“Zain, you look great today! You’re practically glowing!” Marlene complimented her colleague entering the flower shop.

She noticed a blush creeping up his face and she wondered why, scrunching her face in the process. Then something clicked. She smirked.

“What?” Zain let out when he saw her face.

“I know what you did last night.”

He wanted to escape to the back room, use changing into his work clothes as an excuse, but the brunette stopped him in his tracks and pushed a cup of coffee in his hands.

“Spill the beans, boy. I know you for far too long now to not notice your change in behaviour. I already found you suspicious the past few days, and now I know for sure. So spill it.”

Zain sighed. Marlene was right. Before meeting Nyx he had been this gloomy mess, putting up a mask for customers but complaining on and off about how stagnant his life was to Marlene. But the past few days that he had been back, he couldn’t help but smile genuinely and see the world more positively.

“Okay, okay,” he said as he finally gave in, “I may have met someone.”

“May? Boy, it’s clear as hell you found someone special, I can see it on your face. Now tell me, who is she?”

Zain cringed internally. Right, he hadn’t told her yet. He hadn’t seen the need before, the topic of dating and his love life had never come up in the past two years.

“Uhm, ah...” He opened and closed his mouth, struggling to find the right words. But he knew that if he didn’t clear things up with her, things might get awkward. Why was correcting strangers so much easier than someone he was close with?

Marlene tilted her head, a knowing smirk on her face. “Oh I see. It’s not a she, is it?”

Zain nodded carefully, not sure how she would react, even though she didn’t look mad or disappointed or anything like that.

“Then tell me, what is he like?”

His couldn’t help but blink. Was she accepting it that easily?

“Ah, um… He’s… cute. Yeah.” He watched as the brunette tried to hold in her laugh, and he pouted.

“I’m sorry, Zain, but you look so cute like that, flustered and all. I’m glad you’ve met someone though.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. You looked so lonely for a while. I was worried about you, you know?”

He never knew that him losing his fire would affect others so much. He felt kinda bad about it.

“Oh don’t make that face!” Marlene said as she saw Zain’s expression, “Live in the now! If he makes you happy, it makes me happy. That’s how it is!”

She nodded at her own statement and then pushed the man to the back room.

“Now go change before the first customers arrive.”

Zain smiled. Maybe she was right. Maybe he really should live more in the now.

# # # #

“Elrick, there are rumours Nyx was spotted at the black market.”

Candlelight illuminated an overstuffed room, the wooden bookcases practically bursting from the amount of books they contained. Various occult items were scattered over the in paper covered table a tall man occupied, his long, black hair tied back.

“Yes, I went there with him once.”

“No, no, it was recent. He was seen with a red-haired boy, buying ingredients for your aphrodisiac potion.”

Elrick scribbled something unreadable onto a piece of paper, and huffed.

“Finally, huh? It was about time someone tamed that beast.”

The other man let out a chuckle. “Do I hear some jealousy, Elrick? Remember it was you who locked him up. If only you had persevered, you-”

“Don’t push it, Helios.”

The man named Helios stepped out of the shadows and leaned onto the table. Golden curls fell over his bright blue eyes, the motion reveiling two tiny black horns previously hidden. Teeth nipped at Elrick’s ear.

“You’re so easy to loose your cool. Really, grow a backbone or something.”

Elrick slammed his hand on the wood, scattering paper everywhere. Tight knuckles wrapped around the delicate man’s neck and his eyes were seething with anger.

“I told you not to push it. I did what I did, leave it be.”

Helios strained to nod, not wanting to die at the hands of the man who took him in. And yet he was grinning.

“Wipe that stupid grin off of your face, Helios. I have five more pages to complete. Go play outside or something.”

The blonde clicked his tongue. “Fine.”

Helios hid his horns with magic and left the place that one could barely call a house. When had Elrick become so grumpy? Maybe since the last new moon. That night maybe he had gone a bit too far, bringing in multiple men. He guessed he should have consulted him first.

He shrugged. Eh, he had had fun. Elrick had been too busy working anyway, always surrounded by those stuffy books. Books, books, books.

Blegh.

“Hey sexy, wanna have some fun?”

The man he had approached nodded. Helios led him to a dark alley, letting him feel up his skirt. He grinned.

Humans were so easy.