The tunnel remained silent long after the embrace ended. Elias didn't pull away. His face pressed against Rael's chest, heart thudding like a drum refusing to quiet. There was something raw in the way Rael held him—arms tight, fingers trembling against Elias's spine, like he was afraid this moment would vanish if he blinked.
They stood there a while, wrapped in candle smoke and old air, until Rael whispered, "We should go. This place isn't kind to the living."
Elias looked up at him. "And what does that make you?"
Rael didn't answer. He didn't have to.
By the time they returned to the dorm, the sky had started to pale. The halls were quiet, filled only with the gentle rustle of sleep and the ticking of time. Elias sat on his bed, while Rael leaned against the desk, arms crossed, shirtless, still stained in runes that hadn't faded yet.
"So," Elias said, voice hollow but sharp, "you were what, exactly? Demon royalty?"
Rael exhaled, eyes dark. "I told you. I was called The Breaker."
"Which sounds suspiciously like 'genocidal maniac,' Rael."
"Titles don't always mean what they seem."
"I don't know," Elias muttered, arms crossed. "The Breaker doesn't exactly scream 'cuddly misunderstood loner.'"
Rael smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You're not wrong."
Silence stretched. Elias tapped his foot anxiously, then asked, "So… did you start a war or something?"
Rael looked at him, something ancient and haunted stirring behind his gaze. "No. I ended one. With fire. With blood. With power I shouldn't have touched."
Elias didn't reply. He waited.
Rael walked slowly to the window, moonlight catching the lines of muscle and magic across his back.
"I was forged in a realm that worshipped cruelty," he said quietly. "And I was their weapon. I bled for kings. Killed for balance. Then one day, I stopped. I turned my blade against the very throne that raised me."
Elias stared. "And they let you live?"
Rael's smile turned cold. "They didn't have a choice."
He turned, walking toward Elias now, stopping only when they were face to face. "I left that world behind, Elias. I carved a gate and sealed it with blood. Mine."
"And now you're here," Elias said softly.
"And now I'm here," Rael echoed, reaching to brush a curl from Elias's temple. "With you. In a world I don't belong in. But… for the first time, I want to."
Elias stared up at him, conflict roaring behind his ribs. "I don't know if I'm supposed to be afraid of you or kiss you right now."
Rael's lips curved. "Why not both?"
Elias huffed. "Don't make me regret trusting you."
"You won't."
"Because if you lie to me again…"
Rael's expression turned serious. "I won't. Not anymore."
There was something in his voice that made Elias believe him.
For now.
Later that night, Elias couldn't sleep. Not because of fear—but because of the strange comfort of Rael's breathing beside him. The faint heat of him. The way his fingers would sometimes brush Elias's wrist in his sleep, as though reaching for something even his dreams feared to lose.
Elias turned toward him, studying the peaceful expression that didn't quite match everything he'd learned. This being beside him had shattered worlds. Burned empires. And yet now… he curled instinctively closer when Elias touched his hand.
"War criminal," Elias whispered to himself, watching him. "And I'm spooning a war criminal."
Rael murmured in his sleep, something soft in an ancient tongue, and Elias blinked.
"…Okay. Hot."
He closed his eyes and let sleep take him, tethered to danger and warmth and all the terrible things he could no longer live without.