Second Meetings(open)

Shane wandered the city of hearts, the city that the demon now called home, absentmindedly thinking of love. It was such a human emotion, but one he had only experienced once, in a platonic way, with Alexandria. He wondered what romantic love would be like. What intimacy with others would feel like. He wanted to experience such things. As he thought of those things, he nearly ran into objects and other people constantly, but paid no heed as he continued on his way.

@Thomas

He wandered the city streets, his weapon loosely tied to a sash on his hip. It was short and heavy handed. He had learned his lesson with the lesser mortals of this world. If he was going to live and work among them, had had to be prepared to meet their savagery with his own.

He would wander through the crowd. He was told to collect a single item from a local blacksmith. He needed to reteach himself his own form of crafting.

The small demon finally ran into another person after several minutes of walking, bouncing off them and falling on his butt in the street. He looked up, green eyes wide, only to see.... Thomas? He was silent in shock for a moment, before he smiled and laughed. "We really must stop bumping into each other like this!" He said, getting up easily, eyes glittering with amusement. He stuck out his hand quickly to shake hands, a smile on his face. "Good to see you again though, it's been awhile," he said with a small chuckle. "Though it isn't really long for us, is it?"

Another chuckle. After shaking hands, if Thomas actually shook his hand, the demon would retract his hand, putting it in his pocket, standing to his full height. He had grown since they last met, and wasn't quite so tiny anymore, though he was by no means very tall.

He'd shake his hand in a reluctant acceptance of his own fate. This boy was a large jar of repressed emotion. Their last meeting ended on awkward terms of something Thomas was quite wary of, and until now, had completely forgotten.

"It's been a few weeks I think." he'd say with a smile, "What are you doing here, Shane?"

he was both curious, and unnerved of it all. He never liked surprises, and to have someone reappear so soon was more than a coincidence. Of course, Thomas never believed in those. There was a reason he kept seeing this demon, but why? Was it fate, destiny?

Or just bad luck?

"Of course. And as for what I'm doing here, I've moved to the city, this is where I live now." Was his simple response. A cheerful smile on his small face, he studied Thomas, who didn't seem to be quite as happy as he did. The smile wasn't quite right. But he wasn't going to pry. He wasn't that type of person. "Why are you here, Thomas?" He asked, genuinely curious, and wanting a change of subject. The demon looked at the other man, green eyes full of curiosity.

"I've been thinking since we last met, about my place in the world, and what I really want. I don't know what I want to do with my life just yet, but I do know one thing: I want to experience more human things, like love." He mused, a familiar sparkle in his eyes. He was rambling again, but he was happy, seeing a familiar face and talking like this. It was almost a human experience, mundane and ordinary.

"Work." he'd give a short answer, unsure of the true details of his mission. The eyes of the boy seemed to strike his soul as he found more and more reasons to be cautious, but he was bound by a law to aid the mortals of this world. He could not refuse, he feared Kyonshi more than any evil god.

"Is that the only emotion you seek to understand?" he would ask him. He was trapped. Even if he got his task done, he was bound to this. "I have to pick up something, mind if we can do that first?"

“I’ve had experience with many a negative emotion. With instinctual feelings of fear and pain and hate. I wish to experience more positive things! Love, joy, kindness! I do not wish to live an existence of loneliness, as I’ve been doing.” He said, this response quiet but still full of the same conviction. He would experience those things, he would make sure of it. After all, when he actually put his mind to something he could be quite strong.

Thomas’ comment, however, had him raising an eyebrow. What on Pandora could he be picking up? Though, it shouldn’t matter. Thomas wasn’t pushing him away, or trying to leave him alone. All he really needed to know was, the man in question was treating him with more kindness than most would dare to. “Why would I mind? Anything is more interesting than just wandering aimlessly.” He responded, smiling at the man. For now, he had no reason to complain or doubt the man in front of him.

"Ah, I see." She spoke, more so absorbing the information placed in front of him. The kid was a weird sort, but even so he was interesting enough to keep around. He would nod at the boy before turning to take a step in what seemed to be the opposite place he was previously going. "Shouldn't take long." He would say, an awkward smile on his face.

He had to set on his own little errands to fetch one simple thing. "It's a bit of a walk, but I'm sure I can help you with a few of your intimate discoveries of mortal emotions." The way he phrased it was odd, as if the boy's feelings was just another job for him to complete. "So, what have you learned so far, Shane?"

“Well, it isn’t really exclusively mortal, but it was entirely new to me... I learned what lust and intimacy felt like....” the boy admitted, biting his lip and unable to look Thomas in the eye. He was far too embarrassed to outright say he’d lost his virginity since the last time he spoke to the older man. It was still so new and weird... not to mention, he hadn’t actually seen the boy who taught him what sex felt like since they’d had it. It was likely he’d just been looking for a quick fuck... which saddened him, really.

“It felt good to be wanted, even if I have not spoken to him since.” He said, voice going quiet once more. And in truth, even that temporary want had been pleasant. As much as he wanted something more permanent... he enjoyed it. “I haven’t learned much about anything else since we last spoke... I’m not even sure where to begin on those things.”

Thomas wasn't one to take in small moments, fixing himself on pleasuring with the little things. He wasn't the collective of a million little moments that make life enjoyable. No, he was one to set his life upon milestones upon milestones. That being said, all he could say in reply to the young boy was, "Oh?"

Though the following mention of a him and not having contact was something to catch his attention. He gave a slight turn and a smile upon hearing it, a bit curious, but unsure where to start. He still continued to walk forward. "Then I take it that it was only for a single night then? Shame." he would say, laughing a bit.

“It was, which is surprising to me. He declared himself my boyfriend out of nowhere, too! But he hasn’t contacted me since, and it’s been quite a while now.” He admitted, sighing as he did so. Had their whole night really been one of simple lust, never to speak again? He’d liked that human, but it probably wasn’t to be. He knew when he wasn’t wanted. He just wished that someone would keep him around for once, even if only for a friends with benefits type of relationship.

“Humans are so fickle with their emotions. I wish they wouldn’t lie to me about their intentions and make promises they won’t keep.” He finally added, biting his lip once more. He still wanted to learn what being human felt like, but he’d never understand lying, or why humans seemed to like it so much. What was the point in telling anything but the truth? Lies always came back to bite in the end, whether it be through consequences or plain and simple guilt.

"Well, this isn't exactly a world fit for them." Always an interesting conversation, one he took great pride in. So many mortals had found their way into this god touched land. So few understood it, and even less prospered. Most existed, just wandering without aim trying to find answers to someone else's questions. They wanted closure more than anything. They could have anything they could desire, but they sought an ending that sat right with their souls. In a way, Thomas couldn't blame them. Perhaps it was just something he would never really learn to experience.

"There is no mortal end here, and in some places, time doesn't even pass. Whose to say he left. Perhaps he is living in yesterday while you're in tomorrow." A strange way to put it, but he figured the point would be made. "However, if its the story of your souls bonding that he runs from, well, his loss I suppose."