Looking at himself in the mirror, Adam had to wonder why, exactly, the female demon had actually believed this style would work for him. At all.
He was all for suits. Dark colored ones, red and black, jackets and suit pants and fancy shoes. Still, with this style, he didn't like anything too fancy. He didn't do tuxedos, for instance. He didn't do light colors, nothing white, he didn't even bother with his hair most of the time. He didn't care how he looked, not really, he just cared about what was comfortable - and, for him, the suits he bought were just that. Sure, on occasion, he could rock a jean jacket, flannel, boots. But that was comfortable too. This, this was anything but comfortable, and Adam hated it. From the buttons to the tie, the tightness of the pants, the shoes - yeah, this wasn't exactly his style.
The demon made a face and looked down. He was wearing a white shirt underneath the tux, of course, which certainly didn't help matters. He brushed a hand over the suit, reaching up absently to adjust the tie. Yeah, no, this was absolutely ridiculous, he had to change into something else the moment he got the chance - but there was no way in hell he was changing back into his bloody clothes, so he was stuck with this for now. He sighed.
"Hurry up!" The woman yelled, her voice getting loud and fading again, as if she was merely passing by the bathroom. "Jeez, what are you doing in there? I heard the shower cut off almost half an hour ago! If you're not out in five, I'm coming in there and dragging you out myself - even if the only thing you're wearing is your birthday suit!" At this, Adam turned his head toward the door and blinked, not quite knowing what to say to that. He kind of wanted to call her bluff on that, but then, he didn't even know if she really was bluffing. Truthfully enough, the bitch was crazy enough to do just that, so it was probably best if he didn't test her. The demon narrowed his eyes slightly and looked down, finally moving his fingers away from the tie to finish buttoning up the suit, pulling the collar down a little with a sigh. He had worn tuxedos before, to hospital events his mom took him to, and to interviews, but never just to wear them.
He grimaced, sparing one last look at his reflection before finally turning away from the mirror, walking over to unlock the door. He ducked out of the bathroom, closing the door slowly behind him, and glanced up and down the hallway before just shaking his head and heading off in a random direction, his hands rising once again to mess with the tie. "There, bathroom's free," he called out, still slightly frustrated, with both himself and the woman.
He jumped when she appeared in front of him, snarled, and reeled back, hands curling into fists instinctively. But she caught one of his wrists before he could even bring himself to attack, instinctive or not, and knocked the other hand out of the way before reaching up and grabbing the tie with a huff. "Calm down, you insufferable fool," she snapped when he growled, flicking her eyes back to his face, and he froze for a second as her eyes turned black again. She only smiled, satisfied, before turning back to what she was doing. "Much better. Good boy."
Adam stared down at her for a moment, almost in disbelief, as she tugged the tie a bit, loosening it slightly - only to adjust it and tighten it again, tucking it down into the suit for him.
He wanted to pull back - and boy, did he try - but her grip was strong, unrelenting, and those black eyes weren't exactly helping matters. He jumped a little bit whenever her hands would graze against his shirt, fingers pressing just enough so that he could feel them, and he lifted his head a little bit more, unconsciously, somewhat uncomfortable with her hands being so close to his throat. And yet, at the same time, as much as he despised physical contact, a part of him ached for more. The demon narrowed his eyes, glancing back down at the woman.
"Can't even dress yourself properly…" The woman sighed, flicking her eyes up to his face. Her fingers halted on the tie when she saw he was staring, and he only blinked back at her, half-tempted to move his gaze from hers. They were still black, still glittering, reflecting the light in the hallway - and he found they took his breath away yet again, but this time in a way he hadn't expected. There wasn't much fear pounding against his chest now, but something else, and it was stirring even deeper in his gut, pressing lower and lower with every second.
She tilted her head and smiled, that heated feeling intensifying further, and Adam took in a stuttering, shaking breath when he realized what it was. He leaned back at once, hands raising, gripping her wrists and prying her hands off of his tie as fast as he could, easing himself backwards several steps and pushing her hands away from him.
He'd always been a ladies man - girls had swarmed him back in high school, and pre-med school had been… whew. Turns out, chicks dig doctors. So, yes, he was more than familiar with this feeling, the heat simultaneously rising and dropping, but after so long of not feeling… that… it alarmed him, to be completely honest. Especially since it was this crazy bitch who he hated, and who hated him, and it was definitely going to stay that way - so these thoughts buzzing around in his head had to go, and he had to keep as far away from her as possible now.
She glanced him up and down, eyebrows raising, folding her arms across her chest. A spark of interest, of curiosity lit her gaze, eyes flicking back to normal - and, no, that was it, Adam had to get out of this situation as soon as he could. Yet, he felt frozen where he stood. Regardless, he didn't even need to do anything, because all she gave was an appreciative hum before looking back up, fixing her gaze on his face and smiling sharply. "Anywho, you look much better now. Then again, I have to admit it's my own… guilty pleasure…" She stepped forward, and Adam stiffened slightly - but she merely veered around him, shoulders brushing as she turned her head to look up at him. "I do love a man in a suit." She winked, and continued on her way.
Oh, god, okay, yeah, Adam seriously needed to get the hell back to Michael, and his brothers, and the fuck away from every girl in existence. He wasn't used to this feeling anymore, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it now. The demon turned his head, watching as she disappeared into the bathroom, door closing behind her, then let out a low sigh and pressed his hand over his face, shaking his head desperately and trying to focus on anything but this.
He took in a breath, shook himself, and continued on down the hall.
The penthouse was huge - but he had made his way around the maze of Hell, and gotten through it, so he could, surely, find his way through this. And he did, eventually, make his way to the living room - and paused to take a look around. White leather couches, a flat-screen TV, glass coffee table; This woman certainly had some expensive tastes. But the thing that caught his eye was the alcohol - a small stand, bottles in a bucket of ice and empty glasses propped up around it. Intrigued, Adam made his way over, pulling one of the bottles out to study it.
Cheval Blanc, 1947.
"Damn, girl…" Adam muttered, blinking down at the bottle. "Expensive taste, indeed…" He looked down at the glasses, then reached out to pick one up, carefully turning it over. He then popped the cork off of the bottle and tilted it over the glass, filling it up halfway and taking a tentative sip. It was good - as far as wine went. Adam was more of a champagne guy, but even he couldn't say no to good alcohol. He downed the glass, poured another - up to the rim this time - and put the bottle down on the stand and sipped at the glass with a hum.
He was only about halfway through when the woman walked in, and he wished he hadn't been mid-sip when she did. Her hair was up, tied back into a bun, a few tendrils curled and hanging down the sides of her face. She was wearing a sleeveless dress, thin shoulder-straps, a dark, velvet red that looked like it was made simply from silk - Adam had no idea why the hell she was suddenly dressed all fancy-like, but needless to say, he choked on his wine a little bit.
"Drinking my wine now, are you?" The woman brushed past him, not even caring about his current dilemma, and the demon just sucked in a gasp, coughed, and cleared his throat before he turned to watch her, just in time to see her pouring herself a glass. He couldn't take his eyes off of the dress, struggling to remind himself to keep his eyes upwards. "Not that I blame you. Suppose what you lack in taste in fashion, you make up for in taste in alcohol, hm?"
Adam narrowed his eyes slightly, bringing his gaze back to her face, once more reminded of why he hated her guts. "Wow. Nice. Almost didn't notice that little quip."
"That's because you, just like all men, have a little problem keeping your eyes from straying," the woman responded smugly, and her triumph only intensified as a rush of heat rose to Adam's cheeks, a scowl quickly appearing on the demon's face. "Oh, no, don't worry, darling. Honestly, I'm flattered. You have good taste in women, at least." She was left snickering as Adam just groaned and turned away to pour himself another glass, shaking his head. "Only teasing, stud."
"Sure," Adam huffed, pouring the wine to the rim of the glass once again before he put it back, and promptly downing half of what was in his glass. He really, really wished he was able to get drunk, and he absolutely despised the fact that he couldn't. This whole demon thing really was stupid sometimes. Especially right now, when he seriously, seriously needed a buzz. The demon closed his eyes for a moment.
"So, you say you know the Winchesters personally," the woman suddenly spoke up, and Adam sighed, shaking his head a little. Well, he had enjoyed the silence while it had lasted. The demon blinked his eyes open and nodded to the woman, who leaned back against the wall, studying him intently for a long time before she spoke again. "How personally?" She asked, simple and blunt, and clarified further when Adam only stared at her, "it's simply that they're the Winchesters, and demons typically don't make it out of interactions with those two alive. Believe me, I would know - I've seen them take down right many, myself. From a distance, of course."
"It's complicated," Adam responded carefully, still unsure as to how much he wanted to tell her. She gave him nothing more than a deadpan look and rolled her eyes, taking another sip from her glass, and he continued somewhat reluctantly after a few seconds. "Well… I kind of… maybe…" He twisted his mouth a bit, frustrated - jeez, he kind of hated this 'no lying' policy sometimes. Taking a deep breath, the demon leaned back and looked away. "I mean, I helped them stop the end of the world, sort of."
"The Winchesters, working with a demon… sadly, not too far of a stretch," the woman muttered, sipping at her glass again. "Allied with Crowley, after all, or so I've heard. Mm…"
"Well, what about you?" Adam asked after a few moments, looking over at her. "I mean- if you've been watching them, or whatever - which is kind of creepy, by the way - why can't you just find them yourself?" He looked toward the bottle of wine, debating on pouring himself another glass, but he decided against it after a moment, finishing off what he had with a sigh.
The woman hummed a little, running her thumb over the rim of the glass with a sigh. "Well, I lost track of them a while ago. They just weren't interesting anymore," she responded vaguely, shrugging. "Didn't really care to watch them, so I thought I'd simply get on with my life, keep on doing what I do… and I have been, up until now." She looked over at him, thoughtful eyes roaming the demon's face, and Adam just stared back in silence. "But I need that ring."
"You mentioned a ring," Adam recalled, putting the glass down. "Why's that so important?"
"Well, aside from being extremely powerful… It's personal." The woman brushed a strand of hair out of her face and looked away. "As a human, there were rumors- other hunters had been searching for it for a while. Demons, too. It belonged to a demon named Lilith." She raised the glass and took another sip, and Adam stilled for a second, eyebrows furrowing. Lilith - definitely a familiar name. He thought back to the Chamber, and then… to Michael. He frowned.
The woman studied him for a while, looking curious, then set down her glass. "What are you thinking about?" She asked simply, taking a few steps toward him and tilting her head. Adam glanced over at her, unable to help but tense slightly at how close she was now. Regardless, he didn't say anything, just cleared his throat and looked up at the ceiling.
"Just… Lilith, the name's familiar," he dismissed easily enough, biting his tongue. It wasn't quite a lie, but it still didn't make him feel any better about it, either.
"Well, it would be." The woman rolled her eyes and leaned back, sighing. "Lilith was quite the big shot among demons. I imagine you'd have heard her name before somewhere." Adam paused, opening his mouth slightly as if to explain that he certainly hadn't heard anything about Lilith from demons, but he stopped himself just as fast. Need-to-know basis, and he still wasn't entirely sure if he even trusted her. Hell, forget that - he definitely didn't trust her. At all. The woman hummed a little bit, studying him, then turned away again. "Anyway, the ring is valuable. And expensive. The things demons are willing to do to get their hands on it…"
Adam raised his eyebrows and sighed, finally giving in and turning to pour himself another glass of wine. "What makes it so special, then? Just 'cause it was touched by Lilith or something?"
"Actually, 'cause it was touched by God, himself," the woman replied smoothly, and Adam paused, hands freezing over the bottle as he turned his head slightly to look at her. She simply took a sip of her own wine and swallowed before continuing, either not noticing or simply not caring about his reaction. "It's rumored to hold the power of God. A fraction of it, anyway. Some demons simply want it returned to the Chamber - and that's what I've been hired to do, but…" She chuckled a little, glancing over at him coldly. "Why pass up the opportunity?"
Adam didn't respond for a moment, not really sure what to say. A ring that supposedly held the power of God… a part of the demon ached, knowing how useful that might be against Chuck. And how much they'd certainly need the help - but what was he supposed to do about that? He'd told this chick that he would help her find Sam and Dean and Crowley… though, he'd never said he'd help her get the ring, specifically. The demon pursed his lips and looked away for a moment, continuing what he was doing and pouring himself another glass of wine.
It wasn't as if he were attached to her; It'd be easy to double-cross her, and he knew that. He already seemed to have her trust, otherwise she wouldn't be telling him all this, right? And if this ring really could help them against God, then… well, it was like she had said, herself - why pass up the opportunity? Adam's mouth twisted slightly, taking a long sip of his drink.
"My turn to ask," the woman hummed, and Adam raised his head slightly, looking over at her again. "You said you'd help me find Crowley, and the Winchesters…" She glanced him up and down, licking her lips, before drawing her gaze back to his face and quirking an eyebrow. "Well, we should most definitely get a move on things, hm? Where are they?"
"Yeah…" Adam trailed off, inhaling through his teeth. That was a problem, definitely, because he didn't even know where to begin. Well- he knew where to begin, but he didn't know how far it was going to get either of them. "About that-"
"Here it is," the woman hummed.
Adam spared her an irritated look, and took a deep breath before he continued, scowling slightly now. "Look, bitch, you can say what you will, but I don't lie. I know where they are - at least, I know the general area, okay? What I don't know is how to get there," he snapped, and the woman raised her eyebrows slightly, but gestured for him to continue. The demon paused for a moment, thinking back. Kansas… that had been the last place he recognized, at least, the school, the cemetery - and they surely hadn't gone much farther from there. The bunker had to be somewhere in Kansas. "The Winchesters are in Kansas. Some kind of underground bunker."
The woman sighed a little, shaking her head. "Of course they are," she muttered, taking a sip of her wine and crossing one leg over the other. Adam's eyes darted downwards at once, and he had a hard time lifting them back to her face after that. "And Crowley?"
"Last I checked, he was in Kansas, too. But he left - somewhere with his Mom, so… I don't know." Adam offered a helpless shrug when the woman raised her eyebrows, a mixture of puzzled and amused. "I really… don't know. After we got the souls back to Hell, everyone kind of just split up. Crowley left with Rowena and I went with the Winchesters- until…"
"Until whoever had you back there caught up to you," the woman finished, an amused smile curling at her lips, and Adam offered the other demon a slightly irritated glare as she continued. "You don't know how to be a demon, do you? Teleporting, powers, the like - you have absolutely no idea what you are, how powerful you can really be?" She leaned forward a little, and Adam looked away for a moment, frustrated. "I mean, really - what kind of demon are you?"
Adam closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, a low growl rumbling in his chest. A part of him wanted to attack - but the rest of him wouldn't allow it. One, because she was a girl, and two, because she was a girl who could probably kick his ass six ways to Sunday, and he wasn't about to test that theory and lose miserably to a chick. Honestly, fuck that. Some things just weren't worth it. He kept his eyes shut for a while, struggling to keep himself calm.
"You really don't know, do you?" The woman sounded puzzled now, no longer amused. Adam sighed, still irritated, and didn't respond. "You don't have the slightest clue." The demon cracked his eyes open and looked over at her, eyes narrowing slightly in a glare, and she tilted her head. "Seems like I'm going to have to fix more about you than your fashion sense."
Adam blinked, at that, confusion replacing his irritation; Before he could react, however, the woman downed the rest of her glass and set it down on the stand, brushing herself off. "However, until then, I suppose, we'll stick to driving. Road trip to Kansas, how fun," she mused, almost sarcastically, and Adam furrowed his eyebrows slightly as he watched her move forward. She reached out, fingers grazing his tie yet again, and he stiffened, head raising.
She only offered an amused, dry smile before she pulled her hand away, tugging slightly on the tie in the process. "We'll leave tonight."
"Mhm." Adam stared down at his tie, then flicked his gaze back to the woman's hand, which was still hovering just inches away from his chest. But then she had pulled back, and Adam had to reel back quite a bit himself to keep from leaning after her, aching for contact and yet hating it at the same time. He took a deep breath and took another sip of his wine, watching from the corner of his eye as she turned and headed off - only to pause in the doorway, glancing back.
"By the way." Her eyes glittered, the greens and blues and greys flickering together as she smiled back at him, and that hot feeling was back in the pit of his stomach. "The name's Bela."
And then she was gone.
Adam stare at where she had been for a moment, a mixture of emotions rising to his chest. Irritation and frustration and anger were just a select few, but there was also something else there, just below the surface, but it was something he didn't even want to begin trying to identify. The demon looked down, finishing off the rest of his wine, and screwed his eyes shut, sighing. I'm coming, halo.