A Z R A E T H :
He awoke right as the sun was beginning to dip past the horizon in that twilight moment when the moon was visible and yet not ‘bright’. What was bright though was the flash of a light on his phone. He wasn’t properly awake, which was clear when he swiped at the device, and missed, hit his nightstand in way that drew a mild curse from him. His other hand was simultaneously dragging across his mouth to clear away any evidence of saliva. He yanked when he finally caught his phone, and may have accidentally unplugged it. Oh well. He blinked several times as he pulled up a text from a contact with the custom name: ‘PalaDamnHeFine’. The little icon in the top corner was an image of Flynn taken candid, when the human had been smiling. Not smirking. Smiling. And of course the custom name changed about once a week. The text said only one thing: CODE GREEN. This had Az up on his feet immediately. He knew he didn’t have much time at all. There were protocols in place for this very situation. And it was time to move.
A code green meant no magic. No summoning. He couldn’t pull his boyfriend to safety. This was a mission that would require decisive and immediate action. Step one was to throw on clothes that could get a little messy. Step two was armor. And lots of it. Step three? Grab a bag and load it down with every single tool he was going to need in order to try and get through some pretty sticky situations. Of course, for Az, this mostly entailed books. A lot of books. He had a whole stack of them which he’d recently acquired, and they were stuffed into his travel satchel, along with whatever knowledge and power they possessed.
He was out the door in a flash, having moved through his small apartment like a tornado of limbs. A glance at his phone told him the text hadn’t been sent that long ago. Which meant there was probably still time. He could make it if he just pushed himself. And so it was with little surprise to anyone that a very short time later, he stood at the front door of Flynn’s apartment, knocking at it. He stepped back and stared at the entryway intensely. HIs armor? A costume. He had found a dragon outfit at the very same shop where Azcoon had made his first appearance. The thing was green and scaled - looking almost like a dinosaur if not for the horns and the wings. And the books in his bag? Well those were storybooks. Fairytales, and picture stories. Dozens of them which the vampire had carefully gone through on a recent trip to a local book seller.
Oh right. This is only of consequence because code green happened to be the signal that Flynn was watching his younger brother, Liam. And Liam being a young boy. Well. If Az was going to meet him before bedtime, it meant he had to be there, and be ready. He was wearing an enormous grin when the door was pulled open.
F L Y N N :
“You know I love having him here.. He’ll be fine. Just...get some rest. You know the old man won’t make tomorrow very pleasant.” With a woman’s voice answering on the other end of the phone call, Flynn’s gaze shifted to the doorway of his bedroom, child-like laughter filling the entire apartment. A slow grin took over his serious expression as Liam, no doubt, continued in his futile attempts to tackle Ares. It had been going on for a good half an hour, and to the large canine’s credit, he was incredibly patient with the young and rambunctious little boy. His mother, Madelyn, had called early that morning with news that she needed to travel to the prison where his father was being held. With neither of the elder Connors having any desire for Liam to be a part of that, Flynn had immediately agreed to take him for the night and, more than likely, most of the following day. “Keep me updated. Goodnight, Mom.”
As if he had a sixth sense, Liam came bounding out of the bedroom with two canines hot on his heels, a broad grin on his face. It was, admittedly, a little red from the effort put forth from the repeated attacks on the dog but his energy level was as high as ever. “Flynnly! You have the best dogs, ever! Ares must weigh, like...a gazillion pounds!” To emphasize his point, the seven year spread his arms out wide, stretching out his fingers as far as he could reach. Because, somehow, that was an indication of weight now days.
The Paladin could only shake his head with a laugh, making his way over to Liam to ruffle up his mop of brown hair. “I don’t think he weighs quite that much, kiddo. But, pretty close!” So, that was a pretty decent exaggeration, but what did Liam know? He was seven. Just as he planned to ask the boy what he wanted to do for the remainder of the night, there was a knock at the apartment door and Flynn didn’t even need to a fancy a guess as to who it was. The text he had sent out to Azraeth had been a warning, but also an invitation. His boyfriend would need to meet Liam, eventually. So, why not now? “Why don’t you pick a movie or a game for us while I get that?” he suggested, receiving an eager nod as the boy dashed off for the bedroom once more.
Flynn waited for the boy to disappear from sight before opening the door, just to be safe. There was no saying what could happen in this city. But, naturally, it was only Az. “Oh, good lord. What is with you and costumes?” Despite the question, he couldn’t hold back the smile, because only the vampire would go that far. Stepping aside to let him pass, he leaned in to press a kiss to the dragon’s cheek before calling out, “Liam! Come here for a second!”
A Z R A E T H :
The door swung open and Az caught that smile on his partner’s face, which only served to make his own increase in size. Because there was little more the vampire enjoyed than seeing Flynn with his guard down and happy. Of course, if the Paladin thought he was going to get away with that kind of greeting, he had another thing coming. Because as soon as Flynn stepped out of the way, the vampire essentially flung himself at the man. Normally he would have gone for the whole body cling. All limbs. Tight. But since he was trying to at least pretend to be an adult, his arms slung around a neck, and the kiss that was aimed for his cheek ended up right on his lips. Of course...that also meant Flynn was kissing the open mouth of a dragon, but that was beside the point. The affection was brief and chaste. Very chaste all things considered. Just the press of mouths together in familiarity. The soft and subtle hint of flavor. As if the Mystic really was an addict and he needed a hint of a fix.
And that meant the very first time he saw Liam, it was when he was pulling away from his boyfriend, out of that hug (wherein he’d totally stolen some body heat). His satchel was flung onto a sofa and his eyes widened at the sight of the boy, who looked like he might have been a very young Flynn. There was complete and total silence for a second, which felt infinitely longer, and then music began to play through the vampire’s mind. It was not the same melody he heard when he looked into his lover’s eyes, but it was similar. Sweeter and lighter. He immediately dropped to the floor, slipping down onto his knees, so he could rest against his heels and peer more at the same eye level with his boyfriend’s younger sibling. “Hi.” He said as he held out a hand, fingers wriggling as if to invite Liam to shake. The boy approached with what he supposed was normal hesitation in meeting someone new, but the moment that smaller hand slipped into his own, the vampire pulled gently and suddenly squeezed the boy. He was careful not to press to hard.
Then he was up, spinning, holding Liam to his chest so that the boy’s legs dangled and they were almost still at the same eye level. “I am Azraeth.” He said, his brows lifting as he leaned into Flynn’s chest with his newly acquired seven year old.
“Um why do your eyes look like that?” Liam asked with the unabashed and innocent nature of youth. Az settled the boy down on his feet and then stepped back, so he could give a little spin in his costume, wings hitting the door, tail smacking against Flynn’s ankle.
“Well, you see, I’m a dragon.” He explained before inhaling sharply through his nostrils, only to exhale a little ring of smoke into the air (away from Liam of course). “See? I breathe smoke and everything.” He insisted. “As a matter of fact, you can think of it like a story.” He continued as he reached for Flynn’s hand, taking it into his own, casually weaving their digits together. He couldn’t resist the urge to hunch over, closer to the boy though and very nearly toppled his boyfriend along with him.
“See, Flynn here is a lot like a knight. You know the kind. Flashing swords. Brilliant smiles. Shiny armor…” He decided to leave it at that for the moment if only because he figured it was best to leave it to the human to decide exactly what details of their relationship the youth actually knew.
F L Y N N :
“If the worst ever happens, and he does have to go into your guardianship. You know I’m not going to let you raise him alone right? That boy will have more love than he knows what to do with.”
They were words said weeks ago, long before the relationship had gotten as serious as it had, but they sudden resurfaced as Flynn watched the interaction between the vampire and his younger brother. The smile that had already been fairly prominent on his face only managed to grow, if only because his boyfriend reacted to the boy the way the Paladin knew he would. It had been an assumption, sure, but he somehow knew that Az would completely lack the ability to resist Liam. Apparently, the same applied in vice versa, with the conversation shifting to a certain pair of blue eyes. For a second, the human considered shushing the boy for being rude, but what good would that have done, other than make him even more curious?
Flynn’s own eyes narrowed on the two of them as soon as Liam pointed out the obvious difference that set Az apart, his head tilting to the side as he waited for the man to explain it away. And that’s when the smoke came out. Literally. His eyebrows shot up, lips forming a silent ‘what?’ as this display he had seen before. Still, he was quiet, though he couldn’t resist the tug of protest on his boyfriend’s hand at nearly taking the Paladin down with him. Liam, naturally, stared with wide-eyed amazement and it was nearly possible to see the steam coming out of his ears as he tried to work through the notion of this (seemingly) human dragon.
As if suddenly finding a flaw in the story, Liam looked between the two men and pointed a finger at Az, “Don’t the knights usually have to kill the dragons to save the princesses?” he asked, slowly, like he wasn’t sure that was the way the story always ended. Without waiting for an answer, his eyes widened once more, “Is Miss Dhara the princess?”
Freezing on the spot, the human stared down at his younger sibling as if he had grown a second head. The last time he had been in the city, Dhara had come by unexpectedly and Liam had taken her under his wing, so to speak, in teaching her all about board games. Naturally, she was who the boy remembered, and it’s not like Flynn had explained the difference in his relationships since then. To mother or brother. “Uhm, actually, Liam…” he paused, stepping around his brother to crouch behind him. “There is no princess. Azraeth is my dragon, and I’m his knight.” So, it wasn’t coming right out and saying they were dating, but it was close enough, for now. If anything, Liam would understand that the two belonged to each other in some way.
There was the briefest of pauses on the boy’s part, and then his face broke into a wide grin and nod. “Alright, then. That means it’s me and my noble dogs, Ares and Athena to take on the knight and the dragon! And yooouu…” he pointed directly at Az, then, eyes narrowed with as smug a grin as the child was capable of. “Must be dealt with, first!”
A Z R A E T H :
There was a brief moment when Az’s brain basically checked out. It was just a flash of a second when the little boy wore that smug expression and the only thing the vampire could think was that he was looking through a window into his lover’s past. How many times had he seen Flynn wear his signature smirk? It made him want to reach out and squash the boy against his chest. Do absolutely everything in his power to preserve the sweetness there. And then he had to check back into the conversation. Which honestly went about as he’d anticipated. Talking about relationships with children was...difficult. Especially when they didn’t fall into certain heteronormative guidelines. Which was to say that most kids were taught, from a young age, that men and women were meant to be together. Disney movies had princesses to go with the princes. Azraeth himself wasn’t particularly bitter about this, because the majority of the world’s population identified with those stories. And there was always a lot of debate about when to introduce a young mind to the idea of two men or two women together. The reason the Mystic hadn’t outright said what their relationship was - was that he didn’t want to overstep.
So he was very pleasantly surprised when he heard the description Flynn used.
His gaze traveled to his partner’s and he mouthed the words ‘I love you’, to the Paladin overtop Liam’s head, before his attention returned full force to the finger pointing at him. His lips popped open in an ‘O’ of an expression. “A young hero and his noble doggies.” He said as he crept closer, his gaze narrowing on the boy. Of course, both Athena and Ares, upon hearing their names, came running towards the living room. Thankfully, both of them had met Az already, and were used to his scent even if they weren’t used to the costume he was wearing. “Well I will have you know, us dragons can be very crafty. Sneak tickle attack!” He said, and right as he was about to go for it, fingers searching for the tender area under the armpits, he was suddenly being assaulted by two dogs. Which was to say that Ares came in and barreled him over onto the ground, to begin immediately licking his face. He was joined by Athena, who seemed to want exactly the same amount of attention as her brother was getting. So Az had a lot of dog to deal with. “Betrayal!” He called out, a fist lifting above the sea of fur to shake.
But he couldn’t keep it up for long, so he was soon laughing, and moving to sit up from where he’d thunked onto the floor, his hands moving to push through the fur on either dog. It might partially have been his fault because every time he saw them, he made a habit of lavishing them in attention and maybe also slipping them treats they weren’t supposed to have. So their noses were buried in his hands to see if they could smell any of the goods, and when there was nothing there, they went for where he normally kept them - his jacket pockets. Except he wasn’t wearing a jacket so they were basically stuck sniffing at his chest as he attempted to regain balance.
“Okay, you may have bested me once, but now you shall taste my vengeance!” He insisted and that was when he finally got close enough to shove his fingertips under the boy’s arms. “Quickly, handsome knight, hold the hero down!” He said as he commenced with the impromptu tickle attack.
F L Y N N :
Because of Liam’s insistence that the game begin, Flynn could only grin up at his boyfriend for the sentiment before his attention was captured by the seven year old. The fact that Liam made Az his first target spoke volumes. While he was only a child, and children were fairly open-minded in regards to other people, it was more than that. By including Az in the game, Liam was displaying a level of acceptance for who the vampire was and the relationship he perceived to exist with Flynn. What he thought that relationship to be didn’t really matter to the Paladin, so long as he understood that there was one. But, that was also his cue to back up before he was dragged into the cluster that was the pile of vampire and dogs, thanks to Ares being the first to come to Liam’s defense in the form of a well timed tackle. And Liam, himself, laughed in absolute joy as the pile up began, circling around it as if seeking a means to join in.
With green eyes trained on the dogs, it suddenly made sense why they were always so eager to greet Azraeth when he came over. The way their snouts pushed into his palms, and soon moved on to sniff around his chest and abdomen. Flynn had known, on some level, that the vampire spoiled the canines rotten and this was all the proof he needed. Humming at the realization, a slow nod and a smirk later, and he came to decision that would impact the game, greatly. Betrayal, alright. There was about to be a fairly big one when the dragon found himself with a knight switching sides in this battle. And what luck did he have up against two noble doggies, a prince, and a knight? Not much, if Flynn was a betting man (and he totally was).
Liam let out a squeal of delight as the tickling began, squirming to try and break free of it before he was lost to the laughter. Once he finally managed to escape those fingers, he made frantic steps backwards with his eyes trained on Az and a brilliant smile lighting up his face, but he soon let out another yelp as Flynn scooped him up from behind, an arm circled around his chest and underneath his arms. He swung around then, just out of the vampires reach with a conspiratorial smirk on his face. “Ready for a real sneak attack?” he whispered against Liam’s ear, to which he received an eager and subtle nod. Turning back around, the Paladin set his brother back down and made a whistle, his head gesturing to the vampire dressed as a dragon. In seconds, Ares was bounding forward once more, using his weight to once again throw the other man off balance and bring him back to the floor. Only when his boyfriend was there did Flynn move in, practically sitting on Az with his legs draping across his abdomen as if to keep him there. “He’s down, Prince Liam! Move in for the attack!” Betrayal, completed.
There wasn’t a second of wasted time, with the youngster immediately coming to his brother’s aid and nearly throwing himself down across the vampire’s chest. Much like he had suffered at the hands of the dragon, his fingers sought out the best places for tickling, such as the sides, neck and underarms. Doing so with a hoot of victory, he finally stood with fist in the air. “Victory is mine! The dragon has been slain!” Leaning over, he quickly jumped into a high five with Flynn. Moments later he dropped back down to the ground next to Az’s head, peering down at him with a childlike giggle and toothy grin.
Following suit, the Paladin glanced down at his boyfriend with a smile. Only then did he mouth those same words back to him with an innocent shrug, ‘I love you.’
A Z R A E T H :
Only a short time before, Az and Flynn had begun to make plans about their home, about moving in together specifically. However, crafting a sanctuary was so much more than that. Homes came with rules, with atmosphere, with values and boundaries (or lack thereof). Both men had come to the realization that home wasn’t just a place, but that it was a feeling, and it was a person. That home existed inside of each other, in that delicate intimate bubble where two people became greater than the sum of their parts. They had yet to really talk about the specifics, and the vampire was patient in waiting because he knew that his Paladin needed time to get his thoughts together, to decide on exactly what he wanted. And frankly, as long as Azraeth got to be close to his partner, he was content. More than content. He was happier than he had ever been. And hearing the boy’s laughter told him one thing he wanted. He wanted theirs to be a house of happiness, where laughter was common, where joy soaked into the walls and could be felt by anyone who entered inside.
And then the prince was being pulled away. He was being assaulted again! He ended up on the floor, with dogs hovering over him and his boyfriend was basically sitting on him. Not that Az couldn’t have totally dislodged everyone with a little deft motion, but that totally wasn’t the point. Projecting strength was for those who didn’t have faith in their own power. That was also the exact moment that Liam and Flynn learned something very important (and yet entirely terrible) about the vampire. He was ticklish. Not a little bit either. In fact, a person could basically just wiggle their fingers near his ribs or sides, or abdomen, and he would immediately break into convulsive laughter that usually didn’t stop until he was in tears. The only reason Flynn hadn’t discovered it up until this point was that the occasion had just never arisen. Also it was totally embarrassing and SO not one of those things a guy wanted his boyfriend to know about himself.
So there he was, writhing on the floor in a dragon costume, laughing his absolute head off, tears in his eyes, when Liam proclaimed his victory. And he caught sight of those mouthed words. When had life gotten so good?
He sat up immediately, and dragged the boy into a hug, squishing the kid against his chest with a faux-dragon roar. Actually he might have just said the word ‘roar’. “Vengeance may be yours, but I will get you one day!” He insisted before pressing a kiss to Liam’s forehead and releasing him. He then used his boyfriend to haul himself up to his feet - though he totally could have done it without the help. “I have also brought some books. I don’t know if you’re keen on storytime at all, Little Prince, but that used to be my favorite part of the day. Best way to make sure I didn’t have to go to bed on time was to just keep asking for another few pages, or one more chapter.” He then lowered his voice, so he could pull off one of those stage whispers where he held a hand between his lips and Flynn’s eyes, but said the words more than audibly enough for anyone to hear. “Which is totally a legitimate tactic, I’m passing along to you. Abuse it as you will.” He admonished before reaching for his bag, which was still on the sofa.
This caused a shuffling of Athena and Ares once more because the vampire had forgotten that he’d hidden a packet of treats in there. As he was pulling the books out, the packet fell onto the ground and spilled open, releasing a dozen or more meaty morsels of the absolute highest quality. “Speaking of bedtime, when is yours?” he asked Liam, before glancing up to Flynn. “Have you had dinner yet? Was it pizza? Flynn-my-Love, tell me you have fed this boy some pizza.” He continued, before setting what looked to be a stack of books that stretched for more than a foot onto a nearby end table. There was a copy of some fairytales, mixed with some Goosebumps titles, mixed with a few shorter works like Dragons Love Tacos, along with some things from Sesame Street. Really it looked like Az had absolutely no clue what a seven year old liked and had just grabbed a little bit of everything he found interesting. Like a large book on Greek Mythology, which happened to have an image of Athena rising out of Zeus’s skull on the front cover. In case, Liam wanted to know about the namesakes of Flynn’s dogs.
F L Y N N :
It had been just about a month and a half. That was to say that Flynn and Azreath still had a lot to learn about each other, despite the fact that the vampire likely knew more about the human than just about anyone. Save for a few exceptions, most of the people in his life had been kept at arm’s length, so it was fairly easy for Az to receive the title for who knew him best when he so often got a look into the more intimate details of the Paladin’s personality and his past. However, there were still parts of Az that Flynn hadn’t yet been privy to, which was included but not limited to, information regarding his past. Certain topics had been mentioned in passing, with vague details offered as a means of providing just enough, without saying too much. It didn’t help that the human never asked, mostly for the sake of keeping his nose out of places it didn’t belong. He was more likely to let the conversation come up when Az was willing to let it, rather than specifically ask for the details. Now that the relationship had progressed the way it had, with the pair having every intention of moving in together, he made a mental note to ask those questions, perhaps when Liam went to bed for the night and they were fresh. His life of delinquency had been established. It was his partner’s turn to spill some details.
The fact that the vampire was ticklish was one of those things that he hadn’t known before, and his eyebrows shot up at the reaction to the boy’s assault. Between the squirming, loud laughter and tears in his eyes, Flynn wasn’t sure he had ever seen the vampire look so...at ease, relatively speaking. Sure, Az was the type of creature that always seemed to fit into and be comfortable wherever he was. He thrived in social situations, quick with a smile. And he certainly let his guard down around the Paladin, to show the vulnerable side to him. This was different, somehow. Being ticklish opened a door to its own unique kind of torture, especially in the case of someone who was ridiculously so. It was a different kind of vulnerability, and Az had allowed Liam to take full advantage of it. And that...that had Flynn biting down his lower lip, eyes narrowed on the other man’s face as he finally sat up and pulled the boy to his chest.
Naturally, Az brought more books than Liam could have possibly read in just one night, but at least the kid would have choices. In that sense, the two Connor boys were vastly different. While Flynn had spent most of his time avoiding school, even at a young age, Liam seemed to enjoy it. Granted, he was only seven and in the second grade and so he had yet to really experience the true woes of academia. “I just hide a flashlight under my pillow. If I’m real quiet, and listen, I can hear when Mom is coming to check on me,” came the boy’s reply, a devious glint in his eyes as he glanced at Flynn, almost as if he expected his sibling to rat him out. But, the Paladin was eyeing his dogs as they literally devoured the mess of treats on the floor. There was no point in stopping them, it was already too late. Turned out, Az was going to need to be frisked every time he came to the apartment, and those treats left outside. Both parties would likely enjoy the process, too.
Only as he lifted his gaze to his boyfriend did he shake his head, “No, he did not have pizza. We went out for dinner, and he ended up eating more of the ice cream he got for dessert than he did the chicken he got for dinner. Which is why…” he mused, aloud, glancing over at his kid brother with a mockingly stern look, “...his bedtime may become a bit of a gray area. We’ll see how long he makes it before the crash. I’m guessing...ten o’clock tops.”
At that assessment, Liam in all his glory, scoffed with arms crossing over his chest in offense. “Ten?! I can stay awake longer than that! I can stay up all night, Flynnly!” Only then did those green eyes that were so like his older brother’s shift to Az, as if looking to the other man to come to his defense.
The Paladin took in the defiant stance of what could have been his reflection in a mirror to the past, his eyebrows lifting with a slow nod of confirmation. “Oh, right. How could I have forgotten that you are seven, and therefore, do not need a bedtime because you couldn’t possibly get tired. Was that not the earlier argument?” The child nodded once, settled in that agreement, and Flynn cut his gaze over to the vampire. “Does that sound like a challenge to you?”
A Z R A E T H :
He listened closely to the tactic the boy used to read at night, and the vampire’s eyes lit up with mischief. His smile conveyed exactly the same. “Oh, that’s an advanced strategy!” He confided, even as he peered into those green eyes which were so similar to his boyfriend’s. “I didn’t start doing that until I was...gosh. I think I must have been in my early teens. I would walk to the public library after school, pick out a stack of books and want to read every single one of them before bed. That was also around the time my brother and I got our own bedrooms so I didn’t have to worry about him turning me into the Mauthorities.” And he was rambling. Though it was easy for the situation to take him right back to his childhood, and his own family. He hadn’t seen his parents in...years. A decade? Yeah, close to a decade. Of course, part of that was just pragmatics. He didn’t look at all the way he had when he’d been alive. How could he just walk up to them and expect them to believe he was their son? And how would he ever have explained the missing Azariel to them? They were better living with the lie that he and his twin had died years before.
Az exchanged a knowing look with his boyfriend when he heard an explanation of that night’s events. “Ohhhhh!” He said. “Not that I blame you, Little Prince, I think ice cream is one of the absolute best things in the world. I used to love cookie dough. The only one I’m not a huge fan of is rocky road.” His nostrils scrunched in an over-exaggerated fashion. “It’s the marshmallows. Marshmallows are gro-” He stopped suddenly because he had heard quite possibly the very best nickname ever. His eyes widened, and his gaze swung (wildly) towards Flynn as if to say ‘DID YOU HEAR THAT?’ And then he was nodding. The look in his eyes said ‘This is the one. The one nickname to rule them all’. But that was also right about the time he came to the very last item in his bag, which happened to be his phone.
“Alright, that means our vessel is being helmed by the good Captain Sugar Rush. And do you know what that means, Little Prince? That means we have to take his orders. Annnnd as it so turns out, he thinks it’s time for us to have an impromptu dance party! He gave a little tap on the screen and suddenly music blared to life around them. Because he’d totally seen the look in his boyfriend’s eyes, and he was totally aware that one of the best ways to make the whole sugar rush thing hit its peak and begin a quick descent was plenty of fun physical activity. The song that brought the air to life was Electric Love, which Az immediately began to sing along with. Okay, so maybe he totally didn’t have the ability to actually carry the tune, but he could certainly hand it some crutches and push it through the door, so to speak.
He ended up bridging the distance between he and his lover so he could fling his arms around Flynn’s shoulders. “Baby, you’re like like lightning in a bottle!” He said, which was technically part of the song, but he put particular emphasis on those words before he leaned in to kiss right at the corner of the man’s mouth. Only then did he pull away, leaving his phone in the other man’s hands. “Okay. You handsome gentlemen keep this dance party going. I need to go get out of this dragon costume!” he said above the song. Though he totally made a point to dance his way towards the restroom. Not. That his dance moves were any better than his singing. Mostly they were taken right out of some 1960’s dance show. The Mashed Potato!
F L Y N N :
It was ironic, really, that the second Flynn was thinking about his boyfriend’s past that he would happen to share something about it. It wasn’t entirely new information, per se, but it was still a small glimpse into the life he had before. As the human appraised his partner, he was suddenly struck by the fact that he didn’t even know what a teenage Azraeth would have looked like, other than being blonde. There was a total disconnect, at that point, as he tried to reconcile the two. But, it was impossible to picture Az as someone different. Someone other than a little dark haired boy with startling blue eyes. If he were to be staring at a picture of the man when he was younger, Flynn doubted that he would see them as one in the same. The boy in the picture would have been an entirely different person to the human, and that somehow didn’t sit well.
When he was suddenly fixated with a wide-eyed stare on the vampire’s part, it took a moment for Flynn’s brain to catch up with the conversation and just why he was receiving it. At first, he thought it might have something to do with marshmallows, since that was the moment his partner seemed to turn off temporarily. That was when he realized that Liam had pulled out the nickname he had given to the Paladin when he was a few years younger, and Az was notorious for using nicknames. Those green eyes narrowed as they locked on those oceans of blue, offering the most subtle shake of his head, “Don’t even think about it.”. If his boyfriend thought he would get away with calling him that, he had another thing coming. There would be hell to pay. What forms that hell would take, he wasn’t quite sure yet. That was a problem for Future Flynn to figure out, and he would have fun doing it, too.
Liam, at the mention of a dance party, seemed to jump for joy. When it come to any form of physical activity, he was pretty much on board, and the Paladin couldn’t begin to guess where he got his love of dancing from. But the second the music started to play, he was on the move. In true childhood fashion, his dancing was a little more like hopping around with an occasional twist of his hips and hands in the air. That didn’t matter, though, because the smile on his face was all the indication anyone would need to know that he was enjoying himself. Though, Flynn highly doubted the boy even knew the song, and he certainly didn’t either. Being as averse to dancing as he was, he was content to be a bystander to the party. Naturally, both of them had other plans, beginning with Az, who received a grin at the lyrics to the song. Even if he didn’t quite follow the tune by singing, rather than he took the time to say them. For a second, the Paladin almost stopped the man from leaving to demand more in terms of the affection offered, but the dragon costume coming off was all the motivation he needed to let his boyfriend dance away. And he shamelessly watched it happen.
“Come on, you have to dance, too!” Liam demanded over the sound of the music, taking the man’s hands in his much smaller set and dragging him toward the middle of the room. Once there, he grinned and began to twist at the waist, pulling and pushing on each of Flynn’s arms so he was forced to do the same. With a long look at his younger brother, he nodded and took up the motion on his own, though with a little more grace and ‘dance-like’ quality than the boy had. Soon, they were basically spinning around the room, with Liam’s laughter sounding over the song as it came to an end. In order to keep the party going, as he was demanded to do by the momentarily absent vampire, he looked to his brother with wide eyes, “Dance party paused!” As soon as the word ‘pause’ came into play, the boy froze. As if he had quite literally been paused, just as he would do with Flynn when he was younger and played their version of Red Light, Green Light. With phone in hand, he quickly thought of a song off the top of his head and went about searching for it, only for Feel It Still to fill the silence. “Unpause!” And just like that, Liam set right back into motion and Flynn set the phone down on the side table to follow suit.
A Z R A E T H :
Oh. Az was totally already thinking about it. Using that nickname. Flynnly. It was perhaps one of the most adorable things he had ever heard. Of course, it registered that perhaps his boyfriend, who was far from adorable save for in the inner sanctum that was their very intimate life, might not want him to use it. This thought was immediately confirmed by the man’s words. The vampire was almost certain the implied threat there was one his boyfriend would carry out without hesitation as well. It was just one of those moments when the mind became completely overcome with an emotion, that it became impossible (for Az at least), to reign in his expression. Like a child waking up for Christmas and immediately running to see what was under the tree for themselves. The excitement totally didn’t wear off, even slightly in the face of that staunch deterrence from Flynn, though the vampire did make a note to himself that he might want to weigh the pros and cons before actually jumping from that particular frying pan into the proverbial fire. Rather than say any of that, he just waggles his brows exaggeratedly, which totally could have been taken any number of different ways.
Seconds later, Az was retreating to the bathroom, his gaze locked for a moment on the grin which had so easily returned to flip Flynn’s expression. He loved that look. The smile was exactly what made the vampire feel the way the song described. Like being struck by electric love. It was this intoxicating and immediately powerful high, knowing he could spark that kind of ease and happiness in the other man. But he didn’t have very long to reflect because it was totally time to get the costume off. One zipper pulled down, and the material shucked into a corner, in front of the vanity, and he emerged like a moth from a chrysalis. He wore a simple pair of jeans, a belt, and a black hoodie he may or may not have (He totally had) swiped from Flynn at one point. And it was when he exited that he carefully leaned against the door of the restroom so he could watch the way Liam seemed to seamlessly pull Flynn into a totally uncoordinated (read as: Az-like dance). His eyes were glued to it. The way that his boyfriend moved. How the man seemed to just...turn into someone else entirely when he was around his younger brother. Well. Not a different person really. The person he was around Az. His most inner self. The part of the Paladin which Az felt most protective over.
And yet there wasn’t even an instant of jealousy.
Rather, the vampire wanted to see more of that. More of those joyful moments. Maybe...maybe if Az made a good impression, their mother would let the Little Prince come to visit more often. Of course, it was right about that time Azraeth realized he didn’t just want Liam around for Flynn. A lot of his vampire life had been spent taking care of people. In fact, it was one of the things he was known for. He was the one who followed along after Nikolae and made sure the man didn’t leave the city in ruins. He was the one who looked over the Dragomir. It was like when Flynn had offered to teach him how to cook. The moment had brought back a memory that Az had sort of tabled for a long time. This vision of what his life would be like with a partner - cooking meals together in the kitchen. And this was the same. Az had always wanted to take care of people. To protect them. To give them his love. And what he saw in front of him was like this beautiful hint at the family he never thought he could have.
Flynn was so ******* perfect.
And it was time to get away from the wall, and actually join the dance, so Az slipped closer so he could join right back in, this time with a slightly modified version of the Watusi, modified in that it lacked actual rhythm, but still very loosely went along with the music. “You know.” He said. “It took me ages to get your brother to dance, Little Prince.” He said to Liam by the time he was back in place. “You are totally going to have to share allllll of your tricks with me.” He said, giving a wink in Liam’s direction. It wasn’t much longer though before the song was nearing its end, and the vampire checked to see if the boy was any closer to being worn out than when he’d started. His movements had grown just a tad more sluggish, but there was still plenty of energy there, so he backed his way to pick up the phone, so he could flip through his songs, and settle on another one. This time, what immediately began to play was Happy by Pharrell Williams. Which was super upbeat and high tempo. Which meant that the vampire could basically get away with just moving however he wanted - clapping when the song called for it.
Those were magical moments. When Az was moving in relative unison with Flynn and Liam. And just watching the expressions on their faces made his own smile grow until almost all of his teeth were showing, and he looked practically like the Cheshire Cat.
By the time it was all said and done, he was slumped against Flynn’s back, lightly panting into his ear as the next song picked up. He squeezed tightly around the man’s chest, arms wrapped just under pectorals. Okay. So he didn’t technically need to be panting. But he didn’t want it to be a dead give away that he wasn’t what he seemed, and the thing about kids was that they were extremely observant. Adults generally possessed a greater amount of knowledge, but that didn’t necessarily make them more intelligent. Kids. Kids watched everything. Absorbed everything. So he put on a show as he glanced to Liam over where his chin was perched on the Paladin’s shoulder. “Okay. I think Captain Sugar Rush is calling it for the moment. Ready to hand the ship’s wheel over to someone else.”
He awoke right as the sun was beginning to dip past the horizon in that twilight moment when the moon was visible and yet not ‘bright’. What was bright though was the flash of a light on his phone. He wasn’t properly awake, which was clear when he swiped at the device, and missed, hit his nightstand in way that drew a mild curse from him. His other hand was simultaneously dragging across his mouth to clear away any evidence of saliva. He yanked when he finally caught his phone, and may have accidentally unplugged it. Oh well. He blinked several times as he pulled up a text from a contact with the custom name: ‘PalaDamnHeFine’. The little icon in the top corner was an image of Flynn taken candid, when the human had been smiling. Not smirking. Smiling. And of course the custom name changed about once a week. The text said only one thing: CODE GREEN. This had Az up on his feet immediately. He knew he didn’t have much time at all. There were protocols in place for this very situation. And it was time to move.
A code green meant no magic. No summoning. He couldn’t pull his boyfriend to safety. This was a mission that would require decisive and immediate action. Step one was to throw on clothes that could get a little messy. Step two was armor. And lots of it. Step three? Grab a bag and load it down with every single tool he was going to need in order to try and get through some pretty sticky situations. Of course, for Az, this mostly entailed books. A lot of books. He had a whole stack of them which he’d recently acquired, and they were stuffed into his travel satchel, along with whatever knowledge and power they possessed.
He was out the door in a flash, having moved through his small apartment like a tornado of limbs. A glance at his phone told him the text hadn’t been sent that long ago. Which meant there was probably still time. He could make it if he just pushed himself. And so it was with little surprise to anyone that a very short time later, he stood at the front door of Flynn’s apartment, knocking at it. He stepped back and stared at the entryway intensely. HIs armor? A costume. He had found a dragon outfit at the very same shop where Azcoon had made his first appearance. The thing was green and scaled - looking almost like a dinosaur if not for the horns and the wings. And the books in his bag? Well those were storybooks. Fairytales, and picture stories. Dozens of them which the vampire had carefully gone through on a recent trip to a local book seller.
Oh right. This is only of consequence because code green happened to be the signal that Flynn was watching his younger brother, Liam. And Liam being a young boy. Well. If Az was going to meet him before bedtime, it meant he had to be there, and be ready. He was wearing an enormous grin when the door was pulled open.
F L Y N N :
“You know I love having him here.. He’ll be fine. Just...get some rest. You know the old man won’t make tomorrow very pleasant.” With a woman’s voice answering on the other end of the phone call, Flynn’s gaze shifted to the doorway of his bedroom, child-like laughter filling the entire apartment. A slow grin took over his serious expression as Liam, no doubt, continued in his futile attempts to tackle Ares. It had been going on for a good half an hour, and to the large canine’s credit, he was incredibly patient with the young and rambunctious little boy. His mother, Madelyn, had called early that morning with news that she needed to travel to the prison where his father was being held. With neither of the elder Connors having any desire for Liam to be a part of that, Flynn had immediately agreed to take him for the night and, more than likely, most of the following day. “Keep me updated. Goodnight, Mom.”
As if he had a sixth sense, Liam came bounding out of the bedroom with two canines hot on his heels, a broad grin on his face. It was, admittedly, a little red from the effort put forth from the repeated attacks on the dog but his energy level was as high as ever. “Flynnly! You have the best dogs, ever! Ares must weigh, like...a gazillion pounds!” To emphasize his point, the seven year spread his arms out wide, stretching out his fingers as far as he could reach. Because, somehow, that was an indication of weight now days.
The Paladin could only shake his head with a laugh, making his way over to Liam to ruffle up his mop of brown hair. “I don’t think he weighs quite that much, kiddo. But, pretty close!” So, that was a pretty decent exaggeration, but what did Liam know? He was seven. Just as he planned to ask the boy what he wanted to do for the remainder of the night, there was a knock at the apartment door and Flynn didn’t even need to a fancy a guess as to who it was. The text he had sent out to Azraeth had been a warning, but also an invitation. His boyfriend would need to meet Liam, eventually. So, why not now? “Why don’t you pick a movie or a game for us while I get that?” he suggested, receiving an eager nod as the boy dashed off for the bedroom once more.
Flynn waited for the boy to disappear from sight before opening the door, just to be safe. There was no saying what could happen in this city. But, naturally, it was only Az. “Oh, good lord. What is with you and costumes?” Despite the question, he couldn’t hold back the smile, because only the vampire would go that far. Stepping aside to let him pass, he leaned in to press a kiss to the dragon’s cheek before calling out, “Liam! Come here for a second!”
A Z R A E T H :
The door swung open and Az caught that smile on his partner’s face, which only served to make his own increase in size. Because there was little more the vampire enjoyed than seeing Flynn with his guard down and happy. Of course, if the Paladin thought he was going to get away with that kind of greeting, he had another thing coming. Because as soon as Flynn stepped out of the way, the vampire essentially flung himself at the man. Normally he would have gone for the whole body cling. All limbs. Tight. But since he was trying to at least pretend to be an adult, his arms slung around a neck, and the kiss that was aimed for his cheek ended up right on his lips. Of course...that also meant Flynn was kissing the open mouth of a dragon, but that was beside the point. The affection was brief and chaste. Very chaste all things considered. Just the press of mouths together in familiarity. The soft and subtle hint of flavor. As if the Mystic really was an addict and he needed a hint of a fix.
And that meant the very first time he saw Liam, it was when he was pulling away from his boyfriend, out of that hug (wherein he’d totally stolen some body heat). His satchel was flung onto a sofa and his eyes widened at the sight of the boy, who looked like he might have been a very young Flynn. There was complete and total silence for a second, which felt infinitely longer, and then music began to play through the vampire’s mind. It was not the same melody he heard when he looked into his lover’s eyes, but it was similar. Sweeter and lighter. He immediately dropped to the floor, slipping down onto his knees, so he could rest against his heels and peer more at the same eye level with his boyfriend’s younger sibling. “Hi.” He said as he held out a hand, fingers wriggling as if to invite Liam to shake. The boy approached with what he supposed was normal hesitation in meeting someone new, but the moment that smaller hand slipped into his own, the vampire pulled gently and suddenly squeezed the boy. He was careful not to press to hard.
Then he was up, spinning, holding Liam to his chest so that the boy’s legs dangled and they were almost still at the same eye level. “I am Azraeth.” He said, his brows lifting as he leaned into Flynn’s chest with his newly acquired seven year old.
“Um why do your eyes look like that?” Liam asked with the unabashed and innocent nature of youth. Az settled the boy down on his feet and then stepped back, so he could give a little spin in his costume, wings hitting the door, tail smacking against Flynn’s ankle.
“Well, you see, I’m a dragon.” He explained before inhaling sharply through his nostrils, only to exhale a little ring of smoke into the air (away from Liam of course). “See? I breathe smoke and everything.” He insisted. “As a matter of fact, you can think of it like a story.” He continued as he reached for Flynn’s hand, taking it into his own, casually weaving their digits together. He couldn’t resist the urge to hunch over, closer to the boy though and very nearly toppled his boyfriend along with him.
“See, Flynn here is a lot like a knight. You know the kind. Flashing swords. Brilliant smiles. Shiny armor…” He decided to leave it at that for the moment if only because he figured it was best to leave it to the human to decide exactly what details of their relationship the youth actually knew.
F L Y N N :
“If the worst ever happens, and he does have to go into your guardianship. You know I’m not going to let you raise him alone right? That boy will have more love than he knows what to do with.”
They were words said weeks ago, long before the relationship had gotten as serious as it had, but they sudden resurfaced as Flynn watched the interaction between the vampire and his younger brother. The smile that had already been fairly prominent on his face only managed to grow, if only because his boyfriend reacted to the boy the way the Paladin knew he would. It had been an assumption, sure, but he somehow knew that Az would completely lack the ability to resist Liam. Apparently, the same applied in vice versa, with the conversation shifting to a certain pair of blue eyes. For a second, the human considered shushing the boy for being rude, but what good would that have done, other than make him even more curious?
Flynn’s own eyes narrowed on the two of them as soon as Liam pointed out the obvious difference that set Az apart, his head tilting to the side as he waited for the man to explain it away. And that’s when the smoke came out. Literally. His eyebrows shot up, lips forming a silent ‘what?’ as this display he had seen before. Still, he was quiet, though he couldn’t resist the tug of protest on his boyfriend’s hand at nearly taking the Paladin down with him. Liam, naturally, stared with wide-eyed amazement and it was nearly possible to see the steam coming out of his ears as he tried to work through the notion of this (seemingly) human dragon.
As if suddenly finding a flaw in the story, Liam looked between the two men and pointed a finger at Az, “Don’t the knights usually have to kill the dragons to save the princesses?” he asked, slowly, like he wasn’t sure that was the way the story always ended. Without waiting for an answer, his eyes widened once more, “Is Miss Dhara the princess?”
Freezing on the spot, the human stared down at his younger sibling as if he had grown a second head. The last time he had been in the city, Dhara had come by unexpectedly and Liam had taken her under his wing, so to speak, in teaching her all about board games. Naturally, she was who the boy remembered, and it’s not like Flynn had explained the difference in his relationships since then. To mother or brother. “Uhm, actually, Liam…” he paused, stepping around his brother to crouch behind him. “There is no princess. Azraeth is my dragon, and I’m his knight.” So, it wasn’t coming right out and saying they were dating, but it was close enough, for now. If anything, Liam would understand that the two belonged to each other in some way.
There was the briefest of pauses on the boy’s part, and then his face broke into a wide grin and nod. “Alright, then. That means it’s me and my noble dogs, Ares and Athena to take on the knight and the dragon! And yooouu…” he pointed directly at Az, then, eyes narrowed with as smug a grin as the child was capable of. “Must be dealt with, first!”
A Z R A E T H :
There was a brief moment when Az’s brain basically checked out. It was just a flash of a second when the little boy wore that smug expression and the only thing the vampire could think was that he was looking through a window into his lover’s past. How many times had he seen Flynn wear his signature smirk? It made him want to reach out and squash the boy against his chest. Do absolutely everything in his power to preserve the sweetness there. And then he had to check back into the conversation. Which honestly went about as he’d anticipated. Talking about relationships with children was...difficult. Especially when they didn’t fall into certain heteronormative guidelines. Which was to say that most kids were taught, from a young age, that men and women were meant to be together. Disney movies had princesses to go with the princes. Azraeth himself wasn’t particularly bitter about this, because the majority of the world’s population identified with those stories. And there was always a lot of debate about when to introduce a young mind to the idea of two men or two women together. The reason the Mystic hadn’t outright said what their relationship was - was that he didn’t want to overstep.
So he was very pleasantly surprised when he heard the description Flynn used.
His gaze traveled to his partner’s and he mouthed the words ‘I love you’, to the Paladin overtop Liam’s head, before his attention returned full force to the finger pointing at him. His lips popped open in an ‘O’ of an expression. “A young hero and his noble doggies.” He said as he crept closer, his gaze narrowing on the boy. Of course, both Athena and Ares, upon hearing their names, came running towards the living room. Thankfully, both of them had met Az already, and were used to his scent even if they weren’t used to the costume he was wearing. “Well I will have you know, us dragons can be very crafty. Sneak tickle attack!” He said, and right as he was about to go for it, fingers searching for the tender area under the armpits, he was suddenly being assaulted by two dogs. Which was to say that Ares came in and barreled him over onto the ground, to begin immediately licking his face. He was joined by Athena, who seemed to want exactly the same amount of attention as her brother was getting. So Az had a lot of dog to deal with. “Betrayal!” He called out, a fist lifting above the sea of fur to shake.
But he couldn’t keep it up for long, so he was soon laughing, and moving to sit up from where he’d thunked onto the floor, his hands moving to push through the fur on either dog. It might partially have been his fault because every time he saw them, he made a habit of lavishing them in attention and maybe also slipping them treats they weren’t supposed to have. So their noses were buried in his hands to see if they could smell any of the goods, and when there was nothing there, they went for where he normally kept them - his jacket pockets. Except he wasn’t wearing a jacket so they were basically stuck sniffing at his chest as he attempted to regain balance.
“Okay, you may have bested me once, but now you shall taste my vengeance!” He insisted and that was when he finally got close enough to shove his fingertips under the boy’s arms. “Quickly, handsome knight, hold the hero down!” He said as he commenced with the impromptu tickle attack.
F L Y N N :
Because of Liam’s insistence that the game begin, Flynn could only grin up at his boyfriend for the sentiment before his attention was captured by the seven year old. The fact that Liam made Az his first target spoke volumes. While he was only a child, and children were fairly open-minded in regards to other people, it was more than that. By including Az in the game, Liam was displaying a level of acceptance for who the vampire was and the relationship he perceived to exist with Flynn. What he thought that relationship to be didn’t really matter to the Paladin, so long as he understood that there was one. But, that was also his cue to back up before he was dragged into the cluster that was the pile of vampire and dogs, thanks to Ares being the first to come to Liam’s defense in the form of a well timed tackle. And Liam, himself, laughed in absolute joy as the pile up began, circling around it as if seeking a means to join in.
With green eyes trained on the dogs, it suddenly made sense why they were always so eager to greet Azraeth when he came over. The way their snouts pushed into his palms, and soon moved on to sniff around his chest and abdomen. Flynn had known, on some level, that the vampire spoiled the canines rotten and this was all the proof he needed. Humming at the realization, a slow nod and a smirk later, and he came to decision that would impact the game, greatly. Betrayal, alright. There was about to be a fairly big one when the dragon found himself with a knight switching sides in this battle. And what luck did he have up against two noble doggies, a prince, and a knight? Not much, if Flynn was a betting man (and he totally was).
Liam let out a squeal of delight as the tickling began, squirming to try and break free of it before he was lost to the laughter. Once he finally managed to escape those fingers, he made frantic steps backwards with his eyes trained on Az and a brilliant smile lighting up his face, but he soon let out another yelp as Flynn scooped him up from behind, an arm circled around his chest and underneath his arms. He swung around then, just out of the vampires reach with a conspiratorial smirk on his face. “Ready for a real sneak attack?” he whispered against Liam’s ear, to which he received an eager and subtle nod. Turning back around, the Paladin set his brother back down and made a whistle, his head gesturing to the vampire dressed as a dragon. In seconds, Ares was bounding forward once more, using his weight to once again throw the other man off balance and bring him back to the floor. Only when his boyfriend was there did Flynn move in, practically sitting on Az with his legs draping across his abdomen as if to keep him there. “He’s down, Prince Liam! Move in for the attack!” Betrayal, completed.
There wasn’t a second of wasted time, with the youngster immediately coming to his brother’s aid and nearly throwing himself down across the vampire’s chest. Much like he had suffered at the hands of the dragon, his fingers sought out the best places for tickling, such as the sides, neck and underarms. Doing so with a hoot of victory, he finally stood with fist in the air. “Victory is mine! The dragon has been slain!” Leaning over, he quickly jumped into a high five with Flynn. Moments later he dropped back down to the ground next to Az’s head, peering down at him with a childlike giggle and toothy grin.
Following suit, the Paladin glanced down at his boyfriend with a smile. Only then did he mouth those same words back to him with an innocent shrug, ‘I love you.’
A Z R A E T H :
Only a short time before, Az and Flynn had begun to make plans about their home, about moving in together specifically. However, crafting a sanctuary was so much more than that. Homes came with rules, with atmosphere, with values and boundaries (or lack thereof). Both men had come to the realization that home wasn’t just a place, but that it was a feeling, and it was a person. That home existed inside of each other, in that delicate intimate bubble where two people became greater than the sum of their parts. They had yet to really talk about the specifics, and the vampire was patient in waiting because he knew that his Paladin needed time to get his thoughts together, to decide on exactly what he wanted. And frankly, as long as Azraeth got to be close to his partner, he was content. More than content. He was happier than he had ever been. And hearing the boy’s laughter told him one thing he wanted. He wanted theirs to be a house of happiness, where laughter was common, where joy soaked into the walls and could be felt by anyone who entered inside.
And then the prince was being pulled away. He was being assaulted again! He ended up on the floor, with dogs hovering over him and his boyfriend was basically sitting on him. Not that Az couldn’t have totally dislodged everyone with a little deft motion, but that totally wasn’t the point. Projecting strength was for those who didn’t have faith in their own power. That was also the exact moment that Liam and Flynn learned something very important (and yet entirely terrible) about the vampire. He was ticklish. Not a little bit either. In fact, a person could basically just wiggle their fingers near his ribs or sides, or abdomen, and he would immediately break into convulsive laughter that usually didn’t stop until he was in tears. The only reason Flynn hadn’t discovered it up until this point was that the occasion had just never arisen. Also it was totally embarrassing and SO not one of those things a guy wanted his boyfriend to know about himself.
So there he was, writhing on the floor in a dragon costume, laughing his absolute head off, tears in his eyes, when Liam proclaimed his victory. And he caught sight of those mouthed words. When had life gotten so good?
He sat up immediately, and dragged the boy into a hug, squishing the kid against his chest with a faux-dragon roar. Actually he might have just said the word ‘roar’. “Vengeance may be yours, but I will get you one day!” He insisted before pressing a kiss to Liam’s forehead and releasing him. He then used his boyfriend to haul himself up to his feet - though he totally could have done it without the help. “I have also brought some books. I don’t know if you’re keen on storytime at all, Little Prince, but that used to be my favorite part of the day. Best way to make sure I didn’t have to go to bed on time was to just keep asking for another few pages, or one more chapter.” He then lowered his voice, so he could pull off one of those stage whispers where he held a hand between his lips and Flynn’s eyes, but said the words more than audibly enough for anyone to hear. “Which is totally a legitimate tactic, I’m passing along to you. Abuse it as you will.” He admonished before reaching for his bag, which was still on the sofa.
This caused a shuffling of Athena and Ares once more because the vampire had forgotten that he’d hidden a packet of treats in there. As he was pulling the books out, the packet fell onto the ground and spilled open, releasing a dozen or more meaty morsels of the absolute highest quality. “Speaking of bedtime, when is yours?” he asked Liam, before glancing up to Flynn. “Have you had dinner yet? Was it pizza? Flynn-my-Love, tell me you have fed this boy some pizza.” He continued, before setting what looked to be a stack of books that stretched for more than a foot onto a nearby end table. There was a copy of some fairytales, mixed with some Goosebumps titles, mixed with a few shorter works like Dragons Love Tacos, along with some things from Sesame Street. Really it looked like Az had absolutely no clue what a seven year old liked and had just grabbed a little bit of everything he found interesting. Like a large book on Greek Mythology, which happened to have an image of Athena rising out of Zeus’s skull on the front cover. In case, Liam wanted to know about the namesakes of Flynn’s dogs.
F L Y N N :
It had been just about a month and a half. That was to say that Flynn and Azreath still had a lot to learn about each other, despite the fact that the vampire likely knew more about the human than just about anyone. Save for a few exceptions, most of the people in his life had been kept at arm’s length, so it was fairly easy for Az to receive the title for who knew him best when he so often got a look into the more intimate details of the Paladin’s personality and his past. However, there were still parts of Az that Flynn hadn’t yet been privy to, which was included but not limited to, information regarding his past. Certain topics had been mentioned in passing, with vague details offered as a means of providing just enough, without saying too much. It didn’t help that the human never asked, mostly for the sake of keeping his nose out of places it didn’t belong. He was more likely to let the conversation come up when Az was willing to let it, rather than specifically ask for the details. Now that the relationship had progressed the way it had, with the pair having every intention of moving in together, he made a mental note to ask those questions, perhaps when Liam went to bed for the night and they were fresh. His life of delinquency had been established. It was his partner’s turn to spill some details.
The fact that the vampire was ticklish was one of those things that he hadn’t known before, and his eyebrows shot up at the reaction to the boy’s assault. Between the squirming, loud laughter and tears in his eyes, Flynn wasn’t sure he had ever seen the vampire look so...at ease, relatively speaking. Sure, Az was the type of creature that always seemed to fit into and be comfortable wherever he was. He thrived in social situations, quick with a smile. And he certainly let his guard down around the Paladin, to show the vulnerable side to him. This was different, somehow. Being ticklish opened a door to its own unique kind of torture, especially in the case of someone who was ridiculously so. It was a different kind of vulnerability, and Az had allowed Liam to take full advantage of it. And that...that had Flynn biting down his lower lip, eyes narrowed on the other man’s face as he finally sat up and pulled the boy to his chest.
Naturally, Az brought more books than Liam could have possibly read in just one night, but at least the kid would have choices. In that sense, the two Connor boys were vastly different. While Flynn had spent most of his time avoiding school, even at a young age, Liam seemed to enjoy it. Granted, he was only seven and in the second grade and so he had yet to really experience the true woes of academia. “I just hide a flashlight under my pillow. If I’m real quiet, and listen, I can hear when Mom is coming to check on me,” came the boy’s reply, a devious glint in his eyes as he glanced at Flynn, almost as if he expected his sibling to rat him out. But, the Paladin was eyeing his dogs as they literally devoured the mess of treats on the floor. There was no point in stopping them, it was already too late. Turned out, Az was going to need to be frisked every time he came to the apartment, and those treats left outside. Both parties would likely enjoy the process, too.
Only as he lifted his gaze to his boyfriend did he shake his head, “No, he did not have pizza. We went out for dinner, and he ended up eating more of the ice cream he got for dessert than he did the chicken he got for dinner. Which is why…” he mused, aloud, glancing over at his kid brother with a mockingly stern look, “...his bedtime may become a bit of a gray area. We’ll see how long he makes it before the crash. I’m guessing...ten o’clock tops.”
At that assessment, Liam in all his glory, scoffed with arms crossing over his chest in offense. “Ten?! I can stay awake longer than that! I can stay up all night, Flynnly!” Only then did those green eyes that were so like his older brother’s shift to Az, as if looking to the other man to come to his defense.
The Paladin took in the defiant stance of what could have been his reflection in a mirror to the past, his eyebrows lifting with a slow nod of confirmation. “Oh, right. How could I have forgotten that you are seven, and therefore, do not need a bedtime because you couldn’t possibly get tired. Was that not the earlier argument?” The child nodded once, settled in that agreement, and Flynn cut his gaze over to the vampire. “Does that sound like a challenge to you?”
A Z R A E T H :
He listened closely to the tactic the boy used to read at night, and the vampire’s eyes lit up with mischief. His smile conveyed exactly the same. “Oh, that’s an advanced strategy!” He confided, even as he peered into those green eyes which were so similar to his boyfriend’s. “I didn’t start doing that until I was...gosh. I think I must have been in my early teens. I would walk to the public library after school, pick out a stack of books and want to read every single one of them before bed. That was also around the time my brother and I got our own bedrooms so I didn’t have to worry about him turning me into the Mauthorities.” And he was rambling. Though it was easy for the situation to take him right back to his childhood, and his own family. He hadn’t seen his parents in...years. A decade? Yeah, close to a decade. Of course, part of that was just pragmatics. He didn’t look at all the way he had when he’d been alive. How could he just walk up to them and expect them to believe he was their son? And how would he ever have explained the missing Azariel to them? They were better living with the lie that he and his twin had died years before.
Az exchanged a knowing look with his boyfriend when he heard an explanation of that night’s events. “Ohhhhh!” He said. “Not that I blame you, Little Prince, I think ice cream is one of the absolute best things in the world. I used to love cookie dough. The only one I’m not a huge fan of is rocky road.” His nostrils scrunched in an over-exaggerated fashion. “It’s the marshmallows. Marshmallows are gro-” He stopped suddenly because he had heard quite possibly the very best nickname ever. His eyes widened, and his gaze swung (wildly) towards Flynn as if to say ‘DID YOU HEAR THAT?’ And then he was nodding. The look in his eyes said ‘This is the one. The one nickname to rule them all’. But that was also right about the time he came to the very last item in his bag, which happened to be his phone.
“Alright, that means our vessel is being helmed by the good Captain Sugar Rush. And do you know what that means, Little Prince? That means we have to take his orders. Annnnd as it so turns out, he thinks it’s time for us to have an impromptu dance party! He gave a little tap on the screen and suddenly music blared to life around them. Because he’d totally seen the look in his boyfriend’s eyes, and he was totally aware that one of the best ways to make the whole sugar rush thing hit its peak and begin a quick descent was plenty of fun physical activity. The song that brought the air to life was Electric Love, which Az immediately began to sing along with. Okay, so maybe he totally didn’t have the ability to actually carry the tune, but he could certainly hand it some crutches and push it through the door, so to speak.
He ended up bridging the distance between he and his lover so he could fling his arms around Flynn’s shoulders. “Baby, you’re like like lightning in a bottle!” He said, which was technically part of the song, but he put particular emphasis on those words before he leaned in to kiss right at the corner of the man’s mouth. Only then did he pull away, leaving his phone in the other man’s hands. “Okay. You handsome gentlemen keep this dance party going. I need to go get out of this dragon costume!” he said above the song. Though he totally made a point to dance his way towards the restroom. Not. That his dance moves were any better than his singing. Mostly they were taken right out of some 1960’s dance show. The Mashed Potato!
F L Y N N :
It was ironic, really, that the second Flynn was thinking about his boyfriend’s past that he would happen to share something about it. It wasn’t entirely new information, per se, but it was still a small glimpse into the life he had before. As the human appraised his partner, he was suddenly struck by the fact that he didn’t even know what a teenage Azraeth would have looked like, other than being blonde. There was a total disconnect, at that point, as he tried to reconcile the two. But, it was impossible to picture Az as someone different. Someone other than a little dark haired boy with startling blue eyes. If he were to be staring at a picture of the man when he was younger, Flynn doubted that he would see them as one in the same. The boy in the picture would have been an entirely different person to the human, and that somehow didn’t sit well.
When he was suddenly fixated with a wide-eyed stare on the vampire’s part, it took a moment for Flynn’s brain to catch up with the conversation and just why he was receiving it. At first, he thought it might have something to do with marshmallows, since that was the moment his partner seemed to turn off temporarily. That was when he realized that Liam had pulled out the nickname he had given to the Paladin when he was a few years younger, and Az was notorious for using nicknames. Those green eyes narrowed as they locked on those oceans of blue, offering the most subtle shake of his head, “Don’t even think about it.”. If his boyfriend thought he would get away with calling him that, he had another thing coming. There would be hell to pay. What forms that hell would take, he wasn’t quite sure yet. That was a problem for Future Flynn to figure out, and he would have fun doing it, too.
Liam, at the mention of a dance party, seemed to jump for joy. When it come to any form of physical activity, he was pretty much on board, and the Paladin couldn’t begin to guess where he got his love of dancing from. But the second the music started to play, he was on the move. In true childhood fashion, his dancing was a little more like hopping around with an occasional twist of his hips and hands in the air. That didn’t matter, though, because the smile on his face was all the indication anyone would need to know that he was enjoying himself. Though, Flynn highly doubted the boy even knew the song, and he certainly didn’t either. Being as averse to dancing as he was, he was content to be a bystander to the party. Naturally, both of them had other plans, beginning with Az, who received a grin at the lyrics to the song. Even if he didn’t quite follow the tune by singing, rather than he took the time to say them. For a second, the Paladin almost stopped the man from leaving to demand more in terms of the affection offered, but the dragon costume coming off was all the motivation he needed to let his boyfriend dance away. And he shamelessly watched it happen.
“Come on, you have to dance, too!” Liam demanded over the sound of the music, taking the man’s hands in his much smaller set and dragging him toward the middle of the room. Once there, he grinned and began to twist at the waist, pulling and pushing on each of Flynn’s arms so he was forced to do the same. With a long look at his younger brother, he nodded and took up the motion on his own, though with a little more grace and ‘dance-like’ quality than the boy had. Soon, they were basically spinning around the room, with Liam’s laughter sounding over the song as it came to an end. In order to keep the party going, as he was demanded to do by the momentarily absent vampire, he looked to his brother with wide eyes, “Dance party paused!” As soon as the word ‘pause’ came into play, the boy froze. As if he had quite literally been paused, just as he would do with Flynn when he was younger and played their version of Red Light, Green Light. With phone in hand, he quickly thought of a song off the top of his head and went about searching for it, only for Feel It Still to fill the silence. “Unpause!” And just like that, Liam set right back into motion and Flynn set the phone down on the side table to follow suit.
A Z R A E T H :
Oh. Az was totally already thinking about it. Using that nickname. Flynnly. It was perhaps one of the most adorable things he had ever heard. Of course, it registered that perhaps his boyfriend, who was far from adorable save for in the inner sanctum that was their very intimate life, might not want him to use it. This thought was immediately confirmed by the man’s words. The vampire was almost certain the implied threat there was one his boyfriend would carry out without hesitation as well. It was just one of those moments when the mind became completely overcome with an emotion, that it became impossible (for Az at least), to reign in his expression. Like a child waking up for Christmas and immediately running to see what was under the tree for themselves. The excitement totally didn’t wear off, even slightly in the face of that staunch deterrence from Flynn, though the vampire did make a note to himself that he might want to weigh the pros and cons before actually jumping from that particular frying pan into the proverbial fire. Rather than say any of that, he just waggles his brows exaggeratedly, which totally could have been taken any number of different ways.
Seconds later, Az was retreating to the bathroom, his gaze locked for a moment on the grin which had so easily returned to flip Flynn’s expression. He loved that look. The smile was exactly what made the vampire feel the way the song described. Like being struck by electric love. It was this intoxicating and immediately powerful high, knowing he could spark that kind of ease and happiness in the other man. But he didn’t have very long to reflect because it was totally time to get the costume off. One zipper pulled down, and the material shucked into a corner, in front of the vanity, and he emerged like a moth from a chrysalis. He wore a simple pair of jeans, a belt, and a black hoodie he may or may not have (He totally had) swiped from Flynn at one point. And it was when he exited that he carefully leaned against the door of the restroom so he could watch the way Liam seemed to seamlessly pull Flynn into a totally uncoordinated (read as: Az-like dance). His eyes were glued to it. The way that his boyfriend moved. How the man seemed to just...turn into someone else entirely when he was around his younger brother. Well. Not a different person really. The person he was around Az. His most inner self. The part of the Paladin which Az felt most protective over.
And yet there wasn’t even an instant of jealousy.
Rather, the vampire wanted to see more of that. More of those joyful moments. Maybe...maybe if Az made a good impression, their mother would let the Little Prince come to visit more often. Of course, it was right about that time Azraeth realized he didn’t just want Liam around for Flynn. A lot of his vampire life had been spent taking care of people. In fact, it was one of the things he was known for. He was the one who followed along after Nikolae and made sure the man didn’t leave the city in ruins. He was the one who looked over the Dragomir. It was like when Flynn had offered to teach him how to cook. The moment had brought back a memory that Az had sort of tabled for a long time. This vision of what his life would be like with a partner - cooking meals together in the kitchen. And this was the same. Az had always wanted to take care of people. To protect them. To give them his love. And what he saw in front of him was like this beautiful hint at the family he never thought he could have.
Flynn was so ******* perfect.
And it was time to get away from the wall, and actually join the dance, so Az slipped closer so he could join right back in, this time with a slightly modified version of the Watusi, modified in that it lacked actual rhythm, but still very loosely went along with the music. “You know.” He said. “It took me ages to get your brother to dance, Little Prince.” He said to Liam by the time he was back in place. “You are totally going to have to share allllll of your tricks with me.” He said, giving a wink in Liam’s direction. It wasn’t much longer though before the song was nearing its end, and the vampire checked to see if the boy was any closer to being worn out than when he’d started. His movements had grown just a tad more sluggish, but there was still plenty of energy there, so he backed his way to pick up the phone, so he could flip through his songs, and settle on another one. This time, what immediately began to play was Happy by Pharrell Williams. Which was super upbeat and high tempo. Which meant that the vampire could basically get away with just moving however he wanted - clapping when the song called for it.
Those were magical moments. When Az was moving in relative unison with Flynn and Liam. And just watching the expressions on their faces made his own smile grow until almost all of his teeth were showing, and he looked practically like the Cheshire Cat.
By the time it was all said and done, he was slumped against Flynn’s back, lightly panting into his ear as the next song picked up. He squeezed tightly around the man’s chest, arms wrapped just under pectorals. Okay. So he didn’t technically need to be panting. But he didn’t want it to be a dead give away that he wasn’t what he seemed, and the thing about kids was that they were extremely observant. Adults generally possessed a greater amount of knowledge, but that didn’t necessarily make them more intelligent. Kids. Kids watched everything. Absorbed everything. So he put on a show as he glanced to Liam over where his chin was perched on the Paladin’s shoulder. “Okay. I think Captain Sugar Rush is calling it for the moment. Ready to hand the ship’s wheel over to someone else.”
[TO BE CONTINUED]
