Bloody Knuckles

He shakes his head. “Never been one for risk myself. I like gambling, sure, but that’s about it. Nah, I like it when it’s safe. Easy.”

He’s having a good time with Kale. It’s pleasant, having someone he just sit and talk with like this. More than he’d have thought it would be, especially with this other pet.

"Neither one of us is going to Heaven, Kale, but if you want to lay claim to the bigger pile of sin, I’m not gonna fight you for it."

His money is as much his own as Kale’s, but that still doesn’t mean he wants to lose it. It’s more a matter of pride than anything else. Luckily it goes better for them in the next hand, making the dealer shift her weight, almost nervous at their luck.

He grins at Kale when the fighter encourages him from behind his own beer. 

Apadiel raises an eyebrow as she listens to Kale, tries to imagine what he could possibly mean by “all wrath o’ Hell an’ stuff.” She prides herself on her composure, both in public and in private. It’s not that she is not wrathful, but her rage is a black hole inside her, something that pulls in and swallows everything around it, crushing and destroying. Asmodeus’ rage is the opposite, an explosion that stretches out from the center and can have consequences for those far from the source.

But the idea that Kelly fears her, even a little, is enough to sour the sweet drink in her mouth. She and Kelly are not like Asmodeus and Kale, not below the surface, below the titles of Prince and Pet. Their intimacy is psychological rather than physical; each knows how the other thinks and feels on a level surpassing everyone else in their lives. 

No. If Kelly feared her, she would know. But she doesn’t like this seed of doubt that Kale has placed in her mind, and while she’ll do nothing with it now, in front of him, it’s something that she’ll be sure to take up with Kelly at another time.

"Yeah," Kelly mutters, brow furrowed at Kale’s suggestion. "I’ll be sure to take you up on that, if I ever want someone to punch me on my free time."

Apadiel stands, leaving her empty glass on the table and smoothing her hands over her skirt. It seems as good a time as any to make an exit, before anyone involved says anything else to raise tempers or suspicions again. It occurs to her that perhaps she should say something about what she’d said about Brie, about the idea that her intentions were less than angelic, but she’s said nothing untrue, and if her words poison rather than enlighten, then that can hardly be blamed on her.

"Thank you for the company, Kale, and the conversation. I think some beauty sleep will do us all some good."

She takes a step away towards the door, giving Kelly room to stand and follow her.

"Do send my best to Asmodeus the next time you see him," she adds. "I imagine you’ll find yourself in his company again before I have the pleasure of it."

Kelly bets and waits while she deals. This time, it doesn’t go as well for him, and he can only laugh when he busts and the dealer sweeps away his chips.

"There’s nothing to apologize for, Kale," Apadiel replies. "Though I do appreciate the gesture. But I think Asmodeus is well aware of what you get up to when he’s not looking, and telling him more gains me nothing, so I don’t see the point."

She sees a brief flash of disappointment cross Kelly’s face. No doubt he enjoys that he’s thought of as obedient and loyal to her, but loyalty has different meanings to different Princes, and Apadiel knows that Asmodeus is not always dissatisfied with his fighter. And she knows that he respects her, even if his manner of speaking does sometimes seem to indicate otherwise. 

Apadiel smiles at Kale as she takes a sip of her drink. “You respect me. I can tell. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t apologize. And in case it wasn’t obvious—” She nods towards Kelly, “— I don’t see the point of fear in these types of relationships.”

It bothers her that there is this fear between Kale and Asmodeus. Kale does a good job hiding it, but she has no doubt that his asking was not without some motivation. He does more to provoke the Prince than Kelly does, but Asmodeus also has far more rules, a more tempting environment. If Apadiel had a home filled with beautiful musical instruments, but forbid Kelly from playing them, they might well also find themselves at odds before too long.

She can sense irritation rolling off of Kelly, more than she would’ve expected from a couple of comments from Kale. Apadiel suspects she’s missed something in the conversation, but from the change in atmosphere, she doesn’t think she wants to be filled in.

“I only fear a small part o’ him, the part that would get pissed off wi’ me callin’ ya Darlin’ and yet, if I didn’t say it to everyone else, wonder what the fuck was wrong wi’ me.” he chuckled a little “I fear his wrath, I’d be stupid not t’.” he looked to Kelly “Jus’ like I’m sure somewhere deep in there, Kel’s scared of ya when ya go all wrath o’ hell an’ stuff!” he smirked, trying to lighten the mood simply for the fact he knew Apadiel wasn’t exactly comfortable with his relationship with Asmodeus.

Kelly swears he sees the dealer smile as they lay down the last of the cards. Not because it goes well for the house. Both Kelly and Kale manage better hands than the dealer, who busts.

Chips clink down in front of them, and the the dealer sweeps the cards away with a small, congratulatory nod. 

"No offense to your Prince, but it’s not up to him who Apadiel sleeps with. She’s not one of his whores."

Apadiel arrives too late to hear Kelly’s comment, but she does hear Kale’s mention of Gomorrah as a hobby, laughing as she settles into the booth.

"I don’t know that I’d call Gomorrah a hobby so much as a part of your social life," she remarks. "Or perhaps some sort of training regimen. Lots of muscles that get used in the sort of thing you get up to there, I would imagine."

She’s not sure if Kale is trying to get a rise out of her or out of Kelly, but she can tell that it’s working on her pet. Irritation rolls off him in waves in time with his heartbeat, and she doubts that she can do much to assuage it.

Apadiel, on the other hand, can give as good as she gets, knowing that she still holds the upper hand. She can see in his eyes that Kale’s still not entirely sure he’ll get away with his jokes about her hobbies, and about her sex life.

"I read, too," she replies. "And I used to sing, hence the good lungs."

It’s something Apadiel talks about rarely, and has never demonstrated for anyone, even Kelly. Singing was something that she did in Heaven, and now it feels more like a distant memory, something from another lifetime.

"But these days I’m more of a good listener than anything else. Kelly’s music is my hobby. That, and the Arena."

She’s prepared for the reply that the Arena is a job and not a hobby, but she would argue differently. It is a duty, overseeing the Arena, and duties are not constrained to certain hours of the day. Even now she is still the Overseer.

"And as far as soundproofing goes." She gives Kale a knowing grin and picks up her glass. "If Asmodeus were to do that, then no one would know… how much his visitors were enjoying themselves. But when I’m not there, I like the quiet. Quiet, or music.”

The other Prince isn’t shy about his habits, and it’s simply one more way to exert power over those around him. No one would think to knock on the door to a Prince’s office and tell them to keep it down.

She eyes Kale for a moment from across the table. She’s glad that he feels more familiar with her now, but at the same time she can’t help but wonder at his constant testing of the boundaries of their friendship, if it could be called that. It’s as if he can’t help himself, as if he’s more comfortable with the thought of being in trouble than not.

“Xactly.” he replied to her, shooting Kelly a grin, amused and actually glad that they both seemed to at least humour him, even if they didn’t appreciate his humour. “He plays good music, if ya’r inta tha’ stuff.” He shrugged, agreeing, but it was the most she would get out of him, seen as the classical stuff wasn’t his preference, not at all. He preferred a beat, a heavy thud to distract him, not, well, heavenly fanfares and music that just reminded him of church, somewhere he presumed he’d tried to avoid in his life. He didn’t see himself as a religious man, more of an anti-religious kinda man. 

"Don’t you ever worry that your mouth will get you in trouble, or do you just take it for granted now, that I won’t go back to Asmodeus with the things you say to me?"

Santos did what he did to keep himself safe, and to keep the ones he cared about safe, Prince and Arcs be damned.  

He supposed he always wanted to defend Lilith more than the others because he’s certain he’s seen a heart in there somewhere.  Santos thinks she’s seen it too, which is why he gets away with his bluntness a bit more than with other people.  Santos blinks, and attempts to bring himself back on topic.  ”Yeah I bet, but the Princes always seemed to have this practiced air of detachment, you know?  They need everyone to think they care less then they do, so they make themselves not care sometimes.”  So much for keeping my mouth shut.

"Well, most people don’t know you very well then."  Santos frowns.  He doesn’t like that this man thinks so little of himself, even if only because he pays attention to Santos when he doesn’t have any reason to.  He coughs.  "Probably.  I haven’t done much the past week except work and sleep really."  Which was sad and sort of pathetic, but it was also the truth.  He frowns at the last statement though.  "Is she really?  I didn’t think power plays via sex were her kind of thing."  He bites his lip, just for a moment, still too close to the Luxe for him to feel entirely comfortable saying anything more about it.

“Maybe I jus’ do tha’  t’ women! I mean look a’ me, I’m irresistible!” he chuckled, nodding and giving a shrug “Ya di’nt ruin me night Yola, don’t panic. We’re jus’ heading’ back t’ mine for a drink or two, or seven, ‘fore ya pass out, o’  course.” he was already changing direction when he glanced to the other male and he leaned over, ruffling his hair. Kale wasn’t the best person when it came to social interactions, but he still enjoyed company. Especially that of people like Santos, people that were easy to be around and actually liked him. He still couldn’t comprehend why though.

He nods to the dealer, then to his cards. “Split.”

Kelly leans back in his chair and smirks.

"You know the only thing that’s going to happen here tonight is that your money is going to become my money, right?"