3274/Warm Soul, Ice Queen

Warm Soul, Ice Queen
Date of Scene:	07 September 2020
Location:	Queens
Synopsis:	Levian follows Nessa like a creeper, but he just wants to be friends! She's not so keen.
Cast of Characters:	Nessa Donovan, Levian

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Nessa Donovan has posed:
Yesterday was an interesting ordeal. With the towering ice palace that was in the Bronx now no longer threatening the immediate surrounding areas, there was now at least a brief period where Nessa wasn't totally absorbed in trying to deal with it. The after effects were still lingering (how do you force out a soul possessing someone else?) but it wasn't enough to constantly weigh on her. Besides, she was out of bread.

The trek from her apartment down to the convenience store nearby wasn't far, but she wasn't particularly fond of being out when the sun was particularly bright in the sky, and it was. Dressed in long sleeves and a jacket, it's a bit of an out-of-place look for the summer. She moves along, her pace a casual one. She can, after all, relax for a few minutes.

Levian has posed:
Trying to figure this world out hasn't been easy. Levian still has no idea what exactly he's supposed to do to survive here. It's a ridiculously alien planet to him. He's mostly been skulking around, hunting small animals for food, and trying to see what exactly it is that humans do every day.

But eventually he decides that's enough, and decides to find the woman he saw Lucifer with.

It took a while of mostly sniffing around, asking other demons where they may have seen the human woman who hangs out with Lucifer, until finally he's crawling down a fire escape and dropping down behind her.

He very obviously follows her, he isn't sneaking, and soon he's only a few feet behind her, his steps audible.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
At first, Nessa's unaware of the fact she's being followed. She's got great situational awareness for those particularly close to her, but she's not used to anyone following her. If she were in a crowd of people, it wouldn't have seemed so weird that someone was keeping pace with her. But after a block or two with no one passing her? Nope, that's creepy. She moves a bit faster, then moves behind a stop sign to put it between her and whomever's behind her.

As she turns around, her face scrunches into something very confused. "... are you /following/ me?" It's confusing because first, why would someone follow her and second because it's that weird demon from Lux.

Levian has posed:
"Yes." Levian answers, his third eye closed at the moment, though the slit at least partially visible behind his bangs. The eye seemed to draw stares from humans, so keeping it closed seemed easier. "You talk to //him//, so you're a human who doesn't get afraid too easily. It's too difficult to explain things to other humans, so I can't get help with figuring Earth out."

"I need to figure out how normal humans work, so I'm following and watching you." He suddenly looks over as a pigeon lands on a mailbox, then looks back at her. "You gonna eat that?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I don't get afraid easily because I can take care of myself. Especially against weirdos who are /following me/." Nessa's tugging one of her gloves off as she watches him warily. "I can tell you're a demon and that's not a particularly endearing quality to have wandering around after me. Most demons I've experienced outside of Lux are... problematic." The glove gets shoved in a pocket, leaving her hand bare, and she stretches her fingers out like a runner might stretch before a track meet.

"I don't eat pigeons and you don't follow me. Got it? Good."

Levian has posed:
"I'm not trying to eat you, I wouldn't really gain any power from eating a human. And I can only take your soul with consent." Levian seems to make a basic assumption about why she doesn't want him to follow her, and stares down at her hand, his third eye opening to stare at her. "You're magic." he notes, before staring down at his hand. "I was summoned here from Hell by some humans, so I left because I like how it feels here. There's lots of things to do, and there's all of these extra things you can feel."

He motions his hand around, then pats his chest. "Earth feels... //good//. There's lots to learn about here. I don't know what's wrong with me being a demon. Humans have powers too, and I hear stories about them hunting us. Like that human from Earth, the Hellblazer. I don't know if he's real, but you hear stories about him in Hell. Many demons are terrified of him. Humans are just as scary as us."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"... well it's a good thing you're not trying to eat me /or/ take my soul, because that certainly wouldn't stand," Nessa says. She's still keeping the stop sign as a nice barrier. Not that it'd really matter too much. "You're right about the magic, though. I'm a very powerful mage. So powerful I have to take steps to keep others from actually being harmed just by being too close." It's not exactly an exaggeration, but it sounds more impressive to say it like that.

She eyes him warily. "Like I said, most demons outside of Lux that I've run across are trouble. People hunt down troublesome humans too, so don't feel like it's too personal. If I can give you one piece of advice, if this is your first experience with earth, hide in the shadows. Don't stalk people, just watch, and when you've finally figured that out... then you can have a conversation with someone. I'm used to weird shit and you're on the edge of getting an icicle to the face, so that should give you an indicator you're at an 11 and you need to dial it back to a 6."

Levian has posed:
"In Hell all a demon like me does is hide and hunt until I get summoned by a lord to do work. I don't feel like hiding anymore." Levian stares up at the stop sign, reading it, then he looks down at her. "Is this some kind of ward? I don't think it's actually magic." He reaches out to knock on the pole of the stop sign a few times.

"I can also do magic, I study it. I had to steal books from the lords to do it, but I know a lot about magic. I have my own magic inside of me, but I've learned other things. Do you know much about Earth fire? I've been studying it since I got here, it can do amazing things." He reaches into his jacket, pulling out a grimoire that seems to have a bunch of symbols burned onto the front of it, then thumbs through what seem to be largely handwritten pages.

"Can't talk to people in Hell about this stuff, they'll steal from you, or kill you, but you have a very peaceful soul." he says while continuing to thumb through his grimoire.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
When he moves closer to the stop sign, Nessa takes a step back away from it, her ungloved hand held up defensively. She doesn't seem to like him getting in too close. "Not a big fan of fire, no," she says, slowly. There's the slightest bit more of a hint she's being just a little more cautious now. "Look, you came out in the wrong place. Just going around and not hiding's going to get you into trouble."

She looks uncomfortable. "My soul's peaceful? Not sure about that, but I'll tell you that I'm not. I'm dangerous." She eyes the grimoire carefully, perhaps the first thing she's shown real interest in since he's been around, but she doesn't ask about it.

Levian has posed:
"Earth fire is interesting, because I can't actually cause harm with it. In Hell, magic is mostly about causing harm, or doing other high level stuff, or I guess granting human desires. But I've written entirely new spells, from studying Earth fire." Levian shows her the book, which is largely a lot of ancient demon magic runes. "Earth fire can be used to heal fire elementals. It also seems to be able to push demons out of possessed humans, but it doesn't actually harm the human. I tested it. Don't worry, I ate the demon, the human's fine. I don't know why it can't be used to harm, Earth is a strange place."

He doesn't seem //too// concerned about her warning, seeming more interested in discussing magic.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"You've got to be kidding me," Nessa looks frustrated but something he said caught her attention. So she ignores the fire for the moment. "You can push demons out of possessed humans? Can you do that with a soul that's not a demon possessing someone?" Her tone is careful. She's inquiring, not explaining why she's inquiring, and doing her best not to see too interested. All the while, she's still got her hand up in a vaguely defensive position.

Levian has posed:
"Don't know, haven't tested it, but even if I can't, I can probably offer a soul something. If I can get a soul to consent, I can control it, provided it hasn't already made a deal with someone else. It's already dead, so I could just rip it right out if it consents." Levian puts his book away, then flings his hand, causing a contract to appear in a brief puff of sparks and smoke. It's written in plain English, though it's more of a standard contract than something that's been customized yet. "I was born with some contract demon powers, probably on my father's side. I rarely use them, but I could do something."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa winces. "Okay, right, I really want to tell you to buzz off because you're a little creepy and I'm not a fan of the fire, but... I've got a situation that you might be able to help with. I'm not /sure/ if it'd work, but I've got a human girl who's currently being possessed by a necromancer who doesn't have a body. He needs to be destroyed or banished, or something, but we can't hurt Kaylee in the process. Tricky situation." Her gloved hand rests on her hip as she looks back over at him.

"I'm not going to make any weird deals or anything over this, but..." She seems thoughtful. "You're clearly a big reader. Studying magic on your own and whatnot. I'll put you together a reading list that will help you figure out how to not creep everyone around you out. In exchange for that, you see if you can boot out this necromancer?"

Levian has posed:
"Oh, a necromancer... You should have said so." Levian smiles wide, then nods. "I've met damned necromancers before. They're all the same, they love to make deals. He's probably impure enough for Earth fire to work on him, but if I can trap him into a deal, he'll be within my full control. I could eat his soul like a little cake. I'm not entirely sure what a cake is, but damned souls talk about them a lot."

He offers his hand to her, nodding. "I don't want your soul, and any demon would be insane to harm you, knowing who you're friends with. I don't want to be obliterated from existence. I will give you my word that I'll help you, in exchange for you teaching me about humans. Don't worry, no contracts involved, we'll just shake hands. Humans love to shake hands."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Yeah, that tracks. This one tried to offer me immortality. That was a riot." Nessa really does seem amused by the prospect. "So maybe we can trick him or just shove him out or whatever it is you do. He's an asshole, no one likes him, and he either needs to be destroyed or sent to wherever the heck will keep him from hurting anyone here."

When he extends a hand in her direction, Nessa pulls her hand back sharply, moving to tug the glove back on now that it doesn't look like she needs to send sharp icicles flying at his face. "I don't shake hands. Other people might, but not me. Sorry. You chose to follow someone around who doesn't exactly operate on normal human standards. I don't make sense. You chose poorly on that account. You probably could have picked anyone else in that club and been better off. So assume we're on the same page with the trade and forget the handshake."

Levian has posed:
"You seem strange, but I can't really tell if you're strange. Every human who isn't in constant agony and misery is strange to me, really." Levian laughs though, at the necromancer's deal. "Immortality isn't real, everything can die. I think the idea of immortality is just a matter of human perspective, but other demons might disagree. I'm very young, so they think I have stupid wild ideas."

"Anyway, I'll help you. But what do you get for helping the little girl?" he wonders, curious now. "Human children don't really have much to give, do they? Perhaps it's her parents?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa blinks at him for a moment in confusion about the question. "What do I get? I don't understand." She shakes her head a bit. "Kaylee's a student who just wanted to learn magic and got caught up in a situation where she was just being used. No one deserves to be used like that. She was tricked by the necromancer. So I guess what I 'get' is the satisfaction of knowing someone's safe from a not so great situation they didn't deserve to be in."

She pauses. "Also, I think immortality is a stupid idea. Living forever doesn't seem like a great idea to me, especially if you aren't satisfied with the life you're currently leading."

Levian has posed:
"So you're just doing something but you don't get anything?" Levian asks, tilting his head like a confused puppy. "See, this is why I want to follow you around. Humans have these strange, alien minds. I want to understand it."

"I don't really think about immortality. I won't die of old age or getting poked with a pointy stick like a human, but some demon lord could get angry and decide to snap me out of existence, or a powerful human wizard might decide to turn me into their mindless demon slave. Maybe a bigger demon might just eat me and absorb my entire essence. There's lots of options." He's counting his fingers as he lists off the numerous ways he could die. "That's why I have to constantly learn more magic, and eat more demons, collect souls. Becoming stronger and evolving is how we avoid death. Simply not dying of old age isn't immortality, there is always something stronger."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"No, you don't want to follow me around," Nessa threatens, offering him a bit of a scowl. "If you want to understand humans, pick someone else. I already said I'm too weird. Understanding /me/ won't help you here." She glances at her gloves, then back at him. "Getting stronger's a good thing, sure. I don't blame you on that account. Learning more magic? That's something I get. I can respect that. But you're going to have a bit of a tricky time adjusting here by trying to eat souls and pissing off mages who could destroy you."

The implication is that she's one of them.

Levian has posed:
"I told you, I don't really do much contract magic, but there's always people, like that necromancer, who seek demons out to make deals. People who make deals are usually not very good people. That's why they go to Hell, or get eaten. I'll stay away from the good humans. I like how they feel, I don't want to send them to Hell or eat them." Levian stares at her, his third eye wide. It doesn't blink like his regular eyes, it almost seems like it has a mind of its own at times. It seems to stand still most of the time.

"Tell me why you're weird." he requests, looking her over as if trying to find the weird part. "Tell me what's different about you."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Believe me, I get the whole contract magic being evil. I'm not the biggest fan of 'deals' these days." Dealing with Loki is enough of that. Nessa frowns a little at the request, folding her arms over her chest. "No. I won't tell you why I'm weird. I don't need you following me around and studying me and finding me fascinating like some lab experiement. Just take me at my word that I'm not what you're looking for if you want to study the average human."

Levian has posed:
"Not like an experiment..." Levian scratches the side of his head, trying to search for the proper words. "Sometimes, in Hell, there are demons who fought a lot but never managed to kill each other, and then they started working together. They respected each other, ate together, took things over together. It's a strange kind of thing, where you'd wait to see if they were ever going to kill each other, but they never do it."

"Humans seem capable of doing that more easily." He motions to her, and asks, "Do you understand what I'm saying? I want to try it."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
While Nessa's jaw doesn't drop, she looks over in disbelief. "Right, so, I'm going to be really clear here. I don't know you. What you did mention was fire and I'm not a big fan of fire. You take that and you add it to the fact you're following me around, you asked if I was food... it's not a good combination. I've got things to do that are more important than trying to explain to you how the world works."

She shakes her head. "I don't trust you. I don't know how dangerous you are. I'm dealing with this because you might have a way to help Kaylee, but on a personal level I'm not comfortable with you. You help Kaylee? I'll be a lot more willing to respect you. Got it?"

Levian has posed:
"Okay, that seems like a fair deal. And considering who you were talking to, asking if you were food seemed like a reasonable question." Levian holds up a finger, forming a single small flame above it. "I'm half fire elemental demon, can't really help the fire stuff."

He puts his finger out, then nods his head to her. "I'll earn your respect. Usually that involves ripping something's head off in Hell, so this is a new experience for me. I'll eat the necromancer, just let me know when you need me."

Suddenly tearing out a piece of paper from one of the books in his jacket, he waves a hand, causing words to burn into it. This time they're in English.

They seem to list the details and rituals involved in a summoning spell, as well as ingredients that involve various flammable materials and uttering a single secret after reciting the spell to call him by name.

"Just summon me. I'll get pulled to where ever you are." The paper is handed over to her, and he nods. "This is very powerful, what I'm giving you. I don't like people to know how to summon me. It gives them the ability to harm me in ways I can't do anything about. But you're afraid of me, so maybe this will make you feel better. And I can't really do anything about the ritual, it reflects my personality and desires."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa eyes the fire warily. "Great, fire elemental demon." It's one thing to deal with the Human Torch with a very precise level of control and a reputation for being a hero, but a fire elemental demon? "Just keep the fire stuff away from me unless you'd rather make an enemy instead of a friend, got it?" The paper, though, catches her attention, especially the part about harming someone. "... look, I'm not going to hurt you unless you do something to me first, okay?"

The gloved hand takes the paper, examining it for a moment before she folds it up to tuck it into her bag. "I'm not afraid of you, though. Fire or not, you've done nothing to make me feel afraid. I'm afraid of myself more than I'm afraid of you. Uncomfortable? Sure. Regardless of that, though, I'm not going to just go out of my way to hurt you or do it because I'm bored. You hurt me or someone close to me, I hurt you, that's the bottom line. I dunno how it works where you come from, but that's not me. If I'm summoning you, it's because I want your help with Kaylee. Nothing else. And I'm not going to give it to anyone else... because I'm not an asshole. Just so you know where you stand."

Levian has posed:
"Well, I guess we'll see how all of this human... friendship stuff works. Call me when you're ready." Levian crouches down, then suddenly leaps to the lowest level of the fire escape behind him, climbing up over the rail and onto the stairs. "I'm going to catch some of those pigeon things!"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
There's a long moment where Nessa looks after him before shaking her head, turning to head back in the direction she was heading. Fire demons or not, she had bread to buy. "I better not catch you following me again, by the way!" Regardless of if he hears it or not, she at least feels the need to give the warning. There were no icicles to the face this time, but the threat is never far from the surface.