Victoria Goerk - The cold warmth

Jaylon landed on the floor and latched himself on to the older while chanting the words in his ears. The smaller flinched, almost shying away from the touch but he tried to stay still.

Braylon didn’t want the atmosphere to lessen and he himself wasn’t uncomfortable or anything, just not used to someone touching him apart from Marcellus and Adan.

“Come on, please!”

“Hey,” the half demon pointed at him with the spatula, “Behave or you won’t earn it.”

Jaylon huffed, blowing out his cheeks when things didn’t go his way. The younger opted for clinging on to Braylon quietly until he was finished with cooking and they settled down at the small table.

The florist asked about the demons’ visit and Jaylon bounced in his seat, explaining in a hurry of how he thought they were coming to take Braylon back so he gathered his belongings with him to the balcony. The half demon laughed at that, making the ghost blush and nudge his shin lightly with his foot.

“Hey, don’t laugh at me!”

Braylon waved his hands frantically, wiping the tears at his eyes away and calmed down enough to reply, “Sorry and I’m not leaving, you don’t have to worry about that.”

He continued eating, answering questions from time to time. Jaylon learned that his new friend had a demon father and human mother. His father was punished because he broke the rule of loving a human and bearing a child. He was send down to the lowest level of the underworld and has never been seen since then. His mother died after giving birth and Braylon was given to the family of the head demon to be taken care of.

Jaylon listened intently to every word, eyes widening at every sentence and when Braylon finished he looked sad and tried to say something, but the demon just smiled at him and reached over to pat his head.

“I know how you feel, but trust me, I’m okay now. There’s no need to be sorry for me. Things just … happen, you know?”

It was the first time that Braylon had seen such a sad smile on the face of the younger.

“Yeah … I guess … I appreciate you for telling me that though, I wish I could tell you something about me too.”

“No need to hurry. You’re probably fed up of being stuck in here, but take your time.” The older stood up to wash the dishes and Jaylon scrambled up to stand beside him too. Braylon glanced at him fondly, before asking the other to get his bag for him which was located in the hallway.

The younger obediently flew his way through the walls and returned in a few seconds with the bag hanging in his hand. Braylon passed, wiping his hands on a towel before rummaging in the bag to pull out a plastic bag full of movies.

“Here,” he handed Jaylon the bag of movies while hugging his own bag close to his chest, “I noticed that there was an old DVD player in the living room, maybe you can pick one for us tonight?”

The spirit stared at the smaller one with his big eyes, then slowly looking down to the bag in his hand and then slowly looked up again at Braylon. The blonde tilted his head in confusion, wondering why the other won’t leave yet before being attacked with a sudden hug.

“Thank you! Oh my god, this is the best gift! Oh- can I mention god to a demon?”

Jaylon wondered, still bouncing on the balls of his feet and accidentally lifting the demon up a bit while he was still going on with his rant. “I haven’t watched a movie in months! This is really the best!”

“H-Hey,” Jaylon looked up to see a flustered florist, his face just inches away from his. “Put me down. Go-pick out the movie.”

The ghost smiled wide, feeling an urge to boop the scrunched up nose but decided against it and gently set the older down. “I’ll help with the dishes first!”

“No, just- there’s only a few,” Braylon mumbled, ushering him out of the kitchen. “I’ll finish up here and then take a shower before joining you. You can watch it first though, I already watched it all.”

The spirit shook his head stubbornly, but the blonde returned it with a stern look and turned back to wash the dishes and pan. Jaylon still lingered at the door, waiting and following the other to their bedroom, then proceeded to wait in front of the bathroom.

Braylon waltzed out after a few minutes, wrapped in a black bathrobe and raised one of his eyebrows at a lazily floating Jaylon who was hanging from the ceiling and moving the movies close to his chest.

“Jaylon.”

The ghost perked up at the firm tone, scanned Braylon with his eyes from head to toe before grinning cheekily and zooming past him to the living room. He eagerly poured out the movies, scattering them properly to look at each one and gasped when he saw Iron Man. Jaylon immediately put it in the player, turned on the TV and sat patiently on the sofa, sinking in and out of it to kill time.

A minute later Braylon walked in yawning and eyeing Jaylon who popped out of the sofa with big eyes. “You tired?”

“Nah, I yawn all the time. What are we watching?”

Jaylon grinned as Braylon flopped down beside him. “Iron Man! It’s my favorite!”

Braylon smiled along as the movie began to play, the ghost’s eyes were glued on the screen for most of the time but he still found some chances to scoot closer to the half demon who was watching with sleepy eyes.

Half an hour in and the spirit felt something soft hit his shoulder, a weight resting against it. He glanced down and was met with a sight of honey blond locks and a small button nose jutting out from his view.

Jaylon smiled fondly, deciding to just turn off the movie and carefully scooped up his roommate in his arms. The half demon slept soundly, breathing in and out evenly while Jaylon carried him to their room with soft steps. He gently laid the florist down on the bed, quietly rustling the newly bought blankets before covering Braylon with it. He smiled proudly once he was done, glad that they could sleep in clean sheets. The demon had sneezed a lot in the last night, even though he tried his best in dusting everything, but now, Jaylon thinks, that he would sleep well tonight.

The younger slowly slid himself under the blanket, laying on his side to watch the older’s face. Yes. It was a creepy behavior, but who could resist with this pretty pale face and these rosy cheeks?

Well, certainly not Jaylon.

He laid there, just simply staring at Braylon’s face with warmth spreading inside his chest. Jaylon felt so so happy with today’s events, all the kind gestures and the florist’s softness was doing things to him. Like- a lot.

/Am I going too fast? / He wondered silently.

The spirit bit his lip nervously before lifting his head to push his pillow, closing the gap between him and the older. He wriggled closer, finally shutting his eyes to go to sleep.

He felt content, felt something blooming in his chest.

Braylon woke up snuggled in white, clean covers only to see the other side of the bed empty. He slowly sat up, stretching himself with a yawn before sleepily walking out of the room to look for Jaylon.

He found the ghost sitting straight up on the sofa, eyes glued to the TV screen where Iron Man was being played. Braylon could feel a smile creeping up on his lips while he stood there, leaning on the doorframe just to watch the younger. It took a few minutes for the spirit to notice him, but when the kid did- “Oh! You’re awake”, with a grin blooming on his face.

“Morning, watching movies so early? Didn’t we watch it last night?”

The half demon greeted, squinting at the screen which was now paused. Jaylon chuckled at his words, jumping up to float closer.

“You fell asleep! So I carried you to bed.” The spirit says, puffing out his chest proudly.