Roses Wilt, Bites Scar [boyxboy]

Chapter XVII

~Thursday 9th June 2011~

"My brother, Emeri Macello, gave you a handjob? With nothing in return? No sex, no blowjob, not even a little pain?" Arlo chuckled at Rourke's shock, taking another bite of the sandwich he had constructed himself. The two were standing in the kitchen, since the chef was on a break and Arlo wasn't permitted to eat dinner with the rest of the brothers. Of course, he was still classed as a pet, despite how complex that relationship seemed to be now.

"He bit me, but he knows I like that so... I don't know, yeah, no strings attached or whatever," Arlo shrugged, continuing to wash up the cutlery he had used. He didn't want the chef getting angry with him, he had had enough encounters to know he wasn't a fan of humans. Their paths didn't need to cross any more than necessary.

"Jesus," Rourke muttered dramatically, raising his eyebrows as he sipped his fruit tea.

"What's the big deal with that? I mean, I get it, you all think he's acting really weird but this is a pretty big bright side for me. I'm not dead yet, and he let Sasha go, and all I had to do was get in the bath with him. This is a win-win in my eyes," Arlo collected the towel from across the kitchen, trying not to drip too much on the floor. The maids were always nice to him, but he didn't want to make their jobs any more difficult.

"It's more than weird behaviour, this is unheard of for my brother. Em doesn't do this. At first, I thought maybe he just wanted to try something different. I mean, he bought you because he wanted someone to challenge him a little. Now this? Getting you off with nothing in return, Em doesn't do that. Every boy he's ever had here has been for his own pleasure. If they got off on it, good for them, if not, he didn't care. A handjob is pretty bizarre."

"I thought it was nice," a faint smile crept onto Arlo's lips as he busied himself putting away the cutlery. Rourke just shifted as he did so, sliding further down the counter so he wasn't in Arlo's way. He didn't mind really, it reminded him of how Viola would do the same thing. Keep him company but not lift a finger to help.

"My brother doesn't do nice. He doesn't do making love, or handjobs, or cuddling," Arlo bit down on his bottom lip, trying to suppress his smile, only for Rourke to gawk at him even more, "you did not," Arlo couldn't help it anymore, giggling as Rourke gaped at him, eyes wide and jaw hanging open. Melodramatic did not even begin to describe him.

"It was just a little, nothing serious, y'know? Just a little come down cuddling in the bath... And then in bed... All night..." Arlo laughed more as Rourke joined him, the two just giggling away like school girls at the prospect of the king of the underworld spooning with a human.

"My brother, you really have ruined him," Arlo found his smile fading as he stared down at the half-eaten meal before him. He didn't like to think that he had ruined Emeri, he preferred to believe he had bettered him. He had broken through that icy exterior and found something new inside. Something that no one had seen before, that no one could have ever imagined from the ruler of the underworld. He found something human.

"What do you do all day down here?" Arlo inquired after a moment of silence, pushing the sandwich closer to Rourke since he didn't really feel like he had all that much of an appetite anymore, "I know you have your models and stuff but do you spend all day down here or do you go up there?"

"We call it Superficiem Mundi, down here is De Inferis. Everything is in old latin, father likes it that way. Makes us sound more sophisticated I suppose. I spend a lot of time up there, I like it, I like humans. You're all very intriguing to observe," Rourke crossed his legs, the robe he was wearing billowing slightly from the movement. If Arlo wasn't aware of the Macello family tree, he wouldn't have believed that Rourke truly was one of them. He didn't act that way, he even looked different. Then again, he was half angel, and he certainly must have gotten the majority of his appearance from that half of his DNA. He just looked so petite, so fragile, despite that other half of them that Arlo imagined could be even worse than his brother.