Respect and Responsibility

He took the verbal jabs in kind. It only solidified his resolve to see this through, and win. The only tension that traversed through his vessel was pulled into his fingers, the digits quickly curling as if to strike. He held firm. He held still. He noted the change in the demon. He saw his true colors collect in his eyes. “I don’t expect you to cower. That would be too easy.”

“I’m sure it’s a reasonable number,” he offered to pacify Victor’s concern. Hayyel  leaned to once side, trying to see if he could witness the location from where they currently stood. He wondered how much coffee he could drink in one sitting and not have it bother him too much. He knew he already drank more than what humans called ‘normal’, but he metabolized things differently... “If you lead I shall follow.”

He had heard through the grape vine that somebody else around hers shared the same name. He’d been meaning to meet the fellow, if only to figure out how the other wanted to prevent future confusion. The doctor smiled and graciously took Vincent’s hand, shaking it in greeting. “Ethan. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said and nodded in agreement with the circumstances.  Danvers had been incredibly busy as of late. He’d been knee deep in paperwork himself. He couldn't imagine what the nursing staff was going through right now. They were the backbone of this operation and without them, this place would collapse on itself. Well, it still might with all the outbreaks of violence... “I hope what you’ve heard has been pleasant,” he uttered gently. He was still quite new to the establishment. He hoped the others were accepting his methods. 

Ohio. He tried to figure out where that was, but the map in his head didn’t have the defined lines of the borders humans had made. He followed her, taking her lead and waiting as needed. He was anxious, but he wasn’t in a hurry. There was a piece of him that doubted their efforts would actually work. It festered the apex of his heart and crept into his veins.  “We went to...someplace called Arizona a lot, but I’m not very familiar with the names to the locations anymore. I can certainly check the maps.” The angel lumbered on after her as she spoke. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and idly fiddled with the contents within. There wasn’t much in there, most of the items were Ethans but he had a few old receipts from diners that he and Kaz had been to. “Would any of these help?” he offered as he lifted one out of his pocket and tried to hand it to her.