Empty Books. [Open]

[Alexiel BookMan]

Alexiel seemed to be watching the demon to check his reactions, which was relieving when he looked both amused and happy. He was rather glad Reikas didn't comment on his furniture though, the mara knew just how horrid it must look; knowing all too well that the colours didn't go together but when you lived up so many stairs it was hard to drag anything better up them. He made sure to keep in the living room though, placing his shirt down on the make shift coffee table, ignoring it slightly and he walked with Reikas towards the pictures on the wall. He looked almost the same, though he did seem a little more pale now, his wings looking whiter in the picture and a bandage around both his wrists. He seemed to smile fondly at this picture more than the others, which were equally as cute, with him and either the same old man or a woman.

"Thank you~" He blushed, hearing how the demon thought it cute and turning to look at him now. "It's me, when I was first here... Learning how to read." He seemed to chuckle at this thought, as though it brought back strange memories; which it did. The mara knew exactly what was going on in the picture, playing it over in his head several times before. He had got caught on the word 'Brilliance' when he was reading a book on angels, which is why he looked so very annoyed; both at being stuck and at not being an angel. "He was the old librarian, Michael. He found and looked after me, taught me everything books didn't." He gave a slight sigh, placing a few fingers against the glass which was placed over the photo.

"He raised me like a son, and his wife did too. They lost their own son a few years before I arrived you see." He turned back to face Reikas now, a happy smile on his face, the mara defiantly wasn't sad, he just missed them both a little. "I'd have more pictures up but I haven't had a chance to with new friends~" He chuckled, almost hinting to Reikas.

[Reikas Esterion]

Reikas listened with interest, smiling at the memories.

"Were they big into photography, Michael and his wife?" he asked absently. "Cameras were a wonderful invention..." There was something about photographs that Reikas really loved. He hadn't had them a large portion of his early life; everything was painted and often the details were fudged for the sake of beauty. Cameras were truth-tellers though, shamelessly revealing every detail of a captured memory. Every detail, the bands on Alexiel's wrists, every expression on every face, the simple, domestic scene...

"You should put them all up. Memories are a great thing to display." He watched Alexiel quietly, enjoying his clouded, nostalgic joy.

[Alexiel BookMan]

Alexiel seemed to be rather glad Reikas was enjoying his memories and the look of them on his walls. It was true that he liked these photos, but it had been a while since he looked through them, only picking them out to put on his wall when a particularly striking memory that stuck out to him. "They did enjoy taking photos of me... I remember Anita telling me - that was Michael's wife, that she sent a few of the photos to her brother to show they had adopted me... strange to think there are photos of me in someone else's home?" It was a strange thought indeed, and it made him shiver having a thought of another family staring at him with great interest. "I was never good at taking pictures though..." He confessed, remembering the times he had tried; it usually ended up with parts of the body cut off.

The mara inspected Reikas' facial expression while the photos were being examined, as if trying to figure out what was so interesting to someone who didn't know the librarian, or maybe it was the mara himself that was more interesting? Well whatever it was it caused delight to dance inside his stomach and he put an arm around the slightly shorter man's shoulder rather like a close friend. "Maybe I should, but the walls would be covered with all my mistakes... That's what they liked to take pictures of the most." He chuckled, remembering all the photos of him with bandages or bruised body parts, he really wished he hadn't been as bad as he was, but at least he had healed.

[Reikas Esterion]

"They must have loved you a lot," Reikas commented, looking from picture to picture, only his head turning. He smiled. "I used to love photography. One of my masters had me take pictures for his daughter's birthday once, I went nuts, took pictures of everything I could. he gave me the camera as a gift afterward...I filled albums with pictures of nothing at all. A cloud I liked that day, a bunch of flowers in a vase, people's unusual expressions..." He chuckled quietly at the memory. Cameras were fun.

He looked at Alexiel curiously. "Mistakes?" He as so lost in camera nostalgia that he forgot about the mara's sensitivity to touch and when Alexiel put an arm around his shoulders he moved in close and ran his fingertips up the mara's back affectionately.

[Alexiel BookMan]

The mara listened intently, making a mental note that he should buy Reikas a camera and let him take pictures of everything again. Though he didn't like posing for photos, he did like the idea of seeing everything the demon saw in a daily basis; it sounded really rather interesting even if it were just clouds and people. Besides, if the demon took photos of everything Alexiel might catch a glimpse of the other allusive mara in the man's life, and people Reikas cared for in general. It was when his mistakes were mentioned he seemed to laugh again, rather louder than before, remembering just how clumsy he used to be compared to now. It was almost tragic. "I usually learned the hard way to do or not to do things. Like fire... and broken glass. Anita had loads of pictures of me getting cleaned up after hurting myself; that or times when I did stupid things in my childlike innocent mind."

Alexiel didn't seem to notice that Reikas might want to touch him, and when he did he seemed to catch his breath again like he did before, blushing a little. The mara seemed to be rather sensitive across his almost untouched back and he wasn't sure about that feeling he got in his stomach again. "I was even more clumsy." He muttered, trying to distract himself from the strange touch by focusing on the photos in front of him again. It was then he noticed just how warm Reikas' fingers seemed to be, his back still arching a little and he was far from relaxed, but it was a good kind of tense, a happy feeling fluttering around his stomach like a drug.

[Reikas Esterion]

Reikas winced. Those were bandages around his wrists in that one shot, weren't they? Mara didn't grow up, did they? They just kind of began life as a fully formed adult, and of course a kid in an adult's body wasn't anything if not self-destructive. "At least it didn't kill you," he said, though he wasn't sure which was worse, dying or suffering from horrible traumas and living on to remember them.

Alexiel's reactions were like a drug to more than just the mara though. They were dangerously alluring to Reikas himself. "It's good that you're improving, then," he said with a grin, folding his hand in toward his palm loosely and running the backs of the middle sections of his fingers along Alexiel's spine gently. "Relax, will you? It's better if you do, you'll get used to it, and if you and I keep being friends, you will be touched more. I can feel that you like it."

He glanced behind them at the settee. Ultimately he wanted to get them to it, but he literally couldn't figure out a non-homosexual way to achieve this goal. He wished he was as free-spirited as Alexiel, as shamelessly pure as the young mara. But he wasn't, and his eyes didn't linger long, returning to the pictures once more.

[Alexiel BookMan]

"Lucky it's hard to kill me~" He chuckled, still catching his breath Relaxing was a little harder than Reikas would think for the mara and although he seemed to try, his back kept tensing at certain points when the demon's fingers played with the gaps between his vertebrae, apparently where the absence of bone in these joints, but there was a more immense feeling. Alexiel wasn't ticklish, but he almost squirmed as if he were, trying to calm to the other man's touch; but then the demon mentioned there would be a lot more of it, and the tone in his voice caused him to almost hum with a strange delight. What a strange feeling it was to be so close to someone while they touched you and despite your body wanting more you moved away from it slightly. He didn't even notice that the other man's eyes shifted away from the photographs for a few seconds.

With a very long and deep breath Alexiel really tried his hardest to stay still for a few minutes, but he seemed to fail a little, shivering a little as if he really was enjoying something he shouldn't be. "Sorry, I'll try and get used to it." He admitted, but he really knew he wouldn't, besides, Reikas seemed rather amused by his movements, so he was sure the demon didn't really want him to stop being himself would he? It was then he took his arm from around the other man, rubbing his own arm with it gentle before realising just how strange it was to invite someone into your house, being topless and ultimately being touched strangely and feeling something odd happening.

[Reikas Esterion]

Reikas chuckled as Alexiel withdrew his arm, and he laid his hand on the mara's undamaged shoulder, squeezing gently. "Don't worry, it's a work in progress." He squeezed Alexiel against him in a brotherly hug, trying but probably not succeeding in avoiding stress to his damaged shoulder. He let the mara go completely after that. He loved what he could do to Alexiel, but he knew what the feeling of repressed happiness was. It would be something to work at indeed. The mara's damaged shoulder really annoyed him for a moment; he couldn't just offer a shoulder massage now. He'd have to stick closer to the mara and make sure he didn't further injure himself before Reikas had the opportunity again. No more sitting on things that weren't designed to be sat on.

He turned away from the pictures and his eyes fell on the shirt on the table. "You can toss the shirt in the wash if you want, I can wait here." He started to wander to the settee absently, thinking about Alexiel in ways he probably shouldn't. Like what he could do to the guy with his knowledge of the body if he wasn't so kindhearted. As far as he was concerned, he was saving the kid some embarrassment for his first time with a woman. Or a man. Get him used to it now so certain things didn't happen too fast later.

[Alexiel BookMan]

He was pulled into a hug and although his shoulder was a little sore, he couldn't help but express how happy he was to receive it and he hugged back very sweetly, taking in everything that there was about the other man. It was an odd feeling indeed, having someone elses clothes fabric against his skin and he could feel the demon breathing against his own chest. But as soon as the hug had started it was gone, and Alexiel felt that it had been over far too soon; though he tried not to let it show. His back started to tingle a little because of the absence of touch but he picked up his shirt and held it close to him, not realising the button hole got caught on the small piece of see through plastic still sticking through his nipple until it was a little too late; it was pulled out very easily and without pain.

Rolling his eyes he picked the plastic off the floor and walked into his kitchen, fiddling with it trying to put it back within his nnipple with some effort and a small swear word that didn't quite sound right coming from the innocent man's mouth. Within the kitchen there seemed to be a few more strange sounds, like a creaking washing machine and chucking a few tablets in. Alexiel had learned to look after himself rather a long time ago and he strolled back into the living room with a grin on his face, complete with his piercing in tact and slightly hidden by the fact it was see through plastic. "There we go, all clean and done~" Damn he was easily pleased.

[Reikas Esterion]

Reikas made a mental note to give more hugs in the future. He sat down on the settee with a restful sigh and a very open posture, legs spread and arms spanning much of the back of the couch. He frowned when he heard something click against the floor near Alexiel and looked down for it. He couldn't find it even when the mara bent down and picked it up.

"What was that?" he called as he listened to Alexiel fuss around with something and curse. Now that wasn't a word he expected to hear coming from that mouth. He continued to frown in curiosity as the mara reappeared, happy as ever. "What'd you drop?" he asked, bringing his arms back to his lap. He didn't think that the shirt had had a pocket or anything.

He noticed the mara didn't seem to have any intention of getting another shirt, too. Excellent. He really wasn't kidding about the not-liking-a-shirt thing. Although it was Alexiel's own house. Reikas avoided shirts in Irina's house too if they weren't expecting guests on any given day. Or if they were. Certain guests, at least.

[Alexiel BookMan]

With a steady and rather shameless hand Alexiel pointed towards his nnipple towards his small and almost hidden piercing, walking closer to the other man so that he might get a better look. He had always enjoyed having the small piece of plastic there, though metal had felt better in it when it was first one; almost addictive if he hadn't caused himself to stay far away from where he could get anymore done. It had also taken a little too long to heal, which was typical for the mara and his injuries, even if self inflicted. "T'was a piercing. Got it done a few years ago and when I'm not wearing a metal stud it can slip out rather easily." He stood in front of the sofa, rather unaware of just how it may look to be stood in front of a demon with no shirt on - perfect high to stare, both for him down at Reikas, and Reikas forwards, well, you can only imagine.

The mara poked himself where his piercing was and stared down at it for a few moments before grinning at the demon very pleased with himself. "Thought about getting more, but I hear it's really addictive... and knowing me, I'd end up with a body full of metal and plastic like this one." He then looked at the sofa; Reikas had placed himself right in the middle and he seemed a little shy about deciding which side to go on, partly because he wanted to face the man and talk to him. The coffee table was too unstable though, what with it being a scrap piece of glass and two horrid books. "Do you want anything by the way?" He asked rather happily, almost forgetting to be polite.

[Reikas Esterion]

A piercing? Really? Now that was the last thing Reikas would have expected of Alexiel. He hadn't even noticed. What a sly dog. And Reikas had absolutely no problem scrutinizing it, either.

Hell, he was even feeling a bit tempted today. "Huh," he said, feigning innocent. "A piercing, I wouldn't have guessed." And he reached up like it was an absolutely normal thing to do and touched it. He Lifted it slightly out of curiosity, not being careful at all about what else his fingertips brushed. He was gentle though and lifted it with a nail rather than two fingers; if Alexiel jumped backwards or something, he didn't want to hurt the mara by catching it on his hand.

Do I want anything? He knew the man meant refreshments, but Reikas had other things on his mind. Why yes, there are several things I want right now, he thought with a sinister amusement.

[Alexiel BookMan]

The mara had not expected Reikas to assume he wasn't the type, he had actually assumed he was the curious type, and that maybe the demon would realise he'd like to try this kind of thing. Besides, it involved human contact to do it, which was always a good thing in Alexiel's book even if it caused him a bit of pain during. At the time it was done he had been too scared to get anything on his face done; partly scared of needles being near his face and partly because the librarian might have told him off if he had seen it. "It seemed like a good idea at the time~" He chuckled, closing his eyes for a few moments but really wishing he hadn't done; the touch he received he really hadn't been expecting, and it caused him to almost fall backwards, gasping in a rather strange way. The mara caught himself though, and stood rather still for the next few seconds as his skin was played with, staring a little wide eyed at Reikas.

This certainly wasn't a touch people would normally expect in society, he had learned that the hard way some years ago, and now the demon did it so casually; and with some strange feeling inside. Alexiel seemed to intrigued by this emotion that he leaned forwards, making sure they still had contact between the two to feed from the other and whatever it was he was feeling. He had forgotten all about his questions a few seconds ago and now that he was stealing Reikas' feelings off him he seemed to stare, his fists clenching a little; whatever it was it tasted as sweet as sugar and yet a slight hint of sour, like it was mixed with someone a little more sinister. It was a nice taste though, and the mara didn't complain. He was silent as he had ever been, as if trying to read the other man like a book.

[Reikas Esterion]

Reikas laughed both at Alexiel's words and his reaction. He was such a cruel bastard, he knew it, and he loved it sometimes. He was kind of glad Alexiel had caught himself though, the demon had forgotten about how close Alexiel was to the glass table behind him, and, well...that could have been bad.

"I imagine it did," he said lightly, aware of Alexiel's acute focus on him and lowered his eyes back to the mara's piercing. "Why don't you have a seat, Alexiel, you're less likely to trip on something." He patted the settee beside him, accidentally-but-not-really catching his fingertips on the ring as he moved to to so. Just to see the mara's reaction. Because he was an asshole.

God, this was too much. Locked in a room alone with a man with wild emotions and no experience and no shirt and a nip*le piercing. He was just lucky the mara was too distracted or maybe too civil to suggest that he take off his shirt as well. He might just had ended up giving the kid firsthand experience to decide what was better, hugging or kissing.

[Alexiel BookMan]

Alexiel was still leaning a little towards Reikas and the sofa when he realised that the demon was talking to him and he shook his head, trying to ignore the strange touch again to listen. It proved harder than expected and he had to dig his own nails into his hand slightly while tensing to do it. It didn't hurt, it was just enough to help him focus and he closed his eyes tightly as the demon ran his fingers along the ring, tugging at it ever so gently; the mara was holding his breath, not wanting to make any more strange and excited noises at whatever this strange feeling was he both felt, and was feeding off. He felt a little ashamed he had no idea what was happening to him, but watching Reikas' hand tap the sofa he sat down, rather sharply, his hands clenched to each other and now on his lap. He didn't even realise he was still holding his breath until the twinge of needing a breath kicked in and he gasped loudly inwards.

He seemed to shift strangely, feeling a little odd and unusual for him. Alexiel couldn't tell if he was feeling himself or if he was feeding and mood swinging off Reikas. All the little mara knew was the demon was feeling someone he had barely come across, if ever and he himself wanted more touch; though this was not unusual, he was unsure to just how much his body would crave and if it would be more of this strange touch. Damn, he wanted to swear out loud and at Reikas, but he tried to stop himself, shivering a little too much for his own liking. If he had been anyone else, he might have ran, but unfortunately, he was the mouse in this game, and the cat always seemed to win.