I'll Fly.

@ sun spirit
(I totally forgot she put a helmet on hahaha)

Rennyn's sleep came and went, but he supposed he was surprised he slept at all. While he felt fine going to sleep in Leilah's home, her light frequently went out of its way to wake him. He wondered if it flared because of the same reason--constantly sleeping and waking making very small spikes that could be felt only because Rennyn was so near. It didn't matter. When Leilah woke for the last time the next morning, Rennyn stayed on the ground. He didn't really want to tell her he was awake yet, regardless of whether she knew or not. Lost in his own thoughts again, he was surprised when a bar landed in front of his face and skidded forward just above his head. Before he really could consider what it was and why, another smacked him in the face. He jolted up, catching the pleased look on the angel's face, and refrained from scowling at her. Upon inspection, the bars were food, so indeed she was already being friendlier than she needed to be, even if it was an excuse to hit him while he was unaware. He took note of the first one that had missed--perhaps her aim was bad from this distance? It was hard to say if this was just her earth reflexes or a genuine weakness though, so he simply filed it away.

"Thanks," he decided to respond easily, picking up the bars and eating them quickly. "Nice helmet," he snickered, because while it wouldn't look all that silly if they were going out for a ride, he knew the humans might look at her funny just walking around in it. The picture of the angel fighting a demon in a bicycle helmet also took over his mind, and he bit his lip to hold back. It wouldn't do much, that's for sure. But whatever made her feel more prepared, Rennyn wasn't about to tell her to remove it. He preferred her looking as ridiculous as possible, after all.

"Anyways, shall we be off? When I was out yesterday I checked around for the most secluded areas we can pull him to. Won't be in our interest to kill someone in broad daylight, the police will not be allowing us to leave in that scenario. If you think you can trust me, it would be best if you wait either near there, or near wherever he is now. Enough that he won't sense you very easily. Your aura isn't that strong but his senses may be better than mine, its hard to say even between a weak and powerful demon, some just are better at detecting them than others. When we get there, he'll attack you. Hopefully. So just be prepared for anything." Rennyn was sure he could goad the demon into attacking Leilah, but he wasn't sure that he could force the demon to redirect to her should he start attacking Rennyn first. He'd have to think of ways to force that, should the unlikely scenario occur.

@ Yuurei.
(The helmet is essential!)

Leilah fully expected a negative reaction from the demon and made her best attempt at an innocent smile as she could possibly muster when he jolted upright after the energy bar collided with his face. Unfortunately, he only thanked her and started to eat it.

She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or nauseas.

Rather than respond, either to the thanks or the comment about her helmet, she shoved a huge bite of an energy bar into her own mouth. It was crunchy, dry, and not very appealing, but it would keep her body satisfied during the time it took for her and Rennyn to track down and dispose of this other demon. Not that she anticipated the demon in her living space to be helpful other than luring the second demon into attacking her. But as long as he was smart enough not to attack her, their truce would hold, even if she did plan on watching her back.

She rolled her shoulders as they both finished choking down the food their bodies forced them to eat and Rennyn began to talk, almost sounding as if he were actually trying to be helpful. Did he truly hate another demon being around more than he did an angel, then? “If we show up together, he’ll get suspicious, so I’ll have to hide somewhere out of range,” she reasoned, trust in the demon she was planning this attack with having nothing to do with it, despite what he made it sound like. The hard part would be working around her inability to start a fight. Pretending to attack a demon was enticing it to attack her, which was starting something. Her best hope was that the demon would sense her and seek to attack her, and if he didn’t, rely on Rennyn wanting either her or the demon dead badly enough to get it to attack her.

With their plan set, she left the kitchen and disappeared into a nearby room to retrieve her weapons. Humans, unfortunately, didn’t seem to have an abundance, and nowhere had she been able to find a sword. Nowhere. The times she’d inquired about weapons, claiming to want some form of protection, she was offered a substance that was supposed to be sprayed in the eyes to stop attackers—little more than a brief distraction—and pointed toward guns. Guns weren’t used by angels, and she wasn’t familiar with them, and though she had a sort of curiosity towards mastering them, now wasn’t the time to be experimenting with something too unfamiliar.

More infuriating was the fact that humans seemed to put a steep price on weapons, whereas she was used to them being common-place and easy to come by. In fact, humans put a price on everything, and because she was compelled to exist by their rules, there was very little money she could put towards arming herself. She’d managed a couple of things though, like a set of what humans called kitchen knives. They came in various sizes, some serrated while others were sharp enough to slice at a touch. They were far from great make, somewhat unwieldy even, but she’d managed to find a set that seemed sturdy enough for her purposes.

Which eventually brought her to the problem of how to ensure she stayed armed when humans were so nervous at the sight of others openly carrying weapons. After much searching and contemplation, her solution had come in the form of something called a fanny pack. It was big enough to store her knives, all except two particularly large ones, and though it was annoying to open and close, costing time to do so, it let her keep her weapons at her side. When she left her room and returned to the living area where the demon was waiting, this was what she’d strapped around her waist, showing no concern for her appearance or how strange it might seem to others beyond the fact that she would not get in trouble with human authorities again.

"I'm ready."

@ sun spirit

Leilah's "battle gear" was... glorious. Rennyn had to hand it to her for being resourceful, but in this particular scenario he was very glad that the two would not be moving as a pair. While he didn't particularly care for what humans thought of him, he had no social standing here to protect, he really just didn't want to have to think about how completely conspicuous she appeared. Yes, it was good that Rennyn was doing all the work here. Leilah's function only needed to be the muscle, she didn't have to blend in or anything of the sort. With luck, her odd fashion statement would make her more of a target. Perhaps she could confuse the demon into submission. He smirked at the thought as he too prepared himself to leave. With him he brought only his standard dagger, sheathed and handily strapped underneath the sleeve of his hoodie. He'd found that dressing plainly made him not only blend in to the rest of the crowd, but also made his usual moves still accessible.

He decided not to speak much as they headed out, save for when he navigated them to the first place he'd had in mind for Leilah to wait in. He'd gestured to the construction zone, gated by chain-link fencing and covered so the average onlooker could not peek inside. He'd been able to gain a sense of the hours the workers were in, and now was the one time he was sure no one would be there. The building had a good, sturdy framework but remained open and accessible--perfect for their intended use. He explained all this only briefly to the angel as he guided her in, then bid farewell and quickly made his way to where he felt the demon would be.

And there it had been, indeed. The demon was still stalking much the same areas that he had been these past days, and Rennyn made his way towards him with purpose, while attempting to keep up a facade of innocence and harmlessness.

He could tell as soon as the demon sensed him, for he stopped moving at all and immediately searched out Rennyn's location. They met on opposite sides of a busy road, but the demon crossed traffic anyways, earning honks and angry yells out windows.

"Now what would a scrawny kid like you be doing in a place like this," the demon said, before he was even in earshot of a normal human. His smile stretched wide to display a full set of white, suspiciously pointed teeth. "Don't tell me they're so desperate they're even sending inexperienced puppies out?" Rennyn raised an eyebrow. What was this guy even talking about? But on a positive note, he did not jump straight to "kill Rennyn" so there was that.

"Not sure what you mean. Who exactly is supposed to be desperate, and for what?" The demon's face fell, and a snarl erupted from his throat.

"Don't try and lie to me, boy. They send you to watch me? Because if that's the case, I'm afraid I'm going to have to send them a message." While not explicitly stated, Rennyn could immediately understand the threat. Instead of poking more, like his brain really, really wanted him to, his sense of self preservation stopped him.

"No one sent me, I'm here on a menial excursion to receive my ranking. However, there's an angel here snooping around and really getting in my way. She appears as green as I am, but unfortunately brute strength is not my strong suit, and I had to retreat. When I sensed you nearby, I figured I would report this to you. Surely I made the right choice, and you could take care of a weak baby angel, yes? If not, I can report to my instructor, but who knows what she will have accomplished by then, or if she will even still be around." Rennyn knew his words were working--the combination of challenging his ability and stroking his ego had made a fire appear in his eyes. The grin from before returned, and the demon gestured outward with his left arm.

"Lead the way, kid. But try anything funny and I send you both to hell in body bags," he stated, and Rennyn turned on his heel back the way he came, waiting for his back to be turned to roll his eyes at the unoriginal threat. Even so, Rennyn picked up his speed, and led the two of them back to the construction zone. When they neared it, once again Rennyn knew exactly when the demon became aware of the new aura--he sped past Rennyn, laughing at the discovery that there was actually a young angel nearby, just waiting to be ambushed.

Only, despite his nature, he had no intention of allowing the demon to have any element of surprise--even though he was quite certain Leilah already knew they were there. This demon seemed either to have no control over his own aura, or intentionally did not try to reign it in because it was practically bleeding into the air.

When they crossed through the chain-link fence, Rennyn made sure it screeched loudly closed behind him, to which the demon glared at him menacingly, but surprisingly did not stop to punish him for it. Instead, he headed straight towards Leilah's direction--it was clear that he would not give her any time whatsoever, and Rennyn wondered if he would even stop to ask her intentions. It didn't matter though, the rest was up to the angel.

@ Yuurei.
(I'm no good with fight scenes so here's hoping this one turned out somewhat okay)

Waiting wasn’t Leilah’s forte. Hell, it was barely in her vocabulary. But that was exactly what she had to do once Rennyn deposited her at the construction zone and headed off to find the demon they both wanted dead. By the time his aura passed out of her awareness, she’d fetched two knives from the fanny pack in preparation and made sure their grip felt comfortable in her hands.

Wearing a bike helmet, a fanny-pack, and holding kitchen utensils, Leilah realized she wouldn’t look or feel threatening to the demon, so she could only hope Rennyn held up his end of the bargain in getting it to attack her first. Once it did that, hopefully it would underestimate her, and she could dispatch it quickly.

Leilah paced her small area, eager to be on with her task, stilling only when a demonic aura pricked at the edges of her senses. She knew it wasn’t Rennyn. It felt more powerful and just a little different in some way she couldn’t place, though his aura soon joined the first one’s. By the time she heard the ear-grating sound of the fence, she’d already known they had to be close, just not quite how close, but within moments of that noise, the demon she’d only ever felt but had never seen appeared in front of her, looking excited.

Good, she was too.

Months of inaction, of not doing what she’d been born to do, had her giving the demon a smile just as he swept in to attack her, no provocation needed. He didn’t have any weapons that she could see, but even as she tensed and prepared to avoid his attack, his hands began morphing, elongating and changing until wicked claws replaced what had once been human hands. They slashed at her—stomach, throat—with surprising speed, but she surged back and then to the side to avoid both blows, then rushed his unguarded side and shoved a knife deep.

The demon snarled, automatically moving to protect himself and attack, but rather than jump back, Leilah dropped to the ground, hand still on the knife so that her weight caused it to tear into his insides as she slid underneath him and came back up behind him. He was on her almost before she found her feet—certainly before she had another knife in her hand—and automatically, she reached for the light within herself, to send it out in a burst that would blind him.

Except nothing happened.

She threw up her arm last minute to protect against those deadly claws, hissing as they raked across her forearm, drawing deep gouges. Before he could get another swipe in somewhere deadlier, Leilah grinned and slammed her head into his, then kicked him away from her and threw her knife, which sank into his shoulder. With her head protected by the helmet she’d donned, the impact had hurt but not nearly as much as she suspected it hurt him.

Leilah replaced the two knives she’d buried in the demon before her as the demon roared in pain and outrage. “ENOUGH.” Darkness descended, blinding Leilah within a moment. She went still at once, trying to will her human body to breathe more quietly and her heart to slow, though of course that was as futile as asking her sliced arm to stop hurting. Still, she focused, and as she listened, she tried to summon whatever she could of her weakened aura to bring some illumination to the darkness.

She remained blind, forced to use her hearing as the demons steps rushed towards her, and she leapt to the side to avoid his attack, then began running from him, searching for the end to the magical darkness he’d summoned. He caught up quickly, and Leilah whirled, randomly changing direction to avoid whatever attack he would send at her while still searching for the perimeter. She made it all of a couple of steps when she ran face-first into fence, her stumble as she bounced off it costing precious time that allowed the demon to grab a hold of her and throw her further into the darkness, leaving more gouges where his claws dug in.

All the breath left Leilah when her body slammed into something hard and fell to the ground, but instinct had her scrambling to get up in the next moment, ears straining to hear the demon’s approach. Pain lanced down her upper arm, causing her to swing with the other, hoping to catch the demon, then she heard him behind her, but before she could turn, she was being kicked to the ground again.

This time, Leilah was helped to her feet by a hand around her throat, the claws attached to which dug into her skin, and the darkness dissipated to reveal the demon’s triumphant grin. “Bye bye, little angel.”

She wasn’t dying today. Not to this weakling.

Leilah still had her knives in her hands, something the demon seemed to have forgotten about. She sank one into his eye, the other into the hand holding her by her throat. The demon dropped her, roaring in pain, and she stumbled before she managed to gain her footing and rushed, panting, for the exit.

”Retreat is not a weakness,” one of her previous mentors, Yerachmiel, had told her. ”A retreat gives you a reprieve, letting you adjust your strategy and hopefully win the battle. Remaining to fight against impossible circumstances, when you could retreat and win, is foolishness.” She’d never thought she would have to act on that lesson firsthand, but she couldn’t kill that demon, not in this damned human body.

Leilah spotted Rennyn as she ran and without thought, grabbed him, forcing him to run with her. “Try anything, you’re the next one with a knife in their eye,” she huffed, her body burning and barking at her to slow down, to stop, and rest—all luxuries Leilah couldn’t afford just then.

@ sun spirit

For Rennyn, the show began nearly as soon as Leilah was in view. He nodded his head, glad that he had not needed to push the other demon at all. It clearly was not thinking all that much about the situation at hand--why an angel would be standing around at a construction site, seemingly waiting for him or why another demon would know exactly where to go to find her. Not to mention the fact that he dove right into the action, no questions asked no threat assessment--it was obvious that he already believed himself superior.

And based on how the fight was unfolding, that could be a fair assumption. However, it was closer than it should have been for sure. Leilah was a trained fighter, a warrior. It showed in her movements and reactions. The other demon seemed to be more focused on raw damage than skill and lashed out at her. This work to an extent, but he took far too many hits from the young angel--embarrassing, really. There was a moment, Rennyn noted, that Leilah had appeared to... make an attempt to use her powers? But interestingly enough, nothing had happened. Rennyn titled his head, filing the information away for later, wondering what could have happened. But even so, as darkness fell around them, she adapted to her surroundings, without her angelic abilities, and continued holding her own in the fight.

Rennyn's left eye quickly adjusted, glowing a soft red, and he continued to track the two's engagement even in the poor visibility. Sure enough, Leilah reacted, and it appeared to be purely on instinct and her remaining senses, for there was no way that she could see in the demon's darkness without her angelic powers. She was running away, but Rennyn never considered that a cowardly move himself, and silently praised her ability to take a (few) steps back to try and regain herself and her position. That is, before she ran into a fence.

Rennyn covered his mouth with one hand to stifle the laugh, and managed to swallow it as the demon caught her. Rennyn thought this might be it--while it wasn't really a poor outcome for him either way, he'd honestly have rather had the angel win in this fight, as it worked out better for him considering she was currently a non-threat to him. However, just as he thought this, Leilah reacted again, and managed to remove herself from the demon's grip. She rushed towards Rennyn, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him out the exit, giving a frankly pathetic sounding threat as she ran them down the road and back into the relatively safe sphere of the bustling human road, though avoiding the bulk of the populated streets and roads. He was sure they looked pretty suspicious right now, what with Leilah's weird outfit, caked in blood and sweat.

When it seemed she would not stop anytime soon, Rennyn eventually planted his feet and mercifully ended the chase. Though the demon had definitely been after them for a while, he too saw the inconvenience of their surroundings and what it would mean for him, particularly as injured and disgusting looking as he was at the moment, to continue the pursuit. They were as safe as they could be at the moment, far away still from their homes and somewhat in the public eye.

"That could have gone better," Rennyn said, and as he thought about it, he had to hold back a laugh. "And my, I didn't know you cared, angel." Though her grip had already loosened and fallen off, he still gestured to where she had grabbed him and pulled him along after her. Though he was certain he would have been safer staying behind with the other demon, just thinking about the other's face when Leilah had dragged him away with her was priceless. He wished he could have witnessed it, had turned his head to see. But alas, his imagination would have to do.

"So now that we're here, and we've certainly gone a bit far with this plan, I think we are probably going to have to come up with a new one. It is unlikely that that demon will forgive and forget and he will undoubtedly search us out again, which is somewhat problematic, especially if he is able to actually catch us off guard. So, would you like to explain to me what you think went wrong there?" He was curious what exactly he'd seen, and why her power didn't work--if she even knew herself, and whether she would admit it. He hoped she would, if not to satisfy his curiosity, then to allow him the opportunity to help her solve the issue, or come up with a new plan that would not require her to use her powers. It was all they really had, right now.

@ Yuurei.

Leilah didn’t need the stares she attracted to know how bad she looked. Unfortunately, she felt it. Still, there was a grim satisfaction to be had, knowing that the demon she’d fought (without the benefit of her powers, much less decent armor or weapons) would be looking and feeling worse at that moment. Maybe he’d stopped following her and Rennyn to pick out the four knives she’d left lodged in his body before he attracted too much attention to himself. That was goal in going down these unknown, populated streets anyway. There weren’t enough people that she’d been stopped but enough that she’d attracted attention as she ran past them, Rennyn in tow.

She was still trying to figure out what to do next when the demon dug in his heels and dragged them both to a stop. And realizing that she was still holding him—gross—she quickly let go. While he seemed as unruffled as ever, she began to pace, making a short circuit as he gave his thoughts. “You think? I was barely holding my ground.” There was undisguised disgust in her voice, for herself and the fact that she couldn’t even win against an opponent that weak.

As she continued to pace, Leilah ignored Rennyn’s other comment. Of course she didn’t care. It wasn’t as if he would’ve been attacked anyway.

Thankfully, he didn’t pursue the subject, instead turning back to the fight and their next moves. She didn’t need Rennyn to know that the other demon was going to come after them, not with how pissed he’d been when she ran. She wouldn’t be able to leave someone alone if they’d left four knives in her, especially if she knew she could win. And now he knew he’d been betrayed and would want the demon that had led him to her, so it was double the reason to follow. And now he knew what they felt like. But how much did she tell her temporary ally, given that?

Leilah forced herself to stop pacing and face Rennyn. “What went wrong is that I miscalculated. I’m strong enough to defeat him in my sleep, and that’s how I was thinking. I’m handicapped and underestimated by how much. I’ve never had to fight with skill alone. And while I’m close… he’ll most likely kill me if we fight again, unless you can make yourself useful somehow.”

It tasted like ash in her mouth, but it was the truth.

@ sun spirit

While Rennyn too was feeling the urgency of the situation, watching Leilah's small meltdown mildly calmed him (and he held back another grin, as it didn't seem too appropriate given that it was his problem as well). He allowed her to voice her gripes, focusing particularly on how unprepared she had been due to the lack of powers she had at her disposal. Rennyn had seen as much, clearly. She admitted that she'd never been in that position before, and Rennyn nodded his head, understanding in a way. Rennyn himself had been mostly the opposite, forced to rely on his personal skills due to powers that were just not... alright. While the problem was reversed, it did give Rennyn some insight on their next move. Possibly. But it may be a stretch.

"So what you are telling me is that your current skill in fighting alone is not enough to take on a demon with full access to his own powers, and it seems like you are not confident in your ability to make yourself become prepared with the uncertain amount of time we have left before he tracks us down to kill us both," he summarized, because putting it this way would most likely grate on Leilah's nerves, if even only just a small bit. He understood the unlikelihood of anyone being able to train under the type of pressure of a time constraint, let alone one that was so... unpredictable. But he did want to make sure she heard it again, could see just how hopeless their situation could be without a way out. It was the only hope he had of making this work.

"That leaves us with little choice here. Either you need to really step up your game starting this very moment while dodging that demon's detection until you feel you are either capable of taking him on again or somehow magically obtain all access to your powers again at random, or...," he trailed, allowing those words to sink in. Maybe she would think she could do it. Rennyn was not prepared to stick around to help her out with it, however. He was certain that he could evade the demon on his own if he didn't have to worry about the angel as well, but it wouldn't solve their problem--this demon would likely be on his back forever, and unfortunately at the end of it all, the two demons would return to the same place. There was no safety for Rennyn. Leilah had really sealed Rennyn's part in all of this. If he thought Leilah had actually been able to think in that moment, he would have assumed she'd done it on purpose. She probably would never admit any different.

"Or, I can magic that power right back into your hands, if that's your fancy," he finished with a shrug, as if it was just as simple as that. "See, demons have this interesting ability of bringing people's desires to life, and it would only require a small, negotiable price. I can give you full access to your powers, today, tomorrow, next week, anytime. It's up to you."

@ Yuurei.

Rennyn’s summarization of her admission that she didn’t think she could win (hard enough to admit to herself, much less the demon in front of her) had Leilah wanting to reach into her fanny pack of dwindling knives. “It isn’t just my skill. It’s this heavy, awkward, weak body I’ve been forced into and the lack of time I’ve had for training since being here,” she snapped.

She was better than her performance back there, and she hated that she had no way of showing it, of shutting this demon up. Two demons. She’d managed to run into two demons since being on earth, both relatively weak, and she’d failed in defeating both of them. This one largely due to her mentor’s interference, but she’d thought she could at least redeem herself with the next one. But all she had for her efforts was a ring of punctures around her throat, blood coating her skin, and four fewer knives to fight with. And no time to further get used to this new body before the demon would seek her out again.

Then Rennyn was offering his idea of solutions, the first two of which she almost immediately dismissed. She didn’t have the kind of time that would be needed for the first and as for the second… it wasn’t as if she’d sealed her own powers. That had been Khalanthris’ idea, not hers, and he’d done it. The only way she would get her powers back would be if her mentor willed it. “Spit it out,” she said when Rennyn hesitated on the “or”, indicating he had another option in mind. “You better hope it’s better than your first two options, too, or we’re in trouble.”

She wasn’t sure she’d call his third option “better”.

“That’s all you can think of?” Leilah snorted. “I might not want to die, but I’m not desperate enough to sell my soul to a demon to get out of it. Forget it. I’ll think of something.” She turned and began walking again—despite the fact that her body just wanted her to sit somewhere—her mind turning back to the demon and how soon to expect him to try and track her down again and what she could do in the meantime to prepare for it. Since apparently her supposed ally was useless.

@ sun spirit

(Ever wonder if anyone would have stepped in to protect them? Like, Lucifer and Khal are just standing around and oh my! My charge is about to perish! But here these two are, making things worse all on their own)

Rennyn expected her response, but openly laughed at Leilah as she attempted to walk away for it. It was interesting that, even though Rennyn had given her the only options they had for such short notice, she somehow misguidedly believed she might think of something on her own. He shrugged his shoulders once more as she went, feigning non-concern at the entire situation--because clearly he was concerned, or he would never have been dumb enough to believe such a tactic would work in the first place. Angels and demons do not trust one another, and while it is true that more trust is required from the other party than from the demon in a deal, if the stakes are not set up properly, it could be bad for the demon as well. It was already terrifying enough to consider his very first deal ever might be with an angel that could overpower him quite easily, but just the thought of messing up the balance on stakes gave him pause before he reached out to her again.

"If you truly think you can find a way on your own, then go on," he only followed her a few steps, just so their distance didn't look too suspicious when they spoke in quiet tones to random onlookers. "The thing about deals with demons is that the terms, as I said, are flexible. I don't need your soul to make a deal with you, featherhead." It would be the best prize, certainly, but he was not naive enough to believe it was something Leilah would bargain. He had to work her carefully with a combination of things. Offer her what she wanted most in exchange for something she might believe she was stronger than, or that she could overcome.

"It doesn't take much," he started again, ready to do what he could to convince her but also preparing for her to walk away for good, "it's something we can talk out. If you don't like my terms, you can always say no, no one gets hurt, your holy attitude remains glorious and untainted. The deal itself cannot taint you, and if you truly believe you are strong enough to get out of this situation on your own, then so too should you be strong enough to withstand anything I could possibly throw at you, right?" This was all he had, and he took a step back to prepare to run in the opposite direction should she reject him again. He wanted to get a head start to get as far from her as possible for the eventual moment when their pursuer should track them again.

@ Yuurei.

(I thought about it… but Khal would never leave if he had to step in every time Leilah made a stupid/potentially life-threatening decision. I think he’d step in if she was really gonna get herself killed, but otherwise, he’s trying real hard not to be disappointed as she does everything except what she’s supposed to be doing. And Lucifer just probably considers this character-building for Rennyn or suspects who Leilah is and wants them to be allies)

Leilah wasn’t surprised to be followed, Rennyn staying close enough to be uncomfortable (though she knew it was just so they weren’t overheard). While his presence wasn’t as offending as it had once been and no longer made her nauseas, his aura still pricked at her like an itch she couldn’t get rid of. She wasn’t interested in what he had to say, but he seemed determined to say it anyway, and she didn’t miss the attempt to rankle her pride.

As he finished, she stopped and turned on him, eyes narrowing on the step back he took as she turned. “Why?” She asked simply. “You tried to fight me back when we first met. You aren’t very good, but you’re fast at least. If I had better weapons and you could distract him, I could probably finish this. He might be angrier at you than me now. So what do you get out of a deal? What would you want in return?” She watched him closely, prepared to catch him if he suddenly tried to run. It was only a step back, but he’d never acted particularly scared of her, so it seemed more likely that it was a plan, not a reflex.

@ sun spirit

Leilah surprised Rennyn with some actually decent questions. While he certainly knew she would need all of the information in order to even consider going through with a deal, she immediately zoned in that there had to be a particular reason for him to offer. Now, Rennyn wasn't entirely sure if she truly believed the two of them could do a round 2 with the demon and win, but he was quite sure that it wouldn't work. If they had tried it the first time, it may have. They had the element of surprise going into the construction site, but their egos and unwillingness to cooperate with each other fully had gotten in the way of considering what would happen if they lost, and how they would come back from that loss.

Even so, he clearly had her attention, so she had to be wavering if just a small amount. It was all he needed. "Well let's be perfectly clear here, I didn't try to fight you, you tried to fight me and I defended myself," it was totally important that he made sure she knew that, not just because he wanted to prove she was actually in the wrong here, "I was just doing what I was told to do. So really, my motives here aren't all that devious. I'm not here to fight you or collect your soul," no matter how nice that would be, "at this point, living would be a pretty cool thing. So all I'm asking for in return for giving you access to your powers, my terms, are simple: you don't get to use those powers on me. I'm sure you can understand why I would ask for that without me explaining. I won't ask for you to not be able to attack me at all, as then there would conversely be no way for you to defend yourself in the scenario where I somehow think its a good time to attack you, and since you are so certain that I would not be able to take you in a fight, you have no reason to be concerned with these terms."

And I don't really want to die, Rennyn finished in his own head. But he didn't want her to hear that. Desperation didn't suit anyone, and it wouldn't convince her anyways. If anything, it'd give her more reason not to accept it. "It's a stronger, faster, and more efficient way of dealing with this problem--and we can do it anytime, anywhere. If you need time to think on it, feel free. But just remember, we might not have much time left."

@ Yuurei.

Leilah was torn between two instincts: that the demon in front of her actually sounded earnest and that his deal sounded too good to be true. So far, putting her trust in him minimally and keeping an eye out to make sure that he didn’t backstab her had paid off, since he’d actually helped and hadn’t once shown any signs of betraying her, but this was more than a little bit of trust. She knew demons made deals with humans, but she didn’t know if he could lie about the terms or trick her in some way by saying one thing and doing another.

Simply put, she didn’t want to die, and so far, as much as she hated it, this was the best solution that had been offered. With her powers, she’d feel more herself, even if she was stuck in a human body, she’d heal faster, she’d be able to actually use a proper weapon… the demon wouldn’t stand a chance. And this demon? She didn’t need her powers for him. He was weaker than her currently; she could feel it. And if all he wanted was not to be attacked at full strength, she could do that. The only thing worse than making a deal with a demon would be failing here, and it wasn’t as if anyone had appeared to yell at her for any of her recent actions or warn her away.

“Give me proof you can’t lie or trick me about this whole deal thing, and we’ll talk,” she finally said. “Because I don’t trust you, and dying sounds better than spending eternity in hell because I was stupid enough to actually trust a demon.”

@ sun spirit

It was a fair question. Most humans assume the same--that a demon will use any lie or trick they can to make sure the deal is more favorable to themselves than the other party. Its the entire purpose of a deal, anyways. The gain will near always be greater for the demon than its target. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to prove it to her, so he decided to stick with a detailed explanation.

"I can't physically prove it to you without performing a deal in front of your face, and you seem to be pretty set in not allowing me to do anything demon-y to any humans whatsoever, even the bad ones. So I'll talk you through it. Feel free to, I don't know, walk away if you think I'm lying," he started, cracking his neck and thinking about what he wanted to say next. He had to be careful with his words, and as honest as possible so she would believe him--even if just a little bit. This would be a good educational moment for her anyways. If they made a deal now, or even if she didn't, it meant she would likely not go on to make a deal with someone else, and that was super important (at least to Rennyn's livelihood, probably). "A demon deal is entirely up to the two parties involved, however you aren't wrong that many demons will do anything possible to twist words and meanings to make it more beneficial to them than to the other person. This is obviously because there's almost no reason to perform a deal if the demon doesn't get anything out of it. This can be avoided if we are both abundantly clear in the wording of our contract. You need to make absolutely sure that there is no loophole when you are ready to take the deal." He thinks about it for a moment, what kind of loophole could this particular situation have?

"For example, from the beginning I could have been vague and said you could not have attacked me with your powers, but not specified that power also included your own physical power, meaning you could not ever attack me in any way. Or I could, instead of giving you full access to your power, give you only some of it. In addition to all of that, there are consequences to either one of us breaking the deal, and this is something that is negotiable to a point as well. If you want to put a stipulation in place where, if I betrayed you and broke the deal in some way on my end, it would kill me--then that's entirely up to you and I. But just know that it can go both ways, as I would demand an equal price for if you figured out a way to betray our deal as well." It was complicated, he knew, but it was the most transparent he was sure than any demon had ever been with the process. At least to anyone outside of other contracting demons.

@ Yuurei.

He was right in that Leilah wouldn’t have allowed him to try and prove himself with a human. Even if she wanted proof, that was definitely no good. So as he offered to explain himself, she slowly gave a small nod to indicate that he continue, willing to listen for the moment. She wasn’t sure what she would do if he lied—if she would realize that he had—but about the only thing she could do was go with her gut.

As she listened, Rennyn sounded transparent, as if he were trying to make the particulars of deals as clear to her as possible, admitting to twisting words and in what way they could be twisted, even using the deal he’d proposed to her as an example, and she noticed that in his explanation, lying wasn’t an option. He’d even suggested stipulations to keep them both in line in honoring their deal. Nothing he said sounded evasive or like a lie; it was as if he were just being matter-of-fact with her, something she’d seen before only rarely.

Leilah wasn’t the overly trusting sort, but she reminded herself that his butt was on the line too. If the demon hunted them down, he stood less of a chance at winning than she did, especially since he couldn’t talk his way out of trouble after it saw him escape with her. And maybe a deal was somehow more beneficial to him in a way she couldn’t see than trying to team up with her so that they both attacked the demon, but maybe it was more beneficial to her too. What if he couldn’t just keep the demon distracted long enough for her to kill it? Then she didn’t stand a chance.

Okay then.

“I want access to my full powers, from this moment forward. You don’t get to decide when I do or don’t use them, and you don’t get any control of them in any way beyond giving me access to them. In return for this, I’m not allowed to use my powers on you to attack or harm you. This includes any magical abilities I have now, like being able to blind you or summon weapons from heaven but doesn’t include my natural strength or healing or any powers I might grow into in the future. To keep things simple, let’s just say if either of us breaks the deal, we’ll die on the spot. That should be motivation enough to keep us honest.” Leilah stated it all, keeping in mind the couple of pitfalls that Rennyn had mentioned and thinking that the wording was kept short and clear enough that if he did find a place where he could twist her wording, it shouldn’t be in too bad of a way.

@ sun spirit
(I just had to, I was ready for demon Rennyn heheh. He'll have so few moments to be cool looking in the future)

Rennyn mulled it over everything in the span of ten seconds--already longer than he probably should have, however he managed to weigh his own pros and cons of Leilah's proposed deal. The one spot he was a little skeptical about was how she specifically intended to be able to use potential future powers against him. She'd made fairly certain that was not part of the bargain, which made him a little suspicious of what she may have planned. However, of two things Rennyn knew for sure: 1) Leilah was not a complicated person, if she were to ever come up with a scheme against Rennyn, odds were that Rennyn would already know about it and 2) Rennyn was confident in his ability to overcome any possible outcome in this particular proposition. He had also been hoping to steer her away from placing death as her own punishment, but as she'd already put it out into the air, Rennyn felt there was little he could do or say that wouldn't make her suspicious of his intentions. He chewed lightly on the inside of his lip before nodding his head, because in any case, he actually had no idea what happened if a contractee killed their contractor and what would happen to the deal itself if he died. He had a feeling if it did not bring harm to her, it would likely put her back to where she started--at least until she could figure out how to get past that issue, Rennyn was probably safe.

"Alright. I agree to your terms," Rennyn finally said, eyes darting around them and their current surroundings. He spotted an alleyway in poor lighting just nearby, and gestured at it with his head, "You want it from this moment on, then follow me. This isn't something we can do with spectators, not even one." He made sure to emphasize the last part so she knew that the deal was not something that humans would be able to overlook, and made sure he turned his back on her completely in order to walk into the alley first so she didn't feel like he was leading her into a trap. If she spooked in the middle of their deal, he couldn't say what the outcome would be--they didn't teach this sort of thing in "demon school." It was innate, something his particular kind of demon could just... do. No one had bothered to explain it in detail beyond the basics.

When he was absolutely sure the coast was clear, and he could sense no humans within the immediate area, he turned to her once more and locked eyes. The beginning was easy--he simply reiterated her terms, verbatim, how she had given them to him so that the deal's parameters were out in the open--this was her last chance to change her mind or the conditions of the deal.

Following this, he reached out and grabbed her forearm. Much of what happened next was in quick succession, but to the participants it would have felt much longer. For a split second, the demon's true appearance would have flashed before her eyes--not long enough to leave a lasting impression on most, but enough that Rennyn's demonic energy could seep through the guise he was wearing, focusing it into his hand that gripped at Leilah's arm. His aura spiked once, harshly and much stronger than it normally would be even if it wasn't being reigned in. Following this, his human trendy multi-colored hair darkened to black (and if you looked hard enough, you'd even see a single small black horn peaking through, so obscured by the hair that even if you had longer to see it you might still not notice), skin lightened to an almost sickeningly pale, the right eye blinking a misty silver before settling back into dark brown while the other glowed and remained bright red. A set of sharp claws dug very lightly into Leilah's skin--not enough to break the surface, or even hurt the average person, but it would certainly have unnerved most to feel the points edging out. Like the glowing left eye, these did not disappear either, as the rest of his true image faded out.

He kept his grip on her strong, and eyes bored straight into her soul. Together they would experience the terms once more, but further, Rennyn himself dug deep into Leilah's being. He could see a barrier--bright, uncomfortable, and strong. It was clear to have been created by a powerful holy being, even if he hadn't known anything it would be obvious. Under normal circumstances, someone of Rennyn's current power would not be able to break or bend the barrier, but fortunately for Leilah that wasn't how demon deals worked. Instead of breaking or bending the barrier to permanently free Leilah's power, Rennyn did what all good demons do--he ignored it entirely. Like walking around an inconvenient obstacle, Rennyn simply circumvented the barrier. Here, he left his own mark--the mark with which Leilah's powers would need to funnel through in order to function. This is where the seal would connect. When he placed it, he backed out immediately, starting to feel rather uncomfortable in such a Light place, and he was back to himself, staring into Leilah's eyes. He looked down, and where his hand gripped tight, black patterns began to swirl around his fingers. They snaked around, circling one another until finally settling into a simple and clean design. When it moved no further, he let her go and stepped back.

"Honestly, that looks super cool and I can't decide if I should feel proud or disappointed, because an ugly cow or something would have been so much more hilarious," he said, breaking the silence.

@ Yuurei.

For a split second, the fact that they’d come to an agreement was startling. She was an angel, and whatever the situation, making a deal with a demon should’ve never been considered. Putting that aside, the terms seemed to obviously fall in her favor down to the last stipulation she’d added, which had almost been an excuse for not going through with the decidedly sacrilegious act.

But Rennyn agreed anyway.

The moment passed so fleetingly that Leilah’s astonishment never surfaced, and her eyes remained hard with determination as she stepped into the alley after the demon. Her hand rested at the opening of her significantly diminished store of weapons—the action a combination of an abundance of caution and seeking affirmation from her partner. Except Earthen weapons were made without life. They never spoke, never judged her, never aided beyond her physical ability to wield them. This decision could ruin her relationship with some of Heaven’s Named weapons, and because of her powers’ suppression, she wouldn’t know until it was too late. More than any other consequence she’d considered, this made her the most nervous. Only a handful of weapons had deemed her unfit to wield them, and the remaining dozens had been the constants of her life as well as the closest thing she had to the human concept of “friends”. But in the end, they would either answer her call, or they wouldn’t.

There were no humans in or around the dimly-lit, blocked off alley she’d followed Rennyn into; it was the perfect location for under-the-radar activities, even more so than the ambush site for the other demon. While her fingers brushed the zipper of the fanny-pack that held her weapons though, Leilah didn’t draw any of her remaining knives. Yet. For the moment, she was apprehensively putting some trust into the demon across from her, who only repeated the terms that they had already agreed to. “That’s…it?” There was no way he could’ve dragged her into some dark corner just to rehash a conversation they’d already had.

Whatever Leilah had been prepared for though, it hadn’t been for Rennyn to grab her. She jerked her arm back with a snarled, “Hey!” but he held on, acting as if he hadn’t noticed the knee-jerk reaction.

It took mere seconds before Rennyn let go, but several things happened in those seconds. It was as if a veil fell away, and for a moment, the weak, puny boy fell away, leaving her with an impression of dark hair, unnatural eyes of two different colors, and an aura of darkness so concentrated, it left her physically nauseas. It wasn’t just near her or even touching her, else she would’ve stood firm. It was as if his aura had entered her body and was touching her own, and while she didn’t try to jerk away from him again, she wanted to—and even felt her fingers close around the hilt of a knife in the same moment his aura disappeared, as if sucked back into whatever hellhole it’d crawled out of.

For the first time in her life, Leilah felt shaky and physically ill, even after she was released and Rennyn had stepped back. She continued standing, still as a statue, as he commented on a mark that she hadn’t so much as glanced at yet, eyes unfocused and staring into the distance as she fought against the heat that had suddenly rushed into her face and mouth and the feeling that something was churning in her middle. The feeling didn’t recede though, only growing stronger until she felt unable to contain it any longer, and without a sign or word of warning, Leilah puked on Rennyn’s shoes. Still doubled over, she was equally horrified and relieved by the gross substance that had left her. Horrified at the action, the taste the smell—but relieved because she felt better.

Leilah straightened herself, and as if the action of throwing up had been a trigger, she felt something she hadn’t in months. Her light didn’t return in a trickle so much as it did a flood, washing over her and growing and growing and growing until every nerve in her body pulsed with it and when she looked down at herself, she almost seemed to luminesce with it. Her reservations about making the deal fell away at that moment, and she grinned—a grin that only widened when she looked up to see the look on Rennyn’s face. “I don’t think that other demon will be a problem now.”

But first, the real test… Leilah relaxed her grip on the knife she still held, letting it fall back into the fanny-pack and stretched her senses, linking to her favorite weapon. Valoel was notoriously picky two-handed bardiche, sometimes called the Shadow Thief, and it had reached out to her rather than it initially. Now she called to it mentally, respectfully asking to borrow its power, but as seconds passed, she began to lose hope. Then, just when she gave up, she felt Valoel’s weight appear in her hand. “I do not approve of your actions,” she heard Valoel say disdainfully, “But your heart hasn’t changed. I will help you so long as you remain opposed to Hell.” She loosed a breath. Everything was okay after all.

Leilah turned back to Rennyn, letting her emotions slip back beneath the surface as she held Valoel at her side. "I'm ready. I just need him to attack me again."

"You've been taught better, Leilaniel. You gain the element of surprise by attacking first," Valoel chastised harshly.

Leilah, however, remained unruffled, simply replying, I can't. My mentor forbids it.

@ sun spirit

(Look, Rennyn using his brain muscle.
Also, yayy Leilah gets her friend back)

Leilah's face turned green nearly immediately after the deal was done, and unfortunately Rennyn hadn't had much time to react before she was regurgitating the contents of her stomach upon his shoes. Rennyn's eyes and nose scrunched in disgust at the smell, but a small part of him was fascinated that this was likely his own doing. Logically, it had to have been his power and aura mixing so closely to her own, and perhaps as well the sudden reappearance of her own power that had so thoroughly sickened her. It would be amusing, if that sick was not decorating his shoes--he'd honestly just have to get new ones, he really had no intentions of cleaning angel puke. For now, he shook them off as well as he could, allowing Leilah the moment to rediscover herself.

"If you're done puking, I'm sure that shouldn't be a problem. Honestly, he'll probably attack us both on sight," Rennyn replied with a shrug. "Also, I do hope you can keep yourself away from fences this time, as fun as that was for me." While she had seemed confident and fairly pleased with herself just a moment before, now she was back to stoic. Her eyes were a little distant, as if deep in thought, but Rennyn could see that she was still hyper-aware of herself and her surroundings. Interesting.

"There may be a way to get the jump on him," Rennyn announced before they set off, knowing they needed to have at least some sort of plan before they just dove straight back in. Despite her powers, Rennyn would feel better if they were slightly better prepared than last time. "Before, you seemed to be dead set on us working together rather than taking the deal. Well, there's nothing really stopping us from doing that still." It would make more sense for them to work together, though Rennyn had no thoughts of getting his hands dirty in the traditional sense, it would be silly for him to simply sit around once more, out of the demon's reach.

"Having us both in his sights will force him to split his attention, so that in itself is already an advantage in our favor. With there being two of us as well, one can easily take him by surprise while the other holds his attention." It was a little complicated to think of which one would fit which role. Typically, Rennyn would say he could hold the demon's attention while Leilah made the surprise attack, but she was not allowed to attack first, she could only defend and counterattack--which frustratingly, was more Rennyn's style.

"Believe it or not, I do trust you can handle this yourself, particularly after watching your fight. However, I'm really not interested in the possibility of a repeat performance, so if it interests you, there are two ways it can go:

You can hold his attention while I attempt a sneak attack from behind--don't even look all skeptical, I am a capable enough fighter when I have the upper hand--or alternatively, I can hold his attention and you can surprise him. Unfortunately, the latter option would be less an attack and more of an interruption, because of your... limitations. Best I can come up with in that case would be to drop in front of him while he is attacking me. His focus will be momentarily disrupted leaving you a window of opportunity to get in a good strike. Of course, this is assuming he does not pull back and follows through with the attack--a loophole, if you will. While the intended target would be me, the recipient would be you, allowing you to defend." Well, it was just an option, anyway. He knew he wouldn't get in her way while fighting, but he knew her type well--they typically preferred to limit the field of players as much as possible. This was more due to the desire not to be required to pay attention to who they could potentially hurt, rather than the inability to keep track of multiple targets. Also, just the lack of interest in playing with others. Some people were just lone wolves by nature.

@ Yuurei.

With her powers once more returned and Valoel in hand, Leilah was centered, healing from what little damage the demon had done to her, and ready to prove that such a weak opponent didn’t stand a chance. Through their connection, she felt Valoel’s willingness to aid her and uncompromising belief that she would succeed. There was also a yearning for Rennyn’s blood as well, held back only at the knowledge of the deal Leilah had made with him. Still, Valoel was intelligent, and though she wasn’t privy to its thoughts, she could feel it contemplating.

“I wanted to work together to avoid making a deal,” Leilah corrected Rennyn, loosely holding the large bardiche at her side as she made eye-contact with the demon. “There isn’t really a reason for it now, as long as he attacks me, and given how angry he has to be, I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t. I’m got to be easier to feel now anyway, so he shouldn’t have a problem finding me.”

Despite her sound logic however, Rennyn continued to talk, presenting his ideas on working together to take down the demon. It was only because he was suggesting ways to ensure that the demon attack her that she even listened half-heartedly.

“Just how do you expect to surprise him again?” Leilah asked dubiously. “He knows we want him dead and that we’re working together for it now.”

@ sun spirit

(It feels like Rennyn is a tired old man lol, he just didn't have the energy for it this time)

Rennyn sighed, understanding that maybe he was overthinking--but in this case, it really couldn't be helped. Not thinking enough had been the beginnings of their failure previously, and Rennyn was never one to not have a backup plan. He decided to allow Leilah to do her thing. In truth, he could feel her power had grown immensely, it was not exactly well hidden. If Rennyn were anyone else, between just how much had resurfaced and as suddenly as it had come, he too would probably have felt severely ill, as Leilah herself had. However, there were many reasons why he'd been able to keep those ill effects at bay, so while to an onlooker it may have not seemed like much, Rennyn of all people knew exactly what he'd just handed Leilah. The only thing he didn't know was just how effective that power could be in practice. Even so, after watching her previous battle, there wasn't much that needed to be said. Leilah had already fought this demon, and done damage with nearly no power at all. With it?

"Alright," he relented, "Let's just go for it then. I'll stay out of your way." It was as simple as that. Or at least, as simple as it needed to be for Leilah. Rennyn, naturally, would continue to think of backup plans for himself, despite his conclusions. It couldn't be helped.

Rennyn looked around at the end of the alley, as if scanning the area. There was no way to feel the demon's aura yet--if there had been, then he'd have already been upon them, after all. However, intuition was one of Rennyn's strong suits, and with Leilah's power back he considered she would likely be able to detect the other demon at least nearly around the same time that he may detect them. It was a matter of once again finding location, and keeping the other in check. He'd hoped the other demon's apparent weakness at detecting auras would continue, but there were a lot of factors in that--one being that when he'd been going around, it seemed like he was looking for something specific that may have been a distraction for him, the second being that Leilah was basically a walking beacon now screaming look, I'm an angel, come get me!

"This way, then," he decided, and took off in a direction. Whether that decision was calculated or made completely at random, his face wouldn't show. In truth, it was that intuition of his, but whether it was saying the demon is over here or this would be a good place to go was unknown even to him. He hoped that it was the latter, so they could think everything through first. Or try.

@ Yuurei.
(This is a short, terrible post, and the only thing I like is that it really hammers home how unbelievably powerful Leilah is and how terrifying she must have looked the moment before she absolutely obliterated that poor bastard. Because she was so happy that she was finally about to get to have fun. I'm also kind of hoping Rennyn shits himself, especially when he hears that what she did was an oops)

Though Valoel had its misgivings about Leilah working with a demon, it was mercifully silent as Leilah followed Rennyn from the alley. They avoided major streets as Leilah cast her awareness out, feeling for the demon, but it felt it approaching from behind at the same moment they approached what looked like an abandoned factory building. It was the wrong direction entirely, but at least it was empty, and they wouldn’t have to watch out for spectators. They entered, and Rennyn retreated out of the way as Leilah stood center in the open, Valoel at her side.

Darkness preceded the demon, though the front doors crashing were indication enough that he’d arrived. Leilah was not left completely in the dark this time because of the soft halo of light now hovering around her, though it wasn’t enough to see into the demon-made darkness, and knowing she’d have to wait to be attacked, she could only slide into a defensive position as she listened for the demon.

If not for Valoel, the echo of the building might have thrown off Leilah enough to prevent her from deflecting the attack. As it was, the warning communicated through their mental link barely came in time for her to adjust, and she heard rather than saw claws scrape against the angelic weapon. Once again, though, he’d made the first move, and this time, Leilah could do more than leave knives in him.

With a grin, she parried the attack and put space between herself and the demon before lowering Valoel and raising her hand. While she meant to blind the demon, though, a move she’d practiced a thousand times, what came from her hand wasn’t a flash of light. White fire shot from her, engulfing not just the demon but the building behind him as well. Leilah’s face went slack with disbelief as the darkness was disbanded and revealed little more than ash where the demon had just been standing. "That's it?! I wanted to blind him, not incinerate him!"