Cherono's House

Cherono was relieved when Dex said he would stop the beatings and the cuttings. That was a huge relief. He especially liked that Dex said the men weren't to lay a hand on him and he nodded slightly. "Thank you," he said softly. He awkwardly looked down at his food, and then back up at Dex. "Why the drugs? I thought you were trying to sell them at the party. If you're force-feeding them to me, you're not making any money, and you're not getting anything out of it," he said before taking another bite. He hoped Dex wouldn't be angry that he was asking questions - he just wanted to understand.

Dex nodded as a welcome, "Because I didn't like how you told me no, but now it is so you don't have to deal with the pain so much. It isn't really harmful... it takes the edges off of things. I mean... you can become addicted to them if you have an addictive personality, but..." He shrugged. "I know you are in pain. I am not stupid." He said and poked at his food before taking a bite. So this is how a normal convo goes... huh... He thought before mentally sighing.

Cherono nodded a bit when Dex explained. That actually made sense, as much as he hated to admit it. "Well...thanks," he said a little awkwardly. He took another couple bites of his food. "I don't think I have an addictive personality. And I'm fighting those damn things, so maybe I'll be fine," he said with a chuckle. It was weird to be sitting here talking with Dex like he wasn't a fucking psychopath. Maybe Dex just didn't understand how relationships worked. If Dex was willing to work with him and try to be some sort of normal, was it worth giving it a shot?

Dex shrugged and continued to eat for the remainder of the time till they were both done and he grabbed the plates and went wash them. "You can do whatever you want." He said and continue to wash what he had dirtied.

Cherono ate quietly until he was finished, looking up at Dex when he took the dishes. He nodded slightly. "Okay," he said softly, and then paused. "Um...thank you," he added. He went to one of the boxes he had yet to unpack. He started to unpack the stuff from inside, obviously looking for something specific, and he paused when he pulled out a book. This wasn't his. How had it ended up in with his stuff? It was Gamaya's. He glanced towards Dex. "Have you checked my mail since you, uh, moved in...?" he asked.

Dex nodded when he got thanked and was thinking about how much he had in his account when Cherono asked if he had checked his mail since he moved in. "I mean... I grabbed it and put it on the table, but I didn't look in it. I guess I really never had a reason to, but now that I think about it I should have. "Why?" He asked and looked back at him after he was done.

Cherono glanced over at the table and, sure enough, there was the discarded mail. He headed over and began to rifle through it until, as he'd been hoping, he found a letter from Gamaya. He smiled a little, tearing it open and sitting down at the table to read it. It wasn't long - just Gamaya asking how he was doing, how he was settling in, how the others were doing, whether the islands were really as beautiful as Istrain and Barynn said, and asking whether he'd found the book that she snuck into his boxes. He chuckled a bit as he read it over, a smile on his lips. At least Dex couldn't get his hands on Gamaya, Thuling, or Veghrim - or any of Cherono's nieces or nephews.

Dex watched him and he wanted to snatch that letter up, along with the rest of them and shove him in the basement, but he didn't. He let him have his moment of happiness and instead sat at the table and rested his cheek in his hand before gently snatching the letter from his hand and reading it. "Gamaya, huh..." He took the envelope and looked at the address. "Oh wow... she lives out there... been there once. Well... not in there but above it. My tall ass in there wouldn't be the wisest of things to do." He said and gave him the letter and envelope back.

Cherono was relieved that Dex waited until he'd finished reading the letter before snatching it. He waited apprehensively while Dex read it, and he nodded slightly. For a moment he thought about lying about who Gamaya was, since she had a different last name from him and Dex would have no way of knowing that she was the fourth Garmold sister, but he had a feeling that Dex would know he was lying. "She's my oldest sister," he said softly. He couldn't help but to laugh a little at Dex's comment about his tall ass not fitting in Bhagh-Nernwahrum. "That's where we all grew up. I've only been here like a month since leaving home," he explained.

Dex looked at him and was shocked to have him laughing, even a bit. "I grew up in the kingdom down below. Not the best place in the kingdom... but couldn't help it until I moved." He said and shrugged. "I see she has a different last name... which means she is either married or for another man." He said and looked through his mail, not opening it but just looking at where and who they were from.

Cherono nodded a bit when Dex told him where he'd grown up. "You can't help where you grow up, only where your kids do," he said with a bit of a shrug. He nodded when Dex remarked that Gamaya had a different last name. "Yeah, she's married, and she has a son," he replied. He didn't know why he was volunteering that information - but, then again, Dex had even commented that he was too tall to get into Bhagh-Nernwahrum. He had no doubt that Gamaya was safe - and besides, her husband Kallias was a big, tough dude and Cherono knew she'd be well protected if anything did happen to her. "Can I write back to her? You can read my letter before I send it. I promise not to try anything," he said.

Dex nodded when he talked about kids. "I guess... if you have kids that is." He said and when Cherono asked if he could write back to his sister he smirked. He was asking for permission and he nodded. "Sounds good." He said. "I will mail it off while you are at work." He said before getting up and walking out of the kitchen and went lay on the couch, closing his eyes and resting.

It seemed odd to Cherono to have had a perfectly normal conversation with Dex. Nothing he'd said had gotten him yelled at or backhanded. Maybe if he just behaved like Dex wanted him to, he and his family would get out of this unscathed. Maybe he'd figure out a way to permanently bring out the Dex that took care of him in the evenings. That wouldn't be the worst thing. He got out a pen and paper and he sat down at the table, thinking long and hard about what to write to Gamaya. Was there any way he could signal to her that something was wrong without Dex catching it when he read the letter? He started writing, picking and choosing his words carefully as he tried to figure out what to say to her. His writing was a bit shaky, though, and he wound up crumpling up his first attempt and throwing it at the wall before starting in on another.

A thought hit Dex, the idiot was probably gonna try and code something into the writing so that she would know. "I am a drug dealer and I know coding when I see one, Cherono... don't do anything stupid. There are still thugs and killers in your community... don't think I can't get to her and her kid." He warned, eyes still closed, and him still resting. He wanted to trust the little guy and to give him as much as he could, but at what cost? His freedom also? He shook his head. He came before the midget man.

Cherono glanced up when Dex spoke. It still baffled him how Dex always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, when he was thinking it. "You've made a point of letting me know that I'm an idiot, though, so I don't know why you think I'd be clever enough to code anything in here even if I wanted to," he said softly. It wasn't a lie, after all - Dex had called him an idiot more than once. There was no reason for Dex to get mad at him for saying so - it only meant he'd been listening. Obediently.

Dex scuffed and shook his head. After a while, he got up and walked over to him and lifted the back of Cherono's shirt before undoing his bandages and looking at the stitches. He took off Cherono's shirt while he wrote, "I am going to clean your back, hold on." He said and went go get the stuff before coming back and started to clean it.

Cherono kept working on his letter. He gave up on figuring out how to hide a message in it and just wrote as he normally would. He asked about their parents, about how Thuling's custody battle was going, about how little Veghrim was doing, about how the nieces and nephews were...he then wrote a paragraph about his "new boyfriend", figuring it would look suspicious to his siblings if he wrote her an entire letter without mentioning Dex and one of the others did mention him. He made sure to speak highly of Dex, calling him a tall and sexy elf who took really good care of him and was charming as hell. She would like that.

When Dex came over and said that he was going to clean up Cherono's back, the dwarf nodded a bit. He set aside his pen and took his hair out of its ponytail, twisting it up into a messy bun on top of his head instead so that it would be out of the way for Dex to do whatever he was going to do. As far as his back was concerned, at least, he trusted Dex.

Dex smirked and nodded, "Mmm ya welcome. I can say that that was a first for me and... I enjoyed it. A lot." He said and motioned for him to come lay down with him. He was about to cuddle with someone and actually want it. What the hell was up with him? This all had to be for when he broke him, that's all.

Cherono chuckled a bit when Dex said that it was a first for him. He blinked in surprise when Dex motioned for him to lie down with him, but he wasn't about to turn down the request. He moved to lay next to Dex, his legs barely reaching Dex's when their heads were level. "I'm glad you enjoyed it," he said to him in a soft voice, "because I did, too. It's really nice when it's like that, and when it's with someone you care about..." His voice trailed off a bit. Did Dex care about him? He couldn't tell.

Dex smiled when he came and Dex held him close. "Is that so? By the face you made I could have sworn you liked it too." He smirked and shook his head. Did he care for the midget? Perhaps just a bit. He just wanted someone to need him and Cherono was the best one to do so since he didn't have anything. "I do care..." He said finally and gently cupped his face before kissing him passionately.

Cherono blinked in surprise when Dex cupped his face and told him that he cared. Before he could even think of an answer, Dex was kissing him passionately. He found himself kissing back just as passionately, sliding his arms around Dex's neck slightly. They might have something here. They might be able to make something that could work for them. Cherono kissed him a bit longer before breaking the kiss, though he didn't pull back and instead lingered close to Dex's lips a little longer. "I'm glad you do," he murmured in a soft voice, one hand coming to caress Dex's cheek. "I wasn't sure...because...well, you came on a bit strong the first few days," he said. He knew it was a shitty joke but he wasn't really sure what more he could say.

Dex laughed at the joke he made and kissed him softly this time. "I know... I am sorry about what my guys did to you. I didn't see how deep he had cut you that time. I did go off on him about that..." He said softly and rubbed his cheek with his thumb. "How is your back right now?" He asked softly.

Cherono was surprised that he had actually made Dex laugh and he kissed him back just as softly, gazing up at him when he rubbed his cheek. "It feels fine. A bit sore if anything touches it, but right this second it doesn't hurt," he replied softly. He was relieved to hear Dex's apology for what had happened, and to hear that Dex had gone off at the guy who'd cut him. Not that it helped the situation with Cherono's finger, of course, which was still hurting quite a bit, but Dex had only asked about his back, so he'd only answered for his back. He turned his face away slightly, lifting a hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. Dex had taken a lot out of him.

Dex nodded, "That yawn is really cute..." He said and kissed his cheek softly. "How is your finger?" He asked and gently held his wrist. Was he sorry for hurting Cherono this way? A bit, but not much. He had to learn his lesson after all. He was being so good and his reward was Dex being like this or did he like being this way? Dex mentally shook his head and smiled softly. He had two days to prove that his family and friends forgot about him. Two days. Then it would mean Cherono would be clay in his hands.

Cherono's face went red when Dex told him that his yawn was cute. He shrugged a bit when Dex held his wrist and asked how his finger was feeling. "It hurts," he admitted in a soft voice. "I just have to be careful with it. Work's gonna suck...maybe I need an apprentice," he said with a chuckle. He doubted anyone would want to be an apprentice to a twenty-year-old cobbler, but one day he'd have to take an apprentice and that would definitely have been helpful right about now with his finger fucked up like it was.

Dex frowned when he said it hurt but nodded and kissed it softly before taking a baggie out and took the half pill. "Come on... open up.. it will just take the pain away." He said softly and gently opened his mouth and slid it like he had done before, but not so roughly. "I know you don't like them, but they work... and like you said you don't have an addictive personality... so you are going to be okay." He said, softly.

Cherono blushed a bit when Dex kissed his finger. He still felt a bit of cringe when Dex pulled out the baggie of pills but it did help somewhat to know that now, Dex was only giving them to him to help with the pain. He nodded, letting Dex open his mouth and give him the pill. It was only with a bit of reluctance that he swallowed, nodding a bit as Dex spoke. "I know," he said in a small voice, looking up at him. "Thank you," he added. Obedient and thankful. "I..should probably get to sleep now," he said.

Dex nodded and smiled a bit. "You're welcome." He said and when he said he should go to sleep now Dex agreed. He took Cherono and placed him on his feet as he changed the covers and laid under it before patting the empty side. "Come on.." He said and smiled. When he got in Dex gently pulled him to his chest and kissed the top of his head.

Cherono waited while Dex changed the blankets and he smiled, surprised, when Dex patted the spot beside him. He climbed into the bed, letting Dex pull him to his chest and nestling himself comfortably against the other man. "No shackle?" he asked in a tentative voice. He was almost afraid that Dex would change his mind if he brought it up, but he was also curious as to what had prompted Dex to let him sleep unrestrained at his side.