You're Braginsky's sister, aren't you? You're a little ways from home. What gives?"

"Food!" Irunya shared a laugh with him. She held a hand out to her side, coaxing Matthew closer to the stall. "We have hungry bellies on our hands."

Matthew said, "Nope, just one."

The butcher leaned to one side, peeking under the top of the stand. "You're looking a little...what do you have here, Irunya?" He tossed a hand out, causing Matthew to flinch from the claw brushing some of his hair back. "Where are your horns? And your wings. And your tail. And-"

"He was born like that," Irunya said. Matthew just blinked. "Can I have a leg?"

"You do, right there," the vendor jabbed a finger at her hide trousers, and threw his head back to laugh obnoxiously, "I got you, don't you worry!" He turned and flopped a hooved limb on the stand. "How'd you like your meat?"

Irunya looked at Matthew. He jolted, realization dawning on why both demons were staring. "Oh! Uh, can you cook it until the meat is no longer pink and bloody?"

"Huh?! That's when it's the best!" The butcher shrugged and snatched the leg off of his stand. "If that's how you like it, then my coins have no reason to talk."

"Come, sit," Irunya beckoned to Matthew behind the stall, to a pit hollowed in the ground, and a healthy flame crackled from a pile of twigs. "It will be bit of a wait. Are you all right? Is it too hot?"

"No, I'm fine," Matthew assured with a soft smile, watching the vendor skewer the leg with two thick sticks, and held it over the fire. He settled on a smooth boulder, and noticed many of the food stalls had some sort of cook out behind them, demons alike watching their meals being prepared. Strange forms of dark, wispy shadows wafted around their bodies and mingled with others. "I thought you guys eat your food raw."

"If you are in a hurry. Either or is fine," Irunya said. "Both of their benefits and drawbacks."

The butcher glanced up at Matthew, mouth set in a thoughtful manner. "Are your parents like that?" Irunya shot him a shocked look. His wings gave a small twitch, nicking the dirt beneath his seat. "I seen many strange folks around, so don't feel left out."

Matthew made a short, amused laugh. "I'll try not to, and yes, they are."

"Huh?"

"M-my parents. They are like this." Matthew frowned when he tried to remember his mother. Were like this.

"Huh!" This time, the sound was one of wonder. The scent of roasted meat made Matthew's mouth water. He wiggled around on the rock, not the most pleasant thing to sit on, as his stomach rumbled again. After a few questions that struck too close to personal, the butcher surrendered the roasted leg. Matthew did not care what kind of animal it was, and ripped ravenous mouthfuls from the bone.

Irunya took care of the price, whispering things to the vendor that Matthew could not care less about to eavesdrop. He patted at his mouth with his shirt sleeve once he got his fill, feeling a bit barbaric himself. "Are you done, Matvey?"

"Yeah! Thanks. The pork was delicious!"

"I would hope so!" The butcher tossed a hand out and roughly smacked his palm against Matthew's back, between the shoulder blades. "Leave the bone. I'll feed it to my hellhound or something."

"Oh, right," Matthew set the leftovers on the stand and nodded to the vendor. Irunya nursed his poor back. "Have a nice day."

"Hava-nava what?"

They were already continuing down the lines of stalls.

"Huh. Humans are weird."

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

By the time they returned to Ivan's house, Matthew's feet ached for him to give up walking, possibly forever. The small bag Irunya brought with her was void of coins, but now filled with trinkets. He even sported his own chain around his neck, which she bought for him because 'Vanya will appreciate it,' and 'It is shiny!'

For their laughs of relief, the home was filled with cool air, or cool compared to outside. "We missed it!" Matthew announced and held his hands to a vent filtering a slight breeze into the palace. "I wonder what was stuck in there."

"Let us go and find out!" Matthew followed Irunya pass the throne room, pausing whenever she did to taste the air. "Something...strange passed through here. I think I know that scent, but..."

"Maybe whatever was clogging the vents is still around?"

"No, no, this is different."

Matthew tried sniffing, but did not catch anything out of the blue. At least the air was much more fresh, and none of that 'stagnant' heat. He opened his mouth to voice his delight, but a clacking noise drummed against the hard floors. Both of them gasped and stepped back as a bulky canine-like creature bounded forward, snuffling and lashing its hairless tail back and forth in curiosity. "Oh! Is that a dog?"

"A what?" Irunya smiled, kneeling to be at level to the animal. She scratched behind the thick, bone colored horns curving over its head and out the sides. It had a short, bulky body with muscular legs, and powerful paws; absolutely ugly and adorable with its squishy muzzle at the same time. Matthew dubbed it Hell's canine.

"You're a weird one, aren't you?" Matthew cooed at the only hair the 'dog' had, which were a few whiskers under its chin. It seemed friendly enough, eagerly snorting and grunting as its nose poked him in various places, teasing ticklish squeaks out of him. "Oh, no, stop...ha, ha-ha!"

Irunya sprung to her feet, loudly greeting a figure in the dining hall's doorway, "We're back!"

Matthew picked up his head, flinching from the 'dog' pawing for more attention, and called a bit too excitedly, "Oh, h-hey!"

"Irunya," Ivan greeted his sister warmly, before grunting and stumbling back into surprise as Matthew threw himself at him. "Oh! Matthew, I was going to say 'hello' to you, too!"

The demon-dog yapped and paced around their legs, and Matthew matched its excitement with an overly-friendly, borderline-strangling squeeze, "Hi, honey! I missed you!"

"I-I see that! I was only gone for...not even a 'day!'"

"Mm, so what?"

Ivan giggled and nestled his cheek to the top of Matthew's head. "I missed you, too!" He stiffened. Irunya must have been staring. "Oh. I, uh, I also see that you met our newest member of the family."

Irunya tried not to snicker, "Yes, I have." The 'dog' snuffled and galloped around her, and she repeated in a baby-voice, "Yes! I have! Yes, I have met you! Hello!" More calmly, she asked, "Where did he-"

"The vents."

Matthew forced himself to stand on his own, away from the warm body he plastered himself against, "You're saying a dog was blocking all the cool air from coming in?"

"Yes. Well, not just the dog. Our friend decided to make his nest in our vents! You would not believe all the bones and gross stuff that was in there."

Irunya asked, "Is it out now?"

"It is in progress." Ivan's gaze zeroed on Matthew, and he held out his arms again with a bastard smile, coaxing for another too-tight of an embrace.

Irunya's voice drifted around them, "I guess...I will go and wash up in the meantime."

"Hm, mm-hm, yes."

She tried to sigh, but wound up sniggling as she scurried away. The 'dog' followed after her, before coming right back and nudging Matthew's legs. "Oh! Hi!" Ivan kept his hands on his waist as he turned to do a little wave, "That is the most ugly-cute dog I have ever seen."

The 'dog' tipped its head.

"Ugly-cute," Ivan mused, and stuck his lips to Matthew's cheek. "You went to the Market with Irunya, yes? How was it?"

"It was great! I ate this really big leg of hog! You should have seen how huge it was! You could've clobbered someone on the head with it!"

"Could I? You are very pleased with yourself!"

Matthew squished his face into Ivan's chest, giggling encouragingly to the hand creeping into his hair. The hound let out a drawn-out whine as it yawned, revealing a sharp tongue to match its teeth. "Ooh! spooky! Did you give him a name yet?"

"No, I just been calling it 'doggy' so far."

"Cujo," Matthew said to the canine as it sat down to scratch behind a horn. "You look like something from a movie."

"Cujo! Ha-ha! What a silly name!"

"I was just kidding-" Matthew was interrupted with a sharp yap. He studied the dark, beady eyes staring back at him. "Okay, Cujo it is."

Ivan stuck his nose to Matthew's ear and purred, "Is this nice? Everything is right at the moment. You had a good meal. The house is cool. We even have a family pet!"

Matthew flinched and jabbed an elbow into his stomach. All those things Irunya said crept to the front of his mind, and he smiled at the tiled floors, cherishing the information. "Yeah. Everything's going to be all right."

Ivan tipped his head, apparently not getting enough attention as he reached to tap Matthew's nose. "My Matthew. Matvey. Beautiful. We should go upstairs and make everything even more than 'all right-'"

"Mister-oh!" A newcomer stumbled into the doorway and tossed his arms over his face, scaring the nerves out of the both of them. "I-I can come back another time!"

Ivan's peace fell into a prickled expression as Matthew gawked at the little man. This other demon, practically a child, or perhaps not, slowly lowered his hands as Ivan asked, "Are you finished?"

Cujo trampled around the new pair of legs and waggled its rear in delight. The demon's eyes jumped from the dog, to Ivan, to the wall, and back again. "Yes! All the...the nest is cleared out. May I go home now?"

A long hum rose from Ivan's throat as he made a beckoning motion. "No. Come here."

"N-no, sir?" The other demon's wings twitched before scuffling across the room.

Matthew put on a friendly smile, about to greet him, but Ivan clamped a hand on their company's head. "Are you in such a rush to leave? Do you not miss me? Do you not miss your home?"

"This isn't my home-" A high growl drifted into the air and a tail flicked against Matthew's calf. "Everything you a-asked me to do is done! Please stop pressing on my head! Y-you're compressing my spine!"

Ivan only laughed at the small one's turmoil, "You do not change!"

His home? Matthew glanced between the two demons, realizing that this must be one of the survivors from that large-scale massacre. The survivors that left, most likely for this exact reason. "Ivan!" He jammed his elbow into Ivan more roughly than before. "That's more than enough."

Ivan was all smiles, "What do you mean?"

"You're hurting him." Matthew raised his eyebrows when Ivan just stared. He reached out and pushed his arm away. The small one widened his blue-green eyes as his imprisonment lifted from his head and quickly backed away from the pair. "You are how much stronger than him, you beast!"

"But it is funny! Ravis always makes silly faces!"

"Hey, you could have seriously injured him. Then, how could he help you?"

Ivan cradled his hand to his chest and knitted his eyebrows together. Matthew turned to Ravis and asked, "Did you come here to do anything else besides clear the vents?"

The shaking only increased in fervor. "N-no."

"Okay. You did great, and thank you for the cool air."

"H-huh?"

Matthew urged, "You should go back to...wherever now."

Ivan opened his mouth, as if to dissent, but the dull blond scrambled away with his wings flapping before he could say anything. "What was that about?"

"Yeah, Ivan, what was that about? Do you always treat your guests like that?"

"Like what?" Although his tone was still pleasant, Ivan dropped his cheeky grin. "I was only pulling legs!"

"It sure the Hell looked a lot more than that!" Cujo whined at Matthew's feet, but he ignored the 'dog' to steadily stare at his partner. "You said that this was his home once. Did you ever think that your behavior and actions prompted him to leave?"

Ivan's eyes went wide. "What...what do you know about that?" He whispered, "Did Irunya tell you bad things?"

"I asked her, yes."

"No." His warm embrace slid away as he took a few steps from Matthew. "No. No!" Ivan spun around with a yell to the floor, "Why? Why?!"

Matthew kept his voice low, "I wanted to know."

Cujo bumbled over to Ivan, pawing at his boots as he clamped his hands onto his horns and wailed, "Why would you want to know anything about that?! Why, why, why?!"

With a little sigh, Matthew warily approached the lump of rising panic and set a hand on his shoulder. "Ivan, there's no need to yell. We can talk about this-"

Ivan stumbled forward, tossing a startled hiss over his shoulder. Matthew crossed his arms. "No! Things are all right now! They were all right. We do not talk about those...those things! That is a bad time! Why would you want to talk about it?!"

"Stop yelling. Would you like to get to know almost every, if not all, aspects of me and my past?"

"Yes! I would love to! You are so wonderful and-"

"What is wrong with me wanting to do the same with you?!"

Ivan steadily gawked. Maybe something broke. One of his eyes actually twitched. When Matthew took a step forward, he spat, "But why do you want to know these evil and disgusting things that should stay away from you?!"

"Why should they stay away from me?"

"Because you are not evil and disgusting!"

"Do you think by me knowing of these 'evil and disgusting' things will taint me in some way? Or they will make me think less of you?"

Ivan stared at the floor.

"Ivan, you're a fucking demon! I already knew I was in for some shit when I first met you! Look at me." Matthew jabbed a finger into his chest, "Look at me! Am I screaming and running away?"

"But you-"

"Am I screaming. Or running away?!"

"N-no!"

"Do you expect me just to sit there and watch you wallow in...everything you've done? I am not ashamed about what happened to you, or what you did!"

Ivan slapped a hand over his eyes and blubbered, "That's why I love you, Matthew. You're so perfect, and-"

"I am not! And neither are you. I don't expect you to be perfect. I don't expect anyone to be perfect! But that doesn't mean you can't work on making things better!" Matthew took a big breath, but started again more gently against the demon's soft sobs, "We can work on making things better, but it won't happen if you hide from me. I can't give you my everything if you only give me a part of you! This thing between us won't work out if you keep secrets!"

Ivan did not take a step back this time when Matthew drew closer. "Mon ours, please, tell me. Do you want to hide yourself, or do you want me to stay?"

"Both. I want both." Ivan's great shoulders quivered and hunched up. "I do not know if I could ever look at you in the eye again. I do not know how you could look at me so sweetly, even now, but I want you to stay. You make me so happy. I-I want you to..."

Matthew rested his hands against Ivan's biceps, and brushed his lips to his chin, up the side of his face, anywhere he did not try to cover. Ivan hunched to the side, grunting in dissent, but Matthew sniggled against a damp cheek, "Nuh-uh. Look at me." Overly sweet, "Look at me, honey."

A violet eye peeked out, and Matthew crushed their lips together until his lungs burned to breathe. Warm hands found a caress down his neck and Ivan shyly bumped their foreheads against one another as he let out a worried murmur.

"It is still all right. More than all right," Matthew whispered urgently against a sigh of hot breath mingling with his own. "You make me happy, too. I want to stay. Let me."

"Matthew..."

"I'm not going to force it out of you. But I want to know. Eventually. When you're ready to tell me yourself. I want to know every bit of you."

"Okay...okay, I'll..." Ivan squeezed his eyes shut, and finally - finally - let out a laugh that gave life to Matthew's being. "Just please...stay."

"Blech!" Someone called from above their heads. They craned their necks to Natalia's long hair spilling over the balcony, to her scowl mocking their stumped expressions of surprise. Cujo, who was pacing and thumping around their snug embrace, threw its head back and unleashed a round of delighted howls. "What a sight. Now, excuse me, while I continuously gag for the next several moments."

Ivan tried, "Uh, hi, Natalia!"

"Hmph!" Natalia pulled from the balcony go somewhere, anywhere else.

"Oh, sh-she saw that?" Matthew sucked air between his teeth. "And now...she might rip my penis off." When Ivan gave him a look of shock, he said, "She told me she would if I hurt you in any shape or form."

"Hm, I will need to talk to her about that."

Matthew put a loving (and very grateful) hand to Ivan's face. "Would you like to go upstairs?"

"Now?! I...are you sure?"

"Well, yeah, if you don't mind. After running around the Market-"

"Okay, okay!" Ivan swooped down and plucked Matthew clean from the floor, making him yell and flail his arms for purchase. The throne room vanished before his eyes in a quick sweep of wings and darkness. A whoosh in their ears, a door bursting open, and Matthew's back hit the bed.

...seriously? Matthew sat up, pushing his glasses back into place with a sharp finger as Ivan practically ran to close the door. He hesitated, staring at the wall for a long moment as his tail-tip danced in the air, before pacing around the bed and tugging the curtains close. Before he was shrouded in complete darkness, Matthew tackled his book bag for some pajamas, and so he could get out of those cargo shorts.

"Hey!" Too late. Too quickly, Ivan managed to get the black cloth to dip around the mattress. Matthew sighed, and figured he would just have to hope that he will not put his bottoms on backwards. He sent a suspicious glance around the curtains, since Ivan had not crawled into bed yet, being too quiet with whatever he was doing. "What's up?"

"J-just a moment, Matvey!"

"What are you up to?" Matthew tossed his book bag and glasses aside before shambling across the bed. His feet cried in relief once they stopped moving, and he sighed against his pillow. It's been a long day. A lot happened. A smile crept along his face as the curtain shimmered, and a heavy body sank into the mattress. A lot has gotten done.

I will stay. I will stay with my demons, inner and out...

A very warm body pressed against his back, and Ivan released a shaky sigh as he settled beside him. At least, as settled he could be until he started to pepper kisses up the back of Matthew's neck.

Matthew hunched up his shoulders and snickered, tossing aside Feelings for another day. The vents finally did their job, bringing cool air to the room, so he could thoroughly enjoy the heat seeping through his shirt without breaking into five gallons of sweat. "You're so warm."

Ivan reached over and caressed his hand, and up his arm with a promise into his ear, "I will make you warm, Matthew."

"Thank you, honey."

"I like that. Honey. Honey is a nice color. And ores. You call me ores, like I am not at my potential yet, but after some work, I will be something beautiful." Weight pressed against Matthew's backside. "Like you."

Matthew smacked his forehead and laughed, "Oh, my God. Not ores. Ours. Like 'horse.'" He scooted from his side so he could press a palm to a strong arm, "It means 'bear,' because...well..." His hand trailed across Ivan's chest, coaxing a rumble of pleasure, and pressed his lips to his skin. "Wait, are you..." He tapped the bare jewel-thing before jolting to sit. "Are you naked?!"

"You're not?"

"Why would I be?!"

"Uh, you said you wanted to go upstairs and get to know every bit of me..."

"When I said 'go upstairs,' I mean go to upstairs to bed and sleep!"

Both went quiet, staring towards one another through the darkness...before the bed started to shake with hearty laughter. "Oh! Oh, Matvey, you-oh! Ha-ha-ha!" Something nuzzled Matthew's arm. He hoped it was a face. "You are so cruel. I suppose I have to get something to cover myself..."

Ivan did not move.

"Yep," Matthew prompted. "Thanks."

Eventually the glass-case-of-emotion crawled away with nothing more than an embarrassed giggle to explain himself.

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

When the unfortunate time to wake up came around, Matthew scrunched his face at how sweaty and gross he felt before he even peeled open his eyes. At first, he thought he may have dreamed that the vents were cleared from the product of a hellhound making its nest inside, until the heat around him quivered with a childish giggle.

"Wakey, wakey, Matvey." A claw pressed into his nose, and Matthew jerked his face away with a irritated growl. "I want to talk to you. I want to do fun stuff with you. I want to do fun stuff to you."

Matthew peeled open his eyes to give his bedmate the raunchiest scowl he could manage within five seconds of consciousness. It looked like the beast had pants on. He pressed closer, then a warm kiss met his forehead, and Matthew felt bad, which probably was according to plan.

"Fine, I'm awake. What's going on?"

"We need to hunt first. Or maybe we can go fruit-picking. Oh! We could bring Cujo and he could hunt for us, and we could chase some ugly creatures around, and go swimming. Not in the lava, of course, but-"

"Okay, okay," Matthew held up a hand and turned over. "Five minutes."

"Oh, no, all of that will take a lot longer than five..." Ivan must have put on his thinking-cap. "Wait...ha-ha! Matthew!" A heavy arm slung over Matthew's waist. "No! We will do the fun stuff now!"

"We will sleep now."

"You are already awake. You said so!"

Matthew gently sighed, a bit more tolerant of the world from the lips caressing his neck. "You're not going to forget that, are you?"

"Hm, never," a haughty whisper, a little breath to ghost the skin, and Matthew sank his teeth into his tongue to try not to voice his delight. Maybe he should have let Ivan keep his pants off. "What is that?"

Matthew cracked open his eyes, already regretting doing so. "What's what?"

A claw slid underneath his shirt collar, eliciting a ticklish giggle, and pulled out a brass chain from around his neck. "A necklace."

"Yeah." Matthew grinned as he looked over his shoulder. "Irunya brought it for me at the Market yesterday since I don't have any demon-money. It's not too girly, right?"

Ivan's eyes were on nothing else as he brought the bulbed locket to his face. "She did that?"

Matthew's smile grew weak. "Yeah?"

"Irunya bought you a..." Ivan's voice pitched, "Irunya brought you a blood necklace?"

Matthew propped himself by an elbow, since more sleep was out of the question. "A he, who, what now?"

Ivan curled his nose in the slightest as he wedged a nail in the thin crack joining the pendant's halves together. "Why would she..." His mouth twisted to a pained smile, "She spent the whole time yesterday sharing secrets with you and then, she buys you this?"

"Like, I said...what?" Matthew jumped as Ivan shoved from their clumps of pillows and almost yanked down the drapes as he shambled off of the bed. The door opened and bounced off the wall.

Ivan yelled from down the hallway, "Irunya!"

Those pillows looked too soft, too nice. Matthew gently rested his head and stared blankly at the curtains. Ivan's and Irunya's joined voices tangled with one another, but not loud and clear enough to hear what they were bickering about.

"Go back there and open the damn thing!"

Matthew was stunned; he never heard Irunya sound so beastly.

Heavy footsteps, and Ivan crawled back onto his bed. He zoned on the necklace again, and stuck a nail into its crack. It popped open, and he gazed at whatever was inside for stretched moment. Matthew picked up his head and peeked over Ivan's hand; a tiny clear vial dangled off of the chain. "Oh! I didn't know there was something in there."

Ivan dropped the necklace against Matthew's neck again and turned to pointedly stare at the drapes.

"Well?" Irunya's voice came from the doorway.

"There's nothing inside."

"Exactly, Vanya. Next time you see smoke, check to make sure it is coming out of the mountain and not your ears." The door slammed shut.

Ivan put his face into a palm and rubbed his eyes with a weary groan.

Matthew cleared his throat to squash a snicker as he snapped the locket close. "So...what the Hell just happened?"

"It is a blood necklace. Demons buy or make them to give to their lovers and they fill one another's with their own blood."

"Is that supposed to be romantic?"

"Yes."

"But mine's empty."

"That is what Irunya told me...and she does not have one."

The longer Ivan sat with his head in hand, the more Matthew fought with his smile. "Were you seriously going to chew your sister out for this?"

"I thought she was going to steal you from under my wing without you realizing what is happening."

"Y-you thought-" Matthew busted into laughter. "You thought that...ha-ha-ha!" He swished his hands in front of his face as Ivan tucked his chin into his scarf. "Ivan, no! That wouldn't...ha-ha!"

"Matvey, stop laughing. It is embarrassing."

Of course, Matthew did not stop laughing. "Oh, my God! I can't believe...ha, ha! I can't believe you went over there and almost squared up to your freaking sister!"

Ivan clamped his hands over his head, as if he could hide.

"Honey, no!" Matthew crawled over to him and planted a big, wet kiss right on his mouth. "She's trying to hook us up!"

Ivan ducked his head. "I am very 'hooked up' at the moment."

"No, I mean she's encouraging us! She brought this necklace for me for you!" Matthew rolled his eyes from the lame grunt he received as a response. "And I don't like Irunya like that. I like you! Seriously, what do you think all of that was last night?!" He did not wait for another pathetic warble to throw his arms around Ivan's shoulders and bump their foreheads together. "You dumbass!"

"I am sorry, I'm sorry," Ivan sniffled against Matthew's relentless smooches, coming to truth with himself, "I should know you enjoy this dumbed ass very much, but it is still very hard to believe. I don't know what to do sometimes."

"Ooh, I have an idea what to do..."

"Yes?!"

"Get me something to eat!"