Playing...

[Leon Barner]

Leon was on a portion of the dirt which crossed into the Heron forest. He'd spent the better part of his day soaring through the forest. His sister called it tree-flying. You had to have good reaction time to be able to it with any amount of success, and he had always been better at it than Cass had ever been. This was most likely the only thing he could beat her at.

Cass had always been better at "playing". However many more years of experience she had over him showed especially in her eyes. Brown. His were still blue, and likely would remain that color. Despite the maddening thought, Leon smirked. Cass' naming system never failed to either entertain or infuriate, but in this case it was the former. "Playing". Leon was a sucker for irony.

Leon walked with his out over his shoulders. It was pretty cold today, however his wings always kept him warm. His hands were scraped almost raw from the tree-flying and several small cuts may have visible on his face. Between his dark hoody and jeans, this seemed to be the only skin left that could possibly have been scathed. His hands were pocketed, and his attention was drawn to the treetops as he contemplated his next method of entry.

[Lacrima Ash'l]

So this was the path she was supposed to have taken to go to the academy. It was not smooth, she nearly stumbled at least twice, but at least it was straightforward enough and she could see clearly where she was going. No danger of getting lost here. Ashel shook her head. Why hadn't she just taken this path in the first place instead of getting in all that trouble?

Or rather, it would be more convenient if she could fly. As much as she tried not to think about it, it always came up. But it wasn't as if there was anything she could do about it, except maybe explore new places, meet new people, until the "condition" to get her wings was satisfied. And she had no idea what that was.

She was distracted by the footsteps. Oh goody, someone to talk to. She hoped to get her mind off brooding about this.

[Leon Barner]

Leon looked forward again. There was no point looking from this angle. It was much easier and entertaining to wait until he was in the air to do anything. He took his hands out of his pockets and summoned some of his energy to them. It burned, but the energy helped the skin to heal. Scrapes often took longer though. He would wait for them to mostly heal before taking to the air again. Ten, 15, 20 minutes tops.

He replaced his hands in his pockets, continuing his lazy forward march. To any on-lookers, he would also appear to be brooding. He was recalling his sister though, and the inside jokes occasionally would cause a smirk to form on his face.

Leon had a familiar sense which began in his gut. When he looked up, he saw the other girl. His first assumption was that she was an angel. Something about her didn't fit for her to be a demon. She just looked too.. delicate? When he thought about it though, he knew that this was sometimes a desirable impression for a demon to make.

He had his wings out, so regardless she would likely be able to tell that he was a demon. That would mean she would have nothing to worry about if she was also a demon. No real reason to want to give any particular impression. After all, that was the exact reason why he didn't try to act a certain way. It was her eyes that made him doubt. They were almost the exact same shade of blue as his own. If she was an angel, then she must have been older.. or active.

It didn't matter much now, but he retracted his wings, hiding their weakness that showed in their violent tint. he only gave a slight nod of acknowledgement to the girl.

[Lacrima Ash'l]

She had looked up at the footsteps, and saw... black wings? Her eyes widened as she thought she could be running into a demon at last. She knew it had been bound to happen, but she felt utterly unprepared. She didn't want to panic, and tried calming herself down by reminding herself that wings didn't necessarily mean Demon. He could be... a bat-person?

Ashel realized that she had been staring at those wings with what probably was a startled, apprehensive expression. Could he see her fear? She quickly schooled her expression into something more neutral and tore her eyes away to his face. He was studying her, it seemed. When he nodded to her, she nodded back with a nervous, tight-lipped smile that was obviously forced.

She quickly looked away, though, and changed her course ever so slightly to put a little more distance between them. She didn't want him to be a demon, but she didn't want to take the chance.

[Leon Barner]

Leon couldn't have missed the look of fear in the girl's eyes if he'd wanted to to, and he didn't hide the slight smile that came about from it. Of course, there was always the possibility that she only wanted him to think she was afraid, but if this was the case, then Leon would allow her to think that she was successful.

In any case, he took it as confirmation that she was in fact an angel. A demon would have no reason to be or act scared of him. It did give him something to consider though. Maybe this was exactly what he needed to make his stay at Lillegard at least bearable. Of course, he couldn't kill her. That was something he absolutely couldn't let happen. But that didn't mean he couldn't still "play".

When he was about to pass her, he stopped and turned towards her. His movements were smooth, predictable, so as not to frighten her further. "You're an angel, aren't you?" The question seemed to be asked purely out of curiosity. As of yet, he wasn't trying especially or unkind. However, it was best for both of them if this was made clear from the start. He didn't want the girl to think he was vulnerable either.

[Lacrima Ash'l]

She didn't look back up with the hope that they would just pass each other as if the other never existed, as she could forget about this. No such luck.

She flinched when he talked to her. And flinched again, this time mentally, for flinching. No matter how slow or predictable his movements might have been, in Ashel's erratic mindset, he might as well have pounced on her.

He didn't sound angry, or scary. But the question unnerved her. Why did he want to know. Or rather, it sounded more like he already knew what she was.

She spun around to stare at him, and answered in a haughty voice, "What's it to you?" And it might have worked too, if only her eyes were better at masking fear and if she weren't so pale.

[Leon Barner]

And she still flinched. Why did it seem like he always had that effect on people no matter what he did? Maybe he was losing his touch. He seemed to take the question into serious consideration though. The answer wasn't really important. If she was an angel, Leon wanted her to know that he was aware of that fact. He didn't necessarily need the confirmation.

After a moment he shrugged. "Hey, that's fine. You don't have to answer." This happened to be one of those rare occasions where Leon's smile affected both sides of his mouth. An actual smile, not a smirk. And his eyes conveyed a certain amount of calm. Both of these were lost momentarily as he spoke his next statement however. "I am a demon though." It was meant to serve as a warning, and it was spoken as though it were unfortunate. As though he were guilty of the fact. As if this could actually be true. After all, he was confirming what were most likely this girl's fears.

[Lacrima Ash'l]

Ashel blood ran cold at his words. Somehow, because of the shock, she supposed, her voice was clear and steady. Possibly even uninterested. "If I am an angel, why are you telling me what you are?"

But she didn't look at him, she was afraid her eyes would betray her fear. Rather, she looked past him, as though she didn't care that he was here, or for what he just said. Hopefully, the self-professed demon would just forget how terrified she looked earlier. She knew he had seen her fear, she could tell just from how he acted.

[Leon Barner]

Leon wouldn't think about how to describe the personality he was beginning to form for this girl. That would ruin its natural flow. If he did, he might have been impressed at his ability to do this once more, even after he hadn't done it for over a year now.

He shrugged again. "Because I'm not trying anything?" He gave a slight chuckle at this. "I do know how it is though. I figure its safer for both of us if we know what the other is from the get-go." The words came naturally at this point, and he didn't consider how they lined up with the actual facts. Everything he was saying now was the absolute truth, at least for the moment.

[Lacrima Ash'l]

Ashel scoffed without entirely meaning to. Somehow, she wasn't feeling so terrified anymore, just wary. Very wary. She didn't know how she felt about this. Relieved, maybe? But he was a Demon, wasn't he? And you never knew with Demons. As much as all she wanted was to get away from here, for now, she would just have to play along.

"All right, then. Whatever you say." Her tone gave the impression that she didn't care. But even the way she glanced at him was suspicious and jumpy, like a hunted animal. Back before she came to the academy, Flown had been protecting her. Now she was on her own. This feeling was new to her, and she didn't like it. She crossed her arms and hoped that the Demon would soon be bored and move on.

[Leon Barner]

Leon's eyebrows furrowed slightly. This personality didn't like to be feared, and it seemed like she was still afraid. This wasn't what the true Leon wanted either though. Here, he simply was what he was, and there was nothing he could do to change it, regardless of whether it made this girl uncomfortable.

He thought about assuring her that he couldn't hurt anyway, thinking only of the worst-case scenario. Then he remembered his cross. He pulled his right hand back out of his pocket, looking down at it to see that the scrapes still hadn't healed much at all. It seemed the cap had an effect on his healing abilities as well. Scrapes such as these didn't usually take this long to heal. While looking at his palm, he noted that his silver cross was out of sight, hidden between his shirt and his hoody.

Leon rubbed his hands together as though this should somehow speed up the process. In fact, now with his wings tucked away, he was beginning to feel the cold again. He thought about it for a moment before releasing them again and holding them over his shoulders. He wasn't entirely sure if this would deter her, but he was waiting for the girl to become more comfortable, even if it was just by a little bit.

[Lacrima Ash'l]

Despite herself, Ashel looked on curiously at what the Demon did. It seemed that his hands were scraped. It didn't matter that he was a Demon, well actually it did, but at the same time, it didn't. She had treated plenty of wounds before, and had this urge to clean this one and wrap it in something clean. But she didn't say anything. Finally she couldn't resist the urge to interfere with what the Demon was doing. "You shouldn't rub that, it might get infected. Here." She reached to take his hands and examine them.

She was a bit startled by the sudden appearance of the wings, and though she would never admit it, felt a pang of jealousy. But that aside, they radiated heat, and Ashel just realized how chilly it was getting.

[Leon Barner]

As Leon rubbed his palms together, he called a small amount of energy between them. Just enough to be easily hidden from the angel's sight. The little amount of time he'd allotted for this wouldn't have done too much for the healing process, but when he pulled his hands apart again they certainly wouldn't be in any worse condition. In fact, he may have pulled them apart soon enough for the last bits of his energy to be seen retreating back into his fingertips.

Leon shrugged. "They'll heal anyway, but." There wasn't much point to it, but this seemed to be the opportunity he'd been waiting for, so he allowed the girl to take his right hand only. It was also his own right to exercise a bit of caution for appearances sake, however this personality didn't seem to be overly concerned with obvious displays of caution. There was a small amount of blood on his palm, however no part of it was bleeding any longer. He gave a light chuckle, expecting her at any moment to ask how he'd manage to scrape his hands up to the fingers.

[Lacrima Ash'l]

Ashel blinked as she thought she saw sparks in his fingers. Magic? Probably for healing. Then again, it could be the Demon making his move to attack? It wouldn't hurt to be prepared, but took his hand anyway, responding to his comment with a small mming sound.

She frowned as she examined the hand. The cuts were curious, to say the least. How did you even get so many small cuts on this part of your body? The cuts were mostly dried, so whatever she did probably wouldn't help anyway. Temporally forgetting herself, she chuckled as she released the hand, "Were you climbing trees or something? Come to think of it, Even your face is scratched."

[Leon Barner]

Leon found the chuckle to be a good sign at least. If she was in a position to laugh than she likely wasn't in a position turn tail and run away. When she left go of his hand, Leon proceed to rub together again, almost as though he were dusting them off.

He laughed as the girl guessed what he'd been doing. "Something like that. Me and my sister always used to play this game in the woods back home. Pretty much we raced through the trees to find who could get the most cut up in the least amount of time." He shrugged. "I always won in the end."

[Lacrima Ash'l]

Ashel realized what she had just done. He was a Demon. He said so himself, so what was she doing talking to him and laughing with him. But still, she told herself, she would be careful. Demons couldn't be trusted. It would probably be best if she left as soon as she could...

"That's a pretty weird game." Despite her best intentions, Ashel giggled. What was she doing, she asked herself. She coughed once as if to cover it up, then glanced at him shyly to see if he noticed. "So... what else do you do for fun around here?"



(Ashel... Weeell. I do believe she's unintentionally becoming flirty XD)

[Leon Barner]

Leon did a one-shouldered shrug and a slight smirk took his lips. "We're pretty weird people." Leon pretended not to notice her giggle and gave a laugh of his own.

"That's exactly the problem. There's nothing to do around here. There's no tv, no wifi." He practically interrupted himself, realizing a better way to sum up everything that the castle didn't have. "There's no electricity. The place is a fossil." He pocketed his hands nodding slightly. "And that's how I find myself playing weird games like that."

Leon had judged her to be the type who'd been used to those things anyway. What teenager these days wasn't? Then again, it was possible she was a lot older than she looked. Her eyes said as much.

[Lacrima Ash'l]

Ashel stared at the Demon blankly as he spoke, with blank eyes and mouth parted in a "huh?", obviously with no idea what he was talking about. Oh she had to answer that, didn't she? She made a non-committal "uh huh" sound and a small, uncomfortable smile appeared on her lips. Well, hopefully he wouldn't start a conversation about those things anytime soon.

So he must have come from... elsewhere. So she was learning something about him. That was good. Maybe she should stick around a little longer after all. But it was time to change the topic. "Games? You mean there are other?" She winked. "Feel like teaching me some?"


(I... don't want to know where this is going X'D)

[Leon Barner]

The wink was somehow off-putting. She'd come off as pretty suspicious of him thus far. He'd take it in stride, though.

"Well, there's Chicken too. You know that one? Get up to a good height, then straight kamikaze drop and see who chickens out and pulls up first." He chuckled. "Or who faceplants into the ground, but
I haven't actually seen that happen yet." He shrugged, dismissing it almost as though it were a misfortune, but he was clearly joking. Cass usually won this one. Decades of flight had taught her how to pull up with mere feet, sometimes even less, to the ground. Sometimes it even seemed like she had no intentions of pulling up at all, and that the whole action was just a suicide dive.

[Lacrima Ash'l]

Yet another fun thing that made her wish she had wings. "Well don't you know anything we can play?" She raised her hands a little, palms up, to gesture at her notable lack of plumage. She wondered if he was as suspicious of her as she was of him.

"How did you know," she suddenly asked. "How did you know what I was?" After a pause, she quickly added, "And why did you tell me that you were a Demon?"

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