"Do we have any info on this client?" Nikon asked as he looked through hotel room.

"Yeah, here." Arlo handed over a piece of paper and Nikon scanned it.

"Why do people even write a bio for 'I like it vanilla, but with more people'." He tsked and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe so you wouldn't whip out the latex boots and ask him to bend over?" I snickered.

He snorted and dumped down on the little sofa in the small adjoined living room. "Aw, and I just shined them too."

I laughed and dumped down beside him.

"Guys, stay focused. The client will be here any minute now." Arlo said, but his smile was shining through too.

"Don't be such a dull bulb, Arlo. Let us shine." Nikon wiggled his head from side to side.

My boyfriend just shook his head, chuckling under his breath. Then there was a knock on the door and Arlo went to open it.

I took a deep breath, rose to my feet and took a second to fall into my role. Nikon didn't bother rising. That was his part to play. Arrogant and pretending to be too good to be here.

The client came into the hotel room, looking a little nervous following after Arlo.

"Hi," I said and smiled.

"H-hi," the client said and wiped his forehead. A nymph. Very pretty actually. I didn't get what he needed to buy prostitutes for.

But whatever. What people did with their money didn't really concern me.

I pulled my shirt on and buttoned it up.

"You alright?" Nikon asked as he ran a brush through his wavy hair.

"Sure," I muttered.

"You and Arlo coming to the demonstration tomorrow?"

I nodded and joined him by the mirror, getting my hair under control. Nikon handed me his brush and I gratefully took it.

"Are you and Xander coming?"

"Of course. He's very passionate about this."

I frowned and glanced at him through the mirror. "Aren't you?"

"Honestly?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

I nodded.

"I don't care that much. Not as much as he does. It's not like we didn't see this coming, right?"

I bit the inside of my cheek and shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe we've been conditioned to just take their shit. Arlo and Xander haven't. Arlo didn't even know about the whole half-breed thing."

"You can see hades drip off that boy from kilometres away."

I snorted and nodded. "He can't help it though. I don't blame him. Like, you know those people who'll dig and dig, and they'll ask the dumbest fucking questions and they expect you to sit down and educate these assholes." I sighed very deeply. "He isn't like that. He's very hesitant about how he asks and then he'll immediately tell me I don't need to answer those questions. He isn't demanding. And I see him on his computer, researching. He thinks I don't see it, but I do. At least he's fucking trying."

"Xander's pretty much the same," Nikon said and scratched his chin. "He's beyond the research stage though. Like he knows our troubles better than I do." He laughed and dumped down on the bed, picking his shoes up and tying the laces on one. "He knows laws and legislations. He's so fucking smart. Like how does such a smart man even choose a moron like me?"

"You're very pretty."

He laughed out loud and threw his shoe after me. I barely dodged it and laughed too.

I had my hand in Arlo's as we made our way through the growing crowd. We were meeting on a square, all the demonstrators. Lots of different people were here. Centaurs, satyrs, fauns, nymphs, sirens, and then a shitton of halfs. All kinds of halfs. I even saw a centaur with horns in the crowd.

"There's so many people," I said and moved closer to Arlo. He parted the crowd with his massive frame.

"I know right? It's amazing." He smiled widely from behind his sunglasses.

"I hope it'll be okay," I muttered but Arlo didn't hear me. There was too much noise here. Music played from a big truck and it all seemed... Weird. I didn't understand why some people were dressed up as if this was a parade. It wasn't a joyous occasion. My rights were being taken away from me and it seemed some of these people had just shown up to have a party.

"I don't like this," I said and looked up at Arlo.

He arched a brow and then looked around. "I guess everyone protests in their own way."

"But this isn't a happy thing."

"No, but maybe that's a protest in itself. They're showing they're still smiling despite the gross treatment they're getting. They're not beaten. That's how I interpret it anyways."

I frowned a little and then nodded. "I can see that, I guess."

"It's gonna be good. I can feel it. We'll be making a real difference today." He gave my hand a squeeze and smiled.

I didn't wanna tell him that this would most likely not change a damn thing. The government would do whatever they wanted, and they wouldn't listen to halfs, no matter how many we were or how many times we demonstrated.

Arlo was excited and I didn't wanna ruin that. Instead I gave his hand a squeeze as we followed the stream of people. The demonstration was starting. People were chanting different chants and it was hard to hear what they were saying. The longer we stayed the less I wanted to be there. Police officers were standing at the side of the road we were occupying. Why were they even here? It was inappropriate considering what they had done to us. To me. I took their mere presence as a personal offence.

I didn't say anything though. And we kept walking. At least the weather was nice. Not too warm nor too cold with a slightly overcast sky.

The further into the town we got, the more police appeared. Parts of the crowd started chanting chants that weren't police positive. One group shouted; "half lives are full lives" and that's where it all went to shits.

Out of nowhere a Molotov cocktail flew through the sky and hit one of the police officers' shield. The police immediately shouted at us to disband.

Arlo pulled me closer and then shoved me behind him as two police officers made their way towards him.

He put his hands up. "We're leaving, alright? We didn't throw anything."

"Yeah right, we saw that half throw a brick!" one of the officers shouted back.

Arlo took a step back and then straightened his back. "He did no such thing," he growled back, keeping his hand on my shoulder, keeping me behind him.

"Step aside, now!" the other officer said and raised his rifle.

Arlo lost his shit. He roared and then his shoulders expanded. Long claws grew out of his fingers and fur spread up his arms. But he didn't fully change into the hound. He stayed on two legs and tossed himself towards the police officers. He tossed one aside while the other tried to shoot him. But the officer hit true, and the bullet grazed Arlo's shoulder, ripping a hole in his shirt. Arlo had had enough. He grabbed the officer and trashed him into the ground.

"Arlo," I said barely louder than a whisper, but my boyfriend heard me.

His head whipped around, his shoulders rising and falling with his heavy breath. He stormed towards me, his beastly exterior changing back to his human one.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked, his words coming out weird as his teeth were still too big to fit in his mouth.

"I'm alright," I said with a shivering voice. I realised tears were streaming down my face and I hadn't even noticed until now.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me with him. "We've got to get out of here." His big form once again spread the crowd around us, people jumping out of his way.

"Your shoulder."

"I know, nothing to do about it right now." He sent me a bit of a strained smile before looking forward, pressing ahead.

Something loud went off and Arlo pulled me close, shielding me with his body. My face was pressed to his chest and my fingers were digging into his shirt. I was scared. So scared. Arlo was hurt and people were yelling. The police were shooting, and the demonstrators were throwing everything that wasn't nailed down.

"Come on, we're soon by the car. Just a little further," he said and put his arm around my shoulders, still keeping me entirely protected. He did make me feel safe.

We finally made it to the car and jumped in. The demonstrators were nowhere to be seen and it was as if we hadn't been in open Tartarus just minutes ago.

"Let's hope they haven't closed the roads," I muttered, and Arlo shrugged a little. He pulled out and off we went. It was lucky we didn't live near the city centre. I'd never be able to sleep if that was the case.

Arlo opened the door for me, and I walked in, stepped out of my shoes and dropped down on the sofa.

"Come on, babe. Let me see that shoulder."

Arlo looked down at his shoulder and winced. He pulled his shirt off and then sat down. I cringed. He had a pretty deep gash in his skin.

"It'll heal," he muttered.

"We should still clean it and make sure you don't get an infection."

"I can't get an infection, Dion." He glanced down at me.

I arched a brow but still wouldn't take no for an answer. I'd clean it for my sake then. And bandage it. He got hurt for me. I felt like I had to do something for him.

I grabbed some cotton pads from the bathroom and some chlorhexidine and got Arlo to sit mostly still while I cleaned his wound.

"You don't have to do this," he said and winced when I gently dabbed his shoulder.

"I think I do."

He glanced down at me and arched a brow. "You don't. I mean it. I'd do it again."

"You got hurt..." I stopped and my hands dropped down into my lap.

He very gently took my face in his hands and tipped my head up. "I protected you. Don't you understand that's the most important thing in the world to me?"

I shook my head, tears filling my eyes.

"I need to protect you. I will burn this whole world to the ground if it meant you'd be safe." He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

I crawled into his lap and hugged him. He hugged me back and we just sat there for a while. I definitely needed it. I just needed a damn hug from my boyfriend who had been shot at a demonstration that went totally nuts out of nowhere.

"Do you wanna order pizza?" Arlo asked after a while.

I couldn't help but laugh and pulled back. I nodded and leaned in, kissing him. "Yeah, I'm starving."

"Oh gods, I'm so famished." He laughed too and ran his hand up in my hair, getting me to kiss him again.