Hide wondered what it was like to feel guilt about the things he does. Normally he would just do anything he wanted and blame everyone else when it does not go his way. It never mattered he was already at what most would consider a low point, thus did it really matter if he stole?

It worked for him most of his life. When he got taken in by that man, and when he was collared at this awful mansion, guilt for anything was the furthest thing from his mind.

Would it be a painful emotion to feel guilt?

Would it just be another feeling he could ignore without much thought?

All his life he could get by without worrying about such minor things. For people like Matthew, Hide felt sadness yet also a relief when he successfully pushed away from him away. Matthew should not hold out for him, the man had a chance for much better things.

Hide had the keys that weighted so much rattling in his pocket. Stolen from his lover after a wild, unrepressed night of sex and passion.

Hide felt… old.

He hated ageing and had made a vow several years ago to avoid such things. It was why he had stopped counting once he hit his 27th birthday. It was a successful venture, and he had never felt a day over 20 anyway so that number mattered very little.

However now with the pressure in his chest, the ache in his legs, he felt even older than his actual age.

Loukas trusted him, Loukas loved him unconditionally yet once again, Hide saw the time was right, and he took advantage.

He thought he could change for the better. Hide believed could be something different, but once again, he had to prove he was no better than a street rat. He stole and lied to get what he wanted.

He tried not to dwell on those thoughts as he descended the stairs. The ventis was almost blinded him by the time he neared the bottom of those stairs. Despite his guilt, he felt a stronger, more insatiable drive.

“ENTER THE MACHINE”

An instruction that had permeated his dreams and his mind as it forced him to descend those steps.

Step by step.

Clop by clop of his bare hooved feet.

It was unlike the usual instructions he had received from the people of this mansion previously.

It was always "do this" or feel pain.

"Don’t do that," or pain

But these instructions in his mind were different. It was, "do it cus YOU wanted to do it."

"Do it" or the urge will never go away.

At the bottom of the steps, he saw that entrance.

Of meat and metal.

Of bone and steel.

Spewing that noxious red smog through the pipes and into the sky beyond the ceiling of the mansion. The meat pulsated and bulged. The pipes rumbled and leaked in an odd rhythm.

It was already beautiful.

To think, ancient dead people can make a machine like this, and so far no one could make heads or tails of it.

No one but him.

He admired the metal.

The pipes, the cogs, the hinges, the sounds.

Everything about it was beautiful, and it all beckoned him…

TO ENTER

Ventis spewed out of the entrance into his eyes, causing them to water in irritation.

As he approached, he then heard that dull, apathetic voice from behind him.

“You are going to enter that again?” she asked

Hide tilted his head to see Carole near the door, giving him a lazy eye, as if his very existence bores her...

Bitch.

“Yeah, and? What you’re gonna do about it?” he said with a tease.

Her expression, as usual, did not change as she glanced up and down at him and said nothing.

“How's your new girlfriend, hot and heavy? Or soft whimsy with a former ex,” Hide at this point wanted to get under her skin. Anything to distract from the key that was burning a hole in his pocket.

Her gaze was ice, which took him off guard. It was so, unlike that time they spent in the city earlier where they just enjoyed the sights of a crumbling thing.

“You know I have little interest in such things,” she said brushing him off, “Thou... why are you entering that machine? Do you even know why you are doing it? Liar.”

“Liar, wow. You suck with insults, Queen bitch.” he did not want to answer her, he simply did not. He knew he was being unreasonably hostile, but… Something scared him.. and he did not know what.

The machine called his name, and he had to enter.

Why were his legs shaking at the thought of going in?

He wanted to do this... right?

She steps forward and pokes his chest. He does everything in his power not to slap that hand away.

He should turn back... go back to bed and forget what he was planning to do.

Loukas would rather wake up beside him, right?

“Whatever happens, it changes nothing. This city is on its last legs. The host has no interest in continuing this. The only thing keeping this palace alive is that machine. So ask again... What are you planning to do with it?”

“None of your beeswax,” he said stubbornly.

He could not do this. Hide shook and felt sick. He did not want to betray Loukas. He trusted him.

Much to his increasing frustrations, his voice came out way too timid. "I'm... I was going upstairs later.. too early to be out of bed anyway."

He… He wanted to forget about all this and snuggle up to Loukas the rest of the day. The afterglow of a good fuck should last all day. Why was he ruining that? He could ask for another good ass fucking and skip breakfast, lunch and diner.

He should do that, that’s was what he truly wanted.

Carole tilted her head and looked him in the eye. She turned to the machine behind him, before giving it a look and muttered, “Locus ... ethanisia cupio. Modo video. Ut caprae et ingenii parum ad rem facere in pauperes sordidum opus”

“Huh, I don’t speak gibberish,” Hide said flatly.

Carole shrugs her shoulders, “I don’t speak to the stubborn….. Bet you can't even fix a single thing of that."

"Wh-what?"

Her tone changed. "Hm, doubt you can even deal with the basic wires. You talk big, but here you are hesitating.. probably didn't even know what to do."

Hide glared at the angel girl as he shook with fury. Who the hell does she think she is?

She continued, "I mean it is very complicating. shame you are not so bright in that."

Coming here giving him a lecture. Saying he did not know what he was doing. That he did not know his machines. How dare she?! Screw her.

He already felt guilty enough for hurting the one person who loved him. He did not need her looking down on him.

Is that what she was doing? Looking at him with disgust? As if he is so damn below her, she can not even muster anything but boredom. Is that it?

She despised him.

Is that it?

Is that it?

He gritted his teeth, and he gave her one last glare as he stomped away to the entrance.

In a low voice of threats, he said, “Say one word of this and I’ll make sure I load my gun when I shoot next time.”

As the door closed behind him, he thought he saw for one second, for one minuscule second, Carole’s expression went from boredom to... One of pity. Her lips mouthed out the words, “I’m sorry.”

And the door shut close.

The door closed, and he was in the room of flesh and smoke.

He could eventually see through the thick smog and it no longer caused his eyes to water nor made it difficult to breathe. Is this what fresh air was like?

Hide felt more and more drawn to the machine, Why... Why did he ever wanted to leave the city anyway?

The room was mostly empty, all except on the wall were four small screws holding what he could describe as a flesh slab to a slightly lighter coloured wall of flesh.

He took out a screwdriver he had brought along and unscrewed the covering of the machine, revealing wires, circuits and pulsating masses of red tubular flesh that crisscrossed and tangled. These mechanisms ran deep within and as far as Hide could tell, there was no bottom.

The flesh throbbed in rhythm with the clicking of the machine part. Hide could only watch and carefully touch the slimy writhing mass in awe at what lay before his eye.

The smog grew thicker.

This was beyond any piece of equipment or machine he had ever seen.

The smog grew more blinding.

There were sparks where electricity ran through the cords. How can such an old thing run on electricity?

The smog grew more suffocating.

HE WILL DISMANTLE THIS BEAUTIFUL THING.

Hide dropped to his knees, his mind fully focused on the machine, and his instincts ran wild screaming him to run. He brought out his tools, a screwdriver, a hammer and…

He tore it apart.

The smog grew

The noise grew

The sound of something ripping apart from flesh grew.

The sound of metal clanking against metal grew.

The sound of a goat’s scream and cry grew among all the noise.

The smog stopped pouring from the pipes, and all grew silent.

The sound of tiny metallic tools hit the ground with a tiny clatter.

So much blood.

It hurts

So... much... blood...

He could not stop

Help...

Hide was scared.

He could taste the thick metallic blood that filled his mouth, pouring from that stump of the tongue. His teeth bite into that muscle in his mouth, jolts of agony tore through his body at each inch he managed to tear off with his own flat, dull teeth. Every part of his body was ripped apart with agony beyond what he had ever experienced. The time he got shot in the arm or the time his hand was shoved onto a hot stove by a violent partner were the touch of a feather compared to this.

His throat felt raw from his screams and cries. He tried to pull and drag himself to anywhere through the blurry darkness. The world was a milky red soup before him of shapes and shadows. Please no, please not his eyes. He was having so much fun with the machine until the last metallic cog clicked and then all he felt was pain. Hide wanted to stop, but his body kept going, dismantling the machine piece by piece. He tried to pull away but it was as if a force had grabbed his arms and puppet them to do what they wish. He felt the blood run from his eye, the heaviness of his horns had disappeared with a dull, wet thump. He fell to the floor on his belly and for the first time in a long time let out a broken pathetic sob.

He... can't die here... not like this...

He tried to crawl on the floor with one working arm lacerated to ribbon and dragged his crippled body forward. What happened to his arm? What happened to his legs? He could not see. Where was his arm? He… He could not die here. He does not want to die anymore. He was scared, it was too dark.

Please... anyone...

He does not want to die alone. He was barely conscious at this point. His mind felt fuzzy from all the blood he was losing leaving a thick trail behind him. His body felt heavy and his working arm weaken as it brought him closer to the door.

It... was... open. Was... the door... so far...

He thought nothing would bring him to this, however, through his raw and torn throat...

He let out a long, loud goat bleat.

He was not sure anymore if what ran down his face was blood or tears but among his hiccuping and sobbing was the sound of a goat. He thought nothing would bring him to suck a pitiful act, but he wanted it all to stop. It was a shrill, immature cry of a kid. Something he had not done since he was a small child and he thought they have beaten it out of him. He could only curl into a feeble ball in the darkness and cry. He wanted to go home.

Home... Just home...

He did not know how long he was on the cold floor, but someone or something heard his cries. The sound of heavy footsteps caused his ears to flick in the door’s direction. The heavy sound of the metal door scrapping against the floor echoed throughout the darkened room. He brayed to get their attention before the world went dark.

Then...

He felt warmth.

Hide flinched and shivered at its touch at first until something gently passed through his long bloody matted hair around his ears, providing some comfort to the little beast kin.

“Hide….” Those words picked up his ear. He knew that tone, that voice. It was deeper, distorted and almost hard to make out the words, yet he did not care. It was Loulou, his Loulou… His... His white knight.

He nuzzled into what he thought was a hand, it was sticky and slimy. He felt the warmth and enjoyed the pleasurable touch of a man he could not see but could feel, hear and smell. Loukas said nothing more, but Hide felt himself getting picked and carried close to his broad chest. The warmth, the love, Hide cuddled, nuzzled and made the most undignified sounds at the affection he so craved as his body bled out. He wanted to say sorry. He wanted to apologise for everything.

Apologies for being here.

What was... he here for again?

For everything...

Who was?

...His white knight...

Hide tried to vocalise his feelings, but he was unable to make a sound other than grunts and squeaks. No human language would pass through his lips again.

But he did not care.

He was in the arms of something warm…

Of someone who cared Huh.

Hide felt wetness on his face. A slow trickle that grew to something more, and it kept growing and growing. Was… Was Loulou crying?

Hide wrapped his arm around Loukas as he carried him. The man felt a lot bigger than usual. More muscular, and taller, but it mattered very little.

Hide cuddled him, and felt dizzier and more light-headed with each passing second.

He was here He was still here.

He will always be there.

Hide did not know how many days have passed or when the days began or end.

How long has it been?

It did not matter; he got to spend the times he was awake, snuggling with Loukas, and nothing more.

He had stopped bleeding, but his speech never returned.

Yet He was happy!

He never felt happier in his life.

Loukas sounded weird and from what he can hear, sounded a lot more aggressive to others.

He could see a lot better now but Loukas sometimes looked like a milky red soup.

His vision was still poor.

He heard Carole come to see him when Loulou was out and once again her voice had little tone or emotion, but he heard a waiver as she spoke.

“Did you know what you did?” she asked.

Of course, he could not speak back, her words were confusing.

His head hurt.

His fingers moved on their own and tapped at his keyboard that wrote out, “I fixed the machine.”

A text speech read those words out to him just in case his vision was ever too poor.

His best friend said nothing back, but he was happy for the company.

He found it strange. She never hung out with him when Loukas was around like they used to. He even asked her, but she would refuse. She never visited him much anymore.

Hope she enjoys herself.

When Hide talked to Loukas about her, there was this odd tension he could feel, a long silence before Loukas assured him not to worry.

No one will ever hurt him again.

It was bath time, his favourite thing from this time of peace. He loved the feeling of his boyfriend’s very long tongue teasing at his raised nipples whilst his large fleshy hands held his needy cock stroking it, bringing him to an organism and melting into a puddle of pleasure.

But despite Hide’s enjoyment of such lustful activities, his favourite part was the way Loukas held him close to his body as they enjoyed the warmth of the bathwater together. As if he was the most important treasure in the world.

Loukas called him his most precious.

It was during such occasions the world stopped fully, and every word was the equivalent of a warm blanket.

“Patches, I'm making some hot chocolate with almond milk later,” Loukas said, as he wiped a washrag over Hide's back.

Hide would at one point in his life kick anyone for daring to use any other name that was not his chosen one. However, the way Loukas said his nickname was so sweet and so gentle he could not count how many times he had just melted at such a name and the touch that accompanied it.

It was like his first time falling for someone as a teenager again.

He nuzzled into his chest as a sign of his approval of such a treat.

“I'm glad you like that….” Loukas gently pulled him in closer. “Don’t worry about the noise yesterday… I promise it wouldn’t bother us for now."

It was nice to have peace for once. Although the silence of their home was odd, still he simply could not care about that. Loukas was still his white knight.

"... Are you happy?” Loukas asked.

That was an odd question. It came out of nowhere, but he honestly did not mind.

He was overjoyed honestly. He never felt happier and safer in his life.

To be loved, to be treasured, to be seen as someone's entire world for every day and at every hour. He never thought it would happen, but here he was. He laid down on his boyfriend’s chest in a bubble gum scented bubble bath and gave a nod as his answer as he drifted off.

Eventually, by the time he woke up again, he was dressed in one of Loukas’ oversized T-shirts that reached down well past his knees and laid in the soft bed next to his lover.

That baggy T-shirt smelled of Loukas and vanilla. Hide held on tightly to his lover's back.

“Are you happy Loulou?” he thought to himself as he drifted off to the lovely scent of vanilla.

"Hide, I'm happy to just be with you,” Loukas said, as if reading his mind, "This world will be yours and mines. Every tasty thing will belong to me... My most precious..."

Hide felt something was going on behind the scenes but he felt so weak and tired that it did not matter.

One unaware of the blood seeping through the manor and one satisfied by having his fill for the day.

“Happy end,” Hide thought.

It was truly a happy end.