[color=a187be][center][h2][i]~Meruin Hazy~[/i][/h2][/center][/color]
Meruin took little notice of the slights against her appearance, only caring that apparently, this man was an oni and the fact that he was here meant he was able to resist the attempts at sealing him. Which meant one of three things: Either he was an exceptionally strong oni, those were exceptionally weak Exorcists, or he was lying. Of course, there was also the fourth option of him being delusional, but Meruin liked to categorize that as the same thing as "lying", even if he was only actually lying to himself. 

Therein held the focus of her new-found interest in him: The blood of a powerful Oni was, in fact, one of the few catalysts that she had deduced would allow her research to progress, even if it wasn't her preferred one. The other options were Phoenix and Dragon blood, of which she preferred Phoenix for its vitality, though both were notoriously difficult to find, due to how rare it was to meet either. Oh, there was one last option, but Meruin was loathe to use it; demon blood was powerful but highly unreliable as a catalyst by virtue of how unstable it was. She discovered it had something to do with the inherent nature of demons to be naturally attuned to destruction. While she would save it as a last resort, Meruin was having a rather hard time procuring the means by which to obtain her preferred blood samples, so even if it risked establishing her ritual, she may just have had to use demons blood.

Now, it just so happened two necessary catalysts appeared before her, both of them at the bottom of her list of "what to use for this delicate and easily catastrophic ritual-slash-experiment", and both of them had inklings of personalities she found difficult to communicate with. Chen's impassioned declaration did little to impress her -- claims to an exalted bloodline rarely did, but if he was who he claimed to be, she had to take a moment to think on what to do next. 

First, she had to confirm the veracity of their claims. Whether or not that boy was actually an Oni or whether Chen was really the scion of a Demon Lord that governed the avarice of man. How to go about that though? She had a few methods, but a large part of that involved the consent of her intended subject, and she was unsure about whether or not their characters would allow it. 

Secondly, she had to ascertain whether they would be willing to cooperate or not. Judging be the supposed-Oni's demeanor, she may have to get ready for a fight she would rather avoid. As for Chen, well, perhaps she would be able to play on his pride. He seemed simple minded that way, but then again, he may also have a hidden intelligence to back up his loud pride. 

Meruin committed both their faces to memory. She would see them again, she would make sure of it. For now, she needed to get to work. Besides, the others were already leaving. Before the supposed-Oni left, Meruin said: [color=a187be]"That is of course, if you [i]are[/i] an Oni. Perhaps you could prove that first before anything else."[/color] Hopefully he heard her. She would prefer not to repeat herself on their next meeting.

[color=a187be]"Meruin Hazy,"[/color] she said in simple reply to Chen's imperious finger pointing. [color=a187be]"I have books to read. Good day."[/color]

[i]"I think this Chen guys kinda hot, and that Katsumi girl reminds me of this one Nippon AV actress I knew back in the day. Girl had nice tits but [i]nooooo[/i] personality outside of her fucking . . ."[/i]

Meruin tuned out the rest of Heathers speech. Now, where were those books about blood-seals?

[@floodtalon] [@Ashifili]