Demonic Military Road Trip! [PSL]

[scarsolderthanyou]

For anyone unfamiliar with the 66th Army of Hell, it takes a surprisingly short amount of time for all of them to mobilize in the morning. But that army has been been well-fed and well-entertained over the past few weeks, with little to actually keep them busy beyond the day-to-day tasks of keeping the camp in order, and most of them are ready to get a move on to something new now that the excitement of the new princedom and the paylays have been completed. It helps that between revels, the past few days have been spent slowly packing things up, so by the morning they're officially on their way, all that's left is taking down the tents and collecting their own shares of the burden.

Skamaris oversees the process, redistributing pieces here and there, encouraging and scolding as needed. And then he comes to the two "freeloaders" as his soldiers have been quietly calling them-- with amusement more than scorn, because they all knew today would come.

A demon drops a piece of the army's load in front of Bartholomew and Asier, both. Skamaris says, "These are your loads. Each one makes up your tent and personal belongings, as well as a portion of the communal mess tend. They should be bearable, given your respective strengths."

Comments

[chalicejoker]

Asier is still not incredibly comfortable with this arrangement, but he is at least comfortable with the fact that he will never be comfortable. "I suppose that's why mine's bigger, then," he comments as he picks up his own load. Not complaining about the size of the load, just making an observation.

...an observation calculated to be irritating to at least one other party there, but, whatever, he couldn't resist. And as a demon, there's no point to resisting that urge. Not a lot of point to a lot of things, he's privately thinking.

[grimjeaper]

Bartholomew isn't fully comfortable either; there's one thing the two fresh Demons have in common, even if neither of them would probably ever admit it.

He would have hated the concept of being made to carry the luggage to begin with, really, and there's no small chagrin at his reduction of status; but Asier's comment makes him bristle. "Something to match your body count, then," he comments snidely, picking his own up. He expects it to be heavy, so he won't complain, but he sure as shit doesn't like it.

[scarsolderthanyou]

One of the soldiers snickers, though she smothers it quickly. One of the many interesting benefits of having the two brand new demons around is how entertaining the troops find it; Skamaris isn't complaining about that part. It's good for morale in more ways than one. He just has been fairly insistent that they keep their amusement to themselves-- until now. Now that they're on the move, he's going to be a bit more lenient about it all. Not entirely-- not enough to let anyone start fights with Asier in particular-- but if they want to laugh a little, it might humble the pair of them a bit.

"And if we were counting by number of potentially saveable souls sent straight to Hell without recourse, yours would be heavier," he says mildly. "And now we have all made petty comments. Can we skip making further ones, or do I need to make my army wait for the two of you to snipe at each other?"

[chalicejoker]

"You say that like I have regrets." Becoming tired of all the killing doesn't mean he necessarily regrets it. Things are complicated. Asier's tail lashes a bit.

There's a bit of a shrug at Skamaris. "I don't know about him, but I'm done."

[grimjeaper]

Asier still gets a flat glare, as does the other snickering soldier, but Bartholomew shoulders his load without complaint. "As am I."

[scarsolderthanyou]

"Very good." Skamaris doesn't remind either demon that they could, in fact, leave at any time... he'd really rather they stayed with his army for as long as he can get them to, if not indefinitely. "We aren't on a forced flight today, more of a leisurely glide to our evening rest point, so we shouldn't be pushing anyone too hard. If either of you have any difficulties, I'd recommend letting me know, rather than the nearest soldier. I am likely to be more sympathetic. Ready, then?"

[chalicejoker]

Asier snorts at the thought of asking one of the other soldiers for help. He doesn't know any of them, they know of him. He knows how demons are, knows that wouldn't end particularly well. Not now. Maybe not ever. "I'm ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."

[grimjeaper]

Bartholomew was here first damnit, he was already planning on touring with this army for a short while before Asier came along. Even if he still can't stand the other demons quite yet, he's not just going to leave because one former Angel has inconvenienced him with his presence. "As am I."

[scarsolderthanyou]

Skamaris flashes them both a quick, toothy smile. "Good to hear. Glad to have you both. Troops, move out!"

The last is bellowed, and he only takes a single step back to save the two newly-Fallen's ears. Then he leaps into the air-- he is the only one of the army unburdened with an actual tent package, though he does have a bag of personal belongings and a big, enchanted spear that usually hangs over his bed strapped between his wings. The rest of the army follows suit, forming up what's obviously a familiar pattern in the sky once they all reach a good gliding height.

They leave a hole in one side just big enough for the two of them. Apparently they're not being separated for this flight, their their tents were on opposite sides of the actual camp until they started packing up.

[chalicejoker]

Asier doesn't visibly react to the sudden increase in volume there--he's been around far too many battles and far too much noise not to have that much self-control. (Even if, perhaps, some grievous lapses in self-control had led him to this point.) His tail--damn, he hates that thing--lashes as he leaps into the air into what's got to be his own position, and he remains impassive as he realizes it's a hole for two, and he won't be able to escape Bartholomew's company so easily.

At least he knows the feeling's mutual.

[grimjeaper]

Bartholomew, on the other hand (and to his immediate frustration), does flinch at the sudden shouting happening basically right next to him: his wings twitch sharply, and he tries turning that into snapping them sharply open and taking off as well, but the few sniggers he can hear around him suggest he didn't pull it off.

...or maybe it's because they noticed before him that he has to fall in line beside Asier, damn it all. He's not as good at keeping an impassive face as the warrior ang-- demon, and he can't keep from shooting a disgruntled glare in Asier's direction.

[scarsolderthanyou]

Poor boys. Have to actually deal with each other. The nearest demon in the formation flashes them both a grin, and a little wave. It could be construed as mocking, or it could be construed as actually friendly. Who knows?

Skamaris takes the lead, and the whole formation starts off away from the market, towards their next destination. Since they don't currently have orders, it's the next destination Skamaris himself deemed logical for the war effort.

[chalicejoker]

At least Asier's got plenty of military experience. Bartholomew can't say the same, which is bringing him some sort of perverse satisfaction. He can at least handle this like a champ, unlike some people. He returns that grin and wave with a nod--polite, but not quite certain as to whether or not that was a mocking or friendly gesture. (Not that he could blame any mocking, given the circumstances...)

He's just going to try very, very hard to ignore Bartholomew and maybe the problem will go away. (That, and he's guessing that being ignored just might annoy Bartholomew even more.)

[grimjeaper]

Bartholomew doesn't deign to acknowledge the demon greeting them with more than a dismissive glance.

(He'll get better at this. Maybe.)

There's a certain amount Bartholomew can say he's used to being ignored; but really, 'avoidance born of fear-of-being-cursed-for-eternity' isn't really the same thing as 'ignoring-you-just-to-spite-you' and, as it is very quickly turning out, he is very bad at the latter.

Not that he expects Asier to be suffering, or get aggrieved, or be in any kind of position that looks like he's suffering. But there's some petty part of him so most of him that wants to see the other fresh demon not enjoying this, and he keeps catching himself looking over at Asier just to make sure he's okay. Which is infuriating, because he is.