Downtime

Xanthe dropped him off at Caine's quarters and promised to have food sent. The first thing he did when he walked in was to take off his boots. Walking around in socks was better than wearing the boots one more second.

Gavin wanted to get cleaned up before anything else and proceeded to search for the bathroom. The only door in the main room led him to the bedroom. He knew the doors that led to the closet and chose to investigate the door that was on the wall to the right as he walked in. He was excited to find that it was indeed the bathroom. He was also thankful that it had basic plumbing, or advanced plumbing considering where they were. There was a basic latrine off to one corner and in the center of the room was a bathtub. The tub wasn't extravagant and was only large enough for one, but it had hot and cold water that ran to it.

Gavin got the water as hot as he could stand it and striped off his dirty clothes. He let out a sigh of pleasure as his body slid into the hot water. Every muscle in his body released its tension. He waited until the water turned cold before washing up and getting out.

"How was your day?"

Gavin was drying his hair when he heard Caine speak. He finished drying his hair before turning around. He could feel the heat of Caine's gaze on his body before he turned to see that Caine was enjoying the fact that he was naked. Gavin found himself visibly responding to Caine's attention.

"I'm still alive."

"I see that."

"Xanthe told me that no one would dare harm me while I wear your mark, not even her."

Caine raised one side of his lip in a smirk. "Was that before or after you two fought?"

"After."

"That means you did well, so what I said worked."

"I got my ass handed to me and Xanthe barely broke a sweat."

Gavin tossed the towel to the pile of what he hoped was dirty clothes and crossed his arms.

"That's not what Xanthe said, she said that you kept up with her and experience was the only reason she won. She has a lot of respect for you after your time together."

Gavin was surprised, he didn't feel like he had done anything spectacular and definitely not worthy of her respect. He feels like he's barely keeping himself above water.

"So, are you planning to stay like that?"

Caine asked while motioning to his naked body.

"It's not like I have anything to wear and I'm not raiding your closet and chance getting in trouble. I honestly feel like I'm in a free fall with nothing in sight to slow my descent or make sense of anything. I don't know what I'm supposed to do or what kind of expectations you have on me."

He just feels lost.

"Come here."

Caine walked him to the closet and opened the door. It was still filled with black clothes but, unlike this morning, there is a divider in the middle.

"My clothes are on the left, yours on the right. For tonight this might interest you the most."

He grabbed something from the shelf above the clothes and tossed it to Gavin. Gavin was excited to find that it was a pair of long shorts with drawstrings.

"Thanks."

It felt nice to be wearing something familiar.

"What else would you like clarification on?"

Everything. "What's happening in a week and what part am I to play in it?"

"Next week is when we move out and officially declare war on the surface. Your part in it all depends on how you do this week and if I think you're ready. If you're not ready then you'll be staying here."

Gavin sat down on the bed, "And if I am ready?"

"If you're ready then you'll be fighting on the frontlines with me. Part of being ready is being willing to kill the person you're fighting, whether or not they're human. I can't be out there babysitting you while leading an army."

Gavin did say he wanted nothing to do with the war when he had lost his cool earlier. Knowing that he's stuck here permanently, could he actively fight with the demons?

"Why don't we move to the other room and eat dinner. I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I got busy today and forgot to eat lunch. Xanthe usually reminds me."

Caine moves to stand in front of Gavin, his hand tracing the slave mark and his eyes suggesting he might be hungry for something other than food.

"I could be easily convinced to wait a little longer to eat."

"No, food sounds good."

Caine laughed and turned away, the sound of his laughter lingering as he walked to the main room. Gavin wasn't far behind him. He was surprised to find a tray on the table with food, he hadn't heard anyone come in. Not that that meant much, he hadn't heard Caine enter either. The tray had two bowls of what appeared to be stew, a loaf of bread and two mugs of pale brown liquid he was certain was ale.

"When did this arrive?"

"When I returned, which means the stew is now cold."

Caine places a hand on each bowl and before long the contents begins to boil.

"Ah, I'm not sure how I lived without magic."

Caine sat down and stirred his stew before trying a spoonful. Gavin sat down and gave the stew a try. The flavor was a little bland, but that was something he was getting used to. The meat had an odd flavor compared to what he ate in his home world. The food here has been one of hardest things to get used to. Only a couple things were similar, the rest of it is different in both appearance and taste.

They were quiet while eating, each lost in their own thoughts. Halfway through his meal he glanced at the mug and contemplated on whether or not he should drink it. If he was in his home world he wouldn't even consider it since he was underage. In this world there is no age limit on drinking. He was thirsty enough that he just went for it and took a sip. With a little effort he managed to not gag on the bitter drink. The alcohol filled Gavin with a comforting warmth that he didn't altogether mind. He drank a few more times before he gathered the courage to speak.

"Tell me about yourself. Your parents, siblings, how old you are?"

Caine swallowed his bite of food and held up three fingers, pulling each one down as he answered Gavin's questions.

"Dead, none, and I believe I turned thirty earlier this year."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Once I took the title of Demon Lord and it's power my body stopped aging. The powers don't give me immortality, I just get a lifespan that is at least as long as the healthiest demon, if not longer. Xanthe is a hundred years old. The last couple times I've returned to the other world I've had to use illusion magic to make myself look like I've aged."

Gavin paused, the bread that had been meant for his mouth was instead head aloft. His brain had short circuited over what Caine had just said.

"You can use magic over there?"

"Yes. It's not like you can just turn it off once it's been turned on. Think of it like trying a high end chocolate after eating cheap chocolate your whole life. You could pretend and go back to eating the low quality chocolate, or you could continue to eat the high end chocolate."

"I suppose that makes sense."

Gavin had never really thought about what it would look like if he did go back home. The thought of being able to use magic and retaining all his skills when returning home worried him. He's so much stronger now and it wouldn't take much for him to seriously hurt the average human.

"My father led a burgeoning criminal organization that my grandfather had started. We had a hand in everything, whether legal or illegal. My mother was looking for social status and money. After having me she felt she had done her duty as a wife and he was satisfied with having a male heir. I wasn't popular in school, too many people knew who my family was and the rumors that circulated. It was just assumed that I was a bad seed so I was blamed for anything bad that happened."

Gavin put his bread back on the tray and listened intently. He was surprised at the suddenly burst of information that Caine was freely giving and he wasn't about to miss any of it.

"Have you ever read the Bible? The story of Cain and Abel?"

"No, neither of my parents are religious."

"Well, in this story the brothers made an offering to god. Abel raised sheep so he offered his firstborn. Cain was a farmer so he offered his first harvest. You would think that god would be pleased with both of their offerings, but he was only pleased with Abel.

"I came across that story early on and it changed how I viewed life. It didn't matter how much effort was put into each offering, if you don't have the favor of those higher than you your efforts are wasted. They believed I was a bad seed, so I showed them I was worse.

"I beat up a lot of kids while I was in school, a lot. It showed my father that I was more than capable of taking over the family business so he started taking me to work with him. Sort of like a job shadow."

Caine chuckled at the image 'job shadow' brought up and how drastically different his experiences were.

"When I was fourteen they were interrogating an FBI agent who had been undercover. When they were finished my father handed me a knife and told me to finish the job. That's when I knew I was in the right place.

"I'm sure I don't need to say it, but I took that knife and made my first kill. I enlisted in the army at eighteen for two years, my father was killed by a man he trusted and I took over the business. Shortly after my father died my mom got cancer and died. Then, right after leaving the army I got summoned here.

"That's my life."

Caine rushed through the rest and ended with the wave of a hand. Gavin was at a loss for words, the image of a fourteen year old killing someone was hard for him to grasp. Sure, he had killed someone already but it had been in self defense. Caine's whole life sounded like it came straight out of a mobster movie.

"Adjusting to this world was easy for me. In our world there are laws that I have to work around, here I make the laws."

"Xanthe told me you were like this when you came here."

"You shouldn't doubt her, unlike me Xanthe is straightforward and doesn't play with her words."

Caine leaned forward, hands on the table, eyes cold enough to make Gavin shiver.

"I touched on the important parts. I could elaborate further by saying I was a sniper while in the military. Or that I've killed more men than I care to count. The important part is that I need you to understand that, at this moment, there is a big difference between us."

For now, Caine thought. His end game is to see if he can mold Gavin into a version of himself. It's a game he's enjoying so far.

"Just because I'm human doesn't mean I'm not a monster.

"Don't worry, I believe you."

*******

Long after they had gone to bed Gavin lay awake. He was replaying every conversation he has had with Caine. He needed to figure out where he wanted to be, what his future looked like.

With Edicia, and Princess Joelle, he had been forcefully brought to this world and pushed into a war he wanted nothing to do with. He was told that if he wanted to return home he had to kill the Demon Lord. His heart hadn't been in it and that was why Caine had won. That and his inexperience and lack of training.

Caine had placed a slave mark on him and claimed ownership. There have been things that Caine has not given him a choice on. When it comes to the pending war, though, Caine has given him multiple chances to back out. Gavin had said he wanted to be stronger, so he was given a chance to fight and train with Xanthe.

Caine was still giving him a chance to back out. He could fail his training, he could lose to Xanthe in a way that said he couldn't fight. He's pretty certain if he told Caine in the morning that he didn't want to fight he would be allowed to sit it out.

Do I really want to sit it out, or have I found a reason to fight? He was surprised to find that the thought of not fighting bothered him. It felt like he was giving into his fears by not wanting to join the war. He didn't want to fight because he owed anyone. He may have a multitude of doubts and uncertainties in this world, but he was firm in himself that he owed no one anything.

Princess Joelle and kidnapped him and forced him to be what she wanted. Caine had defeated and chained him down. Gavin knew that Caine was playing a game that he couldn't keep up with. No, I don't owe them a damn thing. Why do I want to fight?

Maybe it was simply to show everyone that he did have the power to protect himself. He could place some of the urge to fight on what Xanthe had told him about the demon's history. He has always hated hearing how people were persecuted because of who they were. The humans may believe demons to be evil, but in that vein history is written by the winners. Once the humans drove the demons underground they could say whatever they wanted, teach their children whatever they wanted, and have it believed as truth.

Could he join the war and come out the otherside still clinging to his humanity? That's the part that bothered him the most. Gavin had this feeling deep inside that said if he joined the war, if he fought with the demons, he would find himself becoming someone he wouldn't be able to recognize. War doesn't have to change me if I don't let it. Right?

Then the thought of Princess Joelle rose up in his mind. He could just imagine what she would look like when she saw him standing next to the Demon Lord. It would bug the hell out of her. Am I petty enough to join the war and fight on the demon's side just to piss off Joelle? I just might be. That was the last thought that filled his mind as he finally drifted off to sleep.