That Was Awkward [Lydia]

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Pilgrim was silent for a good while after he and Lydia left their meeting with Lilith and Igrat. He’d been fuming when he pulled out of the driveway, Lydia sitting beside him in the passenger seat. He shouldn’t have been surprised by the audacity of Lilith and Igrat. Lilith was more powerful than most could imagine, and Igrat was her go-to girl. With power like that, they didn’t need to ask permission or even be respectful. All they had to do was say “jump” and if you didn’t ask how high, well you were just shit out of luck.

It wasn’t until they were a few miles down the road and his anger had lessened slightly that he said anything at all. When he spoke, his voice was harsh and there was no trace of his host in it.

“That was bullshit,” he said. “That wasn’t a meeting, it was a fucking trap. They wanted to size us up and shit, then give us a fucking job.” He sighed. “Damn it, I should’ve known better.”

He glanced down at the black, shriveled human heart sitting between him and Lydia on the seat. It was intended to be a threat, a little reminder. He knew that, and wasn’t thrilled about it. But the demon trapped inside that heart might prove useful if they could find him a host body and release him.

“And, for future reference, you might wanna keep the temper flare-ups to a minimum around them. They might not look like much, but they’re dangerous. Igrat… Well, we could probably take her, but Lilith… Lilith’s powerful. Bitch’ll kill you before you realize you offended her.”

Pilgrim was not only angry, but nervous. Since the Devil’s Gate set him free, he’d been trying to stay under the radar and avoid this kind of situation. Now he was backed into a corner.

“I can’t believe those assholes wanted to give us a fucking business card. What the fuck kind of bullshit was that? They think just because we didn’t summon their soul sister on the spot we can’t work a simple spell?” He sighed again. “Those bitches.”

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Lydia sat quietly in the front seat, staring straight ahead through the windshield. She wasn't nearly as phased by this recent meeting as AJ seemed to be, likely because she still didn't quite understand what they had gotten themselves into. Lydia didn't understand the hierarchy of hell. She didn't understand how a demon like AJ could be so freaked out by a demon like Lilith. And furthermore, she didn't understand that there could ever be someone so powerful that she should fear them.

She found AJ's ranting strange, and she looked over at him, watching him intently as he vented. At first, she didn't respond, even when he reprimanded her for her temper flare back during the meeting. But that Igrat bitch had made a play for what was hers, at least in Lydia's mind. There was no way that she was going to give him up to that little demon skank, or to anyone else for that matter.

"The whole thing was just a waste of time," she muttered boredly, her gaze flickering to the scarred heart that rested in the seat between them, the wheels turning in her mind. If there were actually a demon trapped within, she wondered what exactly they were supposed to do with it. She picked it up and weighed it in her hands, inspecting it closely, the expression on her face never faltering. "So what about this thing?"

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Lydia's bored tone shouldn't have surprised him. So far, it seemed like she didn't fear anything - even when she should have. But this was a whole new level of fear. How could she not even be phased by it?

He raked a hand through his host's messy hair as Lydia commented the meeting had been a waste of time. He felt slightly frustrated at her indifference. Didn't she understand what they'd just stumbled into?

"So what about this thing?" she asked.

Pilgrim glanced over to see her holding the shriveled heart in her hand, looking at it curiously. He shrugged.

"It was a threat," he muttered. "They were trying to keep me on my toes. Maybe we can release whoever's inside. Get some information or something. I dunno."

He switched on his directional and took a right turn.

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Lydia pondered AJ's comment about releasing the demon inside, but just from her limited experience with demons she knew that just letting the thing out wouldn't yield positive results. They would need to be careful... to control the environment and the circumstances involving the release of the captive demon. "I think we can make use of this," she said, setting the stony black heart up on the dashboard, "but not without doing some proper research. I'm sure there's something useful in one of my spellbooks."

She hadn't mentioned it to AJ yet, but recently she had taken an interest in immortality. Well, alright, she had always been interested in it of course, but since meeting him she had become increasingly more focused on the subject. And she wouldn't admit it to him, but the idea of growing old while her demon companion never aged was something that she wasn't sure she could live with.

She had considered that she could be on somewhat equal footing with him if she were to die and become a demon herself. But that idea was down the train as soon as she realized that by doing so, she would lose her current body and she was extremely fond of herself. What were the chances that she could find a body to possess that was even remotely as attractive as she was? None, she decided easily as she flipped down the sun visor and checked her reflection in the mirror. "You know we could always shoot that little blonde bitch," she muttered nonchalantly.

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Pilgrim glanced down at the black heart as Lydia replied.

"I think we can make use of this," she said as she placed the weirdo device holding the heart on the dashboard, "but not without doing some proper research. I'm sure there's something useful in one of my spellbooks."

He nodded slowly. Summoning the demon wouldn't be too hard, but it would need a host to jump into. That was one thing to consider. Besides, there had to be some sort of supernatural enchantment keeping him locked in the heart they'd have to overpower. He turned all of this over in his head as he drove.

"You know we could always shoot that little blonde bitch." Lydia said casually as she examined her reflection in the visor mirror.

Pilgrim glanced over at her and laughed.

"Yeah, okay. Good one," he muttered. "Shooting Lilith would just piss her off 'cause she'd have to find a new host. Then she'd kill you and probably send me back to Hell... or worse." He glanced at the heart on the dashboard and grimaced, not wanting to think about the 'worse' punishment.