"Did you see the big centaur up there?" Strawberry asked and fixed her hair in the mirror, before she turned to me.

"No, I just walked in. Haven't been up yet." I frowned a bit at my hair and put more wax in it to get it to settle down between my horns.

"He's drunk and wants a harem," she laughed. "I have no idea what to do with a centaur."

I shrugged and sent her an apologetic smile. I had been with a centaur before and she was in for a... Big surprise.

I finished up and met up with Arlo upstairs. He was as always waiting by the bar, chatting with Oliver.

"Hey, Dion," Oliver said and smiled, sliding a glass towards me.

He knew I wanted a red fizzy drink before my shift started. It had become a bit of a thing between us. He'd always have it ready for me and I appreciated it to no end.

I took a sip, letting the bubbles dance on my tongue before swallowing and the taste of the sugary sweetness fill my mouth.

"We've upped the security tonight," someone said from behind us. Arlo and I turned to find Arlo's brother there.

"How come?" Arlo asked and rose from the bar chair, pulling down on his sleeves and straightening his back.

"Big time customers. Politicians. So, be on the look-out for undesirables. Stay with Dion, but just keep an eye out."

Arlo offered his brother a nod.

"And," Nicosh said and turned to me. "You might get busy later, but you stay close to Arlo. You know you've been moved up to the high-paid class so security around you will be tight. You're very exposed on the website and more patrons know your face. So, stay with Arlo." He looked so very serious. Like his father, he was tall and well dressed. He looked a lot like Arlo too. The high cheekbones and the wide nose. Those full lips. He was just more muscle-y than Arlo. Obviously worked out a lot more than his brother.

"Staying with Arlo," I repeated and saluted him.

He smiled a little, exposing a fang before sobering again. "I'll go brief Nikon. Have you seen him? I'm his personal guard today."

"He gets a personal guard too?" Arlo asked and arched a brow.

"He's in the high-paid class too, and after the big ad-campaign with him and Dion, we gotta be on them when they're in the club."

"He's probably in the changing room if he's not roaming the floors," I said and brought out my phone looking at the clock. "His shift starts in about five minutes, so he's probably getting ready."

"Great, cheers. Happy working." He smiled a bit again and took his leave.

"Your brother is so nice," I said and turned to Arlo.

"Right? I'm glad he's here too. Makes it less... Uh, well. Lonely." He scratched the back of his neck and shrugged a little nervously.

"I get it," I said and put my hand on top of his. He smiled a much fuller smile than his brother and discretely turned his hand, giving mine a squeeze before removing it. We still had to pretend to be nothing but co-workers and roommates.

"Who do you think the politician is?" I asked and took another sip of my fizzy drink.

"No idea. I mean, we've had politicians in here before, but I bet it's more than a local one since security is so high."

I nodded. "Maybe it's the President."

Arlo snorted. "She's married with kids. I doubt she'd ever put a foot in a place like this." He nodded towards the door. "Looks like they're coming in now."

I turned on the stool trying to get a look of who was coming. A series of security guards entered first and then the politician came in. Blood drained from my face and I felt like I was about to faint. Adrian stepped in, smiling at his companion.

"Dion-" Arlo said but I didn't wait for him to say anything. I had the glass with the red fizzy drink in my hand, storming towards Adrian. I was faster than his security guards and tossed the drink in his face.

"You're going to take away our rights, but you come here to fuck us?" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Red was dripping down on his perfect white shirt, the fabric hopefully ruined. Arlo circled his arms around me, pulling me back.

"Fuck you!" I kept screaming over and over. Even when Arlo had pulled me back into the dressing room, sitting on the floor with me, pressing me to his chest.

Everything just culminated into this complete meltdown. Everything. I just couldn't deal with this shit anymore.

I couldn't even remember how we got home. I couldn't remember the drive or Arlo getting me into my night clothes. It was like I woke up in our bed with Arlo sleeping soundly next to me, cuddling me.

It all felt like a bad dream, but I knew it was real. I was probably gonna get a call from Achilleus about this. I had insulted one of his customers and ruined his clothes. But it had felt good. It had felt justified. It was such a tiny revenge for everything he had done. Not just to me but to all of us. I also felt he had stolen my family from me. He had planted that doubt in my head and I still couldn't call Rhea. I couldn't get over the feeling that she too would think I was just exploiting her.

I was a street kid and I'd never be anything else to them. Even if they stopped believing I'd try and exploit them, they'd still be wary of me. I was so sure of that.

I moved closer to Arlo and his arm clenched around me, hot air hitting my horns from his sigh. He was still fast asleep, and I didn't want to wake him. I just wanted to be close to him. I knew he had saved me the night before. He had made sure I wasn't killed by those security guards, probably. Or fired right then and there. If I wasn't fired already. I had no idea how Achilleus would react to this. I had made a proper scene, but Achilleus being a half himself, he'd understand right?

I had snapped. I had never snapped so hard in my life. Everything just died inside my head and there was only room for rage. I had never been an angry person, just bottled up things that were uncomfortable or sad. But anger seemed like such an alien emotion for me. I wasn't this angry kid. I wasn't and I didn't want to be.

Arlo sighed again, blowing hot air on my horns. How could I even be angry with someone like him? He was never angry. He only got angry when something threatened him. When I was in danger. Was that even anger though? Wasn't it more like a protective emotion that just sprung up in him and overruled everything?

He lost control over his powers, but that wasn't anger. I knew that now. I was afraid it was because he couldn't control his anger but after seeing it happen randomly, I knew it wasn't connected. Not to anger anyways. Not all the time.

My big boyfriend was the epitome of gentle giant and it soothed me. Suited me perfectly because he kept me mellow too. And out of trouble, to be honest. He had called me on my bullshit immediately and didn't just let me do whatever I wanted. He held me accountable. Just like I did with him.

We were really great together.