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ELI

@viciousabyss

☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠

NAME: Eli Azrael
AGE: 40... ish
HOMETOWN: Kingdom of Solterra, Feywild

yo. its eli. hit me up.

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It’s strange, Cassius thinks, how Eli sets himself upon his hips and it is not out of place to have him there. His hands move to rest against Eli’s thighs, as his companion settles himself for another carving.

Cassius knows, from what little he’d had to deal with it back home, that money is important to people. It buys burgers. It buys homes. It buys equipment that sparks when his Gardener kicks it. The fact that Eli has money now – well, Cassius doesn’t quite understand why it’s necessary, but he’s happy for him all the same.

He opens his mouth to say so, but -

And I was wondering…

It takes a moment for the offer to sink in, and when it does, Cassius seems… confused. Genuinely. It’s here, with Cas spread out on the bed and Eli straddling him, his knife carving his chest wide open, that Cassius’ brows furrow.

“Where else would I be, friend Eli, if not by your side?”

Eli laughs a little in surprise, breathy and soft. There's a small squeak in it, like a voice crack.

"So that was your plan the whole time, to mooch rent off of me, huh?"

Never mind how fucking cute that was for Cassius to say- he's not exactly sure what it means. He finishes cutting out the chest piece and holds a bigger shell piece up to the hole. He tries not to stare too much at the wriggling worms underneath, because he needs to work fast, but he is quite fascinated by them.

"Is that a yes, then? You want to live in a house with me?" He wants to make sure Cas understands what he's asking.

"We could find a place where you could have a garden."

“I do not know what to mooch means, friend Eli, but I did not plan for it, no.”

As Eli peels away the shell from his chest, he’ll find some of the worms uncovered a little… longer, perhaps. A shade more green. One or two sport what looks to be… bumps? Like there’s something ready to pierce through below the surface.

Cassius doesn’t seem to notice the change as the worms take the offered replacement piece and begin their process of gluing up the seams from the inside. It’s slower going since there’s more area to cover, but once it’s done the only thing left behind is another fading ring of purpled brown. His fingers trace the lines without thought.

“I want to be with you wherever that may be, if you would have me.” Cassius smiles a little, the other hand drawing light circles into Eli’s leg. “While a garden would be preferable, as long as you are there, I will be happy with wherever we make our home.”

Eli notices the slight change in the worms, but doesn't find it too concerning. He also doesn't want to upset Cas, so he keeps it to himself.

Placing the new piece over his companion's chest, he holds it in place as he watches the worms stitch it in. Once it's fully sealed, Eli gently and slowly rubs his hand over Cas' chest again.

He smiles, both at Cas' chest looking almost new again, and at what he says about wanting to be with Eli. He leans forward to kiss him. He cups Cas' face in his hands, giving a satisfied smooch.

"That sounds good." Eli breaks the kiss to look at him, his thumbs rubbing happily at Cas' cheeks.

"You know... You still call me 'friend Eli,' but... If we're having sex and living together, that makes us more than friends."

Cassius lets out a soft, happy hum at the press of Eli's lips against his. His hand raises in turn to brush his fingers over Eli's wrist.

“Then what should I call you, if we are more than friends?” Cassius doesn't know - all he's ever had was his Gardener and his Hunter, and they're more… family, Momo called them. And Eli is different than that, isn’t he? Touches him differently, makes him feel differently, settles against him warm differently.

His nose brushes against Eli’s, fishing for another kiss. “Ah, perhaps... best friend?”

Eli giggles softly, a sort of laugh that he allows no one to hear but Cassius, and grants him another kiss.

"You can call me your best friend, but that's still not a more than friends word. A friend that you're also romantic and sexual with would usually be called a boyfriend, or girlfriend, or a partner. But since you call everyone by some kind of title, I thought I'd leave it up to you what word feels best. It doesn't have to be a word people usually use."

They're not normies! They're an emo elf and a boy made of worms in a world that's turning them both into other creatures entirely. They don't have to follow naming conventions, and really, Eli prefers not to stick to any kind of convention. Making up their own words is more special, too.

Cassius takes the kiss with a slow-rolling squirm, eyes sliding shut as the heat of it washes through him like Eli's voice. He says best friend won't work, so - yes. A different title entirely is required, but - they're not just titles. Not like friend is. They're embodiments, the names he gives to those important to him. His Hunter keeps him fed, his Gardener tends to his heart, and Eli -

A soft hum escapes him, hands moving to cup at Eli's neck. Feels that sunlight pulse under his palms and fingers.

"Very well," he murmurs, looking up at Eli with dark, doe eyes. He lifts a little off the bed to press their foreheads together, to feel Eli's breath across his cheeks. "My Warmth, then."

Eli had wondered if he might get a special title, like Hunter or Gardener, but had no idea what it would be- Protector, or something?

My Warmth.

That clicks, with their relationship up to now, and in response, a wave of warmth rolls through Eli. He smiles and locks their lips again, cradling Cassius' face in his hands. Hands that, now corrupted, don't radiate body heat the same way they used to. More inanimate.

"That's very sweet," he murmurs when their kiss parts. "But..."

He frowns a little. He doesn't want to sour the moment, but a worry has been nagging at him for a while.

"What if my corruption makes me... Not warm anymore?"

Will Cassius be disappointed? Will it make him less drawn to Eli? He hates the idea of not being able to provide something Cas wants so much.

Cassius frowns in turn, layering his hands over Eli’s. No, they’re not warm anymore in the physical sense, but they still…

“My Gardener does not tend to my Garden,” he says after a moment. One hand peels away from Eli’s own to rest over his chest where the brown edges are nearly faded. “He tends to me. Plants the seeds of - humanity that my Hunter cannot and helps them to grow. Helps me grow.”

His hand then goes to Eli’s chest, over his heart. “You are warm, yes, but - it is your presence that brings me comfort the most. Even with your hands like mine, they… warm me still. Like a summer day.”

Cassius pauses then, looks at his hand and imagines Eli’s pulse beneath it. Imagines it gone.

Slowly his eyes draw back up. “If your corruption steals your heat, I will mourn it, yes, but - it is you I value most, my Warmth.”

Eli wouldn't admit aloud that the was worried about this, but the reassurance from Cassius makes him look substantially relieved all the same. His frown turns back into a soft smile, his brow smooths, and he makes a small pleased huff.

"Okay. It's good to hear that." He kisses Cassius again, long and slow and firm.

When the kiss breaks, his thumb rubs Cassius' cheek gently, and he looks at him lovingly for a long moment. Then, something else seems to occur to him.

"Another thing... Uh, Eli is actually short for Elijah, I'm not sure if you knew that or not... I didn't tell you because I don't like for anyone to call me that except my family and other very close people. You're one of those people now, so you can call me that if you want, when we're alone."

Cassius is all puddled contentment until Eli drops that little factoid and follows it up with you can call me that if you want. His brow pulls into a serious furrow, his mouth pressing together as thoughts start to war in his wormy head.

He hesitates, uncertain. “Which would you prefer, my Warmth? My… Elijah?”

He thought his name had been satisfactory, but - if Eli - Elijah wishes him to call differently when they are alone, he will. Cas pulls his hand away from Elijah’s chest to layer it over one at his cheek. He leans into it.

“...I do not have a - a special name like you do. My Hunter calls me Cas in endearment, and my Gardener mostly follows suit. Sometimes I am ‘darling’. Sometimes I am ‘dear’. But mostly I am Cassius, or I am Cas. I cannot give you a special name like you have given me.”

It's far from a little factoid to him- it's actually a big deal. Eli's biggest secrets are things that seem the most inconsequential to others. Being called Elijah invokes his parents (the King and Queen), his servants and superiors and tutors, it invokes the noble aspects of his upbringing, and those are things he doesn't like to be reminded of daily. Eli is a way for him to claim freedom from that formality and make his name his own. As such, he only tolerates Elijah when it's his choice who uses it. Allowing someone permission is thus a big rite of passage, whether Cassius realizes that or not.

"I don't have a preference- I want you to call me what feels best to you. But I wanted to let you know you had permission to use my full name if you felt like it, which I don't give out lightly. Elijah Azrael Dayborn, which is highly associated with my noble title in my world, which is why I usually use Eli instead."

He huffs a little air out of his nose, a tiny laugh, at Cas calling it a 'special name.'

"That's okay. As for what I'll call you, I might have to just feel it out. I don't usually use affectionate pet names. I'm most likely to call someone a short version of their name, or something silly. Unless- unless you really want a special name too."

Edited Date: 2025-08-03 08:52 pm (UTC)

And that's Cassius' problem, isn't it? He doesn't know what feels best when both options are so personal. Special, even. It's - easier when he doesn't have to choose, when the decision is handed to him, but - maybe he doesn't have to.

When we're alone, Elijah had said. It'll have to do, at least until Cas finds some other way of address that meets in the middle.

“Alright. You will be always be my Warmth, but here, when it is just you and I… you will be my Elijah, too.” Turning his head, he nuzzles into Elijah's palm, the connection between them soothing at his shell. “If it is not something you are comfortable with, I do not need a special name. This is enough for me.”

A beat. Two. Three.

"Noble?"

He certainly doesn't have to choose and commit to one forever in this very moment. Or ever. In any case, what he chooses sounds good to Eli.

"Okay. That works." He smiles softly, kissing Cas on the cheek. "I'll see what I can come up with for you. But I'll definitely be calling you my boyfriend." Eli is possessive like that. He likes the title, he likes claiming and being claimed.

But- noble. Right, he must have no told Cas yet.

"Yyyyyyyyeah, I... Do you know what a noble is? Basically, my parents are King and Queen of the Dawn fey court, which rules a good portion of our realm, and we're all close descendants of the sun goddess, Soothea." So he's a prince, not that he's going to say that out loud when he's spent his life running from the title. Running from his own last name.

He goes back to searching Cas' shell for green spots.

Boyfriend. Cassius is familiar with the term. The tiny people on the screen late at night would use it to describe romantic partners, but he’d never…

He likes that he is one. A boyfriend.

His eyes light up a little as Eli says he’s a noble, and Cassius knows enough to guess that he’s a prince. There’s a certain excitement to him as he turns his head.

As Eli resumes his search - the next most visible is a patch on the hip - his worms gathered on the floor abandon their task to squirm up the side of his bedside table. He reaches out an arm to open up the drawer, allowing his worms access. They nudge the book inside up into his hand, and he pulls it out almost sluggishly. It’s worn with age and use, clearly loved.

He sets it against his chest, turns it open - it’s a baby book, full of fantasy pictures and giant letters - and settles on a page with a little boy in a crown. P is for prince.

“A prince.” He sounds so fond with the tie to his memory. "Like in my book."

While Cas is getting something from his nightstand, Eli finds that spot on his hip and carves it out. He's much faster with the blade now that he knows exactly how deep to cut. As he's fitting the new patch in, he looks up to Cassius looking at a book. A... Worn alphabet book.

As he says 'prince,' Eli opens his mouth to object, but then Cassius refers to the book. Eli moves to his side, laying down so he can see what's on the page. P is for Prince.

He lets out a small, breathy laugh.

"How are you so damn adorable?" He kisses Cas' hair. "Yep, you got me, that's me in the crown." He points to the little boy. Then his clawed fingertips gently grip the corner of the page, consideringly. "This came with you from home?"

“I do not know, my Elijah. I am not doing anything unusual to make it so.” Cassius smiles at the kiss, melting a little as his worms work to glue the patch back in. There’s a little more energy to him as he continues, “But - yes, my Hunter gave it to me when we were both New. It was to help me learn human letters. I am glad that it was sent with me - it is the first gift I was ever given.”

That same fondness has him nestling his head up against Eli’s shoulder as he angles the book a bit better. His fingers trace the crown upon the prince’s head like he’s done so many times before.

(Ones next to a different body, a rougher one, in a world far, far away from here.)

“They would read it to me at first, until I could read it myself.” He stares at the page for a long moment. Closes his eyes. “They would like you, I think.”

My Elijah. Yeah, that feels nice. Really nice.

"That's because you're usually adorable."

He wraps his arms around Cas, since snuggling seems to be the move right now. Really, it's always the move with Cassius. He can finish the patches after.

"That's really sweet." He smiles, leaning his cheek against Cas' hair.

"You think so? What are they like? I don't think you've actually told me a lot about them."

Oh, Cassius is more than happy with this development. He molds himself to Eli’s shape, squirm softening to something like a purr. Well, at least before Eli asks about his fellow monsters, then he comes a little more alive.

“My Hunter is strong, burdened with a weight they have carried since they were small. A monster made, not born, they have taken their curse and used it to help those they can.” His tone takes on a thread of reverence under all that warmth. There’s a little smile on his face as he continues, “They have taught me most everything I know - they were there when I awoke in my Garden, and I have been by their side ever since.”

He tilts his head to look at Eli. “You remind me of them. You are both fierce and protective. You both strive to do good.”

The way Cas talks about his Hunter is very sweet, though it gives Eli a pang of envy, that Cas admires them so much. That is, until he compares Elijah to them.

"Oh," he says softly, smiling. "Yeah? They sound cool. What is their curse, if I can ask...?"

A monster made, not born. That intrigues him.

Something in Cas softens into something more somber. Lost in thought. His fingers buzz soft circles into Eli's middle.

“The Song. Or… that is what they have named it, the parasitic force that has made them its home. They have told me it feels like heavy drums in their veins, a shrieking choir between their ears, an all consuming instinct to hunt and tear and devour.” His voice quiets, like he’s crafting his words from memory letter by letter. “It is what makes my Hunter a monster, because - it is not something that they can ignore. They have tried. The damage had been... they were not in control.”

He pauses, fingers stopping as well. “I worry for them often. If they can find peace without my presence. If my Gardener will be enough to let them stay themself.”

Eli listens quietly, stroking Cas' hair. That sounds like an incredibly difficult thing to deal with. But Eli is sure Cassius was a great comfort to them, and clearly, it goes both ways.

"I hope so. There's people I'm worried about at home too. We have to just... Believe in them. In their strength."

“...yes, we will have to.” There is no other choice, is there? Either hope or despair, and - Cassius does not like the feeling of despair. Does not like thinking the worst of his fellow monsters.

He looks up to Eli, dark eyes round and curious. “Are there others you worry for? Outside of your family?”

"Oh, yeah. Other than my sisters, there's Caleb, who's like a grandfather to me and helped raise me... Then there's my friends I adventure with, Amostia, Adri and Hugo. They're... The only reason I'm alive, honestly."

He'd gotten himself into some very sticky situations in the Shadowfell, and realized he couldn't do it alone.

“Oh. I understand that.” Without his Hunter, he could have very well been consumed before he'd awoken. Or worse.

He hesitates, fingers moving to trace over the seams of Eli’s clothes. Eli's people must be lovely, like he is. “Do… you think they would like me? I would like to meet them, if the future allows.”

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