Who: Lust, Nybras [NPC] (redhots) and Infidelity (infidelitas) When: Friday evening, June 25th Where: Vale-Libera residence, CA What: Taking stock, and a reunion of sorts
A hop, skip, and a jump across tainted hearts and souls was all it took for a Sin to fly across the country as quick as you please, and while Lust in particular preferred a plush first-class seat and a glass of champagne, sometimes one just had to suffer through quicker measures.
Indeed, she had wanted to move quicker, but the sudden onrush of melding memories, readjusting, and time spent once again re-acknowledging that her brother held a position above all others held her up. There were other matters to be dealt with, a bruised pride to soothe, but one stood out among the rest, more out of sheer curiosity than anything else. It had been over half a year since she had last set foot in the home that Greed had gifted her with, the home that Desmond and she made theirs. It was a start, it seemed right, and as soon as she drew near enough, she knew she had decided on the correct place to begin her search.
Fi'd been sprawled across her bed, lazily perusing the internet rather than working on some of the lessons Ms. Channing had previously assigned her before her resignation, when she caught the distinct whiff of something else draw near.
A rather distinct something else that reeked of Hell the way that Desmond never did.
The girl froze up, her fingers hovering frozen in place above the keyboard keys as she began to panic. Desmond wasn't there. It was just her and the fuzzball snoring away softly up on her pillows, and that thing wasn't good for anything but shedding and making a nuisance of itself. Acting on an impulse, she quickly dove underneath her bed and trying so hard to hide herself. The movement was apparently enough to rouse the sleeping mutt, who followed her, yipping cheerfully with their game. Swatting at it did nothing to silence the damned thing, nor did all the evil hisses and promises of all the horrible things she would do to it should they get out of their bind. She'd been wondering if she had enough time to throw the mutt into her closet when she could hear it coming closer. Apparently it was something that the dog picked up on as well, for Felicia was allowed a brief moment to sigh as it fell silent, only to bristle back up when Fifi resumed with a sharp procession of 'yips' as it flew out from underneath the dust ruffle and rounded out of her room like something possessed.
The house seemed empty, Desmond's cologne hanging like a sweet memory throughout the place. Sedately Lust moved from room to room, in no hurry almost to spite the odd twist and tangle of butterflies that had taken up residence in her stomach. She wasn't quite sure what she expected. The last she knew was of the writhing infant in Asmodeus' arms, the little critter who had no care to other's need for sleep and so demanding for attention and care. Her musing had been interrupted by a small white ball of fluff tearing towards at breakneck speed, winding and twisting itself around her feet in a noisy greeting. A small smile curled painted lips as the Sin knelt to gather her first little love up into her arms, pausing only to coo in greeting and apology for their long parting. Keeping the dog's previous trajectory in mind, Lust retraced the dog's bounding path, stopping once she came to the room from where Fifi had emerged from. As if she needed further reason to stop, Fifi squirmed her way out Lust's arms and stepped daintily with a pointed look between her old mistress and the one still hidden from sight, before the furball wiggled itself underneath the dust ruffle once more.
Fi's stomach dropped as that damned dog gave her hiding place away, especially with the unknown thing still there. Swatting angrily at the beast, she did not immediately realize the other thing had come up by the bed until a pale hand was tugging up the edge of the dust ruffle, and Fi was staring back into eyes that might as well have been hers.
Staring back equally as transfixed, Lust couldn't quite the right words. From the nuisance of a swollen belly to the petite infant princess to the nearly full grown girl in less than a year -- nothing Desmond might have told her before could have prepared her for the full realization of this thing they created, up close and personal, and completely undeniable in that she was theirs.
"If the best you could come up with is to hide beneath a bed, you're not going to last very long in this world. Come out from under there. It's disgraceful."
Letting the dust ruffle fall back down, Lust rose to her feet gracefully, and smoothing her skirt, she waited for compliance.
Fi lay there, blinking in a stunned silence.
That...that wasn't quite what she expected. She waited a few breaths before she moved, not sure what else to do under the circumstances but to eventually shimmy out from underneath the bed. Emerging slowly, she kept the bed itself between them, keeping her eyes locked on the woman a few feet away.
Warily, mother and daughter eyed one another for the first time.
"You were there in New Orleans. I didn't know." There wasn't much else Lust could think of to say, only just realizing the familiarity and placing it with the creature here in front of her now. What really was there to say? Curiosity lured her back to the West Coast, but she hadn't thought of anything beyond satisfying her need to see this phenomenon with her own two eyes, and not side stories from anyone who had anything to offer.
"Fa--Asm--wherever he went, I went too. At least I did until everyone disappeared, but I've been here ever since." There was also a recognition of sorts from the girl, the familiar sort of presence mingled with something that was very reminiscent of Asmodeus, it was easy enough to realize once she got over her initial fit of an unknown thing nearby.
Lust frowned at the initial slip, but she said nothing. Whatever once was, wasn't any longer, and whether the brat realized it or not, she was guarded enough so that there shouldn't be any further threat from that quarter. With Mona and Desmond to one side, and the whole of the Sins to the other (whether the rest of them realized it yet or not, but that would come in due course), it left little enough breathing room for any thing who might have some Godforsaken interest in the abomination.
"You're safe enough here," the Sin announced bluntly. She was in no practice of dealing with children, teenagers, nothing that wasn't playing into any of her particular brand of game, but this was something else entirely, and as such, she just bulldozed through. "I've no intention in upsetting whatever your father has done, is doing, or will do. This is my home, and you both have apparently settled in to use it in my absence which suits me just fine, I've other matters to attend to elsewhere." With her typical lazy grace, Lust edged around the end of the bed, ignoring the girl's widening eyes and half a step back as she reached out to catch her daughter's chin.
"Trust in Desmond first above all things. Any agent of Heaven or Hell is to be avoided at all cost. You are not a Sin, but you are from one, and as such, there is always a threat from either side. Even more so because you are the first creature of your kind to straddle the fine line between religions, and we Christians do not embrace new things very well, as I'm sure you have, or will soon enough learn. The are very few exceptions to that rule, and I'm leaving one of them here in my stead. His name is Nybras. Your father knows how to deal with him, and he watched over you after you were born. He might be a demon, but he's served me for eons, and will serve you when I'm not here. He knows his boundaries, and will ensure that you're well looked after. My brothers and sister know him, and he knows how to handle them if I am unavailable, or who to reach out to in a pinch. Do not let him order you around, because in you, he may as well be serving me. Is that understood?"
Standing very still and still in the Sin's grip, Fi didn't have much of anything to say as she tried to absorb in what this strange woman was saying. Swapping Desmond for Asmodeus was one thing, but a mother was something only thought of in an passing fancy. Then to suddenly have the mother thing that her father had only spoken of here as if she'd always been there, it was unsettling, even if she lacked the proper response just yet. Only when the demon was mentioned, did she finally find a reaction, her cheeks puffing out a little as she jerked her chin away from the slender fingers.
"I don't need a babysitter. Asmodeus had his trailing my every move, and I've been getting along just fine without one since. Papa leaves me to do as I want, I don't see why it should matter to you all of a sudden."
"It does because I say it does. That's enough of a reason."
"No it isn't!"
"..."
Matching jaws set as either tried to glare the other down into submission, neither willing to back down on the matter. Said demon babysitter hovered uneasily in the doorway, looking from the Sin that he knew, to the unknown miniature as a familiar headache began to slam in his temples.
"You have no say in the matter. I'm telling you what is, and what will be. This is not a negotiation, nor am I asking for your opinion on the matter. Nybs is staying, whether you like it or not. And you're staying with your Father for the time being. There are things I must see to before you're allowed to run around too freely, and a great deal of it hinges on you being more like them than you being like us. The New Gods are more accepting than we are, and you'll be better off for now." Reaching forward once more, Lust caught the girl's chin, but then her fingers reached out to splay across her throat.
The gesture wasn't necessarily meant to be threatening, but the Sin's brow furrowed as she worked out the mechanics. To push her Hellfire into another wasn't all that uncommon should the need arise, or to mutually share it with one of her siblings, but to make the effort to pull another's away, it was a first. The girl started, and then tried to pull away, but a sharp bark to "Keep still" stalled her for the moment. It was uncomfortable, it was weird, and she didn't like it.
"What are you do--"
"Be quiet."
Reaching in rather than pushing out, Lust sought out the traces of Hell and of her that existed in the brat, extracting the essence of Hellfire that resided in the child of the Sin and Divorce. A distinct scowl marred her features when she could taste that familiar taint of Deus that still lingered, but she didn't release her hold until only the slightest traces of Hellfire remained. Fi stumbled back a pace when the warm hand fell away, only to feel it return again long enough to shove her down onto the edge of the bed.
"That'll help at least. Best you learn to not lean too greatly on Hell unless you want to play by their rules and be governed by their laws. Later, I'll teach you how to use it to your advantage rather than be used by it, but for now, focus on what your father can teach you without the other's interference. Listen to him, and listen to Mona. Those two are enough to try and deal with before you have to start worrying about your uncles and your aunt, but there is no hurry."
Stepping away from the girl, Lust moved back towards where the demon lackey stood, glaring him down in warning not to open his mouth and offer any unwanted opinions.
"You know what to do, and what not to do. If anything comes sniffing around her you get Desmond or myself. One of my brothers only if there is no other choice, that's where I'm headed when I leave here. You answer to her, you answer to Desmond. Minimal lip, if it's all the same to you. If anything happens to her, it's your ass I'm coming after. Do I make myself clear?"
Staring back at the Sin, Nybras only nodded his assent, the ghost of broken arms still resounding loud enough for him to keep his opinions to himself.
Clucking her tongue softly, the white furball who had been watching from it's perch on the girl's bed hopped off and bounded back to where Lust stood, eagerly settling herself in the Sin's arms after she was picked back up. "I don't care which of you does it, but do tender my regards to Desmond, and let him know that I'll be in touch. Nybras, take care of seeing that Fifi's things are overnighted to Greed's. That way they'll be there waiting once I get back."
And as quickly as she had appeared, the Sin turned and left again, leaving a disoriented teenager and a sulking demon in her wake.