Art of Conflict (Laven & Kol)

[Laven]

It was going to be a lovely day. Laven kept that litany up in his head as he walked to his little shop. A good day a beautiful day and a lucrative one at that if he was lucky. Killing couldn't be his whole life, not when there were people who liked the clothing he made and would pay his price to have some of his work for themselves.

But it was more than that. More than the promise of good work and happy faces at the sight of what he could make with his clever hands. He had a brightness under his breast that he hadn't felt in years and it made him smile with more kindness than before. It gave him back a piece of himself he hadn't realized how badly he needed. But now that he had it... He had been willing to face steel and fire to keep it safe.

All these thoughts spun and chimed through his head like the bell that rang from his door whenever it was opened. This job was the one he loved. Helping small children be fitted for their first fancy parties. Helping brides and grooms and everyone in between to look their best no matter their shape or size. It all took time, all took his mind off of everything but the immediate. Once his appointments were cleared for the day it was organizing drafts and sketches, making notes on ideas to bring up to clients that he hadn't seen but would soon, and looking over his accounts and credits. His other job was all managed by his cousin but this...

This was all his, his dream he had grasped with broken hands and made beautiful and new for the years he had polished and groomed it and himself. This tiny shop that he shared with two other people (a jeweler and a personal stylist that got a cut of the sale if people bought the clothing Laven specifically had designed) was perfect. He wasn't famous and he didn't want to be, here. He was comfortable and brought people happiness. It all brought him happiness too. The darkness drew around the world outside his shop as he looked over lines and lines of tiny writing in his own hand, cross referencing payments owed and payments made. He was lost in the books, only aware enough to listen for the bell of some late comer's entrance.

[Kol]

Already the light of day was beginning to fade, the sky darkening with the passage of time. It was waiting that was often the greatest challenge for him, but he had learned long ago that sometimes patience was worth what he was waiting for. He allowed himself to watch those that came and went while the minutes slipped away, none of them held even a little interest for him. Not now. The one he was waiting for lay within the building across the street and slightly down the way.

Only when it was growing quite close to the time marked for closing for the small shop did he finally pull himself from the shadows that had concealed him. Pale skin looking more gray than ivory in the uncertain light until the cool knob was beneath his long pale fingers. It opened with a soft sound, announcing his presence. His bright green eyes slid through the shop with mild interest. The space was filled with all the trappings that this sort of business was supposed to have, and amid all the fine clothes he looked quite at place. His own fine suit which was perfectly tailored to his form was quite at home amid the work of the man who owned this place.

He was the very picture of a well-clothed gentleman, every hair of his dark locks held perfectly in place, though he wore no tie around his neck the lack seemed to suit him. Just as did the dark black cloth that framed the whiteness of the shirt beneath it and the pale color of his skin. Yet when he moved it was with a sort of discordant grace, his limbs seeming slightly longer than they should be.

Kol turned his ever-present smile upon the man behind the desk and moved toward it without hesitation. "Bonjour." The foreign word was another discordant note in a city where everyone spoke the same language unless they spoke only with silent fingers. Yet it rolled smoothly off of his tongue with pleasing depth, his green eyes sliding over the other man's fine elvish features, lingering over his neck and returning to crimson eyes. Beautiful eyes.

Eyes like sang spilled out on the floor in a pool of red, slowly drying around the edges but fresh and warm. Full of light. He offered one long-fingered hand to the man in greeting. The other man would not know about the poison in his skin which he allowed to come forth. Others could call it bitter medicine but it brought pleasure to those who felt it. "You are Laven oui?"

Just the first post and already Kol is at it :"D - it's just a little something to loosen Laven up and make him a bit more... aware *waggles eyebrows*

[Laven]

The chiming of the bell had an automatic reaction for Laven, a smile sliding onto his face and the tension shifting out of his body to give him an air of confidence and calm. "Welcome," he called out as the other man greeted him in  a language he had only been told of, and never heard on this side of the world. Warm red eyes looking the stranger up and down discreetly.

Discordant, his movements graceful but like a dancer half a step before the music. Laven found himself blinking and trying not to stare at the unusual man. He was dressed well at least, which made Laven perk up just a little. "Yes, I'm Laven." His hand went out automatically, clasping the stranger's with the right amount of pressure before releasing it and fighting the urge to rub his palm against his thigh. It would have been rude to admit that the man's touch was uncomfortable for Laven.

He rarely trusted people outright, so perhaps his wariness was simply old habits. Certainly not this man's fault.

"What can I do for you, sir?" The way the dark haired man's gaze was lingering on his neck and face made Laven purse his lips before smiling again. He refused to be rude to a stranger who was possibly a customer just because they were staring at him intently. After all this man wouldn't be the first one. He cleared his throat absentmindedly, his voice sounding off to his ears.

[Kol]

If the other man was uncomfortable Kol seemed not to notice it, though he certainly did, but the unease was something he was very familiar with. It was a natural reaction to his presence, and so he dismissed it as easily as water beading off of glass. There was the brief touch of skin against skin, he might have allowed his fingers to linger but the other man drew back with professional courtesy. The answer to his question made his smile broaden with the barest touch of teeth. "Bon, bon."

It seemed that his sources had been quite correct as to whom owned this shop. Knowing that this lavender-haired man was the one that he was looking for with certainty filled him with a certain sense of satisfaction. "I was told to look for you and that this is where I might find you oui?" There was the edge of an accent to his words, even though he spoke with great care to be understood, no amount of years could train it away. "I am pleased to find that you are here."

Slowly he leaned forward slightly, his green eyes locking with crimson. His tone became gently enticing. "You can come with me; that is what you can do mon ami." Kol's teeth were revealed along the edge of his pale lips.

[Laven]

He blinked his eyes slowly, his brows pressed together at the stranger's pressuring words.  The dim set lights in his store were suddenly brighter than he remembered, and he found himself needing to blink more and more as his vision began to swim. Green eyes pulling at him, not asking but coaxing and sounding like oil over water. Smooth and quick as a viper.

"No," He murmured, pushing back and away from the desk as his hand reached for the blade always strapped to his thigh. Something was wrong, he felt good when he hadn't felt anything but normal moments ago. The way this man's green eyes were burning into his... "No." He repeated, clumsy fingers finding the hilt of Remembrance and gripping the cool metal that felt like ice against his fever-hot skin.

He didn't know how this man had managed it, didn't know why but he knew what this feeling was. Remembered it spiking through his blood and making him weak and willing for the monster in his past. Something about the thought of the man that he knew from so long ago spurred Laven backwards, adrenaline spiking through his body. This wasn't like getting too deep into a few bottles of wine. This was foggy and dangerous and temptation all rolled into one.

Laven drew his dagger and tried to breathe deeply, tried to ignore the buzzing in his ears and the way everything he touched sparked along his body. "Who... Why?" He didn't know if he could get the right words out with a tongue that felt like it was too large for his head, but he knew that he had to keep this man in his sights. Had to keep him away or else sink the blade in his hand into his flesh. He felt his thighs brush against a display table that had the jeweler's work displayed. Pressed his hand to the hard edge and gripped it tightly as his jaw clenched. "I'm not prey to be hunted." The last words were hissed between teeth as his eyes widened and blinked rapidly.

[Kol]

The first denial had Kol's dark eyebrow rising over his pale features. It amused him, particularly with the way that the other man was moving, his eyes a touch less focused than they had been a moment ago. With faltering steps the other man moved backwards, gaining space between them as he drew a blade from where he kept it on his hip. "Non? You asked what you could do for me did you not?" His tone was entirely reasonable.

It was easy to move smoothly around the desk, to close a bit of that space in spite of the weapon leveled in his direction. "I am Kol Demontry." He added a small polite motion to his words and moved closer again. His height, the build of his body, and the way he was drawing closer make him seem disproportionately tall.

With a small flash of movement he grabbed the blade. Let it cut into his skin as his fingers wrapped around it as he moved just a little closer. His voice lowered to a more husky tone. "Are you not prey?" The long fingers of his other hand reached forward to just lightly touch upon the other man's chest and slide upwards over it. "Then show me your teeth Hasi."

[Laven]

The name... he knew that name but he couldn't bring himself to think and draw the knowledge to the surface. In a flash he was being herded into a corner, this man grasping Remembrance as if the blade was a gentle caress against his skin. Laven's eyes flickered from the blade and the wound that was weeping around the knife's edge.  

It wasn't until Kol said that word that Laven felt some of the fog in his mind lifting, burning away in a rage he hadn't felt in years. With a hiss he dragged Remembrance free, ignored the way his body tried to curl forwards to seek out the lingering touch over his chest. He kicked out and caught Kol in the hip while blasting the man with a burst of air at the same time to send him further from Laven. "I am not Hasi."

He snapped the words out, his whole body tensing and dropping into a fighting stance. "I am no one's little rabbit." The wind was whipping around him, his heart pounding in his chest and his red eyes wild. Only one person had ever called Laven by that name. Only one person could have taken a name meant to be a sign of love and turned it into venom.

"Hasi died 20 years ago, Demontry. He should have told you that. I will not go back." Not unless he was dragged there. And even then he would fight. The fear of that old man had turned to disgust and eventually rage. He wasn't a pet anymore.

[Kol]

Crimson spilled out from between Kol's fingers and dripped onto the floor. The small pain was as welcome as the expression that lit upon Hasi's face. He lifted his hand, licking the blood clean from his pale skin before letting the hand fall again. Kol had asked for teeth, and it seemed that the other man did have them.

That passion, he wanted to touch it for himself. To have it spilled out over his skin. He had been pushed back sharply, but the desk was there to keep him from going to far from the other man. The moment that the gust of wind faded enough, he leaned forward, the taste of iron sliding down his throat.

"You seem quite alive to me Hasi. Full of passion just as I was told." It was the thought of another assassin, someone with skills not unlike his own and perhaps the skill to give him a challenge more than anything else that had tempted him into taking this particular challenge. What he had learned of this man after had been what drew him to Hasi's door.

"He told me that you might not want to come with me oui?" Kol's smile widened. "He suggested several ways that I could persuade you, but left the means to moi."

Kol moved forward again, but this time it was faster and extreamly straightforward. He wanted Hasi to give him that passion that pain, so he did not have to try to avoid the blade he knew would come to him. He would let it strike his hand, his arm; let it sink into his flesh while he slammed into Hasi into the surface that he had been backed up against with his other. "It will be a pleasure to do so Hasi."

[Laven]

For all that Laven was fast, decades of honing himself down to be as streamlined as possible seemed a waste compared to Kol's viper-quick movements. Still, Laven moved away, dagger dancing in an attempt to keep Kol away from him as he let the wind wrap around him. There wasn't even a second thought to the clothing that was lost to the sudden breeze. It wasn't fast enough to keep the assassin from crowding Laven's space, and the elf slashed at Kol's eyes as he tried to keep space between them.

"There is no way I'll go with you of my own volition, you have to know that." For one fleeting moment Laven wished Menel hadn't left town on a job, crushing the thought just as it surfaced. There was no time to wish, not with this assassin closing in, herding him into the desk he had been knocked into earlier.

Laven rolled back and lashed out with his legs again even as he let the momentum propel him on and over the desk. coming to his feet he bared his teeth, sharp canines catching the bright lights in the room. He had nothing to say that wouldn't be his previous words repeating themselves. He was not Hasi, he would not go back to Randwulf. Another burst of air from his free hand as he switched his grip from a slashing hold to a stabbing one, making a downwards motion and feeling the pressure in the room change as the air slammed down on Kol in an attempt to knock him off his feet.

[Kol]

Such words were music to his ears. The challenge to make the other man come with him. The blade aimed at his eyes, and it was years of razor sharpened instinct that drew his hand to block the blow. Black cloth split with a wet sound as another line of red was drawn out over his flesh. It did not strike to deeply, but it spilled crimson over his pale skin and his white shirt beneath his suit.

"Bon." The word purred out of him in a deep satisfied roll that was echoed by the expression on his face. He looked like a man in ecstasy, one that expected far more pleasure to come.

The kick missed him entirely, he was moving to quickly and in far to disordered a fashion. In a fight there was a certain rhythm that those that fought could often fall into. Body movements could be read by the experienced by watching for the tells that would bring them to life. Kol exhibited none of the proper cues. It was as though he had been fashioned in the wrong way, his body moving to a discordant harmony that only he understood.

Yet another burst of air shoved at Kol, a continuing effort to give the other man space to attack. Distance to flee perhaps. Kol reached forward, grasping the desk with his long fingers and flashing his own white teeth. Blood dripped onto the desk, splatters of crimson across the things that had been lain there before Kol rolled over it. "There are other ways Hasi."

There was a wicked promise in those words like the purr before. He did not roll over the desk as Hasi had, but rather climbed over it like some kind of spider, the sharp sound of his shoes against wood clattering. He landed neatly on the other side, his green eyes practically glowing. There was a deep grating noise as he moved again, his body jerking toward Hasi's. Like the other man his teeth snapped, but his did so with purpose, trying to sink his teeth into that slender pale neck, or any other part that he could and pour his venom into Hasi.

[Laven]

He couldn’t focus on anything but keeping Kol from reaching him, and hoping that perhaps his blade would get a lucky strike and make the assassin bleed to death. Even when faced with a threat that had him at the point of terror there was a niggling thought in the back of his mind. The man, Kol Demontry... Laven recognized the name. Somewhere he had heard it before even if he couldn’t place it.


Then there was no time to think. Kol was chasing him, pursuing Laven around his own business. This was a place Laven had built as a refuge from a life he had been forced to accept. And yes, he was skilled in the art of death and the ways of information brokering. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t want to create instead of destroy. Maybe it had taken kindness to bring that truth out of him but it was there. The truth. He could dance with his dagger from dawn to dusk but it was useless against someone like this man charging him.


That was an assassin, that was a creature born to kill. Rending flesh and careless for his own body was what made him so very dangerous compared to Laven.


With teeth glinting in the light of the room Kol was trying to strike out at him, and every instinct in Laven’s body was shrieking that it was dangerous, To do whatever he could to keep those fangs away from his body. He was still floating, just a little. Still feeling the strange ecstasy from whatever Kol had done to him. It made him feel slow, sloppy and clearly telegraphing his attacks for all to see.


Yelling Laven raised Remembrance defensively and tried to catch Kol’s mouth on the blade’s edge. If he could just make sure the other assassin didn’t touch him…


Luck had abandoned him as soon as he felt the jolting pain of sharp teeth enter his shoulder, below his leather collars where his clothing was thin and meant to absorb light. With a strangled snarl Laven grasped at Kol’s throat with his left hand and dug his nails into the pale flesh. “Get away from me you bastard!” The sensation of tearing flesh was horrible and mixed with sparks of…. but Laven refused to let this creature touch him any longer than he had to.

With Remembrance Laven attempted to stab downwards into Kol’s eye, anything to get away. To stop the pain that was spreading quickly into numbness. To stop the way his body felt good and made him want to give in even as his mind screamed like a trapped rabbit.

[Kol]

A dangerous rabbit with wicked fangs and a fierce passion that Kol could practically feel dancing over his skin. He moved, his body showing the signs that Kol's original poison sinking into his muscles and mind. Kol could see it in the brightness of his crimson eyes. Such lovely eyes. Kol wanted to trace lines of sang around them. Crimson set in crimson.

Fangs sank into flesh, sweet flesh that gave way to just the barest edge of the salty sweet tang of iron. The knife cut a line across his cheek, but he only sank his teeth in deeper, growling low in his throat. Long fingers caught his neck and pressed. Like a viper Kol locked his jaw, allowing Hasi to cut off his air supply.

Immediately he could feel the need to breathe seeping into his chest. The choking tightness. There was blood in his mouth, caught and unable to fill him. It spilled back out around his teeth that were digging deeply into muscle. Kol felt the other man's hand raise up and he grabbed that wrist with his own fingers.

It would not do to lose an eye to an errant swing of the blade. He wanted to see Hasi's eyes as his body began to still. Giving into the poison that Kol had poured into his body. With a snap his teeth unlocked, a grasping rattle spilling into the air. His other hand lifting to press around Hasi's thumb and jerk it backwards. Either the other man would stop choking him, his thumb would be broken, or the poison would be active enough that he would be unable to fight Kol's control of the extremity. The numbness always seemed to begin there when it came.

Green eyes slid over pale skin with care, his whole jaw stained crimson from the careless spilling of blood. "I assure you Hasi, my parents were wed when I was conceived oui?" He smiled gently. The other man was unlikely to die from the poison unless Kol had to pour more of it into him. More poison meant it was more likely that the lungs would simply cease to move, that the heart would give up beating. "Ah... you are just as beautiful as I was promised. Parfait."

He shifted backwards, carelessly letting go of the other man's hands. Hasi could have struck him again then. Catching a shoulder, an arm if he could still move to attack. Kol would let him of course. Let Hasi offer him one last lingering pain. "And now, I will take you home again yes?"

[Laven]

Nothing seemed to work, every tiny victory was crushed beneath this other man’s feet as he dominated the fight. Pain had been stolen away, replaced with numbness of Laven’s limbs that was stealing through the rest of his body with each beat of his heart. Objectively the little part of his mind that would never stop analyzing whispered that he should be aware of the effects of paralyzing poison since he used it on the wicked metal claws he sometimes wore. But those claws were gone, left at home since Laven hadn’t planned on killing anyone today.

If only he had known how wrong he was.

Kol was speaking, taunting him for all his words were still polite and good natured. Laven’s hands fell away at the pressure and he released Kol’s throat only to sag to the floor and shudder in revulsion mixed with whatever the euphoric side effects of his poisons was re-flooding his system. “No,” He managed, voice a strangled whine as he struggled uselessly with the hand that still had a weak grasp on Remembrance’s hilt. He didn’t have the dexterity to flip the blade outward again so his strike was feeble and swinging wide to barely knick the assassin’s arm along the bicep.

“That… That isn’t home. Please, it’s a lie. Whatever Randwulf told you.” His words were strangled and hard to get out. As weak as his attempts to get away from Kol for all he had been released. The sudden weakness, the way his body wouldn’t reach properly anymore… Laven was terrified. All the anger at Randwulf for sending someone to try and force him back to that house was burned away in the fear that this man could and would make him stay there for the right price.

“I don’t want to go.”

[Kol]

Considering how ruthless, driven, and possibly even psychopathic Kol had been to this point, it may have seemed strange that anything could make him hesitate. Yet the taller man did just that. He tilted his head at Hasi's words. Kol was quite adept at telling when people were being dishonest, and there was no hint of it in his voice or breathing. Just that expression. The one that Kol had always been drawn to.

Weakly Hasi shifted away from him, his body unwilling to move as it normally did. With gentle fingers he took the knife from the other man and let it fall to the floor. The weapon hit the floor with a dull thud and Kol rose slightly so that he could shift his coat. It was not easy to hide anything while wearing a suit without ruining the line of cloth, but it was something that Kol had the benefit of something over a centuries experience with. However it was nearly like magic to watch him pull forth a pair of cuffs to bind the other man's wrists and a collar.

Smoothly Kol leaned toward Hasi, fingers tracing the other man's wrists as the cuffs were fixed snugly into place. Every movement was so well practiced that it was quite clear that this was not the first time that Kol had done such a thing. Just as gently Kol traced a finger over Hasi's face. Drawing crimson over the scar as if renewing it. "He said that you would say that you did not want to come. That you might fight me. He said you might even beg me not to bring you to him."

Kol's fingers slid to the other man's throat. "I would like that..." His smile was a dark thing of promise as he wrapped the collar around Hasi's throat and worked it shut. "Either he lies, or you lie. I do not know which."

The dark haired man rose to his feet, fingers still around the collar as he forced Hasi's body upwards with him. Their bodies close by the necessity of Kol's offering the other man's support. Green eyes flickered, his smile widening. One of them was a very good liar, and he did not know if it was Hasi or the man that had hired him. "We will see the truth soon enough." Just once more those green eyes flickered to the man he held. "You should know, I am not fond of lies."

Which was more than truth enough.

_______________________________________________________________________________


It took some time to get Hasi to the location where the man who had hired Kol was waiting. Out of a desire to avoid questions that would take to long to answer they took only alleys, and Kol was not so physically strong that he could carry the other man the entire distance. Just the same they reached the impressive manor in the darkest hours of the night, Kol leading Hasi directly to where Kol had been told to take him.

The door was opened for Kol, and he offered the person who did it only the briefest of glances. There was to much to other occupy his attention really, and as capable as he could be at multitasking he wanted all of his attention on the thing that he had been anticipating nearly as much as meeting Hasi in the first place.

With a sharp jerk of his wrist on Hasi's collar to bring the other man to his knees. This too had been requested by the man who hired him. Then he lifted his green eyes to the man in question and offered his endless smile. "Bon, oui?"

[Laven]

After a certain point Laven had simply given up fighting against Kol’s grip and let himself be lead. He knew the way, knew each back alley and cross street that his feet stumbled over. It became easier to simply block it all out, to focus on nothing and the thought that Randwulf always grew bored eventually. All he had to do was wait him out.

The loss of the dagger that usually sat on his hip ached and echoed with the missing weight, and Laven tried to focus on that. On how he needed to get the blade back. Remembrance was too important to lose to looters or well meaning police.

He lost time, pulled and manipulated and silent all the while. Kol drove him onward and like a cow to slaughter he went, red eyed and unseeing. Somehow he caught sight of the manor but the minute jerk of his body away from its presence was easily lost in the way he couldn’t really make his body respond anymore.

Laven knew what was going to happen as soon as Kol brought him to his knees. There was a voice answering him, mild and pleasant in a way that made Laven shudder in recognition for all he kept his eyes turned away. “Lovely, I had hoped you wouldn’t have bloodied him so much however.” The sounds of shoes over marble flooring were deafening to Laven, but not enough to drown out the laughter he knew so well. Knew against his skin.

Even as a human reaching his sixtieth year Randwulf was a commanding presence. His red hair was mostly grey now, and there were wrinkles that marred his face in a way similar to Laven’s. Yet it was clear that in his youth he would have been handsome, and that had only changed with age instead of being eradicated. Dressed well, poised like he knew he was meant to be the center of attention the older human made his way towards Laven’s bowed form. Grasping the elf by the hair Randwulf pulled his head back to force Laven to meet his gaze. A new set of green eyes boring into red.

“Hello Hasi. Welcome home.” For all Laven tried to turn away, to pull himself from Randwulf’s grasp the poison in his system made that impossible. The human looked up at Kol, an eyebrow raised and a pleasant smile on his face. “My thanks at returning my pet to me, Demontry. He has always been trouble.” It was clearly a dismissal, and one that had Laven shaking his head a little under the grip on his pale hair.

“Not your pet, Randwulf.” The words were hissed out, defiant and frightened. That Randwulf’s response was jovial laughter made him attempt to bare his teeth again, though it was a whine that escaped his throat as Rand shook his head in a subtle but painful jerk.

“You’re mine until I say otherwise, Lavender. You know it, and I know it. I don’t know why you insist on running for all you never seem to go far enough.” The older man smiled fondly down at Laven, though his eyes were hard as iron as he took in the rebellious form below him.

[Kol]

It was obvious that his client was pleased with his work, Kol's eyes fell on the man at his heels. His fingers left small crimson imprints on pale skin beside the collar. The dark haired man tilted his head at the older man as he drew closer, his smile soft. "He is a passionate one, besides... He looks beautiful in sang oui?"

As the other man drew closer to Hasi, Kol stepped just slightly to the side, watching their exchange carefully. Watching fingers slide around Hasi's hair and force those crimson eyes upwards. There was still such fire and passion in those eyes, and it made Kol's heart beat all the faster to see it. The soft sound that Hasi made drew him forward again, his green eyes turning dark.

Whatever dismissal was offered to Kol was lost to him, it was not said and so it did not exist. He wanted to see every moment. To be a part of it. "He seems to enjoy the chase and the fight." Kol offered the words fondly, but let his eyes fall on the older man. "That is the point yes?"

[Laven]

Randwulf for his part seemed subtly annoyed at Kol’s continual presence, sparing the dark haired man a tense glance before attempting another pleasant smile. “Of course. He knows exactly what this is. We’ve had this little chase for nearly twenty years haven’t we, Hasi? Though this is the first time I’ve had to find other means to get him home.” There was something about that knowledge that made Randwulf angry, and seeing the thin veneer of his control slipping made Laven bold.

“I was waiting for you to die, Randwulf. That’s all I have to do.” He hissed the words out, his face a mess of blood and sweat, his shoulder a ruin from teeth. Eventually the poison would lift… Eventually Rand would send Kol away so that he could inflict the same punishment he always did. Violation of his body, abuse of his flesh. But so long as he didn’t bend he wouldn’t let his mind break.

He would never let Rand take that last freedom for all his guilt and grief.

His vicious words made something flicker through Randwulf’s eyes. Laven couldn’t tell what it was. Fear perhaps, or regret. Whatever it was vanished as soon as it had been seen and the human looked over at Kol with both of his eyebrows raised. “I would say our business is concluded, yes? My man at the door has your payment.”

There was a small chance, a flicker that sparked in Laven’s tired, battered heart. “You think this is some game, Kol Demontry.” He struggled against his bonds weakly, the strange numbness making every movement futile and only causing Randwulf to tighten his grip on Laven’s scalp. “He told you it was a chase I wanted, a good fight for you. He lied, he’s been lying to himself for all these years.” It was a special kind of agony to rebel and say these things. But it might be worth the risk. If he could just keep someone else here long enough…

Randwulf’s mask slipped for a moment, a twist of rage making him look all his six decades for just a moment. “Don’t be stupid, Hasi. You earned this and you know it. You deserve this.” The hand that wasn’t in Laven’s hair was at his throat and yanking on the collar. There would be lines now, bruises red and angry blooming over skin clear and pale. Laven had just enough air to voice a whining snarl before it was cut off with a choking sound.

[Kol]

Such a strange sentiment to offer. Kol could not imagine waiting for someone to die, it was a concept beyond his grasp and so he let it slide through his mind like water from a sieve. His client turned toward him, looking expectant for a moment before he finally spoke and Kol understood. Green eyes flickered toward Hasi, then back again.

Even as he parted his lips to speak however his words were interrupted by Hasi's. More confusing words. A game? Yes. He had thought it some kind of game between them. Some understanding between them which he did not know. Kol could not number the times that he had done such things. Waiting to make a moment sweeter. Challenging himself in some new way so that the experience would sing through his veins. It was why he took only the most challenging or interesting of jobs offered to him.

Kol's eyes half lidded at the surge of passion from the man Hasi had spoken of. Green eyes slid between them. "He is quite insistent that you have been lying." The dark haired man's voice was low and even, half lazy as he shifted subtly closer. Close enough to reach out with those quick hands and touch the jaw of the man who had hired him. "You did promise me that this would be entertaining mon ami. I have been patient have I not? I care nothing for what your man holds; only this."

Money meant nothing to Kol. He wanted to taste blood on his tongue. This man had asked for Hasi to be brought to him, and Kol had no intention of leaving until he was satisfied.

[Laven]

The touch of Kol's hands on Randwulf's face had the aging man frowning and staring at him before darting his eyes to Laven and back again. "He's always been like that, spouting lies to spin reality to better suit him." It was clear to Laven that Rand was uncomfortable with the other man touching him, and a small part of him was satisfied in that knowledge. Even as the words coming out of Rand's mouth were frustrating.

"I haven't lied, Rand-" The remainder of his insistence was cut off by by Randwulf letting go of his hair and casually backhanding him so that he slammed into the marble with a pained grunt. The impact jarred his shoulder and made the cuffs around his wrists rattle but otherwise left him unharmed. It was Randwulf's next words that scored wounds.

"You killed  my son, Hasi. My only child and you took him from me with your selfishness when all I ever did was give you a home. Give you a purpose! You lied when you told me you would keep him safe!" Laven knew the kick was coming and curled himself in anticipation. The way the impact burned and knocked the breath from his lungs was still startling. The pain in his side was worse, a phantom sensation of being ripped apart by metal. That, more than the kick, is what caused a sob to escape his lips from where he lay on Randwulf's marble floor.

Smoothing back strands of red and silver hair Randwulf looked at Kol, speculation and vexation cleared away to interest. "You say you want him? Want this failure of a man?" The way Randwulf inspected Laven's prone form was clinical. The way his mouth pulled tight and his hands clenched and unclenched was not. Greed and jealousy warring through him and tainted by rage.

A quick step had him kneeling next to Laven, twisting the elf's head up to look at the  two of them again. "What do you think, my little rabbit? I could give you to this man instead. Would that be better? To be brought low by unfamiliar hands?" Soft and deceptively gentle fingers traced the blooded scar on Laven's face. Laven recoiling from the touch as if it was something filthy.

Laven could only continue to try and pull away.

[Kol]

It was very quickly becoming clear that there was more here than Kol knew or understood. In the natural course of his work it was more often than not that he was unaware of the specific reasons why someone hired him to end another's life. The reasons seemed unimportant to him; all that truly mattered was what he did. What mattered was how alive he felt in those moments, and what he could draw out of those beneath his careful attention.

With sudden violence the human struck Hasi, hard enough to drive the elf all the way to the ground with a sound of pain that had Kol echoing one of soft approval and interest. The thought of the pain that the strike caused echoed in the back of his mind and warmed his blood. It was careless though. Sloppy. With half the force Kol could have done the same thing, or more. Not that the man's sharp words made any sense to Kol at all.

What did it matter that Hasi had killed his son? Had he not hired Kol for that purpose? Perhaps the passion was sourced from the lie, though Kol could not even fathom safety. A second sharp action had Hasi curling around himself and when the man stepped back to view his work Kol moved forward. "Want him?"

The question made as little sense to Kol as anything else, but his smile became a touch wider. If the human was offering to share then Kol was more than willing to oblige. The man knelt to draw that crimson gaze upwards and Kol moved closer still. Yes, he wanted Hasi, wanted him screaming, fighting, bleeding, burning.

For all the pain that the human had offered Hasi turned away from him, and that fact had a small grating sound rose out of Kol's chest. Kol's green eyes bored into Hasi's crimson orbs. "Oui, but I would not take away what you have such passion for mon ami. Non." The words were for his client, but he had eyes only for Hasi.

"Soon you will be able to feel it all Hasi. All the pain, every-thing." It sounded like he was promising a treat. He made that small grating noise again shortly. "If I were you, I doubt I could resist the temptation to return it to him." Kol made a small motion toward Hasi's bonds and smiled gently. At least Kol would not have been able to resist trying for long. Resisting his impulses was never something he had been terribly good at. Perhaps that was why the human had offered the cuffs to Hasi though. There were many things here that Kol did not quite understand.

[Laven]

Laven was effectively trapped. He could give in and let Randwulf hurt him and leave him a heap of pain and tears. He could be handed over to Kol who for all his aparent good nature made Laven's insides freeze in fear. Neither option was good and he had no hope for any sort of rescue. For all he didn't want to be labeled some kind of damsel in distress the idea of Menel or Revina breaking into the building and finally stopping Rand's nightmare was a wishful dream.

He would have hated himself if either of them had tried, because then he would be the reason for their pain. No, Laven had to get out of this alone. He had done it plenty of times before. This time there was just an unknown element in the dark-suited man drifting towards him.

Kol had drawn closer to him, talking about returning the pain to Randwulf and if he had been in a more secure state of body Laven would have laughed. What was the point? He could hurt Rand with words, turn away the agony of being called his son's murderer but the moment he retaliated physically Laven could see what Rand with his nearly endless supply of money would do to him and what little family he had left.

"We are not the same, to which I am grateful." Laven spared Kol only the barest of glances before tensing and pulling away from Randwlf once more. This time he moved the way he wanted to, the paralytic Kol had given him finally lifting. The startled look on his face was mirrored in Randwulf's as he managed to get his feet under and push himself upright.

For a moment it looked like Randwulf would let him move further but the tiny sliver of hope was crushed as he made to chase after Laven. "No? You're a monster too, aren't you my little rabbit with red red eyes?" Laven continued to back up, to lead Rand around the room they both knew they could navigate blind. It was only when Laven's back hit a corner that he stopped and tensed his hands in their cuffs. He met Randwulf's forest green eyes, his eyebrows arched.

"I already knew that, Randwulf. But the difference is I am a monster that doesn't want to play your twisted game anymore. I'm tired of breaking myself over Martin's death. I can never forgive myself if you keep trying to make me suffer for an accident." Grief would always linger, guilt a soft layer of dust that kept him wary and sad for the little spark of life snuffed out early.

Rubbing his index finger over his thumb Laven kept Rand's attention on his face, watching the elder human begin to bare his teeth in a flash of anger. "You are the one who killed him!" Laven smiled with infinite sorrow and braced himself, taking a long but shallow breath.

Menel's going to be disappointed if I can't spar with him when he comes back home.

With a wrenching pull and a crunching sound Laven dislocated his thumb, sparks dancing at  the corners of his eyes as he used his other hand to pull the cuff around his wrist over the now wider space. "I am why he died." He hissed as Rand made an abortive grab at the collar around his neck. With both hands free it was easy to roll on his shoulder and use the to pop back on his feet, watching both the human and the other elf as he walked around them.

"But I do not deserve you as my judge for all eternity over an accident, Randwulf Schwan. Not when it was your abuse of the boy that drove him out of this house that day."

[Kol]

Hasi's initial statement was definitely something that Kol could agree to. After all, if they were the same person it simply would not be the same. He would not be able to watch all of these lovely expressions and... He simply was not capable of the kind of passion which others were. However much part of him craved that, he could not create it himself. He had to carve it out, pull it forth with tender fingers until it shone.

Like a viper watching a rabbit, Kol watched Hasi pull himself up from the ground, edging away from both of them one small motion at a time. He watched every motion of those muscles beneath the other man's finely wrought clothing. Among other things it was clear to Kol that Hasi was skilled in the craft that he practiced. Or at least one of them.

Their conversation was meaningless to Kol. He rose to his feet so that he could pace just behind the man that had hired him. Watching Hasi's fingers rub over his thumb. Kol knew then that Hasi was going to break the finger. He waited for the sound of it, his eyes sliding half shut. When it came he expected some small sound of pain from the other man, but it did not come. Only the sharp distinct sound of the thumb cracking.

Suddenly the man whom had hired him moved forward, but Hasi stepped back out of reach nimbly. Watching both of them with care though Kol had not moved save to take one single long breath since Hasi had broken his thumb. It would hurt. It would have been sharp and now aching. Every movement of it would be like lightning. Green eyes burned as they watched Hasi moving with such care. Watching crimson eyes that watched him.

Their conversation had become like white noise to him. He did not know or care about this person that was dead. He did not understand such things as judgement. Hasi was a monster. So many people used that word to describe him, and he wanted to find that monster inside the other man. See it rise up in crimson eyes, pull it out into reality to dance with him.

They had some unknown rules between them, but for him there were none. And he was done waiting.

Without even the flicker of one green eye to give warning Kol spilled forward. Those jagged, impossible movements carrying him to Hasi once more. There was no knife between them now, nothing save whatever magic the other man might have been able to conjure up to stop him, but Kol would not let it do so. Even if it meant having the breath driven from his lungs he would see Hasi driven against the wall. That broken finger in his hand; twisting.

"It is time you sang for me Hasi." His eyes were a place where the true monsters lived. They danced behind the glow of green and called silently to the monster he believed lay within the man before him. Hasi had been offered to him, and though Kol did not mean to steal Hasi from the man who had paid him to do this... Kol would taste something. His blood, his lips. He would drive the creature inside forth until he was satisfied because in the end...

That was the only payment that mattered to him.

[Laven]

It wasn't that he had forgotten the assassin, it was that for all he was spilling his anger and sorrow at Randwulf he had failed to keep his eyes on the dark haired man. Until he was pushing past Rand and snatching at the hand Laven had only just began to recover from the pain of wrenching the thing from it's socket.

So when Kol grasped and twisted Laven screamed, sharp and bright stars exploding around his vision once more. His back met the wall once more with force enough to make him whine. His body wanted to pull away and wanted to curl around the injury at the same time. He settled somewhere in between by shaking and clenching his fingers and jaw. Randwulf for all his threats and aborted violence seemed stunned and unsure on whether to interfere or not. Laven wasn't sure what would happen if he had.

Another twist  of his damaged finger had Laven screaming again and grasping Kol's wrist with his remaining hand, desperate fingers digging into the pressure point he knew was there. His shoulders were tense and it was all he could do to scrabble and keep himself together. His knees were buckling and Laven shifted to keep himself upright as the green eyed monster leaned ever closer to him as if he could taste Laven's agony.

"Enough! Let him go, Demontry." Randwulf looked like he was reaching to take hold of Kol's shoulder, and instinctively Laven ground his teeth and pushed with his magic, tumbling the older man backwards with a pained sound of his own. Digging his fingers back into the wrist sharply Laven let the air around him begin to swirl and tighten before he snarled into Kol's face.

"I am done. Let go." He punctuated his last words with a miniature explosion of air, pushing everything in a three foot radius away from him as the storm winds continued to gather around him like a swirling shield. "I'm not playing with you, Kol Demontry. I refuse to play with either of you." He had bare moments where the wind would push back anything that tried to enter. He took a raw second to grasp his thumb and force it back into the socket with a strangled sound, the pain nothing compared to the instant reduction in agony. He looked up at the assassin and bared his teeth again. He would see what came from his outburst.

And then he would have to fight with his life on the line.

[Kol]

It was bliss. A white hot pleasure to hear the other man screaming. Hasi sang in sweet agony for him and Kol made a breathless sound. The pain made Hasi shake beneath the press of his body, but Kol was not done. So far from satisfied with just this much. His eyes and mind were filled with a thousand dark promises that he wanted to spill out over this man's skin. Until that creature came crawling out of the sang to greet him like a howling newborn. Beautiful, and perfect.

The second twist had that divine sound rising again. Kol was happy to hold him up. To be close enough to feel the harsh tension in every line of the elf's body as nails dug into his wrist. Kol wanted the nails to draw blood, but they were to scattered. He almost could... Almost could taste Hasi's agony.

A few more seconds and he might have.

"Enough! Let him go, Demontry."

Kol's fingers hesitated. He could feel the other man close to him, and Kol would have allowed his client to join in if that was what he desired. But why let Hasi go? Hasi had his own answer, pushing the other man away from them sharply. Kol grinned wickedly, even when the second blast pushed him back hard enough that he was shoved away, rocking back and forth on his feet to keep from being shoved over.

White teeth flashed and everything about Kol's body had shifted none to subtly to a stance of readiness. Yes. He wanted to fight again. To bleed that pale skin and taste Hasi's sang on his palette. No poison to keep the other man from feeling every moment. To keep him from giving back what Kol so longed to give him.

"Play, play." Kol's tone was even though his voice was rough. "This is not play. Enjoyable yes, but serious Hasi. I meant what I said..."

He watched the wind swirling around, like a wall between him and Hasi. One long-fingered hand lifted loosely, and motioned for the other man to come to him. "Come," His green eyes were definitely glowing. "Dance with me mon Hasi."

[Laven]

Laven was still safe in his whirlwind and he took the time to assess Kol, watching the way he moved with anticipation and seemed to grow more and more excited with each wound that he'd inflicted on Laven's body. Randwulf was just now beginning to recover from the blow he'd received and Laven hoped he would be smart enough not to call for help because he doubted any of them would walk away from this room if he did.

Kol was taunting him, making Laven's red eyes flicker back over to his outstretched hand. "No." He made a cutting motion with his hand and the wind around him died instantly. "I don't want this." He watched Kol and remained still, like a mouse before a cat. Through the windstorm his clothing and hair had remained unmussed, and for the clatter of the cuff around his hand and the unfamiliar pressure of the collar around his neck he might have seemed completely at ease. There was still fear rolling through his blood, and an aching wound on his shoulder from Kol's teeth.

But the fear would keep him sharp, the wound  reminder to not let the other man get too close to him. "I would have us all walk away from this, Kol Demontry." The name had been jangling through his mind and as he stood before his attacker it finally came to light. An assassin, yes. An assassin half legend, and clearly more dangerous than he had first thought. What had Randwulf said to tempt him to chase Laven down.

"Whatever Randwulf promised you I can assure you he didn't have the right to. I'm not a toy, not a prize and not his. Nor yours." Laven gathered his courage and felt the air pushing around him once again. "I would walk away from this, and I refuse to be blocked by even you, assassin."

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