Warmth. Warmth and darkness. Darkness thick enough to swim in. 

He floated there in the warm darkness, regaining his strength with every passing second. He didn't dream--he rarely did so--he simply floated in the darkness. He began floating up; he could feel himself stirring. Light began to slip through the crack between Darion's eyelids. Before his eyes could even fully open, he began registering the source of warmth: his arms were wrapped around something.

Memories began returning and sensation soon followed. Not something; someone. He was laying on his side and Hernon was in his arms, pulled closed. The two fit together as if their only purposes in life were to lay with one another. Darion's eyes were fully open now, his sharp senses returning to him. He knew they weren't like this when they first got in the bed, but a part of him didn't want to move.

When they had gotten to the small home earlier that morning, Hernon had immediately stripped down to his undergarments and gotten into the bed. Darion had been a little more hesitant.

"You can't tell me that someone as intimidating as you is afraid of a bed," Hernon had mocked. The jeer was all it took to make Darion stop worrying; he wasn't afraid and he was going to prove it. Off went his boots and the rest of his clothes until he had been in nothing but undergarments. He had slipped into the other side of the bed and laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Hernon had rolled onto his side to face the other man. "See? That wasn't so bad was it?"

Now, Darion could feel the other man breathing; the smooth rhythm radiating calm. His nose detected the faint scent of roses. He found himself wanting to stay there forever, but judging by the amount of sunlight in the room, they had to get moving. He slowly removed his arm from around Hernon and slid out of bed, gathering his clothes. He roamed around the house on the tips of his feet until he found the washroom and cleaned himself off. The soap turned out to be the reason Hernon had faintly smelled of roses. The scent now covered Darion as he slipped his clothes back on.

A groan interrupted his trip past the bed to the kitchen. Hernon began to stretch as he awoke from his slumber.

"Is it already time to go?" he groaned, swinging his legs out of bed.

Darion watched as Hernon stumbled to his feet and stretched some more. "By the time I finish these potions the sun should be setting. After that, we make our stop, get into the castle, and get back here before the stroke of midnight."

The smell of roses drifted past Hernon's nose; he smiled a little at the thought of such a strong man as Darion smelling like something so fragile. Then again, roses have thorns.

Darion got to work in the kitchen as Hernon cleaned up. Darion was adding the final ingredient when Hernon came from around the corner.

"Have you seen my bow and arrows?" Hernon asked. He eyed the different herbs and spices laid out across the counter but kept his questions to himself.

Darion didn't break his concentration. "Why would I know where your bow and arrows are? I didn't even know you knew how to use them."

"Oh right, I forgot about that," Hernon said. He ducked back around the corner, returning after only a few seconds. "You know, if I had my bow and arrows, I'd probably have won that time we fought."

The potions began glowing pink as Darion finished the enchantment. "I highly doubt that," he said.

The potions were prepared, their blades and arrows were sharpened, the sun was getting low; it was time to set their plan in motion. Both men bore one of Hernon's dark cloaks as they walked through the streets. A question was floating around in Hernon's mind and he couldn't think of a better time to ask it. He sped up to match pace with the other man.

"Darion," he said. His voice was the only sound other than the crunch of gravel. "How do you know the sleeping potion so well? It didn't even seem like you hesitated when making it." A response didn't come immediately. They walked past vendors closing up their stands to get home to a hot meal prepared by their significant others, and by taverns opening their doors to draw people to the warmth of both fireplaces and alcohol alike. Hernon was about to apologize for asking when Darion spoke up.

"Sometimes, I need it to sleep," Darion said. The response was simple and somewhat logical, but it left another question: why?

"Why can't you sleep?" Another pause arose. Darion looked to be playing with the idea of telling him everything. Hernon didn't want to nag so he walked in silence; Darion would tell him only he if he wanted to.

Darion cleared his throat and looked to the side as he said, "It's the ghosts." Those three words sent a chill through Hernon. He had a thought of who the ghosts were, but he felt the moment would be ruined if he tried to guess. This was about Darion and what he was experiencing in his life, not what Hernon assumed he was experiencing. Darion had warily shifted his gaze over to Hernon, his eyes deep with sadness and vulnerability. "Every time I go up on that platform and take someone's life away, I leave with a new ghost to whisper to me at night." He flexes his hands and twist his neck a little. "They tell me about what their lives were like before I put an end to them. They tell me about all the people they were important to; the people who were effected for the worse by my actions. And they all speak at the same time; it gets louder with every passing day as I continue to...do what I do. 

"And when they're done, they all say the same thing over and over before starting from the beginning: 'Heart Breaker.' More and more voices are joining in and sometimes it's just too much to handle."

The following silence was nothing like Hernon had ever experienced before. There were so many things he wanted to say, yet he didn't know how to efficiently word them. He abruptly pulled Darion into a shadowed alley, checking first to make sure they were alone. Before Darion could even ask what was happening, he was pulled into a hug. With this one act of affection, Hernon was able to convey everything he had wanted to say and much more.

He was there for Darion.

Past his initial shock, Darion returned the hug. The warmth of the other man's body seemed to form a shield around him, protecting him from the demons that followed him where ever he went. Darion stepped back, keeping his eyes directed anywhere but into Hernon's eyes.

"We should get going." The man turned without another word and returned to his route. They walked the rest of the way in silence, the castle looming closer as they made progress.

"We're here," Darion said after a while. They'd arrived at a hut located at the edge of a forest.

"Where are we?" Hernon asked. Darion was at the door, fumbling through his pockets for the key before finding them. He unlocked the door and slipped inside, Hernon following close behind. "Is this your home?"

He never got the chance to answer.

"Darion?" Her dark brown hair was tangled and she wore a white gown; she'd been sleeping. She appeared pale as a ghost in the moonlight piercing through the window.

"Love?" Darion reached out to the table he knew was next to him. First snapping a flame into existence on his fingertip, he lit a candle. Light penetrated the darkness and Darion could now clearly see his wife standing in the doorway to their room, a dagger gleaming in her hands.

That's my girl.

She quickly dropped the weapon and rushed over to him, crashing into a hug. Darion immediately returned the hug. He thought back to the moment he shared with Hernon in the alley earlier and his eyes flicked to the man. It felt unnatural for the man he'd been in the same bed with that very day to witness him embracing the person he was married to; the person he was supposed to love, according to how the world had worked for him not even a week ago. Hernon felt it too and turned away, instead looking around the home. 

"Who is that?" Diana asked. "And why are you here?"

"That's Hernon," Darion said. He wasn't sure rather to tell her that he was the man he'd been sent out to hunt down. He had to quickly make up his mind. Hernon delicately lifted one of Diana's hands to his lip and kissed it. "He's actually the man I was sent out to hunt. The one who escaped." Diana jerked back after hearing this, trying to put as much space between her and the criminal as she possibly could.

"Darion, are you crazy?" Diana asked. "You're aiding an enemy of the crown and decided to bring him here?"

"It's not like that," Darion said. Hernon sat to the side silently as the two discussed him. "He's been framed and I'm simply assisting him in proving so. I just came here to check in on you before we do something that could possibly get us killed."

"Killed? What in the kingdom are you about to do?" At first there had been anger, then confusion, and now there was only fear on her face.

"You don't need to worry yourself with that," Darion said. He softly cupped her checks as he pulled her close. Whispering, he said, "I love you, Diana." They kissed and Hernon once again turned away.

Darion was more confused now than he had ever been. The feeling that went through him as they kissed was about the same as when Hernon had kissed him, if not identical. What could that mean? Could he truly be a Both-lover?

"We've got to go," Darion said. He turned away from Diana as fast as possible, not wanting her to catch the look of confusion on his face. That didn't stop Hernon from seeing it though.

"I love you too, Darion." Her voice wavered with fear as the two men left. "Stay safe, I'd like to keep you in my life for as long as possible." Darion smiled at the statement and led Hernon out from the hut. He didn't look back as he marched towards the castle.

They'd been walking for about five minutes when Hernon asked if Darion had wanted to talk; he'd wanted to bring up the confusion that had been clear on the man's face. Darion only grunted in response, but Hernon knew it was a definite 'no.'"

The castle was much grander than Hernon had expected. The material of the surrounding walls was beautiful yet clearly strong and durable. The metal bars of the scaffolding reaching around the tower and across the two walls gleamed in the moonlight. Darion double-checked to confirm that Aslader was at his side and the sleep potions were with him, ready to be used to get them into the fortified castle. Both men stood side-by-side and studied the exterior of the castle, preparing themselves for the insane mission they were about to commence.

"Are you ready?" Darion asked.

Hernon answered by taking a step towards the torch-lit castle.