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 Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:53 pm
It was a fine day, cumulous clouds moving slowly against the light blue sky. There was just the faintest breeze in the air, and that was hardly enough to blow a single strand of hair out of Soah's face. Usually Soah could be found at Neil's, or at his own home, but sometimes he sought different means of escape. Today was the park, and it was a beautiful park, designed around nature instead, the grass well-tended to, and the bushes artfully trimmed. There was a little play area where the younger children could enjoy themselves. But it wasn't there that Soah had gone to seek refuge. No, he lay on his belly on one of the many donated benches. He was clad in tight-fitting jeans, held snugly at his hips by a studded belt. His shoes were converse, black and white and somewhat fashionable (his dad was well up on what styles were currently in favor, and passed such knowledge on to his son). He wore a red and black stripped hoodie, the hood pulled up to hide his face.
Because... what was he doing?
Oh, he was napping.
His head was nestled into the crook of his arm, his other arm hanging free so that his fingertips skimmed across the rich, green grass. His eyes were closed in peace, he looking utterly defenseless in his sleep. He was so defenseless that his body did not register for a long while that something was nibbling on one his fingers. Drowsily he opened up one indigo eye, sighing heavily and pulling his finger away from the little gnawing sensation.
"Quack."
Soah was startled, both eyes opening to stare blearily down at the brown plumed duck. With a little grunt he lifted his hips and dug around for some of the bread pieces he had stuffed in there once he had finished feeding the ducks earlier. Apparently one hadn't been satisfied, and so now he threw to it the last pieces of bread. There was a little fond smile on his face as he watched the duck pluck bread from the earth, and then once again he was blissfully dozing off underneath the afternoon sun.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 4:05 am
"Hey, sorry to bother you and all, but mind if I sit with you?"
Lucifuge tapped his fingers against the top of Soah's head gently. As much as he hated to bother the boy's sleep- he had been watching in a vague sort of way from a bank of trees not too far away, waiting for him to wake up before approaching- the sun would be getting rather high soon. While it held no danger for him as long as he was in a human form, the bright light would still leach his powers from him like there was no tomorrow. He shook his head to clear short strands of deep violet hair out of his eyes.
This ruse had been used to great success with several of his human beauties- pretend to be human to make the real human, and object of his affections, at ease with him. Then bring the treasure home to meet his supposed 'father'. It worked... about sixty to seventy percent of the time, he figured. So Lucifuge had lowered his physical age as far as he could bear, leaving him looking like a sixteen-year-old version of himself. His hair was choppier, cut in dramatic layers, and less purple than black now. And his lavender eyes didn't glow anymore- he'd taken on human form, after all. He had to be completely human. The only real sign of his demonic nature was the way the ducks went scurrying in opposite directions.
Idly, he straightened the neckline of his v-neck hoodie. He didn't like to dress like this- jeans and boots made him rather uncomfortable, being used to the flowing robes of the demonic court or business suits, which were not as drattedly tight. "Sorry," he said again, "I'm just waiting for someone and I promised to meet them here. You don't have to move or anything- I think I've heard about you. Soah Dresden, right? You used to be in the class below me at Richmond's, right?"
He circled around to the other side of the bench, standing near Soah's feet.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:13 am
"Nngh?"
The boy winced at the feel of fingers prodding against his head, drawing him out from his momentary peace with life and nature. He was unable to stifle a yawn with his sleeve, his movements too drugged by sleep to do anything quickly. It seemed a most difficult process for Soah, shaking off sleep that is. It took him a few good moments to become aware of his surroundings once again, and even longer for him to rub the sleep away from his eyes. One could begin to believe that the boy slept rarely, though that was far from true. After being expelled from school, Soah spent most of his days sleeping, regaining the energy that he lost when he was with Merihem. He himself did not know the reasons for his exhaustion, but he contributed it to some recurring illness.
"Uhhh, no, I don't mind." He sat up, using his arms to lift his torso while he swung his legs off the bench, making room enough for the other boy to sit down. Idly he stretched his arms above his head, working the tender muscles of his back so they could relax a more. It was not healthy for one's back to sleep on a bench. He really hadn't intended to fall asleep - the day had just been too nice, and he couldn't resist it when he laid down on the bench to pluck out some of the grass underneath it. He had begun to doze off, and eventually had fallen asleep until the duck had roused him. Soah had almost fallen back into that deep sleep, too, until this kid showed up.
"It's okay, really," and as he said this he waved his hand in a dimissive gesture, determined not to have the other boy worrying about it.
He blinked sleepily up at his new companion at the news that the boy had heard of him. Huh? Well, this wasn't a good situation, because Soah was sure he didn't know the boy, and if he was supposed to it would be insulting to have forgotten about him... "Yeah, I'm Soah. But, uhh... I don't quite remember you. I'm sorry." He smiled sweetly in that moment, putting all of his boyish charms into play so that his error would be more easily forgiven. Really, he had thought he was at least able to recognize everybody in his school, but he had no recollection of this boy. He was sure he would have, too, for hair with a sheen of purple, and eyes so unnaturally colored. The boy had to have put in contacts or something.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:07 pm
He sat, crossing his arms securely across his chest and sending an errant glare at the sun. "Nah, usually I keep my hair in a hat and wear contacts at school," said Lucifuge cheerfully, the picture of untroubled youth. "Used to get picked on a lot by the teachers 'cause I stood out so much. And I couldn't quite keep Berlin and Belgium straight, you know?" With a slightly embarrassed smile, he stretched. "Whatever happened to you? I heard you got sick or something, but you're out here, aren't you?"
Then he straightened as if he'd just remembered something. "Oh. Forgot. My name's Lucifuge, but call me Luci." He smiled again, leaning back against the bench. If the boy didn't bolt after that, he'd move closer, he decided. Wouldn't do to be too cautious.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:18 pm
Soah couldn't help but admit that he was curious, because what sort of person would approach another while they were sleeping on a park bench? Really, that usually signaled to other people to leave the one who was sleeping alone, but the older teen had came up to him still, and even woken him. On top of that, he seemed cheerful, despite describing that his teachers were less then kind to him. It was an intriguing mixture, the qualities that were bundled up in this strange kid. "Oh, well, very fiew of us could keep the two of them straight. Is Berlin a city and Belgium a country?" He wasn't sure himself, he had been out of school for a while by now. "...Umm, well I do get sick a lot, but I missed so much school that they expelled me." He shrugged his shoulders, trying to show that it wasn't a big problem, though to Soah it was. He was still horrified at not being able to finish this year, let alone pass his grade, and now he would have to go to a public school... and those were reputably far worse then private schools.
Lucifuge.
He stared wide-eyed at the boy sitting next to him, any last remanents of sleep disappearing from his face. "M-Mr. Rofocale?" His cheeks paled considerably, and he tensed in his seat, though he didn't take to fleeing just yet. He knew that Luci was that demon that had been with Merihem previously. There was no denying the little similarities, despite the large gap in appearance and age. Besides, no one in their right mind would name a human child 'Lucifuge'.
"H-how are you?" which wasn't the question he wanted to ask, he wanted to ask why Lucifuge was here talking to him. But, once again, he didn't wantto seem rude.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:37 pm
He smiled at Soah. "I'm pretty sure Berlin is the city, boy," he said after the human boy made the pertinent connection. Oh, but he was a bright one! "Guess that's not working," he said, just as brightly, before dropping the nice tenor and returning to his normal not-voice. "It's perfectly all right to call me by my name. I don't bite." With a sigh, he shrugged. "Don't worry. I can't hurt you like this- completely human, you see, it's the only reason I can walk out in the sun- and all I want to do is talk anyway."
Not that he wasn't also interested in other things but he didn't think coming out and saying he wanted to ******** the boy would be the best thing to do. It would lump him right in with Merihem and, it seemed to him, any other demon the boy had met. Inside he just set his hands by his sides. "I had some free time. What do humans like you do when there's nothing else happening?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:45 pm
Well, at least Soah could take some small comfort in having some of the world's geographics pacted down in his mind. "It would be rude to, Mr. Rofocale." Rather the real reason why Soah wasn't calling the demon by his first name was because he wasn't familiar with him. Soah was wary and uncertain, only ever having learned that a demon would not talk with you unless the wanted something, and something that you were not willing to give up. "You could have waited until it was dark out," the boy pointed out, but even at that time he realized that Lucifuge was probably appearing human to him for his own comfort. And it was working. Soah did feel a little safer with Lucifuge looking like a human, and if the other wasn't lying... he had nothing too gerat to fear.
"Well, if nothing's happening... most of us make something happen, y'know? We call friends to hang out, we clean our house, go out to do stuff." Of course, he didn't do those things so much any more. He hung out with Neil, sure, but no one else who didn't know that he had bound himself to a demon by contract. He didn't want them involved, and so he was distancing himself carefully from them. Getting expelled from school had only helped him in keeping away from his old friends, and that was the only good thing about that whole incident.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:56 pm
"I'm bored now," Lucifuge informed the boy. "When the sun sets, I have work to do." Then he shrugged, again, to keep Soah's attention near his face as he moved over some small amount. Humans were so curious- so easily distracted was what he really meant. Any demon would have known by the gesture of his shoulders moving to look away, but. Well, it never failed. And the Prime Minister never questioned a good thing.
With a look of slight irritation at the sun again- when the Mistress achieved her goals, perhaps they could arrange an eternal eclipse. So what if the world would die? He would finally have free run of it. "Hm. So I've already done a very human thing," he said. "Perhaps we aren't friends, but I'm certainly making something happen, don't you think?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:05 pm
"What kind of work?" He wasn't prying, but instead it was an innocous curiosity, and perhaps he was enquirinhg after Lucifuge's work in case the other needed someone to agree with that it was unreasonable and hard. Some people were like that, though Soah should probably figure that since Lucifuge was a demon, it wouldn't be the same. Soah's gaze remained on Lucifuge's face, not because the other demon shrugged, but because it was rude not to look at the person you were talking to. He wasn't exactly staring, for his eyes would shift away occassionally to watch a duck swimming on the farther end of the pond, or to watch a butterfly carry itself on a gentle breeze.
He tilted his head to the side subtly, golden bangs moving to cover more of his left eye. The rest of his hair was not-so artfully bound tightly into a ponytail. He had let his stripped hood fall away from his face so that he could more easily gaze upon Lucifuge. "Well, I suppose that you are," he smiled at that, an easy, sweet smile. Soah was more then well-known for his endearing smiles. "I don't think it's bad to do that kind of human thing, though I don't know if I'm that interesting, y'know, to clear your boredom with."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:21 pm
"This and that," Luci demurred, pleased he'd managed to close the distance between them- and that the boy didn't seem too put-out by it. "Nothing you would find terribly interesting-" he gave Soah a paternal look that looked a little out-of-place on the teenaged version of his aristocratic face. "-Or at least I hope you wouldn't." Currently, for instance, his to-do list revolved around finding the higher-ranked demons his mistress wanted to get to swear not to interfere. And then getting the other demons to swear themselves to her, or else absorbing them, or at least to get them to promise they wouldn't aid their summoner when she acted.
He'd protect this one, though. After that angelic smile, who wouldn't? "You're interesting, if only because of what I know about you." More than ever he envied that incubus's right to touch the boy. Right now he practically ached to reach out and brush the boy's hair out of his eye- almost tentatively, he let himself do it. Soah's hair was as soft as he'd thought it be. When his hand was back in one of his jean pockets, he smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, Soah" in a way that made it clear he really was. "Your eyes are a lovely color."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:33 pm
If Lucifuge did not want to elaborate, Soah wasn't going to pry into the matter. He honestly did not expect it to be anything bad. He just suspected that Lucifuge had some sort of duties he had to do, or something along those lines. He didn't think it was actual work, as in a 'job', but it was likely something that Lucifuge had to do. "I'll take your word for it," he replied, and truthfully, common conversation like this was helping Soah to become comfortable around Lucifuge. It wasn't a guarantee that he would remain comfortable, especially if Lucifuge did something to upset or scare him. But, it was improvement from the last time he had met the demon. Soah had barely been able to talk then, and he had been so uncomfortable in Merihem's arms that he had been certain he was going to pass out. He could become quite terrified of Merihem from time to time. Because Soah had named him did not change the fact that Merihem was still dangerous, and Soah knew that fact well enough by now.
"You know stuff about me?" His gaze was curious, and oh so innocent, but there was an enquiry there. He wanted to know what was common knowledge to the demon, and he wanted to know why Lucifuge had this knowledge (let alone want it), and how he had obtained it. But, he was quickly distracted from these thoughts as he felt smooth fingers clear his bangs away from his eye. His cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, and shyly he glanced away from the very human demon. The movement caused his bangs to fall right back into place, rendering Lucifuge's gesture useless.
"It's okay," and he sincerely meant it, if only because Lucifuge hadn't just apologized, he had sounded like he was really sorry. It wasn't fake, and that was something Soah had to deal with from Merihem a lot. The Incubus put on fake emotions to comfort him, and though they worked, they never worked as well as true emotion could. "Uhhh... thanks," and his indigo eyes flashed up to meet Lucifuge's briefly, before he once again was overtaken by nerves, and thus glanced away.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:53 pm
"Of course," he said in an offhand manner. Lucifuge knew a little bit about everyone- his mistress had begun to dole out the information found in a certain book she acquired through his intervention. Doubtless the summoner was curious as to where it went, but...
No matter.
With a smooth and silky version of his not-voice, Lucifuge began to tick off the things he knew about Soah. "You're fifteen, attended Richmond School for Young Gentlemen, but were expelled because of extended absence. You summoned the Incubus to protect a friend that the Incubus was visiting." He paused, wiggling the four fingers he had held up as he talked. "You have a sister named Adeline, but you don't share a mother, just your father. She's about seven now, isn't she?"
Belatedly, he realized that such a depth of knowledge might frighten the boy. "I apologize," he said. "Some of this you might find private, and I shouldn't speak of it."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:03 pm
He was paling again, but since his blush had brought a little color to his face, it did not seem like an unhealthy paling. Rather, he was astounded that Lucifuge knew so much, and had taken the time to learn a little about him. More then that, though, he was frightened and uncertain of what this could mean. A demon shouldn't be taking interest in him. The only one who had cause to was Merihem, so why was Lucifuge? Finally, he couldn't hold in the urge to pose a few questions to Lucifuge. "Why... do you know that stuff? Why would you want to know?" But even as he asked these questions, he didn't seem to be demanding an answer. He couldn't force one out of Lucifuge, anway. It would be rude to, and Soah simply refused to do it. But... he still hoped that Lucifuge would anwer him. It would likely creep him out even further if Lucifuge didn't.
"It's... okay, I'm just shocked." He laughed a little anxiously, and even his smile was a little uncertain. The ground that Lucifuge had gained he was beginning to lose. "I don't expect people I don't know myself to know these little things about me. Forgive me, just a lil' shocked." Some part of him was aching to figure out how much Lucifuge knew, how far the demon's knowledge of him ran. Yet, he refused to pry. No, he was well-mannered, and a good boy. His father had raised him that way, and he was going to stay that way, no matter how tempting the situation.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:16 pm
It would be best, thought Lucifuge, to go for the full reveal. At least, of the first question. "My mistress acquired an interesting book. It came from the summoning shop that you visited to learn how to contract the incubus," he explained. "Your information, such as Edward Fauste knew it, was contained inside. And the rest of it, my mistress told me after our meeting not so long ago."
As for question two... "It was something the mistress wanted me to learn. As part of my contract, I was required to." Really, he had actually asked; she'd laughed at him, then answered between bouts with her mocking cackles. The other residents had been quite disturbed. "I will answer your other questions, if you like. I would like it if you were... comfortable with me." A note of discomfort entered his voice. He didn't often have to say such things to people. Mostly they wanted him to be interested in them.
"Simply put, I find your relative innocence quite a change from my normal company, and would like it if we could talk more often than just when I can summon up the gall to take a human form."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:25 pm
Truthfully he did not care so much about the information, so long as that Lucifuge did not want to hide it from him. It comforted him to know that it wasn't something bad or underhanded, that Lucifuge could just come out and say it. With a little sigh, he leaned back against the bench, stretching his legs out in front of him, pulling the calves taut to make the stretch more satisfying. He didn't seemed too bothered by how Lucifuge had obtained the information - at least it was something more readily available. He didn't have to worry about what Lucifuge was going through to learn stuff about him.
He blinked in surprise at the strange confession. Lucifuge wanted Soah to... be comfortable with him? Did that mean that Lucifuge wanted Soah to like him, and that he in turn was interested in him? His little mind swirled restlessly with thoughts, and once again he had become shy. His looks became more like glances, and he stared down at the ground to reassure himself that this wasn't too strange. "Well, I wouldn't mind talking to you more... and you don't have to take a human form, really. It was nice that you did, but if you're uncomfortable doing it, I don't want you to." He nodded his head, as if that little gesture would add a little more 'punch' and meaning to his statement.
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