With Blood shall come Desire (MxM)

☽ Chapter Twenty Five ☾

𝕾ilthos was standing there for some seconds, staring into nothing, before he nodded. "Let's find a place somewhere... not back to Vincent... we can't risk it." Thoughts were circling in his head about what they would do if they were alone. But slowly his mind and vision became more clear, almost like getting sober, and he noticed the blood and knife in his hands. They started shaking horribly and his breathing became quicker.

Aristaeus noticed that he had to take the lead and took Silthos by the wrist, getting him out of the ruins. When they came onto the streets again, everything seemed even more quiet. "I know a place.", but before they continued their way, Aristaeus stopped by a bench and pushed Silthos down to sit on it. He crouched down in front of him and looked at the god with a calm gaze. "Silthos... I know this was hard for you but what you did saved us both from losing."

Silthos' whole body started trembling. "I can still feel it...", he whispered and little clouds formed before his lips. "His warm blood... rushing through my hands..." The redhead's eyes searched for the ones of the other god. "When I slit his throat... I saw you kneeling before me... and I saw myself...doing the same to you..." His eyes filled with tears which then ran down his cheeks and mixed with the blood. "I'm a monster..." His breathing quickened and he started desperately gasping for air. He felt like all the fallen gods were putting their hands around his neck, squeezing it.

Aristaeus immediately shook his head and put his hands on Silthos' cheeks. "You're not a monster. This was my power influencing yours. You have done nothing wrong." He furrowed his brows slightly, before they relaxed again. He was the monster, not Silthos. Without the help of his powers the other man never would have used his own for something so brutal. Aristaeus had to stay calm because he felt how the other god's emotions started to influence him again. But if he stayed calm, maybe this would help Silthos too. "What can I do to make you feel better?"

Silthos felt the calmness of Aristaeus all around him. It felt like a soft blanket. The redhead's eyes locked with his again and he wiped over his eyes with his sleeve. His face was awfully covered in tears and blood, his hair was dirtied as well and the red liquid started to dry. "Can you... hold me?" Never in his existence had Silthos felt so vulnerable but was willing to show himself to another and cry into his arms. Being able to lie in his arms was his greatest longing at that moment. The scent and the feeling of him around would make him escape from this world. Being just human suddenly seemed more appealing than ever. They would just be two souls, longing for each other, living a simple life until they merge in Death's stomach.

"Of course, love.", he whispered and sat down next to him. Aristaeus gently pulled the god towards him and wrapped his arms around the small figure, holding him close and protected. Caring for Silthos was unexpected territory but it came so natural to him to caress Silthos' hair and gently rub over his back. Right now he only wanted to take care of the god and make sure he was alright.

Silthos fell. It felt like the touch of Aristaeus made him teleport to a place far away from all. Alone with only each other. He breathed in his scent and slowly the shaking stopped. "Let's go to that place...", he whispered on Aristaeus' neck. No matter how much he wanted to stay in those arms, they needed to hide to stay safe again. And Silthos wanted to get rid of the blood on his body as well.

"Alright..." Aristaeus gently let go of him and looked at the god. He felt the calmness radiating off of him and hummed with content. "Come on." Over the last five days he had found out about a boathouse on the coast near them. The house was located between land and sea. Lunaan was the owner of it, as Aristaeus had figured out from Vincent. The moon god had quite a few estates near the water. When they reached the house the sea was calm. They walked on a wooden bridge to get to the house. "I thought you'd like a place near the sea."

Silthos stopped for a few seconds on the bridge and gazed up at the moon. His eyes then wandered to Aristaeus, the blood on his face shimmering black in it. And it shined beautifully in the moonlight.
The soul of his mother seemed closer, deeper and free. It calmed his mind. He looked back at Aristaeus and nodded. "Thank you for being so thoughtful...", he whispered. Then they entered the boatshouse.

Aristaeus locked all doors and windows, not that it would help them much against gods. But it made him feel better. After securing everything he came back to Silthos. In the warm light of the entrance hall the blood on them could be seen crystal clear. "Do you want to take a bath?"

"Will you stay by my side the whole time?" Silthos felt dirty, just like the first time he had felt blood on his hands. The blood was sticking onto him, slowly crawling into his skin and becoming forever seen on it. Like it would remain as a tattoo to make him remember his sin forever.

"Of course." Aristaeus nodded and slowly guided him into the bathroom. There was a marble shower cabin with a big shower head over it. "Come on." Aristaeus made the first step by starting to undress. His bloodied clothes landed on the floor one by one, before he turned towards the god.

Silthos had trouble undressing. Every time he touched the blood on his clothes his hands started to shake again. The redhead jumped back from it like he had just burned himself. He bit his lip and tried not to smell it, not to even sense it. But the blood seemed to carry the power of fire. Painfully it continued to eat its way through Silthos' body, burning him wherever it touched him. His vision became blurry as tears made their way into his eyes once more. Not water, not even his endless tears could erase it and free his pain.

"It's okay, it's okay." Silthos needed help, he saw it. It must have been incredibly hard for the god to do those things. He saw the glittering tears in his eyes and felt his heart pierced through with a knife.
Aristaeus stepped forward and gently started to undress his clothes. "Don't look down, look at me. It's alright.", he whispered again. Slowly one garment after another came off.

Silthos slowly lifted his chin and locked eyes with Aristaeus. He tried to only focus on the god before him. His dark eyes, his pale skin, his high cheekbones and the way his slightly pink lips were shaped. The spikes of blood on Aristaeus' skin came to the fore briefly, as they were very different from his skin colour, but his lips brought back the concentration Silthos needed. When he was fully naked he slowly stepped closer to Aristaeus, bringing his hands to his hips to gently push him under the running water.

Silthos' touch left a pleasant shiver on his skin and Aristaeus didn't want him to take his hands off. The running water was warm and immediately his muscles relaxed. Aristaeus watched how the water drops wetted Silthos' hair and how the red slowly darkened. Aristaeus lifted his arm and pushed back a wet strand of hair from the god's face. "Everything will be okay...", he whispered and his eyes softened at the sight of Silthos. His lashes looked even longer when they were wet and he saw a slightly red shimmer on his cheeks from the hot water.

"When does it stop...", Silthos whispered. "The feeling of the blood clenching onto me." He rubbed his hands harder and didn't stop even when the blood was long gone. "It doesn't go off..." His voice sounded more panicky with each word.

Aristaeus knew the place Silthos came from. He was not used to violence or blood, this was not his fault. It was probably for the best to keep him as far away from such things as possible. "It's gone, Silthos." Aristaeus had gently grabbed his wrists and stopped Silthos from hurting himself. "See?", he stroked over the gods hands with soft motions. "The feeling will go away, I promise you."

Silthos slowly calmed down again and washed himself. He got out of the bath and dried himself with a towel, rubbing over his skin a bit harshly. The redhead then got dressed quickly and sat down in their new home on a chair, looking outside at the sea. The soul of his mother nearby felt like a soft hug around him.

Aristaeus stayed in the shower a bit longer and watched how the blood came off his body. Was this bond really meant to be? Aristaeus couldn't see the string that connected them the way Silthos did. He had no idea how strong it actually was.