heaven in hiding.

“When would we have seen more of each other though?” Elliot questioned. In the time they’d been apart, Elliot had hardly had time to spare. He had been busy not just with his line of work with August, but the tournament and then hunting down his father that had led to the worst fight he’d ever had with the vampire. He knew taking a step back would likely hurt the other but Elliot had to maintain distance. When asked what was wrong he wasn’t sure how to answer. “The last time was a mistake. We shouldn’t have done that and it won’t happen again. Nothing is wrong Levi, but I have a lot on my mind, a lot has happened with me and August, just…don’t worry about it.” He tried to wave it off, not wanting to go into detail about things that Levi likely wouldn’t understand. He gave a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair before looking back at the human. “We can talk.”

Kohl had sent the human off to handle a couple of errands. If he was going to live in the nice home, he was going to pull his weight. He’d sent him out on such errands before, once or twice just to get him out of the house so that he could handle some things. Today, he needed fruit and some apothecary items. When he had been alerted that Levi had returned, Kohl moved from his office to intercept him.

When he blew past him and disappeared up the stairs, Kohl stared after him. Hearing the thud, Kohl’s eyebrows furrowed together and he approached the pet’s room. Opening the door, not bothering to knock in his own home, he found the boy near the wall, cradling his hand. “What’s going on?” He asked incredulously.

After everything that had happened recently, Elliot was on his best behaviour, and he’d made a promise to himself and August. No more secrets, no more trying to do things himself when he didn’t need to, so much had changed. He was only out on a couple of routine errands to prepare for the tournament, getting his blades sharpened by the only blacksmith in the city August trusted, his armour tended to for the same reason, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. A little lost in thought, Elliot reacted before Levi’s voice registered and he suddenly turned, grabbing the human’s wrist and pulled him into a hold before that familiar scent registered and Elliot released him. “We are, but things have come up so we’re still here. We’ll go when August says its time to go.” He shrugged. He looked at Levi but tried to keep his distance some, tried to remain a blank slate. The last thing Elliot needed was another mistake to risk everything. 

Kohl idly watched him explore the room, moving from wall to wall and looking back at him excitedly. When prompted, He nodded but otherwise stayed still and let the pet be happy. For once. When he mentioned his lack of funds, Kohl snorted. “Luckily, one of us does.” That should have been implied by his statement but he let it go for now. The pet was behaving and that was enough for now. When the question of food came up again, he nodded and motioned out the door. 

“Come on. It’s downstairs.” Levi’s question made him laugh, though. “Well, the blood of my enemies and the flesh of the damned, of course.” His sarcastic quip came with a smirk, shutting the door behind them as they headed down to the kitchen. It was a grand affair with chefs moving around the room and servants preparing meals for all of the staff. As they walked in, one servant approached him with bright eyes and silent lips. “Get him whatever he wants. Within reason.” That was a warning to both slaves. He patted Levi on the shoulder and moved around the huge island to pluck a fresh roll off of a dough plate. He leaned against the cabinets to watch for what he would choose to eat.

thankfully there was no argument about the food, because he would have been ready to come back at kohl with an argument of his own. his stomach was practically empty, he hadn’t had a full meal since he’d been claimed - since he’d been back home with vincent. so he shot up from the bed, and out the door and down the stairs quickly with no shame at all. “that’s disgusting,” the boy said flatly, but caught the sarcastic tone. “that really sounds fattening, you seem like a guy that likes to watch his figure.” levi commented before suddenly a servant was stepping forward into his space, blue-green hues looked them over before glancing back at kohl. anything he wanted? oh he shouldn’t have said that. within reason - but he planned to indulge. 

it had been days since he saw elliot last ( or so he assumed ), maybe longer he couldn’t be sure. and during their last meeting things had definitely went down. not in a bad way though, but he was practically saying goodbye to the half-wolf. preparing to never see him again, or not for a very long time. though when he was out running an errand for kohl, he could have swore he saw the other male. levi looked down at the folded piece of paper in his hand he was told to hand the merchant at one of the vendors in the town square, he clenched it and moved through the people before finally reaching the cloaked individual and reaching out for his shoulder. “elliot?” he was still here. “i thought you said you were leaving?” it had definitely been longer than a week.

Kohl had intended to let him explore on his own, a thought of business brewing in his mind but when his hand was grasped and pulled, he found himself willing to be dragged up the stairs. He wasn’t sure what this shift was between them. He didn’t mind it yet but he was sure that an attitude would have to catch up. The room had been the Royal’s estranged wife’s but Kohl had cleaned it up. When the door opened, it revealed a four-postered bed, slightly smaller than the one at the other home, complete with a bedroom suite of drawers, nightstands, and a fireplace in the corner. It was far too nice for a pet but Kohl wanted to keep Levi close. 

He motioned to the drawers. “Eventually, you’ll have to buy some clothes to fill them but this is the bare essentials. You can do whatever you want to the room.” I don’t really care. It was an implied statement, watching Levi as he looked into the room. It was huge and gorgeous. Any pet would have been lucky to get one. Maybe Levi would even feel lucky some day. It had been a blow to Kohl’s ego when he’d heard that. Instead of reacting in anger, he wanted to try a new approach. It seemed to be working.

maybe levi was foolish to think something had changed between them, that there was a newfound understanding and patience between the pair but he was going to try. with kohl being not as infuriating as he usually was, he could stand to be around the kitsune. levi’s face was full of awe, and shock. he couldn’t believe this was his room. he really couldn’t believe this was his room. “this isn’t a joke, right? this is really mine?” levi turned to kohl after a minute, asking for clarification until the other said he could do whatever he wanted to the room - he smiled lightly as he looked over the interior again. the walls were white canvas, literally. he’d use that to his advantage. “i don’t have money to buy clothes.” he grumbled, walking further into his room. 

Kohl enjoyed Levi’s reaction to the grandeur of the home. He had bought it from a royal who owed him a fair chunk of change and kicked out his family, keeping the servants of course. It was the only way he could have found such a home in such a short time frame. Levi was dwarfed by the home, standing in its shadow as the sun crept high overhead. He even enjoyed the way he looked around the grounds because there was so much to take in.  Kohl had begun to approach the doors with him when he heard his demand. 

Kohl looked over at the male, slipping a finger through the jewel around his neck and pulling him close. “Don’t push your luck, pet.” He purred, a smirk continuing to play on his lips before opening the door. The foyer was grand, accented with gold and marble and adorned with flags from countries near and far. Each flag denoted a client, a castle he had toppled or rebuilt. A land where he held a stake in the Regency. A grand staircase led upstairs, just beyond that stood a huge door. He pointed and spoke. “That one is mine.” He turned the slave to the right, to a slightly smaller door but still just as grand. “That one is yours.” With that, he patted the pet’s back to send him off.

“Kitsunes do not have family units.” He began explaining, eyes glazing over as he thought. “I have a creator, who guided me in my fledgling years. When a young kitsune goes off on its own, you don’t keep in touch with your creator. We don’t have parents or siblings. But we do have a bloodline and there is an understanding among Kitsune that you do not disrespect your bloodline or others within the bloodline take care of it.” He’d never had to deal with his parents not wanting him. No Kitsune’s creator did and he thought nothing of it. He didn’t require love as a fledgling and it hadn’t impacted him.

“Then I will get you one.” Kohl had reached a point where he would rather his pet be happy than being so disobedient. If that meant a little extra work on his end, so be it. Kohl watched him as he turned to look over his shoulder, his hands stopping for a breath before resuming. Surprisingly, there was no desire in his hands, just a want to relax the pet. But it seemed as though his touch wasn’t working very well. “We will move to the main house tomorrow. I would say that you’ve learned all your going to learn here.” His voice was vague but simple. He was tired of coming here to this derelict home; he missed his marble.

Kohl could feel him tensing beneath his touch. He didn’t expect anything less. He had hurt him in the past and the pet would have been dumb to trust him so easily. Kohl knew that and didn’t hold it against the young boy. He listened to him talk about his past. Humans lived so differently than he ever did. Maybe they weren’t so different but Kohl needed to be told the similarities. He was too far removed from mundane life to ever understand it. He even listened to the pet talk about his brother, reminded of the day he rented Vincent. His mannerisms spoke to the life that Levi alluded to. Kohl nodded silently at the mention, noting the tightness in Levi’s voice when he spoke about the dog.

“I’m curious, pet. I thought you knew everything about Kitsunes.” Kohl teased lightly, continuing to watch his thumbs move on the pet’s lower back, moving in soft circles around his waist. “Humans live so differently than my kind. Their family relations and households are completely foreign to me.” He mused for a moment, taking a breath to think before speaking again. “I have never seen your art. You’ve mentioned it before. I would like to see it sometime.” He thought back to Levi’s demands from earlier, a smirk settling on his lips. “Would a drawing pad make you less miserable here?” He questioned, the smirk ever present as he did. 

“not nearly as much as i thought i did,” in actuality levi knew nothing, really. he wasn’t an expert on kitsunes. he knew more about werewolves and vampires - because they were more common around the village he and vincent resided in. the human almost let go completely and enjoyed the massage fully, until he lowered his hands down to his waist. that left him tensing up again. “kitsunes don’t have a good family bond?” now that he thought about it - kohl had never mentioned his family. ever. not that they often spoke like this but he’d at least thought it would have came up once or twice before. “my family was just my brother and dog,” he murmured. “most families have a mom and a dad too - they didn’t want me though.” they had him, and couldn’t feed or afford him. levi didn’t lose sleep over it as much anymore but it still hurt to think about.