10 Satanus
Warehouse 284 - Evening - Heavy Snow
Éva Devereaux
Éva sighed quietly, shutting the monitor off but leaving the tower on. Her programs would keep running faithfully while she saw to her annoying human needs, like food and rest, much as she despised the need. Stocking feet, adorned in bright knit colors, touched down on the bare concrete floor of the warehouse, and she resisted the urge to shudder. It was always so cold.
Grimacing, she tried to find someone she could talk to while she made her bedtime tea—she'd have been fine even with a coffee, really, but some people didn't see it that way, and she'd learned to pick her battles.
Specifically, all the ones she was going to have out with freaking Bael. Stupid, oppressive, cranky demon asshole. Humanity wasn't a bed of roses, either, but they deserved the chance to rule themselves. Not have their souls harvested by uncaring demons who didn't even see them as people.
Stretching her arms over her head, she felt a few of her vertebrae pop into place and let out a long sigh, shuffling over towards the kitchenette.
“You should really get some rest, Éva," Vincent called out from beind her. He was like that, always popping out of nowhere. He was carrying something in his hands, though. It looked like a jacket of some sort, though it looked rather large. He glanced at the object in his hands, and then back towards Éva.
“It's a particularly cold night, tonight. I brought this for you to help keep you warm." He handed the object over in her direction, though upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a blanket rather than a jacket.
By now, Éva was pretty used to Vincent's sudden appearances from nowhere; usually she didn't even startle anymore. Though that may have had more to do with the fact that she was often very tired and at the moment at least didn't really have the energy to be all that surprised by anything.
She fought back a flush, though—the last thing she needed to do was let on to any of that just because she was sleepy and her dad was gone. Vincent was a friend of her parents, and on a good day a friend of hers kind of, and that was it. He didn't need her being weird about things when he'd literally seen her grow up, including all the literal awkward teenage angst.
So she accepted the gesture for the kindness it was intended as, humming softly as she took the blanket and threw it around her shoulders as she flipped the kettle on to boil water for tea. "Thanks, Vinny," she replied, sparing him a small smile. "I'm going to try but my brain is just... wired right now. So I'm trying to wind down before I head to bed is all." She frowned, and leaned back against the counter. Trying to figure out why Bael's AIs were so good was difficult.
There was a soft huffing sound from him before he made his way towards the other side of her. “I hear chamomile and lavender is good for relaxing," he stated softly, glancing around as if searching for something. “I've also been told that it helps to talk about whatever might be on your mind."
“I might not be able to give you any ideas or be of any help, but..." he paused briefly, furrowing his brows as he seemed to contemplate. “I can at least listen."
He was a little too perfect, really. It was dangerous. Éva smiled anyway, about to shake her head but thinking better of it. After all, she tended to do her best when she let people help in the ways they could, and if he was offering anyway it probably wasn't too much to accept.
So she sighed quietly, taking the tin with her tea in it down from the bottom shelf of the cabinet—the only one she could reach. "It's the AI," she said. "Bael's robot cops. I can't figure out how he or anyone in his circle managed to come up with such a sophisticated one. At first I was worried maybe someone got ahold of mom and dad's research, but it's totally different. So different that even with all the data Ves has managed to get from readings of her partner I can't make heads or tails of it. It's emergent, like Ves is, but emergent in a totally different way."
She threw her hands up in frustration, making a discontented noise. "It's like... there's math underneath Ves. She's not just math—that's what emergent means. But there's still math under there. Code. Things that link pieces of hardware to the software, so to speak. I can understand basically how she gets from circuits to thoughts, even if there's a bit of a gap there where she comes in. But with these it's like... there's no math, Vinny. It's voodoo—I can't do voodoo!"
Vincent listened quietly as she talked. When she finished, his attention was on the ground, brows furrowed deeply with pursed lips. “I'm not certain anyone is capable of voodoo," he stated in a soft, yet firm tone. It didn't seem like he was directing it at her, but moreso as if he were confirming it to himself. “Is there anything else that can act as a link? Something that doesn't quite require the math to put into it?" His head tilted to the side as he regarded her.
Vincent may have been thousands of years old, but there were still some things that seemed to elude him. Math had been one of those things.
"I dunno," she grouses. "Maybe they just have someone who can do stuff so far beyond me I can't understand it, or maybe they figured out some fancy magic way to obscure any potential readings, so I'm working off gibberish for that reason. I also can't find any record of the right code in any database I can get into either."
She sighed, more heavily this time. "I might have to risk leaving some tracks to look deeper. Set up a temporary rathole somewhere and just shoulder my way in to the central records." It would be... extremely dangerous and time sensitive, but the androids on the police force were strong, and smarter than the average human. If she didn't find some way to deal with them, her people were going to be at a seriously disadvantage for the foreseeable future.
“If demons were as smart as you think they are, they would have done something like this ages ago. The fact that humans were the first to figure it out means something more than you know. Those same humans were also your parents; I believe you'll figure it out soon. We should try other angles, though, before you risk leaving any tracks."
His expression softened as he glanced at her, reaching up with his right hand and giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “There will be something we can use against Bael, and figure out these machines. In the mean time, we should keep tabs on all interesting individuals. Maybe they can give us some insight?"
It wasn't really any help to the core problem, but Éva smiled anyway, humming softly when he squeezed her shoulder. "I guess I can leave it a bit longer, but I don't know how monitoring organic people is going to help much with the android problem." Still, it was another strand worth investigating. Word on the street was one of those Nishant sisters was a hell of a mechanic—maybe they could at least figure out the most effective way to jam up an android's physical body?
Though that would be well down the line if it ever happened. It wasn't like either of them was part of this, and if they didn't want to be, Éva could understand. It was a huge risk to get involved even a little.
"By the way—do you know that Mick guy? You two seemed to recognize each other last month."
He blinked slowly at her question.
“I do, though I was not expecting to see him here, of all places," he finally replied after some thought. “Mick is..." he paused, “he is an old friend and enemy. I knew him in a time before I became a demon, and after."
“He was known as Michael, during those times. Why he is on the mortal plane is something I do not know, however. I was certain he absconded with the others when they sealed off the firmament and Hell."
Éva blinked, water almost running over the top of her teacup as she poured. She cut the flow just in time and grimaced, dumping a little back into the pot before shifting her attention fully to Vincent as she opened the tea bag packet. "Wait, wait—like... the Michael? Left Hand of God? Mr. Fiery Sword, threw down Lucifer? That Michael?"
She gaped at him. "Vinny... who are you, really?"
His expression softened when she spoke, however; there was a faint rueful smile on his face at her last question. He remained quiet for a moment before he pushed a heavy sigh from his nose. He straightened his posture, regarding her with an even gaze.
“I was once known as Abaddon, the archangel of destruction, though that title should be former archdemon. Now, I am simply Vincent."
Abaddon?
Éva just stared back at him, half-wondering if she'd heard right. An Archangel. Who became an archdemon. And he's here in her stupid little warehouse hideout with a bunch of normie humans and one not-so-normal AI.
"There's a whole month named after you," she said, stupidly because she can't get her brain wrapped around the rest of it. Her hands had fallen still, and she belatedly forced them through the rest of the motions necessary to extract the teabag from its paper and drop it into her cup to steep.
She managed to tear her eyes away from his—so gorgeous, the red—to pretend to be occupied with her tea.
I absolutely WOULD have a crush on a guy this far out of my league. Oh my god I'm a LITERAL child to him. And a literal ant, too.
She bobbed the teabag up and down a few times via the string. "The name change makes some sense," she continued, unsure where she was going with this but needing to at least act like she wasn't a huge idiot. "Abaddon doesn't have a lot of nice nicknames, and I don't think you'd want anyone calling you Baddy. Abby? If I had to pick I'd probably have gone with Abby, and you know how kid me was. You wouldn't have been able to stop me."
So much for not sounding like an idiot.
Hey God? If you're actually still listening, can you do me a favor and make the ground swallow me now?
There was a soft huffing sound that resembled a soft laugh coming from him. “I wouldn't stop you from calling me Abby if that was what you wanted. I recall a former comrade who used to do the same thing. He thought it would annoy me, but... I think it back fired on him when I started calling him Lucy."
From the light smirk on his face, it almost seemed as if Vincent was joking. “Unfortunately, it stuck with him."
On second thought, no swallowing. I have to see this. It was beyond rare for Vincent to smile, let alone tell a joke, and something in her warmed at the sight. Well, her face warmed a little, too, but hopefully he would attribute that to the tea she was holding now. He was so beautiful when he smiled.
Ugh. She was pathetic.
"I'm just gonna pretend I'm not pretty sure you're talking about actual Lucifer," she drawled with a smile of her own. Hardly the same kind of accomplishment, but him being happy always made her happy too.
“One and the same," he answered. “Contrary to what people believe, Lucifer was not..." he paused, brows furrowing slightly before they smoothed back out. “He was a decent angel at one point. Something just... snapped. We're not so different from humans despite what demons and angels claim," he continued, the small smile back on his face.
“We all feel anger, happiness, love, hate. I suppose we've just had more time to cover it. Keep it sealed and hidden." He shrugged lightly. “I do not mind if you call me Vincent, Vinny, Abaddon, or even Abby," he stated suddenly, a serious expression crossing his face.
“But if you do, Abaddon should be used only in private. There are those I would like to keep in the dark that I am still alive."
Éva nodded immediately. "My lips are sealed," she promised, just as solemn. She couldn't quite believe he'd trusted her with something like that, but for all her tendency to talk too much, she did keep a lot of secrets. Perhaps that was what made it seem like an okay idea to him.
"Did my parents know?" she asked, curious but not accusatory.
“Other than Mick... no one on this plane knows who I am. You are the first person I have told. Your parents only knew me as a demon and nothing more. They were not aware of my identity," he answered almost smoothly, his eyes narrowing softly in her direction.
That shocked her. Somehow she'd assumed that if he'd bothered to tell her it must be something he told people at least sometimes. And Mick presumably knew because of history, not because of being told.
"Am I... really the only person you've told?" Something in her chest jumps at the thought.
Don't you dare go making anything stupid out of this, Éva. He's trusting you as a friend and associate, and you should be more than happy with that alone.
And she was, but...
Damn if it wasn't making her hope a little, too.
“You are," he replied, the corner of his lip tilting slightly upwards. “I have never trusted anyone to tell them, but you..." he paused, brows furrowing slightly before sighing softly. “I trust you."
“It might not be much, but you're... important to me. So use me in whichever way you'd like." He seemed completely serious from the way he stared at her.
Use?
The word made her angry, in a way. "I would never want to just use you, you big idiot!" Éva proclaimed, setting her cup down on the counter with a little too much force and suppressing a wince at the loud noise it made. It wasn't like there was anyone else around at this hour but them, but she knew his hearing was more sensitive than hers, given he was a demon.
Still, she can't let that derail her from what she's saying. "Sorry," she said first, because she did have some manners at least. "Just—don't talk about yourself that way, Vincent. You're important to me, too, okay? Maybe I'm being presumptuous, but you're—" she faltered over the end of her sentence. "You're my friend. My only friend. So." She looked down at the counter and sighed.
"We can work together, but I don't want to use you. I'm not that heartless." She'd done things she wasn't proud of, for the sake of her cause. It wasn't like she liked stealing things, or destroying parts of the city, or cracking private databases. Even one miscalculation in some of those things and innocent people could be hurt. She'd made miscalculations before. But—
But she wanted to believe she wasn't a terrible person nonetheless, even if it was just delusion.
For some reason, there was a smile on his face. It was more prominent on his face, but still just as subtle as his usual ones. Vincent wasn't expressive as a rule, perhaps because of the years he spent as a demon, but the smile on his face was noticeable for her. He didn't smile like that.
“I did not mean it like that," he said softly. “I only meant that if you needed someone to do something you could not, that I am here for you. As you've said before we are in this together. I will never abandon you." He reached over, lacing his forefinger with a strand of her hair. He twirled it around his finger for a moment before he dropped his hand and took a small step back. There was another serious expression on his face, though, as he regarded her.
“And I will destroy the fool who ever calls you heartless. You are anything but heartless."
"Oh." Éva colored, but whether it was more from the embarrassment of her overblown reaction or the way he touched her hair, she couldn't possibly discern. She dropped her eyes towards the floor. His boots were only about a foot away from the toes of her silly socks. "And here I went off on some self-righteous rant there. Sorry for being weird."
She cleared her throat and lifted her eyes back to his. "Also please don't destroy anyone on my behalf even if they're mean to me. I'd feel bad." She smiled a little, as she hadn't taken that part totally literally, obviously, though in the nonliteral sense it was a nice sentiment. Éva wasn't exactly used to people wanting to look after her. At least not since she lost her parents. She did most of the looking out, these days.
He huffed softly. It sounded like a soft chuckle, if anything, and the corners of his lips quirked up a little further. “And if I wanted to? Because they deserved it?" he asked, brow tilting up just slightly.
She thought he might be... joking again? Two in a day? Maybe she really was doing something right in life. It sure felt like it, even if he kind of had her on the back foot.
So Éva formed her lips into a moue, pouting at him. "Maybe don't? As a personal favor? I'll think of some way to make it up to you." She had no idea what she was saying really, but maybe that was par for the course with a joking Vincent.
“As you wish," he stated, leaning closer to her for a moment before pulling back. “But before you make it up to me, you should get some rest. You'll need it if you want to properly pay me back," he added, smirking lightly.
Éva stopped breathing, she was sure of it. Her face had to be on fire; how was he this perfect even up close? She had to have all kinds of flaws: dumb freckles or blackheads or dark circles under her eyes or something, and here she was looking at a face literally sculpted by God. Life was so unfair, doubly so because she couldn't be more cool and confident in a situation like this. Couldn't treat it like the nothing it was.
"Yeah?" she asked a little breathlessly. Screw it. It felt like he was doing this on purpose, and if so, she wasn't the kind of person to take it laying down. "Well." She swallowed.
Brave, Éva. Be brave.
It was just harmless fun, right?
"What if I can't sleep? Do I get a goodnight kiss?" She pointed at her own cheek. Not as platonic as the forehead, but still within acceptable friendship boundaries. Maybe.
“As many as you'd like," the reply was almost instantaneous as he leaned forward again. He pressed his lips gently on her cheek, lingering perhaps a moment longer than what was considered friendly, before finally pulling back. “Though I am a bit disappointed you wanted one on the cheek," he stated, shrugging his shoulders lightly.
“But I will only take what you offer."
"Uhh." Her eyes were wide; she must've looked like an idiot, gaping at him like a fish. Pinching her own arm hard, she used the sting of it to convince herself that she was probably not dreaming, as impossible as this all seemed.
Was Vincent actually flirting with her? Did he find her... attractive? She'd have said no, but she had never once in all her life seen him flirt with anyone, man, woman, or person. Not once. Could he possibly—
No. No there was no way he liked her. Not like that. He was just... more comfortable with her than most people. Maybe this was what his personality was really like. If so, she was going to have to be extra careful, because if she had it bad now it was only going to get worse if he kept saying stuff like that.
Realizing she'd been staring for an awkward amount of time, Éva swallowed thickly and stumbled backwards, unsure how to handle herself. "I'm—I'm gonna go to sleep. Don't want to start hallucinating or something!" She laughed, a little too high-pitched, and waved, because that made sense, before abruptly turning on her heel and fleeing for the sectioned off part of the warehouse that was her bedroom.
Oh my god. Oh my godohmygod.
She was in so much trouble.