Asura ran a hand down Durandal's steel, smiling softly at his companion. The finest blade in all of Devaloka, being wielded by Overlord of the Sensus. The blade shone and warmed in his hand slightly, and Asura couldn't help but grin.
"Are you satisfied with this, my beloved friend?" He asked, and Durandal responded.
"A sword is never satisfied, only its master can say so. Are you satisfied?"
Asura laughed and sat with the sword, holding him firmly. "Of course! With your sharpness and my strength, the world will be restored to its natural state in peace."
Durandal was quiet, and Asura brought the talking sword's hilt to his lips, kissing the bottom lightly. He trusted the blade better than most of his followers, other than his lovely Inanna. The difference was that one was his lover, and the other his love. For the record, Durandal was his lover. The well-crafted sword was, well, well-crafted and Asura felt such love for his friend, a burning desire that inflamed him often as he gripped the hilt of the blade. Just once, he would like to satisfy the formal Durandal.
Just once.
The demon lord shifted the sword from one hand to the other, and turned it so the point faced skyward.
"Is there nothing that could ever make you happy, Durandal? Even a sword with no heart must have something he desires."
The blade seemed to hesitate, then spoke. "A sword has no desires for itself, for the master is the one whom controls and desires, who cuts down the enemy and does what he wishes to with the weapon."
"But don't you wish to continue to be my companion? My friend?"
"... I suppose I do."
"Then you desire something, Durandal. The thing you desire will never change, we will continue to be partners - no, friends - even after we have the Manifest!" Asura paused, stroking the black encasings of the blade lovingly. "However, I would not mind your company in a more... intimate way. Why should a weapon and its master simply be brothers on the field? Do they not share a bond stronger than any heat could ever hope to forge?"
"I was not created for such relationships, only to "protect". However, as a blade made to only kill, I fail to do even that; what I was intended for by Vulcan."
"Durandal..." He spoke softly, and stroked the fiery blade. "You protect me every time you are swung. From my enemies and the enemies of our goal. You have not failed your duty as a protector, you only do so in a different way. With this, you are protecting a land's worth of dreams. You are protecting the Manifest which will lie soon enough in my hands. How can you have failed, when you have protected so much for me?"
"That..."
"Is true, you know. I have yet to show you any appreciation for it, right? My gratitude to your assistance is overwhelming." Asura moved his hand from the blade and motioned outward, onto the battlefield below. "It is important to always respect your comrade, and to give thanks where it is needed, is it not?"
"And what of Inanna?" That made him stop and think, and he dropped his hand onto his lap. Durandal, still pointed skyward, remained rigid. "You do not think she deserves your gratitude as well?"
"She is given my gratitude very often, Durandal, so please do not worry. Every night I lay with her as my lover and I show her the upmost appreciation of her support." Asura swung the sword back down, resting Durandal's tip in the hard earth.
"Asura, I was simply not made for it. I was not made nor intended for such usage. However," Durandal replied bitterly, "I cannot control myself. I am merely a weapon. I was forged to serve my wielder to the best of my abilities, not to act of my own will. If I was to be used for such practices, I could do nothing about it."
"You can speak. You can protest if you wish. But I suppose you are correct in the aspect that you cannot control yourself." Asura swung the weapon in front of him, then rested him back into the earth. "I would not force you to do anything you did not wish to do, even if I desire it. That is how we are different than other pairs, I respect and cherish you. If only I was allowed to show it, then perhaps you would not be so humbled by my offer."
Asura dropped to his knees and kissed the blade gently, earning him a shaken word. "Why?"
"Because I believe you deserve it, after everything we have accomplished and everything we will accomplish."