forum I'm bored... so O/O anyone? (Doing O/O with Cloudy)

Started October 26, 2019 by @TakeToTheStars

tune

The half-siren tilted his head to the side, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. "Should I know you?" There was a nagging sensation in the back of his mind that warned him not to mess with the guy, but he got those feelings all the time. As a hunter, he'd stopped fearing them a long time ago. Besides, 'Not for the best of things', could mean anything. Maybe he was a notorious tax evader. The attempted change in subject only intensified his curiosity, but he decided to play along for the time being. He didn't want the guy to become closed off when Quin still had as many questions as he did. "Yeah, it's pretty chilly," he agreed, refusing to look away from the man's face as he spoke. "Since, ya know, winter is coming," he added, doing his best impression of Sean Bean.

The High Devil was surprised that Quin kept eye contact. "Well…" He to a decent look at Quin. "Yes, winter is coming. I'm surprised that I have yet to see snow in this town when there is snow in other places I've been." He took a decent look at the now abandoned street, trying to think of a way to break it to Quin that, despite Quin's handsomeness, (Cracker The High Devil thought, I'm becoming like Lust.) he shouldn't really be with him. If Lust saw this…
"Um, to answer your question, yes, you should. I'm surprised that you don't. Could we, uh," The High Devil found a coffee shop nearby, just a little walk away. He pointed towards it, "go somewhere a bit less chilly?" It's not that the cold bothered him, but he knew that people (he wasn't assuming species; the guy didn't know The High Devil, so he might not be entirely human, if he was human at all. Oh, I hope it isn't one of Lust's demons trying to get me and her together!) tended to… freeze, for lack of a better word, when left in the cold for too long.

Quin chuckled a little at his perceived awkwardness, finding it endearing in spite of himself. His eyes flicked to the coffee shop that the man was gesturing towards, and he had to bite back another laugh upon seeing it was the place he'd just left a half hour earlier. "Sounds good," he said, figuring the guy was just cold. It would make sense, considering it seemed to be his favorite conversational topic so far. Maybe once they entered the man would actually tell him who he was. He let him take the lead, sticking close to his side as they walked.

The High Devil walked into the coffee shop, noting the scared faces (although there weren't many. Who'd be just getting up at this hour?) looking towards him. The smell of freshly baked pastries hung in the air. The person up front trembled a little. Taking out cash to pay for what he wanted, he said, "The usual, please." He forced the money (kinda) into her hands. Yeesh, you'd think that they'd know by now that i hate killing in shops and stores. Too much of a mess He looked at Quin as the woman went into the back to fetch his hot chocolate. "What would you like?"

(Hope I didn't powerplay here. I couldn't think of how else to get The High Devil the hot chocolate he wanted.)

(It's cool lol, whatever works)

Quin, too, noticed the scared faces, and he looked to the man with confusion evident on his face. Okay, so maybe tax evasion isn't the issue here, he thought. He looked to the barista, who was still staring with wide, terrified eyes at his companion, then back to the man. He shrugged. "I'll have the same," he replied, deciding to spare the barista any more unnecessary fear by stepping up the counter himself. He could tell by the flash of recognition in her eyes that she remembered him from earlier, and he was glad she didn't remark on it. "Extra marshmallows, please," he reminded her with a wink. Despite her internal conflict, she flushed slightly as she scrambled to get their drinks, nearly forgetting to collect his payment. While she got their drinks ready, he turned back to the man he'd walked in with. "Maybe I've been living under a rock or something," he said. " 'Cause it looks to me like you have a reputation around here."

The High Devil laughed. "Yes, you could say that," he said, finally glad that Quin was getting the hint of his devil-ness. Or, much more likely, just saw the frightened faces. "I'm surprised. You mustn't have had any family or friends killed by the devils before." He sighed. "Maybe your family and you aren't… human and that's why you've never heard of me." He smiled. "Please don't judge me on this statement of who I am alone; I will explain in a moment. But I am The High Devil of Corpsis."

(Gtg, I will be back. Got to get ready to be an usher at my play (yay) Sorry for short response.)

(No problem! Hope you have fun!)

The hunter frowned a little. " 'The High Devil of Corpsis'? Sounds vaguely familiar, but you were correct in guessing that I'm not human. …Not entirely, anyways. And as for my family, neither of my parents have been killed. Or not my mom, at the very least," Quin responded, the words becoming a bit mumbled as his sentence wore on. He didn't feel like mentioning that the majority of his friends were either very not-human or murderous when it came to dealing with non-humans. As for himself, he fit in between the two categories very snugly, in his opinion. Shaking his head slightly to disturb the flood of thoughts, he glanced at the barista to see she was done with their drinks and looking between the two with quiet trepidation. "Thank you very much young lady," he said, bowing his head gracefully and retrieving their orders before she heard something potentially dangerous. "Let's sit down," Quin told The High Devil of Corpsis—was that his real name?—gesturing to an empty booth and handing one of the hot chocolates (the one with noticeably less marshmallows in it) to him.

"Thank you," The High Devil said, grabbing the hot chocolate. He went to the booth that Quin gestured to and sat down. He blew on the drink, trying to cool it down a bit. He didn't really need to cool it down; he just wanted to think a little bit before more questions came. He sipped his drink, trying to figure out what Quin meant by "not entirely" human. If he was part human, he must not have a very sinful human side of the family. He has dealt with people who just so happened to befriend the wrong people, saw them get killed, and wanted revenge, though. I'd just have to be careful not to hurt Quin The High Devil thought.

Quin watched him carefully, leaving his own drink for the time being. His chin rested on his palm as he tapped his fingers on the table, clearly waiting for the other male to say something first. Sensing his hesitation, the half blood straightened in his seat and began messing with his hair. "So, just to recap," he started, just as he pulled the hair tie out. It quickly fell into its natural parting, albeit messily, flopping across his forehead in ringlets of black. He shook his head, attempting to straighten some of the stray pieces, and combed through it with his fingers it as he spoke. "We're here because I decided to be my nosy self, and then stuck around for the grand reveal of you being some sort of High Devil? No disrespect," he added, smiling softly and holding a hand up as if anticipating protest. "But I don't understand what your title—or name?—means. Demons I've dealt with, but unless 'demons' and 'devils' are the same exact thing, then you're something I've never dealt with before. Besides, you don't strike me as a lowlife demon—those guys are pretty single-minded," he explained. "Not to mention complete hedonists." He swept his hair to the side, where the strands reached to his jawline, and leaned forward intently.

“No offense taken,” said The High Devil. “No one really understands the title of ‘devil’. Devils kill the sinful. Demons are the minions of the devils.” His hand twitched, although he didn’t know why. “I take care of the sinful that aren’t killed. But-“ he held up his own hand, “I only kill enough to keep a balance. Too much evil killed, or not enough, will lead this world to its destruction.” He put his own hand down again. “Demons are usually left to their own devices. Every devil,” he gestured to himself, “excluding me, has thousands of demons. Despite being a High Devil, I can’t control a devil’s demons. I can control a devil, but I’m vulnerable when controlling a devil.” The High Devil ran his hand over his bald head. “I’m really getting off track,” he muttered. “But demons tend to be left to their own devices.” He sighed. “You’ve… seen a demon? Demons? Did… did you happen to kill all the demons you’ve dealt with?” He took off his glasses and put his hand over his eyes.

(Oops, I fixed it!)

Quin was quiet for a moment, digesting what he'd been told. So I was right, he thought. I've never dealt with his kind before. He head snapped back up from where he was staring at his hands when he heard The High Devil's question, then grinned. "Is this your way of saying I make my nightly activities a tad too obvious? Not that I usually hunt at night, but you get my drift. To answer your question, no. I've never been able to kill a demon, but I've met a couple," he explained, finally reaching for his drink. After a couple of thoughtful sips, he added, "I'm not allowed to kill one of them, since he's the godson of one of my superiors, and supposedly a big deal. I guess he can be pretty helpful whenever his godfather makes him do something he doesn't want to.The other one's his friend, but I'm not allowed to kill him either because his son is my friend, and he called already called dibs." Quin shrugged, taking a final sip before asking, "So what qualifies as enough sin to condemn a person? Asking for a friend."

The High Devil causally put his glasses back on. “So, you’ve only met two demons? Out of the thousands of demons out there? Wow,” he took a sip of his hot chocolate, “that is something I haven’t heard of. Usually, you meet more than five demons, but, you know.” He looked at Quin. “As for enough of a sin, it depends on the severity and how much it has been repeated. For example, murder of an innocent isn’t entirely, on its own, a sin severe enough to be killed for, had it been an adult. A murder of a child will get you killed, no matter what. But if you kill two, innocent adult people, or you commit to cheating on your wife at least,” He counted on his hands, “ten times, I recall, for lust or fifteen times for money/greed, or backstab a ton of people as a politician, or murder at all as a politician, or, well, it depends on the sin, then you get killed. However, if your friend in question isn’t human, then he won’t be kill by me. Maybe the others, not Lust though, but not me.”

The half blood's eyebrows furrowed. "So supernaturals get a free pass? Odd. But I guess that's where people like me come in. And as for the demon encounters, I've been pretty lucky. Where I live, which is not here, by the way, nearly all of the demons have been slaughtered by something. What, we have no clue, but the remainders have banded together to form their own 'Council of Demons'. The two I mentioned before are in it, with I think…" He trailed off, counting on his fingers. "At least four others that I haven't met." Quin paused at the mention of "others," but decided against that question in favor of another. "Is it because you can control other devils that you can't control demons? How exactly does that work? If you don't mind my asking."

The High Devil shrugged. "I suppose so, although I can control a certain devil's demons by control said devil, but I can't control demons directly." He paused for a moment, thinking about this so called "Council of Demons." "And I don't like control devils. It leaves me vulnerable. So I guess it is because I can control devils, one at a time, of course. Maybe it is so I'm not overpowered in the multiverse's eyes. From what I've heard, all High Devils have that issue. Now, what about this "Council of Demons' you speak of? Do you know more than what you've told me? I've also never heard of a mass slaughtering of demons…" He trailed off, thinking clearly about that topic. "Scratch that. Yes I have, when I assigned a new Devil of Arrogance. She killed a lot of demons from the former devil."

"Makes sense," Quin remarked, reaching for his drink again and glancing around the mostly vacated coffee shop. It seemed as if most of the customers had fled, some even leaving their drinks for the shaky employees to clean up after. Checking the clock confirmed his other suspicion—it was near closing time. By the look on the employees faces, however, The High Devil of Corpsis and him weren't going to be asked to leave any time soon. At least they seemed to be minding their own business. The hunter looked back to The High Devil, having had a chance to recall any mentions of the council. He probably shouldn't say anything, since it could get him in trouble with the shadow castor, but since when had he cared about being in trouble with the leader of the hunters, anyways? "All I know is that they disappeared mysteriously after a particularly rough couple of years. They used to have a complete hierarchy, according to the godson of the shadow castor, but demons kept going missing and never turning up again. Not even the hellhounds were able to sniff them out, so they were presumed killed. At first they thought it was the hunter organization, but our technology wasn't advanced enough to kill demons very easily at that point. And when their king disappeared, many of them scattered, scared of being next. None of the remaining demons wanted to be king, which I know is uncharacteristic, coming from them, so they agreed to joint leadership." He sighed a little. "Either way, it wasn't an obvious thing. The hunters didn't even notice until the shadow castor's godson showed up to complain."