Beating our Hearts

'Fair enough' he said standing up. 'Now be prepared to grab me' he said quickly, not giving her long to prepare for what he was about to do. However she had made it across, so he knew he was perfectly capable also, and whilst time was of the essence he decided he would prefer to remain her side.
He took a small run up, but suprising to even himself he managed to make it across, only holding her arm to ensure he did not fall back. 'That really is a nuisence' he smirked at her, although his smile was still weak. He could not help but feel betrayed by what she had done, but if he was going to be optimistic about this then he would make the best of now than hold a grudge. Leaning in, he kissed her passionately, rather than focus on what was displayed across her skin. Even when he broke the kiss, he still held on to her, unsure of what else to say or do. It was all he could do to distract himself, and shakily he clung to her.

She looked up, but didn't understand the meaning of his words until she saw him backing up. She barely had time to get to her feet before he jumped across, and though he had wanted him to do just that, she had never expected it. If anything she had assumed he was angry with her and about to leave. When he kissed her lips however all despaired thoughts disappear and she focused on kissing him back with the same passion he was giving her.
It was only up close that she could really feel him shaking, not knowing still why this had upset him so gravely, but knowing that it had.
"I'm sorry," she said rather weakly as she rested her head against his chest, clinging to him with the same might. She didn't know how she was supposed to get him out a second time, or if he wanted to risk jumping, but it wasn't important now. Only he was.

'Its a bit too late for that' he said with obvious regret of what she had done, but he knew that there was little point in remarking on the obvious. Instead he stood there, not wanting to let go in fear she would not return. There was simply no reason to keep her alive now, even if there had been before.
'Aside from right now I can hardly say that life is so bad' he remarked, gently. 'Then again I presume things are always like that when you have Lillith on your side.' He sighed, gently stroking her hair. 'Its more or less a matter of getting used to, and you seem far more prepared than I was' he mumbled.

"What do you mean?" she asked gently against his chest. The soothing strokes meant more to her than she would ever dare to admit, and closing her eyes she felt like nothing was wrong with the world anymore. In fact, there was no other world known to her than right here in his arm.
Of course he had not been prepared, though whatever horrible thing he had done in his past life had to be enough to make him wonder where he was going after death, if it was that much graver than anything she had done in her own life. She didn't want to think of Rin as a horrible human being, even if he had sinned as a demon, though she knew he would have had to if it had lead him to a life as a demon.

'Doesn't matter' he said hesitantly, realising the slip-up. 'Just by all means necessary make the most of now' he added.
He sighed, holding her. 'Now what did you ask for?' he asked, pulling back to look at her, prehaps more forcibly than before. He was just trying to make sure that there could be no reprocussions as a result of what she had asked for. If not then prehaps trouble only had just started.
More than anything he also wanted to change the subject. He didn't know why, but he did not want her to know about his deal. It might improve her own image of him, but it would not help him. He already saw himself as pathetic enough due to recent events, to him denying any real claim to what he was now would just confirm this. Furthermore he was certain if she knew he had also dealed then she would only be frustrated at him for not warning her before, and he did not need another reason for her to be annoyed at him.

She felt the bag with her foot, now all the more aware of how close Rin was to the weapon, but she had to show him. She only hoped he wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything drastic, but it seemed pretty obvious to her he was desperate for a way out of his existence. Maybe it was selfish of her to keep it from him, but she did not want to loose him, specially not now when she had only just gotten him.
She took a step back, knelt, and fetched the beautiful weapon from her bag. It seemed to glow in the light from the hole in the ceiling, and though she hated the weapon, and she knew it was only an illusion of light, it still amazed her. However, she would not hand it over, and she held it in safe distance of Rin, clutching it to make sure he could not take it from her hands with force.
"This," she said simply, holding it close to her chest so he could see it, but not touch it. Of course, he didn't know the powers the blade had, and she wouldn't tell him until she had to, or at least until he was certain he would not do anything stupid.

'You asked for another weapon?' he sighed, not holding back his annoyance. 'If you wanted one so bad you know you could have asked me, or another demon. You didn't need to go through Calcifer! Times are not so desperate that you should have felt any need to resort to that.'
He looked at it curious, never having seen a blade like it. It wasn't ordinary that was for certain.
'What is it?' he asked more slowly as analysed what he could see. It was obvious however that she was guarding it, and he supposed that was reasonable considering that she had sold her soul for it.

"I don't know, and I don't care," she said, ignoring his mockery. She knew it was so much more than a simple weapon, but she was not about to tell him that. She looked down at it again in order to examine the blade further. It was light, far lighter than any other knife she had held before, and it was bright too, blinding almost if the sun had hit it the right way, and so she was happy they were inside, but what material it was she couldn't say.
"Does it matter?" she asked. She assumed he must be curious as it was definitively not iron, nor anything else which was known to hurt demons.

'You sold your soul for it so yes, I would consider it significant!' he said, annoyed that she didn't seem to care. 'Most deals people try and save their own lives, or bring back a loved one. Not something thats in relative abundance!'
Exasperated, he already knew he was infuriated with her once more. 'Do you want to suffer? Is that it?'
He could not fathom what it was about that weapon, but he knew that whatever Calcifer had created it was not just a mere blade. But if she did not tell him he was certain he could force it out of Calcifier personally.

He was shouting again, and though she could fairly easily ignore his mockery, his anger was something she didn't appreciate.
"That's not what I sold for!" she yelled at him in pure anger, and though she regretted it the following second, it was nothing she could take back. For some reason, though she loathed the blade, she felt the need to defend it. It was hers now, part of her, it was important to her.
"Promise me you won't do anything stupid if I tell you what it is," she said after a moment of silence, her voice shaking and uncertain, still not wanting to tell him, but she supposed she would have to if it would allow them to stop fighting, just for once.

'What is it?' he said sternly, not answering her question. He by now only wanted to know what she had sold for, and curiosity was too much. He could not imagine what on earth the blade could possibily possess to make it so valuable, but clearly it was something or else it would not have been worth it. To be honest he was doubting that too, but it was good to think that she had sold for more than just any weapon.
'Well?' he asked impaitently.

She sighed realizing he would not promise, and though fear was evident in her voice as she uttered the words she told him.
"It can kill demons," she muttered, clutching the knife tighter and taking a step back as if to create some more distance between Rin and the blade, but she quickly stopped when her back touched the wall. He could not take it from her, she wouldn't allow him to. It was hers, and she wouldn't allow him to use it for his own selfish means of killing himself. Even if it wasn't what he intended to use it for he could not have it. No one could, not ever.

He looked at it in suprise, not having believed that such a blade would have existed, let alone been in such close proximerty to him. In all honesty he was suprised that Calcifer had made it, but he guessed that showed how desperate he really was. It was also evident that she would not let him near it, but he knew that however tempting it was to use it he would not ever be able to. Not now that Miriam had decided to give away her soul. Even if she would forget after her ordeal in the Pit, he would still keep the possibility in mind that she would not, and therefore he would stay and wait for her. However it certainly was frustrating, knowing if only he did not care that he could so easily have escaped once and for all.
'How does it work?' he asked, not able to hold back his own curiosity. He wanted to be able to look at it closer, and try and work out what it was made of. But he knew Miriam would not let him touch it, and he could see why.

She looked down on it, but not for long. She had to make sure Rin would not step closer.
"I'm not sure," she said and let a finger ever so gently touch the tip of the blade. Surprisingly it drew blood, if only just a drop, and she stared at it in wonder. It was far greater than anything she had asked for, and the blade fascinated her to no end. She almost seemed to forget Rin's presence, but when she looked at him again her mind seemed to be somewhere far away from this place and him, focused only on the knife.
"I assume the same way as killing a human," she said with a bitter smile. She wasn't sure if any contact at all would be enough to kill him, but though she doubted it she would not take the risk.

'That seems to make sense' he said weakly, oddly drawn to the blade. He could not help but feel excited at the prospect of once more being mortal- of having a limit on the pain he could feel, and an end. But he forced himself not to think that way, knowing that there was no point trying. Miriam would not let him and that was that.
'Guess theres only one way to find out' he sighed, wondering which of the demons would be first to experience freedom he could not have. Certainly he had some favourites- Alastair or Calcifer for instance. But he assumed Miriam would not be picky.

She stared at him in terror for a moment before realizing he had meant other demons, and not himself.
"Yeah," she agreed eventually, looking from him to the weapon and back. It had filled her with such extreme hatred earlier, but now it seemed it had all passed. It was odd how quickly she had grown fond of the thing, it even felt good in her hand as she turned it in the air, testing it out.
"Pretty isn't it?" she said in fascination, more to herself really than to Rin.

'Yes' he sighed, following it with his eyes, and it seemed the more she used it the more drawn he was to it. 'Use it wisely' he said. 'And don't let it fall in the wrong hands.' He smiled weakly at his last comment, knowing that applied to him also. 'Deals tend to make a habit of never going as you once planned.'
If he was allowed to take it then the consequences were prehaps all too obvious, but if any other demon had it she would have no idea of the havoc they would cause. Nothing that would affect the humans, or in fact prehaps even harm them. But demons would die and any form of order would be lost, that was for sure. It just depending who got it first, he thought, and he was certain that word would spread sooner or later of Calcifer's deal.

"Think I'll save myself a nice position if I kill her myself?" she asked, thinking to Lillith. She was somehow reluctant to say her name which sounded like acid to her now. The jealousy burnt deep, maybe more so than her logic, and she toyed with the idea of letting her blood drip down her blade. If no one else, she wanted to get to Lillith. She had barely even seen the demon once, and yet the hatred burnt deeper than the one she had originally held towards Rin.

'I don't think thats a good idea' he said sternly. He was certain that whatever reason she had to hate Lillith, she was not thinking straight and certainly underestimating her. Prehaps this was fuelled by his own words, but in either case it was not based upon any reason.
Furthermore he had an own personal reluctance to killing her, even if he had no reason to remain loyal. Unlike himself, he was sure Lillith had no desires to die. All her attempts would result in was the weapon being lost and Miriam almost certainly being dead.

She spared him a sideways glare before she looked down on her weapon, pretending not to be hurt by his words.
"Of course you don't," she muttered bitterly, knowing the reasons why he probably wanted her alive. Though he had sacrificed all for her, she had no expectancies of him staying faithful to her. He was a demon after all, and they could hardly think of themselves as a traditional couple.

'I was more concerned with the consequences of you killing her than anything more trivial' he said bitterly. 'I cannot think of anyone who would be able to so readily replace her, and unfortunately her rivals are not much better either. I personally would rather keep my self-comfort whilst I can rather than be deemed the one responsible for subsequently bringing Lillith to her own demise at the hands of a human. You and I would not be treated any better, not whilst loyalties still run high in Hell.'

She finally put the weapon back into her bag sighing, glancing at the iron knife inside. She somehow wanted to give it to Rin for protection, but she also knew it was not hers to give, it did not belong to her at all, and she was unsure if Rin would really need a weapon more than Proteus did.
It didn't matter to her what rank she was given in her next life, it seemed stupid to fuss over anything similar in her current situation. She had simply used it as an excuse to slit her throat, but she knew Rin's words rang true. However, she was still annoyed by his reluctance to want her gone.
"It's her or me in any case, if I survive long enough to see the end of the war," she said, but without looking at him, smiling bitterly. She knew it was a fight she could never win, but it would not stop her from trying. She was not one for giving up, she never had been.

'Yes, well, be careful' he said, slightly begrudgingly. His eyes followed the weapon until it was out of sight, but he still kept the bag's location in mind. 'Don't tell anyone what you've done either. I can't imagine they will be able to ask questions unless you show them, which I suppose is the advantage of not bringing someone back from the dead like Calcifer's last trick then.'
He sat back down, alongside the bag, but keeping himself far enough from it so that she was not threatened. 'And would you rather die like that? You know that otherwise the hell hounds come for you..' he sighed. 'And literally rip you apart.' He grimanced at the thought. Obviously Lillith would not be kind either, but some form of injury would not be anything worse than what he had already saved her from.
It was then that he remembered the demon blood he had given at her, and paying much attention to it it seemed it had worked. He had been so worked up about her deal that he had forgot, but she did not seem addicted he was relieved to see.

She glanced at him angrily as he spoke, but quickly scooted over to where he was sitting, letting her head rest on his shoulder. She was still between him and the bag, and she knew if he was to try to be rash she had time to stop him. This was what calmed her. She just needed to be close to him now.
"Shut up," she muttered, but not angrily. She just didn't want to hear it, didn't want to think of her future, did not want to think of anything but this moment. Talking about it would make nothing better, and would gain no purpose other than scaring her. She just wished he would stop talking.

'Sorry, I guess I was just considering our options' he said solemnly. He was still annoyed at her, but it was not really worth it if he kept picking at her every word. He stayed there with her, not sure what other comfort he could provide. Obviously nothing was helping his own concerns, but nothing really would he supposed. Instead he just sat in silence, knowing anything he said would just reflect his own pessimism.
He tried to remember his own thoughts at this time, but they were mostly consumed with grief rather than any else. He supposed that empty, numbness had followed, but wasn't that natural of mourning? Truely by comparison he had no idea what she was feeling, but he dared not ask in case she broke down.