Читать книгу The cold warmth - Victoria Goerk - Страница 10

A week had passed by with them living together.

Jaylon seemed to be more comfortable and really touchy with Braylon. The older blushed furiously every time the ghost was too close or in an intimate position that he really wasn’t used to. Jaylon was oblivious to the flustered florist, always having his own way of hugging and cuddling Braylon without a word of complaint from the other.

Jaylon also got better at cooking with Braylon’s help of little tips and tricks day by day. He prepared breakfast and dinner for the half demon every day, except for the days Braylon decided to stay in because of the lack of orders.

Marcellus gets really sulky on those days. Demons can teleport to a lot of places but they couldn’t really enter in a private place like a human’s home, so the messenger couldn’t just appear in Jaylon’s apartment. He bombarded Braylon’s phone with tons of texts and calls, whining to see his friend and meet the young ghost.

“Please… I’m really bored.”

“Don’t you have a job to do?” sighed Braylon while stirring a small pot of stew with his phone squeezed between his ear and shoulder.

“I don’t! I’m today free today. Adan has been nagging at me to check up on you too.”

“Okay fine! But don’t come empty handed!”

Braylon had already mentioned Marcellus to Jaylon a few times, but the younger didn’t really seem to be interested. He always shrugged with a small pout when the half demon asked if it was okay for them to meet.

Braylon lowered the heat of the stove to the lowest setting an inhaled a deep breath before raising his voice to call the ghost.

“Jaylon!” The younger immediately appeared at the kitchen doorway, bouncing in with a wide grin to take a look at the demon’s stew.

“Ohhh! That smells so good, I wish I could eat.” He pouted, clinging onto Braylon again, a habit he had picked up lately. The older smiled softly, reaching up behind to pat the younger’s head and breaking the news to him.

“Um… remember the demon I told you about? He’s coming over.”

The two stood in silence for a moment before Jaylon huffed loudly, moving his head from Braylon’s shoulder to rest on the honey blond locks instead. The florist frowned at the huffing, turning around to look up at the pouting ghost.

“Why are you sulking Jay? Don’t you want more friends?”

“But I have you,” The younger stubbornly said and even though Braylon could feel his heart flutter at that, he continued to muster up a stern look.

“I know that but… give Marcellus a chance, ok? If you don’t like him by the end of today, then- I’ll make sure that he won’t come to bother you again.”

Jaylon started to float up and down, still pouting and staring at Braylon, so the older continued, “Marcellus’ really a nice guy once you get to know him, I promise.”

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Jaylon sank into the counter at the sound of it and Braylon started to get a bit worried, wondering if it was too much. The doorbell rang again after a few seconds and Braylon just send Jay a reassuring smile before walking over to the door to welcome Marcellus in. The spirit immediately flew over to latch himself on the half demon, wrapping his arms around the shorter just before the door opened.

On the other side of the door stood Marcellus with a huge backpack hanging from his shoulders, taking in the sight before him.

Braylon was standing awkwardly in the hallway with a taller kid clinging on to him, sending a glare towards the newcomer. The demon was amazed at how the ghost was so full of color, looking alive and well, Marcellus was really tempted to touch his skin, just to see how it feels. But….

“Uhhh… why is the kid glaring daggers at me?” he asks.

Braylon gave him a nervous grin, “I don’t know… but well, Marcellus, this is Jaylon. Jay, this is Marcellus, a demon messenger and also my childhood friend.”

Marcellus extended a hand, he had a box like smile stretching on his face. “Hey kid! Nice to meet you, I’ve never seen a ghost so bright of color!”

The demons anxiously waited for a reply, but the ghost just harshly breathed air out of his nose and took off, levitating upwards and twirling around as an act of disobedience.

Marcellus shot a look of confusion at the florist, who just shrugged at him and leaned in to whisper, “If you don’t befriend him by the end of the day, I will not allow your presence here ever again.”

The demon messenger smirked back, “Don’t you know who I am? I brought something for the kid.”

Marcellus turned around and wriggled a bit, shoving off his backpack before marching inside the living area with Jaylon watching cautiously from the ceiling.

Braylon followed the other demon, throwing himself down on the couch while the demon was seated on the floor with his back to him. The messenger pulled out a laptop and a lot of accessories, including a keyboard, mouse, mouse pad and a pair of speakers. He started to set it upon the small table. Braylon was slowly catching onto what he was doing. Jaylon still hovered near the ceiling, clinging on to the doorway, his big eyes now had a hint of interest in them when he saw the equipment.

“Jaylon,” Braylon called out softly, holding his hand out and the younger quickly moved forwards to take it. He was snuggling close to the half demon with his legs up to his chest.

“Do you play computer games?” whispered the half demon, eyeing how Jaylon eagerly nodded, gesturing with his hands that he played a lot.

“That’s nice… you can play with Marc, you know. He won’t bite.”

The ghost pouted, turning his attention to the laptop screen again, carefully observing how Marcellus was messing around with the settings before launching a familiar online game. Braylon smiled as he saw how interested Jaylon became and silently thanked the demon in his mind. He stood up, nudging Marcellus lightly with his foot.

“Are you hungry? I’m going to check my stew.”

“The red haired demon stared up at him with his lips pursed, “I missed you, can I have a kiss?”

Braylon was about to throw a snarky comment back, but Jaylon acted first. He was pushing Braylon towards the kitchen with a grunt, ignoring how Marcellus laughed loudly behind them.

“Jay, no, you’re staying here. Go on, you can watch him. Marc is really good at this game.”

Braylon pushed the spirit’s chest lightly when they reached the entrance of the living space.

Jaylon huffed, “I’m much better.”

“Yeah? I’ll come back to see you pay then.” The florist gave him an encouraging smile and left for the kitchen to check his stew and make some noodles.

Even though demons don’t really need human food, Marcellus still has a weird craving for noodles, so Braylon decided to make some for him. He was also planning to make some rice cakes for later too, so he busied himself in the kitchen, getting lost in the making of the dough for almost an hour before finally starting on the noodles. When he was finished, he carefully balanced it on a tray along with some sweets and a drink to deliver to Marcellus.

To be honest, Braylon was a bit surprised at the scene in front of him. Jaylon was kneeling besides Marcellus, intensely watching him play while bickering with the others.

Yes, bickering.

“Don’t go over there! That’s suicide!”

“No it’s not! It’s better than your current spot and it’s perfect to camp.”

“But if the enemies come out from there they can see you?”

“I’ll take them out before they can!”

“Watch out! Your left! Left, left! Behind the boxes! No, the other left!”

“Nooooooo!”

Braylon squinted at the loud noise, shaking his head in annoyance but he was still glad that they seemed to get along… maybe.

“Marc, I made noodles for you, come and eat. Let Jaylon play for a bit.”

The florist set the tray down and Marcellus turned to him with a pout, reluctantly moving away from the laptop to approach his food while Jaylon just sent a happy grin in Braylon’s direction.

Turns out, Jaylon was such a professional at the game, leaving Marcellus to watch with his mouth agape. They started talking softly to each other about the game, completely forgetting that Braylon was even there, so he quietly left the room to take in some fresh air at the balcony. It was now a bit more packed, different kinds of flowers were neatly standing in their pots beside each other. Jaylon took great care of them, the half demon didn’t even have to do anything.

He still decided to move some flowers to a bigger pot though, just something to busy himself with while the two younger ones have some bonding time over games. Braylon himself was not a fan of shooting or action games with loud noises, he prefers peaceful games with cuter graphics and soft music instead. He obviously couldn’t share the others passion over these kinds of games.

Time passed by quickly and the florist decided to rest a bit in his bed after gardening. He was scrolling through his twitter feed when the spirit came twirling into the room.