World Refugees Final Mix

She tilted her head at him, first curious, then very intent. She was reminded suddenly of her recent talk with Margaret - Margaret's suggestion in response to Song's wild plot of immortality for the sake of keeping Josiah company. 'Maybe you're trying to solve the wrong problem.'
Of course, James could be talking about something else, and probably was, but when Song caught onto a favorable suspicion, it took a lot to shake her loose.

In a carefully neutral tone, she asked, "what did she not tell me?"

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He leaned back against the clocktower again, eyes gleaming in amusement.

"At one time, she wasn't too different from you, love."

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That was just too much. She would be ashamed to ask seriously and be mistaken - her sense of pride was silly like that - so she intoned it as a joke.

"So she was either human or an optimist. I find the latter less likely."

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"The former actually - though I suppose being mortal does make one more optimistic about the future, so I guess you could say both apply."

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Bingo. She'd have to tell Margaret.

"Oh, really?" She was still attempting to play casual. "That's a story I'd like to hear."

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"That is a story you'll hear from anyone except me," James replied breezily, his playful manner slipping back. "She probably doesn't remember a thing of it, so you may have to ask the person who made her a demon in the first place."

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She rolled her eyes again, but this time with amusement. "I see. And who would that be, still alive after all that time and available for me to question?"

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He paused and his gaze turned slightly inwards as if seeing something else for a moment - it passed quickly, but maybe not quickly enough...

"The same person who bound her to the grimoire, I think. He would be very old by now, by Lilith's been to a number of worlds that have odd time keeping."

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She noticed, but didn't comment. James was far more alien to her than Lilith was.

"Nasser. That does make things simple. Of course it all depends on what Lilith wants..." She wasn't entirely sure about blurting out the plan to James, but she couldn't get it off her mind now. Knowing that Lilith had been human once was key.
It was the Disney thing to do.

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"I'll say this - not everything is as it seems there." He pulled away from the wall and dusted off his jacket, looking particularly pleased about... something. "But I don't know much about it. I'm just a simple demon, trying to make my way in the world."

An obvious lie, but with James, it was almost impossible to discern anything. Why he was helping them, why he took amusement in the destruction of the world, why he was really looking for Lilith...

Then again, maybe he just preferred to be an enigma.

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Well that was damned mysterious. If she wasn't so focused on her planning, she might have become visibly frustrated with such open deception.
Though she still didn't quite blame James personally. He was what he was.

"Nothing's ever quite what it seems," she said. "That's what keeps life interesting."

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"It gets dull after awhile though, people and their hidden agendas and half-truths," came the cheerful reply. "Very repetitive, very uncreative. Even among those who have immortality - you would think at least they'd come up with something interesting."

He sighed melodramatically, and Song may have been hit by a wave of that same aura of want again. He didn't seem to be aware of what he was doing. "But I guess it's too much to hope for. Maybe next century."

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She smiled and let her gaze rise to the clouds above the horizon, almost dreamily. "I beg to differ. It is frustrating at times, to be faced with only half the information, but if one knew everything then there would be nothing left to learn, and that would be a tragedy. I thrive on solving problems and mysteries, personally. And even on snooping out those hidden agendas, when I can."

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"Spoken like a true mortal. It's very different when you can live forever. The worlds keep changing, but people can become dreadfully boring after the first few hundred years." He laughed, eyes glittering with some unknown emotion. "Some of us learn to live for others, while many more of us... well, immortality can be the most exciting game for those insatiably curious."

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"Do you like being immortal?" She gave him that curious puppydog look again. "If people are so boring, what do you live for?"

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"That's simply asking if I like who I am." He brushed his hand against hers, and a sharp, tingling sensation passed between the two. "Which I do, by the way, very much so. I consider myself to be a gentleman of class and ridiculously good looks, who constantly has the pleasure to find himself in the company of extraordinarily beautiful women."

He leaned down to quietly whisper in her ear, "And you can't tell me that that's a bad thing for me."

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A shiver ran down her spine, and it wasn't nearly as unpleasant as the last one.

She took two delicate steps away from him. "Yes, well..." which was the phrase she used for stalling in a more elegant fashion than 'um'.
"Those traits are hardly uncommon for an incubus, I imagine. It would mean more if you were human. I don't suppose you ever were?"

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"Human? Hardly." He seemed amused as she pulled away - that didn't stop the seductive energy surrounding him to grow more prominent. "That is something only my dear sister could relate to - and that's if she remembers. It has been a very long time, after all."

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She shrugged, carefully ignoring the - to put it bluntly - rampant lust in the air. It still flushed her cheeks and gave her movements a more sensuous flow, but she, at least, could resist acting on it. She wasn't entirely sure that she'd have the conviction to push James away if tried anything, though.

"I thought not. She seemed different from you, even when I was just getting to know her. How long has it been for her, do you know?"

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"Ah, now that is something of a mystery. I would say a couple of hundred years, but it's very hard to place to tell the age of someone that doesn't." He absently toyed with her shortened hair, frowning thoughtfully. "She doesn't tell me much, unfortunately - me, her darling older brother who is only looking out for her."

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She stepped away again, removing herself from his reach.
"If you ever acted this way with her, I'm afraid I can see why. You should know she doesn't put up well with teasing and unanswered questions." She smiled sweetly.

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"Mmm, you're right about that, but I always attributed that to her stubborn personality." He laughed, low in his throat, unable to hide his amusement. "But she is another matter entirely. I find the present company much more interesting at the moment, and that company's insistence on asking certain questions."

"Would you take me up on an offer if I suggested we continue this conversation elsewhere?"

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She crossed her arms, but the smile hadn't yet disappeared.

"Not if that's your way of trying to get me into a bedroom. I'm not quite that foolish, James."

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He winked at her. "My intentions could have been entirely honorable, love. A shame you automatically assumed the more... entertaining of options." He shrugged, putting his sunglasses back on. He reached out to brush a thumb against her cheek, and a sharp burst of that electric energy passed between them, much stronger than it had been before.

Smiling faintly, he nodded at her and then began to walk away. "Next time, perhaps."

Then he disappeared. Not walked around the corner or melt into the shadows - just one minute he was there, and the next he was gone.

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