Nathan listened as Keith explained what had happened with the cops and what his plan had been for dealing with them.

"You can control people with your magic?" Once the psychic finished.

"Yeah," Keith answered. "It's not easy, and it's painful after. I feel like shit, now, and probably will for awhile. I've a nasty headache, too."

"Okay," Nathan said. "Master Torzin doesn't like being called 'Gabe', by the way. Where's your clothes and stuff?"

Keith gestured into the family room, so Nathan walked over and looked through it, then pulled up the voicemail left on the psychic's phone and listened to it. He returned to Keith.

"Master Torzin says you'd better never call him that again," Nathan set the phone down beside his friend. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah," Keith responded. "I just need to rest a bit."

Nathan nodded and walked off, and Keith returned to rubbing his head and trying to manage the pain. When Nathan returned, he was carrying a pillow and blanket, which he placed beside Keith.

"Thanks," Keith said.

"Get some rest while I make us something to eat," Nathan said as the psychic wrapped himself up in the blanket and lay his head on the pillow. "Why'd you tell them I'm a twink?"

"A twink is a slender, fit or toned guy," Keith said. "With little or no body hair. You're muscled, but you're also lean. Definitely a twink."

"Don't you have to be gay to be a twink?"

"Or bi."

"I'm not bi, either."

"Right," Keith said. "Well, don't worry about it too much, Nathan. It was done just to get rid of them, and they're unlikely to say anything to anyone because of my spell."

"You made sure they know I'm the top, right?" Nathan asked, and Keith gave him a bewildered look. "Also, that would make you a twink."

Nathan walked off, that time to prepare dinner. He made lasagna, then served it to Keith and ate some himself before returning to the forge to work, confused by why Keith would do that when he knew it obviously wasn't true. Deciding that it was Keith deciding to play to one of his personal fantasies, he decided to ignore it unless it affected him later on. At least, after punching Keith at least once, but that had to wait until the psychic had recovered from the effects of using mind control magics.

He spent the rest of the evening and a fair portion of the night creating five amulets, each using some of his blood, something he lacked desire of adding. It required negating his Health and wounding himself, and Nathan was no fan of injuries.

But the design his familiar gave him required the blood of a demigod from their homeworld.

When he finished, Nathan made his way back to the main building and found Keith sleeping, though the psychic had moved to the couch. He walked over and punched Keith in the face as hard as he could.

"Ow!" Keith exclaimed. "Nathan! Seriously? Punches can still hurt, even if they don't damage my body!"

"That's for calling me your boyfriend," Nathan said, then held out one of the amulets. "I finished the amulets. This one is yours."

Keith examined the mithril amulet hanging from a mithril chain. It had been shaped into fox with a man standing behind it. A naked man, whose privates were covered by the fox's body. Keith marveled at the craftsmanship, especially as he could tell the man was supposed to be him. He wasn't sure the purpose of the design, but it was still beautiful to him. The man and fox combo were surrounded by a ring with a set of runes etched into it, and it was to that which the chain was fixed.

"Which one's yours?" He asked Nathan as he pulled the amulet on.

"This one," Nathan pulled one free from the rest and pulled it on.

Much like with Keith's amulet, that one had a naked man on it, only it was quite obviously meant to represent Nathan. In front of him, a phoenix stretched its wings, its head blocking the privates, its wingtips touching the ring.

"Why are there animals on them?" Keith asked.

"I started making them to look like us," Nathan said. "Then realized that I probably shouldn't, but still wanted to. But we can't exactly go around wearing naked people around our necks. Your training said that nudity shouldn't be displayed in art around our necks. Ancient art, maybe, but not modern art or jewelry. So I covered them up with animals and creatures. You get a fox, I get a phoenix, Samantha gets a wolf."

"And the other two?" Keith looked at them.

"Don't have people on them," Nathan answered, holding the amulets up. "One has a bear, and the other has a fish."

"…why?"

"Because I couldn't think of something else," Nathan told him. "Now get dressed. We're heading out."

"Alright," Keith said. "Let's head back to your place."

"No," Nathan said. "We're heading to yours."

"No," Keith said. "Absolutely not."

"Yes," Nathan said. "Absolutely. You told me about how much of an asshole your father is while explaining things. We're going to force you to confront him."

"I'd rather not," Keith said, and Nathan cracked his knuckles. "Alright, let's go."

Nathan nodded, then waited for Keith to get dressed. They went to his car, where he stored the amulets in his glove box. Then, he drove, following Keith's direction.

"It's late," Keith muttered. "Past midnight."

"We can go to your secret stash later," Nathan told him. "We'll confront your father now, head back to my place, get some sleep, eat, then head to your secret stash to grab what you need. And don't bother trying to get in and change your computer's wallpaper or whatever. I already know it's probably a nude of me."

"I don't have any nudes of you."

"So you claim," Nathan muttered.

Nathan followed Keith's directions to the psychic's house and parked on the curb. As Keith got out, the demigod did as well, noting that while the house wasn't a cheap one, its paint needed a new coat, its gutter needed cleaning, and its lawn needed more than a little care.

"You don't need to come in," Keith said.

"The cracking of the knuckles wasn't to intimidate you," Nathan stated as he began walking up to the front. "It was to let you know why I'm coming with you."

Keith frowned for a moment, then his eyes widened and he hurried to the front door, unlocking it and allowing them inside. His father was sitting on the couch, watching T.V. When they entered, the man looked at them, then glared at Keith as he stood.

"Where the fuck you been, boy?" He asked. "And who the fuck is this? You know you aren't allowed to have anyone over. You disappear ever since that incident at school without a fucking word. I ought to-"

"I'm the fucking boyfriend who's going to break the fucking neck of yours, you say one more fucking word," Nathan glared, and Keith's father stumbled back under the intensity of it. "Keith survived a fucking attack, he doesn't need your fucking shit. Now shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down, before I break your fucking legs."

Keith's father sat.

"Not one more fucking word," Nathan said. "Got it, you fucking asshole?"

The man nodded.

"My room's upstairs," Keith led Nathan to the stairs, and the demigod looked back.

"And he likes it when I pound his ass with my cock and pump him full of my cum!"

Nathan followed Keith up the stairs as the psychic did his best to not laugh or stare in shock. As soon as they entered Keith's room, the psychic started laughing, staring at Nathan while shaking his head.

"Wow," he said. "And I thought you had an issue with that!"

"I do," Nathan grumbled. "But you told me before that your father hates you for being gay and claims you'll never manage to get with anyone. You also said he thinks you'll only ever manage to find someone to suck off, and that no one would want to ever touch that ass of yours like a lover would. You also said he said you'd never find someone hot, attractive, or rich, and that you'd probably get an STD the first time you ever had sex. You also said-"

"I thought you tuned me out whenever I talked about my father?" Keith asked in shock.

Nathan thought for a few moments, then shrugged. Keith sometimes talked about his father, mostly when he thought Nathan wasn't listening, because it acted as a form of catharsis for the mage. It helped him with his issues.

"I sometimes listened," Nathan said. "He hurt my friend."

"His face when you glared," Keith snorted. "I'm glad I've never been on that side of your anger before. That look made it clear you weren't human and judgment day was here."

"What is it you need from here?" Nathan asked.

"Just a couple of things," Keith answered.

As the psychic went through a few things, Nathan looked around the room. It was relatively plain, with just a single computer, some electronic toys spread out across a desk in various states of assembly or disassembly, and a few anime posters, in addition to a dresser and the bed.

When Keith finished packing things into a bag, he beckoned for Nathan to follow, and the pair made their way downstairs, where the psychic's father was waiting with a shotgun.

"Seriously?" Nathan asked. "Pull that trigger and I will fucking kill you."

"I told that faggot to never bring another one into my house," Keith's father said. "I told him I'd kill both of them. Both of you."

He pulled the trigger, then stared with wide eyes as his bullets impacted a white barrier.

"You obviously had to face that terror," Nathan took a step forward, and the man fell backwards. "To pull a trigger against me. I made it clear with a single look I wasn't human. My father is life… and I am revoking yours."

He took another step forward, that time moving as quickly as he could to make it seem as if he'd teleported from beside Keith to right in front of the man.

"Go to fucking hell," he held out a hand, then blasted the man's head with force magic, the attack destroying the head and the floor beneath, breaking the foundation below as well. He turned to Keith. "Come on."

He left and Keith followed, and they made their way to his care, where Nathan called his father as he began driving.

"It's two in the morning," his father complained.

"Keith's father is no longer with us," Nathan said. "He thought it was a good idea to pull a gun on us. So I blew off his head. Get someone out here to clean it up?"

"What's the address?" His father sighed, and Keith gave it. "I'll contact someone. Why did he pull a gun on you two?"

"He hates gays," Nathan said. "And Keith told him I was his boyfriend. Is Samantha up? I want to kiss her in front of Keith to remind him what I'm into."

"She's waiting for you," his father told him. "You're on speakerphone, actually. She can hear this."

"Samantha," Nathan said. "Get your ass in bed and go to sleep. You are carrying a baby. You need to get some fucking sleep."

"I'll go to bed when you're back home," she said. "And how did you react, to Keith claiming you were his boyfriend?"

"I punched him," Nathan answered. "Hard. He swore at me. I don't think he's a masochist. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes. At least be in bed when I get there. It's not good to miss sleep while you're pregnant. I read you that book."

"I know," she said. "I'll make up for it by sleeping in."

"Okay," he grunted. "We'll be there in around fifteen minutes. Good night."

He ended the call.

"You're the one who told my father that."

"It's not true," Nathan said. "You know that. I know that. Your father obviously didn't. I can't wait until Samantha's recovered from her pregnancy. We have a lot to make up on."

"That's your fault," Keith said, then stared out the window. "I'd forgotten how easily killing people came to you. You just up and blasted his head to bits."

"What else was I supposed to do?" Nathan asked. "He shot me and my friend. If he'd shot Samantha, I'd have tortured him first."

"I know," Keith snorted. "You definitely would have tortured him for shooting Samantha."