"Raven’s mysterious lethargy was nothing but a dead-end. The blond had no idea what to do. He tried everything he could think of and nothing worked. Taking care of dehydration, starvation, and bodily waste was the easiest task in this entire situation – magic streams were more sensitive than any sensors when it came to noting even a slightest change of balance in Raven’s unresponsive body. The streams were also a hell of a lot more convenient and less messy than all those tubes and needles would be." (ch. 8 🙂)
- XXIII -
Present day.
______________
Gabriel sighed and looked at the clock. It was nine in the morning, and Gabriel sighed again and got up.
“Let’s go,” he said to Henry, who let out a deep, desperate sigh and got up as well, knowing that he had no choice right now. “Don’t even think of trying to shake me off,” Gabriel said quietly. “The minute you try something, I swear to God, I will put you on a leash...!”
Henry blinked at that, and his eyes darted towards gl
- XXII -
He told Gabriel about that dream, mentioning in the end that he didn’t think it was really that important.
“I don’t know,” Gabriel said doubtfully. “I mean, it’s clear that he is the only one who is able to recognize you. Why is that?”
“Hell if I know,” Desmond shrugged, glad that Rayhe managed to come back home earlier than usual. “Maybe Salamander’s blood makes him immune or something.”
“Right,” Gabriel snorted. Then he seemed somewhat hesitant for a few seconds.
- XXI -
Desmond muttered a quiet obscenity under his breath after he was alone with Raven, and walked closer to the bed. He grabbed that small jar from the nightstand and unscrewed the lid. Then he sighed and started rubbing the cream, which faintly smelled of mint balm onto all those cuts and scratches on Raven’s body. He made sure he got everything on kid’s face, chest, and arms before rolling him onto the side, so he could get to his back.
“Lady, you should’ve used a hell of a l
- XX -
He woke up with a gasp and sat up, blinking rapidly. The dimly glowing clock showed 6:02, and Desmond ran his shaking fingers through his short hair. He sat still for a minute or two, and then reached for his phone that was resting on the nightstand. He grabbed the phone, flipped it open, and quickly punched in the number. He waited for several long minutes, biting his lip and absent-mindedly tapping fingers of his phone-free hand on sleeping Gabriel’s shoulder.
“Blair...!”
- XIX -
He knew that Gabriel was awake even before he opened his eyes. They lay still and silent for several long, ‘tick-tock’ interrupted minutes.
“Sucked you in again?” Gabriel asked finally in an emotionless voice, and Desmond sighed.
“No,” he answered. “I woke up right there, in that parking lot, next to the dumpster... That damn dumpster almost made me puke...”
“I see...” Gabriel said thoughtfully. “So it doesn’t even have to warn you that it’s about to get you, huh?”
- XVIII -
He came back to school forty-five minutes later and went into the main office to grab something out of his mailbox. The secretary glanced up when she heard the door opening, and then she froze in her spot, staring at Desmond without blinking.
“Morning to you too, Loretta,” he said gloomily, walking towards his mailbox.
The secretary got up very slowly and followed him, as if she wasn’t sure whether it was real or she was just seeing things.
“It’s real,” Desmond sa
- XVII -
The alarm kept shrieking with monotonous, shrill repetitions, making Desmond blindly reach for the pillow.
“It’s on your side,” he heard Rayhe’s even voice and left the pillow alone. “Turn it off.”
Desmond sighed (“...here we go...”) and shut off the alarm, making it shut up in mid-sentence. He sighed once again and rolled onto his side, facing Gabriel, who looked eerily calm.
“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” he said, looking at Desmond without blinkin
- XVI -
Desmond’s eyes closed all by themselves even though he tried to keep them open for a reason he didn’t really know.
“Go to sleep,” Gabriel whispered into his ear, pressing hard against the other man’s singing body. “I have a theory...”
“Mmm...?” Desmond gave up on trying opening his eyes and scooted closer to Rayhe instead, wrapping his arm around his mate’s waist.
“I think that if you fall asleep first...” Gabriel said in a low voice, his mouth tickling Desmond’s ea
Not necessarily. He visits dreams, but the content is not always negative. Gabriel said it only because Desmond said: "What's the big deal? It's just a dream!"
- XV -
Three months ago
April breeze playfully ran through long black hair of a man who seemed to be rooted to the floor next to the kitchen counter. The breeze did not get discouraged at the lack of reaction from this particular human; it switched to the other one instead. It ran through the second man’s hair, trying to be as sensual and playful as possible, but to its confusion and slight frustration, the second human reacted exactly the same way as the first one did – he i
Hellhound is corporeal (in labyrinth terms, but still). Labyrinth is an autonomous thing even in relations to dreamland. So whatever is created by Labyrinth itself doesn't follow illusion/non-corporeal rules.
*looks around and whispers* hellhounds are bred by the mirrors...