I'm better off on my own

[kleptophile]

[Lyn's been trying to convince himself - increasingly unsuccessfully over the weeks - that Molly will come back. It was stupid for him to get attached to her in the first place; it's kind of ridiculous for a demon (even one who's been inundated in human culture for almost all of his life) to become partial to human mothering. But the fact is that

Comments

[kleptophile]

[That pretty much tops the list of things Lyn didn't want to hear. He makes a distinct effort not to react visibly to this information, though that's telling in itself since a normal person would have some kind of reaction here. And, without perceptibly moving, he still manages to give off a sense of shrinking back, as though he's wishing himself smaller and further away with every fiber of his being. If he were a cat, his ears would be flat against his head and he'd be flattening himself against the ground. As a human(or at least a demon appearing as one), he's limited to inner panic.

Damn his fucking pride. He can't even play the "I'm just a regular human, pay me no mind" card now, since he had to play the "I'm two hundred years old, show me some goddamn respect" card first. So he's half-revealed himself to another demon. A significantly older demon. And, in his experience, only the powerful demons ever get old at all.

He is so fucked.]

I bet the town hasn't made you a demon again yet. [It's a stupid thing to say, suggesting too much knowledge of the town and how it works - particularly as it's relevant to demons - and completely skipping over any more natural reaction of disbelief that any non-demon might have gone to first. But he's too alarmed to think straight at the moment, too preoccupied needing to sum up just how much of a threat he's looking at here. He's never even seen another demon outside of Hell before, and he's not taking it well at all.]

[eyesofaserpent]

[Crowley watches the boy with interest. He has been around people long enough to be able to read them even without his innate powers, and this guy was about as easy as most. While the news of his being a demon clearly put him on edge, it isn't the way he expected.]

I haven't been here for too long. So, no. These stupid green eyes are still here.

[The state of his eyes still makes him uncomfortable. He still avoids looking at his reflection, which is strange for someone people would normally label as a narcissist.

Crowley's stance remains relaxed, watching the kid carefully.]

You have some history with demons, I take it?

[He wouldn't presume that the kid is a demon. In his world, he is the last to make his way down to Hell (and the first to leave, but that is a whole other story).]

[kleptophile]

[The confirmation that Crowley is not currently a demon relaxes Lyn ever so marginally. So a potential and significant threat, but not an immediate one. It's not much, but it's something.] You're suddenly human and it's the eyes that bug you? [That...does strike him as a little odd, though. Either this guy should look like a demon all the time - and demons don't look a hell of a lot like humans in his world - or he should have a human form which would have perfectly normal human eyes. After all, why have a human form at all if it's not entirely human?]

A short, unpleasant history. [There's probably no point - or chance of success - at denying some personal involvement with demons. That he is one could potentially be left ambiguous, though...] You gonna be trouble? 'Cause that is the last fucking thing I need.

[He tries to say this in a way that makes it sound as though he could do something about if if Crowley does, indeed, decide to be troublesome. Bluster that can't be backed up is both a youthful specialty in general and one of Lyn's chief tools in particular.]

[eyesofaserpent]

Of course the eyes bug me. They aren't mine. Well, okay, they are. But I forgot that was what they looked like. And look... [He sticks out his normal tongue, returning it after a moment so he can speak again.] 'S not even my tongue. Everything else is all accounted for. Well, of course I can't unfurl my wings, but I suppose that's a given...

[He can't help but be amused by the kid's bravado.]

Look, I'm not the kind of demon that gets along well with his own kind. I'm good at my job, but I think a little vacation is in order while I'm here. So trouble? Not unless you deserve it, kid.

[kleptophile]

[Being informed that this demon doesn't get along well with his own kind either is sufficiently interesting enough for Lyn to overlook being called 'kid' again.] So, what, you've got a human form and you don't even bother having all of it look passably human? What the hell's the point, then?

And what is your job that you're not doing here?

[eyesofaserpent]

[He looks properly embarrassed at that.]

I was a snake once. Sometimes you forget what shape you're supposed to go back to.

And my job is securing souls for Below, of course.

[kleptophile]

You were a snake? [Lyn looks mildly impressed, not to mention interested. He doesn't make any immediate Biblical associations - in his world, demons aren't actually related to religion, though that didn't stop humanity from tying them into it as an intimidation factor.] Must've been a snake for awhile, if it had that much of an effect.

[He's...less enthused to hear that the other demon is still employed by Hell, though. Lyn's own self-interest long ago outweighed any interest in furthering the various interests of his species - and honestly, he's spent so little time around other demons that he's not even sure what those interests are beyond "be tremendous jackasses with strong sadistic leanings".] How do you even do that?

[eyesofaserpent]

I was a serpent for the first bit of time I was on Earth. Kinda pissed Him off with my shenanigans. [He shrugs.] That was quite a while ago, though.

I mostly create little irritations that affect a wide range of people and then let them do the rest. Like shut down the wireless network for an hour during lunch so no one can make phone calls.

[kleptophile]

[Lyn detects the capital 'Him'.] ...so I guess you're from a world where demons are a religious thing, hunh? In my world humans just sorta made up the connection. [His curiosity is making him a bit less cautious, or he might have gone out of his way to say 'we humans'.

Crowley's example makes him grin, though. Whether it's a product of his nature or simply of his personality, Lyn tends to like aggravating people in largely harmless ways - trolling, basically. (He's especially good at pissing people off on the Internet.) Crowley's activities sound right up his alley.] Sounds fun, but...how exactly does that play into the whole eternal damnation angle? Seems pretty far removed.

[eyesofaserpent]

Eh... Religion grew up around us, not the other way around. [He noted the little slip, but said nothing about it.]

See now, that's the beauty of it. It doesn't seem like much, but it ends up doing so much. The people who couldn't get any work done during their lunch go back to the office and take it out on their underlings, who take it out on their secretaries, who take it out on their spouses... By the end of it, millions of people have a little tarnish on their eternal souls. And the best part is that they do it all to each other! There's too many people in the world to pick the buggers off one by one. Large scale is the only way to go.

[kleptophile]

Whatever, I guess. But in my world there's no connection; humans just kinda invented the tie-in.

Hunh. [Lyn seems mildly impressed; it's not his business, nor the business of any demon he's familiar with since Hell has nothing to do with the immortal souls of humans in his world, but he can appreciate slick tactics when he hears them. And it shows an impressive grasp of subtlety that most demons in his world lack.] Sounds like you're good at your job.

[eyesofaserpent]

Well, I like to think I am. But things like this never get noticed Down Below. Instead I get commendations for things like the Spanish Inquisition, which I had nothing to do with, really. I just happened to be in Spain at the time...

[kleptophile]

[Lyn shrugs.] You take what you can get, right? Though I guess damnation by inches isn't exactly impressive on the demonic resume. If the demons in your world are anything like mine, they like big dramatic shit.

[eyesofaserpent]

Yes. "Tempting priests" and what have you.

[He rolls his eyes.] Idiots, the lot of them.