His shoulders fell in defeat, a soft sigh pushing out of his chest at the lack of responsiveness from the man beside him. Callisto didn’t move though, he stayed where he was, watching the sun slowly dip closer and closer to the horizon. The subtle changes in colour that the movement created and the shadows it cast in long strokes across the hills.

His arms remained folded over his chest, though he was gripping his own forearm a little tighter than one would if simply standing there casually. Callisto couldn’t bring himself to ask, or rather persuade Xevon to talk, so he just stood there. At least Xevon was wearing the stupid thing.

Lily snuffled out another laugh at his reading of the car section. She was sure all of this that seemed strange to them was exactly how they looked to the owner of this home and books. “Well, stories about spells and all this existed. I didn’t think all of it was real.” Lily left out the part about how she was entangled with Veles rather deeply.

“I never saw him how you described him that first time.” She spoke after a long moment, looking up to Finn slowly. “He looked like a man to me.” She regretted it rather quickly as she could feel the shift in the room’s tension. “N-Not that I feel bad for him!” Lily did her best to defend herself, grimacing with raised hands in surrender.

“I just meant that all of this can be confusing, magic and gods and all this. Far too confusing for me to understand completely, I mean tea that can make you breathe underwater or only tell the truth. It is like a fairytale.”

Lily followed Finntello with her good eye as he switched from the bookcase to the couch in a quick enough movement, settling that bit closer to her. She considered his words carefully, Xevon certainly hadn’t come across as the type to well..do what he did. Even so, the reasoning behind it was obvious to her at least. He wanted to get them out of there Veles is a vain creature who wants to be adored. If Xevon could play up to that to get them out, Callisto in particular, then she had no doubt he would be capable of playing that role.

She was ripped from her own thoughts as Finn piped up with a question and she had to look across to the books in order to make a selection. “They’re all strange, any would be interesting.” Lily leaned forward to try and get a better look. There was one with no writing on the spine, her eyes carried over it a few times before she flicked a finger up to point at it. “That one, it’s blank. I want to know what secrets it’s hiding.” She hummed, a small devious smile on her lips.

Callisto blinked slowly as he heard Alma’s approach, he didn’t turn his head as he took the cup no when she spoke in a hushed tone beside him before slipping back into the cottage. His hands cupped the warm meal, running along his muscles and into his blood. What on earth could she want his help with? He finally gave a small look into the cottage out of curiosity but there was nothing strange.

Callisto remained where he was for a while, carefully sipping at the stew. It was almost up to par with her usual meals, but the slightly stale food had tainted her good cooking. It was almost empty when he finally pushed himself off of the wall, delivering Xevon a pointed look. One mixed with annoyance, hurt and exhaustion before stepping back into the warmth of the cottage.

He set about locating Alma, which wasn’t hard. She was watching the more exuberant pair chatter like jackdaws to each other while nursing her own cup of stew.

“What did you need me to help with?” For once, Callisto was genuinely curious as to what she was going to need him for. It could be something as bland as the dishes, but there was something that made him go in and ask.

Lily watched as the cloud of dust came flying off of the book after Finn blew at it, flinching back a little in preparation to avoid the particles that were raining down. She waited a moment as he opened the book before giving out a small huff and lifted a hand to flap at the space beside her on the couch. Her other hand held the cup carefully so as to not spill it all over herself.

“Come sit down, you’re making my antsy standing up and walking about.” Lily complained with mock annoyance, her smile giving her away. She could clearly hear both Alma and Callisto, but her mind wasn’t focused on them and it became background mumbling. Finntello was far more interesting than whatever they were murmuring about in the corner. Well, Finn and the books.

Callisto still held the cup in in his off hand, the small remnants of the stew swirling in the bottom as he took up residence beside Alma. His eyes moved from her to his cup as she spoke, slowly narrowing as her request continued. He wasn’t so sure Xevon would be up for discussing that with him. Currently, the big winged idiot wouldn’t even acknowledge he had spoken, let alone reply.

He was about to reject the request, his lips parting with an obvious look of disagreement before it was replaced by a resigned sigh. His shoulders dropped and he tipped his head back to drink down the last of his portion.

“I shall try.” Callisto relinquished, lifting his gaze to scan over the woman, looking at her a little too closely to see if he could spot this strangeness that Xevon had spoken of. “I doubt he will be happy about my prying.” With that, Callisto offered Alma a short farewell under his breath and picked his way past the rather annoyingly calm and happy pair near the couch.

This time he did not cautiously stick his head out, he stepped straight out of the front door and gently closed the heavy wooden thing behind him before taking up residence leaning against the wall again. His back twinged at the sharp stones, but he settled back in beside Xevon.

For a handful of long minutes, Callisto didn’t say a word. He continued his staring out across the horizon, which had become a dusky pink and orange as the sun kissed the skyline. It cast a warm, coloured light across the grass and subsequently the pair of them. His ribs drew in a deep breath which he slowly released before inclining his head up towards Xevon. The crown of his head touching the cold stone behind him, leaning his entire body on the wall. There was little point dancing around what he wanted to ask, the second Callisto tried to be subtle about it Xevon would know immediately. No point in hiding it, they had been around each other too long not to know when the other was being sneaky.

“Do you want to talk about it? Being in there with him?” Callisto kept his voice low and gentle as he peered up at him, blinking slowly. The orange light staining the paleness of his hair and eyelashes the same colour.

He had to fight to make sure his face didn’t drop into one of coldness at the dismissive answer he received from Xevon, instead making sure he kept a steady gaze locked onto him. Even if the other man wasn’t looking at him, Callisto ensured he kept his attention on him.

“He twists people into gross facsimiles of themselves, Xevon.” Callisto’s eyes half-lidded as he flicked through his own experience with the wretched creature. He had a way of manipulating all mortals into his claws, to make them act how he desired, no matter the cost to the mortal’s soul. He had created a court for Veles, a long line of worshipers, ones that heard Veles’s calling and let it lead them further and further from the light.

“He contorted me into a person I could not recognise.” Perhaps if he gave up his own feelings, it would coax Xevon into the same conversation. Alma was right, keeping silent about themselves was a silly choice, it would boil over inside of them until they snapped.

“I had a family.” Callisto finally looked away, casting his eyes towards the ground, the sun was too bright for his pale eyes. His words had come quickly, unexpected even by himself. He let the sentence hang in the air for a long time, listening to the gentle sound of the breeze running through tall grass.

“I had a wife and children. Two of them, Heidi and Emilia.” It was like razor blades as the words forced themselves from his throat, a hand moving to rub at the ring finger on his left hand. It was even harder to keep the stinging sensation behind his eyes in check. They were the reason he had desired more in life, to give them everything and more.

–

Lily leaned back into the chair, hooking one leg over the other at the knee as Finntello scampered about to try and find himself a chair. The fireplace to their left was so delightful, heating up the length of her legs behind the almost tattered jeans. She could feel herself relaxing into the embrace until she heard what Finn had said and she sat up bolt upright.

Craning her neck forwards to stare into the book with wide eyes. “It says what?” She had heard him, but she still asked the question. Scanning over the page, it indeed said exactly that. Downfall of Veles. How on earth had he fallen? He controlled that hotel, a whole domain. How was that a downfall?

“Why would that be a book in here?” Lily’s nose scrunched up in distaste at the mere mention of Finntello’s would-be killer and her maimer.

He kept his gaze on the ground, for now not lifting it to scan his eyes over Xevon. When he had been thrown back to his new body, it was such a rush of memories that it felt like a dream. Did he have a family or was he mixing it up with fluffy dreams he had once had? But as the days went on, it was able to slowly separate the fact from fiction. He had indeed been married, rather happily. Joyce was his wife’s name.

Only once Xevon had spoken that last part did Callisto’s head abruptly lift up, surveying him for a split second. “I do not think you betrayed me.” His words were enunciated with perfection. The emotion behind the whispered voice was blatant. Xevon clearly thought he had acted treacherously, but he would never call Xevon a traitor.

“How could you have betrayed me? You rescued me, sent me back to the living. Centuries I sat in that hotel, listless and hopeless. Now we are both free, or rather free enough.” It took him a moment of staring but he eventually pushed himself away from the wall. A soft crumble of rocks behind him as he rounded on Xevon, edging his way closer.

One hand lifted to hover over Xevon’s arm, he hesitated. The tips of his fingers gave one tiny tremble that betrayed the confidence he was trying to display. Callisto let his hand rest on Xevon’s forearm, tipping his head to try and look up at him.

“Whatever it is, that you think is so terrible, it is gone now. It happened, there is nothing to be done about it. Letting it haunt your every living moment from now on, you do not deserve that suffering.”

–

“I would assume anyone would hate Veles, so why would you keep a dusty old book about him?” She chuffed, leaning her head on Finn’s shoulder to read over the page. The words were written in small print, condensed onto the pages tightly. Very few pages had illustrations.

“Fell from what?” Lily mused her thoughts out loud, her blinded side still squished up against Finntello’s shoulder. “He seemed to be doing rather well for himself up until we showed up.” She left the bits where they had all nearly died and the current state of Xevon.