[M] Belial's Plan

"The biggest bastard," he replied with a wide grin, bowing at the waist with a flourish of his hand.

A laugh sounded from him as he was splashed in the face.

In response he splashed the Elf with a wide sweep of his arm in the water.

Alek didn't have the powers over elements that other supernaturals had but he could still play a good water fight if he was so inclined.

With a grin Alek sent another stream of water at the Elf.

Lycus chuckled, every splash of water Aleksandr sent toward him was redirected, curving back and dousing over him.

"Sorry Alek but this is one fight you can't win."

He chuckled, throwing perfectly round balls of water at the Lycan, each one the size of a snowball which would fit perfectly in the Elf's grasp.

Alek couldn't splash Lycus when any water he sent his way would simply be use against him.

A grin spread across the Elf's face, he couldn't remember ever messing around with someone like this since he was a young boy.

Alek laughed and, instead of splashing hi again, ran forwards and tacked the Elf.

They both splashed into the water, Alek laughing as he wrapped his arms around Lycus.

"I think I won that," he laughed, dragging Lycus to stand again.

One hand curled in his hair as his other hand stayed locked around his waist.

He pulled his Elf down to kiss him quickly before his foot slid behind Lycus' leg, tripping him up and letting him go at the same time, grinning as he fell back into the water again.

He laughed and waded away from the Elf. He was gonna be in the shits for that.

"You cheated."
He muttered as he wiped the water from his face, shaking his head to get the water from his long pointed ears.

Lycus didn't even have time to kiss him back before he was pushed back under the water with a large splash.

He glared at the Lycan with a smirk as he tried to wade away, they were in his element, a large pond surrounded by woodlands, Aleksandr was doomed.

"Not so face, Wolf."

He replied waving his arm through the air causing the water beneath Aleksandr to yank back towards Lycan as a huge stream of water hit him forward from the middle of his back, the opposing currents causing his to fall face first into the water as the Elf chuckled loudly to himself.

Alek grunted when he was pushed forwards into the water, uttering a soft curse.

He pushed himself back up again as soon as he found his footing, grinning at the Elf as he slicked his hair back out of his face.

His hair was darker now it was wet; a dark brown that almost looked back. The curls fell from it, leaving it almost straight instead of its usual curly mass.

The hairs on his arms and torso also looked darker.

One again he began to fight his losing battle, sending a stream of water at the Elf with a laugh.

Lycus stopped the water in front of him, leaving in suspended in the middle of the air before he step forward and started moving his hands around it, not touching it but his movements reflected that of a potter, spinning clay.

He was an Elf after all and he too was handy when it came to creating things, he could do the same with water, bending their energy into shape.

A bright smile spread across his face as he hit the water and sent it flying forward, however, instead of splashing back into the expanse of the river when the droplets hit the water they stayed on top, quickly forming together until it made two figures, a large hulking wolf about the size of a loaf of bread being chased around on the water by a long and lean civet.

The two creatures chanced one another across the river, circling around Aleksandr.

Alek watched the Elf work with his head cocked to the side like a curious puppy.

When the two creatures began running around him, Alek watched with great interest. He had seen people work with water before but ever something like this. This was... magnificent.

The Lycan watched the creatures circle him, turning with them as they circled his back so he wouldn't lose sight of them for a moment.

He was like a curious, amazed child.

He'd always been curious about magic like this.

Lycus chuckled as Aleksandr followed their movements, this was something he had taught himself, he was good with ceramics so it wasn't hard transferring those skills to bend his own energy in the water to create figures.

He remembered on countless occasions being scolded for it, having drenched water through the house because he had wanted to keep them with him but sooner of later his concentration moved to something else and they would turn to puddles again.

This time he kept focused on them, the civet ducked and weaved through the wolf's legs, perching on it's back until the giant creature realized it was there and tried to snap at it playfully.

The civet reared back, it's long tail thrashing and it looked as though it was going to try ball over the wolf, ten times it's own size.

The creature bolted forward and pounced on the beast, which fell over dramatically rolling onto it's side as it's tongue hung out the side of it's muzzle, pawing at the small creature which crawled up it's belly and tugged on his ear.

Watching the two creatures playing was interesting. Something he would happily watch all day.

His tongue ran over his lower lip as he watched the civet crawl up the wolf's stomach before his eyes turned up to Lycus.

It was very obvious that the two creatures were supposed to represent him and Lycus. The two of them playing and having a good time. Something that they very rarely did with each other.

Something they very rarely did at all.

His gaze turned back to the water show.

Lycus didn't meet Aleksandr's eye, he was too focused on trying to keep his little display going, besides, it was nice to dream for even a little while.

Perhaps if they had met in a different time and place things could have started out better than they did, this could have been them, maybe.

A small smile pulled at his lips as the wolf balled over the small civet, capturing it by the scruff of it's neck and padding around holding it, smugly prancing around.

The wolf tossed the civet in the air, which landed perfectly on the back of the wolf's large head, he ran around with it up there before pouncing, diving back into the water where Lycus let them disappear.

They still had a chance of doing that.

Their relationship before had been terrible. Worse than terrible at times. But now they were on friendly terms. They were happy in each others company and they enjoyed playing around with each other.

Things like that could still happen in the future.

His gaze turned to Lycus when the creatures disappeared and he gave a bright grin, eyes sparkling in amazement.

"That was wonderful."

That look on Aleksandr's face was worth every bit of energy it took to do that, tenfold, twentyfold.

He had done a great number of horrible things to that Lycan, no he had been a man, a boy.

He had a lot to make up for even if Aleksandr tried to deny that fact, Lycus had taken away so much from him and perhaps with time he could give some of it back.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, I'd do more but it's not easy and I don't want to wear myself out just yet."

They had another day together and he didn't intend to spend it sleeping, he wanted to enjoy Alek's company while he still had it.

"Once the Fae leave we can go to the fountain and I'll fill the courtyard with animals."

He added with a soft chuckle.

A little smile curled his lips.

"I'd like that."

A promise to spend time together without the need to bed each other. He'd definitely like to spend some more time with the man, just getting to know him.

They knew a lot about each other but there were still a lot of things they didn't know about each other.

He opened his mouth but his speech was cut off by a loud growl.

Breakfast time alarm via a Lycan's stomach.

"Fish breakfast?" he asked with a sheepish little grin. They'd have to wade out a little further after all the splashing but it should be easy enough to catch a few fish.

There were small things missing, gaps in his knowledge when it came to Aleksandr, unimportant things, but still he wanted to know that.

What was the Lycan's favourite book? He had a lot of them in his room he must be fond of reading, what genre?

Those thoughts were cut off as Lycus chuckled loudly as he looked over at Alek as his stomach growled loudly.

"Looks like it, I doubt you want a vegetarian breakfast."

He replied with a grin, there was plenty of food around if you knew where too look, it wouldn't be hard for him to find some nice plants and fruit but Aleksandr wouldn't appreciate the meal so fish it was.

"I wouldn't mind but I really want to swim."

Alek didn't mind just eating fruits for breakfast. In fact, fruits and yoghurt was his breakfast of choice most days. But he had a lot of energy to burn and really wanted to do something with that energy. Taking it all out on Lycus would be cruel. The poor man wouldn't be able to walk if he did that.

So his option was fishing or taking a long run around the lake. Fishing sounded more fun.

"You're a pescetarian, right?" he asked, eyes flickering to the Elf as he waded deeper into the water so he could star swimming.

He wanted to know little things like that.

Lycus followed after him, a swim sounded nice, he was dirty from this morning and the night before, an unpleasant feeling but the fresh water had him feeling much better, plus it soothed his aching body.

"Yeah I am, I still eat cheeses, milk, eggs, fish occasionally I just don't particularly like red meat, it just doesn't sit well with me."

He didn't like knowing that an animal had been meaninglessly slaughtered so that he could live, that was fine for some creatures but he shared and empathy with him.

"Probably hard to believe given the business that I am in but I can't stand the idea of another creature suffering just so I can eat when there are so many alternatives, a lot of my abilities don't help with that either.

Fish are alright though."

He added, he didn't share an empathy with fish, mostly mammals, reptiles were also hard for him to connect with.

Alek didn't understand that viewpoint. He had always eaten meat. He couldn't imagine a life without meat after so many thousands of years of eating it.

But he said nothing against it, merely filed it away for later. He still ate dairy, egg and cheese. He wasn't a vegan.

The Lycan gave a soft snort as the Elf divulged the reason behind his decisions.

As well as the two of them were, he was still sore about being tortured like he was. He doubted he'd ever not feel sore about it. His life as a Slave had really screwed him over. He still got his flashbacks regularly, though he had been lucky that when he got them he had never been in the same room as Lycus.

once again he stayed silent and merely took a deep breath and dived.

A few moments later he surfaced, a live fish caught between his teeth. He tore into it carelessly as he paddled.

Alek had a taste for raw food; fish and meat alike. It came from spending years at a time as a Wolf. He didn't care about cooked meats. It was very rare a Lycan was caught sick because they had eaten raw meats.

Lycus tried unsuccessfully not to grimace as Aleksandr simply tore into the fish, he ate fish but he at least like to be a little humane about it but he kept his mouth shut.

This was Alek's way of life and if he wanted to tear animals apart with his bare hands or muzzle then that was his choice and well within his rites to do so.

He couldn't image eating the fish raw and the very thought made him queezy, perhaps it would be best if he found something else to eat once they got back onto shore.

He was quick with eating the first fish, tossing the bones aside.

He dove again, this time staying under a little longer, coming up with three fish all hanging limply from his hands.

Alek swam towards the short, the fish still in his hands.

"You coming?" he called back over his shoulder.

He padded out towards their camp, dropping the fish before kneeling in front of the fire. It had been reduced to smouldering embers after a night of not being cared for.

Tutting softly, he began the motions of bringing the fire roaring to life.

"Spear those for me, Ly?" he requested as the fire began licking up along the wood, slowly coming back to life.

Lycus nodded and followed behind him swiftly, literally pulling the water from his hair so it was once again completely dry as was the rest of his body, water manipulation was a handy skill to have, more so out in the forest if you had to combat cold and couldn't afford to be wet.

"Alright."

He replied, gathering up some sticks, sharpening them with the point of one of his arrows and spiking them through the already dead fish, propping them up beside the fire where they could cook without burning horribly.

"I find it funny how I still know so little about you."

He mused, he knew a lot, but not nearly enough.

"I don't think either of us know much about each other," he replied, leaning back so he was sitting near the fire rather than kneeling directly in front of it.

He stretched out before laying down, head resting in the Elf's lap.

"My favourite season is autumn. I like watching the leaves turn red," he murmured softly, eyes sliding shut.

Random little facts about himself...

His lips curled upwards. "I always wanted to be a Wolf. I loved the animals, even though they were dangerous." He wasn't quite ready to share the reason he liked wolves with anyone quite yet.

"I hate the taste of pork."

His hand stroked through the Lycan's hair, drawing the water out of it with a chuckle before flicking it away, it must have been so much easier having short as oppose to waist length.

"I prefer spring because winter is finally gone and everything is in bloom.
He continued to stroke through Aleksandr's hair, letting his finger weave through the loose curls.

"I collect rare species of plants and animals, I've assisted in bringing back multiple species from the brink of extinction through my personal collection and the reason I can turn into a civet is because I had one as a pet at the time though I didn't even mean to do it."

He replied with a chuckle as he looked down at the Lycan, this was nice, learning a little about him.

"You had a strange animal when you had me," he murmured. It was something he had never seen before. He could remember Ly telling him what it was but he couldn't for the life of hi remember what he said the animal was called.

His lips curled up a little.

"If I could be any creature but a Lycan, I'd be an Elf." That was something he had never shared with anyone. He could just see Aodh's disgusted expression.

But Alek liked the idea of being an Elf.

"Blue has always been my favourite colour." His silver eyes met Lycus' blue and he gave a boyish grin.

"When I had you..."
The Elf hummed softly, he had kept so many pets during his life.

"Oh, that as Sashia my Iberian Lynx, sadly despite my efforts their species if still highly endangered."

He looked down and gave the Lycan a surprised expression.
"An Elf? Now that is surprising, though if I had to choose anything other I'd have to choose Lycan."

He couldn't handle being a Vampire, he didn't care if he lost his powers, being a Lycan was better than being a human or a Vampire.

Looking down at Alek he couldn't help but match his boyish grin and lean down to kiss him softly.

"Sashia," he repeated.

Yes, that sounded somewhat familiar.

"It hated me. I remember it hissing at me as soon as you took me to your bed. Its hisses only died down when it knew I was leaving."

Alek grinned a little.

"Being a Lycan can be fun."

He returned the gentle kiss with equal tenderness.

"I chose to keep the name Aleksandr because I wanted to remember my time in the villa. I didn't hate being there all the time." In fact, he found himself greatly enjoying it sometimes.