|
Post by Behax on Apr 19, 2024 23:34:39 GMT
Ranliel just shrugged at Seven’s lack of respect. It was a little refreshing honestly. Oh the respect he was shown by those who lived in the brothel was real, but the respect he got from any visiting clergy and pretty much any angels that also visited was all lip service. None of them had an ounce of respect for him, but they pretended to. It was nice...He appreciated the honesty.
Once Felix and Seven were well and truly gone Ranlie let out a deep sigh, and then he looked over to a curious full-length mirror. It’s glass was as black as obsidian, it had been a gift from someone who delighted in both pleasure and suffering in equal measure, delivered to Ranliel by an Angel the demon had ensnared. Ranliel walked over to the black mirror, ran a hand over its surface. He then looked back to the door Felix and Seven had disappeared through. It would be a while before they came back....If they came back. He realised he’d given Felix no further instruction, so the poor boy might just assume he should retire. He could allow that.
Ranliel ran his hand back over the black glass, and muttered something in a long forgotten language....Or perhaps destroyed language was better. The language of Babel had been lost to humans, taken from them by a jealous god who abhorred their co-operation. But Angels still remembered it, and so did demons.
The glass rippled and Ranlie stepped through into a pocket dimension. He didn’t even particularly want to speak to or see Envy, (not that there was any garuntee the devil was there to start with). He just wanted to be somewhere where he didn’t need to keep up appearances, and where it didn’t matter if he picked up the first object he saw and lobbed it across the room so hard it smashed.
—-
Felix silently led the way down the corridor.
“Are you okay?”
Felix stopped in his tracks. No one asked him that, not even Ranliel ever asked him that. But well, he knew without asking that Ranliel didn’t asked because he didn’t need to. After a long silence Felix started walking again.
“Does it matter?”
He only got a couple of feet before he stopped again. “Ah....Sorry. I lost count.” He’d been counting his steps from the door. He couldn’t see, but he could at least sense living things in a fashion, but when it came to objects, walls, doors...spaces, he had to navigate by memory, touch, sound and feel. Felix veered to his left, placing his hand on the wall. He felt along the wall as he walked, waiting for the feel of a door. There was a plaque next to the door with raised letters that read “baths.” Much of Raniel’s private section of the brothel had been designed with Felix in mind to at least some degree...it was the only part of the building that was particularly friendly for him to navigate.
“Here.” He said simply before finding his way to the handle and opening the door. Inside was nothing short of a miracle. What looked like a natural hot spring, large enough to fit several people. Near the back was a shower that had been designed to appear as a waterfall. Even the cupboards, shelves and sinks had been designed to match the theme.
“You can just leave your clothes on the side there, I’m sure someone will come by and take them to be cleaned at some point,” he explained, pointing towards a countertop. There was no designated area for Seven to undress. Felix didn’t seem to give it a second thought as he walked over to the hotspring following the sound of the water. He carefully knelt down at the edge and then just as carefully let himself slide into the water.
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Apr 20, 2024 4:23:37 GMT
Envy had indeed been home, he was lounging on the couch with a book over his face and appeared to be sleeping. He made no motion when Ranliel entered the pocket dimension, looking rather comfortable where he was at. In truth he was taking an unscheduled break hiding in the space few had access to.
—
Seven didn’t have the heart to try to argue with Felix, the demon had no idea what the angel’s life was like…still his answer broke Seven’s little black heart.
He was taken back by the beauty and the size of the private bath, he had never been granted the permission to used such bathing area as this before. Hesitantly he peeled his clothes from his body and set them aside where Felix had pointed to. Seven was rarely naked and the sensation made him bit skittish. Following Felix’s lead Seven entered the hot spring and instantly let himself sink up past his shoulders. The warm water enveloped him like a wonderful blanket and Seven let out a pleasant sigh. Maybe this gig had its perks after all.
While he relaxed he watched Felix trying to figure out who he had been paired with, was conversation something that could be had….was it something worth being had? Maybe if he had the right ice breaker, he wasn’t sure any of the usual small talk would pass here.
“Have you ever meet a demon before?” He asked unsure if Felix was even aware that he was one. Seven was sure to keep space between himself and Felix, for some reason it felt important to maintain a respectful distance
|
|
|
Post by Behax on Apr 20, 2024 22:07:11 GMT
Ranliel eyed Envy silently for a moment. The devil was cunning, and far more devious than Ranliel was. Not to mention his ambition....But he’d needed to be all of those things to pull off the feat he had. Binding an angel to oneself was no small feat...even if it had come with a number of unanticipated drawbacks.....Solaris was entirely a different kind of monster, but one of Envy’s own creation, intentional or not.
When he made no move, Ranliel turned his attention away from him, and towards a liquor cabinet off to the side. He couldn’t get drunk, or rather it would take an ungodly amount to get an angel anywhere near close to inebriated. At least...when it came to mortal alcohols anyway. He didn’t even look at the drink he poured for himself before throwing himself down onto a couch across from Envy and just immediately knocking it back.
—
It didn’t take long for Felix to settle in the hot water. He seemingly didn’t mind that Seven was there at all, so much so that he didn’t think twice about turning his back to him. Felix folded his arms on the edge of the bathing pool and rested his head on them as he lounged in the hot water, letting it soak into his aching body. He flexed and stretched the remains of his wings. It was clear someone had hacked them away. None of the other angels Seven would have caught glimpses of were mutilated in such a way.
“Have you ever met a demon before?”
“No....” A pause as Felix thought for a moment. “....But sometimes…I think Father is speaking to one.” Even if Envy couldn’t cross over from the pocket dimension, Felix still got a sense about him whenever Raniel spoke through the mirror to him.
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Apr 22, 2024 16:18:20 GMT
After a very long time Envy finally spoke from under his book, but made no other movement. “Rough day?” The demon said tongue-in-cheek. When was it not in Ranliel’s golden cage at the Vatican….it was one of the only brothels that could compare with the establishment Envy had created.
——
The demon watched Felix relax, which allowed himself to relax a little more. Felix was the first ‘handler’ that was vastly different from the rest, the fact he was bathing with him in these beautiful hot springs was probably the most glaring. But this was a brothel…baths would probably be in his foreseeable future.
“Father?” Seven asked quizzical thinking that perhaps Felix had meant one of the priest before his eyes widened with a realization. “Don’t tell me that angel is your father?” Surely not, Seven thought himself. “Why do you think he’s talking to one of my kind?” Seven perused the rest of question.
|
|
|
Post by Behax on Apr 24, 2024 20:22:08 GMT
“Honestly, if I didn’t know any better I would swear the Pope was trying to get into a competition with you when it came to shows of carnal sin and debauchery,” Raniel said bitterly as he knocked back another glass of whatever alcohol he’d procured. He still hadn’t bothered to actually look at what it was, but by the taste he was sure he was knocking back some sort of whisky. Someone out there would be horrified at the way he was drinking it that's for sure.
After a while he squinted at Envy over his glass. The demon hadn’t so much as budged an inch. “You are awfully quiet today.....”
—-
“Don’t tell me that angel is your father?”
“Is that truly so surprising?” Felix had to wonder if Seven knew about the Vatican's attempt to breed their own angels. Felix wasn't the only child born from that terrible ambition, but they had all been considered failures. The pope hadn't listened when Ranliel had warned him that half-angel children were always born with some kind of deformaty or disability. Some worse than others.
“Why do you think he’s talking to one of my kind?”
“Because I don’t think he has anyone else he can talk to. He can’t leave this building unless explicitly told to do so by the Pope.” Felix absently looked at the ring on his finger. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel the metal against his skin, and worse than that he could feel the kind of magic that was woven into it, and he knew it was not dissimilar from the bracelet around Ranliel’s ankle.
“Can you imagine being trapped in one place for 2 millenia?” Felix was only about 20 years old, and he already felt like he was losing his mind trapped inside this cage, he couldn’t imagine what was going on inside Ranliel’s mind. Talking with Envy probably provided him some much needed escape that he couldn’t get in any other way. "You'd probably want to talk to someone else, anyone else too."
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Apr 26, 2024 3:34:24 GMT
Under the book he was grinning ear to ear hearing Ranliel tell him that the Pope was sinking to his level. Soon he’d be able to pay the old pompous geezer a personal visit and wouldn’t that be fun. Envy wasn’t about to tell Ranliel he was beyond exhausted, he had spent the last several weeks…months helping Lucifer break and bind his new angel. Envy certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it by himself, that creature was on an entirely different level than anything he had encountered. Lucifer needed his expertise and as it turned out a lot of his power to sustain the binding magic, but that meant he also ‘owned’ a part of the new angel. Not that he mentioned that to Lucifer.
“I’ve been entertaining Our Lord Lucifer, he’s been my guest for the past several days.” He sounded like he was incredibly bored of hosting his dark master. Although nothing was further from the truth. Lucifer’s new angel was young and had sparked his interest in the matter. “Say, you haven’t heard of any new seraphim being created in your little Heavenly network have you?” As he posed the question he pulled the book off his face and turned his head to look at Ranliel. Another thing he wasn’t going to tell Ranliel that the bottle he had been drinking from was made by distillery that catered to demons.
——
Maybe it was just as well that Felix couldn’t see disgust on Sevens features. How did humans ever confuse Angels for good guys was beyond him. Seven sank into the water until it was just below his mouth. “And I thought my kind was fucked up…” Seven couldn’t help but scoff at the sheer hypocrisy oozing from the very core of their leadership. He wanted to run far away from this place, but he felt even more imprisoned with Felix as the ring bearer. There would be no satisfaction tormenting an already victimized soul.
|
|
|
Post by Behax on Apr 27, 2024 20:52:36 GMT
“Say, you haven’t heard of any new seraphim being created in your little Heavenly network have you?”
Ranliel immediately grew suspicious, his eyes narrowing at the demon. “....Why? I know Solaris can be a bit of a handful, and really that's your own fault. But setting your sights a little high aren't you?”
That wasn’t to say he hadn’t heard anything, because he had.Technically speaking Ranliel had become somewhat of a pariah in Heaven. Not because of anything he had done, but simply because of what he had become as a result of the position Heaven itself had put him in. So he did not usually get all of the latest information...Not from any official channels anyway. But both angels and priests loved to talk, gloat even, especially during sex. The whores in his brothel heard plenty they likely weren’t supposed to, and that all got fed back to Ranliel....and sometimes to Envy.
Ranliel didn’t care what Envy did with the information, at this point it would have been clear to Envy at least that Ranliel was on nobody’s side. He’d been abandoned here and he knew it, but he wasn’t actively helping Heaven’s enemies either. He just liked to stir the pot every now and then...He was after all insanely bored, and with love for either side.
It was only after he knocked back another glass that he finally looked at what he was drinking. He would have realised sooner or later once the effect started to kick in, mortal alcohol after wasn’t enough to get him drunk. His response was to chase the previous glass immediately with another.
—
“And I thought my kind was fucked up…”
Felix smiled a joyless smile.
“You have no idea.....” Oh the things Felix could tell him…But he wouldn’t need to. Seven would see, given enough time. “After all Lucifer was once an angel too...He didn’t become the way he is after he fell, he fell because of the way he is.”
Felix shifted where he sat, turning around. He felt along the edge of the bath until he found a shelf cut into the side of the stone, it held a number of bottles filled with soap and shampoo. Everything was in a particular order in bottles that were distinct from each other to make finding what he needed easier. Felix was clearly mistreated, and yet there were signs of great consideration for him here and there. He picked out a bottle of shampoo and began to wash his hair.
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on May 11, 2024 20:13:30 GMT
Envy smiled, that long wiry twist of his lips one could never be too sure about. It either meant that the demon was truly amused or annoyed.
“Oh, you flatter me, but no. My most honored guest brought with him a most curious creature.” Envy loved to vaguely gloat to the wayward Angel. Ranliel was one of the few true confidants he could speak to outside of his station. Everyone back home was either a rival or a subject. It also didn’t hurt to keep tabs on the Vatican.
As an incubus Envy had learned to soak in the background emotions, nibbling away at each person and their own particular flavor. Ranliel was like a bitter but bold body coffee, always a refreshing pick-me-up “But do tell…what has his holiness conjured up?” He poked at the reason Ranliel had come in here in the first place.
——
Seven mimicked the things that Felix did, although Seven was a curious about each bottle and what they were each used for. The demon inspecting the outside and smelling the contents before using them himself. The only soap he had known so far were the leftover pieces of soap bars abandoned near the places he sometimes wash up at. These perfumed suds had really made his nose tingle.
He had to wonder what his last handler was doing right now. The Bishop was one of those few followers that believed in the work he was doing and he had been so good at it that Seven was starting to believe in it too. Until now. He let out a large sigh but otherwise made no other conversation.
|
|
|
Post by Behax on May 14, 2024 23:13:31 GMT
“Your most honoured guest moves fast if that is the case...” That or Heaven was being extremely careless. Losing a Seraphim was no small matter. Solaris was lower on the rung than Ranliel was, a foot soldier sent out to die in a never ending war. Losing him was nothing, even if Ranliel were to fall (ha) it would barely make a ripple, in fact it was almost expected at this point.
Ranliel swirled the liquid around in his glass as he contemplated Envy’s question. Perhaps he should stop here at this glass, he probably shouldn’t actually get himself drunk. He knocked it back, and then finally put the lid back on the bottle. As good as it might feel to drink himself under the table....with a demon now in his midst he should try to keep his wits about him more than usual.
“I’m sure you remember the ‘Banquet of Chestnuts’?” Ranliel asked, “Held during the time of Pope Alexander VI.” He practically spat that name. The Borgia’s had been a stain on the church, exposing the deep corruption and debauchery that had been festering even then. It was the era that had truly broken Ranliel, when he finally realised he had been forsaken. Being caged inside the holiest city on earth was likely the only thing stopping him from falling at this point. He was standing right on the edge of it. It was torture.
– - - -
Felix took his time, washing himself in silence and letting Seven do the same. He seemed just as disinclined to talk when there wasn’t a need for it. When he was finished he let himself soak a while longer before finally getting out of the bath.
|
|