Re: [Green Light: Janus/Atticus]
There was intelligence, and then there was the kind of intelligence the genius from the alternate universe had. Janus had two versions that they were especially good at, one without the machine in the scientist's chest, and one with, but both had genius-level engineering aptitude, and there were some things you couldn't learn. Janus brought a certain amount to the table, and the demon certainly never got stupider, but there were things you could do to buff up. If he put on someone like Steve, there were always going to be advantages (and disadvantages) to a physical form. Forms had weight, gravity, aptitude, physical ability, mental ability. Sometimes even talents, though Janus could almost never replicate a true creative gift. There was a reason the demons traded in stuff like that. If they could just order up a musical prodigy like a raw steak, there wouldn't be much of a market in mortals.
Anyway.
Janus smiled, a soft thing on this face, with a hint of teeth that suggested more. "Demonkind is like mortal kind. There's just as many of us. Maybe more, sometimes old souls recycle. It's pretty unlikely any demon you bring up is going to know me on sight. At best they'll have heard of me if they know my name, and they might know I'm a 'roads demon, but that's as far as it will go." Janus didn't have a lot of energy or breath in this body. He leaned down into his pockets, thinking, before taking a breath and continuing, "I wouldn't go as far as to say people think I'm a pet. More like I'm an annoying hot king consort sometimes." More teeth, closer to a grin. "And I can hold my own up in a fight."
The demon looked again into Atticus' face, seeing differences, but also similarities. "Important thing is," he finished, "that they don't know that right off."