Snippet #2063474

"Well, sweetheart. I know you. We're alike, you and I. And I wouldn't follow anyone into the woods unless I was going to get something out of it. And don't tell me that it's just because you didn't like Aaron's music or some bull like that, darling, because then you could have just skulked back inside. I'm sure your precious puppy Daniel would have followed you." Markus began after he’d pulled her up and Erin rolled her eyes. She’d been a little surprised he’d even pulled her all the way. Of course she’d tried to help, but from this angle there wasn’t much for her to use as support, which mean that she’d been completely at Markus’ ‘mercy’ so to speak, and she hated it. “Something that you can give me, huh?” Erin said after he’d added the last bit, her voice dry. “Well, that certainly sounds interesting, doesn’t it?” She was baiting him, and she didn’t give two shits. Erin moved to sit with her legs folded under her, watching him. “And what if I don’t want Daniel to follow me? What then?” she raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Then he proposed a trait and Erin merely looked at him impassively. What was he up to now, the big oaf? She didn’t doubt he’d tell her regardless of what she said, so she kept quiet. Erin wasn’t a big talker anyway, so she supposed it was a good thing that Markus did… if one didn’t like silence. However, it just so happened that Erin did indeed like silence. Very much so. A little change was alright once in a while though, so she could deal with Markus in small dosages without going mental. Nope, wait, she was already pretty mental. Suppose she was just generally screwed then. As Markus began putting forth lighters, Erin mulled the situation over. What the hell was he trying to do, here? Irayah had settled down next to Erin, watching Markus intently, which to Erin meant that it at least wouldn’t be bothering her. She shook her head and moved a little more, scooting so that she could lean against the tree next to the rock and watch Markus at the same time. Might as well get settled in; it appeared this would be one of his notorious speeches. Irayah stayed where she was.

As Markus began telling his story, Erin listened only with half an ear. He hadn’t been at the Island for very long, true, but in the time he had, Erin had gotten used to Markus spouting bullshit on a daily basis. It was sort of his thing. When he began spreading lighter fluid on the rock, she cocked her head to the side a little, wondering what he was doing. Irayah moved in the next second, quickly settling herself in on Erin’s lap, which again made her wonder. She glanced the kitten, and a familiar voice sounded in her head, ”cross” was all she said, the sound shaky and downright terrified. Erin almost frowned, but managed to remain completely impassive as she watched Markus. What the hell was he making a cross for? Then the fire came and Erin visibly frowned, scooting a little further away by pure instinct. Irayah, for one, wailed and scrambled onto Erin’s shoulder again, trying to hide itself in her hair. She could always put that down to a cat scared of fire… or maybe that it had merely been surprised. Erin knew it was the image projected though, and that’s when she figured it out. He was trying to scare her?

His story had been dark and she’d sensed bits of truth in there, but she had a feeling – it was Markus after all – that a lot of it was also over dramatized. So was it his own story then? With a bit of glitter added? Or someone else’s? His power fit from what she’d seen… more or less. Although his wings had seemed kind of puny, especially the way they’d sort of… withered away. It was weird. Not particularly scary to her – probably due to past experiences – but ugly all the same. Then again, demonic features had a tendency to be. She didn’t miss the glint of amusement in his eyes and she shook her head at him as he finished his story. She quietly took Irayah in her hands and put her into her lap, running her fingers through the black fur to calm down the creature. It was still shivering in fear. She sent a pointed stare in Markus’ direction, completely ignoring his words. He talked too much anyways. She couldn’t be expected to actually listen all the time.

Irayah slowly unwound in her lap, and Erin remained silent for a few seconds until she looked at Markus once more. “You scared my cat,” she said matter of factly, her features completely expressionless. “You really shouldn’t do that.” Erin’s eyes flashed black for a second there as she used her connection with Irayah to instill calm in the kitten. It visibly relaxed with a soft purr, looking over at Markus. Then Erin finally smiled wryly, looking up at him, her momentary anger gone – she didn’t like Irayah being scared like that. It made her uncomfortable as she could feel it through their bond. “Now, if I didn’t know better, Markus, I’d say you were trying to scare me.” She said, her voice filled with dry humor, “it’s not going to work.” Then she put Irayah down and stood, wrapping an arm around the tree she’d been sitting against, and leaned her side against it, watching Markus intently. “As for what I want,” she then added, still not sure how to phrase it but deciding that it didn’t really matter.

How much worse could Markus really get? “You don’t need to ‘irritate me out of my mind’, even if you’re quite able in that department.” She shot him a wry smile at that. “I’d like to get rid of Daniel, and I’m going to need your help for that.” Irayah purred and flexed her little claws before she padded over to Markus, evidently over her moment of fear, and hopped onto his lap, curling up there. Erin rolled her eyes at the thing before looking at Markus’ face again, “I’ve tried everything to shove him away but he keeps coming back.” She wasn’t going to explain to Markus why she wanted Daniel gone, or the fact that the very words were hurting her already. She merely kept it to superficial facts. “I think I’ve worked out how to make him want to stay away from me, and that’s where you come in.” She paused, waiting to gauge his reaction.