Ethan learned a long time ago that trust was a fickle thing; in all truth, he wanted to be more trusting – of everyone he met – but that was merely a wild dream. People lied, people cheated, people were greedy and selfish – not everyone, but sometimes it was difficult to differentiate them from the genuine.
The vampire could understand his caution and warning, and yet he couldn’t help but feel the same. How did he know, if Ethan kept up his end of the deal, that Ky’lar would not just kill him anyway? He could sense the feeling of the other’s intense dislike for him and his kind – on a small side note, he wondered what the reason truly was. Did it have a deeper meaning than simply general disgust? Maybe he would find that out.
“Let us be honest here – it could take years for you to be comfortable enough around me, despite all of my efforts. Why should I waste my time proving that I can remain in control when it may simply be futile on my part?” Ky’lar could threaten him with death all he wanted, Ethan was not afraid of dying. He’s come close many times before, he was used to it by now. It wasn’t dying that frightened him – being forgotten, wasting away without anyone’s second thought however…
“Mind you, I am quite a patient man, but even I have my limits when the benefit does not seem in my favor. How do I know that you will keep to your word?”
“Because you have no other choice.” It wasn’t exactly the best thing he could have said, but for the time being, it was only thing he could. In truth, Ky didn’t know if he’d honestly ever be comfortable around him.
However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t at least try. Vampires were unpredictable. They never could fully control themselves or maybe they didn’t even try to do so. Not that it mattered for the moment – Ky hated the thought of being in the same enclosed space as one.
Part of it was due to his history… the other? The other was his own twisted hatred. Not that it mattered too much. Ky had his mind made up to not trust the other and nothing would change it until the time w as right.
“It may take years – maybe centuries for you to gain my trust, but we’ll see.” if not… well, he’d take Ethan out of the picture when he got bored of him.
He knew that it was foolish to underestimate Ky’lar, and almost definitely a death sentence. He narrowly escaped once before and that, he would admit, was because the demon hybrid let him go. He assumed that Ky’lar was one that liked to ‘’play with his food’’ so to speak and Ethan was aware that those mindsets were possibly one of the dangerous people in existence. Not so humorously, the demon prince reminded him of another – someone more close to Ethan than he would like to admit.
He was amused, but he also wanted to keep their arrangement going for now, which meant respecting the other’s threat. Not that Ethan was afraid of what he was promising; death didn’t scare him, being forgotten did. Arms crossing, the vampire tilts his head slightly and grins, allowing his amusement to show. “Oh, yes, I have heard of your…effective methods. And while I will steadfastly inform you that I hold no fear towards your capabilities – I have lived for two and a half centuries and fought in hundreds of wars with just as intimidating – the moniker will not roll off my tongue again.” For the time being, anyway.
“Though, I must stress again that it was not intended to be an insult. Many give those they admire a little pet name – it means I like you. Heaven knows why, given our first encounter.” He could still feel the splintered hole the state left in his chest after it was yanked from him, despite the wound now healed as if nothing had occurred at all.
Understanding people; it didn’t matter the species or race… wasn’t easy. It wasn’t that Ky cared – in some level he did -, but for the most part… he just didn’t see why it was needed. Obeying was the only thing he wanted. Obeying and saying ‘yes’ was the only thing he wanted when his moods turned sour. A reason to why he usually sought out people who would grant him his requests. Humans were so much easier for this; they dipped their head and did exactly as he requested. Throw a little money at them, a deal, and maybe even some affection to boot. Maybe that was why he enjoyed it on earth so much -besides being born there – is that he was able to control them so easily. Whatever the case, he didn’t think it was necessary to explain his choices now. Vampires always dug under his skin and the why -even for him- was always a bit uncertain. Flashes of memory from anther life were just below the surface of his thoughts. They faded just as quickly as they began to surface. No, he wasn’t going to let those thoughts control him… at least not now. “Well, I don’t like you.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but not so much a lie either. Ky assumed if he got to know Ethan a but better, maybe he’d be able to stand him, but getting to that point was the difficult part. “So, keep those names to yourself.”
He wasn’t wrong. Despite the decades he’s spent (seven to be exact) training his body and mind to harness and control his monstrous urges and needs, it wasn’t perfect – he wasn’t perfect by any means. Mistakes could happen, they have. Ethan was merely determined to work hard to ensure they didn’t. He set a ‘scheduled’ feeding time, once every couple of months, one donor and a few small gulpfuls of blood should hold him off for a while. His next time was approaching soon, but he could manage without it just fine. In all honesty, he had one donor already in mind though getting close to the demon’s neck without a struggle would prove difficult.
“You do not have to worry about me. I assure you.” Was all he said in response. It would be foolish to think that Ky’lar would believe him just like that, Ethan knew that he had to prove himself to earn his complete trust – not that he assumed he would get that, not entirely at least. “Ky’lar? Amusing, I thought a unique name would fit such an…idiosyncratic person. It seems I was right.” Hands slipped into pockets, the vampire leaning back on his heels, balancing himself effortlessly. “Is that all you require of me, Ky’lar? Simply that I control myself? For a moment, you made it seem as though you had something to offer that would be worth my while – was I mistaken to assume you were extravagant?”
There was no doubt in Ky’s mind that the moment things became a little problematic ( or he let down his guard ) that Ethan would use that moment to strike. He’d been involved with Vampires before; not romantically, but, rather, it was purely business, and among other things… he hated them.
If it was up to him, every single vampire in existence would be eradicated. It wouldn’t matter who they were or what they could do for him. They would all be not just dead, but exterminated as well.
“Your assurances mean nothing.” At least to him, Ky knew what Vampires could do, and how easy restraint could slip from their grasp. So, he was going to take everything Ethan said simply on face value. At least until Ky felt he could have a sense of peace around him ( but even then that little part was unlikely to happen ).
“You might be able to control yourself today, maybe even tomorrow as well, but the moment i turn my back,” or let his guard down, “you’ll be ready to stick those fangs where they don’t belong.” Then, Ky would break them off, but he doubted that he’d needed to state the obvious for the moment.
“You worry about keeping your nature under control and maybe i’ll let you in on everything, but only when the time comes.”
Ethan pursed his lips in partial thought, actually considering the offer given to him by the other. Was he crazy to ponder proposal? Perhaps, as he couldn’t trust that the man wouldn’t attempt to go back on his ‘word’ and attempt to kill him once more – he couldn’t take the chance that the next time he would succeed. “Come now, where is the harm in sharing your ideas with me? To perform your tasks to the best of my ability, I must have information on what I will be doing, yes? And it is common courtesy to exchange names, is it not? I would assume that you know mine already, if you are as intelligent as I presume you are.”
“Your kind are like leaches,” he said, not even bothering to hold his tongue in place. “You need blood to survive and with out it… you turn rabid.” Maybe that wasn’t entirely the case, but he sure thought it was. “I’m simply offering you a chance to prove you’re not like the rest.” Even if Ky’s mind was made up already, but that was another point entirely. “Of course, I doubt you’ll even be able to last a day – maybe two tops.”
Ky never was optimistic, even when he was more or less human, but that didn’t mean he could fake it. He could, but where would the fun in it be? Not to mention his hatred for Vampires always managed to show through ( one way or another ). “Either way? You can call me Ky’lar.”
“You do know I chain your kind out to posts for fun, correct?” Ethan possibly knew already, but, for the most part, Ky was just putting it out there. That way, there was no mistaking just what he was capable of.
Ky was also about to go on to his usual rant about how all Vampires were leaches, but instead, he held his tongue. No, this wasn’t the time to go on about that. Why admit or even waste energy to repeat the same thing he’d said again, and again, and again? There was nothing beneficial in it. Not really at least.
“Now, If you call me that again,” he said, taking in a deep breath, and letting it out slowly. “I’ll seemingly forget the agreement we have and you’ll be gone by sunrise.” Though, even Ky knew his words were false; he’d do so much worse than simply kill Ethan. There was no fun in out-right killing any Vampire. Even one as amusing as them.
The vampire gazed at the other in a bit of surprise before dark hues narrowed suspiciously. Lips pursed and he pondered on the man’s words, curious as to what exactly he meant. There was a part of him that had been sparked with intrigue, he wouldn’t lie, but that didn’t mean he would easily trust this fellow – after all, he did put a stake through his chest. “I do not suppose you are proposing to use my artistic abilities?” No, this didn’t smell like a mere ‘painting a portrait’ request. “Pray tell, what exactly is it that you do, Mr.-?”
“think of it this way,” he said, arms crossing over his chest. “you do as i ask and you get to keep your worthless life in-tact.” or, in other words, ky wouldn’t end up shoving a stake through him or worse. though, ky knew his word couldn’t be trusted in this – not around vampires. he despised them to the point where he’d have them all eliminated, but then again..he couldn’t have everything he wanted. not entirely. “– and no more questions.”
“don’t take it personal… i hate your kind.” more specifically, ky saw vampires as mere parasites. maybe his view could change, but for the moment? no, he didn’t think it would. not now and not anytime soon. “i saw the opportunity and i took it. if i had the chance again? you’d be dead. no torture and no second chances.” not if he had anything to say about it.
“so,” he said, hand running through his hair. “if you want to paint me? you can, but keep those teeth to yourself.” maybe that way he wouldn’t have to deal with the constant urge to put an end to ethan’s existence.
if this was any other time, ky would have been able to get out of the other’s grasp with-out even breaking any sort of sweat. he could have even moved to snap the other’s neck like it was a small twig. no one got that close him – maybe the people he liked, but even then? that was debatable.
still, this wasn’t one of the usual times were he could simply use a portion of his full strength to get out of the situation. he may have been strong to start with, but with out his more… demonic abilities? he barely was powerful than an average human. maybe a bit more, but not enough to escape this – not when he knew it was a vampire that was holding him. a vampire that he’d tortured for his own twisted sense of amusement. oh, how the tables were turned against him.
his eyes closed tightly as he attempted to get out of the grip, but it was clearly put exhausting. everything that he tried to do wasn’t working. not that it mattered much – he was useless (to everyone including himself) like this.
“get… off,” he hissed out through clenched teeth shortly after Ethan’s teeth bit down into his shoulder. screaming would do him no good; a reason to why he focused on keeping his breathing relaxed (as best as possible) since there was no escaping this. not while he was grounded.
“– or i’ll tear you to shreds.” the threat, however, was baseless – he couldn’t do anything at moment, but eventually… he would. when he got un-grounded, he’d make sure to rip ethan apart… piece by piece. of course, that was if he lasted that long.
“I wondered how long it would take for you to find me.” Shorter than he expected, perhaps he underestimated his adversary, which didn’t bode too well for him the last time. But Ethan wouldn’t be easily trapped this time; they stood on even ground, with Ethan’s guard firmly intact. He watched the other carefully, so not to be ambushed once again. “Have you come to repay your debt for ruining my custom tailored four hundred dollar suit?”
“a four hundred dollar suit is pocket change.” even more so to someone like him. when ky wore suits, they cost far more than a mere few hundred dollars. then again, the demon always had to get the best of everything – even clothing. “if you work for me,” he said bluntly. “you’d see it that way soon enough.” though, that was if everything went to plan, and so far… nothing had been going that way for quite a while.
Pain was nothing knew to him. Once he had been a commander of a vampire army and fought in countless battles against the foes of his grandfather and Council of his people; he was their puppet, their good little soldier, their loyal servant. Pain was constant – death always lingered and yet he survived every single time. He was hailed as his home’s greatest warrior – funny, how they mistreated him so severely after his ‘fall from grace’. Any time he thought back to that moment, when he was branded as a traitor, the scar on the left side of his body (literally the word ‘traitor’ in Italian was branded onto his skin) itched and burned, just like the moment the hot iron was pressed against him. It was all in his head, a phantom sensation, and yet it felt so real.
There was no doubts, however, that the pain he was currently feeling was real though. Every time the other tapped on the weapon buried in his chest, the vibrations and even the slightest of shifts shot through and viciously bit his nerves, causing him to unwillingly flinch and release a strained groan from his tightly closed mouth. His eyes fluttered shut a moment, the vampire attempting to completely ignore the stinging by focusing on his breathing – something he did not need to do but now came naturally to him with all the effort and training he’s put in to over the last seven decades trying to perfect it so he would look normal to humans. When his lids opened again, dark brown hues glowed a deep shade of crimson red. It wasn’t out of anger or threat as it normally would be, the vampire decided it was best to tread cautiously now given the other’s own threat.
“The words you speak, it seems to me as though you have an…unresolved issue with the fate of death.” The vampire’s head cocked to the side a little and his eyes narrowed at his assailant. “I’m curious, are those words suppose to be directed towards me? Or is this a confession from somber thoughts and experience?” A pause. “Are you preaching to me, friend?” So much for treading lightly – but then again, the vampire argued that if he downplayed or even lied about anything and the other knew it, then punishment would be inflicted nonetheless. Ethan didn’t really see any way he was getting out of this unscathed, so why not be honest?
“Pray tell, just how is this suppose to ‘work out’? What is it that you want from me – a stranger?”
“If you were simply a stranger, I would have no use for you, but as it stands, you’re far more than simply that.” His right hand moved to rub at his chin for a few moments, “Death can be cheated —- given enough time, you can outlive it, and eventually embrace it with open arms. However, that’s not why i’m here.”
A slight grin pulled at the demon’s lips for a few moments, “I need someone who can help me with a project —- you won’t be paid and you might not even live through it. However, I do believe someone like you will suffice.” Even if he didn’t, there was a major chance that Ky’lar wouldn’t be able to test his theories again, but it was a chance he had to take… especially now.
“If you wish, I could kill you right now, but no, I don’t think i’ll waste someone like you. Far too much to offer me, don’t you think?”
Hellfirebound 