Villains & Beasts

6. Scent

Chapter 6: Scent

"What are your plans for today?" Milo speaks from the kitchen entrance as he takes in the domestic sight of the warlock making him breakfast.

"Huh?" Malcolm is dragged out of his trance when his mate walks by, pouring himself some cereals. "I have to run some errands," his answer is short, not because he wants to keep stuff from Milo but his brain was still accommodating to the idea of them starting to live together.

After a long conversation about past mistakes, redemption and clean slates, Milo finally allowed Malcolm to access his mind and since that moment, he promised him he'd make an effort to change.

Starting by letting him resume his work at the coffee; under the condition they live under the same roof. At first, the idea seemed a bit reckless to recovering Milo who just untangled himself from the supernatural realm but after giving it a good thought, he acknowledged that he was in no rush to get back to his lonely apartment and sad hours.

Malcolm reluctantly agreed to give him his own room, for privacy sake. Yet, they both knew it was going to he deserted.

"Running some errands isn't an answer, if we are going to do this right," Milo rubs his forehead and signals to the both of them with his other hand. "We have to communicate." 

"I'm sorry, force of habit," Malcolm winces at the poor excuse coming out of his mouth and turns off the stove. "I will be visiting  houses, maybe something closer to the restaurant..." He turns his full body to the man digging in his cereal and puts both hands on his lover's waist, admiring him as he takes messy mouthfuls.

"But why? This one seems nice," intrigue is clouding Milo's face as he puts the full bowl on the  counter, swallowing the last spoonful he put in his mouth.

"You like it? I thought we could find something more cozy than this," Malcolm looks around the sophisticated place, usually he wouldn't care about the nature of his crib, as long as he gets a bed and a shower, he is content, but things changed; Milo lives with him and suddenly, no house is living to Malcolm's standards.

"Mal, I'm not a fucking princess. I grew up in an orphanage and when I wasn't curling up in the streets behind broken dumpsters, I was crashing in some rusty apartments. This," he stops, gesturing his hands around the luxury space around them. "Is more than what I could ever dream of having..."

"You weren't supposed to go through that," Malcolm's glare deepens at the man in his arms, hating himself for all the times his mate was cold or hungry and he weren't there to provide.

"We went through all this before, now stop treating me like a child, I have a job waiting for me." Milo is quick to escape from the warlock's hold but he knew he only managed because his partner allowed it.

His partner.

The insinuation of them being a couple was weird on Milo's mind, he knew they weren't, not yet at least. There was still the whole prophecy dilemma playing in the back of his head but he learnt from his past to tackle these issues one at a time.

Right about then, he was more focused on getting to his work on time.

"I still don't understand why you insist on working, what is it that you could get from that job that I can't provide you with," Malcolm rolls his eyes as they both sit at the table across from each other to his disliking.

"I'm not gonna entertain you with a debate right now," Milo stops him by digging into his food and takes a deep sigh.

"I will pick you up at 3," Malcolm speaks again after the long silence when they're getting into his car.