A Demon Walks Into a Bar

[The Cedar Witch]

The mask of Rachel gave one long anguished stare at Damien while disgracefully discarded on the floor.  At Jake's words, the mask fell away, human skin slipping still as Jake spoke his question until the demon himself remained -- towering grey flesh as he stood.

Va'tamal addressed only Damien, voice darker and deeper.

"You have nothing of interest to offer me beyond that soul," one long finger pointed at the vampire's chest, and he stared unblinking at him. 

[Saiketsu]

For the sake of getting the information he needed, Damien ignored Lisa-Joe's impudence despite their shoulders brushing roughly as she passed and Jake's scrutiny of his behavior. All of that he would handle later when the demon that had once trafficked his lover was no longer making threats to kill her unless he succumbed to his demands. He settled himself back into his seat and crossed his legs, grounding himself with the sensation of the chair, settling his face into a stoney glower once more as he watched the Not-Rachel on the floor.

As the shift happened, Damien braced himself mentally for the change back into the face of Laurent. When the grey flesh of his true self appeared, he did his best to maintain his expression. As he rose from the ground, the only relief he could find in the horror of the sight before him was that he was no longer being taunted with Rachel's visage. Teeth set solid, he watched through a glare as the demon said that he wanted nothing more than his soul, not backing down from the challenge that those black eyes presented.

His instinct was to agree. If he could take Rachel and trade something as trivial as his soul, why would he bother refusing? It was the details behind his trade that made him uncomfortable. What exactly would this trade entail? What would he be afterwards? Why was Laurent so interested in his soul specifically? There was something that he was missing. He knew that demons dealt in souls, and that they had something to do with their abilities - hence why Laurent could manipulate fire - but it was difficult to find more information about such things. There was some kind of value on his soul that was worth the price of Rachel, the woman whom Laurent had been pursuing for years.

He hesitated, knowing that to agree to anything that Laurent proposed would open any number of doors for chaos. But to deny him left Rachel at his mercy, and the thought of being soulless felt more important than allowing the one good thing in his life be mutilated, abused, raped, and broken all over again.

He stared at the villian. "Why should I believe anything you say?" His voice was low and dangerous. "Especially now?"

[The Cedar Witch]

"Because I am a man of my word," a smirk danced across Va'tamal's lips.

[Black Philip]

Jake rolled his eyes so hard they practically rolled out of his head.

[Saiketsu]

"No," Damien responded calmly, anger welling in the deep places of his chest. "You are a coward who only knows how to play in the shadows." He expected the smile that bloomed on the demon's face. "You have no intention of giving her back to me, to letting her return to a life without you. You want both of us to suffer for making you wait." Damien leaned in slowly, without ever taking his eyes off Laurent and placed his arms on the table before him. His stoney countenance had fallen into something condescending, something full of disgust and pity. "If you did, she would have been with you."

[The Cedar Witch]

A look of impatience replaced the grin.  Va'tamal was no coward -- but the use of the word told him that Damien was afraid.

"No," the demon took a step toward the table, "If I brought her, she would distract you."  His eyes narrowed.  "She was and has been currency in my trade."  He splayed a hand on the surface of the table, pointing with the other.

"You forget that it was you who stole her from me,"  his wings unfurled slowly, as if responding to the conviction in his tone, "Now her value to you has increased, and I am willing to part with her in a fair exchange."

[Saiketsu]

Damien increased the heaviness of his aura, making the air thick with dread and command. It was something that he had been forced to learn from Lucretia in his time spent at her side, something that had allowed him to manage otherwise unruly fledges and take control of minor chaos. It also helped in reminding anyone in the vicinity that he was capable of a great number of things when pushed too far.

He pressed sharply against the demon's mind, not knowing what he would find there but needing his practiced speed to approach nonetheless. It was nothing like trying to penetrate a human nor vampire mind. There was no malleability to be found, the surface hard like the flesh of the creature itself. He could try it - to dive into the demon's mind to find the answers he needed. It was a tempting impulse, but what would he find there? What was it like to break the surface of a demon's mind? Would he be pulled in, unable to return? Would he be able to read and understand like he did humans? The unpredictability kept him without, but Damien dragged his mind's eye over the demon's flesh like daggers. He didn't expect to find some way in - and he wasn't looking just yet. Examining, yes, a scratching of a blade over rock. The feeling must have been grating.

The subtle movements towards him increased the pressure in the room, and Damien was glad to have so many years beneath him. Could he hold his ground against a shadow demon? Possibly. He was stronger, faster, and more skilled than Pierre had been that night. He had never tried such things before, having never been given the opportunity. Perhaps he would before the night was through - but not here, not in the White Rabbit. This time it was Damien's turn to smirk at the slip in Laurent's temperament.

"No one here is in your trade, Va'tamal," Damien reminded the demon quietly. "You don't know what a fair exchange is. A soul for a life is not a fair trade - it is a bargain. If you are a so-called man of your word, you would be offering me an actual trade within a shared currency - life.

"I propose a better trade." His eyes were hard and firm, but his voice otherwise calm. "You give me Rachel, and I consider sparing your life."

[The Cedar Witch]

He flinched at the brush against his mind, glaring through the unsettling threat.  Should anyone attempt to search his thoughts he would plunge them into shadow.  But for all of Damien's mental posturing, it made his soul all the more Tantilizing of a Prize.  Perhaps he would keep it cor himself after all.

Va'tamal was not here to argue.  He would not bother explaining that keeping his word had nothing to do with exchange rates and everything to do with his ability to adhere to an agreement made in good faith.  They were operating on entirely different playing fields.  It mattered little.

"I will give you time to think on it," shadows began to collect slowly around his hooves.  "I am sure you will not want to disappoint her."  The smile returned to his lips, but his eyes were sharp and attentive.

[Black Philip]

Jake stood and moved towards the door. He was going to open it, knowing that Laurent would escape in the same fashion as Zeus. He really needed shadow demon wards. Besides, if all went well, Benny was claiming Rachel now, and no trade would be needed. Then it would be just a man hunt. He wondered if he should say something to Laurent, having only a small chance at the point. He decided to be a cocky shit, not having many people he could still behave that way towards.

"You're not going to win this," he said, opening the door to show how little he cared that Laurent was leaving. "I've faced much worse than you, and will in the future. Just know that Damien and I will work together on this."

He looked to Damien with a confident smile. They would be fine if they stayed united.

[Saiketsu]

There was a small movement that Damien made with his mouth as he controlled a sneer that threatened to give away the intensity of his anger. As he bit his tongue and watched the shadows gathering around Laurent, he contemplated the decision to threaten the demon before him. He had Rachel and could do anything to her in retaliation of this meeting to her and Damien would have to live with those ramifications once Rachel was safe again.

If Rachel would ever be safe again.

He glowered at the demon down the length of his nose, feeling the demons' mental self begin to dissolve away as he shifted into the shadows like the coward he was. There was temptation to launch himself at the creature and disrupt his shift, to grab ahold of the once-solid flesh and squeeze the life from him. But Va'tamal towered over him and there was no telling what strengths he had while in that hard flesh. It was certainly possible for Damien to overcome him, but he was unsure of how likely it was. No, there was a much better chance when the bastard was in human skin, and Damien didn't foresee such a shift now that he had been threatened.

He watched Jake move only peripherally, listening to his words and movements when he had left his visual field - he never took his unblinking eyes off Laurent. As if in agreement to Jake's statement, Damien leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the table before him. Otherwise, he said nothing, backing his own mental offenses away from Va'tamal in slow motion until they hovered like a kind of halo, unstretched arms ready to strike if necessary. He would need blood after this meeting.

[The Cedar Witch]

"Think quickly,"  cruelty migrated into his expression as shadows crept higher up his form.  He turned his attention to Jake as the shadows curled around his neck.  "Sam's life depends on it." 

Laughter rang through the room, its echo remaining after he vanished into darkness and out of the Rabbit.