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"Where dost one lay in the golden gates, where heaven and hell meet astray?"
Impulse huffed, tail flicking in agitation as he ignored the voice and continued working on the inside of his factory.
"Dost thou hold in thy hand a prick of a thorn? Dost thou bite their thumb at me?"
"I'm working, Uriel, leave me be," Impulse snapped, pulling a welding torch out of his shulker box.
"Sire of Lucifer's House! 'Naught alone one could find, sir. To hold in thy hand a forgotten will--pull thine head out of thy collar! Mischievous makings are corollary to a rotted apple's foul smell."
"If you've come here to mock me about pranking the Octagon, then you can leave."
"The Marquis holds naught sympathy in the cavity he calls for a heart."
"We filled their base with boats, Uriel, we didn't murder them or grief their stuff," Impulse glowered, "I'm allowed to have fun every once in a while."
"Me thinks a man's definition of fun finds problems, good sir."
Impulse rolled his eyes, "Uriel, I'm one of the least man-like things on this server."
"Daemons are not far from wicked men. Neither, good sir, are the winged fellow from the clay figure."
Impulse crafted copper gears, slotting them together until they wound a pulley connected to a food press. This machine in particular would make amethyst shard candy. He affixed a thick crucible to one of the far pipes so that the molten sugar could have a space to be stored.
"By that definition, Grian and Keralis are pretty human," Impulse dropped a bucket of molten iron onto his smithing table, pounding it into a thin sheet.
"Those words are of a snake's tongue, elongated in tone and value."
Impulse barked out a laugh, "You said it first, not me."
[Ethoslab burnt to a crisp]
Ethoslab: tango come get your cousin pleas
[Ethoslab burnt to a crisp]
TangoTek: I don't think we're related????
Ethoslab: H e l p
Impulse chuckled as he looked down at his communicator, "Granted, I don't think anyone on this server is human."
"Pray thee, good sir, what would seed such a notion?"
"Oh hush, Uriel."
Impulse awoke to a blood-curdling shriek.
Rubbing at his eyes, he trudged over to the factory entrance and found Bdubs hiding underneath one of his trucks. There was a mob of phantoms huddled around him like vultures, cackling and screeching as they tried to bite him. Impulse grabbed a pen and paper from inside the factory, quickly scribbling his glamour rune on it and shoving the paper in his mouth.
He hurried over to where Bdubs was hiding underneath his truck. Impulse growled at the phantoms which squawked indignantly and flew away.
"Bdubs? You okay?" Impulse asked, bending down to look underneath the truck.
His mossy coat was puffed up, making him look like a frightened cat. His eyes glowed bright yellow as his slit pupils darted around in panic.
"It's dark," Bdubs trembled. His voice was more animalistic than human, like the sound of dripstone dripping in a cave.
A zombie groaned nearby and Bdubs slammed his eyes shut, "Not enough light. It's dark. Mobs will spawn."
Impulse gently pulled Bdubs out from under the truck, carrying him bridal-style back into the factory. He set him down on the couch and lit the candles on his coffee table. Impulse waited patiently for Bdubs to calm down, rubbing his back and humming softly.
Eventually, Bdub's moss coat reduced in size, his eyes lost their yellow glow, and his breathing slowed.
"It was dark," Bdubs shivered.
"I know, bud. Can you tell me five things you can see?"
Bdubs looked around for a minute, "The concrete walls, the lantern, the sea lanterns in the floor, the glowstone in the ceiling, and the torches in the far hallway."
"Good," Impulse nodded, "Feel any better?"
"A bit," Bdubs sighed, "Has anybody slept, yet?"
"Doc did a couple of minutes ago, so it shouldn't be dark out anymore."
Bdubs hummed, curling up next to Impulse, "It was too dark. You need to light up your trucks."
"I'll do that later today," Impulse wrapped his arms around Bdubs, pulling him into his lap.
He waited until Bdubs had finally fallen asleep to take the wad of paper out of his mouth. It was dry--Impulse was a demon and didn't have water in his body--and badly crinkled. Impulse's glamour dropped with a quiet crackle of energy.
His earring was in his bedroom, and he didn't dare move and wake up Bdubs. He carefully pulled his handheld communicator out of his pocket--it was a pain typing on his wrist com with huge demon fingers--and began to text the only person he knew that would be up at this hour.
ImpulseSV: etho come get bdubs please he hid under one of my trucks and is now passed out
ImpulseSV: I used paper glamour and now I'm all itchy
Ethoslab: imagine having to use glamour
Ethoslab: couldn't be me
ImpulseSV: shut and come get your husband
Ethoslab: be there in five :)
Impulse froze as Bdubs began to stir. Bdubs looked up at Impulse with tired eyes, tilting his head.
"Are you a new hermit or am I just in Hell?"
Impulse blew out a breath, "Hell. You--we'll go with Hell. Uh, somebody's coming to get you, so you can go back to sleep."
Bdubs hummed, "What kind've demon are you?"
Impulse wanted to slam his head into the wall.
He couldn't tell Bdubs he was Impulse otherwise, he'd freak out, but--
"Cimejes," Impulse said quickly, "I'm Cimejes."
"Haven't heard of a Kim-ari-is demon before," Bdubs yawned, curling back up against Impulse, "Tha's cool."
Bdubs fell back asleep, and Impulse let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
He could get away with telling Zedaph since he was already hugely into superstitious stuff and had been in danger, but he REALLY didn't want everyone on the server knowing a biblical demon was walking around.
Etho, Zedaph, and Xisuma were the only three that knew for certain what he was. Some of the server, like Grian, Keralis, and Scar, knew that he was nonhuman but didn't know exactly what he was. Aside from that, the rest of the server probably just saw him as that one funny candy man dude in a giant factory rather than the Marquis of Trivium.
"Well hello there, Mr. Demon Man," A voice whisper-teased
A Cheshire grin materialized in the air, and Etho's body quickly followed.
"He thought he was in hell," Impulse said exasperatedly, "He saw me and his first question was "are you a new hermit or am I in hell?"."
"And you told him Hell?" Etho snickered quietly.
"He would ask Xisuma if there was a new hermit."
"And he wouldn't ask if he died and went to hell?"
"...Touche."
Etho gently took Bdubs in his arms, "Alright, 'Dubs, let's get you home. Thanks for helpin' him, Cimi."
"Not a problem," Impulse gave Etho a thumbs-up.
Etho and Bdubs vanished, leaving only a floating grin in their wake which also quickly disappeared.
Impulse flopped face-first onto the couch, hoping to every angel in heaven and demon in hell that Bdubs wouldn't ask about what he had seen.
Or recognize Impulse.