Pride and Asma : The photographer

A/N: Another sweet moment between the two of them! Ah ! I love them! I wanted to give them a bit of levity but damn drama waiting in the corner XD well, not a lot of it. She's just super confused. He's confused too. everyone is confused XD BUT this is still a nice moment between the two of them :p I promise I'll have less complicated moments and more genuine stress-free moments! but this is how this one turned out! blame those babies! 

xxx

Pride decided to stay a little longer with Asma. The situation in the Underworld seemed to have improved in his favor. Indeed, since his siblings tried to kill him, Lust and Pride started to retaliate in kind and slowly but surely he regained some measure of control. He scared his minions by staging executions of known traitors. He became more creative in his punishments of the souls who were sent to the Underworld but more importantly he made sure to find the rats who snitched to his brothers and helped ambush him. Everyone knew about Elpis existence once again, due to the primeval goddess scratching the seal but due to the curse, nobody had any idea of where she could be. Lust, however, started to connect the dots about Pride's frequent trips to Earth and assumed that the goddess might be on Earth but hidden. It gave Elpis and her vessel Asma a little bit of rest until they found a way to set the goddess free.

It had been months now since Asma met Pride and her feelings for him quickly evolved over time. She used to see him as a monster. A cold and violent creature that would never hesitate to kill her once she would no longer serve him. The human thought she owed her life only to the fact that he didn't know how to achieve his goal yet and tolerated her presence next to his. After all, he kept telling her how much he loathed humanity and didn't see the point in anything she wanted to do. Christmas, Valentine's day, Easter and all the other holidays didn't mean anything to him. They still didn't but he started to go out of his way to allow her to celebrate whatever she wanted to and however, she pleased. He kept her happy. That was new.

Of course, she grew closer to him. She started to feel less and less scared of the Sin and more and more attracted. To her, it was love. Truth be told, it could have been anything at this point. Her judgment might have been biased and clouded due to her living on her own with him as a sole company. It might have actually been true and genuine since she already knew about him and his true nature. It was confused and confusing, even for him and his feeling. Pride cared for the human a little more genuine than at the beginning. To which extent did he care? That was nebulous and complicated to answer but he did care about her, as a person rather than just a vessel. Maybe that explained why he decided to surprise her on that quiet afternoon. She had been talking almost non-stop for a few weeks about an artistic event taking place in the town they chose to settle in. There would be paintings exhibited, photographers taking pictures of pretty random visitors and great food.

« Fine. You're going but I am going with you. » It wasn't negotiable and Asma was aware of that. The only way for her not to be noticed by any of the gods who were after her was to be near Pride whose aura would be impossible to trace. She also realized that it would be one of the very few days they allowed themselves to be outside and just exist, which excited the mortal even more. The sin realized that he liked to see her face lit up at the new. Pride grinned, an automatic response to her smile and gently stroked her cheek as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

« Thank you! Thank you so much !!! I'm going to take my own camera so I can make beautiful memories of us outside! »

She smiled at him and quickly removed her hands from him. He chuckled and let her go change her clothes. Pride's smile lingered a little bit as he reflecting about making her a little happier through her time with him. After all, it didn't cost him that much to bring a smile up to the human. It wasn't just when they were about to have sex, which he greatly enjoyed. Asma revealed herself to be enthusiastic, demanding, eager to please and to be pleased that he couldn't help but desire her. It went beyond the carnal needs. They've been arguing less and less in the last few weeks mostly because he wasn't home often and when he was, they had sex most of the time. Pride didn't miss how relaxed the atmosphere was at home when they weren't fucking. She was more creative, more willing to share and talk about what she liked to do or the things she wished to experience one day and always, her face lit up and she kept talking. It warmed his heart, the way it did when Elpis was talking about mankind and its wonders or was amazed at the beauty of Nature surrounding them. Her face always lit up and her voice was so soothing that it never missed bringing a smile to his lips.

Asma wasn't Elpis though. He noticed as she came back from the stairs dressed in a skin-tight silver dress and flat boots. She had braided her hair and wore sunglasses and a black calves-length black coat. She had her camera secured against her chest and a big grin on her lips. It took him a second to bask in her beauty before Pride motioned for her to come closer so they could teleport at the location. She wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder as he snapped his fingers and took them out of the safe house. Pride was impeccably dressed as usual. A slick grey suit with a tie and a nice black coat that reached his knees to fit in since they still were in winter and people were covered. It wasn't snowing and it wasn't freezing cold but the air was fresh and he didn't want Asma to catch a cold or worse. There were a lot of people around which didn't make Pride very comfortable. Humans were icky and disgusting and being forced to walk among them was something that crawled under the sin's skin. He hated it but she didn't.

She led him forward, visiting the small exhibitions here and there and taking pictures of the attendees. There was a variation of people from age, size, skin colors and fashion style much to Asma's happiness. They would become models for future drawings. She had an easy contact with others, of course, made easier because the event was art-related so she felt in her comfort zone. While looking for models to photograph, she reached out a tent where a very famous American photographer, Jared Lebowski was taking pictures of people he picked at random. It was a great honor to be chosen to pose for the renowned artist so of course when he stopped her, she gasped and instinctively held onto Pride's hand. He noticed she didn't feel safe for a brief minute and he was about to destroy the man for making her feel that way until she screamed her appreciation and surprise. The Sin relaxed and smiled to himself as her first reaction was to seek for him. He kept his fingers entwined with hers as she gushed over the big beautiful Jared Lebowski. He was a tall man, quite toned with broad shoulders and a broad torso and toned legs. He was blonde and blue-eyed with his hair cut short. Pride didn't like him. He reeked of a strong ego and Pride disliked it.

« Well well well, what do we have here? » He said to Asma as he grabbed her hand for a handshake and pulled it against his mouth so he could fancy-kiss it.

« Mr. Lebowksi ?? I love your work! You have a real knack for making your work so unique and so real. Whenever I look at a picture of your landscapes, it's as if I was already there! » She genuinely complimented him and released Pride's hand so she could put her free hand other his.

« Well, I'm the one honored to meet a beauty like you. »

« A beauty like....me? » There she was, falling for this guy's charm right under Pride's nose. He didn't like it. He didn't like the guy touching Asma as if she already was his.

Pride was jealous.It was in his nature to be possessive but he never actually had any reason to be possessive over Asma. She was human, she was a vessel and his true beloved was trapped within her. Why on Earth would he care about a meatsuit? Well, unlucky for him he realized he did care. It wasn't « Elpis » he saw when that Jared came forward. It was Asma. Naive and sweet and funny woman who was swept away by this punk-ass bitch of a photographer. Of course, he said words she didn't hear often. Of course, she would fall for this. Pride growled lowly and wrapped his arm around her waist to clearly inform the photographer that he would not let him parade away with HIS Asma.

« Uh..yes a beauty like you. Oh, You're the boyfriend? I haven't even noticed you. She's magnificent and I sincerely want to take a few pictures of you both. » He tried to defuse the bomb and suggested the should pose together.

« I think this is a beautiful idea! I would love to take a couple of pictures with my.... »

She trailed off and looked at Pride. The ridiculous idea of him being her boyfriend made her blush so hard that her golden highlights in her eyes seemed to flash briefly. Pride's jaw was tight and hard as he didn't really like the way the man was looking at Asma but he did enjoy that he acknowledged the fact she was his girlfriend. It had a nice ring to it. The photographer imagined that the boyfriend would get tired after two or three shots and would want to move on or at least let her pose as much as she wanted. It worked before, why wouldn't it work now? Jared wasn't a bad guy per say. He wasn't vicious but Asma's beauty struck him.

She never realized how beautiful she actually was, never bothered herself with it before because she was quite withdrawn. Now with Pride in her life and influencing Asma, going out became a necessity, being more open, more talkative and it resulted in her charm working its way without her realizing it. Jared wanted her. As he directed the two of them to take a pose, his mind wandered off. He wanted to take her away on a date and this might simply have been the influence of Pride who as literally a few feet away from the man. Funny how things worked when a sin influenced people around him. Asma didn't notice, she was oblivious to everything, especially the growing attraction of the famous photographer towards her.

« Hold onto her as if she was going to escape and you didn't want to let her go. » Directed Jared, not catching the irony of his words. Pride, who had removed his coat and his vest, was holding Asma's wide hips hard enough for her to notice he meant it. He didn't want to let go of her. She looked up at his face and noticed how somber it was.

« What's wrong with you? » She asked in a worried voice. His aura had changed, his body became colder so she knew he was angry.

« I don't like the way he's looking at you. »

« He's not looking at me in any way suspicious Pride! He's a famous photographer! An icon even! He noticed me! Do you know how many people I would have killed to have him look my way? Now he's taking pictures of us.. of me! I couldn't have dreamed better! » She said with a wide grin.

« I want to kill him. » Pride whispered to her, noticing just how much lust and weird attraction came off of the guy. He was romantically interested in Asma and if the photographer's carnal desire already was too much for Pride, the desire to basically date Asma and wife her drove him crazy. Was it because he could very much lose her to someone else ? no. NO WAY! He never could! She told him he was her world so of course, he was. But anyone else could snatch her away and a world without her became harder to think of. What was wrong with him?

« You won't kill him! He's just taking a couple of pictures of us! Come on, play my boyfriend! »

She said in an encouraging tone while Pride pressed himself closer to her frame. She felt good against him, warm and comforting, which distracted the sin enough from the man. She wanted to play girlfriend/boyfriend? He would act as such. He grabbed her cheek and pulled her face up so he could kiss her and force Jared to take pictures of the two sharing a kiss. It made the photographer uncomfortable The kiss was slow, tender and Asma found herself forgetting about the world around her as she kissed the sin. She was so small compared to him, to soft and felt so good. Her eyes were closed as she relished in his taste and when she opened them again, she found herself blushing a little more. Why did he kiss her like he cared? Her eyes grew wide but she was distracted again by Jared who snapped some more pictures and encouraged her to come forward, distancing herself from the sin.

« Alright! I think we have enough pictures of you two together. Now I need a picture with the Miss only. » He said as he held her arm.

« No. » Pride said as he grabbed the man's hand and pushed it away from her. « I think we're done here. »

« I think I can do as I damn please! I photograph the most beautiful landscapes and the most beautiful women I see. She is rare and I want her, so get off of me and let me take her portraits! »

« I said. No. » Pride insisted as he grabbed Jared's arm and squeezed harder, nearly breaking the bone.

« I think it's alright! We'll be going now. » Asma said quickly as she noticed Pride might become violent to the human if she wasn't careful. « Thank you for your time and thank you so much for noticing me Mr. Lebowski. »

« You're welcome, Miss. » The photographer replied, shocked about what just happened. As she put her coat back and Pride got dressed back she asked.

« Is there a way I could get the pictures? » He nodded and took her e-mail address and sent her the pictures. « Thank you again! We're on our way! »

As soon as they left the tent, Asma held Pride's hand and walked faster towards an empty spot in between tents.

« What the hell was that? » She angrily yelled at him. « What did you think you were doing? »

« I was the jealous boyfriend. You asked me to play the boyfriend am I right? Well, you got what you asked for! » She was dumbfounded and looked at him with eyes wide open.

« Come again? » He chuckled and then put his hands on her shoulders. He let his hands feel the weight of her heavy pink locks on them and leaned his forehead against hers. « Pride! I'm angry at you. Don't come all seductive at me! »

« I'm not doing anything. » He grinned. It was a tactic to dodge her questions and subdue her anger but Asma was still angry and was persistent.

« I am very serious! I don't follow you. You're with me because Elpis is trapped inside of me, I get it. I really get it! I remember when you told me you couldn't say you loved me back because of her. I remember !! » She swallowed hard. « I am trapped between the wall and the stone and I don't want to be anymore. Someone, a good guy, noticed me! I was thinking that maybe once we find a way to set your beloved free, then I could find a way to go on with my life and rebuild myself. Because of you.. you're huge! You're super huge and super invasive like a virus! I'm infected with you! I'm head over heels about you okay ?! But it's painful too... because it's impossible. And you acted like a jealous boyfriend while we're not even dating and we never will! Do you want me unhappy? Do you want me unhappy because you did it! Congratulations ! » She tried to remove him from her but he held himself there, forcing her to hit his chest before she just shut her eyes and let a couple of tears roll down.

Pride looked at her intently. Not knowing what to say after such a speech. He didn't want to question himself even though it was clear in his heart and mind. He didn't want to say anything that could hurt her even more but he heard her. He saw the pain in her face, he heard it in her cracked voice. He wanted to make an effort to the day would be memorable in a good way, for her, but he had a misstep and he didn't like it. He liked being with her earlier, was flattered at the idea of being her boyfriend, maybe a little more than flattered. He was jealous that someone tried to be with her, but at the same time, he was Pride. Somehow, at the back of his head, the Sin thought that he was rediscovering with Asma some of the things he discovered when he was with Elpis and forgot about. He grabbed her cheeks and stroked them with his larger hands.

« I don't want you un-happy Asma. This is not true. I took you there because I thought it would make you happy. I walked the Earth with you and among humans because I thought it would make you happy. I don't care about those cockroaches, but I care about you. You might have the feeling I am playing with your heart but I am not. I.. went out of line with this guy because I didn't like the way he looked at you. I didn't like to see the lust in his eyes, I didn't want him to hurt you. I didn't want him to take you away from me. That's the truth. » He admitted before he leaned his forehead against hers. « I still want you to have the time of your life and I kinda liked the idea of being your jealous boyfriend for a day. Keeping you safe from potential serial lovers.» He went OUT of his way to make a joke about a situation that wasn't funny at all. He wasn't a man who joked around but he understood she needed humor to at least smile again. They both knew he didn't answer her in the all honesty but at this moment in time, it was his truth. It was the truth. Beyond the need to have her alive and by his sides, there was the need of her company.

« So.. you're going to be a fake boyfriend for me for a whole day? » She asked, pouting still but thrilled by the suggestion. He nodded. « A jealous boyfriend who wouldn't want guys to try to snatch me from you? » -He nodded again, noticing her smile as she was starting to be more receptive to his suggestion. After all, they had a day together, why waste it being sad while you could be sad and mope around at home for weeks? She wrinkled her nose and cleaned her cheeks with the back of her hand.

« Very jealous boyfriend, if I can get to punish someone for just glancing at you. »

« Does that mean you're going to have a --- »

She was caught off guard as Pride pressed his lips against hers in a spontaneous kiss. He had been wanting to kiss her again ever since they shared that kiss at the photographer tent and he knew that a kiss would work better than words he couldn't quite say. It was a soft kiss, one that took its sweet time so they could taste one another. Asma dropped her arms on each side of her frame while Pride cupped both of her cheeks and kissed her plump lips. Asma softly moaned into the kiss and opened her eyes to see he had closed his, which was rare and indicated to the young woman that he was indeed trying to enjoy the kiss. She put her hands on his and gently pulled away from him.

« What was that for? » She asked with a short breath, her head spinning around because of the kiss.

« I'm the jealous boyfriend remember? » Was his way not to say 'because I really wanted to kiss you again.'. Asma shrugged her shoulders and got along with this explanation. « Come on, let's keep going. There are plenty of artists you haven't seen and you should keep on taking pictures of random strangers, right? »

She nodded and wrapped her coat around her frame and took her camera back. Asma was still shaken up by the kiss she'd just shared with Pride but glanced at him when she felt his hand holding hers nonchalantly. He committed to the rôle, she couldn't have said less than that. She held his hand and the two resumed their visit to the festival. Asma's heart was conflicted about it but he gave her something she strongly believed she would never have and for this taste of paradise, she was grateful. Walking around hand in hand with Pride, making him taste new food, chasing around models for her and buying a couple of books and art supplies truly made her happy. Seeing her with a big grin on her face every time she met an idol of hers made him smile in return and although he made it sound like it was annoying, playing pretend was actually fun. As fun as it could get. The best moments were when he did offer her a couple of things she had always wanted to have and she instinctively kissed him. Pride enjoyed her proximity, her tenderness and her genuine affection towards him. He kept an eye open for a potential threat but this day was uncanny for both of them since none of their enemies were on their tails. After a couple of hours walking around, Asma got tired and hungry.

« Can we go home? » She asked a very relieved Pride who teleported them back home. He put all her stuff on the chair and went to fetch himself some bourbon to forget about the human scum he was forced to mingle with when she stopped him mid-walk with a surprise hug from behind. He didn't move and looked down at his waist where her arms were wrapped around and he smiled briefly.

« I'm not going anywhere Asma, just at the bar to drink something. »

« I know... I just.. I wanted to thank you for the day. »

« There's no need to. You needed to go out after all. I kept you indoors for way too long. » He said with a grin before he tried to move again but she held him tighter.

« Thank you for playing pretend with me today too. It felt... it felt nice to have this kind of interaction again. » She removed her hands and turned around to bare her back at him.

« I know the situation you live in isn't ideal. »

Pride acknowledged, knowing full well that it wasn't the 'situation' that was the problem. Her feelings for him were because they weren't shared. He was aware he was both the reason she felt safe but also the reason she was in distress and Pride didn't like this at all. He could make her forget if he wanted to. He could make it all a distant memory or a dream or anything he liked really. It was at the tip of his fingertip and just snapping them would make it work. She would never have been in love with him, she wouldn't be in pain because he couldn't return the feelings. It was just there, just a finger snap away.

« It's what it is... there's nothing we can do to change it eh? Even if we could. I guess I wouldn't want to forget about you. » She said, chewing at her bottom lip. Pride eyes glowed intensely at her words.

« You would keep on feeling the way you do about me? Despite.. »

« Yes! Despite.. the pain that comes with it. » She turned on her heels. « It's a gift to be able to feel anything.I wouldn't want me unable to. I take the good, and the bad and the ugly because this is human. We have to go through this. I lashed out at you earlier because the pain was unbearable and I don't have much choice but to stay with you until I served my purpose. I was thinking about the aftermath. About how I could rebuild myself without you.... » She clenched her fists and sighed. « And I perceived your actions as forbidding me to move on from you....I would have to. If you move on with Elpis, which is how things are supposed to be, then I shall move on too. » She felt his hands on her shoulders and closed her eyes. « I will never forget you Pride, it's impossible eh ?.. but I want to live. I need to live. I need to mo-- » He kissed her again, both to silence her for reasons he didn't know just yet but mostly to reassure her that she wasn't just a meatsuit serving a purpose.

In a world where Fate was an absolute master, Hope had the nerves to reincarnate inside of a mere mortal. In the old world, Asma would have shrugged it off, everything would just be « Fate's will » and she would have gotten along without an ounce of regret. She would have been a sheep. She would have been lifeless almost. But because Hope inhabited her, she dared think of another way to live her life and experienced her feelings at the maximum of her ability. She had dreams she wanted to fulfill, fears she experienced by Pride's sides, a curiosity she wanted to satisfy. This kiss was no exception. It soothed her instantly and she kissed him back. It wasn't an urgent kiss like they often shared when they had sex. This one was patient, soft and tender. He poured his worries into it but also the fact he cared about her more than he would ever admit. Asma turned around so she could kiss him better and put her hands on his chest while he wrapped his around her waist. When he pulled away, both smiled.

« Stop talking as if you were going to die. Not on my watch, not ever. » He began with. « And... I am not trying to prevent you from living your life. I wanted to keep you safe from this man. See how well your jealous boyfriend acted when we kept walking? Wasn't I the best boyfriend you ever had? »

« I think the day isn't over yet. You're still my boyfriend until tomorrow. » She joked, her infectious smile coming back to her face. Pride grinned at her, relieved that she was calm and more receptive to him again AND not talking about her feelings. Pride wasn't dodging reality, he was fully aware of how things were on her side, but he never stopped to truly think this through ever since he brought her along with him. His family attacked him, he still didn't know how to set Elpis free and now Asma had feelings for him and he realized he cared about her and it didn't look great from his perspective. He still had to figure out if he wanted Elpis out of her prison, out of spite or because he felt something for her so imagine if he actually grew feelings for this human? Messy. That would be messy and Pride hated messy. So he would not address any of this until he was sure of how his world was turning around. He would not encourage her to be in love with him because it would be easier for her if she wasn't. But you couldn't manipulate feelings. So he couldn't manipulate hers.

Not even his.

(TBC)