Cold didn’t bother Chen, but when Minseok poked his cheek with a frosty finger, a shiver pattered down his spine. His guardee snickered, slipping out of the way of Chen’s swipe. He blended back into the shadows before sunrise, and Chen touched where the cold lingered on his skin like little . A smile pulled at his lips as the weird-pleasantness fuzzed in his chest.

Ever since they agreed to be prey/partners, he had indulged himself with Minseok’s being. When they weren’t training, they had hugging sessions that he learned were called ‘cuddling’ and ‘snuggling,’ and they talked about things that Chen never thought were important enough to mention to other people but now felt like telling Minseok. Stuff like why he enjoyed watching Earth's sunsets, what music he liked the most, and whether he used lotion or not to have such soft hands (he didn't)—facts that didn't matter in the long scheme of anything now made Chen feel... happy when he saw how happy they made his gaurdee.

As strange as it was, he really liked it. He would ask similar things of Minseok, and the answers engraved into his memory easily, leaving Chen in a chuff or purr at his prey's appreciation when he remembered it later. But sometimes a sensation would branch through his mind and grip his body, and he would nudge for Minseok to distract him.

He didn’t think that his guardee knew—the contentment in his scent or the happy acquiescence to hold him closer told Chen that he didn’t—so at least Minseok didn’t worry. That left Chen to deal with this invisible opponent.

He hadn’t been able to figure out any patterns or reason behind it. He just knew that ‘it’ and the way his mind buzzed until its oscillations turned violent was familiar.

Making a little sigh, Chen looked back out to the grass field. They were practicing Minseok’s camouflaging in the park, and he had to admit that his guardee’s aptitude for controlling aura impressed him. Most demons couldn’t mold or manipulate aura this early in their manifestations as well as Minseok. He still had trouble with determining intents, but he had been improving with training even if all the intents he practiced with were playfully sneaky or eager-to-pounce on Chen’s part—not helpful for simulating combat.

He felt Minseok wandering away, stopping here and there as he meandered further across the field. Chen automatically dropped into a crouch. Sensing his prey’s latest jump, he bunched his muscles and dashed forward. He slowed his pace enough for Minseok to pick up on his movements, then upped his blur with the surroundings. Pride propped a smirk on his face when Minseok did the same and managed to keep up with him. In increments, Chen increased the skill used until he felt that Minseok couldn’t handle any higher and chased him from tree to bench to hill.

His guardee evaded him for forty-five minutes, a new record, so Chen decided to test his limits. Tripling his speed, he shot towards Minseok. His guardee just barely managed to dodge him, staggering, but he managed to catch himself and run. Good.

But Chen wouldn’t let his prey go so easily.

He made a sharp turn straight for his guardee, who just managed to avoid him again but stumbled to the floor. There was no time for Minseok to start moving, and all he could do was duck left or right to avoid him. After about fifteen swipes, Chen grazed Minseok’s arm and skid to a stop. Smelling the charges in the air, he took a moment to reign his electricity back in from its exhilaration before turning around.

“You did really well. I’m actually quite im…”

A human shape stood where Chen had touched Minseok—except the entire left side was blown off. The aura differed too. It was compacted magic devoid of scent and flesh. Chen spun in place, reaching out his senses, looking for the correct silhouette, but Minseok wasn’t anywhere. He dashed to the shape and screamed when he saw its crystalline face, skin in granules of ice, and eyes falsely familiar. His hands lashed out and destroyed the shape out of instinct, but something clung to his fingers, dripping down his skin.

His body stopped. His mind trembled as pictures of demises snapped through at a pace of horror that he couldn’t handle, all of his prey. The buzzing sensation, his enemy, rooted its claws into his chest and seized his body, his focus, his mind. That was when he recognized it as fear.

“Minseok! Where’d you— Minseok, come back!”

“Chen!”

He whipped around and saw another shape jog out from behind a tree, but the air held a mountain and linen smell. He leapt forward, plowing the person down into the grass. Warmth wrapped around him and clutched him close, gentle rubbing his shoulders. Above him, soft reassurances murmured steady and calm, while in Chen’s ear, he heard a fast-beating heart. He buried his senses further, soaking in every little rumble, touch, and sound of Minseok until the frenzy slowed, until the buzz subsided and stopped screaming enough for him to think. He realized that he was crushing Minseok and loosened his grip, his guardee taking in a little gasp.

“Chen, are you okay?”

He didn’t look up. A twinge in his chest gathered his insides and plummeted down, and shame flamed his face. He hadn’t wanted Minseok to ever see such weakness from him. His lack of control over his own mind and actions exposed themselves in such a pitiful show of childish need, and he didn’t even understand why it happened. No, he couldn’t face him.

“Chen, I’m sorry. I thought that I would just prank you a little and surprise you with a technique I made up when Kai gave me the idea. I didn’t know that it would scare you like that.”

Chen shook his head, barely, but he wasn’t sure if it was to Minseok’s apology or to the fact that he didn’t want his guardee to know about his weakness. The enemy clawed at his insides, laughing, and his throat tightened as the same thoughts reverberated in his head.

Disgraceful pathetic sham of a demon.

“Chen, look at me. Please?”

He flinched at the disparity. Minseok still sounded so gentle and patient, and more than wanting to escape from those words, he wanted to see the face of his guardee. Willing his head up, Chen intended for just a glance, but his gaze lingered from eyes to cheek to nose and lips, making sure that each was of flesh, real. Concern twisted each feature.

“Was I wrong? It wasn’t because you were scared?”

Chen lowered his head. That word burned like acid, and he squirmed away from it. But once he neared the edges of Minseok’s embrace, he remembered his promise that he wouldn’t lie to Minseok or mislead him from the truth. His courage to speak though, evaporated. Not out of the last consequence he experienced from actions of his own impulse of righteousness or revenge—he just didn’t want Minseok to judge him for this weakness he had never been able to eradicate.

He recognized it now. It had surfaced briefly after saving his denmate from the tournament, and his commander had allowed him some time off before he actually started any missions. Chen thought that he had learned his lesson, or at least had learned how to subdue the frenzy and keep himself in control. He should’ve known that he hadn’t, and he held Minseok too dear for 'it' to not resurface and taunt him.

“Can you tell me what it was then?”

How befitting that his guardee actually guessed the reason correctly, but Chen couldn’t confirm for him. He curled back into Minseok’s open arms and shook his head.

“Okay, then you don’t have to tell me. Just know that I’m here if you ever want to. And I won’t do the ice dummy without warning you, so don’t worry. I’m here. Relax.”

He shifted to hold one of Chen’s hands, and in that firm grasp, Chen realized that he was trembling. He tightened his grip to make the shaking stop, but Minseok teased it apart instead, pressing his own palms back and forth. The gesture smoothed the fraying ends of his aura with every imprint, and his body sank into comfort against Minseok’s. His eyes blinked closed, and he snuggled a little further into that snowy linen scent mixed with a bit of sweat.

As his mind grew calmer though, he understood a few things. This fear laughed at him as an invasive and intangible enemy. He had let it be back then, but now he had to eliminate it. If he was weak, then he wouldn’t be able to protect Minseok. He needed control over his emotions so that on the off-chance that Minseok was in danger, he would be able to act calmly. Well, calm enough.

The best way to control was to assess the opposition, determine habits and weaknesses, understand them thoroughly. Chen didn’t have much experience with dealing with demons inside of him, ironically, but he knew someone who did.

~~~~~

Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, Chen made his way towards Baekhyun’s apartment. He had entrusted Minseok to Kai and told them both that he needed to investigate something. Even though he theoretically could tell Minseok exactly who he was seeing, he didn’t because he didn’t want his guardee to ask why. This was his own problem to solve, and Chen had his own pride as a demon. If Minseok knew all the chaos that lived in his head, then he might not believe in his abilities anymore, or he might try to defend him despite being more vulnerable. The world of the supernatural was unkind to the weak.

Minseok pouted since he had to leave for a bit but remained unsuspecting. Kai, however, had sent him a concerned glance, to which Chen silently waved that it was nothing to worry about. And it wouldn’t be.

A flicker of aura made him skid to a halt. It came from below, relatively weak compared to most angelics but also familiar. He needed to get to Baekhyun’s as soon as possible—their talks always took at least an hour—but curiosity built inside of him the more he sensed the aura…

Eh, it.

He scaled down the face of building and landed on the streets below, shouldering his way out of an alley. He slipped in between people, not caring whether they gave him looks or not, until he realized the source was indeed familiar.

The demon dog Vivia padded at the side of that silver-haired boy. What was his name again? Oh, Sehun.

The human also stood out in the sea of auras as true neutral, and his aura didn’t lean towards the dark as much as before. He even looked like he was enjoying his little walk with the demon dog as she circled him or bounced ahead of him a few paces. Chen smirked at the fact that he initiated such a brilliant idea.

Curiosity satisfied, he turned back for the rooftops when a bark made him look back. A bullet of transparent fur sped towards him, and he let out a curse and sprinted away. He was busy! He didn’t have to time to talk to the demon dog now! But the humans were too many on the tiny sidewalk and blocking his way, so his back was punted into a wall as Vivia tackled him down. She had phased through all the humans before turning corporeal and attacking him with to the face. Lucky dog.

“Alright, alright. Hi, Vivia. Minseok is at home, and I’m on my way to somewhere so hurry back to your human.”

“Vivi!”

Chen looked out from the demon dog and groaned that now he would have to make small talk with the human, evident in the way the silver-haired’s expression had dropped into horrification. Although, Chen thought that was better than the state he last saw him in.

“Oh, god. I’m really sorry, sir. She’s usually well-behaved. Vivi, get off of him.”

She whimpered and nosed Chen’s cheek. He didn’t understand dog, but he knew a pleading face when he saw one, and he could guess that she probably missed their interaction. Sighing, he nosed her back and patted her head, her tail wagging in response.

“It’s fine. She’s excited.”

He nudged her off him but continued petting her in a kneeling position. The human didn’t say anything right away, and from the corner of his gaze, Chen saw the way the human's expression had opened into interest.

“Do you work with animals a lot?”

Hm, Chen was mildly pleased that this human asked a question that required some amount of logic rather than something prattly.

“No, but I know them well.”

“That’s cool.”

Chen gave Vivia one last pat before standing up. The human was taller than he thought, about the same height as Chanyeol and Kai. His posture stood easy and loose, and his stare looked more out of intrigue than of arrogance despite the way they set on his face.

Chen remembered that Tao and Minseok both said that the blessed one liked this human, and he wondered if the feeling was mutual. An epiphany lit in his mind as realization did—Minseok said that the blessed one was mostly hesitant because of their differing statuses and temporary time they had together. That was similar to Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s problem. Chen hadn’t been able to think of anything helpful, and the fire angel’s worry billowed out like clouds of smoke when Chen had asked him about marking Baekhyun at the last meeting. Maybe this Sehun would have an idea.

“What’re you passionate about?” The human asked.

Chen raised an eyebrow at him. He didn’t expect for him to be bold enough to ask a question first. They were strangers, and unless out of social propriety or personal gain, humans didn’t initiate conversations, much less ones not about money, status, or gossip. Though, Chen supposed that that was not always the case, and he could tell that this human was a curious one. Very well—he would entertain him a little.

“Passion as a goal or as the requirement to repel the stigma of having none?”

“Neither. Passion as something that gives life a reason.”

“Demons don’t have anything like that.”

The human’s eyes widened in surprise before he looked away, playing with his fingers.

“Sorry. I guess I misread…”

Chen didn’t get why he looked so upset. It wasn’t as if he insulted the boy’s existence, but the human shuffled back from him, shrinking despite being stupidly tall. A nudge to his knee made Chen look down, and he made a silent sigh as Vivia shot a look of scolding at him. Fine.

“Do people count?”

“What?”

“Can people count as a passion?”

“Like helping them?”

“Gross. No. I mean individuals.”

Sehun's eyes opened a little more before he nodded.

“Then yes. I have a unit whom I will fight for and… someone I especially like.”

He smiled thinking of Minseok. The human nodded, and the edge of his mouth curved up. Ah, Chen almost forgot.

“I answered your question. You answer mine. First, do you have someone you especially like?”

The smile wiped to shock, but after a moment, Sehun shrugged. 

“Yeah, I do.”

“What would you do if you knew that the time you had together was limited and that you couldn’t be with them even though you both liked each other?”

The human seized up, the movement visible to Chen’s eyes. He didn’t break him, did he? There was no way that he broke three different humans in the span of one mission. Vivia padded closer and pawed at his knees, but Sehun didn’t react as he stared at the ground with wide eyes. Just as Chen cursed in his head, the human took a breath, looked up, and locked his gaze.

“What I would exactly do depends on the circumstances, and that situation already sounds tricky. But the