Daus stirred in his sleep as he felt something odd in the air shift and also from Erikos' yelling towards the knocking. He cracked one eye open tiredly, beginning to sit up as he looked towards the door. "What was that?" He mumbled in question as he glanced down towards Erikos.
“Dunno, don’t care,” Erikos muttered, wrapping his arms snugly around Daus. “Go back to sleep babe, whoever it is can wait.”
Daus hummed in agreement as he laid down next to Erikos again, nuzzling into their chest as he let his eyes fall closed. He had drifted off in a few moments, though he shifted again when the door opened and the loud sound of footsteps made their way throughout the house until they finally made their way towards the bedroom. "Daus!" A familiar voice yelled, causing Daus to crack an eye open to look up at the figure. He squinted to recognize who it was, but the room was too dark to make out any features. "Oh damn. Vaulé is going to kill you for leaving and doing this," the older man added on quickly as he motioned towards the two sleeping.
“Excuse me, but who let you in here?” Erikos snapped, sitting up and shifting in front of Daus protectively. “This is a private cabin, and I don’t know what you think you’re doing in here,” he continued, glaring menacingly at the intruder
"I let myself in here," the figure responded briskly, glancing between the two men questioningly before they settled their gaze on Daus again. "Daus, you better walk your sorry ass back to the underworld before Vaulé notices that you're gone." They added, though soon enough, Daus realized that it was his brother Zelos, in all his stuck-up, annoying glory. Even in the dim lighting, they barely looked similar, only having a lean build and horns in common.
"Erikos, meet Zelos. Zelos, Erikos," he mumbled tiredly, pushing himself up as he rubbed his face, intent on ignoring his older brother. This wasn't the first time he had left his 'job,' and this definitely wasn't the first time that they had come after him. "Zel, can you stop being annoying for once in your immortal life? Once is all I'm asking for," Daus yawned, placing a steady glare in his brother's direction.
“Look, buddy, in case you haven’t noticed, this is a resort. Your brother is on vacation and was perfectly happy next to me until you showed up. So do us all a favor and march your sorry ass back to wherever you came from,” Erikos said bitterly, fixing Daus’ brother with a glare
"In case you haven't noticed, your boyfriend has a fulltime job, and the rest of us don't want to spend our time dragging him back," Zelos continued, crossing his arms over his chest as he returned Erikos' glare. "And, I'm sure Daus doesn't want any more of those pretty burns for leaving again, right?" He added, a twisted smile crossing the god's face. There had always been something odd with Zelos, but being the god of revenge and deception, it didn't surprise Daus that he was always threatening others.
"Look, Zel, I'll come in a second. Get our sister to cover for me or something. I'm sure she'll enjoy that over being Vaulé's sidekick," Daus mumbled, subconsciously bringing his wrapped hands closer to his chest at the sound of his brother's threat.
“Alright, get the hell out!” Erikos suddenly snapped, bearing his needle-sharp teeth at Zelos. “You do not get to come into my cabin and threaten my boyfriend!” he spat. “You goddamn gods think you’re so tough. Well order this around, jackass!” he shouted before grabbing one of the pillows and chucking it directly at Zelos’ face as hard as he could
Zelos was practically fuming as the pillow hit his face, a strange sort of darkness emitting from the palms of his hands as he trained his dark eyes on Erikos.
"You have to get out. Now." Daus said quickly, suddenly wishing that his sister was here so she could at least side with him. He had never been able to beat Zelos in practice fights, so having to go against them in a real situation wasn't exactly what he wanted at the moment. Daus began to push Erikos out of the room, conjuring a shadowy sword by his side as he attempted to distract Zelos from the other man.
"Like fucking hell I'm leaving! I am a god damn water demon, this is my fucking cabin, and your stick-up-the-ass brother can fucking fight me!" Erikos shouted loudly, spinning around to face Zelos. "You know, you gods really get on my nerves," he hissed dangerously. He raised a hand, and with a flick of his wrist they were suddenly out by the artificial lake. Using the disorientation from the teleportation Erikos shoved Zelos into the water before diving in after him
Zelos managed to latch onto Erikos' arm in the dark of the lake, growling as they tightened their grip, fueling some sort of searing pain into Erikos' skin. Daus had gotten it once before, some sort of poison that traveled across the victim's skin like a dark ink. Now he felt completely useless, watching as Erikos fought against his psychotic brother in the artificial lake.
Erikos let out a surprised noise of pain at the feeling of the pain. Using his tail he whipped around quickly, managing to get a good hold on Zelos' neck with his teeth. He locked his jaw before beginning to fling the god around like a rag doll until he let go of the demon's arm
Zelos let out an almost guttural sound of pain at Erikos' teeth sinking into his neck before he let go, clenching a hand over the wound that had already started to form. Using what was left of his energy, he managed to transport himself to the underworld, only leaving a faint aura of darkness from where his figure used to be. Above the water, Daus was pacing around furiously, already thinking of a thousand ways that he would make Zelos pay if he even just touched Erikos.
Erikos made a screech of frustration as Zelos disappeared from his grip. He did a few annoyed turns in the water before jumping out gracefully. "Your brother is a fucking dick," he muttered bitterly
"Yeah, I noticed after awhile," Daus muttered, pulling Erikos into a tight hug when he realized that they had come out of the lake whole. "Gods, I'm sorry he did that to you." He mumbled in addition, pulling away to only quickly glance down to the dark, inky mark that seemed to be spreading across the skin of Erikos' arm. He reached down and pulled the other man's hand up, studying it with a concerned expression as he muttered a few curse words.
"What?" Erikos asked before looking down at his arm. "Oh. That's a little bigger than before," he commented, seemingly uncaring about the wound. "Well, as long as it's poison my magic should kick its ass in an hour or so. The fun thing about water demons is that we can't be poisoned, at least not for long."
"No, no, this is different Erikos," Daus mumbled, continuing to study the inky mark on Erikos' skin as it seemed to spread even more. He furrowed his brow faintly in thought before he grabbed the old, cracked cell phone in his back pocket, beginning to dial a number. "Mara? Yeah, it's me. Look, we had a small run in with Zelos and my…boyfriend may have gotten poisoned," he began, hesitating on the word as he glanced up towards Erikos and waited for the other's answer. "Okay, okay, we'll stay put. Thanks." Daus added before slipping the phone back into his pocket.
"Looks like one of the more friendlier goddesses that I know can help us out. It should only take a few hours at most," he explained, unable to keep a worried expression of his face.
"Awesome," Erikos said, wincing a little at the feeling of the poison stinging his arm. Experimentally he walked over to the water, dipping his poisoned arm into the clear liquid. It seemed to soothe the pain a little, so he sat down cross-legged next to the edge of the river. "You mind if we stay out here? Water helps it not hurt as much."
"Yeah, of course," Daus answered, sitting down next to Erikos as he leaned forward on his elbows, propping his chin up on the palm of his hands as he watched the water for a few moments. "I'm sorry about my dumbass brother. He's almost killed off all of my past relationships, which probably explains why I'm so bad at dating," Daus explained, trying for a small joke as a faint smile crossed his face.
"Well, he's obviously never pissed off a water demon before," Erikos chuckled. He winced a little as the poison spread up a little to his shoulder, so he dipped a bit more of his arm into the water. "Trust me, the bastard's gonna have to try a little harder to kill me. I eat people like him for breakfast."
Daus forced himself to laugh a bit, but it was hard with the worried expression that made its way to his face when he noticed how the poison had begun to spread. After a few minutes, a small figure began to walk towards them briskly from the woods, nearing them in a few short moments. Everything about the way they walked practically screamed that they wanted to hit something.
"I swear, I'm going to murder that little bitch for touching you, Daus," The smaller girl yelled, her tone loud and forceful even though she was standing right next to the two men. Even though she seemed quite young, Mara wore almost punk type clothing, a stark contrast next to her white-blonde hair.
"Is this another one that likes to break into cabins?" Erikos asked, fixing the newcomer with a wary gaze. He was already sinking into the water, glaring dangerously at the woman as he hovered just beneath the water's surface. If she tried anything, he would be more than happy to drown her
"First off, I don't break into cabins. That's Zelos' stupid ass habit that he needs to break. And second, Daus must like you a lot if he's asking me to help you," Mara answered, speaking rather quickly as her gaze softened a bit when she realized that she must have been scaring Erikos. She sighed and sat down cross-legged next to Daus, motioning gently for Erikos to show her his poisoned wound.
Erikos slowly rose from the water, just enough that he could show her his arm. He continued to watch her with a wary gaze, webbed claws flexing against the bank as if to dare her to try anything
"I'm not going to hurt you, sweetheart," Mara mumbled, sighing as she glanced over towards Erikos' claws on the bank, tilting her head towards it. Daus flashed Erikos a small, reassuring smile, returning his gaze towards Mara as she placed a hand on Erikos' arm. A small, whitish glow emitted from the palm of her hand, beginning to drain the poison out as she winced a bit, furrowing her brow in focus. "Looks like Zelos found some new underworld poison to torture mortals with again," Mara mumbled through gritted teeth as she continued to focus on the wound.
Erikos resisted the urge to recoil at the stranger's touch. Despite himself he glanced over at Daus, giving him a small smile as he returned to carefully watching Mara. He bit his lip, wanting nothing more than to sink into the water again. He didn't normally like gods, especially when strange ones touched him
After a few more moments of silence, Mara managed to clear the wound completely of the dark tinted poison, letting out a slow breath as she regained her energy. Daus leaned forward, sighing in relief when he realized that Erikos would be alright. The last thing he wanted was for Erikos to get hurt or even killed on his behalf. "Gods, thank you, Mara. Do I need to give you anything?" Daus asked, looking towards the goddess in question.
"Just stay the hell away from Zelos and come back soon. I don't want to be the only person keeping that dumbass sane," Mara answered, tugging Daus into a quick hug before she pushed herself up, nodding towards Erikos before she began to walk back towards the forest once again.
"Well. Was gonna say thanks, but she ran off like satan himself was riding her ass," Erikos chuckled. He slid the rest of the way out of the water, rising to his feet as he glanced at his now cleared shoulder. "Note to self, don't touch Daus' dick brother unless you're literally biting his head off," he said with a small laugh
"We should make a book called, 'Erikos and Daus' Life Tips,' and that should probably be one of the rules," Daus chuckled, pushing himself up as he glanced down at Eirkos' arm again as if he was worried that the poison might reappear. He usually didn't worry this much, but he didn't want Erikos to die because his stuck-up brother decided to pay them a visit.
"Yep. Rule number one, don't throw a pillow at the underworld dickweed," Erikos laughed, still smiling as if he hadn't just had a brush with death. He took Daus' hand, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Don't worry babe, he comes back and I'll kick his ass. I've got a few god friends of my own, and trust me, I don't think the goddess of war would take too kindly to your brother."
