anothercontinuity | (no subject)

[ The demon scents the air, listening as those footsteps stutter to a halt. Heartbeat catching. Smells like ink and iron.

Tony's eyes have been glued to a page of some sort or another for weeks, but now Spite has his attention, and the demon hums a pleased little purr to itself. ]

There. You are.

[ It is Lucanis's voice, and when it advances enough for the one flickering light nearby to pass over his face, that is Lucanis's too. The same crooked nose that had broken once and never healed quite right again. The same sleep-deprived shadows under his glowing eyes.

But he has never smiled like that, wide and manic.

What approaches is wearing Lucanis but is not Lucanis, not even a little. And by now, Tony has had the chance to read about spirits and demons, and the nature of possession. He knows that Lucanis keeps himself awake with coffee to keep Spite at bay.

Which means something has gone wrong, for him to be out and about like this. ]

[ tony's heart skips a beat at the uncanniness of that smile (not lucanis, not safe), but their conversation from over a week ago eases his shoulders like a blanket around them. "don't fight him. or run," lucanis explained; it was the plan should his precautions as he sleeps ever fail and the demon gets loose. in that event, tony just needs to try and wake him up, and lucanis will retake control.

there's a plan. he knows what he needs to do. ]

Not hard to find, [ tony projects back down the hall. he swallows. ] Lucanis sleeping? [ he asks to confirm it's not something worse, like the demon deciding to end the bargain between himself and his host. ]

Edited 2025-04-26 15:46 (UTC)

[ Spite doesn't answer the question at first, as it seems obvious enough. They both know it's the only reason he'd be out and about like this, because Lucanis doesn't trust him. He'd never let him close to Tony if he could help it, rebuffing every effort on the part of the demon to wheedle, beg, and finally demand that he be allowed to do so.

Now? He doesn't get a say.

Those eyes bear closer, the edges of his features falling in and out of shadow again as he passes the candles in the hall. ]

For now.

[ By the time Spite comes to a halt, there's barely a foot of distance between them. ]

Now we get to talk.

[ as the demon wordlessly creeps closer, the tension in tony's muscles ratchets up. he's ready to swing the cup as a weapon if he has to, in case the thing attacks. he doesn't really believe it will; lucanis wouldn't have said not to run if he thought spite would. but this is definitely too close for tony's comfort. ] Personal space, Beelzebub. Back it up, [ he intones. ]

[ His head cocks, almost bird-like. But he does come to a halt. ]

Smells of...iron and ink. Smells like fear. But not blood this time, no. Not his, not theirs.

[ The wet splatter on the stones lingered, a delightful memory. A fate he'd gladly visit on every Venatori he could lay his -- Lucanis's -- hands on. Perhaps the one thing he and his host truly agreed upon. ]

[ it's not backing away. if it's not going to listen to him, why should tony listen to it? ] I'm not really in the mood for riddles. You have thirty seconds before I shout for Lucanis to wake up.

Where we found you.

[ Spite's gaze drops to Tony's arms -- clean, bandaged now, but he remembers. They remember the Venatori's cruelty all too well. ]

Caught you like they caught us. Would have bound you, like they bound us. But we. Saved. You.

[ And that smile widens, all teeth ]