Life's Little Adventures (Esme)

[Judas]

He leaned forward in his chair as Esme practically threw the book at him. It was obvious that the book made the girl uncomfortable, to say the very least. It was like she couldn't bear to touch it for more than a second. Judas had never seen a reaction like it before and it made him curious.

He listened to her explain where she'd gotten it. A gift from the king of demons, he wasn't sure he could call it a gift at all. He couldn't stop a small laugh from escaping him when she said it had seemed like she had to take the book or she'd never see daylight again. Knowing Ruina, the girl probably hadn't been far off there. The demon king was temperamental when she didn't get her way, Judas knew that first hand.

Finally he turned his attention to the book. It surged with Ruina's energy, it was hidden but it was still there. The thing felt like a small piece of hell itself, like the demon had given the girl one of the stones from the walls or a cup full of the stuff from the lakes of fire.

Judas opened the front cover. The book was written in the more common ancient languages, ones that you could easily find books on in any library, like Latin. He flipped through, looking each page over carefully. For the most part it wasn't anything truly evil. There were a few spells that would weigh negatively on the karma scale but they were more scarce than he would have expected from a book made by the demon king. The section that caught his eye was the bit about familiars. It was more detailed than any other section which seemed odd to him.

He slowly closed the book and let out a sigh. Why would Ruina care if the girl knew about anything that was in this book? It didn't seem like her typical style of leading the innocent astray. He had a choice now. Either he could tell the girl about Ruina and risk the demon king's wrath which although he couldn't die..was not a pleasant experience, perhaps because he couldn't die...or he could simply remove the book since the girl seemed wary of 'Roxy' already. Maybe he could do a little of both, he could tell her that 'Roxy' was bad without explaining why.

"It's just a book." He said cautiously. "But you're right, it doesn't feel right. I think I'll take this with me...and I'd be careful of this 'Roxy' who gave it to you." He tried to tell Esme with his eyes just how careful she ought to be. "If it's at all possible, I wouldn't come near her again." Though, he doubted Ruina would let the girl go that easily.

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme breathed deeply when Judas said that he would take the book for her. That was one last thing to worry about. If she were to see Roxy again, heaven forbid, she'd tell her that she went out to drink and seemed to have lost it. She had been worried sick and searched the city, but could not remember where she went to drink because she was just too drunk.

Esme nodded to Judas's warning, "Stay away from Roxy, gotcha! Granted, if I do end up running into her, I run away as fast as possible in the opposite direction." Esme used her fingers to animate herself running as fast as possibly away from Roxy.

Esme drained her beer and then looked at Judas's pint. She nodded at it and asked, "Would you like another?" She was beginning to feel the affects of two straight day's heavy drinking, but she ignored it. She had to dull the pain that the book had left resonating from each of her bones, as well as the pain of being abandoned by her parents.

"Oh, by the way, thanks." Esme smiled her broken smile, one that she had used so often when something terrible happened in her life and her brother helped her out, like when Phillippos left her. For some reason, Judas reminded her of her brother, not because he acted like him, not in the least, but because it was possible he was trying to help her in some round about way, like her brother had done countless of times.

[Judas]

He shook his head in amusement at the demonstration the girl gave of her running away from the king of demons. She seemed to have the right idea about her new friend, it didn’t look like he’d have to toss his ass into the fire to pull her out of harms way just yet. He’d have Vlad and Morgan keep an eye out for the demoness while they gave the girl lessons. It was the least he could do.

Judas looked down at his empty glass and nodded. He could stay for one more drink, two at the most, but it was getting to be that time when he wouldn’t be able to hide the pain any longer. He flexed his hands, digging his nails into his palms. “One more. I’ll get this round, wouldn’t want you to empty your purse in one night.” Nearly unlimited funds was one of the few benefits of living for over two thousand years, and of being a council member. When you put the two together, it meant he could buy the royal palace, with its grounds and still have enough left over to live comfortably for another two thousand years.

He shrugged off her thanks. He wasn’t used to gratitude, he didn’t know how to deal with it. He wasn’t the charming one of the council and he definitely wasn’t the smart one. Judas was just the most durable, although it was a close call with Jonas, the warlock was nearly invincible himself.

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme shrugged as Judas offered to buy the next round. "I wouldn't be using my purse, it's Daddy's gold card, but sure, if you'd like." Esme smiled, he truly was a very nice person even if he tried to pretend he wasn't.

She watched him for a while, he seemed uncomfortable with her gratitude, something was used to because she was taught to always thank people. He also seemed a bit uncomfortable talking about Roxy, perhaps there was something about her that he knew but didn't want to share... something probably went along with the bit of laughter in his voice whenever he said her name.

Esme was quiet, she felt that she had intruded on Judas's life enough, perhaps if they were to meet again she would learn more about him. She knew that if she ended up spending more time with the Council, studying under Morgan... meeting them by chance like she had with Vlad and Judas, she would certainly meet him again. She waited silently, hoping that Judas would have a question to ask her, or a topic he wanted to talk about.

[Judas]

Judas smirked when she mentioned that it was her dad’s card. There was something dangerously fun about her spending her parent’s money on drinks for a demon, somehow he didn’t quite think that mommy and daddy would approve. It was also not something he would have expected from this sweet girl, it made him wonder if she had other surprises hidden away deep inside that personality of hers.

He nodded when she said he could pay for the drinks if he wanted. “I’ll buy. What sort of gentleman would I be if I let the lady pay?” He snorted his amusement, he was probably the only male on the council who couldn’t be described as the stereotypical gentleman. Even Jonas managed to keep up the act of being polite with Sam always in his head.

Judas looked the girl over when no more questions were asked. She was curious, but not as annoying as he might have thought. Maybe having her around wouldn’t be as big of a problem as he’d assumed when he’d first found out. “Why the council? Why would a young, beautiful girl be interested in a group of ancient folks?” He looked up to meet her eyes, genuinely curious as to the answer.

[Esme M. Lolland]

Judas asked what type of gentleman he would be, that was an easy answer, "You'd be a modern-day gentleman. Some even leave the woman to pay the bill without her knowledge," she giggled, men really have changed from the stories she had heard from her grandmother.

Why the Council? Esme had never really thought about it. While she thought she slung one leg over the other and placed her head in her hand and her elbow on the table. She looked at Judas, his eyes were locked on her's as he waited for her answer.

"Hmm," she muttered, thinking. "I guess I want to be nearer to the Council because of it's age and because of the people in it. You're all so knowledgeable and so it makes me feel as if I just stayed nearby you would teach me things I hadn't known. The members that I've met already have taught me so much more than I already knew.

"And perhaps it's all of your stories that interest me. Each of you comes from such a different background, lifestyle, time and everything else and yet you all seem to mesh extremely well. Each of you seems to be a great addition to an amazing group. And you all seem to have such intriguing personalities, unlike anyone I could ever meet... perhaps it comes with time, all of you being such interesting people."

Esme thought for a moment and then shook her head, "My reasons are stupid, I know. But I don't quite know why I like you all so much, why I'm intrigued by you more than anyone else I've met."

[Judas]

One corner of his mouth pulled up into a half smile that, like the rest of his grins, never seemed to reach his eyes. "Well, I would leave you with the check but I think Vlad would through a fit over my lack of manners." He joked, though he knew it was probably true. The vampire was almost to proper. Judas preferred to say things right out instead of coating it with fancy language. If someone was going to die, he would tell them that they were going to die instead of that their condition was fearfully dreadful with a chance of mending like to a snowball in summer. Or something like that.

He listened to her answer and nodded. It was a good reason. There had been cases in the past where people would ally themselves with the council for power, or for their money, or the house. Of course, the girl would find out eventually that there were a few things that she couldn't learn, mainly the powers that Jonas got from Sam and Judas' own past was staying safely hidden. He wondered if it would start to frustrate her?

Judas shook his head when she said her reasons were stupid. "Nah. You want knowledge, most of us banded together for a reason sort of like that. You passed the test. If it had been greed or something like that then I would have had a problem with it." He'd still be keeping a close eye on her just to be thorough but he didn't think he'd have to worry about her selling information or otherwise betraying them.

[Esme M. Lolland]

Something about his smile made Esme smile even wider, she didn't know what it was and she couldn't exactly stand it, but it was like magic. She laughed inwardly at her little joke, the soul collector magicking the witch. Perhaps it was because of the joke she had made and the joke that Judas had made that made her laugh seem obnoxiously loud to her ears.

Esme was surprised that anyone would help the Council for want of money, she understood that the world isn't the fairy tale world that she had grown up viewing it as, but it wasn't worth banding with someone just for greed. "It's good that I passed, and no worries here, my parents give me enough money that I may never want to take money from anyone else. I'd do free law counsel if it wasn't so terribly against the morals my parents taught me and I didn't fear being disowned."

"Ask me another question, I like answering questions that don't weigh on any grade whatsoever, so much unlike my courses at the University." Esme truly was enjoying the conversation they were holding, it was easier than most conversations she'd held... her only problem was trying not to bring up anything to anger him, that was her only problem. That was why she was letting him steer the conversation in whatever direction he wanted, as far away from his sore spots as possible. She was fine if they got near the her's, although she wasn't quite sure what was a sore spot for her.

[Judas]

His smile widened when she laughed. He couldn't help it, the sound was contagious. He spent to much time around the council who had learned to school their every emotion, it was nice to hear someone other than a kid laugh like that. It made him think better of the world for a second or two.

Judas nodded when she said he didn't need to worry about her being greedy. He didn't bother explaining that people could be greedy for a lot more than just money, he didn't want to bring the girl's mood down. He couldn't stop himself when she half joked about being disowned for not doing exactly what her parents believed in. "Your parents are really that strict?"

He shook his head when he realized that he'd asked another question just before she'd asked him to. Well, it worked. He normally didn't ask personal questions but this girl didn't seem to be one to mind. Of course he could be completely wrong and she might get mad but he couldn't exactly take it back now, so he wouldn't try.

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme giggled nerviously when Judas asked about her parents. She never typically spoke of them. "They're fairly strict, although they'd hate me to admit it in case their clients are anywhere near." Esme looked around jokingly and shrugged turning back to Judas.

"Well, my parents are they typical 'we want the best for you and of you' parents. I was brought up in a fairly strict environment, meant to live the life that they had made for myself and my older brother. We were brought up being told that we were never to do anything that Prince William wouldn't be allowed to do, and that was what we did. If we didn't listen our parents were fairly harsh on us, sent to bed without dinner, not allowed to do what we wanted.

"But I never really thought they were too strict until my brother left to do Habitat for Humanity International. He's only supposed be gone for about 2 years, but the moment he told them they told him if he left the house, left his responsibilities as the eldest son, then he would never find a home with us. He packed his bags and they've never even brought up his name since then nor admitted they even had a son.

"After he left all of their plans for him were placed on me. They don't expect anything less than top of the class for me. I'm supposed to take over the family firm and anything outside of being the perfect law student is forbidden. I can only imagine what they'd do if I were to tell them that I was studying magic. They'd kill me and then kill themselves because they had no one to leave the Lolland Law Firm empire to."

Esme laughed at the thought of her parents killing themselves, so many of her problems would be solved with them gone, but she'd be lonely at the same time. And forced to man an entire law firm on her own, not fun at all. "I guess letting me spend all of their money is the only way they can think of taking back all of the stress and pressure they've put on me since I was 15 I think."