Raya slowly stirred the simmering soup in front of him while the demon was silently watching him from afar. Raya grabbed two cups and carefully poured the hot vegetable soup in it before turning around and holding it out for the demon to take, making him choose to come or not if he wanted it.

Lixian slowly crawled a little closer, still not sure what to do with the human before him. He carefully grabbed the cup and sniffed the content of it curiously. His stomach growling again after smelling such a delicious smell, a sound that made the human chuckle.

Lixian kept an eye on the boy as he took a sip, scared that it was poisoned or something, but it was made in front of his eyes, so how could it, really? The demon slowly swallowed the warmth and looked down in shock as his tastebuds were experiencing a whole new world of flavors. He licked his lips in bewilderment, humming softly.

Raya saw the demon's face lit up as he ate the content hungrily, giving him a proud feeling of accomplishment.

After a silent meal, Raya cleaned everything up around them and sat back down by the warm fire after. A book placed in his lap as he tried not to be obvious he wanted the creature to open up to him already and give him a chance to look at those wings he had seen a glimpse of a few days ago. He was just so curious.

The demon's eyes studied the human slowly as he shuffled a little closer towards the warm fire as he began to feel the cold of the night seep through the cracks of the old house. Raya felt the burning eyes of the demon on him and suppressed a smile, glad to know he wasn't the only one that was curious about the other. He glanced up at the creature and locked eyes with him, not expecting him to have moved closer, causing him to smile wider.

"Have you ever met a human before?" Raya softly asked as he closed his book and shuffling a little closer to him, causing the demon to be wary and lean away again.

Lixian, though still confused by the kindness this boy showed him, slowly nodded his head after a few seconds. Raya wanted to ask further, but the next words made his blood run cold.

"Only ones that wanted to kill me."

He was shocked to say the least. He knew that humans and demons were not on good terms, but never knew it was this bad that they were killing each other! He guessed that living in a forest all alone was the blame of him not knowing. But still.

A soft touch on his skin made him flinch slightly out of his thoughts, but he slowly relaxed again as he saw what was going on. Lixian slowly took Raya's hand in his and inspected it, as if it was any different from his own. Though Raya let him be, watching the demon curiously.

The demon's hands were rough against his soft ones, he noticed. Lixian played with his fingers for a few seconds before he looked up at his face. Raya felt his cheeks getting warmer at the intense staring he was doing and gasped softly when he saw a sliver of red flash through the demon his eyes.

Lixian was fascinated by the human. He didn't move at all when he inspected him. He would have thought that the human would've turned on him by now, or that he wouldn't want to be touched by a demon, but he just stared back at him. As if to say that it was ok.

Lixian scanned the human's face and couldn't help but linger at his pink lips. His eyes were a dark brown, just like his wavy hair, and his eyebrows were frowning a bit. Lixian noticed light freckles littering his nose and smiled softly, finding it cute. Very different from what he was used too.

He was... pretty.

Raya saw the little movement of his lips and tilted his head, wondering what the creature was thinking about.

Lixian slowly lifted his hand, trying not to scare the human but also because he was still wary of him, as he softly touched his hair. All demons had black hair, so he was fascinated with this beautiful color. Just like a dark forest, but with golden specks of sunshine if you looked really closely.

Raya sighed and smiled before standing up, causing Lixian to lean back out of instinct immediately. "You need to rest."

He grabbed a blanket from next to the fireplace and crouched down before him. The demon slowly grabbed the soft blanket, his fingers unconsciously brushing against the human's as he took it.

"I don't know what happened to you—" Raya mumbled softly. "But you are safe here. You can leave if you want, but please be careful, your wounds are still healing."

Lixian just looked back at him, unable to get the words out he wanted to say. Though Raya didn't need anything as he just smiled and stood up again, leaving the demon alone in the lowly dimmed room.

Lixian slowly glanced at where the human had disappeared too and back at the blanket in his lap. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to leave, but at the same time knew that if he left now it was a good change that he would stumble upon... them. He was still weak, there was no chance of him winning if they found him.

He slowly laid down, facing the little flames still flickering in the fireplace as he snuggled deeper into the softness of the blanket. His eyes fluttering close when his body suddenly felt like it had ran miles on end and dozed off almost immediately. Feeling strangely comfortable and... safe.

•

Raya hid into his pillow as a loud thunder boomed above the forest, making the ground shake underneath him as the rain poured down onto the roof. He slowly turned around, his hands gripping the blanket tighter around himself. The loud, booming sounds causing him to shiver slightly in fear.

He really didn't like thunder.

Raya slowly stood up out of his warm bed and shuffled towards the other room where the demon was sleeping peacefully. He tiptoed past him and grabbed a small cup, filling it with some water to try and ease himself as he looked outside at the thunderstorm.

His eyes eventually landed on the sleeping form on the ground and then at the fire that was now slowly going out. He placed the cup down and walked over, making sure to be quiet. He crouched down and grabbed a few wood logs to start up the fire again.

After getting a little flame, he sat down next to it, his eyes on the sleeping creature behind him. He looked younger like this, when he was relaxed and had his guards down. Raya smiled as he saw the demon frown in his sleep, a little pout forming onto his pink lips.

Goddess, he was beautiful.

He shook his head and looked back at the fire that started to get bigger again. He poked the ashes a bit, not hearing the boy behind him slowly sit up. Lixian sleepily rubbed his eyes as his attention fell onto the human before him. He frowned in confusion and looked out the window to see it still dark outside.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

He turned back at the boy, their eyes finding each other. He shook his head as his eyes dropped down to the exposed skin of the human's upperbody. It was smooth and empty in contrast with his own where it was full of black markings and scars. Raya followed his train of thoughts and chuckled softly, something that made the demon look up at his face again.

"I love your markings. Is it a demon thing?"

Lixian nodded at the curious human and crawled a little closer so he sat beside him by the warm fire.

"Why do demons have those markings?"

"Each demon gets a different marking on their eighteenth birthday." He mumbled softly.

"So, how old are you?"

"Twenty two." He honestly answered, not knowing why he trusted this boy so much.

So he was two years younger then him. That made sense, Raya thought. Lixian looked up at him after a few seconds before a beautiful, shy smile formed onto his pink lips. An action what made the human give one of his own.