Where had he purchased that bag, he wondered briefly as he opened the door for Luzifer to pass through. Small, cloth, cross body strap… Ah, he hadn’t purchased it at all. That had held computer chips at some point, wrapped in layers of rags. A man had carried it. A man that met a short end due to them, he remembered. Not by his own hand, for once, but by someone he was briefly employed by to ferry the precious technological junk across an unforgiving country. They hadn’t cared about the bag once he was done so he just ended up never taking it off until he got home. Odd that he still had it.
Then again, through another’s eyes, he may look like a hoarder. Did Luzifer think that when he saw how much Paimon had accumulated here? At least, as much as he had seen.
Locking the door behind them, he locked that thought away as well. It was time to get Luzifer to Gupta’s. It would be warm there. It would be good for him to interact with someone like the stubborn and warm librarian, wouldn’t it? Much better than spending endless hours with a man that couldn’t stop himself from making mistake after mistake. Someone he could look at without thinking about his former life–
Paimon clenched his jaw as they traversed the traps along the way down the stairs. Luzifer was getting better at remembering the many patterns that dictated a safe passage and losing an ankle. Good. Or was it, a voice mocked quietly in his ear. No matter what Luzifer said, he surely didn’t want to stay here. Not once he could stand on his own two feet. There would be no reason to. Paimon was a raw nerve, a formless mass of need wrapped in leather and steel.
The breath that left him was slow and controlled as he locked up the final door and turned to get them to his bike. It was going to be a cold and icy ride today. Hopefully Luzifer would be warm enough up front. It was safer there, even if the wind would reach him a little more. Better than getting shot.
They made it to Gupta’s with only a single, quick stop along the way where he had Luzifer wait on the bike surrounded by the shop’s guards that were incredibly no nonsense. It was a surprisingly safe place due to the extremely expensive nature of the goods to be bartered for through the small window. Pulling up right to the door, Paimon offered his hand for Luzifer to steady himself.
Winter was done holding back. If riding Paimon’s motorcycle had been uncomfortable before, it almost bordered on unbearable now. No matter how small Luzifer attempted to make himself, the icy wind whipping against his bare face had his eyes water and his tears freeze over before they had even turned to leave the neighbourhood. If not for the broad man shielding the back of his body from the cold, arms on either side of him gripping the handles of the bike, Luzifer would have likely fallen off his seat at some point or the other. At least Paimon had his balaklava to protect himself with. In compare, Luzifer felt incredibly exposed - not only to the elements, but also to the stern shop guards watching him with obvious suspicion while they stopped for Pai to buy god knows what.
Needless to say, when the familiar building of the library finally came into view, Luzifer felt the weight of a gigantic ice block falling from his shoulders. Despite the generous amount of clothes Paimon had given him, he was shivering. Climbing off the bike proved difficult but possible, especially with a waiting arm there to steady him. Luzifer did not grasp Paimon’s hand, although his stiff fingers might have been warmer for it. The image of a fragile maiden being helped down from a horse by her noble companion irked him.
His eyes fell upon the house. The last two times he had been here, he had either been delirious and feverish, or too nervous to have a proper look around. Two windows by the side of the building had been barred with wooden planks and metal shutters spray painted with bright neon letters. Luzifer faintly remembered Gupta telling him that some vandals had broken into the shop years ago. If not for Paimon’s intervention, they likely would have left nothing but a big mess of toppled shelves and torn pages throughout the entire library. Luzifer wished he could claim to be confused about this sort of behaviour, but alas, he was not. People were simply terrible. Especially the suffering ones. They couldn’t stand to see anybody better off than them, even if only in their warped perception of the situation. The put down others in order to feel bigger. And didn’t he know the sort?
Anyway. It was too cold outside to dwell on such things, and the intact window by the front of the shop was giving off a welcome glow. Luzifer quickly made to follow Paimon inside.
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