Coping. (Post Prophecy)

"What?!" Bart exclaimed, shocked to see that Shadow was leaving him. Dominique smiled back.
"Okay, thank you!" Dominique said, closing the door. She turned quickly to Bart, and laughed.
"What do you think is funny, Dominique?!" Bart asked.
"Oh, nothing. Probably that Shadow understand what I'm doing."
"Oh, because you aren't raping me?!" Bart retorted, "If you're not, I would want to know what the heck you're doing!"
Dominique paced over to Bart, and pushed him onto the bed again. She coiled her legs around his, and pushed on his arms. "I'm only giving you affection," Dominique replied quietly. She laughed, and Bart seemed more uneasy then comforted. Dominique leaned down and kissed him back.

Shadow smiled as she walked away, going into her room. She rubbed her arms carefully, still painfully aware of the stitches that seemed to comver every inch of her skin, but her demonic side was helping her to heal faster than a human. The wounds were already starting to knit together.

Dominique continued kissing Bart. Bart mumbled something through the gentle contact, and Dominique pulled away from him, lifting one eyebrow.
"What?" She asked. Bart gasped for air.
"I need to breathe, you know," Bart replied. Dominique smiled, and pushed him back onto the bed to kiss him again.

Shadow picked a book from her shelf, curling up in her basket to read. Wraith yawned, stretching, and padded out of her own basket to curl up next to Shadow, promptly falling asleep again.

Dominique kissed Bart back, and silently drifted her hands down to the rim of his shirt, pulling it up slightly, caressing his stomach sides. Bart used the opportunity to grab Dominique's arms, and to push her off of him.
"Dominique, will you stop doing that?" Bart asked angrily.
"Don't tell me you don't like it," Dominique repeated.
"How do you know that I do?" Bart asked, lifting one eyebrow.
"Men seem to be obvious on these things," Dominique replied quietly, pushing herself off the ground to sit up, smiling at Bart. Bart lifted one eyebrow, and looked below. Oh. D*mn.
"God, f*ck you! That's just a male reflex!" Bart retorted.
"...That occurs when the male has pleasure, yes I know," Dominique replied, tilting her head to the side.
"Oh, shut up, biology freak," Bart retorted, leaning on the bed and staring up at the ceiling.
"Like you can talk," Dominique replied. Bart rolled his eyes.

Shadow couldn't help but smile as she listened to the conversation going on next door. Feeling slightly evil, the demoness looked up from her book.
"Hey! Lovebirds! Can you tone it down a bit?"

Bart heard what Shadow said, and stormed to the door, and opened it quickly, almost slamming it on the wall behind.
"Hey, look, you're not the one getting raped in here, are you?!" Bart retorted. Dominique rolled her eyes, and looked at Bart.
"I wasn't raping you, Bart, I was just being affectionate!" Dominique answered. Bart turned to Dominique.
"Oh, because pinning me down on the bed by curling your legs around mine and pushing off my arms and kissing me fiercely is affectionate."

Shadow's face clouded over and she slammed her book shut, standing up.The stitches strained to keep some of her facial wounds shut as she scowled.
"Keep in mind that almost being raped isn't the same as actually being so." She snarled before walking out of the flat, heading up to the roof.

Bart looked slightly surprised at the retort, and looked at Shadow going out of the flat. Bart stood there, blinking incomprehensively.
"Well, you would've if I didn't stop you," Bart replied, looking at Dominique. She rolled her eyes.
"Instead of trying to prove yourself right, because I wouldn't of raped you," Dominique explained, while a mutter saying 'yeah, right' came out of Bart's mouth, "You should see what's wrong." Bart nodded, and opened the door to go out the flat, and went up the stairs.

Shadow was standing on the roof, close to the edge. Wraith was sitting a few paces behind her, and turned her head to look at Bart as she heard him come up the stairs. Shadow, however, didn't. Her gaze was out over the city, as if Bart wasn't there.

Bart appeared on the rooftop, breathing calmly. He turned his head to look at the girl and the wolf. He sighed silently, and he stepped out, closing the door quietly behind him. He turned around, to look at the small group, and he stood without a word coming from his mouth.

Wraith whined quietly, her tail wagging.
"I know he's there Wraith," Shadow said, and turned round to face the Kraferr. "You must be here with a purpose."

Bart tilted his head to the side, avoiding Shadow's stare. He looked on the ground, and brushed his hair out of his sight, by pulling it behind one ear quickly.
"Well," he muttered, "I just wanted to know what's wrong... You seem, kinda tensed."

Shadow sighed, turning her gaze back out to the city.
"My meditation brought up memories I wished I'd forget." She said simply. Wraith padded over to Bart, licking his hand gently.

Bart scratched the lower jaw of the canine calmly, looking back at Shadow. His hair swayed gently as he turned his head to the female demon. "Ah," he replied briefly, "I understand... But that means you're getting better, no?" Bart asked.

Shadow sighed.
"Depends on what you mean by getting better." She said quietly. "Because I'd rather forget everything that my father ever did to me."

"Yes, I guess that would be better," Bart answered, lowering his head, "I guess I would like to forget that I'm one of the two last of my race... But, if I did, I would have no reason to continue. As last of my race, I need to do something which can be remembered." Bart lifted his head to Shadow again. "And maybe you should too."

Shadow snorted.
"I'm not the last of my race," She said quietly. "There's still the rest of the clan. While they live, I will never be the last of my kind."

"But you're not treated as part of the clan, are you?" Bart replied, "You're not Shadow Roth to them. You're Wolf. And I don't think they'll accept somebody into their family just like that, especially one who supposedly says that they are the member who just died. It might feel like a humiliation to them. Especially that Vrael seems very strict on the prophecy."

"But never the less," Shadow said, turning to face Bart. "I am not the last part demon, and hopefully never will be." The demoness sighed, closing her eyes briefly.

"Yes, I guess," Bart replied quickly, putting his hand on the back of his head to scratch his brown hair, "Being one of the last is pretty hard to live with..." He sighed, and closed his eyes.

"The clan and myself are the only part demons, ever since Jamie left." Shadow said before she sighed. "Meditation is supposed to give me a chance to clear my mind and control my emotions, but it doesn't work anymore, and I don't know why."

Bart closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. He didn't really like seeing Shadow with all those stitches. "Well," Bart muttered, "Maybe you aren't concentrated enough. Or something to do with the prophecy. Maybe, since you are the 'reborn' Shadow, and your memories aren't the same as the 'real' Shadow, and they come back while you meditate. I'm not sure, I'm not a demon. I'm just doing suppositions again."

Shadow sighed again.
"I don't know what's going on, and I don't like not knowing. The only thing I do know about this is the fact that it's bringing back memories that I had buried so long ago." She said.

"Nobody likes not knowing what troubles them," Bart answered, taking out the necklace from his pocket, "That's why we have this, Shadow." He added, with a slight smile. He closed his eyes, while he held out the pendant, glinting.
"I'm not sure whether to use it or not. But asking, 'Why am I getting all those memories?' doesn't seem like a secret, or a bad question to me."