A Demon's Honor

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IamLEAM1983
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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Three shrugged. "Oh, I know. It's his life - and yours. It's not for us to judge. Not that was trying to pass judgment or anything, I was just trying to clarify things."

Still, that was that. He turned to grab a sandwich from the cooler, only to hear familiar hums from the other side of the tall stone wall that fenced the property. Holden Hall's rear was more secure than the front, seeing as most ground-floor offices had windows with a view on the front of the property. Considering the length of the driveway leading up to the mansion, you always saw who was coming long before they actually got there. From the rear, however, extra precautions had been necessary.

A few steps away, a flat steel door waited. It was only accessible via a keycard, and could only be manually opened from within. From without, it wasn't much more than a handle-less panel gated with a magnetic lock. Tom being a part of the team, however, had his own laminate. The electronic lock buzzed and the door swung ajar on its own, Magnus pushing it the rest of the way. "Well, hello, you swimsuit models..." he said, teasing them. "I'm sorry I couldn't come in early today, the first of the last steps of my own devilish plans finally took shape.
- The papers are signed and sealed?" asked Three.

The warthog nodded. "Tom Magnus now has his own spacious basement studio, entirely concrete-lined and warded to ensure the safety of my fellow owners, and the deeds for Quint's land are signed. The old grain silos are mine, and demolition starts in two weeks. Hope's first multi-storied and multi-planar nightclub should open in two years."

He wore his customary three-piece, giving weight to the notion that after experiencing the Pit's charred wastes, a summertime ninety-plus on the thermometer felt almost chilly. Under one arm, however, waited a bundled towel, the fingers of his other hand holding up the strings of a medium-sized bag. He briefly shifted his hold on it to receive a handshake from the soldier, but then quickly slid on over to Aislinn. With his customary ease, he slid an arm along the small of her back and kissed her. He didn't feel particularly hungry, instead choosing to give her a small nugget of sensory pleasure.

He held up the bag. "I felt like buying you a little something, to celebrate," he explained, giving her one of his signature slow smiles. "I never officially took your size, but we've had ample officious times, I'd say. One look in the right storefront on the way back, and I knew it'd fit."

Past the black silk paper, Aislinn would find a black, silver and charcoal sundress, perfect for showing off tattoos and adhering to her tastes while still serving as a more summer-worthy piece of clothing to wear in the hotter weeks.
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TennyoCeres84
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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"Congratulations!" Aislinn yelled happily, hugging him and kissing him back. Upon looking the bag, she beamed at the sight of the sundress, admiring it without touching so as not to get sunscreen on it. "I'll wear it the next time we go out. Gubbin will be shocked to see me wearing an actual dress that's not for clubbing," she said with a chuckle.

She smirked. "So are you going to be donning some purple swim trunks and hitting the pool?' she asked, putting the bag over to the side.
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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Tom seemed to take great pleasure to the gift he'd offered, something that could be guessed at in the way he made Aislinn's offered hug linger for a second. Obviously, seeing Aislinn happy seemed to be as valid a source of nourishment as more carnal approaches would've been. As to whether or not he'd noticed that as of now, however, was another story. All Three knew from looking at the couple was that Magnus felt like the genuinely amorous and considerate Bizarroverse twin to just about every self-made jerk that made the news in the local entertainment business. Any monied nobody could've opened tomorrow's new hot joint, and any Joe Schmoe with money clips could've decided to celebrate buying a Downtown condo unit before construction. He could've had a Playboy Mansion's worth of suitors of all genders and origins and still, he firmly fixated one of the first few people he'd met after crossing over in the mortal plane.

Faithfulness from an incubus... A strange concept, but stranger things had happened. Tom had subtly changed in the last few years, going from what felt like constrictive abstinence to choosing to nibble on every little bit of everyday contentment Aislinn exuded. He fed constantly instead of feeding in single, massive doses, and that had seemingly dulled his ravenous senses a little. Honestly, this was for the better. Gasps or sudden chest-grasping pangs of exquisite sensation were less frequent, which meant less hassle in having to explain away the warthog's fits through increasingly unlikely excuses. The group had already played the Angina card several times before, and if it hadn't been for the improvement of the incubus' levels of self-control, they would've slipped up before already. One day, a physician would want to investigate that so-called cardiovascular weakness, only to find that the warthog was equipped with a stubborn hunk of meat that barely resembled a heart anymore and yet somehow kept pumping blood with the efficiency of a healthy child's...

However, Magnus would probably feel like someone in the early, blissful stages of a relationship forever. His nature had made fights with Aislinn a rare occurence, and his desire for the roane seemingly knew no bounds. Bad hair days, headaches, bad decisions, gained or lost weight, opposed views - as far as the others could tell, Tom forgave everything. For a supernatural Lothario, he was turning out to be supernaturally dedicated! It was all a bit too much to think the roane was just some meal ticket - she had to matter, and she especially had to matter significantly.

"I might have something like that in mind," he answered playfully, "but I'm more of the Late-Night Jacuzzi persuasion. You, me, bubbles, hot water, low lights..."

Three raised his hands. "Okay, I get it! Come on guys, let's head inside and let the lovers have at it!"

Tom chuckled at that. "I'll make an effort, though. If there's pool noodles and a bit of shade, I'll try the pool.
- I thought you'd still be trying to improve the bod, honestly," admitted the soldier. "No offence, but your waistline hasn't really diminished since you popped up."

The warthog rolled his eyes and grinned, signalling he felt no offence in this. "This body might be a mainline straight to the Pit, it's a bit too old to reverse all the damage Quint caused. I quickly found out I didn't have the metabolism to shed these extra pounds as quickly as I'd like. Making sure I don't add more seems more manageable. Salads with no dressing, white meats, plenty of veggies... The occasional glass of red wine..."

He then hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "I'll go and get changed. Did Archie fish out his old waders?
- You betcha!" replied Bucky, which made Tom sigh amusedly.

"Oh, brother - Archie, Archie Archie..."
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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Aislinn scoffed. "The weight you're at is fine; just work on it as you feel the need to. If nothing else, you could work out with me," she suggested. "Weightlifting, swimming..."

Her doubt over Tom's deeper affections faded for now. The reasons for her lingering doubt were her own insecurities from past relationships. She had never felt for someone as intensely as she did for the incubus. And the factor of his being a demon that lived on carnal energies also nibbled away at her. What if he grew bored with a supernatural being that did age and would eventually die? The tattooist knew she was being paranoid, but hopefully that would dissipate in the future.
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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Tom had been heading towards the mansion, but Aislinn's comment made him spin back around. He continued walking in backwards steps, but gave Aislinn a wicked little smile. "We're already exercising together fairly often..." he countered, only to leave that little titillating barb at that and turn away. Desire sometimes including a light amount of prodding, he ignored whatever correcting response the roane would have.

The warlock having disappeared inside for the moment, Three could only amusedly scoff. "You remember your first teenage flirts, Ais? He feels kinda like that. Well, he reminds me of mine, I mean. A bucket of raging hormones, except he's earnest. He'd give the Energizer bunny a run for his money. Most guys Quint's age are usually at the point where the grind settles in and romance ends up based on occasions or vacation days."
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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Magnus' little barb caused Aislinn's cheeks to color faintly. She then scoffed and chuckled, then looking over at Three. "True enough," she replied. "And I certainly don't mind that factor. Keeps things fresh for sure, and it definitely seems he's in it for the long run," she noted.
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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Bucky grunted thoughtfully as he stood up. "Being what he is, I'll bet he'll still think you're drop-dead gorgeous even when you'll start pushing three hundred. I wouldn't worry about the whole When I grow old question, honestly."

He winked at Neasa. "Besides, we old folks get wiser, and wisdom really ups the appeal. Plus, if Neasa's ever strapped for cash, she can just sell me! I'm a walking antique!
- Who'd be there to Hoover the fridge clean, then?" counted Three, scoffing amusedly. "Neasa's selling you over my dead body, Shamus. Not to mention Archie's. All I've got is loyalty to my friends, Archie's got wrist-blades. So no touchy on the walking boiler."

Bucky set a big hand on Aidan's head, something in the set of his eyelids and jaw suggesting a smirk. "Eh, I love you too, soldier-boy."
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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Neasa smiled and shook her head in amusement. "I'd never sell you, Bucky. Your version of a book club is too fun to see you shipped off to some eccentric collector. And there's the more obvious fact of that I'm crazy about you," she said.

Aislinn grinned. "Let's just not get too sappy, okay?" she teased her teammates.
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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While Three agreed, Bucky still felt like having fun with the subject.

"Well, I know I'm not crazy about anybody," he started, adding a second or two's worth of suspense just to see if Neasa would react to that. "I'm pretty lucid about my feelings for you guys..."

One of his big fingers then brushed against Neasa's cheek. "...and I know for damn sure that I love you, Nessie."

Still, that said, he carefully set the same big mitt on one of her shoulders. The two last fingers of his hand were too big to fit on the selkie's shoulder, so he let them hang. "Alright, enough saccharine crap," he added, raising his voice as if to clear the atmosphere, "who wants burgers?"

Three scoffed. "It's nine-thirty in the morning, man. The sandwiches are due for lunch.
- I don't care," replied the Clank, "I want burgers! Don't worry about missing fixings for tonight, I bought my own stash!"

Aidan just had to ask. "How much ground beef did you buy?"

Shamus looked down to the soldier with an uncertain look. "I dunno... Twenty pounds, maybe?"

Three had to step away at that information, amused incredulity making him comb his hair back with both hands, as if the information was too much for him to handle. "Twenty p- Jesus, Shamus, did you hold the Costco guys hostage or something?!"

The Clank shrugged. "We buy in bulk for the cafeteria, Arch can't wrap his head around the concept of Reward Points, we had enough points from my share of the fridge to maybe buy one third of the warehouse for free, so I figured why not?
- And you're gonna eat all that right now. Twenty pounds of ground beef, plus the bread buns and condiments. And you'll have room for lunch and supper."

Bucky scoffed. "Not my fault if my furnace does its fricking job!" he said, chuckling.
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Re: A Demon's Honor

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"I'll take a burger, Bucky," Neasa requested, then scoffing at Aidan. "Who said a burger can't be brunch? Bacon is traditionally a breakfast food, but they'll have it anytime, day or night," she joked.

Aislinn snorted lightly and teased her sister "You really did inherit Grandpa Urthar's metabolism, didn't you? Yet, you're able to eat like a horse and not gain a pound."

Playfully rolling her eyes, their older sister retorted, "And as though you and Ciaran don't put away some food. Pfft, please."

The twins chuckled in response. "I think we'll just stick with the sandwiches, Bucky. Neasa needs that extra protein for her super strength and leopard seal stamina," Ciaran said.

In general, selkies had to eat a lot of protein to cover their supernatural metabolism, and it was further affected by the types of powers they inherited. Physical powers like Neasa's demanded more calorie intake than a roane with psychic powers. Still, one had better have enough food to ground to feed a trio of seal people.
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