Chapter 2: City of Bones

“All Knowledge Hurts”

                “Oh God, I’m going insane,” Gayun gasped, unable to take her eyes off of the demon. He cocked his head to the side, his glowing violet eyes glaring at the comment. “I’m insane. I’m imagining this. Why… Why would I hallucinate this though?”

                He scoffed, “How many times do I have to tell you this is real? You’re thick-headed, even for a human.”

                “At least I am human!”

                “Oh so you do believe me?” he cocked an eyebrow, “And what’s so great about being human anyways?”

                “Please, let’s not debate the pros and cons of humanity. I am physically incapable of having that discussion right now,” she said, running her hands down her face. She closed her eyes and counted to three before opening them but he was still standing there, horns and all. Either she was going to start paying for medication or demons did exist.

                “So how are you doing it?” he demanded, “How are you resisting me? You should be a puddle at my feet with the amount of power I’m radiated.”

                “Horns and claws aren’t really my type,” she replied sarcastically, “Can you put those away please? I don’t want any customers to see you like that.”

                “What customers?” He responded in an equally catty manner but slowly the horns and things began to disappear. His skin tone returned back to normal and those piercing purple eyes turned back into the dark brown ones she was so used to seeing. “And I’m everyone’s type, horns or not.”

                “Just give me a minute Mr. Smarty-pants,” she mumbled as she sunk back down into her chair. Pudding jumped back up onto her lap but kept a wary eye on the demon who had attracted the other cats to him. “Okay, so you’re an incubus.”

                “Oh she’s finally getting it.”

                “Shut up,” she hissed before taking a deep breath, “You’re an incubus which, if memory serves correct means that you feed off of people’s ual energy.”

                “You make it sound so boring,” his nose scrunched as he moved Minty to cradle the cat in his arms. The white feline purred loudly as he petted him behind the ears.

                “Well that’s why you’re currently experiencing performance issues. Which, don’t worry, is fairly common in most men.” She drew some satisfaction in the look he gave her which was a mix of curiosity and rebuff. She Pudding’s fur while the conversation lapsed into silence. She had always wanted to use the pause for effect.

                “Well are you going to tell me or not?” he huffed.

                “I’m aual,” she admitted, her cheeks turning a slight pink color. She had never really told anyone about that, not even her parents knew. Her mother just thought she hadn’t met the right guy while her siblings liked to joke that she would end up being a crazy cat lady. When Pudding had wandered into her life, their joke seemed to be coming true.

                “A what?” he asked, his tone changing to one of actual curiosity instead of sassy or annoyed.

                “Aual- you know, demons are usually supposed to be intelligent,” she said in an attempt to cover up her own discomfort, “It means that I’m not… Well, I don’t… I don’t experience ual desires for anyone.” She stared down at the tabby’s fur, slightly uncomfortable with what she had just told him.

                “So that’s why it didn’t work,” he laughed, “Ah, good, I’m not losing my touch. You’re just different.” His stance immediately changed from predatory to comfortable. Both Oreo and Minty continued to purr loudly, rubbing up against him, while Pudding seemed to settle down slightly.

                “You’re not going to make fun of me?”

                “Why?” he sneered, “Do you want me to?”

                “No! I’ve just never told anyone before and here I am confiding in a demon, a demon who apparently wanted to have with me,” the last part she mumbled but it was obvious that he had heard her. His crocodile grin reappeared as he set Minty down on the desk.

                “Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’d have with –almost-anyone. Though if you’re truly apologetic, you’ll let me stay here.”

                “What? Why?” she asked incredulously. Her apartment was barely big enough for one person, though that was mostly because the books that didn’t fit into the store ended up in her room. On top of that, she really saw no reason why a demon, especially following the conversation they just had, would want to stay with her.  

                “Because it’d be nice to have a space where I can let my magic without having someone jump me like a cat in heat. Also, Oreo says that I should stay too. Something about poor quality cat food?” She glared at the black and white cat after those words. It was true that she had had to sacrifice quality with quantity recently but the cats should be happy that she was giving them the food they were getting. They ate better than her!

                “No way in hell am I-”

                “Oh sorry, you thought I was asking. I’m a demon; we don’t ask for things,” he smiled sweetly, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you well for the space to relax.”

                “There’s no room for you,” she argued.

                “Don’t worry about that. I just want a place to relax. Besides, with me here, your sales should go up in about a week. People will unknowingly be drawn here. I’ll get takeout and you get more sales. How can you possibly argue with that, human?” The last part was issued as more of a challenge than a question.

                “Don’t call me human like it’s an insult,” she huffed before getting out of the chair and upturning the cat in her lap. She walked to the door and opened it as she motioned for him to leave. “Go. No more demons in my shop.”

                He cocked an eyebrow at her before saying, “You’re not going to get rid of me that quickly.” Instead of walking out the door, he slowly began to fade right before her eyes. She rolled her eyes at the show-off using his magic instead of just walking out the door. Once he was completely gone, she locked the door and turned the sign back to closed.

                “Demons!” she spat as if the word was a curse on her tongue. She groaned before walking down one of the aisles. While no one else could figure out where things were supposed to be, Gayun knew where every book was in the entire shop. So, she grabbed a few having to do with demons and magic before heading towards her apartment upstairs.

                All three cats were already waiting for her by the door at the top of the steps. She glared at Minty and Oreo while she unlocked the door and followed all three felines inside. “Traitors,” she mumbled before going to the couch where she began researching the things she hadn’t believed in before the last half-hour. 

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[A/N] In case any of you were worried at all, aual does not always mean aromantic. One of my good friends is aual and I wanted to do a story that featured a character of her identified uality. So, in a way, this story is going to be a lot of exploring different identities while I have fun playing with words :) I understand if that isn't for everyone but I promise that this is a romance fan fic and I hope you all continue to subscribe and comment ♥