Her Guardian {Angel} Demon

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His gaze made her feel naked, but his poke made her giggle. "Next time please warn me when you're going to get so close." She leaned her upper body forward bringing them even closer together which made her stomach flip, "See, it's odd to have such a sudden invasion of space."

She remained leaning forward with her hand on the edge of the countertop. Her legs were warm, warmer than another person's body should make them, but she was too flustered to even bring it up. His species couldn't be less important to her at this moment. Besides, he had offered her genuine answers and advice. If he was here to do harm she was an easy target, yet he hadn't even attempted to harm her which meant his job must be important. Protecting her that is. She knew he wasn't an angel, he couldn't be. His emotions were too easy to read for that, at least she assumed that angels would be better at not giving off so much emotional energy.

"I thought the empath crap I heard growing up was just that, crap. Even when the dreams started I didn't look it up because I assumed it was a symptom of depression or anxiety, you know, normal people issues, but I guess I'm not that lucky," she rolled her eyes. "I think it would find me rather untasty because according to you just the sheer amount of sugar in my coffee could kill me," a smile grazed her lips momentarily, "But, as a final question before I leave you alone, is there anything you could do to help me?" The words stuck on her tongue as she pushed them out, each one coated in desperation and embarrassment.

Logan had always been strong, she always felt like she had to be and to be asking for help with something so personal from a stranger who most likely wasn't even human took something from her. Never had her pride been hurt easily, but she was upset with herself for coming off so desperate to Daniel. Even the odd sense of safety and familiarity she felt with him off-put her.
 
Daniel, down on one knee and kneeling before Logan with his vision trained on the gaping tear at her midriff, was completely taken by surprise as she laughed and leaned in closer. He had a choice between falling on his ass, which he simply had too much dignity to do, or putting his hands on her hips to steady himself. Hands it was!

He coughed as he levered himself up in the small space, and backed up a step. "I can see that," he said, managing to look both impish and chagrined at the same time. It hadn't felt bad though, quite the opposite. She just felt so damn familiar. He wondered if she could be...but no, it was too soon. Wasn't it? He had to admit to himself he wasn't really in the know when it came to having the intel on reincarnation. You'd think by now he...

Her words broke in to his inner dialog, and he returned his gaze to hers. "Yes," he said. "I can teach you some things. We can make you stronger, give you something to fight with. And then we'll face it. Together."
 
"You promise?" she held out a pinky to him in a childlike way, "It's stupid I know, but I stand by pinkie promises."

Despite his newfound distance, she could still feel the warmth of his hands. That jarring familiarity as if that's where his hands belonged despite them never having been there before. She felt almost desperate for his affection as if he was a boyfriend she hadn't seen in months. Odd, she thought, but he seemed to be flustered as well. Logan wondered if his reason for being flustered was the same as hers, but certainly, he would've been more upfront if his end goal was to get with her. He didn't seem like the type to beat around the bush so to say.

"I do suppose that if you're meant to help me and say we will do this together, even when I cannot see you I should assume you're there which means there will be rules. Not that I will know if you follow them. You're also free to stay here if work allows and you don't mind the left side of the bed," she smiled, but it faded quickly. The fond feeling she got about that situation disappearing just as fast as it had overtaken her. "Oh, and I work at a coffee shop which means you won't be able to be with me alllll day," she stretched her hands wide, "if that was your plan at least. If you need me to stay home I can try to get some time off or find something that'll let me work for home, like selling bracelets or paintings or something."
 
Looking at Logan's pinky held up there in the air waiting for him, he felt another stab of nostalgia. "It's not... ... It's not stupid," he said, solemnly hooking his pinky in with hers and making the promise. Again. This time would be different, he swore to himself, even as he swore to her. He looked in to her eyes and said, "I promise."

Momentary tension broken, he grinned at her mentioning that she wouldn't know if he broke the rules. Nope. She wouldn't. "You are my work," he said, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder, and then apparently though better of it. Instead he ran it through his hair again and looked away. So smooth, so smooth.

"Nah, you don't need to disrupt your life for me, all fainting aside," he said, favoring her with that grin again. Then his tone became more practical. "I'll just get a job where you work, then all the bases will be covered."
 
"You know it's not just that easy right?" She laughed and hopped off the counter, patting him on the arm as she passed him to grab the now room temperature creamer and return it to the fridge. "Even if you do get the job you have to learn how to make all sorts of coffee and coffee variants."

She let out a deep sigh. "I can tell my boss you're a friend from out of town I've known since I was young," maybe a lie, but she felt like she knew him which was enough truth for her. "That may help get your foot in the door so she will pick you over other applicants. Even if we work the same job we may not work the same shifts, but if you work you can pay half of the rent and buy your own food," she laughed and walked back over to him, leaning with her hip against the countertop. "I can show you around town today or we can just relax and talk or whatever since you seem adamant that you will always be watching which, by the way, just gives me more opportunity to mess with you."
 
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"I'm a fast learner," said Daniel as he turned to watch Logan cross the kitchen. He grinned. "I'll just use my devilish charms on your boss and it'll be a done deal. Seemed to work on you, alright. Or is there something I could have done to be just that much more debonair?"

He seemed altogether unconcerned about the whole job thing. And rent. And food. At the mention of leaving the house today, though, he shook his head. "You haven't slept. You collapsed less than an hour ago and you have a hole in your aura I can see right through," he said. "I don't think you should be going anywhere."

He began walking toward Logan's bedroom as if the conversation was settled. "A little sleep will do you some good - we can't train with you in this condition, anyway."
 
"Training? It would be less work to just wander around town together," she grumbled trailing behind him. "And you shouldn't be so supercilious; it's unattractive."

Logan brushed past him and plopped down on her bed, winding herself slightly in the process. "Besides, having a hole in my aura makes me interesting," she joked, "How many other girls have you met with holes in their aura?" Her arms pushed her so she was sat upright, and she patted the empty space next to her encouraging him to sit.

Sleep sounded heavenly, but she knew it wasn't going to be easy. Even if he had been lurking long enough to have caught her sleeping, which wouldn't surprise her, she doubted that he fully understood just how bad this was gonna be. He seemed confident in his ability, but she wouldn't know whether that was ego or fact until they had put it to the test. "Will I actually get any sleep or is this just gonna be like boot camp for me?"
 
Daniel wasn't too familiar with that word, but figured it didn't really matter - Logan's tone told him all he needed to know. Instead, he just quipped back. "But that's part of my charm, is it not?"

"Well, yes, having a hole in your aura does make you interesting, in the way blood in the water attracts sharks," he said wryly as he approached the bed. But instead of sitting beside her as she'd indicated, he went past her and to the closet. "Sleep first, boot camp later," came his voice from within. "Do you have any candles?"
 
"Candles? Do you wanna have a seance?" she laughed softly and buried herself in the blanket, still in her work clothes. "I guess you're a shark than or would the dude in my dreams be the shark and you're supposed to play the hot EMT that saves my life," she joked softly.

Logan let her hair down and shook it out before tying it back up but with most of the hair off her neck now. "I keep a candle on the desk over there if you can find it. It's kind of messy," she glanced over at it, "actually, I'll get it. I don't know what's up there." She climbed back out from under the blanket and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She stretched once she had finally stood up, and then she made her way over to the desk. Each paper was set in a pile as she dug through everything. It was nice to see the desk organized but at the same time, she hadn't found the candle. "So maybe I don't have a candle," she admitted sheepishly, "we can go get one if it's that important. Or maybe I moved it to the bathroom...."
 
"Something like that," came Daniel's voice from the closet where he was apparently still searching. But whether it was in response to the question about the seance, the shark, or the hot EMT wasn't clear.

Eventually he came out, empty handed, and sat down on the bed to watch her continue the search. "Candles," he said. "I need seven of them. Seven candles, or at least seven similar things to represent my focus. I'm going to create a ward around you."

As Logan moved around looking for them, Daniel shifted things on the bed to create clear spaces for whatever she came back with. It appeared that they would be going around her in a circle. He called to her over one shoulder, "I saw some things on your cold box where you kept the cream, those will work if you don't have anything else."
 
"Go grab them then. In here I have a candle that's barely got any wax left," she grabbed it anyways and brought it into the bedroom, "I'm not sure I know what that means, but I don't really have any other choice other than to trust you."

Logan pulled out the drawers of her nightstands to see if there were any other candles in there. "I have a fake tea light candle in here, but I have a feeling that's not going to help you in this process. Will this ruin my blanket? I really care about this blanket," she took a fistful of the blanket in her hand momentarily before dropping it.

She was nervous which was encouraging her to keep talking. So much was happening and changing, and the only clear thing that she had experienced in the past month or so was him. Why him? Of course, I couldn't just have any semblance of a normal life that would be far too simple, and the world isn't that kind to me it seems. Ugh.

"Daniel, I'm gonna sit for a second. I have a headache," she sat on the edge of the bed and rested her head in her hands. This wasn't even close to as bad as earlier's episode, but it still came on all at once which is why she had to sit. Of course, a disaster around a stranger. And that stranger is hot and familiar and here to protect me. What kind of fever dream has today been?
 
Daniel frowned with concern as Logan came back in to the bedroom with a mostly spent candle. "That does seem to be the case, yes," he said, taking the candle from her and putting it on the nightstand. He could tell she was mostly spent herself, winding down into exhaustion. "No, it will not ruin your blanket. Your blanket is safe," he assured her as he watched her aura become more and more depleted.

"Just rest," he said, guiding her to the space he'd set up on the bed. "No, don't worry about your clothes, leave them on. I think it'll make you more comfortable that way." He bodily moved her the rest of the way up on the bed, and gently cradled her head onto a pillow. "Just rest. Nothing more to worry about right now."

He felt uncomfortable leaving her, but he needed something to focus with, it was the way he was trained and he didn't trust himself to just wing it with something as important as this. He practically ran to the kitchen, to the colorful letters he'd seen there. The whole alphabet seemed to be represented, some of the more common ones even had extras.

With purpose, he selected the seven brightly colored pieces of plastic, one by one. P-R-O-T-E-C-T. He came back to where Logan was laying on the bed now, and set the letters around her in their respective places. "Your blanket is safe," he whispered to her, as he brushed her hair back from her face. "And so are you." The expression on his face was unreadable.

He sat himself down cross legged at the foot of the bed, moving carefully so as not to disturb her or the letters, and then began to focus. He poured just a little bit of his life force in to each of the letters. In his eyes it appeared as a warm, golden glow, mixed with blue becoming green in places as the light began to spin around Lauren. He shook his head. Logan, her name is Logan he chided himself.
 
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His care in placing her comfortably on the bed made her heart warm and elicited a few new attacks from the butterflies in her stomach. Logan appreciated his reassurance and how natural it felt both for him to offer it and for her to receive it.

I miss the old times. 'Old times.' What am I saying? Him and I have no old times, and I've never had a guy show care towards me only to start a ritual. Her forehead wrinkled as the words kept spinning around in her mind. If the creature in her dreams hadn't already taken enough sleep from her, her incessant overthinking would be the winner of stealing sleep. Luckily, she had been so close to total exhaustion that her brain didn't even have the energy to keep arguing with itself.

Enter Astral Realm

Anxiety washed over Logan instantly once she got a glance at the familiar labyrinth her dreams had sometimes brought her to. She knew it was only a matter of minutes before she was being chased once again just like every other night. As the reality set in that she would have to go through this all over again, she began to lose faith in Danny---Daniel. Daniel was on the outside. She should've asked him if being still in her sleep was a requirement because she was almost certain she wouldn't stay laying the way he put her as the dream atmosphere became more hectic.

Without a second thought, she ducked into a room two doors into a hallway. It would find her; it always did. Something about the room gave her peace of mind, however, which is why she visited it most times she ended up in this maze. The room was familiar even in the first dream. It felt safe in the way a childhood home would which is why she made a point to visit it. It offered her a few moments to relax before the creature busted in the door, screaming or growling at her. One of these days the maze will change and it will back me into a corner in this room. Nothing is stopping it from taking even more safety from me than it already has. I can't even sleep off a heavy day because I get trusted into this death game where I narrowly escape.

Her mind drifted to Daniel, sat on the edge of her bed. He had made sure to calm her before sending her off, and for a moment she had forgotten what awaited her inside her own head. If it was even in her head. "Please," she mumbled to herself, "don't leave me here. I-" Her short script of wishes was interrupted by a banging on the door, and --not even seconds later-- the door was slammed open, leaving her with no choice but to run into the next room and continue this run through rooms and halls. She prayed Daniel would be able to find her when he needed to. Her feet hit the ground, legs pushing her forward as she belittled herself for not asking more questions about how he would be able to help her. She had already been so spent she hadn't even thought about it while she was conscious, but now it plagued her.
 
On the bed, focusing intently, Daniel could feel Logan's distress. He redoubled his effort, and the spinning circle of light sped up at his intense focus He was muttering under his breath, a mantra of some kind, and when he opened his eyes they were purest black.

"An anchor, not a door. An anchor, not a door," he said under his breath. He willed her back into the space he had created for her. This was not the time to face anything, and she was surrounded by the ritual itself, held in a warm space. A safe space where her soul could rest. A gold, blue and green space that would allow no danger. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a space. Just a span of time. "An anchor, not a door." A space, not a room. Safety, not a maze.

Beads of sweat began to appear on Daniel's forehead and he realized this was going to exhaust him. But at least his energetic guts weren't leaking from his abdomen. "An anchor, not a door. Rest. Rest. Rest. A space, not a room. You're safe, Lauren. Safety. Your blanket is safe." And as she lay on it where he'd placed her, he knew it was so. His black eyes tracked to make sure she hadn't tossed an arm out of the circle and was glad to see she had not.

"Good thing it's such a big blanket," he said, breathing hard. He couldn't imagine what was going on that could possibly be taxing him this much. Was she fighting herself?
 
Logan took a sharp turn with her head turned back to watch the creature which resulted in her slamming into a wall. "Fuck," she muttered, deciding she had gained enough distance and dipping into another room.

She closed the door behind her and pushed furniture and debris against it deciding it would pose more of a challenge for the creature. On the outside, she could feel her body start to sweat and spasm, but on the inside, she was just sweating and gasping for air. Her feelings were twisted into one of those unsolvable puzzles you got at the dollar store. While she wanted to run she also felt like she should stop and anchor down in a room. The exhaustion she had felt while conscious carried deep into her subconscious. Each blink got longer as she fought herself to float in the ocean of emotions around her. At this point, the creature had been an afterthought.

"Please just wake me up," she spoke softly, fighting her urge to scream out to Daniel. "I can't be alone here anymore; it'll get me, Danny." Her tone was desperate, loving. Her body drove itself to the door, listening for any sign of the creature being close, but all she could hear was her own heartbeat. Logan's chest rose and fell slowly as she finally managed to catch her breath.

Why me, and why him? Who is he, and why do I think of him in such a fond sense -- sometimes more than others? I just want it to be over, but I have to make it out of here for him. He's putting himself on the line for me, and the least I can do is fight for myself a bit. It's just a little longer; I know I can make it. I've done this a million times, and this will not be the time that it beats me.
 
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It hurt to admit it, but Daniel couldn't do anything but hold his focus on the ward and hope she calmed down enough to stop fighting with herself.
 
Logan sat herself down, her heart rate slowing to normal as she finally managed to calm down. The room felt safer, the atmosphere less hateful. Silently she said her thanks to Daniel, allowing herself to believe that the real danger had passed. All she had left to do now was to let it go. If she held onto it, she would just conjure a threat to keep her imagination in the right.

Her mind drifted to Daniel, seeing him sat on the edge of her bed as she fell asleep. Remembering the way his hands gently brushed her hair from her face and wishing they would've lingered there a bit longer. All that was on her mind was him. Logan imagined him laying next to her, looking at her wand waiting for her to wake up so he could greet her in that smooth voice she loved so much. Loved? I don't love him; I barely know him. But boy do I want to get to know him.

With her mind drifting entirely away from the labyrinth the room around her became her room, and the entire maze had become her apartment. To her dismay, he wasn't with her here, but she knew on the outside, the real him was there. So close to her, worried for her safety, and she couldn't ask for more at the moment. She wondered if he felt the same. The odd familiarity, the security, and the desire to be close to each other physically.
 
Daniel breathed a sigh of relief as Logan's dream state finally began to calm. He continued to sit there, eyes closed again, legs crossed with his arms resting on his knees. His hands draped over, fingertips almost touching the blanket. If she could just get even a half hour of rest unmolested, her natural healing process would kick in.

The gold, green and blue circle of light began to slow its crazy spin around the circle of letters that surrounded Logan, settling into a more relaxed state. PROTECT. And he was, but he could only do so much. He imagined Logan must have been so habituated to being terrified upon falling asleep that she'd taken it down with her, even though she was safe now. A little sleeping PTSD.

It only took a bit of focus at this point, and he could feel the sweat drying on his brow. He really should have taken his trench coat off before he readied himself... Oh well, live and learn, nothing to be done about it now, he thought. Lightly maintaining his focus on the ward, the rest of his mind wandered. Back to an earlier time, when he had begun to actually train for what he did now.

At first, as a half-demon he had fulfilled his assignments like a normal demon, just torturing souls in a sloppy way that really had no lasting impact beyond the pain they endured itself. It wasn't until almost a lifetime later that it occurred to him that maybe these people who took advantage of the weak could do with feeling a little weakness themselves.

It seemed, however, that the art of torture wasn't really an optional class in the Demon realm. Most demons were full-blooded sadists content just to inflict physical pain upon freshly departed souls. But Daniel's assignments were of a different nature - he was a specialist. He meted out justice upon the souls of the living. He'd realized long before that all of these bastards were just like he had been.

His human side, the remains of his mangled soul, allowed him to see the difference between right and wrong. And as such he needed to learn, to become more. And so he sought out a practitioner of the arts in the Human realm. That was when he first met Her, back in the late 1800's.
 
Human Realm
Logan's breathing hitched momentarily as she rolled onto her side, curling up into a ball and hugging herself. Her subconscious aching for the feeling of another being so severely that it was willing to settle for a hug she was giving herself. Some nights she curled up with a pillow, but the way she'd fallen asleep this time didn't really account for that. Never in Logan's lifetime had she fallen asleep in someone else's arms. While she longed for the feeling of another person she would cuddle with a pillow which she became dependant on. It was hard for her to fall asleep without something to wrap her arms around unless she was exhausted entirely or had no other choice.

She could remember the feeling of someone else despite never having felt it. It was almost as if her mind's desire was so strong it conjured the feeling for her, but with what reference? It felt so real to her -- her only conscious frame of reference being a hug -- despite her never having experienced it, and sometimes when she woke up alone she could feel her heart ache. Who is it aching for? Sometimes her dreams were coated in so much fog it was if she had been watching them through a screen. It was those dreams that she woke up from wanting more, missing whomever she had been with for the duration of.

Occasionally she would mumble nonsense before calming herself fully leaving her breathing the only sound coming out of her. People used to tell Logan she spoke in her sleep, but they were never able to make out the words she had been saying. To her, this meant that any noise she made in her sleep was barely audible to others which made it easier for her to fall asleep at other people's houses. Growing up she had worried a lot about snoring loudly because when her dad slept it sounded like a train was passing by. Lucky for her, she did not inherit the same issue.
 
Daniel was pulled out of his reverie by Logan as she rolled on to her side, still thankfully within the circle of the ritual upon which he was concentrating. His mentor had taught him how to renew his own energy even while expending it. A kind of breathing and dual focus, which he used now. She really was a great teacher, he thought to himself. No, more than that. A great friend. His first love, in fact.

"Olivia," he whispered, not even aware he was speaking. She'd had a way of getting in to his head, and sharing what he needed to know in a way that made sense to him. She hadn't even asked him why he wanted to practice in the first place, not for years. But he had a feeling she knew all along that there was more to him than met the eye. Much more.

And yet she accepted him despite his demon half. Maybe even because of it, he realized. He hadn't known how desperately he had needed a light in his life, what with all the dark souls he faced day in and day out. His visits had been monthly at first, then weekly, then daily. They had fallen in love before either of them had known it.

The lessons in magic, always white magic or 'good' magic, had continued all throughout her life. He'd like to think she approved of how he used what she taught him - he was, after all, just attending to those souls he was assigned to torture. Souls who deserved it, and some of whom even changed their ways after he was done with them.
 
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