Grim Companions
 
by Skye & Ruex
 
 
 

 

 

  

Not bothering to stifle a yawn at the rather bleak scenery flashing past him, Matt Hogan cast another scowl at the radio. He'd just gotten the 1961 Cadillac hearse out of the shop from being detailed...he guy had done an amazing job on the airbrushing scene of zombies from the Original Night of The Living Dead that now covered the back half of the car.... Unfortunately... the new stereo system he'd ordered hadn't arrived.. and so he was stuck with a radio that refused to bring in anything but country music.. and bad country music at that.
 
Spotting a figure walking along the shoulder of the road ahead, Matt smirked and on impulse.. and out of boredom...he decided to pull over and indulge in one of his weakness… scaring the crap out of hitch hikers…
 
Saffron pulled the velvet overcoat tighter and glanced up at the night sky. He gave another muttered curse about the piece of shit six miles back down the road and kept walking. Some one had a severely twisted since of humor, as far as Saffron could see. And considering the way he was dressed...having stepped right out of some high budget vampire movie...Saffron, you idiot! He kept walking since the chances of anyone stopping for him the way he looked were extremely slim… even if there had been vehicles actually out driving at this time of night…
 
The shadow cast by headlights behind him, surprised Saffron and he raised an eyebrow. A car? Out here? He took a few seconds to consider if he could get away with spinning around and hissing at the car like a movie vamp...With an amused soft laugh, he did turn back toward the car to see what. His eyebrow went a little high at the sight of it slowing down. In the dimness the model looked familiar, but it'd have to come a little closer for him to be sure.
Matt laughed out loud as he the guy turned to face the car and he got a good look at the way he was dressed. "Oh.. this is just too rich to pass up, man..." he muttered to him self. Here he was, scary looking guy that he was.. in a hearse in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night....about to pick up a romance novel vampire wanna be... oh yeah.. he could have just way too much fun with this. He coasted along side the guy and stopped. He didn't make any move to open the door or call out... just sat there in the dark with the tinted windows and tried not to laugh as he waited to see what the guy would do.
 
Saffron turned fully to face the car as it came to a stop. He stared at it for a moment. Then looked up ward, and stared at the stars for a few moments. Yeah...some one had a REAL sense of humor... He looked back at the car. The tinted windows was an interesting touch. Now he was curious. He approached the car on the passenger's side, his hands clasped behind his back, as he inspected the hearse. He paused at the back end and nodded his approval over the paint job. "Nice...real touch." He made his way back to the passenger door and bit back a smirk. "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste." He muttered to himself giving into the ironically amused smirk. With a soft snort, he reached for the door handle.
 
Matt fought down the smirk as the door opened. He wanted to be his normal intimidating self so he could enjoy that reaction to the first glimpse of him. It was the hair that got the best reaction.... they never expected the hair... He turned to face the door, one arm resting on the steering wheel. "Need a ride?"
 
Saffron took in the driver, an impressed eyebrow toward the nice stand out shade of hair. But really...he knew Meeks...no shocking shade surprised Saffron any more. Actually, it worked for the guy. "Yeah, so it would seem. Busted down 'bout six miles back." Actually he wondered if the...remains of his previous vehicle had been seen. Good thing it was a rental. "Was headed toward the closest phone."
 
Matt snorted. "I'd offer the use of my cell... but there's no reception out here... no clue why. Get in.. I'm headed to the next little shit hole they call towns around here myself." He let his gaze travel over the velvet coat once more with a soft smirk before looking back at the road, waiting for the guy to get in. Picking up hitch hikers wasn't normally his thing... unless they were really hot females.. or big scary looking guys that he was in the mood to scare...And on the way to a job... yeah.. probably not a good idea. Especially since he had no idea what was waiting for him. But then again.. when had he ever given a shit about something being a good or bad idea?
 
"Yeah...I noticed the lack of reception..." Saffron said, before getting into the car. His own cell phone...or what was left of it was a mile back. He really was going to have to calm down...but then that’s what this whole trip was supposed to be...to calm down. Closing the door though, Saffron paused, and looked over at the driver. He gave his head a shake. The aura of death around this guy was pretty damn strong...a couple days around this guy and Saffron would be on a high for months. That was interesting...
 
Matt frowned slightly as the guys aura hit him. It actually sent a chill over him. He couldn't remember EVER having that happen before. He glanced over at the guy and snorted softly. "You make it a habit dressing as vamp bait and walking on desolate roads at night? Or is this a special occasion?" he asked as he pulled back onto the road. According to the last gps reading he'd managed to get in, there should be a turn off not too much further along this road. Once on that road, it was a straight stretch of about five miles... six max...
 
Saffron had to chuckle softly, looking out the window a moment. "I make it habit to dress as vamp bait...it's much more fun that way." He said, smirking. "Nice hearse, by the way. Very impressed by the art work back there." He said, glancing at the other. "Goes with the hair."
Matt smirked softly and nodded. "Thanks. Goes with the tat's too.. but you can't tell with the jacket on." he said simply, then reached a hand over to him. "Folks call me Graves."
Saffron glanced at the hand a moment, before accepting it. Had to give points for the name. Least he wasn't the only one. "Nice t' meet ya, Graves. Most call me Azreal." He said, shaking his hand a moment before letting go.
 
Matt shook his head slightly. "Angel of Death... nice." he said, his original impression of the guy already out the window. He wasn't sure just what this guy was... he'd never felt anything like it before... but whatever it was, it was a serious power that was right up his alley. He might dress like vamp bait... but he was something else entirely... which had his curiosity peeked. A rare occurrence, to say the least.
 
Saffron judged his reply to that, gauging just what kind of individual he was dealing with, then decided to test the waters some. "Yeah...well...I've got a lot of experience in death." He said casually looking back out the window.
 
Matt snorted at that then slammed on the brakes as he spotted the turn off pass by them. Reversing quickly he made the turn. "Lot of experience, huh?" he asked, shaking his head. "That’s a laugh, kid. That's real funny..."
 
Saffron chuckled softly, unfazed by the turn around. "Yeah...well...in my line of work, it's a pretty much every day kind of thing." He glanced over at him, the smirk on Saffron's face to other people was slightly chilling. "Something you might be familiar with from the...look of things." He said, calmly.
 
Matt snorted and glanced at the guy again. "In your line of work , huh? Sounds rather ominous...What do you do that has given you a 'lot of experience with death'..?"  he asked, finding himself intrigued despite himself. He was rather amused at himself for being interested in the guy.. after all... normally by now he was stopping the car.. or at least slowing down, so his passenger could run away.
 
Saffron leaned back against his seat, with a momentary glance in the back where the coffin should be, before leaning his head against the head rest and closed his eyes, still smirking. He was quiet for a moment, before answering. "Lets just put it this way. I make mafia hit men look like amateurs."
 
Matt snorted again, smirking softly to himself. "Ooo sounds scary." he said and rolled his eyes. "How old are you, kid? Twenty? Twenty two?"
 
"Twenty seven." Saffron reply with a sniff, shifting slightly. Despite the earlier incidents that night, Saffron was finally relaxing...anything to do with death...one of the few rare times he wasn't cursing his abilities. "Oh I wouldn't say scary...maybe...morbid...how do you rate death?"
 
"Twenty seven?! No shit?" he asked then shook his head. "You don't look it, man. As for rating death?  Fuck.. I don't rate it anything.. it's inevitable... although..." Matt leaned back a bit in his own seat. "... certain modes of death deserve a rating system.." he added with a smirk.
 
"Yeah...four years older then my trouble of a fireball little brother..." Saffron muttered, before snorting. "No, I have my...mother's blood to blame for looking so young..." He sat forward slightly.
 
"Ahh.. let me guess.. fae." He looked over, then smirked. "Elven, right? You're lucky... no tips..." he said as he spotted the faint glow up ahead that must be the town. He'd have to find that phone so he could call the branch office and get directions the rest of the way.
 
"Yeah...elven. Elemental on the other half. That's the fun part." Saffron replied with a smirk. He watched the glow. He'd find a phone and give them a ring back in Boston.
 
"Drow on one side.. witch on the other... lucky me got dad's ears." Matt snorted and flipped a chuck of vibrant blue hair behind his ear to show the pointed tips. "Got the fun part of my genetics from my mom's side.. or maybe it was a combination of both..." he rolled down his window and leaned an arm out, patting the side of the door idly as he watched for the silhouettes of buildings to appear.
 
"Ah well...ears work with the hair." Saffron replied with a soft chuckle. "Drow, huh? I knew a drow. He was a depressing guy..." Saffron said, thinking about Rin...god it'd been years since he'd thought about Rin. "Well...since the cards are going down..." He said with a smirk. He looked over at him. "I'm the current Death Elemental."
 
Matt glanced over at him for a quick moment. "Seriously?" he asked, still smirking softly, then shook his head. "Twisted... really freaking twisted.." he reached over to offer his hand again. "Necromancer." he said with a smirk. "From what I understand .. we're a tad rare."
Saffron blinked, considering then laughed, accepting the hand. "Very rare...unlike most elementals. There's only ever ONE death elemental. Some one, has a severely twisted sense of humor..." He glanced toward the approaching town, the first buildings coming into sight, dark and quiet this time of night...
 
Matt snorted. "Oh yeah.. the Lady is severely twisted. Folks don't give her enough credit for a lot of the shit she pulls." he said with a smirk. Just as they approached the first building the car suddenly started to make an odd chugging noise and slowed down. Matt cursed and checked his gauges.. according to the dash board, everything was fine…
 
Saffron smirked grimly at the irony, hearing the noises. "She does at that...ya know what, that sounds a bit like the transmission." He said.’
 
"Better not be the fucking transmission... I just got it OUT of the damned shop... and I know the bugger went joyriding in it before I got it, so he'd have fixed anything he found screwy..." Matt growled as he pulled over just short or the first building, which appeared to be some sort of warehouse. With a last loud rumble, the engine died. "Fuck." he swore and looked up at the roof. "Very fucking funny... can't wait for the punch line." he said then shook his head. "Looks like we're both walking to that phone.."
 
"Well...better hoof it then." Saffron replied, opening his door and starting to get out. He stiffened the moment he got out of the car. There was an overwhelming sense of WRONG going on.
 
Matt  stepped out and went still. After a moment he closed his eyes then laughed softly. "Oh... cute, Lady.. very cute. You are just enjoying yourself up there tonight, aren't you?" he shut the door and opened the back, lifting a trap door to retrieve his guns. "Care for a gun? Getting to that phone is going to be a bit more fun then we'd anticipated."
 
Saffron groaned, getting that old prickly feeling he'd get in hell, when he'd run into something that was dead, but not quiet dead. He stuttered, rubbed the back of his neck and moved to the back of the car to take a look. "Nice...got some pieces Nate'd envy." Saffron said, selecting a Sig 9mm, and a couple clips. His free hand, he summoned one of his swords. "Wha'd'ya think. Mile to the phone...mile an’ a half?"
 
Matt snorted as he finished, then reached back in to grab a knife long enough to be considered a short sword by most. "Nah... there's usually a garage or something close to the edge of town.. plus.. I doubt the entire main street is a mile long." he shut the door, making sure the car was locked. "I know a Nate that has a serious love affair with arms as well. Irritating bastard." he said as he started off. "So.. Death elementals have any powers concerning zombies, vamps and other undead critters?"
 
"Well...lets see." Saffron leaned against the hip of the car and considered. "Zombies I've got limited control. Vamps...I can kill them by touch, takes a little longer then a human. But that's about it. Oh, I've got my shadows… As for Nate...I guess maybe every guy named Nate must be irritating to some point...."
 
Matt snorted again, turned to walk backwards slowly. "Doesn't matter their names.. most guys are irritating to some point." he added to Saffron's comment. "Few zombies are no problem. I can grab control no problem if they're revenants...  bit more effort if someone raised them and is in control, but not too much. Haven't come across a zombie yet that I couldn't steal. Vamps.. I got limited power over.... Depends on the vamp." he gave the knife a twirl. "You coming? Between us we should be fine..." he stabbed the knife skyward. "Assuming She's too busy laughing her ass off to add any more twists.."
 
Saffron held up a finger for a moment. "Hold on." He said, before turning that hand over the ground and a shadowy smoke begin to rise from the ground. A moment later, two little inky black creatures with yellow eyes stood there twitching, looking up at Saffron. "Scout around. Scent out trouble, and report back to me." he told the two. They seemed to nod then sink into ground, to scurry off. Saffron waited a moment, then started walking. "Its always nice to have a couple more pairs of eyes." He said.
 
Matt snorted again. "Cheater." he said then turned and started towards the middle of the road. If he was going to walk into the middle of trouble, might as well do it right. He kept half his attention on his other sense, trying to feel out just how many were out there and just what they were..
 
Saffron chuckled slightly. "Graves, mate. When ya live four years in hell...every little trick sticks with ya." He said, following him. The gun was in his pocket for the moment, his sword was resting lightly at his side. He felt that familiar feeling starting to build, the want and desire, the thirst and seduction to use his abilities. As they walked, Saffron took in the surroundings. Something was wrong and getting worst. The buildings grew and so did the broken windows and boards. Then Saffron stopped, twitching. Blood. He cast his gaze around, then saw a trail of blood toward an alley. He sent out a trickle of power to feel for death...or dying to be correct, and felt a presence barely hanging on. "Wait..."
 
Matt stopped, glancing back at him. "What? I can sense them around us.. but none particularly close... can't quite get a feel for them though... I want to say zombie.. but... it's not quite right..."  he said, flipping the knife in his hand as he spoke in what was obviously a nervous habit.
 
"Yeah, I know...but I think there might be some one...dyin' in the alley. There's a chance we might find out what's happened." Saffron said, popping his neck before approaching the alley. The presence was definitely human and in pain. The pain was what drew Saffron, part of him wanting to end it for the poor soul. He could see pretty well in the dark, and against the side of the building was a man, slowly dying and grasping a shot gun. Saffron approached and the man struggled to raise the gun. "Hold...I'm a friend." Saffron said. The gun quivered, then lowered. "Thought ya'll was one o' them..." The man muttered, before coughing.
 
Matt approached from behind Saffron, his gaze going to the far end of the building. The blood would draw them, whatever they were. For some it would be the scent... but for most it was something else about it that drew them… a power in fresh blood that they couldn’t resist. It was a tactic he’d used plenty of times in the past to draw and control various forms of undead… but that had been on purpose and full prepared. Right then he was in an unfamiliar town with an unknown number of unknown creatures… and a …  .’partner’.. he’d never seen fight.
 
"What's them?" Saffron asked, getting right to the point.
 "The bastard that put this in me!" The man said, pulling back his jacket to reveal the hole.
 Saffron winced sympathetically. "Can ya give us a bit more to go on?" Saffron asked, crouching next to the man.

"They're dead ya see...but they're not...they got that damned...virus that damned fool bounty huntin' place put out. Chaos Inc alright...I told the others we shouldn't have let that place in here...the fuckers!" The man coughed.

 "Chaos Inc?" Saffron replied. "They got an office here? Fuck!" he swore.
 The man coughed again. "Ya'll gotta get outta here, ya hear me?! An' take this...I ain't gonna need it again..." The man shoved the shot gun toward Saffron, who left it there for the moment. He reached out and placed a hand on the man's chest near the hole. "Hey now! Wha' ya doin'!?" The man started. "Relax." Saffron said softly. The man blinked...then his eyes rolled back in his head as he went limp, dying.
 
Matt snorted and tossed the knife from hand to hand. Thanks to the mans accusations against Chaos Inc... he wasn't sure about having this 'partner'. If Azreal believed him, it would make for a shit load of trouble. He had no clue why the guy thought they were behind this 'virus'... mostly likely it was just plain old prejudice against the new guy in town... Then again... he didn't know anything about this branch and as far as he knew, had only met one member of the new team here... for all he knew, they could've  fucked up and let this happen... he doubted it, but still... "We'd better get moving... there's a few heading this direction... and they seem to be a bit quicker on their feet then most zombies.."
Figures." Saffron said, standing up. His head was buzzing with a nice high and he gave it a shake to clear it. "Gods...I didn't know they had a branch here! Fuck! What the hell!" he swore. "Surely if they do, some one would have notified them back in Boston and some one would be here...which shouldn't be me...I don't need any one I know seeing me and calling her...he'd zero in on me in a minute!" Saffron rambled to himself before heading out of the alley, leaving the shot gun behind. Bad vibes came from weapons used by people who's life Saffron had ended like that. A sort of connection between the two. Gave Saffron the creeps. Despite having thought about calling Lex, to let him know he was alright, Saffron was trying to avoid location from his father.

Matt raised an eyebrow as he followed, listening to the mutterings. "They did send someone.. sort of." he said quietly. "So.. who is it you're running form that you think will sick Chaos Inc on you?"
 
Saffron snorted softly and cast a glance at Graves. "Well...my old man, Auron, for one...through my step mother...Then again, she'd probably do it if Lex begged her to...send Eire after my ass to drag me back home. As long she didn't send Regan..."
 
Matt stopped walking, a smirk growing as he shook his head softly. "Shit." he said then laughed softly. "Alright.. Nate's a common enough name, and plenty of guys have a fascination with guns... but Eire... now there's only one Eire I know of... who happens to hang out with a Nate." he said then gave the knife another flip. "Fuck... and here I was worried you might be a pain in my ass by believing that shit about Chaos Inc being behind this shit..." he said then resumed walking. "I'm the back up... I received a call from these folks asking for my help with a zombie problem. Didn't sound like that big a deal on the phone though. Hell.. didn't sound like more then one zombie..."
 
Saffron looked at him, then shook his own head. "Nope...not surprised ya work for Chaos Inc..." He looked up at the stars. "Nice..." He commented. "I'm on a bit of a...get away...from my family. My old man just married Lady Chaos...things around the office back there as of late's a little...tense...so I had to bail..." He left off if Auron found him he was going to kill him. "Skipped on down this way to Mexico. If I'd known there was an office here I would have gone a different route. Now however...I better give them a ring back home..."
 
Matt laughed loudly then clapped a hand over his mouth. "Kay got married?" he chuckled a bit softer. "Shit... that's one of the problems with being a recluse... you miss out on a lot of the best gossip." he shook his head. "And she's your new mom..." he chcukcled again. "fuck man.. youre screwed."
 
"Pretty much, yeah. She was married to Auron before, they had a daughter, my big sister Regan...she's just like Kay..." Saffron shook his head, then stopped, his shadows returned. And so did the first appearance of their zombies, one came slithering out of an alley way. It looked like it's skin was molting off of it. And it wasn't making the usual slow step either.
Matt narrowed his eyes at the thing as it approached and scowled slightly as he tried to get a hold of it with his abilities. "Damn .. buggers slippery.." he said softly, more to himself than to Azreal. "Might take a minute..." he added a bit louder and he tried to break through take control of the creature...
 
Saffron tapped the edge of his sword against his leg, watching the creatures. The shadows reported quite a few of them around. And that they were fast. A sound behind him, got Saffron's attention and he turned slightly, before groaning. Several more creatures were approaching. "Here we go..." He muttered softly, before brandishing his second sword, his eyes slowly bleeding to full black. The closet creature lunged at Saffron, followed by two more. He out stepped the first and took a swipe at another while ducking the attack of the third. Damn were these things fast. More joined the three. Saffron managed to slid behind the first one and ran it through, before spinning his second sword out and beheading a second when it approached.
 
Matt smirked as he felt the give and the creature was his. He drew his gun as he sent 'his' creature to attack the others while he turned his attention on the closest ones. He couldn't grab hold of more then the one.. at least not until he had more practice at breaking them.. they were different from anything he'd come across, but still... with a bit of work, they were his. Keeping a firm hold on the one he decided to see how well bullets worked.
 
Saffron slipped into his fighting state of mind, and began dispatching the other creatures that were coming, quickly learning their patterns, avoiding their attacks better and moving with the same rate of speed through them, dodging and spinning with his blades.
 
Satisfied that bullets... when applied correctly, did indeed do the job, and comfortable with his hold on the one creature, Matt dropped the empty gun and grinned as he moved in with just the knife. He could practically feel Azreal, the intesnity coming off him making his skin crawl.. which only made him grin more and he tore into the creatures before him. Suddenly he laughed softly, shaking his head as the kids words form earlier hit him... Kay had a daughter.. just like her. " hat's a damn scary thought.." he said to himself.
 
Saffron threw himself into a collection of the creatures and let his abilities take over. Those which he didn't take down with his swords, he took what bit of life they had. After a couple moments, there were no creatures left, but a pile. Saffron stood among one part of it, with his swords, surveying it, catching his breath. He hadn't been on a high like this in along time...and he looked it, his velvet coat ripped and bloodied in places. He paused, took the gun from the pocket and slipped it into the empty holster he wore out of habit underneath and discarded the jacket. "Bloody waste..." He muttered with a sigh.
 
Matt finished dispatching the last and shot hims a grin. "It was a fucking prissy coat, Azreal." he said, his eyes shining as he pulled the power that animated the creatures into himself and moved to the one he controlled. It stayed where it was, half crouched on the ground. "now... let's see what we can do here...." he said softly, squatting down in front of it. A moment later the thing began to spasm and emit a high pitched shriek, then suddenly collapsed. Matt raised and eyebrow. "Hmm.. that's new..." he gave a shrug as he stood back up. "But then.. so are they." He looked down at one of the ones Saffron had killed and pushed a small bit of power into it then snorted. "Well... I know that once you kill something.. it doesn't get back up again. I can't raise any of the ones you took out with your powers... think I might be able to raise the others... but they should be just plain old, run of the mill zombies... next to useless against more of these. Still." he said, retrieving his gun and reloading it. "Good to know."
 
"That's because there's no trace of life in the ones I took out...I drained a good number of them...fuckin strange feelin' I'm gettin' off of it too." He shook his head. "As for the coat...fuck it...I LIKED it...that's all that matters..glad it wasn't the black one, Lexi'd never forgive me. Alright...I was informed the town was crawling with these things, and I'm not getting to much Live presence from where we're at at the moment, so nothing living around here. The bulk of them came from that way...so I'm thinking that way is the sorce. And chances are...the office..."
 
Matt snorted . "So... still want to find that phone?" he asked as they started walking. With his new knowledge of the creatures he was able to sense them, better. He was fairly sure he could catch them quicker now, but wasn't sure how many he could hold at once... and with a town full...
 
"Change of plans I think...we'd better get to this office and see what the hell is going on...THEN I'll call Boston. Maybe get some back up. Wonder how these things would react to fire..." He said thoughtfully. "You know any one in this office?" He asked.
 
Matt smirked then shook his head. "Just one." he said simply, not bother to elaborate. That one was someone he both was looking forward to seeing.. and was hoping to avoid all at the same time. "If this shit started there... you think any of them survived it?"
 
"Depends." Saffron said. "Obiviously, you and I both know Kay wouldn't employ any one who didn't know what they were doing...and with the new regulations...even the securtaries had to be trained in defense...but as we saw back there...these things aren't push overs...so I say it's a fifty fifty chance...that...some of them survived. And I'm going to lean toward the possitive rather then the negitive until I know other wise. Nice fighting back there, by the way." He added with a smirk.
 
Matt chuckled. "Bah.. was just testing them to see what worked. you were something else though... rather reminded me of .. your mom." he finished and bit back a smirk.. then gave in and laughed. "Shit.. and you say she has a daughter just like her? Fuck... I gotta see that.."
Saffron gave a soft laugh. "I'll put in personal request for Regan then. Sure she'd love to get in on it..." He shook his head. "That wasn't even my best. You want good, wait till I've sucked down a few more lives and go all out." He kept his senses open as they walked. "So how long you been doing this, Graves?"
 
Matt smirked and caught hold of a nearby creature. It only took a fraction of the time and effort to get control of it and had it pace them. " Raising the dead? Since I was a kid... making a living at this shit... a while. Think I lost track... Been getting paid by .. your mom..." he caught his chuckle that time, keeping it to a smirk. " .. for.. damn .. four or five years I guess.."
 
"Not bad. And she's my step mom. I still call her Kay..." Saffron said with a faint smirk. The whole...parent thing was still something he was struggling to get used to again. He'd gone so long by himself, and having believed his father had been dead for so long. "I guess Necromancers come into their powers fairly early then?"
 
Matt snorted, sensing another creature enter his range. Keeping hold on the first he set about trying to catch this one as well. "I dont know.. don't know many Necros. I started to come into mine... shit.. I don;t know... guess I must have been nine or ten or so... All I remember is my dear mother freaking and the entire fucking clan giving me the boot. Apparently a half fae kid was fine for a bunch of witches... until he doesn't turn into a witch.." Matt chuckled softly. "What about you? don;t know much about elementals aside from the fact that you guys are fuckin hard to kill..”
 
Saffron chuckled. "Elementals are semi immortal. But they've all got a weakness. Death Elementals...well, we're much harder to kill. Lets see...I think I started showing the first signs of my abilites when I was six or seven...killed a damn rotti dog that tried to bite me. Auron took it in a stride, he's a time illussion elemental, even more rare then death elementals. That was probably about the time LiVed took an interest in me...turned nine, and LiVed kidnapped me, from Auron. Tossed me into Hell, where I...adjusted to my abilities and duties, Got out of there when I was fourteen...back to LiVed, worked for him as an assassin...broke from him, and ended up selling myself out as an assassin up until a year ago."
 
Matt whistled softly. "Your right... you do have a bit of experience.. sorry for belittling you back there.." he said and smirked a bit more as the second creature fell under his control. He was learning how they worked.. no so different from other undead... just .. not what he'd expected. Still .. he didnt think he'd be able to hold too many at once... even just these two were a bit of a strain.
 
Saffron snorted softly with a grim smirk. "Yeah I've had an interesting life..." He said softly before glancing up. The office came into view. Or...what was left of it so far. "Well...here we are..." The place looked dark and abandoned. "Lovely."

Matt looked up at the building then heard a soft click. "Fuck..." he said softly as a shot rang out from the roof and the second creature under his control went down. "Fuck!" he shouted up at the roof. "Damn it! I had that one!"
 
There was a moment of silence then a woman's voice yelled down at him. "Graves?! That you?"
 
Matt groaned softly. "Yeah, S.J.... it's me.."
 
Another moment of quiet then the voice clled out again. "That other bugger yours too?"
Matt glanced over to where the other creature was. "Yeah." There was soft click from above followed by another shot. Matt gritted his teeth against the sudden rush of his energy returning as the creature died and turned to Saffron. "Well... at least the one of them is still alive. "
 
"Graves?!" Matt sighed and looked back up at the roof where a head was peeking over. "Did that sting?"
 
"Yeah SJ... it did. " he said tiredly.
 
"Good... get your ass in here.. bring yer friend .. and don't fuckin call me SJ.."
Saffron looked at Graves, hiding his amusment. "Take it that's the some one ya know here..." He said. "Nice." He looked back at the building and was about to say something else, when a rope ladder lowered from the roof. Saffron raised an eyebrow and a head appeared. Silver hair with a pink streak. A pretty face. And a damn nice desert eagle in hand. "Comin' or not?" The woman asked.
 
Matt waved for Saffron to go ahead. "After you, pal... this way you get up on the roof... she might be tempted to cut the rope while i'm on it... you can try to interferr with that.." he said with a smirk.

Saffron snorted softly, before climbing the ladder. He hopped over the edge as the girl with the silver hair stepped back, eyeing him. "Thanks." Saffron said.
 
"Welcome stranger." She replied. "Got a name?" She asked.
 
"Azreal." Saffron replied, he watched her eyebrow raise and the amused look on her face.
"Name's Davina. Most call me Dav." She said.
 
Matt watched Saffron vanish over the edge before he quickly climbed up after him. He pulled the ladder up after him as he eyed the others on the rooftop. Aside form SJ and Dav, there were two men... both practically screamed 'cowboy'. The older of the two men sat on the far edge of the roof with some sort of high powered rifle on his lap. He had a handle bar moustashe and thin face and what hair that could be seen under the beat up black cowboy hat was black as well... Matt pegged him around early thirties... the other guy looked barely out of his teens with shaggy brown hair and a hat only slightly les beat up then the others guys on his knee where he sat looking up at them. His jeans from the knee down on the left side were bloody and there was a makeshift bandage tied tightly above his knee. "Hey Sj... what the fuck were you guys doing in here? The call i got said a 'little' zombie problem...not a fucking invasion.."
 
"Well at the TIME it was a little problem." Dav said. "Which quickly became a BIG problem. Fuckin' hordes o' em all o'er the place! Dale ran outta ammo before we got up on t' the roof!" She added, glancing over at the guys sitting there with a smirk. "Dale ne'er runs out o' ammo."
 
"So how did it start?" Saffron asked.
 
"Honestly, we don't know." Dav said. "Our lab tech...before he got ate, found out it was a virus...but it's got magic in it as well. An...o' course, those bitten end up becomin' one too...ye know how it goes." Dav said.
 
Saffron shook his head. "Did you think to call the main office?"
 
"How?" Dav replied, looking at him. "The phone lines are gone..."
 
Matt rolled his eyes. "And somethings blocking reception for even cells... the satellite link ups working? Nothing should interferr with the satelittle phones..." he said, his eyes going back to SJ. She was leaned on the ledge, checking her gun, ignoring him. He let his eyes drift over the beat up cowboy hat, the faded low rise jeans.. the holsters... his eyes settled on the pair of bright red leather cowboy boots and he smirked. "Nice boots."
 
She looked up at that and shot him a look. "Thanks... needed t' replace m' others, after all... rather liked these. Ya owe me three hundred bucks, by the way."
 
Matt raised an eyebrow. "Three hundred? For a pair of ugly ass BOOTS? Are you insane.. nevermind.. don;t answer that."
 
Saffron glanced at Graves and snorted softly with a faint smirk. "Best just pay her the money." He said softly to him.
 
"So wha' exactly are ye, Dracula?" Dav asked Saffron.
 
He looked back her and smirked. "Death Elemental. You?"
 
"Lionness." Dav answered with a smirk of her own.
 
"Eh?" Saffron asked. Dav laughed softly, before she suddenly shifted form and became a lionness. Although Saffron noticed faint stripes. Dav shifted back, and stretched. "Nice stripes." Saffron said.
 
Dav meerly smiled. "Thanks. Me dad was a tiger."
 
Matt looked over the rest of them again. "Alright... so I'm Graves.. this is Azreal... Of course there's SJ and we've met Dav.. and one of you is Dale...?" the older of the two nodded.
 
The kid raised one hand and smirked. "Lane."
 
Matt nodded, smirking softly. "So... this all of you?"
 
SJ glared at him in annoyance. "Is now. A couple vanished just before the shit hit the fan.. so we don know what happened t' them.. could be alright yet. Joanna an' Buddy." Sj shrugged turnd to glance down at the ground. "Rest are either completely dead.. or walking around dead..."
 
"Hey.. we gonna pull tha' stunt we did back in ' th start again? got enough folks now fer another shot." Lane said and Dale snorted. "Sure Lane... 'cept there don;t seem t'; be many survivors t' call out, now does there?"
 
"So other then being fast, what's the story with these things?" Saffron asked, leaning against an air conditioning unit.
 
"Well when ye kill them, ye gotta make sure they're dead, or they'll get right back up again. So far, beheading and fire work well." Dav said, eyeing Saffron.
 
"Great...left my fire elemental at home..." Saffron muttered, shaking his head.
 
Graves snorted and leaned around to look at Lane, then over at S.J. "Do I want to know?"
She raised an eybrow and shook her head softly. "No. So .. can our big bad necro take care of the zombies... or not?"
 
Graves snorted. "I can take on a couple at least... gets easier with practice... as you might have noticed...they're not your typical zombies.." he added in a sarcastic stage whisper. "Might be easier to just put 'em down then control them... never tried."
 
"Well no, they're not yer typical zombies." Dav said. "ITs a virius...tainted by dark magic. We saw a sample of it, before it got released on the town. Twenty four hours and practically the whole town." She said.
 
"Got a phone?" Saffron asked. Dav gave a dark laugh. Saffron sighed and shook his head.
"Yer an elemental, right?" Dav retorted.
 
"Yeah..."
 
"So can't ye jus' open shadow portal?"
 
Saffron crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the stars a moment. "Not all the way back to Boston. The furtherest I can get right now is a five mile radius..."
 
Graves moved to sit not far form Saffron, finding he rather missed the odd chill current that seemed to flow between them. He leaned back and rested his arms on his legs. "So... we ran into a guy who seemed to think you guys were behind this shit... please tell me one of you dumb fucks didn't release this virus ?"
 
No one said anything for a moment, Saffron raised an eyebrow.
 
"We had a traitor." Dav said finally. "Not that the fucker's alive any more...Zombies got him."
"She's going to love hearing about that..." Saffron muttered softly, shaking his head. He took his pony tail out, running a hand through his hair. "We need a plan of action." He said finally.
"Who put you in charge?" Came Lane's comment. "No one told me we were takin' orders from a crossin' dressin' elemental."
 
"ITs called survival." Saffron replied, managing to ignore the rest of the remark.
Unable to resist, Graves cleared his throat ant shot Lane a look. "Hey kid... you better watch your mouth if you like your job... the cross dressing elemental here happens to be Lady Chaos' kid."
 
There was a tense silence, a couple looks exchanged, Saffron leaned his head back against the air conditioning unit with a slight smirk. Dav finally snorted. "Alright...granted we could use a plan...wha's yer ideas...?"
 
"Well we've got two choices..." Saffron said. "We do what we can to get rid of them all. Or we do what we can to get out of here, to get to a phone and call Boston ASAP."
"Anyone know how to scry?" Matt asked, his eyes going striaght to S.J. who glared at him.
"Fuck you. Graves."
 
"If you insist." he answered with a sigh then smirked and looked to the others. "Okay.. so that just sucks.. three half fae and none of us can scry reliably enough to contact anyone...No cell phone reception... And since we're on the roof, I'm assuming we're cut off form the phones and computers downstairs?"
 
"Phone lines are down, remember?" Dav answered. "There's...a satlite phone...in the bunker...ACROSS town..." She added.
 
"And no one's brave enough to venture it." Saffron muttered softly.
 
"Hey, you wanna prove somethin', go right ahead. Its in that direction." Dav pointed. Saffron glanced in that direction. "Yep, across town," Dav said. "With the school and cemetary in between. Have fun. We'll give our condulences to your mother."
 
Saffron snorted softly, still looking in the direction. He stood up and stepped past Graves, staring in that direction, thoughtfully. "And the satalite phone works?" Saffron asked.
"Of course it does."
 
Graves grinned, chuckling softly as he stood and joined him at the roof's edge. He brushed off the seat of his jeans as he walked. "You want to go for it? Might be fun..." There was a snort form behind him at his words. "S.J'll cover us as we head out.. won't ya babe?"
"Fuck you, Graves."
 
"Been there, done that, remember? Learn some new come backs, hun." he shot Dav a look. "Teach the poor girl some new insults.. I think she's used all hers on me already."
Dav snorted softly, amused. "Graves, blow it out yer ear, eh?" She replied, with an insult.
Saffron shook his head, the Boston team wasn't even this dysfunctional on a bad day. "Yeah...I think we can make it." Saffron answered Graves.
 
Dav moved over, and lowered the ladder. "Well then, go fer it. But don't say we didn't warn you."
 
"Yeah, thanks. Ya don't hear from us for say...an hour or so...your on your own..." Saffron replied.
 
Graves snorted as he gave S.J. a mock salute then turned to follow Saffron. "S.J.. babe... there's a couple zombie's over there if you 'd be so kinda as to shoot them... Actually.. wait until we're down and they're heading our way.. no need to attract more too soon.." he said then glanced at Dav..' Blow it out your ear'... damn .. haven't heard that one in ages.." he chuckled softly.
 
"I'm just full of them." Dav replied. "Try and stay alive...filing death reports on fellow Chaos Inc members is a bit stressful." She said.
 
Saffron snorted softly, glancing at the zombies, before quickly climbing down the rope ladder, letting go of it near the end and landing easily. The zombies spotted him. Saffron dusted his knees off, and stood straight, summoning his swords again, just in case.
 
Graves snorted and quickly followed Saffron down, jumping the last several feet to land beside him. From the roof above he heard the soft click of S.J. cocking her rifle. "Feel like a run?" he asked as he broke into a jog heading striaght for the zombies, knife in one hand. "See ya later, S.J! Been real nice seeing you again!"
 
"Stop calling me, S.J !" she shouted and a zombie lost the top half of his head. Graves chuckled softly.
 
Saffron followed Graves, dodging one Zombies lunge and beheading it. The high he was getting from Graves, was getting more intense the longer he was around him. Normally Saffron would have taken his leave by now, but this was a different kind of high then he got with death, it was pleasant, invigorating. "Ex girl friend, or just an acquantance?" He asked about SJ after beheading the third zombie.
 
Graves laughed softly as he dispatched a zombie of his own as another shot winged past him to take out another. "Both I suppose... big fucking mistake on the girlfriend part...only lasted a couple weeks... think she hates my guts?" he chuckled again as Saffron took out the last of the visable zombies and he turned to offer a saulte to the roof top sniper at his back. "Thanks S,J.!" he called and turned around. There was another shot and Graves jumped, one hand on his ass.
 
"Don't FUCKING CALL ME SJ!!"
 
He turned a shocked looked to Saffron. "She winged my ass..." he said and turned to catch sight of a small burned tear in his jeans. No blood, but it stung like a bitch. "She winged my ass... " he said and again and grinned. "Fuck..."
 
Saffron snorted softly with amusement and leaned around to see the damage. Although he thought the man had a nice ass, he'd keep that to himself for now. "I'd say that's what's called a love hate relationship...she loves to hate you." He said with a cheerful smile, before turning back to the direction they had to go.
 
Graves snorted and follwed. "Think I should stop calling her S.J.?" he asked with a chuckle. "I'm thinking it might be pissing her off a bit.." He caught a whiff of something as he came up behind Saffron and recognized it as the same smell that was bugging him in the car. It had to be Azreal's aftershave or colgne or something, but it was a familair smell... he just couldn't place it and it was driving him nuts. "Ah fuck it.. Az... what the fuck are you wearing? It smells good.. and I know that smell... its driving me fuckin' nuts trying to place it.." he asked,. keeping his voice low as they made their way. It was a weird thing to be asking while skulking through a town under seige by zombies... but what the hell..
 
"You may wanna stop calling her SJ...if you don't want to really get shot in the ass." Saffron said with a slight smirk, before raising an eyebrow in surprise at the question. He was wearing a colonge but not really much of it. He also knew, thanks to his and Lex's mother, he had his own scent, that was supposed to be enticing. He wondered briefly if it was that that Graves was smelling, but answered simply. "Axe Phoenix." He said, with a shrug.
 
Graves snorted at the name. "No fucking clue what that is... probably see it ever damned day though... what's in it?" he asked, incredulous that he was actually having this conversation... hell, that he was having ANY conversation. He noticed as well. that the closer he was to Saffron, not only did charge between become stronger.. but his ass hurt less... maybe it was healing faster...The thought made him chuckle and he wondered if he should check and see.
 
Saffron snorted softly, "I have no clue...comes in a black bottle with a blue phoenix on it...I just like the scent...I use it to cover up the other gift from my mother." He said, glancing at Graves from looking around, as they walked. So far so good. Being this close to Graves, and the high, the fae scent may have been more intense, he also had a feeling his eyes were lighter then their dark green...maybe toward emerald now.
 
Graves snorted softly then his meaning hit him. It was something he remember his mother complaining about once. He'd never noticed it himself and had assumed since no one had ever said anything to him about it ,that his becoming a necromancer had cancelled his out somehow..."Fae... right... " he said softly, wondering if that was what he was smelling. Whatever it was was starting to have a similar effect to the death elemental's touch... that odd thrilling chill combined with that smell... Matt took a breath to steady himself and get back to paying attention to their surroundings. *Hostile situation here... pay attention... stop noticing weird shit about Azreal...damn he's got nice eyes...* "Fuck fuck fuck" he swore softly to himself.
 
The high was getting to the point Saffron's head was starting to spin. As much as he was liking the high, now was the not the time get to off on it. He had to stop by a building in the shadows, and leaned against on his shoulder. "Give me a minute...I've got to clear my head." He said softly, he found his gaze wanted to drift to Graves, but he did his best to keep from staring at him. He pushed the black hair out of his face with a sigh and forced his gaze to turn up to the stars as he struggled to clear his head.
 
Matt stopped and turned to look at him curiously, only then wondering if his prescence was effecting Azreal the same way... obviously it was having an effect of some sort. He'd never considered that chill current might go both ways. He found himself staring at the way the white skin of his throat seemed to glow from the shadows and suddenly bounced on his toes in impatience and irritation at himself for sontinuing to notice this shit. "Fuck fuck fuck.... I do not need this in my head right now.." he swore softly, trying to look at anything other than the man beside him. As a distraction he drew his gun,. checking the clip. He could feel the creatures all around them but oddly enoutgh, none were close enough to sense them or heading in their direction...
 
Saffron took a couple deep breaths, fighting back the high for now. With a little effort, he could shove it back. He heard Graves swear and pulled his gaze from the stars to glance at him. Saffron was aware of how he must look to others, he was aware he'd always been...fairer then most guys, the only one worse then him, was Lex. And while Saffron wasn't feminie, he was definitly fairer then most. One more thing from Lillian he'd have to 'thank' her for if he ever forgave her. "Problems?" Saffron asked softly, before straightening up against the wall.
 
Graves snapped back to look at Saffron. "No... not really... buggers are every where but none close and none paying attention to us. " he said. "Think you're just getting to me.. this ... energy thing we've got going here... it's got me a bit hyper.." he said softly, trying to not stare. What was it about this kid that was drawing him like this? He'd never been attracted to guys before, no matter how 'pretty' they were.. and Azreal wasn't really pretty.. he could be if he wanted to.. but.. Graves growled softly to himself and put the gun away, going back to flipping his knife. "We ready to go on?"
 
"Don't feel bad." Saffron said, with a faint smirk. "As much of a high as I've gotten off death before, it's never been this good." He said, before pulling away from the wall and starting to walk again. "Yeah. We'd better get going before they do take notice of us..." He added, casting his gaze around, rather then at Graves. He realized something odd, that they'd only given each other their nicknames or aliases, that felt odd to Saffron. It shouldn't have felt odd, because he was that way with any one he didn't know...maybe it was the connection of death, made things a bit more...intimate. He rubbed his nose at that thought. "By the way...not that you probably care, but for some reason it strikes me as odd not to put this information out. My first name's Saffron."
 
Graves smiled softly at the name. "Saffron." he said, liking the sound of it, which surprised him even more. Any other time and he'd have felt the need to tease the guy about it. "I'm Matt... not that anyone actually calls me that... Matt Hogan."
 
Saffron glanced at him, and was forced to smile slightly. Matt fit him, he liked Matt. Much better then Saffron, although some times he did love his name for it's uniqueness. "Well, nice to meet you, Matt." He answered softly. with a faint smile, before his attention was drawn to a horde of zombies moving their way.
 
Graves had sensed the sudden shift in the zombies around them just after he'd spoken. By the time Saffron had answered there was no need to mention their change of direction since they were already here..."Fuck." he swore softly already reaching out to nab control and 'switch off' as many as he could before they reached them. "Nice to meet you too, Saffron..." he said simply with a soft smirk. "Look like it's time to play some more.."
 
Saffron summoned both his swords. "That it is..." He said with a faint smirk, his eyes flashing emerald for the moment, before moving forward a few steps as some of the zombies surged forward. They lunged and Saffron dodged, the fight beginning again.
 
Graves grabbed control of one and it dropped to the ground as he destroyed it before going after another with his knife. Gun in one hand, knife in the other, he took turns alternating between them as he devoted a chunk of his attention to 'turning off' as many as he could and enjoying the rush. Even so he was aware of every move Saffron made, as if he could both see and feel him through this strange link betwen them.
 
Saffron slid behind one zombie, beheading it and realized a moment to late that it wasn't the best move he could have made as the broken two by four pierced the back of his shoulder. One of the zombies had actually picked it up and used it. Oh no, these weren't your typical zombies...they were getting smart...He bit back the cry of pain, before turning and beheading that zombie, the wood still sticking out his shoulder. "Fuck!"
 
Graves spun at Saffron's curse and saw what had happened. Ignoring the zombies at his back he took the two quick steps to Saffron's side and lay a hand beside the wound. He felt a sudden surge of the chill power run through him, almost painful in its intensity and he channelled it outward at the surrounding zombies, his focus on stopping them. He felt the familar click inside as his power gained hold and felt a number of them fall to him, but his attention was already back on Saffron. "Fuck... I don;t know whether to leave it until we have the shit to deal with it, or pull it out and risk it.." he said. "Fuck it... the closer i was to you after SJ shot me, the better i felt.. i think i healed faster with you around.. maybe it'll work for you too.."
 
Some of the zombies that had fallen twitched on the ground, and yet the one or two others that were standing, seemed to shift their focus on the ones on the ground and actually lunged at them followed by the sound of ripping. Saffron had to shut his eyes against the sight and sound, the pain in his shoulder making him slightly nausish. "Pull it out...either way, if they're attracted to blood, they'll find me ." He said through clenched teeth. "I think we underesitmated these things..."
 
Graves gritted his teeth and grabbed the wood, his other hand bracing against Saffron''s shoulder just below it. "Doesn't matter... in the end.. if its dead.. it belongs to me..." he said then before either of them could change their minds, he yanked the wood free and covered the wound with his hand, staunching the flow of blood as he struggled out of his coat, cursing himself for not having done this first. He glanced at the creatures and refocused his hold on them, then let go of Saffron to quickly pull off his shrt and use it to staunch the blood.
 
Saffron had given a yell when he pulled the wood out, for a moment, he actually felt like his knees were going to buckle, and he leaned on one of his swords. So much for his silk shirt too, gods he should have changed. If anything, it was at least going to need to be bandaged. "Thanks..." He said softly, still leaning on his sword for the moment, eyes closed as he shoved back the pain.
 
Graves shrugged his coat back on as he decided what to do. He couldn’t very well hold the cloth in place and if he ripped it too much to make a bandage he might not have enough to stop the bleeding. With a frustrated worried sigh, he slipped an around around Saffron’s waist, pulling him back against him and letting his chest pressed the cloth in place. He called the still standing creatures to them to act as a guard, tightening his hold as he felt them fight at the scent of the blood. “Alright…. Let’s get going…” he said softly. “You can’t make it, let me know… I can carry you.. your not that big..”
 
The move had surprised Saffron, who'd opened his eyes. He snorted softly, the feelings he'd been getting off Graves, more intense at the pressed contact. It sent, of all things, a pleasurable shiver through him and Saffron shook his head slightly. "I'll be fine, if we can get some where to at least see if the damned thing needs to be bandaged. "
 
"Not a probelm...being this close.. you're like a battery, Saff.. I feel supercharged.. its fucking intense..." he said with a smirk and slipped to the side so he was walking mostly beside him, with his shoulder against his chest. "I've already grabbed a few more of the buggers to clear the way for us..." he said then shook his head softly.
 
Saffron had to smirk slightly, "Honestly, this close and I'm not feelin' to much pain." He said, as they managed to get moving. Although he did find his gaze momentarily glancing at Graves' chest. He raised an eyebrow slightly at the tattoos, which were nice, but definitely at the nipple ring. With a silent sigh, he looked back around at their surroundings. The building behind them, was of all places, a drug store.
 
Graves was scanning the street for any promising looking buildings when Saffron cleared his throat. He looked down and caught his glance behind them. "Well fuck.." he said as he saw the store behind them. "Your lucky day.." he said as they turned back to the store. Having Saffron pressed against him as he held him upright... was proving to be more distracting then it should be... He reached ahead and checked for creatures inside and found the building empty.
 
"Well...luck is still holding out so far." Saffron replied with a faint smirk, before they reached the building. There was no life forms or death forms inside the building. The door was surprisingly unlocked and just inside, there was the right kind of furniture to barracade the door. Once they'd slipped inside, Saffron glanced at said furntiure. "Think we should barracade the door?"
 
Graves started to shrug then stopped as he realized such a move might jar Saffrons shouder too much. "Wouldn't hurt, but I'd rather get you taken care of first. As long as I stay close to you I can hold all of those guys. They can guard our asses." he said as he aimed for a shelf. "Course.. that means you'll have to come with me to grab the stuff.. fuck."
 
Saffron snorted softly, "That's hardly a problem." He said, grabbing a few of the things needed to clean and bandage. And a bottle of pain medication, just in case. He snorted softly again, shaking his head. "You're going to have to help me get out of my shirt though." They stopped at counter that gave a good view of outside, but the zombies didn't seem to realize they were inside. Saffron undid the waist coat he was wearing over the silk shirt and managed to slip off his good shoulder, though he winced at the movement against his injured shoulder. The black angel wings were the only tattoo he had on his back, the grim reaper was on his shoulder. And the wings at least covered the scar that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip.
 
Graves moved to help ease the shirt off, gently peeling the material away from the wound. His eyes travelled over the black feathers tattooed over the skin and he found himself struggling to stick to his task and fight the urge to run his fingers over those wings. He started up a silent litany of his favorite word in his head, berating himself for thinking this shit. "Fuck... how should we clean this... pouring alcohol on it is going to sting like a bitch... saline solution would be better..."
 
Saffron felt a slight shiver at the chill air on his bare skin, which jostled his shoulder slightly and he bit his lip at a slight painful moan. He picked up the bottle of saline solution he'd grabbed, and held it over his good shoulder. "Either way it's going to burn as hell. Just tell me you don't think it needs to be caultirized, might get away with idodine..."
 
Graves took the bottle and uncapped it. "Nah... don't think we need to do that.." he said, noticing that the bleeding had slowed drastically already. He slipped an arm around Saffrons chest to hold him still as he poured the liquid over and into the wound.
 
Saffron inhaled sharply, tried to bite back the painful whimper, but it escaped anyway. He'd tensed against Graves, half from the burning pain, half from having his arm around his bare chest and he unconciously raised one hand to catch ahold of Graves' wrist, just out of the need to hold something.
 
Matt felt his chest tighten oddly at the sound of the whimper and found himself holding him tighter. The bottle empty, he set it aside and wrapped his other arm around him too. "It's alright.. it'll pass in a minute.." he said softly. "Its not as bad as it was... I think we're healing it just being close..."
 
Saffron gave soft snort, his breathing was a bit harder, and he was watching the zombies outside through half closed eyes. Not that he was really seeing them. He left his hand where it was, but loosened his grip so his hand was just resting there. "Fuckin shit burns..." He breathed. "But if it's healing, I can't complain too much..." He added, his tone soft. If the contact between them remained this close and...intimate, or got worse, it was going to drive Saffron up the wall.
 
Matt forced himself to loosen his hold as he felt the tension in him ease off. He took a better look at the wound now that it as clean and was sure it was a lot smaller then it should have been from his memory of the size of the peice of wood."Yeah.. it's definately healing.." he said softly as he set about taking care of the wound, trying not to let his mind settle on any one thing too much. As he wound the gauze around his chest to hold the compress in place he couldn't help but go back to studying the wings. "Nice wings." he said softly as he tied off the gauze. "Reapers nice too... styles are a bit different though.. you get them done at different places or just different artists?" he asked, trying to distract himself form the way the closeness and the scent of him was driving him nuts.
 
Saffron had let his eyes close as Matt worked. Every brush of skin and touch, was like intense little electric sparks. "Hmm...thanks. I've had the wings longer the the reaper. So yeah...different place different artist. The wings were hand done." He answered softly, all his thoughts seemed to be on what Matt was doing. He was just going to have to be honest with himself at the least, he was starting to get really attracted to him. He gave a long sigh at excepting that.
 
Matt gave in and let his hand slip over Saffron's back, feeling the scar hidden amoung the artwork. He hardly noticed the strange tingle that came with every touch between them. It had just become expected... but it was there and he could swear it was stronger if not as noticable.. and he didnt care. The odd rush it brought and the extra surge of power... it wasn't any of those things that made him lean against him, slipping his hands around him again and lean down to kiss his good shoulder. He was still surprised at himself for feeling this way, but at the same time.. he just didn't care. It felt too good.
 
Saffron drew in a breath of surprise, at feeling Matt kiss his good shoulder, the electric jolt that shot through him, intense and very enjoyable, and the noise that escaped him was something close to a moan, and he found himself leaning back against him. Then sighed deeply, pulling away slightly, to turn around to face Matt.
 
Matt let his hands slide over Saffron’s stomach as he turned to face him, raising one hand to brush aside a hunk of black hair. "Sorry if I'm freaking you out... hell.. I'm freaking me out..." he said softly, slipping his other hand around his waist. "But i just don’t fucking care..." he said and leaned in, catching his mouth with his own and feeling the chill shock the contact caused. He moaned low in his throat at the feeling and suddenly found the kiss had turned deeper and hungrier then he'd intended...
 
The electric shock feeling Saffron had been experiencing every where he touched, only intensified through the kiss, to the point that Saffron actually felt his knees threaten to buckle and he ended up wrapping one arm around his neck, that hand tangling gently in Matt's hair. His other hand rested on his chest, idlly toying with the nipple ring, while he kissed him back, with a soft moan.
 
Feeling Saffron sag against him, Matt tightened his hold on him, pulling him closer. Moaning softly at the sensation overload, he shut out the voice in his head telling him he was insane, and let himself go. He'd never been attracted to guys, true.. but he was definately attracted to this one...
 
Saffron tried to hold back the moan as it slipped into a whimper, his fingers tightened gently in Matt's hair. He leaned against him, his eyes closed, he slipped his other arm around his neck as well. He felt incredibly light headed and his heart was pounding hard. The high he got from his abilities actually in overload and he wondered briefly just what that meant, but the rest of his thoughts and feelings were coming right back to the kiss and how good he felt.
 
Matt finaly had to break the kiss and catch his breath. He rested his forehead against Saffrons, his eyes closed as he continued to hold the other man close. "Fuck.." he said softly. "I feel like i'm either going to float away or fucking explode..." he said with a soft smirk.
 
Saffron gave a soft snort, smirking softly, but kept his eyes closed for the moment. He left his arms around Matt's neck, leaning against him. "At the moment, you're the only thing keeping me standing." He said, his heart still pounding and wondered if the other could hear it. "You don't strike me as some one who kisses a lot of guys, but damn, never had a kiss floor me."
 
Matt laughed softly and tightened his hold a bit more. "Truth be told, Saffron.. you're the first guy i've ever kissed... and I'm right there on the floor with you...Fuck.. my hearts feeling like it's about to burst right out of my chest its pounding so hard.." he said with a soft laugh.
 
Saffron smirked a bit more and finally opened his eyes, looking at him. "Well I've only had one other guy kiss me, and that was years ago and it wasn't that good. Hell, I don't think my last girl friend kissed me that good..." 'Wait, what girl friend...' Saffron snorted softly, so much for his social life. He should just admit to Matt, he was bi sexual, and had been attracted to him, which had definitly increased. But the only other person to know that about Saffron was his little brother, Lex.
 
"Well... you met my last girlfriend... and she could kiss... but nothing like this, man... shit. I have no clue what I'm doing. All I know is I am really fucking glad I'm doing it.." Matt said softly, sliding his hands over Saffron's back as he held him, picturing the wings in his mind as he did. "Completely fucked that we're standing here making out in the middle of a fuckin' war zone, you know.. but somehow.. it's perfect. Suits us.." he added with a chuckle.
Saffron gave a soft laugh, leaning back slightly against his hands, to look at him. "Well I'm definitly not complaining. Whether it's completely fucked or not, I'm feeling really damn good about it. " He moved one hand, letting his fingers brush back a lock of blue hair back from Matt's face. "You're a damn attractive man, I've just never met any one like you."
 
Matt smirked softly as he looked down, noticing the vibrant green his eyes had taken on and wondered if his own eyes had been effected by the power surge between them. "Can't say I've heard that before...'attractive'.. no... 'scary',' intimidating'.. i think SJ referred to me as a 'stud' once... but that was allooonng time ago.. way before she shot me in the ass..." he said, hoping he wasn't blushing. "Saffron..." he said softly. "I really have no clue what I'm doing. I don't regret it, and I.. Hell I don't want to stop.. I just have.. no.. fucking.. clue what I'm doing..."
 
Saffron snorted softly and looked at him, "I don't really think there's a set handbook for something like this," He said with a slight smirk "As long as you don't want to stop." He sighed softly, leaning against him. "I might as well be perfectly honestly. I am bi sexual so I've got a little experience and I've definitly been finding you sexy as hell," He knew he was blushing. "But I don't usually give in to some one, or something like this..."
 
"Kid.. I've never given in to anyone or anything before... and well.. that's not quite what I meant, but yeah.. that too." he said with a smirk. "Never been with a guy, but I'm sure I can figure it out easily enough..." he said, blushing and chuckling as he bent to brush his lips over Saffron's unbandaged shoulder. "It's the relationship angle... I don't... I mean.. fuck, man..I don't date, I don't do any of that shit... I've never spent too much time around any one person... and I've never wanted to.. until now."
 
"Trust me, Matt, I understand." Saffron replied. "I've been on my own nearly my entire life. Hell, I'm not even close to my family, cept maybe Lex, but then he grew up without a family as well. I haven't had a serious relationship...I mean another person I ever considered...caring about ..since I was sixteen. Until now."
 
Matt smiled ruefully and kissed his neck. "What a pair, huh?" he asked as he closed his eyes, breathing in his scent as he continued to kiss his neck softly. "Guess we'll just have to figure things out as we go along, huh?"
 
Saffron smirked, leaning against him, and let his eyes close. He felt that pleasurable shiver as Matt kissed his neck. "Can't say we don't make a good pair...and no doubt we'll figure things out. I'm willing to give it a try."
 
Matt suddenly chuckled softly, burying his face deeper into Saffron's neck. "Oh shit.. fuck me.. I'm dating the boss's son.. fuck..." he said softly as he laughed, his hands slipping over Saffron's back until they hit gauze. "Shit... You're hurt and here I am squeezing the shit out of you...Fuck, Saffron, you should've said something.." he said as he pulled back, loosening his hold on him but not letting go.
 
Saffron had actually forgotten about his shoulder, and glanced at it. "Damn, it'd stopped hurting, I forgot about it..." He said with a soft snort, he left his arms resting on Matt's shoulders. "As for dating the boss's son, step son and some how I doubt she'll say much, considering Lex is dating one of her partners."
 
Matt snorted softly. "Maybe so... but that's one of her partners.... this is me." he said, slipping his hand over the bandage and pressing gently. "That hurt?" he asked, wondering if it was possible it had healed. Sure the bullet burn on his ass had healed from them being close, but this was different...
 
Saffron frowned slightly, thoughtful. "Doesn't hurt so much as it's just sore...like a bruise. I know I heal considerably fast, but a wound like that should have taken at least a day." He said.
 
"Yeah... except the closer we seem to get to each other.." he let his words trail off as he frowned slightly and began to undo his work, uncovering the wound. "Fuck." he said softly. "And that was just a kiss..." he said barely above a whisper as he ran his fingers over the smooth skin on his shoulder. All that remained of the bloody hole that had been there minutes ago was a scar and a dark bruise that was fading slightly even as he watched.
 
Saffron turned his head slightly, attempting to look at his shoulder and snorted softly, shaking his head. "Yeah...that was just a kiss...and my abilities were on overload when we were kissing." He said softly. "I get the feeling past death elementals were never around a necromancer." He smirked, looking back at him. "This could prove rather interesting..."
    




 
    




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