"So, Jens-"

"Jeb."

Markus forced down the urge to roll his eyes and smiled, "Jeb. Are you sure you don't have any other family?"

Jeb was about to answer until Hero strides to Markus' desk with a handful of documents. He said, "I tracked the bloodline down. The only family he has left is Ivan's brother. He's a Russian soldier too but he's in prison."

Jeb's eyes widened with hope until it filled with horror. "Why?"

Both Markus and Hero answered simultaneously, both giving Jeb an eerie and stoic look, "We locked up people who were against the revolution."

Jeb kept his mouth shut after that. Both Hero and Markus looked at each other with a raised eyebrow before Markus asked, "How old are you?"

"13."

Hero bit back his laughter. He could see Markus clearly was too. Laughing at the teenager's height would be hypocritical since Hero's own height doesn't match up to his age. Hero distracted himself with a question, "What do you expect from coming here?"

Jeb bowed his head and spoke softly, "I was hoping you could give me a home, sir. The orphanage here doesn't really... Take care of us properly."

Markus immediately answered, "So it's shit? Hero, look into that."

Hero narrowed his eyes and spat under his breath, "Language. And yes, of course sir."

Hero stalked away to prepare a letter of warning to the orphanage of him coming over to check around. He updated his tight schedule with a quiet sigh but kept himself alert, listening to the conversation between Jeb and his brother. While listening, he spaced out for a second, causing him to slide his hand across the knife stabbing down some documents on the desk. He pulled back with a forced down groan and inspected his hand. The cut across all of his knuckles made it hard to bend them. He quickly shuffled for some sort of gauze in the drawers before pulling out some old ones. He hastily covered his fingers, while the white slowly turned to a pink with blood.

He muttered a cleaning charm on the blood stained desk and an anti-infectant on his bandages. Yes, he was a certified medic but he just had to deal with Jeb before he can tend to his personal needs. He froze in realization when he recalled that he did not even grab breakfast earlier on. He was eating less lately. He sighed softly, relaxing his tense muscles before he proceeded to Markus' side.

"-you're free to food, a bed and maybe Hero can arrange some tutors for you or get you to a school."

Hero woke up, "Wait, what?"

Jeb looked ecstatic while Markus was smiling fondly. Hero reckoned he missed something. Markus just switched his fond smile from Jeb to Hero and explained, "He can stay here. No biggie, right? We got way too many rooms and..." He turned to ruffle Jeb's hair. "I always hated being the younger brother."

"You adopted him to our family when I was away for a few minutes?!"
"You're the younger brother, my Lord?"

Markus looked baffled at the shocked expressions both Jeb and Hero gave him. Jeb just looked a little confused, disappointed even while Hero looked pissed. Markus answered both questions at once, "Hero, he has nowhere to go. And Jeb, Hero is, what? A year older than me?"

Hero furrowed his eyebrows and spat, "Three. And I'm not too sure about this, Markus. As your general and brother, please ponder this for at least a few days before you come to a decision."

Jeb looked crestfallen, "Where am I going to stay until then?"

Hero bit his lip before sighing, "There's a guest room. Just, don't interfere or distract any worker here. Me and Markus included. After Markus has somehow convinced me to let you stay, we'll just give you what you need. Markus, don't forgot that I'm your older brother. I have the final say in certain decisions."

Markus rolled his eyes, but nodded. He loves his brother a lot, as his last and only blood-related family alive and Hero loves him back as that last person he cares about. They bicker, a lot, but sibling rivalry was normal. Hero got out and called over a soldier to escort Markus to his chambers before he himself escorted Jeb to a room far, far away from Markus' or Hero's.

Jeb noticed with a frown.

Hero shot back with narrow of his eyes, wanting to get Jeb to back down but only received wide eyes and a tilt of the head. "What?"

"I've never seen anyone with eyes like yours. What color are they? They're so pale."

Hero narrowed his eyes even more and swerved his head back to the hallway. "Rule number one of living here, do not play with me," snapped the Swede. Jeb just gave him a protesting look, his jaws parted to argue, but Hero's hand slid around his sword as a warning.

○

He darted forward and backward, dodging the misty dummy as it shot desperately at the brunet. He misplaced his foot and his tail swerved in the wrong direction, sending him tumbling and rolling straight into the training wall. His wings wrapped around his sides instinctively, the extra pair of limbs taking the damage.

Fuck, you okay?

He looked back onto the heavy bracelet around his left hand. The red runes glowed as Roderich's concerned voice rang in his head. He had no time to reply, however, as the enchanted dummy shot at him, tearing his wing a little. He hissed and got up, his wings fluttering as if to shake the pain away. He could feel his tail swinging furiously.

Their minds in sync, Roderich forced himself forward, and Nabiel felt the metal grow and extend towards the tips of his finger, his ears picking up the sound of chains. He kicked with his back legs, his wings giving a small boost as he dove forward to rake the claws down the dummy's face. The dummy dropped its pistol before both faded away to small sparkles in the air. He called Roderich forward and felt the power and weight disappear from the bracelet.

He felt Roderich's cold hand slide under his wings. "Why don't we try easier and less vigorous training exercises, okay?"

He still was trying to control his breathing, so he did not answer right away. He looked down at his hands, they were aching and his knuckles were sore and bleeding. The claws had retreated back to the bracelet when Roderich had left it. He felt Roderich start petting and stroking his feathers in the right way, just where he liked it. He felt his only friend slide his fingers through his damp hair, pulling his fringe that stuck to his forehead with sweat.

He sighed and allowed his tired and sore body rest against his companion, and felt his wings fold lazily. Roderich lead him out of the training room, he figured that Nabiel would be too tired for even some stretching. The angel allowed Roderich to lift him up a little and lay him down into his little nest on the bed. Nabiel had had strange urges, to caress and to care for someone, and Roderich had been the victim for hair styling and the making of new clothes. A few weeks before, Nabiel started gathering blankets, pillows, clothes from Roderich and started piling them and fixing them on the bed.

Roderich did not ask.

After Nabiel had made a perfect large circle of pillows and clothes on the queen-sized bed, Nabiel proceeded to knit a huge blanket bigger than said bed to cover up the clothes. He then started placing soft and warm pillows he reheated daily. At first, he did not allow anyone else but him to even get close to his nest, but slowly, he allowed Roderich closer, until Nabiel decreed him worthy of his personal nest. Nabiel's own sacred feathers were scattered around the nest, but it was still extremely soft.

Nabiel laid on one of the stacked pillows, watching Roderich enter the nest carefully. He accidentally knocked one side off once, and Nabiel was livid. "You alright, Nabi? You worked yourself too much today."

Immediately, Nabiel shot up and crawled over to his companion, sitting on his heels and spreading his wings around and over them, creating a warm cocoon. "I should be asking you that. Are you alright? Did I push your power too much? Are you drained? Did I ask for too much earlier?"

The angel reached out and carefully held Roderich's hands. The big calloused hands with sharp black nails were huge compared to Nabiel's. Nabiel's were small, but full of muscle and grip. Compared to his counterpart, Nabiel's upper body has more strength, while Hero has his legs and hips that can deliver a powerful kick. There were no visible injuries or bruises on Roderich's heavily scarred arms, so he pulled back just a little, his wings brushing Roderich's back.

The angel laid back, looking up at Roderich who joined him afterwards. The two were looking at each other, but the silence was welcomed. Nabiel draped his wing over Roderich's body before he scooted closer and asked, "Tell me about your kind."

Roderich tilted his head back to think as his nails gently caressed Nabiel's feathers. "I can tell you that we definitely don't live in hell, but the place where we thrive is quite warm and hot. We are not given light from a star, but from eternal fires set down by gods we serve under. We are not human, never were and never will be. Humans would not be able to survive our planet. I came from a high-class family who have served and was defeated by strong people on Earth. My mother possessed the compass of Christopher Columbus. She aided in his journey. When they called out my name as they had found someone for me to serve, people paid attention to my last name. Never my first. I hated it, actually. But... I'm glad I was paired up with you. I expected a master who would just need me for power. I never expected someone who saw me as their equal and treated me well."

He kept silent for a little, staring at Nabiel. "Especially since you're an angel," he laughed.

Nabiel bit back his snicker and just fluttered his wings softly in content. "What is your last name?"

Roderich stopped laughing, and the angel's wings froze, and he started retracting his wings to his side, immediately shuffling away from his friend. "I'm sorry, I had no idea, I-"

Roderich's hand shot out and he dug his nails into Nabiel's wings, clutching at his feathers. The angel let out a hiss and he narrowed his eyes in hostility and Roderich shrank back. "Oh! I'm sorry. Your wings are really sensitive and I'm sorry, I forgot, fuck-"

"It's alright."

The wings were folded behind Nabiel's back, the one that Roderich grabbed still shaking the loose feathers that fell from the demon's grip. Roderich's nails and hands were resting against his lips, as he stared down in shame and embarrassment. They were quite far apart now, and Nabiel quietly turned to the side, maneuvering his wings to tuck closely to his back. "Goodnight."

Roderich sighed, "Goodnight."

Their kind hated each other. Hatred and conflict between their kind has gone back to even before humans existed, when demons and angels were floating mists, tearing each other apart. Humans came and gave each party a body, this time inflicting more damage on each other. The gods noticed their conflict has damaged their own worlds and settled them down, and the two kinds stayed away from each other. Demons were feral, primal and wild. They claim and take, and protect what they have fought for and cared for. Angels play tricks and deceive, luring unfortunate souls to serve and kneel before them as they are admired for their beauty, their purity.

The only way to differentiate between the two were their extra sets of limbs. The gods gave angels wings to fly and bring hope and freedom to those they watch after. Demons were given tails to maintain their balance, their control so they can properly lead and protect. Roderich had no idea why Nabiel had both. Why Nabiel's eyes both were the color of both kinds. Angels' white for purity and demons' black for mystery. Why Nabiel was cold and heartless when given a duty, but caring and selfless when he was faced with someone he cared for.

Nabi fought with ferocity, but at the same time, grace. He walked with an aura to approach carefully, but had an allure to him. From what Roderich knew, angels had wings in pure colors from white to silver to gold. Black pairs of wings only existed in angels who have sinned. Roderich was afraid of Nabiel, but he also was entranced by him.

It was no wonder that they would not be able to open up to each other right away. If they can get past their blood, only then would they start to deepen their companionship. Nabiel had never interacted with another person other than Roderich.

Roderich slowly got lost in his thoughts which led to his slumber.

Nabiel still stayed up. He couldn't sleep. He never slept since the very first day of his existence. Everything was too much for him, and his thoughts always, always drifted to his counterpart and to Roderich. He knew both personally, and he can't help but feel that his counterpart was so much better, so much fair and graceful than he was and that his demon companion deserved a better master. He wanted to sleep badly, but he simply couldn't. He really couldn't.

His counterpart had the same problems.

○

Hero shot up. He was sweating, panting and just desperately trying to breathe. Flashes of blood and death and decay was everywhere. His clothes were ragged and bloodstained, his hands were dirty with mud and a gun was clutched in his shivering fingers. He threw it to the side, and the images of war kept flashing with his bedroom, and Hero started panicking.

He just wanted to sleep.

These nightmare were not stopping. He always woke up in a cold sweat, flashbacks of the war and the rebellion and him killing and people being killed were haunting.

He's afraid of sleeping.
Nabiel was not capable of sleeping.

They both stayed awake the entire night, trying to calm themselves down. Hero dealing with trauma and Nabiel dealing with self-deprecating thoughts.