Chapter 12: Silver tongue

One thought per second.

That was the ratio Izaya was going by.

The demon's voice was awfully calm, deep and reverberating in the warm landscape. It was the kind of tone that demanded attention instead of asking for it and Izaya swallowed.

The demon had asked a question. Instead of blatantly turning Izaya into a hellish version of Picasso he had paused to formulate an actual query.

That fact alone led to a variety of conclusions.

This demon didn't seem to be of the impression that he was facing a human. Due to the lack of horns Izaya had thought it to be an unmistakable blatancy but that didn't seem to be the case. Thick, black and glimmering slightly at the rims of their various notches they seemed to represent power instead of ethnicity.

Or maybe age?

How were demons even born? What did they look like upon laying their first glance upon this world? Izaya had been of the impression that they were manifestations of evil. He imagined their creation to come by in the same manner dust and dirt did in an old housing.

Ignoring it for ages and not clearing it away it was sure to collect into a pile. Then consolidate.

Wasn't it the same for people's evil deeds? Greed, jealousy, aggression and fear all those emotions were abundant in the setting he had been dropped into. It must be a feast to live for a demon.

Yet they stayed down here. In hell. Rarely coming up.

This only led to one conclusion- they reproduced in hell. They lived in hell. Therefore the conscience, therefore the hesitation. Whether this demon viewed Izaya as weak or young was of no importance, what really mattered was the fact that he mistook him for his own kind and therefore was willing to wait for the correct answer.

But what was correct and what was false?

Should he ask for his protection? Pretend to be helpless and in need of assistance in order to appeal to the demon's probably high sense of superiority? Did demons even know the concept of charity for their own race?

No, no matter how benevolent this specimen seemed to be, he was still a demon. Izaya would have to trade his soul in exchange or offer another form of payment if he brought the topic of protection onto the table for sure.

No.

Admitting weakness no matter its root was the wrong choice.

That made thirteen. Thirteen thoughts and their conclusions in thirteen seconds.

Short enough to not raise suspicion, but long enough to fold the demon's brows into a frown.

His lips opened again probably in an immediate demand for an answer. But Izaya beat him to it.

"It's not my fault you are moving in the same direction."

A soft breeze blew across the landscape and moved the thistle trees from side to side. Squeaks of happy sugar gliders brimmed in the air whilst Shizuo's expression mimicked nothing but light stupor.

The answer obviously surprised him. His eyes turned to golden slits perturbed by black and dipped into curiosity as he leant just a little bit closer.

The horns only somehow emphasized his interest and the blood coloured object he had gathered from the monster's insides dangled from his neck on a long leather string.

Shizuo.

Those were the letters engraved in the stone.

Was that the demon's name?

Did demons even have a name?

It seemed pleasant in a way, as if Izaya had heard it before.

"You are pretty cocky for some mediocre demon, do you know that?" The demon called Shizuo spoke and didn't fail to convey his annoyance.

Before Izaya knew it there was a hand on his shirt.

Marked with stripes of black from the elbow downwards the palm dipped into the same color as its grasp tightened around Izaya's collar.

"Wearing shitty clothes too. What is this? Your hobby? Are those the clothes of your last victim?" he asked, scrunching his nose. Shizuo seemed mad, almost offended in a way. "Makes you smell like a human."

Izaya was right.

His assumption of the demon misinterpreting his existence as one of his kind had really hit bulls eye.

A mediocre demon. Shizuo was mistaking him for one. The fact that he didn't possess horns seemed to be a display of rank or power held by an individual rather than age. But there was one more fact that was revealed through this conversation.

Shizuo had most likely just offended Izaya- mediocre was surely no term a demon should like being called and Izaya quickly sprung to action.

"What about you? Running around half naked, are you waiting for a chance to get a lay?" It was a tease. A witty reply, obviously.

And somehow Izaya had been of the impression that demon's weren't the kind to talk civilized to each other. After all, the first action Shizuo had taken was to grab Izaya by the collar. That wasn't exactly the epitome of peace and quiet.

A rough tone, and angry reply, that was what Izaya had expected for making fun of Shizuo's clothes in the same way the demon had of him.

What he didn't expect was the shove to his chest.

Within the blink of an eye Izaya's feet left the ground and his chest pushed out all the air it conceived as his back slammed into stone.

Shizuo had not moved- at least not in a way that Izaya could have perceived- and yet Izaya was suddenly a few meters off from their initial position with a demonic glare of fury directed at his face.

"Careful. I'm not in the mood for bullshit."

Dangerous.

This demon was dangerous.

Feeling the slight hint of healthy respect seal his lips shut, Izaya swallowed the cry of pain that stuck in his throat. The demon's action had been anything but pleasant for his already injured wound and it took more than sheer will to not let it show.

Two out of three.

That was still a win in Izaya's book. He had managed to maneuver his way out of the immediate danger of death and reduced it to nothing but slight discomfort and potentially an additional injury.

"Too bad, I thought you could take a joke," Izaya winced, and his expression slipped for a moment. His voice had sounded way too breathy and weak. It lacked the fervor he meant to put in it due to the jabs of pain that raced down his shoulder and he swallowed as the demon's expression shifted.

Shizuo's eyes returned to their initial settings as the slit of black disappeared to an iris that could be mistaken for a human one. The annoyance on his face only seemed to triple as his sight trailed to Izaya's shoulder.

"What's that? Don't tell me the critter surprised you," he asked with the slightest hint of amusement and Izaya stilled.

Ah.

Another deduction that had been on point. That creature from earlier? It was nothing to Shizuo. Not more than an insect he crushed.

And it probably should have been for Izaya as well.

"I was about to kill it, you just got first," Izaya quickly shot, this time with more control over his voice as he mimicked an expression of offense.

An unreadable array of emotions displayed on Shizuo's expression.

Amusement, annoyance, exasperation and a hint of pity.

Suddenly moving to Izaya's shoulder he flinched hard when Shizuo's palm pressed it back into the stone- his other hand reached for Izaya's wrist and beneath a choked groan of pain on Izaya's side, it moved.

As if he were facing a professional doctor at work Shizuo had made a quick job of his dislocated shoulder and popped it back in place.

Removing the palm Izaya had brought to his lips to suppress a quiet scream he winced shortly as he glared at Shizuo, but he didn't even meet his gaze as the demon shoved Izaya onto the ground and on his ass.

"Fuck off. This is no place to be around for weaklings like you," he announced strongly- and Izaya knew he was right.

It was funny.

Bathed in blood that he had barely managed to wash off his body, Shizuo proved a sight worthy of any horror movie. A splatter most likely with him in the main role, chopping off heads left and right with no conscience to waste on his victims.

And yet, despite that fairly cruel picture he seemed to have a soft side as well as he was obviously exhibiting a certain amount of care for Izaya's well being.

What sounded like an aggressive order was obviously just his way of telling Izaya to go back to where he came from in order to not get hurt again.

It served quite the conflicting yet extremely intriguing personality.

Pushing himself off the ground Izaya felt the need to convey a genuine thought.

"It is. There is a place I have to get to." Curiosity flared in Shizuo's eyes for just a moment before his expression dipped back into a frown.

"And it just so happens to tag along with my route?" he asked sarcastically, and Izaya returned the favor by doing the same.

"What if it did?"

Silence returned for a second and made room to listen to hell's sounds.

Izaya could hear the chirping sugar gliders, moving thistles rustling in the soft breezes combing the landscape and of course the unforgettable sound of hardened body segments dragging across stone.

Izaya didn't need to be a genius to understand that there were more of these so-called "critters" that Shizuo had slayed. They were probably waiting for the demon to leave in order to feast on their fallen comrade.

And Izaya.

Because as soon as that demon was gone he was sure to become their dessert.

He needed the demon. At least for now.

At least until they got to a safer part of hell or until the moment Izaya figured out a way to defend himself against their crushing force. Shizuo didn't know that.

And the option of bluntly asking the demon for allowance to tag along crossed Izaya's mind.

He didn't seem adverse to reason and with the right arguments he might as well succeed- that's why he had answered the way he did.

The demon was smart enough to conclude that Izaya was going to follow his so-called incidentally aligning route. The only question left was whether Shizuo would allow it. He seemed to be contemplating the ups and downsides to the probably unexpected insinuation. Gears turned and expressions shifted and after what felt like an eternity Shizuo finally gave a shrug accompanied by a sigh.

"... suit yourself," he closed his eyes for a moment, quite as if he were already regretting his decision and re-opened them with a warning. "But don't expect me to save your sorry ass if you run around with your head in the clouds. Even better, stay off. I don't want to see you around."

Willpower of an unknown kind suppressed the victorious surge of adrenaline as Izaya showed his most stoic expression.

"You will not notice me."

He had succeeded-

With this he was successfully earned himself a guard in hell-

And with that Shizuo turned into the direction he had been heading towards. The forest. A thicker part of it apparently and Izaya was quick to act on what he had promised. He waited.

Just a little, until the blond was barely in sight, before moving himself.

Only the slight stabs of stinging pain that radiated from his shoulder still, soured the moment as the corner of his lips tugged into a smile.

He had always known he possessed a tongue of silver, but taking a demon into serving as his personal guard was a new high even for his standards. Almost all of his conclusions had been on point.

He had managed to convince Shizuo that he was a demon. Had managed to get on his good side.

This demon wasn't going to kill him as long as he didn't give him reason to.

Fallen stems of thistles were passed and farn moved aside as Izaya followed the leisure tempo of the demon.

Stamina. That was the next hurdle he needed to overcome.

He had no idea how much humans differed from demons in that regard, but considering the vast difference in strength alone Izaya had the slight feeling they were set apart in an equal fashion.

How long could he keep walking without falling behind? A day? Two or three? Not longer than four at maximum. Sleep was something humans desperately needed.

… what about demons?

Where did they get their energy from?

Considering their strength there was no way they could just dish out blows like that with no fuel.

Maybe he was lucky? Maybe they needed the same amount of rest just with different results when it came from the benefits they drew from them?

It was an optimistic thought and Izaya quickly shoved it aside as he climbed across a particularly large stone in the ground.

He had to prepare for the worst. He was going to grow tired, sluggish- hell after sustaining this injury to his shoulders he was going to do so faster than he liked.

Even now whilst moving he felt as if an odd force were pulling him towards the ground.

It wasn't much. A negligible sensation. If he had to compare it to anything he knew he suspected gravity to be just a slight notch more powerful down in hell.

Made sense too.

Hell was below the surface after all. Closer to the center of the earth.

The sensation wasn't of more weight than an imaginable set of water bottles at his feet, but it was there and needed to be considered in his calculation.

Eyes up ahead Izaya looked at the demon he was tailing with utmost caution.

Up that mountain. That seemed to be the goal.

There was no need to fret over stamina and anything alike if they arrived before he ran out of it.

Once he met the demon lord it was live or die. Convince him to kill the goddess- it was a goal Izaya hoped for him to have in the first place as he was the complete opposite to her. And so he moved.

Injury aside and exhaustion ignored he had a goal to fulfill and there was no way in hell he was going to let stamina be the end of it. What he needed now were arguments strong enough to convince a demon lord.

That, and that alone, was what he should be focusing on.

to be continued~

xD Well well, we are starting to get somewhere here hahaha Any idea for arguments to convince a demon lord? xDDD