Losing My Religion

@ catching dreams
(Well, here's hoping I don't flop after all the time away~)

Rennyn was preoccupied with his thoughts. From this angel friend of Leilah's, to the unknown demon that honestly Rennyn was really displeased at not having found out before. Sure, he wasn't really on the lookout for another, he was pretty sure he'd walked around just about every part of this city, or at least the immediate vicinity, and that no demon would dare try and do anything. He hadn't even considered the possibility--he assumed that if any were nearby, they would leave quickly. It isn't in a demon's nature to fight for food, being too proud to share.

He really hadn't considered any other possibility either--just as an angel could fall, a demon could go rogue, after all. A rogue demon would be the worst case scenario, though. There was no way one could be so near to him. If there were, surely someone would come to inform him, just as the angel had done for Leilah.

With all of this in mind, he waved distractedly at Della with a short "bye" and followed Leilah quietly out, back towards their own apartment. He tried to look on the positive side, make himself feel better about the situation. In the best scenario, it was just a confused, lesser demon looking to make his way up in the ranks just as Rennyn was. If that were it, he could just talk to them, and shoo them away.

But there was something in his gut that told him this wasn't the case. There was something very, very not good about this whole thing. And Rennyn, for once, hoped he was wrong.

It was for this reason that, as soon as the two entered the privacy of their own place, he turned to the angel with a rare expression--complete seriousness.

"Tell me everything."

@ Yuurei.
(Nah, your post was amazing as always ^-^ I had to go back and read the last couple of pages to make sure I remembered what all was going on though)

Leilah certainly had planned on talking to Rennyn once they were back, but she had assumed he would wait until they had both gotten out of the ridiculous costumes they were wearing as well. Apparently she'd assumed incorrectly... What kept her from snapping a sarcastic remark back at him was probably the look he had, actually. It was serious, one-hundred percent, and that just didn't happen with this guy. "I will, but you're going to wait until I'm out of this ridiculous costume," she returned instead.

Then she headed back into the bedroom, closing the door after her, and peeled off the clothes, then dressed again. She ended up in pajamas, a green blouse-type shirt and shorts, and she let her hair down as well before she came back out. Meanwhile, she was replaying her conversation with Kristopher over in her head, seeing as how she was going to have to relay the information to Rennyn.

Usually, she would never do such a thing. But she was already having to deal with this demon, and trying to sneak around him simply wouldn't work -even she could see the futility in it. Besides, demons didn't even like each other as far as she knew, so he'd have motivation for helping her get rid of any other demon in the town, since she was... well, she had to face it: pathetic. She hadn't earned her sword yet, not her true one at least, she'd basically been stripped of her wings since she couldn't access them with whatever Kristopher had done to her, and her light was weak... she'd met Guardians with a stronger light than hers at the moment.

She had to push past that though. Kristopher had admitted that more than one demon in a single town rarely happened. He didn't even know how many there were. He said at least two, but that included Rennyn. So there was another, maybe more two. And because of how weak she was at the moment... that was why she needed to tell Rennyn what was going on. Because he considered the town his hunting grounds, and he'd want the other demons out as well.

This might work.

"You can go ahead and change if you want," she told the demon as she walked into the small living room once more, glad to be in something comfortable once more since what she had been wearing just... it just didn't work for her at all. "I'm going to get some water, and I'll tell you everything once you get back."

@ catching dreams

Rennyn was.. irritated that his roommate was being so patient. At this moment, their roles reversed. Honestly, there wasn't much more that the angel could do to frustrate him in this way, and as she came back with more comfortable clothes on, she dismissed him once more. He rolled his eyes, nearly throwing his hands into the air, but managing to at least keep his appearance under control. He would not allow her to see the affect she was having on him.. it was unthinkable.

So he decided to go with it. He entered the room and pulled off his clothes rather quickly, slipping on a plain shirt and plain long pajama pants--he wasn't really one for modesty, but he didn't need the angel having another panic attack over naked demon skin, so he had decided to go with the full ensemble. He was already itching to throttle her, no need to make it worse.

Exiting the room he went directly to the kitchen to find Leilah again. And maybe to get some water for himself--he was realizing with all this.. emotion.. that he actually was thirsty as well. Even though he'd been in this body for long enough to understand human behavior, he still occasionally forgot he needed to drink.

"So?" he voiced as he grabbed a glass and filling it with water. "Ready to talk now?"

@ Yuurei.

As he walked back into the bedroom, Leilah headed into the kitchen and made herself a glass of water. She was leaning against the counter when Rennyn joined her. Was it just her, or did seem almost... anxious? But while she knew she could almost enjoy this, she also realize how serious this really was, which was why she wasn't going to mess with Rennyn. Maybe next time -if there was a next time- but not now.

"Sure, but I'm not really sure how much you want to know," she told him. "Basically... my mentor came to visit me apparently to give me some information. He told me there was more than one demon in this town, which is very rare, but no more than three. He felt you nearby, so he knows I've found one of the demons, but there's another somewhere in this place, if not two more. That's about it for the conversation... at least what you would be interested in, and what's helpful. I'm supposed to be figuring this all out on my own, and I don't think I'm going to see him or any other angel again until I go back home, so that's all I have."

Leilah paused to watch Rennyn's reaction. "We need to come up with a plan and find the demon or demons, depending on if there really is more than one. Then we need to get rid of them." Leilah finished her water then and set the glass aside. What she really hated was how helpless she felt... all because of what Kristopher had done to her. She still didn't even know what in the world she was supposed to be learning by all of this. But she was going to have Rennyn help her get rid of the demon(s), and then she was somehow going to figure out how to get rid of him.

@ catching dreams

He expected these words, his thoughts were confirmed. But that didn't say anything about what they should be expecting in this intruding demon. He let out a sigh, relaxing his face but the seriousness of the situation remained. They didn't know anything. Nothing at all--it barely even helped to know there was another demon.

"Great," he responded, "Finding the demon, or demons, is not the difficult part. What, exactly, do you intend to do when we do? It is obvious that you can do nothing to a demon, otherwise you would have already gotten rid of me, and that I am limited in power as well, or else you would be.. well, you wouldn't be here." He let this sink in for a moment, since he was sure she already knew all this, he just wasn't sure what she had in mind.

"Not to mention we have no idea what this demon's motivations are. You probably have no idea what we could potentially be up against--another apprentice such as myself would pose little threat and we could coerce them into leaving, but anyone higher... a more experienced demon will have no reason to leave us alive." This included both rogue demons, and Rennyn's superiors. He had nothing to fight against them with, so he lifted his eyebrow expectantly when he caught Leilah's gaze. This was both a challenge, and curiosity--did she know what she was doing? Could she come up with a plan?

He wanted the demon gone too, but what could they do? How would they do it?

@ Yuurei.
(Sorry, I crashed last night XD and it turns out you aren't the only person who will give long, awesome replies to roleplays ^-^ and sorry this is sort of short)

Leilah's face became a small scowl at the demon's pessimistic remarks, even though her mind echoed them almost exactly. "I'll come up with something. Maybe we can scare them off or something." If only she had her sword... damn Kristopher, putting her in this predicament. Damn him and damn the demons too.

"Look, let's just find the demon or demons first. We should be able to tell just by being near how powerful they are. And after we determine that, plus how many there are, we can come up with an idea then. Since both of us are limited," another scowl, "We're just going to have to be smart. And I don't think that's going to be a problem for you considering you already seem pretty conniving. Just focus that away from me and towards the other demons."

This was going to be a pain... Leilah had known it since Kristopher had spoken to her, though at the time she had been too preoccupied in her mind to really realize it fully. She had been so happy at knowing she really did have a chance of getting back home and away from this hellish place. But she had considered it over and over, replayed the conversation so many times, searching for more hints, but all she got from any of that conversation was that she was just going to have to be clever -and do what felt right, according to her mentor. Well... getting rid of these demons felt pretty right to her.

@ catching dreams
(It's okay I take forever v.v;)

Rennyn didn't trust Leilah or her ability to come up with any plans (her plan with Rennyn obviously wasn't working out, thus far she hasn't proven herself resourceful in the human world in the least), but he would decide to follow her for now--if not just to keep her away from any other demons. He knew that if she ran across one, she would be taken away from him, and he wasn't going to let his big catch get stolen right in front of his eyes. He didn't doubt that she had power, he could feel her angelic aura everywhere he went, but it was dampened to such a great extent, like his own, that it was almost embarrassing. They were a couple of useless carcasses, in Rennyn's eyes.

But it was better than doing nothing at all, he supposed. And on the positive side, if he managed to get rid of a rogue he would be even better off than just capturing an angel. Really, such a potentially successful acolyte mission had never been heard of prior to this moment. Rennyn realized he might be aiming too high, he could escape Leilah at any time and enchant some other human and be done with this whole ordeal, but that just wasn't good enough. Not when he had all of this in front of him. Not when he had this many gifts laid before him for the taking.

Finally, Rennyn's signature grin spread across his face. "Don't worry, angel," he began, the term rolling off his tongue almost like an endearment, but with that tone that just screamed danger, "I wouldn't just leave you hanging, I have enough energy to be conniving for both you and this other demon." He rolled his shoulders, as if to shake off all of his worries, though of course they stayed there in the back of his mind.

"So where should we start? As much as dislike being around you for long periods of time, I suggest sticking together during any searches. True, we could cover more ground separately, but you would be a sitting duck without my aura to mask yours." Not that he cared for her actual safety, he just couldn't have her die. "I have a few high probability areas we could check out in mind, but there isn't any real starting point to give us sure clues."

@ Yuurei.
(Heh, you're fine! :D)

Leilah wasn't really sure why, but whenever Rennyn spoke with that certain tone, she just felt like taking a step back, narrowing her eyes, and trying to figure out what he was thinking. Of course she knew he was about as trustworthy as a demon could be, which was to say he wasn't trustworthy in the least. But they could get on at times without too much friction lately, since they were forced to live with each other. It was just... when he used that tone, she could almost believe he was planning something devious that included her, and she was sure she didn't want to be included in any of his plots, knowing most of them likely ended in her death.

She really did wish he would stop simply referring to her as 'angel' though. He didn't mean it as a compliment obviously, yet the first time Della had ever heard it, she had been sure the woman would swoon.

"Well, hopefully if there actually are two demons instead of one, you won't have enough energy to be conniving with me," She muttered. She stood up straight, stretching a little as he spoke about asking where they should start searching. "No, there isn't. All we really have is where we know there aren't demons, considering one of us would have felt the demon nearby by now..." She chewed on her bottom lip, considering what to do.

"So tomorrow we'll scope out those places you have in mind? If we don't find anything in those places, I guess we'll have to start wandering around instead. Also, we really could probably split up." Leilah sighed mournfully. "My light is so weak at the moment... Kristopher suppressed it to the point where I think he tried to make me as human as possible before he left me here. Besides, I know how to defend myself. I'll take a knife or something with me, even."

She wrinkled her nose. Damn humans just didn't use swords anymore... guns were good and all for long-range, and they were accurate, but they broke and ran out of ammo. If you took care of a sword and sharpened it every now and again, it would serve you well for a lifetime.

Rennyn couldn't really blame her for arguing to split up--it would help tremendously--but something inside him refused to allow it. It was an odd... almost possessive feeling, something he wouldn't have ever thought he would have regarding an angel, but at least it sort of made sense. And while he wasn't going to admit that to the angel herself, he came to terms with it rather quickly and shook it off, trying to keep the annoyed look from his face.

"Yes, a knife. You've discovered the weakness of all demons--shiny sticks," he said, rolling his eyes as he leaned against the nearest counter. He crossed his arms, as if to show that he wasn't budging on the matter, even if it came down to something less pleasant.

"Do you really want to force me to follow you from a distance like a stalker? Because I can do it that way." It would, potentially, lead to a lot of awkward street conversations or uncomfortable glances in both of their directions, but Rennyn didn't mind the attention. He knew Leilah might, but that wasn't his problem.

@ Yuurei.
(Sorry if I'm spacey. I'm reading VK manga, about to read chapter 59 and then stop for the night, plus my sister has put on Transformers, Dark of the Moon)

Leilah was entirely surprised and flustered by this entire conversation, if she were to be honest with herself. This demon that wanted her dead actually seemed to be concerned about her phsyical well-being, and that was crossing the line from uneasy truce to something entirely different, and she really wasn't sure she liked that thought.

In. The. Least.

"I knew there was a reason you flinched every time I picked one up," she snapped her fingers. If there was one thing she had come to learn for her own survival having to live with a demon, it was how to be sarcastic, as well as a smart-ass, when she needed to be. At least he couldn't complain about her being angry and grouchy all the time anymore though.

"And Rennyn... I really do think you might be a stalker, in your own way, so I don't care what you do." But they needed to work together for once, instead of against each other, and she wasn't helping. She breathed out a sigh of frustration, then moved so she was sitting on the counter. "Fine," she finally said. "We'll do it your way and go together. Where are you thinking of checking out at the moment though?"

@ catching dreams
(I watched half the anime and gave up. Heard only bad things about the latter half. Couldn't bring myself to finish it haha.)

Rennyn grinned victoriously. It was better this way, really. For both of them. "Good," he responded, both in appreciation to her more casual use of sarcasm, and for relenting. He decided to ignore her jab about being a stalker--he couldn't deny it really, it wasn't a bad trait to have in hell. It was a skill, really.

He wondered how much he should say. He was certainly there were some places that she would not want to go in--places of course that Rennyn would really like to see her reaction for--but he would rather catch her off guard with those. "Some are surprising, actually. Generally high traffic areas are a good place to look--in the city streets, movie theaters. Outside.. holy sanctuaries," he spoke casually, like it wasn't a big deal, but he was sure she wouldn't have expected this. But it was true, in fact Rennyn might have loitered around a church or two himself if he hadn't settled to quickly on Della.

All great fun, really. It was somewhere people felt safe, after all.

@ Yuurei.
(oh, they ruined it with the anime. The manga is really good though, at least to me. The anime just... they didn't follow how the story actually went, and it was horrible. I only know it exists because my best friend made me watch it though XD)

Leilah wasn't really sure what Rennyn was replying 'good' to, even if she had a few guesses... hell, he could've said that for her calling him a stalker for all she knew. But in any case, she just decided not to reply to it, instead pulling her feet up and crossing them as she sat on the counter.

Then he was talking about where demons may be, and at the last one he spoke about, she blinked her eyes a couple of times. "By holy sanctuaries... you mean temples of God? Churches?" She frowned, eyebrows knitting together, and then shook her head as realization struck. "Because the souls you demons want the most are those closest to God and therefore Heaven, right?" she asked, disgust apparent in her voice. It was good angels weren't as blind as humans, or they might be in trouble with demons -well the fact that they weren't blind combined with the natural hate between the two opposites...

"Well... I suppose we should check out some churches tomorrow then," Leilah finally sighed.

@ catching dreams
(Ugh, job searching really sucks.)

Rennyn had to giggle a bit, which was unfortunately genuine, at Leilah's reaction. She was quite honest most of the time, from her words to her facial expressions and body language, and this was no exception. He coughed into his hand once, even if it was a bit too late to play it off coolly. Oh well, he could just ignore that it ever happened.

In any case, if Rennyn's plans worked out he wouldn't need to keep every demon secret to himself. Honestly, it didn't hurt the advantage demons had over angels in the fight for human souls. Tainted enough souls were already their priority, angels had a hard time cleansing them, and demons were expert at getting in and out of the human realm with souls undetected.

"Its not a bad first place to hit. You can go inside, and I can check around the outside. Win-win," he said with a shrug. It wasn't that he couldn't go inside.. the idea just made him nauseous. He didn't like the feeling it gave him. Not to mention there was just something about priests...

"If we manage to get through all of them tomorrow, I'm sure I can think of more places to go. Hospitals, grocery stores, shelters, other.. places." They wouldn't have time for other places, but he did like reminding her that there were seedier places they would probably need to check out.

@ Yuurei.
(Sorry and sorry I haven't replied recently. We had company over because of my dad's birthday. Just a warning, my mom's birthday is next weekend, plus my sister is getting her tonsils out Wednesday, so... fun xD)

An odd look scrunched up on Leilah's when he giggled. She'd believed it was something only girls were supposed to do, and besides... he all the time acted as if he were the big bad demon. So what other reaction was she supposed to have to the sound that had just left him? But he seemed to be ignoring it, and while she knew she would likely bring it up later, they were trying to have a discussion at the moment, so she decided now wasn't the best time... so she left it alone.

As he mentioned her going inside the church while he stayed outside, she nearly laughed, herself. She wasn't sure if it literally hurt him, if it just made him feel sick to his stomach kind of like he claimed her -currently- puny light did, or if he just didn't like churches and wasn't willing to actually admit it. In any case, she was sort of curious what it would be like inside, since she'd obviously never been in one personally.

"Do you really think we'll be able to check out every church in this place in a day?" she asked, choosing to ignore the end bit of the last thing he said, about other places. "Are there just that few or can you sniff them out or something?" she didn't think there was a map of churches in the town that they could just look at, so.... she figured most the day would be spent trying to find all the churches, rather than checking them out. She didn't like that, especially since he was insistent that they not split up to cover more ground, but... at least they would have some time to search for the demon(s). And maybe what Kristopher did to her was temporary and it would wear off sometime...

That could be extremely helpful.

@ catching dreams
(I'm going to reply soon! Sorry, life caught up with me again)

@ Yuurei.
(hehe, I think I finally understand your pain with life being a bitch XD I haven't been able to even get a chance to post for the past month with school starting up again and whooping my ass ~i mean that in the sense that I've been a lot busier than I expected. Take your time replying ^-^)

@ manic;
(Seriously ._. I got a job, quit my job, and signed up for a TEFL course in the time I was away hahah. Sorry! Legit soon, though. Hopefully tonight~)

@ manic;
(Or four days later XD
Also, I'm really just spewing out generic religious information. At least where I live most cities don't have more than one large church.. like an HQ. I don't even know that our state has more than a couple. However since I'm not really religious I don't know anything)

Rennyn shrugged. Apparently he was more knowledgeable of holy sanctuaries than the angel--frankly, this was hilarious to him. But he almost understood the reasoning. An angel doesn't listen to the prayers of humans, at most they just make sure they aren't doing anything fishy like "making deals with the devil" or watching for increased demonic activity. On Earth, to Rennyn's understanding. He honestly wasn't sure what they did up in the clouds. Their hierarchy made no sense to him. In any case, he couldn't see any reason an angel would have to visit a church.

Demons knew that. It was why they so often hung around there. Angels never thought of it as a target, and the aura was generally strong enough to mask a demon's (depending on the place). Perfect disguise.

"There's no need to hit all of them," Rennyn began explaining, "that would take too long. Small churches, while still considered hunting grounds, usually don't carry a demon for long since the aura doesn't completely mask it from detection. We could tell easily just by walking past them without going in. It's large ones, with high member counts and large temples or square footage that they will sneak around. It's a little.. insufferable, but not deadly in any way. Though within, a demon may become weaker or more easily exhausted, the simple fact that no one will suspect them there makes it a worthwhile gamble."

He stopped here to take another look at Leilah's reaction. It was likely very disconcerting to hear such a thing--he enjoyed the thought that he may be making her uncomfortable, with the added bonus of knowing that this made their task just a small bit easier. It drastically reduced how much time they would need to spend going around to churches.

"Most cities don't have more than a couple large sanctuaries. Usually one will suffice for each religious branch. The rest are more.. community based."

@ Yuurei.
(haha I live in the bible belt where churches are everywhere... but I've never actually been inside one. I'm not a believer personally... but angels and demons are really cool, and I enjoy writing for them. I also LOVE this roleplay :3)

Rennyn's explanation was... well, worrisome. Through this adventure of hers, Leilah was learning quite a bit more about demons than she had thought she would ever need to know, and much of the information was disconcerting to hear. There was obviously quite a bit going on that angels weren't aware of, and it would certainly be helpful to know about in their quest against demons.

However, she didn't need to think about that, or how she needed to remember everything Rennyn divulged, at the moment. At the moment, they needed to be focused on the matter at hand... "So, we could just walk by any small churches, and then investigate the larger churches," she said point-blank.

Listening to Rennyn, his explanation made perfect sense in a sort of stomach-churning way, so there wasn't really any need for her to dwell on it at the moment. However, there was something she wanted him to go into more detail about...

"You said the larger churches, the ones we'll be investigating, can mask the demon's aura," she contemplatively said. "What I want to know is how we would find the demon once there if that's the case. Would it mask his or her aura completely, or once close, would I be able to feel it? And if it masks their aura completely, how in the world would we find them anyway?"

Honestly, she wasn't exactly worried about what they would do if they did find a demon in one of those churches. The fact that Rennyn said demons were weaker there was rather encouraging, especially since the presence of a church definitely wouldn't weaken her. If anything, it gave her an advantage. Even without her sword, she imagined she would be able to at least capture the demon with relative ease... if she could find a human weapon, that would also certainly help.

And then there was Rennyn. If they did find a demon (or two) and took care of them, then there was him... He admitted that churches make demons weaker, especially being inside, and it could be a good opportunity for her to take care of him as well. Maybe things were starting to go right finally!

@ manic;
(Yay~ I love it too. Even though I'm so slow at progressing it sometimes. Its nice to have a story based roleplay sometimes. I like that we don't have to worry about how they could get together. Their friendship can just progress naturally.
Also, totally forgot Rennyn's name there for a few seconds. I started typing Rowan for some reason. -shame-)

Rennyn listened to Leilah's concerns, somewhat anticipating them. He could also sense that there was more to her thinking, but he wasn't going to linger over them. There was no reason to. If everything went well and they found the demon and somehow managed to take care of it, Rennyn's problems would be solved for the moment. In the best scenario, he would never have to give Leilah the pleasure of walking into a church.

"You'll sense it inside," he started, but trailed off a bit for affect. He knew the unstated 'but' would catch Leilah's attention, and they both knew she wasn't going to like the second part of his sentence. "You're going to have to be right up next to the demon to feel it. Which of course means invading a lot of humans' personal bubbles, and the pleasure of standing beside a demon, if you were to find him."

Rennyn grinned, though not with his usual evil intent. Now he was just genuinely amused. Honestly, it would be difficult for himself to concentrate on other auras if he were to be the one to go inside. And even though it may be slightly easier for him to feel the aura more distantly, in the end Leilah was overall better for the job. The aura was foreign and out of place. The church's aura wouldn't be unfamiliar to her. She would likely get a strong feeling of something being out of place as soon as she walked in.

He wasn't going to tell her that, though. Now, to address the obvious.

"Also, whatever plot you have to try and get me inside a church, forget it. I'm only coming in if you actually find one," he stated, looking her dead in the eye. His expression was still playful, but he was sure Leilah could tell he was serious. Once the danger was out of the way, there was no way Leilah could fool him. And it would be bad for her to get rid of Rennyn first, her only ally against an unknown number of enemies of unknown power.

Rennyn wasn't worried. He just figured a warning would be good for her. There was no reason for the two to start a war. At least, not for Rennyn. He preferred her to be alive, at the end. Soul intact.