Forgotten Horrors

[xXRassBerriXx]

Glancing to her, it seemed that she hadn't chosen to pity him... or at least he tried to convince himself of that. Though his past was something that would constantly weigh on him, he didn't like to be looked down upon for it and he considered pity to be such a thing. He didn't need his past to stay strong, at least he didn't at the time, yet it would get a little hard at times when you had so few memories of comfort, or of the funner times. He didn't have much to fight for and most of his friends would't care if he were to drop dead as long as they gained from it.


He noticed that it had gotten darker and he did hope he could last the next hour seeing as night had begun to fall, he knew it would be problematic if he passed out along the sidewalk or in public. He assumed he should have rested longer, but his dream wouldn't seem to allow that. He just needed to make it to the apartment then he assumed she wouldn't truly mind if he were to doze of there.


"Its fine if your curious about me" He said quietly, looking towards the odd lights that brightened the night. "You'll probably figure it out at some point anyways, so it would be less of an embarrassment to tell you now rather than then..."


"Let's speed up, it's getting dark..." He suggested, hoping not to reach a state of unconsciousness in front of her or truly anyone, he couldn't hold his illusion when in that state.

 

[spacepanda]

Sensing a slight need for urgency on his end she pulled him to a sudden stop. “Are you alright? Because if we keep going this way it’s going to be quite a while before we get back…”


The last thing she needed was Akaski’s horns and tail to sprout out in the midst of their meal. She was sure that wouldn’t end well. She mentally calculated the amount of time it would take for them to arrive to their destination, eat, shop, and get back home. Around two hours…


“Maybe you should head back. I can bring some food and stuff by myself.” She eyed him in silence. Finding something for him to sleep in wouldn’t be too hard…

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

He glanced over to her as she pulled him to a stop. Akaski could probably push himself through an hour maybe even two if he was really careful. He knew he couldn't use his energy to warm himself, and he would have to rely on his current apparel. Akaski would normally grow tired around the time that he had about thirty minutes left, he would just need to push pass the will to sleep and force himself awake through that time, and maybe it would give him what he needed to at least make it to the apartment.


Truly, he just didn't want to end up worrying about her again. He wasn't used to it, and he didn't truly like to know that he actually did worry over someone... he would probably get worked up and end up treading back out into the snow again to find her.


"I'm fine, you don't need to worry" He replied, forcing a small grin on his face. "I don't feel tired, I'll pull of into an alley or something if I need a short break. So don't worry about it."

 

[spacepanda]

Anja took a deep breath; couldn’t help it, she did worry about it. People had already seen her with the demon today, hell, she had even told Greg that he was a close friend! If something were to happen to him… Oh my gods, she realized. If something were to happen to him, life probably wouldn’t go very well for her.


She shook her head, it was cold and they needed to hurry. She wasn’t sure if she could exactly trust what he was saying, although his grin did comfort her a tiny bit. Hurriedly grabbing his hand she made a face of solid determination. “Okay, let’s go. Quickly.” She broke out into a run, pulling him behind her.


They weren’t that far from the buffet, and if they ran they could probably reach it in about five minutes. At least the activity would keep them warm.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Surprised by her sudden sprint he nearly stumbled over but he managed to catch his balance and follow after her. He glanced to the snow crunching beneath his feet, then to the lights passing by, and lastly to Anja ahead of him. It seemed she was still fretting over his condition, it seemed he would need to hold out.


It might get difficult, but as long as he pushed he was sure he would hopefully be able to make it at least inside before wavering. He didn't wish to be found out now after what she had told him would occur, and if he was found in a weakened state he wouldn't exactly be able to defend himself, so he had more than one reason to continue.


Regardless, he followed after her. At least he hadn't gained a head ache yet, no warning lingered within him though he assumed they would begin to occur soon.

 

[spacepanda]

Stopping suddenly Anja let go of the demon’s hand, doubling over. She wasn’t exactly the healthiest person around, and their run had left her quite winded. It was all a bit embarrassing, really. She pointed to the building now to their right, “We’re… here.” She spoke in between huffs.


Ugh, I’m such a loser, Anja straightened herself as her breath returned. She cleared her throat, “I haven’t… run in a while.”


Rummaging through her purse, she brought out her wallet. “Okay, we go in, I pay, you follow me, you eat. Got it?” It seemed like a simple idea to her, anyway. Now that the day was almost over, she realized she hadn’t really eaten much since breakfast. A hunger pang hit her as she thought about the varieties of food offered in the facility. Surely Akaski would be able to find something suitable.


“You can eat as much as you want here…” She meant to inform him, but the idea was actually more exciting to her. She was now ‘officially’ starving.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Akaski looked ahead to the new building, he didn't appear to be as winded as her as he did have to walk mostly on foot in the demonic realm, and he often did have to participate in active activities such as fighting or running. It was part of his typical day in a sense, yet it seemed that things in the human realm weren't as lively. He hadn't seen a single fight all day nor had he seen really any violence at all. It was much calmer than what he was accustomed to and it did allow him to relax a bit, he wouldn't need to use any of his more exhausting magics.


"It's fine... I don't see much of a need to run here anyways" he replied, looking ahead at the buffet. He could smell a variety of foods from this place, it wasn't as sweet as the last establishment they had gone to. He wondered what spicy or salty human foods would taste like seeing as all he had so far was sweet.


Being aware that he was supposed to follow her, he chose not to go on in without her. He was oddly obedient as he normally didn't take orders from anyone, but being in a new place he did require some guidance before he would chose to attempt things alone.

 

[spacepanda]

Growling, she gave him a playful shove. “I ran here for you, dimwit!” Okay, so maybe she had actually mostly run out of fear for her own self-preservation… and the prospect of stuffing her face.


Opening the door she raised herself to the tips of her toes to view the food in the distance. It all looked and smelled delicious. She licked her lips subconsciously. This place had almost everything, from ham to tacos, from asparagus to- Oh my gods, is that fried rice?


Within moments she had paid and held two large blue plates in her hands. She passed one to Akaski with obvious excitement. She didn’t exactly treat herself like this often, and she was prepared to feast; she was in heaven.


“Take anything you want,” she beamed, “As long as it’s already dead.” She added quickly. Nope, no eating of live fish or small children happening tonight. Not on her watch.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Looking first to the plate, he then peered around the area towards all the unfamiliar foods. Moving around he would eye everything and carefully select what he would place upon his plate, or at least he saw it to be a careful selection. Truly he had picked up quiet a bit of foods all in different varieties.


Meats, fruits, grains, nearly everything you could name as he held a few of each and his plate seemed to be a little overfilled, yet he balanced it carefully. He assumed eating this much would supply him with some energy, though he didn't gain as much from eating as he did from sleeping. It might add a few minutes or such, maybe even a full ten.


He obeyed her rules of not taking any living things, though he wasn't sure exactly what was served live. That seemed like a cruel way to eat, but then again some demons would consume they're own kind live... he couldn't blame humans if they did something similar.


Once he finished his collection, he returned to Anja readied to follow her once again as he had no clue what he was supposed to do after he got the food.

 

[spacepanda]

Anja had filled her plate with mostly meats, as she rarely got to eat any. Her plate displayed a 6 oz steak, a good section of pork shoulder, and a chicken breast, although she had added a piece of cornbread for good measure. What can I say? I’m feeling carnivorous! She mentally shrugged as Akaski walked back over to her with his plate nearly overflowing.


She lead him to a small table where she sat herself and her plate down before peering up at him. “Um… you can get another plate if you want…” She wasn’t exactly sure if he was going to eat everything he had selected, or if he was holding himself back for lack of space.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

He placed his plate on the other end of the table, mimicking her in a sense just to get accustomed to how this placed worked. He shook his head as she suggested seconds, at least he wouldn't chose to get them now as he had so much to eat already. He knew he would probably be growing tired soon, so this was probably a good idea to allow him to gain more energy, at least enough to supply him until they reached the apartment.


"I'm good for now" He replied, taking a seat and glancing over his food. He wasn't sure how much of it was supposed to be eaten and he removed his glove from his right hand setting it aside to avoid getting food all over it. With that, he began to eat in the way that he assumed this was supposed to be eaten.

 

[spacepanda]

Reaching over to grab some of the cutlery on the table Anja began to eat her food in a way that could only be described as wolfish. The food was delicious! She hadn’t realized until that very moment how exhausted the day that made her. She was thankful that the buffet was practically empty, so no one really had to witness her eat like she never had proper meals... especially with how people loved to talk about her.


Not sure if demons were very social creatures, she hesitated a moment before asking Akaski another question. “So what is it that demons exactly do? Do you guys have jobs? Oh! And why were you so surprised that I didn’t know demons existed? Do humans run around the demon realm often?” She stopped eating for a moment while she considered that. Conspiracy theories were once again running rampant in her mind and her brain was starting to hurt. She paused a moment from eating to rub her temples.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Akaski had begun eating much like her, though he soon did come to know which foods were finger foods and which were not. Much of it he found to his liking, though what he didn't take to he simply pushed to the side of his plate. Most of the vegetables laid there, as did some of the grains, but he seemed to like fruits and meats. He would often eat berries as a snack in the demon realm, collecting them when he could though at times he would find himself with a stomach ache do to eating what would be a poisonous berry if he were human.


He paused in his eating as she questioned him, peering up from his plate before going into to explanation. "Well, I normally get money by winning bets or requesting it in deals, but some demons sell things or grow things. Some are requested to guard the more powerful demons in return for pay as others are healers... but humans are rare in the demonic realm and we don't truly know how they get there, but it is popular news when one does show up so everyone hears about it. I thought humans would have been the same about demons, but it seemed they prefer to kill them rather than talk about them"

 

[spacepanda]

Anja blanched. So travel between the realms was something that was common? Her headache began to grow and she suddenly lost her appetite, pushing her food aside.


“Akaski,” she spoke softy, “you have to promise me you’ll be careful...” An expression of weary concern spread over her face. Now that she knew that demons might actually visit the human world often, she wasn’t feeling very well. She felt a bit over her head to be honest.


She took a deep breath, as she was unsure if she was going to like the answer to her next question. But, on reflection, it couldn’t be worse than what would happen to Akaski… “So, what happens to the humans that you find?”

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

"Most of the time we let them do whatever" He replied to her question. Demons never really cared if a human walked about until they stir up trouble and anger someone important, though Akaski himself had never harmed a human.


"As long as they avoid any troublesome demons and don't try to aggravate anyone, they can get by well. We have a one high up in power right now, she knows her way with words so she easily got herself some fans to have her back... yet, not many of them live to long as, demons tend to be aggressive whenever someone offends them and an unexperienced human wouldn't have a chance. It might make you feel better to know that I've never killed a human" He explained, before taking a couple more bites of his food. He was used to deaths, it happened often.

 

[spacepanda]

Letting out an audible groan, Anja covered her face with her hands, leaning her elbows on the small table. What he had just told her was something out of a fantasy novel. The kind of novels she had grown up reading and loving. She had always been jealous of the protagonists in those stories, traveling through strange lands defeating evil creatures, making a name for themselves despite their humanity. It had been the stuff of dreams.


But now that it was reality she just didn’t know how to cope. She realized that she didn’t actually want adventures after all. She wasn’t made for that kind of stuff. And Akaski didn’t even know how humans got there? What if she just waltzed into it one day?


She didn’t think she was the type of person that would last long. She didn’t have the type of spunk or way with words to make it to the top, and she didn’t have any skills or abilities that would make her useful. Hell, I’m not even useful here.


Peering at Akaski through her fingers she wondered what life had in store for her. How was she supposed to take care of him? Or was she just supposed to just teach him the basics and let him go on his own? Was there some sort of secret service that helped with this sort of thing? Yea, 1-800-I-FOUND-A-DEMON…


She put her head down and let out a cry of frustration.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Akaski was a little surprised by her reaction, he didn't think that the information was bad enough to allow her to have that kind of a reaction. "W-what is it? I'm here so you won't really need to worry about other demons... My illusion is weak, it won't work on demons so they'll take notice to me, and they'll probably stay away from me, and the people near me to avoid trouble."


He paused a moment, maybe that wasn't what had caught her attention and without really letting her explain, he went on himself.


"Unless you want to visit my realm, like that human I talked about. I could take you there the next time I go back, though it would be hard to take two people considering how much energy I wasted moving only myself. I would probably just put us in the house of someone who owes me... though of course you would owe me for taking you there too" He grinned slightly, "It depends on what your mad about."


With that he continued eating away, his plate was nearly empty by this time.

 

[spacepanda]

She shot up at mention of entering his realm, “No. No. I’m fine here, thank you, let’s try to keep the traveling to THIS realm, okay?” She snapped at him. Then feeling instantly guilty for the attitude added, “I’m just a bit… overwhelmed. Sorry.”


It was true. She had never imagined something like this could happen to her. All she had wanted to do today was take a nice stroll through the forest, enjoy the mountain view, maybe draw for a while. You know, relax. Now she was more wound up than a ball of yarn, and Akaski was the kitten.


She smirked at the thought, having compared Akaski to a small animal yet again. He had seemed to enjoy toying with her earlier, why couldn’t she return the favor? She bit her lip, attempting to hold back a smile.


“Why Akaski! Are you trying to tell me you want to take me home? That’s quite forward of you. And you’d protect me too? I had no idea you felt that way.” She couldn’t hold it back anymore, taking one last bite of her steak she gave him a mischievous grin.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Akaski paused a moment as she went on to tease him, a slight florid color crossing him as he was quick to deny it. "N-No! I-I was just saying t... that you could come along if you wanted to!" Though it couldn't be seen, his tail was flaring a bit at his side, he was clearly made embarrassed by her tease.


It caused him to blush a bit more as she came to realize that he had just allowed her to complete her goal, she was messing with him! He had allowed it to happen too, and quickly he tried to get back at her.


"Now then, what could give you such an idea? Having little dreams inside your head of being at the side of a loving demon? I didn't think I was that attractive" He was forcing the stutter out of his voice, attempting to cause her the same embarrassment she had just caused him, though the change in his actions from flustered to teasing was clear he did hope that she would fail to notice and hopefully give an amusing reaction to his late retort.

 

[spacepanda]

Anja allowed herself to give a quick chuckle at his reaction. It had worked, and he was now visibly red. She hadn’t known he could actually react that kind of way, and was now thoroughly enjoying herself.


Or maybe not. “W-what?!” She stammered, the color on her face now matching what his had been just a moment earlier. She had to admit, without the horns and tail he was maybe a tiny bit attractive. But just a little bit! “Shut up! In your dreams!” She was quick to exclaim. Grabbing an unused napkin from the table she crumbled it up and threw it, aiming for his face.


“Besides I’m not the one who woke up from a nap and left the apartment in a frenzy, ‘Oh Anja, I was so worried. What would I do if something happened to you?’” She mocked him, holding a hand to her chest for dramatic effect. She shot him a smug look that said, nope, I’m not backing down. Not this time! He had already had fun messing with her, it was her time to shine now.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

His blushed as she continued, he hadn't expected her to use that agents him, and he immediately regretted having confessed that to her. His tail was once again swishing about at his side as he went on. "I-I wasn't that worried! B-besides, it was only because of the stupid dream! I woke up f-fretting!"


In his embarrassment, he hadn't realized that he had brought up something as personal as his dream. He never really told anyone about them, and even though speaking about it would probably put less of a wait upon his shoulders he was still to stubborn to accept any kind of help. Nor did he realize that he was being rather noisy as he normally was when he felt embarrassed.


"S-sheesh, I should of kept that to myself! M-my bad for trying to cheer you up!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest, a small noise could be heard as his tail would poke at the seat when it flared, he was clear made very flustered as she brought it up.

 

[spacepanda]

Dream? Anja tilted her head, wondering what kind of dream he could have had to make him so upset. But he was now very visibly flustered, and he had yet again admitted to caring for the state of her mood. She heard a rapid succession of thumps which she could only imagine was his tail.


“You know, you’re kind of sweet Akaski,” she spoke softly. He kind of was… for now. If he was going to stay that way was another story. Teasing him had been a bit fun, but she had to make sure she didn’t end up attached to him. She didn’t need one more person -or demon- to add to her ever growing list of people who had betrayed her.


She sighed, glancing at his plate. “Are you done? We still need to get you some clothes...” She hoped that the food had given him some energy, because the night wasn’t yet over.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Akaski was bout to retort to being called sweet when her next question sounded, and he managed to drop the matter for now at least. The sound of his tail grew fainter as he was calming down, glancing down to his plate he had eaten nearly everything except for what he had labeled to be bad tasting.


"Y-yes I'm done..." He murmured, standing up though stilling for a moment as a he felt a tad light-headed, though luckily it faded after a couple seconds only to be replaced by a faint head ache. It seemed he was running low on time, hopefully the food had extended it at least a little bit. Then again he didn't know the properties of the foods he had just eaten, for all he knew they could be used in sedatives.


Hoping she hadn't noticed his pause he decided to speak, adding in a stubborn comment. "And I'm not sweet"

 

[spacepanda]

Getting up as well, Anja carefully patted down her jacket, removing any food residues that might of otherwise hitched a ride home with her. “If you say so, oh savior mine,” she rolled her eyes at him with a smirk.


Walking towards the exit she crossed her arms, attempting to brace herself for the cold. She could feel the drop in temperature as she neared, and her face fell when she noticed the visible snow fall.


Damnit! She usually didn’t mind the cold, but she had done more than her usual amount of walking today, and she was getting a bit annoyed by it. She opened the door and carefully stepped out, beginning to hop around for warmth again.


“Okay, we get you some clothes, then go home. I’m cold, and tired, holy crap it’s cold.” She spoke through chattering teeth. She was pretty sure the temperature had dropped at least 5 degrees. She looked down the street, noticing a couple of festive ice sculptures had been placed outdoors. Yep, definitely colder.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

As Akaski followed, he was quick to take notice to the cold air and quickly he pulled his coat closer to him trying hard not to waste any energy on keeping warm. He knew already that he would probably need to push a bit past his limit to get home and not always was that a good thing for him. Draining himself to a dangerous extent could inflict harm on his body, the last time he went to far he had started coughing blood for a while. He did hope that wouldn't occur in front of her...


"Let's hurry then, before it gets colder..." He said, though he had a couple reasons for hurrying he wouldn't want for her to worry over him yet that would be hard to prevent if he did go to far, he needed to quicken the pace and hopefully he could avoid that.


His tail was now freezing could as it was more sensitive than most of his body seeing as it was rather thin and quickly he brought it into his jacket, wrapping it around his waist in hopes to warm it up. Luckily his horns wouldn't grow cold even if they froze, but it still did hurt when they would hit something to hard.