Searching for Fear [open]

[Belial Bane]

The night was still young and the air crisp as Belial made his way towards the park. He was new in the town and still had to find a nice quiet place in which he could rest his head while he slept, dreaming of what tomorrow may bring. But he could not rest yet, his hunger had taken him whilst walking down past rows of well built houses and he made a grim face as each one of them help none of what he needed, he craved. His addiction had still hit him hard even now and as he walked the earth he always wanted more, this place had drawn him here with the ripe smell of it. Fear. He made a soft huff as he tried to make out which way it was coming from but this city was a maze and in the hours of looking he had only seen a beach and now this park.

Slow and carefully he placed his bright yellow shoes onto the grass, making sure with each step he listened out for life, emotional presence. Someone, Anyone with a fear he could exploit to stop the constant huger that chewed at his brain so badly. His tattered wings shivered slightly, trying to seek out some warmth with the movement but it seemed rather in vein, the cold air clung to them like his addiction clung to every vein in his body. With a small grimis of hunger Belial admitted defeat for now, placing himself gently upon a bench he had come across just under a tree where his small and fragile wings could stretch out.

Using a slim shaking hand Belial reached taking off his sunglasses, there was really no need for them now it was dark and he let his red eyes look in the nearby area, there were a few people dotted around the park, but no obvious easy targets to scare, no one 'nervous' which would have been the best right at this moment, an easy meal. Using the same hand that removed his glasses Belial rummaged in his pockets, eventually pulling out a cigarette that he placed carefully between his pale lips before lighting it. One addiction he made sure he'd always keep well fed. He took a few drags, hoping there would be someone to in range of this damn park before it got light that he could take advantage of, take and feed off his favourite emotion.

[Reikas Esterion]

How could he have been so stupid. How? How?? It was getting later in the year, though, and it had been a bright evening, no clouds in the sky...One would think that after a few dozen years of fear of the dark, Reikas would look up movie run times to realize that a two and a half hour film that started at just before sunset would end well into the night.

And of course he'd gone alone. Irina was off feeding her beat-the-shit-out-of-people addiction, and he'd never asked her where she did this. Home was halfway across the city, and he'd wasted all his money or giant buckets of popcorn and soda, leaving nothing left for a taxi. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

He hated being alone. Hell's bells, how he hated it these days. Alone meant no one to act for. Alone meant no one to feed him, no one to pretend to protect, no one to be protected by. Alone meant no reason to stop himself from feeling the truth of his situation. And alone meant nothing to help him recover from whatever the nightmares of the city might wish to inflict on him should they turn a sadistic eye to him.

He was doing well, though, so far. Visually. He didn't look particularly afraid. In fact, he looked pretty in control of himself. But acting fine was a far cry from being fine, and without anyone there to impress, he couldn't force himself to be fine.

Irina, I didn't think I'd be wanting this so soon, but I wish you were here. Even with her instabilities, she was still someone he could focus on, someone to draw his attention away from this oppressive darkness, someone to be a lamp to chase away the night and fuel his superhuman endurance.

He faltered at the gates of the park. He heard terrible rumors of this place at night, and he could see things wandering inside. It wasn't too late into the night, though...Maybe some were still normal. He needed to beeline through it, get to the other side as quickly as possible. It was too long of a way around.

His heartbeat quickened as he stepped inside. He willed it to calm down unsuccessfully as he walked the path at a brisk pace, looking slightly bored but alert and with a purpose. His heart pounded though, and he was glad his T-shirt was loose. Silly as it was, he wouldn't have been surprised if his heartbeat was visible against his chest.

Keep moving, look normal...His hands were in the pockets of a nice black leather jacket that ended maybe a foot below his waist just in case they were shaking. He wasn't cold, though. It was getting colder out, but he was well-defended from the temperature. The jacket was heavy, and his jeans were new. Everything he wore was new, in fact. Irina had been generous in clothing him.

He tried not to pay too much attention to floating lights around him as he walked. They could be cigarettes, flashlights, cell phones, street lights or eyes, for all he knew. He didn't dare look twice in case they were the last.

Go...Go...Go...Go...Go...Just get home safely, Reikas, you can do it.

[Belial Bane]

Belial's senses alerted him a presence and it was wonderful. His eyes darted in all directions across the park until he could find what ever it was, human or not and when his eyes finally reached what it was there was a smirk growing across his face that could only be described as a cruel one. The happiness in his veins peeked up at such a beautiful victim, he had found someone easy to get it out of already. Taking the cigarette out of his mouth Belial stubbed it out on the bench below him before standing up. The smirk on his face changed to a smile, he thought it might be easier to attract attention this way, and easier way to get close to the man and with a quick pace he started walking in the direction of the man.

"'Cuse me?" He called, wings twitching a little as the cold struck them again and he aimed his words directly at Reikas. He was far away but Belial knew he could move a lot quicker than most people and he was near him in seconds, looking as if he moved in a dream like state. His red eyes must have looked terrifying in the dark, and knew his pale skin and wings would have made him look even more demonic than he normally did but he needed to get close enough to touch this frightened man, he hadn't eaten in what felt like weeks. Sometimes Belial hated his addictions, but knew they were part of his life.

Before Belial got too close he stopped dead, leaving a good few strides between them. He knew people in this city were worryingly protective and he had faced a lot of people who carried weapons and wanted to make sure he wouldn't get hurt if he got too near. His strange eyes focused on the man like there was nothing else and started to study him, but more so, his fears. There were a few of them, and luckily for Belial, most of them were easy to make real without effort. Belial started to hope the man would stop and talk to him for a few minutes and not run like the last few people had done.

[Reikas Esterion]

The spike of happiness was the only saving grace against what otherwise might have been a heart attack Reikas would have suffered when something in the night addressed him. The happiness was warm, and familiar, and helped him relax just slightly enough to not jump out of his skin. It was a dangerous sort of happiness, though. Two hundred years of feeding on it and he was getting better at telling the difference between simple joy at something nice and the darker pleasure of sick desires about to be fulfilled. He'd had enough of those types of masters to understand that quite well. It didn't really much help the potential situation.

He stopped short as he spotted the source, and a cold spike of nerves ran down his spine. Oh hell's angels, what was that...thing? He couldn't see it particularly well; the night was cloudless and the park wasn't perfectly lit. It looked like...well, he could tell it was a demon, he'd never seen Vampires with those kinds of...oh god, those eyes. He shivered. Blank red. Full black was kind of okay, he'd dealt with that before. That red, though...They looked like they should be bleeding. And Vampires didn't have wings, of this he was fairly sure. He'd been owned by plenty.

Christ, what does it want. How did they always find him? He couldn't run, though. It had wings. It could fly. He couldn't fight it, either. He had no weapons, and it was a demon. By default they were stronger and better fighters. Ironically though, he wasn't as absolutely terrified as he had been while alone. This thing, nightmarish as it was, was actually a thing; a physical thing with a physical aura of happiness, and that meant strength for Reikas and increased endurance. Whatever it wanted, so long as he could keep it pleased, he was fairly confident he could survive it and make it home tonight. That was key. Survival.

That wasn't to say he wasn't nervous as all hell at what it might be capable of, though, what it wanted from him, or what its attentions on him might attract from other...things...in the area. He looked around. There were plenty of things whose attentions could be attracted by this. Oh god.

"...C...Can I help you?" he asked, keeping his distance, and glad that it was, too. What do you want from me. Just take it and leave. It took a supreme effort not to turn and bolt out of the park right there, an effort driven only by rationale, which was at this point weak at best. His hands, now clearly shaking, remained in his pockets.

[Belial Bane]

There it was again, guilt, the guilt from scaring something into shaking. As much as he loved fear getting it was rather difficult not to feel bad about it. He took a small step closer, giving the man a smile to try and get a little closer to him. He was within reach, and all he needed to do was reach out a hand and touch him and he could be fed and this idea made him shiver madly with excitement. "I'm new here. Would you mind telling me where I am?" This, and a lot of other similar conversations he had used many a time to get close enough to trace a few fingers along skin, ever so carefully. It would be nice to just ask someone for their fear, but that would always creep people out.

Belial smiled again, making the light dim more around them, and making it appear as if there was no one else around. He didn't try and do it on purpose, but his hunger made it almost impossible not to shift their surroundings. He couldn't help but make it appear that there was no happiness in the world, this was an interesting one to do, but it was something he needed to do. He walked ever closer, hand about to reach out for Reikas' face, his own expression one of mixed longing and happiness, hoping it would make the man come nearer, he seemed to look for happiness.

[Reikas Esterion]

Directions. Reikas was excellent with those. He could do that. Two hundreds years in this little hell hole, and he knew it fairly well.

Those eyes, though. He couldn't stand it...He hated demons like that, the really freaky ones that acted more and more normal these days. Those eyes seemed to trap him, shut out everything else, and he couldn't look away. He wished the thing would turn those awful eyes on something else, he couldn't even tell what they were looking at. That was the worst part. They could be staring right into his soul. He felt a bit bad, though. Its happiness had fled for a bit there, maybe it could see he was afraid, and only wanted someone to not be afraid of it. Time to act friendly. If he could.

"Yeah, you're in Ruige Park," he said. The thing was coming closer. Okay, probably just to talk. If Reikas was lost, he wouldn't want to be shouting across the path in the darkness either. "Where are you trying to get to? I know the city pretty well."

He blinked suddenly and shook his head, taking a shaking hand from his pocket and rubbing his eyes. Retinal fatigue. He had been staring too long, he must have. It was starting to look like the lights were getting darker. He opened them again, and the thing was closer. It didn't look any more discernible. He looked up at the nearest light on his left with a slight frown. Was it dimmer? He couldn't tell. It felt harder to see. Great. Just...great.

He blinked, and looked straight down from the light. No one there. He looked to his right. Oh hell, where did everyone go? His heart pounded double-time again. Was this some kind of demonic gang-bang? This was a bad idea, this had been a horrible, horrible idea, coming into the park.

But...they weren't hiding. He couldn't feel anything. He'd been subconsciously using the base pleasure of vampires being out in the night to keep him calm, but now...they were gone. There was nothing. He didn't know what was worse, being surrounded by night terrors ignoring him, or being alone with one whose full attention was on him.

He turned his eyes back to the thing he was alone with, and officially decided that this was too close for comfort. And the thing's expression was creepy. What did it want? It didn't want directions.

Just tell me, you butt! he shouted mentally. Just tell me, I'll give it to you, and I'll never see you again in my life!

It took all his will to hold his ground. What would the thing think if he stepped back? He didn't want to give it the wrong idea...or the right one. It wasn't doing anything yet...It was just coming closer to talk. Maybe it had a pen and paper he could write down directions on. He knew this was highly unlikely, but he had to tell himself something. He couldn't afford to break down here, he couldn't flee, he couldn't fight...well, he'd fight if he had to, if the thing tried to touch him, or get too close...but if it didn't make a first move, he wouldn't.

He was terrified of those eyes though. They wanted something. And yet it was happy. Happy...why? He couldn't tell anymore, it was mixed with other things he couldn't sense now, and they were muddling it. They were alone, it was happy...He tried to pull comfort from its happiness, but it wasn't as easy anymore. They were isolated in a wide-open space. This terrified him almost as much as those eyes. Anything could come out of that oppressive darkness around them. And there was no where to run.

He didn't realize how much he was working himself up. He hadn't been out alone at night in a long, long time. He was so out of his element here. He didn't even realize how heavily he had started breathing. And all the thing was doing was walking closer.

[Belial Bane]

Belial looked away, knowing his eyes were causing so much stress to the man and he felt more guilt twinge at his spin and wings. They flickered, feeling his pain slightly and he sighed, not wanting to reach out as he took the light and happiness from the place around. He wanted to say something, ANYTHING but his addiction made it hard, almost impossible. The smell of fear took over Belail's body and he leaned closer, his wings shifting so they blocked any escape for Reikas, enveloping them both in pure darkness. "Please.... Belial begged, feeling hunger take over him, unable to let the man leave without it. "I'm so hungry... He begged, trying to get closer to him, which wasn't hard considering his wings had them both only inches away.

Belial couldn't reach out yet, his fingers could only grip his own coat, hoping beyond hope that the man wouldn't fight, would be far too frightened to fight him off, which was his only weapon. His breath was fast as he could hear Reikas heart beating faster. One touch, that's all it would take. Belial couldn't stand it, addiction was hard, but even harder when he was this close to having what he wanted to much. His eyes were softer, longing and needing as he looked at the other man again, almost pained.

[Reikas Esterion]

The truth came out. Shit, shit, shit. Food. Just like any other sickening night creature out here, it was hungry for something. Reikas immediately raised his hand to his throat, palm outward, defensively. He was not dying tonight. He would not do that to Irina. He needed to be back for her, back in time to care for whatever injuries she had sustained. He couldn't just disappear, his remains found in the park the next morning, another victim of idiocy. He couldn't do that to her. He wouldn't do that to her.

"What do you feed on?" It was barely a question. "I can give you much to leave me alone, but I will not let you kill me." His hand was shaking so badly he couldn't stop it from repeatedly brushing his jaw. He held it against the bottom of his chin to steady it there. A skilled assassin could easily slit open the exposed underside of his forearm wrist to elbow and he knew this, but he also knew that if he was dealing with a man who could do this, nothing would save him.

His left hand was also out of his pocket, ready to try to defend against an onslaught, but loose at his side, tense but not threatening. It was also shaking, his whole body was trembling in the face of this surreal nightmare, but his mind was calm. As his body panicked and shook with terror, his mind struggled to remain calm and in control of it, trying to harness the adrenaline flooding his system into something usable, like strength and attention. He was so alone, though, and he could feel this thing's wings at his back, horrid and intimate, as he leaned away from the hellish thing whose trap he'd allowed himself to be encased by. Alone with nothing but this creature and its hunger and whatever else was painted across its alien face.

He swallowed hard and ran his tongue over his dry lips. It didn't look violent, and it didn't look haughty. These were excellent signs. He told himself it didn't look like a killer. Still, he was ready.

[Belial Bane]

He could tell just how stressed the other man was, and how frightened, the hand over his throat was a sure indication of this. He felt so much guilt but at this point it no longer mattered. With one small shaking hand Belial reached out slowly, pressing a cold palm against Reikas' arm, nothing more and that's when it all came flooding into his body. There was a shiver, a sense of pure bliss that could never be described by any man and Belial was literally brought to the floor by the sensation. It took a second to absorb such feel and yet the wonderful feeling could last him hours. He was brought to his knees after letting go of Rekias, wings retreating back hind his own body as he could no longer control himself, the surroundings returning to their normal, still sunlit and rather occupied selves. The happiness and relief thought Belial's body was astonishing and he could barely stop himself from whimpering with the immense feeling.

There were no words Belial could speak, his vocal cords has ceased up, as had his once well stood body and he hadn't even noticed the other man's reactions, he was too busy feeling the pure ecstasy that passed over his entire being. It had been so long since he had felt such pleasure and tears were brought to his devilish eyes. He wasn't sure how long he had been down but when he looked back up at the other man it must have been rather a shock. Someone once looking so demonic suddenly looking so much like the angel he was created to be, a pure innocence surrounding him.

"T-Thank you!" Belial managed to stutter, his body still shacking from the experience, his heart starting to relax and send him into strange state of being where nothing seemed to matter anymore, he didn't care that his knees hurt from the fall or that he changed from one being to another so quickly, all he cared about was that the hurt, the feeling of pure hunger had gone, no longer controlling his body as it did so frequently.

[Reikas Esterion]

Reikas' whole body seized and his hand at his chin curled into a powerful fist as the thing reached out to him, ready to resist whatever it tried, his terror peaking. When it touched him and collapsed, he tripped backwards and fell hard onto his back with a cry. He sat up quickly with his palms behind him and watched the thing, still shaking, one knee drawn up slightly, lips parted, eyes wide, chest rising and falling quickly.

He swallowed hard again as its release hit him. No. "Hit" was the wrong word. It didn't hit him, it flooded him, every pant seeming to internalize more of its relief, its joy, its pure ecstasy at...whatever at just happened.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked. Everything was bright again, or at least as bright as the sparse street lights of the park. He was free, the world was normal, this thing before him was...not as demonic as it had been moments ago. It was crying. And its tears were not blood as he had stupidly imagined. It actually looked...harmless? Innocent, even. But what had actually happened? His eyes darted around them. Things were casting them odd glances, staring, edging closer, but he didn't care. He felt superhuman in the wake of this creature's radiating joy. His mind and senses were working overtime to process every piece of what was going on.

He returned his focus to the creature, his arm tingling from the memory of its touch alone. He didn't make an effort to get up yet; it was still on its knees as well.

"What did you do?" he half-demanded, breathless but rapidly calming down. He didn't feel anything different, wrong, or weakened...In fact, he felt stronger, his shoulders relaxing. He took a deep breath to steady himself. What had it taken from him? What did it steal? What did it feed on?

[Belial Bane]

Belial was still shaking down on his knees when he looked up at Reikas again, it was something wonderful for them to meet this night, and Belial was overly thankful. He tried to stand, shaking a little as he did, wings still twitching from the sensation of being given all he wanted. "I'm sorry..." He stammered, smiling a lot more than he had, a kind smile, one of someone trying to make up for something they felt ashamed for. "I live off fear sir, I'm sorry for having to scare you. You're the first person I've had chance to feed off in a while and my survival instinct picked up." When he was finally on his feet he brushed his knees down, making sure he hadn't damaged his overly extravagant shoes.

It was strange, the other creatures around the park were feeling curious, and so was Reikas, which only made Belial feel this way, happiness and curiosity was a strange mixture of feeling and he couldn't work out what to do next. He didn't want the man to just leave, he didn't like being alone, no matter where he was and in a place he didn't know it was even more worrying to be alone. He gave a small gaze at the creatures that ventured closer and he growled a little, if they got much closer he'd have to try and scare them off.

[Reikas Esterion]

"Jesus, of course you did..." Reikas half muttered, half breathed as he too gathered himself up and hauled himself to his feet. Fear. Reikas could deal with that. His hands were still shaking violently, but it was more from the adrenaline than terror now. No, now this thing looked pretty safe. Its happiness was blurred again with something else, no longer quite as pure, but he didn't think it a dangerous something else.

He looked around at the things beginning to curiously press in. Perfect. He scowled at them.


"Alright, show's over, go home!" he called to them right over the thing's growl, adding words to a general threat of aggression. He actually felt brave now, feeding on the aftermath of their encounter.

He looked quickly back at Belial. "Two questions," he said rapidly and in a low tone. "One, you got a name? And two, you any good at fighting?" If this was anything like he thought it was, maybe he could use the demonic figure as protection at least to get him home.

[Belial Bane]

Belial heard the man and his mood seemed to pick up a little, at least he wasn't angry, which was always a nice to absorb something good. The things around them seemed to keep walking towards them, ignoring both the growl and the words from his new friend. There was a slight silence from Belial, hearing both the questions. He knew that the answers would disappoint the man rather a lot and he sighed. "Belial Bane... Yourself?" He said, in a rather soft tone, trying to stay quiet as the things approached.

"But I'm shit at fighting..." He admitted, moving closer to the man he spoke to, his wings spreading out so that he looked bigger than he actually was. "Luckily I don't need to fight normally~" He purred, making sure that as they came closer that what they saw would change, into something they feared, hoping that this would save both him and his new friend.

[Reikas Esterion]

"Rei...kas..." The word was half-trailed as Belial moved in protectively. Call it instinct, call it conditioning, call it preservation instinct, but despite everything that had just occurred between the two, Reikas shifted his weight toward to Belial, half-ready for a fight, half-having no idea what the hell was going to happen.

He watched the things around them falter almost as a group, their curiosity turning as one into confusion, then nervous uncertainty. A lot of them immediately backed off, recognizing that at least one of the creatures they were approaching had powers it didn't really want to mess with. The rest took a few more steps to clear off, but the closer the came, the less they wanted to really bother messing with the pair. For the most part, they were just out for social visits and easy, stupid victims, and these two were clearly neither. It didn't take long until Belial and Reikas were out of danger.

Reikas took a few steadying breaths, then looked at Belial. They were probably closer than socially acceptable, but Reikas had little concept pf personal space left over the years of intimacy with many owners. He ran a now-only-slight-shaking hand through his hair.

"Okay...thanks. Listen, can we get out of this park? I don't like being in here..."

He kind of wanted to find out more about this creature. That whole encounter had been achingly nostalgic, echoing some of the more dark and ultimately satisfying of his past masters, and he wouldn't mind, say...keeping in touch, in case it ever...needed anything.

[Belial Bane]

With a smirk Belial walked as the scared creatures started to walk away, he knew it was the idea of him that worried them so and despite feeling somewhat guilty, he felt wonderful for protecting his new found friend. Reikas was an odd name though, and he reminded himself to esquire about it later on, when they were truly safe. His winged stretched out a little more, enjoying the freedom and he turned to the other man, a smile on his face like there was no one else around. "If you'd like me to come with you~" He beamed, not having someone ask him to go with them somewhere in a long time, Belial found it rather hard to keep friends.

He turned, looking around for somewhere where there would be an exit. He had entered the park, but remembered nothing of it after his long needed fear feast. He made sure to keep close to Reikas, not caring too much for personal space at all, it had never bothered him. With a soft sigh he turned to the man again, feeling a little embarrassed. "You'll have to lead the way I'm afraid. He muttered, not wanting to admit not knowing where he truly was.