Legacy is not what I did for myself.

“I am, yes, we’ve been friends since I started working here.”  A small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth and Aleixo chuckled quietly.  “Sometimes I think I have a much different opinion of him compared to what other people think.”  Personally, the phoenix had always thought that Matthew was sweet in his own way, not that he thought the man would find that a compliment.  “You know him?”

The last thing he really wanted was his parents to come out of their way to a place like this. It would not end well for them, and he feared they would get hurt in any attempt to see him. It was best they didn’t know of his current fate, of where he was, and maybe one day he’ll reach out to them. “That’s a relief.” He said with a sigh, hand coming over his heart as he relaxed a bit. “Well enough, I suppose, haven’t had too much trouble come my way.” Not that he was willing to be open about the bad run in he’d had. “And you?”

Elio’s nodded, eyeing the young phoenix with a scrutinizing eye. He wasn’t quite sure he believed Ember, but knew even if the man had been lucky this far, it would inevitably run out. “And me, what? I’m not the one in chains,” he responded, gesturing to the collar around Ember’s neck. “Sure, I’m forced to work with their kind, but the chains they have around me aren’t nearly what they wish.” The ifrit was stubborn despite his age, and only tiptoed around the vampires for the sake of the village. “If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid anything too traumatizing thus far, consider yourself lucky.. And do your best to keep it that way. I can think of more than a handful of masters whom would delight in plucking the feathers of a phoenix simply to pass a slow evening... That  might be regarded as tame if anything. An act of mercy in half their minds.”

heat week | elio & matthew

Matthew could not help the slight jut of his lips at Elio’s words. It looked like the ifrit was not going to be distracted so easily, but he could deal with that conversation later. He was much too pre-occupied with watching his lover fall back into his office chair like he owned this office and this part of Matthew’s life as well. And in a way, he did. It probably did not come to Elio’s mind that Matthew would be more than happy to give himself over to him completely. All he needed to do was ask. 

The shadows snaked up the legs of the chair to curl around the ifrit’s ankles then up further around his thighs, holding Elio’s legs down while still giving him enough leeway to tug slightly at those restraints should be need to. More tendrils coiled themselves loosely around Elio’s wrists as Matthew settled himself in the other man’s lap, knees on either side of those hips as their arousals slid against each other’s. 

“Of course. Much appreciated…” His arms looped themselves around the back of Elio’s neck as he leaned in to breathe hot breath against those lips. “How long do you think you’ll last before you beg me to release you, amore?” 

An impatient, playful growl-- soft enough to be mistaken for a purr, snakes its way out of the ifrit’s throat. He gently tugged on the other’s restraints, the feeling relatively foreign.  Had it been anyone else, Elio would have instinctively shifted into his ifrit form and taken the restraints as a threat. With Matthew however, he couldn’t help but indulge the other in a bit of foreplay. “I’m a patient man,” he suggested. He leaned forward, looking to capture Matthew’s lips in a kiss as he added,“I think you just enjoy testing that trait from time to time...” 

flirtatious | elio & matthew

While they have been exclusive for awhile now, Matthew still could not get over some of the things Elio would say. It was not the first time he had heard such things directed at him from others, but he never put much stock in such fleeting words from others until Elio. He pressed his much softer form against the ifrit’s and grinned. “Hmm… As I recall, I even had to pay you for our first kiss,” he teased. “Fancy making more money from me today?” 

“Is that necessary? If anything, I should be the one paying you for your time and attention,” Elio corrected as he wrapped an arm around Matthew’s midsection. “Did you want to repeat our dinner date from last year? Or perhaps you’d like to simply skip to dessert?”

“Back then…? Where are we at in our relationship where you come from?” Matthew asked, a smile playing on his lips. Ever since he had gotten with the ifrit, Matthew had tried being as good as possible for fear of losing what he once considered the best thing in his life. And if that meant compromising with Elio’s desires, then he had learned how to adapt and grow from it.

“I could put you in your place too,” he added, a teasing lilt to his voice even as he took the time to think of Wicek and what Elio was telling him as well. “But you’re right. He hasn’t in a long while and he wouldn’t…” Admitting that out loud had Matthew thinking back on the last few decades he had spent with the necromancer and his smile turned into something more soft – a smile he used to only wear for Elio. 

Ember shook his head, in all honesty he wasn’t sure the state of his parents as he had not seen them in years. “No, haven’t spoke with them in a long time.” He would not want them to know where their son had ended up. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to have them worrying over him anyways. “I’d rather they didn’t know.”

The ifrit’s frown deepened, torn between finding a way to reach out to Ember’s relatives and letting things be. It wasn’t as if they could change his fate, and he feared notifying them may only encourage actions that would lead to a similar fate for them as well. “I have no intention of alerting them,” he agreed. “At least not now. How are you fairing?”

“We may have to disagree there, I’m afraid.”  Aleixo’s smile was a little sad, though he was hoping Elio wouldn’t want to know about what had happened.  The less he talked about it, the more he’d be able to handle the situation.  “I do appreciate that you’d do something like that for me, though.”  He paused and nodded after a second, worrying at his bottom lip.  “I have a few friends among the staff who might be willing to help.  Though I haven’t seen much of them or Matthew.”  Maybe because he did his best to hide in the Undercroft.

goodbye | elio & matthew

“How selfish of you to ask this of me… This is not your war to fight either, Elio…” Matthew gritted out, one hand reaching out to close around Elio’s wrist as if holding on would prevent him from running off again. “I know you’re not meant to be here because you died. Years ago. And yet here we are. Fate seems to have given us… or me this time with you. You’d be crazy to think I’ll let you go just like that.”

He found himself unable to sit still for very long thus he began wandering in an attempt to distract himself from what was going on inside him. He felt overly powerful to the point where one misstep and he could blow, while on the other hand his senses were wound up in a whole other direction. He wasn’t paying enough attention to where he was going when he hear someone speak. At first he wasn’t sure it was to him but then a very tall shadow came over him. “Uh–” He wasn’t sure what to say for a moment as he stared up at him. “Not here on any sort of vacation.” He said in an attempt to be funny. “A month or so. Could only have hid for so long before they caught up to me and sent me to a place like this.” 

Elio’s eyes narrowed, unamused by the joke. “Didn’t think that-- are you parent’s aware of what’s happened to you?” He could only hope they’d send someone after him-- find a way to settle it. The fact Ember mentioned hiding however had him concerned.

It was certainly a surprise to see Elio down in the Undercroft, especially since it seemed his former boss had been looking for him.  A touching gesture, though, and it drew the faintest of smiles from the phoenix.  Along with it came some level of guilt, which was silly since he knew that the bank would continue to run just fine without him.  “It seems I messed things up a bit.”  He shook his head, clearly not wanting to talk about it and then hummed softly.  “I’m afraid not.  Unless the next master who claims me is also fine with me working.”  He was going for a bit of a joking tone, though it was true – there were many masters who just preferred to have their slaves around the castle waiting for them all day.

Elio glanced up, glaring as the world became huge. Instinctively he shifted into his ifrit form, feeling vulnerable at such a small size. "This isn't amusing. Undo this now," he insisted, looking around for the source of the spell.

flirtatious | elio & matthew

Matthew turned when he was addressed by that familiar voice and his currently female face broke into a smile. He remembered when this happened last year when he had struck the ifrit with a spell for his own entertainment and there was something about them being in a similar situation now that was very pleasing. 

“Are you referring to this, amore?” he asked as he ran an elegant hand down his female form. “I thought you preferred angles to curves…” Matthew finished with a grin and reached his other hand out to tug his lover close, unaware of any spell that might have hit Elio before this.

“I prefer you, Matthew,” Elio corrected as he reached for the other’s rather feminine form as the fallen angel reached for him as well. “But yes... Otherwise that’s quite true. I suppose you’ve become... the exception to the rule.” he tucked a stray piece of hair behind Matthew’s ear, adding, “How I ever resisted you last year is beyond me.”