Let's get this started

What happened to the daemon as the liquid was injected was a little scary, but they tried their best to sit still while their eyes were worried. They were stating a fact, were they not? It didn't matter what Saige wanted when the fact of the matter was that Callan owned them. He had even branded them with the piercing himself, he couldn't have forgotten that, could he? The seraph just kept sitting there on the floor, their forehead resting against the daemon's hand, listening to what he had to say. And for the first time in a while Saige couldn't help but smile, though it wasn't one of joy. It was a sad one, and yet it was clear that they were just grasping the absurdity of it all. "I suppose .. I was never free," they said, leaning away, keeping their gaze on the ground as they frowned lightly.
You'll be home soon enough, my Aran. Saige trembled, grasping on to the ends of their skirt as they were trying not to think of that now. "I'm paying my own dues slowly and bit by bit .. but it seems they keep stacking on top of each other," it was maybe the first time that Saige was speaking about this, but could they truly do much else? The daemon perhaps didn't care to hear of a sob story of an outwardly spoiled brat that had been fortunate enough to study such a high degree. Their knuckles were slowly turning white from how hard they were grasping at their skirt. "I'm scared of you," they admitted, "but Gideon can hurt me more."

Saige just felt the touch that felt almost gentle. They couldn't say why, but maybe it was because they were feeling a bit sentimental? And for what? Their captor? The warning made them nod a little defeated, because working as one of the flowers didn't sound much appealing to them either. The notion of telling him what they wanted made them release their skirt a little, looking as their knuckles and fingers went from white and back to their normal skin color as the blood rushed back. "I don't want to be a burden to you," they said, looking up to him as they sat there on the floor. They knew how much Callan had done to protect them. They weren't blind. "I would never be able to make back what you have been offered today .. I'm worthless," smiling almost softly, but it was the same sad smile as before.
"I'm 576," they said, almost to remind themselves of what they were in this. There was no point in kidding themselves, and the daemon had only shown them kindness to get access to their ability regardless. And yet, Saige had found that they liked healing those that had come to them. That they enjoyed helping others, even the flowers that came back with scratches and bruises. It had become normal to them. "What I want is irrelevant." And yet they didn't sound bitter or angry. In fact they just seemed to shrug it off, perhaps even sounding apologetic.

"Don't call me that," they almost pleaded when the daemon mentioned the name Aran. They didn't want to be called that. They weren't that person anymore, right? As the daemon pulled up his sleeve to see the name carved into his skin it made the seraph reach out and touch it. Strange how they had been shaking so much last time they had touched them and now it was mere trembles. Of course they were still afraid, but after what they had seen who wouldn't have been? They had seen the true strength of a daemon up close, and it wasn't something they ever wanted to see again. The notion of proving him wrong made the seraph frown. Was this just a game to him? Playing with their life like this?
"Last time you asked me to show my worth you didn't want me .. I'm not someone who can seduce you .. if you want my body why don't you just take it already?" Which was a fair point. At that room Saige had been so willing to give themselves over, and it was still a fact that they would do it again. But if the daemon refused them. If he didn't find them to be even remotely good at showing their worth, then what was the point in trying if all the daemon wanted was just to have him for the night? Their fingers moved over the name on his arm, carefully touching each ancient letter, but it didn't make much sense to them. "If I am not 576, but Saige then you are not Callan but ..?" Looking up at them with soft eyes.

"Because it's a bad omen," they just said. It was clear that the name had some sort of significant meaning, but the seraph wasn't willing to disclose it. No, they had chosen Saige as a name for a reason. It sounded better and gave them more comfort. "I did it because that was what Rose had trained me to," they said, because at that point they had been trained the whole week. Sure, they were praying that they could see their friend, and it had worked, but had the daemon expected them to just do all of it so willingly otherwise? What was there to gain for them when the power dynamic hadn't ever been tipped in their favor?
Dantalion. It sounded like a powerful name, but not one that Saige had heard before. Though they had to admit that they liked the sound of it better. Perhaps because Callan had come to be something negative in their mind. Listening they just touched along the carved skin, looking up to him as some hair was removed from their face. The admittance made them hum, tilting their head a little to the side. "I suppose every shiny toy gets dull after a while," they spoke to rationalize it. Looking back to the scar they knew they couldn't heal it, and they felt a great deal of sorrow about it. It was strange. How their captor and most feared enemy was now their only confidant. Romeo was even moving on and seemingly didn't need them anymore.
"I wish I were more useful," they admitted in a small sigh closing their eyes as they took the time to think everything through. "I don't even know how to show my worth, because I don't know what that should be," it was a tough pill to swallow, but the seraph was also painfully aware of how things were. How all of this seemed to work. They could look pretty, sure, but they weren't good at seducing and they certainly was worse at trusting someone enough to touch them. And yet their body was barely trembling sitting here on the floor in front of the daemon they had dreaded so much. "Maybe it's a good thing you're getting rid of me .. before you lose all interest in me," they pondered out loud, though it perhaps sounded less like a comforting remark for the seraph. "We have the night .. what do you want of me?" They asked, clearly awaiting orders.

Look for their worth? They already knew they were going to disappoint there. But as he leaned closer, they just stared at him, the serious voice sending shivers down their back, however something in them made their hands reach out, cupping his face between their palms. They didn't hold him in place, rather it was perhaps more for comforting the daemon than it was benefitting the seraph. "Please don't hurt him," a genuine and soft plea. It seemed that even if people were hurting them or cruel to them, they still had it in them to forgive and show kindness. Were they a fool? Most likely, but anyone getting hurt because of them wasn't something they were interested in in the slightest. That was perhaps their biggest weakness. "If you have any anger about him that you need to get out .. feel free to hurt me," they spoke, their thumbs caressing Callan's cheekbones in gentle strokes.
Releasing the face slowly they returned to sitting how they had been before, looking down as they seemed to think something through. Their eyes returned to him, "do you have painting materials here?" Perhaps a rather strange request after all of this, "the only worth I can think of having is being able to create something with my hands." Was it not sad that they didn't see any value in their humanity? In their ability to heal and find forgiveness for even the worst of cruelties?
If the daemon either had or perhaps would have some delivered the seraph would get up from the floor. Walking over to where the equipment was, assessing it all before picking a canvas. They got out of the sweater, folding it neatly as if it was the most valuable piece of clothing they had. And it sorta was. Beneath they were wearing a simple tank top, but it was more appropriate for painting in. Their arms showed signs of where the flowers had burnt them, but it was slowly healing and just taking a little longer to do so. Then they removed the stockings, folding them neatly as well and placing them with the sweater. Looking at the canvas they wondered what they would create, but they started out with using their fingers. Maybe it was a bit unorthodox to not use a brush, but they felt greater control over their hands that way.
The scenery was slowly being created, but it was rather dark and hard to really make out from afar. But if the daemon moved closer they would see it was a grey room, incoherent writings and drawings on the wall along with a single and small figure in the middle. Saige's shoulders were trembling a bit as the painted, a few tears appearing in them, and it was clear this was a way for them to work through some trauma. On the floor they added splatters of different dark colors, slowly mudding up the figure in the middle. In fact Saige didn't realize what they had painted before they took a second to stop and just look at the canvas. Their eyes widened, taking a step back as if they were scared of their own creation.

Somehow Saige found it hard to believe that the daemon wouldn't hurt them. It was just how things were. Walk out of line or waste your breath and you'd be punished. However they at least appreciated that the daemon remained quiet as they worked. It was like their body moved on their own, the images that flashed in their head just needing to get out after seeing Gideon. They barely registered the embrace as their breath began to hiccup as if it was hard to breathe. And it was, placing a hand over their heart they started to cough a little, but they kept it mostly at bay. The question was valid, but Saige needed to find a bit of themselves again before answering.
Taking deep breaths, leaning against the daemon for support as they closed their eyes. Strange how their body feared Callan but craved the comfort. "It was Gideon's playroom," they finally mustered the courage to say, looking at the painting in horror still. They could still hear the taunts and degradation. Dont delude yourself - you think you're special? - Everybody hates you. They trembled once more, still leaning on the daemon for support, tear rolling down their cheeks once more. "Believe it or not but Gideon is only a couple of years older than me," they said not moving out of the daemon's sphere, "I was his playmate at first .. the outcast of my family, but he seemed to like me .. at first," they said. Closing their eyes they just turned around, hiding their face away in the daemin's chest.

Even if Callan wasn't good at comforting them, it was a thousand times better than being alone right now. The hand on the back of their head made them feel a kind of safe they hadn't really felt before in the presence of the daemon. It was weird. The man he had feared so much and had so much violence in him had so gentle hands. The mutter made them frown as they were let go, the cold metal that was placed in their hand made them look down before the hairs on their neck started to stand on edge. They shook their head no, trying to pull their hand away, "Please .. please .. don't-" but it was too late at the daemon helped the seraph make a cut. Every time Callan named a reason they just shook their head, pleading with him to make it stop. Pleading to let go of them and to not continue to hurt him. This was so far from what they wanted. The smell of blood made him feel bad in his stomach. Like how it had felt when the blood from the broken skull of the intruder went everywhere.
Callan seemed to finish, and Saige was shaking quite a lot at this point, throwing the knife away and across the floor with a loud scratching metal sound. They reached for him, cupping his face with their hands shaking their head no. But then it was obvious what they had to do now. Going in the same order, they now listed what the daemon had done for them. "You didn't leave me to die," they said with a tremble to their voice, healing the cut that had been made, moving on to the next. "And you saved me from the intruder." Couldn't the daemon see all of the good that he had done? Albeit perhaps not something he had thought about, but upon reflection Saige had found so many things in Callan that he appreciated.
"You gave me special treatment; housed me and fed me .. and you gave me a second blanket," someone hearing this side of the argument might've thought Saige had gone mad. And maybe they were. Maybe they truly lived up to all of the things Gideon had said about them, but they wanted to assure the daemon. "And despite selling me .. you gave me this night with you, in your home and allowed me to have at least one night of peace," the seraph was perhaps naïve and too easy to forgive, but it was their greatest strength and greatest weakness. "You've given me more than you have taken," they spoke in a gentle tone, healing the rest of him up as if the cuts had never happened. Their hands moving up to cup his face. "Please don't make me hurt you again," looking into his eyes it was quite the genuine statement.

Hurt was all he knew? Why was it like the more they got to know the more they wanted to hold him and comfort him? Saige had thought that now they were going to be scolded, or perhaps beaten for saying such stupid things, but the daemon just held their hand, feeling the thumb press against their palm. It felt almost comforting just being touched. Then the daemon said something they had never in a million years thought he would say. The suggestion of running? They looked down, because the warnings that had been told up until now was that it would be useless to run away. No, they couldn't run off now. This was a test, wasn't it? Their shoulders trembling as they just looked at the thumb on their palm, reaching their fingertips up to caress the daemon's hand in return. What was this feeling? Or maybe they were just so tired of running at this point.
"Dantalion," they spoke his name so softly, almost as if they were testing out if it was safe to use, "I could never pay back such a debt." Didn't the daemon understand that? He was better off selling them. That would give him a good chunk of money, that was for sure. But Saige wondered why the daemon was so invested in them, when they weren't something special. "I don't want to be a burden to you." They finally looked up at him, wondering if it even made sense. Saige had spent all their life running, trying to get away from their vindictive family and most of all Gideon. But they had never tried to run from Callan. And maybe that was a sign that they needed to stay? "What do you want?"

The daemon took his time thinking it through, and Saige appreciated that. It meant it was a wise decision, but the answer surprised them. Stay with him? Was that what he wanted? Saige felt their eyes well up, nodding as they even managed to smile at the daemon. This time it was a genuine smile. One that truly showed how much they appreciated this. Their free hand reached out, clutching on to the daemon's shirt, clearly not intending of letting go. "That would make me very happy," they admitted. Sure, they would never own themselves ever again, but Callan would keep them safe. He would make sure that not even Gideon could get to them. They just stood there for a second, holding onto him as if that was their lifeline.
"Can I ask of something?" They asked after a bit of silence. They didn't want to seem ungrateful, but there was something they needed to say. If not for any gain then just to at least having voiced it. If Callan signaled they couldn't they would remain quiet, however if they signaled that they could go ahead they took a deep breath. "Will you please not send me back to the Garden?" They had endured all of it, the mockery and bullying along with beatings. They had done what was asked of them, healed more than they probably should have in a day, but they had done it regardless. Because somehow they felt grateful that the daemon kept them out of harms way. "You don't have to keep me close by if you do not wish it .. I just can't go back there with Gideon knowing that I could be there."

Saige knew that it wasn't as much of a question as it was perhaps a poor excuse of a request. The question that Callan followed up with made them look down. They weren't sure what places they could be. They just didn't want it to be easy for Gideon to find them. "I want to be where you think I would fit .. where I would be safe," they finally said, looking back at him with soft eyes. However they could see the irritation rise in the daemon, grasping a little tighter on his shirt at the mention of making Gideon disappear. Saige shook their head no, "I don't want him to be harmed," they said. What the seraph had with Gideon was a strange bond, but it was something that Saige wasn't sure they could even talk about and make it make sense. "I don't want anymore to suffer because of me," they spoke softly, leaning their forehead against the daemon's chest, just standing there, knowing it wasn't an optimal place to find comfort. But it was the only comfort they had ever really felt and they didn't know that it was not as good as it could be. The daemon didn't hit them; he didn't yell at them; in fact he had saved them so many times at this point that even without a large debt they felt obliged to repay it all. Some day maybe. Maybe the seraph was starting to fool themselves, but right now they just wanted to stay with Callan. They wanted him to protect them from the bad thoughts and horrible memories, even if he couldn't.

Here? In Callan's home? Or at least what they presumed to be his home, as they had seen quite a few buildings that the daemon seemed to own by now. But the notion of staying here made them feel good, a warmth spreading within them that they hadn't felt before. At least the daemon seemed to accept that the seraph didn't want anyone to hurt and they looked up at him as he spoke of their worth. They felt their eyes water, because had anyone ever said something so sweet about them? "You really think that?" Clearly a bit in disbelief. They had been sure that the daemon hadn't found any worth in them, but perhaps had simply taken pity in them. Callan was surely showing a side that they wouldn't have ever imagined.
Saige was self-sacrificing, they knew that, but they were also fine with it. They wanted others to be happy and live their life. Because they had always felt different and not in a good way. "You're too kind," they just said, smiling at them as if the daemon had praised them, even if it wasn't a praise at all. "There is one thing I want you to get rid of for me," they then said, turning their head around to eye the canvas. They felt disgusted by it, and it had even been their own creation. Turning their head back to the man in front of them, they slowly let go of his shirt. "Burn it .. break it .. I don't want to see it again."

Even if the daemon refused to think of himself as kind, the seraph clearly thought so. Sure, he wasn't the type to be outwardly affectionate, but there was something within him that they could see. The suggestion of a bath made them look down at their fingers with dried paint on it, but then there was the matter of clothes. They felt like what they were wearing right now smelled of nervous sweat and blood. And getting back into them after a nice bath didn't sound appealing. They looked up to the daemon, staring at him, opening his mouth but then shutting it again, looking down as they shook their head. They had already asked for too much. It would have to make do. "Thank you," they muttered, asking for where the bathroom was.
Frankly sitting in the tub, warm steam around them and nice smelling soap truly made them feel good. Their body was aching a bit, strained from all of the wild emotions they had gone through. And now they could finally relax a little. Leaning back in the tub they closed their eyes, crying softly but with no sound. Never had they felt so relieved to be a captive. Callan would protect them. And while there was a small and scary voice in the back of their mind telling them that he could go back on his promise, they just tried to ignore it.
They sat in the water until it turned cold, at which point they knew they couldn't push it any longer. Getting out, they drained the tub, grabbing a towel that seemed way too big, but it was nice and soft. At least compared to the old and rough towels at the Garden. Making sure most of their makeup was gone - well except for the mascara that was kinda stuck to the skin around their eyes - they dried themselves off before looking at their clothes. Being clean now made the clothes stink even more. Even the sweater felt unappealing to wear despite being an item of comfort. They weren't really sure if it would be alright to place them somewhere to be cleaned. In fact they didn't know any rules of the house.
Wrapping the towel around their body, even covering their chest, they moved out into the house. "Dantalion?" They called out, their breath a little shaky as they were getting cold now. They tried opening a few doors but to no avail. Had he left them? Shivering a little more they found a bedroom, moving over to sit down in the corner they just covered their ears a little as the voices in their head was slowly starting to get to them. "It's alright," they whispered to themselves over and over. The small voice having grown bigger. Do you really think you can ignore me!? Saige was startled at their own memory, curling up on the floor as they were shaking. Get over here you insolent goat.

Saige opened their eyes, looking at the daemon before reaching out, pulling themselves closer to him. "Dantalion," he spoke in relief. Being all alone like that hadn't been good for them. Gideon's words from the past was haunting them today more than ever after seeing him. It was like the way he spoke made every horrible memory float right back to the surface, even if the seraph had thought they had packed it away. Saige just pressed themselves closer to the daemon, hiding their face away in his chest. "I'm sorry," they whispered grabbing at his shirt, scared to let go, "I'm sorry." They felt like they had to apologize for acting this strange. Their breath shaky as they pressed their forehead to the daemon's strong chest. "I got scared .. you weren't here," however not disclosing the fact that they had heard Gideon's voice in their head. No, that would make them sound crazy. "Is there .. some clothes I could borrow?" They felt like they were asking for too much again. Were they being too spoiled? Where they truly taking this position for granted? "I'm sorry," apologizing again for being such a burden.