Abel watched Cain disappear into the crowd unhappily. He hadn't expected such resistance from his little brother. But then, Cain had changed a lot since the last time he had seen him. Abel sighed, and reached out to Astel, the demon his father had lent him for the journey. He hadn't expected there to be any trouble, but like his father said, with Cain you could never be to sure. Bastard was unpredictable, powerful and too damn nice for his own good. That was what frustrated Abel the most about him - he could never understand why Cain did anything. it was why he had to be banished in the first place.
-Astel, you there?-
-Yo. Wudup?-
Abel resisted the urge to strangle Astel for that. Ever since they'd come here, he'd been trying to 'blend,' which he was failing miserably at, and which also meant he used some form of almost incomprehensible syntax and dressed appallingly, with jeans that somehow only came to his knees and shirts he drowned in. Abel had, he felt with remarkable restraint, refrained from making too many disparaging remarks.
- I need you to find out where Cain is staying-
-Sure thing bossman. Done deal. There a prob?-
-Cain just needs a little more persuading...-
-Ayt. Hey, while you're busy persuading, can I hook up with that piece you had earlier? She was a sweet looking thing-
-Focus on what you need to do Aster. There will be time for entertainment after-
-You seem pretty able to multitask. I saw you trying to play tonsil hockey with her-
-Aster. I'm asking nicely. Besides, have a plan for that particular sweet little thing-
Aster felt a shiver of fear at Abel's tone. But he was annoyed that Abel wouldn't let him play, so he pushed perhaps to far. Abel was his boss after all, and you did not wanna mess with his daddy. Hell, when it came down to it, you didn't wanna mess with Abel either. He was a mean bastard. And he held a grudge like nobody's business. Aster had actually been surprised when Abel had agreed to his father's request to bring Cain back. Abel hated the poor sod with a passion that was almost holy. He also felt a little sorry for the poor girl Abel had kissed. She was a pretty little thing after all. Aster shrugged philosophically and went back to watching Cain in his mind from the house he and Abel had rented. Crowds made Aster uncomfortable, and he generally preferred solitude, which is why he had stayed behind when Abel had left that morning to go find Cain. But he hadn't missed anything. One of his more minor talents was that he could see anywhere in the world, and view any scene, if he cast his mind out, which was, in his eyes, a decidedly useful little talent to have. Made spying a breeze. He didn't particularly approve of what Abel was doing, but you really really didn't want to annoy him. So he shut his mouth and made himself useful, watching as Cain went to class after class, wandered around and kept to himself. He didn't talk to anybody or even make eye contact with anybody. Astel thought this was rather odd, as far as he could tell, everybody else there was with at least one person at all times. Except for a few people, of whom Cain was one, everybody seemed to have friends. Out of curiosity, he idly watched Abel, to see what he was doing. To his surprise, he found him talking to the girl from earlier. He was seducing for all he was worth - being charming and sophisticated and mysterious and oozing that combination of intelligence, humor, power and danger that the women of Court had found utterly irresistible. It seemed to work exactly the same on mortal girls. Aster rolled hos eyes and sighed, missing the warmth of the home he left behind when Abel's father had assigned him this position. He didn't particularly like the human world, but what could you do? You didn't just ignore the king of hell. he had ways of making life unpleasant in ways even the religious nuts populating this plane could imagine.
Bored, Aster went back to looking for Cain. he disliked the word 'spying,' and preferred to think f it as 'information gathering,' but even so, he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about what he was doing. He had always liked Cain, had respected him, even after the banishment, for facing his betrayal and exile with such strength. He should have had the throne, by right of birth and arms, but his father and Abel had always hated him. So he was doomed from the day his mark had appeared. The Eron Aisark, the Mark of the Beast appeared on the body of the one next marked for kingship. But Abel hadn't liked that at all, and had made it his mission to destroy his brother. he had fund the way to do it as well, with the Trials. Cain had been set up to fail, because he wouldn't kill Abel, and Abel knew it, exploited it, and gotten Cain banished for the last thousand years because of it. But now they needed him. It was unbelievable, the depths to which that family would sink to get what they wanted. And now they wanted Cain. And god help that poor child... Aster swallowed his guilt and went back to gathering intelligence for the Prince of Hell.
