The Cave

James raised his brows, not having realized that Adeline might've come from a place or time without such things. For some reason, he'd been under the impression that everyone was from further technologically advanced civilizations than his own.

"Oh, uh, yes," he confirmed. "Guns are a weapon. I actually have one on me if you'd like to see. They're small, and basically, send out small projectiles that can pierce through skin. It's... pretty nasty stuff. I only use it when I'm... very desperate. But uh, yeah as far as different races go, most humans don't really treat the other races like they're people. So they're not really under human influence, apart from being hunted or fought against constantly. It's twisted."

Adeline's eyes widened with the horror she felt creep into her at Jame's description, especially as she paired it with a memory of how a human looked when their skin was pierced violently.

"Twisted." She repeated quietly, in response to both of these things. "Truly."

"I- I would like to see your gun." She answered bravely after a few beats. "It's better to know of them, if they are really out there, then remain ignorant." This last part was mostly for her own benefit, to convince herself.

James nodded. "Fair enough," he muttered quietly as he pulled it out of it's holster from inside his jacket. "It's a pistol," he explained in brief. "That's what the kind of gun is called, I mean. The projectiles are called bullets, and there's six of them normally. I've only got three. Another reason why I use it sparingly."

Adeline gently reached out her hand to slide her finger over the barrel of the gun. It was very smooth, and she would have thought the pistol to be pretty, if she hadn't known any better.

"At least you have a means of defense." She murmured. A gun gave a person the power to carry out their own drastic choices, she gathered. If it could kill good people, it could also just as easily kill people who wished to harm said people. Her head swam with moral arguments concerning killing- she had to take a step back.

Orrin looked over at Jaron. The whole plan had been to go on his own so he could complete the type of thing he always did on his jobs without any interference from other people; Jaron's presence would automatically make things a hundred times more difficult. But, at the same time, he didn't want to turn him away. Jaron didn't want to stick with Kendrik right now, and he was likely better off with him than wandering around on his lonesome.

Orrin let out a sigh.

"Sure," he said. "You can come with me."


Kartiel, Maahes and Lucifer briefly watched the exchange between James and Adeline before all looking away.

"Anyone else feeling forgotten right now?" Kartiel said, keeping his voice low. Kartiel had struck Lucifer as the type of person who wasn't afraid to speak his opinion, but, from the currently quiet tone of his voice, it seemed like he didn't want to hurt Adeline's feelings if she overheard him.

"No," Maahes said, speaking a bit too quickly for both Kartiel and Lucifer to believe it. "James can have other friends, and talk to other people. Even if he's the only person I really know here, and it feels more comfortable if I'm talking with him-"

Kartiel raised an eyebrow.

Maahes sighed. "Good point."

James pursed his lips at her comment, shrugging slightly as he slipped his gun back into the holster inside his jacket.

"I prefer not to use it if I can help it. Negotiating - oftentimes - is a better tool for preventing violence, if you're speaking with someone who hasn't completely lost all sense of reason," he replied, eyes drifting back over to Maahes, who seemed to be... watching him. He wasn't far off. James gave Maahes a look and a sharp nod of his head towards where he and Adeline were as an invitation to come over.

"I see." Adeline nodded and then followed James' eyes, where Kartiel, Lucifer, and Maahes were standing. They seemed to be looking over, so she smiled and waved.

"Well," Kartiel said, "it looks like we're getting invited over."

Maahes looked rather relieved by this statement, and the three went to join Adeline and James.

James looked at Lucifer and Maahes.

"How'd your uh... talk go?" he asked.

They looked over at each other.

"It went pretty okay," Maahes said, smiling at Lucifer. "I think we might have even become friends in the process."

Lucifer gave a shy smile in agreement.

"That's wonderful!" Adeline smiled at them boldly before dipping her head, wondering briefly if her interjection was considered rude.

James nodded, though with considerably less enthusiasm. "I'm glad it went well."

Jaron nodded and stayed close to Reyes as they approached the half-destroyed building in front of them. It amazed him that something could have been strong enough to rip apart the brick and marble facade and almost tear the building in two. It also terrified him, since he didn't know if that thing was still around. He was suddenly very interested in cracking that code that had stumped him earlier. Hopefully there was some tech lying around that he could understand, instead of this complex electronic nonsense.

In the meantime, a thought popped up in his mind, and he reasoned that it wouldn't hurt to ask it. "You're very nice," Jaron said. "I can see why Thytes would like you."

Kartiel looked around at their small group. "Weren't there more of us earlier?" he abruptly questioned, noticing that the current conversation had stalled. "I could have sworn there were a couple of other people. Like those animal guys, and Reyes."


The sight also terrified Orrin, but he didn't address his fear - he just tried to focus on what Jaron was saying. Of course, Jaron then commented on the crush Thytes had for him, and Orrin found himself wishing he had focused on the building instead.

"Thanks," he said.

"We've been splitting off over and over," James said matter-of-factly. "Some of the others went off to go... solve the mystery or whatever."