Sizing Up

[Trillian]

Decker's gaze flicked from Damien to Rachel, seeing that she was almost as pale as he was and the fact her eyes were the only points of colour on her face. It confused him to see her so badly affected; wouldn't the threat to her life have done that for her? He looked back at Damien and waited for attention to turn back to him. The initial response had him thinking the interview was over but then another question came his way.

"Risk assessment. Martial arts. Gun use, knowledge and training. Past experience with criminal outfits and hostile situations. Lack of hesitation."

The last thing was the most important in his mind. He might make a mistake and harm someone who wasn't a threat but he'd rather do that than lose the person he was hired to look after.

[Saiketsu]

His next question came evenly and smoothly after Decker had finished. "How many years of experience do you have? With everything."

[Trillian]

Decker thought back to when he'd left school. That was when he'd started getting in deep and carrying a knife, running with some hooligans and breaking and entering. The next year someone had given him a gun.

"Fifteen years," he said. He'd been training in martial arts since he was a little kid but he'd got his black belt in his late teens, and it had been the one class he'd kept up throughout his entire life. Not that it could do much against a fire demon that could throw a flame, but that was what the gun was for. Distance.

[Saiketsu]

Damien nodded, part of his attention still on Rachel as she began to calm. "These 'criminal outfits and hostile situations', what exactly were they? What was your role in them?"

[Trillian]

Decker was wary, not liking admitting to his past work in a manner of specifics.

"I had a network of people who I would work with and a list of people who I wouldn't. I never fixed myself to anybody. I was usually in crowd control."

[Saiketsu]

"And have you ever done protective work before?"

[Trillian]

"Not exactly this type but I backed up the people I worked with." Decker stared at Damien.

[Saiketsu]

Damien paused, Decker's answers to his questions satisfactory for now. There was more information that he wanted, more details about situations, minutiae really that would make him feel better about this stranger entering their lives. From the way Decker had conducted himself, he doubted that he would get many more clarifying answers from him. And then there was Rachel to consider. Not to mention that Decker had already made clear what he wanted Damien and Rachel to know based on the lack of details he had given when prompted.

With a click of his tongue and a gesture of his hand between them Damien asked, "Do you have any questions that I can answer?" He settled himself in mentally, figuring he had just opened up the door for further tension between them.

[Trillian]

"A few," Decker said. "How recently has a threat been made against Rachel?"

[Saiketsu]

Damien sighed through his nose. "There hasn't been a threat in several years." He thought, pausing in his explanation as he tried to remember exactly when the last time Laurent had even surfaced, let alone saw Rachel.

[Trillian]

"So why now?" he prompted, thinking maybe he was replacing someone. "And is he targeting Rachel because of his history with her or because his history with you?"

[Saiketsu]

"With Rachel," Damien answered tightly. "Though he has attacked one of mine before."

[Trillian]

"How long ago? Did they survive?" Decker asked. His muscles weren't as coiled as they had been though he was genuinely interested in hearing about what had happened with this demonic threat.

[Saiketsu]

"Yes, he survived." He remembered Pierre's long recovery from that night, his body blistered and scorched. Damien chose not to elaborate on those details. "The last time anyone in my lineage saw him was when he attacked my fledge with fire. I was moving Rachel to a more secure location."

[Trillian]

Decker was silent for a beat, then he pursued a different line. “Can the demon look like anybody?”

Damien had mentioned shapeshifting.