Light or Dark (Silverwyn)

[Silverwyn]

Oriander hadn't really expected it to be so easy. The look in Ara's eyes as they parted that night had told him everything he needed to know about how the siren's feelings for him had evolved. He was feeling quite hopeful for his chances of drawing the Siren into the light faction.

 

He'd made sure to exchange numbers with Ara so he could keep in contact and keep him interested. By the night of the party, in one conversation, he'd "accidentally" let slip that it was his birthday they were celebrating. And in another conversation, he'd casually hinted that his feelings for the siren were different compared to other people he'd met.

He picked Ara up for the party at their pre-agreed upon destination. Getting out of the car to kiss him, before opening the passenger side for him to get in.

"You look amazing. I'm really glad you could make it."

[sisne]

"Yeah, well it isn't much," he was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and some ankle boots with a white shirt and blazer looked around and felt a whole lot out of place, but he was with Oriander so that made him feel a little easier even if he was being stared at the whole time and was fidgeting, he just didn't feel like himself wearing this jacket or hair done all nice, he really looked the part of a light and kinda felt he was being seriously influenced. Because originally he had it planned with his leather jacket with lighter blue jeans with his black shirt. But he got himself a drink that may not help but he took the beer and went on for round two and after almost and hour he had another and then another. The thing with him and alcohol was once he started it was hard to stop till he passed out but he was finally feeling good and even dragged Oriander away to somewhere private, ignoring all remarks he heard about himself.

[Silverwyn]

As Ara pulled him away from the party, Oriander slipped the siren's latest drink acquisition from him and left it behind.

"I think you've had quite enough to drink. I'd hate for you to pass out on me before the night is over."

Entering the isolated room, Oriander kick the door closed behind them but didn't bother with the lights. as he used the light of the moon streaming through the window tonight to navigate far enough to press Ara against the back of a loveseat.

"I hope your parents aren't expecting you home tonight." He breathed.

 

Suddenly the lights flicked. "Oh, what a coincidence. I was going to say the same about you Oriander."

 

The light fairy froze at the sound of that voice. "Julius." he hissed as he slowly drew away from the siren to turn and face their unwelcome guest. Sure enough, there he stood, red hair, bandanna, eye-patch, and smug smirk all accounted for.

 

"What are you doing here?" The light fairy's question was almost a snarl, but Julius was unfazed.

 

"Why wishing you happy birthday of course. How could I possibly even think to miss such a grand occasion as this? It's not every day a light fairy turns fifty and becomes eligible for his father's seat in the council."

[sisne]

"Shut up," he laughed being pinned up against the wall and kissed Oriander over his neck and had his hands down lower, "or does m birthday boy don't want my present," he chuckled and then was blinded b the lights. "Oi you fucker," he cursed out and covered his eyes against Oriander's shoulders but he heard the name Julius which kinda surprised him bu he was dead till he saw what looked like a ghost. He looked right at him still an idiot as always but the patch was new which completed his look to be a pirate. "Julius," he looked at him and even said his name in complete shock.

[Silverwyn]

The red head blinked his one good eye in surprise as Oriander's companion addressed him.

"Ara? What are you doing here? And with him of all people." He ignored the fairy's glare.

 

"He's here as my date." Oriander said sourly. "I'm sure I can't imagine how he might know you though. He strikes me as the sensible type. Certainly smart enough to stay away from the likes of you. Were you perhaps a fling?"

 

Julius' eyebrow rose. "A fling? Hardly. But it's not really any of your business now is it? It's not like you'll pay him anymore mind than you do all the other poor suckers who joined the light faction to be with you."

[sisne]

This was getting all to be to much he ran out and felt his head spinning hard till he fell down the stairs and of course everyone laughed and he ran out but didn't make it far till he fell again in the grass crying and sat up against the tree. No one was outaide because the party was there and Ara was nkw having one for himself. "You're supposed to be dead you fucking shit ass!" He knew he had to follow and the little siren was ready to kill.

[Silverwyn]

For just a moment, Julius was torn between his objective for the night, and Ara's fleeing figure, but then he was out the door after him, and very quickly caught up.

Julius sighed as he crouched down beside his childhood friend.

"Sorry to disappoint I suppose? I didn't know you thought I was dead." he shrugged with a flourish of his hands.

"It's not like I expected to run into you, but even if I ever did, I didn't think you'd recognize me. Heck, I didn't think you'd even remember me anymore Ara."

[sisne]

"You're a freaking idiot," he groaned leaning to the side anf at a bush where he threw up, "of course I would recognise you, you were my first love and hearing your name with your face," he sighed feeling so overwhelmed, "I need yo get home before I take out your other eye and male you blind," he got up hoping he could find Oriander to take him home but he couldn't help but think about the comment Julius made about Oriander, it could not be true but a few things he did made him question, like how they met and every time they are together they talk about his coming birthday and choosing a side which he was thinking about going with light so he could stay with Oriander.

"You damn idiot, hate that you got hotter," he groaned feeling so drunk he tripped over again.

[Silverwyn]

Julius laughed as he caught Ara this time. "Well if it's any consolation, I rather like that you got cuter."

He wrapped his arms around the siren in a hug. "I'm really happy to see you again Ara, but you really shouldn't be here. You can't trust Oriander. He's notorious for the number of dark faction children he's enticed into choosing the light alignment. It's a hobby for him. Let me take you ho-"

He suddenly sagged against the siren, unconscious from a blow to the back of his head. Oriander stepped out from behind him. "Sorry about that my dear. I shouldn't have given him a chance to accost you. Feel free to drop him and we can let security deal with him. Are you well? Did he hurt you anywhere? You're looking a bit pale."

[sisne]

Throwing helped clear his head and he stood there being caught by Julius which made him feel a spark of electricity and that he was a lityle kid again being held by his best friend and then he was hit and seeing Oriander stand right and one thing for sure was, Julius would never lie to him but Oriander who barely knows and betrayed his trust.

"Do you take me for an idiot?" He asked using his abilities to make their ears ring like he had just used a horn in their ears.

"There ma be a lot of issues between Julius and I right now but he would never lie to me, Julius is my first and my feelings have never stopped for him," he growled lowly and held him close and hoping he woke up soon.

[Silverwyn]

Well damn, Oriander winced. He hadn't accounted for them ever having actually been close.

"Ara, darling, don't be foolish. That man you're holding in your arms has a bounty on his head from both alignments. He's a wanted man. If you only knew half the atrocities he's guilty of..."

He shook his head sadly. "You really don't want to take his side in this. I fear you'll come to regret it."

He was lying through his teeth. Not even half the things he said were true, but he really didn't want to fight the siren. Even if his power didn't work on them the same way it did on humans, Ara could still cause a world of hurt.

"Have you even stopped to ask yourself what a darksider like him is doing in a place like this? Surely you don't think he could be up to any good."

He only hoped he wasn't sounding as frantic as he felt. Was that a twitch? Gods, Julius was already starting to stir.

"Quickly Ara, step away from before you get hurt."

[sisne]

"And why a darksider like Julius stayed out my life for eight years? You have no idea just how close we were, do you take me for an idiot?" he shook his head and continued to hold Julius up and smacked his face, "wake up already," he huffed and whistled which made a high sonic noise he had directed only to Oriander, trying to cause damage to the asshole who has played with his head for a week.

"I was beginning to fall for you, thankful I now know what kind of person you are," but he regretted having had sex with him and even blew him one night a few days ago.

[Silverwyn]

Julius groaned as he finally woke. His head really smarted, that was definitely going to leave a bruise.

"You were seriously falling for that poser?" He made a face at the thought as he finally stood and turned to look at the poser in question. He saw with some satisfaction that Oriander looked to be suffering quite badly.

"Sorry to drag you into this Ara. I'll be sure to get you out of here, but could you help me out a little? It would be a great help if you could incapacitate these security guys while I grab Oriander. I came here for a good private talk with him."

[sisne]

"Shut up Julius I have needs," he let go of him and stared down at the guards and he began to take each one down and hid behind a tree while the taller guy tried to use a stun gun and the other turned wolf to take him down while distracted but the young man could hear the wolf and did something stupid, he ran towards the wolf and whistled again and blew till he fell asleep.

[Silverwyn]

While Ara took care of the guards, Julius approached Oriander who was still reeling from the affects of whatever the siren had done to him.

He'd initially planned to use a sedative to knock the fairy out, but by this point Julius just really wanted to punch him. So he did. And yeah, it felt good.

He applied the sedative then, and tossed the guy over his shoulder before turning back to Ara.

 

"Thank you. Now we can get out of here. My car is this way." He lead the way, tossing Oriander in the back seat and opening the passenger door before moving around to the driver's side.

 

"Where should I take you?" he asked as he started the car.

[sisne]

"Julius don't know but I can't go home I am supposed to be at a friends house and they're out of town, I was supposed to been with Oriander for the night," he sighed and was still pissed off with Julius doing this hiding for eight years. "If you just somehow told me you were still alive I wouldn't be so angry right now. Where have you been and doing?" While Ara has been mourning over him for years and never able to find anyone good enough.

[Silverwyn]

Since taking Ara home was out of the question, Julius turned toward his own place, glancing towards the siren briefly as he responded.

"I was 12 when the light faction took us Ara. They had me for two years. By the time I got away, I didn't have the first clue how to find you, or where to find you, or if you would still be there even if I did manage to find the place. I'd just lost my eye at that time too. I plunged right into the dark faction without looking back. By the time I had the resources to track you down, I was embroiled in things I didn't want to drag you into, and figured you'd probably already forgotten me anyway. I knew we were close, and I'd absolutely adored you. But I didn't realize I'd meant so much to you."

 

Whereas areas around schools and colleges tended to be a mesh of light, dark, and neutral. There were areas of the city that were predominantly Light, and areas that were predominately Dark. The area Julius headed into though, was a very neutral area, made up mostly of humans, and the rare unaligned.

[sisne]

"You're still a damn idiot, as long as you came to me after six or a solid ten I'd been happy but instead I found out another way and with you catching us together," he groaned so embarrassed with that image in his head. "Don't think just because you now know of my feelings for you I'll even kiss you, but I am sorry about your parents. I loved them too but I could never forget you, you never forget your first love," he sighed leaning against the car wincow and watched the stars.

[Silverwyn]

"I'm sorry Ara, I wish things could have been different, but it's probably for the best. Even if you're angry at me though, I'm glad I ran into you tonight rather than searching you out later. I hate to think what would have happened if you'd actually gone light for him."

Julius parked in front of a small, nondescript house that looked a little worse for wear.

"We're here. Run up and unlock the front door while I get Oriander will you?" He asked, tossing Ara the house keys before getting out of the car and circling around to get the light fairy out of the backseat.

[sisne]

"I was thinking about it but I was also think if I had, would I be able to see you again if you were alive. A part of me knew, got into fights with my parents a lot on it," he looked at Julius in the eye for the first time and blushed a little till he left for the door and unlocked it but waited for Julius.

[Silverwyn]

"With my luck, if I hadn't met you tonight and you'd joined the light faction, I would have found you dead..." Julius bit his lip, upset at the notion as he pushed passed Ara to carry Oriander into the house.

"I never would have forgiven myself for not trying harder to find you-" he realized his slip and quickly changed the subject, hopefully before Ara realized he'd just admitted to having made some attempt to find the siren after all.

"I'm going to tie him up before he wakes. You can use my room tonight. Shut the door and don't come out til morning. It's best you don't involve yourself any further in what I'm doing."

[sisne]

Did he he seriously hear him correctly? He stood there a little shocked but before he could be locked out he gave Julius a deep kiss with his hands cupping the sides of his fac. "Thank ypu but that is all you'll get you freaking idiot," he sighed and smacked his cheek a little begore hiding away and put on his headphones so he could try to sleep with some music. But he felt better knowing he was thought of.

[Silverwyn]

Julius stood there a while after Ara left, surprised and confused and, he didn't even know what else.

"I thought you weren't going to kiss me dammit!" he finally called after the siren, not really too concerned with whether or not he'd actually heard him.

With a sigh he finally turned to the task at hand. Pulling rope from a nearby drawer, he set to work binding Oriander's hands and feet. When that was finished, he went to make himself something to eat while he waited for the sedatives to wear off.

He returned to find that Oriander had wiggled himself into a bit more of a sitting position and was glaring daggers at him.

"Ah, good. Looks like they're finally wearing off."

He said no more for the time being as he seated himself, leaving Oriander to watch and wait while he finished his food.

Eventually it was Oriander who broke the silence. "What is it you want from me Julius? revenge for your eye?"

The red head blinked at him in surprise. "What, this?" he indicated his eyepatch. "It's inconvenient, but hardly worth hunting you down over. I'd much rather squeeze you for information on a certain movement the light faction has proposed to the council regarding the razing of a certain east side neighborhood. What was the justification again? Something like 'It's riddled with bounty ridden dark-siders with no regard for life' I believe. Funny thing is though, that area is a rather peaceful little knook in this city. Despite being predominately dark, the crime rate is comparatively low in that neighborhood. At least it is if you ignore the sudden flood of fake reports it recently got buried under. What is your dad trying to do with the Collumbine district?"

[sisne]

Ara couldn't sleep so he popped his headphones out and turned the music off on his phone and went to check out what was going on with these two and when he heardabout his neighborhood he was in shock, how or what is he supposed to do? He sat there so still just thinking about his parents and though they are tough on him they are sweet, during quiet times his mom would just sit with him and cuddle the boy because Ara will always be her baby and even his dad would hold him and pat his head when Ara'll rest his head on his dad's shoulders.

But no matter how bold and tough Ara presented himself, he was still rather sensitive and even delicate at times because a lot of the tough side is just an act to protect this version. He just hoped his parents will be fine and are sleeping soundly to dad's snoring.

[Silverwyn]

Oriander laughed and Julius bit back the urge to punch him again. He wasn't generally an openly violent man, he preferred quieter, less obvious methods of getting things done, but even as a 12 year old boy, Oriander had always gotten under his skin. And the situation with Ara certainly didn't help the fairy's case.

"That area is prime real estate. It's the only place in the city with an unobstructed view of the ocean and it's wasted on all that dark riff-raff puttering around there being useless. There's mostly sentimental old people clinging to old traditions down there anyway. No one will miss them."

He was so callous and flippant about it, Julius had to set down his dishes before he did something he'd regret.

"Is that so."

There was such a chill in his voice that Oriander couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine.

"I haven't been to visit Collumbine district, but perhaps I should. It sounds nostalgic. My parents' home had a nice view of the ocean." He stood up and started circling Oriander and the fairy felt a heavy sense of dread settle in the pit of his stomach. There was no emotion in Julius' one good eye. It was flat and cold, and clinical. The look of someone prepared to kill. "Have you ever really seen the Ocean Oriander? It's like a siren, drawing you in with unimaginative beauty. Before you know it, you've stepped in too deep and the waves are dragging you in and down until you don't know which way is up and the pressure of the water is forcing the air out of your lungs. And then you're sinking. Down, down...down into darkness...."

Julius stopped in front of him, crouching down to his level. "Are you on friendly terms with the merfolk Oriander? Because they're waiting in those depths. They've been known to help the occasional traveler like myself. But if you piss them off, they'll only drag you deeper. What do you think? Have they heard whispers of what you've done to my parents by now?"

At this point the fairy was trembling in terror. He would never have thought Julius of all people capable of going through with such threats if he weren't witnessing first hand the complete and utter emotionlessness that had overcome the man. The dead chill in his voice. The casual mention of his dead parents... the parents Oriander himself had forced the boy to watch as they were tortured to death. How could there be any doubt now that Julius had every intention of carrying out the thinly veiled threat?

"W-what do you want?" He cursed his own weakness that the tremble in his voice was so obvious.

"What I want Oriander, is for you to remember how easily I got into your high security party. If Ara hadn't been there, no one would have ever seen you leave when I took you. I want you to take your father's seat, as is now your right, and do everything in your power to prevent the razing of the Collumbine District, and any other such districts you light siders are planning to try sinking your claws in. Even if you have to reveal the false nature of those reports. From this night on, you work for me, and the day you forget that is the day you get intimate with the ocean. Do we have an understanding?"

 

Oriander had no choice but to nod. Until now, Julius had never been more than a thorn in his side. Quite frankly, now he terrified him. Bodies found in strange and unusual places, with strange deaths and the rumors tying them to Julius came to mind. He'd always discounted the rumors before, thinking Julius incapable of such a thing, but now he wasn't so sure. Oriander couldn't help the reflex to flinch when Julius suddenly stood.

 

"Good, then why don't you get on home?" the red head announced, his face and voice were once more full of life and it almost gave Oriander a sense of mental whiplash.

He felt a bit numb with shock as he watch Julius walk away, only to come back with a knife a moment later and begin cutting the ropes binding his feet.

"Don't bother sending anyone here to look for me yeah?"

The chill returned for a moment as he ripped away the last of the rope. "It won't be pleasant for anyone."

Oriander was still reeling as he was pulled to his feet and pushed out the door, his feet free, but his hands still bound.