Woah. No update for a while, haha. You can thank Furyfur for this getting put up.

So yeah. Enjoy.

When Bardroy woke up, all he could sense was a staleness in the air. The staleness spread and crawled over his tongue, the smell invading his nose and burning his sore nostrils, slicing its way down his throat all the way down to his lungs until each breath made his chest feel sore, the air around him quickly making him feel ill. He groaned, the effort of making the small noise enough to send another wave of pain searing through him.

There was a pressure on his wrists. It wasn't an especially strong pressure, but when he tried to move his arms away from their position above his head, the weight on them seemed to increase tenfold. It was something warm, with a tiny beat wherever it made contact with Bard's skin. It was like a drumbeat with the simplest of cadences. Or a march. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Badum. Left. Left. Left Right Left. Left- Left- Ba-dum Ba-dum- Ba-dum.

Curiosity peaking, he opened his eyes to see what was keeping him in place. He expected that it could be a variety of things- what he did not expect was the tiny blonde above him struggling to keep his arms down.

"Finny?" his voice cracked. He had forgotten about the young man's extraordinary strength. However, the moment he opened his eyes, Finny's grip on him weakened before he finally let go, staring down at him as if to make absolutely sure he was awake.

"Bard?" the other man's voice was a high, scared squeak "You awake?"

He huffed in response, not wanting to make any more noise until the pain that had an iron grip on his body let up.

"You were thrashing in your sleep!" Finny explained, eyes as wide as ever. "Wrecking stuff and- what's wrong? You're almost as strong as me now- and your nails changed colour, too! Are you sick? Should I call a doctor?"

Looking up at him, a soft noise escaped Bard's dry lips "...uh?"

With that, the worry apparent on Finny's face intensified "I'm going to call a doctor! Don't have any more fits or anything, okay?" he stood as he spoke, turning.

It took a few moments for the words to register in Bardroy's mind, panic flashing briefly through his mind when they did. He moved, intending to hold Finny back by the wrist. He achieved his intended result sooner than he expected. Much, much sooner. Within a split second, his hand had closed around the frail wrist of the shorter man, his grip firm "I'm fine." his voice was far lower than he intended, a guttural growl.

He didn't realize how tight his grip was until he felt Finny's wrist shaking against his skin. Bardroy winced "Shit- sorry." he let go, hands now straight against his sides "I'm fine. Don't need a doctor or nothin'."

Finny stared at him, starting to bite his lip after a few seconds, eyes begging the obvious question that piqued his curiousity before. Bardroy's nails.

It all just made him so angry. Frustration was bubbling within him, along with a frantic need to do something. He didn't know what, but he felt so antsy all of a sudden, and the constant questions were only making the urgency of the situation rise. He couldn't stand still. Couldn't wait for Finny to sort it all out. He could just kill Finny, yeah? That would stop the questions. That would! It would! Kill him and shut it up and get on with whatever he thought he was supposed to be doing!

No, wait. Finny wasn't prey. He couldn't go and kill him- he wasn't prey. Prey ran, and the little blonde was standing still. That wasn't normal. That wouldn't help- oh. He was hungry. He hadn't had a proper meal in years, after all. No wonder.

He could eat. He could take a meal from this house. It wouldn't be hard. It'd only take a second if he put his mind to it- the reapers wouldn't be any problem. They didn't look so tough.

"Bard?" one of Finny's hands was on Bardroy's chest now "Are you okay? I really think that I should call a-"

"We need to talk." he interrupted, voice much clearer now. He didn't bother slowing himself down, within a second he had chairs for both of them, placed so that they faced each other. He took a seat. Finny didn't even seem to notice the superhuman speed with which Bardroy worked- perhaps he was used to such things after living with Sebastian this long. Sebastian, the other demon. Why hadn't Bardroy noticed earlier?- losing his own memories shouldn't have made it hard to identify as one of his own.

He barely noticed Finny taking his seat, toying with the clips in his own hair as he waited for the man across from him to speak. He was frowning now, concerned, probably for the welfare of his friend. Is that what they were? Friends? Ugh- did that even matter any more? He was too busy being a demon to deal with such petty drama, he was embarrassed just to remember the thoughts he had had while near Finny just days before…

"I'm a demon." he tried to keep his voice calm and even, staring past Finny at the far wall.

No reaction. Bardroy looked at him again, curious as to why he didn't see Finny move even the slightest bit. He waited for Finny to speak, or at least acknowledge that he heard him.

"You sure are." Finny finally said, still watching him expectantly.

He already knew?! Bardroy's eyes widened, he sat there in shocked silence until he saw the confusion on Finny's face. "Like- seriously." he said slowly "I am a demon. From hell." his words were stiff, awkward. He didn't really know how to explain it much better- damn it! He was getting uneasy again.

"Bard, are you feeling all right?" the worry in his voice had returned.

Ugh! Bardroy gritted his teeth in frustration "I have somewhere to be. We'll talk about this when I get back. Tell no one."

"No-! I mean- you should stay here! You're obviously tired- you're not making any sense right now…"

Without looking back, Bardroy left. His mind was a machine by now, he had no energy to focus on extraneous details. The conversation ended. Time to go. As he stepped out into the snow, he noticed the lack of pain that such cold would normally offer him. Hm. No time to pay attention to that. He was hungry, he remembered, and he had a meal that wouldn't be difficult to collect at all.

After all, it belonged to him.

Eyes closing, he tilted his head back, feeling like he was melting away into the snow. He focused on disappearing, on letting his body lose itself until he felt solid ground beneath his boots.

He paused for a moment, looking down at himself. His clothes had not changed- hm. Perhaps this was what his meal wanted to see- Bardroy as he looked in his human life. A crooked grin appeared on his face when he remembered that what he wore was a chef's outfit. Fitting.

He strolled forward, seeing that his partner in this old contract was waiting for him "Couldn't let me do the honour of ferrying you over here, eh?" the demon asked, crooked grin still on his face as he approached the man "You're looking awfully good for someone your age, I must admit."

"I suppose my soul still feels young." The man said, staring up at him.

"You've caused a lot of trouble for me, you know."

"Of course. That's why I made that contract in the first place." The man punctuated this with a quiet chuckle, shaking his head.

"Was it worth it, though?" he kneeled down so he was looking the seated man in the eye "Your soul, just for an inconvenience to one demon?"

The man just stared at him.

"I mean," Bardroy tried not to sound too mean, but he couldn't keep a teasing edge out of his voice "you're stuck here with me now. That's all the afterlife you get."

"Your kind took the souls of everyone I cared to spend eternity with." he huffed "I'll share their fate, thank you."

"Hm." That made Bardroy's smile widen. This soul was a strong one, it had grieved for so long that it had so many walls built around it to hide its pain that the flavour became deep, intense, like fine wine aged perfectly.

The man didn't seem to have any more words to say. That was just fine. Bardroy leaned forward, drinking in his scent. Mmm...his frustration levels were lowering already. A low hissing noise escaped his lips, the smell of burning flesh hitting his nostrils as he felt his human form burn away, replaced by his true image. Without warning, he descended upon the figure in front of him, feeling it's delicate form rip under claws and teeth.

Satisfaction.

Bliss.

He had long forgotten the taste of a soul created in a contract- he was pleased by it. Immensely-

"Messy messy messy." cooed a voice nearby. He looked up, noticing a figure perched on a small, broken wall. He caught it's scent in the air, recognizing it as the smell of a demon of a much higher tier than him. There was another scent there too, though. Another demon.

"Done being a human, I see." Someone else approached. This area was obviously open to all by now- probably since the contract Bard had was over by now.

Without giving Bardroy a chance to speak, the first speaker- a female- continued "Heard you had a reaper infestation. Want us to take care of them for you? Sounds tasty…"

"Think you'll be in hell for a while?"

They were obviously trying to assert their dominance, he realized. The female looked ready to talk again without letting him answer. He couldn't submit so easily "No, I'm planning on returning. I can take care of them."

"Two reapers?" she smiled "Oh, dear, you might not want to run the risk...let my friend and I help you. We'll get rid of them good and proper."

"Unless you're trying to go back for another reason?" the other demon sneered.

"I see potential for another contract there." Bard replied stiffly.

"Hm…well, let us know if you need any help." a toothy grin "Reapers are my favourite. So don't you dare let them get away. Wasted food is just- ...hm…"

"I think she means to say that we'll be watching."

Bard stared at the two of them blankly. Who did they think they were "...sure." he said, taking a step back "Whatever you say."

He was gone within moments. He had work to do.