#candyvenom

He'd lost track of Andreas in the crowd, and he was already starting to grow suspicious.

The party was packed full of Guardians -- known ones, rising stars, and those who wished to be. While Diego had originally come to support Zivon, his brother had been quick to tag along for the party -- and, of course, they'd only been there a few minutes before they'd seen Emrys. Trying to gain some connections, probably.

Either way, Andreas had seemed a little too uninterested towards Emrys, and now that he'd disappeared, Diego's mind began to jump to the worst possible conclusion. Pulling away from his husband, he found himself weaving through the people there, trying to find his brother or that bastard, Emrys.

The party was big, though, multiple rooms full to the brim with people. Diego hated every moment of it, his eyes flicking to scan every face he could.

It was around the bar that he noticed the man for the first time, a Guardian who was standing against the counter and talking. His eyes managed to meet Diego's on accident, and the man's mouth seemed to drop open, words lost. Diego quickly averted his eyes from the awkward encounter, pushing out of that room to the next.

The next place he tried was a lounge -- packed with drunk people socializing. It seemed like the kind of place Andreas would be -- but as his eyes scanned every seat, his brother was still nowhere to be found. Turning to head back the way he'd came, his eyes once again fell on the man from the bar, now standing in the doorway of the lounge and looking at him.

Diego pushed forward, casting an irritated look as he passed the strange man, wondering what he could possibly want. Was someone mistaking him for Andreas again? Either way, his desire to find his brother was strong enough to keep him from caring too much.

He checked a few more rooms, finally making his way outside to the courtyard of the building. His eyes followed the path in front of him, finally seeing the familiar form of Andreas, sitting on the edge of a fountain with a couple of strangers who were paying complete attention to him. Typical.

But even more, Diego's gaze traveled behind Andreas, and his face twisted with disgust when his eyes found Emrys in another small crowd, the man's eyes obviously on Andreas nearby. He needed to get his brother out of here.

Diego moved forward only a step before he felt a hand grab his arm, and the words. "Excuse me --"

Instantly, red flags flared in his mind and he twisted sharply, ripping the limb away from the hand that had grabbed it -- coming to face to face with the man who had been following him. Green eyes quickly darted up and down his form, trying one last time to try and recognize who he could be.

"What the fuck do you want?" His tone instantly hostile, a mix between being creeped out and the irritation he'd already felt because of Andreas. For a short moment, the man seemed to be taken aback, but he answered.

"I didn't mean to scare you." He replied, causing Diego to give him even more of A Look. "I just -- I saw you in there, and I just want to ask you a question."

Part of Diego wanted to just walk away and leave, but the small curiosity of what this man could possibly want won out. Crossing his arms over his chest, he answered only. "Which is...?"

"I -- I just --" The man began to speak, his stuttering making Diego's eyes roll. "I need to know." He said, "Was your mother's name Aurora?"

It took a few long seconds for the question to process in Diego's mind, but the irritation of his face twisted into genuine anger for just a short second, a flaring exhale of a breath out of his nose.

He tried to pull away, to head towards Andreas again, but the man just followed him, reaching out to grab him again. But Diego saw it coming, moving away from the touch and turning around at him with a snarled lip.

"Don't." He growled. "Touch me."

"Okay. Okay." The strange man lifted his hands up as he spoke. "Please, though. I think I may have known your mother, and I just --"

   Dark eyes flit across the rubble and stone of the old subway system, keen ears catch the enraged shrieks of the left Taken outside. Save for them and the sounds of their own breathing ( and the occasional pebble that fell loose from the artificial landslide ) it was silent in the abandoned tunnels. There was no way out from this staircase, but hopefully they would find a safe exit further down the railway system.

“Diego!! You might be married now, but you’re really one to talk…

Don’t think I forgot about your past… excursions.”

“Andreas! I-- you -- “ Diego trails off and huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. His cheeks have just the slightest tinge of dark purple. “That’s different.”

smooch the bois – not accepting

Though he wasn’t entirely surprised to find the Hunter already situated in the main room of his relatively small apartment, Fawke’s breath still catches in his throat at the sight of Andreas before him. Eyes widen at the hands on his chest, the weight of the smaller body against his own causes Fawke to stumble backwards - only stopping when his back makes contact with his now closed door.

“How long have you been planning this ambush then?” A smile finds Fawke’s features as he stares down at the Hunter, his hands resting on Andreas’ hips - a raised eyebrow being met with nothing more than a dangerous looking smirk from the smaller Awoken. 

“Maybe just mind your own damn business for once, Diego.” He turns away from his brother as he finishes pulling the shirt over his head. Only once he’s completely covered does he glance over his shoulder at him.

If he hadn’t barged into his room unannounced, this wouldn’t have been an issue. “They’re just bruises. It happens.” How they happened? He isn’t about to explain. Not that he has to, Diego isn’t stupid. But he isn’t going to confirm. Just in case.

Diego doesn't like his brother telling him to mind his business. Not one damn bit. His mouth falls open for a second before he snaps it shut, huffing out of his nostrils in a way that almost seemed like it should be accompanied by smoke.

He crosses the room quickly, reaching out and grabbing Andreas' shoulder and pushing his brother's body so he was facing him. "Andreas, everything you do is my fucking business!" He says -- which sounds more horrible than he means it to. But every single time Andreas did something stupid, got himself into trouble, Diego was the one who had to take care of it and try to fix his brother's broken pieces.

And, well, of course, he cared. That was a definite reason, even if others wouldn’t be able to tell half the time.