Wildfires and Whirlwinds

Chapter 6

Readjusting his backpack, Pan jogged across the campus toward his next class, all to aware of how close he was cutting it to make it on time. Turning the last corner before he got to his goal, Pan picked up speed, only to pause when his phone began to ring in his back pocket. Fumbling to extract it, he glanced down at the screen, and his stomach pummeled to the ground when he didn't recognize the number.

Slowly, he flipped the phone open and held it to his ear, "… Hello?"

"Heya, kid. Ya miss me?" Came a familiar voice, and Pan had to force himself not to growl out his response, "No, I can honestly say I didn't. Hanging up now."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Can't we at least talk like civilized people?"

Pan frowned into the phone, "That would require both of us to be civilized people, and I know for at least one of us that doesn't apply."

"Oh, Pan. It's not nice to talk about yourself that way." Came Xane's taunting reply, and Pan growled in frustration, "Gods, you are such a child! I'm hanging up now!"

Pan's finger was on the 'End' button when he heard the demon's yell over the phone, "Wait, wait!"

Sighing, Pan put the phone back up to his ear, "What?"

"Don't you want to hear where we're going tonight?"

"Nope, don't care, not going."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

There was a sigh before, "Alright, look up and to your right."

"Why?" Pan asked suspiciously.

"Why do you think?"

Frowning, Pan did as he was asked, and it didn't take long to spot the demon standing at the top of the nearest building. "So? You're a stalker, I already knew that."

He could hear another sigh, and saw the figure up on the building shake his head, "You are difficult, aren't you?"

"Yeah, it's just one of my many charms. Look, I've got to get to class, or I'm going to be late." Pan snapped back, though he wasn't too concerned about class at this moment, he just wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"Then I'll make this short. Take the lift to the Williams and Harden stop, I'll meet you there."

Remaining adamant, Pan replied, "I told you that I'm not going."

"Do you really think that I won't be to make you go?"

Pan frowned but didn't respond, knowing full well that Xane could force him to go wherever he damn well pleased.

"That's what I thought. See you then, Pan." And then the phone went dead. Glancing up to where Xane had been standing only a few seconds ago to find the spot empty.

Silently fuming, Pan stalked the rest of the way toward the building that held his next class, knowing that his little conversation with Xane had made him late, and he was probably going to catch shit about it from the professor. But at this point, he didn't really care, all he was worried about was the 'meeting' tonight, and getting through it alive.


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Gods, I am going to kill Kyle once I get home. Pan thought furiously as he made his way to the local Sky-Lift, doomed to his fate of a night alone with Xane. He knew that it was probably Kyle's idea for Xane to call him right before his class, and because of the phone call, Pan had ended up being late to his class. Okay, so maybe he was already running late, but it wasn't like Xane's call had made him early either. Punching the numbers a bit too harshly into the screen, Pan inputted what he needed to so he could go to the 'meeting' spot with Xane, before leaning against the side of the terminal.

It didn't take long for a lift to arrive, and quickly sliding inside, Pan took his usually seat at the back, next to the window, not paying attention to the others as the rest of the ride filled with people, mostly students who had just finished up their classes, just like him. Sighing once again, Pan rested his head against the window, watching as the buildings passed by, trying and failing to think of a way out of going.

After a couple stops of people getting on and off, the lift neared where Pan's stop was, and the brunette hung his head in defeat before standing up, hanging on to one of the overhang rails for support as the lift began its downward slope into the terminal. Turning to look at his destination Pan could easily spot the bright red hair of the demon he was so dreading on meeting up with, waving enthusiastically at him. He shook his head in embarrassment, and looked away to see just where they were meeting at, since he had never really been to this area, only knowing that was right up against D-District, but that was about it.

It only took a few seconds to realize that it was a shopping district of some sort, stores lined both sides of the streets, but there wasn't too many people roaming the streets, which was odd, especially for this time of the day. Actually, the few other people in the lift with him were giving him strange looks as well, and belatedly he noticed that he was the only one standing. What the heck is going on here?

Glancing back to the stores, Pan focused on the closest one as the lift eased to a stop, and his entire face went white and then red when he realized just where Xane had asked to meet. It was, for all intents and purposes, a porn store, and by the looks of the other stores, so where they. Suddenly both furious and mortified, Pan glared back at Xane, not even letting the door finish opening before hitting the 'close' button and telling the lift to continue going, punching in his own address to go home. He watched the demon's face as the lift moved away from the terminal, noting at the truly surprised look Xane was giving him. As if he didn't know why Pan wouldn't stick around, meeting in a place like this? Pan scoffed and took his seat again, ignoring the strange looks he was once again receiving from the other passengers.

He was still fuming several blocks later when the lift started to approach another stop, though he was shaken out of his thoughts when a whining sound could be heard from above. Frowning, Pan looked up to see small tendrils of smoke make their way out from where the small electric engine was located on top of the lift. As the whining sound increased in volume, so did the size of the smoke, and soon he could smell the scent of burnt rubber and plastic that was making its way through the room. Shortly afterward a blaring alarm sounded within the cabin, causing everyone to cover their ears in surprise, wincing as an equally loud voice came over the intercom, announcing that the lift was going to make and emergency stop at the next terminal, and for everyone to remain calm.

Yeah, easier said than done. Pan thought sourly as he glanced around the cabin, noticing the shocked and panicked looks on the rest of the passengers. The lift slowly chugged its way the rest of the distance into the station, and as soon as it opened it's doors there was a mad rush as the passengers fought to be the first one off the lift, while Pan patiently waited at the back for them to clear out before calmly stepping off the lift. Not wanting to be on the street any longer than need be, he quickly ducked into the nearest store, noticing after he was inside that it was a coffee shop of some sort. Turning to look out the glass window, Pan expected to see Xane suddenly appear, something that seemed to be a favorite of the demon, but was surprised when the redhead was nowhere in sight. He frowned, there wasn't a doubt in the brunette's mind that Xane had somehow been responsible for the lift, because engines don't just explode on a whim, but why was the demon hiding, and why had he gone to such extreme lengths to stop Pan from heading home?

"Hello!" Came a sudden, loud greeting from what sounded like inches from Pan's ear, forcibly shaking him from his thoughts and causing the brunette to jump several inches into the air before spinning around to see the source. Which turned out to be a kid, or at least what seemed like a kid, the girl was only just over four feet tall with auburn hair that fell to the small of her back, but the fact that her golden eyes were slitted and she had some sort of animal ears flopping on the side of her head instead of regular ears meant she was a demon of some sort. She was smiling widely and what would look innocently on anyone else was rather disturbing with the unnaturally pointy teeth.

"Helloooo?" The girl asked waving a hand in front of Pan's face annoyingly, causing the human to frown and try to slap it away.

"Hi, could you get your hand out of my face?" He asked through gritted teeth, taking a step back.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. The name's Kai, and you?" She stuck out her hand, once again in Pan's face, and the human frowned once again in annoyance before he hesitantly shook it, replying, "I'm Pan. Wh-"

"Pan? That's an interesting name. So what are you doing here, because I certainly never seen you before, and I certainly never smelled you befo-"

"Kai! How many times do I have to tell you to leave the customers alone?" Pan looked up to see who had saved him from the overly talkative and hyper demon to see a guy maybe a few years older than him standing behind the counter, frowning at the small demon that was still grinning mischievously. The guy looked human, with normal shaped brown eyes, and lack of animal ears that his co-worker was sporting, though his hair was a little strange, it was dark brown in the back and faded to a dirty blonde in the front, hanging slightly in front of his face.

"Aw, I wasn't bothering him." Kai said with a pout, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance.

But the guy remained unconvinced, "Mmhmm, right. Now get over here, because I'm sure he doesn't like you being in his personal space."

Kai harrumphed as she stalked over, and Pan for the first time noticed the orange tail with the white tuff at the end, looking very similar to a fox tail, and now that he noticed, the two pointed animal ears on the sides of her head also looked like they were a fox's.

"Are you a fox demon?" He suddenly blurted out, and Kai instantly turned on the spot, flashing him another pointed toothy grin, "Yep! Well… actually I'm only part fox demon."

Intrigued, Pan asked, "Okay, what about the rest?"

"Part wolf and part human. The human side is why I have these annoying ears." She grouched, pointing at the offending ears, before suddenly brightening up again, "So what brings you here?"

"Ah, you know, just looking around, and this place looked kind of interesting so I decided to check it out."

"Liar, you weren't even looking around when you came in, you were watching the door." There was a pause as Kai studied him before her face lit up, "You're avoiding someone, aren't you? Who is it?"

There was a sigh from the counter, "Kai, mind your own business."

"Aw, I was just curious, Ty."

"You're names are Kai and Ty?" Pan frowned at rhyming names, "That's… kind of strange."

Ty sighed again, "My name's not really Ty, it's Tyler, she's just determined to call me Ty. Would you like something to drink while your hiding out?"

"Oh, uhh, sure. I take it you believe her?" Pan asked as he walked toward the counter top, sitting at one of the barstools that lined the long counter.

'Tyler' smirked, "Yeah, she's pretty good at knowing what people are really about."

"And she's standing right here." Kai said with a slight attitude, but Tyler seemed to ignore her, instead asking Pan, "So what can I get you?"

Pan glanced up at the menu board, but it was written on an old blackboard with chalk in handwriting so horrible he couldn't read it. So with a shrug he responded, "You seem to know your way around this place, so whatever you think is best."

"Alright, house special coming up." Tyler said with a slight smile, before turning to start making the drink. "Hey Kai, could you go in back and grab some more coffee beans, I'm getting low."

The demon nodded and jogged out of the room, leaving Pan and Tyler alone in grateful silence. Glancing around at the small coffee shop, Pan was surprised to see how old fashioned it seemed, not only the blackboard menu, but way the kitchen area was set up it looked like everything was actually had to be mixed by hand, with no fancy machines to automatically make everything.

"So, do I need to be worried that whoever your hiding from is going to wreck my store if they find you?"

Thinking back to the blown engine on the left, Pan frowned, "Uh… I don't think so… Wait, your store? You own this place?"

Tyler shrugged, "Yeah, well, actually Kai and I share ownership."

Glancing at the doorway Kai had disappeared through, Pan slowly asked, "So are you two… together?"

Tyler blinked over at him in confusion, before suddenly recoiling, looking completely surprised that Pan would even suggest the idea, "Oh, gods no. Kai and I are like brother and sister, us being together like that…" Tyler shivered, "That's just wrong."

Pan held his hands up in defense, "Okay… sorry, I didn't know. It's just with how close you two seem to be…"

Tyler looked like he was about to say something in return, but was cut off when Kai suddenly came bounding into the room, "Back! Here's the coffee beans."

"Oh, thanks." He took the bags from the demon and set them to the side, before grabbing a mug and pouring the coffee concoction he had been making into it. "And, here's your drink."

Pan accepted the cup graciously, "Thanks. How much do I owe you?"

Tyler looked uncomfortable and grinned sheepishly, "Uh… nothing. Because I don't know what it's going to taste like to be honest."

Quirking an eyebrow he glanced over at the other male skeptically, "I thought you said this is the 'house special?"

"Yeah, and he changes the recipe for it every time. So hopefully it's not going to be disgusting like the last time." Kai piped up helpfully, and Pan frowned down at the cup, "Okay…"

"Oh, just try it. It's not poisonous or anything, just sometimes... really gross." Kai finished, making an odd face and Tyler sent her a disapproving look.

"You're not making this any easier." Pan mumbled, before picking up the mug and hesitantly taking a sip. "Hey, this is actually pretty good."

"Don't say it like it's so surprising." Tyler grumbled, turning to start cleaning up the counter top behind him.

"Sorry, I was just kind of expecting the worse." Pan took another drink of his coffee, turning to look at the front of the shop when he heard the door chime, frowning when he didn't see anyone there. Thinking he was imagining things, he turned back around to the counter, only to jump in alarm when a hand wrapped itself around his waist, "So here's where you've been hiding out, huh?"

Forgetting that he still had the mug in his hand, Pan spun around to look at the demon, but Xane only tightened his hold with the one arm while his free hand steadied the coffee cup, "Whoa, easy there kid. I was just saying 'hi'."

"Then say it like a normal person, don't assault me from behind! And get off of me!" Pan elbowed the other in the gut with his free arm, but he might as well had elbowed a wall for all the good it did him.

"Fine, fine." Xane mumbled, and surprisingly did let go, instead taking the stool beside him, flashing Pan a grin as he did so.

Now pissed, Pan snapped at the demon, "What is with you?"

But Xane just blinked owlishly at him, "What do you mean?"

"Uh, let's see, first you wanted me to meet you outside a porn store, then you destroyed the engine on the lift when I tried to leave, and now you suddenly show up at of the blue. So, what the hell?"

"You knew I blew the engine on the lift?"

"Kind of easy to figure out." Pan replied sarcastically, and Xane frowned at him. But instead of responding the redhead started looking around the small coffee shop before focusing on Tyler and Kai, who were watching the whole exchange with interest. There was a pause as the two demon's look at each other before…

"Andrew?"

"Nikky?"

Pan looked back and forth between Xane and Kai, before settling on giving Xane an incredulous look, "Andrew?"

A frown crossed Xane's face as he glanced at Pan, "It's what my name used to be before the Veil (1)."

Pan snorted and Xane's frown deepened, "I'm sorry, but really? Andrew? That is probably one of the worst names for a demon I've ever heard."

"It wasn't supposed to sound demonic, it was supposed to help me blend in with humans."

"Yeah, the really nerdy ones." Pan muttered under his breadth, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Well, at least I didn't have the name of a kitchen utensil." Xane jibed back, earning him a hateful glare from the brunette. Looking back to Kai, Xane asked, "So, how's your family doing anyways? It's been a while since I've heard from you guys."

"Uh…" Kai frowned, no longer her cheery self and looking uncomfortable; "They're… not with us anymore."

Xane looked shocked, "Oh… Gods, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

Kai flashed him a sad smile, quietly saying, "It's alright, it happened awhile ago."

"Awhile…? You mean, the rumors?" Xane asked in slight disbelief, and Kai just nodded in return. "So the whole clan…?" There was another nod, "But how did you…?"

"Eh… I didn't." Kai mumbled, motioning toward her ears and a look of realization dawned on Xane's face. He looked over at Tyler and asked, "Is that how you two met up? Wait, don't answer that. That was rude of me to ask."

Pan frowned over at Xane, what the heck is he talking about? But obviously Kai and Tyler understood, because they both looked slightly relieved at not having to answer his question. Opening his mouth to voice his confusion, Pan shut it again at the intense look he got from Xane, before the demon turned his attention back to the other two.

"I'm real sorry about all this, but we need to get going. Nikky-"

"Uh, actually, it's Kai now." The demon corrected, and Xane blinked before scratching at the back of his head uncomfortably, "Oh, right, sorry. So, Kai, it was nice seeing you again, and uh…"

"Tyler."

"Right, Tyler, it was nice meeting you as well. Good evening to the both of you, perhaps we can catch up some other time?" Xane directed this last question at Kai, who nodded in response. "Excellent. Come on Pan, let's go."

Pan looked over at Xane in surprise, startled with the sudden turn of events, "uh… What?" But Xane didn't explain, just grabbed Pan's arm, pulling him forcibly from his seat and toward the door.

"H-hey! Get off me!" Pan argued, pulling against his arm with no success, so he looked pleadingly back at Tyler and Kai, who just waved goodbye as he was drug out the door. He glared at Xane's back as he continued to pull Pan down the street, not letting up on speed at all, "What the hell was that for?!"

"What was what for?"

"Oh, don't even. You know exactly what I'm talking about." Pan yanked on his arm again, "Since your still doing it."

"Hm? Oh, sorry." Xane released Pan's arm and slowed down to 'brisk' walk. Pan started to jog to keep up with him, but then realized what he was doing, stopped, and turned in the opposite direction, figuring that if Xane was going to dodge his questions, then he might as well go back, or maybe even go home, anything to end this absurd day. But Pan only got maybe fifteen feet before two hands grabbed hold of his arms and turned him around, directing him back the way he was going before.

"Ah, ah, you're not getting away that easily." He heard from behind him, and Pan scowled over his shoulder, "I wasn't 'getting away', you ignored me, so I decided to leave."

Xane's hands shifted so only on was slung across his shoulders, just tight enough that Pan couldn't get away, "Alight, alright, sorry I brushed you off. Now, what were you saying?"

Pan gave him an incredulous look; "You're kidding me, right?"

"No, not really."

"Do you have the attention span of a gnat? Or just the hearing of one?"

"Now, how could you possibly know for sure how good a gnat's memory is, or it's hearing, for that matter? For all you know gnats could have amazing memory skills and great hearing."

Pan stared at Xane in disbelief before bringing a hand up to rub at his eyes tiredly, mumbling under his breath, "Great, not only is he a stalker and psychotic, he's also childish and retarded."

Xane acted affronted, "Oh, come on, I'm not all that bad. True, while am I a stalker and rather childish, I am not psychotic nor am I retarded. Well, at least not much." When Pan lowered his hand to stare at Xane again, the demon brought up his free hand, pinching his index and thumb close together and adding, "Only a little a bit."

Burying his face in one of his hands, Pan mumbled, "Gods, what did I do to deserve this."

He heard a laugh from the other male and the arm around his shoulders tightened slightly. Suddenly angry, Pan snapped at the demon, "And would you let go of me?!"

"Well, I don't want you running away again, do I?"

"Oh, like you couldn't catch me if I did?"

"Good point." And then the arm was gone, though when Pan slowed down there was a pressure against the small of his back, ushering him forward.

"So, where are we going, anyways?" Pan asked, walking faster so that he was keeping up with Xane, glad when the demon removed his hand.

"D-District, of course."

Pan faltered in his steps again, and the hand at the small of his back returned, "There is no way I'm going back to D-District."

"What, you don't trust me to keep you safe?" Xane said with a hurt look, and Pan shot him an annoyed glare.

"No, not when I have to worry about you getting grabby. Speaking of which, your hand?" Pan relaxed noticeably when Xane pulled his hand back again. Glancing over at the demon, Pan inquired, "You know, you still haven't answered any of the questions I asked you earlier."

"Hmm, really?" Xane replied offhandedly, and Pan had a distinct feeling that Xane's odd behavior earlier was to get the brunette to forget about his questions.

"Look, if your going to drag me around, I at least deserve some answers."

Xane frowned at him before looking forward, "Fine, fine. Let's see… Your first question was…?"

"The porn store?"

"Oh, right. Did you know that the lift stop I had you go to is the closest one to D-District? Only a couple blocks, really. Which is rather funny when you think about it, you humans are too embarrassed to have your sexual fantasy stores in with the rest of society, but be damned if they're not still easily accessible." Xane said with a slight smirk, and Pan just rolled his eyes, "Is that the only reason? It was the closest to D-District?"

"That and it's pretty close to where we need to go inside D-Distrtict. While the one you got off at instead is over twice the distance, so now it will take us over half an hour instead of the fifteen minutes like I had originally planned."

Pan blinked, "Oh."

"And your second question… Was about stopping the lift, right?" Pan opened his mouth to answer but Xane kept going, "Well, I had to stop you before you went too far, but I didn't mean to blow the engine completely, just set off one of the warning devices to shut it down. I didn't know that the engines were so damn sensitive."

"And the reason you were gone so long…" Pan started, and Xane frowned at him before looking forward again. "You got caught, didn't you?" Pan asked with a smirk of his own, noting the way Xane's frown deepened, and he almost laughed at the sour look on the demon's face. "So, how the hell did you show up so quickly, then?"

"You forget that I'm a demon, Pan, and our justice system is much more quicker than the human side."

Now it was Pan's turn to frown. Of course Xane would have gotten out quickly, anything that had to deal with demons was instantly shoved over to the demon justice system, and they weren't exactly strict when it came to dealing with their own kind. "Quicker or just more lax? Let me guess, slap on the wrist and a fine and then you were sent on your merry little way?"

Xane grinned, "Pretty much."

"Okay, so that explains all the beginning questions, what about the extremely odd situation you just started back in the coffee shop? Everything was going fine until you went and started acting so weird." Pan looked expectantly at Xane, who just frowned in response, looking forward. "So… an explanation would be nice?"

The frowned deepened and Xane glanced at Pan before looking back at the street. "You're not going to explain, are you?"

"It's not my place to."

"Why not? You were that made everything so awkward."

"Because, if I explained that would be telling you things about Nik- I mean Kai's personal life that she might not want to be public knowledge."

Pan was silent for a while before he shrugged, "Alright, never mind then."

Xane looked over at Pan, and the human was glad to see that he had thoroughly surprised the demon. "That's it? You're not going to keep asking?"

But the brunette just shrugged, "If you really think it'd upset her to tell me then I'd be a pretty big ass if I kept pressing, wouldn't I?"

There was silence from the demon before a hand was slung around Pan's shoulders again, pulling him close to the demon as they kept walking, "I knew there was a reason why I liked you so much."

"Get off!" Pan yelled, ducking to get away from Xane, who chuckled and let him go, sticking his hands back into his pockets as he continued down the street. Pan hesitated slightly before following Xane, staying a few steps back so he could watch the demon better. But it only took a few minutes of silent walking before he got bored, speeding up a bit before asking, "So, where are we going anyways?"

"It's a surprise."

"Xane…"

"What?" Xane blinked owlishly at Pan, but the human just continued to glare until Xane sighed in exasperation, "Oh, fine. We're going to the library."

Pan stumbled slightly in surprise before jogging slightly to catch up with Xane again, "You're kidding me, right?" Xane quirked an eyebrow at Pan but otherwise didn't respond, just kept walking.

"Why exactly are we going to a library? I thought the whole reason I have to put up with you is for you to help me, not so you can take me to the local library." Pan said this last part with obvious disdain, and Xane looked slightly amused before he started to explain, "I'm not just taking you to the 'local library', we're going to the library in D-District. And the reason why you need me for it is because you're going to need a translator."

"But why the library? Can't I just use you as my research project?"

Xane grinned over at Pan, "You want to use me Pan?"

"Wha-?" Pan looked confused for a second before realization struck, "That's not what I meant and you know it! Now answer the damn question!"

There was a sigh from the redhead, and Xane explained in a voice that sounded like this should have been extremely obviously, "I'm an Elemental demon, Pan. You know that there isn't that much information about them available to humans. If you're university found out that there was a fire demon living within city limits, I wouldn't get another day of peace. So instead of having to move to avoid the swarm of scientists that would be sure to arrive if you did a report on me, I'm going to help you get information on other demons. Speaking of which, you should start thinking of what you're going to do this paper on."

"Oh… uh, right." Pan frowned, looking forward again as he continued down the street, eyes downcast in thought. He hadn't worried too much about what his report was going to be about before, and when he heard that Xane was going to be his 'study buddy' he had naturally assumed that the report would be about the demon, but with that not an option crossed out now he was pretty much stumped.

"Pan."

"Hm?"

"Watch where you're going." Xane pointed forward, and Pan's gaze followed the direction he was pointing to, before suddenly jumping in surprise, as he realized he was about a foot from walking straight into a side of a building that jutted out onto the sidewalk.

Stepping around the building, Pan shot a glare at Xane, who looked affronted at the hateful gaze, "What? I warned you didn't I?"

"Could have said something earlier."

Xane shrugged at that, instead asking, "So, come up with anything yet?"

"I need more than two minutes to figure out what I want to base the paper that will determine if I pass my first college semester will be on."

"Alright, alright. Jeez, just wondering." Xane put up his hands in defense and Pan shot a glare at him before looking forward, once again falling back into his own thoughts. Which were interrupted once again by Xane not a minute later, "Hey, I got an idea."

"What?" Pan snapped at Xane, a little harder than he meant to.

"Well if you're going to be like that then I won't tell you."

Feeling like he was dealing with a toddler, Pan took a deep breadth before asking, "Sorry, but what was your idea?"

"You could do your report on fairy tales." Xane said seriously, and the Pan couldn't help but stare at the demon, "…You're kidding me right?"

"No, why would I do that?"

"Besides the fact that picking on me seems to be a fun past time to you? Or maybe that fairy tales have nothing to do with demons, and my teacher would fail me if I came in with a report about fairies and unicorns."

Xane rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Well, of course he'd be mad if it was just about the made up creatures and not the real ones."

"Real ones?"

"Demons, brainiac." Xane replied, tapping Pan on the head as he did so.

Swatting at the offending hand, Pan glared at Xane before what he was saying finally sunk in, "Demons? You mean all those old fairy tales-"

"Are based off of early sightings of demons. Ding, ding, ding, someone give the kid a prize." Xane said sarcastically, ruffling Pan's hair as he did so.

Pan ducked away and smacked at Xane's hand, "Would you stop touching me!?"

Xane retracted his hand, chuckling slightly which only made Pan glare more at him, "Alright, sorry. I'll try to keep my hands to myself, 'kay? But back to what we were talking about, what do you think of my brilliant idea?"

"Well, I don't know about brilliant…" Pan muttered, noticing the way Xane frowned slightly at him before Pan shrugged his shoulders, "But it sounds all right. It definitely will be different at least."

"Excellent, so we're in agreement then." Xane grinned over at Pan, who rolled his eyes and looked the other way, only to look back when the demon groaned suddenly, "What?"

But Xane wasn't looking at him, instead he was looking at the nearest street sign, "All that time and we're still only half way to the damn library. I don't know how you humans can deal with walking so flipping slow."

"So sorry that I can't hop from building to building like you." Pan grumbled under his breadth.

There was silence between them for a few moments, until Xane slowly asked, "You know… If you'd let me carry you…"

"No."

"But it's a lot quicker if-"

"No!"

"2 minutes, tops, and we'd be th-"

"Damnit, Xane, I said no!" Pan snapped at the red head.

Xane frowned at Pan, before crossing his arms and looking away, obviously pouting, "Fine."

What is he, 3 years old? Pan thought, rolling his eyes once again and looking forward again.

"Screw it, this is taking too long."

Pan frowned and turned to look at Xane again, only to be caught short when the demon suddenly picked him up and began carrying him in typical Xane fashion, over his shoulder with his ass in the air. "Gods-damnit Xane put me the fuck down!"

"Mmm, no." Came the amused reply back, and then they were off, moving at a speed fast enough that the surrounding area was a blur…

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1. The Veil: This is the nickname for the time when demons first let themselves be known. Originally called the Great Unveiling, or the End of the Veil, but was quickly shortened after the event was over.

Well, I'm sure you all noticed that no more of the super updates everyday… I thought I'd be able to keep it up but writer's block is a bitch and it's taking a bit longer to get these chapters out. So to make up for, and even longer chapter than the last update!

Oh, and just a little side note, there is a whole story behind the Kai and Ty thing, it's actually one that I've been meaning to write for a while just have never gotten around to it. Hopefully I'll get it posted somewhere eventually, and then this whole chapter would probably make a lot more sense…

Thanks so much to angelmay, jeazard, KatFO, Avernion, Aduial, Tellnoone_Nooneteels, cobraqueen, BlackSheepProduction, le1ichi, and Wynja for the great reviews! :D

And a special thanks to BlackSheep for pointing out that I had it block to only those who were logged in could review, I didn't even know I had that button clicked until you mentioned it… oops ^_^;