Away From Everything (OPEN)

Lucian had hoped that when he had said everything to Aquila, the doubts would go away, but they were still there, he still thought that she might leave him for what he is, that she would turn him away for being evil and a horrible creature that had no place with someone as beautiful and pure as she.

He had been trying to negate his nature for as long as possible but now it was getting hard not to want the energy from the women that he was around, and at times he had even thought about using one of the Professor's dreams to gain him energy, but had stopped because he knew that this would upset Aquila.

Not knowing the level of self sacrifice it took to maintain a relationship like this, Lucian sighed and sat down at the base of a rock in the howling cave, he had hoped that he would be able to deal with it like Raziel had, but he didn't know, he missed his sister, and wanted to speak to her, about this, about anything.

Aquila huffed once more as she looked around for any sign of her mother - but there was none. She'd insisted that they stick to the trails, but heaven forbid her mother be normal or listen to her for that matter. Her head snapped in one direction and she peered through the trees, before her hand clamped to her mouth as she stopped herself from screaming at the rustling. Her body tensed and she watched with dread and anticipation, before she laughed as a bunny jumped out of the bush and hopped away from her in panic at her laughter. She shook her head, before her thoughts returned to irritation at her mother. She was lost in the middle of a forest, and it was all her mother's fault. Why they couldn't just go to a café for mother-daughter bonding time, Aquila would never know.

Through the trees, she saw light where everywhere else was dark and so with renewed eagerness she pushed through the branches. The light grew as she neared it, and with all of her heart she hoped it would lead her out of the forest. Thoughts of her heart lead her to thoughts of Lucian, and she felt a smile light up her face as she ducked to avoid being hit in the face by a branch. She picked her way carefully, thinking of the warmth and comfort that always filled her when she was near him. She felt her smile dim slightly at the secrets he'd told her. Was this relationship taxing for him? After all, he was an incubus and he was not taking energy from people's dreams because of her. The selfish part of her that she'd become accustomed to listen to as of late told her to insist that she didn't care if he fed off one of the teachers so long as it meant he had energy.

Aquila stumbled out of the trees and was about to sigh in relief when she saw before her a cave. Brilliant, just what she needed at that moment - a blasted cave. However, the sky was beginning to darken and the cave was her only hope of shelter for the night - as she had no idea where else to go. She looked down at her ragged and torn clothes with pursed lips, and tasted blood on her lips as the result of a cut on her forehead. She was covered in scratches, which only fuelled the rage directed at her mother as she stomped into the cave. Let a bear come and eat her for all she cared, then her mother would be bloody guilty! Well deserved guilt, mind you. As Aquila trudged along, her eyes widened a fraction in shock as she saw a familiar form seated on a rock in the cave. "Lucian?" She queried, relief filling her voice as she made a beeline for him.

Lucian whipped his head up when he heard someone very loud stomping into the cave, and for a moment he wondered just who it would be, and hoped that it wasn't someone who lived in the cave, after all that would be very awkward for him and he would probably get into an awful lot of trouble for staying in here when he wasn't supposed to...not like he cared.

Frowning a little bit he opened his mouth, and then closed it when he saw a very battered looking Aquila, he was shocked from the moment he saw her, what the hell had happened to her? She looked as if she had been attacked or something, all her clothes were ripped, her lip was bloody, and her mood was a good indicator too.

Swiftly Lucian stood up and made his way over to her;

"What on Earth have you been up to?" he asked with a worried expression, eyes wide as he stroked her cheek lightly "But yes it's me, could you ever mistake this charming face." Lucian grinned.

Aquila saw the way his head whipped around and realised she was making quite a racket in the caves. She focused on calming her anger and walking like a normal person - a difficult task for someone so easily fired up. She felt her anger evaporate though as he stood up and made his way over to her, a smile instead on her face though her eyes still blazed with annoyance at her mother.

If she ever spoke to her mother again, the woman would be in for it!

Aquila reached a hand up to where his fingers had stroked her cheek and captured his hand within his own. However, that wasn't enough and a moment later she'd thrown her arms around him in a tight hug. She was both glad to see him and just finding someone, as for a moment she'd feared herself lost. Aquila'd been lost before, it wasn't a nice feeling and she'd been much younger then so it was more traumatising.

"I have been battling through the forest for nearly a whole day after my darling mother escaped me because she insisted we move off the paths," she grumbled un-happily, but this grumpiness morphed into positive emotions at his words and as she stepped out of their embrace she slapped him playfully on the arm. "Mhhm." She said with raised eyebrows.

Lucian could see the anger in Aquila's face and he was sure glad that it was something that was not directed at him, because it would have made him physically wither underneath it, he felt a little bit sorry for whoever it was that she was angry at, it was something that was really very scary to witness. Glad that she seemed to be calming down, Lucian smiled gently at her.

As soon as she hugged him, Lucian chuckled lightly and wrapped his arms around Aquila in return, he smelt that familiar smell that was Aquila's own, she smelt fresh like the sea, even though she had other smells, such as the aroma of the pine forest, that smell was always there.

Not very happy that Aquila's mother had left her on her own, Lucian frowned and gave her a swift eskimo kiss on the nose, before pulling away, taking a tissue from his pocket and dabbing the blood from the small cut on her lip.

"That's not very good, for either of you, I don't understand why you would wander off the path in a place that you don't know full of dangerous creatures that want to eat you, like bears and stuff." he rolled his eyes "I would go and look for her, but, I think it would be best if we wait until it's lighter."

Nodding at the darkening sky, Lucian sighed and wondered if he should be lighting the pile of firewood he had.

"Alright alright," he chuckled "I'll keep my absolutely correct thoughts to myself."

Aquila shut her eyes and focused on calming herself, as her chest was beginning to constrict tightly and she didn't want to have one of her attacks in front of Lucian, as it would only worry him. She took deep breaths, counted to ten and opened her eyes much more - feeling much better. She smiled back at him softly and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Aquila pouted as he chuckled at her, and went to move away and huff at him, but when she felt his arms weave around her she sighed happily and rested her head on his shoulder. All of her anger vanished and was replaced with a feeling of warmth. His woodsy scent tinted the air around her, and there was another scent to him that was hypnotic, made her want to never let him go, something that was entirely his own and she selfishly didn't want anyone else to know. She realised that the scent she was smelling was rain, and Aquila loved the smell of rain. A smile arose to her features.

Aquila shrugged at that, her mother was crazy. "Im not sure, my mother's very eccentric and likes to 'think outside the square' as she puts it. It's quite irritating, actually, I wish she'd just be normal. Thats what I said, but she didn't listen!" Aquila laughed as he said the last bit. "Im not looking for her, she's probably fine." Aquila pursed her lips.

Aquila flicked him and raised an eyebrow, before she reached over and patted him on the head. "Alright, whatever you say darl'."

Lucian didn't want to intrude as Aquila was looking like she was trying to concentrate on something, it was probably important and he just hoped that she wasn't feeling sick or something, after all she had been wandering around all day in a forest, he didnt know if she had chance to eat or anything.

Greeting her with another friendly smile when she opened her eyes he unwove himself from around her and gestured over to where he had been sitting, and the wood that was there for the fire.

"Well then if we aren't going to be looking for your mother, we might as well sit down and have something to eat," he grinned "You have had chance to eat something today?" Lucian added, his grin dipping a little bit with worry.

Sitting down on the floor, Lucian picked up the wetstone that he had, and began to smash them together to create a spark, not knowing the fire spell yet. Glad when they managed to ignite the wood, Lucian sighed happily and warmed his hands on the growing flames.

"How have you been then, I didn't see you much during lessons."

Aquila felt her body sway slightly as the effects of her own attempts at calming down settled in, and when her eyes opened once more she looked much less furious than she had a moment ago. She smiled gently at Lucian and ran a hand through her rather wavy - and now incredibly messy - locks of hair.

She felt a slight twinge of disappointment as she and Lucian broke apart but hid this quickly and busied with picking some leaves out of her hair. "I'll kill that woman," she grumbled. She pulled another twig out and bit back a yelp of pain.

Aquila nodded her head in agreement and moved over to where he'd previously sat. She sat down on the cold, cave floor but barely noticed as she stared at the wood. For a fire, most likely. "Yeah, I ate at breakfast, feels like years ago," she grinned up at him.

Aquila was about to point out that she knew how to make a fire - having run away from home countless times before - but when he succeeded in his task she just smiled at him. Aquila looked out of the cave and sighed. "Un-fortunate we can't chop up some wood to keep the fire roaring, but this is still a pretty good fire, amateur." She winked.

"Oh, i've not been feeling well, but other than that im good. What about you?" Aquila explained.

Lucian was mildly disturbed by the way that Aquila swayed, it was as if she was feeling faint, but the moment passed when she suddenly looked less angry. He smiled back at her hesitant smile, watching her fingers glide through her hair. He smiled a bit wider when she began to remove leaves from her hair. He shrugged a little bit,

"Killing is supposed to be hard." he told her quietly, "But if you want it bad enough then you will."

Matching her grin with on of his own, he chuckled a little bit, "I bet it does. This morning might be a distant memory but not for your stomach I'm betting."

Lucian pretended to be hurt by her comment, "I'll have you know that I am no amateur! I happen to know more than enough about fire for most people's liking."

He frowned a little bit in concern when she told him she'd not been feeling well before shrugging a little bit, "I've not been doing much. Not been a lot of fun without anyone to really talk to..."

Aquila ran a hand through her curly locks and turned her now calm gaze to Lucian. She was pleased with her progress, as normally she would be a fuming, raging monster right now but it seemed that she had more control over her anger. She'd always had control over her emotions, except for her anger. She'd been getting better at that, lately.

Aquila blinked at the disturbing words that came out of his mouth and frowned. "You haven't... have you?" She asked warily.

Him being as old as he was made her wonder if he'd ever killed. She shook off the thought and grinned back at him. "Yes, it seems that this thing needs constant attention." She patted her stomach.

Aquila rolled her eyes at him and nodded her head with a patronising look on her face. "Whatever you say, darling," she said sarcastically.

Aquila moved over and sat in his lap, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him close to her. "Have you been lonely without me, Luci?" She teased, a kiss placed fondly on his cheek.

Lucian watched as she ran her hand through her hair. She was surprisingly calm actually, he had half expected her to be ready to erupt right about now but she wasn't. She asked him if he'd ever killed anyone he was tempted to just let the question die but instead lied,

"No but I've hurt a person badly once." he lied smoothly, "Very badly..."

It was a lie, yes, but it was a lie that was probably going to keep her from getting too upset if he was honest. He chuckled a little bit, "Such a little thing too."

He laughed a little bit at the way she looked at him. But he actually wasn't joking, he knew a lot about fire, "Thank you for understanding." he joked back.

Lucian smiled when Aquila sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around her to hold her so she didn't fall. He hugged her back and chuckled a little sheepishly,

"Well..." his cheeks coloured slightly, "Yeah..."

Aquila felt Lucian's eyes on her and looked at him with a small smile on her face. The calm within her was aided as she thought about rolling waves of water, and that being her element she was immediately relaxed. She tilted her head as she waited for his answer to her question.

"Hmm." She didn't want to pry, so she made to leave it at that before she released that sounded skeptical. "Okay, I won't ask why cause it's probably personal." She grinned.

Aquila didn't like his next words for some reason, they made her stomach churn slightly and she said nothing, not wanting to re-open old wounds.

She grinned and flourished her hand in an elegant hand bow, tipping her body just the slightest and inclining her head. "You're most welcome."

Aquila felt a shiver run up her spine as he wrapped his arms around her in turn to keep her from falling. She rested her head against his forehead.

"Aww, is that a blush I see?" She grinned.

Lucian was surprised that he had not told Aquila about the duel, he thought that he had but if he had not it was probably best not to tell her right now, although he was regretting his lie to her already and thought it would be best to correct it now, rather than let it build and build.

"It's no secret that I killed someone a while ago, I'm surprised that I haven't told you about it, although I will do if you want to know, I'd happily do it again too, if anyone should repeat the offense."

When she asked if he was blushing Lucian grimaced and wished that he could pass it off on the heat of the fire but it was nowhere near hot enough just yet so he merely hung his head and smirked.

"If it is will you make fun of me or call me cute? The answer to these questions will change the answer that I give you." he chuckled lightly.

Aquila frowned the moment the next words left his lips, and felt a stab of anger inside her as it clicked in her head. She crossed her arms and huffed at him, her upset clearly showing on her features as she fixed him with a rather irritated glare. Why lie, and then backtrack?

"No secret? How on earth am I meant to know, when you lie to me first off? I'd rather not know how you killed this person, because I doubt i'll be impressed by your reasons, especially since i'm now slightly upset with you." She grumbled.

Aquila giggled at him, and was secretly pleased that she had the ability to make him blush and it wasn't just her who was reduced to blushing upon the odd occasion.

"No no, that's not at all what I had in mind," she leant in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, her arms tightening around him.

Lucian turned to Aquila and sighed a little, he knew he had made the right decision to tell her now, as the rage she would have when she found out he had lied months down the line would be unbareable, and he hoped she would understand once he began to explain.

"Well, I thought I had already told you if I am being honest." he said quietly "I killed my sisters fiance, he cheated on her and broke her heart, and I would, and am planning to, do it again. I would do the same to anyone who hurt you too." Lucian said calmly.

Suddenly Lucian didn't mind blushing if it would earn him more kisses, and he returned the soft kiss, playing with her hair as he pulled away, and resting his forehead against her own, gazing into Aquila's beautiful eyes.

"Of course it wasnt." he smirked "But if I get more kisses I'll happily blush more and more."

Aquila felt her cheeks burning red from rage rather than embarrassment or other emotions that caused you to blush. She glared at him, though it was more from the fact that he'd lied to her than the lie itself.

"Well, you hadn't!" She snapped, crossing her arms. Unless of course, it had been some time when she'd been suffering from her cancer and small amount of memory had been lost. "Lucian," she began softly now, reaching up to touch the ring he'd given her that had been attached to a chain which she wore 24/7. "I don't care if you're a so called 'demon', murder is something... I don't..." She shook her head.

Aquila smiled brightly as his hands toyed with her hair, even though she was often touchy about her hair. Despite this fact, his hands in her hair were soothing. She loved the feeling, and felt her cheeks now flushing as he stared into her eyes.

"Mhhm, don't think that's going to be a regular reward for blushing, mister. Sometimes, I might just tease you." She grinned.

Lucian knew that Aquila was angry and he could not bring himself to regret what he had said and done to protect Raziel, even though he had given up so many things to be with Aquila, he was not going to give up the essence of what he was completely.

"Murder is something unavoidable in war and it is something I have had several life times to adjust to, it is not something that I enjoy, it is something that I have to do sometimes for the best." he said quietly "It is part of who I am."

Almost pouting a little when Aquila told her that he would not get this reward all of the time, Lucian hung his head a little bit and let his hands rest on Aquila's waist as he hugged her to him.

"Awwww come on, don't be a spoil sport, you know you want to give me the reward really."

Aquila ran her hands through her hair now in panic, un-sure of what to do. She didn't care that he was an incubus, a so called 'devil', over a century old, but she didn't... she wasn't sure how to handle the information that he considered murder to be a part of him.

"In war, yes, but war's stupid," she growled. As usual, her confusion turned into anger and she could feel the anger from his lie, coupled with the confusing knowledge that he murdered building up inside her. "Murder! A part of who you are!" She exclaimed. "Why, if I harmed your sister to the point that she was hysterical, would you kill me?" She growled.

Aquila grinned at his pout, thinking it looked adorable on him. She decided to tell him this, just to push her luck and see if she could get him to blush a little more. "You're adorable when you pout, you know?" She winked at him.

Aquila pulled back and raised her eyebrows at his cockiness, though she did feel disappointment at moving away from him even by this much. "Are you sure about that?"

[[OOC: Dx Sorry Abi, I don't want Aq to get angry at Luci but I don't see her taking that all calmly!]]

Lucian could tell by the way that her hand went through her hair that Aquila was not going to be the most accepting of that part of who he was. But in the end it was part of who he was and there was nothing he could do to change it,

"War is stupid but you know what else? War is constant. It doesn't matter how stupid it is, sometimes you have to fight in it." he argued back with a slightly sad voice. He really didn't like war either, it was just something he accepted. When she asked if he would kill her for hurting his sister Lucian shook his head, "You would never hurt my sister... but no... I wouldn't."

Lucian didn't blush too much more when she said that he looked cute when he pouted but his blush didn't die down either. He pouted a little bit more,

"I'm not adorable!" he pouted further, "I'm sexy."

Lucian pulled her back in to him slowly, gently, and held her against him lightly. He grinned a little bit before huskily saying,

"Tell me I'm wrong..."

It's not that Aquila wanted to be judgemental about any part of him, but murder was something different. It was a crime against the earth. She wondered if this was why he believed he was 'the devil' in a way. She clutched at her hair and pulled at the roots.

"I know it is, don't speak to me like i'm an idiot," he wasn't, but Aquila's defences were beginning to draw up around her. Aquila felt tears well up in her eyes and she wiped at them, turning her body away from him. "Lucian..." She sighed. She couldn't change who he was. She had to just accept him. Didn't mean she had to like it. "I can't change you, but I want you to know that I don't like it. Just like there are things about me you don't like, but I wouldn't want to loose you over this." She was hesitant to say it, because murder was a big thing. But she cared about him enough to be able to look over it. Anyone else and she would've been running away screaming. But she trusted him.

Aquila raised her eyebrows at him, not denying it but not accepting it either.

Her thoughts were forfeited by his more-than-sexy actions and her pupils dilated, her pulse racing and her heart thumping loudly. She swallowed and struggled to get words out.

"You're... not... sexy... at... all..." She lied through her teeth.

Lucian knew that this conversation was going nowhere fast, and he did not expect the reaction from Aquila when she started to cry, he did not know that he had managed to scare her that much by simply talking about something like this.

He supposed that was the difference between a human, and something like him, he didn't see any difference in talking about murder to talking about what he was having for tea tonight.

Reaching over her he wiped her eyes gently, with a small smile; "Nobody is going to be loosing anybody over something like this, I can see that it bothers you, so maybe we should switch to a happier topic for the moment?" Lucian suggested.

Chuckling a little, Lucian shook his head and smirked, pressing his lips against Aquila's ear very lightly, so they just brushed against it, as he whispered;

"Then why is your heart, beating so fast my dear?"

Aquila wiped at her eyes again and was surprised. Cry? Aquila? She never cried. Never. Okay, maybe sometimes but it was on very, very rare occasions. She'd hardly cried when she'd found out she was going to die at a young age.

Maybe it was because Lucian meant so much more to her than, well, her. Her life didn't mean much to her, she just wanted to live it while she could. But Lucian was... she couldn't even describe him. He was amazing, the way he'd broken all of her walls like he promised, and his witty sarcasm easily beat his own.

She felt a small smile on her face, despite the gravity of the situation and she let her eyes shut for a moment as she collected her thoughts. "Right, yes, happy topic. My throat's stopped hurting," she grinned, it had been hurting her ever since the attack last year.

Aquila's cheeks tinged a pink-rose colour and she gulped. She felt her breath hitch and her heart - if possible - picked up it's pace as his lips brushed against her ear.

"Um... Because... Um..." She bit her lip.

Lucian liked to think that he knew a little bit about Aquila and one of the things he thought he knew about her was that she was too tough to cry. She was a strong woman who didn't cry to show her emotions like others her age did. But then again he had set out to break down some of her walls and it looked like he'd done exactly that. He didn't know what he had been expecting but he hadn't been expecting crying until it was clear that she was crying.

Seeing her attempt to brighten the conversation, Lucian smiled a little bit,

"Well that's good news." he commented with a small smile before smirking faintly, "That mean that singing and spicy food is back on the menu for you?"

Her heart was beating ten to the dozen now, he could feel it going and he couldn't help but breathe out a throaty chuckle in her ear. Deciding to turn it up a notch, he nibbled ever so gently on her earlobe,

"Because...?"

Aquila was ashamed of herself for letting the tears well up in her eyes, and some of them had even spilled. Of course, she'd swiped them away immediately but crying was such a weak thing in her eyes, which was why she avoided it. She was tough, strong, she didn't let things get to her. She sucked in a breath and told herself firmly to toughen up, and after a few seconds of collecting herself, the tears that had welled up where blinked away and it looked as if they never existed.

She smiled a little in response, though was still scolding herself for crying.

"I guess so, having a sore throat all the time kind of gets annoying after a while," she raised her eyebrows. "I never sing, i'm terrible at it. Mm, spicy food."

Damn you, Lucian Ciero, she thought grumpily to herself as his breath fanned over her neck, bringing warmth. She let out a gasp of surprise as he nibbled on her earlobe, and her eyes fluttered.

"What are we talking about?"

Lucian blinked a little bit when Aquila started to cry and he didn't know what to do, he stepped closer to her and he placed his hand on her cheek, he wanted to be able to comfort her, but he didn't know exactly what to do, he was no good at this after all.

With a small smile as the tears dissappeared as if they were never there, deciding not to comment on it, lest it make her annoyed, he stayed quiet and rubbed his thumb over her cheek.

"I'm glad that it's better anyway." he said with a small smile on his lips "I'll make sure to take you out for an indian then for our next date, anything beats a cave hm?" Lucian joked.

Chuckling a little bit, Lucian drew away from Aquila and simply held her tightly to him, kissing the nape of her neck before smirking gently; "Why you're heart is beating so fast, and now, why you seem to have temporary memory loss."