Minae looked up at him and slightly sized him up (both physically (she is under 5 feet and feels the need) and aura-wise) before she spoke, calm and collected as she always did. "I am Minae Erka, and I am a medical student. I am shadowing you today." She pulled her paper out of her back pocket and displayed it, signed by one of the main doctors at the hospital. She noticed the look about him and decided to spell it out. "Now to get this out of the air; yes, I know that you are a sensitive. No, I don't care. I just want to get my shadowing done for full credit" She blatantly explained, holding a hand out "It is nice to meet you, Michael"

Micheal completely forgot about a student dropping by, although in his defense his superior only decided to tell him just that morning. Lugging around a student always seemed to be a pain to Micheal, just that it wasn't his choice in this case, like at all. Still her papers seemed to be real, and maybe it did explain why the receptionist direct Minae to him without too much convincing, much unlike how it went with Shea. He didn't have any other choice he had to allow her to follow him around, despite Micheal doubted she would learn anything.

Micheal shook Minae's hand, "Then you'll be following me for the rest of the night. You are not going to be seeing much action tonight, unless an emergency call comes in I'm afraid all you will be doing is watching me fill out paperwork." Micheal wanted to keep this simple and straight to the point, strictly business as always. There was one last thing Micheal almost forgot to address, "Oh, and in terms of sensitives, we won't be going into that at all. What goes on in your personal life around this of course should stay with you and vice-versa, doubt you want to know my affairs with the angles and demons anyway." Micheal then continued to make his way to the ER, "Come on."

She nodded followed right alongside him, taking fast steps to keep up. She was grateful that he had about as much enthusiasm about being a sensitive as she did. It was rare for her to not find an overzealous one trying to bring her to some sensitive "hub" or "center. "I am glad that we are the same page" She then assured, voicing her approval. "You may call me Minnie, by the way" She then pointed out, knowing how often people mispronounced her name. She felt the dying and fading auras from the top floor to the ER, and and it was taking a sizable amount of personal strength to repel them from her. Ghosts were always an issue at a hospital as well, but lucky for her there didn't seem to be any currently.

As the demon explained his terms, Shae was busy working on making herself a sandwich and taking some kind of cleaner to her arms that took the 'tattoos' off. It seemed they weren't so much tattoos as Henna... well... most of them. Some really were permanent, like the ones protecting her from influence and possession. The rest were removable with the correct chemical. She ate her food and glanced up at him when he finished, pushing aside the empty plate.

Though she'd seemed like she wasn't paying attention at all, she'd actually been listening carefully to his wording and his terms. She considered, "What kind of demon are you? If I'm going to be sharing myself I need to know what exactly I'm sharing it with and what the consequences might be."

The thing is, if she were sharing herself with a lust demon or a wrath demon there could be some serious problems... Well, if you considered promiscuity and the occasional blind rage induced murder a problem. She drummed her fingers on the counter before continuing, "Also... I have some stipulations. If, at any time, I find you are reporting my knowledge to another... be that other be demon or angel, or purposefully impeding my cause... The contract is then null and void."

She smiled somewhat, "Because the things I know are valuable to both sides and I don't need a demonic informant inside my brain... deal?"

She stood and moved to her cabinet and removed ash and salt... "I'll help you stay put without that body until the contract is made, if you still want to make it?"

She drew a circle in ash and then an intersecting circle with the salt. With her chalk she drew runes on the outside of each circle that warded her from malintent and prepared it for a contract and the 'joining' rune in the area where the two overlapped. It was a simple set-up designed to force the two of them to state their deal whilst joining hands over the overlapping bit and the magic between them would hold them both to the terms. It would also protect her from any trickery because it wouldn't allow him to do anything but what he stated... it left him vulnerable though because she could dismiss him if she wished and force him to go back to his possessed body or find a new one. Unless, he was a more powerful demon in which case him being allowed to stand in front of her in his true form might be... unfortunate. It was a set up that Ruben had taught her so that even if he wasn't what he said she'd have some measure of protection against attack.

Usually, to make a contract, you used a summoning circle that was carefully prepared, but that was more for people who had a specific demon in mind... You could also just head to a cross-roads and hope some lingering demon decides to take an interest and then you're left open to all sorts of things like possession, their influence, or twisted words or... Well, not so great stuff. Shae was a bit too old school and way too cautious to just jump into any kind of bargain.

"Ready when you are," she noted after scribbling two runes onto her arms with some paste that seemed to dry quickly and stain her fingers. They were for mental fortitude and courage because seeing a demon in its true form, or an angel for that matter, could be a... startling thing.

The lion's maw flashed its teeth in a sort of grin. While its lips didn't move, a guttural, grinding voice issued through those teeth. Those words slithered out with agonizing slowness in a fashion that screamed maliciousness. “You know me...? I'm. .flattered, to say the least. Not every self-important runt with a halo does their research.”

As badly as Zander wanted to ignite his fists with golden fire, he knew to hold off open aggression until they had ascertained that this Buer was a threat. “Save your small talk for your victims. Why are you here?” He repeated.

Buer rasped out a resigned sigh. “Always in a rush. You ought to respect your elders, my dove. At my age, you learn to take it slow. My purpose in this town is to send you a message. An associate of mine spotted you following him, and has requested that you abandon your pursuit.”

Union frowned. “Is that all?” Zoe inquired.
“Yes,” Buer gazed at the angel as if it were prey, though his tone remained even and devoid of desire.
With their course of action decided, both voices of Union spoke in perfect unison. “Any demon we encounter is subject to our judgment. We will not relent in our pursuit of those who would steal the oracles away from their rightful side by the angels.”
If a five-legged wheel with a lion's head for a hub could shrug, Buer would have done so. “Two heads, twice the thickness. Luckily, I expected this meeting might turn out this way.”

Zander grinned invisibly beneath his helmet. “Are you going to fight us?”
Now Buer's eyes were filled with hunger. “Me? No, no. I'm little more than a doctor and a teacher, really. I leave such base matters as combat to my legions.”

Buer waved the legs he held in the air, and red circles appeared in the pavement. Rather than pavement, these magic inscriptions appeared to be drawn in blood, eking out of the asphalt as if it were bleeding. In the space of seconds, the five of them reached their full size and abruptly opened, coughing out noxious red, yellow, and black gases. Union's hands and wings erupting into blazing golden fire as a score of demons appeared in the street. These were gaunt, about the size of a human, with mottled, charred skin, pointed white teeth, and lidless pink eyes. Some of them wore armor, but all of them carried weapons.

Still sporting that predator's grin, Buer took a step back. “Not bad, eh? I might only have two or three mobilized, but it shouldn't take more than one to drag you down to hell. I wonder what sort of demon a two-headed angel might make? Lust, maybe. That'd be...heheh, delicious. Go on, troops; relieve our fiery friend of its soul.”

As one, the pack of lesser demons began to move forward. Without hesitation, Union leaped into the air, pumping its wings to gain height and inertia. Wreathed in burning passion, Union crashed into the middle of the group, instantly incinerating half of the fell creatures in a holy explosion. What remained were quickly dispatched as Zander streamed fire from his hands and Zoe delivered searing slices with her wing-tips. Before Buer could utter an exclamation of surprise, let alone start rolling away, Union was upon him.

“I don't know what you're planning, Buer, but your part in it ends here.”
The demon snarled, very out of character for an individual normally so composed. He seemed to know his fate. “You haven't seen the last of me, you meddlesome pigeon. I hope you do find Astaroth. He's not as cultured as me.”

A flaming fist to the repulsive lion's mouth was all it took to send Buer back to hell.

Union changed back to human form. They stood alone on an empty street; it was as if nothing had ever happened. “Well,” Zander said at last. “That was interesting.”

"Sloth," he said simply. There was no need to lie, and she would probably be able to find out pretty quickly on her own after the contract had been made. "But don't worry," a seemingly pointless expression nowadays, "you won't be walking around in a fatigued stupor and sleeping 20 hours a day. I can limit the effects of my... presence. At most you might be a little more tired than usual." He gave an incredibly light frown. "I would begin to discuss any... more drastic consequences on your mind on a long-term basis of several years or more, but for now, maybe just drink more coffee." He kept silent for a moment. "Or eat apples. Those help," he said, not realizing that vague amount of awkwardness was now present in his voice. "Well, not that I would really know, human food tastes like ash to me, but I have heard." He cleared his throat. "But I digress. My loyalties towards my... 'fellow demons'," he said that with the small hint of sardon, "are strained, to say the least." He was aware how vague that was, but it was a long story that led to other long stories, and they didn't have the time for that. "And angels would rather vanquish anything remotely demonic on sight -- I would have to be insane to affiliate myself with those over-zealous fanatics." He said this as the Warded Woman set up the circle, and nodded when she said she would help keep him there in his true form temporarily.

He noted with mild interest in his head that something just happened to a nearby demon. Disappeared. There was definitely something out there that he did not wish to deal with, but that would have to wait. He looked around and found a chair to sit down in -- if he was going to exit George, it would be rather rude to just have the man flop down onto the ground unconscious. Might hurt himself. Before sitting down, he turned his neck slightly towards the direction of the woman -- but didn't look directly at her. "I understand it may be required for the connection -- but avert your eyes from me the very second possible. To a human accustomed to seeing demons, it is not necessarily scary... Yes, 'scary' is not the right word. 'Unhinging', maybe. 'Harrowing', perhaps. I am afraid an appropriate English descriptive term fails to properly encapsulate it." He sat down in the chair, giving his host a moment of mental gratitude for his -- albeit, unwitting -- assistance. "Don't stare for long. The abyss stares back."

With a simple thought, Ignavas exited thing man's brain. George fell unconscious in the chair, and Ig seemed like he had disappeared -- a momentary thing as he took a moment to latch onto the surrounding power, and then it took a few seconds for his to appear, as if fading into existence. He held his arms out in front of his face, both comfortable and distressing to be back in his contradiction of a body. Looking at Ignavas in his true form was akin to staring at a walking paradox. He had no true shape -- yet at the same time had many. His being seemed to morph and move with each passing millisecond -- yet he also stayed the same. He wasn't there, yet he was. His body seemed to be a pure black -- yet he also enveloped every colour possible. It was like staring into a being made of static. But that was not an apt description. The only thing that a human being could make any conceivable sense out of was the blanched white eyes – soulless and deep, but comforting in a being that the eyes could not truly comprehend.

He ‘moved’ to the correct position in front of the circle, and held his ‘hands’ out to the Warded Woman. When everything was ready, he began to recite his terms of the contract. His voice was different from when inside his previous host – it was quieter and soft-spoken, but at the same time clearer and distinct. Everything they had discussed, from what he would supply her with, to the conditions for breaking the contract, were stated yet again, and worded in the exact same ways.

“Fully understanding the terms of our contract – do you accept?”

Eric was driving through the city on one of his self appointed "patrols". It was something he did to relieve the lack of sleep he was not able to get during the night. His ability to "see" the supernatural made his life easier, as he drove his station wagon down a dark street. Some song was playing softly, a ballad about two distant lovers and the power of the radio in uniting them. He looked to his left, and saw bright lights flashing from the other side of an alley. Deciding this was enough to break the boredom, and give him something to do, he slowed down, and parked his car on the side of the street.

Eric reached into his glovebox, and pulled out a pistol. Generally useless against supernatural enemies, but it made him feel a little more comfortable, and was always useful against actual flesh and blood things. He checked the magazine, and put the pistol in an under arm holster. Eric then stepped out of the car, and grabbed a thick coat, putting it on over the weapon, hiding it from view. Eric then checked his chest pockets. Bible, Cross, Blessed water, Cigarettes, Sunglasses. He took out the pack of cigarettes, packed it against his hand, and started smoking one. He put his hands in his pockets, and started walking through the Alley way he had seen the flashes through, as he cut between blocks.

Eric arrived in time to see Union's angelic descent into the demons, as it vanquished them all, in a matter of seconds. Eric reached up, pulled the cigarette from his lips, flicking the ash off of it, and placing it back in his mouth. He squinted as he stared at Union, in all it's angelic splendor, glowing like a sun. Fuckin' Angels, man. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the sunglasses, and put them on. It was bright as day to Eric. He knew to proceed with caution, and he had limited ability in handling angels but he started walking toward Union anyways, sunglasses on, half smoked cigarette in his mouth, and hands in pockets.

Seeing a demon in it's real form was always a... fun... experience. For normal humans they didn't have to worry about the full effect because they could only see what the demon let them and normally a demon would want to look as... comfortingly normal as possible. Only sensitives got to see the full effect and it's what drove most sensitives completely insane. Seeing things your mind wasn't really made to comprehend could do not so great things to a person but luckily, Shae had been trained and pushed to see exactly how much she could take and over time her fortitude had grown but she was still human and therefore still had limits. So, when the demon dropped his human form she kept her eyes averted so she only really saw him out of her peripheral... just enough to track his movement... which it, it turned out, was difficult to track.

Maybe it was because he was a sloth demon but his form looked like what she imagined something from a dream standing in the real world might look like... or rather.. a nightmare perhaps. Demonic forms, unless they were lust or pride related, usually weren't very pretty. Shae noted him moving so as to drop the man into the chair rather than the floor and was momentarily taken aback by the thoughtfulness of the action... a demon... thoughtful. You didn't see that happening often. As he 'stepped' into her circle she moved to the side with the salt, "Well, if you're in my head I suppose you'll be able to taste what I taste. I'm sure that will be new for you..."

It was an attempt at distracting herself from the gravity of what she was doing, every contract had it's consequences, in the end it was whether you could live with them or not. She waited as the demon, she supposed she'd have to start calling him by his name at some point, restated their contract and held his hand out over the joining sigil in the center of the circle. She reached out, hesitated only a moment as she reminded herself why she was doing this, and took his 'hand'.

The outer rings of the circle lit with a black fire that reached nearly to the ceiling but burned nothing, the sigil in the middle inner ring lit with a faintly green eerie light and Shae felt a buzz beginning at the base of her skull, moving to a dull roar and grimaced... She knew this wouldn't be pleasant, having to make room in one's consciousness didn't sound like it would be a walk in the park. The roaring gave way to a feeling of... emptiness like part of her brain had just gone dead and she could feel it. She was forced to take a seat despite her pride because if she didn't she was pretty sure passing out while standing up wouldn't end well and she didn't very well plan on planting her face into the floor. "Hurry up," she muttered through clenched teeth. There was room for him now, whatever that might mean... and she shivered as the buzz traveled up and down her spine... found her nerves and traveled from them through the rest of her body.

She recognized the sensation as magic, she felt the sting of it more intensely when she wrote runes directly on her skin so she was somewhat used to it... that being said this was taking quite a bit of willpower to stay conscious through. Probably because her own body didn't know what to do with whatever was being done to it. Because of the racket in her head, the howl of nothingness tinged with magic, she was unaware of whatever was going on outside... It was probably for the best, she was curious by nature and pretty cranky when it came to things lingering about her home and waging personal wars in her neighborhood. She'd have liked to think she'd made a name for herself by now, but then again... angels and demons were both pretty determined beings when it came to their... cause.

Forcing your way into another person’s consciousness took considerable effort. He will admit that he probably could have got the entire thing finished up far swifter than that had he put in the extra energy, but there was something blocking him from doing so. Not a magical block, but a purely mental one. His mind did not recognize the situation of being worthy of it. That notion utterly baffled him. It wasn't something that could be understand in any logical reasoning. The fatigue that ran through his entire core arbitrarily decided that forcing a double-consciousness was somehow not worth the effort to run smoothly.

If that wasn't an imperative moment, then what is?, he thought self-deprecatingly, as a small, indistinct ringing noise quickly rose and rose in pitch, enveloping his entire mind. Thoughts and emotions and memories that were not his own rushed through, and Ignavas had to focus on not being overrun. His mind was a dulled down, unfeeling wasteland where deeper thought was not a pre-requisite for action -- a state of being that he had relied on for more than he could remember. The sudden influx did not adapt well into his head. If anything, the opposite of what you would expect to happen was in full effect, as Shae dealing with the new ‘place’ in her head was probably easier than what would have normally happened – a little detail he had failed to tell her. He had expected her to fall outright unconscious and spend the next several hours having to probably deal with the trauma of such a procedure. He had actually expected mental agony, extreme stress, and some horrifying nightmares. What he was seeing was fairly minor compared to that.

Meaning the deepest of his fears were being realized. His mind was dying. The shift into Shae’s brain was so simple because there was barely anything for him to transition to her. Ignavas slumped against the wall as the ringing in his mind persisted. He tried to push it away but it just pushed back. He tried to ignore it but it just ringed louder. Be back soon, was the mental message he sent to Shae throughout the ringing. The message he thought he sent, at least, it was hard to tell as his entire mind seemed to jump start after an immeasurable amount of time.

He was tired. So he shut off his mind, and embraced the darkness.
The ringing stopped.

Shae wasn't sure what had happened, only that when the fire died out and she looked up the demon was unconscious leaning against the wall closest to the ash circle whilst still inside it... It was a good thing too because without it he wouldn't be able to stay put unless their contract had worked and she wasn't sure it had. To her it seemed like something had gone wrong and honestly... her head HURT. She rubbed at her temples, pinched the bridge of her nose, and spots danced in front of her eyes... Plus, her sigils burned on her skin... the ones for blocking possession and influence. She wondered if maybe that's what had gone wrong, that maybe her sigils had kept him from being able to enter her mind because it was a form of possession and that's why she hadn't been struck by something much worse than that damn buzzing.

It hurt to think and she was desperately tired, the demon was completely out and she wasn't sure as a sloth demon if maybe this weren't a normal thing for him. She tried to stand up, wobbled, sat back down and hissed in pain as the jolt made her head feel like someone was driving a spike into it. Had the contract worked? Something felt different so if it hadn't done what it was supposed to it HAD done something... Had she drawn the seal wrong? She sighed, thinking too much again... the guy with the jackhammer was going off in her brain. She would have liked nothing better than to curl up on the floor in her salt circle and sleep this damn pain off but now that she wasn't consumed by the buzzing in her head it seemed like some of her other senses were working again... She could feel creatures outside her home, probably the ones from earlier had followed and had tried to spy.

She could feel the chill going up and down her spine, she struggled to set upright again as she'd laid her head against her knees and practically melted into the floor and then struggled to stand up and stumbled back out of her salt ring. She eyed the demon, trying to decide what to do about this mess and shook her head... instantly regretting it as she had to brace herself against her kitchen counter to keep from collapsing as black spots swarmed her vision. "Holy hell..."

She took a deep breath and picked up her phone, if something didn't work right who did you call? Ruben... Maybe the Gate Keeper would know what went wrong? It had been an interesting mix of elements that could have combined in some odd way either because of the wording, the sigils on her skin, her training... who knew. Maybe her mind had completely rejected him but if so... she DID feel different... she just couldn't figure out how. She dialed and listened as the phone rang and a male voice answered.

~*~

Ruben had been watching the goings on of the night through his scrying mirror and what he had seen hadn't pleased him. He'd been so caught up in finishing Shae's training and tracking down other sensitives that he hadn't been keeping as close an eye as usual on the comings and goings of the demons and angels. Tonight, one had come to the surface without a contract... and without possessing someone. Beur... though angels had quickly sent him back to hell. It was troubling... A demon in the mortal realm without a disguise meant a Gate Keeper had to have let him through.

He was still watching the angels when his phone rang and he frowned, thousands of years and still the phone baffled him. He answered though he kept the object back from his head. "Shae, is there something wrong?"

"Umm.... you could say that."

He frowned, "It isn't like you to beat around the bush... What's happened?"

"I made a contract... with a demon."

Ruben tensed, "What kind of contract?"

"Not for my soul. It was more a union of minds with some stipulations to keep what I know from other demons. I think something went wrong."

Well, she still sounded like herself. "I'm on my way."

"Wait, you don't have to-"

And he was suddenly there in her home, wards did no good against Gate Keepers. Shae hung up the phone and pointed at the demon lying unconscious in her home, "I think something is wrong with him?"

Ruben looked the thing over with piercing blue eyes, "Sloth demon... It seems possession used up most of his energy, his is... faint."

She frowned, "Does that mean the contract didn't hold?"

Ruben shook his head and lifted his hand up to an invisible green thread that only he could see... It trailed from Shae to the demon and glimmered vaguely. It went in and out as if it weren't sure whether it was taking hold or not. "It is yet to be seen... Unfortunately, this is new to me. Usually, contracts are made and over with but something obviously went wrong here. I'm not sure how it will affect you, if it affects you at all after tonight..."

Ruben frowned, "Those angels are outside your home... One moment, I wish to discuss something with them."

Just like that he was gone again and she huffed.

Ruben appeared in the street with the angel and the man approaching it and paused, perhaps he should wait and see what this sensitive wanted with the angel before he approached... curiosity.

Momentarily at a loss for what to do, Zander stared at a pile of cinders. He didn't particularly feel like kicking them; after Union's brief bout of activity, it felt most natural to relax and let the equilibrium restore. While angelic anatomy had no substitute for adrenaline, burning passion in itself had the capacity to prove a self-perpetuating hazard. When the golden flames were called upon, they burned within Union much like they did without, and overuse of that fire could cause it to grow too strong. “At least tell me that Buer was a serious opponent,” he finally supplied.

Zoe rested her forehead in her hands. The wind, compacted into a stream by the layout of the street beat against her skin, but the warmth within her kept her from feeling its bite. “Not really,” she admitted after a little thought. “He's more or less a medic. While he keeps a great command of demons -fifty legions if my memory serves- his own combat ability is negligible. He's no fool, though...what reason might he have to think so highly of his own troops despite their blindingly obvious weakness?” She suddenly turned to face her partner. “What really surprised me was him summoning them at all. The more powerful demons like Buer don't leave hell all that often, and the lesser ones are unable to do so on their own. Bringing them onto Earth requires great expenditure of energy.”
“Seems very suspicious,” Zander remarked, “Our next step should be to find this Astaroth character and see what we can glean from him. Nothing good can come from demons bringing their minions into this world.”

Just then, his positioning allowed him to see a man approaching from the shadowy gap between a laundromat and a convenience store. Zander pointed, and Zoe, feeling his presence as well, turned to look. A tense moment passed as neither party moved or spoke. “Another sensitive,” Zoe then muttered. “Whatever's going on in this town must be big.” She raised her voice so that Eric could here. “Evening. Can...we help you?”

Lilly laced up her doll-like shoes with gawky finger movements. Her gold speckled eyes widened at the landscape around her, and she quickly shot up from her seat on the pavement. What had she been doing? Where was she? The tiny child spun in a circle and tried to find evidence of another person, perhaps they had seen something; indeed, not a soul was to be found. Unfortunately, for the second time that month, Lilly had vanquished her own memories. "Momma," she cried out in an uneven voice, and a tear slowly slid down her porcelain cheek. A heavy pit bloated in her stomach, and she knew something wasn't quite right. Without skipping a beat, Lilly began to march down the dimly lit street. Strands of her coffee tinted hair were blown by the breath of a supple breeze over the city. In case of an emergency, her parents had taught her sister to find the nearest"church". Lilly assumed the same would apply for her, for any angel, for any human, for any demon.

The sound of her plastic shoes clicked on the sidewalk while she bobbed her head side to side. To be honest, Lilly was not exactly sure what a "church" looked like. Maybe she would feel it, the way she felt when her brethren were near. Greasy buildings loomed over her as she glided with purpose, more and more tears dribbling down her face. Where were parents? Why couldn't she remember everything? Where was her sister? She couldn't recall the last time she had seen her family, and that scared her more than anything.

A large building finally came into her view, colored lights mesmerizing Lilly. Maybe this was a "church." She felt a humming in her fingers, where had she felt that before...? Before she could stop herself, she scuttled through the hospital doors and began following the sensations down the hallways. Something was pulling her in.

"Listen you pathetic waste of fucking space, it's your best friend calling," a loud and mocking female voice that Ignavas knew, but could not place, called out from the darkness, bringing him out of his oblivion but keeping him retained inside his head. He did not answer, and tried to ignore and push away the nuisance. Let him rest. "Oh no, no you fucking don't, you sleep for 15 damned years and this is the welcoming I get? I've been searching for you for a long goddamn time -- what, didn't think to tell anyone that you had finally fucking woke up?" Shut up. He shouldn't be dreaming right now -- his mind was supposed to have been turned off. "Still confusing reality with dreams, huh? That's fucking brilliant Iggy, still the same deluded sack of useless crap that you've always been. I mean, man, here I was thinking your long ass slumber would've fucking helped you get some goddamn cognitive fucking awareness, but nope! You somehow fucked up a contract ritual, I mean come on."

I did not fail the contract ritual, he thought, hints of irritability seeping through.

"A technicality, Iggy dear boy, you didn't fail it, but you sure fucked it up." The voice then began to talk as if lazily reciting words off a piece of paper, "'Ah, Ignavas, you would have the potential to put entire cities into a deep sleep if you only worked at honing your abilities, got off your lazy ass and actually fucking did something. You have latent power that most demons would commit mass genocide for, and what the fuck have you done with it?'" The voice then went back to its normal sarcastic mocking. "Was that not what I told you, what, thirty years ago? Has anything I've said gotten through to you? Or did you think that was a fucking dream?! Is there any difference to you?!"

His mind snapped and cracked the neck of the demon in front of him. He was not aware of doing it, his hands had just shot forward and wrapped themselves around the neck of a being he could not see. Seconds passed in silence as the blackness around him started to take form. He blanched as the walls took shape of the room he had just previously been staying in -- Shae's safe house. Blinking, he apprehensively looked down at the human with the broken neck, grasped tightly in his formless hands. Shae's head was lopped sideways at an impossible angle, her eyes staring at him accusatorily. What felt like minutes passed as he just stared down at the lifeless body in his hands. What was this. This was not his work. He didn’t do this. It couldn’t. What? Who? What?

Shae sneered. Her eyes flared up as if on fire, and the voice that came from her dead throat was not Shae’s. “Anger! Probably the first outburst I’ve ever seen from you! Now you’re paying attention. Good. Keep it that way.” Her sneer deepened. “I’m here to help, Iggy dear boy. Always have been. What are friends for?” There was nothing but jovial malice in her voice.

---

The scene transitioned. He was standing exactly where he was, apparently having stood up while ‘sleeping’. His ‘hands’ were still outstretched, and he was still in the safe-house. Shae was still there. But her neck was not grasped around his hands. She was still alive. Completely unharmed.

The ringing started again. This time he was prepared. He rushed to the kitchen and turned the sink on full blast – and dunked his head down into it. Alert for the first time, he began to do what he should have done before. He calmly sorted the new memories away and kept a distance from the emotions that were not his. Restructuring his mind to allow someone else, Ignavas expended energy he did not know he had. The cold water prolonged the experience and kept the fatigue at bay. Several minutes passed before the ringing subsided, and his repair of the near botched contract ritual had been mostly salvaged. Mostly salvaged. Ig retracted his head from the water, turned back to his new… partner.

“There were some difficulties, but it should be fine now,” he said calmly, as if none of what just happened transpired at all. Ig wasn’t sure how to react to the little confrontation inside his mind, so he didn’t react at all. He didn’t know if it even happened at all. “Everything is fine.” His body was still technically outside her mind, but his actual mind was not. He could, if he so wished, still move with his true body -- but his mind would be with Shae. It would be as if he were controlling a living puppet.

What Ig didn’t know was that everything that had just happened inside his head, from the demon’s incessant insults and goading, to her proclamations of his 15 year slumber and latent power, to him strangling his new partner to death – were all broadcasted directly to Shae.

Shae had been minding her own business, going about getting herself ready to head to bed... y'know... after she warded the shit out of her bedroom what with the demon in her house. She was brushing her teeth and repainting her wards onto herself when she felt that familiar buzz come back right before she had to brace herself against the sink because she was suddenly being assailed by a dream that wasn't hers. She cursed under her breath and half fumbled out of the bathroom because she couldn't really SEE, planning on giving the demon a not so nice awakening because her headache was still there and his dream slamming into her brain hadn't helped... Halfway there though she froze because she saw herself staring at... herself... dead... with the demon's hands around her throat.

She was about to shake herself out of her stupor when the dream suddenly ended and her vision cleared and she could finally see the room again. The demon was standing, hands outstretched blinking slowly like he was confused. Honestly, the look was probably mimicked exactly on Shae's face. When warring reactions finally sorted themselves out she found herself with yet another issue... The demon, Ig's own thoughts, were in her head too but as he bolted for the sink and doused himself they began to fade out as he built up a wall between them. Shae already had a wall of sorts up in her own... but she hadn't put it there... She didn't even know it WAS there. It had been placed there magically by Ruben to alter her memories and keep her from remembering the truth about her parents.

She'd been trying to focus her own thoughts when Ig came back out and she realized the buzz had died down from loud tv static to a background hum she could live with... As he spoke she finally decided on how she was going to approach the matter of his dream, "An old friend stop in to say hello? I have to say, you have some pretty... creative dreams." Honestly, she probably should have been more upset... She'd seen herself dead, but outwardly it didn't register. She was the same old Shae, brushing it off like it was no big deal... Inside though, there had been a fair amount of anxiety about having a demon in her home to start with and add to that the fact she'd just seen herself dead with HIS hands around her throat? Well, that added a whole new level to her trust issues... It would take a while before she'd willingly be around him unwarded or with her room unwarded... but that was just prudent planning. Now though, she might also be sleeping with a blessed blade under her pillow.

She found it odd to be talking to the empty shell that was his body with the knowledge that he mentally wasn't IN there. She raked a hand through her hair, "So, how about we take you out for pizza... There is no way I'm sleeping now, thanks to your vivid imagination, and the energy we expended on the contract made me a little hungrier than a sandwich can fix. Also, there is something going on outside my house..." She'd grabbed her jacket and bent to readjust the dagger strapped to her ankle. She had a couple vials of holy water, some chalk, and a pouch of sea salt in her jacket pockets... Apparently, she stayed well stocked on her outings.

"So what exactly happened back there and who the hell was that in your head?" Normally, she wouldn't give up the fact that she'd seen what she had but she wasn't sure what secrets she could keep with him now that the contract was in affect. She wondered if she'd feel what he felt momentarily and curiosity got the better of her, she flicked his 'body' in the 'arm'.

Micheal sighed as he leaned back in a folding chair, Minnie had her own chain just behind him. They were in a "office" where Micheal did his paperwork, although he was more then convinced that it used to be a storage room originally, the room had no windows, plain white walls, a metal door serving as the only exit and entrance, plus all the furnishing was just cheap tables and chair that could be seen at a supermarket. Micheal was about half way done with his work, and it has only taken say an hour which was good time for him. Micheal sighed again, this was not the reason why he wanted to become a paramedic, it was more about saving lives, and going out into the wild city beyond the hospital walls. He needed a break, he pushed the chair out from under him and stood up to walk around the room for a while. He hasn't been payed much attention to Minnie, to be honest it probably was not a good thing, she didn't come out just to watch papers for an hour after all.

Micheal called out to Minnie, "This is what I meant earlier by not seeing any action, on quite nights like this all we do is catch up on administrative work." Might be good to try starting a conversation, "All things considered you picked a wrong night to shadow." Micheal sat back down in his chair still facing Minnie, "Still got any questions you might want answered?"

Minae chuckled a bit "I am alright, and no. To be honest this truly is ideal" She admitted "My son kept me busy today and any relaxing I can do is greatly welcomed"

She had been reading from a medical textbook she had grabbed from her bag in the time that she had been sitting there. She sighed deeply, closing the book. "I do not know how you stand the aura of death in this place. I simply wish to be a pediatrician." She thought aloud. "its suffocating"

Micheal nodded, "Yeah hear you, although I have gotten... used to the feeling by now. Plus it has been a great asset more then anything else, auras give a lot about someone's condition, saved more lives with these eyes." What he said is true, when sensing a patient's aura fading he can somehow pinpoint the reason why. The best way to explain it is the energy or whatever-its-called leaks from wounds, the worse it is the greater the lost of aura. Micheal still didn't fully understand the importance of aura or how it works, big disadvantage to just being clued in as a sensitive it seemed.

Micheal returned his attention to the conversation, "So want to be a pediatrician? Said you have a son, guessing that might had something to do with it." Normally Micheal wouldn't bother with conversation like this, especially when on the job, but Minnie here was a sensitive like him she even had a son. To be frank he did want to know more then just what Shea had told him, while he got the very important parts he was still missing the big picture overall.

Eric watched the Angel shift into two human bodies, causing the obscene glow to cease, and only a faint aura was visible. Eric wasn't the most gifted as seeing through disguises. He reached up and pulled his sunglasses off, and put them back in a case, and then his pocket. By now he was across the street and within several yards of the angels. He took his cigarette and flicked it into the cinder pile, while rubbing his hands together.

Eric looked at the two angels. He really wasn't entirely sure why he was here. He shrugged and spoke. "I dunno. I do these patrols sometimes, self appointed really, by myself, looking for demons and such, I suppose. I don't usually find many but I have been seeing more recently." Eric paused to scratch the back of his head. "Do, uh, you guys watch movies? There's this cliche in some where someone meets someone in a fight, and they show they're trustworthy by helping them fight. Its usually overdone. The protagonist fights off something, and usually misses one, and then the other person gets the one they miss. Its really tacky, but I guess I don't have that option since you're so thorough." Eric paused to gesture at the piles of demonic remains.

Eric looked at the two angels. He was kind of rambling. It was a way to try and dispel the idea he was a threat, and also an attempt for him to try and find something to do tonight. "So, you two, or is it one? I don't have much experience with angels. Anyways, do you need help? I'm Eric, by the way. Sensitive, pretty obvious that is, though. I know my way around some demons, so I'm not useless or helpless." Eric's eyes took on a little passion as he finished. "Or, do you know where the demons have been coming from?"

Minae nodded, looking at him as she talked "Yes, my son is a part of it. He is only 3 years of age. Such a handful" SHe mildly lamented "But oddly enough, he was the one that told me that "mumi" should go back to school, so here I am" She explained, answering his question more thoroughly than he had probably anticipated. "And that is a specific power your aura has. I have never heard of that. But it is good that you use it to your advantage. Be wary though, some aura's can be draining" She continued ".... If you do not mind me asking, How long have you been a sensitive? I was born with the ability, but I understand that it can be gained"

Ignavas had to take a few seconds to compose himself when he realized that Shae had just seen all of that. The wall he now had up between them to offset the potential maddening effect that staring into a demon’s mind could have… wan not set up before. This complicated matters. Trying to establish amicable relations with somebody after witnessing him murder her, albeit unintentionally, made things increasingly difficult. She did, however, taken it perhaps a little better than he had thought – but he was now privy to information not shown outwardly. And he knew this may take a bit to get over.

“Dream…” he muttered, unsure. A dream? Seemingly so. But there were too many inconsistencies with that. He had, for all intents and purposes, tried to outright shut off his mind temporarily. There shouldn’t have been any activity at all, even something as inconsequential as a dream – much less such an unsettling one. Something had started up his brain again without his knowledge. Perhaps the contract had something to do with it, and had momentarily addled his senses and abilities. Either way, the idea that a demon had managed to somehow contact him like that was equally implausible. He recognized the voice that mocked and taunted him into a reaction, his… self-proclaimed ‘Best Friend’, but he wasn’t sure from where – and how would a demon have done it? He was inside a warded safe-house. He knew it was possible for certain demons to contact him while he was dreaming, but not whilst inside a warded home. If he went under the assumption that a real demon had done that, then either she had found a loophole in the house’s defense, which was an unlikely idea, as he could sense none… or he was dealing with somebody extraordinarily powerful. “Yes… a dream.” That idea was more plausible, but still had holes in its reasoning.

Thinking through all this, he almost missed what Shae said about ‘pizza’. The word rang a bell. He didn’t particularly keep updated on foods that he would have normally never have been able to eat, but the prospect certainly intrigued him. “If you so desire, but I do advise we… not stick around trying to investigate what is outside for too long,” he said as she started to stock up defensive items. Technically he didn’t have to actually talk using his actual body, he could just communicate inside her head. But this way seemed like it be more comfortable to a human, it wasn’t exactly easy trying to suddenly accommodate another being inside your head.

Then he was questioned directly about the… dream(?), and he had to take a few seconds to think up an answer. “I had just been mulling that over myself. A disconcerting course of events, I must say. Either something had jump started my mind when it was meant to be dormant and it was just a normal dream, or something managed to get past your defences or, uh…” As the Warded Woman reached her arm out and flicked his ‘arm’, a massive, tingling chill rushed down Shae’s spine – and by association, down his spine. instinctively flinched away. Light buzzing and white noise appeared in both their heads, but thankfully subsided after a few seconds. Ignavas was purposefully dulling down the passive effect his presence has on Shae – namely, gradual exhaustion and confusion. Him subduing his powers wasn’t as effective when she actually touched him.

“What in blazes.” That’s what it feels like to touch him? That was… unpleasant. “Uh, don’t do that. Please don’t do that.” He cleared his ‘throat’ awkwardly. “What were we talking about? Right. Dream. Your guess is probably as good as mine. I recognized the voice, but I’m unsure from where.” Perhaps if it was a demon, then he would know if he were to ever see her… he doubted that. “But for now, I apologize for what… transpired during that dream. I can imagine that was rather troubling to see… But, ah, I believe you were hungry, perhaps I could…” he stopped and thought for a few seconds. “Wait, was it humans or angels that took moral issue with stealing currency? Hm, never mind. I’ll make it up to you somehow else.” He motioned to the door – he couldn’t leave the place easily with all the wards in place.