He raised an eyebrow, amused, and good, there was the space that he wanted there to be between them. His hands went back into his pockets, demonstrating how absolutely at ease he was, both with the space and the aggression and the conversation itself.

"Yes. How could someone who's been tortured and killed by me ever be on good terms with me--I am the Devil, and Kitty is so innocent. But she is, as I'm sure you've had to acknowledge yourself, shrewd, and wise beyond her age.

"The thing is, Nicolas, I've tortured a lot of souls, almost since the very beginning, and they have a way of coming to love me even so. Oftentimes, I think they recognize my darkness in themselves. It's comforting. I couldn't possibly say whether or not that's the thing Kitty's drawn to with me, but you never know."