(Untitled)

[thanoodles]

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[demonfull]

[it's late, very late, but not quite kicking-out time at the bars. Parzi (with Monroe mentally in tow) moves easily amidst the throngs of drunk, high twenty-somethings in one of the busier districts of the city - they blend in, the demon in its latest body. Parzi can feel the deliciously warm weight of Monroe's presence in a comfortable, hazy slumber in the back of their mind. It's a cosy fit, the two of them in the same little shell.]

[They're in a good mood. There are bright creatures - drunk and delightful and noisy in their happiness - all around them, all with expanses of smooth flesh and gaudy colours. It's a sensory overload and Parzi can't help but grin with Monroe's mouth as he snakes through the crowds that have spilled on to the streets and the pair of them make a lazy bee-line towards the nearest bar]

[inthecorners]

[ This one is neither drunk nor high, but he is certainly very bored. The night has brought him absolutely no interesting individuals, no strong, prominent souls to draw away his attention. Daft, youthful humans losing braincells with every tablet, every puff, every shot they down, he couldn't care less about them. Lurking at the bar, he stares disdainfully at the crowds around him, his glass raised and poised at his lips.

The man that enters the bar is familiar, in a way. Amraerya watches him, eyebrows slightly raised; he recognises that soul more than the face (a somewhat healthier face than he remembers), to a certain extent, except last time, it was in pieces. He makes no move. He just wants to observe, for the moment. ]

[demonfull]

[Parzi slips through the clusters with his eyes fixed on his destination - the little stretch of empty bar beside Amraerya. He doesn't want a drink, he just wants to observe and look good whilst doing it... but as he slides casually towards the bar he feels a presence that makes him subtly check his step. There's someone, some thing, that was just as alien and unique as he was. He can feel it, a disquiet note of discord amidst the youthful harmony of the busy bar. He lifts his chin to quickly gage the states of the souls around him - and then he notices Amraerya.]

[Not that he makes it obvious that he's noticed Amraerya. He can tell the man hasn't got a human soul but fuck if he knows what he actually is. Still, he continues to wear that sickeningly confident smirk and he flashes the devil a quick, nonchalant grin full of gleaming white teeth as he steps up to the bar]

Hey.

[inthecorners]

[ Amraerya takes a sip of his drink as the man offers him a greeting. This can't be the same, pathetic little creature he met before, so willing to be used, abused and left. This is a confident - disgustingly so - man, one who doesn't look like he's been dragged through a hedge, beaten to within an inch of his sorry life and then left in a puddle for several days. How peculiar. ]

Hello.

[ Hm he's being Mr. Stoney Face tonight. He isn't sure about you, strange familiar man with a strange, familiar soul. ]

lmfao second tag in and I've already forgotten that Parzi is an 'it' not a 'he' FUCK

[demonfull]

[Parzi sure as hell isn't here for the drinks but it flags down the bartender with a flick of Monroe's hand and a faint exertion of Influence. One charming grin later and Parzi is hefting a bottle of beer in one hand and turning to look out across the bar. It doesn't deign to look to the creature beside him but instead it pretends to survey the room. Monroe's voice is low and grating with years of screaming and smoking but Parzi speaks clearly enough... and although there's the faintest smile on Monroe's lips the mirth doesn't quite reach the bright blue eyes where Parzi lurks]

So what's your deal, brother?

there is no escape.

[creepinginmy]

[Jack makes his way through a crowd, hands tucked in his pockets. He doesn't mind being alone in the middle of a multitude of people as long as no one bothers him and as long as Cerbos doesn't tell him to single someone out for his next meal.

Something happens when the man passes by him. Jack recognizes the face, he thinks, from a very distant and dark memory, but it's Cerbos that gives voice to his own suspicion, stirring in the back of Jack's mind. Whatever it is, Jack stops in his tracks and follows Parzi with his eyes, watching him leave.

Cerbos orders him to follow.]

yesssssssssssss

[demonfull]

[Parzi walks decisively as he weaves through the crowds but seemingly so with no real aim in mind. They walk this way and that, sometimes zig-zagging from side to side, cutting and dividing their way through clusters of drunks. Eventually Parzi comes to realise that amidst the sea of relatively intact souls that it swims through there seems to be one constant anomoly somewhere behind him. It can feel the presence like a broken lump in a bone - a trailing presence that seems to follow in their general direction]

[Parzi stops abruptly, ostensibly for a smoke. With Monroe's back to whatever it is that's following them it fishes around in the inner pocket of Monroe's black suit jacket and deftly produces a battered carton. With a flourish it slips a cigarette between its lips and theatrically begins to pat itself down as if looking for a lighter.]

[creepinginmy]

[Jack stops a few good meters behind him, crossing his arms and looking around and back at the stranger uncomfortably. His interest comes only from Cerbos' own instinct buzzing in his ear. Jack would be back on his way to nowhere if it depended on him.]

He knows.

[He doesn't. Shut up.]

[demonfull]

[ Jack's words are inaudible amidst the busy street crowds but it is at that precise moment that Parzi decided to turn around. It scans the crowd with an expression of casual curiosity as it continues to pat Monroe's jacket pockets as if looking for a lighter. With a cigarette clamped between Monroe's teeth it grins as it picks out the anomoly in the sea of souls. They approach, harmless and smiling on the outside but with Parzi making a quick assessment behind Monroe's blue eyes. ]

Hey, buddy, you got a light?

[creepinginmy]

[He shifts immediately, arms at his sides and a guilty expression on his face, quickly replaced by watchful eyes and tight lips. It's almost haunting to see how he's approached him. 'Buddy' is a word he associates with Cerbos, inspiring distrust and discomfort the moment he hears it coming from another grinning man.]

[That shit is for sulfurs. Tell him to fuck off.]

[Cerbos' unfriendliness is a little more hostile than Jack's, so it doesn't translate into what he says or how he says it -- he just sounds a little strained and avoiding.]

No. I don't smoke. [a beat, then very flatly.] I'm sorry.

[demonfull]

[as Jack replies Parzi is still feeling through Monroe's pockets]

Never mind.

[it produces the well-thumbed cheap garage lighter that he knew had been in the left-hand pocket all along. It ducks its head to marry the cigarette and the flame but all the while Parzi trains its eyes upwards at Jack. It can't quite get a handle on Jack's soul - there's something else in there that throws the demon off. Parzi scowls inwardly but with Monroe's face it's all smiles. It takes a thoughtful drag.]

Say, do I know you?

[creepinginmy]

No. I don't think so. [he keeps changing his mind about this answers; fighting the impulse to just walk away because he knows Cerbos will eventually drag him back. His chest still hurts from the last time he took over and the dread that comes from not knowing how it happened or who did it is more crippling than the pain itself.

He presses his lips apprehensively, looking down and away, anything but thrilled.] ... I'm Jack.

[demonfull]

Jack, Jack - it's an odd name, Jack. [the smile is there still, but it's as hard and immovable as stone. Parzi continues to ramble theatrically.] I always liked it and all but it's a name that's always hiding something else. Jack's short for names like John, or James. Other things.

[Parzi gestures as it talks and moves Monroe's thin hands back and forth, explaining with movements as much as its words. But the gaze remains constantly locked on to Jack's face as it continues to wonder about the source of the mysterious anomaly in the man's soul. Parzi pauses only to take a thoughtful drag before mysteriously declaring:] 'Jack' is a front. 'Jack' hides things.

[creepinginmy]

[And Jack watches, not terribly impressed with the words or accompanying gestures.]

I hardly think that was my parents' intention when they named me.

[demonfull]

So it's not a nickname? [ visibly disappointed, Parzi's gaze turns away from Jack and out in to the crowd in frustration. When it glances back it's with a look that verges on frustration ]

[creepinginmy]

Afraid not. [All he can think when Parzi turns away is how far he could be from it if Cerbos didn't have it chained to his curiosity.] I don't believe I got your name.