Innocently Damned

A knock on the door roused him from a very deep sleep, one that was blissful dream free. He yawned and stretched, sending the dust bunnies chirping away, annoyed at being woken up. Smirking at them, he sat up, hair pushed to the side of his face by sleep, and knotted in front of his eyes. “Come in!”

Ozel pushed open the door, new dress matching the ornate tray he carried. He looked like a damn sexy bitch in a maid’s dress, and he wanted to flaunt it. Well, mostly a maid’s dress, it had some logical adjustments. Still no underwear. “Breakfast in bed, sir?”

He smiled, trying to push his hair into something that resembled normal. “Thanks!”

“No prob Bob.” Ozel set the tray in his lap, plopping down beside him on the bed. “Speaking of Bob... You need a name. We can’t just keep calling you... you.”

“I have a name.” He pouted, taking the fork in hand.

“Oh? Then what is it?”

“Uhm...” Slowly, mind feeling like thick mud, everything started to fall into place. His name... and the last thing he remembered before waking up on Styx’s shore. “Leif! Its Leif. Hee. I remembered.” He felt proud of himself, and a little less lost by remembering his name. Those memories that had been foggy, were clear as when he was alive.

“Your name is Leif... Can I make you a better name? Come on, please?” Ozel clasped his hands together, pleading for Leif to hear him out. “I had a name picked out for you last night...”

“Oh, what is it?”

“Jack.” He tossed his arm over his forehead, striking a dramatic pose. “I’ll never let go Jack, I’ll never let go!”

Leif shook his head, trying to shoot Ozel a dirty look. It wasn’t easy when his eyes were still droopy with sleep. “No. Besides, I like my name. My parents were historians, and they named me after Leif Erickson, the nordic explorder.”

“Greeeeeeat, so they named their kid after some boring old fart. Nice thing to do to your son.”

Scooping some of the eggs on the plate onto his fork, he paused to snicker. “My brother’s name is Tarrus, from the zodiac, the bull. My parents were hippies too.” The grumble in his stomach reminded him that he hadn’t yet taken the bite of food, and hurried to comply. Leif almost sighed; the egg was seasoned perfectly.

“I see... So in other words, you’re lucky you didn’t end up as Moonbeam.”

“Exactly,” he mumbled around another large portion of eggs. After a bite of the toast and a large portion of the juice gone, he looked up, mind clear of sleepy cobwebs. “Hey wait! Ozel isn’t exactly a normal name either.”

“It’s unique.” Ozel tapped his nose, crossing his legs at the ankles, tall soled boots wiggling as he twitched his feet.

“Well, Leif is too.” He nodded the finished his breakfast, settling back with a sigh. “So what’re you going to do today?”

“My job, ugh. I have to go up and down the shoreline and look for dead people, then escort them, sometimes forcefully, to the area where the magistrate will point out their sins, and then ship ‘em off to where they belong. Its just not all that much fun,” Ozel smiled and ruffled Leif’s hair. “They aren’t all cute like you. Or as nice. Heh, most of them are quite rude.”

“What if they don’t want to go with you?”

“Oh... I’ll make them. I might not look like much, but I’m one of the Gatherers. We get special shit for the stupid ones that don’t listen.”

Leif snickered, leaning against Ozel. “Special shit?”

“Powers,” he said, wiggling lace gloved fingers. “Though personally, I rather like it when they resist. Its so freaking funny.”

“How so?” Leif tried to picture just what sort of powers would subdue the damned, or anything that looked like Bruce. He was sort of into science fiction when he was in high school, but those powers were different, generally.

“Well see there’s a binding spell that wraps ‘em up, right? I usually use that and a shocking spell at the same time. Who wants to be shocked up the ass? No one. They listen to me after that.” Ozel smiled proudly. When he first became a Gatherer, Marcius has loads of pretty little things that he would use every other night. Not being one for competition, he gained more favor by keeping those under his master in line before Marcius himself had to be involved. Pretty soon, the others were fazed out, still Gatherers, but no longer charged as being a pet. “Oh! And get this, the kitchen staff was gossiping about how there’s going to be another masquerade... I love those. I get to dress up even more.”

“Erm... what’s a masquerade?”

“Eh, you know... one of those social gatherings, usually there’s music and dancing, where everyone has to wear a mask. Mm... I think Marcius just wants to speak with Wrath.”

“So he throws a party to get Wrath to come?”

Ozel nodded, flicking his fingers so the door shut and locked. The rooms were usually sound proof. “Wrath is quite impressive. A girl after my own heart. She fought tooth and nail to have Wrath’s dominion, and has kept it for almost as long as Marcius has been in power. There’s some bad blood between her and Envy, something that happened while they were still alive.” He lowered his voice, not taking any chances. “Its almost unheard of here, to actually fall in love with someone. But she did and the boy, who is pretty cute and molest-able if he swung my way, felt the same. Even rarer. Envy, being well... Envy, she was jealous of Wrath. More of that bad blood, and all that. So she tried to lure the boy away, and oh ho ho... he turned her down. Which pissed Envy off quite a bit. She sent wraiths to mutilate the boy, and take him back to her dominion to torture... but that’s when Marcius stepped in.” Ozel beamed, “he was annoyed with Envy, and respected Wrath’s climb to power, so he offered a deal to Wrath. If she gave him the boy, he would keep him from Envy’s grasp, safe, and well taken care of. Of course she was all suspicious of him, and asked what was in it for him. I would be too, if I were her... But Marcius assured her that it was out of respect, and possibly to form an alliance. Two lords aligned with one another, and the rest of hell would either side with them, or be against them... and the Lord of Hell would watch them carefully. So yeah, anyway, he took in the boy, and throws these parties to hide her appearance and the boy’s so no one will know who he is. And she gets to spend days with him, at this party. Poor thing though, leaving Wrath’s dominion often isn’t all that smart, and she knows that, so they don’t have the parties a lot. He stays by her, though, all loyal and stuff. Its so cute.”

“You’ve met him?” Leif blinked, turning that over in his mind. Even the damned could love... well, Bonnie and Clyde loved each other. Wrath seemed interesting, too. A girl even, though he guessed girls really deserved being Wrath. Hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned, and all that jazz.

“I have. Marcius trusts me. And Wrath likes my dresses.”

“...You’re so weird.”

“Hmph.” Ozel crossed his arms over his chest, “people who snuggle dust bunnies shouldn’t call other people weird.”

Leif chuckled, “okay... you’ve got a point. Speaking of which... what do they eat?”

“Who, dust bunnies? I dunno, dust maybe.”
“Oh! Well maybe then I shouldn’t clean as much.” Leif bit his lip, worried that he just starved his new friends... pets... whatever they were. “They’re really handy to have around, I don’t want them to go hungry.”

“There’s plenty of dust in the other rooms, hun. I doubt they’ll starve. If they eat at all. I’ve never actually watched one, and yeah... this isn’t National Geographic, we don’t run tests on dust bunnies, and their behavior.”

“How would you know what’s in National Geographic?”

“I was up late one night giving head to this really weird guy, who loved all those channels. And well, when you’re doing it for money, and doing it a lot for work... you really get bored with it. So I watched it out of the corner of my eye, while doing my business.” Ozel shrugged, flattening the parts of his dress that bent oddly.

“I though you said you only did porn...”

“Ah,” the blonde raised a finger, turning a bit toward Leif, “but porn only supports a minor drug habit. Toward the end there, I was really hooked.”

“That’s... sort of sad. I guess. I mean, nothing against you,” he hastily added, not wanting to anger his only human-ish friend.

“Eh, I get what you were trying to say. It was sad. If I knew I was going to OD on the crap, I probably wouldn’t have done it so much... but then, I wouldn’t have met Marcius. That I wouldn’t take back.”

“So one day you just keeled over?” His knowledge of drugs went as far as not doing them, that they were illegal, and that you could die from taking too many of certain drugs.

“More like, one day I had no money left, and really needed my fix, so much so that I was completely out of it, and not thinking of anything other than not having my drugs. And when you’re faced with no high, its almost a life or death situation. I took the gun from the drug dealer I lived with, the fucker wouldn’t front me some coke even though he knew I was good for it, and then I looked for someone to rob. A couple, actually. They were doing it in the alley, which I figured was a sign, and I held them up. I don’t really remember shooting them... but I know I did. I don’t even remember why.” Ozel’s tone held a bit of sorrow, and embarrassment. What he was back then was never something he was proud of. The sex, sure, he was a great porn star. The drugs, and the things he did for them were stupid. Coke really wasn’t worth degrading himself, and destroying other people’s lives. That was the other reason he wanted to linger in hell. That couple didn’t deserve to be shot... part of his punishment was seeing the fear in her eyes, the tears rolling down her cheeks when he shot her boyfriend first, and the way she pleaded for her life; it all replayed over and over in his mind when he had those times of excruciating pain. He really didn’t deserve heaven at all, saying it was because he was on coke was true, but Ozel wasn’t one to make excuses for his actions. “Well anyways, since I had the money, I went home and my idiotic dealer was dead. There was some shoot out or something, and since he didn’t have his gun...” Ozel shrugged, “not a damn thing I could do about it, and I was so strung out, I really didn’t care. So I tossed the money in his lap, grabbed more coke than I usually had in a week, and went upstairs. Since I was so freaking happy to have it, I was like a kid at Halloween that eats too much candy after trick-or-treating. Except I got high, blinked, then when I opened my eyes again, I was here. Apparently, I passed out. That much coke could kill an elephant.”

“Wow...” Before now, the most exciting thing in his life was graduating high school, and getting a steady job afterwards. “But it sounds like you had a really interesting life. Mine was sort of boring.”

“Eh, I thought my life was boring. Everyone thinks that. What’d you do?”

Leif felt out of his league. His tale had no wear near as many exotic things. “On the weekdays I would get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to work... file the reports, punch holes in some of the papers to put them into binders for a report, then I would go home, eat some dinner, feed the cat and then go to bed. On the weekends, I usually slept in until eight. Sometimes I’d see a movie with my mom.”

Unable to hold back any longer, Ozel snickered, “wow. You were right. You had a boring life.”

“Oh!” Almost knocking the tray out of his lap, Leif sat up straight. “Oh my god, I forgot!” He sighed, staring at the remnants of his breakfast.

“Forgot what? To put on clean undies before you bit the big one?”

“No... My poor cat, I didn’t feed him. I remember walking to the dish, and then I got dizzy... I woke up here, after that. My poor cat! I hope they find my body soon, so my cat can get fed...” Hoped they found his body soon... What if his mother found him dead? That would make her cry, a lot. It would be too traumatic for her... Leif sniffled a little, laying back against the wall, looking quite dejected.

“Hey, cheer up. Your cat can survive, and someone would have checked on you, ne? Work, a neighbor...” Noticing how unhappy he looked, Ozel patted Leif’s shoulder. “Cats can survive.”

“No, it isn’t just that. I won’t ever see my mom again. Or my dad. Or my brother. I won’t watch movies on the tv I bought all by myself, on the crappy couch I bought second hand with Tarrus... Everything I worked hard for, all the people important to me... I won’t see them again. What’s worse, they might be sad for my passing. And my funeral? It’ll cost a shit load of money, something my parent’s don’t have. I was supposed to support them, and help them out with any money issues... What will they do now?” Despite the natural manly urge to repress it, he could feel tears spring to his eyes.

“Heeey, it’ll be okay. You will see them again. While it might not be while you’re alive, it’ll be in heaven. We’ll work hard to get you there, I promise.” Ozel pulled the man closer, hugging him and resting his chin on the tangled mass of hair. “Your parents will be okay, they’ll deal with it. Plus, your brother is still there, right?”

“Right...”

“So don’t worry your pretty little head over that stuff. We’ll make it all better, in the end.” There weren’t often times where he felt like being caring, but Leif seemed like he needed a hug. “Poor thing. Maricus will find out what happened, and we’ll set everything right. Okay?”

Leif sniffed and nodded, “okay.”

“Now come on, you need to get dressed. I think you need to get up and walk around some, so I’ll sneak you out of the mansion. I know he told us to keep you inside, but being stuck in one place will drive you nuts. Besides, I’ll protect you, and no one except for another lord could get one up on me.” Ozel bit his lip; it made him nervous, that he was doing something his master didn’t know he was going to do. If anything happened, Marcius would be mad... “I need to go do something real quick, so get showered ‘n dressed by the time I come back, okay?” Even if he could protect Leif, he wanted to ask his master first if it was okay to take him out. Besides, it wouldn’t be natural for one of his pets to stay all hidden, people would talk more about that.

“Kay... I think I’m all dusty from the bunnies.” Leif smiled brightly up at Ozel, cheek smudged with a mix of tears and dust.

“Heh, that you are. In fact, you’re getting me dusty. Maybe they’re secretly trying to get you to become one of them.” Leaning away, Ozel brushed off the front of his dress, wrinkling his nose.

“Is that why they understand me?”

Ozel smirked, “they understand you? Leif, the dust bunny whisperer. I’m sure there are some maids that are having problems with them, maybe later you can talk to them.” Oh, he had to tell Marcius this new development anyway. The last bit had made his master smile, and that was more precious to Ozel then anything.

“Really? I’d love to help in anyway I can. I feel so useless here...”

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, Ozel stood, frowning as he continued to brush off the dust. “Gah. I’ll be right back, ne? Don’t let them get you dusty again after you get out of the shower,” Ozel shook a finger at him in mock severity.

“Right.” He nodded, smiling at his friend.




Ozel happily picked his way along the cobble stoned path, Leif trailing behind. Marcius had been open to the idea of taking Leif out, and even began to contemplate giving him Gatherer gifts for temporary use. If the boy could protect himself, there wouldn’t be need to watch over him so carefully. He was happy he would get to take Leif out and explore more of hell with him. The innocent things he would say were so damn cute.

“So Ozel,” Bruce called from his usual tree when they became close enough to spot, “I heard that you’re not on top anymore!”

The blonde smiled sweetly at the old pimp, “only temporary, I promise.”

Bruce cackled, “I like picturing you knocked off your damn pedestal. It just makes me all warm and tingly inside.”

“Right. And if you don’t shut up, I’ll make you feel even warm and more tingly inside.” Ozel’s smile hadn’t faded, but his eyes narrowed dangerously. Even if everyone seemed to gloat that he wasn’t Marcius’ favorite anymore, it didn’t bother him. He knew the truth of the matter, and if he managed to finagle Leif into becoming a Gatherer as well, then they wouldn’t need to name him as a pet.

“Hn.” The old pimp knew when to keep silent, after learning his lesson from Marcius’ punishment. “So why’re you hanging out with him?”

“Know thy enemy, Bruce. Know thy enemy.” Ozel tossed his arm over Leif’s shoulders, “I’ll get to know him a bit, and scare him away oh so slowly.”

Bruce snorted, “that won’t be hard for you, boy. You’re a sadistic little thing, couldn’t tell at all just by lookin at ya. I’d probably have hired you on to pimp out some boys, you look like you’d make a good pimp ‘n you’re obviously loyal. Rare qualities in our chosen field.”

Ozel twitched, “I told you, I wasn’t a whore. I was a porn star. Porn star, got it? Anything I did were favors for a tip. I didn’t go around blowing people I didn’t know. That’s disgusting.”

“No more than your co-star.”

“...Right, moving along now.” Ozel pulled Leif away before Bruce could elaborate. He wasn’t exactly proud of how he got his start in porn. Well, proud but didn’t know just what he was getting into.

“Who was your co-star, Ozel?” Glancing back at Bruce, Leif blinked. How would he have known that about Ozel? Did pimps watch porn too?

“Its nothing. Maybe I’ll tell you later. Oh ho, we’ve got our first wanderer. Guess the other Gatherers are slacking off, if they didn’t catch him.” Ozel let go of Leif and hurried to a man who held his head, stumbling down the road. “Hey honey, feel a little lost?”

Leif wrinkled his nose, smelling the man from the short distance he was behind him. He smelt... burnt. Sure enough, half of his face was charred, skin sloughing off in places. Parts of his finger were missing, exposing shiny bits of bone. Biting his lips, he tried to get rid of the faint nausea that rose at the sight and smell of the man. So that’s what the damned looked like when they first washed up? No wonder Ozel was curious as to what deals he had made to look as normal as he did.

“Wha... It hurts!”

“Well that’s what you get for being naughty. Now come on, lets go see where you belong.”

“No! Get away from me!”

Ozel sighed, putting his hands on his hips, “play nice. I’m taking you with me if you like it or not. If you don’t come with me willingly, I’ll drag you there myself.”

The man’s lips curled back in a sneer, “you? What could you do?”

“Heh. Last chance. Coming nicely or not?”

“Not, you ugly flat chested girl,” the man sniffed, straightening, “if you were my type, I’d have more fun with you under that skirt.”

Ozel winked, “ah, wary of panty snakes?”

Leif covered his mouth; there were snakes in people’s underwear here? Did Ozel have one? He wondered if it was a condition, or some sort of punishment...

“Eh. Even less my type, a cross dresser. How disgusting.”

Ozel pouted, “calling me ugly and disgusting, how rude.” With a wave of his hand four glowing symbols appeared next to the man, chains rattling loudly as they fell from the symbols. “Bind.” The chains wrapped around the man and lifted him up. “Looky Leif, I caught a big asshole. Wonder if they’re worth anything.” Ozel looked back at the man who still struggled against the chains. “Stop that, or they’ll grow rusty thorns. Sound like fun?” The man stopped struggling and glared at Ozel with his good eye. “Good boy.”

“That... was so freaking cool!” Leif smiled as Ozel struck a pose, “seriously, can I do that? Minus the sharp... rusty things.”

“Nope, that’s something only a Gatherer or what I call Security can do. And if I have my way, you’ll be a Gatherer too, soon.” Ozel turned, curls bobbing around his head as he sauntered down the path. He was showing off, and he knew it. Pride wasn’t one of his sins for nothing; he loved being flattered.

“I would have to go out and collect evil dead people?” Some how that wasn’t quite as appealing as Ozel made it out to be.

“You would be in training, so you could stick with me while doing it. I wouldn’t let you go out alone, unless you were prepared to. No worries.” Ozel flashed a smile over his shoulder as he hopped off the path, their newly caught dead man bobbing behind him. He wished Marcius would just teach him how to poofy places. It would make grabbing a dead person and dragging them back to the sentencing all the more easier. Marcius said that he was just lazy. He preferred activity impaired. Unless of course that activity was sex. How he kept his boyish figure, and he would never abandon it.



The sentencing area looked more like a dead stock exchange to Leif than anything else. There were masses of people, all yelling or talking loudly to be heard over the roar of the crowd. Occasionally there would be a few screams that were then muffled. He shivered, rubbing his arms. If he ever got his life back, he would be a very good boy.

They stood inline for a few minutes before they finally moved to a... creature’s booth, said creature wearing glasses that hid his eyes from view. He was missing an arm, or it had recently been removed. Blood trickled from the wound and down his side, pooling at his feet. Which happened to be where his arm was, now that Leif noticed it.

“Hey Joe,” Ozel waved a little, bringing the dead man closer. “Ah, you lost it again.”

Joe sighed and let out a steady stream of foul language that made Leif blush. How had he not heard most of those insults and curses before? He was an adult, after all. Maybe Ozel’s insistence of his innocence was true. The man behind the booth stooped to retrieve his arm, shoving it back into place. The arm made slick sounds then popped into place.

“There we go, now judge him and we’ll be on our way. He’s a mean brute, too. Might need to call Security for this one, Joe. He gave me trouble.” Ozel twirled his finger, the man turning slowly in the air until his back was to Joe.

“Mm, I will then.” Joe waved over two burly men who had their mouths sewn shut. “The boys will handle ‘em now. Ah, wait, just turn him a little to the left, Ozel, and I’ll be able to read his sins from here.” When Ozel obliged, Joe tilted his head, lips moving as he read the marks on his back. “Heh, no wonder he gave you trouble. Seymour Holdget, died at age 32, spent most of his marriage abusing and cheating on his wife, even to the point where she had multiple miscarriages, until said wife burnt the house down around him, while he slept. Well aren’t you a sweetheart,” Joe patted the man’s back, avoiding the chains. “Major sins of Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Wrath, and Pride.” The man cackled, “she got you good, didn’t she?”

“That bitch better end up here too! She deserved it all! Woman never had my food ready for me, never cleaned the house.”

“And I suppose you were physically unable to help, ne?”

The dead man glared at Ozel. “She was my wife, that’s the bitch’s job. If she didn’t want to do what a woman should, then she didn’t have to be a wife. Coulda been one of those lesbians.”

Joe snickered, revealing sharp looking teeth. “One of those lesbians... I like lesbians. A whole lot.” Shrugging a little, Joe looked down at his book and began writing. “Sounds to me like you need some time around a woman who won’t take your shit. You have your required time of torture, of course, I’ll send you to the Solgalth. They’re really good at making people settle down and do as their told. Then, just because I think it would be funny, I’ll have you work on a ranch. Run by women, mostly. Oh, and I think some of them are lesbians. Not that I would know.”

“Know? You rather like watching them, Joe.” Ozel quipped, hands behind his back.

“Quiet, you.” The man smirked and then nodded, “let him down. The boys will take it from here.” Ozel made a sign in the air, and the chains dissolved, dropping the dead man with a loud plop on the floor. With a growl, the dead man lunged at Ozel, who didn’t even blink. The boys, as Joe had called them, grabbed him and dragged him to a room in the back, ignoring the way he kicked and screamed. “Well, that was boring. Bring someone more lively back, ne?”

“Of course I’ll try, Joe.”

“Eh,” Joe pushed his glasses down, revealing eyes that where a cloudy white, pupils almost impossible to see. “Who’s this?”

“Oh, I thought Marcius would enjoy him, so I took him up to the manor. You know how I’d do anything for him.”

“Indeed... Why hasn’t he been through here, though? Even you came through here.”

“Because he’s special? What’s wrong with skipping a few rules now and then?”

Joe looked Leif over, then pushed his glasses back up his nose. “Hmph. It’s insulting to my craft. Next time, bring ‘em through me first, even if you think Marcius would get a kick out of him.”

“Righty, scouts honor.”

“Ozel, if you were a scout, there would be quite a few traumatized boys wandering around out there.”




The day, or night, Leif had yet to get adjusted to the constant glow overhead, had proceeded much the same, taking people found on the beach, then carrying them back to the sentencing area. Generally, Ozel tried to wait in line for Joe, and Leif understood why. The others were scary, mean to the dead and those around them. After so many years, maybe they had grown tired of seeing humanity at its worse. That, or they were just really cranky men.

Yawning, Leif covered his mouth, looking around. This job would be fun with Ozel. He had a feeling, though, Ozel could make anything fun. He still didn’t understand why so many of the house staff didn’t care for him.

“Last one of the day, hun. Feel tired?”

“A little. Why’re everyone so mad when they wake up? Or is that normal for people who’re... you know... stuck here.”

“It isn’t normal, we’ve just had a rash of annoying people. Usually they’re too confused to do much of anything. Like you were. It just so happens that the really bad off have showed up.” Ozel raised his arms over his head, yawning while he stretched. It had been a rather rough day, compared to most.

“Oh... Oh! Look!” Leif pointed to a mass of black on the shore, a pale ankle all that could be seen from it. “Another one.”

“Heh, good job spotting it, Leif.”

“Thanks,” he smiled as they drew closer, already used to the easily shifted river rocks. “I wish I could help you bring them in, it’s kind of like... a dead rodeo.”

“Ha! Does that make me a cowboy? Hmm... I think I’ve played that once in a movie...” Ozel kneeled next to the body, nudging it lightly.

“You’ve played just about every role, Ozel,” the mass hissed, lifting its head.

Ozel froze, drawing his hand back. “No way... Heh, I figured I’d see you here sooner or later.”

“And who’s fault is that?”

Leif leaned closer, almost jumping as the man swept his hair from his face. It looked almost exactly like Ozel, down to the pale purple eyes. He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help it. “Ozel...”

“Leif?” Ozel grunted as he was knocked back, the man who looked like him had wrapped his arms around his neck, face pressed against his neck. “Not here, Resi.” He shivered and tried to pry him off.

“Why not? We’re already in hell.” Resi nipped at Ozel’s chin.

“Gah! Not here, dammit.... Leif, this was my first co-star.”

“Is this your boyfriend? That why you’re embarrassed, Ozel?” Resi glared at Leif, swatting at him. “My twin. Leave him alone.”

“You have a brother?! I thought you said you wouldn’t see anyone in heaven that you knew.” Leif didn’t mind that Resi continued to bat at him, it was like a cat with no claws swatting at his shin.

“Yeah, like I said, I knew he’d end up here sooner or later. So how did you go about biting it, Resi? Catch something from your groupies?”

“Wait wait.... You slept with your brother?” The implications of what Ozel had said just sunk in, as well as the way his brother hugged him possessively.

“No. We just stared together.” Ozel winced and tried once again to pry Resi off of him.

“I’ve seen you naked and screwing, I think that falls pretty close to incest, Ozel.”

“Everyone has seen me naked and screwing. That’s the point of being a porn star. I wasn’t there just to look pretty, stupid.” His twin could be so annoying at times, pretending things that would get him into trouble. Resi had always been possessive of him, more than what was natural, but it didn’t extend into incest. At least, not on his own part. He was the supportive one, through their childhood, it was only natural that Resi would become attached to him. “Get off of me, I have to take you in.”

“What?” Leif blinked, “but he’s family. Why don’t you take him to Marcius? Maybe he’ll...”

“No. I have to play by the rules. I’ll tell Marcius that Resi is here, but I can’t just bring him along with me. That’s only for emergencies.” Like being unmarked and in hell without a lord giving Leif his body back. That fell under odd and something wrong, so Ozel knew Marcius wouldn’t mind.

“I don’t want to be apart from you again, Ozel... Please take me with you.” Tears hovered in the corners of his eyes, lip quivering.

“That didn’t work on mom, and that most certainly wouldn’t work on me.”

“Oh fine, you prick.” Resi pulled back, stumbling to his feet. Now that Leif could see him better, he could view the lines and cracks in Resi’s skin, especially around his wrists and mouth. A few looked stitched together with thick black string, pale skin red around those areas. “I look like a rag doll... I guess that’s fitting.”

“Heh, I guess.” Ozel brushed off his rear as he stood as well, glaring at his brother. “So, your rock career ever take off?”

“A bit. It was more of an underground hit than anything. Zidane even featured me in one of his rock star videos.”

“Nice. I’m glad he’s still up there in the porn industry. Sweet man.”

Leif felt mildly lost, but brushed that aside. “Why would you co-star with your brother?”

Resi looked Leif over in distaste. “Everyone needs a gimmick. Like Ron Jeremy.”

“What’s his gimmick,” Leif asked innocently. Ozel snickered while Resi looked at him as if he were crazy. “What? I told you I didn’t look at porn... Was he someone you worked with, Ozel?”

“Naw, he only did straight porn. I’m not much for girls; I want to be the prettiest one on screen.” Ozel grabbed his brother’s arm and started to pull him up the bank. “It’s the end of my shift, and if I can’t get you to work with us in the castle, then at least I’ll come visit once in awhile.”

“No!” Resi pulled his arm away. Unlike the neat curls that adorned Ozel, Resi’s hair hung in shaggy uneven lengths about his face, bangs obscuring one eye.

Ozel sighed, turning, “Resi, please... We both have obviously done wrong. Just give it up, admit to your mistakes, and we’ll work on getting you to a place that won’t be so bad.”

“You didn’t miss me at all.”

They regarded each other quietly for a moments, both faces guarded. “Resi...” Ozel blinked then shook his head, “what the hell?! You left me to go off with that new manager of yours. I had to struggle to find work, until I was well known enough to get offers. You never once thought of me, and don’t pretend that you did. If you had, you would have noticed my pain, and given a damn. No, instead of that you were attracted to the glamour and glitz that he offered you.” Ozel sniffed, eyeing his brother. “I didn’t mind that you had a real talent. And if you had given me the time, I would have did my best to push your singing career ahead. You know me, I’d die for you.” The last he said softly, lips turned into a frown.

“I was stupid... He told me that having you would only drag me down, and that since you were prettier...”

“I am not prettier.”

Leif glanced between the two, heartily entertained by their exchange. His brother never would talk to him like that. Other than a ‘hey squirt’ and a pat on the head. They seemed to really care about each other, despite what had happened. It was obvious that Resi meant something to Ozel, having been ditched or not. Ozel would never tell anyone else that they were prettier than himself.

“I thought you were,” Resi said in a quiet voice. “I still do, and that’s why I believed him when he said that people would only look at you, and ignore me.”

“That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I can’t sing worth beans, and my idea of playing an instrument is pushing play on the stereo remote. Then again, I was the smarter twin.” Ozel smirked, some of his usual composure returning.

“Smart ass, you mean.” Resi pounced his brother again, wrapping his arms around his neck. This time they both managed to stay upright. “I missed you. Don’t let them take me away from you again. Please?”

Ozel returned his twin’s embrace, kissing his hair. “If you care at all about me, you would respect that if I bent the rules for you, I might lose my job. It’ll be quick, I promise I’ll come for you as soon as Marcius says it’s okay.”

Sighing, the darker twin let go, stepping back. “I understand...”

Leif felt that they were mostly done with their discussion, so he didn’t think he would be butting in with his possibly stupid question. “Uhm... Ozel?” When the blonde looked at him, he continued. “This is probably stupid, but since you’re identical twins, you had the same hair color, right?”

“Right.”

“So who’s is the natural color?”

“Mine!” They both said, then glared at each other.

“Oh please, we’re both blondes. You act like a dumb one, I’m just the fun type of blonde.”

“That’s a load of crap. We’ve always had black hair.”

Ozel put his hands on his hips, “have not.”

“Yeah huh.”

“Nuh uh.”

Leif chuckled as they continued on like that for a little bit, wondering just what he had started. Both looked natural on them, he really couldn’t decide... He knew he was more comfortable with his situation, when the thing he pondered most was what his friend’s natural hair color was.