The Man With The Gloves (mxmxmxm)

15. The hard part remains to be done

"I imagine that one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, that they will be forced to deal with pain." (James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son)

At the precise moment when the bells rang, the door of the three prefects' bedroom opened. Ashur entered the room, and went straight for his boyfriend, giving Zephyr a bear hug, as if the two hadn't seen each others for years.

Fayez didn't think it was cheesy, though. On the contrary, he found to be quite heart-warming the way they both instantly relaxed in their embrace.

"Where's Ake?" Zephyr, asked, his voiced muffled against Ashur's chest, as he hugged the taller man back with just as much enthusiasm.

"He's gonna be back soon. I told him to come with me, but our man is stubborn. Said he isn't tired yet and wants to train a bit longer." Ashur sighed, although he didn't seem actually mad about it.

"But everyone is supposed to be in their bedroom, now. You should have insisted." Zephyr pressed him, with a worried expression.

"Sweets, you know the Headmaster is very lenient with Akhenaton. Plus, he's been in a foul mood these last few days, so I thought he needed to spend all of his negative energy." Ashur explained, as he begrundgingly let go of his slender lover.

"By training? Sex is a much better way to alleviate one's spirit, though!" Zephyr exclaimed, much to Fayez's growing discomfort.

As the young vampire started coughing in embarrassement, Ashur's head suddenly snapped in his direction, as he was only now noticing the intruder. He eyed Fayez for a moment, then turned to Zephyr with narrowed eyes.

"Zeph, pray tell, what's the meaning of this?"

Unable to take his eyes off the ground, Fayez intently listened to what he guessed was the beginning of a quarrel between the two lovers. He was already starting to feel a bit sick.

He had known it was all too good to be true. He wasn't going to be accepted so easily.

He wasn't going to be accepted at all.

"What? Am I not old enough to have a slumber party?" Zephyr asked innocently, to his obviously unamused boyfriend.

"Zeph, we've talked about it."

"But boys just wanna have fun, isn't that right, Faye?" Zephyr said, while winking at Fayez.

Ashur's nostrils flared, but it didn't seem to deter Zephyr from making other poorly-timed jokes. Sensing that Ashur's patience was thinning, Fayez decided to step in.

"It's not Master Zephyr's fault. Please, Master Ashur, hear me out first before getting angry at him."

Ashur's eyes were on Fayez again. The prefect didn't seem to be in a particulary good mood, but there wasn't any intent to kill in his brown almond eyes.

So far so good.

"I'm sure Master Akhenaton told you what happened during my first mission..." Fayez started, only to pause when Ashur's eyes glowed at these words, and his jaw set.

What was Master Ashur getting angry for? Was it because of what Akhenaton must had told him about that dreadful night? But then again, Akhenaton hadn't been injured. Nobody had been injured, except for the woman that Fayez had saved.

Maybe it was because Fayez had still put Ashur's lover's life at risk, by refusing to take his hands and indirectly forcing him to use his magic.

He still couldn't believe that Akhenaton was a sorcerer, and, from what he had witnessed that night, a powerful one. Not only did he seem able to influence people's mind, but he could also use magic to do things as cool as lifting objects.