How I wish I was a lazy coward...

It had been a couple of days since Miriam had left the rectory. In her fear of meeting new, powerful demons she had been reluctant to leave, but as always forced herself despite her fears to leave. She had a weapon now, but it would be useless unless she was able to taint it with the blood of a demon, so a demon she would find. She had already fixed the trap and covered it with more rubble. Hopefully only the yellow eyed demon and Calcifer would be able to know of the trap, and so anyone else would still be fooled. Hopefully, at least.

Miriam had barely had time to stand up after covering the trap before Calcifer grabbed her arm from behind, waisting no time before he disarmed her. In pure surprise Miriam was too shocked to defend herself, and ended up doing nothing but release a loud gasp.
"That is getting rather old," he told her with a plastered on smile. It was rather annoying getting trapped in devil traps, and though other demons tended to get themselves trapped far more often than himself, as a crossroads demon, he could not say he was completely unaware of the extreme annoyance and frustration that followed a devil's trap. As if the girl was not annoying and frustrating enough on her own.
Still twisting her arm behind her back, he laid his head on her shoulder to whisper in her ear, on purpose getting uncomfortably close.
"Where's your boyfriend, dearie?"

The brutal, sudden force made Miriam drop the knife amongst the rubble, but damned herself as soon as she did. It was the only thing she had to fight off the demon, and she had just given it up in pure shock. She felt like an utter fool, and his closeness made this situation no more favorable.
"Why?" she snarled through gritted teeth. "Didn't get enough last time?"

He twirled her around and shoved her up against a wall so she would no longer have any more escape routes if she decided to try anything. He had no doubts in his mind she was the type of girl who just didn't give up that easily, and taking precautions seemed rather sensible.
His angry glare stared her in the eyes, but he immidiatly softened his expression to that of a soft smile, glancing down on her.
"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. We are about to tear you limb from limb whilst you are still alive to feel every excrusiating, painful movement."
He looked down on her, leaning his face dangerously close to hers, lingering his lips only inches from hers, as a hint to what he wanted.
"Or..."

He was so close the smell of his borrowed flesh started to repulse her, and to make him step away she spit him in the face. She could not have possibly missed from how close his face had been, and she could not help but smugly think he brought it on himself by daring to get so close.
"Even if it wouldn't damn me to Hell, there is still no way I'd kiss a monster like you."

Angrily he wiped off the spit with one hand, whilst still holding her against the wall with the other. The bruises on her neck was still more than visible, and it was the only thing that kept him smug enough to stay calm after what she had just done to him. Instead he simply tightened his grip around her wrists until she winced in pain, before he once again got uncomfortably close to her. He was certain she would not try the same foolish thing twice, when she knew well what he was capable of right now, and so he dared to lay his other hand teasingly around her waist.
"Something tells me you've done a lot more to a lot less," he smiled smugly. Of course he could only assume, but her shocked expression at his words still had him holding back a laughter as this just about confirmed his speculations, though whether or not it was Rin he was not sure.

Rin had started to walk across the Cathedral, leaving the mark of either Lillith's name or the symbols of a similar effect across the walls. Mostly randomly placed, and yet now his hands were dripping with the blood. However he hoped the job would be good enough for Lillith to be momentarily pleased. He had not particularly lectured anyone about Lillith's words so far, and yet he found himself looking upon the perfect scenario. Calcifer teasing a human. All would be perfect except it was Miriam, and although he knew that Lillith's commands were entirely clear in his mind he still was hesistant.
Remaining quiet and in the shadows, he decided to wait and see what he was doing. They were both extremely close, which made his skin crawl, which he assumed was the typical disgust of seeing a human and demon so close. However he knew he had done just the same, worse even. Clearly he had not been thinking logically, as the image before him now was repellent.

His touch made her skin crawl, but not in a good way, and she quickly looked away, towards the door of the rectory, to save herself from the inevitable disgust that followed looking upon his face this close. What was the undying obsession demon seemed to have for human lips?
"Let go of me," she muttered with gritted teeth and clenched fists in an attempt to calm her anger and not do anything foolish in such a dangerous situation. She could get herself killed in a heartbeat if she decided to try the things she had done with Rin. But Rin had also informed her Calcifer did not want her dead. He had admitted to as much himself, so until he brought her to someone she had nothing to fear.

He sighed finding her less and less amusing by the minute, and on her command he let go of her waist, however searching for a better part of her body to place his hands. He did not in any way desire this filthy, ugly human being, and so her hair seemed good enough, pulling it so tight she was forced to stay on her toes to relieve herself of the worst pain. Yet, she refused to cry, which angered him to no ends.
"I'm being rather merciful, you should thank me," he told her calmly as he kept pulling at the roots of her hair, wanting to see tears.

Sighing Rin came out of the shadows, pretending to not have noticed Miriam and for all purposes ignored her. He still reminded himself of what Lillith had told him, and knew his actions should not be given the possibility of being taken the wrong way.
'So Calcifer, have you finally managed to get a deal out of one?' he smirked, knowing from what he had seen this was not the case. 'You should know Lillith's not happy right now' he said, finally glancing over at Miriam but not for long. He put down the cup of remaining blood and looked at them two, still gripping the knife tightly until his knuckles were pale.
'And you said you were the gentlemanly one of us' he smirked, mocking him. 'You shouldn't strop just because you can't get your own way now, should you?'

Her heart felt like it had stopped as she heard Rin's voice and snapped her head back around to see him. Immidiatly her heart sped up by the sight of him, and she could only hope that even though standing so near Calcifer would not feel it.
As her eyes met his when he glanced at her she knew she was dead. Unlike other times when Rin had saved her, they were no longer alone, and she knew his reputation as a fierce, blood-thirsty demon was put far above whatever she was to him. He would never dare to hesitate before slicing into her. Truth be told, after their recent conversations she was sure he would be more than happy to.

Surprised, Calcifer turned around to see Rin, still not letting go of Miriam's wrists, holding them so tightly he risked cutting off the blood. Not that he cared, that would be solemly her own problem. Unlike a lot of demons lately he felt nothing for humans other than disgust.
"I treat her far better than you would, I'm sure," he smiled fake, choosing to ignore his first words, not wanting to deal with that for now. He had tried but failed, and though Lillith may not be happy with him there was nothing he could do about that for now. He would get those souls, he was sure. In either case he highly doubted he was her main priority at times like this, when so many seemed to be betraying her.
Seeing his chance to annoy Rin he took a step back, closing in on Miriam before he glanced over at her as if she was nothing more than an uninteresting, unappetising pile of flesh. She held no interest in her if he could not have her soul, and yet he needed her for Cali's approval.
"Isn't that right dearie?" he asked, teasingly moving a stray hair behind her ear and laughing as she recoiled from the touch.

He once more felt a wave of disgust at the contact and snapped at Calcifer. 'Oh quit playing with your food will you?' he glared. 'You may not care but I have to deal with Lillith, whilst everyone else seems to just flail around ignoring that small litlle fact.'
He looked straight at him, unsure of where his sudden annoyance had come from. Of course, Calcifer usually had this effect. 'Regardless of whether or not you think you are safe, running around and twisting stories about each of us is not exactly going to be pleasing to her ears. I'm sure you don't want me discussing such matters with her when I return now, do you?' he grinned.
Then he focused on what he was doing to Miriam. 'If you are trying to make a delivery to Cali I suggest you stop trying- she has much more to concern herself with now we both have work to do.' He knew now was not the best time to talk of their deal, of sorts, with Calcifer. He assumed that Cali would not threaten Miriam with her new-found concern to protect her pet. He hardly considered it fair of him to remain quiet if the treatment was not mutual.

She struggled to hear what they were talking about, her mind instead racing through possible ways of escaping, and as Calcifer's grip grew looser whilst he spoke to Rin she quickly twisted out of his grip and made a run for it. She had not thought the idea through, and in no way did she expect to manage her foolish attempt, but it was all she could do if she was not to sit around and wait for her agonising death.

"Rin, whatever do you mea-" he started with a fake smile, but his expressions changed as quickly as his posture when Miriam wriggled from his grip. Without hesitating he grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall with such force it brought forth a scream of intense sudden pain. After all his efforts to see her tears, this brought a genuine smile to his face, and though she didn't cry, the pain she experienced was obvious.
"Why don't you stay? Like a nice little bitch?" he asked, feeling the dog-metaphor to be rather fitting.

His eyes followed both Calcifer and Miriam, and he glared back at him. 'You know exactly what I'm talking about, you manipulative son of a bitch!' he practically shouted. 'Lillith has to hear her stories from someone, and we all know how much a mouth like yours likes to talk.'
He walked right up to him, unnerved. 'You may have no shred of dignity, but one day all of that talk of yours is going to collapse on itself. Making allies never lasts in here.. and theres none of you to fall back on.'
He flicked his eyes at Miriam, his expression emotionless at her. She had been stupid enough to try and run, even more stupid for being outside of the rectory again. Everyone seemed to do the opposite of what he said these days.

The sudden pain subdued quickly as her arm went numb. For a moment she was worried, but she was still able to move it, even if not as much as usual, and she saw that as a good sign that it would recover sooner or later. It was still a worrysome injury as it would slow her down.
Looking down, she couldn't notice Rin's glances, but yet her skin crawled knowing he was so close once again. It had been a while since she saw him, and even then they had been far apart. She hated the weak feeling, and quickly shook it off, focusing rather on Calcifer, though even he did next to nothing to avert her attention. For some reason she could not help herself around him, and it made her angry with herself.

He looked back to Rin as he suddenly seemed to have gotten quite aggrivated, revealing what an uncontrollable beast he really was. The distaste for him was obvious as he glared back. It may be hypocritical of him, but he rather disliked it when people took to raising their voices.
"I never mention names," he said and shrugged. "If she's angry with you she must have drawn that conclusion herself. Besides, I'd never tell her about your pet," he continued, stroking Miriam's hair to make it clear who he was speaking of. "If I did it would only result in Lillith finishing her off herself, and then who would I have fun with?" They both knew he only needed her because Cali had requested her, but he figured the way he had phrased things were equally true. She was kind of amusing, even if stubborn, and he had not given up on claiming her soul just yet.

He snatched his hand away from her, no longer bearing the sickening feeling in his stomach.
'I suggest you leave yourself of matters that do not concern you and back off' he spat, too tired to dispute his wording. He would never like the term pet, but as Lillith had taught him humans had their uses that would be taken advantage of. Calcifer on the other hand was just disrupting this.
'If you have a problem go talk it over with Cali. Though I suggest you remind her of me and the little blonde human of hers. I assume she'll be much less willing if you do so.'
He gripped his knife in his hand, waving it slightly to draw his attention to it. 'Times are extremely volatile Calcifer. If you want to make yourself useful go work out a way of getting in these humans heads and finding out what they actually want, rather than try and deny the fact you would rather spend time with them.'

Miriam absolutely hated how this demon, as well as the yellow-eyed seem to call her a pet. She was nobody's pet, and she glared at Rin, trying to get her point across without opening her mouth for Calcifer to hear. She was nobody's pet, she had already clearly told him this earlier when she spat him in the face. She only hoped he remembered, and wouldn't be as foolish as to think of her as something so weak.
Other than that however, she kept quiet, and even as Rin removed Calcifer's hand from her she did not run, in fear it would have consequences.

He scowled at Rin, clearly annoyed he had laid a hand on him. The more he did the more his assumptions were being confirmed. However, just because Rin had a weapon he was not willing to back down on this fight, he had gone through great lengths to get this human girl, and he was not giving up on her just yet. He doubted Rin would even dare to stab a fellow demon over something as pityful as a human, that would severly hurt Rin far more than it could ever hurt Calcifer, and they both knew that. His eyes seemed to almost dare him to even try to make a move.
"Don't think me stupid Rin, I know perfectly well what you're up to. The girl is dying, by Cali's hands or someone elses, but there is nothing you can do about it, so I suggest you walk away before you come to do something we shall both regret," he said, his voice seemingly calm.

'And who says I'm trying to prevent that?' he remarked. 'Surely you are the only one trying to stop that.. isn't that what your kind do? Steer clear of all the killing, drag all the humans down with us? I'm suprised we ever get rid of anyone what with all your supposedly tempting propositions?'
He kept his knife in Calcifers sight. 'I have hurt you before, remember? I am under command to make Lillith's instructions very clear, and your lack of respect is somewhat worrying me.' He smiled at him. 'Am I clear?'

"Without my kind Hell would be in a severe shortage, you are well aware of that," he smiled mockingly. Though Rin was resentful to crossroads demons, he had no one to blame but himself, and taking it out on his kind was more than just pointless. Though a crossroads demon had been coinsidentally available in his hour of need, the decision had still been with Rin, and whether or not he liked it, it would forever be his own fault.
He glanced at the knife in disgust, remembering the horrific pain it could cause once in contact with his skin.
"You are under nothing but selfish impulses," he stared at him, not willing to take his word this time, as his actions spoke a different truth.

In reminding him of his own deal, and openly mocking him for it, Rin had no choice but to revert to such impulses as what Calcifer spoke of, and he quickly stabbed him in the thigh.
'I think you should know I don't lie when I make myself clear..' he said as he heard his pain. 'You are foolish to ignore me' he smirked, then removing the knife. 'If anyone sees they will know you have been either disobedient or got yourself in more trouble with a human, and technically both are true. I don't want to hear any fallicious stories, or I'll have to tell Lillith about this lying compulsion you seem to have developed.'
He grinned, trying to hold back a laugh at how pathetic he was. 'Now I mean it when I say it- go!'

Calcifer roared in pain as Rin drove the knife into his thigh, but quickly glared at him, having to hold his tounge not to swear.
"I don't lie. I don't need to," he said threateningly, reminding him of his own mishaps. This was definitively one of them and they both knew one thing very certain, even if Rin had won this round by brutal force. He had still made a major mistake by protecting the girl.
"You are going to regret this," he snarled at him before he limped away quickly in fear of being stabbed once again.