enzo.

“that would usually involve stepping in the direction that i’m not heading in.” enzo had only been in the gardens in search of gabriel, but he hadn’t caught his scent so it lead him to believe he was still in his cell, or rented. “you’re rather old looking.” enzo said rather carelessly. “another pet i know is getting old as well,” if not older, he thought. “do you know what the cut off age is for humans like you?” he asked, genuinely curious because he was afraid something may happen to human pets. they got weak and frail in their older years. 

“denying you that quickly, si.” enzo turned to look fully at this pet, pressing his lips together tightly. he could smell and feel the magic coursing through the other - it was very faint but it was there. “it depends, if they’re good mannered then they get kindness in return.” it was true, if they were completely fighting him like some chose to do then he didn’t lose his temper and tried to work with them. his father would have his head if he saw him. “what do you want? food? comfort items? books?” everyone was wanting something. and he couldn’t spoil all of the slaves, he needed to put an end to that soon. 

lorenzo was a bit stunned gabriel remembered any sort of spanish, granted it had been so long since he was apart of his family. the werewolf was bilingual, both languages had always been apart of his household - but he tended to speak english more often than not since it was the most common language everywhere he went. enzo sighs, upset over the time that was lost between them. what did he think? that he and gabriel were going to live with one another forever? of course - he was a naive child. “that’s ridiculous.” enzo muttered. “we’ll try, if it makes you ill i won’t force you to eat it.” he dismisses, gabe didn’t have tasty food in years, the fat, cream, spices probably would upset his stomach now that he thought about it. “alright,” enzo nodded some, gesturing to the vegetables and various leafy greens. “prepare  those, wash it, cut it up, make a nice salad.” enzo would focus on the steak and the potatoes when they were ready. 

enzo knew his father would not be happy to learn that he was coddling all of the pets around aeternum, and it wasn’t that he wanted to but he couldn’t help it with some of them. gabriel had been his pet growing up and he hadn’t even known it until he lost him and grew older. now that he was slightly older, but young, he could go out on his own. though the more he stayed in the tower the more annoyed he got with some of their attitudes - even when he was attempting to be nice. “i’m not in the mood, chico.” enzo said with sigh. “if you really must bother me, do it quickly.”

“no soy todo.” enzo breathed out, feeling almost annoyed that these people in this tower programmed gabriel to act like such...a robot, almost. he wasn’t sure how to even explain it. “don’t call me that. not unless we’re in public or something, and the situation calls for that.” but for now enzo had no plans on going out into public any time soon with gabriel. enzo had started cooking shortly after losing gabriel, he didn’t have the human to cook for him anymore but luckily he had learned quite a bit from the slave and picked up on a lot of stuff. “you can never go wrong with meats and potatoes. yeah?” he pulled out some packaged veal steaks, and began seasoning it. he preferred his bloody, practically alive. but he could appreciate cooked food and the art of it. soon he had the steaks on a broiler, and the potatoes boiling. “then this will be a treat.” his throat tightened though at how it sounded, like he was...pampering the human, it just made him feel awkward. “it shouldn’t be a treat.” he mumbled. he couldn’t believe gabriel hadn’t ate anything but food from that tower all those years. “do you want to help me?” he asks, seeing at how gabriel just looked around - as if wondering if he should sit, or if he could sit at all. 

“you don’t need to call me that...” he told gabriel quickly, he was hardly a sir, he was only twenty years old and given their history he didn’t want to hear it. “sir is my father.” he mumbled. “you call me what you used to, you know, enzo, or little wolf even if i’m not so small anymore. lorenzo is fine too.” he always thought lorenzo was such a mouthful and that it didn’t sound cool, but he felt he finally grew into his name. the two of them walked side by side, and soon enough they were in a carriage and stopping outside of the small homey cabin in the middle of the woods where he felt most at home. “you need to eat.” enzo tells him, motioning him out of the carriage. “and you look tired.” it was clear it upset enzo, but he’d keep himself collected. this was all his fault. why did he have to be such a needy child? so needy that he couldn’t sleep without telling gabriel good night. they entered the cabin, it was nothing special but it was definitely nice and furnished with handcrafted furniture. “make yourself at home. i’ll find something for you to eat, okay?” he says as he walks off towards the kitchen in search of food.

“then by law he will be prosecuted.” if gabriel was his under a claim, it was official that gabriel belonged to him as if he were a piece of property. and as sick as that made him, it was the protection that he needed. “i don’t think he would kill you...he’s not completely heartless.” enzo loved his father, he was his father - he was trying to keep him from heartbreak should anything happen to gabriel and he died, or at least that’s what he’d been told. “come on.” he pulled away and tugged the other along by the hand until they were out of the cell, hardly caring about who watched. “i’ve rented a cabin outside of the tower, we can stay there for the alloted forty-eight hours, and talk about what else needs to be done to ensure you don’t spend another night alone in that cell.” enzo waved a hand at the guard, he had already paid for this rental long before he arrived at gabriel’s cell. “tell me what you need and i’ll get it for you. food, clothes, water, anything.” he speaks quietly as they move towards the exit. 

he smelled the salty tears long before they started falling, he smelled the bitter smell of sadness growing inside of the human. he had to brace himself before coming into the tower, before seeing all the rows of cells lined up with a single human or half-breed inside. it was a cold place, a cold, cruel place that gabriel had been at for the last eight years. “i’m okay.” he said immediately. of course it had come to a shock to him to see all of this, to see how different gabriel actually was and that he was treated as such he expected it when he found out about the pet business in aeternum. he loathed his father even more now to know this was where he had sent gabriel. carefully, the wolf reached out and tugged the other close, wrapping his arms tightly around the human. remembering those nights when he had been scared because of a storm or something else so silly - gabriel was the one who embraced him. “it’s okay.” he whispered, frowning slightly. “please...don’t blame yourself. let me...let me take you with me. i want to make this better. let me make you better, it’s my turn.”

lorenzo knew this was going to be more complicated than he had foresaw it to be. he wasn’t exactly sure what he had pictured - some happy reunion that would have went perfectly. but it was clear years out in this tower had wore the human down, he wasn’t as he remembered him to be. he looked strung out almost, no longer hopeful, there was no spirit in his eyes. did enzo make his days brighter? “i was a child. and you made me happy, being there when no one else could be.”distancing himself from him would have confused him when he was a child. he sighed, this wasn’t gabriel’s fault. it was his fathers, and no one else’s. “you are him. you’re still gabriel, i’m still me. i’m just older.” enzo pressed, stepping into the cell now he moved closer to the pet. the one he shared a home with the first twelve years of his life. “my memories have already been tainted, gabriel. you couldn’t protect me from the truth forever. i was young, i didn’t understand, but i understand now.” what was gabriel so afraid of? “i’m taking you out of this cell, okay?” enzo cleared his throat, it was more of a statement than a question.

“that’s what generally happens when you grow up, gabe. can’t stay a child forever.” he smiled softly. he should have known this would be a shock to the other, so he allowed the man to continue to talk about how much he’s grown. no longer the runt, no, he grew to be big and strong thankfully. he wasn’t as strong as some other pack mates but he certainly could hold his own now. “maybe,” he chuckled, nodding at the guard to open his cell - his heart clenched in his chest when the other blamed it on himself. “i’m going to stop you right there.” he said gently, but firmly so the other knew there was no room for argument. “it was no one’s fault. my father simply saw how attached i was, and being the way he is, he separated us before it got even worse. though at that point i was already pretty damn attached.” enzo was heartbroken when he woke up one day and went to find gabe and he was gone. his father told him gabe had ran away in the middle of the night, and for awhile he believed it till he over heard him speaking of gabe being in the tower. “that doesn’t matter now. i’m here. i want to take you back. i want you to be with me again.” when enzo wanted something, he got it. he didn’t plan on taking no as an answer - and he didn’t care how selfish that was. 

“what do you mean what am i doing here?” enzo asks the other, the same puppy like expression on his face like he was when he was younger and confused. tipping his head to the right slightly, he stared back at the human. “i wanted to see you again...” enzo cut himself off when the other told him he shouldn’t be there. and it stung a bit, it was as if gabriel wanted nothing to do with him - but that couldn’t be the case, could it? “i’m an adult. i can do what i want and go where i want.” he wasn’t weak, small and sick anymore either. he could travel more now, go where he pleased. “no, you’re not. thankfully.” enzo shrugged his shoulders. “but that doesn’t mean you didn’t leave an impact in my life. i was devastated when he took you away.”

he didn’t recognize him. though gabriel looked the same, just aged a bit. he definitely looked a lot older and he wondered if that was due to the taxing life he had lived. it angered him to see gabriel so...down. he could smell despair, sadness. “no,” he answered immediately, nose scrunching at the idea at first. “and i prefer enzo. at least from you.” enzo curled his fingers around the bars of the others cell door, waiting for any sign of realization of who he was. “you have to remember me, don’t you? we only spent twelve years in each others company.” granted he knew he must have looked a lot different. he was no longer a small child, he had grown into a young man. “let me take you out of here.” he says as he glances towards a guard near by waiting for his word to open the door.

@gabrielofsecreta