Earthly Pleasures

The soft sound of bare feet padding across stone was drowned out by the gurgling of the hot springs. Shrouded in steam, Forrasis was a wraith. Without his armor, his pale, lithe body was insubstantial in the warm mist. Gone was the gleaming metal. Gone was the protection. Gone was the technology. Foras had cast off his unholy breastplate so that, for a time, he might live as a man and enjoy earthly pleasures.

Goosebumps stippled across his alabaster skin as a gentle breeze swept the steam from him, replacing the warmth with an invigorating chill. Forcas’s chest, as smooth and chiseled as sculpted marble, swelled as he drew a deep breath to fill his lungs. His eyelids lowered, concealings azure orbs, as he cast his head back. The Fallen’s mane swayed, a halo of platinum hair surrounding his face, and his lips parted to exhale a contented sigh.

It was for the pleasures of the flesh, such as the one he currently experienced, enjoyed only by Adam and Eve that he and his brethren had taken up arms against their creator. While Foras and the other Fallen had been cast into the abyssal lake of fire as punishment, he wondered if truly they had been defeated. Often, he and his brothers walked the lands of man and partook in their delights.

With a shake of his head, Forrasis’s platinum mane, damp with the moisture the saturated the air, pendulated and he banished the memories and thoughts from his mind. Deft fingers darted down to the knot keeping the towel wrapped round his waist. The white terry cloth brushed across his calves like the hem of a skirt before he unfastened the knot. As the towel fell away from his legs, the only garment he wore was revealed: a black Speedo.

Forcas folded his towel into a neat square and set it upon the bank near the water’s edge. Creeping forward, the Fallen waded into the warm water, his skin tingling from the moisture suspended in the air, as if the water was trying to extend its domain to the skies. Forrasis descended into the hotspring without a splash—he barely disturbed the surface of the water, the tiny ripples he created quickly overwhelmed by those created by the water churning around the rocks. Resting upon a shelf of stone, Forcas settled with the water swirling around his shoulders. The fallen reclined his head and rested it upon his folded towel, using it as a pillow as he shut his eyes.

For the Fallen, there was no such thing as vulnerability, even as he rested nearly nude in an unfamiliar place. A true immortal could not die, so what was there to fear?

Slipping through the woods, Vixen growled as she walked along the bath. A branch hitting her across the face." FUCK!" She screamed as she felt the blood start to run down her cheek. She snarled hurrying now as she walked trying to get to this damn peaceful place. She needed peace, all the noises at the school were driving her insane.

Shutting her eyes, Vixen sighed about to give up. Then there it was the sound of water. Biting her lip she moved a few branches to reveal the hot spring." Oh thank god." She whispered, which to those around her would sound like a scream. Her defense were worn down, she had no control over her powers.

Walking across the smooth rocks she slipped her heels off looking to the water, her blue eyes to focused on the clear water, her mind to focused on the silence, that it took her half way through taking her dress off that there was a man there. Her eyes widen as she slipped her bra strap up her shoulder." O...O..Oh my." She squeaked, her head turning homing he did not see anything.

Her first outcry was a thunderclap that roused the Fallen from his pleasant nap. Head still lowered upon the folded towel, Forrasis kept still and silent as the voice that made his, normally a harmonious hymn, sound like the screams of the damned, sighed a gentle song. Off to one side of the hot spring, nestled by a few steam soaked rocks, he was partially concealed. The hot mist swirled around him, making him an alabaster wraith hidden in the shallows.

His eyelids lifted halfway, icy sapphires beholding the source of the sonorous voice. Even the startled squeak she loosed upon discovering him held a hint of music to it. Despite her delightfully divine voice, he knew that she was not one of his former brethren or even one of their descendents. “Do not trouble yourself too much, Miss. It is nothing I have not seen before,” he reassured her in his own, though less so than hers, melodious voice.

As he rested with his head still laid back, he watched her over the soft swells of his own cheeks. His platinum mane hung limp around his head, doused by the dampness of the steam. With his locks pasted down by moisture, the delicate features of his angelic face were even more pronounced than before.

Watching him, she laughed lightly." Would you mind if I joined you? The school is so loud. I tried going to the library. It was like the books were screaming at me." She giggled her dress slowly slipping down her body. Stepping out of the satin dress she slipped one bare foot into the water.

Slowly getting into the water she looked to him." what is your reason for being out here?" She tilted her head leaning her back letting her brown hair slipp across the water slowly. Leaning her head back up she looked at him, her ice blue eyes soft.

" I'm vixen." She held her hand out, blood red nails extending her hand size. She was tiny, yet was still pretty curvey. " I'm a siren." She laughed, knowing he already knew by the way he watched her when she spoke. " I am sorry if I have abused my powers on you. I have been beaten so bad that my guard has been torn down. "

“No, go ahead,” he answered with a gentle, nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. Bubbles burst against his alabaster skin as he sat silently while she slipped into the water. “I came here to relax and enjoy a simple pleasure.”

When her hand, with its crimson nails, stretched towards him, his pale eyelids lifted to reveal the majority of his azure irises. A second later and he reached out to take her hand. Already, Forrasis had adopted the more modern version of the handshake, abandoning the medieval arm clasp that checked the other person’s arm for a concealed knife. Smooth, soft fingertips curled around her hand, giving a gentle squeeze. “I am Forrasis and it is no trouble.”

When their hands touched, Vixen kept her small hand in his for a moment before pulling it back. " I still am sorry." She giggled before looking towards the sky. " The school is supposed to be some place safe, where we can just be our selves." She shook her head some." I have never seen a person that accepts what I am. People say they do, but in the end they fear me." Biting her lip, she turned her head away.

"Even my father and brothers started to fear me." When she looked down, her brown curls fell to cover her eyes." And...I am rambling. I am sorry." She sighed tilting her head back. " Now you talk, so I don't seem so insane." She giggled nervously, looking up at him.

Dampened locks of his platinum mane clung to his cheeks as he loosed a laugh. The sound that spilled from his lips, while somewhat mocking, still held a beautiful harmonious quality to it, like the tinkling of wind chimes dancing on an icy winter wind. “Oh, safe. Such a laughable idea. Nowhere is truly safe. And as you grow older, I am sure you will discover that few people are interested in who you are but instead of who you can pretend to be,” offered the Fallen. As a buyer of souls, he was familiar with the darker side of mortals, intimate with their secrets and their sins. It never ceased to amaze Forrasis how it seemed that every mortal would willingly sign away their soul for one thing or another: wit, eloquence, invisibility, a lost treasure… whatever strange and fleeting thing they wanted and he could tempt them with.

Despite his surely unsettling words, Forcas gave the young woman a smile. “You seem no less sane, or more for that matter, than any other that I have come across on these grounds, Vixen.” Shifting in the water, bubble churning around his lithe frame, Forrasis lifted an arm. “Why don’t you come join me over here, I am sure that I am more comfortable than the rocks you are leaning against,” he suggested, inviting her into a mild embrace. “Plus, I am certain you could use the comfort of contact.”

Titlin her head she watched him. He was studying her. Of course he was, who wouldn't. Laughing she shook her head." How about you stop trying to figure out what I am about and just talk to me. I am very honest if you ask me a question." She yawned slightly, the last couple days had been long. She missed her father, her brothers and her friends back home. Yet she knew that none of them wanted her near them, not right not anyways.

"Promise no funny business?" She raised her eyebrow as she moved across the water, her back rising from the water revealing cream colored skin. " Can I ask you why you were out here all alone?" She stopped just as their bodies met." I mean, I am sure you could have the girls throwing them selves at you?" She was now whispering, knowing that he could hear her. She looked up at him smiling. Right next to him it was apparent how tiny she was. Her head rested just below his chin. Scooping up his hand she started to play with his fingers idly, just distracting her self from the world.

As the slight frame of the young woman slid against his side, Forcas draped his arm across her shoulders. Warm fingertips traced symbols on her bicep, though only a mortal well versed in demonology would recognize the significance of the sigils. It was unlikely that she would even recognize that the swoops and swirls of his finger sliding over her skin could even compose characters.

“I am here because I chose to be here,” he answered in his heavenly harmonious voice. A soft laugh, the tinkling of church chimes, drifted from his lips when she suggested such primitive, carnal desires. To the Fallen, it was laughable as it reminded him of the second Fall, where angels that had remained loyal to the Father had descended from heaven to take earthly wives thus earning eternal disgrace. Forrasis, as many of his brethren from the first Fall considered those of the Second their lesser. Where Lucifer had rebelled for freedom, for power, to challenge God’s authority, the second legion of Fallen had simply sought to sate their lust—such a lesser cause.

Foras's laughter ended as he shook his head, damp platinum locks tussled across his shoulders, framing his face like a silver halo. “And what makes you think I am after that, child?”

When he laughed she smiled some. For some reason she knew she was safe from that. When she felt his fingers touching her arm she tilted her head."Because, I have not met one person that I could freely just be me." She shrugged her shoulders."Not be afraid that I am going to get my ass smacked." She shook her head before looking up at the sky. She was just silent, just staring up. She then turned to look at him." How old are you? Really?" She knew there was more to him then he was telling her. But he would tell her if he wanted too. On his own time.

Looking back to the sky she started to hum softly. It was a beautiful night out. Leaning her head against his chest her blue eyes shut slowly. She started to fall asleep slowly, her breathing slowing. Curling up she fit in to his lap. Her head tucked under his chin. It had been days since she felt safe enough to sleep.

Her question received no answer as she had already drifted to sleep on the devil's lap. Of all people to confine in and take comfort, it seemed the strange siren had selected a Fallen. How easy it would be to kill her as she slept like dozens of possible formula to give the desired solution: death. With his superior strength, he could snap her neck with a crack of bones or he could hold her under the surface of the water, keeping her submerged while she woke and struggled or he could simply smother her with his hands over her mouth and nose. There were other ways to kill that he pondered, but his hands remained idle, curled around the shoulders and waist of the delicate damsel dreaming on his lap instead of her throat.

The water bubbled, she breathed, a distant night bird called, and that was all. Foras closed his eyes and thought, contemplating the puzzle presented to him in the sleeping girl.

She groaned when the bird song in the night. Lifting her head off his chest she looked towards the sky. She knew by the way that he was tense that she should move. Licking her lips she moved from his lap. Looking towards him she tilted her head. " I'm sorry." she spoke lower then usual. Cracking her neck she moved towards the edge of the water. She felt like she had over stayed her welcome." I hope I did not bother you to much." Climbing out of the water, the cloud air hit her body making goose bumps appear instantly.

Just as suddenly as the young woman had fallen asleep nestled against Forrasis, she stirred and woke again. The Fallen remained still as she slipped from his grasp, his arms relinquishing her without any resistance. He said nothing to her as she rose, already a small distance separating them, and only gave a disinterested shrug of his narrow shoulders, water trickling down his skin as his pale flesh broke the surface of the hotsprings. Before any goosebumps lifted like tiny, snowcapped mountains on his skin, Foras dipped his shoulders beneath the warm water's surface again. "Are you taking your leave?"

Sighing some she looked towards the sky." I do not wish to bother you." Looking down at her hands she sighed." My papa always told me I was a bother." She smiled sadly." If you don't wish for me to leave, I can stay." She looked to him waiting for one person to admit that they wanted her around.

At the moment, the Fallen was more concerned with casual relaxation than claiming a new soul. With a shrug, he left the decision to her, his lithe frame slack with apathy. "Do as you wish, child," answered the gentle voice as he shut his eyes. Foras, freed of the decision, settled with his head upon a rock, platinum hair splayed out like a silver halo. The ripples in the water nearly stilled, every so often stirred again by his slow drawing and releasing of breath.

Just shaking her head she slipped back into the water. There was no where else to really go any ways. She then turned to him." What do you do?" She eyed him some." I mean.....most of the guys around here have girls throwing them selves at them." She yawned lightly before relaxing on the stone she first started on." There has to be a reason people are afraid of you." She knew she was talking to much but she wanted to know. Wiggling her nose she sighed, and just started to sing lightly. Pulling her hair infront of her she looked down at it, now just playing with it. As she sang she started to daze out, like she was going off in her own little world.

"Whatever do you mean?" intoned the Fallen in his gentle, melodic voice. Her questions and conclusions made no sense to the man seated beneath the warm waters of the hotspring. The revitalizing wash of naturally heated water soothed away any trouble except for her incessant questioning. He did not even know the source of them, just as the source of the spring was hidden somewhere at the basin's bottom or elsewhere. And then suddenly, she was singing? The beautiful sung of a siren called to his ears, but he shut his eyes and shook his head, tussling his platinum mane about his shoulders.

There was no rest to be had here, at what should have been such a restful place. Drawing himself from beneath the water, he stood and fetched the towel as he lifted up into the cool night air. The bite of winter wind stung his skin, turned smooth alabaster into rough limestone, just as pale but plagued by bumps. Droplets of water dribbled down his body before he wiped them away with the terrycloth towel. Without a word, he wrapped the towel around his waist, tucking a corner into the wrap, and took his leave unless she forcefully detained him further.
(Exits unless stopped)

Not going to force you to stay somewhere you dont wanna be.)