I gotta bad feeling about this

[Tobias Keene]

"Yes. Her." Ah, star-crossed lovers. How tragic. But Toby wasn't putting himself in their shoes; he just wished to never be found out by his stern mother or by his equally stern father. Or by the King of his House, a distant uncle. Or by—by anyone, really. Not only would he get in trouble, he didn't want to drag Finn into things either.

"Well I know you're not a bad person, Finn." He was still feeling kind of giddy from the sudden kiss and now from Finn's fingers at the nape of his neck. It felt so nice. His insides were all kinds of warm and gooey, like a delicious chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven—all melty.

Toby's wandering fingers made their way to the front of Finn's jacket and pulled him back in. The goofy grin had turned into a little bit of a mischievous smile. "And we're in the woods... not back home... right?" So maybe it was okay to mingle with a half-demon out here, where there were no prying eyes. Toby leaned down to kiss him again, wanting to feel that exhilaration from their first kiss. The tingle and the way his pulse kicked into high gear.

[Finley Coldwell]

"I'm all right."

He was kind of middle of the road, really. Not pure but not evil, by some miracle, since he apparently had demon blood flowing through his veins. It answered some questions he had growing up, but like most things, Finn took the information in stride. So he was a little different than he imagined. He was still Finn.

"...right," he said back, smiling with the same mischief as Toby. "Nobody here but us and Atlas. And he's not gonna tell anybody..."

His words were stolen by another kiss and his fingers curled inward, behind the nape of Toby's neck. For a supposed Disney princess, Toby was a good kisser. Somebody wasn't as pure as the driven snow, either. Finn smiled into another kiss and tilted his head slightly when he needed air, nuzzling Toby's jaw.

[Tobias Keene]

"I've never been this close to a demon before," Toby whispered as they parted ways, getting a few breaths of air in himself. Whew! Did all demons kiss like this? Because if they did—that went hand-in-hand with their supposedly carnal natures. It wasn't only sex, though. Lots of demons had other and more perverse fetishes. Torture, death, blood, all of that.

Not Finn though. His hand was gentle at the back of Toby's neck. The way he kissed made Toby's knees weak but in a good way. No one could be bad who kissed like that, Toby was sure of it. "I would like to get to know you better, if that's okay. You're so handsome, Finn. And so fascinating."

[Finley Coldwell]

"How close have you been?"

Were demons normally hard to be around? Or were they silver-tongued devils, like the stories he heard growing up? Was Toby worried he might be charming him? No... He wanted to get to know him better. If that's okay. Finn's lips formed into a smile as he let out a soft snort of amusement through his nose.

"Why wouldn't it be okay?" Like Finn just kissed people he didn't want knowing him. His thumb traced down the top of Toby's spine. "We can get to know each other, since I think the feeling is mutual."

And Atlas chose that moment to rush over and shove his nose against the back of Finn's leg before wagging his tail and giving Toby's shoes a concentrated sniff.

"He wants to get to know you too, apparently..." Finn finally lowered his hand, though he brushed Toby's chest in the process. "Where are you staying around here?"

[Tobias Keene]

"Umm... I've seen pictures..." He had never seen one up close, no. Because he wasn't placed onto the front lines where the real action was; he served in field hospitals that were located well away from the thick of the action. As the fixer to a Prince, he needed experience but he also was loosely affiliated with the royal family, which meant he had protection.

At any rate, he asked to be polite because... what if Finn decided that this was a one-time thing? Humans had sex in the woods; Toby knew of this. He accidentally bumped into a pair once, so he knew it was a thing. "It's mutual?" That made him grin; so Finn felt the same way!

Toby reached down to touch the top of Atlas' fluffy big head. "He's such a cute cat!" Aww so friendly! He gave Atlas a scratch behind the ears for good measure. "I live in a motel in that place called Little Asia! What about you? Can I come over and visit you? You can come visit me too but I don't think the motel room's very interesting. It's always cold, they said the AC unit is broken."

[Finley Coldwell]

There were pictures of demons? Like real ones or the kind people showed on the internet and shit? Finn wanted to ask; he was curious. If there was demon blood in his family line, where did it come from? Did his family know? Was it some kind of deep, dark secret? Or did the demon just look like any other person?

But the conversation moved onto the mutuality of their attraction and then to Atlas... Atlas the dog. Toby really did have a strange mixture of knowledge about things, didn't he? Finn laughed at the idea of Atlas being a cat. More like a cat chaser.

"Oh no. Really? That place is so gross!" Finn made a face at the idea of poor Toby being stuck in that shitty motel. There were better places to stay in town but that motel was one of the cheapest ones.

"Come on," he said with a head tilt down the path, taking Toby's hand. "We'll go to my place. I live in a double wide not far from here. And by the way, Atlas is a dog."

[Tobias Keene]

"Is it? I thought it was quite nice. I was hoping to catch some of those dust bunnies..." Dust bunnies sounded cute! He even bought tiny cages for them and set out traps. Toby followed Finn closely, eyes on Atlas as he frolicked around them, seeming to find every bush, leaf and twig of the utmost interest.

"What's a double wide?" It sounded like an insult to a fat person. Toby didn't think Finn meant that though... He looked at Atlas again, frowning. "They call themselves cats though. Well I've only spoken to a few but that's what they say."

Honestly, Toby had no idea why humans insisted on calling them by the wrong name, and then insisting that others do it too, to add insult to injury. The cats were quite annoyed by it all, from what he understood.

[Finley Coldwell]

"What?" He didn't know why he was so taken aback by that comment. Toby was trying to catch dust bunnies? Who even told him about those? Dust bunnies obviously weren't what Toby must be thinking, which was that they were literal bunnies and not... clods of dust.

"Oh, it's a house that you can move. They're cheaper than regular houses, hence why I live there." Way, way cheaper than regular housing, especially here in this little town, where they got away with making people pay exorbitant costs for the smallest digs.

"What do you mean, they call themselves cats? Are you saying you can talk with Atlas?"

[Tobias Keene]

Toby gasped. "I didn't know you could move houses!" Magic? They must have had all sorts of magic here! Of course there were all kinds of different beings out in this human world, all mingling together—Toby had yet to meet all of them but he was seriously trying to!

"I can, sure. I mean I haven't yet because he was working and it would have been rude to interrupt him, but..." Toby waved to Atlas, whose head popped up to look at them. He had been busily nosing around a pile of loam. "Do you want me to ask him something? For what it's worth, he must quite like you, so I don't think you have anything to worry about."

[Finley Coldwell]

"Er..." Finn didn't even know what to say to that. Toby seemed almost impressed by the idea of a moving house but it was really... not that amazing. But hey, if Toby liked it! It wasn't a bad little home, especially for a bachelor like himself, living with his dog. Better than some of the shitty apartments in town, that was for damn sure. Finn had lived in apartments and he knew he damn well never wanted to go that direction again.

"Working?" Finn looked over at Atlas in confusion. Atlas was working? But he just looked like he was being a dog. Playfully checking the landscape, the woods, marking his territory where he saw fit.

"I'm not worried. I just didn't realize you guys could communicate with animals. Not even sure what I'd ask Atlas if I could. Except I don't think he thinks he's a cat. What does he think a cat is, then?"

[Tobias Keene]

"Protecting you." Toby nodded. According to the cats he met, they were kind of serious about protecting the humans that took them in. It made sense; the relationship was entirely reciprocal, after all. Humans protected and fed them, and they did the same in return. Sweet.

He smiled gently at Finn and shook his head. "No one asked them what they were called, humans just made up their own names. And forced everyone else to follow their conventions. It's an insult to them that you gave their name to the nasty hissing things. Don't you wonder why they never get along?"

Atlas resumed snuffling around the undergrowth, while Toby sighed. "I can't tell you what they think a cat is. It's... kind of rude."

[Finley Coldwell]

"Is it just English?" he asked, because he didn't understand how dogs would care what word was assigned to them if they didn't speak English. Or any other language, for that matter. Was the word for cat an insult in other languages, too? Besides, Atlas seemed pretty damn happy whenever Finn called him a good dog. Maybe fairy dogs were just different.

"And I just assumed it was because cats are assholes," Finn said with a shrug. He was clearly a dog person. Not that he hated cats but he wasn't nearly as fond of them as he was for dogs. Hence the pet dog and not a pet cat. Besides, Atlas was a real chaser; a cat would be miserable in his home.

"Is it as rude as what I just called them?" he asked with an impish smile.

[Tobias Keene]

"English and I think Swahili. They're very intelligent beings." He grinned and nodded though to confirm Finn's assessment of cats. They were assholes, yes. And one of the Fallen army's supporters, which made them the enemy. Like Finn but... but Finn wasn't like that at all!

"I think worse." Toby laughed. There wasn't an accurate translation for what Atlas might have called a 'cat' but it was pretty vulgar. English was kind of limited in the range of colorful curses that one could make up. Toby tried not to learn many of them in case he had to go back home and was caught muttering something like... donkey kicker! Or purse snatcher!

As they cleared the woods, he fell back a step to let Finn lead the way to his house that could be moved. Exciting! The side of his hand brushed the side of Finn's as they walked, and he sneakily curled his fingers around Finn's hand. Just so he wouldn't get lost! Ahem. He didn't want to get lost.

[Finley Coldwell]

The whole thing was strange to him. And if Atlas had any issues with being called a dog, he wasn't showing them right now. He seemed altogether happy enough to sweep the entire area, sniffing and snorting and investigating every single thing that came his way. Maybe he really was working. Finn never thought of it that way, but maybe Atlas was checking for things like that corruption back there.

Finn smiled to himself as Toby took hold of his hand. It was such a small gesture but it felt nice. Somehow, it felt like his hand and his smile and his laugh and his eyes and everything about him curled snuggly somewhere inside, around his heart. A little strange; Finn had felt attraction before. Ever since he hit puberty! He was a red-blooded man! But this was different somehow.

His home was about a mile out from the ridge itself. As they walked, Finn told Toby a little about the area, how there were only a few others living in the area, some in actual trailers. It was a popular camping area and occasionally, when unexpected storms overtook the area, Finn would house people out hiking while they waited out the storm together.

"Voila~" He pointed ahead to where his manufactured home sat in its nicely located property. There was a small but thick grove of trees, plenty of bushes for Atlas to pee on, and the sound of birds chirping as they drew closer. The fence around the home was made of stone but the gate was a flimsy old wooden thing that he never locked. (Hence the visitors.)

"Home, sweet home," he told Toby. Atlas ran toward a huge tin bucket filled with water to lap some up. There were tons of wind chimes hanging from the eaves of his home and as a breeze flowed through, they tinkled noisily.

He bounded up the steps with Toby, opening the door without a key. Maybe he was too trusting but... he didn't usually lock up around here.

[Tobias Keene]

Everything Toby heard about demons was everything that Finn was not. He had his doubts when they first met, and he noticed the magnificent wings partly exposed, but now those doubts were gone. As soon as their hands curled around one another, it felt like his heart curled around too. Toby couldn't rightly describe it, except that it felt like something finally clicked into place inside.

He happily walked alongside Finn as they made their way to his house, listening attentively to him speaking of storms and lost hikers—such a noble thing to do, really—and about the area. It was the less affluent side of town, Toby could see that in the cracked roads and pebbled sidewalks and abundance of greenery all around in wide open spaces. When they reached the spot where Finn's double wide was located, Toby's eyes stretched open as wide as they could go, trying to take it all in.

"It's cute! Look how cute it is!" He exclaimed while bouncing up the steps, as if Finn couldn't and had never noticed how cozy the place was. The wind chimes made him feel happy inside; their music was tinkly and wonderful. Toby kicked off his shoes at the door to be polite and then eagerly walked inside with his head on a swivel, to look at all the things that belonged to Finn. Possessions said a lot about a person! Posters and musical equipment and some funny looking coveralls all told their own stories.

"Oh I want to stay here! Can I stay here? Just for one night?" Finn was right—this was much better than his motel room. It was different and special and it belonged to Finn, so that made it automatically the best place to be in. Toby turned to him pleadingly. "Please??"