paradisalogs | closed; forward-dated

But while actually wondering why he hadn't, just after midnight like he had predicted, the teenager's thoughts were interrupted by him stumbling into a dark room, hand darting out to catch himself against the wall. This part was rather confusing because normally Joshua arrived in the bed when showing up in bedrooms.

Blinking a few times, his eyes rapidly adjusted to the dark as he tried to make out where everything was and...if anybody was even in here. Either way, he was finding the light switch and flicking it on.

"Good morning."

Augh. Light. The suddenness of it causes Damon to let out a groan, but as soon as his brain processes it, he bolts out of the bed with inhuman speed, immediately on the defensive. His lip curls as he spots Joshua in the room, and Damon takes a moment to size him up before moving on with the antagonism.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Another moment of scrutiny and he grabs a shirt, adding; "Who the hell are you?"

Turning to survey his new 'roommate', Joshua observes him for a moment before reaching out and knocking against the inside of the door. No, he doesn't really care that he woke someone up. He's been getting woken up for quite awhile now.

"My name is Joshua. It isn't as if I had any choice in the matter... The castle's been doing this to me all week."

Joshua. He knew that name, and not in that preachy biblical way. Damon hesitated for a long moment, eyes wide and lips tugged into a pursed, disapproving look.

Lana.

That was where he knew that name from.

The long list of villains who'd … what, gotten into it with Riful, maybe? Did it matter? What mattered was that they were in Lana's bad books, and from where Damon was sitting, it looked as though as gift had just been dropped into his lap in the form of Joshua.

Hallelujah.

Without bothering to respond, Damon's inhuman speed carries him across the room to slam into Joshua, pushing him back against the wall.

"Guess it's my lucky day."

His reaction is surprisingly calm, though there's a glint of intrigue in his eyes. Someone who was willing to make such a brash move against him? It's been awhile.

But, his hand stills, and the horns remain hidden. He had told Colette already... If this loss is a punishment, killing a 'roommate' might make things worse for him. So instead, he just adopts a lazy smile, unbothered by the impact or the obvious threat. His gaze might be on Damon, but Joshua hardly appears to be looking at him.

Through him, maybe...

"Please don't take offense, but you're not really my type."

"Don't flatter yourself. I've got better taste than you." Damon's words came out through a sneer. "This isn't personal. It's just something I've got to do -- you understand." He pivoted and, with the same super speed, attempted to hurl Joshua across the room in the direction of the window panes. "In fact, this has nothing to do with you. You're just … unlucky, I guess. But, now …" He followed him to the other side of the room in a blur. "You've gotta die."

It happens quickly, too quickly for a normal human to really recover from, but by the time Damon reaches the window, Joshua's no longer there, though the dent and shattered glass certainly proves he was.

Back across the room, further in the corner this time, Joshua's shaking the debris off him, simply not considering trying to actually escape out the window. As far as he knows, this is just another roommate. And he had told Colette he didn't want to upset the castle, but... If this one is so clearly hellbent on attacking him, what's a sweet boy from Michigan to do?

"Well then."

The horns are there, seemingly out of nowhere, and the red glow accompanying his gaze might seem altogether off-putting given his friendly tone...to someone unaccustomed to it. Excitement.

"Show me yours, and we can play. I've been waiting for something fun to happen."

"I wouldn't count on it being fun for you," Damon replied, head whipping around to look back at him once he heard the voice. Damn. He was fast. He wasn't counting on Joshua being faster than he was. "See, it's been a while for me. I might be a little rusty, but I'll try and make sure it's over quick."

Truth be told, he wasn't used to Joshua's type. Mostly because he was used to being Joshua's type. Violence, death, pain, it's fun. It's a party. He unsettled people when he said as much, because they liked to deny it. Joshua apparently didn't.

Damon rushed him again, bringing a fist forward and aiming it for the center of his chest -- heart-ripping was nice and quick. Also, pretty clean, as death methods went. Just as long as you grabbed the corpse before it hit the carpet.

Damon's level of speed was refreshing for Joshua, even if it didn't match his own. And honestly, the noise was jarring; a tell that the vampire couldn't hope to be aware of. Also something that put Joshua even more on edge, which he really didn't need after the last two weeks.

So he was ready, and he was sneering, the predictable move (most demons loved that killing blow, even Joshua himself) perfect in it's aim and near in it's contact, but it still failed. Instead of bothering to dodge, Joshua merely stood his ground, catching the fist in one clawed hand and squeezing.

"No. No. This is for love, huh? You'll have to do better. I said..."

With a twist, Joshua was sure he heard something crack beneath his grip, but he was quick to release Damon's hand and follow with a sharp kick straight for the vampire's ribs, aiming to knock him right through that same window he'd earlier hit.

His voice was erratic; rough around the edges while still managing to echo.

"Show me yours!"

Damon crashed through the window without an ounce of grace. He could be fluid and catlike and agile when he was the aggressor, but as soon as the tables were turned on him, he had no way of reacting. The critical flaw in always being the strongest one around.

On the bright side, the upgrade from 1408 to the second floor at least meant he didn't have far to fall. His spine didn't crack, his bones didn't crunch, it just hurt. Vampire durability at its finest. Just not fine enough for him to manage to pick himself up quickly enough. He groaned, planting his hands on either side of himself on the grass, propping up on his elbows and looking up at the big broken window of his room.

"Great …" It was muttered under his breath, along with the accusatory, "super-freak." Lana left that part out.

Oh, he heard that, even from where he's leaning out the busted window. But the resulting growl that comes out is cut off when he realizes he's leaning out the window.

Marveling at that realization, Joshua wasted no time in hopping right out of opening, angelic wings immediately sprouting and spanning out wide in order to slow his descent to the ground. No he didn't necessarily need them, but it's fun to show off, isn't it? Nevertheless, the combination of horns and wings made for a peculiar image.

Touching down on the ground nearby, Joshua laughed in delight. "This is great! I guess I'm not trapped anymore. I suppose I owe you, so maybe I won't kill you after all!"

"You're not free, if that's what you think." Not if he could help it. He'd be winding up back in the Peace Patrol's care. Lana would be flabbergasted by his well-intentioned and (this time) well-executed heroics. She'd see that he could be good. He could try.

He fought his way to his feet, bruised and a little bloody from the fall, but altogether not too thrashed. He rushed Joshua again. This time, he was ready to deck him instead of trying to rip out his heart. He had to work harder at this than he usually needed to. But that didn't mean he'd give it up.

The manor was the only place he had thought to go, but now Joshua was somewhat regretting it. It wasn't a short distance, and the speed he had used left him a bit weary once arriving. It didn't help that he was carrying an unconscious woman (why again?), had minor injuries of his own, and was mentally worn down to nothing after the exhausting loss he'd suffered through.

He arrived through one of the open windows, the wind having blown snow into the room, though he just ignored it as he unceremoniously dumped the woman onto the nearby bed. Sighing, Joshua leaned over to grab her arm and roll her onto her back, brushing her hair out of the way to survey the damage. Honestly, it was tempting to just let her bleed to death. But he could have left her behind to do that, and then he would be in trouble for two deaths no doubt.

Had the vampire even died? Joshua wasn't really sure, knowing that it usually took more to kill one of those, but it had been a pretty severe finish. Joshua's arm was still covered in blood. He had left too quickly to bother checking (no time to stay at the scene), and the woman had only gotten injured by foolishly getting in the way. Sometimes Joshua had whims. He wasn't heartless.

So rather than breaking her neck like he considered (a mercy), Joshua instead chose to heal her like originally planned. The soft golden glow was more than enough to scare away the chill surrounding her, injuries disappearing and color returning over a matter of minutes. The feathery wings wilted a bit once it was over, though, his entire body feeling more drained than ever. Joshua needed to rest.

A draft of cold air blowing in through the open window and lightly grazing over her skin was what hit her first, almost with the impact of a direct electric shock. Every nerve almost instantly sprung back to life, heart beginning a frantic effort to pump lost blood back into her veins.

Slowly, her eyelids began to flutter open.

From this vantage point, it was difficult to get information about much of anything. Lying on her back, the only thing immediately visible was a crack in the ceiling above. As her gaze focused, became more clear, it didn't shed any more light on the issue.

Yet, based on minimal clues, her gut instinct was screaming one clear message at her. This wasn't familiar. This wasn't familiar at all.

Where was she?

She turned her head a small distance to try and get a better look, but apparently the move was too much for her. Violent coughing spasms soon began to take her over, racking through her entire body.

Edited 2012-02-04 23:44 (UTC)

The noise drew his attention again, having dozed off in the nearby chair without really meaning to. And of course now he was chilled to the bone, no doubt as much as she was, though at least she did have a blanket partially pulled over her.

Joshua had collapsed in the chair without really thinking of much, his body and mind both needing a break from the annoying situation.

Being woken up to a coughing fit that wasn't his own was only mildly alarming until he recalled where he was, and Joshua groggily stood up, absently slamming the window shut on his way back over to the bed.

The wings were gone, along with the horns, so at least he looked non-threatening. ...If one ignored all the blood, but then again she had quite a mess of her own.

"Still alive?"

It was a time before the spasms finally subsided, and with them went whatever energy that regaining consciousness had given her. She slumped back against the mattress, no longer physically able to continue her feeble attempts at supporting herself.

But, despite this, there was something that caused her to want to try again. The sound of a voice, one that in her current state of partial awareness seemed like it was coming from about a million miles away. Maybe one that was... vaguely familiar? She didn't understand. Didn't--

With all the strength she could muster (which, again, wasn't much, but you have to give her credit for trying), she managed to lift her head just enough to catch sight of an equally familiar form approaching the bedside. Trying to process this didn't bring her any answers. Only more questions. The details of what had happened before she'd blacked out were still fuzzy; this wasn't helping.

"How...?"

Pulling his hands out of his pockets, Joshua sat on the edge of the bed and smiled at her. It was a friendly enough smile, but not exactly warm. And even if in passing Joshua didn't appear demonic at the moment, upon closer inspection his eyes could seem to nearly look right through her, with a distant glaze.

His voice was soft, but again, not particularly soothing. Joshua didn't feel good, and he didn't feel like coddling anyone right now. (Did he ever?)

"Consider it a miracle from God." Nothing loving about that, just pure sarcasm. "But really, it was your own fault. I should have left you for dead with the vampire."

Julia had always had good instincts. Surviving for as long as she had on the run would have been impossible without them. She knew when there was trouble, knew when to shoot, when to hide. To a point, right up until the very end, she'd managed to keep herself one step ahead.

Through profound physical weakness, her intuition remained as strong as ever. And as he came into clearer focus, everything about Joshua, from the smile and the gaze he sent in her direction, to his tone of voice, sent an instant chill down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold air still hovering in the room. She didn't like this. She didn't like this at all.

But there was almost nothing she could do about it.

Nothing except try to piece everything together as best as she could, keeping her voice, her entire demeanor, as calm as possible. "What happened?"

"You got in the middle of something you shouldn't have. Maybe Spike or Valentine should have let you know that I am incredibly capable at taking care of myself."

That wasn't to say he didn't get injured in the fight. But any bruises sustained had mostly healed by now, and anything annoying had become minor. Being able to control one's Astral energy was the reason demons could be so quick at healing.

But still, it wore him out, and it was slow. Nothing like the powers he used on other people.

"I disposed of him, and decided to bring you with me. I didn't have the time to heal you there. That kind of a fight might have drawn attention."

A typical person might have retaliated at some of those insinuations, especially said in that tone of voice. Or, at the very least, might have outwardly expressed some sense of being insulted or offended.

Julia, however, did none of those things. In fact, for a long time, longer than one would typically allow to pass, she chose not to respond at all, instead carefully letting everything being said to her run through her mind. With that to guide her, memories started to come back, vague flashes and hints. There had been commotion, a struggle. Something, she still didn't know what, that had compelled her to try to intervene against her better judgment...

... He could have easily left her for dead. The fact that he didn't was the one thing above all else that was beginning to strike her as the most strange about this whole situation. And so it became a natural choice for her focus for the moment.

Finally, she spoke up.

"Why?" Her voice was quiet, a strain to be heard, but it wasn't feeble.

It was easy for him to hear, though, not really needing to lean in. In fact he was leaning away, his gaze elsewhere, focused on the room itself for some reason. A glance here, a shift there. Joshua was uneasy.

"Why not? I have no reason to want you dead."

If anything, she was equally uneasy. Maybe more so. And there was no reassurance in his words, nothing to change that. People had ulterior motives, especially through acts of kindness. It was difficult to read him, to get a true gauge of what his might actually be.

Not that allowed any visible indication of these thought processes to show. It was an effort, but she was determined to continue to keep her guard up for as long as possible.

"I suppose I should thank you."

... Despite everything, though, there probably really isn't much else to say to someone who just saved your life.

That drew his attention back towards her with a slight raised eyebrow before another smile touched at his features. So far he didn't mind this woman. Both in the situation with Spike as well as here, she was remaining very calm and quiet.

He liked that. It was nostalgic. Did she have a deadpan humor like Fiore, he wondered?

"You're welcome. But it comes with a bit of a price. I'm not going to be able to take you back to the castle until tomorrow at the soonest. And don't be alarmed, but I hid your journal. Staying here now is already a risk, and I can't let you make it worse."

There it was. The catch she'd been waiting for. Her suspicions had been merited.

Maybe she didn't usually put much trust in the journal, and tried to rely on it as little as possible. She still wasn't convinced that the filters were completely secure, and who knows what could be picked up on if a page were to be accidentally left open. But the fact that it had been taken from her left her feeling entirely too vulnerable. Combined with her current condition, the fact that she'd been cut off from the most available avenue of communication rendered her completely dependent on someone she barely even knew.

She had to work actively to suppress the surge of blind panic that threatened to take her over. It wouldn't do her any good. Letting that kind of irrationality win would prevent her from thinking clearly, and that would lead to nowhere but trouble. Not to mention, an action as simple as moving her arm still required a significant amount of time to recover from; if she tried to bolt, she knew she wouldn't make it very far.

A deep breath. "We're not in the castle." It wasn't a question. She knew she was stating the obvious.

Shrugging, Joshua glanced around the room once more. It was just a plain room, an old one that had never been used. It was in terrible shape, really, and dust was everywhere. Not to mention it was freezing.

"I'd tell you where we are, but it doesn't really matter. Either way we're both stuck here for a little bit."

This was a predicament, though. He'd went through all the trouble to save the woman's life, but it was clear she was still having trouble. Had she lost that much blood? Joshua was no nurse, but at the same time he didn't just want to leave her in the room to freeze and starve. What was the point of healing her in that case?

"Don't panic, miss, I'm going to pick you up. I'm sure you want to move to a warmer room, and so do I."

Not bothering to wait for a response (what could she do? pinch him?), Joshua wasted no time in reaching down to scoop her up bridal style and pick her up off of the bed. At the very least, he was gentle this time, less rushed than before.

"There should still be some food here that hasn't gone bad. You look like you need to eat."

Edited 2012-02-08 06:15 (UTC)

Even if she'd been left alone, she wouldn't have been able to keep up this conversation for much longer anyway. Her efforts to keep a grip on consciousness, to process all this information being thrown at her at once, were steadily beginning to run out of steam. Her eyelids, which had only become increasingly heavier as time went on, finally closed.

Figuring out the finer details of her current predicament would have to wait.

There was no protest on her part when she suddenly found herself being picked up, even if she might have wanted to try. How could there have been? It was almost impossible to register what was even happening anymore, much less be able to find enough energy to make an argument about it. She was instead quiet and limp in his arms.

closed; forward-dated

conflict;

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aftermath;

Re: aftermath;

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*not that she... edit button why do i fail to use it :|

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