[IC] Devouring Light

[Owlriel]

The imp took one of the towels, and folded it up. Before soaking it then slightly wrung it before placing it on Asran’s forehead. Then took another clean towel to begin cleaning him up. Drying his body of the remains of the elixir. “Why do you care so much for the lord? Even though he is a demon. You are not normal priestess,” the imp said.

[Arreyis]

"No, I'm not a normal priestess." She said, wetting her towel again. "I suppose it's because I was not exactly willing to join them. I was a ward after my mother fled my father, and after she died I was given the choice of attending school to become a priestess or becoming a cloistered nun. I stayed, learned the rules and the history and the sermons, but I have always questioned everything. I was sent here to get me away from the younger students so I couldn't influence them with my curiousity."

Thinking about her mother made her cringe. The shell of a woman who had birthed her could harldy be called a mother, but Ayrie knew it wasn't her mother's fault. Her father by all accounts had been a horrible man, a drunkard, and on the night her mother had stumbled to the church he had beaten her so badly they thought she would lose her pregnancy with Ayrie.

[Owlriel]

“humans like that are good eating as Asran says. I mean Mayor,” The imp did a little panicked dance. Realizing it just puked up its masters name on a whim. It fell to its knees hold up closed pleading hands. “Please don’t tell master I told you his name. He will be oh so cross. Especially with what I’ve said to him about my not liking you. He might punt me over a roof,” the imp begged with a whimper.

[Arreyis]

Ayrie's eyes widened when the imp said Asran's name. "Oh no, I won't tell him! I wouldn't want to get you into trouble for such a small offense. I'll let him keep believing I don't know it."

Ayrie refreshed her towel again, still patting the wet cloth around his face and neck, carefully wiping away any leftover elixir.

"It is strange though, isn't it? This friendship that we have? He shows up on my doorstep last night, berating me for a symbol of the church. Then the next day we're at each other's throats in the temple, before dancing and eating at a festival at which I should have been scared and sick if you go by what I was taught. After which I helped him through some kind of curse that I know is light magic but do not understand, and now I'm still here trying to make sure he is ok. He and I shouldn't like each other, but it seems like something is pulling us together..." She stopped and sighed, "I probably sound like an idiot." She said, pulling at her hair self conciously.

[Owlriel]

The imp stopped looking at his lord then to Ayrie. It leaned towards her sniffing at her deeply. Then looked into her eyes again. The grin it had on its face was large, and it stepped away giggling to itself like Nadia often did. “Interesting, very, very interesting. So long as you do not betray master you shall be protected in this city. I give you my word as Asran’s butler,” the imp said. Taking on a humanoid form. They had ebony black hair, a youthful face with thick wire glasses. Wearing a classic butlers suit complete with white gloves. He offered a very regal bow to Ayrie.

[Arreyis]

Ayrie watched the imp change before her eyes into a small man wearing a butler's uniform and smiled. "Thank you, I appreciate that. I don't think you need to worry about me betraying him... arguing with him is an entirely different matter though!"

Ayrie pressed the cloth against Asran's forehead and left it there. She stood and brushed her dress free from the dust it had picked up sitting on the floor. She also grabbed the pot of water, figuring a fresh cool pot was in order if Asran was going to be feverish much longer. "I'm going to go swap this out and clean myself up a little. I'll be back quickly."

She made her way back to the kitchen and set the pot in the sink to refill, then used the cool water to wash her face and hands. It had been a very long day, and Ayrie was beginning to feel the full effects of all the things that had transpired. She wondered if there was perhaps a bench she could take a nap on while waiting for Asran to wake. She had been so preoccupied with him that she hadn't even looked.

'If I leave now I'll only toss and turn with anxiety. The man is aggravating, but for some reason I care about him.' She grabbed the pot and headed back to Asran and the imp.

[Owlriel]

Asran slowly began to stir awake. The imp went to his lords side kneeling beside him. “Rest easy my lord it’s alright,” he said. Asran groaned softly before passing out again. Using its demonic strength the imp carefully picked Asran up. Then walked past the kitchen. “The lords quarters are back this way. Be careful with your shielding increase it before you pass the threshold. As there’s a dark barrier protecting it. It was too dangerous to move him beforehand. I’ll also fix you something to eat that’ll recover your expended energy,” he said. Then smiled kindly at Ayrie his blue eyes sparkling softly. Then he continued on to Asran’s chambers.

[Arreyis]

She followed his advice and took a moment to ground herself and increase the strength of her sheilds before following him. The pot of water was slightly heavy, and her body was tired from the events of the day, but she pushed through it, knowing that soon she would be able to sit.

"Thank you, for being so considerate." she said to the imp as they walked. She knew her presence here caused a lot of complications, and she wasn't entirely welcome, but it seemed when interacting with her one on one most of Asran's people at least gave her the benefit of the doubt.

For the first time she wondered what had happened outside after she and Asran had run into the temple. "Is the festival still going on or did his exit stop everything?"

[Owlriel]

“The festival should be continuing in for,” The butler looked at his wrist watch. “For another two hours. After that Asran’s room is sure to be swamped by his priests. Though I’m certain Nadia will stop them. I will even have some of the lesser demons aid in deterring them from swarming. They make excellent body guards, I may even assign you two of them. I’m thinking either Deidrich or Walter. Both are very understanding of humans, and other religions. You actually already met Walter in his demon form.”

[Arreyis]

"Oh that's good, I'm glad their fun didn't get ruined." She said, listening to him talk about the priests she once again thought about the two that were supposed to be joining her and internally cringed. "Nadia is a sweet woman. I met her this afternoon."

When he mentioned the demon bodyguards she pictured the big one from before standing stoicly in the doorway to protect Asran from a swarm of priests. She didn't think anything could make him move.

"Walter is the big guy that blocked me while you all were... helping Asran? Why would I need bodyguards?" Ayrie asked, suddenly on edge wondering if she had done something to unknowingly upset people.

[Owlriel]

The butler smiled glad that Ayrie liked Nadia. “That’s good news, Nadia is the kindest and most understanding of all the priests. Though make no mistake if she wanted to she could destroy an entire city. Then again all the priests have that kind of power. But, they pale in comparison to the master. Though that would be if he actually had a destructive bone in his body. Which is why some people mistake him for the sin of sloth.”

“You can’t be that daft can you? I may be fine with you now. You’ve seen the markings on his skin the pain they bring. You also know of the fear, and apprehension he holds towards any church. Now imagine you’re not you but like me or anyone else that cares about him. What would you do to protect him from someone that looks like they would truly seek to do him harm? To what extents would you go,” he said calmly.

[Arreyis]

Now she was truly frightened for the priests to arrive. Not only would they likely be angry with her, but if they saw her with demon bodyguards they would immediately assume she was in some kind of trouble. She wouldn't be able to control them.

"I understand, but if I'm being tailed by giant bodyguards the priests arriving in town will not take kindly to it. I need to find a way to get them out of here, and it can't look like I'm in any sort of trouble. You know what they'll do. They'll use me as a reason to start a war..." she looked at Asran. "I can't allow that to happen."

[Owlriel]

“Not to worry there is another solution to that,” he said then stopped. He looked like he was going to say something more, but stopped himself. Knowing that revealing one secret was bad. But revealing the one about Asran ordering, him and his fellow imps to follow her? Yikes, no thanks he liked his body unharmed. “It’ll be alright you’ll still be protected. Asran is sure to swing to your rescue if he needs to.” He smiled kindly at Ayrie trying to allay her worries.

[Arreyis]

"I can't imagine that would be fun to see." Ayrie said, imagining an irate Asran coming after the priests. She found a comfortable chair to sit in while the imp got Asran settled on the single bed. The room was sparse, littered with papers and things that she guessed were related to running a city.

"How long do you think he will sleep like this?" she asked, wondering if it would just be her and the imp for a while.

[Owlriel]

“While the damage was bad. It wasn’t any worse than usual, so I think another hour or two,” the butler said. Then fluffed his masters pillows, and gently took to washing the elixir off his skin with a towel.

After an hour Asran began to rouse awake. He groaned in discomfort before opening his eyes. Before he could lift his body the butler set a hand to his shoulder. “Easy there,” he said. Asran groaned setting a hand to his head. “I feel like a chugged eight barrels of mead, and a barrel of wine as a chaser,” he said.

[Arreyis]

Ayrie had fallen into a light sleep in the comfortable chair as they waited for Asran to wake up, and when she heard his voice she roused. She sat up straight and looked at him, relieved he had woken. She stood and walked to him, standing awkwardly by the bed, caught between wanting to make him feel better and wanting to berate him. Along with the relief of seeing him wake came a wave of repressed irritation at how he had hidden his identity from her. She couldn't hit him over the head with the imp in the room, but she certainly wished she could.

"It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for us either. I'm glad you're awake, Lord Gluttony." she said, she spoke quietly. "Care to tell me more about this curse and what I just witnessed? Or shall I ferret the information out in bits and pieces like I did with your identity?"

[Owlriel]

Asran blushed and recoiled as Ayrie called him out on being Gluttony. But, at the mention of his curse his face went to a stony sad expression. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t trust you enough for that,” he said shaking his head. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. Usually I’m more careful about how much energy I spend. But, lately I have found myself being too lax with my energy expenditure.”

Talking about his curse was one of the most difficult, and painful things for him. Even thinking about it brought him pain. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose then gently moved to get up. He needed to get home, get cleaned up. Most likely change clothes as well.

[Arreyis]

"You don't trust me enough, but I'm supposed to trust you, when you wouldn't even tell me who you really are." She frowned when he tried to get up, thinking he wasn't ready to be walking around just yet. "Here, let me help you."

She moved closer, holding out an arm to help him up. 'I might be angry, but the last thing we need is him hurting himself further by doing too much, too fast.'

[Owlriel]

Asran groaned as he realized that he had been asking Ayrie to trust him. Well not so much asking really. But, he had been trying to show her he was indeed trustworthy. Even though he was lying, when Ayrie was nothing but honest... ugh, the hypocrisy of it all gave him a headache.
“Look, you’re right. But, I just don’t feel comfortable talking about it. Bringing up a trust thing was more of a not really thought out excuse; Sorry. Just don’t ask me about it, please.”
He then looked to her hand, but he stood up on his own with effort. Not wanting to hurt her with his lack of control he was experiencing. Chances were if he touched her the whiplash of power could send her flying.

[Arreyis]

"Okay... I won't ask about it again." Ayrie pulled her arm back, feeling stupid for even offering. 'I didn't just help you and wait hours for you to wake up or anything.' she thought as she watched him get up.

"Well, I'm going to go home. I'm not needed here anymore." She said, her frustration evident in her tone. "I'll get with Markus about a job, no need for you to meet with me tomorrow about it."

She moved back to the chair she had fallen asleep in and started to grab the few things she had carried with her, slipping her shoes back onto her feet.