For all that it's worth (Shepard and Ariel)

Peter Shepard (Shepard to anyone who spoke to him more than once) was the kind of man who enjoyed some of the more simple things that had been put on God's green Earth.

He enjoyed drinking good whiskey (and bad whiskey too sometimes), a cup of coffee to wake him up in the morning and the best thing he had ever had... money. Shepard was the kind of man you could trust to always be loyal because he would be loyal to your coin. He had done some time in prison, some time in the army, some time as a petty thief and now he had settled on what he thought was his life's calling. He was currently a con-man! One of the best in all of Scotland if he didn't say so himself!

Which was why he felt no fear about targeting two men who seemed to be hustling pool before he got here. They obviously had cleaned house here and he knew that he was better than them, hence why he went after them. They were the perfect targets! Their wallets were plump and they were likely to throw down big bucks after the first match, when they planned to spring their little 'trap' and reveal their true skills.

And their trap had been sprung... but at that moment he chose to reveal his own skills.

Every tap of the white knocked one of his balls in (two in some cases) and there was nothing the others could do but watch, wide-eyed as he demolished them. After all, what were they going to do? Call him out as a hustler? To do that they'd draw attention to themselves even more than a pair of strangers in a local pub did anyway. He winked at them as he collected the healthy collection of money (pounds fucking sterling!) and grinned,

"Better luck next town over eh boys?"

Winking, he went to the bar and ordered himself a whiskey, only stopping when he noticed that he was now at the bar by a rather attractive young woman who seemed to be doing her best to get smashed. He smirked slightly,

"I can tell you that your answers aren't at the bottom of that glass... but maybe they'll be at the bottom of this one?" he suggested and paid the bartender to top up her drink, "Name's Shepard, you new here by any chance?"

Ariel had been on the receiving end of a 'big brother talk' a few hours ago.

Death had warned her that if she couldn't get a lid on her anger that the world would actually be on the brink of a nuclear war and that was not a good thing - obviously not seeing as the reason she had become war in the first place was to avoid a large disaster like that. Could she bring herself to care right now? She supposed she had to - the only people still in her good books were human after all and she had to take care of them.

Heaven and all of it's angels, Hell and all of it's demons could wait.

After the talk, Ariel had wanted to cry when she had been confined to this shitty little village in the middle of Scotland for 'however long' Death himself decided. It was infuriating but her brother was doing what was needed in the end she supposed - Ariel trusted his judgement and that was why she wasn't driving her mustang out of this village immediately.

She had come to sit in the pub a good half an hour ago, wearing tight dark blue jeans, plain green strap tshirt, a grey hoodie and a comfortable pair of converse. True she didn't look like a glamour model sitting there, her large circular glasses perched on her nose as she wrote down her problems in her diary - her wild hair flowing down her shoulders and back; but she was comfortable.

Hearing a human actually talk to her, Ariel snapped her diary shut and she looked up at them with a curious expression. He had just refilled her drink which was nice of him but was it really wise to drink more, she had finished a bottle already and the bartender had gawped at her with the rate she had drunk and that she had managed to stay upright.

"It is the same glass." she stated, blinking "It has just been refilled with this...golden paint stripper."

Ariel smiled softly and nodded her head; "Yes I am new here. Pleased to meet you Shepard."

Shepard had to admit that any girl dressed like that was asking for attention... and those were the kind of girls that he liked! The kind of girl who knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to go and bait the trap, as it were. He smirked a little bit to himself as he drank down some of the whiskey, annoyed that it was the middle shelf brand and not the bottom or the top.

He only liked whiskey if it was brilliant or terrible after all - mediocre was not acceptable to him.

He laughed a little bit and nodded a little bit,

"You've been at it too long if you think it's that bad." he teased her before shrugging, "Or maybe not long enough, who's to say?"

The bartender looked at him like he was crazy,

"Hey mate, that lil girlie there just drank damn near the whole bottle!"

Shepard paused for a moment and turned to Ariel, checking to see if the bottle was empty. Seeing that it was empty, he hummed a little bit and then grinned,

"Well then sounds like she needs a new bottle. Take it out of my tab."

The bartender went to protest but Shepard just smirked at him. He had dirt on this bartender and they both knew it. With a word he could have the entire bar dragging the man out into the streets to be beaten to death. Oh Shepard would let people know but... he'd let the right people know what he knew and not before he got whatever he wanted from the man.

He grinned,

"I could tell... around here women don't tend to be nearly as pretty as you." he winked at her before sipping his drink, "Forgive the old line... but what's a girl like you doing in a place like this huh? It's a pretty crappy bar in a pretty boring village."

Ariel couldn't help but blink in surprise when the human continued to talk to her, it had been a while since she had talked to another human besides the Winchesters and Bobby however she was very glad that her night of writing copious amounts about her betrayals was broken by some conversation. Of course, he was very attractive this human, which helped distract her even more.

The reason she called it paint stripper was because that was what it tasted like, Ariel hated whiskey but it was something that might get her close to tipsy instead of having to drink up the entire rest of the bar.

"I call it paint stripper because that is what it tastes like, it is completely unenjoyable for me to drink but it serves its purpose." she stated with a small nod before raising an eyebrow when the man, Shepard bought her another bottle of whiskey "That is a very kind gesture thank you, feel free to share some of the bottle."

Ariel was very confused when he complimented her, called her pretty. She enjoyed it however she was more than likely going to become upset if she invested too much into this - Shepard would turn out like every other man and betray her in the end. It seemed to be what men did best.

"My brother is forcing me to stay here in order to de stress." Ariel replied, in the truest version that she could muster "You appear to hold a resentment for it as well, so I might ask you the same question - what are you doing here?"

Flicking her green eyes up to look at him from under her glasses, Ariel hoped that the conversation would stay pleasant. Maybe she would even make a friend in this place - she'd need one if Death decided to keep her here for a long amount of time.

Shepard didn't bat an eyelid when she bad mouthed the local whiskey because it was what he did on an almost daily basis. Of course some people might find it telling that be spent enough time near a bar to tell this on a daily basis. But what the hell did those 'some people' know anyway right? They didn't know jack-shit.

He smirked a little bit,

"And it's purpose... let me guess... you got something you remember that you want help forgetting without the use of invasive brain surgery or shrink sessions huh?" he joked a little bit as he finished his own glass, "No need, some kind gentlemen were kind enough to wager a rather large amount of money with me tonight and I came out on top."

He licked his lips a little bit as he looked her up and down. Oh she was definitely much better than any of the local girls he could say that with absolute certainty. Grinning a little bit, he raised an eyebrow at the news that she had been sent here by her brother,

"Sounds... well to be honest it sounds like a half-truth. But that's fine with me." he teased her a little bit before humming a little bit, "Oh I'm just here until I can sell my soul for wealth beyond my wildest dreams... and a job brought me into town. Some little 'demon' that had 'possessed' a young woman. I... removed it."

He had to admit that he was liking this mystery angle. Normally he was the one playing it, it was nice to see how the other side of it felt to be honest.

Ariel had to admit that she was enjoying the conversation with Shepard, and perhaps she would like to have another some time before she left but right now she was still so untrusting especially of men that she didn't think that she would be in the right frame of mind to make any good decisions here. She might end up causing a scene when she insulted the guy, or sleeping with someone when she just wasn't ready.

"You would be correct in your assumption." she stated with a small smile, finishing the new glass before pouring a new one, and finishing that as well without so much as flinching, it would take a lot for her to get drunk but at the minute she was feeling pleasantly warm and contented "Lucky you." Ariel added on with a raised eyebrow.

When he said that it sounded like a half truth Ariel's eyes widened and she was surprised that this human had the cheek to say something like that to her. It would have been amusing to see the look on his face when she revealed who she was to him - but that wouldn't happen, couldn't happen the guy was a stranger.

"Not a half truth, simply minus the specifics. You are a stranger after all." Ariel stated with a small grin on her lips - the closest she had gotten in a long while.

Opening her mouth Ariel gawped at Shepard when he said that he wanted to make a deal with a demon for money;

"So despite being a hunter, you wish to make a deal with a demon and sell your soul? How strange of you. I am not judging however, my days of that are long long over." she sighed, filling her glass again and downing it, she was missing her wings even more than she had been before now and her own little favourite Heaven.

"I would advise you against it, however your mind seems quite made up." Ariel stated with a sigh.

Shepard knew that they both knew that luck had nothing to do with it.

He had scammed those would-be scammers good and there was absolutely nothing that they could do about it. Smirking a little bit, he licked his lips slightly as he tasted some of the whiskey on his lips. Perhaps he shouldn't be drinking this much... she was pretty sure but he was getting closer and closer to telling her what he did for a living. And being caught by the law wasn't high on his list of things to do this day... or in this lifetime.

"Well good luck to you." he raised his glass with a small grin, "To obliterating memories and hoping that those two fellas aren't waiting out back to jump me for 'their' money right?"

Widening of the eyes.

Yep she was lying to him and she had the annoying little peculiarity of being bad at it too. He hummed a little bit as she turned to look at him. So she knew well enough that he had caught her lie and knew not to deny it. Well there was potential in her yet,

"Well luckily for you, this stranger doesn't much care for secrets." he winked, "Keep them, I'm happy with what I can see before my own eyes right now."

He blinked a little bit,

"When the fuck did I say anything about hunting?" he snorted a little bit, "Traipsing around the woods with a rifle to shoot something furry to make up for 'shortcomings' isn't something I need, or want, to do."

He raised an eyebrow,

"Hey... demons aren't real." he told her simply, "I 'exorcise' people because they pay good money for it when all I really do is give some shrink-wrap crap. Fixes them nine times out of ten."

Ariel couldn't help but laugh softly, her first laugh in a long while, when he was completely bluffing about the fact that he had exorcised demons. He knew nothing about it and as such Ariel found herself angry that he was conning people out of good money in order to fuel his own selfish desires for money when he really knew nothing about the situation. She was comforted by the fact that if the woman had truly been possessed the demon would have laughed, and probably killed him so the family was safe.

"So you're a fake. A fraudster." she stated simply "If you weren't you would know that wasn't what I meant when I said about that."

Hopping off the bar stool Ariel placed the bottle of whiskey into her handbag and shook her head a little bit. Here her hope that someone would be able to relate to her problems - that she had found another hunter - had gone completely down the drain. It had deflated her enough that she needed to leave the pub for tonight.

"You should believe in demons, because they sure believe in you, maybe one of them will hear you say something like that one day and take your deal seriously." Ariel stated, her tone lightly warning but she didn't expect to see the man again after tonight "Thank you for the whiskey. Goodnight."

****

It was the next afternoon and Ariel had decided that she would check out the library within the next village - it was a lot bigger and in fact it had a lovely rare book collection that she was interested in reading. It was while she was there however that she caught the scent of a familiar male - Shepard the man from the bar.

Whatever was he doing here? In the rare books section?

Placing her own version of Dante back down on its proper section, Ariel slowly walked through the stacks and wondered where she would find him. There he was, sitting there at one of the tables the next stack over - she was surprised that she hadn't noticed him before.

The titles on the books he was planning on reading did not comfort her at all.

So she slid into the seat opposite Shepard and tilted her head to one side; "What are you doing?"

Shepard could tell that she was pissed at him and he could see why. She thought he was a fraudster huh? Well that was fair enough - he was. But she seemed to be more disgusted by the fact that he was selling his services as an exorcist. He would place good money on the idea that she thought that demons, the devil, was real.

He didn't peg her as gullible but there it was.

"I'm the fact huh?" He smirked slightly, "And all those people who pretend to be possessed just so they can go crying to their religious parents claiming that the 'devil' made them do it? They're all innocent huh?"

He smirked slightly,

"You know something I don't love?"

And then she was gone. Huh... so maybe he would have to put more thought into what he was doing. Or, more likely, he would finish this bottle, and the next, and forget it ever happened.


**

He remembered.

The thought had stuck in his head easily enough. The point had been raised by an extremely pretty young woman after all, that alone made it worthy of remembering. He hummed a little bit as he looked over some of the rare books that he had gathered here on the reading table in the library. It was really weird that the one thing this village was famous for was a series of witch burnings.

And that several of the books owned by one 'witch' were owned by this very library.

He looked up from one particularly gruesome book about boiling someone's skin off with a nasty spell that required you to have some of their earwax,

"Attempting to keep my lunch down at some of the descriptions." he joked a little bit before raising an eyebrow, "To what do I owe the pleasure madam?"

Ariel was completely bewildered by this man. He had no idea what he was getting himself into!

If he did try and make a deal with a demon it would most likely be a crossroads demon, and who ran that joint? Well now he ran every joint being the King of Hell but it was irritating that Crowley would hear where she was, and if he heard where she was he might try and turn up. If he turned up she wasn't sure she'd be strong enough to stop him seducing her back into his arms.

Turning the book around Ariel read the page that Shepard was on and shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"I want to stop you from doing something you might just regret." she stated quietly before holding one of the books up and tapping the title "Just what are you looking for in these tomes Shepard?"

She had a very good feeling what it was that he was looking for but she wanted to be able to steer him away from that kind of life. It wasn't a life at all really just a ticking timer going down for ten years until you ran out of time at the end of it. Sighing softly she leant her head in her hand and allowed her eyes to remain on Shepard, regarding him.

"There is nothing good that will come of looking into this." Ariel stated, trying to ram it home that making a deal with a demon was not something he wanted to be doing.

Shepard hummed a little bit.

So he was doing something that he might regret was he? Well that just meant that there was a chance that what he was doing might work. After all, why would she warn him about something that couldn't happen? He smirked slightly,

"What do I have to fear though? If what everyone says is true then there are no demons and nothing will happen no matter what I do." he reasoned before smiling a little bit, "Unless you know something about it and you're being very mean by not agreeing to share a bit of your knowledge?"

He hummed slightly,

"Whatever it takes to raise me out of the dirt."

He looked up at her with some small amount of annoyance. She was really banging on about that point? Well he'd let her. He smirked slightly and set the book down,

"Can you give me a straight answer as to why?" he asked with a small grin, "After all... if there's demons there's angels and I know for a fact those guys don't exist."

Ariel was utterly infuriated by this man.

He was willing to throw his soul away on something that he didn't even believe in!

Unless this was his way of trying to bait her into telling him more things about herself but, he didn't have to know that they related to her at all - she just had to tell him what she knew. He could believe it or not believe it but then Ariel had done her duty and informed Shepard of the dangers he would face if he went down this path.

"I know that demons do exist." she stated with a frown "I've seen them. I know how they work - if you want to make a deal then the only demon who will deal with you is a crossroads demons and you will get ten years of life with what you ask for before you are dragged down to Hell by hounds, ripped apart and tortured for the rest of your miserable existence."

Shaking her head Ariel's eyes were glistening with a mix of anger and desperation; "This deal will place you so much further down than dirt in the end Shepard believe me it is not worth it."

Unable to contain herself any more, her anger was already so high at everything else Ariel stood up from her seat and felt her arms shaking, her body shaking as she tried to control herself but failed quite dramatically.

"I just told you that demons exist, angels exist too. Believe me or don't believe me, I don't care, you're just one soul in the end." she stated, her eyes colder than normal as she took a few moments to regard Shepard, wondering why the fuck she even cared about what this human did with his soul. Maybe so he wouldn't give up Heaven so easily, like she had?

Shepard knew that Ariel knew more than she was letting on about these things. Or she thought she knew more about them at any rate. That would be more than enough for him to be honest. He was looking forward to find out more about the 'demons' and the like though. If nothing else it would be knowledge to wow the kids with when he was going around 'exorcising' people for as much money as their parents were willing to spend.

Parents spent a lot to exorcise their kids.

"Do you now?" he frowned a little bit and listened when she told him about the type of deal he would have to make. One of the books had mentioned something about a crossroad's deal but he was thinking it wasn't true but she certainly believed it, "Huh... well that'd be something I'd like to avoid if at all possible."

He smirked a little bit,

"Then perhaps just some of this 'magic' crap then huh?" he joked before raising an eyebrow, "Or is that all true as well?"

Shepard's jokey demeanour vanished instantly.

He placed the book back down on the table very carefully and looked right at the angry woman with a blank, almost impassive, face,

"If angels exist they are either blind, deaf and dumb..." his eyes narrowed, "Or they just choose to ignore the prayers of the young and impressionable. To turn away from the innocent and the vulnerable... to let despicable, unspeakable, vile and disgusting things happen in the name of their Father!"

By the end of it he was shouting. He swallowed once,

"If that's what angels do... maybe it'd be better if they didn't exist." he took one of the books about witchcraft and deals, "Goodbye again. I hope the next time we meet I have my temper under control."

Without another word he strode out of the library, ignoring the pleas of the librarian to check the book out.

Ariel knew that this man, Shepard obviously did not deserve the intervention she was about to give to him. He didn't truly believe that this deal would work, and the demon would automatically be on the upper hand in the negotiations. It was a good thing that there was a crossroads just outside of town, it was out of the way down a dirt path and therefore it would be more than perfect to try and make a joke deal with a fake demon.

Sighing softly she stood, waiting for Shepard to appear and begin the summoning.

She decided that she would let him summon the demon just so he could see that everything was correct with what she had said - Ariel had never lied or lead him astray and now he was on the business end of a contract with a demon and ending up soulless for the rest of his days and tortured after his brief ten years.

When the demon had appeared, and they conversed for a minute or so, Ariel stepped out from her hiding place behind a tree, slowly stepping onto the crossroads with a blank expression on her face. The demon, when he saw her, acted as if he had seen a ghost.

They had heard War was alive again, but they hadn't believed it! Hadn't thought it was possible, but here she was...

"This man is not interested in your deals demon." she stated calmly "I suggest that you leave, now." Ariel hummed, placing her hands on her hips while she waited for the demon to pop back down into Hell and leave the deal unsealed.

"Who are you to decide for him? He called me of his own fre-" the demon began to growl, that was before Ariel slammed him into the tree behind him with her telekinesis, continuing to beat him against trees until she had tired of it and placed him back down on his feet. Immediately he bowed once and disappeared back under the ground where he came from.

Turning to Shepard with that same expression on her features Ariel placed her hands behind her back;

"I am unsure of the reason for your outburst the other day, but I hope that saving your soul is one step in the right direction to healing your bitterness towards Angels." she stated with a bow of her head.

Huh.

What do you know? She was right.

Demons did exist and, if this one was any indication, they were pricks of the worst kind. To be expected considering they were demons but pop culture had been portraying them as broody and misunderstood for so long now that maybe he'd kind of figured they would be at least somewhat reasonable but apparently not.

Of course when the woman appeared again he was a little bit surprised but another part of him really wasn't surprised at all to see her.

She did seem to know an awful lot after all.

And she was able to kick ass with some weird-ass powers! Okay this was getting beyond fucking weird right now! He swallowed thickly,

"I don't suppose it will..." he said slowly before forcing a small grin, "Buy me a drink and we'll call it evens for a bit?"

He looked around the crossroad before looking back at her,

"How did you do that?" he asked her with a small frown, "Not to be rude but the only thing I know that can do that was the thing you just used it on... I'm hoping you're not a demon here. Am I right? Please let me be right..."

Ariel couldn't help but smile at Shepard, it was amusing to see the look on his face and she hoped that she would be able to make him make the look again when she told him some more about herself. Perhaps he would stop meddling on things that really didn't need meddling in, the demon would probably be back and be pissed after all.

Standing beside Shepard until he was ready to start moving, Ariel tilted her head to one side and watched as he tried to get himself somewhat together in order to articulate what he was thinking about.

"Here." she stated with a small hum, pulling out the bottle of whiskey he had paid for a few nights prior to this one "I thought that you might be wanting something like this after I halted the deal for you. Your nerves should calm soon."

When he asked her if she was a demon, Ariel frowned very softly and she hoped that she would tell him what she was in good time but...it was complicated and she didn't think that she was ready to share this with him. Besides he had just gone through something shocking he didn't need something else weighing on his mind.

"Humans might think of me as a demon but I'm not." she stated with a reassuring smile, placing her hand on his arm and squeezing gently "You do not need to worry. The demon will probably be back, and so until we efficiently ward your home from them I will protect you, just in case." Ariel grinned with a teasing tone to her voice.

Shepard had to admit that he wasn't going to be sleeping any time soon. He had been doing con exorcisms for years now and he had always thought of it as easy money. After all... demons and devils didn't exist and the people were just deluded right? Well... honestly it appeared to be the exact opposite if what he had seen here tonight was true.

Demons existed and he'd potentially been baiting them for years!

Shaking his head a little bit, he accepted the whiskey and wordlessly chugged it a few times before grimacing and passing it back,

"Thanks... I was hoping the whiskey would wake me up from this dream but apparently it's real." he joked a little bit before rolling his neck, "My nerves should calm soon? No offence but I don't think they'll be relaxed for ages! I'm going to be on tenterhooks for days I swear to god..."

He paused,

"Or should I not say shit like that? Does he really actually not like people using his name in vain?"

Shepard guessed by the look on her face that what he had said had been an insult to her and he could understand that and why. But on the other hand he had just found out that demons were real and very strong. She was very strong and had some weird ass powers to boot. How was he to know what she was or even what she could be?

"Right... that's... somewhat reassuring, thanks." he admitted before humming a little bit, taking the whiskey back and taking another swig, "I don't suppose the protections in my home will be visible? People are gunna think I've gone crazy aren't they?"

Ariel watched wordlessly as Shepard chugged back the whiskey without even flinching and she took the time to wonder about the condition of his liver. Perhaps it was in a bad shape and that was why he was going to make the deal? Or was he really just doing it to see if what she had said was correct? If so he got what he wished for - the truth about the nature of the world, that good and evil really did exist.

"You should relax, you will start seeing things that aren't threats as dangers otherwise." she advised with a small hum "With me around you are quite safe, the demons will not try to harm you whilst you are under my protection."

Comforting was something Ariel had not done for a while, and she hadn't wanted to, so she found it strange that she was doing it now. Perhaps she was beginning to warm to humans more than she had originally because of her connection to Bobby, Sam and Dean? It was highly probable. Shepard was really the only person she had talked to in this small town also.

"How should I know what God believes?" she asked with a bewildered look "It is not like he is around to ask."

Unable to stop the little grin on her lips when Shepard worried about people thinking that he was crazy, Ariel believed that humans were quite amusing. She would rather people thought that she was crazy and she lived, than she maintained a 'normal' appearance and died within a few days because of that.

"You can have them as a tattoo if that is more convenient, and it would look less 'crazy'." she hummed, walking down the road with her hands slipped into the back pockets of her jeans to keep them warm in the cool night air "I suppose, if you have any questions, you can ask them of me. If I know the answer I shall tell you."

Shepard glanced at her and didn't say a word for a moment but in his mind he was thinking it over. She was powerful. Powerful enough that demons, who he had just discovered were rather freakishly powerful, were afraid of her. Well that was great in some ways but fucking terrifying in other ways! After all, what the fuck was he going to do if she decided that she was angry enough to attack him for something?

He would be dead.

He drank some more whiskey,

"Oh I think I need this more now than ever before." he joked a little bit before raising his bottle, "I'll drink to that! Anything that keeps my worthless hide stuck to the rest of me is something I want to invest in!"

Shepard paused, so much so that he actually missed a step and almost went sprawling to the ground. Correcting his balance, he sent her a look to warn her off giving him any variation of 'I told you so'. He groaned a little bit,

"That's just fucking perfect isn't it?" he sighed a little bit, "So... what? He built the daycare... dropped his kids off... and just never came back?"

A tattoo? Well that would be more acceptable he supposed but only marginally,

"Well I guess a tattoo would be fine... better than possession though." he admitted before humming, "So where does the tattoo have to go? Anywhere special? Over my heart and done in ink made with powdered bone of a pope, mixed on the night of a new moon?"

Ariel couldn't help but giggle softly at the reaction that Shepard was continuing to give to the situation in which he had found himself, if she was honest she had warned him against it but there wasn't anything that they could do about it now. He had entered her world and it was pretty hard to get out of again - so, while she could she would protect him from the dangers that were coming his way.

"Your reaction is rather amusing to me...but then again I have never known anything different from this life. I suppose my reaction would have been amusing when I first encountered an 'iPod'." Ariel mused, ruffling her hair away from her face.

Of course, Ariel was upset that she had let that one slip about her father...or, well she didn't know what he was any more. It was still painful for her, that he had abandoned them and even in their time of need he hadn't returned to aid them, instead leaving them to die at the hands of their own family.

"Yes, it would very much seem that way." she stated with a small sigh "Perhaps this is a conversation for another time, you already have quite enough to deal with as it is Shepard." Ariel suggested, not wanting to completely overload his mind with information about a world he hadn't known existed until half an hour ago.

Laughing again when he asked about the tattoo and where it needed to go, what it needed to be made from, Ariel wiped at her eyes a little bit she had laughed so hard -there were tears on her cheeks.

"It can go wherever you please, and it is made of ink, and can be done whenever you wish it to be done. Nothing...ritualistic about it there is no need to worry, it is the symbol that is the important bit. So we need a fairly accurate artist." she stated with a small nod, as if to seal the end of the statement, and her answer to his question.

Shepard imagined that his face must be fucking amazing for her right now because he could just imagine her using an Ipod for the first time and the thought was honestly absolutely hilarious! Which was probably not a good thing for his pride. He groaned a little bit and shook his head slightly as he closed his eyes tightly,

"Please... please tell me my reaction isn't as funny as your reaction to an Ipod sounds?" he pleaded with a joking tone, "Because it sounds fucking funny and I've got a reputation around here... people tend to think I'm cunning, not funny!"

Shepard wasn't even going to touch that one,

"Questions about the nature of god..." he laughed a little bit shakily, "I think I had a hard enough time following some of that stuff in Theology School... not going to get into that kind of shit right now!"

Wow... was he really being that amusing right now?

Unable to do anything but smirk in slight amusement at how hard she was laughing, he shook his head slightly,

"What is it supposed to look like?" he asked her honestly, "And is it possible to have a whole fucking lot of them put on at the same time? Just to be safe?"

Ariel was unsure whether she should tell Shepard the truth or not, because it seemed as if he was more than likely going to be upset if she said that he was being as funny as she thought that he was being. It was a time where he needed support not to think the way that he was reacting was funny in any way...so it was a dilemma for her. Biting her lip softly Ariel merely shrugged a little bit;

"I have never been one to judge humour, I find strange things amusing." she stated with a little smile "But I wont tell anyone that you were 'freaking out' this much - although I think that it is acceptable for you to freak out over something like this."

Unable to express how relieved that she was that Shepard was not about to ask her questions about God and the nature of Heaven right now - she herself was still going through many problems relating to that area and she wasn't sure she was quite calm enough to discuss them just yet. The betrayal of Castiel was still stinging in her mind, along with that of Balthazar.

"I am glad, I think that it is for the best." Ariel smiled gently "There will be plenty of time for that later."

Not having a pen and paper to hand, Ariel was not able to show him what the tattoo would look like but it was reasonably similar to a pentagram. He would of course know what one of them looked like. His desire to be completely safe was understandable if not a little bit endearing to her, but she didn't show it to him - in case he found it patronising.

"The tattoo design is very similar to a pentagram, I will draw it properly for you when we arrive back at your home." she stated with a nod, as they approached the main area of town once more, the small lights from the pub and shops their guide "You only need one, but if you want to be really certain you can have more."

Shepard groaned a little bit, closing his eyes and chuckling a little bit to himself. Yeah that was the sound of someone telling someone else a lie because they thought that it was closer to what they wanted to hear than the truth. Oh well, he would be pandered to because he was pretty sure he didn't want to know how much of a fool he was making of himself right now,

"Uhuh..." he shook his head a little bit, "I'd say so but not when I'm supposed to have some idea of this shit. Other people think I'm an exorcist after all - freaking out over demons isn't supposed to be something that I do."

He snorted,

"Of course no one I ever visited was really possessed were they?" he laughed, "That was the whole point for me... get money out of it..."

He looked down at his feet for a moment before nodding,

"Yeah..." he smirked a little bit, "Yeah when later comes you're going to be doing a lot of explaining and a lot of talking. I... will be doing a lot of drinking and listening."

Shepard was silent for a moment before he sighed,

"Of course it is... it would be..." he muttered with irritation before nodding a little bit, "I think they'll chase me out of churches but I think I'll need a dozen or so to feel safer about this whole thing I admit."