The sight of the Anithrope falling back and knocking himself unconscious was... rather pathetic, but if nothing else, it seemed to help Ijemaru's mood. Black had let his hand fall upon seeing the sight, but the human didn't start speaking irrationally again. Instead, he looked like he was holding in laughter now.<br/><br/>"You change your mind too quickly," the demon complained.<br/><br/>The human recovered himself slightly but still wore an amused smile. "Life is short. I can't afford to be stagnant."<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Life is short...</span>Black thought.<span style="font-style: italic">Yeah. A human's life is short. Less than a hundred years and I'm rid of him for certain. I'm already an Ancient. I can spare another hundred years. That's not even a dent in my life span.</span>"So, do you still want to torture him somehow?" Black asked.<br/><br/>"Well, he's this close to a dagger up his mussel," the human said, holding his forefinger and thumb about an inch apart, "but no. Self imposed humiliation is one of the most satisfying forms of torture there is... Right next to extracting a person's bowels while they're still alive and forcing them to eat them... Or forcing them to betray their beloved. It's very effective."<br/><br/>"... You're how old?" the demon asked, one eyebrow in the air. "I doubt you've actually done that sort of thing-- and if you have, I don't want to hear about it. Seriously, the things you say disturb<span style="font-style: italic">me</span>... think about that."<br/><br/>The human shrugged. "Sometimes I wonder why I was born human and not a demon. Be glad things turned out this way. I could have been a lot worse."<br/><br/>"Please stop telling me about yourself," Black said, shuddering internally.<br/><br/>The Anithrope woke up then, and it took him about ten seconds to switch to a completely random topic:<span style="font-weight: bold">"Did you by any chance know a demon by the name of Jerakea Arinothan? He is my father, and I Have been trying to find him for 500 years now."</span>The question was directed at Black.<br/><br/>Ijemaru could only think of one explanation for the wolf-man to be asking his familiar such a question: he had to have already found out that Black was a demon. But how? Suddenly, the human's memory flashed him back to when Black clamped his hand over his mouth, the hand with the familiar seal. That was also when the Anithrope started to freak out and ended up tripping himself. So he must have recognized the seal then. After all, Black's appearance hadn't been enough to tip off the others so far. But that question... if Black answered it and the wording hinted at it, the others might figure it out too. Was it worth it to expose him just yet? The human had no way to convey his thoughts to his familiar just then, so he could only watch what he would do.<br/><br/>"A demon called Jerakea Arinothan?" Black asked and shook his head. "How could I? Demons don't often venture from their lands. You're sure he's in Almerkia?" He changed topic then, looking more firmly into the Anithrope's eyes, locking yellow on yellow. "More to the point, if your father was a demon, aren't you one too? I wasn't aware demons could look so much like Anithropes."<br/><br/>Ijemaru relaxed a little. It seemed like Black wasn't quite ready to reveal himself either, and at the same time, it was possible he hadn't told a single lie in that entire reply. The human smirked slightly, recalling that Black was one of those who preferred to avoid lying. At the same time, he seemed to have managed the art of telling only truth while still deceiving others. It was an interesting way to do things, for certain.