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"Evenin', Arthur."
"...Deacon."
Ugh. Emizel rolls his eyes and turns back to his phone. Deacon thinks he's so smooth and cool, and Arthur is playing the aloof broody guy with no heart blah blah blah. All cops are bastards, especially vampire cowboy cops, sorry Arthur. Not sorry, actually, because Arthur is kind of a bastard too.
The living room is lit with one warm toned lamp, and Arthur invites Deacon in with a cordial wave of his hand. Deacon catches it out of the air and kisses his knuckles- and Emizel looks over to the loveseat, sticking out his tongue and pretending to gag.
Grefgore sends him a small smile, and the corners of his eyes crinkle in amusement, but Shilo doesn't respond. Shilo is staring down at the cellphone in his hand, and swiping his thumb over it like he's scrolling through something. Except that Emizel, nosy as ever, leans up and can see that Shilo's on the home screen. He swipes up, bringing up the app screen, but the second swipe puts it away. He's doing this on repeat, and Emizel doesn't think he's supposed to notice this part, but Shilo also has a death grip on Grefgore's hand with his other hand.
"Prince. Boy." Arthur addresses them both this way, even though it's been established that Emizel is also a prince. Just because he has shrimp posture and has eaten onion rings he found in the couch cushions before, doesn't mean he's any less blue blooded. "Deacon is offering to go out and hunt with you tonight."
"Well- one of you." Deacon interrupts, taking off his hat and holding it to his chest. "I don't think I can wrangle both of you at the same time."
Emizel rolls his eyes, scoffs, flips off Deacon, and looks back at his phone. He's not even going to dignify that stupid fucking offer with a real response. Shilo will probably be psyched about hanging out with the guy, but Emizel is-
"No, thank you." Shilo says.
....huh.
Arthur frowns at both of them, and Emizel, so taken by the response, looks up at their guardian.
"Teenagers" Deacon laughs, and it doesn't touch his eyes. "You, I understand, Tucker. But not you, Deputy?"
Neither of them reply.
Arthur crosses his arms. "One of you get up. It's important that you know how to safely hunt without endangering yourselves or breaking the Masquerade."
"No." Emizel shrugs, at the same time Shilo starts swiping his thumb faster and says, "I'm alright, thank you."
Arthur glances between them both. "I am not going to argue with you two all night. Emizel, you cannot selfishly drink from your human friend all his life, you are endangering him with every attempt. Shilo, I understand that you are a prince and this is very new to you, but it is in your best interest to know how to do this."
Shilo stands, and Emizel thinks he's caving in until Shilo turns and enters the bathroom just around the corner of the hallway. "Grefgore, the door." He commands, and then slams it closed.
Grefgore takes up station outside the hallway entrance, standing at attention with one hand on the hilt of his sword. For all his goofy antics, Emizel remembers why he's a royal guard. He's muscular, and watches Arthur and Deacon with sharp eyes. He doesn't know how to work a cellphone, but he can protect his prince.
"What in the world has gotten into him." Arthur wonders aloud, and Emizel lets out a bark of laughter.
"It's teen shit, you wouldn't understand, blood bonded boy."
Arthur flusters, and Emizel sits up straight so he can throw the tv remote at Arthur. Deacon catches it out of the air and sets it back down on the side table.
"Christ, just get out!" Emizel groans. "We know you're weird and repressed horny about each other, and we don't want to see it! Have fun on your date, be back before sunrise, blah blah blah!"
Emizel turns away from them.
"Fine." Arthur sighs. "I will go out, and I will bring back blood for you ungrateful brats, and I expect an explanation, and an apology for Deacon."
Still no reply. "It might not too late to give them back." Deacon jokes, and Void hisses at him while Emizel sneers. Damn right, cat. ACAB forever.
Arthur doesn't seem to know how to respond to that, but he does finally usher Deacon back and follows him out the door, and Emizel immediately hops up, putting his face up to the keyhole. Then he latches the chain and turns the deadbolt.
"They're gone!" He calls, because here's the thing.
Emizel is pretty stupid. He doesn't read very well, he can't pay attention, and he didn't even graduate high school.
But he saw Deacon's face. He saw Shilo's. He sees the pained look Grefgore sends him when Shilo doesn't reply.
"Shilo, it's just us, come out, or I'm coming in." He warns.
"The prince would like to be left alone at this time." Grefgore says, and Emizel can see him instantly regret it. "Er...that is...this prince would like to be left alone. Forgive me, my prince."
Emizel frowns at him. "Grefgore, you got any siblings, man?"
"Yes, my prince. I have an older sister."
"Then you know that sometimes siblings don't get privacy."
"Well-"
"I'm commanding you, dude. Happy now? Prince Emizel is commanding you to step out of the way."
Grefgore looks reluctant, his shoulders sinking as he peers back at the door, but he's saved from having to make a decision by Shilo opening the door behind him. Grefgore steps out of his way, and Emizel puts his hands in his jacket pockets.
"What is it, Emizel?" Shilo asks, and it strikes Emizel how much Shilo looks like him now that he looks like he's been crying and probably pulling his hair out this whole time.
Emizel shrugs. "Are you gonna tell me what's going on with you?"
Shilo blinks. He frowns at Emizel. "How did you-?"
"I dunno man, maybe it's a brother thing." Emizel offers an awkward smile, and crosses the room to sit down on the edge of the couch, one leg folded under him. "We're brothers. Brothers tell each other things. Come sit, we'll gossip like real brothers do."
Maybe he's laying it on a little thick here, but it works. Shilo sits down on the same furniture as Emizel, sitting very properly even as his hands tremble in his lap. "What do you want to talk about?" He asks, finally.
This is usually the kind of thing Emizel could just stare at any of his guys about, until they caved and told him whatever they were bottling up. But he doesn't know Shilo like that. Like a leader. He has to be a brother.
"Do you want me to beat around the bush a little, or do you want me to tell you what I think so far, and go from there?" He offers.
Shilo hasn't looked him in the eye since sitting down, and it takes him a moment of silence before he finally nods. "The second one, please."
"'Kay." Emizel shrugs, and takes a moment for himself to consider everything he knows. "I think you don't like Deacon. But I know that you guys have been getting along since you met- as well as any cooperative pale kid can get along with a cop. So that means something has changed, or maybe something happened, and I don't know what."
Shilo looks over at him, and unfortunately, he looks like he's about to cry again. "Yeah."
"Did he say something? Or did he do something?" Emizel feels cold. Colder than normal. It's in his stomach, and it's heavy.
"He- he did something. When Arthur was gone, I went to him for help."
"I remember that." Emizel encourages, his voice softer than it's been in a long time. "That's the night you got like, kidnapped by Edward."
Shilo flinches, bows his head, and Emizel's eyes widen a fraction. Oh no.
"He, um." Shilo wipes his eyes, but it doesn't help the tears that come after, dripping straight down into his hands and lap. "H-he told me he could help me. And- and he took me to Edward Twilight's house."
Emizel's jaw falls open and the cold pit in his stomach turns to a ball of fire in his chest. "That motherfucker!" He jumps to his feet. "I'm gonna kill him!" He has his phone in his pocket and his shoes on, gnashing his teeth as he imagines Officer Deacon fucking bringing Shilo to a predatory freak like Edward Twilight like he's delivering a fucking pizza.
Shilo makes a choked sound, and then a shuddering sob. Emizel turns to see Grefgore kneeling beside the couch. He offers a hand, palm up, and Shilo takes it tightly. He bends over further, like he's trying to hide in himself, clutching Grefgore's hand like a lifeline.
"No, Emizel, man, we can't do anything. It won't help." Soda's voice comes in a distant memory. "And if you freak out, he's not gonna know we care, he's just gonna know we're mad. We have to like, help him with his feelings first."
"You don't think kicking that guy's ass is gonna help?!"
"No, man. Not unless he wants us to. He's got to be in control of all this."
Emizel blinks, and it feels like swallowing razor blades with how much effort it takes to quell the hot rage in his heart. His own hands are shaking too now, as he slowly crosses the room and sits back down.
"Sorry." He bites his tongue. "I-I'm sorry. I'm mad that he did that to you. You- you didn't deserve that." What else is he supposed to say here? "And uh. It's not your fault."
God, he feels so fucking stupid. He feels useless. But he might be the only one that feels that way, because Shilo turns and throws his arms around Emizel, clinging tightly to him and sobbing into his shoulder.
"Listen," Emizel hugs Shilo back, hands fisted in his cape in the same way he can feel Shilo gripping his jacket. "We don't have to say anything. Or, you don't, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. But if Arthur is gonna run around with him, then I don't want him in the house."
Shilo squeezes him tighter, and it's almost five full seconds before he pulls away. "I d-don't know." He says miserably, between wet sniffs.
"That's okay." Emizel says, even though he really, really doesn't think it is. "You don't have to tell, but I'm still not gonna leave him alone with you. Even if you never tell, you- you're still gonna be safe."
Shilo nods, and then tilts his head in a way that tells Emizel he just wiped his nose on the fur of his jacket. Emizel...isn't even upset.
"Grefgore and me, we're gonna be here for you." He says instead, his voice dropping to a whisper. "We'll protect you, and you'll be okay, and you'll never have to think about it again. I swear."
Emizel locks eyes with Grefgore, who puts a fist over his heart and nods solemnly.
"We swear." Emizel corrects. "We swear."