Not Fallen... Yet

Chapter 16 - Are Demons Good Conversationalists?

Despite the fact that part of Aryan undeniably wanted to linger there in the caves, the demon could conceive no actual reason to do so. The damned creature had already delivered the crackers, the water, and even the stupid blanket he'd brought against his better judgement. (Damned Lilith's fault - If he hadn't seen her with a blanket the other day, this wouldn't be a problem. Nevermind the touch of conscious that silently thanked the woman for bringing this failure to provide to Aryan's attention.)

With all this in mind, there was no actual reason to stay. There was nothing appealing about hanging around in these dark, dismal caverns a moment longer and Aryan coldy informed himself that he should've already been up and out the door by now. There was no reason for him to stay, nothing to be gained.

Except, there was something to be gained, wasn't there? As much as Aryan adamantly refused to acknowledge it, to remain here with Kiran for awhile longer wouldn't exactly be sticking needles through his eyeballs and perhaps, if the demon were a much less stubborn creature, the guy could almost say it was something he wouldn't mind doing. The angel was different than anyone else the Guide knew, his behavior and thought process in complete opposition to everything Aryan was used to, and being around the confounding boy was... Intriguing. Yeah. Intriguing. That's what it was.

However, Aryan had no valid excuse to remain, so the demon simply sought to push away any of those ludicrous thoughts as he began stalking toward the looming entrance of the cave once more, the craggy stone entryway an overbearing, shapeless barrier in the dark, only existing in jagged points and crooked edges. "I'll see you around." The demon tried awkwardly right before passing the threshold into the tunnels beyond, the words blindingly incorrect and humiliatingly stiff even to his own ears. Obviously he wouldn't be seeing Kiran around, he'd be seeing Kiran in this same goddamn cave.

"You are leaving?" Kiran abruptly interjected, the boy's smooth, airy voice mingled with light notes of inquisition and smudged with undertones of inexplicable bewilderment.

"Yeah. I guess." Aryan responded uncertainly, unsure of why this fact seemed to take Kiran by surprise as there was no obvious reason the demon could see for him to remain in the angel's company any longer.

"You have somewhere you need to be?" Kiran questioned wonderingly, cocking his head to the side slightly so that his untamed hair fell to wayward disarray as his long fingers tugged up at one corner of the sleek furred blanket where it had begun to slide off his pale shoulder to reveal a scattering of dark freckles dancing across his paper skin.

"No." Aryan stated simply for lack of anything better to add to the short response. It wasn't as if the demon had anticipated a need to explain his departure. He had never stayed before and hadn't expected Kiran to seem opposed to it in any way and unsure of why the angel seemed to have the idea there even needed to be a reason for the damned creature to leave. It was as if Kiran expected Aryan remaining with him to be the default while Aryan had anticipated the exact opposite.

"Then will you not stay?" Kiran asked hesitantly, pausing a long moment before continuing on. "Please?" The angel finally added uncertainly, his emerald orbs deep and swimming with sincerity as they locked with Aryan's own dark eyes for a long moment, silently asking for an answer even after the boy finished speaking.

The demon gawked at his companion for far longer than anyone could consider socially acceptable, the creature's mind replaying the last moment over again in his head like a broken record as he struggled to process what he'd just heard. Someone had just told him "please." That was a fact. Aryan could handle facts. Nobody ever spoke that word to him. That was another fact. Aryan could look at facts. He was a logical creature, he was good with facts. Facts didn't require thought. Facts were facts and that was that.