Better Let Them Know Who's Boss {mxm}

18.

It was the twenty-second day of March in the year of 2132.

It was March 22nd, 2132 and I was bored out of my mind. Except that I wasn't because Avery was here. I couldn't even be happy because he could've been a duplicate of the real one who was dead. Maddox could've been lying to me. "I'm not, Troy," I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked over to see Maddox standing there, the cool air of one of his many saucer ships swirling around us as we stared at each other.

"But how the fuck is he alive when I watched him literally deteriorate in front of me?" I recalled how he spat out mercury all over himself. "Troy," Maddox whispered patiently, gripping my shoulder to gather my attention and I looked up at him, seeing a look of guilt on his face.

"The duplicate of Avery Carmichael was the one that you saw die as a result of him nearing his end. This is the real Avery in front of you," He explained carefully and I looked at my best friend, seeing the exact man that I met after saving him and his sister, standing in front of me. The only difference was that a smile filled his face and his eyes were soft, nor hardened like those cold grey eyes that I last looked into before I left the city.

"It's really me, Troy," Avery whispered as I took a step closer, just a bit wary. "Say something that the real fucking Avery would know. Something that I never told the other duplicate," Avery sighed playfully before folding his arms. "I told you from time to time, you're not allowed to curse. Well, I don't think it matters anymore," He pointed to Maddox and I grinned, knowing that it was him. The duplicate Avery could never be this playful.

"You god damn dickface," I whispered, rushing over to pull him into a hug. His arms wrapped around my waist tightly, his head shoved in my neck as we stood, relishing in each other's embrace. I missed hanging out with him. I missed hearing his stupid comments about nothing and how holier-than-thou he liked to act but in reality, he craved to live too. "There's the Troy I know and love." Avery softly said, squeezing me tightly.

All of a sudden, the air in the room heated up instantly, making us jump away from each other to cool ourselves down. "What the hell?" I screeched and I saw a shadow of dark wings on the wall and I turned around to see Maddox with his arms folded, his eyes black and his lips in a frown as he stared at us.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Avery apologized and I looked at him, inquiring on why he was saying sorry to Maddox. He did nothing wrong. "Control yourself, Maddox," I rolled my eyes, coming to stand next to him. "Avery's my best friend and I won't tolerate you acting like a dick to him," Avery stared at me, giving me a warning look because this was the demon lord and he had the power to snap my neck without blinking and here I was, talking to him like he was one of my teachers or something.

Man, I really did not give a single shit about authority. 

"Just making Mr. Carmichael knows his place," Maddox grunted out and I turned to Avery with a pleased expression, feeling an arm curl around my waist. I jolted a bit, looking down to see claws on my stomach, trailing up that veined arm and around to see Maddox smirking down at me, daring me to say something. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Avery's eyes widening comically as if he couldn't believe that we would let each other into our personal space. One, he knew that I couldn't stand contact unless I was having sex with someone. Two, he had no idea how the lord of Hell would react since he was so mysterious. Well, I'd let him know that I gave zero shits because this sexy guy did what the hell he wanted.

"I had no idea you two knew each other well enough like this," Avery blinked at us and I stepped out of Maddox's grasp, not wanting him to get the wrong idea about anything. The only thing that he couldn't know was that Maddox knew my body inside and out cause he used it for his personal gain and I definitely wouldn't tell him how I was starting to like him because he didn't need to know.