#thishouseofhope

[banefulbenevolence]

Too Clever for His Own Good

A thread for @thishouseofhope

It was as if the harder he was hit, the boy got more stamina, but in reality the pain simply hadn't set in. Not yet. That would be for later, alone, when his cries wouldn't be overheard by any. Now, now he was a product of his enviroment, fire and fury and brimstone and ash. Black eyes burned like coals as the skinny whelp of a boy got back to his feet, wiping the blood that was clogging his nostrils, choking him when he breaths. Can't talk shit while gagging on blood, after all.

"Hit me again, it don't make you right. I ain't gonna fess up to shit I didn't do, when I intend to ruin this place, you'll KNOW IT!"

He throws himself at the much larger hellspawn, who simply backhands him again, sending him bodily flying into the metal machinery that Enver had gotten back to functioning. He's frighteningly still for a moment, but sure as anything, he climbed back up to his feet -- barely managing that and yet, stubbornness is a human's defining trait. Up, battered, bloodied, and ready to go until he simply could not get back up.

[banefulbenevolence]

@thishouseofhope sent:

🚑 "Would it be so terrible to consider the notion that perhaps--just perhaps--yourself and bhaalspawn are not meant to exist within the same space?"

It was a close call. even Enver would admit. A careless moment on his behalf and suddenly a bhaalspawn is wrist deep in your guts, and not in the enjoyable way. Once she had come back to her senses, he managed to talk her through setting up a sigil. The items, where she could fetch them, and he busied himself with holding pressure and trying not to let the fade to black be the end of Enver Gortash. But his dearest Dirge pulled through and the yawning portal to home hell was opened. He didn't wait for her, he simply chucked himself through and wound up bleeding out on Raphael's nice marble. A flurry of activity and movement later and Enver was relaxing in the healing baths, the hole in his gut no longer a threat. "Nonsense. I won't hear a word of it. She was not to blame for this, it was an error on my part."

[banefulbenevolence]

thishouseofhope asked:

" maybe that's what i like about you. "

The boy wrinkles his nose at the words, the praise having the absolute opposite effect. He stops, mid tinkering, and looks at Raphael with nothing short of pure malice.

For a child his size, it was impressive how much he could summon.

"Didn't do it for you. You can keep your Ao damned opinions to yourself."

[hexxbound]

" When someone stabs you in the back and then apologizes, accept the apology—if you must—by all means. But don't give him the knife back that he may do it yet again. "

The tingle of cooling aura on his back started almost as soon as the devil spoke, his very presence stirring something deep down that was immediately repressed, bringing an uneasy feeling of clarity Gortash knew all too well. And he shook away the unease that came with the sensations, working in overtime to allow him to face Raphael, uninhibited by what surfaced when they stood in the same room. "You speak as if someone has had the nerve to stab you in the back and come crawling back to apologize," The tyrant's brow raised, considering the very idea-- Raphael, forgiving? Not from what he knew. Of course, the devil would beg to differ, and he might be right-- Raphael, for what he was, had been said to be a particularly honest and fair creature. Gortash, however, did not believe he was as forgiving as he acted like he was.

He just couldn't see it.

"Of course, I would not stand where I am now if I did not know when to stay my hand and accept someone else's failings. I was taught by one of the best there was. Of course, my appreciation falls as short as his kindness did-- I think it could be understandable, given what I lack thanks to the… staffing."

[dimensionalspades]

@thishouseofhope said: "I can't help you if you won't allow me to do so, and what a pity that would be when I could fix allof your problems just like that," he says with a dramatic snap of his fingers and, perhaps, for a moment, his damaged eye will stop its twitching... only to resume once more. "... Provided, of course, you were to agree to my oh so generousoffer..." [ for Mythe ]

. Pain needled the side of his head with Raphael near, radiating down his jaw and turning his resting expression distinctly displeased. He ground his jaw, focused on the cambion with disdain.

But then it was gone, both the twitching and the pain, and there's a disorienting moment of relief. His expression softened, eyes closed as he held onto the brief respite. And then it twists again when the pain and movement return, teeth flashing and brows pinching together.

"Getting rid of my condition would cost me even more. I know how you devils work, Raphael." His response was ground out, cursed eye closed, though his other eye held enough heat for both.

[hexxbound]

♡ // Raphael doesn't want to know, but I could use a laugh, so he can just deal with it. xD

Send ♡ to see what my muse thinks of yours

●○○○○ | ATTRACTION

○○○○○ | AFFECTION

●●●○○ | INTEREST

○○○○○ | LOYALTY

●○○○○ | TRUST

LOW | ●●●●● | HIGH

Overall: He could look past the trauma of HoH if he had to, the guy has power and information-- but he could also sell Raphael for a stale corn chip and consider that a bargain.

[banefulbenevolence]

thishouseofhope asked:

" Rumor Has It... that someone is an utter ingrate incapable of making good decisions, as he would much prefer to cut off his nose that he might spite his face. " Is he sulking? Perhaps.

Coal black eyes almost strain the muscle with how hard he rolled them and arms cross his chest. "If this is your way of showing concern over me, I can almost assure you that it is going to fall on deaf ears. I told you once, I told you a thousand times -- I ain't cutting my hair." There's a slip in that Upper City accent towards the end, where the Lower City Urchin shines through. Raphael always had a knack for bringing that out.

[banefulbenevolence]

thishouseofhope asked:

" all of this was for nothing. "

There's a beat where Enver just stares at Raphael, unsure if he should feel insulted. That would, however, imply that the devil had any right to insult Enver. A quick adjustment and he's pissy, now, arms crossing over his chest in a familiar stance of defiance. "All of this was a lesson, that's what every failure is. Another step towards success. My next plan won't rely on unknown variables."