The Apprentice Assassin (Complete but editing) MxM

The Madman's Lab

"Well here we are!" Alex exclaimed in a friendly tone as he waved his arm majestically towards the large pile of items that seemed to stretch across his table. Long glass beakers with liquid bubbling in them, small spindly tubes with strangely colored liquids twisting through the glass, and a small fire that burned underneath a heavy-looking metal pot filled with some form of non-potable liquid. "You should count yourself lucky Thomas. You're the first person to ever see my lab aside from me!" He turned around and watched as Thomas took it all in. "I could show you a few other things too. If you're interested in chemistry, maybe a little biology?" He questioned with another sensual smile, making Thomas shiver.

"Can you stop with the whole pervert thing? I really don't want to be with you, romantically or otherwise! Not to sound shallow or anything, but you're just too old. I know you want to get into my towel, but I really don't want to get into a relationship. That doubles for a man who is a few million years old!" Thomas replied, his cheeks burning hot as he tried to avoid Alex's gaze.

"Is it my skin that bothers you Thomas, or the age? I gotta say, for somebody as old as I am. My body looks pretty dang good!" Alex replied, his smile fading as a questioning look began to take its place. "If my body was younger, would it still bother you this much?" 

"Well yeah, but..." Thomas trailed off, scattering any thought of the two being together. "Look, I don't want to get into my personal life okay? I don't do the whole relationship thing. They always end badly for me, for everybody involved really. Let's leave it at that okay?" He looked down at the ground, pain flooding through him as he remembered his captain's last orders. "I can't go through any more loss..." 

"You think if there is no love, there can't be loss?" Alex asked, pulling Thomas's gaze with his words. "Let me tell you from personal experience. Being in love and losing them sucks. But it's a hell of a lot worse if you try and keep yourself from loving anybody at all. You get nothing but old, bitter, and a deep hatred for anything that tries to interfere. Trust me, losing somebody is not nearly as bad as being alone forever..." He paused for a second, the light in his eyes fading. Shaking his head suddenly, he seemed to snap out of whatever depressing feeling encumbered him as he started to wander around his massive lab. 

The lab continued to surprise and concern Thomas as he looked around the room. Every wall was lined with shelves and bookcases. They were all filled with items that looked like they were from cartoons. Ancient-looking books that were old and musty, small orbs that looked like weather was trapped inside, a suit of rusty metal armor on a manikin, even an antique looking wand carved with intrinsic letters written in a language unknown to Thomas. "Where did you get all this stuff?" He questioned, slowly looking around at the massive shelves covered in unique and invaluable looking items. 

"I scavenged what I could from the Mantine library, others I picked up over the years. The ingredients on the bookcase over there are what I could save from my lab before the Flara burned it all down. Some of this stuff doesn't exist anymore out in the world at large. Like this beauty," Alex reached forward and grunted as he lifted a heavy-looking, deep blue object in his hand that extended long past his fingertips. "This is one of the last known dragon scales in existence! The dragon's had such amazing healing abilities. Just a single tear had enough magical power to cure a plague across an entire country. It's such a shame people thought to hunt them to extinction. Their tears weren't the only things that stored magic in those poor creatures. Their scales stored just as much energy, and the dragons would shed those things like dogs do hair!" He let out a sigh, putting the large scale down. "Damn knights and their stupid holy quests." He mumbled out before starting across the room. "What kind of salt did you want for our food?"

Following behind Alex, Thomas blinked in surprised when he saw a shelf stacked with filled jars in every color imaginable. None of the jars seemed to be real, and when he looked at a bright green one, he saw it wiggle and took an anxious step back. "Just regular salt..." He mumbled awkwardly as he tried not to look at the dangerous-looking jar.