Welcome to Incubus Tales: A Thousand Words by Hushicho. In Noctemberg, it is always night. Dhiar, proprietor and gay incubus, welcomes you to Phantasies, a very special shop. Sensuality is more than just Dhiar’s stock in trade, it is his raison d’être. NSFW.

A new chapter appears every Thursdays. This week is Chapter Ten.

10th Night—Mercenary

It was raining again.

It had been raining for some time. At least there was never any hail. But whenever it rained, it covered the whole city like a massive sheet of water. Everything glowed with the bouncing raindrops, white clouds of mist drifting off into nothing with every surface they hit.

“You’ve never asked.”

Dhiar turned his head. He had seated himself in the front window, to watch the rain. Evvin was walking out from behind the silk screen, slowly towards him. To join him.

He climbed into the window, pulling a cushion behind him, reclining opposite Dhiar. The rain steadily drummed all three panes of glass.

“I don’t intrude,” Dhiar replied. “I feel that if someone has something they wish to tell me, they’ll tell me and that will be that.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“I would be lying if I said I weren’t!” Dhiar let out a little chuckle, turning his head again, to watch the way the drops danced on the street. “But that’s for you to choose to tell me. Not for me to choose when you do it. I’ll think no less of you, whatever your answer.”

Evvin’s eyes never once left the Incubus. Silence passed between them.

When at last he spoke, his voice cracked a little. “Are you sure about that?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Dhiar turned to look right into his eyes. That was one of the things that Evvin loved the most about him, and which at times scared him. Whenever Dhiar looked into your eyes, you could feel that he wasn’t just looking at your face. He was looking into your soul, past every possible wall or façade you could put up to stop him.

Someone had once said that the eyes were the window to the soul. Evvin could believe it.

“I’ve never been more certain about anything in my life.”

Evvin gathered his knees to his chest and rested his head on them. He hugged his arms around his legs, facing the storm outside.

“I’m just a human.”

“There’s nothing ‘just’ about being a human,” Dhiar replied, extending a foot to tap lightly at the side of other man’s. “It takes tremendous panache to come to a place like this and live, as a human.”

“No, I mean…” Evvin hesitated, shoulders falling as he sighed. “I don’t want to be just a human. I was… I ran away from home. I wasn’t happy there. I didn’t like the way the world was, I didn’t know where I was going… it was just coincidence that I found the way down here when I did. It was like I found the yellow brick road or something.”

The younger man slowly raised his head, sitting back against the wooden wall. He let his legs stretch out, between Dhiar’s.

“I didn’t know what to do.” Evvin flicked his tongue out to wet his lips. His mouth felt dry, his throat tight. “So I just kept walking. When I found this place I thought, well…” he bounced his shoulders, “can’t be worse than where I was.”

The Incubus reached down to Evvin’s sock-foot and took it in his hands, starting to rub it lightly. His touch was not so intense today. Not so edged or full of desire and sex. Evvin felt a relieved sigh escape him.

The Incubus smiled very softly. “Please, relax. No judgement here, not from me.”

Evvin let his eyelids drop. He could still hear the rain. He could feel the hands on his foot.

“I didn’t really have anyone anymore. Over the years, and all the places, I lost everyone. Or they went away. Or everything seemed to stand between us. And even though we went everywhere, there was nowhere that filled that… hole. In me.” He opened his eyes, lashes wet with little drops of moisture. His voice shook quietly.

“Well, I know all about filling holes! You’ve come to the right place.” Dhiar’s expression remained warm, tone as irreverent as always.

Evvin opened his mouth, at first surprised and confused… and then he laughed, a deep, heartfelt laugh of relief. Tears poured down his cheeks, and he rocked forward, right into Dhiar’s arms, into the embrace that pulled him to the Incubus’s chest.

After the brief laughter faded, it was replaced with sobs, wracking his body, wetting the demon’s shirt. The rain roared louder outside, and it seemed only to taper off when the tears did. Evvin sniffed, pushing his palms at his cheeks, to wipe the wetness away.

“It’s all right,” Dhiar whispered to him, tilting his chin up. “You’re not alone, and you’ll never be alone again if you don’t want to be. You’ve got forever to decide what you want to be. How to fill that gap. There’s a whole world out there, and a whole universe too. I won’t rest until you can be happy with your existence.”

Evvin impulsively leaned up, to touch his lips to Dhiar’s. It was just a short little kiss. But at that moment, it meant so much to him. It was everything. The world was in that kiss.

Dhiar squeezed his arms around Evvin, rocking slowly from side to side. “You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to feel pushed. We have all the time in the world. I won’t force anything on you. Except I will make sure you eat well.” He flashed a grin, matched by the man in his arms. “If you don’t want to be a human, well… there are all kinds of other things you can be. Even being a human, you can be all kinds of other things. There are people who ride in human shells but are just waiting to emerge from that cocoon.”

Evvin placed his head on Dhiar’s shoulder. The rain was getting stronger again. “Sorry for… you know. Being emotional. I just feel so lost sometimes. Everyone else here seems to know what they want, you know? It feels hard to keep up when you don’t have wings or fangs or an amazing aura.” He smiled a little bit. “Or gourmet chef ability.”

“You should never apologise for having emotions.” Dhiar stroked a hand through the man’s hair. “Anyone who expects that is a person who is dishonest with themselves. Or a rock. And if it’s a rock, why are you apologising to it for having emotions?” He patted Evvin’s head, resting his hand there. “Just do your thing. Live the way you want to. Plenty of the people here were thrust into their lives without any choice on their part. Some of the vampires, for example… you might think they’ve got it all together, but plenty of them were made into what they are by accident, or without thinking about all of the repercussions. But most of them do their own thing, their way.”

“I guess I never thought of it that way.” Evvin took a deep breath, sitting up. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Dhiar answered, cupping his cheek. “I’m honoured by you telling me these things. That you trust me enough.”

“I think I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone. Ever.”

Dhiar wove his fingers with Evvin’s, squeezing with affection.

* * *

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About the author: From an early age, Hushicho held a special passion for storytelling. Throughout his life, he has worked in numerous media and various places in the world. He is the author of the long-running Incubus Tales webcomic, upon which this serial is based.
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