Much longer Chapter this time. Hope you all enjoy.
Beelzemon had never particularly understood his fellows penchant for involving themselves with humans. As much as the Demon Lords raged and screamed at the thought of partnering with them as equals they certainly had no problem keeping them around as servants, slaves, or more disgusting yet playthings. Barbamon tended to collect them, keeping those with worthwhile talents and trading those without like so much currency. Lucemon was prone to having scores of those he deemed comely to his eye to worship him and from them he would pick a 'favorite' to dote his affections upon until he grew bored and cast them aside. What happened after he cast them aside Beelzemon didn't know, and frankly he didn't want to know. Then there was Lilithmon. One could have gone on and on about Lilithmon and her dalliances with humans till time itself ceased to tick on and still have things to say
Beelzemon himself had never seen much of a use for them. While he was the Demon Lord of Gluttony he'd always found himself attuned more towards wrath, but that was merely because fighting just so happened to be one of his appetites. He also had an appetite for drinking, smoking, and all the other good things in life.
But never women, as Lilithmon had so teasingly pointed out one day in yet another failed attempt to seduce him. Women after all were considered the greatest 'good' thing in life, so she said, or perhaps it was that his appetite would stem for only one women. So it was Lilithmon had mused, though her train of thought had been quickly cut off, as were her hands roaming across his chest, by the presence of Berenja just under her chin.
Beelzemon vehemently hoped such a thing wasn't the case as he found himself uncharacteristicly annoyed at the girl's stubborn refusal to even acknowledge his very presence. Somehow, even being wrapped so taunt against him that there was nothing left for the imagination she still managed to stubbornly ignore his very presence. Instead she settled for tucking her chin and staring over his shoulder refusing to meet his gaze when he would glance at her or even deem him worthy of the briefest moment of her attention.
And quite frankly he was bored. It was a long damn trip to the point Lucemon had designated and there was little to nothing to see in the wastelands, but dust, dirt, rocks, and the occasional tumbleweed. Thus it was that Beelzemon reached up with one clawed hand to jerk the gag down leaving the girl sputtering and coughing, but remaining stubbornly quiet.
Another hour passed like that in silence with the girl's mouth free, but her delicate cupids bow lips remaining clenched tight. Till finally Beelzemon let out a sigh.
"It could be days doll…" He muttered in exasperation, glancing down to eye her and find to his surprise those pretty blue orbs staring holes right back into his own. "Just you and me, and Behemoth makes three with nothing, but the desert as far as the eye can see." Beelzemon argued watching the girl, he couldn't let himself think of her as a woman, mull the idea over. Till finally those little lips parted.
"Water~" She wheezed out with a cough as Beelzemon released Behemoth to it's own devices, trusting the bike to keep them on course long enough for him to tend to the girl. Grabbing for the canteen at his belt the Demon Lord uncapped it, lifting it to the human's lips as she sipped at it. He'd half expected her to guzzle it and make herself sick, but instead she paced herself, eyeing him the whole time with a calculating wariness as she slowly drank her fill before pulling back. Capping the canteen he stashed it once more before settling his clawed hands back on the handlebars.
"Sooo…" He drawled, suddenly feeling mildly self-conscious. "What made a pretty little thing like you decide to do something as dumb as join the academy? You can't say it's because you wanted a partner. Humans as young as ten can sign up for a tamers license where as a Digi-police cadet won't get theirs till after graduation, if they graduate. So what's the deal doll?" He questioned not entirely sure he'd get an answer. The fact it took her nearly five minutes to even dredge up a response had him almost certain his efforts were all for not.
"My name is Octavia. USE IT." She snarled in his ear from where her chin had come to rest on his shoulder. "And if you must know I wanted to make a difference." Octavia added, her angry snarl dying to a whisper so soft he almost didn't catch it.
"Yeah some difference you're gonna make. Maybe your blood will make a difference in the color of my gun when it runs red when I shoot that clever little brain of yours out of your skull." He growled darkly, his words harsher then he meant at the sudden disgust he felt well up inside him at the idea of doing just that. He knew he had gone too far though when he felt the sudden intake of her breath against his skin and the way her form, already so tense and unyielding against his own, seemed to turn to stone.
Whatever hope he had for conversation seemed to have died a swift and sudden death leaving him alone with only his thoughts. His thoughts and the uncomfortable realization that the human, Octavia, was shaking. Not with fear, no she was better then that, but with the effort not to cry. She was too proud to let him see her tears. Too proud to let him know so blatantly that he had wounded her.
And despite it all Beelzemon found himself feeling something he hadn't felt in a long long time…guilt. He was a murderer, a slaughterer, and called a maniac by some, but he'd never kicked a man or mon when they were down. He hadn't toyed with his prey once they were done or drawn out their suffering unlike his fellows. No he'd been good enough to see to it that their ends were quick. But not now. If there was ever a definition of a drawn out death it was this girls and he had kicked with his words as surely as if he'd physically put a boot to her ribs. Making him no better in his eyes then the rest of the Demon Lords and that disgusted him more then the sting his pride felt at his next words.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"What?" Came Octavias voice, drawn out of her own musings as she tried to comprehend what she had just heard.
"I. Am. Sorry." Beelzemon ground out his knuckles tightening on the handlebars with effort. "That was a fucked up thing to say even for me." He added, the words coming a bit more easily as he felt the girl nod in silent acceptance of his apology against his shoulder.
"What sort of difference did you want'ta make doll? I imagine with a potential partner like Dukemon you could do a lot'ta good." He finally asked his thirst for conversation overcoming the awkwardness of before as slowly, very slowly, the girl began to relax. That or at least grow tired enough not to care about the threat he posed at the moment.
Letting out a soft snort she shook her head. "You probably think I wanted to be teamed with Dukemon. But of course, who wouldn't. You'd have to be a fool to pass up the chance to be partnered with a Royal Knight." She muttered letting out a soft huff, her breath stirring a few strands of spikey blonde hair where it peaked out from beneath his helmet forcing him to suppress a shudder. Yet his patience paid off.
"I guess I'm a fool then." Octavia continued with a sigh. "Don't get me wrong. Dukemon is…nice. He's the sorta digimon every tamer dreams of being paired with." She added shifting her arms about his neck to try to make herself a little bit more comfortable.
"Just not the digimon you dreamed of being paired with." Beelzemon murmured prompting her onward as he listened with slow growing realization.
"I wanted to go into research and development studying bonds between digimon and tamer and work with some of the programs that pair injured veterans with digimon for safety and health reasons. Obviously when a digimon and tamer bond there's something deeper going on then just a power exchange relationship. Digimon grow, but so do their tamers. There's been a lot of great studies proving that bonding with a digimon actually lessens a tamers chances of mental health issues such as depression, ptsd, and other factors and might even improve a tamers physical health. More then that it alters the digimon as well. They not only grow stronger, but their ability to grasp complex emotions and large sources of data expands exponentially and I'm rambling…but when duty called." She trailed off feeling her cheeks heat up with an embarrassed blush. It was clear to Beelzemon she was quite passionate on the subject as he nodded in understanding.
"You answered." He added, finding himself rewarded with a tired sigh.
"My instructors told me it was the opportunity of a lifetime. That the digital world needed me, that Dukemon needed me. I wasn't sure at first, but then we met and he was just so depressed. So messed up and he looked at me like I was his only hope in the world. How can you say no to that?" Octavia murmured, but Beelzemon knew all to well how easy it was to say no. To have someone crush that fledgeling hope. All it took for him was snatching her off a graduation stage.
"I'm surprised you two aren't bonded yet." He muttered trying to take his mind off of the task that was expected of him. He knew that in the case of Royal knights they'd allowed bonding before graduation, specially if the knight in question was unstable. They'd still be off the roster until their partner graduated, but he'd heard of it before. It was odd that Dukemon had waited so long.
"I know you're the one who killed Aaron Jorva." Octavia spoke interrupting his thoughts with her sudden statement.
"Who?" Beelzemon questioned pretending to wrack his brain, but he already knew very well which human she was speaking of.
"Aaron Jorva. Dukemon's last partner. I know you're the one who killed him." Octavia repeated leaning back slightly to look up at his face seeking to meet his eyes, but Beelzemon avoided her gaze.
"I kill lot'sa people doll. If you hadn't noticed we're in the middle of a war." He stated, his voice gruff as he tried to concentrate on the rapidly darkening horizon rather then the eyes burning holes in his very soul.
"The other Demon Lords do, but not you. We humans are beneath your notice, unworthy of a challenge and simply not worth your time." Octavia mused as she listed off what she strategically knew about him. "The others think you went for an easy kill." She added.
"And what do you think?" Beelzemon questioned, his lips curling into an amused sneer at the Data-police's failed attempts to classify him.
"You were down for the count and in retreat yet you stopped. You turned back just to kill him. I think he said something to you." Octavia murmured her voice barely above a whisper as she felt the Demon Lord tense against her.
"You think?" Beelzemon prodded between clenched fangs trying to figure out just how much the human knew.
"I know. Dukemon never listed it in his report. Never told anyone, but he told me." She whispered watching as something akin to panic filled the Demon Lord's eyes.
"He told me he said you wanted to b~" She began only to gasp as Beelzemon slammed on the breaks sending Behemoth skidding to a stop so fast that had Octavia not been forcibly wrapped around him she had no doubt she'd have been thrown from the bike. Even so her arms ached from the effort as she suddenly found a clawed hand gripping her chin as Beelzemon wrenched her head up to bring her face so close to his own she could make out the mixed shades of red that made up his blood colored irises.
"You are NEVER to utter so much as a word that filth said ever again understood." He ordered with a hiss, fangs flashing in a snarl as he searched her face with his gaze for the telltale sign of revulsion. Yet there was none to be seen in those wide startled blue eyes. He should kill her now. She was so much more dangerous now that she knew his secret. He should reach for the Berenjena and put two in her head before she even knew what hit her.
But he didn't. Instead he tightened his grip on her face, leaning forward to loom over her forcing her to arch her spine back leaving her flush against him and oh so very vulnerable.
"I did Dukemon a favor by disposing of that piece of trash he called a partner and if he's not careful one day I just might collect." Beelzemon snarled letting go of her face and wrenching her arms up and over his head as he released her legs, grabbing her by the back of her shirt and dropping her on the ground. Snatching up her bindings from before he tied her ankles back together once more lest she get enough blood in them to try and bolt for it again.
"We camp here for the night. You want to try to escape be my guest, but you'll find yourself in an even more unpleasant situation then the bike if you try. That or eaten by wild desert mon. Take your pick." He grumbled dismounting from Behemoth as the girl shuffled backwards away from him with a hard stare.
He ignored her though. Ignored her and her stare, and the way she drew his eyes. He ignored how she shuffled closer to the bike for protection when she thought he was asleep. Ignored how Behemoth let her. Ignored the way her breath went soft and deep when she'd finally found her rest despite the hard ground.
Most of all however he ignored how she'd known this whole time. Known about him. Known what he was and hadn't flinched away.
Or at least he tried…It was gonna be a long night.