[ShadowStitches]

Asper

The thunderous roar of the storm outside was little louder than a soft hum in the library. The weather had been miserable for days, and most of the occupants of the house where starting to feel the effects of isolation. Tempers were flaring up, and there was a general unease lingering in the hallways.

One of the few people who seemed completely unfazed by both the weather and the unpleasant atmosphere was Asper. The Demon was sitting in one of the armchairs, lazily trailing his dark eyes over the pages of the book he only recently picked up. He had the library to himself, which was how he liked it. His calm demeanor was nothing but illusion though. If one was present, they might have picked up the glances towards the old grandfather clock whenever he was flipping a page and the slight shifting every now and then.

Asper was waiting for someone. And that someone was already 15 minutes late. Not that he was surprised in any shape or form, but it was still infuriating. He would, however, not embarrass himself in searching for the other demon. No. He knew he would show up eventually.

[ShadowStitches]

Talmai

There was a slight change in the room's atmosphere. Barely noticeable, but still there. Like very slight static electricity. Asper did not look up when the man materialized, apparently out of thin air behind him. His shoulders only stiffened slightly. Without looking up from his book he stated "You're late".
This only made the person behind him chuckle, and make his way around the armchair to come face to face with Asper. How he hated Talmai sometimes. With his unkempt patchy beard and manic eyes and smile. He preferred his Wockee form far more. But that certainly was why he decided to show himself as human. At least he was wearing clothes this time.

The younger man was staring down at the clean cut, well dressed one sitting in front of him, his smile widening threateningly, showing sharp teeth. "what? m' I supposed to apologize? Not gonna talk to me otherwise or what?" he sneered, to which Asper only raised one eyebrow. "your jabs have been slacking recently. Is that really the best that you can offer?"  Talmai shrugged and without hesitation snatched the book out of his hands, slamming it shut and staring at its cover intently. "so. what do ya want?"

If this was indeed annoying Asper, he was hiding it well. "you know why you are here." he stated matter of factly, leaning back in his chair, studying his opposite closely. "what? again already? fuckin...Its not like theres gonna be a massive change, is there?"

[ShadowStitches]

Asper continued to eye the younger demon, not showing any emotion. His voice had a tinge of a sharper, commanding edge to it when he spoke: "just sit down, and show her to me". He was not looking forward to another fight for dominance. They both knew that he was superior to Talmai, and yet he still prodded and pried at his patience. Like a spoiled child, but a child with a Ransome it knew to wield.

Talmai intended to do just that, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "you know what? screw that. Let's do this a little different this time" Aspers features stiffened "excuse me?" [/color[color=#00BF80]]"you heard me."
The older demon could feel a headache coming up. Ever since they had arrived in this house, Talmai managed to wind him up quicker and quicker. Internally, he fought to keep his composure but kept stoic on the outside.
Talmai's grin only grew impossibly wider, eyes twinkling with glee over the fact that he was getting some sort of reaction.

"Before we do the old song and dance routine, how about you answer me some questions?" "I would advise you to sit down and let me get over with this" Asper responded, his voice low and with a subtle strain to it.
"I don't give a shit " Talmai hissed "I want to know how long you want to stay in this place. And you will answer for once" Asper did not do that. He only motioned with his head toward the armchair in front of him. With a resounding bang, Talmai slammed the book onto the coffee table, sending the teacup that was sitting on top of it flying off and shattering on the ground. "Tell Me!!"

[ShadowStitches]

Asper felt himself rise almost involuntarily, now standing in front of Talmai, with only the coffee table between them. He was a good few inches taller than the wiery, twitchy man in front of him, and he tried to evaluate the situation while his jet black eyes bored deeply into his feverish, pale orange ones.
Asper scoffed. The other one had always been hot-headed and easy to blow up into someone's face. But this was short fused, even for him. He did not like seeing that. Not because he was afraid of him, oh no.

Talmai was capable to get some hits in on him, yes, but nothing in comparison to what he could do to him. The only reason he had not torn him apart into tiny pieces was the thing hanging from his neck. But it was that thing that was now making Asper concerned. Talmai looked...bad. well. He always looked kind of rough, but he was clearly doing worse than usual. The circles under his eyes were darker, and his whole body was shaking ever so slightly. The closer he looked, the more concerned he grew. not for him, but for...her. He suspected that she had some involuntary effect on him, damaging him. He would have to look into this fast, but first, he needed to deal with the current situation.

Fighting him physically, he thought, should be avoided at this point. he straightened his back, never breaking eye contact. "we have been over this" he stated, his voice cold and collected once more "sure have. you never gave me any bloody answer though" Talmai hissed through his teeth. "I know. and you know why" The other one seemed to only bristle more at that, baring his fangs "bullshit! You are just buying yourself time. Why the hell are we staying here?" "Because" Asper said, and he was taking very slowly and clearly now "before I find out how we solve our little...situation, this seems to be a place where they won't interrupt us" Now it was Talmai's  turn to scoff "right, and I am sure the 'encyclopedia  of Evelons fauna and flora' will be terribly helpful with that"

[ShadowStitches]

For a second, it seemed like Asper would lose his cool. His irises grew bigger, and he curled his upper lip into a snarl, ready to charge. Instead, however, he reminded himself that that was what Talmai probably wanted. For whatever reason, and be it just to blow off steam (one never knew what was ticking him off this time), The other one wanted a scrap. And he most certainly would not lower himself to that level. Instead, he visibly pulled back, cocking his head slightly. "true, but other than you, I actually try to change things and do my research"
He stepped around the table, closing in on Talmai, who seemed surprised, but stayed where he was, only narrowing his eyes.

Asper was about to do something he had avoided for a long time. He did not like doing it, mostly because it was a little more dangerous for her then their usual procedure. And if he was entirely honest, as much as he despised him, not only was it also dangerous for Talmai, he also felt kind of sympathetic towards him, thinking about what he would endure in just a few moments.

"Unlike you, who does nothing but moan and groan about his situation, uselessly stewing in his own miser-"
Talmai lurched forward but got caught off guard by Asper who, instead of ducking away, merely braced himself, aimed and closed his hist around the amulet around Talmai's neck, turning with their momentum and yanking it off his neck, the chain clasp snapping almost effortlessly.

[ShadowStitches]

Asper had a firm grip on one of Talmai's arms as they turned and only released it when the Amulet was secured.
Talmai for his part stumbled a few steps further, before crumbling to the ground like a ragdoll, staring at him with burning hatred and a tinge of fear.

"Aw, don't look at me like that, old friend." Asper grinned "you could have been sitting in that cozy chair while we do this." A strained, angry hiss was the only answer he got, as he sat on his place, looking at the Amulet before enclosing it in both of his hands and closing his eyes.

The Amulet was pulsing warmly in his hands as he focused on the contents trapped in it. Its...no. Her power so tantalizingly close, yet completely out of reach. He sighed, trying to get in contact with her. He could sense her, almost see her standing in the dark. 'was this really necessary?' he heard her ask, her voice hollow as always. "you witnessed our conversation, what else should I have done" he asked. 'He is confused. and scared. have some sympathy' "He is a brat who needs to know his place" he shot back, furrowing his forehead. "He's probably just bored." 'Hm...I doubt that' Asper sighed deeply "How are you doing? Are you holding up okay?" she paused briefly, before answering, this time sounding hesitant ' it's not like I've only been here for a short while. I'm...doing as well as I can' "I know. I'm sorry, I'm working on it" the amulet pulsed a little more at this, reacting to his words 'no, I'm sorry. it's just...I think something is changing. I'm not sure what, but it feels like there is an issue with Talmai and me being bonded together. I can't...quite describe it'      

[ShadowStitches]

This only worried him more. "I noticed he looked a little... Ill. Do you think -" 'I don't know. It seems like its slow and gradual though. I would not worry too much about it. we will find a solution for it' she said, with him only hesitantly nodding. "I'll transfer some energy now, maybe that will help a bit." He went silent for a while, letting some of his own energy flow into the Amulet in hopes of strengthening the bonding energy between her and Talmai. It was all he could think of doing for now.

there suddenly was an almost painful throb against his hands. 'Asper! something is...something's very wrong, you need to--'  Her voice was panicked and hushed, very unlike her. His eyes shot open in alarm. While transferring the energy he fell into a trance-like state, rendering him completely oblivious to his surroundings. What he saw made his stomach drop.

Talmai was gasping for air, his body seizing sporadically and weakly, eyes glazed over and wide with terror. This couldn't be. It could not have been more than 5 minutes since the two had been separated. He should be okay with staying out of contact with the amulet for at least twenty minutes, if not more...

all of that and more ran through Asper's head as he rushed to the other demon, propping him up against him and putting the necklace back on as fast as he possibly could. As soon as he resealed the clasp, Talmai drew in a ragged, desperate breath, before flying into a coughing fit. He scrambled away from Asper, still coughing and out of balance, before finally being able to breathe somewhat normally again. heaving in the air, he stared at him from across the room "what the fuck....what did you do??" he almost shrieked, panic prominent in his eyes

[ShadowStitches]

Asper just stared back in shock, trying to understand what just happened. Or better, why it happened. yes, Talmai was bound to her, and yes, that meant that they had to be connected by the amulet. Removing the amulet quickly and without his consent caused paralysis and after an extended period of time being separated would hurt both her and Talmai and eventually kill them. But not after five minutes, tops.
He felt sick. He almost lost her, and for the first time in centuries, he felt helpless. Slowly standing up, he reached one hand towards the other Demon. "Talmai, I don't know, I-"

"Stay away. don't freakn touch me!" Talmai snarled, still a little shaky on his legs but backing away further. For a split second, it looked like he was considering attacking him, but instead, he just teleported himself from the library into his personal room, not really sticking the landing/smashing into the ground a little too hard, and vanishing into bed the rest of the day, trying to process what had happened to him.

Asper was still standing in the now empty room, dread slowly building up in him.
This was not ideal. not ideal at all.

(okay, just wanted to write this small blurp of a story down to kind of explain both what Talmai's amulet is (well....at least a little) and why its important to Asper. Also the relationship between these two demon boys. I think they might get along a little better at...some point. maybe more frenemies than wishing the worst upon eachother. for now though, make no mistake: Asper has very little concern for Talmai, he is just scared to lose...her)