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Now, as an agent who just got promoted to a field agent, Luke is bursting with excitement. He won’t lie, all the paper works he had to do probably made his near-sightedness worse.“Hey, Agent Hemmings!” he hears a cheerful greeting and he sighs in relief that it’s none other than Cyprin.“Hey, boss,” Luke grins at them. “Any cases you need an extra agent for?”“Put your hopes away, Hemmings. Just because you got promoted doesn’t mean jobs will come flying to you,” the demigod just laughs good heartedly. “Ever since we dealt with Astraeus, we don’t have much to worry about.”“Astraeus just… had a different viewpoint from us,” Luke clears his throat. “I’m not saying it wasn’t a bad thing, but look at where we are now.”“He kept all the Olympians as hostages in their own home not so long ago, Hemmings,” Cyprin’s gaze hardens. “Or are you just forgetting that because you have no godly relatives?”“I didn’t mean it like that!” Great, first day as a field agent and I pissed of my boss. “You know what I meant.”“It’s just… not a great image. Olympus falling like that,” Cyprin shakes their head. “Go downtown. I think I heard a few agents there saying there’s a stubborn monster there. I reckon you won’t have a problem there.” /// Luke thinks it might have been amazing if Cyprin was kind enough to hail a taxi. It took him at least ten tries to get into a taxi. He has his reasons to be mad at his boss later.“Hey, Cyprin sent me,” Luke flashes his ID that says he’s a field agent now.“Hey, little bro.”Luke groans.“Why are you here again?” Luke whines to Jack.“Need I remind you that it was my excellence at H.E.R.A that got you in the first place?” Jack flashes an uncharming smile.“It was Ben,” Luke deadpans.“Which is exactly why you have such big expectation,” Jack claps Luke on his back harder than he needs to. “I need you to interview the monster we caught red-handed.”“What did they do?” Luke sighs.“Just go talk to that bitch,” Jack prods.Luke walks over the police line and almost forgets how to breathe.How can this creature be called a monster when he holds the beauty surpassing that of a goddess? Luke ponders.“H.E.R.A can send as many of you as they like,” the monster, whose nature-green eyes shine with great contempt, snarls at him. “By the looks of it, you’re pretty new to this sort of shit.”“I have Aura Marbles at my disposal, I wouldn’t be so cocky,” Luke clears his throat. “Why would you choose to cause a ruckus in the middle of New York City out of everywhere else?”“Maybe because I’d get more attention?” the monster laughs unkindly. “My brethren are tired of being under gods and their pawns’ rules, you see. The Titans’ way of approach was totally wrong. Take Olympus as their hostage? Their loyal H.E.R.A dolls would help them out blindly.”“Okay, so—”“The real way of doing this is taking over the human media coverage—”Luke sighs in relief when the unnamed monster plops to the ground.“Nice shot, Jacky,” Luke grins as he walks closer to the beautiful creature on the ground.The monster doesn’t look a day over mid-twenties, and his pale, gorgeous face is framed by halo of bleached-blond hair. When he isn’t glaring at Luke with much contempt, he actually looks more stunning. He notices a long chain around the monster’s neck, with a small charm attached to it. He assumes that this is the artifact that is responsible for the other’s Aura.“Now, if you’re done ogling the monster, be a dear and put the Aura Marbles on him so we can escort him back to the HQ without much of a hassle,” Jack chirps, surprising the fuck out of Luke. /// “Why am I getting a shift as a guard? I never got training as a guard,” Luke whines as Cyprin drags him to the basement cells. “Cyprin, I have muscles of a thirteen-year-old, you cannot make me guard the monster I took a small participation in capturing.”“It’s not because you have guard training, Luke,” Cyprin sighs. Luke wonders how the hell he never was affected by Cyprin’s natural charms as a child of Aphrodite. Most people are. “You just have to kill some time for us before we decide Michael’s fate.”Michael, that’s the angel in disguise’s name, Luke muses.“Babysitting duty, hm?” Michael snarls at Luke. Even with the Aura Marbles, Luke can feel the chilling powers of Michael’s Aura. “I know all about the Hemmings family when it comes to H.E.R.A. One of the top-dog families here.”“My brothers and I aren’t ‘top-dogs’, as you put it,” Luke grits. “Besides, it wouldn’t take a high-ranking agent to catch a thug like you.”Michael’s laughter is bone-chilling, like he can’t believe Luke just said that.“Did any of your big brothers tell you who I am?” Michael arches a dark brow. “Any of the people who trained you? No one?”“You make it sound like I should know who you are,” Luke steps inside the cell area.Big mistake.Cold, slithering movements go up Luke’s legs until this thing wraps itself around Luke’s waist and drags him closer to the cell. Like the scared barely-trained-for-this-shit agent he is, Luke lets out a loud screech.“I know you can key in the code and let me out, pretty boy. The Prince of Monsters don’t let useful ones go by wasted,” Michael grins, eyes shining red from his Aura.His Aura! Luke realises. Didn’t we put the Aura Marbles on?“You thought the Aura Marbles can restrict my powers enough?” Michael sneers. “I just said it, I’m the Prince of Monsters. It would shame my parents if I could be contained by mere… toys.”“You got inside here on purpose,” Luke curses inside his head. “You wanted to get inside the building for what purpose?”On the side note, Luke is not a fan of snakes, so it’s all of his bad luck combined that an Aura-snake hisses in his ear, probably trying to knock him out with some poisonous breath of sorts. To his surprise, the Aura-snake just bumps its head into Luke’s temple.“Megara seems to like you,” Michael, apparently finding this funny, snorts a bit. “It’s rare. My snakes don’t really like mortals.”“Snakes, plural,” Luke gulps. “What are your other Aura-snakes doing then? Also, I thought Hydra was the only one who had multi-headed snakes?”“Trust me, little hyacinth,” Michael grins, eyes still shining red evilly. “There are more monsters in this world than you think.”“Don’t tell me you’re the Hundred-headed Dragon who used to guard Hera’s Golden Apples of Immortality,” Luke grouses.“Let’s just say that I’m a distant relative with much better looking face and much better physiques everywhere.”Now, Luke wouldn’t be blushing like he is right now, if not for the fucking wink Michael gave in his direction.“Why are you in the cell when you can easily get the fuck out of there?” Luke hisses.“Can’t you really tell?” Michael tilts his head to the side. “I’m biding my time.”Before Luke can make a stupid question form in his head, a loud explosion takes his breathe away. Almost too literally. By the time smoke is billowing from the ground zero, he sees a multi-coloured Aura-snakes encasing him like a protective wall of sort. And before he can even protest, a pair of human arms take him under their possession and he smells something sweet before passing out. /// Luke wakes up with a thousand cuss words trying to escape but he can still feel the smoke in his throat. He curses whoever it was that caused the explosion when a golden-yellow Aura-snake hands him a cup of water. Glaring at the Aura’s owner, he drains the cup.“The explosion wasn’t my order,” Michael explains as he retrieves the cup from his Aura, petting the snake’s head. “I told them to wait for the right moment, but some of my people… don’t really like me.”“That’s a surprise,” Luke snorts. “You have a wonderful personality matching your handsome visage.”“You think I have a handsome visage?” Michael turns around, full-on smirking at Luke and who said Luke needs to breathe?“I think I have a concussion,” Luke change the subject. “Surely, you want to make sure your hostage stays alive?”“I think there’s a revolution within the monsters,” Michael growls. “That’s why I willingly got arrested. I needed to, erm, pick out an agent who would see this matter and help me.”“Maybe you should try the front desk like any other ordinary creatures,” at the point, Luke can’t believe the audacity of this Prince of Monsters. “File in a case so an agent can be matched with you for… problem solving.”“Oh, that way I can’t hand-pick anyone,” Michael’s lips just hang around his ears. “I had to make sure the agent wasn’t tainted by H.E.R.A’s way of brainwashing their agents. A new face who are yet to be tainted by the sweet seduction of power…” Luke swallows his nerves down when Michael slithers towards him, just like a snake would. “I know your family well, most monsters would too. If they put Ben or Jack on my hypothetical case, I would be doomed. They would do something that’d benefit the gods the most, not the monsters. Well, my side of monsters anyways.”“I can call my boss and have your ass arrested for good,” Luke grits.“My powers exceed those of my parents, Luke. It’d be suicidal to try to lock me somewhere,” Michael replies cockily. “What Aura Marbles do is they lock a portion of my powers away. With some of my powers in tact, I can do anything I please.”Luke didn’t have the chance to notice this early enough, but there’s a small Aura-snake crooking his head up so he’s eye-to-eye with Michael’s malignant red eyes. He tries to ignore the flicking sensation of a snake tongue on his neck.“Go to Tartarus,” Luke hisses at Michael.“You aren’t so easy, now are you?” Michael sounds amused. “But the question is: can you resist me forever?” /// Michael told Luke he has business to attend and he made sure Luke would know he is locked in this luxury condo for next few hours. He decided to take a nap for the first two hours but he can’t just stay still forever. He tried to escape but soon found out he’s several storeys above-ground, and that there’s some sort of magic keeping him locked inside this allotment.“You can’t get out.”Luke almost falls flat on his ass when an unsuspecting voice rings out of nowhere. He clears his throat and glares at the black-haired monster.“I’m assuming you’re the monster who happens to be Michael’s henchman?” Luke arches a brow at the dark skinned monster.“His henchman? Michael was not kidding when he said you can be funny,” the monster laughs. “Well, he said you could be funny. Something about how you talk in your sleep.”Luke can feel his cheeks reddening, and the colour spreading all te way to his ears.“Relax, not a single monster under Michael’s command can harm you,” the monster coos, a flicker of his Aura swaying behind him. “Well, I’m only his best friend since millennia ago, but that works too, right?”“You don’t look a day over twenty-five,” Luke comments truthfully.“Us, the monsters, we’re every work in the definition of the word ‘monster’,” the monster grins, his Aura flaring to life to show a demonic looking bird. “I’m not gonna bother, my flock has a very hard to pronounce name so I won’t run it through ya. But I think you know my story.”“A flock of birds initially in honour of Athena… with feathers harder than any material known to mankind,” Luke gulps. “You can literally pummel me to death without even trying.”“I’ve been Michael’s best friend for many years, Luke. Plus, as attractive as you might be, my boyfriend is much more attractive, not to mention durable.”Luke doesn’t know what to say about this little avian creature’s bold statement. Especially concerning the durable part.“Monsters dating monsters, how am I so surprised,” Luke tries his best to press his anger down. “I don’t think my coworkers consider good nature spirits monsters though. Then again, they use their Earth-related Auras for good, not for destruction like some other immortal creatures I can name.”“I definitely see why Michael chose you for this… observation,” the monster cackles. “Oh, where are my manners. My name is Calum.”“You’re a Greek monster named Calum,” Luke snorts.“Well, that’s the name I go by now cause my parents decided to give me a Greek name that’s hard to pronounce just like our flock’s name. I can tell you right now that I’m half-bird though. My dad is Greek, I guess you can say that, but my mum’s from another part of another ancient traditions and myths.”“I’m not even asking for your family tree, but okay,” Luke is surprised by the honest curiosity in Calum’s leather-brown eyes. “What do you want to know?”“Michael wouldn’t escort a mortal here on a whim. He told his close comrades about his plan, but I thought he’d bring in a weak demigod or something. I can’t detect an iota of trace of power from you,” Calum tilts his head to the side.“Thanks?” /// Luke, out of pure pride and stupidity, decided not to talk to Calum until Michael came back to his stupid place. Calum doesn’t seem to mind, chatting away with his boyfriend on his phone. Halfway through, Luke slammed the door because of how obscene Calum was with his boyfriend on the phone.“Missed me?” the door slams open, too soon for Luke’s taste.Now, maybe Luke was delirious from exhaustion, or maybe it was the mid-afternoon golden rays of the sun giving Michael a spotlight the right way. Whatever the case may be, Michael looked like the classic hero in the Greek mythology tales Luke grew up reading. Tall, golden (his hair, anyways), and devastatingly drop-dead gorgeous.His sanity decides to return last-minute, prompting Luke into shaking his head. “Why would I? You kidnapped me, and gods know how you’re keeping them off-grid so long.”“The gods think they’re the most powerful bitches here,” Michael takes his jacket off, revealing yummy-looking arms. Focus! “As gods continued with their conceited ways, monsters worked underground to rise to our prime powers. Sadly, it doesn’t involve sacrificing virgins anymore.”“Who are you calling—”“‘Virgins’ don’t mean ‘never had sex’ in my world, little one,” Michael guffaws. “Before Christianity took over, the word meant ‘unwed’.”“Either way, your people aren’t killing me for this famed sacrificial ritual,” Luke huffs.“I just said we don’t use virgins for sacrifices anymore,” Michael is kind enough to remind Luke. “That would draw the gods and your coworkers’ attention too much.”“Which reminds me… how am I off-grid for one of the most technologically advanced organisation? Not to mention the demigods at the HQ would be able to use their Auras to track yours?” Luke poses his question.“There are a few monsters who are born with the powers that can block out Auras. That’s why Calum’s here,” Michael shrugs. “That’s how your lovely gods never learnt of my existence.”“Calum has two Auras?”“No, idiot,” Michael rolls his eyes. “I’d like to believe that an Aura-hiding power isn’t an Aura. Auras, yes, can be in either form of offensive or defensive, if you look at the core strength of it, but a power that can make it look like you’re a mortal? I don’t think that’s the same class as an Aura.”“Is Calum stationed at your place 24/7?”“No, but his place is a few storeys below the top floor, a distance short enough to make sure I stay hidden,” Michael yawns. “It’s time for lunch, what do humans usually eat?”“You say that like you don’t eat human food,” Luke delicately rolls off the bed he was trying to be comfortable in. “Are you some sort of dragon?”Michael laughs. “Depends on your definition of a dragon, little hyacinth.”“… I hope you’re joking,” Luke tiptoes to the kitchen he spotted earlier.“I’m a Prince, I think I’d love to have a human worship me for being a dragon,” Michael winks at him; Luke trips over a leg of some stupid stool stationed near the island of the kitchen.“I can make anything as long as I have the ingredients for it?” Luke asks innocently, only to blush when he feels Michael’s front pressing against his back. “A little bit of personal space means anything to you?”“I’m reaching for a plate, don’t get your panties in a twist,” Michael teases, taking the said plate down from a high-up cupboard.“Earlier today,” Luke remembers. “You got arrested and they didn’t know how powerful you are?”“Calum was close by. He masked enough power for me to get arrested, and to hide how I can dethrone the Olympians without much troubles,” Michael hums. “And I know for a fact that you won’t blab all of the information away.”“How bold,” Luke scoffs.“Oh, baby boy,” Luke’s stomach knots from the nickname. “When I set my mind on something, it will happen.”“… do you mind moving away from me so I can make myself something to eat before I die from famine?” Luke pulls his best puppy face.“A diva, aren’t you?” Michael laughs, pulling out a container full of some form of food and scrapes it onto his plate. Before Luke can ask anything, the Prince of Monsters start heating up the strange compound with the microwave.“Not gonna use your fiery breath to heat it up?” Luke teases Michael, only to regret it immediately.“Are you trying to be on my good side so I will let your cute little ass out of my apartment?” Michael sounds cocky, a tone Luke is starting to get used to.“I thought I was already on your good side… you haven’t killed me yet.”“Oh, sweet cheeks,” Luke doesn’t have a chance before Michael crowds him against the fridge. “There’s a fine line between the ‘good side’ and the ‘fun side’, so make sure which one you meant next time you bring this up.”Luke is sure he didn’t imagine something flicking against his lips. /// Three days have gone by and H.E.R.A still hasn’t tracked him down. Granted, Luke doesn’t have his phone so he can’t really have someone track his phone, but it seems Michael wasn’t lying about Calum’s ability to block off Aura signals.“You have a serpent Aura,” Luke starts when Michael gets out of his shower—which he thinks is a bad timing. He has to be conscious about not drooling over Michael’s exposed body. “A really powerful one at that. My question is… why stop there? You said you’re the Prince of Monsters. Why don’t you have more than one Auras or a hybrid one?”“I don’t need more,” Michael replies simply, placing the pendant Luke presumed to be his Artifact on his palm. “This, my dear hyacinth, is all I need. My birthright powers have been sufficient enough for me for aeons, so why bother?”“How many heads?”Luke blushes at the teasing smile Michael offers him at the question that shouldn’t be a sexual one.“Why does it matter? Do H.E.R.A agents need to keep track of whose Aura has how many heads now?” Michael keeps the teasing lilt in his words, not so carefully hidden.“Don’t the heads of your Aura-beasts usually dictate how strong you are?” Luke manages to find an excuse.“Oh, sweet baby boy,” Michael advances forward, the towel dropping onto the wooden floor. Luke doesn’t have the time to blush before his back hits the door. “I don’t need any Aura-manifested heads to make you squirm underneath my body. My human one will do.”“Can you cover up?” Luke says the very thing that is the least thing on his mind.“I can smell lust on you, little one. I could smell it the day you walked inside the police line,” Michael hums, his eyes glinting in an evil, green glow.“Whether I want you to raw me down or not, the fact that you’re a dangerous monster with possibly a godly Aura makes you formidable,” Luke tries not to have his gaze wonder down south. “My boss is a demigod, they may be biased against monsters, godly-Aura possessing or not, but they still get the mortal’s view of things. They understand the need for balance between the monsters and humans, and humans and gods. If a certain Prince of Monsters tried to uproot that ideal, they won’t be the only one you would be worrying about.”“I certainly chose well when I plucked you from that wretched agency,” Michael’s grin only grows. “See, that is exactly what I expected from you.”Before Luke can start forming his words of protest, there’s a dim light and a waft of sweet air, and his eyes close.He does hear:“I wish mortals weren’t this deeply involved with this plan of mine…”Before he passes out. /// “It took me two times of getting knocked out by your fucking poison to figure out that is one of your powers,” Luke hisses the second he comes to. “I don’t possess any Auras, so, of course you use that against me!”“Well, I’m a monster who’s been alive for many years, Agent Hemmings. Deceiving sweet mortals like you has become a bad habit of mine,” Michael—thankfully dressed, so Luke doesn’t have a valid, fuck, reason to be distracted—reasons. “Calum and Ashton are coming here with some food, so does that take a few points off your anger-scale?”“Did you… just make a pun?” Luke is hesitant.“Like it or not, winning your vote is vital to my plan of world domination,” Michael shrugs, a magenta-coloured Aura-snake flicking its tongue. “For the millionth time, Maggie, I told you not to be such a brat!”“… so you do name your snakes,” Luke can’t help but giggle.“Quite a lot to name, but they did refuse to listen to me for a solid century when I said I won’t name them,” Michael shrugs as Maggie recedes. “Mind you, they were my birthright Auras so they do have quite the attitude.”“Can’t imagine why,” Luke snickers openly.“Before you ask, no, I do not speak Parseltongue, that is some movie bullshit,” Michael thwacks Luke on the forehead before he can even form that daring question.“And you abused my cute forehead for that?” Luke pouts.With a lyrical laughter, Michael leans in and kisses the spot he just hit forcibly.“There, all better?”“Didn’t expect you to coddle me…”“Change of plans. If I can’t get into your knickers, might as well as try it this way,” Michael winks at him.“I’ll hop into your bed willingly if not for my working—did you just say knickers?” Luke is sure he’s blushing.“Relax, little hyacinth,” Michael has one of his Aura-snakes tilting his head up again, but this time, Luke doesn’t mind.Not when he gets to look into the serenity of Michael’s ethereal green eyes.“Why do you call me a hyacinth?” Luke gasps out—marvellously so.“You know the story about how hyacinth genus was created?” Luke nods. “That’s how I see you, Luke. Someone who can easily die from my arrogance.”“What do you—”The Prince of Monsters exits the door, this time, leaving Luke as a confused, yearning mess. /// Luke greatly appreciates the fact that no poisonous gases were involved with his little resting period.Though that doesn’t stop him from shrieking like a banshee when he finds Michael’s face not even a full inch away from his when he opens his eyes.“What the—oh, you’re awake, little hyacinth,” Michael yawns, apparently unfazed by the proximity of their faces.Or rather, how close I was to kissing his fucking lips, Luke sighs internally. “Well, I’d like to think so. Or was my little scream not loud enough to indicate that I’m more than awake?”“‘More than awake’?” the teasing grin is back on Michael’s—unjustly—handsome visage. “Oh, I can help you with your morning problem…”“That is not what I meant!” Luke has half a mind to push the unsuspecting monster off the bed, but he knows better than to risk his life. “Do you always sleep with the mortal you try to sway the mind of?”“Usually, it involves a lot less clothes. I’m Greek, after all,” Michael chuckles. “I’m surprised your snores weren’t loud enough to keep me from falling asleep. Also, you drool.”The dreadful duo. “I do not snore.”“That’s what they all say,” Michael laughs some more.“Why do I feel like there’s a second part of that sentence?” Luke grunts, rolling out of the like the lazy bed-hogging, sleep-til-noon if it’s the weekend butt he is.“I usually eat the mortals who annoy me.”Before Luke has the audacity—stupidity—Michael is out of the room already. “How come you’re letting me sleep in your bedroom?” Luke asks as he shovels a spoonful of Count Chocula into his mouth.“Since outside my bedroom is closer to the door if anyone were to break into my house,” Michael answers, his tone implying how stupid Luke is.“I’m not, you know,” Luke swallows the next spoonful of the chocolate-y, sugary goodness. “Helpless and stupid.”“I’d say your cuteness covers your weaknesses pretty well,” Michael studies the cereal box like it’s his number one enemy. “Even a godly monster like me can be melted with your stupid smile.”“At least it’s working?”“I knew you were doing it on purpose,” Michael laughs, manifesting two of his Aura-snakes to arrange his kitchen cupboards. “Your involvement didn’t have to take place, if I must be frank. It was…”Luke gets to see a fraction of what he’d call a weak mixture of hope and despair, two things that shouldn’t go together, yet so apparently in Michael soft green eyes before he steels himself. When he reaches out to cup the Prince’s face, the monster just blinks a few times before backing away.“Gods reincarnate as themselves, but most monsters are not that fortunate,” Michael starts, sensing his pretense can’t go on, probably. And to earn my vote? “Gods love punishing those who don’t bend to their cause, so what would they do to hurt me? Before I went in hiding?”“You never—”“After the first Titan war, after the war Hercules led against the Giants, the children Goddess Gaea personally favoured, your beloved gods made sure that not a single godly monsters would rebel against them. Being a young, foolish leader, I thought we had the element of surprise. Calum and Ash both advised against it. And I’m talking about my two of my oldest friends here, Luke. Not to mention my powers are mostly offensive, unlike Calum and Ash’s Aura-powers. You know how hard it is to take down Calum’s father’s line of monsters? Defensively speaking, only the Top-Tier gods can penetrate his Iron Feather Aura and possible wound him deep enough to kill him. My Aura is Multi-Elemental Dragon, little hyacinth,” Luke gulps at the mention of a dragon. “Most other dragons I know, like Hydra and Ladon, they were stripped of the title of being called a dragon because they knew better to rebel and lose their heads, figuratively speaking and a bit literally, I guess.” Michael laughs and uses a scarlet-coloured Aura-snake to open the fridge door and pull out a small bottle of Long Island Iced Tea. “They don’t trust the gods, no, but they had better sense of survival, unlike my young, arrogant self.”“Are you trying to make this a sob story so you can win me over?” Luke is still suspicious.“… it’s a shame that the mortal reincarnations don’t hold on to the memories… is that because you lack your former Aura?” Michael sounds like it’s an afterthought.“I… used to have an Aura?”“Aeons ago, before Alexander the Great was born,” Michael laughs wryly. “Luke, you weren’t a monster like me, but you were a demigod that Zeus murdered in cold blood to punish me.”“Oh, so typical Zeus,” Luke tries to shrug it off.“He was your father, Luke.” /// Understandably, Luke is given an alone time. He wasn’t expecting Michael to lend him his own phone though.He dials in Cyprin’s number.“I was expecting your call,” the non-binary demigod child of Aphrodite sighs through the phone. “I knew Michael would tell you sooner or later.”“You… I guess not a lot know about the secret Prince?” Luke sees that this isn’t a moment to fight and heeds.“Zeus… is never rational,” Cyprin words their sentence carefully. “He only saw it as a way to subdue a powerful enemy. He didn’t care that you were his son.”“Father of the universe, everyone,” Luke grits out venomously. “Wait, I got a drop or two of diving blood, so to speak. How come I don’t have my own Aura?”“Zeus didn’t like his own son befriending a monster powerful enough to bring him down from his throne, Luke. He forced Hades and many other gods into making sure that were your soul to be in the mortal plane again, it would be considered laughable to defy him.”Before Luke can ask what they meant by that, the mystic child of Aphrodite hangs up on him. “I take that the phone call wasn’t so pleasant?”Luke doesn’t know what to do with Michael anymore. Not when he was already falling for the green-eyed monster—literally—the moment his eyes set on the beautiful creature.They say the eyes are the window to one’s soul… does that mean their eyes can also be a huge factor when it comes to finding their… life-long companion? Luke can’t stop the thought from flitting across his mind.“It’s hard for a mere mortal like me to remember I need to breathe when you wear that,” Luke excuses himself.“What do you mean?” a coy smile coils around Michael’s face.“You know,” Luke makes a vague gesture at Michael’s barely-buttoned up silk shirt and skin-tight black jeans. Add a leather jacket and Luke would be salivating even more. “This.”“I dress to impress,” Michael chuckles. “Calum will be on our tail, so let’s go.”“Go…?”“It’s been too long for you here. My cooking skills are bare-minimum. I’m taking you out,” Michael explains.“On a date or with your poisonous breath?” Luke teases. The twenty minutes of Michael weaving through the lunch-hour traffic in New York City is almost impressive. He thought they were headed to Poseidon’s Diner, but then he recalled how there would be a lot of gods there, just gossiping about.“I was expecting a five-star restaurant for His Highness,” Luke teases the puissant monster as they get out of the Porsche, and walk over to the reception area so the host can seat them at the patio. “But I guess a nice patio lunch would suffice you?”“You make me sound like a spoiled brat,” Michael reaches over to squeeze Luke’s hand. “I told you that this—” he cups his Artifact’s pendant-charm. “—is my Artifact, yeah?”“Mhm,” Luke thanks the server who brings them their menus and water glasses.“I kept yours,” Michael sounds shy for once. “I wasn’t sure if you were even going to be reborn, but I snuck the Artifact from what you can call an ancient version of H.E.R.A aeons ago.”“That’s actually romantic,” Luke hums. “Risking your princely hide to make sure the future me—or now, I guess—would have my own Aura.”“It’s my fault your dickhole of a father killed you. I thought it’d earn bonus brownie points if I kept your Artifact,” Michael’s green eyes flicker to a darker shade of green—like the needles on a coniferous tree.“You do get a kiss for that,” Luke pretends to give this imaginary point to Michael. /// “I’d like to collect my kiss,” Michael declares once they return to his apartment. “Where do you want it?”“I’m supposed to mad at you for being a horrible monster who kidnapped me, you know,” Luke sighs dramatically. “I think this is against my own rules.”“Aw, I guess I’ll steal one then.”Luke finds his back pressed against a wall, a position he’s starting to get familiar with, before Michael’s hot, questioning lips meet his. The feeling that bulldozes over Luke is something he can’t really describe. The only thing he can think of is to keep kissing Michael.So, that’s what he does.He keeps kissing and kissing Michael until they move clumsily to Michael’s bed, a soft gasp huffing out when they thud onto the huge furniture. Their lips only part to undress each other of the unnecessary garments. In the lowly lit room, the only thing that really seems to glow is Michael’s Artifact and the love that shines in his green eyes.Love he held on for thousands of years, waiting for me to come home—come back to him, Luke realises.“You didn’t kidnap me because of my family or how cute I was—” Michael gives him a look. “Okay, maybe my cuteness was a factor, but you still knew who I was.”“Don’t forget about the Greek version of soulmates, Luke,” Michael’s hand feels soft and delicate, so unlike his scaled Aura. “We were one soul, one heart split into two.”Luke hopes Michael doesn’t see his flushed cheeks when his hand is moved right above Michael’s beating heart—a heart that beats in time of Luke’s own erratic pulse in his ear.“This still counts as Stockholm Syndrome,” Luke manages to let out a smart ass remark.“You won’t be making that excuse when I use my head to make you scream,” Michael winks.“I was—”Luke soon finds out that it’s hard to keep arguing with a powerful monster who’s been alive for so many years if the said monster’s head is between his legs and nipping at his—ahem—sensitive regions. He whines low, a form a protest that Michael shouldn’t be cheating at life like this, but he only gets an amused chuckle in response before Michael really gets to work.“I—”Speaking verbally seems to be futile since Luke’s head is spinning from arousal, his eyes screwed shut to block out anything that might possibly hinder his climax. He wonders if Michael is good with his tongue because he’s a gigantic serpent or with practice aeons ago. Either way, he isn’t complaining, and when he coats his own stomach when he reaches his high, he makes a note to hit Michael for actually keeping his promise. /// “Cyprin was in on this, weren’t they?” Luke hopes taking a quick shower (without Michael, much to the bratty Prince’s dismay) is a good enough excuse for his cheeks to be still red.“Well, your fair boss knows pretty much everything. Also, they know better than to let an innocent monster like me to be wrongly accused.”“My older brothers?”“They only knew you’d be needed where I caused a scene,” Michael shrugs. “But Cyprin is only helping me with the rebel monsters. They don’t want to help me with my plans against Olympus.”“… oh…”
I’m so torn… it’s the classic choose between your family or your lover, and this isn’t just about my priorities. After learning the truth, it’s about gods and monsters… not having a middle ground.
Luke tilts his head and a poster catches his mind.He doesn’t know why the map of constellations bug him.He wants to find out why.