Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

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"... Azaiah? Where the hell are we?" He whimpered, and only stiffened in fear once he finally came through to see the demon's real form. His face grew red in a mix of confusion and horror, all the while rubbing the bruise under his eye. With his free hand, he immediately began to touch Azaiah's face and horns.

"I... S-So this is how you actually look?" He whispered, before shifting his eyes to Minerva and Primrose in fear. "A-Azaiah, I want to go home. I don't want to be here, I-I... Why are we even here? Why did you keep your real form from me so long?" He began to babble in clear panic, and tried to sit up a tad, though Azaiah's tight grip didn't really allow that.
 
"I was afraid, you know? That you'd just dump me or hate me and call me a freak or-- I dunno, I just didn't wanna ruin a good thing, but-- Hey, we can get going right away, I mean... Maybe not right away 'cause I haven't been home in awhile and I want to collect some stuff from my house, but nobody's gonna hurt you, I swear. H-Hey, I can show you my place! It's probably a pigsty because it's been uninhabited for so long, and people have probably ransacked it, b-but still! I wanna show you it, if that's cool? Then we can get going and--"

"My word, Azaiah likes his monologues, doesn't he? I didn't think he'd ever stop talking. Without my intervention, perhaps he wouldn't have. What on earth have you done to him, Ivan? He's so... pathetic now," grinned Makai after unceremoniously knocking his friend unconscious, dealing him a very similar punch to the one Primrose had given him earlier that day that would only deepen the already serious bruising he had received.

"I can't begin to explain how nice it is to see you again, Ivan. I know we haven't been apart long, but it's felt like an age," he continued, shushing Laura's attempt of intervention by pushing her into Primrose, who quietly kept the girl from moving and speaking. It wasn't the most loving thing to do, but he intended to make it up to her later on with a nice dinner. Until then, his main priority was Ivan. "Oh, don't be scared of me. I'm not scary. I'm just... oh, you know... the future ruler of Hell, it's really no biggie. How do you like it down here, anyway? The heat's nice, huh? And the noise is awfully calming. There's nothing better than waking up to the sound of tortured souls, I find..."
 
"What... What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Ivan snapped, that being the first time since joining the church that he had ever swore. "Can't you j-just leave us alone?! You wanted to be with my sister, right? Well, you've got her, and she sure as hell doesn't seem very upset about it! Why can't you let us be happy?"

His angry shouts were then reduced to soft whimpers and, eventually, crying. He knew he would be mocked by the demon, but he was scared. There was no shame in being scared. As he sat, he carefully wrapped his arms around Azaiah, desperate to make sure he was okay.
 
"For the record, I had no involvement in this, but I'm making the best of the situation. Is that so bad? Oh fuck, don't cry. That's pathetic," he sighed, eyeing Laura the moment he heard her squeak, and ultimately pass out, which seemingly was Primrose's doing - Laura had bit her hand in desperation to help her brother, and the demon reacted in the only way she really knew how. Grunting under his breath at the chaos going on, he was at least thankful Laura wasn't conscious to witness him talking to Ivan - he would definitely risk losing her again if she saw how much he was enjoying treating Ivan like this.

"...Do you want to die, Ivan? Because this shit is going to get you killed. I haven't got the patience to deal with you, I'll be honest. My sister wants to shove hot pokers into you. I sort of want to gouge out your eyes with a dessert spoon-- but I'm totally willing to let you live, you know? I'm an understanding guy. You can live, only if you let Azaiah stay here. I kinda want my servant back."
 
When the sudden wooziness of sickness hit him, Ivan clutched the cross necklace around his neck tight as he took in Azaiah's form. Keeping his eyes low, Ivan offered a quiet grunt.

"... Makai, y-you don't need to do this. You have plenty of servants, I imagine, a-and I'll have no one. Do you really hate me that much? You hate me enough to want to kill me because I love Azaiah? I'd say that what you're doing is messed up, but you're all demons. What would I have to do to keep Azaiah and I together, safe?"
 
"Ah, that's what I want to hear. Desperation. Can't beat it," he beamed, shoving Azaiah's unconscious body aside with his foot and moved to take a seat beside Ivan on the cold concrete floor of the shed. Cracking his fingers, he did savour the moment by waiting a few seconds before continuing the conversation, because hearing the desperate tone to Ivan's voice was something he wanted to embed in his brain.

"I want you to stay here, in Hell. I fully intend to keep Laura here, and I don't want her getting upset that she can't see you. Ergo, you should stay here too. You have a choice, of course, I'm no monster. Choose to leave, though, and you won't get either Laura or Azaiah. I think the choice is obvious, isn't it? Hell, you can stay here and I won't even kill you. Azaiah was talking about turning you into one of us, actually. Now, that I'd pay to see."
 
"I... I can't, though. I have Macon to look after, a-and my dogs? I can't just disappear one day. I'm not like my sister. I can't just rip myself away like that, leave everything behind, and have no regrets." He whispered, though he didn't seem very convincing. Staring at Azaiah, he pulled his knees to his chest as he savored the only cool air in the whole dimension.

"... would you leave me alone?"
 
"I can't promise that, unfortunately. All I can promise is that you won't be killed. If Azaiah does turn you, I'll even start inviting you around to my home to visit your nephews. I'm a generous person. If he doesn't turn you, I imagine you'll just get really sick. Living humans aren't really supposed to be here," he shrugged, though his taunting tone had begun to vanish a little. He hated Ivan, but a small part of him felt sympathetic and sorry for him, even if Makai was disgusted at himself for feeling like that.

"Look, how can I leave you alone when I'll be with Laura and raising your nephews? I assume you'd want to visit them, if you did stay here with Azaiah? I'm sort of always going to be in the picture, but if you stay, I promise I won't personally hurt you. Hell, I'll even fetch you a new dog, one of the hellhounds, hm? How more generous can I be, Ivan?"
 
"I need to at least grab my things! G-Give my dogs a new home, you know? I need to sell the place, say goodbye to everyone... I know that you don't know how human things work, but I need to figure these things out, a-and I want Azaiah to come and help. That means you guys need to stop hurting him, okay? He doesn't deserve this!"
 
"See, this is where I get mad. You're taking advantage of my good nature. You do realise my sisters would love to kill you, right? Hell, I do. You're lucky you're Laura's brother. No. No, you can't leave, I'm not moronic. You and Azaiah would leave and I'd have to hunt you down, and I haven't quite got the time. No, you can come wait in the house with me and... then Azaiah can wake up and turn you if he wishes. You and him could live out a nice life here, where you can visit Laura whenever you want. Of course, if you ever leave Hell, whether you're human or demon, I'm going to kill you-- gosh, see what you do to me? I don't want to have all this negative energy in me," he laughed, gesturing Primrose to lift up both Azaiah and Laura in her arms, while he allowed Ivan to walk along, deciding to save him the embarrassment of being carted around. Besides, Makai had to collect his sons from the blanket he'd left them on, scooping them up eagerly to diffuse the tension he'd been bombarded with.

"This is Cody and this one's Cameron," he eventually introduced once the boys were in his arms, casting a sideways glance at Ivan for his reaction. He'd only glanced at them once, and the twins had appeared perfectly normal by human standards. Now, they were anything but. "...Cameron's not the healthiest kid," he continued, figuring he could put his differences with Ivan aside when discussing the children. "He's pretty sick. My mother thinks it's because he's a halfling, but Cody's perfectly healthy. I... I don't know, it's pretty stressful..."
 
"... I'm sorry," Ivan admitted, as he stared down at the gurgling babies. "That's, ah... that's unfortunate. Laura was a pretty sick baby, I remember. Our mother had to quit her job to make sure that she was safe, but then we didn't have enough money, and... it's whatever. Cameron, right? Cameron will be fine." He stated, his priestly training having taught him to be able to mourn or worry with others as he would with someone he cared deeply about. In reality, Ivan was beyond concerned with others, in addition to the babies, and his nausea and sudden headache weren't helping.

Despite this, his grip on the cross only tightened. If he was going to be turned into the one thing he was taught to despise the most, he wanted to cling to his belief as much as possible.
 
"You think? I mean, it's kinda worrying. He's always sick and coughing and... I dunno, it's upsetting, but I can't even cry about it. My mother won't approve of that, and I'm... you know, I have a reputation to uphold. I'm the first child and son of my Dad, and that's... it's fucking horrible sometimes because I have to be strong and-- Fuck, why am I talking to you about it?" He snorted, laughing lightly to himself as he strolled out of the heat to the much cooler home, hitching his sons up and distracting himself by cooing softly to them.

"You're just easy to talk to. It's the whole priest thing, I guess. You have to listen to confessions and be inviting and all that," he murmured, if only to try and convince himself that there was a reason he had opened up so much. "...Come on, I'll show you to Azaiah's room. I mean, he has his own home, but he has a room here too. My Mother thought it was only fair."
 
"It is my job to listen to others. Not to mention, it's also my job to keep this all secret - if you want. I am beyond mad at you, Makai, and furious at your lack of respect towards me, but I don't want you to feel terrible about something you can't control. No one deserves that." Ivan reassured lightly, though kept his hands to himself instead of the normally comforting touch he would give, say, mourning elderly women. Coughing heavily into his arm - making sure to avoid the babies- he carefully held his temple.

"I don't mean to be pushy, but can we hurry up with this tour? I need to lay down. For a bit. There's, like, something in the air here."
 
"I'm disrespectful, but you're pushing me like this? You honestly confuse me. Do you not realise you're in my home and in my realm? I could do anything I wanted, you know? Break some bones, amputate a finger or two. It's brave of you, really. Stupid, but brave," he snorted, forcing his anger down as he trudged up the marble staircase to the first floor, where Azaiah had been granted a bedroom of his own - that was at least enough evidence that he was treated and thought of as more than just a servant to the family.

Nudging open the door, Primrose, who had decidedly stayed silent, shoved the two humans onto the bed and pushed past Ivan, deliberately knocking him as hard as she could. Rolling his eyes at the moodiness, Makai set himself down on the bed with a nostalgic glance around the room.

"He and I used to share the bed a lot as kids," he murmured suddenly. "I used to get scared of the dark and... I dunno, Azaiah was pretty cool to me. He was taller than me, for one thing, and I thought he was the coolest guy around. He was my boyfriend for years until I left for your pitiful realm."
 
"You stayed there for quite awhile. It must not have been as awful as you say it was." He reminded, and took a careful seat on the bed as well and patted the bedding. Taking in the basic grey stone, and the chandelier that hung above, Ivan frowned deeply once glancing out the window to see pits of lavas and the screams of damned souls.

"This... is so messed up. Really messed up. G-God, I mean... Azaiah managed to live here? I'd rather hear nice birds tweeting in the morning, rather than the screams of humans."
 
"...If you're going to stay here now -in Hell, I mean, not my home- then it's easier if you keep in mind they're not really human. They're dead; souls. It'll help you sleep if you think like that-- and if you don't want to end up being on of those souls, I recommend just staying here and not causing any headaches for me," he suggested -or rather, stated- as he rested back with his hands behind his head, the twins placed down beside him on the large bed.

"I stayed for Laura, and to mess about with that town of yours. I didn't stay for the scenery or the environment, love," he snorted, absently running a hand through his hair. "...Hey, when Azaiah turns you, you'll like it here. It's not entirely awful, not when you're one of the important guys. Azaiah's family to us. If you were dating some bog-standard, awful demon, you'd be facing an eternity of shit times."
 
"I don't think being turned into... one of you, will make me feel better about this. I'm not going to wake up after what happens and just enjoy the sounds of other's suffering." He protested. Carefully moving to push Azaiah's hair from his face, he couldn't hide his cringe once touching the large horns, though tried to stay calm nonetheless.

"All my work, for nothing. All my studies and teachings gone down the drain... that sucks, to be honest. My dogs are going to die, the church will most likely collapse, and all the work I did to build the community after you ruined it will be in vain."
 
"Is this the part where I'm supposed to care? You think I'm some uncaring piece of shit, don't you? So I'm sure you aren't expecting sympathy on my part," he reminded as casually as he could manage, hiding the genuine frown that risked to part his lips. He wasn't as heartless as the other may imagine him to be. He was an asshole at times, but he hadn't carried out the threats he'd made, and did feel guilt, which his father never had, if his many, many affairs were anything to do by.

"...Look, wouldn't you rather be with Azaiah and around family? Besides, I like you. Regardless of what I say, you'd be dead if I didn't. I think you're fun, and you hate me, I get that, but I'd like you to stay around. It'll make life interesting," he admitted, letting a genuine smile grow on his face, deciding not to hide that expression. "...Azaiah loves you, and I'd like him to be happy with you, here."
 
"I want to at least fix things on the surface. You'll find us and track us down, right? What difference does it make if I go and at least fix a few things before I'm forced here?" He murmured, while he wrung his hands. "I just... Do you really prefer it down here, with all the screams and unbearable heat? Wouldn't you like a nice lawn, some cool breeze... have the twins play in the grass? They're part human, after all."

He knew it was useless, though, hence his nervousness. To be whisked away from somewhere that he had built up himself was beyond difficult for him. Not to mention, choosing between his love for Azaiah and his care for other people was a tight decision. "I do love Azaiah, and obviously my sister."
 
"You love them? So stay here! Like I said, you get used to the screams and stuff. As a kid, it scared the shit out of me, but you get used to it, really. Besides, if you love Azaiah that much, you'll cope. I lived up on your dreadful realm because of Laura, and I only left when she decided she was dumping me, otherwise I'd still be there now. See what you're meddling does? Maybe... theoretically, maybe if you convinced her I'm a decent guy and that we get along, I'd head back to Georgia. Hey, I'd head back for that, and if you guarantee Laura and I can visit you at least once a week for a meal or something. Or you can come to us. See, my Mother will never allow me to date Laura down here, and I do want to pursue a relationship with her, even if that means turning my back on everyone here."

Spreading his arms straight up in the air until hearing a satisfying crack, he shot a grin the human's direction as he waited. "...We could leave right this second if you promised to do those things. Nobody's gonna stop us. My sisters know where you live, but they won't come and pursue you again. They'd be delighted I'd left home again, really."
 
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