100 Theme Challenge #85

Characters and universe taken from #23 and #25. It can be read on its own, but where's the fun?

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85. Underworld

Arnaud was bored out of his mind. Calls had been few and scattered throughout the week, and Thomas would refuse them all, stating it was either a scam or of no importance to him. He meant without any treasure potential for him, he was quite the collector, and his home proved it well. Statues, weird objects, tapestries; Arnaud had to sleep with demonic-looking dolls in his room. He grew used to it, but still, it was disturbing some mornings when he'd realize the dolls had moved during the night… Their little black eyes gazing at him with that unsettling closed-lip smile.

What was even more annoying was Thomas doing experiments or whatnots at any time of the day or night. It came on too many times Arnaud would walk on him doing weird stuff… But Thomas was a genius in his own way, and he had enough proofs throughout the last months to keep telling himself Thomas simply was having trouble with social interactions.

He decided a snack would be good, since his stomach called to him in his boredom, and he walked to the kitchen, only to be greeted by the bare, muscled back of Thomas, He was only wearing pajama bottoms, and Arnaud swore at that moment he knew about his crush on him and was doing it on purpose. Thomas was only a few years older but he trained and kept his body fit to be ready for combat. From what Arnaud had the chance to see, everything of him was muscular, and Arnaud couldn't count anymore the amount of times he daydreamt of having his large hands on himself.

"What are you doing?" He asked, trying hard not to stare at his broad shoulders. If only he wasn't that handsome.

"Pancakes. I've been craving them for a while."

He came closer and looked beside his muscled arm.

"You know you don't put that much stuff in there. It looks like goo…"

Thomas sighed. He might be one of the best treasure hunters, he still had no clue how to cook.

"I'll make some for you," Arnaud finally offered, already opening the fridge to pick up the eggs and the milk, which had been nowhere in sighed in Thomas' mix.

"Thank you. I'll go get dressed."

Arnaud was tempted to tell him to stay like this as a payment, but kept his mouth shut and simply nodded. The small moan he earned when he later bit into a pancake was quite satisfying in itself.

"It's delicious. How do you make them so fluffy?"

"Baking powder, it's no magic."

They both took the bottle of syrup at the same time, and their hand brushed one another. Thomas' was warm, inviting, but Arnaud jerked his back in reflex, muttering an apology. Thomas looked at him for a long moment before he finally took the bottle and spread some of its content all over his plate.

"You seem… troubled," he voiced.

"Me? Why would I be?" Arnaud retorted, slightly annoyed that he could read this easily his feelings.

"That was my next question. I noticed during these past few weeks that you avoided my contact, and when we touch…" He brought a long digit to Arnaud's cheek and poked it. "You blush."

Arnaud slapped his hand away. "I do not." And yet he could feel those traitors heat up. Thomas smirked.

The phone rang, and Arnaud scrambled on his feet to answer it, avoiding an altercation with his employer.

"Takarabune's Raid," he said, always finding it a bit silly every time he'd pronounce the name of Thomas' business. He once told him he named it while he was studying Japanese Mythology. No shit. His eyes widened slightly as he listened. "Fine, we'll wait for you." He hung up, returned to Thomas with a smile.

"I believe this case will gain your interest."

He tried not to flush when Thomas continued to stare at him. "Do I have something on the face or what?" He grumbled, returning to his half eaten pancake.

Thomas had finished his own plate, and he stood. "You have something indeed," he replied. He leaned down and swirled his tongue across Arnaud's top lip before pressing his opened mouth against it, gently sucking the syrup in a quick, flustering motion. Arnaud honestly didn't have time to react, now would he had known how to. Thomas grinned, satisfied with his reaction, or lack of, and went off to answer the door, because someone had conveniently knocked against it at the right moment.

"You fucking tease!" Arnaud finally shouted when he found his voice back. "You can't just leave me like that."

.

Thomas knew right away these people would be interesting as soon as they stepped inside. One looked common enough in his book, with regular features except for his wary eyes. The other one, on the other hand, had a powerful aura surrounding him.

"What can we do for you?" Arnaud asked as he sat beside Thomas, and the latter felt a relaxing wave hit him. He subtly breathed Arnaud's scent as he leaned down to take his tea on the coffee table. His trainee always had a way to calm him.

"We'd like your assistance to eliminate a creature." The one with the aura said. Even if he looked exhausted, he still was polite, on the opposite of his partner.

"Creature? More like demon. That freaking thing has wings, claws and fangs. He tried to kill us like, four times already," he added, and the polite one placed his hand on his forearm, trying to calm him. Thomas eyed the gesture.

"A creature of the Underworld then? A gargoyle, perhaps?"

"I think so, but I never saw another one before, so I couldn't know for sure."

"I see." Thomas took a sip of his tea, which lacked the milk he liked so much. "And how did you anger a gargoyle?"

One grimaced while the other sighed and leaned back in his chair. He probably heard the story before.

"Long story short, I'm a witch-slash-shaman, my name is Dorian Valiente, the son of Eleodor Valiente. Did you hear of him?"

"I did. He wrote a few interesting books."

"Yeah, the old man always preferred to write than to fight. He tried to kill that creature once, because it was hunting some theater back in his youth, but for some stupid reasons, he instead chose to make a deal with it, and now it's back for its end of the bargain, which is his first born child; me. Sometimes I'd like to resurrect him just to kill him again…"

(What is 100TC?)

Sequel tomorrow! I like to do stories mash-up, in case you didn't notice.