World Refugees Final Mix

"Well, I often use those same excuses myself, so I won't blame you for trying." Pause for another bite of toast, which she seemed to be enjoying immensely. "But if those were the only reasons, you could have just asked. It's not exactly reassuring, finding an incubus in the house after a bad night."

From:

"And since we don't believe those reasons," Amy added brightly from behind the safety of a German Shepherd, "You should just spill why you're really here."

Realizing she was being childish (as well as a big chicken), she got back to her feet and began cleaning up her breakfast mess. Kind of silly hiding behind Yasha when she could take care of herself.

From:

He sighed melodramatically, putting down the tea and throwing up his hands in defeat. "I admit, I lied. But is that really so surprising considering what I am?" He grinned again, obviously enjoying as Amy walked back and forth in the kitchen.

He sat up just slightly then, eyes narrowing. "I need to know more about my sister."

From:

Song took the time to savor one more bite of toast before ending the innocent act and mirroring their guest's serious expression.

"I'm a bit cautious to tell you everything. Lilith likes to keep things to herself."

From:

Ignoring him was a little harder than it should have been, but at least she refrained from telling him where to shove that smile of his. When he brought up Lilith, she sighed, finally taking a seat on Song's other side before resting her elbows on the island and propping her chin on her hands, watching James. She could let Song handle this one.

From:

He waved Song's comment away. "She does. And I need to know." He smiled again, though there was an edge to it this time. "I'm asking nicely."

From:

Song did not smile. She met his eyes measuringly.

"What do you want to hear, and why?"

From:

Amy frowned as she studied him, absently kicking the railing on the stool. This was beginning to bug her (okay, more than it had already) and she was starting to wish she could let herself get up and go. She definitely didn't like that smile.

"The fate of the worlds doesn't rest on this, does it?" She asked jokingly. Anything to take the edge off.

From:

"Whatever you know," he said evenly. He glanced at Amy and the electric energy that had been present when he had first encountered any of them in the marketplace suddenly filled the room. "You are going to tell me, regardless of whatever dances in conversation we have."

From:

"Morning," Ren mumbled as she padded into the kitchen. She hadn't slept too well the previous night, and she wasn't too happy with her body's apparent scheme to keep her locked into what she had dubbed "miserably depressed emo kid mode." She knew what it was that had her down, and she knew that she was being way too gloomy about it all. It still didn't seem to help her get over it, though.

"So what's for--stranger." The sleepy fog instantly lifted from Ren's mind as she stared at the way-too-pretty man sitting in the kitchen with Song and Amy. A fight obviously hadn't broken out yet, so he probably wasn't an immediate threat, but the others were way too on edge for him to be a fellow Refugee. So that meant... "You must be the incubus I've heard about," Ren said with forced calm, suddenly wishing she had worn a bathrobe over her pajamas that morning.

From:

So much for fun encounters with demons. Song really wasn't liking his attitude. Denying him right now seemed a little too dangerous, however.

She turned in her seat to face him fully, already taking a breath to speak... when there was a very convenient interruption.

"You have the best timing, Ren. Want some toast?"

From:

"Totally the best." And to show her appreciation, Amy practically flew off her stool to hug the other girl. Yay, a Rennie! She jumped back after a few seconds though, half-embarrassed.

"Have cereal, have tea, have a whack at our 'friend' here." She grinned a little, then shook her head. Time to calm down, yes. She could bail now...or stay and look after both her friends. Cripes, this mothering thing was going to drive her batshit someday.

"This is James, Lilith's brother."

From:

He didn't glance up as Ren walked into the room, didn't even seem surprised by her arrival. Instead, he leaned forward against the counter, the growing energy becoming more apparent and his eyes starting to glow faintly.

"The more, the merrier," he mused, throwing Ren a winning smile. "You arrived just as these wonderful ladies were going to tell me more about my darling sister. I can't help but be worried by the way they keep darting around giving me information."

From:

Ren gave a small, surprised laugh and hugged Amy back. "You sure know how to make a girl feel appreciated," she said before her breath caught in her throat at James' smile. She knew full well that "sex demon" plus "good Christian girl" was a recipe for disaster on her end, but man, he was making it easy to forget that. "Um, yeah, toast and tea would be great..." she managed to get out as she crossed her arms over her chest, once again really missing her bathrobe.

"Oh, Lilith? I'm sure she's doing fine," Ren nearly babbled with nervousness. "She's a survivor if nothing else."

From:

Song pushed her plate - which had originally been James' plate - across to Ren. There was still one whole slice of toast on it, untouched except for the coating of honey and cinnamon which Song had applied.

Then she turned her attention back to James.

"Alright. I'll tell you, but your sister's had a rough time lately. If you do anything to make it worse...."

She didn't finish the sentence, and she began the story in a brisk voice before anything else could be said.

"About a year and a half ago our friend Josiah acquired a magic book which came with a complimentary succubus. That part probably doesn't surprise you.
And, being as fascinated as I am by demons and such, I had to go make friends. I'd like to say it was my winning personality, but I think it was just my persistence that overcame her usual dislike for other women. Either way, she got used to me and I got attached to her. Insert a few crazy shenanigans here, including a body switch between her and Josiah. While reversing that, the two of them soulbonded so that Lilith could have a bit more freedom without endangering the entire male populace. The side effect is that Josi's now half demon. You'll recall I said there were two others..."
She paused for a sip of tea.
"...Things go on, we win the War of Hearts, everyone's happy, and then Lilith's dead pirate decides to be undead and possess Josiah."

She stopped there, giving the others a chance to add anything if they felt like it, and trying to judge what James thought of the story so far.

From:

She was already taking care of Ren's tea while Song talked, scowling to herself. The energy James was giving off was nothing but irritating to her, and she was this close to going over and smacking him.

Bad idea, be nice just a little longer. Maybe once he learned what he wanted he'd go away. Or she could torch his hair...Turning around with a smile, Amy held out a cup towards Ren.

Flaming incubus, whee.

From:

He kept his intent gaze on Ren as he listened to Song's explanation. His lack of reaction may have been proof that he wasn't too surprised about what she had to tell him.

He did glance at her in surprise at mention of a certain pirate. "Ah, so Calum went and made her life more interesting again. Figures." His cool, charming smile reappeared then as he slid out of his seat, walking a bit closer to Ren while keeping eye contact with Song. "Anything else?"

From:

"'Interesting' is the polite way of putting it," Ren added as she got up to collect her tea from Amy with a "thank you." It was painfully obvious that she was trying to put some distance between James and herself, but she didn't expect anyone to call her out on it.

"The creep spent all his time either invading our minds or acting all enigmatic about what he was after. Really, he only ever came off as smug and conceited..." Ren continued. She stopped after that, realizing she was getting louder as she ranted. "Sorry..."

From:

Song glared pointedly at James as he approached Ren. She was finding that she really didn't like him near her friends.

"As Ren says, he was a general bastard and tried to kill us all, including Lilith herself. Given our history with her past 'friends', I'm sure you can forgive us for not trusting you all that much."

She waved a hand dismissively and turned away, looking at the counter in front of her instead of at him. "As for Lilith, last time she was here I was still trying to help mend her broken heart."
Her tone was not only bitter but warning, an almost-growl that set off the dog who had been skulking in a corner. She put a hand on his collar as he moved between her and James.

From:

"But did James ever say he was her friend? Just her brother. That alone would be reason enough not to trust him." Okay, her dislike of Lilith was starting to show, but honestly, it was nothing compared to how she was feeling about the other one. She edged closer to Ren before glancing over at Song, suppressing a wince. She'd have to apologize later.

From:

If he was bothered by any of their reactions, he didn't show it. He just laughed and the same electric charm that was in the air becoming more pronounced and very difficult to ignore. It was the energy that permeated his aura, and considering what he was, it was very apparent what that energy was inclined towards.

"Conceited, enigmatic, arrogant, devoted to a fault... yes, that sounds like Calum alright," he chuckled, shaking his head in amusement despite the hostile looks he was getting. "My sister always did have excellent taste."

His posture was relaxed and he was still smiling even as his eyes narrowed sharply. "Is there anything I can possibly do to change your minds?"

From:

Oh, that was just cheating. Ren tightened her fingers around her teacup and stared into it, ostensibly so she could blow into it to cool her drink down.

"Change our minds about what?" she asked, trying to think of something innocent. Like kittens. Or stuffed animals. Or bun--no, bunnies were bad right now. "Song's already told you what we know about Lilith right now."

From:

Song shivered and also focused very intently on her cup of tea.

She felt that she'd done a good job of not missing Josiah while he was away. It certainly hadn't been painful as the absence of Orpheus had. In fact she felt wonderful, or she had up until a few moment ago.

The presence of James - the familiarity of his aura - was awakening a keen longing for her wayward lover, and she did not appreciate it in the least.

But she'd given him his answer, and he was offering to 'change their minds' about trusting him. She didn't trust him, of course, but the least she could do was try.
"You could help us," she said in a voice turned dull by her attempt to hide her frustration. "I believe the original agreement was a trade of stories, but other information might be more useful."

From:

"You could also tone down the pheromones or whatever the hell you're doing before I torch your ass." The threat was delivered with a smile and a completely cheerful tone of voice, but Amy was dead serious. She had finally had it with this guy. Oh sure, setting him on fire wasn't going to help anybody, but it'd be fun to watch.

From: