Secrets {Rumpleteaser x M-jow}

[Rumpleteaser]

Vesper nodded silently to acknowledge Louis's thanks. He would be able to supply Louis with more information about his parents when the investigation was over. It was perhaps going beyond his duties as a warden but Vesper had more resources to pull on than most wardens, given that he was also in charge of Louis's investigation. It was lucky for him, really.

 

'Your apartment will remain under your name until your investigation is over, at which time you will most likely be allowed one last visit. After that your rental agreement will be cancelled. Normally we do not approach your employers though. They may contact your adoptive parents to find out more. You are welcome to write them a letter of resignation if you wish and I will have it delivered. You may also write a letter to your adoptive parents, who will already be informed of the situation. They will also be given a cover story for you in case people ask after you,' he explained between mouthfuls of food. He was almost finished now and set his knife and fork down on the plate. Of course, all letters Louis wrote would be read, copied and placed in his file in case they contained any secret messages. Louis didn't need to know that though.

 

'Your list can be as long or as short as you wish. Your belongings still belong to you,' he replied calmly. 'As for clothes without tail holes, there were other places I could have taken you to for more humanoid clothes but I thought it best to bring you two somewhere more quiet for your first trip out in the demon underworld.'

 

'Is there anything else you would like me to follow up on for you? Bank accounts, superannuation, schools, friends, clubs, sports teams, telecommunications accounts or anything else you can think of?' he asked. 'I can't promise to follow up on these things immediately but I will do my best.'

[M-jow]

Louis nodded as he listened to the guy explained further while finishing him own plate of food.

He smiled relieved that he would be able to buy normal clothes down here, the untimate would had been him leaning to sew those wholes himself if need, unless he had started to grow a tail of his own.

 

"I don't think there are much to follow up on, expect maybe the money in my bank, the rent for my apartment goes though automticly every month, so that shouldn't be a problem." Louis explained though the guy properly already knew that. "And I'll write the lettere, one to my parents and one for work, though my manager might think i let him down, and the fact that he can be a prik, I at less wants to give him a heads up."

 

Louis looked at the emty plate and back at the window where the kid no longer stood. "Think he has calmed down?"

[Rumpleteaser]

'I don't really care what he thinks, so long as it's not abduction,' Vesper replied. That's what it was though - abduction. Louis had legally been abducted from the street and sequestered away in the underworld. He would have to apply for special permissions each time he saw his adoptive family or any time he wished to go to the surface world. There were processes to go through, paperwork to fill out and no doubt for the first few times Vesper and his burly, ill-tempered colleague would have to go with him.

 

'I doubt it. In any case, he's not allowed in until we've finished our meals,' he replied. He took the sanitiser out again before giving his hands a quick go-over. He picked up a napkin and wiped his lips and hands before standing to gather up their used plates and cutlery. He took it over to the sink and set it down before taking up some disinfectant and a disposable cleaning wipe to clean up the table.

 

'You can go sit in the lounge and watch anything you like,' Vesper said. 'I'll do the dishes. I don't trust anyone else with them.'

 

Vesper took out another setting and placed it on the table ready for Damian to use. He didn't particularly want to let the young man in yet but it would be negligent to leave him out there any longer. The demon walked to the door, turned the handle slowly and opened the door cautiously. He was ready for anything. If he had to take the rambunctious young half-demon down to the floor, he would. He would not tolerate the young man's misbehaviour.

[M-jow]

"Okay" Louis nodded not even trying to bother asking if he should help, he already knew which answer he would get to that. But instead of getting comfortable in the nice looking couch, Louis choose to go up and take his bath. He would watch the start dvd together with the other as soon as the kid had eaten anyway.

 

Louis grabed his sleepwear which was a shirt with 'The devil made me do it' writen on it and som dark loss pants. whomever had made the shirt had a sick humor, but Louis had found it funny enough to take it anyway.

He went to the bathroom Vesper had told them to use, and the the water run until warm while he stripped out of his clothes and got under the spray of water.

Louis sighed as the warm fluid ran down his body, and for the first time in hours he could finally relax.

[M-jow]

Damian:

 

"Dude I'm not som dog you just put outside! I know you aren't my warden, but you are a warden aren't you? And howcome Lou gets to eat? He touched many more thing that I did!" Damian knew he was a nuisance, but Hey he was working on that!

 

He sighed.

"Hey man sorry that I'm being pushy, I'll try to do better from now on... So, can I please get some food? My stomach is killing me"

[Rumpleteaser]

'No, you're a disobedient teenager who needed to be taught limits,' Vesper replied sternly. 'Louis is my ward. It's reasonable that he would need to use the kitchen at some stage. That's very different from back-chatting and putting feet on the lounge.'

 

'You're welcome. You can come in now... but make sure you wash your hands when you come in,' Vesper said. He held the door open and stepped aside so Damian could come in. He was relived to see that Damian dad settled and was now at least accepting there were rules to staying in Vespers home.

 

'There's dinner on the table. Eat as much as you like and wash your hands when you're finished,' Vesper said. He felt he had to spell everything out with this one. Unlike Louis, who seemed more intuitive as to what was expected of him.

 

After that, Vesper sat on the couch for a while and used his magic to turn on the mirror screen. He flicked few a few channels until he came to the news then just sat back with his eyes closed and listened to the world around him. It was nice to be home. It was nice to relax. It was nice to breath "clean" air.

[M-jow]

Damian hurried to wash his hands before he almost throwed himself over the plate like a hungry hyena over a cadaver. One would almost think he didn't get enough food, but that wasn't true, he was just still growing if anyone asked and that was the truth.

 

Louis:

 

It didn't take him all that long to wash himself clean in the shower, but he might had stayed under the warm spray just for a few more minutes just to let his body soak in the warmth.

When he was done and had turned off the water he took one of the towels they had been allowed to use and patted himself dry. Normally Louis would just shook himself dry and walke around while letting his hair dry on it's own, but only in his own apartment.

Louis changed into his clothes and brushed his hair with his fingers so that it would lay back away from his face before he went down to see just how far Damian had gotten and to see if Vesper had let him in.

He spotted Vesper sitting on the couch with eyes closed and choose not to disturb him, with the little peace he had got let that was couse soon Damian came out from the kitchen, hands still looking wet after a wash.

"Thanks for the food, something drifinitely tasted weird, luckely I'm og picky eater" Damian smiled as he patted his hands dry in his clothes.

[Rumpleteaser]

Vesper opened one eye and looked over as Damian came back from devouring what was left of the food. It was a relief really, it meant no leftovers to be put back in the fridge.

 

'You're welcome. There's human fruit too if you get hungry,' he answered before closing his eyes. A few moments later he opened them and went to place the instructional DVD in the player. He used his magic to control the thing and get it set up for both young men to watch. He then sat back, closed his eyes and just listened idly to what the narrator was saying. He figured he should remain with them for this in case there were things they didn't understand. It was his responsibility to guide Louis through the process of naturalisation after all.

 

'I'm not asleep. Ask me anything you like, I'm listening,' Vesper said softly without looking at the others.

 

The DVD started off by welcoming the new half-demon to the underworld. It assured the viewers that they were not alone, that there were many half-breeds living happily in the underworld. They could get jobs, enjoy their hobbies and do most of the things they could do in the human world. In many ways the demon world was much like the human world, though there were a few things they would have to get used to... such as the lack of sunlight. The DVD assured the veiwers that they would get used to the eternal night eventually, their bodies would adapt, their eyes would adjust and they would come to find it more "normal".

[M-jow]

" Right" Louis answered for them both as they took a seat, and though Damian complained saying that he already had see that one, one look from Louis made him shut up, so they could hear what the guy talking said.

 

"No problem there, I see best in dark places anyway, strong sunlight hurts" Damian smiled as he explained it and Louis wounded just what kind of demon the kid shared bloodline with. For Louis however it would be drifferent, he had always loved warm sunny days and already knew that his sun tan skin would disappear eventually. He sighed at the word 'normal'. The video was all about having normal lives for people/halfbreeds whom hadn't had or could couse they were drifferent than other humans. But Louis had never had any of those kind of problems so far and he still didn't get why they would had taken him too. He looked nothing like his demon dad, no speciale abillitis, powers or a freaks tail!

And apart from his work Louis hadn't really got any hobbies, or thing he was expescially good at, and he highly doubt he would be doing any modelling down here.

 

The dvd didn’t containe much of what Louis hadn't already read in the book from Vesper office, but he got to se drifferent kinds of demons and just how powerful each could be. The narrato said that younger new demons should try to stay clear of powerful demons and how to know the drifferences between a demon, lord and King.

It a demon was stronge enough the King (lucifer) would make that person a lord.

 

As the video finally ended Damian had fallen asleep with his head resting on the couch's backrest snorring lightly.

"So... If you haven't got any hobbies, what dose demons do? Louis asked testing to see if Vesper still was awake.

"I tried working drifferent places, before I started modelling, but I haven't really had time to have something like hobbies before, so I'm at s lost there"

[Rumpleteaser]

As well as the different ranks of demon society and how the underworld was run, the DVD had lots of information on the dos and don'ts of demon society. It had information on the major cities within the underground networks of the world, how the public transport systems worked, education systems, religion and all sorts of useful information. Vesper had heard it dozens of times before and it got old after a while so he just took the time to relax.

 

'That's like me asking what humans do,' Vesper answered, still not opening his eyes. 'I suspect our hobbies are rather similar but I wouldn't know because I've only seen what demons do. We have sports, competitions, special interest clubs like knitting, religious groups, nightlife and personal interests just like humans would. Besides work, I create mechanical eggs.'

 

Vesper looked at Damian and sighed. It really had been a long, stressful day for the younger half-demon. He got up silently and set the young man into a more comfortable position with the pillows and blanket around him so he wouldn't catch a cold. Vesper still washed his hands afterwards but he seemed less stressed than he was earlier. He didn't even mind that Damian was sleeping with his feet on the lounge now.

[M-jow]

Louis watch as Vesper gently moved Damian to a more comfortable position and it surprised him that the guy could be gently as well, maybe Damian had started growing on him.

 

"That sounds just about the same as above" Theo said in a more quitet voice. Louis hadn't ever thought those things as interesting and it didn't start now either, maybe he would find something once he started getting use to it all, or started school.

 

"Machine eggs?" Louis smiled as he asked, he had never heard about such a thing before. "What it that?"

[Rumpleteaser]

'We're all still people, even if we don't look the same and live in a different part of the world,' Vesper answered.

 

'Yes, machine eggs. I use them to record people's secrets,' Vesper said as he went over to take the DVD out of the player and put it back in its case. He looked over at Louis and considered a moment. 'I'll show you if you like.'

 

Vesper dimmed the lights without ever touching or looking at anything then walked over to the forbidden basement door. He waved Louis over and the door slid open. There was a staircase down to a lower level that was pitch black. Lights flickered on and Vesper waved Louis over to join him.

[M-jow]

He listened as Vesper tried to explain the eggs, but he didn't get it, people's secrets?

Louis nodded as he was asked if he wanted to see, and followed the guy over to the bastment. Just like the magic Vesper had told him about, the door opened on it's own and lights flashed soon after. Okay that was kind of cool Louis admitted in his head and walked after the other down the stairs.

 

On the way down he noticed that the walls was the same rock as the once outside and that the stairway had been cut down though the hard solidt cave rock. One had held into the banister while the other slide alone the cold dark stone wall. "It's kind of like walking though a secret hidout, just how did they cut this wall, magic?"

[Rumpleteaser]

'My apartment is cut into the rock wall of the cavern, as are all the others alongside this one,' Vesper explained. 'They're all technically small boxes alongside one another with their inner dimensions altered to be bigger on the inside. My entire house is barely larger than the livingroom window.'

 

Vesper came to another door at the bottom of the stairs. He had to place his hand into a round, jelly-looking bubble that glowed with his touch. The door slid open to reveal a workroom with a soft orange light. Vesper waved Louis in then took two pairs of gloves from a box, one of which he handed to Louis. He then walked over to a wooden, scarred work desk that had what looked like a faberge egg on it. There were others too, about a dozen of them lined up on the side of the bench. They were all in various stated of completion with their cogs and clockwork showing. There were also several wooden containers with different bits and pieces of cogs, buttons and the like in them. Vesper held up the one in the middle of the table and took an antique looking key off the desk. When he placed the key in a slit at the front of the egg, turned it until it clicked and opened it up to reveal a little music box inside. It clicked and whirred before going silent.

 

'Here, take this,' he said as he held out to Louis for closer inspection. 'Hold it up to your mouth and speak into it.'

 

The egg was heavier than it looked, made of some strange metal. It was green with golden filigree on the outside and gold on the inside. It was intricately designed to look like swirling and curling vines. The device started to glow softly as Vesper looked at it and used his magic to make it work. The little music box

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began to spin as a thin, clear film began to move through it. At first nothing appeared on the film but it would start to glow with purple etchings as Louis started to speak. It was recording his exact voice in perfect record, and Vesper's voice too if he spoke.

[M-jow]

That made sense, but still what a work that must had been. Vesper said that his house was small, but from Louis view it seemed a lot bigger. "It just seems bigger from the inside" He admitted as the past the last door with the weird glowing jelly button.

 

The first thing Louis noticed was how clean every thing was and that there weren't a single dmall tool or piece of metal out of order. He put on the gloves Vesper gave him, and followed him over to a long old looking wood table with all kinds of colored egg looking things. Louis looked at the with his expression in a awe couse they were stunning to look at, and though he was no expert it still looked like a nice piece of work with the machine inside.

When Vesper handed him one of the eggs to see, the weight of the thing was heavier than what he had expected, but luckely he hadn't been about to drop it.

A glove finger carefully ran alone the painted vines. "It's beautiful" Louis said quietly totaly fascinated by the thing. A soft purple light glowed as he spoke and Louis look to Vesper with big eyes. "It's a recorder right, is that what you meant with people's secrets?"

[Rumpleteaser]

'Yes. People come to me with something they want preserved but kept hidden. Only the person with the key can open the egg and hear what's been said,' Vesper explained. As he and Louis spoke, strange etchings were recorded onto the film in a glowing, purple line.

 

Vesper reached out and closed the lid before turning the key again. The lid swung open again and the film began to move through the music box. As it did, Louis's and Vesper's voices played back perfectly.

 

'It's beautiful... It's a recorder right, is that what you meant with people's secrets?' came Louis's voice from within the egg.

 

'Yes. People come to me with something they want preserved but kept hidden. Only the person with the key can open the egg and hear what's been said,' came Vesper's.

 

The older demon then took the egg from Louis's hands. He held it in one hand while holding the other hand above it. The egg cracked open, revealing the inner workings. It was made of a black metal that reflected with the colours of a rainbow. Inside, the film was much longer and held enough for perhaps ten minutes worth of conversation. It was all rolled up from one side of the egg, travelled across the center with a roll on the other side of the egg. Vesper had the egg play again so Louis could see all the cogs and clockwork working and the film roll from one side to the other. He then carefully removed the roll of film and disintegrated it completely. It was of little use now. The films only worked once so there was no point keeping it.

 

'Once the eggs are recorded, they are locked away in my safe room. Whenever the person with the key arrived, I get the egg out and leave them to listen to it in private,' Vesper explained. He placed the egg back on its stand in the middle of the work bench then took one of the others from the side. This one he handed to Louis too so he could study how they were put together as much as he liked.

[M-jow]

He watch just how it all worked as Vesper explained it to him, and giggled as they heard their voice replay.

He woundered what kind of secret people usally hide inside one of this eggs, but it was kind of sad they had to be locked away when the crafting was so beautiful.

 

Louis had always loved old things and this looked like something from out of an antique store.

"You really make this, just how did you come up with these? They look like antiques, and the craftwork both on the inside and the outside lookes gorgeous!" Louis said excited as he studied the new egg Vesper had given him.

"It must have taken you years to learn"

[Rumpleteaser]

'Yes, I make these. True beauty doesn't seek to be admired,' Vesper replied in a soft voice. He picked up one of the other eggs, this time a royal blue that had a rainbow sheen to it that reflected in the light. Like the others on the side of the work bench, it was not yet up to scratch. Vesper was still trying to work out what was wrong with this one and had spent many hours tinkering and pulling it apart.

 

'Even in the demon world, things are not made the way they used to be,' he agreed. It was somewhat of a sore spot of Vesper's that things were so flimsy and disposable these days but he wasn't going to go on a rant about it. It was what it was, complaining would not change that. He would simply make sure his eggs stood the test of time. They had to, it could be centuries before the owner of the key came to listen to their egg.

 

'I'm a demon; I have years to practice,' he replied simply. 'It started with clocks and watches. I used to put clocks in these eggs instead of recording devices and sell them to people for decorative pieces. I still get a few orders for clock eggs or other things too. They make great last minute gifts when I'm invited to birthday parties.'

 

Vesper waited and let Louis study as much as he would like before waving his hands over and holding them out for Louis to hand the egg back. He placed it carefully on the side of the workbench with the others then took off his gloves. The gloves were tossed in the empty rubbish bin under the workbench before he turned to go back upstairs. He stood at the top of the stairs and waited to slide the door closed after Louis.

[M-jow]

So this actually a business as well as an hobby. Louis nodded in understanding and would have loved to hear more, but wasn't sure if he was allow to or if Vesper even wanted to tell. He also better not get to involved privatly with Vesper, Louis still counted on going back to live in the human world after his trial outs.

 

Louis careful gave Vesper the egg back, and watch as the guy put everything back in order before following him back upstairs.

"If You don't mind me asking, just how old are you?" Louis couldn't help to ask, just before the slid door closet behind him. The guy looked rather young, not much older than Louis from the looks of it, but the way the Vesper acted at times still made him wounder.

[Rumpleteaser]

'I'm actually only 28 years old. I've had more spare time than most,' Vesper answered. He was very young indeed by demon standards. He'd finished growing four years prior. It was a little earlier than most, which meant he would always appear younger than many of his colleagues. Some demons didn't stop ageing until into their thirties. 'There's no such thing as old aged in demon society. Demons stop ageing once they reach their peak physique. It varies from person to person. No doubt you'll stop ageing soon too.'

 

'Is there anything else you need from me before I get back to work?' he asked. He still had paperwork in his messenger's bag that needed finishing before tomorrow morning. He had to process more detainees tomorrow and needed to read through their case files and know them intimately by the time they were brought in. It was all part of the job. Vesper didn't mind it. It meant he got to go up to the surface often to speak with families, run errands for various wards and, of course, capture supposed half-demons.

[M-jow]

Louis frown his eyebrows at that information. "Okay first you don't look 28, my guess would had been 25. Secondly if demons stop ageing how come the underworld isn't over populated by now? You told me before with all the halfbreeds coming and all." He asked, ad he turned back to look at Vesper. "And how can you know if it's gonna happened to me too?

 

Louis didn’t want to keep the guy up, seeing that Vesper had other things ti attend, but being told something like that made questions.

[Rumpleteaser]

'That's a good question,' Vesper replied. He was pleased to see Louis was becoming curious about his new world.

 

'Humans breed like rabbits by comparison to us. Demons breed slower and only really have one or two children where humans are known to have up to seven or even more. The underworld is also larger than you'd think. It doesn't exist under just one country and we can always dig lower. Mind you, it gets hotter as you go down,' Vesper explained. 'We still die too, just not of old age. We're not immortal.'

 

Vesper sighed and ran his hand through his towel dry hair.

 

'I hate to cut you off there but I do have work to prepare for tomorrow. You're welcome to anything in the house and I'll be here if you need me,' he assured. However, Damian was already asleep so it would be rude to watch the mirror.

 

Vesper inclined his head slightly as way of saying goodbye then walked over to the kitchen. He dimmed the lights in the lounge room so Damian could sleep but kept the kitchen ones bright so he could do the dishes. He put on the gloves and got started on the task. He was very fussy as to how his dishes were washed and dried. He didn't want anyone touching them expect for him. Not that his wards could complain, it meant they rarely had to do any chores.

[M-jow]

Ahh, so it was like that, Louis thought as he continued to listen to Vesper's explanation. Than the underworld would be something like a entire network of caves? Better not go looking around too fare away when he went out.

When Vesper seemed sick of him he took he hint. "That's fin, thanks anyway, I'm properly gonna hit the bed too, see you tomorrow" Louis said and made sure to sent the guy a smile to show that it didn't bothered him, before he turned to the stairs. "Night"

 

When Louis landed on the bed face down he felt like he had ran a maraton, he was exhausted, tired and his head felt like an old use drum. The banging had stopped around dinner by now he just felt heavy.

'Just sleep for now, with any luck you wouldn't be here when you wake up' he told himself, though he was starting to strongly doubt this still was a dream, Louis fell asleep closing his head for any thinking, and allowed himself to be dragged down in the dark nothingness in his mind.

[Rumpleteaser]

After finishing the dishes, Vesper washed his hands and started on his night's work. He had a few case files to work through and remember for tomorrow so he could interrogate another few half-demons. He would also be speaking to a few demon families and inducting two more wardens into the program. All that meant preparation, which meant reading and memorising a lot of information.

 

Finally, it was done and it was time for Vesper to go to bed. He dimmed all bar the kitchen light and went upstairs. He changed from his lounge clothes into a set of striped pajamas then practically flopped into bed. He was home, he was alone and he didn't have to think about anyone else. It was bliss. Vesper curled up on his side and pulled the blankets around himself like a cocoon. He was a heavy sleeper, even when he was stressed he slept like a rock and didn't wake until the alarm went off at 5am. After that, the next three hours were spent decontaminating the entire house, except for the couch and Louis's room. He wouldn't go in Louis's room until the young man moved out and it was time to decontaminate the place ready for the next ward.

 

The next day, Louis was given the chance to stay home or join Vesper at work, as they hadn't gone out enough to show Louis the safe areas to walk and run. Damian was handed over to his ward too, which was a huge relief to Vesper. It was just him and Louis again. That afternoon Vesper arrived home earlier than the evening before, hoping it was all still in one piece. He trusted Louis but the first time leaving a ward alone in his home was always nerve wracking.

 

'Louis? Would you like to go out? We've still got plenty of time until the malls close,' he called after teleporting in. He walked over to the door, took off his shoes and put them away. He made sure to wash his hands and face before putting on a pair of clean socks.

[M-jow]

Louis was in the proces og texting Damian as he heard Vesper call out to him from downstairs. Louis and Damian had started to talk alot and as Damian's warden had brought him a phone and they had exchanged numbers.

Louis stuck his head out of his bedroom door as he replie back. "Sure, I'll be right down"

 

To tell the true Louis had spent the most of the day being bored out of his mind, the only thing he could do was to watch movies and read the books he had got from Vesper, and today je had just been so bored that he had decided to clean every corner in his room with the things he had been allowed to use. The room stank of lemons and everything from sheets to the ceiling was embarrassingly clean.

 

"You are home early today" Louis commented as he walked down the stairs, but he wasn’t a bit soure about that fact and smiled his usally smile