igrab
in
grabi_hands
Worth Dying For (Nick, Bartimaeus, PG-13)
Nick, Bartimaeus . Bartimaeus Trilogy/Demon's Lexicon crossover . 708 words . PG-13 . In which two unusual demons talk. Spoilers for The Demon's Covenant.
"Shit," the demon swore, as he stared down into Nick's black eyes. "Hnikarr?"
He couldn't say he was pleased to see Bartimaeus, but he was amused, all the more so because Bartimaeus had appeared not in the form of his favorite Egyptian boy, but someone new, someone that reminded him vaguely of Alan. "No. The Easter Bunny."
"Ha ha, very funny. Where have you been?"
Nick spread his arms and shrugged, once. "I haven't been anywhere."
The way they spoke, with 'you' and 'time' being tangible presences, was just as much a construct of the bodies they were in as anything else. Nick noticed, with a sudden and strange clarity, that Bartimaeus wasn't actually using the speaking lines - he had taken on the actual form of a real, human body, and somewhere along the line he'd learned to speak with it.
One hand clenched. Bartimaeus always had to be better, didn't he. "I should've thought the demon world would've been in stitches over my apparent betrayal."
Bartimaeus looked uncomfortable suddenly, and scuffed his toe in the dirt, careful not to smudge any lines. "Well, that's. Look, I haven't been in the demon world much lately." He pushed up his glasses with one hand, in something that Nick could swear was a nervous habit.
Anzu was pretty much in love with Bartimaeus. An unfortunate condition, really, when half the time they were on opposite sides and cheerfully screwing each other over like demon's aught to. But it was Ptolemy, it had all come down to Ptolemy.
They had been conscripted to work on the pyramids, like the nine gajillion other demons of the time. Magicians in those days had had real power, none of this casual barter stuff, enough that demons were simply a tool to be used and discarded and picked up again. Everyone hated the humans, everyone tolerated each other, they formed 'groups' but they didn't form 'attachments'.
He was old enemies with Liannan but Anzu was new, it was his first time in the physical world and he was probably constructed from things like 'hope' and 'dreams'. He believed in things like 'belief', he wanted to make 'friends' with everyone around him.
Hnikarr thought he was stupid and ignorant, but he didn't think ignorance was a crime, and when Faquarl and Jabor started picking on him, Hnikarr got involved.
They regretted it.
Bartimaeus was there too, slaving away with the best of them, at least - part of the time. His master was something different, though, something special. He read books, he read books about magic and nature and seemed genuinely interested in the nature of demons themselves. He gave Bartimaeus his absolute trust and freedom. Bartimaeus, in turn, was completely dedicated to him.
Anzu read far too much into it, of course, but that's where it had begun. He believed that Bartimaeus was something special, that demons and humans could have that kind of connection, and no matter how much Hnikarr argued with him, they could never reach a resolution.
And now, here he was, adjusting his glasses and telling Nick I haven't been in the demon world much lately, like he was on a fucking afternoon stroll.
"...I'm stuck here," Nick said, point-blank, but that wasn't really the truth. He hated words then, and winced. Tried to say it better. "I... am tied to this body. I don't want to talk about it." That, at least, was accurate, if not the complete story.
"Yeah, I can see that." Bartimaeus eyed him up and down, and for the longest time they just stood there, in their human bodies, trying to put into words all the things they were used to communicating without them. "...You're never going back, then?"
He shook his head, long and slow. "Bound to this life time. When I die, I die."
"Ah." He stared down at the scratch on his boot, where he'd been scraping at it not minutes earlier. "...I envy you that," he said quietly. "Some things are worth dying for."
"Shit," the demon swore, as he stared down into Nick's black eyes. "Hnikarr?"
He couldn't say he was pleased to see Bartimaeus, but he was amused, all the more so because Bartimaeus had appeared not in the form of his favorite Egyptian boy, but someone new, someone that reminded him vaguely of Alan. "No. The Easter Bunny."
"Ha ha, very funny. Where have you been?"
Nick spread his arms and shrugged, once. "I haven't been anywhere."
The way they spoke, with 'you' and 'time' being tangible presences, was just as much a construct of the bodies they were in as anything else. Nick noticed, with a sudden and strange clarity, that Bartimaeus wasn't actually using the speaking lines - he had taken on the actual form of a real, human body, and somewhere along the line he'd learned to speak with it.
One hand clenched. Bartimaeus always had to be better, didn't he. "I should've thought the demon world would've been in stitches over my apparent betrayal."
Bartimaeus looked uncomfortable suddenly, and scuffed his toe in the dirt, careful not to smudge any lines. "Well, that's. Look, I haven't been in the demon world much lately." He pushed up his glasses with one hand, in something that Nick could swear was a nervous habit.
Anzu was pretty much in love with Bartimaeus. An unfortunate condition, really, when half the time they were on opposite sides and cheerfully screwing each other over like demon's aught to. But it was Ptolemy, it had all come down to Ptolemy.
They had been conscripted to work on the pyramids, like the nine gajillion other demons of the time. Magicians in those days had had real power, none of this casual barter stuff, enough that demons were simply a tool to be used and discarded and picked up again. Everyone hated the humans, everyone tolerated each other, they formed 'groups' but they didn't form 'attachments'.
He was old enemies with Liannan but Anzu was new, it was his first time in the physical world and he was probably constructed from things like 'hope' and 'dreams'. He believed in things like 'belief', he wanted to make 'friends' with everyone around him.
Hnikarr thought he was stupid and ignorant, but he didn't think ignorance was a crime, and when Faquarl and Jabor started picking on him, Hnikarr got involved.
They regretted it.
Bartimaeus was there too, slaving away with the best of them, at least - part of the time. His master was something different, though, something special. He read books, he read books about magic and nature and seemed genuinely interested in the nature of demons themselves. He gave Bartimaeus his absolute trust and freedom. Bartimaeus, in turn, was completely dedicated to him.
Anzu read far too much into it, of course, but that's where it had begun. He believed that Bartimaeus was something special, that demons and humans could have that kind of connection, and no matter how much Hnikarr argued with him, they could never reach a resolution.
And now, here he was, adjusting his glasses and telling Nick I haven't been in the demon world much lately, like he was on a fucking afternoon stroll.
"...I'm stuck here," Nick said, point-blank, but that wasn't really the truth. He hated words then, and winced. Tried to say it better. "I... am tied to this body. I don't want to talk about it." That, at least, was accurate, if not the complete story.
"Yeah, I can see that." Bartimaeus eyed him up and down, and for the longest time they just stood there, in their human bodies, trying to put into words all the things they were used to communicating without them. "...You're never going back, then?"
He shook his head, long and slow. "Bound to this life time. When I die, I die."
"Ah." He stared down at the scratch on his boot, where he'd been scraping at it not minutes earlier. "...I envy you that," he said quietly. "Some things are worth dying for."