Inside Your Heaven (open)

She didn't know why she had bet Carter she could last a day without being at the circus. That was how she ended up here, in some seedy little club in New York City trying to avoid the perverts who saw her and made snide comments. Even though she was 19, she knew that deep down she acted less knowledgable about the world. She was niave.

It was all in her up bringing.

Since she could remember, Nolee had lived with just her and her brother Carter. She hadn't had time to grow up, having to act more like a child when they were younger so that she could get them cash. Then there was the fact that she was basically a child. She had restrictions on what she could and couldn't do, being a Raphaelite and all.

No lovers.
No sinning of any kind.

But as she got her drink, she could sense his eyes on her. It was a look she had even while at the circus, the sense of this person watching her. It led her to believe it was someone she worked with.

And she wasn't sure she liked it.

Sitting in a corner of the same club Nolee was at, the Demon sat watching. It was darker there than most of the club was, but that was how he preferred it, often hiding in the shadows. If he didn't feel it was dark enough, he'd use his powers to manipulate the light around him to his liking; though in a public place like the club, he could only do so much without drawing suspicion, so he was glad the club wasn't the brightest of places anyway.

He often went out after a show at the circus, preferring to be alone. He'd ended up at the club though after seeing Nolee go there, curiousity getting the best of him and he'd decided to follow her. He knew the girl was an Angel, having seen her at work and he wanted to know why she was at a club of all places, though his Demon attitude caused him to just sit there and watch her instead.

She hated the fact that she knew she was being stared at and couldn't do a thing about it. Even if she could figure out who the person staring at her was, there was little she could do to confront him. She wasn't a fighter, she was a healer.

Sitting at the bar, Nolee ordered a glass of water. The other people around her laughed and asked why water but she didn't like alcohol when out with other people. Sitting alone with Carter she could handle it, sitting in a bar full of drunks she could not.

When the bartender handed her the drink, Nolee smiled and turned so that her back was against the bar and let her eyes scan the crowd. The man was still out there. She knew it.

Smirking as he watched, Brian couldn't help but be amused by Nolee's choice in drink and her attempt to find him. He shifted slightly in his seat, drinking his own drink, which was alcoholic. He was debating whether or not to just let her see him, but wasn't sure if he actually wanted her to, not sure what she'd say if she saw him. Though he knew who she was, he'd never spoken to Nolee or her brother, usually avoiding Angels, hating them more from instinct than anythiing else; from what he'd seen of those at the circus, they didn't seem so bad to him.

Nolee finished her drink, her eyes still scanning the crowd for any sign of this man. She wondered what he was. If it was the same person who watched her as the circus moved from town to town, he was a child of supernatural things just like she was. If he was another angel, which she doubted because of how she felt, she would be relieved to know that she and Carter weren't the only ones. She knew that there was a girl, named Arella, at the circus who was an angel of death and most angels of death didn't like human company.

But this didn't seem like the gaze of an angel she was under. No this felt more sinister, darker.

This had to be a demon and that scared her.

Pulling her jacket tighter, she paid for her drinks and headed out into the cold nights air. She waited until she was far enough away from the bar to let her wings out.

Brian raised an eyebrow as he watched Nolee pay for her drinks and leave, sitting there a little longer before finally deciding to do something besides sit and watch. He got up after putting money down on the table to pay for his drinks he'd had, no longer hiding himself with shadows once he left where he'd been sitting. He moved quietly in the direction she'd headed, taking a couple of minutes to figure out where exactly she'd gone.

Once he spotted her, Brian couldn't help but smirk, unable to stay quiet any longer.

"Do you really think doing that's a good idea out here, so far away from the safety of the circus?" He asked from where he stood, sounding almost amused, though his voice also had the coldness in it that demons usually had when talking to others, especially if that person happened to be an angel.

The voice made Nolee jump and she turned to see the man who no doubtedly had been watching her inside the bar. He looked almost like a child. Those eyes that glinted with an amused air, the way he carried himself. But there was also darkness. The darkness was so immense that it almost radiated off of him, filling the nights air with it.

He was a demon after all.

Retracting her wings, Nolee looked at him, trying to act braver than she actually felt, "I'll have you know that it rather hurts to hide my wings after a while. Most people will think their fake anyways. Only people like you and me would know the truth."

She regarded him with her eyes, looking over his form before deciding to ask a question of her own, "Who are you and why have you been following me?"

"Are you sure about that?" Brian asked. "Some people can be smarter than they look... What if a hunter was out here, what would you do then?"

He waited in silence for an answer though he knew he hadn't answered questions she'd asked him, listening to the various sounds of the city around them. He seemed more like he was looking passed Nolee instead of at her now that she'd retracted her wings, his eyes still focused on where they had been, not bothering to hide his dislike for them.

"Killing an angel is frowned upon by most hunters," Nolee replied, "if anything I would be captured and made to serve them. I'm a healer and I can heal any sort of wound, even those that are almost past death."

She glanced at his eyes though she was afraid of what she might see. She had heard all sorts of talk about demons before and she knew that she didn't want to bother him to much, afraid that the stories her brother had told her were true.

"I'll ask again," she said as she tried to sound brave, "who are you and why have you been following me?"

"Some still do it though," Brian shrugged. "I've seen it happen..." He said as if it wasn't a big deal. He ran a hand through his hair as he watched her curiously, wondering what she was thinking as she looked at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her attempt to sound brave, chuckling before answering, though he purposely chose to be frustrating about it. "I'm a demon," he told her. "I work at the same place you do."

"I've never seen a hunter kill an angel or even heard of it," Nolee shrugged, taking a few steps back. She was nervous. She'd never talked to a demon before, not outside of work like this.

"I'd watch what you do demon," she replied, balling her hands into fists, "I'm not afraid of you."

Seeing her fists, Brian couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head at the angel. "Just because you haven't seen something yourself doesn't mean it hasn't happened." He grinned, stepping closer just to scare her.

"You aren't scared of me?" He asked curiously. "You just said yourself earlier that you're a healer, meaning you'd really have no chance of fighting me...has anyone even told you that demons aren't all the same? You should be afraid, not just of me though, of all of us."

As soon as he took that step towards her, Nolee was shaking in her boots. She had never been this close to a demon, save her father who had taught her that he was the only good one out of the bunch. She didn't know how to defend herself. When she took into consideration that there were many different kinds, she took into consideration that this man might be out to hurt her just for what she was.

"Look...I don't want any trouble," Nolee replied softly, her hands coming up in a defensive manner, "I...I know a vampire and a werewolf and a troll! They'll hurt you if you try to hurt me."

As if sensing her fear, the demon grinned, a mischevious look in his eyes. After seeing her reaction, Brian was tempted to see how much further he could push her, rarely getting the chance to do such things while travelling with the circus.

"You really think they scare me?" He asked. "They aren't even here and besides, I can reach places they can't, so it'd be pointless for them to chase me." He added with a smirk, taking another step closer just to bug her.

Nolee's wings spread out in an almost frantic manner, "They may not be able to fly but my brother can and if he finds out you've been following me you'll be sorry!"

She took a few steps back before bolting it, hoping to get far away from the demon who had been following her.

Brian laughed and shook his head as she fled, amsued by the response. He waited a few seconds before deciding to follow after her, reaching out to grab her arm once he thought he was close enough, though he just missed her.

"Get back here!" He hissed, short tempered like a lot of demons were known to be.

Nolee felt him grab her arm and wrenched it away. She gave him a scared look and shook her head. "No, you're just going to hurt me," she replied, though tears ran down her face. She knew she was powerless to fight him off. "Just...just take what you want and leave..."

Brian laughed and shook his head, the sound closer to the laugh from a child in a scary movie than the sound of someone laughing at a joke. "Who said I actually wanted to hurt you?" He asked. ""Maybe I just wanted to talk...?"

Nolee looked at him, her blue eyes shimmering with tears. To say that she was scared was a major understatement. She was terrified and just a little curious. She knew she wasn't supposed to be but demons had always both scared and excited her.

"T...talk?" she stammered, scuffling her feet against the ground, "whattya wanna talk about?"

Brian hesitated before answering, dropping the demon act, letting his more 'human' side show through; his true personality that he hid behind the stereotypical demon behaviour.

"I don't know..." He said, almost nervously despite how easily he could overpower her. "Anything really."

Nolee shook her head, finding that she had backed herself into a wall. She ran a hand through her hair, "So...you don't want to hurt me?"

"No..." Brian said quietly, an innocent look about him despite how he'd acted earlier. "I just wanted to talk..." He said again, mumbling now, running a hand through his sandy coloured hair.

"Then why didn't you say that? Why did you chase me?" Nolee asked, slowly letting her guard down. She wasn't sure what to say but she was sure that she needed to watch her words so she didn't get in trouble.

"You really would have listened, would have believed me if I'd said that?" Brian asked, raising an eyebrow. "I doubt it."

"I'm more apt to listen to someone who tells me they want to talk to me instead of stalking me. I know you're the one who stalks me at the circus. I know you watch my act or watch me when I'm out with friends," Nolee replied in a matter of fact way. "Stalking me isn't the way to get me to be your friend."