(2018-02-27) Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry
Summary: Loukanos goes to check on Ashton after he hasn't been since since before lunch.
Date: IC Date (2018-02-27)
Related: http://coralsprings.wikidot.com/log:2018-02-27-personal-demons
NPCs: None
Scene Runner: NA
Players:
ashton..loukanos..

Scene Soundtrack: Imperfection by Evanescence

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Boy's Wing — Winbarry Estate


A long hallway with a large curtained window at the end. Carpet runs the length of it. There are a number of doors on each side leading to bedrooms. Between the doors and wall sconces that give just enough light to see by.


Contents:
Ashton - A thin boy with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes.
Loukanos - A bronzed young boy with blonde hair and midnight blue eyes. Poised and ethereal.
Exits: [O] Upper Hallway [TR] Tempo's Room
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After his conversation with Besa earlier, Ashton went up to his room and closed himself off, foregoing lunch, his afternoon classes, or dinner. In fact, no one has heard from him at all, since before lunch. Anyone who walks close to his dorm room, however, can hear music blasting from the room. Ashton is sitting against the head of his bed. feet drawn up to his chest. He didn't even bother to take off his blazer or even his shoes. His eyes are bloodshot and the area around both is red which looks like he has been crying. But perhaps most uncharacteristic of the fourteen year old is that his hair is a complete mess.

For most, the wave of booming sounds from Ashton's room is what attracts their attention. For Louk, it is the wave of painfully evident despair that concerns him greatly. He does not have the luxury of just skipping classes…after his first week or two, he learned that generally didn't go to well with the staff and has become slightly compliant ever since. Once classes are over for the day though, you better believe Ashton's dorm is the first place he's headed. There's a knock. "I come bearing gifts."

It isn't Ashton's voice that Loukanos hears but his thoughts. // You probably don't want to come in. I'm not going to be the best company. // His thoughts are laced with confusion, dispair, and depression that borderlines to the point of that he might be capable of self harm.

That was permission, right? Loukanos swings open the door. His so-called gift is really just a tray of dinner. Miss Annalee's mac and cheese. Yum. There is hesitation as he enters. Feeling Ashton's state of mind and seeing it are two separate things. Still, he continues on and sets the food tray on Ashton's bedside table. "You didn't come to dinner. Or lunch," He sits on the corner of the bed. He's in his school uniform, yellow polo shirt and all. "Are you…Besa spoke to you?"

Ashton looks up through the dark tendrils of hair that is hanging down over his eyes. "Thanks… but I'm not hungry…" On the bed next to him is an open bottle of pills. He sniffs slightly, "Yeah, he spoke to me… I'm guessing you know what he told me." It is not an accusation, just an assumption. There is no blame in his voice. In fact, his normally melodious voice is almost monotone.

There is a flash of anger when Ashton reaffirms what Loukanos already knows. Maybe he should not have suggested Besa speak to Ashton if this would be the result of it. A frown twists his mouth as he scoots closer, "I am sorry that he was hard on you. It's my fault he confronted you in the first place," He nods though. "I know he was very upset when he saw what you wrote. He wanted to keep it even."

Ashton looks up at Loukanos. He reaches up and wipes his eyes with the palm of his hand. He then shakes his head slightly. "Besa wasn't hard on me… " He shrugs, "Except I guess telling me that I'm either tainted by a demon, possessed by a demon, or I am a demon… " He frowns then sighs, "I'm sorry I lied to you when I said that I would help protect Besa. He doesn't want me to help any. I don't think he trusts me. In fact, he wants someone to keep an eye on me and report back to him, if there anything up." After a bit of a pause, his gaze goes back down to the bed, as he retightens his grasp of his legs. "Would you be the one to spy on me? I trust you to actually give me an honest chance and not just assume that I'm evil and need to be put down." He says this as if he actually believes that is a valid and very possible option.

When Ashton meets his gaze, Loukanos reaches over and pushes the dark strands of hair away from his eyes. "He did not tell me that in so many words, but I got the feeling he was of that opinion," He sighs. "I only wish I had time to…prepare you, I guess. I told Mother about you. She…" He narrows his eyes, considering how to articulate the goddess's words. It is a moment later that he decides against it. "Well, nevermind. I don't like 'spy'. I can ogle all day though," He smiles faintly. It's a (perhaps unsuccessful) attempt to lighten the mood. "Being around you is hardly punishment." Beat. He shifts, uncomfortable all of a sudden. "When we first met, I asked you 'what are you'. You weren't able to give me an answer. That's because you did not know, right?"

Ashton blinks as Louk brushes the hair from his eyes. "Your mother thinks that you shouldn't be around me or that I need to be dispatched?" His gaze lowers again, "Maybe she'd be right…" At Loukanos's question, the sullen boy sighs softly, "Apparently, I still don't know what I am."

"That's…okay," Loukanos says gently. "You don't need to. I just…I just wanted to clear up any deception. I believe you were being honest and did not know." He frowns about his mother, "I told her how I felt around you…I mean the presence you put off, not…yeah." He shakes his head. "Anyway, she seems convinced you are a spawn of Hades sent to corrupt another one of her children." He reaches over to hold Ashton's hand…because physical contact can go a long way. "I do not think you are evil."

Ashton pulls his hand away. "What if she's right? As far as I know, I could be. Maybe everthing I have done is under the directions of some.. something. I mean I don't what is wrong with me… only what Besa, Koga, Theo, and you believe… that I am demonic somehow." He chews on his lower lip, which is already somewhat raw. The idea that he could be sent here to hurt someone makes him positively sick to his stomach.

Loukanos hides his hurt with a pensive frown, "I think that is just Mother being overprotective," She already lost one child, after all. He ponders before saying, "Demons were not always regarded as inherently evil creatures. The word derives from the Latin word daemon or daimon in Greek." He waves his hand. "The linguistics aren't important. I hail from a place where the word demon does not carry a negative connotation. I tried to explain this to Besa, but he thought I was dismissing his fear." A small part of him was. Fear is not an emotion he is capable of easily connecting to. "These creatures…they could be good or bad at times, depending on whether they hurt or helped people." He sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. Is he rambling? "What I'm trying to say is good and evil…That is not based on who you are, per se. It is based on what you do."

Ashton lowers his head to rest on his knees. His body trembles slightly. Perhaps he is in a mild state of shock. Ashton raises his head, just so that his eyes rise above his knees. "Do you really believe that? I have seen the concern in your eyes when I have done some of the things… Admit it that you think that is possible that Besa is right though. And if you think that, then how can I think anything but?" He sighs, "Maybe it would be best if I just wasn't here anymore."

"Besa is right about you being 'demonic'. Mother confirmed that much," Loukanos grip tightens on the sheets. Seeing Ashton so shaken, he instinctively wants to initiate physical contact. How can someone so vulnerable be anything malevolent? "If you're asking if I think you are capable of harm, then yes. We all are. But. You have done nothing to make me think you are 'evil'…not the way Besa's demon is." More hurt to hide when Ashton says that. "I told Besa he was wrong. I told Mother she was wrong. Don't make me have to tell you that you're wrong, too."

Ashton looks like he could lose it and break into tears again at any moment. As Louk finishes speaking, his words are enough to push him over. He blinks a couple of times, and with that his eyes begin to water. He his too drain to actually begin sobbing again. "Louk, I don't what to think anymore… "

Loukanos scoots a little closer, though there's still that barrier between them. "Can I touch you?" He'll ask this time, but there's a pleading look in his eyes. If he could turn back time, he'd have burned that paper. Ashton's misery is almost too much to bear.

"Why would you want to?" Ashton looks up at Loukanos. He doesn't object to being touched. And while he does not say it, his eyes all but begs Louk to do so. He lowers his head back down. Of course, he uses his knees as a feeble attempt to cover up the fact that he is wiping his face free of more tears.

Loukanos takes that as permission. Instead of answering that question, he wraps his arms around Ashton's thin frame. "I know you're not a bad person, Ashton," He whispers softly. Why can't he see that? "Back on the beach and at dinner, you could have hurt me or Besa, but you didn't."

This time, Ashton does not pull away. Quite the opposite, in fact, he actually leans into Loukanos's embrace. He places his head against Louk's chest. He sighs softly, before he turns his gaze downward. "I'm sorry I'm being such a baby about all of this. I just feel so lost, like everything I know about me is some kind of lie. "

When the embrace is accepted, Loukanos pulls Ashton closer, almost protectively. "No…I don't know what I would do if I discovered something like this about myself," Lucky thing, Demeter told him he was born mortal. Imagine the outrage f she hadn't. The darker haired boy would feel a thumb caressing his back. "You're still the same person. There's just an extra layer. Have you considered talking to your grandparents about this? Maybe they know something you don't."

Ashton's arms move around Loukanos's torso, holding onto hiim. "You sure you still want to be with me? I mean I would understand if you didn't." He sighs, "Besa suggested that my parents not be my parents, but I just can't believe that. Grandfather told me how I murdered my mother. He took me to her grave when I was eight and told me how I was responsible for her death. And Grandmother showed me all the photo albums of her growing up and her pregnant with me and cursed my father's name when she explained how he broke up with my mother and refused to acknowledge that he was my father… So how am I supposed to ask them about any of this.. "

"The other options are possession; of which, you show no signs," Loukanos considers. "Or a deal with a demonic entity? No offense, but that sounds like something your grandparents could pull off." He pauses. "Mother forbid me from even associating with you, but I am here now. That answers your question, right?"

Ashton shakes his head, against Louk's shirt. "No, my grandparents wouldn't do something like that… In fact, when I started practicing magic, Grandfather told me that if he ever found out that I had tried to summon or make a deal…" He stops and looks up at him, so that he can see his eyes, "Not that I ever would, Louk, I swear.. but that if he found out, then I would be cut out of their wills and that they would be done with me." He tries to pull back with the comment about Demeter's dictum about Ashton. "Louk… I'm only your boyfriend and probably not even that good of one at that… but she is your mother first and a goddess second. I can't be the cause of a rift between you and your mother."

"I don't know, then. It could be that you attracted a demon's attention unintentionally," Or it could be heritage as Besa suggests. Loukanos does not have that answer. He gives a wince at how Ashton says his grandparents would disown him. "Maybe keep this from them." He frowns when the conversation turns to his mother again. It isn't pensive or thoughtful like his usual frowns but childish. Like a pout. "There's an entire plane between me and my mother. I can't abandon you, Ashton." Especially not now.

The boy starts to relax in the godling's arms. With large azure-green eyes, Ashton straightens up a little bit, just enough so that he can reach Louk's lips with a very soft kiss. "Thanks, Louk, I don't want to lose you, but I don't want you to regret choosing to stay with me." He drags his teeth over that almost bloody bottom lip. He almost seems timid to speak again, but then he draws in and holds a breath for a few seconds, but for him, it seems like an eternity. "Would you stay with me tonight? At least until I fall asleep… I just don't want to be alone right now…" He already feels lonely enough.

Through the kiss, Loukanos transfers the healing properties of his restoration power and brings a hand to cup the side of Ashton's face, fingers grazing over the boy's tear-stained cheek. "I'll stay for as long as you need me," Which is hopefully forever. He smiles. "On the condition that we find new tunes." This music is a no for him. "Let me play something for you." There is an ancient magic that flows through his lyre. A hauntingly soothing melody. Much less depressing than what they're listening to now!

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