Chapter Text
Hunter had had so many expectations when he was the Golden Guard. He lived to serve Belos, that was the entire reason he was created. He had become so used to Belos’ abuse he didn’t know it was abuse until after he had gotten free. When he and his friends were trapped in the human realm he was able to talk to Camila, read books on child abuse, and check out some online support groups. Camila wasn’t able to afford sending him and the others to therapy, but she did her best to help them all. Over the months there he had been able to work through and come to terms with so much.
After Belos was defeated and the Collector freed everyone, Hunter spent some time at the owl house while everyone tried to settle into the new routine of putting everything back together with the coven system gone and no more threats being around. After a few weeks people were able to start finding some sense of normalcy while repairs were done. As part of that growing normalcy, Hunter moved out of the owl house and started living with Darius for a more permanent living situation. He supposed it made sense, Darius knew him the best out of the options available to start living with. Darius had known him for as long as he had been alive and had one of the best views on what his life had been like in the castle.
Hunter thought he’d know what to expect living with Darius, but it turned out that Darius acted so differently than he had been back at the castle. He was attentive and caring, but also fairly hands-off. He trusted Hunter and left him to his own devices. He made sure Hunter took care of himself but didn’t force anything, he let Hunter eat in his room so long as he brought his dishes out, he was fine with Hunter staying out late as long as he had notice beforehand, and he didn’t really ask Hunter deep questions about his feelings as long as Hunter made sure to get to his therapy sessions. It was nice to not have any sort of pressure or obligations outside of doing his school work and keeping clean. Yet it also felt weird to have so much freedom. He was used to being forced to help so Darius telling him he didn’t need to felt almost alien. He was constantly offering his assistance in any way he could but every time Darius just told him that he didn’t need to do anything for him. Sometimes Darius would throw him a bone and let him help with household chores –Hunter quickly memorized all the care and cleaning instructions for Darius’ belongings– but that was only ever when Darius had gotten too tired from his work on the newly established council that was made to be a governing figure while repairs were done.
The longer Hunter stayed, the more desperate Hunter felt to be given some sort of job. He had talked to his therapist about it before but they just told him it was part of the process of adjusting to no longer being the golden guard. He already knew he was having to adjust, he just wished he could adjust faster . His therapist had said that it could be harder because of how dramatic the change was, but once again that was something he already knew. If only Darius could just give him something familiar to do like some sort of job, some sort of anything that would give him a bit of stability and assuredness that he had back at the castle.
If he could just find a way to really help Darius outside of chores, help him in a way like he helped Belos, then maybe he could feel more normal.
One day, Hunter was just relaxing in the dining room doing some reading when Darius got back from work. Hunter had gotten very skilled at reading body language from his time with Belos so he could tell just by looking at him that he was frustrated. Normally he’d just mind his own business, maybe go to his room to stay out of the way, but the thought that perhaps he could try and see if he could do something, anything entered his mind and he couldn’t shake it.
“Did something happen with the council?” Hunter asked.
“I’m just…really tense from work.” Darius sighed, rubbing his temple, “I’ve been working so hard lately and it’s just been nonstop frustration. Almost makes me miss being a coven head because at least there I had people beneath me I could give most of the work I didn’t want to do. With this I somehow have more responsibility yet I get less respect.”
“Is there anything I could do for you?”
“Unless you have some of those human muscle relaxers, I don’t think so. Those things are incredible and it’s a shame Eda barely had any when I had told her however long ago that I was having muscle tension problems. Ever since I got free from being a puppet I’ve just felt so much worse. One would think that being stuck in that infernal prison for seven months would have at least paused my aging but unfortunately not.” Darius sighed, “I asked Raine if they felt similarly since getting free but they just said that maybe it’s me finally experiencing the inevitability of being middle aged that I had done everything in my power to delay. Long story short, there’s nothing I can think of short of you running off to the human realm healer store and getting me something and I wouldn’t ask you to do that.”
Hunter tried to hide his excitement at hearing that. There was finally a thing that he was good at that he could do for the man who took him in.
“It’s not the same, but I do know how to give a good massage.” Hunter offered, “That way you should be at least a little less tense.”
“Really?” Darius said, raising an eyebrow, “That’s not something I knew you could do.”
“You’ve learned more than enough times that there’s plenty of things you don’t know about me. I don’t think this is the most surprising thing.” Hunter shrugged.
“I suppose that knowing how to give a massage is a lot less surprising than being secretly abused by Belos for the entirety of your existence.” Darius nodded.
“Exactly! And it’s okay if you don't want to, I just think it’ll help.”
“I don’t know how I feel about it. I’ve had a decent amount of massages in my life and they tend to get rather…personal, so to speak.”
“Oh don’t worry, it won’t be anything professional. Just a simple upper shoulder and neck massage, I’ll sit behind you on the couch. Not some deep tissue thing that involves you laying down and taking off anything. Just a little something to help get rid of that tension.”
Darius thought for a moment and Hunter was worried that Darius was going to refuse him, but thankfully Darius just shrugged, set down his bag, slipped off his boots, and walked over to the couch. Hunter put his bookmark in his book and followed close behind. Darius sat sideways on the couch and Hunter sat up on his knees behind him, having to be on his knees with how much taller –how much bigger in general, especially as far as muscle mass was considered– Darius was than him. Hunter was out of practice, but as he worked out the knots in Darius’ neck and shoulders he could tell from how Darius started to visibly relax that he still knew how to do well. It was relaxing to finally do something he was used to doing. As he got more into it his mind was able to actually clear for the first time in months.
Hunter didn’t know how long it took, but eventually he could tell that he had reached a point where he really didn’t need to continue. But he didn’t want to stop, it was so nice to finally do something he was good at for someone he cared about. Working at Darius’ strong shoulder muscles through his shirt, feeling his soft skin as he kneaded his neck, getting as close to the man who took him in as he had ever been.
He had wanted to be able to get so close to him for a long time and he knew nobody would blame him for that. Darius was stern but casual, powerful but not irresponsible, confident but not cocky. There was also the fact that Darius was very attractive, something that Hunter had recognized since he was old enough to recognize what attraction was. He remembered the first time he had seen Darius transform into his abomination form and he had thanked the Titan he had his mask to hide how much his face heated up. Darius was tall, muscular, and was so openly himself that Hunter couldn’t help but feel attracted. Sure Hunter had been attracted to other people before, basically everyone knew he had a crush –a word he only mostly understood– on Willow, but it felt so different with Darius. Yet it also felt so familiar.
Hunter worried that Darius would get suspicious if he took too long so he finally moved his hands back. His eyes were glued to Darius’ back as he watched him roll his shoulders, the movement of every muscle being so clear through the thin, light material of Darius’ shirt.
“Titan, you weren’t kidding, that was good.” Darius chuckled, “I’m impressed.”
Hunter sat back on his legs as Darius turned to face him. The way Darius smiled at him made the tips of his ears heat up and he had no idea how to react. Sure he had seen Darius smile before, but that was the first time Darius had looked at him like that. His galderstone heart fluttered at Darius’ praise and tried his best to smile back at him as normally as he could. He was so glad that he finally found a way to help Darius. All he had to do was take his mind off of work and help him when he was tense or tired, something he was actually used to.
“You’re a good kid.” Darius continued.
“Always happy to help!” Hunter said excitedly.
“Don’t worry too much about being helpful kid, that’s my job since I took you in.”
“Thank you for letting me nonetheless.” Hunter said with a nod, “And hey, whenever you get tense with work I can do this again.”
“I appreciate the offer Hunter.” Darius said, standing up and ruffling Hunter’s hair.
Hunter could tell his face was starting to flush at the continued affection and he just prayed to the Titan that Darius didn’t think too hard about it if he noticed. Darius walked back to the entryway and grabbed his bag, walking over to the dining room table and taking out whatever he didn’t need. Hunter stood up from the couch and stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to do with himself.
“So, have you gotten your homework done?” Darius asked, glancing back at Hunter.
“O-oh! Um, almost. I’m almost done.” Hunter stammered.
“You should go finish that, dinner will be ready in about a half hour.” Darius said, turning back to his things and waving Hunter off.
Hunter nodded and quickly walked over to grab his book before going off to his room. He could feel Darius’ eyes on him, probably suspicious from how fast he was moving. But Hunter didn’t have the capacity to worry about that, just wanting to leave as fast as he could so he could pull himself together. He got to his room and accidentally shut his door too hard to be normal but was frankly just focused on getting to his desk and pulling out his almost finished homework.
He knew he was attracted to Darius, but his feelings were so much more intense than they were before. He felt a little pathetic at the fact that such a simple, caring act was able to get to him so much. All it took was a basic massage and Darius ruffling his hair and giving him praise for him to have no idea what to do with himself. His leg was restlessly bouncing and he couldn’t focus on his work to save his life. He eventually just groaned and rested his head on the edge of his desk, questioning what was wrong with himself. He looked down and felt even worse when he saw that he had actually gotten a little hard. He knew he had been a tad starved for affection and praise, but it was more annoying than anything to see how affected he had gotten.
Hunter groaned and got up, flopping onto his bed and just accepting that he’d have to do his homework in the morning when he could actually focus. He tried to think about literally anything else but all he could think of was Darius. The thin layer of cloth between his hands and Darius’ strong back, the softness of the little skin he was able to feel, the face he made at him, the way his name sounded coming off his lips…
Hunter bit his lip as his pants just became more uncomfortable for him to wear. Not wanting to just lay there any longer Hunter moved his pants and boxers down just enough that he could pull his dick out. He held one hand tightly over his mouth as he started to stroke his already half-hard length. As much as he wished he could think about just some nebulous attractive people or maybe even someone specific he found attractive –as bad as he felt for jacking off thinking about Willow he couldn’t deny that it didn’t work great when he needed something fast– his brain just kept feeding him images of Darius, fantasies of Darius leading him to his room, taking off him clothes, and pinning him down to his bed and fucking him until he couldn’t think. He wondered what it would sound like to hear him moan his name, what it would feel like to moan Darius’ name. He moaned loudly into the hand covering his mouth and his hips bucked into the hand wrapped around his dick as his thoughts continued, his imagination so clear he could almost feel Darius’ hand running over his chest, squeezing his thighs, and ever so gently squeezing his throat. If he wasn’t so worried about Darius hearing him he would have used the hand that was busy being tightly clasped over his mouth to run over his body just to make it that much easier to imagine it being Darius touching him.
It was almost embarrassing how fast he was able cum, as well as how much he did. He was able to clean himself up quickly, though he did have to change his shirt because he hadn’t moved it up enough that he wouldn’t get cum on it. He decided to also change into sweatpants so he could just pass it off as him getting into bed clothes so it’d be less suspicious. As he tossed his clothes into the hamper he heard Darius calling for him from the kitchen for dinner. As he checked his reflection in his wall mirror to make sure there wasn’t anything off about him it clicked in his mind why he couldn’t control his thoughts.
It was so simple and so obvious. He felt about him the same way he once felt about Belos. Despite the fact that he never thought he would ever since Belos’ death, that was the only thing that made sense.
Hunter loved Darius.