Oracle

Part 34

Jaspar woke up feeling more angry than numb which was a relief after the previous night. He was as normal wrapped up in Elison's arms and surrounded by the man's scent but his stomach was grumbling unhappily. The conversation about burning people alive being a kill type had made him feel sick to the bone. It was a sick which came with a painful jolt as a reminder of what kind of a world he now resided in.

A world where apparently the men would happily stand up to stop a boy being beaten up but did not blink at the idea of someone being killed in such a gruesome manner. Just because the men of the Rook were kind to Jaspar did not mean they were good men. Justice, Leo and Elison had all warned him time and time again, the men who drank at the Rook were part of the underbelly and outside of the Rook were very dangerous men. These were men who were respected from fear of what they would do but what they could do.

Jaspar could not trust them. Shockingly even Leo had been almost accepting of the idea that burning someone alive was an acceptable way to kill someone. Jaspar felt the sickness rise again as he realised what he had just through. There was never an acceptable reason or way to kill someone, regardless of what the person had done and Jaspar couldn't let himself forget that.

He needed to get out of there. Jaspar could only hope the plans Justice was making could be expanded to him as well. Jaspar was almost scared to bring it up because he was never sure if they were alone to ask and he didn't want to let the cat out of the bag.

Fully awake now and his stomach clenching unhappily, Jaspar slowly rolled out of Elison's arms and sat on the edge of the mattress. He was shirtless that morning and while he hadn't cared the night before, he felt more conscious of it this morning. All ideas of teasing and flirting with Elison were currently gone while his stomach still felt nauseous. A cold draft blew over his shoulders, making him shiver. He needed a top before he could go downstairs for breakfast.

Shifting, he moved in the direction of the drawers and pulled out some clothes from the bottom drawer, the one he knew was where Justice had put his clothes. Most days he had let Elison dress him in the clothes which had appeared. His hands pulled out some random clothes, hands moving over the fabrics searching for textures he recognised.

"You should really wait for me to help you dress," Elison commented sleepily from the bed. Jaspar wasn't surprised the man had woken up, Elison seemed to wake up at Jaspar's slightest movement. Most likely Elison was watching him with a big grin of amusement by the tone of his voice which only made Jaspar want to snarl at the man. He was in no mood to be someone else's entertainment.

"I can dress myself," Jaspar growled darkly.

"You can't see what colours you are holding or the pattern on them," Elison pointed out calmly, still sounding like he was enjoying himself.

Jaspar felt his cheeks heat up with a sudden flare of anger. "Well maybe today I don't care," he snarled, tugging a t-shirt on. He shoved some shoes on, not about to walk on the Rook's floor without something on his feet and stomped out of the room angrily.

"Be careful on the stairs!" Elison called after him, not apparently about to get out of bed and run after him.

Jaspar fumed, exhaling furiously before carefully walking down the stairs and into the Rook. His hands moving down the smooth wooden rail in the narrow staircase. He was calmed slightly by the time he had reached the door which led him in the bar area.

"Morning," Donny singsonged from his corner, Jaspar moving to his normal seat. "You look very bright this morning," the man said with a slight tease in his voice. "I heard you're the reason we can't swear this morning?"

"Morning," Jaspar nodded. "What are you on about?" he asked dryly, lifting an eyebrow.

"The underage kid in our ranks," Donny chuckled.