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Ah, little Amarante was growing up. Figuratively speaking, anyway. With all her ability to alter her body she just couldn't make herself taller. But she was incredibly cute by being so short. If she were Hyde's height then some of that would have been lost and make her more like one of those models on magazines that look like they would snap if she were to handle one. Most things did, anyway. "Hnn~ I see. Well, it is good to know that he is different. He must be to have you so charmed." Why didn't anyone hunt elves~?

Hyde was almost offended when Amarante spoke of consequences to her actions. The ancient elf knew quite well the extent of regret one could feel for actions that could never be taken back. But that was something she had had to live with for the past eight millennia. Hyde was about to speak when Amarante clarified her meaning. It didn't seem to make things much better, but at least it was not a threat. There were no words she felt she could offer up, so the elf simply nodded.

Gently reaching out, Hyde practically cradled the large bottle of booze. It had been a long time, indeed. She should travel more, but she had issues with weight that most other travellers did not have to worry about. But there was one problem here and now: Catty Ama was being too catty. "That won't do." She emphasized her point by poking the other woman in the forehead and pushing gently. Gently for Hyde, anyway. "You may be small like a kitty, but you need to sleep like a human. Otherwise you might just get shorter."

If the elf was deterred any by Amarante's turning the question onto herself there was no indication of it. "Ara~ Ama-cha is worried about my sex life? I assure you I can handle myself quite well. And it isn't every lady I come across. Some are insufferable. Much the same as the majority of the men around here. Why are they all so... stupid?" That seemed to be everywhere these days. Most mortal beings didn't live long enough to wisen up before they died and most of the otherworlders were too set in traditional ways that the deviants were something to hold on to. "Not all of us are fortunate enough to find romance and instead have to deal with occasional - or frequent - flings and one-night stands."

In a more cartoonish world Amarante would have been flailing wildly as she proclaimed her supposed normalcy. "Are you saying you sleep 'para-normally'?" Some days she probably did. Demons always did strange things for their own reasons, but then again so did Hyde. Of course strange for Hyde usually meant not killing someone, but this was about sleep. She didn't kill in her sleep. Not anymore. "If finding you is what you're trying to accomplish by sleeping here then there is this great new thing you should try." Her words were followed by producing a slender, white object from her pocket with a tiny sword charm dangling from a corner. "The new GPhone7X! It keeps time, you can get a plethora of apps on it for anything in the universe, access the Internet, watch videos of cats online, take pictures, and - get this - it's a PHONE! You know, so you can contact someone when you need them. You should try it some time, it really is great for getting contracts rather than lurking in darkened bars." Hyde couldn't hide her delight when the demon flustered about her height. "Ufu~ cat_4laugh "

If Hyde had paid any attention to Amarante's retort there was no signs as she drank more of her coffee. She had long been without the ability to bear children and the demon knew it. It used to be a touchy subject, but the idea of more of her kind running around, particularly of her own ilk, would plunge the world into madness not seen for millennia. "Ama-cha~ How many kids did you have again? Both are absolute darlings, but I wouldn't recommend having any more." She loved her adoptive nieces, but Irazoki family breeding habits made it seem like they could reproduce like rabbits. Particularly since the most current partner might make for an odd child indeed. "Ara~ You shouldn't put all your hopes on one person anyway, Ama-cha~ To have your happiness rely on only one person is to ask for letdown. Instead, you have that one person to help stir the honeypot, yes?" Her pinky finger was extended as she made the comment.

Rather than not tempt fate, Hyde tempted fate by mock-dialing on her phone. "Hello? Have you seen Amarante's sense of humor? No? Neither have I. K-bye~" A side-eyed glance confirmed whether Amarante had changed her mind about the gun. "Who said we were heroes? Besides, many adventures can start with receiving a panicked phone call with a cry for help. Or the distorted voice message of someone trying to be cryptic. Those are fun because the person on the other end is usually someone who can only be dealt with in a lethal manner~" heart

Was she still on the subject of height? "Unlike some demons I know, I am unable to physically alter my features, just my coloration. Besides, if someone were intimidated by my size they wouldn't be anyone I'd want to be with, anyway. And that sounds like a problem only you can remedy. Being covered in blood usually works well for intimidation. Maybe you're just rusty? Shall we practice?" She was reaching into a pocket as she spoke. What in Durem could be in there?

Amarante was really putting too much thought into sex. At least, that is what Hyde thought of it. Perhaps she needed to advance things a little further with the weird man? Then again the elf was not one for advice on such things and even less of a matchmaker. Ama could deal with her own parts and their maintenance. "I think you're putting too much thought into something you say doesn't require a lot of thought." And she left it at that. They had talked enough about sex with a guy Hyde thought odd and whom he'd be having it with. Well, it was better than the last guy.

Hyde's laughter was enough to startle the occupants of the cafe. She did reign it in, but it was just so funny that she couldn't help herself. If Amarante wasn't feeling awkward enough right now this had to be icing on the cake. "Since when did you ever see yourself as a hero and not... well, anything else? I'm only a hero to the side I fight for, but its all just who kills the most. Everyone else would regard me as a monster or demon - neither of which are correct - because apparently the only real elves left are the Kuros? Sad." There was a brief pause before she remembered just what the demon had insinuated. "I don't have any morals! Well, not any rigid ones, anyway. I don't kill you, and that's a moral, right? Isn't that one that should be rigid?"

The roll of her head hid the roll of her eyes. "Of course you don't have a problem, Ama-cha~ That's why you keep bringing it up." Height was always going to be funny until Hyde was somehow shorter than her friend. The day that happened... She'd just have to die. Or cut Amarante's knees out. "I don't carry blood around with me. I'm not some leech. Besides, most blood congeals too fast when it isn't stored right." From her pocket came a small compact. "We'll just give you a few touch ups and then work on the intimidation factor." What brand was that? It was a real compact, right? She didn't have actual blood like she just said she didn't, did she?

"Gossip?" The word was almost alien on her tongue. Somewhere the conversation had turned around in her head, but that didn't really matter now, did it? Amarante was very patient with Hyde and her constant bouts of confusion and getting things wrong. "I suppose I will have to ask her about it. We have a date set for some baking. She posed a lot of interest in some of the goods I named off. I'll just have to remember everything that goes into them before then. Cookies are my current forte, so other things..." The prospects were not grim, but she had that feeling of doom if things were not perfect. Wait... Drink!? "If you're pouring, Ama-cha~ I can't say no." Somehow she always managed to coo her friend's name - even in mid-sentence.

"I certainly don't see myself as a hero. At most I am the rival, but things haven't really worked out in my favor. So I'll just have to settle for second billing." Seeing as how there was going to be a new drink she chose now to finish off her coffee. It wouldn't be good to mix the two as they were likely going to be completely different tastes. "Being taken for a monster is more of a compliment than anything else they can throw out there. It means they cannot comprehend your abilities and so are easier to pick off. And the bravery of those who would stand up to you is fun to test, though I wish some had skill to back up that bravery. Or brains enough to know they can't win and instead just want to go to bed. I've had to kill off some lovelies in the past." Amarante's words caused Hyde to feel the length of her beloved ears. They were a feature she could not change - and had to hide for some centuries - but the rest of her was fairly easily camouflaged by changing color or wearing bulky clothes. "Maybe some day they will come to realize. We have the kind of lifespan to wait it out, but in the day-to-day we just have to deal with it unless they give reason enough to kill them. Humans, for the large part, suck."

Okay, enough was enough~ The height jokes were done until Amarante - or someone else - brought it up again. Then Hyde would see how she felt on contributing or not. "Of course I don't wear makeup. Such a waste when all I need is a mirror. No, this is just some red paste for simulating blood spatters. Great for intimidation, but needed because eventually one can see that the red on my face is actually my skin instead of on my skin." The idea of Amarante being constantly pelted with attacks made Hyde think of excuses she could use to kill. A lot. In defense of her friend, of course. "No. We wouldn't want that. Not at all." Apparently Hyde was not demonic enough in appearance to warrant being attacked and very few remembered there were other beings out there that were not undead, werewolves, celestial, or infernal. Bloody Hollywood types ruining it for the rest of us.

Gossip sounded like just any non-business conversations they had. Hyde wasn't going to address the matter right now. She had some practice to do on gossiping properly with her friend. Right now would have been a good time, except, "Shouchuu. You sound very into the idea of shouchuu that you must have something good." Maybe some booze would loosen up her tongue enough to 'gossip'.

She shrugged at the seemingly hypothetical question. Seemingly only because she was going to answer it anyway. "I dunno~ Two kids and a successful business. Something worked out for you." Could demons unintentionally have kids like humans? "And yet we still can't just kill the idiots and clean the filters on the gene pools. Why is that, again? Some human reason?"

Suddenly there was something very interesting on the opposite wall. Very interesting indeed. Nothing could make her look directly at Amarante at that moment. "I don't need makeup to impress anyone!" But it didn't hurt, right? "True faces? Only you are really hiding yours. Mine is pretty open once someone digs into archives of the other realms. Then no one seems to want to trust me for events that took place before their ancestors even developed writing. And no one ever asks why~" Idiots they be. "I'd almost welcome direct attacks. I can deal with those. Its all these damn rules and regulations that they insist have some meaning. Their manufactured laws to try to trump those whom the laws were not meant for - those like you and me. You're just better at dealing with that stuff. Too much reading for me." All this power and she couldn't use it. Such a waste!

Hyde raised an eyebrow at the demon's comment on the drink. "Are you insinuating something about my current coloration? Or perhaps you meant something else?" Her eyes were rested on the bottle that had yet to be opened, full of deliciousness.

"You know what I meant. You have tangible proof of accomplishments and a legacy. A human might call that good enough and retire, waiting for death in their own way. We're longer lived, though, and get more time for everything." How long was a good question. Hyde had already lived longer than most anything in existence that could be killed. Only god-blooded beings lived this long - if they were not killed by someone first - and she was pretty sure she wasn't one of them. Maybe that b*****d did something else when he took away her fate? "To survive this long... Yeah, we should be ruling this damn place. But who wants to do something as boring as that?"

A purple tongue greeted Amarante's curiosity. "Who said anything was fair? Besides, I'm not sure of anything at this time. I'll let you know if something develops." She picked up the glass and took a smooth draw off of it. There were so many things going on inside and out that she didn't really know what was certain with herself, let alone what interactions she had or wanted to have with others. There was also the matter of the demon's last statement. The one about appearing in annals. "I wouldn't know about appearing in the annals of history. I and my kind have been relegated to fantasy and legend, despite the point of all the aforementioned supernatural creatures running around and fornicating everywhere." That and the pesky side-effect of having been made Fateless also made her ignored by history at large. Only a few beings seemed to remember the elf at all after long periods of absence. It was a mixed blessing to be sure.

"Hnn~ You don't like being made to sound like a tasty morsel for someone to indulge in? A matter of personal preference, I suppose." Hyde took another swig as Amarante commented further about grey skin. "That's when you remove those tongues the quick way." She emphasized with a pinch and yanking motion with her free hand. That such a book could be considered 'good' and 'popular' says that the decline of civilization was near the breaking point. Again. Whatever. A refuge in another plane for a century or two and things would blow over and she might have something interesting to do again.

"I don't need a cake for tangible proof of sex, Ama-cha~ I collect different prizes." She was way too happy making that statement. What manner of trophies did she collect? Any kind of accumulated happy was flushed away by Amarante's last comment. "Forget? ... I don't think I forgot. Are you sure you even told me about all that?" That had to be it. Amarante was so busy with everything and then catting about the rest of the time that she never actually told Hyde about just where her children came from. The alternative was too awful.

Staring into her drink in a bit of a daze Hyde didn't really hear what her friend was going on about. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I suppose I am. I reserve the right to withhold information I don't even have." Staring done. Empty the glass. "Refill? Or do I have to make something interesting up to get that?"