Let's get this started

Saige was slowly letting him go, at leas tso he could go grab them something to wear besides a towel. They had felt so scared of being left alone once more, that everything had just spiraled out of control in their mind. However the question of why they kept apologizing made them look down. They had been apologizing their whole life for even existing, so it felt normal to say. The daemon had told them to be a burden, but there would always be doubt in his mind that it was genuine. "Because I'm a disgrace, " they muttered, but it was clear it had been something someone else had told them. "I'm not normal .. I'm a freak .. I don't deserve what you are already giving me," they said, finally letting go, slumping down on the floor, holding the towel close to their body.
It was clear, by the trembles, that it had been words they had been told for a long time, barely considering the validity and rather trusting that it was true. "I don't like asking for something and be ungrateful for everything that the daemon had already done. Don't delude yourself - you're useless - he would never accept you - look at you, so scrawny and ugly. Saige looked down, just waiting as the daemon went to go and fetch some clothes. They were hesitating a little to change, mostly because if he saw then he would know just how ugly they were.

Make themselves more deserving? Right now that was an impossible thought. The daemon left briefly and Saige just held the towel in place. It seemed that they were finally aware of the fact that they were almost naked in front of Callan. Not that they hadn't worn skimpy outfits in front of him, but this was a little too naked. They looked at the clothes as they were brought, looking at it nodding softly as there was more than plenty of stuff here. The question if they needed anything else made them look up to the daemon with soft eyes, "maybe a needle and a thread? And a pair of scissors," they asked politely. Despite the clothes perhaps being too small for the daemon, it still seemed a little bulky for the seraph.
Once they were given those materials, they would sit on the floor, working on making the clothes fit a little better. They even found that a few of the shirts were long enough to be dresses on them, so they mostly too in the sides and the sleeves. Finishing the last piece they got up and got dressed. The underwear was a little loose as well, but the elastic at the waist would keep them up. It wasn't as comfortable as the underwear they used to wear, but it would make do, and the seraph was not one for complaining.
They moves out to the bathroom, hanging up the towel rather neatly for it to dry, opening a window just to make some fresh air come in. That was when they started to feel their stomach rumble. Exploring the house a little they found the kitchen, unsure if there would be anything edible for them, but they checked the fridge and freezer regardless. It didn't seem so. Alright, food would have to wait a little while as they decided to go put on a wash to clean the clothes they had arrived in. They really liked that skirt. And the sweater needed a loving hand as well.

Callan could meet the request of needle, thread and scissors. He let them be after that, but remained in the house. He sat down in the couch in the large living room, with a book in his hand. It was an old book that he often read just to pass time. He did hear how they at some point wandered around in the kitchen. He didnt have any food lying around because he didnt need it, but he finished his chapter before he got up to go and suggest that they went looking for some food. He didnt really accept if the seraph was being humble about it, he would go as far as to just lift them up and bring them out into the car.

A week or so passed and Callan was a rather busy man except for a few days and nights, but it was all so spread out. One morning did he warn the seraph that there would be guests over later. But it wasnt like a stay out of the way sort of thing but more like a heads up. It was a few people, some work partners that he had and had a close connection to.

Saige appreciated the daemon more and more. Sure they were slowly adjusting to what was going right now, but as the days passed they found more and more comfort in the house. They hadn't really dared going out by themselves, mostly because of the fear that Gideon could be lurking around every corner. When the heads up came they felt a bit nervous, but they had decided to just relax in their bedroom. They felt almost too blessed as they had a whole room to themselves. A place where they could be safe and where even Callan had to knock on the door to enter. They were just painting a little mindlessly as they heard the guests arrive. It didn't feel like an appropriate place for them to be. Of course the daemon hadn't told them to stay away, but they also didn't want to end up embarrassed because they did something out of step. It wasn't strange for the seraph to isolate themselves a little, but they were starting to open up more to Callan. They weren't quite sure how they felt about him, but they at least weren't too scared of him anymore.
Through the wall they could hear some talk, some men getting a bit loud as they laughed. They just kept to themselves. It wasn't because they were trying to be rude, rather it felt safer in here. Of course if they were demanded to come out, or expected to join the group, it would be a different story. At this point Saige didn't feel comfortable saying no to Callan when they felt so indebted to him. They had luckily been able to get some of their clothes from the hotel they had stayed at before everything had happened. This meant they were actually wearing clothes that they felt themselves very much in home in. Tonight they were wearing a nice dress, but over it they had put on a small and rather thin almost see through sweater. Knee high socks as well was a must.

Saige had sorta waited for it to get quiet. They knew they would have a limited amount of time, so they snuck out into the kitchen, opening the fridge to grab some leftovers and a fork, along with a bottle of water. They weren't looking to mess with Callan's guests, and they weren't even sure if it would be appropriate. Placing the bowl in the microwave, they just stood there a bit idle, waiting for the food to reheat, and yet also listening for if the group was coming back. The microwave clicked a little loudly and Saige shivered a bit at the noise, afraid of being too loud. It was strange how they still found ways to retreat to thinking they were a waste of space. And yet Callan had always seemed rather firm in that sense. He had told them to be a burden, but it was also hard to let themselves be that.
Gathering their food and drink, they moved out into the hallway, one of the guests noticing them through the window. In a bit of a panic they just ran to their room, closing the door rather fast and pressing their body up against it to catch their breath. It was scary. They didn't know these people and even less how they would view them being here. They still had the piercing and all. They were still property.

They thought they had dodged a bullet, sitting down by their desk to eat a bit before their door was opened. They honestly weren't sure how to react, but they got up, keeping their front to whomever had entered. It was clear they were uncomfortable and the questions just made them look down, not wanting or knowing how to answer that. Kid? Lover? Something different? Frankly Saige didn't know if Callan really saw them as anything. But one thing they did know. "Burden," they said in a timid mutter, just staying as far away from the stranger as they could. They had been alone with strangers one too many times to ever trust anyone again just like that. This guy blocked the whole entrance, and he seemed to move in conjunction with when Saige moved. It wasn't a comforting thing that was for sure. "I'm sorry .. I don't want any trouble," they said, not sure if Callan would get mad at them for getting spotted.

Saige didn't like the way the guy so casually mentioned the piercing. They still felt rather self-conscious about this marker that clearly showed that they were in fact not a person, but a thing that you could own. And while they didn't think much of it when it was just them and no-one else, having someone remind them of what they had gone through wasn't nice. The insisting of joining them didn't sound tempting in the slightest.
A woman approached the guy in the doorway, wrapping her arms around him from the back, poking her head over his shoulders. "Oh, you've found a cutie," she smiled, moving around him she didn't even hesitate as she moved closer. The seraph froze up and had no choice but to follow, clearly a little pale in the face as the woman chuckled softly, pulling them into the living room where the guests were. "It's not like you to stow away other visitors," she looked to Callan with a grin, touching the seraph's cheek gently, but Saige turned their head away, clearly not wanting to be touched that way. They just looked down, being quiet and not wanting to cause a scene for Callan. They knew they had a debt to pay, but the seraph wasn't sure what they could do right now.

They weren't sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or not coming from that guy, but as he just seemed to go up and grab at them, the seraph trembled. They tried to move away, but was kept in place by the woman who had dragged them there. Frankly, they could live with the groping, but it was how they were looking at them like they were just a slab of meat and they were hungry lions. "Please stop," their voice trembling with fear and clear comfortability. They weren't sure how many times Callan was going to save them at this point, but as they were removed from the hungry hands and gawking eyes, they felt almost relieved, and yet very ashamed of what had just happened.
The woman groaned, rolling her eyes at the daemon, "you're always like this with your newest toy," she said, clearly thinking this was just another one of those times, "give it a few more weeks and we can all get a share of the seraph." Mostly because it had been seen before. The seraph felt a cold shiver run down their back as they wondered if Callan was just doing this because they were the new and shiny toy that the other's thought they were. Saige carefully started to move back towards their room, tears forming in their eyes as they just tried to cover themselves up a little. They loved wearing this type of attire, and never had they had a problem with anyone going after them like this. But perhaps it was just because of that damned piercing right now.
"Come on .. let's move the party elsewhere .. some of us are clearly getting too tipsy for good business deals," the woman pulled at a couple of guys, eyeing the woman with the cuts on her throat, "you coming?"

Why did this keep happening? They curled up on the bed, hiding away under the duvet as they just wanted to maybe disappear from the world. Still flinching at the memory of being groped in such an intimate place along with the gawking eyes was awful. So much so that they felt how their eyes were starting to sting, crying softly into the pillow. They didn't want anyone to hear them. No, they wouldn't give them the satisfaction. Right about now Saige wasn't sure why but they just grasped at the duvet, keeping their eyes shut as they just tried to imagine that Callan was there keeping them safe. Was that not incredibly selfish of them? Even downright stupid? Even so, it was what they did.
Their mind of course didn't stop racing, thinking about how and when the daemon would finally come to realize how useless they were. Saige was sure that Callan was starting to get tired of them, right? While they had made great strides in trying to be more self assertive, it was clear that tonight had been a failure, and they were beating themselves up about it. Callan was probably angry with them now seeing as they had crashed their party. Was he angry? And if he was, why wasn't he entering to tell them off or something?

Saige had calmed down quite a bit. Crying it out had helped a lot, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. They opted to just lay under the duvet for a while, at least until the house would be completely quiet, however the movement of tables was strange. What was going on out there? And did the seraph even need to check? It was quiet once more before they heard the roar in pain. What came over them the seraph was unsure of but it felt like they ran through the house towards the sound. The door to the bedroom was slightly askew, and so they peaked inside, seeing the daemon on the bed they hurried inside. They were unsure of what to do, sitting down on their knees on the floor, eyes fluid as they reached to touch him. "Dantalion," they spoke softly, finally touching him and hopefully their healing to take away some of, if not all of the pain. "I'm sorry," they were back at apologizing, but they weren't sure how powerful their touch was at this point.

The daemon started to relax, and Saige wasn't sure if they had helped at all, but they stayed by his side while he slept, not really daring to move away. They felt so scared. Would he wake up again? Luckily he did, and they were quite surprised as the daemon pulled them in, a few tears rolling down their cheeks as they hid away their face in his broad chest. Grasping on lightly to the fabric of his shirt, they weren't sure if it was wise to be this close to a daemon, but right now all they truly cared about was that Callan wasn't hurting. They were still a bit scared, not only from what had happened with the people groping them, but also from seeing the daemon in so much pain.
"Are you hurting?" They finally asked in a careful tone, clearly not wanting to overstep, but was that truly a problem considering they were practically entangled with the daemon right now. They pulled their face away from the daemon's chest, looking up at him, worry so clear in their eyes, just wanting to check up on him, be there for him if that was all they could do. They still couldn't shake how the daemon had looked at them so soft before passing out. Had anyone ever looked at them like that before? They weren't really certain, but regardless that wasn't important. What was important was the fact that Callan wasn't hurting. "I didn't mean to get noticed," they spoke of their regrets. In all actuality they had been almost as quiet as a mouse, and they knew if they had just stayed in the room, then none of this would've happened.

"I'm sorry .. but I can't just stop worrying about you," they just said. Were they actually being sorta assertive right now? It seemed that they realized what they had said, blushing and looking away from his face to not see if the daemon got annoyed with them. It was strange. Callan had never seemed to get angry at them or anything, but it was still a fear that the seraph carried inside of them. Perhaps because of past experiences. They had always been the outcast, so having someone pull them into their arms was strange. But they also felt like the line of tipping over to hatred or anger for the seraph would be small.
They had to look up in disbelief as the daemon admitted to something that to their ears sounded almost strange. Would've lost his mind? How? They were just a dumb seraph, but then memories of the crushed skull against the tub appeared in their mind and they started shivering. "Don't hurt anyone .. please," they pleaded. Even if what they had gone through once again was horrible, they didn't feel that it was deserving of pain and suffering to anyone. If anything it might've been good for the seraph to be taken down a notch. Reminded that they were still a number, even if it was so different here with Callan. However a question lingered on their tongue, their grip on his shirt tightening a little scared to ask too many questions.
"Am I .. am I going to be replaced?" The guests had spoken of them as a toy, something of amusement for the daemon and it hadn't been a nice feeling. "If I am .. would you please not send me anywhere else?" They asked their body trembling with fear, tears rolling down their cheeks, "I think I would rather die." Callan might've not realized that being here with him had provided them with so much peace and a sensation of being safe. Imagining themselves away from it felt almost impossible. They had truly come to appreciate everything the daemon did for them, even if today had been uncomfortable, they found solace in the fact that Callan had been there. Even if the daemon would get rid of them eventually, they wanted to know that they could live out their life here. They didn't want to be given off to someone else, or forced to really join the flowers.

Even if the violence came naturally to the daemon, Saige refused to believe it. Especially in the way Callan was holding them so gently close. They were sure there was kindness within that stern expression. Within those softened eyes that had looked at them before he had fallen asleep. The question however felt inevitable. It was something they felt the right to know, even if they were property, they at least had to be aware that they had a shelf life of some kind. However instead of answering the daemon asked a question that Saige had been dreading to answer themselves. Looking to Callan, it was clear their eyes were conflicted and hurt, the tears still there, rolling softly down his flushed cheeks. "I think he doesn't need me anymore," it was clearly a giant fear. They had served their purpose. Now they felt so useless once more. And if they couldn't even be of use to the daemon, then what would they truly live for? For when Gideon would find them again and drag them back to that black room? No. Death would be kinder. "He's healed so much .. and I can't reach deeper than he allows me to .. he has someone else who can heal him better than I ever could pretend to do." They were hard on themselves again, but it was also the truth. Saige had experienced the devotion that the human husband had towards his lycan counterpart.
"You can use me however you want; I don't care; as long as I'm useful in some way," they were clearly just grasping at everything to just stay there with him. Stay safe. Did that make them selfish? It felt like it was all they had ever truly asked for. They could live with beatings and being degraded, but leaving the only person who had ever made them feel truly safe? That seemed blasphemes in their head.