Niall Tiernan's Story

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Niall sighed and just watched his companion. It was like he was just deteriorating. What possibly could Keisuke have that Eos couldn't heal? Did her power of healing get negated by Keisuke's power of taking life? It was possible considering the fact that they were opposite affects of each other. Was it something else that had something to do specifically with this strange illness? Something wasn't fitting right and Niall found he did not like this puzzle one bit. He started to tug at a strand of his hair then. Keisuke's body hadn't had this illness before so that meant something must have changed to get the body to hurt itself or whatever the fuck it was doing.

"What changed... what changed... You said it was time but there should have been some other indication. Whatever this is is taking its toll quickly. You said it appeared a week ago..." he murmured to himself. Sometimes talking out loud helped him think through a problem so Keisuke was stuck listening to him rant on. "You started traveling with me three weeks ago but we haven't done anything to really alter you. You are still traveling around. You eat and sleep. What did you do before that you don't now?" Niall got to his feet an started to pace. Before all of this, Keisuke had just been a random wanderer. He wandered around and then took contracts from whatever organization he worked for and assassinated people. He didn't do that as far as he was aware. That thought stopped him in his tracks and his gaze shot up at Keisuke. Could that be it?

Keisuke took life. Keisuke had been refraining from doing so. Did that mean something in his body that allowed this power to coexist with it was now back firing some way? If he killed something, would this illness stop? He looked the man over then. Shirtless. His left hand was glove-less. He was sitting on a blanket so he wasn't touching the ground. He knew his next action could potentially make Keisuke thing he was betraying him but he had to do it for Keisuke's sake. He rushed towards him then and shoved Keisuke just enough to get him to stumble to the the side. This forced his left hand and his side into the lush grass around them. Immediately the grass dried but Niall wasn't paying that much mind. He was watching Keisuke's body. His fingers... they seemed to color again and the darkness receded just a little bit. Maybe this rally was the cure. Only one way to find out for sure.

"Your power. That is your cure. You have to kill things if you are going to keep yourself alive," he announced. "With the amount of damage on your body, you are going to need to kill something bigger than a bit of grass. I am sorry Keisuke, but you need to use your power. Just like I need to rely on Sight, you need to rely on death. I know it sucks but you don't have a choice."

Kei focused on his breathing, and for the moment he was thankful whatever this was had yet to reach his right lung because it was definitely doing all of the breathing for him at the moment. The dark haired man was scared. He had made those promises to Niall, but truthfully, he had no idea what to do. He didn’t know the origin of whatever had infected him, and more than anything there was a sudden deep seeded fear that he was going to have to abandon Niall. The boy had been so emotional over the idea of Keisuke dying and leaving him, there was no way he would leave this world without kicking and screaming. Clenching his fist he remembered back to three weeks ago, when he had promised to protect Niall. Kei would protect Niall, even if this body ended up withering he would still ensure his safety from his spot in the underworld, use any means necessary, he would not go back on that promise.

The man had been so lost in his own thought that the sudden force of Niall pushing him had the man barely catching himself before his bare chest connected with the grass. Instead, left hand slid through the blades, leaving a path of decay as he slide. But Kei realized what was going on before Niall said anything. He could feel it in his fingers, the energy from the grass combating the disease, and he understood immediately the cure for his illness. The feeling in the pit of his stomach felt as though he had swallowed several iron balls, it was heavy and metallic and his head shot up to make frantic eye contact with the silver haired boy.

His emotions were evolving and devolving at rapid speeds, the initial shock melted quickly away into horror, which morphed into disgust, and then dissolved into anger. The anger didn’t last though, it quickly fell into a heavy sadness that in turn crumpled into despair. His head dropped into his hands as his mind reeled. Kei, no Thanatos, had spent millenniums devoting himself to only committing to the absolute minimum soul taking, only bringing death to those who had reached their destined end. But now, in order to continue to live in one measly vessel, he would be killing creatures that deserved a full life. His heart rate began to race, his fingers digging into his scalp, his only working lung was straining under the toll of moving oxygen into his bloodstream and he could feel he was on the urge of hyperventilating.

Before it got that far he paused. He had promised Niall to live, to stay with him, to protect him, and he had decided he would do that. Even if it meant throwing away everything he stood for, his morals, his ethics, his beliefs, who he was. He had made that decision, and he wasn’t about to go back on it now that he had to follow through. Kei’s hands dropped into his lap and he resigned himself to his new reality.

When he looked up at Niall, for the first time in his existence his expression felt as flat as his eyes, and he gave the boy an empty smile. “You’re right.”

He pushed himself to his feet with shaky feet, stumbling forward just slightly. Everything hurt and he scanned the area with heavy eyes before picking a close and tall looking tree as his target. He moved towards it with sluggish movements, each step taken with his left leg sent tendrils of pain through his spine and Kei realized the disease was creeping down his leg. The tree hadn’t been more than ten paces, but he was panting when he reached it, his left hand extended as his palm connected with the bark. He felt the energy rush through him as the grand tree shriveled under his touch, and he wanted to cry, but made sure to keep his expression blank. The tree served to rid him of the discoloring up to his elbow, and just as he was about to move on to the next a soft huff caught his attention.

He turned just in time to see a large brown bear and happened to wander into the clearing with them, it seemed just as surprised to see them as Kei was that it had appeared. There was just a brief moment where time froze, Kei and the bear both sizing up the situation. Niall was closer to the bear, and that realization is when Kei felt the adrenaline flood his system. The bear seemed startled when he charged forward, the pain of his leg seemingly forgotten as he ran to put himself between the bear and Niall, stopping only a split second once he had put himself between them to glance back at the silver haired boy before ramming his body into the beast.

The creature had been rearing up when Kei hit it, and the moment he did he felt its life drain as the taughtness in its muscles went limb. He pushed its weight to the side, falling to his knees with the creature. He had felt it when he hit he bear, it had such a long life ahead of it that Kei had robbed her of. He felt the time that it would not live, and looked down at his body, all the bruising gone, but at what cost? To be with Niall, Kei was abandoning himself, so in that moment he took the time to be who he was before discarding that person entirely.

The man dug his fingers into the fur of the bear, lowering his head so it too was buried in the pelt and he felt his body shudder as be cried. He was doing this for Niall, he told himself, and muttered a mantra to himself over and over again until it finally sunk in. “I will protect you, I will stay with you, I will live for you.”

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Niall watched his companion as Keisuke realized the truth of his statement. He did feel bad for him. It was awful, having to take life to sustain life. He wished there was something more he could do for him but there was nothing. He sighed as Keisuke touched the tree. Within moments, Keisuke was looking better and the tree withered. At least they had figured out what was wrong with him. Maybe along the way, Keisuke could pick up work as a fighter for hire again or maybe help the coppers. He kind of hoped the second option since that would allow Keisuke to go after criminals rather innocent people.

Niall's eyes widened when he heard a huff behind him and swallowed hard. That was loud. He turned and tensed as he came face to face with a bear. How the hell did a bear sneak up them like this? They were huge creatures! And in a flash, Keisuke was charging it. Niall stumbled back with Keisuke move in front of him and tackled the animal. At the end of it, Niall was cured but there was still something wrong. Keisuke sounded... off. He frowned and took a step forward. "Keisuke?" he called softly, "Keisuke... are you okay? I... I know this is hard and I am... I am sorry that this is the price for your power. I promise you that we'll figure something out, all right? Maybe we can go back to town and look at Wanted posters and talk to the Coppers and get you a job so that you use your power against bad guys traveling about. I can use my Sight to help you find them. Would that make you feel better?" Niall rested a gloved hand on Keisuke's shoulder then, trying to give him some comfort.

Niall dropped to his knees beside Keisuke then and stared at the dead bear. Was he being selfish? He wanted Keisuke to be with him. He hadn't had a companion like him before and it was nice but killing... killing to live was hurting Keisuke. Why had the gods cursed this man this way? He didn't deserve it. He was a good man. He bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll pray to the gods to help you. Maybe they can lift the curse of this power or something," he promised.

“Would that make you feel better?" He wanted to wail out the word ‘No!”, because he didn’t want to kill anyone. He wanted the world was turn where all creatures died with their destined end, it didn’t matter if they were bad guys or not no deserved a premature death. But, he held his tongue, sniffling loudly before raising his head. Wiping his eyes on the back of his arm he pushed himself away from the bear, “Yeah, I’m already feeling better.”

"I'll pray to the gods to help you. Maybe they can lift the curse of this power or something.” Kei felt a warm smile spread across his lips, Niall was being so kind to him. He sniffed one last time, effectively clearing his nasal passage, and tilted his head up towards the sky, looking on as the rosy effects of dawn faded into a brilliant blue. “The gods huh? Now there’s a thought.”
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It had been just about two weeks since they had discovered Kei had to kill in order to stay alive. Two weeks of adjusting to the fact he was killing for no reason other than to stay by Niall’s side. It scared him that it had only taken two weeks to get comfortable with the idea, but he supposed devoting himself to the boy was the biggest reason for this acceptance. Kei often pondered the fact that he had changed his entire existence, one he had spent millenniums maintaining, over a human he had met just barely over a month ago.

The boy in question was walking a few paces ahead of him, he seemed tired though, maybe even a bit dispirited, and for what Kei hadn’t the slightest idea. He stretched out his left hand, after ruining the glove with blood vomit he never bothered to get a new one so the hand remained gloveless, and brushed his fingers against the leaves of a tree they passed by. The withered in on itself, a wilted mess of death left where the plant once stood and Kei let its energy rush through him, closing his eyes for a moment and sighing.

He only opened them when he felt a plume of heat pass by him, and caught of glimpse of a fiery red tail shoot past him and he smiled. In the past two weeks Eos had grown to what Kei believed would be her full size, if anything her tail plumage filling out a bit more, and she was more full of life than any other creature he had seen. She circled around Niall once, playfully tugging at a piece of his hair before moving to Kei. She hovered by him, watching his actions with gentle eyes before clucking in what he’d have to describe as endearment. He raised his arm as an offering for a landing perch and was grateful when she landed. It had only gotten colder over the past two weeks, and yesterday they had awoken to a thin layer of frost over the ground. He blamed the rapid change in weather on both the season change, and the fact they were still travelling north. The bird cooed at him at he smiled in response, he was probably more grateful to Eos than any other being, she had been the one that connected him to Niall.

“Hey Ni!” He called out, moving faster to make up the distance between them. “Why don’t you carry Eos for a bit, you must be cold, let her warm you up.” Eos clucked in agreement and Kei looked at the boy’s expression, it seemed distant somehow.

The small burden in his pocket suddenly came to the forefront of his thoughts. Over the past couple of days he had been sneaking off and been attempting to make Niall a gift in order to cheer him up. The boy had been gloomy for those past two weeks. Every time Niall had asked him what he was doing Kei would come up with something on the spot and hide the gift. Using excuses like counting blades of grass and watching ants crawl weren’t very good excuses, so he had started excusing himself to an excess amount of bathroom breaks, but he had finished the gift last night while Niall had been sleeping. He hoped more than anything it would brighten his mood.

“Oh and Niall…” He stopped walking, suddenly embarrassed about giving the boy the gift. He cleared his throat and shoved a hand into his pocket, feeling the little wooden figurine he had been working on. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been a little sad lately, so I wanted to do something to make you happy and, um… Here!”

He shoved the gift in the boy’s face before ducking to hide his beet red cheeks. The present as a little wooden phoenix he had carved himself, though if he was honest it hardly looked like a bird let alone a phoenix. The wooden bird was attached to a long cord he had secretly bought on their last trip into a town and he hoped Niall understood that he had tried to make him a necklace.

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Niall sighed as he walked forward one step at a time. He hated winter. Winter was the worst time of year and it was the only time he really hated traveling. It sucked sleeping out in the open regardless, but now it was much colder, and the ground would have snow on it soon. It was also easier to catch your death out here. Not to mention wind whipping at you. All in all, the thought of sleeping out here made him sick. They were going to have to take up lodgings somewhere to keep warm and do something in town to earn their keep. They had enough money to spare for at least a month's stay somewhere cheap but that wouldn't be enough. He hated the idea but maybe he was going to have to sell his skill as a fortuneteller at the next town for a while. Keisuke... he wasn't sure what Keisuke would be able to do.

The young seer glanced back at his companion when he mentioned carrying Eos and gave a nod. He whistled but he didn't really have to. She was already coming towards him. He extended his arm for her but instead of settling there, she decided to perch on his shoulder. She always did like sitting there. He smiled as the young bird nuzzled his face to express her devotion. She really had wormed close to his heart. He never thought that this would be his lot in life; having a Phoenix and a man like Keisuke as his companions. He sighed to himself as he began walking towards the next town.

That was the main thing bugging him to be honest. The town they were coming up towards... this had been his home once upon a time. He was sure his family still lived here and he hadn't traveled in this direction ever since he ran away. He hadn't even realized he was coming towards it until they passed the last town. When he had been a child, he hadn't really cared about the names of other villages and towns that he passed in his bid to escape his fate and now it was too late to turn back. The first heavy snow would be upon them before they could reach the previous town. His little village was their only saving grace.

And if that wasn't bad enough, he was beginning to think Keisuke was going to leave him soon. He kept sneaking off to do something. His excuses were lame and he was really getting worried. Had he done something to upset the man? Was he really pissed off at him for finding a cure for that bruising ailment of his? Did Keisuke really want to die? Niall's grip tightened on his bag and little Eos cooed to him and nipped his ear as if to get his mind off his troubles. He flinched and shrugged his shoulder, causing her to flap her wings to adjust her balance. Niall kept thinking that maybe...maybe he had done Keisuke a disservice by helping him and forcing him to live. It was obvious Keisuke hated his power and what it forced him to do. Would Niall eventually come to hate him to? He didn't want Keisuke to hate him.

When Keisuke called out to him then and stopped walking, Niall turned to face him a bit confused. His eyes widened when he saw the necklace the man presented to him. He was shocked. This is what he had been doing when he ran off? He had been carving him this bird to make him happy again? Niall's lips quirked a moment before he broke into a full on smile and picked up the necklace from his companion.

"For me? You made this? It is beautiful," he answered and caressed the carving. No one had ever given him a gift like this. it wasn't perfect but it was obvious Keisuke had put in a lot of thought and time into this. He quickly put it on then and looked down to see where it hung against his jacket. He caressed it again before he looked over at Keisuke and gave him a hug; the first hug he had ever given someone in ages. "Thank you. I really like it." Eos cooed even as she was displaced thanks to the sudden hug and flew around the two in her happiness. She felt Niall's joy to.

"For me? You made this? It is beautiful," Kei’s expression lit up into an actual smile, nearly beaming with pride. Niall liked the gift and that was more than he could ask for. It made him want to shower the boy with presents to see an expression like that again. He felt his heart racing in excitement, and was about to go into more detail about what it actually was, because he doubted the boy could tell, when Niall suddenly hugged him.

It caught the dark haired man so off guard he froze in place. He couldn’t recall a time in his life where he had ever been hugged, maybe a slight pat on the back by one of the gods, but to be encompassed by the warmth of someone else was completely foreign to him. He didn’t know how to react, or if he should say anything, or recuperate the action somehow, so he stood frozen as the boy hugged him. His arms were pinned to his sides, the boy’s face pressed against the material of his coat, but even then Kei could still feel the boy’s body heat. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he didn’t think he could muster a coherent sentence.

“Ah… um, Ni, please… be careful… my skin.” He squirmed for a moment, nervous, and suddenly very aware of all the exposed places on his body. His left hand, and the base of his neck up. Even though Niall’s head was safely resting against his clothed shoulder, there was this fear that Kei was going to hurt him, he didn’t know what he’d do if he ever hurt the boy. There was a high chance he’d break down. He eventually separated them and put his gloved hand on the boy’s head, smiling gently. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. So, where exactly are we going“

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Niall smiled against the man's shirt and closed his eyes. It did feel nice to hold the man even if he didn't return the hug. Keisuke's concern warmed him and for a moment, he forgot about his worries, his weariness, and the cold. He inhaled softly before he slowly pulled away and let Keisuke pat his head. Normally he may have retorted that he wasn't a dog to be patted on the head, but today it felt endearing. He was just relieved that the sneaking about had been about making a gift and not planning on leaving him. It put him at ease again.

"Where we are going... it is actually the reason why I was a bit down earlier. I didn't realize it until recently, but we are actually heading to my hometown. Lavine. It is a small town but I think over the years it has started to grow. I... I am sure my family still lives here and I don't really want to encounter them. I'd say we should move on without stopping but it is winter. The first storm is coming and I don't want to be caught out here when the storm hits. It is safer and better to have a roof over our heads and a hearth at our backs. We are going to be stuck here for a while." he answered. "My family... they are good people but I don't want to go back to them. I ran away when I was young. I had the mind to never come back here."

Niall sighed and started to walk again. It had been years since he ran away. Would things have changed? How much had changed? What were his siblings like? Was his mother and father fairing well? He did care for them and he loved them all but running away had been the only choice he had at the time. He was thankful his sister had given him that opportunity. He was sure he would have gone insane by now if he hadn't. His parents didn't truly understand the toll he went through with his visions. Eos cooed and landed on his shoulder again and used her tail to warm his back. "I wonder if they'll recognize me... nah, of course they'd realize who I am," he mused. Who could forget a boy with silver hair, a misty eye and a purple one? He wondered if his siblings were there. They should have married and went on with their lives at this point.

Kei listened to Niall talk about his home town, and he felt a pang in his heart. In human culture, family was a very big aspect of their social interactions, he was sure that even talking about his past was hard for Niall. He didn’t know the details, and he didn’t know a ton about human culture, but in every town and village they had visited he had always seen happy clusters of people that looked like families. Children with adults smiling and laughing, sharing with each other, and supporting one another. It seemed important. Kei had parents, but he had only seen them once at his birth and had since spent the rest of his time in the underworld or mortal world. Persephone was probably who he’s seen most often, but that was only because he was forced to travel to and from the underworld every six months, he was sure that wasn’t family.

“I know I don’t know a lot, but if you were that sad about it, and if your family still around, shouldn’t you visit at least once?” Kei wanted to say the right thing, but he wasn’t even sure where to start. It clearly seemed to Niall like the best choice for their survival was to stop in his hometown. He sucked in a breath and with a newfound wave of courage in an effort to lift the boy’s spirit Kei pulled the boy into a hug. Making sure his face was safely against his coat and his left hand was out of reach Kei rubbed soft circles on the boy’s back. “Besides, you won’t be alone, I’ll be there with you! Though, maybe that wouldn’t make it better.”

He had started confident, but end the statement muttering towards the end. He kept Niall pressed against for a couple seconds longer, relishing in the boy’s warmth before moving apart. Eos, who had been disrupted from her perch on Niall’s shoulder again glided around them in lazy circles until she deemed it safe to land back on the boy’s shoulder. He sighed, looking up towards the cloudy sky, it looked as if it was going to snow. He hadn’t seen snow in a long time, for some reason the gods generally asked for him to exact revenge during the summer months, he wondered how Eos would react to it. “I’m sure everything will work out Niall, sometimes you have to follow fates lead. Many things are often times inevitable, just as we can’t stop the snow from falling and we can’t run from our fears forever.”

He outstretched his exposed left hand to the sky, looking at the pale contrast to the gloomy colored clouds. Was he running from his own problems though? He hadn’t told Niall he was actually god, he hadn’t returned to the underworld in almost a month. Was Kei being a hypocrite? He wasn’t able to continue questioning though, as the first snowflakes of winter began to fall.

“Ah…” He murmured in surprise by the coincidence, “fate.”

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Niall winced at the man's words. He should visit his family once. Keisuke didn't understand. He had run away for a reason. He had run away and endured the world alone as a weak child with sightless eye. He had nearly met death so many times on his bid for escape and now here he was, walking back to the place where he harbored much pain and memories of things he wished to forget. He did have such mixed feelings about all of this. He did miss and love how his family had been before they and he found out about the Sight. They were all close and loving. Afterwards... it had been a living nightmare. But maybe things would be different now. He was grown. They couldn't actually keep him here like they did when he was a child. He could make choices.

Niall's eyes widened and he gasped when Keisuke pulled him into another hug. He stared at the man's clothed chest and felt his warmth against him. His cheeks colored then. This was somehow different from the previous hug and it made him... it made him want to cling to Keisuke and burrow into him. At length Keisuke pulled them apart and Niall looked away to try and hide the light touch of pink on his cheeks.

The young man looked up then and saw the beginnings of snow. So winter was really catching up with them. He sighed and rolled his shoulders. "Fate huh? Leave it to fate..." he mused as he started walking. "And I think things will be better and different with you here by my side. You've already improved my life considerably, Kei. Whelp, I guess it can't be helped. Time to meet my parents." Niall began trucking then, excitement and fear gnawing at his belly.

Within the hour, the two travelers made it to town. Everything looked the same for Niall and yet different. Not much had changed though some buildings were run down and others had been patched up. He didn't recognize most of the faces but that didn't surprise him. He had been a young child when he was here and most of the time he had been locked away for only certain people to visit and none of them lived in this village. Some people stared at them but they were mostly ignored. Niall swallowed hard, his hands beginning to shake.

He heard a vase falling and cracking on the floor then. He turned fully to the left to see what had happened. His eyes widened and his throat instantly closed up. Standing there was his aged mother. Her dark hair had gone grey and there were wrinkles that tugged at her surprised eyes and around her lips. Her clothing was a bit tattered and didn't look as fine as he remembered. The two just stared at each other for a good minute before the woman managed to surpass her surprise. Tears filled the woman's eyes as she ran forward. "Niall! My baby!" she cried and hugged him tightly.

Niall was near hyperventilating at that point. He stared beyond his mother as the woman hugged him. She was older but her grip was like a vice and Niall found only the movement available was an awkward hug. "Ma..." he called back softly.

The woman pulled back just a little to look up into his face. She reached up and gently touched his cheeks as she searched his eyes. "Niall, it is really you, isn't it? My, look at you! All grown! My handsome little Niall. I thought.... I thought we lost you for good all those years. I never wanted to believe that you were dead. Your sister said you had been kidnapped and your father feared the worse though we searched for you. There were no traces. Oh, baby it is good to have you home!" she cried and hugged him again.

Niall swallowed dryly and offered his mother another hug and closed his eyes. Kidnapped, huh? His sister must have given them that story to try and give him more time to escape. He would have to thank her later. "Yeah... I am.. I am here," he mused. "It is good to see you again," he admitted. "Ma, I have someone here I want you to meet."

The woman pulled away and wiped at her eyes before she turned towards Keisuke and cocked her head to the side. "Oh.. hello.. she called. She hadn't noticed him at all.

"Mom, this is Keisuke. He's my traveling companion and this little beauty," he cooed as Eos puffed up her chest where she perched on Keisuke's shoulder upon entering the town, "Is Eos."

His mother gaped at them. "H-hello Keisuke. Eos... she's a Phoenix?" she asked, awe struck as she reached out hesitantly to touch her.

Niall didn't really want her to touch Eos but he couldn't say no. He sighed and extended his arm and whistled for her. Eos quickly glided to his arm and ruffled her feathers, earning a gasp from his mother. "Eos, it is okay. Let her touch you." The bird gave a nod and watched as the shaky woman reached over to gently caress the fire bird.

"Beautiful," she mused. She pulled away and smiled at the two boys. "But oh, look at my manners! I am Ela Tiernan, Keisuke. Come, come! We must be on our way home! The snow is starting to fall and I am sure you both need a good warming and a hot meal to warm you up. And I am sure sweet Eos needs a warm place to stay to. The snow can't be good for her!" she announced as she picked up her things and began to lead them away. Niall gulped and hesitated. He hadn't realize, but his free hand had gone to seek Keisuke's and know gripped his arm tightly. He didn't want to go home but it really was the best option.

Kei was surprised that Niall changed his mind, but at the same time he was glad. It meant the boy did, to some extent, miss his family and Kei was happy he was attempting to reconnect. Kei thought if he had the opportunity to meet his own parents he wouldn’t hesitate to go, but then again he had no history with them. Niall may have had bad experiences with his family, otherwise he wouldn’t have run away as a kid, or have reservations about seeing them again. He was pleased with himself though, it had seemed as he had chosen the right words to lift the boy’s spirits for the time being which had been exactly what he had aimed to do.

Pleased, they walked the rest of the way in silence. The snow continued to fall lightly, but it hadn’t started sticking yet. He noticed every time he breathed out his breath fogged, and he supposed he hadn’t truly noticed how cold it had actually gotten until that moment. He shoved both his hands in his pockets and trotted alongside Niall until they reached a village. He carefully watched Niall’s reactions as they walked in the village.

The boy’s mind seemed to be wandering off, no doubt he was placing things from his memories of the village back in order. Eos had moved from her position on Niall back to Kei, sitting on his shoulder while villagers sent him weary sidelong glances. He wondered if he looked like a really suspicious figure. A tall, looming man dressed in all black with a gloomy expression would cause anyone to keep their distance though. He was just grateful that this village wasn’t on a witch hunt, although technically Thantos hadn’t made an appearance in over month so a lot of tension from his bad man had died down in a lot of areas.

He tensed when something shattered behind him, and immediately thought he has broken something while lost in thought. The man turned on his heels, prepared to start apologizing, when a figure rushed past. He turned in defense, the course of the figure aiming for Niall and he was prepared to attack, his eyes flashed dangerously for just a moment. Kei was surprise to see a middle-aged woman embracing Niall in a tight hug. Something akin to joy and amazement on her features, and Kei was intrigued because this didn’t seem like the type of mother some would try to run away from. His eyes flickered up to Niall’s face, he was still in his mother’s embrace but he looked distant. The man tilted his head ever so slightly and then gave the boy a soft smile of support, just in case he was looking at him.

He did raise an eyebrow when the mother mentioned that Niall had been kidnapped, and he sent the questioning gaze in the direction of the boy, but the kidnapping seemed like it was news to Niall as well. He reached up to stroke Eos as the mother went on crying, curiously trying to take in all the information he could in order to have a better understanding. It wasn’t until Niall mentioned him did the man straighten his back. When Niall’s mother turned to him and offered a soft hello he responded with a small smile and a polite head nod.

He was perturbed when the woman mentioned Eos, and he knew it was because he was protective over her. He kept his expression still although he was less than pleased when Niall agreed to let his mother touch Eos. He supposed he was being unreasonable, as the woman looked harmless, but he couldn’t get rid of his protective instinct. It was the same way he felt over Niall, though a little less intense, the need to protect them.

He was startled when the woman suddenly invited them to her home though he knew he should have been prepared for such an event. He got flustered when she introduced herself because he was unable to respond, and although Niall had already introduced him he considered it rude to not do it himself. He was about to run after the woman and do just that when something caught his arm. He stopped, surprised to see Niall holding on his arm with a strong grip. He looked over the boy concerned, and placed the hand of his opposite arm on the boy’s shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to be with you the whole time.” He whispered it softly, leaning down so his mouth was right by the boy’s ear. Eos bent around the boy to add a reassuring coo as well, and the man smiled leaning back. “And so will Eos.”

He shook the boy’s hand off his arm, and then reclaimed it with his own gloved hand, he gave the hand a reassuring squeeze before pulling the boy forward after Ela. Niall seemed unsure, scared almost, so he would protect him, be the pillar of support, guide the way.

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Niall looked up at Kei when the man reassured him that everything was going to be okay and that he and Eos would be by his side the whole time. It was comforting but it didn't assuage all of his fears. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. This was just his mother. She seemed really happy to see him and he... he was happy to see her to. He had missed her kind eyes and her smile. His lips quirked in a small smile and let Keisuke lead him away after his mother. Things really would be different this time around. He was a young man now and he had friends on his side to.

Once home, his mother opened the door and ushered them in. Niall let go of Keisuke's hand as he observed his home. It was a middle sized home with 6 rooms; a kitchen that also served as the dinning room, a bathroom, the study that opened up to his room where he had given his fortune telling and two other bedrooms. One of those bedrooms was his parents personal chamber and the second room had been his sister's room. He had shared his room with his brothers which made the space rather cramped. So much had changed. When he had lived here, his parents had made quite the profit from his abilities so they had a lot of rich things to add comfort to their lives but now all of that was gone. The house was in desperate need of repairs. He didn't like seeing the house this way. Why were their holes in the roof to allow the chill to enter? It had patch but the patch still let in the cold air and he could see bowls set beneath them to catch any dripping water.

"Your room has been taken over by Ivan and he sometimes uses the study though I haven't changed anything in that room. Georgey and Abel have taken over your sister's room. You and your friend will have to squeeze into your room with Ivan."

Niall's eyes widened and turned to his mother. "They took Ava's room? What happened to Ava?"

"She got married dear. She lives with her husband at capital. He's a silk merchant and a rather wealthy one. He's a good man. They've been married for 5 years now. You just missed her visit. She would have been so happy to see you. We'll send her a letter and maybe she'll come when the weather lets up."

"Oh, I see," he gave a sigh of relief. He was happy she was alive and doing well for herself. He let his hands trace the counter.

"Are you boys hungry?"

"I am not hungry. Where is everyone?"

"I'll make you both some food anyway," she mused as she started to heat up the little stove. "Your father is down at Johnson's family dear. He is helping their move things into their house. Ivan is a wood cutter now so he is doing his job. The twins are working at the bar. They'll all be home tonight so you can greet everyone at supper. Oh they are going to be so happy to see you!" Go set down your things and settle in!"

Niall gave a nod before he led Keisuke to his old room. He stopped in the doorway to the bedroom and swallowed hard. He took a deep breath and opened the door. The room looked like any other room. There were two bed like there always had been. It was obvious one of them was more used than the other. He could only assume Ivan was using the bed closer to the only window in the room. There wasn't much else in the room beside a dresser so the room didn't take much of Niall's attention. What did call him was the sliding door that led The Room. The room of his nightmares, fears, and tragedies. He turned away for a moment and hugged Keisuke. They were doing a lot of hugging today, weren't they? Niall squeezed his eyes shut an just focused on their breathing. Eos cooed to him and nuzzled his cheek and he took their comfort.

"I am sorry I am being so clingy today..." he murmured. "I... I ran away from here. I was kidnapped," he explained quietly so his mother wouldn't hear. He pulled Keisuke into the bedroom and shut the door. He put down his bag and turned back to the ominous door that beckoned him. "That's the room.... I lived in that room most of the time... constantly in the Void. I was in the mist more than I was in the present." he walked to the door then and slid it open to reveal the small room. There was a little basin that used to be filled with water and where Niall had been forced to sit in when his parents realized the water helped calm him and bring about the visions. Candles also lined the shelves and the tables. Outwardly the room didn't look all that frightening but he remembered the history and the screams. If one looked closely enough, they could see the marks on the wall where he had clawed them in his fits of Mist induced madness.

"I don't hate them, Keisuke. I don't. They just don't understand the hell they put me through. And without me... they've grown poor. Their existence looks so meager. I am not much good at anything else... I.... I think I am going to have to use the Sight. Even if we hadn't met them, fortunetelling would give us a pretty penny. While we are here I'll have to do that to help them and save up coin. I am going to need your support Kei."

Kei observed the house quietly as they entered. It wasn’t shabby, but it was definitely in need of some help. He looked over to Niall to see if he could pick up any information from the boy’s expression, but the boy’s expression gave nothing away to help him. The man merely stood by the silver haired boy’s side as he interacted with his mom, Kei only offering a polite smile when she looked over at him from time to time. He wasn’t exactly sure how to act in this situation. How to be a suitable house guest that didn’t burden Niall anymore more than the boy already felt was still unknown to him. For now he had decided that he would do his best not to cause trouble.

He let Niall lead him though, with no resistance, the man was more concerned over all of Niall’s actions to be caught up with the décor and blueprints of the house. He simply followed where ever the boy guided him waiting to be the support that he guessed the boy would eventually need. He watched Niall’s expressions carefully, being extra attentive to any shifts in expression he normally wouldn’t notice. The boy’s gaze held on a panel though, and Kei’s eyes flickered up to see a door that looked like it could possibly lead to a closet. He didn’t understand what could be so significant about a closet, but as he was pondering the thought Niall had moved again to bury himself in Keisuke. Although a little caught off guard the man allowed it, he had realized that Niall was also aware of his skin because whenever the boy hugged him his body never came anywhere close to the edges of his clothing. Kei appreciated the boy’s efforts and encompassed him with his arms, returning the gesture for as long as Niall decided he needed it. Plus, he did enjoy the feeling of Niall’s warmth, it was a constant, comforting presence.

"I am sorry I am being so clingy today..." When the boy pulled away Kei’s immediate reaction was to assure him that there was no problem. The problem may have been Kei was enjoying the contact with Niall a little too much. The more he let the boy get close to him the more Kei knew that he would want to push their relationship farther, something that he knew was absolutely off limits. And then, before Kei could respond, Niall continued speaking. He closed the door and hushed his voice slightly. He listened carefully, not liking what he heard Niall say as the boy walked over to the door his eyes had lingered on. He walked up behind the boy as he stared in the room looking past him the small room. It didn’t look too significant, but a glance at the silver haired boy showed that the room held many unpleasant things.

He felt Niall speak, the boy not looking away from the room and Kei leaned into him. Feeling the boy’s warmth as he did so was pleasant, almost calming. He didn’t like the idea that the woman that had been so kind had forced a young Niall into using his powers to the point where he lost himself. In fact, he felt an uncharacteristic hatred bubble from deep inside of him and quickly worked to suppress the negative emotion. He boy felt obligated when really, if his family had forced him to use his abilities, he didn’t owe them anything. He couldn’t say it though, not after he had urged the boy to reconnect with them. He let out a soft sigh, his hand snaking around the boy’s waste. He didn’t know what had happened, but after Niall had hugged him a barrier had been broken between the two, touching no longer seemed a taboo. He could feel his heart race with his own actions though, and he was surprised to find he was perfectly content with a racing heart.

“I will never leave you Niall.” He spoke the words softly, and in the distance he heard Niall’s mother calling them for food. He turned away from the room first, his hand planted firmly on Niall’s waist as if to hug him away from the memories. He would not leave this boy, he would protect him with all the power he possessed.

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Niall closed his eyes when Keisuke came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. He didn't know what it was, but increasingly, he liked it when Keisuke was near and his hugs were so comforting. The thought was so odd considering the fact that one wrong move could end his life should he actually touch Keisuke's skin. Why did he feel so comfortable with a man with Death's touch? Whatever it was, Keisuke had that lulling affect on him and all he wanted to do was stay in his arms forever. If that was death, maybe it wasn't that bad after all. Even his mother's call didn't pull him away from the sense of calm he felt until Keisuke started to pull away from him and squeezed his waist. It made him shiver and blush. That alone made him rather abashed. He shouldn't have these reactions! But he did... oh he did. He shook his head and patted his cheek to get his mind off things and headed for the door.

His mother was already setting the table with buttered bread and hot soup. His mouth watered at the sight. If anything, his mother was an excellent cook and that soup was going to be amazing. He sat own quickly and almost immediately started to devour it all. His mother chuckled at his appetite. She sat down beside Niall and she couldn't bring herself to stop looking at the boy and reaching over to to push his hair away from his face. He did freeze then, momentarily started since she was sitting in his blind spot and he hadn't realized she reached towards him.

"It is okay sweetie," she cooed. "You are home now. You are safe." Safe from the world but not safe from his gift.

When he was done eating, he got up and went to the sink and washed his bowl before returning to the table and fiddled with his fingers. He didn't want to offer this but he felt obligated to mention it now. "Ma, I haven't come back to stay here. When the winter passes, Keisuke and I are going to be heading out again."

His mother's eyes widened and she gaped at the two of them. "But you are finally home! Why do you want to leave? What could you possibly want out there that isn't here?"

"Mom, while we are here, I will pay my dues. I... I know that the only true skill I have is my Sight. I have gained a lot of control over it and I can use it to help bring in some money so you can fix this house and you and Pa don't have to stress so much. That is the only way I can think of to bring in enough gold. Once the winter is up however, we will be packing up. I suggest you save the gold I earn for you once the house is fixed."

She stared at him a bit unbelieving. She couldn't understand why her Niall wanted to up and leave again. He had a good life here and a family that loved him.

"Niall... I want you to stay."

"I am sorry, but I will not. I have a live beyond this village, Mom. I will offer you my Sight while I am here and that is all." he got up with his final words and took Kei's bowl when he was done eating and washed it. It felt so odd talking to his mother this way but he didn't have a choice. This is what he had to do. He set the plates away and headed for the room, motioning for Keisue to follow with Eos. They had traveled a long way and they both needed sleep. "We should rest while we can. You can take my old bed. I'll sleep on my brother's bed."

Kei watched as he defied his mother over the dinner she had prepared them. As Niall had spoken about leaving he hadn’t missed the flicker of eyes when he had mentioned it. She blamed him for her son’s desire to leave the village, he could sense it off the woman, but chose to stay silent. This was Niall’s mother and he would not make things harder on the boy than they already were. As Niall spoke Kei had ducked his head and focused his attention on eating, though he heard every word of the exchange clearly. The mother’s hard gaze did not leave him as the boy picked up his bowl and took it to the sink to be cleaned. He allowed everything to happen, believing that Niall had to oppose his family with his own strength in order to move on.

As they returned to the bedroom Niall had indicated that he would share a bed with his brother while Kei was able to take the spare bed. The man had immediately refused, throwing a tantrum until Niall reclaimed his own bed and Kei claimed to sleep on the floor. He knew Niall was unhappy wit his decisions, but seeing at Kei didn’t actually sleep in the night it was a much better option to spend a half hour on the floor pretending to sleep, rather than an entire night in a bed when Niall could be more comfortable. Despite Niall’s pouting the man had not given in and instead spent the nights in a chair watching the boy sleep. Only one night had his brother Ivan woken to see Keisuke side awake despite how late it was. The brother had only mumbled something about homosexual weirdness before turning over in his own bed and sleeping the rest of the night.

Niall started is fortune telling up again, and despite Kei’s warning, pushing himself past what he was capable of handling. The dark haired man watched as the boy literally destroyed his dainty. Each reading deviled deeper into the void that Niall explored for answers, scratching at the boy’s reason, and dragging him farther into the misty pit, an abyss of no return. Kei was powerless to help him, and he continued to receive hostile looks from the other family members except Ivan who seemed obviously to it. He accepted it though. Whenever Niall came out of a reading a wreck Kei had been there to catch the boy. He had even purchased a tight turtle neck that allowed the boy to get as reckless as possible without actually reaching Kei’s exposed face. Kei was, though, upset that he wasn’t able to do anymore for the boy he had vowed to protect. He knew that using his sight so much was destroying him, but ehre was nothing he could do.
~~
Two weeks since joining Niall’s family in the village Keisuke had become a familiar face to many. The man that almost always accompanied the boy that could see the future, that was what had become his title. He was on errand for the mother, Ela, who still gave him nasty looks when she thought he wasn’t paying attention , had sent him on an errand for fresh vegetable when the encounter happened. A boy looking the same age as Niall had approached, a nervous look in his face and he shoved a piece of paper into his hand without any other acknowledge meant. Confused, Kei had looked at it of course, a note addressed to Niall letting the boy know of a party happening that night.

Kei didn’t generally encourage such actions, but the boy was losing himself, surely having a bit of fun would aid him in some way to regain the boy that Kei had once known.

Back at the house Kei looked around. All the dmages that had been present whe n he had first arrived with Niall had since been repaired, luxury items such as artwork and ceramics decorated the spaces and Kei couldn’t help but curl his lip in disgust. Niall had done all the work for these people, yet all they did was take from the boy.

Kei sat by the door where Niall did his fortunes, a client currently inquiring about who-knows-what, the piece of paper given to him crumpled in his grip. He ddin’t know what else to do for the boy, every time he had tried speaking up the boy’s parents had shut him up with the threat of kicking Keisuke out, or saying he was just n outsider. He leaned his head against the way and looked up, vaguely he could hear voices on the other side of the wall. Niall no doubt giving someone an accurate fortune.

It was only once the client had stormed out did Kei straighten in attention. Whoever it had been seemed mad, but he ignored it to check on the silver haired boy who was constantly in his thoughts. Keisuke had thought he had only had a strong desire to protect the boy, but over the last two weeks he had come to realize it as more. He wanted to possess Niall, hide him from everyone else, and keep him safe from these retched people. He wanted his boy more than anything in his millenniums of existence, he wanted this boy to be his and only his. The body he possessed was the only thing restraining him from advancing though, and has the boy stumbled out of the room Keisuke caught him.

He had gone back to wearing two gloves, though mismatching, in order to have the least amount of worry that he might kill Niall while taking care of him in this state. The boy shoved at him, his mood horrendous, and instead Kei wrapped him on a hug, feeling the boy fight against him with all his might. “Niall… shhh. It’s ok, I’m going to protect you. I will save you, please, be calm.” He whispered into the boy’s ear until he stopped fighting. Whether it was his words or exhaustion Keisuke was unsure, but as the boy slumped into him he was only glad that the boy had not completely lost himself yet.
~
Later in the night Kei shook Niall awake, the piece of paper the boy had given him still fresh in his mind. He hadn’t lived in the village for long, but the address written on it was familiar to him, one he had passed many times whilst doing errands for Ela. He dragged the boy out of the bed, doing his best to keep them quiet as they slipped out the door. Eos was hovering over his ehad as they left, but he waved her away, shoving the paper to Niall. [color]#91b26a]“I want you to act your age tonight.”[/color] He whispered quietly into the boy’s ear as they walked. “Enjoy your youth before its all used up.”

He mumbled it quietly supporting the boy until the finally ended up in front of what resembled a huge party in a small hosue.

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Niall had a miserable 2 weeks back home. Every day he was using his Sight and on most occasions, he did multiple readings one after another. It was all just the way it was when he had left this place. Nothing had really changed at all. Niall was exhausted and he didn't go out much, using what time he had left over to try and rest and recuperate his strength. Once again his parents had no real idea what this was doing to their son. They had a taste of money and luxury again and they were unwilling to give it up and force Niall to stop destroying his own mind. Maybe it wasn't that they didn't notice but that they didn't want to notice.

Using the sight as much as he was, of course there were side affects. When he was in the 'present', he wasn't truly aware of what was happening. He got dazed quickly and he'd stare off into space, his mind blank of all thoughts so that he looked more like a doll than anything. Other times, he spoke to no one and his words weren't clear but that had only started recently. The worst was the mood swings. One minute he was fine, the next he was in hysterics over a small frustration or he'd break down for no reason. Once he had even broke down at the dinner table and couldn't stop crying and saying words that didn't make sense but seemed so important to him. His mother had the sense to put him to bed at that point. He was always exhausted. Keisuke was the only one that seemed to calm him but he even snapped on him on many occasions. He was loosing control and he hated it. He just... he didn't know what else to do. Now matter where they went in town, people wanted their fortune read and they didn't want anything else from him. Once again his only value was his visions.

Niall lay in his bed getting some much needed sleep when Keisuke shook him. He gasped and he gripped the man's arms as he was pulled away from the warmth and comfort of his bed. He reached back for it and tried to stop Keisuke but he only managed to grab his blanket and dragged it across the floor as Keisuke pulled him away from his room and then out into the night air. Why was Keisuke doing this to him? He just wanted sleep, the blessed darkness where his mind could recover from its abuse. At this point he had dropped the blanket and he grumbled like a child as the man ushered him away.

At last, Keisuke got the disgruntled Niall to stand before the door that would lead them into the party. He pouted and glared at the door and then Keisuke. "You're mean. I want sleep. Don't care 'bout stupid party," he grumbled and rubbed at his eyes. He started wobble back home but Keisuke pulled him back to the door. He growled at Keisuke and fought in the man's grip, throwing a tantrum and even beating at the man's chest to get him to let him go. It didn't work. Keisuke's arms were lie a strong vice and they didn't loosen. Eventually Niall tired and panted against Keisuke. He didn't have the strength to fight anymore.

"Bastard. I want rest...Fine... I go in. You come to," he decided then and gripped Keisuke's gloved hand in his. He looked down at himself and the mismatched outfit he wore. It was what he had put on when his mother had woke him earlier to do a sudden reading. He had never taken it off. Ah well. The clothes didn't matter much and neither did his wild hair. He looked like he had stumbled out of bed which was exactly what happened. He turned to the door and gave a knock.

The door was quick to open to reveal a young man. He blinked a bit surprised to see that Niall had actually showed up before he ushered them in. "Come in! I am so glad you could make it! We just set out the food."

"Food..." he mused, instantly interested.

"Yeah. It is on the table beside the couch," the boy directed and brought the two to the main room where everyone was gathered talking among themselves and eat at the snacked that were set out.

Niall went straight for the food and plopped himself down to start eating. At the moment, being social was not his priority. Food would give him strength and maybe make him less irritable from his lack of sleep. He was going to get Keisuke back for this.

One of the other guests chuckled as everyone gathered. "Since everyone is here now, I think our first game is in order. Niall, Keisuke, join us."

Niall planned on ignoring him but Keisuke of course didn't let him. He dragged him into the group and Niall equally pulled Keisuke down beside him. If he was subject to this, Keisuke wasn't going to escape it.

If it wasn’t for how badly Niall’s mind was being fucked by the constant use of his sight Keisuke was sure he would have found the way the boy was acting cute. It brought out something primal and godly in him, the urge to shelter the boy strong, the urge hide him away from others even stronger. The possessiveness lasted even as they reached the house. He still had the boy in his grasp as they stared up at the house, and suddenly, Keisuke had the strong urge to drag the boy away from this village and never come back. He forced his dulling senses to reach out towards the nearest door to the underworld, it wasn’t nearly close enough to be a reasonable trip for the boy to survive and the dark haired man abandoned the plan immediately. He sent a glance over at the boy, he was pouting while looking up at the party, and while entwining their fingers Kei got dragged into the house by Niall at the urging of the boy who had invited him. As if he would actually leave the boy’s side.

The inside of the house was filled with humans that were all around Niall’s age. The boy led him around the party, seemingly led by the desire to eat, and on the way someone handed him a cup of liquid, with only the words ‘Get wild’ to accompany it. With one sniff he knew it was alcohol, but he kept it in his grasp as Niall dragged him to a destination. Kei couldn’t keep the smile of his lips when the boy started eating. Even while stuffing his face Kei found Niall unbearably charming, and he knew that nothing the boy could would ever lessen the affection that had growing since they had met. He pushed the cup of alcohol in the boy’s direction though, a hope that it would loosen him up, all Niall to actually have fun for a change.

Even as he was pulled down by Niall into a group of kids sitting in a circle, Niall pressed up against his right side, a girl he had never met on his left, and the boy that had invited them on Niall’s right, Kei didn’t feel any anxiety bubble up in him. His eyes were fixed on Niall, making sure the boy wasn’t truly suffering at this party, wishing that more than anything the boy would come back and return to the personality he had been before arriving at the village. The guest that had initiated the circle of kids stood up so everyone would look at him.

“Alright kids,” the boy started, holding up what appeared to be a regular, if anything extremely small, piece of tissue paper in his fingers. “It’s time for a nice friendly game of suck and blow. For anyone not familiar with the instructions… when the paper gets to you, suck in, when it’s time to pass it on, blow out.” He plopped down next to the girl that Kei found himself next to and Kei watched curiously as the boy pressed the paper to his lips. He heard in whoosh of air being inhaled as he leaned in to the girl sitting next to him. He felt his eyebrows raise in surprise as he lips seemed to connect with his, but when she pulled away she had the paper against her lips.

Kei felt his heart rate sky rocket. One thin piece of paper was playing at determining if this girl lived or died. It felt as if she turned to him in slow motion, a suggestive glint in her eyes, and in a panic he leaned in slowly as to not cause suspicion, but his heart was jack hammering in his chest. By some stroke of luck, however; she seemed to be more clothed than many of the other girls, and even when she reached up and pulled their faces together there was no skin on skin contact. The paper prevented their faces from touching, and her gloved hands stopped a fatality from happening as she held their faces together. Whistles and shouts erupted from the rowdy youth as they stayed together until she finally released him. He relieved, the man turned to face Niall, but the boy was not looking in his direction.

With the paper held against his lips, all Kei could think about was being able to kiss Niall without killing him, something he had found that he wanted to do, badly. He took the boy’s chin by a gloved hand and forced him to face him. Kei felt his eyes darken, hooded with his desire, but he couldn’t stop himself. While holding the boy’s chin he connected their lips, relishing in the way Niall felt, but all the same trying not to push it too far. Trying not to scare the boy away.

When he finally released him Kei couldn’t look away from the boy. Even when he turned away to continue moving the game long Kei didn’t stop staring. His eyes flickering to the boy, Arnie, that had invited them in the first place, and he felt something akin to greed and anger flicker inside himself as Nial and the boy connected lips. His grip on the boy’s hand tightened, that possessiveness being brought to the forefront of his mind. There was no doubt he wanted this boy, in many different ways, and there was no doubt he’d have to suppress all those urges.

His grip loosened on the boy’s had and he leaned to the boy’s ear. “Was this the right choice? Are you enjoying yourself Ni?”

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Niall heard the instructions of the game about to be played, but for some reason he didn't think it applied to him. As usually lately, he was present but not truly part of the present world around him. He felt distant from his body and all these other people, many of whom he didn't even know. He only knew Arnie beside him and that was because they had been friends once upon a time when they were children. He sat patiently where he was an drank whatever it was the Keisuke gave him. He downed the whole thing before he realized it was alcohol and he didn't like the way it stuck the back of his throat. He coughed a bit and set the glass down in front of him and just stared at how the droplets of whatever it was clung to the rim as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. His mind had gone blank again as it tried to heal itself from the many wounds he had delivered to it.

That's when he felt Keisuke grip his chin and pull his face upward. He blinked a bit confused as he slowly regained his mental understanding. His eyes widened in surprise when Keisuke leaned forward and pressed his lips against his. Sure there was a paper separating them from actual contact but even this sent a shiver through him and he found that in that moment, he was more present than he had been in a while. He could feel the man's warmth and the contour of his lips pressed against his and it seemed like their lips matched perfectly. His heart was hammering against his rib cage and there was a blush on his cheeks he couldn't hide. His eyes threatened to close but then Keisuke blew out, making him gasp and remember the purpose of what he was suppose to be doing. He sucked in to keep the paper against his lips, aware that he had felt the man's breath, tasted it. All he wanted to do in that moment was kiss Keisuke again and forget everything else. He desperately wanted to feel centered and grounded in reality and Keisuke ha given him that even though it was just a brief moment.

He turned to Arnie then and leaned forward to pass on the paper. Arnie's warmth and touch was just as soft but there was none of that feeling behind it. Was it really just Keisuke? Was Keisuke really so talented that he could elicit death and this much desire and hope with a single touch? Finally, he was rid of the paper and was able to pull away from his old friend. He glanced at Keisuke and hugged his own arms to try and get a grip of himself. The man had asked him a question. It was a double-edged sword. He wasn't having fun but that paper kiss... he wanted that. If he said he wasn't having fun, would Keisuke think he hadn't liked the kiss? Well, his brain wasn't allowing him to be eloquent in his speech so he answered, "The party isn't fun... but I enjoyed it..." In his head it made perfect sense. He had enjoyed it, it being the kiss. If it was clear to Keisuke... that was another story. He reached up and touched his lips absentmindedly as he slowly started to go blank again, his eyes growing half lidded. The scene around him had grown less engaging so his mind didn't need to be present anymore. He really was like a doll sitting in his place. Not even this lasted for much longer however.

The game went on, Niall oblivious to it all as his already primed Sight enraptured his mind and his grey eye swirled with Void only he could see. Niall swayed a moment his head fell back and he dropped. He landed on his back, a bit unusual considering he usually was able to go into the Mist while sitting perfectly still. Both of Niall's eyes seemed foggy and daze as his lips began to move in his mumbling. A couple of the girls screamed and hurried to move away from the boy that was suddenly on the floor. None of the sounds and movements waked Niall, another thing quite unusual for the young seer.

"wind... wind... roofs... ablaze... horse.... open... open the gate..." Niall's sightless eye darkened then and for a moment, he stopped talking.

"What is happening?" one of the other boys that had attended asked and moved forward but even he was afraid of touching Niall in his odd state. None of them had seen Niall in the Void before.

"Woe to ye, guileless and pale, she hunts... she hunts upon the ire of deeds unsown... Her eyes... eyes see all... she's there...she's there...

[b]"How do we stop him?"[/color] a girl asked then, eyes alight with fear. His words were beginning to scare them. Arnie grabbed a bucket of water and quickly hurried over before splashing Niall, remembering that was on way to startle him awake. The boy didn't even twitch.

"Run... ye can't hide from the gods....." Niall's eye lightened back to normal but the swirling didn't stop. His words returned to being less decipherable. "...dogs...wild n.... grovel.. kicked..."

"The party isn't fun... but I enjoyed it..." Kei stared at the boy curious for a moment. He wasn’t sure if that meant he was having a good time or not. Kei tried to piece together exactly what the boy had meant, was he too crowded? Were the strange games these kids were playing enjoyable? Kei felt somewhat guilty, even if he hadn’t known what the paper game had entailed at first he could have gotten both the girl and Niall killed. He could have backed out immediately, these kids would have whined at him, but that wasn’t something he couldn’t handle. He hadn’t though, because he had wanted to kiss Niall, and had taken advantage of the moment even if that meant endangering the lives of others. He was so selfish.

He watched Niall reach up and touch his lips absentmindedly, and he watched as the light had briefly come back to eyes recessed what seemed to be even further than before. Keisuke felt his heart plummet, he had made Niall’s condition even worse. He completely zoned out, and Kei could tell that Niall was not taking in any of the details of their surroundings. He vowed right there, watching as Niall fell deeper into nothingness, he would cut off his desires for the boy. He would stay with him, as Niall had requested, and protect him of course, but that would be the extent of it.

A tap on his shoulder had him reluctantly turning away from the silver haired boy. The girl who had passed him the paper early was looking at him, a flirty smile on her lips and alcohol on her breath. She leaned in to him, probably in an attempt to get him interested in her, and mumbled words to him that he couldn’t hear over the dull roar of the party. He didn’t respond to her advances, and was going to wait for her to lose interest on her own when he heard a thud behind him. Kei spun away from the girl to see Niall had fallen backwards.

Kei saw it in the boy’s eyes immediately, he had gone into the void at some point. The man’s heart hammered in his chest, Niall generally needed concentration and a quiet environment to get in and stay in the Void. A party was definitely not the place to fit those requirements. Even worse, even as a commotion started the boy did not wake. He placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders, he was mumbling words too, this was bad.

“Hey Ni, c’mon wake up. This isn’t a good time for party tricks..” He was attempting to keep his ton light, calm, in order to ease the tension in the other guests of the party, but when Niall didn’t respond to him he felt his anxieties begin to rise. He couldn’t lose the boy like this, in a party. He brushed his hand over the boy’s forehead to get the strands of silver hair out of his face and leaned down to try and hear what he was mumbling.

"Woe to ye, guileless and pale, she hunts... she hunts upon the ire of deeds unsown... Her eyes... eyes see all... she's there...she's there...” The man leaned back in frustration, riddles, always riddles when he was in the void. Kei could never make sense of them. All he could do was take their literal meaning of the words. A woman was hunting, maybe someone like them who was slightly more gifted than the average human. Someone with eyes that could see anything.

He was startled back when Arnie attempted to wake the boy with water, he had to admit it had been a smart idea, but not even that affected Niall. He was deep in the Void, somewhere Kei wasn’t sure he was reachable anymore. The idea that the boy was beyond hope made him emotional, he could feel a stringing behind his eyes and his placed his gloved palm on Niall’s cheek leaning in to try and reach him again. He froze when he heard the boy’s next words though.

"Run... ye can't hide from the gods....." The gods, the gods were coming for him? But why, he hadn’t done anything wrong. He had completed his last task without problem. Was he not allowed even this small sliver of happiness? He took a steadying breath to try and calm himself, the gods were in his future, and Niall needed help now. When the dark haired man leaned forward again the words Niall muttered seemed nothing more than nonsense.

“Niall… Ni it’s Keisuke. Focus on my voice, I’m right here, I’m getting you out of there. Follow my voice, I’m here, I’m going to keep you grounded, just focus on me, I’m begging you. You can’t leave me Niall, that’s not fair.” He tried to keep his voice steady, but he could hear it shaking as he spoke, but still he continued muttering things to the boy in hopes of bringing Niall back from the Void.

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Everyone in the room began to panic then. What was happening to Niall? This vision thing was frightening. Nothing seemed to make Niall return. He was mumbling incoherently and none of them wanted to watch as Niall quickly sounded more and more insane. The others looked around each other uneasily. Was Niall going to be okay? What hat set him off? Should they go get Niall's parents? None of them had come face to face with this before. Keisuke was their and Niall's only hope to ease the situation.

Niall himself was lost in the inky mist of the Void. Images were flying around him and he couldn't center himself. One minute he was in Rome and the next he was watching a battle in England. It was all going by so fast that not even he could make sense of it. He was spiraling downward and there was nothing here that he could grab onto; they were just wispy images after all. The threads that were so familiar to hims seemed to fall away like a perturbed spiderweb at this touch. He could tell he was falling deeper and deeper into the mist. Was this it? Was this the insanity that he had feared would take hold of him? Was he going to be lost here forever, never knowing what was happening around him? Tears filled his eyes in both his Sight and upon his body thought his eyes did not blink.

No! Please! No! he cried internally, falling to his knees and gripped his head. All the strange noises swirled around him and he keened. He didn't want to go mad! His body remained motionless and he continued to babble nonsense in reality. In his mind, Niall hugged himself and screamed in his desperation.

Damn it Niall! Come back to me!

Niall gasped and looked up in the void but Keisuke was nowhere to be seen.

That voice... that voice.... I know it... it took the lost seer a moment before he was able to place the distance voice. Keisuke! Keisuke! he cried. Where are you? Keisuke!

Just focus on me, I’m begging you. You can’t leave me Niall, that’s not fair.

Kei! Please keep talking! he begged though he knew Kei couldn't hear him. Niall got to his 'feet' and started to run wildly through the images and strings of various paths. He needed to focus on Keisuke. The strings grew taut then and suddenly wrapped around Niall's throat, arms, legs, and torso. They tugged, trying to pull Niall back towards the pit of the void. No! No, please! I want to be in the present! I want Kei and Eos! Niall reached towards the light that he could see and tried to drag himself forward, managing to snap some of the threads as tears dripped down his face from both inside and in reality. He was loosing strength.

I'll ground you in the present but you have to come back! I am right here!

Kei! I am here! he cried in frustration. KEI! With his final scream of determination, the tendrils snapped and Niall raced towards the light.

Niall's body suddenly tensed and gave a shuddering breath as he came back to reality. His tears finally were accompanied by emotions as he cried out and curled into a ball, his body shaking. He was so cold. "K-Kei..." he called weakly and squeezed his eyes shut. "Kei..." he was hyperventilating and he didn't start calming until his fingers found Keisuke's sleeve. He tried to grip him but his hands were too shaky from the strain and his chill. I-I-I..m... h-h-here.. w-where... where... y-y-y...you... d-d-don't s-s-... s-stop t-talking..." Everyone in the room seemed relieved that Niall was responding again though his shaking and blubbering still unnerved them.

"K-Kei..." Kei was startled when the boy suddenly came back to reality. But he was more grateful for the fact Niall had come back than he had ever been in his entire life. He didn’t think it had been working, the boy hadn't been responding to anything, but in his desperation he continued to plead with the boy to come back to him. The man stared in shock for a moment, almost unable to comprehend what was happening. He had thought Niall was gone, he had thought he’d lost him to the Void. He was only pulled out of his shock by the weak sound of the boy’s voice, and his hand on Kei’s sleeve.

The boy felt freezing and he was violently shaking. Kei fell backwards and he pulled the boy close to him so that Niall sat between his legs, the boy’s back pressed against his chest. Kei brought his arms around the boy, hugging him close to him in an effort to warm him. He was damp from the water Arnie had dumped on him, but Kei could care less about that. The boy was pleading with him through shaking lips and Kei hugged him tighter in a hope to get rid of Niall’s chill. He was requesting one thing from the man, he seemed disoriented and scared, and Kei complied without any resistance.

“Shhh Ni… I’m not leaving, I’m right here. I won’t go anywhere until you’re ready.” He knew everyone around them were staring, whispering, but all he could muster was a testing glare as he continued to speak in a gentle voice. The people of the party didn’t really have any hostility, most were just concerned, but Kei’s nerves felt frayed, tired, and he was just grateful Niall was aware, though despite saying that he could feel his heart hammering in his chest. “Everything is ok now, I’ve got you, you’re safe. Ahh, boy you gave me a real scare though.” He let out a breathy laugh in an attempt to keep his tone light. “We’ve got to stop getting into these life or death situations, like that one contract we picked up a couple weeks ago. Umm what was it exactly, that old rich man wanted the egg of that giant bird to make an omelet that was supposed to have age reversing properties. I don’t even remember the creature anymore, but I do remember almost walking straight off the cliff.”

He smiled remembering it, the cliff really had come out of nowhere. They had been walking and Kei had said something that had caused Niall to burst out laughing. He remembered watching the boy’s features, ingraining the happy expression into his mind, and found couldn’t look away. “Ah, you had been so mad at me. You scolded me even though I’m the adult, I guess I deserved it. But because of that we found the creature’s nest. You never did thank me for that one.” He laughed for real this time, many of the kids at the party were still watching them, though others had the courtesy to go about their own business.

“We’ve only been travelling companions for about two months now, all my memories of us together feel old and nostalgic though, as if we have known each other for millenniums, our minds sure are curious things.” He paused only to adjust himself slightly, Niall’s head resting a bit too close to the collar of his shirt, and he loosened his hug so that his hands fell loosely in Niall’s lap.

“My strongest memory is the first time I ever saw you though, when I laid my eyes on you I knew…” He stopped abruptly in the middle of his sentence. What was he to tell the boy? That he was his fated partner? That minor gods mated only once and then never took another partner for the rest of their existence. That to Keisuke, Niall was that partner, that he was Thanatos? “I knew that you were different, like how I’m different. Anything to say back Ni?”