23 Where Lucifer rules (1/2)

Iven stood paralyzed, not sure what to say, trying to study the situation when Seb and his brothers stood in combat position. The howling and shouts already had turn him suspicious when he arrived. It was very unlikely of them. They always prefer calm atmosphere and it's always quiet like a cemetery. They were never the excited or enjoying type. So, it was indeed weird!

And he found the reason, Seb!!!

”Iven!!!...I can explain...”, the calm Yuka was also fumbling on his words. He initiated to explain lest he gets any misunderstanding. He tried to describe the situation when suddenly Seb's words interrupted and dropped like nuclear bombs on everyone.

”Why, you're looking all Lucifer today”, she said all frankly and unafraid.

Everyone looked at her with bulgy eyes. Clearly she knows Iven very well!!!

On the other hand, Iven had received enough blow for one day at once to say much.

He shakily pointed his finger at Seb and said referring to everyone including her,”What are you doing here? What is she doing here?”.

”There we go again!”, Yuka sighed and stepped forward as he started explaining everything from the top all over again.

But then the real question struck. The boys were waiting not so patiently for Iven's part of explanation. Their turn came, and they jumped on it hungrily. Something like this requires a better story.

”You have encountered a women acquaintance, whereas you never even took on female customers???”, they asked,” You've also kept it away from us for so long!! What's going on ???”

Iven sighed and looked down. He scratched his nape nervously and spoke,”I've known her....for a while now. It would have been awkward if I had said it to you guys since I was uncomfortable at first. She's....is.....my friend!!!”. Iven put it short.

Seb's heart jumped when he referred to her as 'friend'. It was a first, and a quite improvement too!!! but somehow, she also felt a bit disappointed. Is she only a friend? She was sure that she was indeed someone special in Iven's life. But this should do for now. This should be taken slowly enough.

Everyone was trying to grasp on Iven's part of speech, when Seb distracted them,” So, you're their big brother?...Big Brother???”, she applied sarcasm, pointing at his age and theirs because few of them seemed elder to him.

”Brother”, Iven corrected embarrassed,”They apply big by themselves”, he was expressionless.

He still wondered about this extraordinary meet of Seb and the boys. They hardly knew what is excitement. All they knew was to carry out jobs, stay quiet and sleep, fighting and sometimes gang-wars too. And yet, he had seen the smiles on their faces pretty genuine earlier. As if they were experiencing something very different. That too in Seb's company. She had made hem this way, that too in such a short time. She indeed has some techniques of her own!!!

But Iven knew that it wasn't the right time to think all of that. Judging from all what Yuka said to him, Seb did something very unexpected and dangerous on her own.

He looked at her with a serious stare,” What were you doing there this late? You shouldn't be here now”.

Seb gave a scornful look and said grumpily,” I'm always going home this late. It was just a coincidence”, she never liked Iven's stubborn elderly nature towards her, though he tries to be protective.

Mak crept from behind and whispered to Seb,”It's not very wise to talk with him in that tone Seb. You won't like to mess with him. Iven is pretty skilled in fighting, than anyone of us here. He thrashes us within a second”.

Everyone was surprised since Seb talked to him full of attitude.

Seb smirked and winked,”How can you be so sure?”.

Mak took a while to understand what Seb said. Then it struck him like thunder,”Don't tell me you have....” his trail got slower as Seb grinned and nodded once,”...you....you have knocked him down already!!!!!”.

This time his whisper wasn't a whisper. It was loud enough for everyone to hear. Mak covered his mouth realizing what he had done.

It wasn't even a second and suddenly the boys broke into fits of laughter!

Iven had heard it too. He preserved his frown on the face till the laughter continued. He let them enjoy his humiliation for a while. It was never-ending.

Mak was confused at first but eventually he joined in. Yuka wasn't holding back either. He was covering his mouth as he chuckled softly. The others were in no situation to describe. They literally needed support to balance themselves as they laughed hard enough.

Iven still had his frown. He looked at Seb and gave a 'happy now?' glare. Seb lifted and dropped his shoulders casually as she smiled softly. Iven looked away to hide his smile. He has relaxed a bit.

”All right all right!!!”, Iven raised his hand in surrender,”Belle did overthrow me....just once!”, he admitted,”...pretty mercilessly”, he added.

And again he caught attention.

”Belle?”, Mak was the one to ask,” Her name is Seb, isn't it?”

”Her name is Sybelle!”, Iven revealed.

”Well...”, Seb jumped to his rescue,” It is Sybelle indeed, but he prefers Belle. Though I have been called Seb my entire life”.

The boys exchanged looks with one another. That was rather weird!

”And if I'm not wrong, were you just called.....Lucifer by her?”, it was a sharp Yuka.

Iven passed a gaze at Seb,” Please not here!!!”, it was a strong request. The boys didn't dare question him more judging the looks of his face.

”And you've been tasting sand a lot behind our backs too”, Yuka joked. A short compressed laughter emerged. The source went un-found.

”It was just once”, it was Iven trait never to put up excuses and admit the truth.

Almost within a sudden of flash second, Iven's expression changed completely as he realized something. His jaw tightened.

”Yuka!!!”, he called in a cold tone.

Immediate silence spread at his sharp voice. All of the knew this tone pretty well. Now things were going to get a bit serious. iven had switched over to real 'Iven' mode.

”Yes”, Yuka was on toes. His nature changed completely into a obedient one.

”Did you find out who they were?”, Iven asked.

Yuka was sharp enough to know what he was talking about even without mentioning the exact people,” We didn't ask Noah yet. He's being treated. He did admit that it was too dark to see their faces”.

”Names?”, he asked.

”He was beaten up petty bad to notice anything at the moment”, said Yuka. Iven grunted. He stole a glance at Seb and shook his head at Yuka.

”I understand Iven. We can't get her involved”, he said.

Seb didn't hear anything this whole time since they were talking with low voices. But she was hell curious to know. She was sure that they were talking about Noah's incident. She also wanted to help as much possible. She remembered something and walked upto Iven.

”Hey Iven?”, she interrupted softly.

Iven looked at her and rose his eyebrows asking 'what?'.