Stephen felt the barb of that statement dig into his skin like an arrowhead. He might even have flinched a bit, but he hid it behind raising his hand to daub at the bead of blood on his nose. It was a motion that wasn’t bound to go very far, not when the other man was apparently not going to let him off the hook this time.
The route of approach, however, came as a bit of a blindside to him. It was enough to make him turn to the other in surprise, the smear of blood on his hand and undoubtedly with wide eyes. “I -” He swallowed his tongue, still not sure how to rebut that. “I don’t expect any of them to understand. Or to care. So I let them.”
“You deserve better than this.” Maybe that was selfish pride and a bit of vanity talking. Ky never had been or would ever be selfless. To let himself bleed for anyone – just so they could go another day ignorant of what was around them. No, he didn’t feel anyone, let alone humans needed protection when it was quite clear they wouldn’t either appreciate or even care for it.
“Especially when you bleed for the protection of those,” his arms folded across his chest with a grunt, “Lessers.” It was a name Ky used for a majority of Humans and just about anyone he didn’t like. To him, it was a way to distinguish those who didn’t have much worth against those that did, and most of the time he kept his mouth shut on the matter.
However, this wasn’t one of those times. He was going to attempt to voice his true thoughts on the matter. Even though he knew it would come back to bite him in the long run. “You let them walk all over you and for what? Nothing more than letting them continue their arrogance.”
“You know, that isn’t a proper answer.” The comment was far harsher than originally intended, but the problem was he just didn’t care. He asked as he wanted to know why. Not just to know the number of times Strange would bleed for them, but also the reasons to which he was doing so currently.
“You beed often, more so than anyone else, and yet they don’t respect you.” Or maybe that was just how Ky saw it. Fighting for anyone besides himself was a worthless effort and yet it happened over and over again. He just couldn’t figure out the reasons behind it. “— Why is that?”
Tentative truces practically made up every relationship in his life anymore, but some of them were more or less tentative. Some were stable enough that when he needed someone to watch his back on a mission even he found especially creepy, they could be relied upon not to stab his back while it was turned. And if they were the spawn of evil, well. He and Daimon had built a museum together, so that didn’t always predicate a whole hell of a lot in his warped little world.
Which was why he had called on Ky to help him with a quite substantial case of verified spiritual activity – ranging from possessions to fox fire to wight sightings all from actual sources and not just terrible Reddit threads – out in Kansas, in the middle of nowhere, deep into winter when the sparing trees were bare, the ground was split and dry before the frost, and it reminded him way too much of every terrible ghost story he’d heard as a kid in the next state over. It was also, he’d confirmed, a large enough anomaly that it was something he needed not to be handling alone, or even try to.
Wong actually threatened to find his ghost and put a curse on it if he got himself killed and made the other Master deal with the issue, he was that creeped out by it himself.
So far, all they’d found was a lot of empty earth and a few flares where phenomena was gathering; a fairy ring of black mushrooms in an aspen glen that was attracting bats and other creepy crawlies they had to brush off their clothes and keep out of their hair, and a scarecrow stand with only the bottom half of the scarecrow left and a green-eyed great horned owl perched on the top beam, watching them uncaringly even when they were examining the remains of the scarecrow.
They were on their third phenomena of the night, meaning Stephen was down on his knees wondering how the hell the cold earth below could have burned so profusely when there was nothing to burn, and no evidence that anything had been used as kindling, when something at the far end of a seemingly endless sea of empty field caught his eye. And it sure as hell didn’t give him the warm-fuzzies.
“Uh, not to. Alarm you. But can you see that?” he asked, not bothering to even try to put his measly flashlight on it, given the distance. And he also didn’t really want to alert whatever it was that they might know it was there. “Because it sure as hell looks like a dog, but if my middle age eyesight isn’t total shit, it looks about the size of a horse. And that. That could suck for us.”
If Ky was being honest, coming out here wasn’t on his to do list. He would have enjoyed spending the night alone and pretending the rest of reality was tens of thousands of miles away.
Unfortunately for the both of them, Ky had agreed to come along, but only due to the fact he was promised it would be worth his while. Of course, he’d been trying to stay out of trouble. Burning buildings and breaking into places could only last so long and Ky never was one to change his methods of what what one could call amusement.
So for a time, he kept his distance; several steps behind Stephen and made sure he was out of the other’s way. Their first event of the night wasn’t too interesting, but as the night had gone on he started to think there was something more at work. Something… that maybe shouldn’t have even been there in the first place.
Ky had checked his phone again; glancing down to see if he’d gotten anything new and to look at the time. It was then he heard Stephen ask the question. He clicked his phone off, glanced up, and took a step forward.
It looked like something, but as to what? He couldn’t quite put his finger on. The size of a horse was an understatement. Ky thought it was just a bit taller – maybe more feral than one and that spelling trouble was one way of putting it…just not exactly the best.
“If we stay still; totally still, we might be able to avoid it coming closer.” Or not. In truth, Ky wanted to investigate, but with limited information on what they were dealing with? Well, he wasn’t going to take any unnecessary chances… especially when he had someone else to worry about. “And hope it doesn’t spot us.” Or try to rush them as Ky believed the creature would if things decided to take a turn for the worst.
Now this is just getting old. Stephen really and truly didn’t bother hiding the fact that he rolled his eyes, given anyone who thought it wasn’t a natural response either wasn’t thinking about it or hadn’t been fucking paying attention. “How about we cut the “read my mind,” bullshit and get on with this conversation. You have information I need, that will help me decide whether to let you in the door. Do you see how this works, or do I have to spell it out?” Regardless of the fact that it was something Stephen could technically do, he didn’t have any interest or professional comfort with poking around in other peoples’ heads. And there was a utility to levity that he appreciated more and more as he got older and crankier.
“Because if you’re going to try to keep verbally dancing around me in order to make me less suspicious of you, you’re failing miserably,” he continued flatly, his arms crossed over his chest but his hands kept open in the folds of his arms should he need them. “And you’re also failing at accomplishing whatever goal you actually came here fore at the same time, unless your sole inclination was to irritate the crap out of me and get a door closed in your face in about five seconds.”
He had attempted to handle things delicately and in turn ended up making things worse for himself. A reason to why he decided ( along with Stephen’s own irritation ) it was time to just get to the point. No more dancing along the lines of safety – it was time to admit everything. Maybe then he could get in the door or get it shut in his face ( at this rate it was more looking towards shut in his face than anything else ) it was a fifty fifty chance on what way it would go.
“I was trying to –,” he was about to go into an apology, but then, half-way through he grunted. “I’m the grandson of Mephisto and I need your help – shut the door on me. I don’t care… i’m going to be dragged back either way. I just…I just want to postpone it for a bit longer.” He could have gone on to explain everything about his situation, but even Ky knew it wasn’t worth it. Not if he was just going to more than likely be thrown out.
“No one’s ever accused me of being that, so far as I know,” he replied dryly. Most people ended up screaming at him rather more about him being the opposite. “But while smart I may not be, that doesn’t qualify me as a complete moron, so I’ll keep my chances on this side of the door, thank you.”
He waited, perhaps over long after the other was done speaking, waiting for more information to be provided. When none was forthcoming, he raised a brow at the other man knowing and hating that he was going to have to invest himself by daring to ask the question that was literally being dangled in front of his nose.
“Well, that was blunt alright, but unhelpful.” He knew the name rang a bell, but the other seemed to be wanting to dodge the matter of just who he was even if he wasn’t avoiding what he was. Whether he would figure it out in time… he would just have to find out. “I’ll give you one thing, you’re certainly not Dickensian. But I’m going to need a bit more information than that before I agree to anything. Like just what these problems of yours are, and why you need my help.”
truth be told, there were many reasons as to why ky needed his help, but he couldn’t – no, he wouldn’t voice them. maybe if he trusted strange, he would have, but the problem was he didn’t. nor did he think he would anytime soon.
still, ky knew that this was his best chance. maybe it wasn’t exactly the smartest, but anything would have been better than simply repeating the same cycle several times over. what he truly wanted was control – though, he could do that later. more or less.
as for right now… he needed to get in the door. then he could actually try to explain things. though, there was no doubt in his mind that the other would eventually find out just who he was, and when that happened? well, he hoped the reaction wouldn’t be too… violent.
“since you know what i am… i think you can take a few guesses.” controlling his rage was something he hadn’t mastered, but it wasn’t the only reason he was here. no, the real reasons was that he was running, and the last thing he needed was to be sent back home. especially when he knew he’d face more than just a stern talking to if he ever returned.
“Ah, I see.” Which was to say that he didn’t see at all, save for the fact that he now had a very sudden insight into the man now approaching his door. Out of instinct he braced one otherwise non-menacing arm across the barrier of the one open half of the door and waited for the other to finish. In other realms of power dynamics or masculinity he wouldn’t have looked threatening in the slightest – and even within his own realm he was sure he still didn’t look the part – but the social hesitation at least would come through, and if that earned him enough time to consider the other’s words, it would be worth it. “So I see you’re the “get off my lawn in the Biblical sense” type.”
“I can’t say I blame you, given seasons, daylight savings, and how shitty the Easter candy is compared to the Halloween candy don’t exactly garner favor for springtime.” Still, the schlock of requiring closed doors to have a conversation might have been a good request, but was far indeed from a good reason for such a request, and of the two, Stephen was far more interested in the reason for requisite privacy rather than the request for it.
“But I’ll give you this – I can see that you’re serious about being here on other business. I am, however, afraid that that’s all I can give you until you tell me who the hell you are, why you’re here to talk to me – at least in brief and nondescript terms – and one damn good reason why I should let you into my house.” He could still feel the tension in the house, but it was loosening. Both he and the house knew that the man at least wasn’t a banshee, but what else he might be or want was still a tricky question.
“if you were smart… you wouldn’t let me in at all.” the words were not just blunt, but also truthful. at least from his own point of view. “’course, you could always take that slight chance, and see where it takes you.” not that ky thought it would work; he hadn’t said who he was yet for good reason. he just didn’t know how well it would go over.
still, there was no better time than the present of sorts. “either way,” he said, clasping his hands together. “you know what i am, but not why i’m here. so, i doubt you’re not going to like the next part.” least of all in his mind, but this was why he was here, and he wasn’t going to tuck his tail between his legs just due to the fact of a question. well, not this time around. “i’m ky’lar,” he didn’t even use his fathers name this time – just so he could do this without too much fuss, “ and to be blunt? i need your help to take care of a problem.”
“a few of them actually.” he doubted that adding those last few words in would help him, but there was always a chance. especially when he could practically taste failure that seemed to be all to common these days.
If samhain and/or Halloween was the traditional holiday of the fiends in Western culture, the spring solstice was exactly the opposite. Which was to say that there was probably just as much candy exchanging hands, merriment being made, and just as much kinky sex being had as on the nights when the spirits of the dead were closest to the Earth. In spring, it was just a matter of potential life being the cause for celebration, in every sense of the term possible. Being the son of a farmer Stephen had a personal appreciation for both, though he tended to lean toward preferring harvest season because at least after harvest he got to sit on his ass all winter as a teenager, whereas spring celebrations usually meant only the very beginning of long working summers.
Now that he no longer had to worry about seeding, he leaned more toward preferring spring, especially because the demons got up to a whole lot less when people were so damn happy that winter was finally over. Some of them even took the creation of new life as a personal insult, and would seasonally bitch to him about how all the fertility spirits were causing them to lose sleep or gain weight any other equally ludicrous claim to pass the time.
Stephen still found it hilarious, if mildly annoying. But in the grand scheme of things considerably less annoying than the possessions, bad ouija summonings, and other bullshit that tended to result from all the American pop fiction interpretations of Halloween. Some of which actually did shit, but while most didn’t, there was no shortage of dark spirits willing to make due with even the smallest and most febrile of opportunities.
Come springtime, the only opportunities they could bank on for the season were spurned lovers after Valentine’s Day, and a standing (though never established) permission to annoy the Sorcerer Supreme about their inconveniences.
So when he opened the door to find any sort of demon on his stoop in and around springtime, he may have been biased in assuming the reason for their visits. Short of it being Daimon Hellstrom, he wasn’t often wrong and so had never had much grounds to reconsider his chronic springtime allergy to demonic bellyaching.
“Look, frankly, if you’re here to complain about noisy neighbors in the mythical beings community, you’re just going to have to deal with the springtime revelers like the rest of us. If you’re really looking for peace and quiet, at this time of year Hell is actually probably your better bet.” He let one arm hang loose at his side, the other hand resting unimpressed at his hip. He wasn’t exactly barring entrance into the Sanctum, but he wasn’t outright welcoming it either. He’d made that mistake once last spring, and the house had been furious with him for more than a week for accidentally letting in a banshee who didn’t understand that “not no” didn’t also mean “yes.”
“Or have you got some actual business for me that doesn’t involve a particular seasonal complaint?”
he avoided holiday’s like the plague; it didn’t matter what one it was. they all seemed to blend in together with people singing songs or worse… wanting him to join in. it was to that very reason the demon normally locked himself away in a hotel room with the thermostat close to minus five celsius.
sure, it was colder than most humans would enjoy, but he wasn’t human. not entirely at least and the cold ( for the most part ) was a way to calm him down. not to say it helped much, but it worked wonders when the entire world wanted to be too cheerful for his liking.
though, it didn’t matter now – this wasn’t a simple normal day where he could hide away from his problems. if it was, he wouldn’t even be here, and just maybe he would have been at a bar drinking down the best alcohol money could buy this side of the world.
“yeah, about that,” a pause. “hell’s out of the question.” instead of elaborating, ky started to make his way forward. “a reason to why i’m here.” it wasn’t the only reason, but it was one of the few primary one’s. “see, i wouldn’t complain about noisy neighbors. i would just kill them… slowly.” then again, he doubted that the one he was speaking with would want to hear that.
a reason to why he shifted the subject as quickly as he could by giving a shrug. “either way, this isn’t about seasons, the time change, or people wanting to force me to ‘give into love of jesus’.” he could have gone on, but decided not to as his arms slid behind his back. “this is more of… business that is best spoken behind closed doors.”
Hellfirebound 