Skin and Bones (boyxboy) ✓

Chapter Nine

He spoke as though it was some kind of betrayal, like he was angry with me for having imagined Zack but why the hell would he be? Those eyes looked even more deadly than before, evil evil evil. Dark and intimidating and frightening. Slits through which I could see the the dark look in his eyes.

His other hand tapped one finger at a time on his knee. "Tell me who he is." He ordered in a silky smooth voice.

I frowned. What did Zack have to do with this? If I said who he was, would he get in trouble? In trouble with Death... I was angry at Zack but I wasn't that angry.

Then again maybe it was just curiosity but looking up at the darkness emanating from him as he sat there and I kneeled in front of him I got the feeling that he couldn't be trusted.

I shook my head.

He raised a brow, his face blank but his voice had a hard edge to it. "Why are you so secretive about it?" He asked as he removed his hands from me and I sank a little lower on the floor.

"Why are you so curious about him?" I asked.

He frowned, raising a hand and glaring at his fingers. There was a moment before a gentle flame burst out of nowhere at the end of them and he allowed it to slide along his pinkie finger like one of those fuzzy joke worms you got from the joke shop as a kid. Like he was pulling the flame along on a string he slid it between his fingers as he stared at it intently. 

"We're going to be partners for all eternity..." He said eventually. "That's a terribly long time not to know anything about your other half." 

"Your other..." I swallowed. "Y'know humans usually call lovers that. So it's a bit weird."

He turned his sharp gaze towards me. "Your point?"

I squinted at him. "Well, we're not-"

"You known you're not really reacting the way I expected."

I stared at him. "You mean because... I was drunk the other day, the first time I met you."

"Yes, I noticed."

"You did?"

"I could smell it."

"Right." I cringed.

"Are you drunk now?"

"No."

"Then why aren't you screaming?"

I frowned. "Why, should I be?"

He smiled slightly, a slight spark reaching his eyes in the gentle light. "I'd prefer it if you didn't. The song of screams is one I can enjoy in plenty when I am working."

The memory of the screaming corpse of a man, begging desperately for Death not to take him, the maggots dripping out of his flesh wound as he crawled across the muddy grass sank in my mind.

"Yeah, I can imagine that."

He looked down at me, allowing the flames to slip through his fingers once more before crushing it in the palm of his hand. "I thought I knew humans very well. Their reactions to me, to pain and death and sadness. Deplorable pain and misery and even acceptance and happiness. However, I'm not sure I've met one like you before, or perhaps I have..." He mused. "If I have I didn't pay much attention."

I nodded. "Well as far is improbable entities with mysterious fantastical powers go you're not exactly what I expected either."

He narrowed his eyes, glaring at me. "What's that supposed to mean?" He said bitterly.