Luca had spent the whole day making another batch of muffins. His mind had been pretty muddled after his discovery of Junji in the jungle, but he had managed to work through the haze anyway, putting aside his many mixed emotions. He still felt angry; angry that someone had hurt Junji, scarred him. The angel would probably remember that forever. Luca stared at the batter for his muffins, his face twisting into a frown. A small part of him wondered if he was jealous, if he wanted to be the one to break Junji's body and scar him for life. God knows he had done it in the past, but that was different. He dumped in small chunks of chocolate, mixing them through the batter while deep in thought. He didn't think that he wanted to hurt Junji, suprisingly. He wasn't even tempted to spike the muffins with acid just so he could see his reaction, like he usually would have been. It wad hard to pinpoint when exactly he had started caring for the angelic feline, but it had no doubt happened when he wasn't paying attention, as most important things did. There was no getting out of his feelings once he had dipped his toes in. Like tar they clung to him and solidified, sticking with him even after the person they were attached to were long gone. He poured the muffin mixture neatly into the tray (or as neatly as he could while using his paws) and shoved them in the oven, clicking the door shut with a bump of his hips.

Waiting for them to cook was the hardest part. Luca walked in restless circles while they baked, peeking through the window every now and then to make sure that everything was going okay. When they were finally done he was quick to get them out and throw them (gently) into a basket, covering them with a blanket like some sort of red riding hood. He took the handle of the basket gently between his teeth and set out towards the jungle, uttering a silent prayer of guidence to a god that no longer cared for him. The trek was longer than expected due to his navigation problems, but eventually he managed to make it to a hut near the creepy old temple. It seemed like the house people described when he asked for Junji, so he was probably right on track. He knocked on the door a couple times and waited, placing his basket on the ground. "Um, it's me, Luca," he said, as if announcing that it was him ever got people more liekly to open their doors. The most common answer he got to his name was the sound of a lock clicking into place.

[member=1660]JUNJI[/member]

The oldest of Luca's blood brothers had been the same. He had loved Luca when they were younger, the hellhound was sure. His brother used to guide him through the nearby woodlands, teach him what was edible and what wasn't and how to hunt. He would protect Luca against some of the more violent individuals they came across, and would sit and listen to him when he wanted to talk about his troubles. It was only once Luca was revealed as a demon that his brother cut off his emotions, facing Luca with nothing but a stoic mask and a drawn blade. It made him feel sick whenever he thought about it, but he supposed it was only what he deserved. It was his sibling's duty to kill demons, for the Rosario family's angelic blood presented itself the strongest in him. It was tradition, and Luca had learned very quickly that it was unacceptable to stray from tradition. A lot of angels were like that, he picked up on over the years. They were stern and looked down on the unholy, but a lot of angels were sweet as well. Many of them viewed Luca with pity rather than the disgust that he had quickly started to loathe.

Junji was definitely one of the kinder angels Luca had come across, but still the hellhound seemed surprised when the door was opened for him. It was a good surprise though, one that brought a subtle warmth to his cheeks as he trotted after Junji into his house. Perhaps he was making it a bit too clear that he wasn't used to being allowed into people's homes. His eyes swept curiously over Junji's walls and floor before finally settling on the bed, watching the feline as he crawled back into it with sympathetic eyes. He remembered what it was like to be burdened with pain; in fact, he still suffered with stuff like that on occasion. When the demonic influence fluctuated and faded from his body, and his eyes returned to their natural dull blue, then he could feel pain as most people did. His brain no longer processed it as a twisted form of pleasure, and he was suddenly aware of the constant burning and writhing of his unnatural organs. He padded closer as his companion spoke, dipping his head momentarily to place the basket beside the bed.

"It's okay," he said softly, although he wasn't all too sure how to continue. He stared at the angel for a beat, lingering by his bedside as if transfixed. "I wanted to make sure you were recovering alright."  He leaned closer as he spoke under the guise of taking a look at Junji's wounds. There was a glint of possessiveness in those luminous rose eyes of his, juxtaposed by the soft sweetness of his smile. Pushed by the impulses that frequently tore at his mind, Luca dipped further in an attempt to kiss Junji softly on the lips. He regained control of himself quickly though, pulling back regardless of whether or not he was successful and hiding the redness of his cheeks by turning towards his basket. "Um, I just finished making some muffins if you're hungry," he said somewhat hurriedly, pulling the blanket away from the top and folding it with his telekinesis to distract himself.

Luca knew what it was like to struggle beneath the weight of expectations. He knew from an early age that he would never mamage to be on the level of the version of him that his Father had always wanted. He would never even reach the level of his elder brothers. He had inherited too much from his mother, her soft curves and delicate body. He could never even do half of the physical labor that Nicolas, who was only a year older than him, could do. He has always felt ashamed of his body, even though the townsfolk always complimented his cute face and made many not-so-subtle remarks that he'd grow into quite the pretty young man.

At least any expectations that had been resting on his shoulders were lifted when he was sold. After that his life was simple, all he had to do was complete his chores and stand around in the dresses that had been picked out for him. Of course he had hated it there, but a small part of him was thankful that he finally didn't have to force himself to be something that he wasn't. Heavy lifting and farm work just wasn't for him, even now that he was bigger and stronger and healthier. He would much rather enjoy the softer things in life, despite that common attitude of his. He would always take cleaning and baking over fighting, although he did enjoy a healthy dose of bloodshed just as much as any other self respecting demon. He had noticed Junji phasing out of reality as he messed about, and thought that perhaps it was a bad time to go in for a kiss. Catching people off guard like that had often made him the recipient of claws to the face. Unlike Junji,  he preferred to stay in the present rather than receding into his own thoughts. There were things back there that he wasn't quite ready to face yet (he doubted that he would ever be ready, but continued telling himself that he would some day in a halfhearted attempt at keeping himself at bay), so instead he would focus on his work and the ground beneath his paws. Any zoning out was completely accidental, and often ended less than ideally.

Despite his thoughts, he had done it anyway of course, pressing his lips gently to Junji's and pulling away before either of them had time to process it. He was almost afraid to look back at the feline once he had looked away, staring at his muffins with burning cheeks for an almost uncomfortable amount of time. It was Junji's words that finally got him to snap out of his half embarrassed, half scared trance and turn to look at the sage. Immediately he noticed how flustered his clanmate appeared to be, taking in the adorable curling of his body and tail, the bashful tucking of his nose into fur. Luca's heart stuttered in his chest as the pink glow of his telepathy encased a muffin and he floated it over to his injured companion. What was he supposed to say now? He was going to make an attempt to play it cool, but Junii knew how to press all the right buttons, and now he just had to know if that reaction was a good one or a bad one. The hellhound watched him intently for a bit before grabbing a muffin of his own, breaking it apart to watch the steam rise from it before glancing back up at the bedridden angel.

"I'm sorry," he began, voice tentative. "Was that too much?" After all, there was probably something immoral about making moves on someone in such a vulnerable state. The last thing he wanted was to scare Junji off, especially since the angel was one of the few to treat him kindly unconditionally so far. "I get carried away sometimes and you just looked so cute so-" he cut himself off, that vexatious blush returning to his face. Making excuses was bad enough, but then he had to go on and add fuel to the fire as well. He bit down on his tongue to stop himself from talking, taking a bite from the baked good between his paws instead. The sweetness was almost enough to distract him from the merciless mocking of his inner voice. Almost.