Hakuryuu leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling, tracing the cracked paint with his eyes. He wondered if he'd been a little too forward with his host, but dashed this thought almost immediately. For someone who hadn't been able to tell that he was a fae, Judal had picked things up remarkably fast.

Hakuryuu had meant every compliment he'd given, even if they had come out with an undertone of something else. It was in faerie nature to constantly speak as if their words had a double meaning, regardless of whether they did or not. Honesty, that was their curse; a faerie could never lie. That didn't mean they couldn't be deceitful, they were some of the trickiest creatures in existence, but they could not tell an outright lie.

Judal had caught on to the power of names without so much as an explanation. Hakuryuu's use of Judal's name had been, for the most part, unintentional. He had laced his words with power on instinct and thought nothing of it until that same power was suddenly turned on him. No human should so easily discern the worth behind a name. Maybe he hadn't; but some part of Judal had known.

It had been the same when he was explaining the rules binding a faerie and their host. Judal had seen right through the carefully crafted loopholes that had kept fae in the upper hand for centuries as easily as Hakuryuu had the day he was taught them. He was brilliant, though perhaps not in a traditionally mortal sense, and that made him particularly dangerous.

Yet despite all of that, Judal was kind.

He had understood the power behind a name, perhaps subconsciously but well enough to use it twice, and neither time had he been cruel. Even after knowing what Hakuryuu could get away with under the rules that bound him, he hadn't ordered him to do anything to prevent any of the loopholes. All he'd said was to not use magic to compel him.

For a fae, that was practically the least of what they could do, but that was all he had asked. Kindness for kindness, he had trusted in receiving Hakuryuu's respect in return.

Instinct told Hakuryuu to exploit this. He could use that trust against Judal and milk him for whatever he needed. Humans were easy to manipulate, a race driven by very base desires that could easily be fulfilled by someone of Hakuryuu's power. In fact, thinking about it, it would be very simple.

Hakuryuu licked his lips.

At first he'd pretend to be weakened by his injuries. He'd let that draw out as long as it could, taking shelter behind the human's threshold and oblivious protection. If anything came for him, he'd use him as his shield. But assuming the human city kept him hidden from his mother's forces, once he was "recovered" he'd start playing to the human's old fantasy of a "fairy godmother".

He'd give him things. Material nonsense Hakuryuu had no use for, until the human was dependent on him. From Judal he'd extend out to his friends, family, neighbors… He'd make a network of humans dependent on what he could offer them, willing to do whatever he asked in return.

Hakuryuu jerked his head forward as if to physically pull himself out of his thoughts. He pressed his forehead to his palm and squeezed his eyes shut until the light behind his eyelids was spotty. As he breathed between his teeth he forced the malicious thoughts inside him to silence themselves. Oh all fae had thoughts like this, he wasn't special, but his were strong.

If he wanted he could blame it on the court he came from. UnSeelie were known for their violence, their indulgence into the more carnal side of instincts and their viciousness. It wasn't the fault of his court though, and he knew it. It was the fault of the blood running through his veins.

And the fact was, he didn't want to enslave Judal. That was why he had sworn himself to him.

Whether he had acknowledged the debt or not, it still would have existed. However if Judal hadn't known about it there was no way for him to collect on it, and in turn no need for Hakuryuu to repay it. It wasn't lying, just withholding information, which was directly within a fae's wheelhouse of tricks.

Yet he had gone so far as to not just acknowledge it, but swear himself to it. On the surface it seemed purely honorable of him, but in truth it was just as much a gift as it was a preventative measure.

His hand carded through his hair and he leaned back again with a sigh, feeling the dark urges receding inside him once more.

So long as he was sworn into Judal's service, the mortal was something of a lord to him. By his own people's laws, he could do him no harm, wish him no ill, and only default on these terms under punishment of dishonoring the crown. And to dishonor either of the Faerie Queens was the same as death.

Granted, the Queen of UnSeelie court was his mother and she already wanted him dead, but it was the principle of the thing.

This way, Hakuryuu could allow himself to recover without constantly fighting with himself. As soon as the oath set in and his magic fully acknowledged it, all dark thoughts pertaining to Judal would be mostly silenced and he could have some peace.

He truly did want to repay Judal for what he had done. It had been stupid in a lot of ways, taking some random stranger in from a "planter" (whatever that was) and bringing them into his home. Hakuryuu could have been everything from a psychotic serial killer to… well what he was, honestly. Judal had gone and done it regardless.

Foolish, maybe, but good… Yes. Definitely. Good enough for Hakuryuu, at any rate.

"Hey Hakuryuu, think you can stand? I found somethin' that should fit you!"

Hakuryuu blinked out of his thoughts, pushing his hair away from his face again.

"I'll try." he called back, easing his legs over the side of the couch.

Getting up was not a fun experience. Actually standing took several tries and a lot of groaning, but he got to his feet after the fourth attempt. His body immediately informed him it would rather by lying down again, thank you, but he ignored it.

"Here yo-Oh."

He looked over his shoulder, finding that Judal had emerged with the promised clothing and was currently turning pink around the cheekbones. Humans could be so particular about modesty.

"You asked if I could stand." Hakuryuu pointed out blithely, trying not to sound too terribly amused.

"Shut up."

Judal threw the clothing at him and he caught it, hiding his smile as he turned away. He heard his host turn on his heel and march into the kitchen. The faucet squeaked as it turned and a moment later water began to run.

Hakuryuu debated how to dress himself most efficiently. Dressing while injured was one thing, but he had yet to attempt to dress himself sans an arm. He ended up sitting back down to pull on the pants, which were warm and soft and smell faintly of their owner. Getting them all the way on required standing again, which he accomplished with less effort the second time.

The shirt proved more troublesome. He forgot several times that he had only one hand and had to grit his teeth against the urge to just abandon the damn thing and remain shirtless. It took a lot of twisting and several uses of his teeth, but he got it on. He could feel the artificial fibers in the cloth's makeup, but despite that it was comfortable.

As he pulled it down over his stomach, glad it was finally on, his eyes caught sight of something glinting on the coffee table. Drawn by the glimmer he released the shirt and leaned over, forcing his body to cooperate, and pulled aside a bloodied napkin that was concealing the object from view.

"Sun and stars-!"

Hakuryuu recoiled immediately as he swore, looking at the bloodied blade like it might come alive at any moment and lash out at him. As if reacting to the sight of the thing, a shockwave of pain tore from his wound and up his side, making him lose control of his legs and collapse, gripping the back of the couch.

There was a clatter, something broke in the direction of the kitchen, and a moment later Judal was easing him down onto the couch.

"Easy, easy! What the fuck are you doing you can't be moving that fast!"

Judal batted his hand from where it had gone to clutch at his side, pulling his shirt up an examining the bandages around his middle. The mortal swore under his breath and Hakuryuu followed his frown down to the sight of lilac blossoming over the white cotton.

"You tore it open." he informed him. "You're gonna need new bandages."

"Let it bleed." Hakuryuu huffed, sucking in a deep breath that did nothing to conceal how he winced. "I'll tell you when it's closed again… No point in ruining more bandages."

Judal didn't look happy with this response, but he relented. The fae took several moments to just breathe through the pain, erecting his mental defenses against his body's screaming and focusing once more on the object on the table.

"Where did you get that?"

Judal's eyes flicked to the blade, then back to Hakuryuu.

"I pulled that out of your side." he told him bluntly. "Why?"

Hakuryuu shook his head, letting out a slow breath.

"If you hadn't, I would be dead by now." he informed gravely. "No wound would have healed with that inside my flesh. Stars, it's a miracle enough of my magic managed to close off this."

They both glanced down at the half empty left sleeve, and for a moment there was silence as they both became acutely aware how close that injury had been to killing the prince. Judal shook it off first.

"Why? Is it cursed or… something?"

"If only it were so benign. It's iron."

Apparently deciding to overlook that he'd just referred to curses as benign, Judal frowned.

"Isn't iron like, kind of bad for fae? Like, really bad?"

"It's our bane. Cold iron poisons our blood and stoppers our magic, it burns our flesh and can fell even the oldest and most noble of our kind. It is despicable metal, no fae would ever touch it."

A second silence fell over them, heavier than the first and weighed down with words neither of them were willing to say. It was obvious the thoughts were churning away in Judal's mind, but he didn't voice them aloud this time. Hakuryuu was grateful for that, for the question was not one he wished to answer.

If iron was such an evil thing for fae, then who in their right mind would use it? Hakuryuu didn't really need to ask the question, the answer was obvious to him.

His mother, who else?