Spirit Animals- Pumpkin Spice 2

It was Friday night and everything was peaceful and quiet at Gabriel’s apartment. It was even so quiet that you could hear a needle drop to the ground… that didn’t last long though. Around midnight the front door flew wide open with a bang as two tangled figures stumbled inside. It was Gabriel and Zane, who were fiercely making out. The albino closed the door with his foot as he continued kissing the brunette. Somehow they made it to Gabriel’s bed and clumsily fell onto it. As Zane crawled on top of Gabriel the brunette was able to pull back for a few minutes. “Z-Zane, t-the light-“ He managed to say in between his pants, but was cut off by the albino’s hungry kisses. “Screw the light.” Zane whispered in the brunette’s ear before nibbling on his earlobe. What a strange night it had been, Gabriel never would have guessed things would end up like this.

~~~

The date had already started as a disaster. When Zane arrived that night at 7 p.m, the brunette was far from ready. He was covered in paint and was wearing some dirty clothes. He had obviously been painting and had totally lost track of the time. So he quickly took a shower and put on some fresh clothes. By the time Gabriel walked back into the living room, he found Zane looking curiously at his paintings. The albino looked up with a smirk and said teasingly. “Ah, you don’t look like a finger painting anymore. Great! Let’s go then.” With flushed cheeks the brunette followed Zane and half an hour later the duo was sitting in a cosy little restaurant.

As they were chit chatting a clumsy guy passed by their table and spilled nearly his entire beer on Gabriel.  This was when the second disaster of that night happened. Zane glared daggers at the guy as the brute just walked away without even apologising. Gabriel, who saw the look on the albino’s face, tried to prevent what he feared would happen. “Z-Zane, i-it’s ok-“

“Hey! You drunk klutz! You could at least apologise for spilling your drink on my date!” Oh god… Just as Gabriel expected the guy turned around and walked back to their table. “WHAT did you say, you runt?” The guy said as he hovered intimidating over the albino. Zane however, was far from intimidated. “What? So you’re not only ugly and blind, but also deaf? I said: apologise to my date.” His tone was as sharp as a knife and Gabriel didn’t dare to say a word. The man looked disgusted at the duo as he said with a condescending tone “Ugh, disgusting homo’s...” Then suddenly a twisted smirk spread on the man’s lips. “You want me to apologise to your little gay friend here?” Everything after that happened so fast that Gabriel hardly could register it. Suddenly the man grabbed the bottle of wine, which was standing on their table and poured its entire content over poor Gabriel. “As if!” This of course wasn’t appreciated by Zane, who jumped out of his chair and punched the guy right in his face. The drunk man yelped in pain and held his broken nose. “Son of a-!” Gabriel’s eyes widened when the guy suddenly grabbed Zane by his shirt and was about to hit him. Zane braced himself and was ready to evade the hit, when suddenly someone pulled him out of the guy’s grip. He was pushed out of the way and saw to his amazement, how Gabriel grabbed the man’s wrist, stopping his attack, before kicking him right in the stomach, making the guy fall through his knees. Zane, who was still registering what had just happened, blinked surprised his eyes as he looked at Gabriel and noticed the killer look in his eyes. “Wow… nice karate move, pumpkin!” Gabriel, who seemed to snap out of his killer mood, looked surprised at the albino as his cheeks heated up. “Oh, uhm i-it’s not a karate move…” Of course it’s needless to say that they were kicked out of the restaurant.

~~~

Once they were outside, Gabriel pulled out his wine soaked shirt and dried off his wet hair with the small bits of fabric that were still dry. “Ugh, I smell like an alcoholic now…” Zane smiled wryly as he took off his jacket before giving it to the brunette. “Despite how much I like to look at that fine bare chest of yours… I would hate it if my date would catch a cold, so here.” Gladly, and with flushed cheeks, Gabriel accepted the offer and put it on. “Thanks…” A sigh  escaped Zane’s lips as he ran a hand through his hair. “Well, now that we’re kicked out, how about we go and get some hot dogs or taco’s or whatever you prefer.” Gabriel smiled and casually replied. “I like pizza.” A small smirk spread on the albino’s lips as he looked approvingly at the brunette. “You’ve got a great taste in junk food, pumpkin. Luckily I know a good place for pizza lovers!”

~~~

Unfortunately this was when the third disaster took place… Later that evening the duo was enjoying their pizza and a relaxed conversation, when suddenly the disaster, or rather the disasters arrived. As the two men were eating their pizza’s a bunch of teenage school girls walked inside the pizzeria. They were all giggling and chatting away, when one of them suddenly stopped midsentence and gasped. “Oh my god! Isn’t that the cute waiter from Café au Lait?!” Her friends stopped chatting as well and all looked at who their friend was pointing at. “Oh my god yeah! That’s Gabriel!”

“Oooh and look! He’s got a hot friend with him!”
“C’mon let’s go and say hey!” The duo had sadly heard their conversation and both reacted differently. While Zane’s earlier smirk and energetic behaviour were replaced by a glare and a cold attitude, Gabriel looked like he wanted to do nothing more than to hide under the table. “Can’t we just jump out of the window really quick?” The albino asked annoyed. Gabriel wanted to reply, but was cut off when the girls arrived at their table. “Oh my god Gabriel hey! We didn’t expect to see you here!”

“Mind if we sit down with you guys?” But before the men could even reply, the girls sat down. Two next to Zane and one next to Gabriel. The albino sighed and turned his head towards the window as the girls tried to start a conversation with him. “We’ve never seen you here before, what’s your name?”

“Your hair is really cool by the way!”

“Uh huh! And your piercings and earrings too!” Zane completely ignored them however and looked outside. The girl next to Gabriel huffed as she clung herself onto the brunette’s arm. “I still prefer Gabriel, he’s so handsome!” She said with a sugar sweet voice, trying to act all cute, but Zane honestly found her behaviour disgusting. Suddenly the girl sniffed and quirked up an eyebrow. “You stink of alcohol!” Gabriel laughed uneasily. “Yeah, I’m sorry. Somebody spilled wine on me earlier.” The girl gasped, overdramatically( in Zane’s opinion) and clung even harder onto the brunette’s arm. “Aw, poor Gabriel!” When she ran her fingers through his hair, the brunette flinched. “Even your hair is sticky.” Suddenly she ran her hands all over his upper body, making the guy blush as he shyly started to stutter. “W-what are you doing?!” The girl however ignored his question and kept on touching him. “It’s weird that your jacket didn’t get sticky though.” When she squeezed his arm, she started giggling. “Oh, you’ve got such nice arms Gabriel! They’re surprisingly muscled!” Zane, who had been watching the girl closely through her reflection in the window, saw how unhappy and uncomfortable Gabriel was looking. He could no longer bare it and decided that enough was enough. “Get your filthy little paws off him. Can’t you see he doesn’t like it.” The albino said with a low voice, without turning around. The girl looked at him in surprise and as she did her sweet little angel mask turned into a bitch face.

“Mind your own business, if he doesn’t like it then he has to say that for him self.” She then turned towards the brunette again and moved her face closer in. “I can do whatever I want.” She mumbled as she closed her eyes, preparing herself to kiss him. What she didn’t expect however was that Zane grabbed the menu, before shoving it into her face. “You’re wrong about that missy. He’s MY date and NOBODY is kissing him as long as I’m around.” This of course pissed the girl off. With a loud hiss she slapped the menu away and got up. “Shut up! You dirty homo, I won’t  let you turn my Gabriel into one of you!” Zane huffed and said with a loud sneer. “What are you going to do? Try to whore your way into his pants?” The girl now totally lost her cool and Gabriel noticed how she was transforming into stage 2. With a frustrated growl she grabbed Gabriel’s drink before splashing its content into the albino’s face. “Shut your mouth!!!”

The whole pizzeria went suddenly quiet as the other customers looked shocked at the scene in front of them. Gabriel stared at Zane with wide eyes. He wanted to call out to him, but was unable to. Slowly the albino turned his head as water ran down his face. To Gabriel’s surprise he saw that his date was transforming as well. “No, you shut the hell up bitch” He said with a stone cold voice, his reptile like eyes were glowing and as he spoke Gabriel noticed all the razor sharp teeth in his mouth. “You’re a cat right?” The albino continued, looking at the girl with predator eyes. The girls, who had been silently sitting next to him, got up and moved cowardly away. The cat girl as well had suddenly lost her tongue and looked completely gob smacked. As the albino huffed Gabriel noticed how the skin under Zane’s eyes was turning into scales. “You should know your place.” He said with a condescending tone as he leaned over the table, hovering intimidating over the girl. Her friends shuddered in fear as they whispered. “He’s a high rank!”

“Wrong.” He whispered “I’m an outcast.” The cat girl’s eyes widened in horror as she looked at Zane’s mouth, more specifically at his teeth. As he grinned, they were even more visible. A chill ran down Gabriel’s spine as a low reptile growl escaped the albino’s mouth. Now he knew for sure what his spirit animal was. Crocodile… Suddenly the girls hair stood on edge as she hissed at him, baring her little fangs at Zane. “I-I’m not s-scared of you!” She said bravely as she raised her clawed hand, ready to slash it at the crocodile. But before she could hit her target, a hand grabbed her by the wrist. The girl blinked surprised her eyes, before turning to look who it was and gasped. It was Gabriel and he had transformed as well. His normally tanned skin was now a greyish blue with pale spots and he had gills in his neck. “W-what are-“ But the brunette silenced her with a glare “First of all, Zane can’t turn me into something I already am, because I’m gay and I’m on a date with him. And secondly, what you did is really rude. I swear that if you lay a finger on him… I won’t be so friendly.” He let go of the girls wrist before turning to look at Zane. “Let’s go.” The albino was so surprised by the brunette’s behaviour that he just transformed back to his human form. “Uhm, sure..” He was even more surprised when Gabriel grabbed his hand and leaded him outside. But just before they left, Zane glared deadly at the girls (The other guests and the owner had suddenly disappeared) and said loud and clear. “Tell anyone and I’ll find you.” Then the door closed shut behind them, leaving the tree terrified girls all by themselves.
~~~

Sometime later the duo was walking silently next to each other in a nearby park. Gabriel glanced secretly at Zane since he hadn’t said a word ever since they had left the pizzeria. The brunette wanted to say something, but was cut off when Zane started talking. “So… This must be your worst date ever I guess…” Gabriel smiled uneasily as he honestly replied “Well… This date sure has been something. But this is also my first date so I can’t really say it’s my worst.” Zane chuckled softly before he turned to look at the brunette with a surprisingly gentle smile. “To be honest this is my first date as well.” Gabriel’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the albino. “Somehow that surprises me…” Zane chuckled and shrugged. “Looks can be deceiving.” Another silence was followed after that. Yet again Gabriel secretly glanced at the albino, wondering if he should ask about what’s on his mind. Eventually he mustered up all his courage and tried to casually say. “So uhm… You’re an outcast…”

“Yep” Zane casually replied. “And you’re  a high rank pretending to be a middle rank.” Gabriel looked down and nodded his head. “Yeah.” A heavy sigh rolled over the albino’s lips. “I guess this is the part where we tell each other our tragic back-story and then fall madly in love.” Gabriel looked at the albino with a serious expression. “We could yes… I wanted to know more about you anyway.” Zane looked intensely at the brunette, before suddenly saying with a sly smirk. “Ok then, if you tell me your story I’ll tell you mine.”Gabriel looked like he was seriously thinking about it, when he suddenly started talking. “I was born as the only official son of the Azzurro family, I have a half brother however, his name is Raphael. We share the same mother, but his father was our mothers body guard… They had an affair. Needless to say my father fired him. Raphael however could stay, but had to be raised by the servants. A year later I was born and as we grew up we got closer and closer, I was quite happy back then… but things changed when I turned 21. My parents suddenly decided it was time for me to get married and get a high ranked job in the army… When I found out, I-I felt like I was suffocating… I had found out a long time ago that I’m gay … and a job in the military… that’s not a life for me… I wanted to be an artist… still do. I thought I was going to be unhappy for the rest of my life… So, for the first time in my life I refused to do what my parents told me to. Of course they were furious and threatened to kick me out of the house…that’s when my brother and I decided to run away.” A soft sigh escaped the brunette’s lips as he sadly looked at the ground. “After that my parents accused my brother of kidnapping me and because of that he became an outcast… and sadly we had to separate, because Raphael was scared that they’d find me through him. He’s now living in Magia and I live and work here.” As Gabriel was talking Zane didn’t say a word and the albino’s silence started to worry him. When he turned to look at him, he saw how Zane was looking at him with a surprised expression.

“Wow, ok…Didn’t expect you to tell me all of that…” A heavy sigh rolled over his lips as he ran a hand through   his hair. “Guess I’ve got no choice, but tell you my story… Though I don’t  really like to talk about it.” He took a deep breath before he started talking with a serious tone. “I’m the only son of the Weiss family  and just like your parents did mine have high expectations of me as well, my dad specifically. I always had to be the perfect son, a goodie two shoes. Ugh I hated it. I think you can imagine I never met my father’s expectations and whenever he was disappointed in me… he beat me up. My mother always tried to protect me from that brute… poor woman got beaten herself. My father was a difficult man and very hard to please, he was especially displeased when he found out his only son was gay…” A disgust look appeared on the albino’s face as he was talking. “That bastard beaded the crap out of me that day, said he was going to send me to a mental hospital so they could cure me from my ‘illness’. For 25 Years I did everything that bastard asked of me, for my father who claimed to be perfect and sinless… and then one day I found out that he did nothing but visit prostitutes behind my poor mother’s back… When I saw him there, laying in bed with that whore… I, something in me just snapped… and I killed him.” Gabriel’s eyes widened in surprise when hearing that. “Of course I got caught, that prostitute gave me away to the police and I was send to prison.”
“What about your mother?”

“My mom? She came to visit me every day and thanked me for killing that bastard. She said she didn’t actually mind if I was gay, she’s quite open minded you see. I didn’t stay there for long though… I escaped after one month, my mom gave me clothes and money and that’s all I needed.” The albino turned to look at Gabriel with a small smile. “Remember when we first met in that alley?”
“Yeah”

“I had just escaped back then, that’s why I was on the run.” Gabriel’s jaw dropped when hearing that. “No way!” The albino snickered and nodded his head. “Yep.” The brunette stared at him for a moment as if he just realised something. “Is that why you changed your appearance so much? So they wouldn’t find you?” Zane nodded his head, before he suddenly pulled the collar of his turtleneck shirt down. Revealing his spirit animal sign. “And I keep this hidden all the time so they won’t find out that I’m a high rank.” Gabriel looked fascinated at the sign. “That’s a difficult place to hide something.”  Zane sighed overdramatically as he pulled his collar back up. “Sadly that’s true… Speaking of signs… where’s yours shark whale boy?” The brunette’s eyes widened in shock as he looked at his date. “H-how did you know my spirit animal is a whale shark!?”

“Jeez , I don’t know. Maybe that greyish blue skin with white dots? Or maybe the gills hmm…”  The albino said with a sarcastic tone as he rolled his eyes. He then slowly leaned in closer, a sly smirk decorating his features “So? Where is it… your sign? “ For some reason the brunette started blushing. Shyly he looked away, which made Zane only even more curious. “N-not telling you.” Gabriel bluntly replied, surprising the albino. “Why not?” Suddenly he got the hint and started smirking. “Oooh, I get it~ Is it on an embarrassing spot?” The blush on the brunette’s cheeks turned even darker. “M-maybe...” The smirk on Zane’s lips widened even more as he leaned in closer, their noses were almost touching. “Well where is it pumpkin? Or do you want me to find it myself?~” Gabriel’s cheeks couldn’t possibly turn any darker as he quickly shook his head. “No!”

“Well then tell me.” The brunette shyly looked away as he whispered. “It…it’s on the inside… of my upper leg.” When Zane didn’t reply the brunette got worried and looked up and saw to his surprise a blushing Zane. “Damn….That’s hot. I gotta see that for myself!” Startled Gabriel blinked his eyes as he looked at the albino. “Huh?” Zane however didn’t waste any time, he grabbed the brunette by the hand before dragging him along. “Let’s go to your place.”

“For what!?"
“For what?! I want to see that kinky sign of yours of course!” The albino said with a sly smirk as he dragged poor Gabriel all the way to his apartment.
~~~

As Gabriel feverishly searched for his key in his pocket, he could feel Zane staring at him. What am I nervous for? That he didn’t know himself. What he did know though, was that his heart skipped a beat when the albino placed his hands against the door capturing the brunette in between his arms. “What’s the matter pumpkin? Nervous?~” A cute blush spread on Gabriel’s cheeks when he felt Zane’s hot breath brush against his ear. He subtly gulped as he tried to calmly say. “N-no…” Zane softly snickered before whispering. “Sure, whatever you say.” This made the brunette slightly feel irritated. He turned around, wanting to give the albino a piece of his mind, but froze when he saw how close he was. As Gabriel stared into Zane’s green yellow eyes he felt his strength leaving his body. Shyly he looked down at the ground till Zane tilted up his head, a smug smirk was decorating his features. “No need to get shy now, we’ve already shared our first kiss.” When hearing this Gabriel blushed furiously. T-that sneaky guy! It was then that Gabriel decided to turn the tables as he grabbed the albino by his collar. Zane opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but was silenced when Gabriel crashed his lips on Zane’s. The albino’s eyes widened in surprise.

He needed about three seconds to fully register what was going on. Once that was settled the albino decided to go along with the brunette as he returned his passionate kiss. As Gabriel wrapped his arms around Zane, the albino deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into the brunette’s mouth, He acts all clumsy and shy,  but he can be quite bold. Zane then decided he liked that about Gabriel. As the two were making out, Zane unzipped Gabriel’s jacket as he slid his hand alongside Gabriel’s tanned mid riff. A pleasant chill ran down the brunette’s spine as their bare skin made contact. “Zane…” The brunette whispered his name almost lovingly as he slipped his hand under the albino’s shirt, tracing over his back muscles and shoulder blades. Their kisses were getting more and more heated, so when Zane pulled back Gabriel groaned in protest which made the albino snicker. “If you don’t want to traumatise your neighbours then I suggest we continue this inside.” Gabriel wiped his mouth and nodded, before grabbing his key and opening the door.
Somewhere along the way the two had started making out again. Clumsily the entangled duo made its way to Gabriel’s bed before crashing on top of it. As they were making out, clothes were thrown all over the room. Suddenly Zane pulled back and whispered with a low voice into the brunette’s ear. “Now nobody can interrupt our date… So brace yourself pumpkin, because I won’t let you sleep tonight~” At that moment Gabriel wondered if he should have fled, but he soon realised it was too late for that.

~~~

The next day Zane awoke as a familiar voice hummed a soft melody. Slowly the albino opened his eyes as he groaned in protest. The curtains were open, letting the bright sunshine inside. Wait… This isn’t my room… He thought as he looked around the unfamiliar room. Suddenly he remembered what had happened the night before and realised almost at the same time that a certain someone wasn’t lying next to him in the bed. “Gabriel?”

“Don’t worry, I’m here.” Surprised the albino snapped his head towards the voice and saw to his surprise that the brunette was sitting in a corner behind an easel. He had some paint on his cheek, which Zane thought was absolutely adorable. “What are you doing?” He asked with a yawn as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. The brunette peaked from behind the easel as he casually replied. “I’m painting.” And then returned his attention back to his painting. “So what are you painting?” The albino curiously asked as he got out of the bed and put on his underwear, before walking over to the brunette. “Uhm…” For some reason Gabriel started blushing as he shyly averted his eyes. Needless to say Zane got even more curious when seeing his face. What the hell is he painting? The albino thought as he peeked at the canvas. “Wow, is that….me?” Amazed, and slightly embarrassed, he looked at his own sleeping face. “You know, I wasn’t able to tell you this yesterday, but you’re really good.” Gabriel looked surprised up at the albino, his bright blue eyes seemed to light up. “You think so?” He softly asked with a small smile. “Think so? I know so!”

The albino said enthusiastically as he gently placed his hand on the brunette’s shoulder. Gabriel rested his head against Zane as he critically looked at his painting. “It’s far from done… but I’m glad you already like it.” While listening to the brunette, Zane smirked smugly. “Of course I like it, you were able to depict my natural beauty and sexiness.” When hearing this Gabriel couldn’t help but to laugh. “You can be so silly!” Zane smiled warmly as he ruffled the brunette’s hair. “And you can be so cute.” Gabriel puffed up his cheeks as he looked up at the albino. “You know, a guy doesn’t think of ‘cute’ as a compliment.” A soft snicker rolled over the albino’s lips as he bended down and kissed Gabriel’s forehead. “Well to bad, because I’m gonna keep calling you that, pumpkin.”

“Why do you even keep calling me that?” A sly smirk spread on Zane’s lips as he leaned his face in closer and whispered with a low voice. “Because you’re as sweet as one! By the way, and this is no joke, but your skin tastes like pumpkin spice.” Gabriel’s face lit up like a burning candle when the albino suddenly licked his cheek. “Z-Zane!” The albino snickered mischievously as he licked his lips. “Mmm, see. You do taste like pumpkin spice!” Gabriel’s already red cheeks turned even darker as he tried to push Zane away. “I-idiot!” As Gabriel looked at the albino’s laughing face, he thought they still had a long way to go, but he knew none the less that things would work out all right for them in the end.
The End.