For an hour the two of you walked in silence. Despite the heat you felt all right; Anti, on the other hand, was still suffering from Lust's effects.
What else can I do? If we stop again he'll get pissed off, but he's obviously struggling...
Anti was panting, one hand on his throat as you walked. The marks had long since disappeared there, but every time a new urge passed through his mind he clutched his neck, digging his nails into the soft flesh and drawing blood. It was a wonder that the demon bore no scars.
You had to do or say something, didn't you? Or should you simply keep your mouth shut like he kept demanding? "Anti," you asked quietly, "is there anything I can do?"
"JusT Be qUIet," he replied softly, still glitching back and forth. He was definitely still suffering. At least he hadn't snapped at you.
But another hour passed, with no clear view of the next gate, and you began to worry. Anti had taken it upon himself to dig his nails into any part of his body that he could reach, on a much more consistent basis. In other words, constantly. Soon enough you couldn't bear it any longer and grabbed his wrists. "Stop, please!" you begged.
Something flashed in his eyes. Something you couldn't decipher. "Why?"
"Because... because it... it hurts to watch," was the best answer you could give. You couldn't describe the way watching him harm himself was making you feel.
That same strange flash of emotion passed in his eyes again, and he let his hands drop to his sides. Satisfied you sighed, nodded, and continued walking, pulling him along.
What is this stupid human doing to me? Is it just the circle affecting me?
Anti was torn. He didn't know how he was feeling, and that fact in and of itself was driving him mad. Lust clearly wasn't helping; he had assumed that he would regret fucking you, but he did not. Not in the least.
Eventually the next gate came into view, and the demon sighed in relief. At last, he could finally be rid of these awful, incessant thoughts. Anti damn near dragged you towards it, but suddenly stopped. He knew it was just Lust trying to overtake him again, but... would it have been so bad? To be in that particular circle, with you, for all of eternity? He could kill you and steal your soul for his own personal toy, keeping you in Hell. It would have been easy, almost too easy.
"Anti?"
Your voice broke through his reverie, and the demon shook his head to clear his thoughts. No. You were too pure for Hell, too white in life when Anti was so black. So very opposite of what he was; he couldn't ensnare you like that. He didn't want to.
(●)~
"Gluttony shouldn't affect you, right?" you asked as the pair of you approached the gate. Another set of snarling dogs required Anti's smoke to mask your scent, successfully.
"Demons don't eat, like I said," he replied once you were through the barrier. There he paused and breathed easier; Gluttony wasn't nearly as bad as Lust had been, in terms of the temperature. It had gone to a more tolerable level. But Anti's nose twitched at the slight breeze, at the scent he could smell.
Blood. There was blood in the air.
Then he understood: there was more than one kind of hunger.
Snatching your wrist, the green-haired demon pulled you forward, his grip a little tighter than you would have liked. "Anti, what--"
"We need to go. Now. Don't say a fucking word. Each circle gets smaller but Gluttony is still big, so don't speak a fucking word. Do you understand me?" You didn't, but nodded anyways.
For hours you tried to keep your thoughts a blank, taking into consideration the idea that he could actually read them. But it was easier said than done, and your thoughts began to wonder just what Gluttony was doing to Anti. Eventually you had to tug back on his hold, pointing up at the sky, where the moons had converged again. It was well past daylight, or whatever he had said served as daylight. You needed a rest.
Sighing through his nose the demon pulled you towards another ruined building; they were becoming closer together. "Sleep and don't let me near you," he spat, leaving you inside while he went outdoors again. You curled up on a nearby bed, trying to fall asleep, but things were nagging at your mind. Thoughts that you didn't want to know, or think, or even feel.
Am I falling for this demon?
(●)~
You did not sleep easy that night, far from it. You had nightmares of being chased by the enormous guard dogs, of being dragged back to your home- and consequently back to your boyfriend.
Could you even still call him that? No. You wanted to move on. You needed to.
But you knew that he had to be following, or at least waiting for you. You still had a handful of circles to go before you reached the seventh, but you couldn't help but wonder where all the souls and demons were. Was Hell much larger than what you had seen, or was it Anti's doing? But you passed through two gates so far and hadn't seen a single being, soul or demon.
A splattering noise made you sit up in fear. Eyes aching, you slid from the bed and followed the sound, wishing you could just return to the bed and sleep instead. But you were too worried about the demon.
Why?
Anti was sitting on the ground, hunched over. A puddle of his blood surrounded him where he sat. The splattering was coming from his neck wound; you knew he must have gotten his blade back. "What are you...?"
"I SAID TO STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he yelled, eyes burning despite the lack of color. You could almost see them in the darkness. "WHAT PART OF NOT LETTING ME NEAR YOU DO YOU NOT FUCKING GET?!"
What was Gluttony doing to him? You knelt beside him, pulling his hands away from his throat, which he was trying to pull open even wider. "P-please, just stop this, what are you doing...?!" you cried out, your hands drenched in his blood, mysteriously black in the moonlight.
Knife in hand he made to slash you across the face with it, pulling it away and dropping the weapon only at the last second. Damn it all, he couldn't stand this any longer!
The demon snatched your head like he had before, pulling you into a kiss. He panted through he nose as he did so; his hands were sticky with his blood. It was an altogether disgusting feeling but you didn't pull away. You weren't allowed to; you even kissed him right back.
Then, as quickly as he had grabbed you, Anti shoved you away again and breathed a little bit easier. His wound was healed already, the blood disappearing as well. "Satan save my soul," he muttered, bitterly.
Having this bitch around is actually helping. What the fuck is she doing to me?
