Demiurge

[Thor.]

Demi looked at the gathered rabble and favored them with another smile. Soon enough he would be finding which of these would help his cause and which would hurt it. He paced on the balcony above the main hall, in plain view of those that had answered his fliers. Fliers. He thought with and laugh and shook his head. He had never been one for conventional methods, and besides anyone who was willing to take on the Pantheon was going to have to be a little strange. A very tall man stood out in the crowd, he had a sturdy look about him. He was sincerely hoping that he would make it through, they could use a man like that. Ben looked up at Demi from the crowd and Demi nodded. Ben went wordlessly to another room and left the criminals in the hall to their own devices. Demi had given the signal and Ben and gone into action, all that was left now was to wait and reap the benefits.

The main hall was really rather boring. He toyed with an ancient revolver at his hip. He never did like to use guns unless he had to, but in this case his hands would not serve the same purpose.

He looked across to the other end of the balcony at Sahara. She was still as beautiful as ever. Of course that meant very little considering her immortality , but for some reason Demi had gotten the idea that she would be less mesmerizing, a little less enchanting. His smile widened a bit. Her temper was the same. He could tell she was irritated that she had not been let in on how he would be choosing these people. He honestly didn't know whether this method would really weed out those that would be less than helpful but it was certainly going to be enjoyable.

The crowd was getting restless now. The silence has lasted for a long stretch of time and he could feel the more short-tempered members of the crowd. Their blood was beginning to boil. He was getting excited. He stopped playing with the revolver. He was likely to shoot his own foot toying with the trigger like that. A bald man with a tattoo spit some Taer on the floor and Demi could smell it from the balcony. He was an unpleasent one. It took a strong stomach to chew on a drug made primarily of human remains. Then again he likely did it to appear tough. Still that is a long way to go. He could already see the side effects taking the man, he'd probably been using the stuff for years. His tattooed neck also had a large lump on it's side. It was still treatable at that stage, the mans mind was fine and despite the puss the rather large boil could be taken care of. But he didn't bother to tell him to get it treated. He would be dead soon. Demi could tell.

The man who tried so hard to be tough began to draw more Taer from his pouch but stopped. And proclaimed loudly enough that the whole room heard.

"Fuck this."

Demi shot him.

He smiled widely and put a finger to his lips in a hushing motion.

 

[Darkness Princess]

Sahara sighed as she swirled the water in her glass; she was beyond irritated right now at the man standing across the room from her. Goddamn how she hated him and goddamn how, no matter how long it had been; she still could not say no to the man or deny how attracted she was to him. She sipped her water in an attempt to distract herself from his presence, thank the gods that she had decided to stand at the balcony across the room from him, even if the distance felt like less than a cm; for all it mattered he could be right behind her breathing down on her neck for all the comfort that those few meager meters provided. Oh how she hated herself for agreeing to come to this and how the blazes did he manage to get her phone number? She’d changed it with her identity as a makeup artist but then again; she knew him well enough to know that he would find her if he wanted to. And she hated to admit but she was angry at him for not finding her sooner; did he not miss her at all?

Sahara scowled as her heart once again managed to penetrate her thoughts; damn him. Damn him for being the only person who always managed to get her so conflicted. She despised him but she did miss him; he was a good friend and an incredible lover and although she refused to admit it; she’d partially agreed to the job because she’d missed his company. Brushing these thoughts aside; Sahara leaned towards the edge of the balcony and peered over. Below were a large group of people; all of which had probably been summoned here for the same reason she had. Sahara briefly wondered why she wasn’t below with them; she dismissed the thought as she knew it would be revealed in good time and if he wasn’t going to tell her; well she’d find a way of making him tell her. The people below all seemed to be criminals. She even recognized a few of them from her dealings as a thief. Sahara quickly skimmed over them sizing them up; she skipped over all but two. Both looked interesting to her and she quickly committed their faces to memory.

As she began to bore of the gathering; Sahara started running through several important engagements which could be suddenly drawn to her attention and require her to leave immediately; so far, none of the ones she could think of were strong enough to allow her to leave without insulting Demi; which under normal circumstances would not bother her but since she was here on business; her reputation as Lavender would be severely dented at leaving a job unfinished. Sahara pulled her scarf higher over her face; covering most of it apart from her eyes; she really did not want to be recognized as anyone other than Lavender by the people below her and she could tell by the increasing number of looks she was getting that she had attracted attention. Fortunately for her; that was soon solved by Demi killing someone. Sahara raised an eyebrow as she watched the man go down; true he would’ve been useless for whatever job due to his drug addiction but still; killing him seemed a bit excessive; very typical of Demi. She sighed and leaned against the railing; this was going to be a long night and it had just started getting interesting; she looked towards Demi awaiting an explanation as to why there was a large number on unfavourable people below them and as to why he had just shot someone.

 

[Thor.]

Demi couldn't help but smile. He had their attention. Each and every face was turned toward him now. All of them rapt. If this went according to plan then he would be placed firmly in command of the useful members of the crowd that now filled the hall, if nothing else it was going to be fun. He holstered the revolver with a sigh, he couldn't help but feel a small tinge of regret that he'd had to shoot the man. If there was killing done he preferred that it be done his way. Still the looks of the members of the crowd who'd gotten brains on them was amusing. He did hope the stains came out, he didn't want anyone coming out of this worse for wear. The crowd was remarkable, he could read the individuals. Some were in horror that he had killed a man, some were pretending it didn't bother them and there were a few that were truly untouched by the death they had witnessed. The mortals really were interesting creatures.

His gaze shifted from each member of the crowd slowly to the next. Minutes dragging on in a silence that even Demi was beginning to find rather tiresome. When he reached the edge of the crowd his gaze traveled back to Sahara. His eyes moved slowly, spending long enough on her body that it would have probably caused remark in polite company. He missed that body. As he looked at her he began to feel one of his vices itching in the back of his brain. Ichor. He wasn't particularly proud of the dependence he had developed on the rather expensive drug, it was a weakness, there was no doubt about it. And seeing as how there was no food available to negate the effects he would be very incapacitated.

In recent years Demi had developed what Ben called "a problem." And he was right, it was a problem. That he was even considering taking it now was proof enough of that. His mind needed to be sharp if he was going to run this operation. It wouldn't do for him to show weakness in front of his subordinates. He suspected that once they had established themselves many of them would want him dead. In order to rise in the ranks. Still he couldn't help but think that he would feel much better if he could just scratch that itch and have it done with. He made a note to take some as soon as this was done.

He met Sahara's eyes. She was doubtless upset with him. She had always seemed to be in the last days of their relationship. And he hadn't even developed his vices yet. He suspected he contributed to it though, Sahara had always told him he was inhuman. That he didn't understand people. That it was like loving a statue. He didn't know whether or not these things were really true. He had never lived an ordinary life as she and the other immortals had. He had always been this way. He had never feared Death. It was, to him, a toy to be played with. He supposed that he really was the reason that they had not lasted. And so he had not called her. Though he had known where she was every day since she left. She was an obsession, yes. But obsession is good for a man. Sahara wanted answers. And he supposed that they should be given to her. She had to trust him at least a little for this to work. He approached her, his eyes never leaving hers. He could feel a familiar heat in his mind. And his second greatest vice roared its head. Yet another itch. But he had never had trouble satisfying, or even repressing, those appetites.

"I need you to come with me." He said. His tone was playful and his smile had become a smirk. He bowed his head to her and gestured to the library. As he turned from her to the door he could not help but think of the moments they had shared in that library. In fact nearly all of their memories were held in that room. The moments of joy, of sorrow, even many of the moments of passion. His itch made him think of them there, ripping off the clothes that they could not be bothered to unzip and unfasten, knocking heavy leather bound volumes to the floor as they made love against the shelves.

He stopped that line of thought before he became too distracted to conduct business. Sahara knew him well enough that she could probably smell it on him already. He didn't bother to shut the door, he stood against the frame. They could be seen speaking from the hall. Again grating against the crowd's patience, and also offering them a bit of hope. If he was talking to someone then this could be over soon. Many in the back sneaked out while he was occupied.

"Sahara" the named tasted good on his lips as he spoke and looked in her eyes "We're taking on the Pantheon."

Ben entered the room with a tray.

Demi perked up a bit. "Sandwiches." he grabbed Sahara's shoulder gently and led her to the table with the trays.

Unless her tastes had changed Sahara would find hers to be to her liking. He ate whatever Ben made as usual. Demi had an appetite like a garbage disposal and tended to eat more than two men twice his size. He loved food. Again he thought of the Ichor but he wrestled the thought down. Ben was looking in askance at Sahara. He hadn't thought of it before but neither of them were familiar with eachother. He wasn't sure how he had overlooked that.

 

[Darkness Princess]

Sahara watched; barely masking her irritation at the way Demi changed his expressions; the thrice cursed man was amused. He was amused at the death and now he was staring at her; as always she felt her entire body become consciously aware of his eyes on her; oh how she hated this insufferable man. Glaring at him; she watched as he slowly made he was towards her; he had better be coming out with a very long and interesting explanation or by the gods she would beat the crap out of him and leave him to die (goddamn immortals and their immortality); at least she wished he would die. Anything is better than this silly game that even thirty years later had yet to end; her heart as always, began to speed up the closer Demi got to her. He still had the same effect as he did when they were friends; he still did and she hated him for it.

Glaring at him; she watched his expressions change until he met her eyes and even then, she still watched. She could tell he was conflicted with something; there was something up and always; her face softened; she wondered what it was and if she could help him fix it. As her mind caught up with her heart; Sahara flushed in embarrassment and anger; once again; her heart betrays her; digging her nails into her palms she forced her expression to change back to that of anger; she would not forgive him; she would no longer care; she did not care about him; this was just business. A little mantra began in her head This was just business . The mantra went on until he reached her and she looked into his eyes; those damned cold ice blue eyes that managed to invoke so much warmth within her. He was far too close now; only a step closer and she could touch him, embrace him, kiss him even. Of course her anger managed to stifle those wants fairly easily and all she wanted to do now was scratch his eyes out and maybe carve some of his face out as well.

She nodded at his request to follow her even if she knew it was more of a demand over a request. Demi never made requests; he asked for things and expected them to be followed; she remembered the fights they would get into over her refusal of doing as he said. Most of the time; she refused out of stubbornness as he did seem to make sense when the need arose; no matter how rare said event was. As she walked through these familiar halls; she realized that he was taking her to the library. They had shared so much here; many hours had been spent talking, crying , planning , making love. Why did he have to choose the library; he knew that here of all places she would have her guard down. Her mind and body were far too used to this place; its familiar smell; aura and taste.

As she stepped into the library she watched as his expressions changed. It seemed she was not the only one reminiscing on the past; as he stared at a particular shelf; she remembered a very passionate love making there; he’d ruined one of her favourite outfits that night. A familiar smell caught her, bringing her back to reality. This was the past and he had probably brought several other lovers here and had made to love to them as he had to her. Before anger could dominate her again; Demi caught her attention by uttering her name and finally explaining why she was here. “Were taking the what? The Pantheon? Are you insane, Demi? Have the years finally caught onto you?” She kept her voice low; she would rather not be heard over here; their status as immortals would not be something to be so easily revealed. “How exactly do you plan on doing this, Demi?” As she felt her anger begin to get the better of her; a young man entered the room. He was carrying a tray of sandwiches and Sahara realized how hungry she was.

She walked over to the man while slowly looking him over. He had jet black hair, a scar on his cheek and incredibly green eyes; he was of muscular build and fairly taller than her. Sahara couldn’t help but appreciate him; he was quite attractive and she couldn’t help but smile. Demi hadn’t changed at all over the years; he still took on very attractive people and she was willing to bet a fortune that he was bedding him. The man of course; was shamelessly looking her over as well; taking in her appearance the same way she’d been taking in his. Picking up a sandwich and taking a small bite; Sahara smiled at the taste. This was actually very good; how very unlike Demi’s normal taste in food. She finished off her sandwich before looking at the man once more. “So, who are you?” She asked him, without bothering to mask her curiosity or her attraction towards him. Unfortunately for her; she and Demi shared similar tastes in men and already she was debating stealing him away from Demi for a couple of nights.

 

[Thor.]

Ben raised his eyebrows as Sahara set her sights on him. Demi cocked his head to the side from his chair, his eyes watching hers as they contemplated Ben. Ben naturally didn't speak. He was smarter than that. He seemed to know Sahara's type well enough, and he was a good enough friend to see that there was something between them, and that he shouldn't get involved. Of course, he had no idea how persuasive Sahara could be. Ben grew more uncomfortable as the silence between them went on. Demi could see the aversion in the eyes, the attraction as well. Sahara wasn't just beautiful there was something ultimately seductive about her nature even when she wasn't trying. A small smile crept onto his lips. He took a large bite of his sandwich and spoke through a mouthful.

"Go ahead and talk to her Ben." he said, slightly irritated at the degree of servitude "She bites, but no one in this room really has a problem with that." He laughed softly at his own joke and swallowed the large mouthful. As he eyed the white wine Ben had brought he felt the pill of Ichor in his pocket. He could still remember his first encounter with it. He saw a man on the street in a very nice suit, starved to the bone. Dying, the man smiled as Demi passed, and he couldn't help but stop to look at him. Naturally he took the pills and the rest was, as they say, history. Ichor was new in those days, he doubted it even had a name. The Dion were upstarts and the others in the Pantheon were peddling stock drugs that everyone had long forgotten. Made of leaves and beans. It was barbaric really. These days the drugs were chemicals, one hundred percent man made. We've come so far in such a short time. He took the pills and discovered that it was very illegal. Almost as illegal as it was expensive. The police had put a ban after the first few people starved hanging on to the effects of the drug. Trying to get their money's worth he supposed. The pill had to be dropped in a liquid, which would then turn blood red.

His eyes snapped up from the bottle. He had no idea how long he had been staring at the bottle. Damn these things. he though removing his hand from his pocket. They're making me weak. He forced a smile and looked at Sahara again.

"Yes, I am crazy. But you knew that." his smile faded as he fought the urge to reminisce further. Still yet the images came to him. Days on the beach. Nights on the beach. Skydiving. He smiled at the last memory. Skydiving was fun. "It's not that complex really. All we have to do is take a piece of the pie. Bit by bit we cut in on their territory. Until we own everything." It sounded more challenging when he said it out loud. And it sounded fuzzy and far off. How long had it been since he had last taken Ichor? The withdrawal is the worst part. People had died from that as well.

 

[Darkness Princess]

Sahara stifled a laugh as she watched the man squirm; unfortunately for her she managed to lose all semblance of seriousness with that single action and she gave up trying to hide it. Instead; she smiled at Ben; a bright smile and a wink; revealing all of her intentions. Sahara couldn’t help it; this young mortal amused her and as always; she loved nothing more than to escape her boredom; after all, entertainment was the reason she was here. Taking a step closer; Sahara place her hand on his shoulder and drew closer so that her face was only inches away from his; she smiled again and before he could act; kissed him lightly on the lips.

Before he could react; Sahara took a step back, picked up another sandwich and took a bite of it. As if on cue; Demi commented on her biting habits and instantly her playfulness vanished to be replaced by a sour look directed at him. The look was quickly replaced by concern as she watched him stare into his wine bottle as if deep in thought; the only time he had a look that serious was when something strange was up or something was wrong. Sahara made a movement as if to reach for him and comfort him but stopped just in time; she hated how her old habits of always wanting to look after him never managed to die; she masked her movement towards him by quickly taking another bite of her sandwich and in her haste; nearly choking on it.

Sahara watched as he tore his gaze away from the wine bottle and glanced at her before flashing a forced smile. She smiled back, ignoring the alarm bells sounding in her head; something was definitely wrong with her Demi. Her Demi Sahara checked herself again; only a few hours in his company and already she was reverting to her worrying self. It was no wonder they didn’t work out; she probably wore him out with her constant worrying for their safety and limiting their adventures to relatively safe ones. “So, I take it you plan on turning the group of thugs you have gathered downstairs into your new gang; one strong enough to rival The Pantheon? You are going to get yourself killed, Demi; you really are.” Sahara shook her head, her ears had detected the distracted tone of his voice; something was wrong and she didn’t like it. She really wished she could ask him but it was not her right; they were no longer lovers, hell they weren’t even friends or civil with one another at that. His eyes, they didn’t look right, they reminded her of some of the musicians she worked with; the ones who were suffering from some form of a narcotics addiction but of course; she couldn’t be right. Demi was not that weak; he would never stoop so low as to look to drugs for a high, her instincts were just lying to her; after all they hadn’t seen each other for over thirty years; one could forget and people change.

 

[Thor.]

((I just lost the longest post I have ever typed so I am too frustrated right now to retype it. I'm going to put a VERY brief version here so forgive me for the quality and length.))

Sahara was challenging him. The nostalgia thickened in his mind. She had always challenged him in one way or another. "Those thugs are my only option." he said with a small smile "Besides, there's potential there." he knew that was not what she was truly worried about. She was worried about him. More memories flowed into his mind. She had taken things to a different level when they became lovers. It was a mellower one in most cases. She didn't want to do anything that would put them in any real danger. He had given up many of his exploits at her request. Looking back now he could see that she had housebroken him. She made him give up his freedoms and love it. They had bought the mansion together. Lived in it for many of their years together. He never understood why she wanted to calm their lives down, he was fairly certain there was no way for either of them to actually die. But then he never understood her. He tried to stop his mind from following the all too familiar road to that last night he and Sahara had spent together. He didn't know what he had done. He had hurt her yes, but he had done things that hurt her in the past and they had never effected her that way. That night she cried. He remembered when he had come home to find that Sahara had discovered evidence of a lover. She had beaten him for hours. He took it without a word. He had hurt her and he let her hurt him. Had he been mortal he would have died before she was half done. But that night there was no anger.

The Ichor was suddenly very appealing. He snatched the wind bottle and popped the cork. The pill made a satisfying sound as it broke the surface. The wine began to turn and Ben stepped forward to take the bottle from Demi. He had been instructed to make sure that Demi didn't take the Ichor while his "guests" were there. Demi kicked him hard and he landed in the ash-filled fireplace. Demi dropped the bottle. It shattered on the floor and he rushed across the mess cutting his feet on the glass and feeling the alchohal burn the fresh wounds. He hunched over Ben and called out to him.

Ben managed a weak smile and said softly "I'll live."

Demi laughed.

It was cut short when he saw Sahara's eyes and he rushed out the room with a breif. "Wait right here."

Demi called out to the crowd "I need all of you to leave now." He thought for a moment. "Except the two of you." He indicated the giant man he had seen earlier and a strikingly attractive woman. They would have to do for a foundation. The crowd was silent and still and Demi was confused until he realized that he was covered in Ichor and ash. He laughed and the people cleared rather quickly, thinking him insane. He rushed down to the two who had remained.

"You to are going to help me attack the Pantheon.. . .So that we can found our new criminal organization. . .the Syn."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben spoke to Sahara briefly. "Don't look at him that way."

Ben cleaned up the mess left by the bottle while his ribs were broken and did some thinking on Demi's childish nature that I was very proud of. He decided from the things he had heard in Demi's sleep that the she was either going to hurt Demi again or get him out of his downward spiral.

Ben became dizzy from his head wound and leaned against a shelf. Sneaking another look at Sahara.


((again I am very sorry. I spent hour and a half writing the original post and I forgot most of what I said. These were the important events and I am REALLY VERY sorry that I fucked up so badly))

 

[Stavvy]

((Yeah, I understand, Thor.))

Damian stood in the small crowd of presumed criminals. You could always tell what a person would be like, just from looking at them. The way they held themselves, they way they looked at a person, going from wallet to weapons to face. That’s also how they thought, going from their gain, to their life, to the person. It was sickening but he couldn’t call anyone on it; he was the same after all. He watched the man stride across the balcony, he had the same look of him, but his eyes seemed different. The man glanced around the room, his eyes stopping for a second on Damian and then venturing elsewhere. He wasn’t surprised, not many of this time are as tall as he was. You called us here, you sit us in silence. What are you waiting for?

He didn’t dare talk; a foolish man speaks without thinking. As if being told, a slightly smaller man than he blurted a sharp, “Fuck this.” As he turned to leave, the man on the balcony fired a single shot. The blunt man’s head was now spread in a small radius, bits of matter sprayed on a few near him. Damian’s eyes stared in a cold demeanor, he had seen it before, he would see it again, by now it didn’t shock him. The man held a finger up to his lips in a hushing motion, it was obvious that he enjoyed toying with his ‘guests’. Soon, he walked down the small flight of stairs and past the small group. Out of his peripheral, he watched as the man approached a stunningly attractive female. They exchanged inaudible words, but their expressions showed a sense of remembrance. These two had a past, but he wasn’t sure how far. The two left for a hallway, leaving the small group to engage in quiet conversation. Damian stood silent, he knew that it was stupid to talk, anyway why would he with these people?

The man emerged from a backroom back onto the balcony his clothes were dirtier now. "I need all of you to leave now." He said with a pause. "Except the two of you." As the crowd slowly dispersed, Damian and the woman aside him stood still. The man came down from his perch and addressed the two of them, “You to are going to help me attack the Pantheon.. . .So that we can found our new criminal organization. . .the Syn.” Damian sized the man up, he didn’t seem too insane, but his eyes were still a thing of mystery. What is so different about them?

[FONT=&quot]Finally, he spoke, although his words were carefully placed, “If we are to do this, what would be our reason?”[/FONT]

 

[Thor.]

"Boredom mostly. . . I think." Demi wasn't really sure what had spurred him into action. He just felt the need to do something stupid. Not that he hadn't risked himself enough in the recent years, the Ichor was a blatant attack on himself and on some level he knew it. It had bothered him at first, addiction was about as close to suicide as an immortal could get, but he had put it out of his mind. The truth was Demi didn't really allow himself to think these days. It had been fun when he had first awoken, setting his mind against itself, determining exactly what it was that made him who he was. He had decided that it was the immortality. He was just not sympathetic to the plight that was mortality. Or that was what he thought at least. Ben had once said it was his nature. That he was like a kid in a candy store. Honestly he liked Ben's idea better. It summoned an image that was far more pleasant than these thoughts of mortality.

The tall man was smart. He hadn't really expected that. As rude as it was he had assumed that the man would be a bit dense. After all when you have a body like that you don't really need a superior mind. He found that he liked the man. Which was both shocking and fortunate, he would definately be a welcome addition. Of course intelligence raised other problems. It was possible he would try to overthrow him. And while he doubted even the giant in front of him could beat an immortal it was still a bother that he would rather avoid. But that was the danger of surrounding yourself with people who have real talent.

He hoped to be as lucky with the girl. He had honestly chosen her just because she was beautiful. But that itself told quite a bit about her. The fact that she had the sort of skills he had requested told him that she was not content to live the life of leasure that her face made very possible. He was fairly certain that he had not conciously chosen the two most qualified in the crowd. But he was fairly certain that they were just that.

 

[Obliviongirl13]

The woman was watching the whole scene as she noticed that the room had a stifling aura. Leaning up against the wall she surveyed the area for potential. Not sure what kind of potential, she just wanted to get an idea of what types of people she had to interact with.

There were people that looked tougher than the rest of the crowd, and there were those who looked to physically delicate to be there. If she’s learned anything over the course of her many years of living, it was never to judge to quickly someone’s character.

Continuing to gaze around the room, the woman ran her fingers across her whip at the side of her waist when she noticed that the host had been fingering his gun. When she realized what he could potentially do, she crossed her arms and began to relax.

There were a few that noticed one of the only two women in the crowd and some got too curious. Their eyes were following her body’s curves up and down. Her mood became unpleasant.

“Taglierò i vostri occhi,” the woman murmured to the man closest to her.

The gaze she gave him could pierce through a concrete wall. The man backed down as his own eyes followed the floor. She had a very ominous presence and it was making some of the people uncomfortable. But on the opposite side, she could control this power and manipulate it to her will. If she wanted to have a very appealing presence, she could. Now she just wanted to blend in.

A gunshot rang out, the echo penetrating the room in every corner. Blood had been spilt and it wasn’t a wasted bullet after all. The man who had been chewing and spitting the whole night was dead. Good riddance she thought. The presence of the man was making her sick.

Her eyes followed the host as he made his way towards a woman. These two seemed to have a strong connection between each other, but she just couldn't figure out what It was. As the time passed on the clock in the room, she looked around, more bored than ever. Sure the instant assassination of someone was putting everyone on guard, but there was no action, no fighting, just weakness.

As the two people exited the room, there were a few people who decided it was now time to make a clean exit. She just stood where she was.

A few minutes later, the host came out in a fury as well as bloody and told everyone to leave but her and this other man. Curiosity started to flow through her as she became slightly excited. She wanted to see what all of this was about.

"You to are going to help me attack the Pantheon.. . .So that we can found our new criminal organization. . .the Syn."

She burst out into laughter.

“Well now.. this might just be worth the wait.”

 

[Thor.]

Demi ignored the rather large fellow with the questions for a moment to look at the laughing woman more closely. He avoided studying too closely the traits that most men would focus on. Though even with the cursory glance he could see that she was even better looking close up. He couldn't help but feel the slow return of the heat he had felt in the library. She was good at what she did. He hadn't felt like that from a mere glance since the early years with Sahara. Still he recognized her seductive nature for what it was. A tool. She seemed the type to gauge a man as soon as she met them. But perhaps he was wrong. He had never been an expert on people.

"Well, it's good to meet someone with a sense of humor." He said smiling. He really was glad that she could laugh. There hadn't been real laughter in the mansion in a long time. It was possbile that she was laughing at him, but that was funny in it's own way and he didn't let it bother him.

He turned toward the stairs once more and gesture for them to follow. He climbed the steps giddily. Like a child. His plan was coming into fruitation and he couldn't help but feel the rush he had been missing. He stopped suddenly and stood completely still for a moment before whipping around to face his guests. "I'll need your names actually."

 

[Obliviongirl13]

ooc: Sorry its so short. I'm feeling kinda sick right now..But I promise to post more detailed ones next time

He watched her, studied her a bit, but didn't focus on her frame. This really was interesting. Her laugh turned to a blank expression as the man had opened his mouth. She started to move her eyes up and down him and found that he was overly attractive for a human.

Never the less, she shrugged it off and followed the man up the stairs. She made it a point not to take notice of the other "member" of this little group and continued on. She had already seen him before when the crowd was here. He was fairly tall, and very muscular. Something she enjoyed in a man, but there were things about him that bothered her. The white hair didn't seem to work well with his features so it turned her off a bit.

When the host turned around abruptly, she took a step back, being cautious just to be sure.

"I'll need your names actually." the man said.

Amaya raised her eyebrow and turned her head from him.

"Do you want my real name, or the name I give to my one nighters?"

A sly grin appeared over her face as she started to enjoy this little charade.

 

[Darkness Princess]

Sahara laughed as she watched him reason with her logic. He always tried to divert her attention from himself when he was hiding something. For now, she would allow him to do so. After all, it was no longer her task to look after him, she had lost that privilege and burden years ago and she really wasn’t too sure if she was willing to risk herself to get it back. As she started to partially relax; Demi reached for a bottle of wine and dropped something into it; Sahara watched as the pill dissolved and the run began to change colour; Ichor? She was surprised to say the least. No; she was actually horrified. He couldn’t be on drugs; that was the worst thing he could do to himself short of suicide. She started towards him but Ben got to him first and was kicked forward onto the fireplace where he landed with a sickening crunch.

Sahara moved towards him to inspect his injuries; as much as she hated it; Demi would have to wait a little while. From the way he had just acted, he’d been on this drug for a while and was not in any immediate danger. She watched as Demi hunched over and made sure Ben was okay; the man managed a weak reply and she was relieved to see that the damage wasn’t too bad on him. Directing her gaze towards Demi, she couldn’t help but feel her heartbreak as they shared a brief look before he asked her to remain here and left the room. Sahara was tempted to go after him and demand an explanation but the man in front of her seemed to be in worse shape.

Sahara watched as he stood up and began to pick up the shards of glass from the floor. She was too stunned to do anything about it but watch. She couldn’t believe what had just happened; this was the first time Demi had ever lost control like that. True he loved causing chaos but he never lost control of himself like he just had. She was certain that he cared about the young wounded man in front of her now and that he wouldn’t normally hurt him; if he didn’t he wouldn’t keep him so close and for so long. She had deduced all of this by watching the way they interacted with one another and the way the man had dared to confront and take the bottle away from him. The man, Ben, he spoke to her; waking her up from her shocked stupor “I can’t not look at him like that, he’s destroying himself and he’s just lost control.” Sahara swallowed painfully as she watched him continue to clean. “Will you please stop doing that; you’ve obviously cracked or broken a couple of ribs and you’re just making them worse; sit down while I go get an ambulance.” She walked over to him and took his arm gently; she was prepared to carry him, she’d carried Demi several times when he’d gotten too intoxicated to walk after an interesting night and this man didn’t seem to be too heavy. She waited patiently for him to decide on whether he would listen to her or not.

 

[Stavvy]

Damian chuckled slightly. The man wants to know our names? I suppose it makes sense, but first I'll request his. "If I may be so bold to ask, what do you go by, oh humble Lord." He managed to get the question across with a straight face, despite the infliction.

He wasn't sure what the make of this man. He seemed to be spontaneous, but for what reason? Most mortals were, they wanted to live for the now rather than the later. Why do something tomorrow when it could be done today? Why make allies when it is easier to steal? This man showed the qualities of a thief who had bigger expectations in mind, but lacked the things to do so.

He waited for the man's reply, hoping he would catch that he was serious at the same time as joking.

 

[Thor.]

Ben grabbed the woman's shoulders gently, his eyes meeting hers. "Things can drive a man to drink." he said in an unreadable tone "But only people can drive us to worse." His eyesight blurred further and he leaned on her. She was soft and yet strong. His breathing deepened, he grunted and pushed himself away from her. "I don't think you understand." He said turning away from her "I don't think even he understands." There was a very long pause. Ben stared at the empty fireplace. Moving in close as if to warm himself. "Ichor is the closest thing that he has to suicide. Demi doesn't understand emotions, not even his own, but he's wanted to die for a long time now."

She grabbed his arms. And he grabbed hers. Once again gently he removed her arms from his. "I think I just need to rest"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

"I'm fairly certain that was flirtatious." Demi laughed "Any name will do." He couldn't believe his luck really. It was almost too good. He wasn't exactly suspicious of them, but still this kind of fortune came around once in a lifetime. Well, more than once in his case but that made it no less special. "Actually if you wish to go by some sort of code name that's perfectly acceptable. Lavender's-" His mind was breaking up in the beginnings of Ichor withdrawal. He needed some Ichor and he needed it soon. This is ridiculous. I- He remembered Ben on the floor. He remembered Sahara on the floor. He remembered things that never happened. Saharas face danced in his mind. Twisting it painfully. Headaches. Stage two already? But with the splitting pain some of the delirium began to fade. He put a hand on his head. "Maybe I should show you Lavender, your new partner." He winced while he spoke. "Then I can have Ben-" he swallowed his thought was dry. No. Ben was hurt. "Then I'll show you your rooms. . . .Oh....I'm Demi by the way." he attempted to make a theatrical bow and nearly fell on his face.

For a moment there was silence.

He thought there was a good chance he was hurting her again.

 

[Darkness Princess]

Sahara felt him lean against her and she could sense how close his body was to giving in. The stubborn man needed to get his wounds treated before he worsened them; she reached her arm up, ready to quickly knock him out so that she could treat his wounds but his words stopped her. “What do you mean by that? What could have driven him to drugs of all things? Demi has never needed anyone and nothing could affect him this much.” Ben pulled away from her and moved towards the fireplace. Already the effects of his wounds were beginning to show in his movements and his eyes.

Sahara tentatively stepped closer to him and placed his arms on his once more but he grabbed hers and removed them from himself. With that, Sahara decided that his resistance had gone too far and so she embraced him quickly; flinging her arms around his neck and thus gaining access to pressure points on his neck that she quickly pushed; forcing him to slump against her unconscious. “I’m sorry about this; you can hate me when you wake up.” With that, she picked him up awkwardly; carrying him bridal style as it seemed to be the best position that she could manage without upsetting his ribs. Once she was sure he was firmly secure in her arms and in no danger of harming himself further; Sahara set out towards the back of the library. There was a small closet there where she and Demi had kept all of their first aid requirements; being the kind of person Demi was; Sahara had had to patch him up several times and she was fairly certain that he hadn’t changed it as he had promised to keep a first aid kit in the house at all times. He also promised to love you and only you. Brushing that painful thought aside; she focused on getting towards the back closet; she was beginning to feel Ben’s wait and it was becoming a burden.

Spotting the closet; she smiled remembering the memories it brought back of her yelling at Demi while patching up another one of his cuts caused by his carelessness. Just a little ways away was a large table; she shifted slightly so that she had an arm free and was able to clear everything from the table onto the floor and set Ben upon it. She left him lying there on his back before going over to the closet and pulling out all the necessary bandages; she was glad that he had continued to stock up the closet with first aid equipment and judging from how clean it was and the packaging of the bandages; it had been cleaned and changed fairly recently. After she unwrapped all the bandages, she picked up the scissors used to cut up the bandages and used it to cut away the vest Ben was wearing underneath his shirt. Using one of her arms; she supported his back so that he was sitting up while she rolled the bandage around his upper torso; providing support for his ribs. Fortunately from him from what she could see; he had only cracked two of his ribs and so they would take a few weeks to heal without the drugs used to speed up regeneration that had recently been invented. Said drugs would have to wait for now and he would have to be okay with her injecting some painkillers and allowing him to sleep for the rest of the night.

Once done with bandaging him; she picked up a cushion and set it underneath his head while using his jacket and shirt to cover his exposed chest. She stepped back and noted that he would not be too happy when he awoke in the morning but at least he would be better off than he would’ve been had she not stepped in. Finally satisfied with her work; she turned around and headed back towards the library entrance intent on finding Demi; she would have her explanations and she would have them tonight.

 

[Thor.]

"Maybe we should go to the rooms first." Demi said breaking the quiet. " After all it is late. You can meet Lavender tomorrow." He turned around, effectively blocking all attempts to speak with him. His mind was scattered still and he knew it was only a matter of time before the third phase of the withdrawal symptoms began. He didn't think it would be wise to let them see what was about to happen to him. The third phase was different for everyone but it was the part that has gotten the drug banned. Often there were violent seizures, chills and vomiting. He had to get more Ichor in his system as fast as he could. He didn't think that he would be able to command much respect if he ended up curled into a ball on the floor in front of his subordinates.

He led them from the entrance hall balcany up another set of stairs that led to a long hallway. The hallway was made almost entirely of white marble, and there was a long black carpet running down the middle. They had passed several ebony doors, Demi had locked them years ago and had almost forgotten that they existed. While he was certain that they did serve some purpose he wasn't willing to check. There were things in some of those rooms that he wasn't sure he really wanted anyone to see. For a while he let the sound of feet against the carpet distract him. The muffled sound of their shoes on the marble was relaxing for some reason. There was a set of black marble stairs that led up to his room and he considered just telling them where they had to go and getting the Ichor he had stashed up there. He pushed ahead. The rooms were at the end of the hallway. The two white doors that stood out against the others.

When they reached the doors he gestured vaguely to them and headed back to his room. As the doors shut behind them he sprinted toward his room. When he reached halfway up the stairs he stopped. Sahara. He ran down to the library. He stopped short of the door. And looked at the handle for a moment. Something had happened earlier. Something important. He turned the handle and pushed.

 

[Darkness Princess]

By the time Sahara had gotten halfway through the library she'd moved from a fast paced walk to a full on run. She was scared; she didn't understand what was going on and anger aside; she cared about Demi too much to be able to deal with seeing him like this. So weak, so dependent on something as horrible as a drug such as Ichor. She'd read about the sidae effects; when suffering from Ichor withdrawal there was three stages; the third stage was insanity and she did not want Demi to lose his mind. He was an immortal; losing one's mind was just as bad as death if not worse since he was incapable of death, it was built in them to avoid death in all forms or at least; it was built into her to avoid it. True she enjoyed risks but never unnecessary ones and she was thankful enough to be cheating death for as long as she had been already. She wondered if immortals could be killed by mortal hands if they could be killed at all.

As she neared the door she heard the sound of the door being open and momentarily lost count of her steps and from that her balance. Losing the ryhthm in her fast paced run caused her to stumble against the rug and unable to regain her balance cause her to fall face first onto whoever just opened the door. Dazed, she looked and saw the person who she could probably blame for the loss in her balance and the order that she had worked so hard to regain in her life. The worrying had started all over again and this time she actually had a reason to be worried. "Demi?" She asked, her voice wavering slightly in uncertainty; what was going through his mind right now?

 

[Obliviongirl13]

As the abrupt departure twisted around her mind, Amaya had shrugged and let it go. She looked over at the other man who the host had left behind and she grazed her eyes up and down.

"I suppose this makes us partners."

Smiling a most devious smile, and yet as quickly as the smile appeared, it had disappeared. Her fingers grazed the door handle to one of the rooms and she vanished behind it. Amaya leaned against the door and closed her eyes. She gave a heavy sigh as she looked around. The room was definitely ornate and rich with detail. The walls were white, trimmed with a nice silver color. The bed was a nice large california king covered in a black bed set with silver lining. There were various chairs and tables scattered around the room. She wandered around the room, and found the large bathroom, which she more than approved, and one closet. She noticed the windows had large silver drapes masking them and Amaya walked over to let the night inside. Exposing herself to the moonlight, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

Drawing her attention back to the physical world, she removed her jacket, revealing her tight skinned black belly shirt. She had her little moon and star belly button peircing and she went to the mirror and admired herself. She always disapproved. No matter what.

She scowered the room for any traces of a sweet release, and after a few moments she found a nice whiskey of a fine year. She remembers that year well... but it starts to slip from her mind after a while. Pouring the liquid into a crystal glass, she cheers herself in the mirror.

 

[Thor.]

Demi smiled. He couldn't control it. Sahara often had that effect on him even when she wasn't on top of him. There were too many thoughts, too many memories, from this angle for him not to get slightly excited. He could still distinctly remember her taste. Even to him it seemed like an odd point to focus on, but it was the strongest memory. And not only her lips, he could remember many times he had told her that she was delicious. He didn't know how seriously she had taken it then, but all he wanted at that moment was to taste her again. His smile widened. "Sahara?" He almost laughed at her maddened expression. He had made her furious so many times when they were together that it had become a bit of a game really. But they weren't together at the moment and Demi suspected that making her angry would have far less enjoyable concequences.

He very deliberately removed the smile from his face and looked into Sahara's blazing eyes. She was a beautiful creature in that state. Like a fire she would capture you attention and draw you in. Like a fire she would burn you if you go too close. But Demi didn't mind being burned. He knew that he had upset her, he had probably in fact done something wrong. Sahara had always been his concience. She was a person, Demi was. . .well he wasn't sure exactly what he could call himself. He wasn't a God, he lacked the power. He supposed the best term would be a Demigod then. He smiled a bit again, then wiped it away.