Lavender

The days were long and muggy during the summer in Stremvole. Everyone who walked the streets as tourists were absolutely miserable in the heat, but the locals were used to it, especially the tieflings. One such local tiefling was slipping in between people in order to pass them, his presence only noticed by one or two people that he happened to accidentally bump into. As quickly as he was noticed, however, he was gone again, scurrying down into a dark alleyway, recognized as nothing more than a flash of passing blue from his brilliantly colored cloak.

Against the wall of the dead-end alleyway, a tall and lanky drow leaned against the brick, his arms crossed impatiently. “You got the herbs?” he asked, his tone laced with a hint of hostility.

The small tiefling boy flinched for only a moment, looking up at him and nodding meekly. “Yeah, I did. Spanish Nut, Tai-Gi, and Teriko weed, right?” He pulled a small burlap sack from the pouch on his belt, which was promptly snatched up by the drow almost as soon as it was revealed.

The drow loosened the drawstrings on the bag and glanced inside, accounting for all the herbs listed. “Yep, this’ll do it. Good job, Handlebars.” He reached over and ruffled the boy’s hair, putting the sack under his cloak with his other hand.

The boy seemed slightly disgruntled with the nickname. “You know I don’t like being called that, Bro,” he retorted, reaching up to bat his hand away.

“What was that?” Bro pulled his hand up, shifting his stance to tower a bit over the boy. His tone had changed from light-hearted teasing to legitimately threatening now, and the boy flinched and looked away silently. “That’s what I thought,” Bro replied, lowering his hand and taking a step back. “Y’know I’m just yanking your chain, Leucis.”

“Y-yeah,” he said, nodding and keeping his gaze locked onto the ground. “Let’s just go home. I don’t wanna be late for my shift at the Roost.”

“Right, right,” Bro replied, rolling his eyes and following the tiefling back out of the alleyway.

~x~

“Alright, good last show for the night, ladies!” A woman called out from behind the stage, clapping as the employees went back behind the curtain, passing her back to their dressing rooms. “And you too, Leucis,” she gently added as she noticed the boy attempting to walk past unnoticed. Although, it was hard to do so, as he was dressed in a gypsy-like garment, with silver bells attached to the strings on his skirt that made a light jingling as he swayed his hips.

Leucis stopped dead in his tracks, looking up at the woman and giving a gentle smile. “Thanks, Temptation,” he replied, attempting to go around her. She purposefully stepped in front of his path, however, and he swallowed hard, knowing now that she definitely needed something from him.

“Leucis, I’m worried about you, you know,” she started.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he replied with an irritated huff. “Prostitution isn’t exactly the most healthy side job for a kid like me. I’m seventeen, I think I can make my own decisions.”

“Well, that too, but there’s something else, as well,” she said. “How long has this bruise on your neck been here?” She reached out to gently graze her fingers across the bruise that had formed on the side of his neck and halfway across his shoulder, but he flinched and stepped back from her.

“O-oh, that? I didn’t even notice.” He frowned a bit, furrowing his brows. ‘Shit, I thought I’d covered that well enough with foundation. I guess I didn’t blend well enough?’ he thought, his mind now racing with potential excuses he could use. He knew none of them would work on Temptation, though; she read him like a book, as though he were her own child.

“Leucis, you may usually be a good liar, but not to me,” she said, leaning down a bit to meet his eye level. “You know you can tell me if something’s happened, right?”

“It was just an accident the other day from a patrol shift,” he answered, looking up and staring her down at the spot in-between her eyebrows in order to fake eye contact. His voice was calm now, but his tail occasionally swished behind his feet.

Temptation stared back at him, letting the silence increase the tension for a moment, before she finally sighed and stood straight again. “Alright, as long as you’re ok. I don’t think any of the clients saw it, but you know I’ve an eye for detail.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, nodding. “I’ll do a better job of covering it next time.”

“Hopefully it’s healed up by then. Oh, and you have an escort request. Your ‘regular customer’.” She winked, smiling coyly and gently nudging him with her elbow.

‘Ugh, this again.’ “Oh, okay!” he replied cheerfully, giving her a pleasant smile in return. “What room number?”

“394,” she answered, handing him the extra set of keys that came with the room.

“Alright, see you tomorrow.” He began to head up the stairs, grabbing the handrail with a death grip as he walked.

“Go get ‘im, tiger!” she called after him, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice.

“Yeah, go get ‘im,” he muttered under his breath, fumbling with the key ring until he found the key to the door. He walked to it and inserted the key into the lock, unlocking it and opening it just wide enough for his thin body to slip through. He then turned and shut the door as quickly as possible.

“Hey, beautiful,” a familiar voice greeted from behind him. Leucis’s tail stiffened as he turned his head to look at Bro, who was currently laying on the bed, on his side and propped up by a pillow underneath his elbow. “You were great during that last show, y’know.”

“Hey, Bro,” he mumbled, leaning on one leg and crossing his arms. “What do you want?”

Bro gasped femininely in response, putting one hand on his chest in mock offense. “Assuming that I want something out of you when I rent us a room at your workplace! Oh, how you wound me, my dear!”

“Brokarian,” he said, a bit more firm this time. “I’ve had a long day. I don’t want to--”

“Awh, that’s quitter talk, that is,” Bro interrupted, sitting up and tilting his head. “Daddy didn’t raise a quitter, did he?”

A knot formed in the pit of his stomach as his boyfriend called himself that. “N-no, sir,” he replied, his posture straightening as he looked him in the spot between his eyebrows.

“Good, that’s what I like to hear,” he cooed, standing up and walking over to the door. He placed one hand on the door, his arm now next to Leucis’s head. He raised his other hand to gently grab Leucis’s chin, lifting it slightly to meet his gaze. “Now, get on the bed and pose.”

Bro let Leucis pass him and sit on the bed. He positioned his legs under himself, putting one hand on his knee and his other hand on the bed, holding himself up. “Is this okay?” he asked, looking at the ground.

“Yes, that’s perfect.” Bro picked up a leather-bound book and a thin piece of charcoal from the small table next to the bed, opening the book as he sat down in the chair in the corner. “Lean your head a bit to the right, though, I really wanna get that bruise in this sketch.”

Leucis frowned as he did what he was told. “You noticed?” he asked, beginning to feel sick now.

“Your makeup rubbed off in between shows. I don’t think anyone else noticed,” he replied, beginning to sketch in the book with his charcoal.

“Oh, good.” He counted his lucky stars that he hadn’t seen him and Temptation talking after the last show, else he’d come to realize that she had indeed noticed the bruise.

“Not like I don’t like looking at them, of course. I think they’re beautiful,” he continued.

“Is that why you hit me so often when we’re… you know?” Leucis asked.

“Well, yeah, and you enjoy it, so.”

“I don’t really enjoy it that much,” Leucis said quietly.

“What was that?” Bro immediately stopped what he was doing, furrowing his brows and glaring at Leucis with a sudden burning anger.

Leucis was tempted to say nothing, that it had been a noise he’d heard from another room, but a sudden shot of bravery coursed through him. “I said I don’t really enjoy it that much,” he repeated a bit louder.

“Are you arguing with me?” he said, standing up and setting the book down.

Now beginning to regret his sudden and brash decision, Leucis looked away. “N-no, I just--”

Suddenly, he was grabbed by the horns and pulled up to meet Bro nose-to-nose. Leucis gritted his teeth in pain as Bro hissed at him. “Man, you’re really pushing my buttons today, Handlebars.”

“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry--” Leucis pleaded, tears forming at the corners of his eyes from fear and withstanding the pain that came with being held up by what was essentially bone coming from under his hair.

“‘I’m sorry’ what?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I won’t do it again,” he whimpered.

He was promptly dropped, and he nearly collapsed onto the bed from the dizzying headache he’d gotten from being held up like that for an extended period of time. “T-thank you--” He was then cut off by Bro’s fist making contact with his face, sending him back onto the bed. He covered his face in pain, whimpering as he failed to hold in a couple streams of tears that rolled down his cheeks.

“Get up,” Bro commanded, pulling him back up by his crop top and manually putting him back into the position he’d been in before, as though he was some life-size poseable doll. He then walked back over to his chair and sat down again, continuing to sketch. “You look prettier with a bloody nose, anyway.”

~x~

Leucis walked through the entrance of the Order headquarters with his hood pulled over his face, hoping to go to his room quietly. This hope was quickly dashed away by a familiar voice calling out to him from across the room. “Leucis! Dude, it’s so fucking late, where have you been?”

“Out,” he replied curtly, shrugging his shoulders as he looked down.

The young human girl ran over to him, her long hair put up into a braided ponytail as she went to hug him. He didn’t return the gesture, and she pulled away, a bit disappointed. Now able to see his face, her eyebrows raised in shock. “Holy shit, what the hell happened to your face? Your nose and eye look totally fucked, dude.”

“Bit of a scuffle while on a patrol shift,” Leucis lied, pulling his hood down. No use keeping it up when someone had already seen it. “I’m fine. It’ll clear up in a couple days.”

“I don’t remember Dad assigning you a patrol shift today,” she said, furrowing her brows.

“Felicia, I’m just really tired. Can I go to bed?”

“Oh! Yeah, sure!” She grinned at him, stepping out of his way. “G’night, lil’ bro!”

“Night.” He walked past her and through the hall until he reached the room that he called his own, closing the door behind him and flopping down onto the mattress. He promptly buried his face into a pillow and bit down into it, muffling a frustrated scream.

A few minutes into his de-stressing, there was a soft knock on the door. “Leucis, buddy? It’s Berkley. Can I come in?”

Leucis sighed, throwing the pillow behind him as he sat up. “Yeah,” he called out in reply.

The door opened as a slightly taller than average human male stepped inside, wearing the same color cloak he did. “Hey, I heard from Felicia you got into some trouble today. Did you have anyone with you?”

“No. I went out on a patrol shift by myself, near the docks.” He pointed vaguely in the direction of where the docks would be from where he was sitting.

“You know we don’t go out by ourselves on patrol missions,” he chided, sighing as he took a seat next to the tiefling boy. “You should know better. You’re about to graduate top of the class of trainees this year.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He looked down in shame, not because he regretted the actions he was lying about, but about lying to the man that he had considered his father figure for nearly eleven years now. It’s for my safety, he thought. He won’t let me be in the Order anymore if he finds out. 

“Trainees aren’t really supposed to go out on their own in the first place, but I let you do it because you at least know what you’re doing, most of the time.” He put a hand on Leucis’s shoulder, which was received with a slight flinch from the small boy. “You’ve been getting hurt a lot lately, now that I think about it. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I-I’m fine, I promise!” Leucis turned to look up at Berkley. “I-I just need to get better! I promise I won’t go out on my own again!”

“Next time you should ask Bro to take you,” Berkley suggested. “He seems to enjoy your company. And he’s always complaining about being bored around here, anyway.”

“Y-yeah, I’ll ask him next time.” A sick knot formed in his stomach as he looked back down at the floor.

“You had dinner yet?”

“Yeah.” Yet another lie. He had only had a piece of bread, and that was this morning.

“Well, I’ll let you get some rest, then. Plenty of work to do tomorrow.” Berkley stood up, running a hand through his short, dark brown hair. He reached for the door knob, then stopped and looked back at him. “Leucis?”

“Yeah?”

“Love you, lil’ buddy.” Berkley only hesitated for one more second before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Leucis immediately clasped a hand over his mouth, tears beginning to uncontrollably pour from his eyes. ‘You wouldn’t love me if you knew the truth.’ His thoughts were racing through his head now. ‘You would despise me. You would call me a disgusting whore, a boy-loving idiot who doesn’t deserve to be among your ranks, to be the best of the same class your actual daughter is in. I’m not your son, anyway, what have you got to lose if I leave?!’

~x~

The sound of his door being suddenly opened awoke Leucis from his sleep. It was early, probably not even past 7 am yet. Who the hell was wanting him so badly at this hour that they didn’t even knock first?

“Rise and shine, beautiful,” Bro called out, quiet so as to not wake anyone else in neighboring rooms up. 

‘Of course,’ he thought, pulling the blanket off his face and sitting up. “What the hell are you waking me up so early for, Bro?” he asked, irritated that he’d been woken up so rudely.

“It’s your birthday, dumbass, I’m taking you somewhere for the day,” he replied, grabbing him by the arms and pulling him out of bed.

“Oh, okay,” Leucis said, stumbling tiredly as he followed Bro out. He’d completely forgotten about his birthday, to be fair; he never got much beyond a large meal from Berkley in terms of gifts, and he wasn’t much into parties, either. Bro hadn’t done anything like this last year, and that was more toward the beginning of their relationship than now, so this was especially strange.

Bro picked up Leucis’s boots from the corner of the room and handed them to him. “Hurry up, we’re gonna be late,” he said impatiently, crossing his arms as he waited for the small tiefling to pull his boots on.

“Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, cowboy,” Leucis replied bitterly as he finished. He was then grabbed by the arm and practically dragged out of the Order headquarters. As they walked, he looked around at the buildings and people they passed. “So where are we going?”

“It’s a birthday surprise, idiot, I ain’t telling you until we get there,” Bro retorted, not looking at him.

Leucis sighed, deciding not to push the subject further. They walked until they got to the docks at the northern edge of the city, which were currently unattended due to the early hour of the day. “See that big tourist ship right over there?” Bro said, pointing to a large ship with the name ‘Northern Lights’ painted on its side.

“Yeah?” Leucis replied, looking up at him with one eyebrow raised.

“We’re gonna sneak onto that ship,” Bro said, giving him a wild grin.

Leucis’s eyes widened in sudden excitement. He’d never been able to be on a boat before, but the prospect of exploring the world by sailing across oceans excited him. Bro knew about his fascination with seafare and travelling, but he’d never addressed it until now. “Wait, really?”

“Yes, really, now c’mon! This ship ain’t sailing for another week, that’s when the next flock of tourists leave the city.”

The two boys ran over to the ship. Bro grabbed the rope that was attached to the anchor and grabbed Leucis by the waist, and they climbed up onto the deck together. Giggling like school children, they dashed around to the stairs, testing the doors of every room they came across in attempt to explore. Most of them were locked, but one door opened, and they both went in excitedly, only to be gravely disappointed.

Leucis was first to run in, with Bro standing in the doorway behind him. “Oh, it’s just a cabin room,” he observed, looking around at the clean room before him. “Come on, let’s see if the captain’s quarters are unlocked.”

“Or, here’s an idea,” Bro countered, leaning against the doorframe. “We could, y’know, take all these nice crew members’ hard work of cleaning this room for the next guy and gettin’ this room as messy as possible.”

Leucis was silent for a moment, not even turning around to look at him. “You just took me out here to have sex, didn’t you?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” Bro asked, a bit of disappointment in his voice.

“No, it’s not.” Unbridled by the little amount of sleep he’d gotten and the sheer amount of irritation, Leucis argued with little hesitance. “I thought you were taking me out here to explore, maybe sit on the deck and watch the sunrise, hug and kiss like… like we’re one of those couples that we see out on the streets, you know?”

“You know we’re not like other couples, Leucis.”

“I want to be, though! Is that so much to ask?” He still hadn’t turned to look at his boyfriend; he couldn’t bare too. He’d break down if he looked him in the eyes.

“Alright, fine. Let’s just leave, then.”

“Thank you--” Suddenly, the sound of the door being slammed shut made him turn. “Wait, what--”

Bro’s right hand harshly grabbed one of Leucis’s horns, forcing his head to tilt slightly. The other hand was firmly clasped over Leucis’s mouth to keep him from shouting. “Sssh,” Bro hissed. “Don’t backtalk. It’s your birthday, I’m treating you-- OW! MOTHERFUCKER!”

Leucis had bitten the hand that had been over his mouth, drawing a bit of blood. He immediately spat it back out at the floor, attempting to move around Bro to get to the door. Bro was faster, however, and grabbed his arms. “You’re not going anywhere!” he yelled, throwing Leucis onto the bed behind him, face-down. Before he could get up, he felt Bro’s hand grab his wrists, while his other hand worked to force his shirt up. “Shit, you’re such a fucking trouble maker, Leucis. Oh, guess that’s why they call you Trouble, huh? Good thing I made you quit that whore house job, by the way. I can’t stand to see you with anyone else, you know that.”

Leucis lifted his head a bit, gasping for air. “Bro, stop, please,” he pleaded, his voice cracking in fear.

“Oh, no need to be so humble, Leucis. This is your birthday treat, after all. You got so offended that I didn’t get you anything last year, I wanted to get you something extra special to celebrate you being so good to me all year round.” He paused for a moment as he finished pulling Leucis’s shirt off. “Although, you could have this all the time, if you wanted.”

“Please, please, stop,” he repeated, squirming as he struggled to free himself.

The sound of a metal clasp was heard just behind his head, meaning that Bro had attached a leash to the collar that he’d given Leucis when they first started going out-- and the sudden and harsh tug on his throat confirmed this suspicion. He coughed as his air was cut off for a brief moment.

“You look a lot prettier when you shut the fuck up, you know.” He reached under the tiefling’s waist, undoing his belt and tossing it to the side. “You’ve been blue-balling me for the past couple weeks, honey. Leaving me hanging last night after I asked you was the last straw. What, you thought I was too drunk to remember? You know how high an alcohol tolerance I have?” He laughed for a moment. “I was gonna let you top, even, but I think I like to look at you like this. All desperate and needy. We should do this more often.” Leucis was silent as he continued to undress him, his pants only going down to his knees, his boots preventing them from going any further. “Ah, fuck it, good enough.”

“Bro, please-- aaaAAAAAH!” The sudden cry of pain caused Bro to pause in his movement, but only for a moment. “OH MY GOD, STOP!”

“Damn, you’re really such a bitch when I go in dry,” he muttered, casually ignoring the fact that Leucis was crying in agony below him. “Aren’t you a little old to be crying like this? C’mon, take it like a man, Leucis.”

His movements slowed to a halt after a few minutes, and Leucis looked over his shoulder at him. “What are you--”

“Hush.” Bro promptly pushed Leucis’s face back down into the pillow, and the sound of light metal clinking together could be heard. “I decided to bring something from the Order with us, in case you wanted it. You know those new gloves we got, with the steel talons that we use for wall climbing?” Leucis began to cry out in sudden and distressed realization, but it was muffled by the fabric his face was being held into. “Oh, glad you and I are on the same page, then.”

The grip on his head was released, and Leucis lifted his head as Bro put the gloves on his own hands. “You’re fucking insane,” he croaked in between choking sobs.

“Awh, love you too, babe,” Bro replied mockingly, finished with putting on the gloves. He grabbed the leash and tugged on it hard, causing Leucis to cough.

“Oh god-- fuck, stop, I can’t breathe,” Leucis cried, reaching to his own throat with one hand.

“Oh, you want it harder? Aren’t you a needy little whore, Leucis?”

“NO, STOP--” A pained wheeze escaped his throat as he was choked by the collar again. He felt Bro’s hands grab his waist, the blades on the gloves pressed against his skin and drawing just a small amount of blood. “NO, BRO, STOP--”

The sudden searing pain caused Leucis to let out a scream of agony equivalent to a dying child. His dark blue blood began to quickly pour out onto the white sheets, first staining the fabric, then pooling a bit on top. He bit the pillow in an attempt to dull the pain, but with no success. His whole body shook from the pain and the sheer amount of panic that raced through him. A tight knot formed in his chest, and his heartbeat pounded so loudly that he could hear it in his ears and head. He said nothing more, only crying into the sheets below his face, now defeated and broken.

“Oh, holy fuck, that was good.” Bro leaned back and sighed in relief, slipping the gloves off and tossing them aside. “See? That wasn’t so bad, Leucis.” As Bro stood up and re-dressed himself, Leucis let himself uncurl and lay on the bed, still face-down. The drow whistled as he realized the damage he’d done. “Well, guess we’re taking those blankets with us. You’re definitely gonna need a bandage for that. Oh, room service!” He laughed at his own joke. “Come on, get dressed, we’re leaving now. Don’t just lay there and be a bitch.”

~x~

Leucis stumbled into the dining hall, holding his waist with one arm as he winced in pain. He hadn’t exactly opened the door with much stealth, and a few people looked at him as he entered. At this point, he didn’t care. He shambled over to where Berkley was talking with his daughter, breathing heavily.

“Hey, Leucis!” Berkley said, turning and looking down at him. “Felicia here was just telling me-- whoah, hey, you look pale. Something up? You saw a ghost?”

“M-medic--” Leucis croaked, feeling himself begin to lose consciousness. He leaned forward, still attempting to move his feet in order to stay standing, but failing as he fell into Berkley.

The man reacted quickly, catching him by his underarms. “Shit, Leucis? Leucis?!” He looked up and around the room. “SOMEONE GET THE MEDIC, NOW. Leucis? Leucis, are you still there? Leucis, stay with me, buddy…”

From the doorway of the dining hall, Bro watched in silence.

~x~

Leucis kept his eyes closed, but he was awake. He could hear people in the same room as him, and he listened as best he could, although he was still a bit drowsy from passing out.

“He’s lost a lot of blood, but he’ll be alright. About a liter and a half, but given that he’s so small, it’s no wonder he passed out. Plus it seems he walked a long ways to get back here.” He didn’t know the Order’s hired medic’s name, but he knew her voice well enough to tell that it was her.

“As long as he’ll be ok, that’s fine.” This voice was clearly Berkley’s, strained from stress. Leucis felt bad for worrying him so much.

“When do you think he’ll be awake?” Temptation’s voice surprised him. She didn’t visit the headquarters often. Berkley must have gone to the Lust Roost and gotten her to come for his sake. He felt even more bad now for dragging Temptation into his mess.

“Soon, probably. He’s been in stable condition for the past two hours. You can sit here with him, if you’d like. I have to go to the marketplace and get new medical herbs.”

He heard the sound of her footsteps leaving the room, and then the sound of someone sitting in the chair near the bed. He felt the space next to him sink a bit, and he felt a large yet gentle hand gently run its fingers through his hair. He inhaled suddenly as his shoulders tensed up a bit, opening his eyes and looking up at Berkley. He watched the man’s face go from solemn and sad to suddenly overcome with joy. “Oh, Leucis, thank Gods you’re awake,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Leucis attempted to sit up, only for Temptation to lean over and gently touch his chest to lay him back down. “No, sweetheart, please get some rest,” she insisted, her voice soft and calming. He laid back down, nodding as his tail swished underneath him weakly.

“What the hell happened, kiddo?” Berkley asked. “Bro said something about you two taking a patrol shift together…”

“He was really bent out of shape about it,” Temptation added. “He was very worried about you.”

Leucis sighed, looking away as he thought to himself. ‘Great, he’s left me to get put on the spot, and made himself look like the nice guy to boot.’ “Dogs,” Leucis managed to croak out. His voice was hoarse, and he winced as he shifted a bit, his sides still burning from the pain. His waist was tightly bandaged, but at least the bleeding had stopped.

Berkley and Temptation looked at each other, doubtful glances exchanged between them. Leucis swallowed in fear. “The medic said that they looked like blade marks,” Berkley countered. “Did you get in a fight?”

Leucis stared at the wall, unable to even think about answering the question without choking up. “Leucis, sweetheart, you know you can tell us anything, right?” Temptation asked.

“We’re just worried. And when I get my hands on whoever the hell did this to you--”

“I want to rest,” Leucis choked out, somehow still managing to hold in tears.

The two of them were silent for a moment, then they both stood up and composed themselves a bit. “Leucis, even though we don’t see each other as often as we used to, you can still visit the Roost if you need me for anything,” Temptation gently offered, gracefully slipping out the door.

“Leucis, buddy, get some good sleep, ok? You’re gonna need it if you’re gonna recover in time for the graduation. I’ll visit in the morning.” Berkley gently patted Leucis’s arm before also making his exit.

~x~

A note that had been sloppily written on a piece of paper, torn from a blank notebook, was left in the medic bay the following morning.

To Berkley- Thank you for taking me under your wing all these years. The lessons I’ve learned have been valuable and I will always consider you my father, even though I never called you that.

To Temptation- Thank you for staying by my side and gently guiding me along the path you thought was best for me. Thanks to you I discovered my love of writing and storytelling, and I hope to someday become a chronicler.

To Felicia- Thank you for protecting me and keeping me company on cold nights. You truly are the sister I never had, and I hope I was the brother you always wanted.

To Brokarian- I hope you find happiness wherever you go. Irrum yelk. [Translator’s note; Infernal, common tongue of the tiefling species, roughly translates to “fuck you”]

Leucis Morthos