Familiarity

Karma was on her way to the library, her eyes decidedly downcast. She watched her feet as they made their way over the stone floor, ignoring everything around her except the floor, and the mental map of the school the years had etched into her brain. She would not - could not - look upward and find her way like that. She could hear them talking, calling out to her, greetings, happy how-do-you-do's, but she wouldn't look at them. Not the portraits. She could barely walk into the common room without wanting to either burst into tears or tear something to shreds, not that she allowed herself to do either.

The problem with keeping your eyes on the ground, however, is that you couldn't really tell when things above the ground changed.

Like a moving staircase.

The staircase decided to move before she stepped, so she was suspended, most of her weight tipping forward. Her eyes widened as she found herself looking down on the floor hundreds of feet away, and quick as a blink she turned, trying to move quickly, looking up...

And coming face to face with a portrait.

"Are you alright, child?" asked the kindly old thing.

Karma recoiled, throwing her weight even more off balance, and she began to fall backwards, her arms stretching out in front of her to try and catch at the thin air.

Nightmare pounced out of nowhere, her teeth sinking into the fabric of school robe and pulling. Karma's fall was put off a bit, the girl clutching the fabric around her, holding the sleeves. She had to get out of this. Now.

"Nightmare..." She said, her voice wavering. "C-can you...?" The panther's paws were sliding toward the edge, claws struggling to find purchase. Karma started to climb the robe as she felt herself slowly begin to lower, but made the gravest mistake she ever had.

She looked down.

Her mind blanked, and her body went cold. Was she gonna die this way? Her eyes went back upward as the sound of tearing fabric reached her ears.

A tear, small now, was appearing just below the bit of cloak in Nightmare's mouth. Karma froze, knowing that her movement would make it tear faster.

"Nightie..." She whispered. The Familiar began to whine, paws still struggling to find purchase. "You'll get Arsen, won't you?" The whining got louder, but it was cut off by another tearing sound. The rip in the cloak was almost by a thread now.

Karma closed her eyes.

Arsen looked up at the sound of his name. Or at least he thought he'd heard his name. It was faint but it was definitely there. He was sure of it. After a second to consider it he allowed his legs to carry him to the door of the desserted classroom and out into the corridor.

No one seemed to be there. Or no one out of the usual anyway. Just the usual do gooders making their way to class way before it was due. Just then he heard the scuffling of feet on the floor, no not feet. Paws.

"Nightmare? What yo..." Oh god, he thought to himself as he threw himself to the floor, being careful not to touch Nightmare, to grab Karmas arm. "I got you. Nightmare i need you to move."

There was a loud rip, and Karma was falling, but her fall was halted once more as Arsen caught her arm. Her eyes opened, and she was caught in his red gaze, even as Nightmare shuffled out of the way. She looked down again, watching as her cloak floated downward. Briefly, she wondered if she'd feel that weightless if she fell, but then her eyes wandered to the ground and closed again as her other hand grabbed his arm as well. She wouldn't say anything until she was on solid ground, however. Her vocal chords seemed to have frozen.

The sound of stone scraping against stone made her eyes snap open. The staircase was coming back. Her eyes met his again, and this time they were scared. "Oh." Was all she said, but the single word spoke volumes. She looked over at the staircase, then back at him, then down at the ground. This time, her gaze stayed there. Her hold on him loosened slightly, then tightened again.

Once the cat was out the way he made an attempt to pull her up. What should have been an easy task turned out to be more work than he first thought. Winter weakened him, this year more than ever before and that worried him.

"Don't let go okay." He demanded as he lifted himself off the floor with her still attached to his arm. After minutes of pulling and heaving he finally had her up far enough to pull her up with both arms.

"What were you playing at?!" He asked wrapping her in his arms once she was safe. He'd lost everyone in life and he was not about to lose her too.

The second her feet touched the ground, she threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. "I..." She was shivering, and her eyes squeezed shut. "I didn't..." She shook her head repeatedly, ignoring the sounds of the portraits asking her if she was okay, their tones too friendly, too nice, too... too...

She shook her head again. "I don't..." Her voice broke and her hold on him tightened. She kept seeing it, her cloak, floating downward, regardless of stairs and floors and portraits. She could have... would have...

She shook her head again, trembling, her knees weakening by the second.

He caught her and began to sooth back her hair. "Shhh, it's okay. You're safe now." He whispered softly to her to try and calm her down. He turned his gaze onto the talking portraits and glared, daring them to talk further. His money was on them distracting her as she passed by and that's how she'd fallen. If that were true, he'd turn them all too dust in a heartbeat no matter the consequences.

"I'd never let you fall."

Karma felt tears start to well in her eyes as the portraits kept talking, too concerned for her well-being, too nice, too... too...

She shook her head again, not sure if she could let go of him. She didn't feel safe this close to the edge, even though she was pretty far away from it, but she wasn't going to move closer to the portraits. Not by a long shot. She kept her face hidden in his shirt, trying to focus on him to calm her racing heartbeat. He'd never let anything happen to her, would he?

She relaxed slightly at his words, still not trusting herself to speak. Her hold on him was probably bone breaking by now, but she didn't have it in her to let him out of her trembling arms. He was once again the only thing keeping her grounded.

He gently pulled her back so he could look her in the eyes and wipe away her tears. "I will always be here for you Karma. Nothing is ever going to take you from me. You hear that? Nothing!" He said before pulling her back into his arms.

After standing there for another few minutes he decided they needed to move. It was no longer safe blocking the stairway and they needed their privacy. So he scooped her into his arms bridal style and carried her back the way he'd came into the deserted classroom.

Karma's eyes closed as he brushed away her tears, relaxing slightly. "Promise?" She murmured softly, snuggling into his warmth. He was always there for her, wasn't he? This was, what, the third or fourth time he'd saved her life now? What would she ever do without him?

She curled close to him as he picked her up, her fingers playing with the collar of his shirt as they disappeared into the classroom. Her gaze swept the room, and a small relieved smile graced her lips. There were no portraits in there, and the voices of the ones in the corridor disappeared once the door was closed.

"It would seem you've saved my life again, Hothead." She said, a wry half grin spreading across her face as her heartbeat slowed a bit. It was much easier to think away from the edge of that death trap. A frown crossed her face. "And... I think I've somehow developed a fear of heights."

He nodded. "Until hell freezes over." He smirked, cause everyone knew that was never gonna happen. If hell froze over then that would mean the end of his father and if his father died so too would he.

"As always. Don't make a habit of it half fang. I don't much like a damsel in distress unless im causing it." He smiled, taking a playful bite at her nose. "Seriously though, you've got to start watching what you're doing. Don't make me brand you girl." He said holding her chin so he could look her in the eyes, he was only half joking as well. At least branding would give them that link they needed.

"Im not surprised!" He said standing up straight as he began to pace the room.

Karma smirked back. "I read a book that says the innermost circle of hell is ice." She teased, swinging her feet. "So it would seem you need to be able to... survive the onslaught. Or the snow. Whatever happens first." She looked down as Nightmare held up her knapsack, and took it from the panther with a thankful pat on the head. She glanced up at Arsen, suddenly meek as she pulled out a packaged gift with a black bow on it. There were flames on the bow, snowflakes on the wrapping paper. "Don't laugh okay? I worked hard on it." She grinned. "For your other present, I just threw money at it until it did something. You can hate that one."

"Believe it or not, I don't much like being a damsel either." she wiggled her nose, going cross eyed as he nipped at it. "It's only happened, what, once a year? I like my odds." Her focus returned to him, and her grin went lopsided. "Why do I suddenly feel like branding wouldn't be the worst thing in the world?" She mused lightly, unconsciously leaning into his touch.

Lounging backward on her hands, she watched Arsen pace, her face impassive. "Your other gifts at your house. It's shiny."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to give me heart attack?" He asked as he watched her pull out a packaged gift. "What are you talking about?" He asked? He just melted and evapourated the snow, it was simple. There was no need to complicate things further.

"Right." He said taking the package and smirking at the bow and paper. "Nice touch. Very ironic." He pulled off the bow and paper and looked at the contents surprised to find himself looking at clothes. "Oh erm, thanks." He said placing them on the table for a better look.

"Did no one ever tell you selling your soul to a demon was bad?" He asked placing a kiss on her lips. "Well i got you two things. First a weapon, to destroy even the immortal." He said reaching into the inside of his jacket and pulling out a knife. "Watching it though, it will kill any demon but my father i think. The fire will transport them straight back to hell, my father can control hell fire so it wont work on him." He shrugged searching through his other pockets for the box, once he found it he held it out to her.

"Made this myself too."

(OOC Knife: The black swirls are literally moving fire but covered by a protective glass like material so you wont burn Also the handles a snake so its like breathing the fire rather than the dragon.)

Spoiler:

She grinned, cocking her head to the side. "I highly doubt the Inferno's completely correct..." she smirked suddenly, her mind half filling with all the glorious punishments Dante had pulled out of that sick little mind of his. He'd been pretty cool... for a mortal.

Karma shrugged a shoulder, her eyes on the ground. "Well you see, as you know, you can't go into the rain. Tricky business. What if you were captured someplace full of water? You'd be, basically almost helpless." She closed her eyes and frowned, pushing away that image. The waterfall. The cage. She shrugged again. "They control your body temperature and when you put them on it's kinda like a... skin-tight protego, I guess? You'd feel the water, but it wouldn't actually be touching you, so it wouldn't hurt." She neglected to tell him exactly how long she'd been working on it; that was embarrassing. She should have been able to get it to him faster, but there were so many things that could have and did go wrong, so many tests to perform to make sure they were absolutely foolproof, so much...

"I think it should last three hours at a time. Charm gets more powerful the more you use it; so if you do use it often, I suppose the time should extend..." She shrugged again, her eyes still downcast. "The gloves go all the way up to your shoulders, and covers your head, jacket... well torso and down... boots, feet and up. You could just wear the jacket and the gloves, or the gloves and the boots, or the boots and the jacket. Whatever." We could go swimming... "I'm working on an amulet, but its difficult, never covers enough surface area, and since you're growing..." she frowned slightly, mad that she hadn't figured that one out yet. She just needed a stone that could maintain the properties while at the same time not being the size of a small dragon.

"Bad?" She teased, kissing back. "No never." She grinned. "Stupid? Yes. Insane? Yes. Nessisary? Sometimes." She smirked. "My mother made a deal or two to become human again, or I wouldn't be here." She shrugged slightly. "Besides, I wouldn't be selling my soul to just any demon. I'd be selling it to you. Its different."

Karma slowly took the knife from him, falling in love with it almost instantly. It was a beautiful weapon, the most beautiful she'd ever seen. A smile tugged at her lips, as she raised it to her face to examine it, resisting the urge to test the sharpness by touching it. Her fingers traced the flames in reverance, even as they swirled around the blade. "It's..." there weren't enough words to express just how simply beautiful it was, and before she could think of any, he'd pulled out the box.

She took it from him, glancing up at him through her bangs before returning her gaze to the box. Rather than place the knife down, she placed the box on her lap and reached behind her, pulling her onyx blade from the pocket of air that hid it and placing it down on the table. The knife, Demonslayer, disappeared inside it, and then she was focused on the box again.

Slowly, she pulled the lid open, gazing down at the braclet inside. She grinned again, a full on smile. "You made this?"

"No i know it won't be." He shrugged. He doubted any human had been to hell and back and managed to write a book about it. If they had they deserved a lot more than a medal. He watched her carefully as she explained. His eyes narrowed in concentration. "Skin tight protego?" He asked slipping his current jacket off in favour of his new one. "And it's just against water right?" He asked, it was nice how she'd thought about him. Really thought about him and his... condition. "Thank you. They're amazing." He smiled giving her a kiss.

"Don't stress your stress yourself out over it. I've survived so far without falling in the lake im sure ill manage. Don't worry about it okay?"

"Yeah but all contracts end up in the same place Karma. Satans the one with the contracts, we just make the deals on his behal unless like my dad you know a way around the system. Which don't. I've not had the chance to look around hell and figure it out. It took father like a billion years so i have no chance. So no deal with anyone okay?" He said making sure she sure how serious he was. He was not going to have her selling herself to the devil.

He smiled as she examined the knife. "One side stainless steel whilst the other is celectrial bronze. It's an old greek myth but apparently its a working legend and will kill any creature in our world." He smirked, quite smug with his new invention.

He nodded nervously. "Do you like it?"

"Yep." She kissed him back, grinning sheepishly. "It's my job to worry about you, you know." She said softly, gazing up at him through her lashes. "Can't exactly control it anymore." A half grin flitted across her lips, tugging the corners up. "Besides, who would catch me everytime I almost fall off something?"

She pouted slightly, noting his seriousness and deciding to wait until he - or more likely, she - found the loophole Djinn had. "Fine. No sexy 'Property of Arsen Salvator' tattoo then." She said, swinging her feet slightly. "And I had just the place to put it, too."

"Any creature?" She asked, the possibilities flashing behind her eyelids. "So we should go Basilisk hunting soon, then?" She asked. "Dragons and Centaurs... well maybe not centaurs, they're easy to kill if Certh can do it..." She paused, before a grin grew across her face. "Acromantulas..."

"I love it." She said, slipping it out of the box and onto her wrist with a smile. "Are you sure you made it?" she teased. "It looks exceedingly professional, jewelry store quality. Maybe you're just saying you made it to get in my good graces." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing a kiss against his lips.

"It's beautiful."

He rolled his eyes but inwardly he was smirking. He loved how she cared so much, now one had ever cared for him before. Not like this anyway. "Well don't im not going anywhere." He said placing a finger under her chin so she had to look up at him properly. "Oh is that all im good for now? A life saver?" He teased.

"I didn't say you couldn't have one. I just said we couldn't do it the traditional way." He said giving her a wink. "Nothing wrong with making you belonging to me offical. Where would you have it?" He asked.

He nodded. "Any creature. Just name it and we'll add it to the list to test it out on. If it fails ill burn it to a crisp. Simple." He shrugged dropping back into a chair and throwing his feet up onto a table.

"Of course! What you don't believe me?" He asked. "Would i lie? Don't answer that." He warned getting to his feet. "Believe what you like half fang. But that was forged by Arsen fire." He smirked wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her closer for the kiss. A shudder ran down his spine as she mentioned good graces. "That was weird. Let's stick to good books in future yes?"

Karma felt herself start to blush as she looked up into his eyes, color brightening her cheeks. She took his hand from her chin and ducked her head, tracing patterns across his palm with her fingers. "Didn't say that." She murmured, her focus on his hand. "You're good at being my savior, though."

She grinned, bringing them nose to nose before tracing soft, lingering kisses up his jawline to his ear. "Well... Where would you like it?" She purred softly.

Something in her wanted to say Vampire. Something in her wanted to see if it would work on her. On him. But she pushed that away. "hmm..." She hummed distractedly. "We'll have to find ourselves something extraordinary."

"Nothing's as hot as Arsen Fire." She quipped, melting against his chest and grinning. "Fine. Good books." She ammended, tracing her fingers over his new jacket and smoothing out the wrinkles.

He smiled and lifted her face back up by placing a finger beneath her chin. "Don't hide your blush. It's the one thing i can't do, the least you can do is let me take advantage." He smirked tracing his thumb over her cheek.

He shivered slightly as she traced kisses along his jawline. He wasn't used to being this close to someone, just the thought of letting someone in freaked him out. "I can think of a few places, but i'd rather you surprise. It's more personal if its coming from you." He whispered as he lightly drew a line down her spine.

"We can figure something out. Im sure we could fight whatever we wanted and win." He smirked. "It shouldn't be too hard. We make a good team." They hadn't actually fought together yet but he could tell they would work well together.

He laughed. "If you say so." There was but he didn't feel like correcting her just then.

"A-Ad..." Karma blinked and swallowed down her random stutter - not quite sure where that came from - quite thrilled at the idea forming in her mind. "Advantage?" Her blush only darkened further as his fingers brushed it, her eyes fluttering closed even as she leaned slightly into his touch.

Was that a shiver?

She made a small sound of agreement, a tiny smirk playing across Karma's lips as she trailed her kisses back down his jaw line, inching her way closer and closer to his mouth. Had they been talking about something? Might have been lost in the jolt of electricity that followed his finger down her spine.... Probably wasn't that important...

She lingered at the corner of his mouth, slowly moving her bright brown gaze over to meet his.