Chapter 1: Johnny, don't leave me!

"Johnny, I love you," Filarion Elathana spoke softly, as he basked in the afterglow of their coupling. John Morrel, or Johnny Morrel, as everyone referred to him, turned around to face his elven lover with a smile.

"I and I too, little leaf," Johnny said, and he captured his lover's lips for a kiss. They were interrupted by knocking on the door.

"Whatever it is can wait," Filarion growled, but his sister barged in.  Feneria Elathana barged into the room, clad in her usual red dress, her back exposed. Johnny had always wondered why the woman wore evening ware at home. But then again, the entire Elathana family had its peculiarities.

Filion, the second son, wore armor at home, and he always went off on errands. Not an adventurer, per se, but always escorting one wagon or the other. Johnny had always wondered how the blonde landed so many gigs.

Then there was Prisila, the second sister, who loved to wear long dresses with flowing sleeves, even in summer. She was a gentle spirit, but could make potions with the best of them. Just last month, she had made him an invisibility potion that had saved his life.

Other people were going in and out of the Elathana household, but they were mostly servants. Filarion was the head of the family, as the oldest, but he kept his siblings close. Johnny often wondered how the Elathana family wealth kept multiplying, when only Filion seemed to be working.

"We have a problem with the Rotingam job," Feneria said, as she picked up Filarion's discarded pants, and threw them at him. "Code orange."

"Ah, shit," Filarion didn't curse often, so Johnny knew that this must be serious. He kept silent. When Filarion was in one of his moods, he could snap at anyone. Johnny didn't want to ruin the pleasant mood he was still in.

"Oh, hi Johnny," Feneria waved at him, and he waved back.

"Fen, pleasure as always. We missed you at dinner," Johnny said. The Elathana family had a full three-course dinner every night, all of them together. Johnny, whose family had never eaten together, unless it was a holiday, found that endearing.

"Sorry, was busy with work," Feneria said, and then turned on her heels, and went out of the door. Filarion sent Johnny a long look, and then sighed.

"I need to take care of this, spoon you later," Filarion promised, and Johnny grinned. Johnny might be a big and strong tank, but he loved it when Filarion, who was tall, even for an elf, spooned him.

"Don't worry about it. Do what you have to," Johnny told him, and Filarion finished dressing up. The elf went to Johnny, and kissed him on the nose. An apology for the separation that was to follow. Johnny chuckled, and brought the elf down for a real kiss. Already forgiving him.

Filarion left the spacious room, and Johnny relaxed back into the bed. This was heaven for him. Filarion loved him to bits. It was nice to have someone to come home to. It was nice to have a home, period.

An hour passed, and Filarion didn't come back. Johnny couldn't sleep. He missed his spoon. So, he stood, and went to the bookshelf, looking for something to read.

He took out a book at random, and flipped it open. Instead of pages, he found a false compartment, with a notepad inside. Curious, Johnny took out the notepad, and began listing through it.

There were names, and numbers. Then, something caught his attention. Next to an Albert, there was written: Failed deal, lost shipment, road bump.

Johnny blinked. He kept looking down the list. The sentence was repeated for some names. Deciding that this must be a strange hobby of Filarion's, or maybe an Elathana family game, he returned the notepad in the book, and then shelved the book back in its old place.

Still, he couldn't go back to the empty bed. Without Filarion, it was too cold. He knew he was imagining it, but he couldn't help but think this way.

So, he decided to go and search for Filarion. Silently, he exited the room, and went in the direction of the giant meeting room of the Elathana estate.

He had always wondered why the family needed it, when they had a lovely living room. Filarion had told him it had been built by his great-great something grandfather. When he started the family business.

What that business was, Johnny didn't know. Filarion always changed the subject, when the tank asked. Still, Johnny was burning with the desire to find out.

He made it to the meeting room, and stayed in the shadows. Filarion was sitting on the throne, looking magnificent with his long chestnut hair down. It seemed to be late enough at night, for Filion to have his hair down as well, although he wore his usual leathers.

Only Feneria had her hair up in her usual bun. Then again, Johnny thought that a natural disaster had to happen, for the elf woman to have a single hair out of place.

"That party will pay. We gave them top-notch stuff," Filion growled from his place behind the throne.

"Five more road bumps for the sheriff to find," Filarion agreed. A couple of the unknown people who were in the meeting room with the Elathana family stepped forward.

"Should we use clubs, as usual?" A blonde asked.

Johnny blinked. Wait, this didn't sound right. It sounded almost like Filarion was going to order someone dead!

"What else? Make it look like an Orc attack," Filarion waved the people off, and they rushed past Johnny.

Johnny had heard enough. He rushed out of the meeting room, and towards the bedroom. He couldn't stay in here. Not only that, but he needed to report this, before people died. He heard running sounds behind him. It was Filarion, who looked worried.

"What did you see? What did you hear?" Filarion asked, clearly having seen him, even in the dim light.

"That you just ordered five people dead! How could you?" Johnny yelled, and Filarion reached out for him. Johnny was already making the corner to the bedroom. Entering it, he bared it from the inside.

"Johnny, don't leave me," he heard Filarion yell from the other side, but there was no time. Johnny picked up his armor, and put it on. Then, he took his bottomless bag, thanking his lucky stars he hadn't unpacked last night. Taking one last look at the door, which was now being rammed from the other side, he jumped out of the window, and into the cool night air.