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Horus moved quickly through the large nightclub in what, hundreds of years ago, was somewhere called Cairo. The place was one of the hotspots for city nightlife. Presently, Horus didn’t care, and was frustrated the club was so stupidly large and labyrinthine.
He was glad at least that the dark suit he’d picked for this was easy to move around in.
He’d noted Seth’s absence from Heliopolis – the corporation and compound where many enslaved human performers like Horus and Seth were trained and kept when they weren’t in use – and had been increasingly worried as Seth’s absence kept lengthening. Patrons could take performers out for personal use, for a fee, but high-dollar performers were only taken by the richest patrons.
Horus had the usual minimal freedom a top-ranking Heliopolis performer was allowed: use of the “free” areas in Heliopolis, and access to his own room. But Seth’s room was empty, and he was nowhere to be found.
The man who paid the most for Seth’s company, Osiris, was very particular, and always looked to take Seth away from Heliopolis when he could. Usually, Heliopolis’ owners were very strict: Seth was a very high-profit performer, and had to practice, and going away with Osiris always made him more volatile and fussier. They needed him in top shape for events.
The slavers who ran the corporation didn’t particularly care why outings with Osiris made Seth that way. They just cared that Seth often took sick when he got back. Medication was worth a lot, and not worth spending on the human cattle they owned.
Seth only talked about what Osiris got up to on his outings in rare moments, usually as an off-color joke, and Horus never knew how serious the comments were. But between that and Horus’ knowledge of the patron who liked Horus most, a rich woman named Hathor, the circles she traveled in and brought Horus to for show, and rumors Horus heard about Osiris, Horus knew Seth’s longer time away could only mean something bad.
Patrons were allowed a lot of leeway with outings, so long as the goods were returned mostly whole and alive.
Horus had limited ability to get out of Heliopolis, so he contacted Hathor for help, lying that he wanted to go out to the club his contacts had mentioned Osiris took Seth to. Hathor had been moody, as usual, and although he could wander on his own a bit with her permission, she’d needed a bit of convincing in her private room before she’d let him sneak out for drinks, with barely a napkin to wipe his lips from his convincing.
He had about two hours before she went in after him, thanks to what he’d slipped into the incense dispenser, and some pay-offs to the pets she was busy with, and he planned to make the most of it. She was merely an obstacle. All Horus had cared about in all the years he’d been bought and trained at Heliopolis was Seth, another performer who was quiet, moody, and lost his temper more often than not.
But Seth was brilliant, gorgeous, courageous, had the best smile, and his songs always struck such a deep chord in Horus’ heart. Horus was besotted almost since they first met, and he followed Seth around whenever he had the chance.
It didn’t matter that Seth clearly had his heart set on Nephthys, another fellow singer he was friendly with. Horus just liked being near the other man. And they were friendly, even if Seth was a bit suspicious of Horus’ pushiness. He didn’t seem to understand that Horus just liked him.
“Haven’t you seen how much the caretakers hate me?” Seth had asked one afternoon as they sat together in Heliopolis’ artificial sunlight in a rare break from classes. They were pretty young at the time: Seth was only 14, Horus was almost 12. Seth’s face was covered in bandages after he got rough with some of the guards. “You’ll be ruining your reputation.”
“I don’t care,” Horus had said with a cocky smile. “They’re not people who matter to me. You are.”
And Seth had blushed a pretty color and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
But after Nephthys was executed during her recent performance when she failed to beat her opponent – the known end result of the vicious singing contests most popular in Cairo, which led to tons of money for the people in charge, as audiences gushed over the thrill and violence – everything had changed. They all knew what they were being trained for was inevitable, and many performers distanced themselves from each other as a result, seeing every face as a potential rival in a battle for survival. But Seth had cared about Nephthys, all the same. And after she was killed, he gained this lost expression on his face, grew even quieter, and often stared vacantly into the distance.
A lot of his fight had been lost, and Horus hated it. He knew they were all setting themselves up for pain by staying friends in the garbage dump of their lives, but… Seth mattered to him.
Horus passed curious clubgoers smoking, drinking, flirting, watching the latest vids, making out… Due to his height and bulk, something Hathor prized, many were clearly sizing him up to see if he was available for use, but the little red bracelet he wore indicated he wasn’t, and he passed them by without incident.
Horus didn’t care much for his own life, but knowing Seth was in danger had galvanized Horus to try and figure out how to get him out of Heliopolis, and away from everyone who’d hurt him. Horus hadn’t known when to activate his plans, given the time never seemed right, but this was clearly an escalation. Plus, he had nothing to go back to after this. Hathor would want him dead anyway, and it was worth it trying to get out before she and Heliopolis got their hands on him.
He finally found Seth in one of the rooms that stank the most of heavy incense, alcohol, and flavored smoke from different cigarettes and hookah. People were dancing, talking, and laughing, and the music was loud. The lights were a mix of normal white, purple, and green, and it made things difficult to track. Screens covered the walls, showing different performers, while pets and staff worked different groups.
As Horus slipped through the doorway, he spotted Seth’s long, bright red hair as he followed Osiris’ instructions to sit down on the man’s lap in a corner. Osiris was a big man, even larger than Horus, and his species made their skin a dark green. He had his dark hair cut short and wore a dark suit for the evening. He grabbed the end of Seth’s hair and pulled him down to whisper in his ear.
Seth stayed still for him, trained to obedience. He’d never let it show before, but now…
Horus pushed through the crowd, wanting to rip Osiris’ green face to shreds. But he allowed his anger to distract him, and accidentally bumped into a clubgoer, who jangled with their every movement. They turned and shrieked at him, forcing him to stop.
A number of people in the crowd turned to face him and see what the fuss was over.
While he kept half his focus on Osiris and Seth, he spotted Osiris turning his gaze to look in curiosity.
While Horus tried to placate the person he’d bumped into, he nearly missed Seth stabbing something into Osiris’ neck.
Someone screamed, and the focus on Horus was lost. All Horus saw before people started moving was Seth knocking Osiris over and then moving for someone else nearby.
Horus had to scramble to get through the crowd, shoving people between him and Seth aside as security moved in. Horus learned a bit over the years from his different owners, and a few fellow pets who’d learned some tricks on the streets. And he had a little extra insurance he’d gotten from friends that could shock someone long enough for him to get away, which he wore as a ring around the pointer finger of his right hand.
Part of it was that most aliens who ran security for places like this rightfully assumed human pets were docile, dumb creatures. They weren’t expecting one to have any fight in them.
The security he intercepted went down, though most went after Seth – and didn’t end up well.
It worked enough to get him across the room while people ran screaming from the place.
Horus finally made it to Seth’s side to find the man standing over Osiris’ slightly twitching corpse on the floor. Seth’s clothes – a thin black shirt and worn pants – were mussed, and his red eyes were a mix of furious and empty. There were more fallen guards around him.
In his right hand clutched a bloodied metal chopstick coated in green blood. He was still wearing the silver gag they sometimes put on him when he wasn’t performing; he’d been known to bite hard with it off. But that clearly hadn’t protected the guards who were after him.
Horus and Seth had tussled in the past, just for play, and Seth typically won, having learned and trained himself in his spare time from unauthorized martial arts videos he found. His sharp focus made him one of the most vicious fighters around, and he was known for his temper, so guards were pretty heavy with him. With the downward spiral of his mood leaving him more apathetic and still, Horus imagined Osiris had thought it was safe to take Seth outside of Heliopolis.
Horus looked down at Osiris and saw the moment the light in the man’s eyes faded. Horus knew he’d paid for Nephthys to be in the round she’d died in. They’d both heard the caretakers talking about it.
Green blood drained onto the floor around Horus’ shoes, joining the rest of the muck from the other aliens felled and dead at Seth’s hands. The price of arrogance and stupidity.
Seth dropped the chopstick.
Horus grabbed Seth’s left wrist and said, “We need to go.”
Seth looked up at him slowly, his red eyes glassy again.
Horus remembered the last time he’d tried to get Seth to run away with him, when Seth was barely 16, and Horus was nearly 14. Horus had found a way out, Seth was willing, and they’d nearly made it… until Seth had turned back because he just couldn’t leave Nephthys behind.
At the time, Horus had accepted that he would never hold primacy in Seth’s heart, at least enough to keep Seth alive. So Horus had stayed in Heliopolis with Seth, at least to watch over him as much as Horus could until their hellish lives killed them.
It had taken years for where they were now, in their late 20s, both facing more performances that would either result in them barely surviving – at the cost of the life of someone else they’d like trained with – or dying just like Nephthys had. And Horus knew, after this, Seth couldn’t go back to Heliopolis, where the guards would learn about what he’d done, and worse, the executives who owned Heliopolis and their clientele. He’d just die earlier. They’d never even let him try to compete just to publicly execute him.
When Seth didn’t move, Horus reached out to undo the gag, letting it fall on the ground.
Seth’s lips parted, but he just stared back at Horus, unmoving. He looked exhausted.
Horus wrapped his arm around Seth’s back, and then pulled him out of the room, away from the mess. Away from the man who’d essentially murdered the one person Seth cared about, and the people who enabled him and rich people like him.
They raced through hallways, following scared clubgoers. There were other pet humans with them, so they got lost in the crowd. Before this, Horus signaled his friends in the rebellion to start some ruckus as a distraction. There was an automatic warning over the loudspeakers, saying that customers were advised to evacuate due to unauthorized gas being detected in the building’s air condition system. Horus knew it wasn’t meant to be fatal, but he also knew they had to get out before succumbing themselves.
He was getting Seth out of here for good. Seth could hate him later for it, since the man didn’t like being jerked around by anyone. He’d made threats about Osiris before that hadn’t led anywhere, given their powerlessness, but that Seth had finally done something about it…
Well, Horus hoped there wasn’t another weapon hidden somewhere on him ready to use on Horus.
At one point they had to hide behind a large potted plant with pink flowers from some security, and Horus pulled Seth against him, feeling his heart race. He had no doubt Seth could do damage to them, but given the crowd, there wasn’t much security to help earlier. Now there was more.
Seth was warm against him, but didn’t move. It felt just like how things used to be, with Horus always seeking Seth out, them sitting together in the shade of the trees or at mealtimes. Sometimes they even fell asleep together in Seth’s room. Once, on Horus’ 18th birthday, Seth had even kissed him on the cheek.
It had been a while since then. If Seth wanted nothing to do with Horus later, that was fine. He didn’t think Seth expected to survive his plan here, if it was even planned and not spur of the moment.
“The people we’re going to find,” Horus said, quietly as he watched the security trying to handle the crowd, “we need to go with them, okay? They’ll get us out of here.”
“What?” Seth voice sounded too flat.
“Please!” Horus begged as he squeezed Seth’s arm. “Just go along with this for now!” He didn’t want Seth to run away back to Heliopolis to die. Seth was powerful, but the enemy had all kinds of weapons to subdue uppity humans. It was part of how the aliens had taken over Earth hundreds of years ago.
Seth was quiet and eventually Horus pulled them out of the nook to keep running.
They finally got out of the building and into a back alley. It was still night, and stars twinkled overhead, while the sounds of worried clubgoers and emergency vehicles could be heard in the distance. An old flatbed truck was waiting for them, and Dedwen, who’d been in charge of the distraction, waved at him, but didn’t say anything to otherwise call attention to himself. His dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail and his purple eyes shone in the single light over the door Horus and Seth had exited from.
Horus dragged Seth over and pulled him into the truck bed, where Dedwen pulled a tarp over their heads. Some crates made the area look like it was full of regular cargo, rather than two weirdly human lumps badly covered up.
Horus kept Seth by his side.
“Isis,” Dedwen muttered nearby, “go!”
Isis must have hit the pedals, because they were soon off.
The seat was uncomfortable and it was hot, but Seth didn’t complain.
“Glad you survived,” Dedwen said. “Once the scent bombs went off, place was chaos.”
Horus scoffed and replied, “Thanks.” He’d been in contact with the rebels for some years as they grew in power: following up rumors and talking to the right people, and an old connection, Isis, who’d also been trained at Heliopolis, got him in touch with people who could help him.
“You really planned this,” Seth said against Horus’ side. He was leaning heavily against Horus’ right arm. “How long?” He was remarkably calm, despite everything, and hadn’t pushed to get away.
“A while,” Horus said. They went over a bump and Horus held Seth tightly. “Sorry I couldn’t tell you. You weren’t in the best shape.” There also hadn’t been enough time to warn him. They had their chance and he took it. And hoped Isis’ driving was good enough to keep them safe.
But no one showed up to drag them out from under the tarp.
“They’ll come after us,” Seth said. “Hathor will come after you.”
“She’ll be busy with a few things,” Horus said. “She’s probably forgotten about me entirely at this point, and likely won’t remember until tomorrow.” With luck, he’d never see her again. But things were uncertain now that they were actually running away.
A lot could go wrong. Their owners had more money, more connections, more public sympathy… Although Isis and her people were talking then to the badlands, with a smaller population, where you could disappear, and the rebels were stronger, things were still risky.
“It’d be easier if you weren’t running with me,” Seth muttered.
“You’re the only reason I’m going,” Horus said, his fingers tightening on Seth’s right arm. He was surprised Seth hadn’t pushed him away. Over the years, they’d been close, at least in Horus’ estimation, but Seth was still a loner. Still too focused on Nephthys. Horus couldn’t just step into her shoes now that she was gone.
“So it’s my fault?” Seth asked, in annoyance.
“In the sense I’m saving you from that hellhole,” Horus said, “then sure. But I’m glad you took that asshole down. That was incredible. Dangerous, but incredible.”
Seth scoffed at that. “You weren’t so bad, either.”
“You noticed?” Horus was surprised Seth had the attention to spare, with everything happening.
“I had to see how many guards there were. I got some glances your way. But not much.”
Horus was honestly impressed. But another thing was bugging him, too.
“This is the longest you’ve talked to me in ages,” Horus said, quietly.
Seth didn’t reply to that.
Horus wondered if he’d put his foot in his mouth.
“I still don’t really want to talk,” Seth said, quietly. “I think this is just adrenaline.”
“I’m sorry,” Horus said.
“Don’t apologize,” Seth said, with a little annoyance. “Thanks. For this. I’d be dead now, otherwise.”
“If you need anything, just ask,” Horus said. “I know these people, they’re good. But things are going to be hard going forward.” They had little money and few connections, and they’d never been on the run like this: they’d both been born and raised in captivity, and the one time when they were younger was their only attempted escape. Neither of them had never been to the badlands. It was a whole new world to figure out.
“As long as we’re away from that fucking place,” Seth muttered. “I don’t care.”
Horus smiled, hoping the determination he heard in Seth’s voice lasted.
Seth leaned more heavily on Horus. “And I’m glad. That you came to help. I’m glad you’re still talking to me after I shut you out.”
“I don’t blame you for cutting me out,” Horus said, happy for Seth to be basically cuddling against him. It was a bit distracting, and he was glad he wasn’t in charge of just about anything right now. He didn’t have the brain space for it.
“You should,” Seth said. “You were stuck in that place, too. We only had each other.”
Horus had nothing to say to that. He’d come to terms with the ridiculousness of his situation as a child. Seth had been a shining light in the darkness. But he knew they were both dead men walking for years.
“You’re still obsessed with me, huh?” Seth asked. There was a bit of humor in his voice.
Horus grinned, trying for hope. “Of course.”
Seth settled his head against Horus’ right shoulder. “Okay. Good.”
“Good?” Horus asked, wondering what that meant. All the touching was driving him a little crazy.
“You’re cute when you’re worried,” Seth said, making Horus bite his lip. “If we’re starting our lives anew, I’m going to need that.”
Horus’ heart raced. “Really?” It sounded like Seth wanted him around, rather than for them to go their separate ways.
Seth sighed and moved his head up.
Soft lips pressed against Horus’. Horus turned into the kiss, feeling like a man dying of thirst finally getting a drink of water.
The noise of the car faded away.
Eventually, Seth pulled away and said, “Get it now?”
Horus wasn’t sure he did, mostly because his brain was tied up in Seth kissing him.
“I want an acid bath,” Seth said as he leaned back against Horus. “To wipe the stink of that asshole off of me.” He breathed in deeply. “And if we’re lucky, maybe we can do fun stuff later. Start fresh.”
“Y-yeah,” Horus said, still trying to catch up with everything. “Sounds good.”
“About another hour till we’re there,” Dedwen said. “Security checkpoints might take a bit.”
“Thanks,” Horus said, quietly. They had ways to get around them, but it would take time.
“I liked you for years,” Seth said in the silence. “I just… After Nephthys, I didn’t know how to explain it. I didn’t have room for it. I didn’t… want to think about you ending up like her. Or me ending up like her. And you…” He breathed in. “I’m sorry. I just… pulled away.”
“You were protecting yourself,” Horus said. “I get it.” But a part of him felt touched by Seth worrying about him. For all the times Horus wondered if he was less important in Seth’s eyes, Seth had really been worrying about him.
“You’re so annoying,” Seth said. “I can’t believe we’re leaving again. For good.”
Horus smiled grimly at that, and the reminder of their past failed escape. He didn’t blame Seth for turning back, really. If someone had tried to get Horus to leave Seth behind, Horus would have turned back, too.
Their life ahead would be strange. No more daily rehearsals, specially made protein meals, prestige events, or goofing around with the few peers they still kept in touch with… Just the two of them.
“I wonder if you’ll get sick of me,” Horus said.
“Maybe you’ll get sick of me,” Seth countered. “About time.”
“Never,” Horus insisted.
Seth laughed. Eventually he said, “I’m tired. Can you just… stay here? Holding me?”
“I’ve got nowhere to go,” Horus said, feeling his heart in his throat at those words. “And nowhere I’d rather be.”
Seth made a contented noise and snuggled closer, nearly sitting in Horus’ lap. “Same.”