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Borrowed Strength

Borrowed Strength

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Everyone looks to become stronger, but if offered strength from a demon, would you pay the price they asked? [dead]

1,635 readers have visited Borrowed Strength since Ashes-6695 created it.

Introduction

"Ŧ๏г ค קгเςє, เ ςคภ ﻮเשє א๏ย ק๏ฬєг..."

"For a price, I can give you power..."


Whatever the reason, humans often grasp for power. They want it for revenge, for respect, for justice, or simply for vanity. But the reason doesn't change the fact that humans often accept the offer. That's just the kind of species they are. And their desire is what brings demons to oblige. It was thousands of years ago when people still acknowledged the demons. But the number of demon contracts coming into society was at an all-time high. Humans were greedily reaching out to the demons and begging for their power. And soon, war broke out. People were tired of those who took the demon's offer despite the horrid price fought despite the odds. The war lasted for a few hundred years, though began growing smaller in the last few decades. Eventually, it seemed as though every contractor was wiped from the face of the planet, and coming into contracts with demons was officially illegal. Anyone caught would killed immediately.

Time passed though, and it was as if the demons had abandoned man kind. Or were perhaps even extinct. Either way, the humans forgot all about them, as if they never existed at all. Without the hands of the demons, the earth slipped out of balance. Civilization crumbled, and it took another hundred years to be rebuilt. The population is much less than it used to be. Cities are few, and people don't venture out of them, less they want to risk being attacked by wild animals - which have developed into horrid, demonic carnivores. The cities no longer stretch outward, but up; built on the bones of the old cities, and up on platforms. Lights are almost constant, and the movement of people and cars are non-stop as well. People don't live on the base level anymore, not unless they can't afford to live up top with the rest of humanity, and they risk raids from animals, or even law enforcement looking for people to kill without anyone missing them.

The government also had trouble rebuilding. It brought back the basic laws, but it's enforcement methods were corrupt and did little to protect the people. Tragedy struck often, and was not picky on who fell at it's hand. Humanity was constantly on the verge of crumbling to apocalypse once more. Pathetic humans once again outstretched their hands, begging for power, and who were the demons not to oblige?

"เ'll คςςєקt א๏ยг קгเςє..."

"I'll accept your price..."


The reason didn't matter. The reason never matters. Power was being offered to someone who begged for it, and obviously it was going to be accepted. The price didn't even matter. A desperate or a greedy human was one that would pay any price. It depends on the demon, what they ask for. But prices can range from something as simple as the human's flesh - an arm, a leg, an eye - or go all the way up to people's lives - sometimes entire families are taken. But the human agrees anyway. That's humans for you. Some things just don't matter as much as their 'reason' does. And in exchange, the demon grants power, in whatever way, shape, or form that they can. The human then belongs to the demon, and the demon to the human. But reaching the goal at hand is proving to be more difficult than anyone intended...

Some people have begun to take notice of the contractors. And they happen to be the type who believe that the contracts are still illegal by an unspoken agreement. They try to cut down any contractor they spot, and get away with it merely because of the lack of law enforcement. But as it would seem that a group of humans is no match for someone borrowing the strength of a demon, the hunters have begun offering up a few of their own to become contractors as well. The hunter contractors are meant to even out the score, and the hunters intend to kill them as well, once they've done away with all the contractors that are off running around the town. Can the contractors reach the goals they accepted the contracts for? And can the demons manage to restore the balance before another war threatens to make things worse?

~*~


∂ємσηѕ~ The demon's abilities really depend on the type of demon it is. Demon types range from ƒιяє, єαятн, ωιη∂, ωαтєя, ℓιgнт, ρѕу¢нι¢, αηιмαℓ, ηαтυяє, вℓσσ∂, мιяяσяιηg, ∂єѕтяυ¢тιση, ¢яєαтιση, and many others. But no two demon's powers are completely the same, and each type has its own abilities based off that power. Beside these types, demons are also categorized by the way they interact with humans. This ranges from gυαя∂ιαη туρєѕ, ℓєη∂єя туρєѕ, and ραяαѕιтι¢ туρєѕ. Guardian types are sort of like protectors. They focus on doing the work for their contractor, and need to be careful not to leave their contractor exposed and vulnerable. Guardian types seem to have a lot of work to do, but they can act more independently than other types can. They can come in the form of people. Lender types are more co-dependent with the human they are under contract with. As their name suggests, they lend an ability to their contractor. After the payment is made, they give their contractor the ability, which can only be used when the demon releases it. In other words, the demon and human are practically helpless when separated, but it tends to give humans a better sense of power. Parasite types are kinds of demons with no physical form. They make deals with just a spoken agreement, and are more desperate to make contracts because they need a physical form to affect their surroundings. Like their name suggests, they then share the body with their contractor. Both contractor and demon's minds are completely integrated, and the demon and human mainly communicate on a mental level. It allows the human to act on their own, but also allows the demon to take control of their contractor's body when necessary. There is normally some sort of sign, like a change in attitude, that someone notices between the human talking and the demon talking. This is the closest thing to turning a human into a demon.

нυмαη ѕкєℓєтση~
Name: {First and last, middle is optional}
Age:
Gender:
Sexual Orientation:
Role: {Civilian, Contractor, or Hunter}
Personality: {full sentences, be descriptive}
History: {full sentences, but you can be a little vague with history if you have trouble}
Likes: {can list}
Dislikes: {can list}
Secrets:
Fears:
Crush: {don't start with one}
Boyfriend/Girlfriend: {don't start with one}
Do you have a Demon?: {if so, who is your demon?}
Contract Details: {everything that the contract entitles, if you have one}
Other: {Anything else you think is necessary}
Height:
Build:
Contract Mark: {if you're a contractor, then there will be a mark on you somewhere that shows your tie to a demon. Just describe what it looks like.}
Looks: {Picture, picture and a description, just a description. Anime vs. real doesn't matter.}


∂ємση ѕкєℓєтση~
Name: {First; middle and last is optional}
Age: {Just how old He or She appears}
Gender:
Sexual Orientation:
Type: {See the large paragraph labeled 'Demons'}
Personality: {full sentences, be descriptive}
Likes: {can list}
Dislikes: {can list}
Secrets:
Fears:
Crush: {don't start with one. And, i'm not sure that this would imply to parasite types as much...}
Boyfriend/Girlfriend: {don't start with one. And, i'm not sure that this would imply to parasite types as much...}
Do you have a contractor?: {if so, who is it?}
Contract Details:
Other: {Anything else you think is necessary}
{The following is not for Parasite Types;}
Height:
Build:
Demon Mark: {All demons have a marking that pegs them as a demon, and a similar (but not the same) mark will show on the demon's contractor as well.}
Looks: {Picture, picture and a description, just a description. Anime vs. real doesn't matter.}

Toggle Rules

1. Please handle the themes and topics with maturity and responsibility. Bring in plenty of comic releif, of course, but stay with the topic and appropriate themes.
2. Please respect all other members, and don't exclude. If you notice someone is not interacting with any situations, find a way to bring them into the action.
3. When roleplaying sexual scenes, sensore the content before it gets to far and fade to black or something of that sort.
4. Swearing will probably be well used, and although i'm completely the type to write the full word without discretion (without over-use like a lamo) i think it would perhaps be benificial to star out the vowel or something. If we come to an agreement that it bothers none of us and we can handle the privalage, i guess this rule can be discarded.
5. No god-modding. Please, we are above making our characters dodge every single attack and bugging everyone about what they can and cannot do.
6. No mary-sues. These make for a two-demensional character that can be quite predictable. Thats no fun, people.
7. No power-playing without permission. Of course. If i find that someone is being terribly inactive, i will decide what will become of their character.
8. Be specific while filling out character skeletons. Everything is subject to my approval, since i want to be sure that that the role play will function well.
9. I understand, SO MUCH READING, but remember to at least keep track of other people's posts, and make sure you're keeping up on announcements and small details of the role play, otherwise, this would become confusing.
10. Please please please let me know if you are dropping out from the role play or will be gone during a certain amount of time. Even if you can't make accomodations for your character, at least this way, i can do so, in order for the role play to continue.
11. Be literate to the best of your ability. Don't go overboard, but don't get by on a minimum either. Try to keep pace with everyone else, but don't attempt to type a certain amount just to post a long bit of nonsense space-filler. I'm more interested in quality, not quantity, and im sure everyone else would feel the same.
12. If you have questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions for the roleplay, just let me know! I won't bite your head off, and i youre suggestion might be helpful~!
13. Have fun and be creative! We can have a good time, can't we?

The Story So Far... Write a Post » as written by 8 authors

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison
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A grin broke out on his face, creating a visage of childlike happiness. This was great, she was his friend, now all he had to do was make sure she didn't stab him in the back. His eyes found the mark on her skin, reminding him of his own seal; a black design within a circle. The mark only meant one thing to his human mind, it was the mark of a contract between a demon and a human, proof that her words were not lies. Rory's fingers curved against the sleeve of his jacket, pressing against the material in restraint, preventing him from acting on the impulse of reaching out and touching the oil that was trapped underneath her paper skin.

He nodded in comprehension, smile faltering as he did so. He had already seen the demon she had made a contract with, one with their own body, and it was both comforting and nerve wrecking. It meant that the girl before him would always be Chriselle, opposed to a creature piloting her body, although it also gave her demon independent control. Murmur, what was he like? Was he a guardian, or did he lend his power? If Neberius knew anything about the other being, then he wasn't speaking up. Rory pointed to his cranium, looking to the girl who mirrored his position. "Mine is in my head." He stated, letting his hand return to the crevice of his arm.s.

"A parasite, he calls himself Neberius. He's," The boy paused, pressing his lips together, at a loss of how to exactly define the monster that literally lived inside of him. "You won't have to be afraid of him." He settled on that, letting the words escape from his throat and hang in the air. He was a pain, but he didn't kill without reason, and Chriselle hadn't proven herself to be much of threat. She was like him, not a copy. However, they were similar. It filled him with a sense of hope that he wished to stay with him and leave him at the same time, especially because he didn't know what exactly he was hoping for. What did he want from Chriselle, anyways? Companionship? He already knew how that song ended; with a blast of fire, a pained whimper, cruel laughter following afterwards and then nothing at all. His eyes flickered across her, studying the folds in her clothes, the eyelashes surrounding her eyes, as if something would tell him the answer.

Drawing a blank, Rory turned around, right hand finding it's way to his neck. He pushed his hair upwards, letting his own mark be seen without obstruction. His lips parted, and closed soon after, not knowing what to say in this moment. Was there anything to say? There was just a dark circle, curved lines and smaller circles within, the seal that approved their deal. It had been foolish for him to not hide it better, if he hadn't been so careless those hunters would have never picked him out. On the other hand, his eyes drifted downwards, it could be considered a blessing in disguise. After all, if it wasn't for those violent dogs, he wouldn't be here with Chriselle, showing off the marks of demons like school kids that shared petty secrets.

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison
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"A parasite, he calls himself Neberius. He's," the raven paused, pale lips pressing together as he seemed to think for a fleeting moment. She rose an eyebrow despite herself, and nodded her head as he continued his sentence. "You won't have to be afraid of him." Chriselle then took a moment to ponder on what her new 'friend' had said - a parasite, meaning he had no independent body like Murmur. The demon had told her that there were multiple types of demons, rather than just one like himself; but she was under the minor impression that most demons had their own bodies. Obviously, the impression was wrong.

Her eyes flickered to his pale hand, of which mixed against the opaque black of his locks, pushing them in an upwards motion and surprising her. A mark had been embedded there, one that matched the intricity of her own and caught her off guard. Rory had said absolutely nothing, the mark on his skin simply a reminder to him of his contract, though it sent her spiraling into awe. She went slack-jawed, and despite her internal protests, she stepped forward and brushed her fingers against his skin. Chriselle's touch was light, simply a feather barely brushing against a surface, and porcelain met porcelain. It was simply a moment of shock before she yanked her arm back, frowning.

"I'm...sorry..." She muttered, shaking her head. She couldn't even understand why she had touched him - though they were 'friends', Chriselle knew full well that her touch may have made him uncomfortable. "I...couldn't help it."

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison Character Portrait: Solomon R Kitsner
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Solomon knocked on the door where the two contractors had entered.

"Uhm excuse me," he said quietly not wanting to get too much attention over in this alley. He looked down at the entrance as the body guards seemed to causually be on the phone and reading a newspaper keeping an eye out for any trouble. "I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time. I was hoping you two were doing alright, but more importantly. I was wondering if I could help you with anything. I know what you both are." He stated and he left the words in the air so that they would sink in.

Solomon was careful around the handle seeing as it still gave off quite a lot of heat. One seemed to be able to manipulate fire. He took out his phone and started to text. He had practiced to write with one hand but it was a slow process. Luckily it seemed the two inside weren't excited to talk to him. He pressed 'send' and soon one of the body guards phones beeped. The male read it and nodded to the female as he left walking down the street.

"I'm not sure what that whole thing in that café was about but I have a feeling it had to do with you. I'm not only willing but able to help you." He wondered if he should tell them why it was that he could be trusted, but too much information is never a good thing in the wrong hands.

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain Character Portrait: Neberius Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison Character Portrait: Solomon R Kitsner
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The sensation of skin against skin, hardly there, but enough to throw him off guard. His breathing ceased, stuck in his throat, or maybe his lungs had collapsed because of the contact. Her fingers against the back of her neck was gentle, not like the hands of people that had dared to get this close before. For a fleeting moment, Rory had thought it hadn't happened at all, just a trick of his mind. Rory turned and faced her, facial language surprised in parted lips, that sealed together in a thin line when he noticed her embarrassed reaction.

Chriselle spoke in mumbled apologies, despite them being unneeded. He reached forward and grabbed onto her right hand, moving his own fingers against the mark on her skin, barely tracing it. This was easier than telling her that he didn't mind what she had done, instead he wanted to show her that he was okay with it, even if might force her to reel away from him. Rhythmical knocking broke the scene, and Rory dropped her hand, eyes narrowed towards the door and feet hitting the ground with hostility. Flames licked at his outsoles, threatening to eat away at this building as well. They disappeared as soon as they came, leaving only burns on the floor.

He reached towards the door, heart pounding with rage and violence, prepared to waste away the present nuisance. Someone had seen them, had the audacity to follow them, comfort them. To Rory, it was clear that the owner of the voice had a death wish. If he was feeling so suicidal, then he would bless him with a homicide. "I'm not only willing but able to help you." He froze, arm outstretched, and flames disappearing. Blood that had rushed in his ears had drained away, unable to control his body anymore, paralyzed.

"I advise you to hear this man out." The voice of death and persistence spoke to him, preventing him from dropping another body so soon today. "He may be able to actually help us. Behave." Rory stumbled forward, using the door to prevent himself from falling down, knees shaking briefly before he regained his composure. He glared at the floor, the malice directed at the voice in his head. He didn't like this, but if he disobeyed, then Neberius would only take over, and he didn't want the demon to do so right now. Not when he still had some time to himself left, and he opened the door.

With narrowed eyes, Rory looked at the man, recognizing him from the street. "Then say something of use. How could you help us?" He demanded, stepping away from the door entrance, allowing some space for the man to enter the desolate apartment. He glanced over to Chriselle, and then returned his attention to the man. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now." Voice low, whispering and callous, his gaze was unrelenting. This man must be playing some sort of game, stuffing cards up his sleeves, none out of good intention. He didn't trust him at all.

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison Character Portrait: Solomon R Kitsner
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"Well to be honest, I have the resources to keep you hidden and living quite well."

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now," came the voice from the other side of the door. Solomon sighed as did Corbaire. Neither of them liked hot heads. They chuckled slightly at the unintentional pun. "Listen the longer I stay out here the worse it is for all of us. Either let me in so we can talk or at least let me get you two further away than just the other side of the street."

Corbaire had explained things about the Hunters but hiding across the street seemed like a .... horrible idea. If they can track you randomly then across the street was not going to help.

"Look i have a place uptown and it should be far enough away." Solomon started to explain. "I am not saying you have to stay with me. I'm simply saying I am here to help if you ever need it, and right now I think you need it. I can get you both some money and a place to stay of your choice and you can contact me whenever you need some more money or have some sort of request."

"Is that a good enough reason?" he added for good measure as he stepped away from the door and looked at the flower dressed body guard as his limo pulled up in the middle of the cross way between this alley and a perpendicular one behind the building

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison Character Portrait: Solomon R Kitsner
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Rory's palms and the pads of his fingertips were callous, rough compared to her own. Though they weren't the daintiest and smoothest, her skin wasn't comparable to the raven's own. Chriselle stared at their clasped hands rather than his eyes; she wondered if he was telling her that it was okay to come in contact with him. It was okay for her to touch his skin. But, despite his unsaid explanation, Chriselle remained a bit wary. They were 'friends', yes, but being friends came with trust issues. She knew that her own problems were going to get in the way of her new found friendship, and by the looks of it, Rory had his own little secrets as well.

The knock at the door startled her, snapping her back to reality only to see that Rory had headed back to the old door. His footsteps were angry, flickers of red and orange light at the soles of his shoes, leaving blackened marks against the damp and creaking wooden floor. She herself was a bit annoyed at the sudden presence of another, as the girl had opted for staying alone with Rory for the time being - at least until the next morning. Perhaps he would let her go by then; but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be that easy. "I'm not only willing but able to help you." The voice at the other side of the door did not startle either teenager, but it did cause both of them to freeze abruptly. Chriselle simply was surprised that anyone who had followed them wanted to help them - afterall, Rory had just burned down a small cafe and probably killed a few innocent people as well. She thought that whoever it was only came to arrest them, or bring them in, or something that was of the norm in their situation.

She stood farther off, only hearing snippets of their conversation until she stepped forward. Her footsteps were nothing like that of her partner's, for they were nervous and shaky, cautious and careful. Her eyes peered out from underneath dark lashes, observing the man slowly. "...You...want to help us? Why?"

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Thea Character Portrait: Talhnir Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang
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‘I was just wondering if you hear voices that no one else can hear?’

Jade studied the voice that escaped from the demon's head, paying close attention to the little whispers and murmurs that escaped with it. How peculiar this guy was. Was that sort of thing really all he was interested in? Hearing voices... Was he just wondering about Jade's abilities that he'd gotten from Thea? It certainly didn't seem like such a big deal to Jade, but perhaps this demon was venturing from a different part of town where contractors and demons were less easily found? Honestly, he really wasn't sure. After a moment of analyzing, he averted his gaze, leaning back against the wall behind him and crossing his arms. He appeared to turn his attention to the crowd, scanning the moving masses with his eye, avoiding the direct gaze of the other person. He'd only been feeling the burn of eye contact a few moments before already being tired of it, and feeling awkward. He waited until the demon caught up with him to address him, and didn't even bother with keeping it on a mental level.

"You make it sound like we're talking about schizophrenia here," Jade responded, giving a short glance at the demon before looking back into the street once more. "Technically speaking, yes. I do. But I don't think it's in the same way that you do, exactly."

He lifted his hand from it's crossed position, pulling at his ear piercings on one side - another of his little awkward ticks, of which he had many different little ones. Dropping the hand almost as soon as it had gone up, he brought his cigarette back to his lips, breathing it in, and letting the smoke pour from his nostrils for a while as he brought the cigarette away again. There wasn't much left of this one, and he contemplated having another one immediately after, but was quickly scolded by a very pissed off demon in his head that hadn't even wanted him to start the one in his hands.

"So is that all, then?" He added. "Just wondering if I'm on the same psycho-train that you're on? Seem's like something pretty dull to be getting all excited over, if you ask me. Don't suppose there are any follow-up questions?"

Jade set his cigarette back in between his lips. Thea was quiet for the most part, not so interested in making comments to jade in particular - though of course certain things could be heard - but seeming to focus her attention to the other demon. Most likely, she was picking at him lightly, almost undetectable, looking at every little thing she could get away with looking at without being noticed. Of course, whatever knowledge she might have managed to retrieve, she wasn't going to bother sharing that with Jade. He, on the other hand, simply prodded at the mind a little more loosely, tearing through whatever was open and revealed and poking at the things that were being shielded still. He'd never been one who liked privacy, after all. If asked a question directly, he'd never lie about the answer. He may play games and twist words and avoid the answer, but never lie. Not once. He honestly wasn't sure that he even could, but he didn't mind. Bitter, painful truth was fun to spurt out at people who never wanted to hear it, and people who knew him for never withholding his information also happened to be much more believing when he threw out hurtful insults. But even still, he just didn't like the idea of keeping things private. He kept no wards on his own mind, and not to mention, hated doors. Hence, ridding them from his own apartment. He didn't understand people who hid their secrets, but then again, he wouldn't have understood the concept of people who would have had some sort of response to particular secrets. Jade just didn't understand the concept of 'caring' really. But it was on very seldom occasions that he would actually wish he did understand. People were so odd. He enjoyed being able to read them so easily.

His glance traveled back over to the demon, scanning him up and down, almost scaling him up. He couldn't say he was sure why this guy was so focused on talking to him. Jade could admit to himself that he was hardly interesting. Thea told him that on a regular basis. He just hoped there would be something a little more entertaining to this conversation.

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
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"Well, see, the thing is, I'm a bit strapped for cash at the moment, but I did just buy a whole lot of groceries. So... if you'd be ok with it... we could go back to my place, and I'll make you something nice. Whatever you want as long as I can make it. I don't mean to brag, but I'm a pretty good cook. So what do you think, does that sound good?" The boy seemed so eager, chuckling a bit with the statement and smiling big.

Valentine was slightly taken aback by this revelation, as well as the other boy's excitement for having company. Wasn't he fearful? He was inviting a stranger to his home without an ounce of apprehension. It was certainly peculiar. Valen wondered if perhaps the boy was just far too eager to be making friends, or was just dumb and didn't have any sense of self conservation. Hadn't he heard about the crime rate in..... well, damn, pretty much any area of the city. Unless you lived in some highly guarded, gated, rich community on high levels, crimes were through the roof, and no one really did a damn thing about it. Why would they, anyway? Its not like it would have helped. Police only ever just pretend to work anyway, and then they go "downstairs" to blow off some steam on the people who cant afford to live on the levels. But hey, that was just how it worked.

He chewed his lip, thinking a bit more on the offer. Perhaps the boy wasn't worried about inviting in dangerous people because he was dangerous himself? Valen was never much good at detecting contractors or other demons. Some demons were pretty obvious, but others blended so well with humans that they were practically human themselves. But Valen certainly wasn't worried about himself, obviously. He wasn't in any danger, nor was he really posing any sort of threat to this other boy. After all, Valentine liked to remain on the defensive unless necessary, and he could protect himself quite easily. He was just a little surprised. This boy had such an odd disposition. First actually caring that he'd bumped into Valen, and then secondly just inviting him into his home on a whim. It just wasn't typical for people now-a-days.

But he wasn't about to turn up the offer, even at how ridiculous it was. He nodded slowly for a while, until realizing the motion would not be noticed, and decided to stop, feeling a bit embarrassed at the action.

"Um, well," He took a deep breath. This situation was not one he was used to being in. "Yes, sure. I'm not really in a position to say no, after all....." He had begun nodding again, and had to stop himself, beginning to follow the other boy as he begun walking back to what was presumably his own apartment.

Valentine followed closely behind, staying no more two strides directly in back of him. He simply found himself staring with wide eyes at the boy in front of him. He stayed quiet for quite some time, unsure what exactly he should have done. This still seemed at least somewhat awkward... He didn't even know the other boy's name.... But he supposed that would be a good start.

"So, aren't you at all a bit reserved about bringing a stranger into your home?" He asked, trying to make a little bit of conversation at least. Not to mention, he was still curious. "You don't even know my name. It's Valentine, by the way.... But seriously, you're letting me come right in. What if I was something bad?"

He regretted his word choice almost as soon as it had come from his mouth. Something. He'd said something bad. Not someone. It was too late to take the word back and replace it. Not without drawing attention to the fumble. He could only hope it would go unnoticed. He tried to keep going, to try and bring the attention of the boy to something else, and make sure the fact that he'd practically addressed himself as a thing, rather than a person, would be ignored. He'd practically run out of any more on the subject, though, and settled for something easier; he'd mentioned his own name, but hadn't asked the boy his.

"So, whats your name, anyway?"

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne Character Portrait: Lixtradiis
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"Um, well," Kaleb heard the boy start. Kaleb nodded his head and smiled. He heard the boy breathe hard before starting again. Kaleb was worried. From what he could, "see" and hear, the boy's body language looked reluctant or hesitant, as if he wanted to accept with all his heart, but was having trouble allowing himself to accept. He spoke again, this time a little more sure of himself. "Yes, sure. I'm not really in a position to say no, after all....."

"Oh great!" Kaleb almost shouted. "Oops, sorry, I hope I didn't startle you. It's just been a very long time since I've had some good company, you see. The last person who kept me company... well... she's on a trip, now... She won't be back for a while..." Kaleb frowned a little. He hadn't made any headway on Lixtradiis's location and it saddened him. He'd gotten someone to come over for dinner though, that was a start for at least having friends in town. "That's a subject for another time though." Kaleb finished his earlier train of thought. "Anyhow, let's be off, shall we? Follow me if you please." Kaleb said with a smile, shaking off the worry. He could wonder about her later. Kaleb started off in the direction of his home, having needed to take a moment to get his bearings while trying to appear like he couldn't actually see what was around him. It was sort of difficult, but he hoped the boy hadn't payed too much attention to that.

Valentine followed closely behind Kaleb, staying no more two strides directly in back of him. They walked in almost complete silence for a long time, they'd made it through the front door of his apartment building and were headed up the stairs. Kaleb was just starting to feel the smallest bit uncomfortable when he heard the other boy speak up. Obviously he'd felt the silence begin to irk himself as well and had come up with a way to alleviate it. Conversation.

"So, aren't you at all a bit reserved about bringing a stranger into your home?" He asked, trying to make a little bit of conversation. "You don't even know my name. It's Valentine, by the way.... But seriously, you're letting me come right in. What if I was something bad?"

He seemed to pause when he said this, but at that moment, they'd made it to Kaleb's room and he was futzing around with his keys. "Hmmm... Valentine. What a wonderful name." Kaleb said, almost wistfully. He wasn't really paying attention and was still fumbling with his keys. He hadn't noticed that Valentine had made the tiniest fumble while speaking, he was too busy with those darn keys. They always seemed to vex him. Damn things.

"So, whats your name, anyway?" Valentine asked Kaleb.

At that moment, something occured to Kaleb. He'd really only just recalled what Valentine had said. So, aren't you at all a bit reserved about bringing a stranger into your home? Kaleb thought about those words for a moment, then turned around and faced Valentine.

"Pfft, So that's what you were worrying about." Kaleb said. He was in no way making fun of Valentine, he was trying to make the issue seem as if it weren't something to worry about. "I was wondering why you were so hesitant... Well sure, I don't normally bring people I meet on the street into my home, but you're not a normal person, are you Valentine?" Kaleb asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "No, you seem very sweet, very gentle, and very kind. You don't seem to be murderous and malicious and vile, do you?" Kaleb continued. "No, I brought you with me because you seem like good company and we made a deal that I'd replace your dinner that I ruined. Seems like a good enough reason for me to bring YOU into my home, doesn't it?" he finished, putting particular emphasis on 'you', when he addressed Valentine. "So no, I don't just bring anyone into my home. You're different. Special even." Kaleb finished with a smile.

"Still, if it bugs you, it can't be helped. Let's start over." Kaleb held out his right hand for Valentine to shake and smiled, "I'm Kaleb Reinhardt. If we shake hands and meet each other properly, we aren't strangers anymore, are we? Seems to me like we're closer to being friends than anything else. So what do you think? Would it be normal for me to invite a friend into my house for dinner? Don't worry about the blood on your hands, I'm wearing gloves and I can wash them and get you a bandage later. They're just gloves, they aren't important. What is important, is that right here and right now, you shake my hand, friend." Kaleb smiled while he said it. He knew it was cheesy but he didn't care. He wanted to be friends with Valentine. More than anything he'd wanted in a long time.

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Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
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"Pfft, So that's what you were worrying about." The boy said. Valen could tell the statement wasn't meant to be offensive, but he found himself put down a bit by it anyway.

"I was wondering why you were so hesitant... Well sure, I don't normally bring people I meet on the street into my home, but you're not a normal person, are you Valentine? No, you seem very sweet, very gentle, and very kind. You don't seem to be murderous and malicious and vile, do you? No, I brought you with me because you seem like good company and we made a deal that I'd replace your dinner that I ruined. Seems like a good enough reason for me to bring YOU into my home, doesn't it? So no, I don't just bring anyone into my home. You're different. Special even." The boy smiled kindly.

Valen simply stared up at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. After a moment, he broke his gaze, ducking his head down and hunching his shoulders, regaining his shyer, introverted position. All this was so embarrassing. Calling him sweet and gentle and kind and special. Even commenting on his name when he'd introduced himself. He started shaking his head, opening his mouth to say something against the statements. Sure, maybe he wasn't so murderous or malicious. But one could never say anything against vile. Vile, disgusting, pitiful. It was the whole reason he kept away from other people. The minute they saw him, they turned up their noses, only thinking about how disgusting what he'd done to his skin was. It wasn't something he could help, it was simply something he had to do. Basic survival. He wanted to say something, but nothing of the sort would come out, and he closed his mouth, biting his lip and staring at the ground.

"Still, if it bugs you, it can't be helped. Let's start over." The boy held his hand out to shake with Valen. "I'm Kaleb Reinhardt. If we shake hands and meet each other properly, we aren't strangers anymore, are we? Seems to me like we're closer to being friends than anything else. So what do you think? Would it be normal for me to invite a friend into my house for dinner? Don't worry about the blood on your hands, I'm wearing gloves and I can wash them and get you a bandage later. They're just gloves, they aren't important. What is important, is that right here and right now, you shake my hand, friend."

He looked back up at Kaleb, inspecting that kind, caring expression. People like that, the kind who just looked at the good in people, were few and far between. And it normally didn't last very long even in those cases. He hesitated another moment, looking at the offered hand. Kaleb said not to worry about the blood, after all. But this was so odd. He didn't really know how exactly he wanted to react. Kaleb was almost too sweet and kind - probably the sort of person who would take in stray or wounded animals to help them - and Valentine felt like he didn't deserve it. After a moment, he extended his hand as well, meeting Kaleb's hand gently and giving it a light handshake. He stayed quiet for a moment, biting his lip a moment while he dropped the hand that he'd been using, before realizing something.

The blood on his hands..... If the boy was blind.... how did he know about the blood? Valentine hadn't told him about scraping his hands, he'd hid them and acted like nothing happened. He looked back up at Kaleb, staring again with his head tilted to one side. "How did you know I had blood on my hands? I didn't say anything about it..." He fidgeted, pulling his hood a little further over his head for good measure. Logic would have told a person that it was stupid to worry about his skin being revealed to a blind man, but Valentine could never be too careful. At this point, the last thing he wanted was for this kind person to be disgusted with him. To think he was gross. He shook his head, almost wanting to disregard what he'd said, as if it were unimportant, despite how peculiar it was. "Um, never mind. You're being so kind to me and all i can come up with is more questions.... I'm being rude."

He bit his lip, looking a bit apologetic. "Thank you... For being so nice." He said the words softly, and stepped slightly closer. "I'm just not used to it is all."

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Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain Character Portrait: Neberius Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison Character Portrait: Solomon R Kitsner
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Dust hung in the air, lingering in an atmosphere thick enough to drown in. Rory inhaled his spite, biting down on the corner of his mouth in attempt to focus on building up his fragile mental wall. He could feel the curved fingernails of time and destruction; the self-interested of the demon inside him, chipping away in attempt to gain hold of the reigns. The man in front of him was perplexing, and complexity wasn't a trait often admired by him, not when it displaced itself in a way that could become hostile. Was the man planning on pulling the rug away from underneath his feet, to undermine him? His gaze glanced to Chriselle for a a split second, returning to the man who had claimed to be on his, their, side.

Or, was Chriselle on his side instead, making this out to be a constructed charade? "...You...want to help us? Why?" Rory pressed a hand to his forehead, pain splitting inside his mind, turning him numb. He had no reason to trust either of them, both too variegated, and conflicting arguments bubbled inside of him. Chriselle had claimed to be his friend, and now this man was making the same statement? He had helped her, but had done nothing for this man. What was his reason? The boy's glare faltered, and his consciousnesses slipped away in a smoke that smelt of paranoia and dangerous doubt.

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Without flames came the smell of burning coals, smoke from the soul of a creature neither human nor God. Rory's eyes opened, eyebrows relaxed, smile pleasantly arrogant with straight posture. Though it was Rory Chamberlain's body, it was not the owner that was in control. Another piloted in his place, a voice who had lived too long and simultaneously not long enough. "I too am shrouded with a flicker of ambiguity, sir." His voice was course, deep and held no stutter, only confidence and eloquence. Eyelashes obscured him for a moment, stepping forward in smooth, thought out movements opposed to the behavior nature to his host; impulse, running on deceitful emotion and malice.

Neberius turned his attention to the girl that Rory was so curious of, lips curling in false fondness. "We all have our reasons, and they will reveal themselves to us at a better time. For now, let us accept his offer, and leave this repugnant hideaway." He looked away, stepping out of the building that had once housed humans with dreams, only to be crushed by the weight of reality. He stopped to stand directly in front of the man, mere inches away, eyes studying him for any sign that would warrant his execution. "Only a foolish coward would turn down the offer of who could prove to be a powerful alley." His words carried a hint of humor, mocking one that couldn't see them or hear the words spoken. The farce continued in the chuckle that exited his throat, the noise of amusement and footsteps hitting the walls between them.

He stopped beside the limo, pushing the fringe of his hair away, only for it to fall back. Neberius sighed, he would have to do something about the mess Rory had turned himself into, and get him into more respectful clothes. "I am waiting." He announced, looking to the man and woman, both that had made agreements with those like himself. His tone held no anger, or impatience, as if he could stand here waiting for all eternity. His pale hands slide inside the pockets of Rory's jacket, shoulders held back casually. This could have gone better. However, beggars cannot be choosers, and he would make do with what was presented to him.

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Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
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Kaleb felt the slightly chilly hand enter his grasp. They shook slowly, Valentine barely holding onto his hand. "There. Not so hard? Right? Friend? Now let's get you inside so I can get you a band-aid and some warm food." Just as Kaleb was about to turn around and finish opening his door, Valentine seemed to be perturbed by something. Kaleb tilted his head. What's wrong? he wondered. "How did you know I had blood on my hands? I didn't say anything about it..."

Kaleb's heart almost stopped. He'd slipped up. He'd noticed a small leaking thermal energy source that smelled like blood, so he'd only assumed. He knew. He must know. He was going to ask him. Here it was. Kaleb almost braced himself, as if he were anticipating a slap.

"Um, never mind. You're being so kind to me and all i can come up with is more questions.... I'm being rude."

It was like a massive weight had rushed off of Kaleb's shoulder's. Valentine had brushed off Kaleb's blunder and was forgetting about it. Hopefully his reactions didn't show too much on his face. Kaleb smiled, brushing off the awkwardness, and looked him directly in the face. He could tell that Valentine still had something left to say.

He bit his lip, looking a bit apologetic. "Thank you... For being so nice." He said the words softly, and stepped slightly closer. "I'm just not used to it is all."

"Well," Kaleb said, "My... nose... is very strong. There's nothing quite like the irony scent of blood. So... I just figured you must have scraped them when I bumped into you earlier. " Kaleb fumbled. "I'm sorry the world hasn't recognized that you're such a sweet boy. It doesn't matter, you're my friend now, aren't you? You treat your friends well, or at least, I do. Now come along inside, I'll get you a bandage. Would you like some ice?"

With that, Kaleb opened the door. The lights were off, so Kaleb flipped them on. The place still smelled lightly like the incense he'd left on that morning, luckily the smoke had dispersed and all that was left was the soft smell or smoke and the understated, undefinable sweet smell that came from good incense. Since he'd remembered to close the window the house was cozily warm, and a warm welcome from the outside's cold.

"Here we are." Kaleb said. "The Reinhardt house. You can hang your closet up in the coat.... your coat in the closet, silly me." Kaleb fumbled then corrected himself, putting particular emphasis on his corrections. He chuckled for a moment at his own blunder. He then walked to the closet and hung up his coat, cane, the empty sheathe, and threw his gloves into a hamper to be washed later. He left his hat on to conceal his horns.

Kaleb then walked to the cupboard on top of his refrigerator and pulled out a white gauze pad, some tape, and a pair of scissors. He then opened up his freezer and retrieved a pair of ice cubes, closing it when he was finished. Once he noticed Valentine put away his coat, he gestured over to the couch.

"Please sit." he said. He then walked over to Valentine and handed him the ice. When Valentine took the ice from his hands, he snipped the gauze pad cleanly into two equal pieces and set them down with the scissors and the tape on his plain, glass, coffee table. "For the pain. Once they feel better I'll bandage you up and we can start cooking. As long as I've got the ingredients for it I can cook anything you like! You can help me too, it'll be lots of fun. What do you say? Sound good?"

(@Ashes, I've made some relatively minor assumptions here about Val. They were all prompted with a question, but I still don't like the way it feels. If you're grumpy about it, I can change them.)

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Character Portrait: Thea Character Portrait: Talhnir Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang
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The boy looked away and dropped their psychic conversation in favour for a more conventional one. A sign of weakness? Perhaps. It demanded further investigation. Talhnir’s grin grew more ferocious as he walked closer to the boy to stand within earshot, lighting up a cigarette as he did so. One more step. The boy seemed to speak as soon as he came within earshot. Something about schizophrenia. Were they talking about Schizophrenia? He couldn’t remember. The voices wouldn’t shut up for long enough to let him concentrate.

"So is that all, then?" The boy added. "Just wondering if I'm on the same psycho-train that you're on? Seem's like something pretty dull to be getting all excited over, if you ask me. Don't suppose there are any follow-up questions?"

Finally some silence. Talhnir focused once more on the human in front of him. For someone who seemed to consider it dull he didn’t seem in any rush to get rid of Talhnir. The voices were talking again. Warning him, about… something. Something was probing. Not the crude and disinterested attempts of the human, no this had the feel of something like himself. A parasite then. Talhnir’s grin grew even wider as he made a show of taking a drag from his cigarette and spewing the smoke out to mingle with the city’s air. Truth be told, he didn’t even know why he came to talk to this boy specifically. Maybe he simply wanted to flex his powers once more, not on the weak and easily destroyed mind of some pathetic human, or even the mind of a proper demon. No, perhaps all he wanted was to test his metal against a mind like his own. At least, that’s what the voices were telling Talhnir, he couldn’t be sure himself.

Talhnir smirked once more. If they wanted to play mind games. So could he. “So… what made you want the power of a demon? I’m pretty sure that is illegal these days.” He said as he tested the defences of both the boy and the presence within the human. But this was no simple prodding or poking. No attempts to scrape the surface thoughts away in order to gleam what little information might lie hidden there. No, Talhnir wanted to truly test the pair. He would push and push, until he could enter their minds and take what he wanted from there. It was up to them to defend themselves. Talhnir’s smirk grew into a near inhuman savage grin as he took another drag from his cigarette and listened to the voices shrill laughter. Perhaps another would be added this day.

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Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
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"Well," Kaleb said. He seemed to try and fumble through the sentence. "My... nose... is very strong. There's nothing quite like the irony scent of blood. So... I just figured you must have scraped them when I bumped into you earlier. I'm sorry the world hasn't recognized that you're such a sweet boy. It doesn't matter, you're my friend now, aren't you? You treat your friends well, or at least, I do. Now come along inside, I'll get you a bandage. Would you like some ice?"

Valentine stared at him again, almost forgetting that there was a question in the air while Kaleb unlocked the door and stepped inside. Valentine was still pondering that little bit of information.... He'd smelled it? Perhaps he had previously underestimated the ability of blind people, but he still couldn't bring himself to understand. Even Valentine could smell blood from more than mile away - a paper cut two doors over in another apartment, a scraped knee on an adjacent street, a gruesome murder on the other side of town - but he doubted humans could tell exactly what part of the body was bleeding from scent alone. There were so many factors in Valen's level of detection. But how would he know? He didn't know anything about being a human, necessarily. Maybe the heightened senses of a blind man could do essentially what Valentine could do but on a smaller scale? He shook himself free of the thought and tried to focus. He had been asked a question...

"Oh, um, yes please...." The phrase came as a sort of mutter as Valentine stepped through the door quickly, his lapse having lasted a second or two at most. As he stepped into Kaleb's apartment, the feeling changed dramatically from the world outside. It was warm, carefully arranged, and had a subtle aroma hanging in the air, most likely from incense. The inside of the boy's apartment really couldn't have been described as anything aside from homey, really. Especially to a boy who currently resided in an abandoned building. He was lucky that where he lived had even had a bathroom.

"Here we are. The Reinhardt house. You can hang your closet up in the coat.... your coat in the closet, silly me." Kaleb chucked at his own fumble as he hung up his own jacket, as well as his blind person cane thingy and an empty sheathe. Valen suspected the fumble might have been a sign of Kaleb feeling a bit jittery, but wasn't quite sure. He wanted to laugh and keep up with the other boy's lightheartedness, but couldn't bring himself to do so. Jitters of his own kept him quiet. It had been too long since he'd interacted with people. What had it been? thirty years since his last contract? Perhaps it wasn't that long to some people, but it was long enough to cause him to withdraw from seeking the attention that he so desired.

Valentine paused with his hands on the zipper of his black hoodie while Kaleb was off to another room. He's blind, he's blind, he's blind, Valen kept thinking to himself, as if trying to convince himself of that fact. It's okay, he can't see me, he wont get grossed out, he's blind... He took a deep breath, only barely convinced that the idea of taking off the extra layer was a good idea, and unzipped the jacket, pulling it off his shoulders to reveal a white shirt with three-quarter length grey sleeves and grey hems. The shirt was plain, if not for quite a few rips in the cloth that also bore dark, set in stains from blood. The skin that was revealed from having the jacket removed and hung in the closet was gruesome, scars coating nearly every inch, some quite faded, but others very pronounced, and probably brand new. The worst scars to look at had to be the ones that stretched across his jugular, or the major veins in his wrists; these areas having been sliced into when he'd needed a lot of blood, and he'd needed it quickly. The wounds looked like they would have killed him, but obviously, that was untrue. The most noticeable scars were on his face though, ruining his sweet expression and mutilating his pale skin. The freshest cut was large, a deep, only slightly healed cut that ran from his cheek on the left side downward, over his lips and down to his chin. The most painful part had been where the lip was split.

He shut the closet and ventured away from it, wrapping his arms around himself awkwardly. He wandered a bit, just examining the boy's apartment and all the little details. It was nice, comforting, and after a small while, Valentine dropped his arms down to his sides, relaxing just a bit. It wasn't as if keeping his arms up was doing anything to hide his scars. There wasn't much he could do about that.

"Please sit." Kaleb said, coming back over and handing Valentine the ice. Valentine took it and quickly found a place to sit on the couch while Kaleb cut up some gauze for the wounds and placed them down on the coffee table. "For the pain. Once they feel better I'll bandage you up and we can start cooking. As long as I've got the ingredients for it I can cook anything you like! You can help me too, it'll be lots of fun. What do you say? Sound good?"

Valentine stared again, a little surprised at being giving a choice of really anything. He had trouble trying to think of something, especially because it had been so long since he'd even had a cooked meal. He'd spent so many years just getting the crap they sell in corner stores, and the idea of a real meal was difficult to fathom. He wasn't even sure what it was that he was going to want to eat.

"Oh, wow," Valentine finally began, smiling sweetly. "I don't even know what to pick! Um, anything is fine really, any hot meal would be good. I can't tell you the last time i had something like that... I don't even have a stove. It's been a long time since i cooked anything, but i can certainly try to help as much as I can." He bit his lip. The information that he didn't have a stove probably seemed a little weird, but he supposed he could easily explain that by just being too poor to fix a broken one. Not that he wanted any pity. He hoped the boy wouldn't pry or try to be a hero or anything.... It would be too much of a hassle.

He fidgeted, turning the ice over his raw palms and feeling the stinging sensation cool. He didn't need all this extra care for his wounds, and he could have simply purified the wounds with his own abilities, had he been alone, but he had to act normal. He didn't want to seem any more strange than he already was. After another moment, he set the ice down on the coffee table. "My hands are getting too cold now... I'll be fine, though. It's just a little scrape, really..." He fingered at some of the scars on his neck with one hand. He'd gone through plenty worse. The scrape was nothing to sneeze at. It was hardly worth the fuss and attention, but Valen couldn't help but like being payed attention to. It was simply in his nature, after all.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Thea Character Portrait: Talhnir Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang
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“So… what made you want the power of a demon? I’m pretty sure that is illegal these days.” The demon thought at him, pushing the conversation onward.

"Oh, boy," Jade stated, voice dull and dripping with sarcasm. "Don't you ask all the hard questions, hmm?" He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He still didn't bother to use mental communication. It seemed pointless, and Jade really didn't care if he was overheard. He took one last, long drag of his cigarette before flicking it away and stomping it out on the ground. As the action was completed, He immediately noticed that Thea was pleased. She could tolerate cigarette smoking in some bodies, but not all of them, and certainly not in Jade's. It was simply one of her peculiarities.

"But as a matter of fact," he continued, finally addressing the question. "It's not illegal for me. I'm an exception to the rule. I can do whatever I want." Doing whatever he wanted was a bit of a stretch, of course, but essentially true for the fact that he wanted very little. His contract was allowed because he was a weapon to kill contractors. it was a "sacrifice" in the eyes of his organization, to give himself up for the sake of the cause. Or some extreme sort of bullshit along those lines. Either way, he got a bonus for contracting, and he'd fully accepted the fact that he'd be killed along with all the other contractors once the rest of the hunters were done with him. It was just one more reason for him to heighten the amount of things he did that threatened his health. It just emphasized a self-destructive nature.

He scanned the crowed, not sure what to do with himself, really. How boring. Simple questions, no games. Just a typical demon thinking he was a step ahead for some particular reason? What a pain, really. Thea still wasn't paying any attention to Jade, no matter how many time he bothered her about giving up this little game. Perhaps she knew that he still wanted to play, too. But this game was beginning to seem boring.

Thea was too busy, setting up wards in Jade's mind where Jade was too stuck up to put any, while simultaneously probing quietly through the other demon's mind. Dissecting the voices, flipping through thoughts, scaling up brain capacity. Nothing too personal, like memories or qualities, but even still, she would always make it a point to be thorough whilst sneaking around a mind unwelcome. Mainly because more often than not, she didn't get much of a second chance. Getting noticed and booted out made it a lot harder to penetrate someone's mind a second time, mainly because the then knew what the person's presence felt like. Whatever. Thea honestly just liked being nose. Knowing everything was supposed to be her deal, and it was a very rare occasion when she didn't know. Not to mention that she was very determined to keep up with her reputation of being a know it all. It was important. Jade on the other hand, had a very different style. When he wasn't in the mood for being careful - which he was very good at - he ripped through peoples minds violently, shredding through information like a rabid animal. Some minds couldn't take that kind of violence, and were destroyed completely by it. Others got headaches. People who could resist being tampered with could block him before it was too late when he did that sort of noticeable thing. His sort of extraction of information was how people got murdered psychically, but Thea wasn't about to tell him that that was how to do it. She told him that humans couldn't do it, instead, mainly because she thought Jade would be one to abuse that kind of weapon. Ripping apart a brain to kill someone was no small matter, and it was bad enough that such a violent psyche belonged to a human anyway. No, she'd let him figure that out for himself. Either way, Jade had a perfectly subtle prod for anyone he wasn't intending on destroying in the first place.

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Character Portrait: Thea Character Portrait: Talhnir Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang
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Whatever demon might be accompanying this human was proving to be more skilled in the matters of the mind than Talhnir had expected. His own mental attempts at invading their minds were met with skilful defences and quick counter attacks. Talhnir smiled a little as the voices got more excited, suggesting he simply wreck their minds, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, now would it? What would they do, just another comatose person as a result of demon interaction. Just one more thing for the hunters to throw on the burning pyre that was hate for all of demonkind.

Speaking of hunters… What had the human said? "It's not illegal for me. I'm an exception to the rule. I can do whatever I want." Talhnir’s smile faded before he caught his own weakening focus and forced it back onto his face, but this time all entertainment and jovial thoughts had vanished. Even the voices had gone quiet. That didn’t make any sense. It IS illegal. No human should be above that law, no matter how powerful connections they might have. Thoughts began churning in his head as he withdrew the probes from the humans mind, focusing only on defending his own psyche from the demon within the human. He had heard rumours that the Hunters themselves might’ve been recruiting or even creating contractors in their war on demons. But he had dismissed such rumours for the longest time, both out of a lack of interest in the hunters and the absurdity of such a claim. In his experience, contractors were purely selfish creatures, as were the demons they formed contracts with. A pair of beings like that would never work with an organization like the Hunter, would they?

Talhnir frowned slightly, if this man was a hunter this might be a trap. Once more the voices began speaking, pointing out shadows in which a team of hunters might lie in waiting, ready to ambush him. Pointing out the original hunch that had brought Talhnir here might’ve been a simple lure to capture a rouge demon like himself. The beginnings of cold sweat were forming on Talhnir’s forehead. He had to get out of here… as quickly as possible. [i]”Is that so… well… I suppose I was wrong then. I would not have liked to see a heinous law breaker such as a rouge contractor running around free after all. I suppose I should take my leave…” A most flimsy excuse, but in his state he could not come up with anything that might satisfy this man or his demon. Talhnir quickly made his way back through the crowd, subtly influencing the weak minded humans there to cover his retreat, to form a moving mass between him and the boy. When he got far enough he broke into a sprint, down to the nearest access shaft leading down. He needed to think.

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Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
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"Oh, wow," Valentine finally began, smiling sweetly. "I don't even know what to pick! Um, anything is fine really, any hot meal would be good. I can't tell you the last time i had something like that... I don't even have a stove. It's been a long time since i cooked anything, but i can certainly try to help as much as I can." He bit his lip. "Poor kid, he must be scraping together a living." Kaleb thought, a frown momentarily surfacing on his face.

Valentine fidgeted, turning the ice over his raw palms. After another moment, he set the ice down on the coffee table. "My hands are getting too cold now... I'll be fine, though. It's just a little scrape, really..." He fingered at something on his neck with one hand. Kaleb's 'vision' only showed him shapes and heat signatures, he couldn't see what it was. Must have been a tag from his shirt or a zit or something. "Alrighty then," Kaleb said, picking up the ice and carrying it to the garbage. Taking a deep breath, Kaleb asked Val a loaded question. "Do you mind if I take off my blindfold? I know that blind eyes are kind of gross, but I just feel better when it's off. If you don't want me to, I'll leave it on." He grabbed a paper towel while he was in the kitchen. Walking back towards the living room and Valentine, Kaleb waited for a response before taking it off. He didn't want to upset his guest. Walking back to Valentine, Kaleb wiped up what little water was on the table from the melting ice and sat next to Valentine. Turning towards Valentine, Kaleb picked up the tape and scissors from the table and set them on his own lap. Then he put his hands out in front of him, palms up and said, "Here, give me your hands. You'll need to bandage them up if you're gonna help me cook. I was thinking some meat, something to really fill you up, I just bought some beef, with mashed potatoes and some vegetables. But you can't do that with blood on your hands, so come here. I gotta bandage you up." Kaleb said with a smile.

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Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
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Kaleb took the ice, traveling over to the trash and throwing it away. "Do you mind if I take off my blindfold? I know that blind eyes are kind of gross, but I just feel better when it's off. If you don't want me to, I'll leave it on." He came back with a paper towel, wiping up the condensation that had accumulated on the table from the short moment the ice had been sitting there.

"I don't mind," Valentine answered, tilting his head to one side curiously. Why on earth would he be bothered? But perhaps typical humans had become even more vain and cruel than he'd imagined. What did he know, after all. "There's nothing wrong with blind eyes. Trust me, it takes a lot more than something like that to gross me out. Especially since I don't find that gross in the first place."

He let out a slightly deeper breath, not quite a sigh, but very close to one, although less noticeable. Yes, it was very difficult to gross out someone like Valentine. He was a creature that could put up with living among vermin and strays in a broken down building with leaks and mold and no light. He was something that altered his own appearance just to protect himself. There was very little that could possibly gross him out. He knew what gross was. And gross was him. Valentine couldn't help but think to himself that Kaleb was sort of lucky to be blind just about now. Perhaps not so lucky on any other day, or really, perhaps Valentine was just lucky that Kaleb was blind. He would have figured the boy wouldn't be so nice if he knew what was in his house.

Feeling slightly more down on himself than a couple of seconds and a few self-esteem-lowering thoughts ago, he barely half-watched as Kaleb took a seat next to him, picking up his supplies to fix up Valen's hands, and putting out his own, trying to coax the small demon to give over his scraped palms for cleaning them up.

"Here, give me your hands. You'll need to bandage them up if you're gonna help me cook. I was thinking some meat, something to really fill you up, I just bought some beef, with mashed potatoes and some vegetables. But you can't do that with blood on your hands, so come here. I gotta bandage you up." He smiled as he spoke.

Valentine was almost caught off-guard, having drifted slightly, and almost gave his hands right over, before thinking about it. Sure, Valen could get away with his skin because the other boy was blind, but what about touch? Wasn't that stronger with the lack of eyesight? Sort of like the smell thing, right? Now Valen felt like he was in trouble. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't refuse... The other time, the boy had some gloves on, and it had been so quick. Now Kaleb was going to have the time to touch his skin, and feel all those imperfections and scars. If he so much as touched Valen's wrists, the boy would probably think it was numerous suicide attempts, rather than Valen simply trying to access his ability. But could he really refuse touching the boy for long? It would be rude, first of all, ans suspicious, second of all... He bit his lip a moment, before stopping from pain, as he'd bit the side that was split not too many hours ago. He couldn't risk the wound bleeding again.

He gave over his hands, simply hoping for the best. There wasn't anything he could do about it, except maybe come up with a bullshit explanation for the scars if a question arose. What else was there to do? He watched cautiously as Kaleb started wrapping him up, not sure what do to until remembering that there was actually something he could talk about, to make sure any other topic was avoided.

"Um, right, yeah," he fumbled, finally getting some words out. He smiled, but rather nervously. "Its probably smart to cook with clean hands. Its been a long time, and forgive me I'm kind of nervous being around people. But the meal sounds like it'll be amazing. I would have been grateful for like, a bowl of soup or something." He tried laughing about it, but it came simply as a few breaths alongside his anxiety-smile. That was still all he could think about. He just didn't want this kind boy to hate him.

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Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
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Kaleb sat for a moment, waiting for Valentine to give him his hands. When he finally did, he had to suppress a gasp. Val's hands were covered in scars. Thick, lumpy, and painful scars. It was such a shame, the poor boy must live on the streets, fighting for his life everyday. It was a miracle Kaleb found him when he did.

"Um, right, yeah," he heard Val fumble. "Its probably smart to cook with clean hands. Its been a long time, and forgive me I'm kind of nervous being around people. But the meal sounds like it'll be amazing. I would have been grateful for like, a bowl of soup or something." He laughed a little, nervously and obviously a bit shy. Kaleb felt kind of bad, forcing this shy boy to come to his home. Poor boy must have been scared to death. Kaleb finished wrapping him up quickly, finally snipping the last bit of tape and picking up his bandaging supplies. "Alrighty then, with that you're all finished. Now, let's begin!" Kaleb said with a smile. He flounced over to the pantry, skipping just a little bit before turning back around and smiling at Val. "Come on silly, I need your help to make dinner. I need you to chop up carrots and mash potatoes and do all kinds of stuff with me!" Kaleb said. Once he'd finished speaking, he turned towards the kitchen and walked over to the drawers and cupboards, pulling out a great big pot for boiling potatoes, a chef knife, a peeler, a frying pan, a potato masher, and a glass casserole dish with a glass cover. Kaleb then walked over to the fridge and pulled out the meat from the butcher, the carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, and butter. Finally, he rummaged around under the counter in the dry pantry where the potatoes and spices were and pulled them out as well. Kaleb placed all the supplies on the island counter in the center of the kitchen and spoke once again. "Val, where are you, I need you to help me."

When he'd found Val, he explained what they were going to be doing. "So, what's next is very simple. we start by boiling water. While that's happening I'll wash the carrots, celery, and potatoes. The potatoes can go strait into the water once it's boiling. Then we peel the carrots and chop the carrots and celery into slices and leave them be for a while. Next we spice and brown the meat so it's ready to be put in the casserole with the sliced carrots and celery along with a few sprigs of parsley and a few cloves of garlic. Finally, the whole lot goes into the casserole and is cooked covered for 45 minutes at 300 degrees. Before we can eat it, we have to check the meat to see if it's 120 degrees warm. If it's not it has to cook a while longer or else we could get sick and that's not good. So, after we cook it some more we check again and if it's 120 degrees, we mash the potatoes and then dinner is done, sound like a plan?" Kaleb knew it was a lot of information all at once, but it would be easier to finish explaining the rest while they were doing it. Kaleb smiled again at Val, he couldn't help but feel as Val didn't get smiled at enough nearly as much as he needed to.

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Character Portrait: Alois Lyla Scarlott Character Portrait: Yamata No Orochi
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Alois anxiously paced his 8' x 6' cell, like a hamster in a wheel, his movement only an illusion. "Damn it!" he exploded, in his anger he punched the wall of his small private hell. The cell next door shook a little releasing some dust from the crack between the ceiling and the wall. Alois thought about just how many days he had spent in here and that he was absolutely positive he was to be released today. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a voice "Prisoner number 3652" said the voice. Alois smiled a bit partly because he noticed that the his prisoner identification number and the number of days he had served were the same and partly because he knew today was gonna be a good day.

Alois turned around, hands behind his back before the guard had even entered the cell. The sounds of metal sliding against metal and a loud clang let Alois know that the guard was standing right behind him. He felt the icy grip of handcuffs on his wrists and knew it was okay to turn around now. The guard led Alois out of his cell, closing the door behind him with a grunt and a clang. Looking back all Alois saw was an 8' x 6' gray room, it's only furnishings a metal bed frame with a green plastic mattress to cover it, a sink barely deep enough to soak your hands in, and a toilet without so much as a seat cover. A happy sigh escaped his lips, if there was one thing on Earth he knew wasn't going to happen, it was a return visit here.

The guard led Alois up to the warden's office to officiate the release. Alois had been here many many times before and it had always been due to unwanted behavior. Upon sight of Alois the warden let out a tired sigh and covered his eyes with his hands. "What now?" groaned the warden. The guard curtly replied "Release day" Looking up then back down the warden quickly filled out the proper paperwork and saluted the two out the door. Alois imagined this was the beginning of many happy days for the warden. He thought back to all the fights he started, all the fights he ended, and even some of the riots he had caused. Thinking about it Alois realized he was probably the worst prisoner in the entire prison?, city?, world? "Nah, after all I never killed anyone while i was in here." he thought to himself

Alois' release seemed to be a cause for celebration to the entire prison. Before he even went halfway down the stairs he experienced a stadium's worth of curses, rude gestures, and threats on his life. Just for fun he decided to listen to one and heard this "If i ever see you in the streets, I'll murder you." Alois smiled a little, laughing in his head at just how ridiculous that was. "Someone... kill me" he chuckled, knowing that would never happen. Ever since he made the contract with Yamata No Orochi it had only become more clear to him that he was the strongest. If would only be a matter of time before everyone else knew it.

When they finally made their way through the prison into the front office, the sea of noise was finally calmed. The guard called for the secretary to bring the belongings of one Alois Lyla Sasori. Alois looked at the back of the guard's head wishing like hell he could smash it in for saying his middle name. A moment later the secretary produced a box and a sheet of paper which she handed to the guard. The guard unlocked Alois' handcuffs and said to him "Make sure everything on the list is in the box, after you do that sign the sheet of paper and we can release you." Alois signed the paper without even looking in the box, he couldn't care less if the things from ten years ago were there. The guard led him slowly to the last door, the only thing standing between Alois and freedom. The guard fumbled with his key chain which had at least 20 different keys on it. Alois held his breath so ready to be free he couldn't think about anything else. Finally the guard opened the door, with a "Good day" the door was closed.

Alois inhaled the smell of sweat and bleach replaced by the smell of hope and opportunity. Never mind the fact that he had no money and no place to go anywhere was better than Sunnyshore Prison. Alois just now really took into account that he held a box in his hands. Maybe he did actually have some money, he rummaged through the box finding clothing from ten years ago. He thought to himself "They probably won't fit considering how much more buff I got." He slipped into an abandoned house and changed, his tailor made clothes fitting just as they had when he first got them. His lips curled into a sneer as he slipped his hand into his pocket and checked his wallet. He was completely broke, no surprise really but it would have been nice to have some money for once.

Alois thought deeply about what he was going to do. On one hand he was a good ways from the prison so stealing a pack of cigarettes wouldn't be so hard, and if worst came to worst he could run. On the other hand if he happened to get caught he could count on a long time back in jail. That thought alone drove the idea of stealing from his head. He looked around for anyone smoking that he might be able to get a cigarette from. In the crowd he spotted a well dressed boy in his teens, stopped and smoking a cigarette. Alois hurried along as he saw the boy put it out, he didn't want to miss the chance to finally smoke. Getting closer Alois realized the boy was stopped because he was talking to someone, who obviously had something urgent to do based on the way he hurried past him. Thinking that was a bit odd Alois asked the boy "Hey kid would you mind giving me a cigarette. I don't usually smoke, but it's been quite a while."

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Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
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Valentine watched as Kaleb finished up the bandaging job and cleaned up all the stuff. Valen found himself sighing with a bit of relief that Kaleb hadn't said anything about the scars. It was impossible not to notice, and he was grateful for the subject to remain untouched.

"Alrighty then, with that you're all finished. Now, let's begin!" Kaleb smiled, standing and making his way over to the kitchen with a skip in his step. "Come on silly, I need your help to make dinner. I need you to chop up carrots and mash potatoes and do all kinds of stuff with me!"

Valentine stood quickly, coming over to Kaleb while Kaleb rummaged through the fridge and pantry for all the needed ingredients. "Val, where are you, I need you to help me."

"I'm right here," He stated, quickening his pace over, getting a little closer to get a good look at what Kaleb was doing. Cooking wasn't something quite so familiar with him, especially not the modern kind, or any kind that tasted good. The idea was survive, not to be pleasurable. It was one of his big differences from other demons. But it simply couldn't be helped.

"So, what's next is very simple. we start by boiling water. While that's happening I'll wash the carrots, celery, and potatoes. The potatoes can go strait into the water once it's boiling. Then we peel the carrots and chop the carrots and celery into slices and leave them be for a while. Next we spice and brown the meat so it's ready to be put in the casserole with the sliced carrots and celery along with a few sprigs of parsley and a few cloves of garlic. Finally, the whole lot goes into the casserole and is cooked covered for 45 minutes at 300 degrees. Before we can eat it, we have to check the meat to see if it's 120 degrees warm. If it's not it has to cook a while longer or else we could get sick and that's not good. So, after we cook it some more we check again and if it's 120 degrees, we mash the potatoes and then dinner is done, sound like a plan?"

Valentine stared at Kaleb for a few moments, genuinely shocked that anyone could remember something like that. Cooking really was tougher than he remembered, or at least, good cooking might have always been more complicated that what he'd done. He nodded a moment, still in a state of information overload, before managing to get anything out at all.

"Wow," he stated, trying to run over the information his head to see if he'd retained anything at all. "Um, yeah, okay! I'll try my best..... how the hell do you remember that kind of thing?" He shook his head, kind of embarrassed of himself. Here he was, a "great and powerful" demon and this one random human happened to be more capable than he was. Now the only thin he could think of was how much he really didn't want this boy to realize that either. Talk about pathetic. An idiot ugly demon who can barely take care of himself. Its one thing to be a little stupid for a demon, but a whole other for being dumber than humans. It was almost a talent in itself. Thousands of years alive and he still had the intelligence of an adolescent.

He sighed, running his fingers over the fresh bandaging job and trying to give a smile back to the other boy, despite the fact that the boy was blind. "Well, okay, you just tell me what to do and when to do it, and hopefully i wont mess up too bad." He gave a light pause, thinking about the situation. He had to make sure this didn't go on too long. It would be better for the both of them that way. "And... After the meal I'll be going home. I think that would be best."

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Character Portrait: Thea Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang Character Portrait: Alois Lyla Scarlott
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"Is that so… well… I suppose I was wrong then. I would not have liked to see a heinous law breaker such as a rouge contractor running around free after all. I suppose I should take my leave…" The demon said mentally, before heading off as quickly as possible and covering his tracks.

See, Jade? Thea interrupted, sounding a bit smug. You scare away all the cute boys.

Jade ignored her.

How peculiar, though, the demon just scampering off like he had something better to do. Jade certainly didn't, and even if he did, he would never be so prompt about it. Probably that little piece of information about being a hunter made him nervous, which was completely stupid, after all. Demons very often didn't have anything to worry about with hunters, especially ones with contracts, as any hunting work had to be reported and approved before carried out, for fear that the contracting hunters were double agents or whatever. But he supposed the demon wasn't aware of this little detail. After all, it wasn't like every demon kept on perfect tabs with the treaty. Hunters, of course, had to know every inch of it, and every loophole.

"Hey kid would you mind giving me a cigarette. I don't usually smoke, but it's been quite a while."

Jade jolted, straightening up and twisting quickly to see who had spoken, immediately his eyes met with a man's chest, and he had to look upward quite a bit to see his face. His eye stayed a little wide at the person while he back-tracked on what the question was.

"Damn, you're like a fucking mountain, aren't you?" He said, turning his attention away from the much taller man and pulling his pack of cigarettes from his back pocket. He pulled one out for himself first and placed it between his lips before handing one over to the man and shoving the pack back into it's place again. "Whatever, I have plenty, so I don't care."

Jade...

He pulled his lighter next, lighting up and passing it on to mountain man. "Ignore the surprise I got, though," he said, pointing at his eye patch. "You walked up on my blind side."

Jaaaaade!

Once the man gave back the lighter, he made a quick motion to put it back as w--

JAAAAAAADE!!!

OH SHIT, he gave an irritated glare at the dropped lighter, feeling frustrated. His head felt like bursting, and he just wanted Thea to go away for once. He bent to pick it up and shoved it back into his pocket after a short moment of brushing it off. Damn it, Thea, he thought, taking a deep breath and glaring into the crowd. A few people noticed the look he was giving and made an effort to keep a distance. what the hell do you want?

You already had two cigarettes! She responded. Put it down before I make you!

Don't even think about it, He thought back, trying to split his focus and gave a quick glance back at the man, studying him for a moment before looking back into the crowd. No need to risk an unnecessary amount of eye contact, of course. Don't go wasting my cigarettes. This is my last one until later, I promise. This guy made me take them out, I might as well get some enjoyment out of it.

UUUUUUGHHHHHHH...

Jade winced, putting his hand to his head and grinding his teeth. When Thea got loud, it wasn't just for attention, it was for pain. Like a terrible headache that happens instantly and all at once. No, worse... Perhaps more like having your head slammed into a brick wall while someone screams in your ear. Shut up! he thought, shaking his head and putting the hand into his pocket, using the other hand to pull the cigarette away from his lips and breath out the smoke. He leaned back against the building behind him, pulling out his phone to check the time and see if he'd gotten any messages. By now, it seemed the chances of work were slim to none, and he was perfectly fine with that. But now he needed to come up with something to do today. And he hadn't even gotten a spiked coffee yet.... what a pain. Thea was always a little easier to tolerate when he was a little more numb in the brain, as well was hearing every single muttering mind within the mile all at once. Alcohol had begun to be more of a daily routine than an addiction over the past two years of having Thea in his head. Just another necessary feat. Not that he was complaining, of course.

He placed the cigarette back in his mouth, breathing in the ash and half watching as the end fell to the ground when he brought it away from his lips, the smoke coming out with the breath from his nose until he opened his mouth. He glanced back to his blind spot to see if the tall guy was even still there. It was hard to pay attention to an individual at this point; not mentally, anyway. As soon as the aftershock of Thea's irritating outburst was fading, he made an eager attempt to focus.

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Character Portrait: Thea Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang Character Portrait: Alois Lyla Scarlott
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Alois watched the kid's nose almost graze past his chest, from his height he could see as the top of the boy's head turned slowly into forehead then finally his face. The first thing he noticed was the eye patch over one of the boy's eyes, the next thing was that the other eye was really freaking big. Then he noticed the silence. A smile flashed across Alois' face. It seemed Alois had caused this man quite a shock, considering how much time it was taking for him to respond, the shock may have actually killed him.

"Damn, you're like a fucking mountain, aren't you?"

Upon hearing that Alois practically glowed with pride. Flexing his muscles Alois exclaimed "Damn straight I'm a fucking mountain. Just as big and twice as solid." Amongst all the showing off he barely noticed the outstretched hand with a cigarette in it. He quickly accepted it.

"Whatever, I have plenty, so i don't care."

Noticing that the boy had a cigarette his in mouth as well he knew he was guaranteed a chance to ask for a light. The boy pulled his lighter, lighting up then passing it to Alois before he even had a chance to ask.

"Ignore the surprise I got, though," he said, pointing at his eye patch. "You walked up on my blind side."

Alois lit his cigarette, thinking the kid's blind side was something he would have to remember. While giving the kid his lighter back, his eyes closed as he slowly inhaled, enjoying every second of his first draw in years. "Whoa", Alois shuddered, noticing a sudden change, the vibes coming off this kid who was just a few seconds ago cool, were now angry and intense. Even the idiots in the crowd must have noticed it, for they parted as if the boy was Moses. He watched the boy pick up his lighter and wondered if dropping it caused of the change. "No" he thought "Couldn't be. If that was the case I probably wouldn't be smoking this square right now." He inhaled catching the quick glance the boy spared him

UUUUUUGHHHHHHH...

Alois coughed out a surprised "What the hell" watching his second draw mix with the air in front of his face. The boy's hand shot up to his face and all the muscles in his jaw tightened up. He knew the boy was in some serious pain. Normally Alois wouldn't have given this a second look. The way he saw it if the boy was still standing he was A-okay, but considering that he was in the boy's debt. "Hey kid are you okay?" The boy shook his head no, then pulled out his phone. Alois wondered if he was going to call an ambulance, but then he saw it get put promptly back in the pocket. After a bit of silence the kid glanced back at Alois, eyes not completely focused. Alois sighed feeling a bit sorry for the boy.

"Look kid, you need me to help you home, just ask. I do kinda still owe you for the cigarette, and i hate to have any kinds of lingering debts, even little stuff." He realized how sappy he was starting to sound. "And actually I do need a job so if you could pay me afterwards that'd be great. Hell I'll do just about anything as long as I'm gettin' paid for it. Cause goddamn it! I really want some booze."

Alois broke into fake crying near the end to see if that would lift the kids mood. But by the looks of it he still seemed a bit out of it. Alois thought hard, looking for anything that might warrnt a laugh. He found only one.

"Name's Alois by the way, pleased to make your acquaintance." he said while offering the boy a bow befitting a curtain call.

Alois laughed at the thought. "All this time spent talking and we didn't even know each other's name's."

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Character Portrait: Thea Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang Character Portrait: Alois Lyla Scarlott
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Jade took a deep breath, picking up his gaze and finally bringing himself to focus on the skyscraper of a man in front of him. His immediate thought was how uncomfortable it was, despite the fact that he knew he was being spoken to about something. This tall, looming man was just so intimidating, especially at such a close range, and the situation exaggerated so much by Jade's fear of people (especially men) and eye contact. Neither was a crippling fear, of course, but it simply made the idea of this guy sticking around so close an uncomfortable one.

"Look kid, you need me to help you home, just ask. I do kinda still owe you for the cigarette, and i hate to have any kinds of lingering debts, even little stuff." The man was saying. Jade had to let the statement process a few moments in his own lag to realize that the man had noticed his painful expression in response to Thea's antics. Jade made the mental note right then and there to focus in, not let anything else distract him, and focus on this man's brainwaves and thoughts while he was still here. "And actually I do need a job so if you could pay me afterwards that'd be great. Hell I'll do just about anything as long as I'm gettin' paid for it. Cause goddamn it! I really want some booze."

Jade was about to reply, to plainly state how he was completely fine, and that the man was an idiot for implying that he would be so weak as to be crippled by a small headache, or, something along those lines, along with mocking him about the payment suggestion. But his mouth snapped shut, and he stared with a curious - and quite judgmental expression - while the man put forth some completely obnoxious fake crying. How the action was necessary in the least, Jade had absolutely no idea. Was it supposed to be humorous or something? To him, it just looked ridiculous. Humor was just one of those things that he took a very particular pleasure in, and anything he would have deemed funny would have been something offensive, or humiliating to someone. He seemed to take a certain sick pleasure in other people's misfortune. If it hadn't been for the man trying to be funny, he would have found the situation moderately amusing.

"Name's Alois by the way, pleased to make your acquaintance." The man stated after a moment, bowing as if he were a performer upon a stage that had just given his best performance. Alois gave a small laugh. "All this time spent talking and we didn't even know each other's name's."

Jade just rolled his eye, pulling his cigarette from his lips and breathing out the smoke. "If you really think it's that important, my name's Jade. I would say it's nice to meet you but the time spent with you standing here has been giving me a much vaster mix of emotions than 'nice' can describe. Whether you choose to take that as a positive or a negative comment, that's up to you."

He shoved his free hand in his pocket, watching the crowd once again, rather than looking at Alois. "Look, Alois, normally.... People don't stick around to see what they can do for the guy who handed them a smoke. They light up and leave, not stick around and try to be buds with the guy that handed the cigarette over to them."

He took a moment, looking at the half-finished cigarette in his hand and decided to flick it away. Thea was making a lot of arguments about it, and the two conversations were beginning to make things so much worse. Jade shifted his weight on his feet, managing to move a few extra inches away from Alois in the process. His hand that had been in his pocket rose up, scratching lightly around the edge of his eye patch, before he restrained himself, but only managing to change the habit to a different one; pulling at some of the piercings in his ear instead.

"Honestly, first of all, I'm fine. I've got a bit of a headache, and that's completely normal. Second, it's just a cigarette, not a sports car, and as i said to you when handing it over; I. Don't. Care. And thirdly, you want money, i'll give you some cash if you do some things for me like stand a minimum of four feet away from me at all times and not try to be funny because personally I don't like humor." He shrugged, giving Alois a dry look before turning his gaze quickly away. "I'm not exactly a fun person unless you get a kick out of being ridiculed."

Bored, and beginning to fret that she'd lose another opportunity to have some fun due to Jade's dreadful personality, Thea started pushing forward, forcing her way out quickly, and with a slight flinch, immediately brought Jade's body to a friendlier, more feminine posture. She elbowed Alois in the stomach, having to pick up Jade's arm quite a bit more than she would have for anyone else, and gave Alois a completely out of character grin that was probably frightening after Jade's previous behavior.

"Oh, don't listen to anything I say!!" She said, putting on hand up on Jade's hip. "I'm absolutely nuts! Do you have any Idea how much weed i smoke?" She laughed, almost as if all the attitude earlier had just been one silly joke. The difference between Jade controlling his body and Thea controlling his body was like night and day. Jade made such an effort to be cold and harsh, introverted, and seemed like glaring was the only expression he was capable of.Thea on the other hand, easily played off of every single cute aspect of Jade's appearance, and the way she moved him made him seem more like a flat-chested girl with short, messy hair. "Seriously, I'm just like a total asshole half of the time, so just ignore that."

She gave a sweet smile up at Alois, making so much more eye contact than Jade had. She wasn't the one who was afraid of it, after all. Jade on the other hand felt horrified, but no matter how much he tried to pry the control away from Thea, she just wouldn't budge. He let himself sink back, fuming at her and trying to slip her up and distract her at every chance he got, but sadly, she was much more focused than he was. She could admit on a regular basis that he was good with her abilities, but it would take so much more for him to even hold a candle to her. After all, She'd been in control of them far longer than he had.

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Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
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Kaleb just smiled. "Sorry, that's a lot at once. How about this? Just help me out with what I need your help with and we'll be feasting like kings! As for remembering all of it, it just comes with practice." Kaleb said. Then Valentine spoke again, "And... After the meal I'll be going home. I think that would be best.", and with that, Kaleb's smile faded ever so slightly. "Oh... ok... I'm sorry, you must have a home to go back to. A place where people are missing you. I'm so sorry. Hopefully I won't keep you for too long. I guess I'll just do most of the cooking work so you can be on your way!" Kaleb walked over to the sink to wash his hands, taking off his gloves, scrubbing his hands thoroughly, and slinging a washcloth over his right shoulder before setting to work. While he was still at the sink, he grabbed the big pot and filled it with water. Once it was full, he carried it over to the oven and set it down on the back burner, covering it with its lid so the water would boil faster. Kaleb turned the back burner to the highest temperature and preset the oven temperature to 275 degrees. He then walked back over to the sink, past the island counter top, bringing all the vegetables with him. "Alrighty," Kaleb said, "I need you to hand me the vegetables one at a time so I can wash them. Then we'll slice them. After that we'll spice the meat. Ok?" Kaleb asked. He smiled at Val once again.

They took their vegetables over to the sink and Kaleb washed them each in turn as Val handed them to him. "Ok, now that that's done, can I get you to peel potatoes with this peeler? It's really easy, all you do is grab this peeler, hold it like this, and scrape it along the surface of the potato until all the skin is gone." Kaleb explained. He demonstrated on a potato before uncovering the pot and plopping the potato into the now boiling water. "Once you're done with all of them, I need you to cover the pot with the lid and then leave them be, they need to cook for 5 minutes. Once that's done it'll be time to bake them with everything else in the oven. Sound good?" Kaleb asked with a smile. Having company over was so infectious. He couldn't stop smiling. It had been so long since Kaleb had had company.

Whilst Valentine set to peeling potatoes, Kaleb sliced vegetables and spiced and browned the meat. He did so with almost lightning speed, preparing for their dinner as quickly and efficiently as he could. Finally, when Val had finished with the potatoes Kaleb was done with his portion as well, he'd set all the vegetables in the casserole with their spices and was waiting for the meat to finish browning and the potatoes to finish boiling. "There," Kaleb exclaimed, "now we're all done. Unfortunately for now, we have to play the waiting game. That's the only downside to baking. You get all the flavor, but it takes forever." Kaleb explained, mock pouting just a little when he got the the part about waiting. However, he was secretly overjoyed that Val would have to stay with him. Val was such a sweetheart, he was such good company.

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Khaol by Ashes-6695

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Character Portrait: Veronica Pierce
0 sightings Veronica Pierce played by gezzygezzy
"Give a little take a lot." That's how I live life. It works pretty well, maybe you should try it sometime.

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View All » Add Character » 17 Characters to follow in this universe

Character Portrait: Talhnir
Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang
Character Portrait: Thea
Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain
Character Portrait: Mathew of Jerusalem
Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison
Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt
Character Portrait: Solomon R Kitsner
Character Portrait: Neberius
Character Portrait: Lixtradiis
Character Portrait: .Murmur
Character Portrait: Alois Lyla Scarlott
Character Portrait: Yamata No Orochi

Newest

Character Portrait: .Murmur
.Murmur

"I shall be there to protect you, to give you strength when you desire it. Just say the word."

Character Portrait: Lixtradiis
Lixtradiis

"Tee hee, let's play!"

Character Portrait: Neberius
Neberius

"O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt. Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew."

Character Portrait: Solomon R Kitsner
Solomon R Kitsner

I've spent my life working for money. Now Money works for me.

Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt
Kaleb Reinhardt

""Hey there, wanna be friends?"

Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison
Chriselle Edison

"So in your heart, you truly believe that I will believe the ridiculous tale that you have spun? Do you take me for a fool?"

Character Portrait: Mathew of Jerusalem
Mathew of Jerusalem

"I cant tell you if theres a God, but I can tell you for a fact his son lived, and died, for the sake of you humans..."

Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain
Rory Chamberlain

"You acquainted me with the idea of turning my nightmares into my solace; now I find myself branding your skin with the image of my pulchritudinous enmity."

Trending

Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain
Rory Chamberlain

"You acquainted me with the idea of turning my nightmares into my solace; now I find myself branding your skin with the image of my pulchritudinous enmity."

Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt
Kaleb Reinhardt

""Hey there, wanna be friends?"

Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison
Chriselle Edison

"So in your heart, you truly believe that I will believe the ridiculous tale that you have spun? Do you take me for a fool?"

Character Portrait: Lixtradiis
Lixtradiis

"Tee hee, let's play!"

Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang
Marcus Jade Mustang

"Have you listened to your own thoughts? Because you're an idiot."

Character Portrait: Talhnir
Talhnir

"Whether it's a gift or curse, that's for you to decide. I merely give it to you."

Character Portrait: Solomon R Kitsner
Solomon R Kitsner

I've spent my life working for money. Now Money works for me.

Character Portrait: .Murmur
.Murmur

"I shall be there to protect you, to give you strength when you desire it. Just say the word."

Most Followed

Character Portrait: Rory Chamberlain
Rory Chamberlain

"You acquainted me with the idea of turning my nightmares into my solace; now I find myself branding your skin with the image of my pulchritudinous enmity."

Character Portrait: Kaleb Reinhardt
Kaleb Reinhardt

""Hey there, wanna be friends?"

Character Portrait: Valentine Crossthorne
Valentine Crossthorne

"I can take care of myself. That's what being a guardian type is all about, isn't it?"

Character Portrait: Chriselle Edison
Chriselle Edison

"So in your heart, you truly believe that I will believe the ridiculous tale that you have spun? Do you take me for a fool?"

Character Portrait: Talhnir
Talhnir

"Whether it's a gift or curse, that's for you to decide. I merely give it to you."

Character Portrait: Lixtradiis
Lixtradiis

"Tee hee, let's play!"

Character Portrait: .Murmur
.Murmur

"I shall be there to protect you, to give you strength when you desire it. Just say the word."

Character Portrait: Marcus Jade Mustang
Marcus Jade Mustang

"Have you listened to your own thoughts? Because you're an idiot."


Fullscreen Chat » Create Topic » Borrowed Strength: Out of Character

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Most recent OOC posts in Borrowed Strength

Re: Borrowed Strength

Still here, I'll be posting shortly.

Re: Borrowed Strength

thats fine ^^; i was just afraid i was abandoned.

Re: Borrowed Strength

Sorry, I'll be posting tomorrow, I'm just busy today.

Re: Borrowed Strength

knock knock, anyone there? ;n;

Re: Borrowed Strength

@Shishio, no problemo!! im going to try and post today, im so sorry about delay ive just been so caught up with buying things online and i really need to stop ono now that my package came i think i can focus my stupid brain on tasks!!

on a side note i typed in this websites URL and spent 50 minutes trying to figure out where the hell i was supposed to go.

Re: Borrowed Strength

@Ashes, Sorry my post was so short. Once that's taken care of, I can really get us going and have Kaleb slip up big. That way we can have a much more meaningful encounter than just dinner.

Re: Borrowed Strength

@Bisetsu, wow!! I hope you have lots of fun in Tokyo!! its no problemo and thanks for letting us know in advance. :3

okay, on a side note my amount of gming went down slightly, and i apologize x_x ive just been so bombarded with a ton of tasks to do, but i'm constantly checking up on the site still!! Its just difficult for me to sit down and get down to some serious business. I'm going to attempt to do so tomorrow, i hope. so bear with me. oh, and happy new years eve everyone ;3

Re: Borrowed Strength

Hey guys, on a little related note to the RP, i'm leaving on a trip to Tokyo on wenseday, so I wont be able to post for a few days, i'll have Tal leave Jade alone before that day however. Sorry for the suddeness of this particular message, the trip planning has been rather improptu.

Re: Borrowed Strength

alright, i only had time to glance at the characters, but i'll review them in more depth in just a bit :3

Re: Borrowed Strength

Have submitted both demon and character. Was having trouble with the demon, then suddenly it all came in a flash, will be sure to update all the obvious info, but if anything else is needed. Just say the word

Re: Borrowed Strength

@Kamileon, of course you can join!!

as for answering your question.... its an interesting topic... Let me see if i can sort of grasp what you mean. Like, the demon sort of just goes into an object? I think it would be possible, yes, but you'd need to be creative for a way that taking over an object would be beneficial to the demon! I mean, there's only so much one could do as an enchanted toaster, if you catch my drift here. And this would be a parasite type, yes, unless it is a specific kind of Guardian that would be a Possession type, and be able to leave their own body and inhabit other ones, but only for a specific amount of time... A parasite inside an object would probably just mean that the object is sort of their "representation" so like, a necklace or a jewel that one carries with them for the power. Specific objects probably can amplify particular parasites' abilities so that they can use them without a living host to go through.

Re: Borrowed Strength

Sorry for the double post but is it okay if i join? Also are any character types needed?

Re: Borrowed Strength

Would it be possible for a demon to attach his soul to an inanimate object? If so would this count as a parasite type, or would it be possible for the object to become their new form?

Re: Borrowed Strength

Posted once more, sorry I was so late. Been sick as all hell and that has made me very unproductive. On another note, Merry Christmas, I hope you all scored some sweet loot this year. :)

Re: Borrowed Strength

MERRY CHRISTMAS ^w^

Re: Borrowed Strength

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Re: Borrowed Strength

okey, got my posts up!! im real sorry about the delay ^^; i just had a lot of crap to do an stuff and i couldnt get around to finishing them immediately.

@Shishio, yeah, i sawwwww, but i didn't end up taking them all the way, cause Valley's all like whaaaaaaa and he's asking qestions an introduducine himslef.


an yeerrrrp im just not even goin splel any swords right in thus her e post becashe i donet know why okay dont qesion me i do what i wnat
dont worray my posts are free of all this shtuff. i just cant

Re: Borrowed Strength

im going to try and post either today or tomorrow, i just have a couple little things to do, but it shouldn't be a problem ^^;

Re: Borrowed Strength

Awesome. I'm so excited, or at least, Kaleb is XP

@Ashes. I left you a note in my post, I can delete it once you're all posted and we can keep moving forward.