He scrubs his hand across his eyes. Then a look of panic flashes across his face. “I need to go make sure she is safe. Don’t think we won’t discuss this later,” he growls at me. Even as he finishes the sentence, he disappears in the familiar swirl of shadow and wingbeats.
I hear Dio walk out from behind the pile of trash and approach me. Standing close, he sets his hands gently on my shoulders. I reach up and wrap my fingers around his, carefully pulling my emotions back under control.
He says quietly, “Are you ok?”
I look up at his face and realize there’s stubble along his jaw. He has always been so neatly shaven that it is a surprise to see it there. “I’m good,” I say unexpectedly.
“Well, I don’t think we can go back in there to the venue at this point.”
“What about the others?”
“They’ll have to figure it out,” he says as he stares at me, and I see hunger in his expression.
I wonder if perhaps he might not be fully grasping the trouble they’re in, but honestly, I don’t want him to go back. I want him here with me. “We need to talk, and I don’t think I can bring you to where I’m staying right now,” I say, looking back briefly over my shoulder at where Malam was just standing.
A look of worry crosses Dio’s face. Then, clearly coming to some decision, he says, “Want to go back to the mansion with me?”
“What about Reem?” I ask.
“I think he’ll be busy for a while. I’ll talk with him when he gets back,” Dio says quietly, still staring at me as though he’s trying to solve a puzzle.
I nod, and he takes my hand and turns to leave the alley.
Silence falls as we walk side by side back to the mansion. I feel him occasionally glancing at me as though I might disappear, and I can’t wipe the smile off my face. He doesn’t let go of my hand.
DIO’S JOURNAL - ENTRY 16
Annum:5615
Entry 16 - destituo
It’s been a few days and gods.
Fuck.
I don’t know how to write this.
That concert didn’t go to plan, that’s for sure. We really need to get our concerts back on track at this point. It all started normally enough, and thankfully, the crowd seemed to have forgiven us. Pepper’s idea seemed to be paying off, and it was honestly great to get to perform again. I was still feeling surprisingly unfocused but luckily the rehearsal paid off and I didn’t mess up. Not for the first set anyway.
Sometime in the second set, in the middle of one of our most popular songs, I looked out in the crowd and she was just standing there staring at me. Chaosta Imean. She wasn’t moving, wasn’t singing along. She was just staring at me with this heat in her eyes. I forgot what I was singing for a moment, but then got back on track. I couldn’t stop looking at her, though. Then I lost the words again.
I don’t know why I did it, but I couldn’t even try to fake it anymore. I jumped down off the stage and went to her. I just wanted to talk with her, see if she was alright. I thought maybe I could figure out where she was staying so I could check on her occasionally.
I thought the crowd was going to tear my clothes off before I got there. That would have been awkward. Apparently, more of our fans have a thing for me than I realized. At that moment, all I could think of was getting to her. Thanks to my physical ability, I made it there in one piece.
I broke through the last line of people between us, and she was there in front of me, not moving, that heat still in her eyes. I didn’t know what to do or what to say. I was still trying to catch my breath, and then suddenly she was kissing me. I think we were both surprised. I knew I shouldn’t kiss her back, but even I only have so much control.
Gods, that kiss. Her mouth. Fuck.
I could hear one of the other guys trying to settle everyone down and saying they needed to look for me so I could go back and finish the set. Fuck that.
Suddenly, I realized that perhaps thecrowd was still kind of angry, rioting even, because everything was starting to feel pretty violent, so I got us out of there. She kept her hand in mine and was right there with me.
I saw a side exit and went for it, but there must have been a fire alarm on the door because sprinklers started to spray water everywhere. Luckily, I know now that our instruments weren’t ruined. At the time, that was the furthest thing from my mind.
We got out into the alley, and I couldn’t help myself, I kissed her, and she kissed me back. Ok, that doesn’t even begin to describe what she did. Fuck.
Suddenly she was pulling away, and I waited for everything to implode, but she just walked around a stack of trash. Then I saw Malam, standing there smoking. Of all times for him to show up, it just had to be then, didn’t it? They had some words. I was getting ready to fucking punch a demon as he spoke rudely to her. Then he was just gone.
