The Good, The Bad and The Fanged

Zoe swallowed against the lump in her throat and shook her head.
“No,” She said quietly. “There is nothing you can do.”

There was nothing anyone could do; besides tell her who their killers were. But Zoe doubted than on a massive scale. The Arae picked her cup up and moved it to the sink, before washing it, and putting it back in the cupboards.

“Anything you planned on doing today?” Zoe asked, turning around and leaning against the counters. Her face had cleared up rather quickly, no trace of sorrow anywhere on her face. Zoe was completely healed up and moved with agile speed and grace, the movements themselves weren't even remotely human.

Sam scoffed in response "Well I wasn't expecting to have this free time now, so I'll probably lounge around here, maybe take a walk... or go to the gym" Sam had begun going to the gym, starting two weeks ago, when he thought about it, it made perfect sense, it helped his body become tougher which will help him out at night, and at the same time he is killing the time during the day that he would normally be spending at his apartment, he had noticed a considerable difference in his fitness since he started, he could run further before getting tired, he could run faster, he could deliver more punishment in a fight as well as being able to take more punishment. Although the latest situation he had got himself into, it sounded like his mind was the one thing that needed improving. Sam had questioned whether to bring the gym home with him, he had a spare room that was not being used, if he could get his hands on some gym equipment and put it in there, he could make his own personal gym, and that room would get a lot of time and attention from Sam as he continued to try and improve his body.

Zoe arched an eyebrow, decided against saying something sarcastic, and bit her tongue. Indeed at the mention of working out she noticed the definite change in his fore arms and she was willing to bet he had become much more toned over the last few weeks.

“How about a game? Find something unique to this part of town? Then in half an hour we meet back here and try to convince the cat what unique thing is better.” Zoe challenged. The demon was a bit like a little kid, always challenging and a need for games. Her red hair fell around her, framing her face.

A game? Was she 12? Sam had not played any games for a very long time, other than when he played with his cat. "Erm... Sure I guess, although I'm pretty sure there isn't anyone else that can dissapear in a cloud of smog, so I must be pretty unique" he said, obviously that would be against the rules for said game, but he was making a point. The more Sam thought about it, the more he wanted to pick himself as the one unique thing, he spent most of his time inside his apartment and rarely ventured out for a casual drive or walk, he had no idea what he could pick as his unique thing.

Amber seemed quite excited to be the judge of the game as she told the pair to start, Zoe ventured outside quickly, it appeared she already had some idea of what she wanted, Sam could only think of one thing, the Hollywood sign that was a short distance away from his home, he slid open a drawer and yanked out a camera before dissapearing in a cloud of smog and heading to the Hollywood sign.

It did not take Sam very long when he used the rooftops to his advantage, he was very quick and nimble and now he was stronger, he was now able to pull himself up to places he could not normally reach. Sam booted the roof door open that was directly ahead but far below the Hollywood sign, "This sign has to be the most unique thing here, it says the name of the place for crying out loud! It's a landmark and only one of its kind around the world, simple but great, I'd like to see Zoe beat this!" he took a nice snapshot of the sign in all of its glory before returning back down to ground level and returned home. He burst in the door to see that he was the first to return, Amber swung her head around as the noise startled her, Sam simply slammed the camera down onto the desk, looking very pleased with himself.

Zoe dashed off, before looking around at the area around her. Something unique… something different… she stopped in front of an antique store, the neon lights blazed with an the word open across the big window shop. Hesitantly she poked her head in, a bell tinkling over head.
It was a dimly light shop filled with furniture. Carefully she picked her way through the items, stopping at the glass figurines. Glass had always fascinated Zoe, ever since she was young. This particular one looked like a woman, clad in a blowy dress, light reflected off all sides. She was clear, with thin coloring. Zoe picked her up and looked at her, the fabric itself seemed to have a life of its own, winding up and around her.

“Cool,” Zoe said before carrying it back to the counter to pay. Carefully she carried it back to the apartment, avoiding crazy pedestrians and cars. She opened the door and set it on the table, before crouching down and looking at it. It seemed to sparkle from within and Zoe could only just stare at it; in the underworld they didn’t have such things so she was fascinated. “What is it?”

The redhead looked at it hard, trying to determine what the little glass figurine was. She had gathered it was made of glass… but other than that she did not see the purpose of it. Heck, she still expected to wake up wearing a corset one of these days or to be married off to the wealthiest man. But fortunately this wasn’t the 1480’s.

Sam watched as Zoe entered his apartment a short while after him, she did not greet anyone or complain that she was second, with a confused look on her face, she took out a small glass figurine and placed it down on the table, Zoe had appeared to lose all interest in the game for a time whilst she studied this thing, she then crouched down to inspect it further, "What is it?" she asked curiously. Sam stepped over and slowly lifted it off of the table, Zoe seemed bonded to this figure and Sam did not want to break it, she would be angry and he would feel bad. "It looks like a regular glass figurine to me, people make these as art and then sell them on to whoever wants them, they are for decoration, you know... put it around your house to make it look more presentable, like that painting in my bedroom." Amber walked over and inspected this strange item as well, Sam was not a very arty guy, so he wouldn't go out and bring these things home with him to make his apartment look better, she probably hasn't seen one of these things either. Sam put the figurine down and looked at both of the girls faces, it was clear that they both found this thing to be unique, Sam simply picked up his camera and deleted the picture he took several minutes ago, it was clear who the winner was, and Sam just hoped that Zoe was too fascinated by this piece of art to realize that she was the winner and rub it in his face, he tossed the camera back in his draw and returned to his bedroom to get changed, running around L.A was tiresome to say the least.

Zoe looked around as Sam wandered into his room to change, she looked at Amber.

“What did he have?” She inquired, the demon was honestly curious

Upon hearing the answer from Amber, Zoe’s face brightened. “Cool, I have never been there. Maybe I will go investigate it later.”

With that she picked the glass figurine up and put it on the side table, watching it sparkle next to Sam’s crystal. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end while she watched it uneasily; the energy it was giving off annoyed her and wanted to send her running,
“Sam? Were did you get this?”

Sam returned to the living area just in time to hear Zoe's question, he yanked his shirt down as he turned the corner to see what she was asking about, it was the crystal that a Princess called "Aurora" gave him, she promised him some sense of ageless-ness in exchange for when Sam helped her with a small child, this crystal was the way the two were supposed to communicate, but Sam did not know how it worked so he left it on display until Aurora contacted him, Sam just assumed she was working hard to find out how to make his wish come true.

Sam wasn't sure whether to tell Zoe the whole story, but she obviously knew there was something up with this crystal, and the two had been honest with each other for the majority of their relationship so it was probably best to keep it that way, he just wasn't sure how Zoe would react to it. "This thing? It was given to me by a strange woman I met back in England, she needed my help with something and I helped, and in return she said she could grant me one wish, I asked if I could stop aging and live forever and she said that wasn't possible, but she would try her hardest to make it happen, according to her this thing is the way we can communicate, I don't know how it works though so I just leave it here because it looks nice, everyday I wake up and hope this is the day I stop aging... but I haven't heard anything from her yet..." Sam walked to the kitchen and took a glass of water before returning "Every night before I go to sleep I always think of the pros and cons of having something like that, but the main thing that sticks in my mind is that I would never be able to love someone normal... they would age and I wouldn't, if they didn't leave me because of that then I would be with them until they passed and if I would have to face the death of a loved one over and over again for as long as I live... well sometimes I think it wouldn't be worth it. The only way it could work out is if I found someone who also did not age, and people like that are certainly hard to come by... present company excluded of course" Sam sat down on the couch, he knew he would think of this topic every day, he was just used to thinking about it at night and not this early in the day. Amber hopped up and curled up on his lap as he stared out the window, thoughts constantly running through his mind.

“You were given a wish and you wished for being timeless? Why?” Zoe asked incredulously. There were hundreds of thousands of things to wish for and he wished for that?!
The demon sighed, “why did you wish for such a thing?”

Her brain dwelled on what he said before she stated,“you don’t choose who you fall in love with… even if they are timeless… they still die… “ The woman knew all too well. Falling in love with anyone was hazardous to one’s health. Zoe could remember it all too well…
Zoe sighed and looked at Sam; the poor guy was being tormented by the loss of this unnamed female. She moved over to the couch and sat next to him, death was a cruel being.

Sam had his reasons to pick it, sure he could have picked anything, but if he had wished for any material product, it would only last for a short time before something happened to it, if he was given this opportunity to be ageless, it would last forever, or until he was killed. "An opportunity to pretty much live forever? Why wouldn't I pick it? I get to be this nimble and fit as I am now forever, as far as I have seen, this past year or so has been the best of my life, both physically and socially, so why would I wish for anything else?"

And of course you don't choose to fall in love, it just happens, he had seen first hand of that and everyone dies sooner or later, it is just a question of whether you are prepared to let them go when it finally happens. Sam put his glass down on the side table and swiveled himself around so his whole body was facing Zoe, "I guess that I'm lucky I have never had to face death before, besides what happened in my... 'previous' life, and I've only dabbled in love once in my life, I guess I don't really have the experience to know what I'm talking about, I'm just making assumptions at this point, I guess my main issue is that I'm afraid to lose the people I care about..."

Zoe frowned slightly, a crinkle developing in her face as it screwed up; Mortals and their desire to live for longer than they have. She tucked her feet under her before giving him a hard stare. Zoe’s blue eyes were like chips of ice in her face, framed by long red hair.

“Because life changes… and living forever can and will turn into a literal hell. Living rich with a normal lengthed life and family is better than living forever without one.” Her words carried a weight of sadness before she cleared her throat. “You could have also wished for another super power… like turning invisible or I don’t know… the ability to make love potions? Is that even a power?”

Her face screwed up again as she tried to decide if it was. Zoe wasn’t the brightest individual, but what she lacked in smarts she made up for in enthusiasm. She leaned back on her side of the couch, her arm draped lazily over the back.

"Love potions? What happened to 'You don't choose who you fall in love with'" he smiled, either of those powers were something he was interested in no, or would they have been on his mind when he made the choice at the time. "And I doubt it is a power, but I could have asked how one was created so I could have done it myself." The idea of getting his hands on one and giving it to Salone was rattling around in his brain, but it was extremely selfish and he was not one to meddle with another persons free will.

"And I'll get myself a job... Find someone to settle down with and have both of those things, I can make it work because I want it, and I'll try anything to make it happen, including asking a "Princess of Nothing" to make it happen for me" Sam stood up and took his glass to the sink, he was slightly angry that he was completely happy with his choice to become ageless, but know Zoe had him doubting himself, and it was too late for him to turn back on his choice, if he wasn't completely ok with it, he would have to live with it.... forever.

Zoe offered a crooked grin, “Ehhh, no one said anything about magic.”
Her red brow arched itself, “Well, at least you didn’t make yourself undead. We would have issues there.”

The undead were paradises and were a massive pain in the backside and they bred like rodents of unusual size and they ate like them as well… causing the need for an exterminator. That’s generally when Zoe or another being came into play.

“Princess of Nothing?” She asked, cocking her head to the side, watching Sam move to the sink. He was angry with himself or Zoe, the creature couldn’t tell which. She could see it in the angle of his back; His muscles had tensed. “You mad?”

She asked quietly, she seriously wanted to avoid a fight with Sam… seeing as he was her only friend for the time being.

Sam placed his glass in the sink and rested his palms on the counter, taking some of his weight. He sighed as he was thinking of his decision and whether it was right or not until Zoe questioned him about the "Princess of Nothing"

"That's what she called herself, imagination was her power, she was changing from a dragon to an old man in front of my eyes, no one else could see her when she was asking for help but I could, I don't know why I could but I try not to question it." he didn't get to learn much about the woman, she seemed to be pretty talented, but having the power of imagination did not seem very feasible.

He sighed when she asked if he was mad, "I was perfectly happy with becoming ageless, I was going to stand the test of time and watch humanity evolve, witnessing who knows what along the way. Finding love was just going to be an added bonus along the way, to actually give my life some meaning, because I'm not sure if you have noticed, but I spend all day at home with my cat/human doing nothing and then by night take down petty thugs and get nothing in return, it would be nice to have some meaning in my life and with being ageless, I could guarantee something like that would happen..." Sam had got a lot of things off of his chest, somethings that he had only come to terms with himself, he hoped Zoe would understand that Sam had already made his decision and it did not really matter what she said, what's done is done.

Zoe nodded, the power to shape shift into anything this so called princess could think of… interesting. To Zoe, she just sounded like a regular shapeshifter if anything a creative one. She rested her chin on the couch, watching him move.

“Sounds like you have it all planned out,” Zoe stated, she could see that it would be of no use arguing with him since Sam was dead set on being a timeless creature… not that it was a happy existence. Zoe stood, moving over to Sam, before grabbing a glass out of the cupboard. "What will you do if something goes wrong?"

Sam trusted Aurora completely, she certainly knew what she was doing, at least that's what he thought of her. He gave all responsibility to her and he hoped she would not fail him, failure had not been on Sam's mind at all during this whole situation, he had tried to stay positive and hope that it would work, but if it was to go wrong, how bad would it be? Would Sam start aging backwards? Would he become immediately old? Who knows, and he did not want to know.

"It won't go wrong, Aurora knows what she is doing, but if it did go wrong... It would be something I would have to live with forever." Sam did not hang around with anyone that would question his thoughts and beliefs, if he thought something was going to work out, no one would say anything otherwise, but this one conversation with Zoe has changed his outlook on the whole thing, what if it did go wrong, what would happen to him? His life would be ruined forever that's for sure, but if it was to succeed, it would be a major opportunity for him, it was a large risk indeed, but a risk he was willing to take.

"At least if something does go wrong, it will only affect me and no one else around me... at least I hope not."