{ℌ𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔥 𝔇𝔢𝔳𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫}

Weird, Weirder, Yet Weirder

(I wrote basically all of this at night while I was tired over the course of several nights)

Axxel sat on the opposite side of the couch, occasionally glancing over at Dainion, who'd found a book laying around and had taken an interest in it. He was still trying to get used to having Dainion around. It had been about a week since that night; Axxel still couldn't fully wrap his head around what was happening. The past few days had felt unreal, like this really was just a dream that he'd eventually wake up from, and maybe that was the case, but the good news was that so far Dainion had made no further attempts at harming him. In fact, he'd been pretty civil recently. Hell, his cooking was heavenly, and he actually cleaned up after himself-who would've thought having a demon around would be nice? He hadn't had the nightmare in a while either, which was a godsend.

"Whatcha reading?" Axxel questioned.

"The Illusion of Living," Dainion answered.

"Yeah, I've read that one. I've read most of the books here, but there's a few of 'em that I haven't gotten around to readin' yet."

Dainion only hummed in response.

Axxel leaned back on the couch. He wasn't as tired as he had been for the past month, but he certainly wasn't energetic either. Of course the stress of having a Dainion living with him in it of itself had been causing him a bit of an issue falling asleep at night, not to mention his wounds still weren't completely healed, but he still got more sleep than he did when he was having the nightmares.

He turned towards him once more, this time his eyes landing on the tail swaying idly on the couch beside him.

"Say, do you control the little flame on your tail, or is it just something that sorta happens?" He asked.

"Hm, depends. I control it most of the time, but I can lose control at times," Dainion said, not looking up. As he finished speaking, the flame reignited. Axxel was a bit taken aback-somehow, despite the flame touching the fabric of the couch, it didn't burn.

"How is it not-"

"It's not hot," Dainion interrupted. "It's only hot when I'm extremely upset," he moved his tail closer to Axxel, finally looking up. "Touch it, see for yourself."

Axxel cocked a brow. Did you have to say it like that? He thought to himself. Slowly he reached towards it, finding that it was-not hot-but warm. Axxel retracted his hand awkwardly, replacing it in his lap. He looked around the room, trying to think of something to keep the conversation going.

"You got any hobb-"

"You ask an awful lot of questions, don't you?" Dainion interrupted yet again.

"You interrupt people an awful lot, don't you?" Axxel snapped back. "I'm just trying to get to know you, man, since we're supposedly stuck together. What did you even mean by 'you feel something is tying us together' anyway?"

"I feel an odd connection to you, one deep within my very own soul," Dainion replied. "Don't you feel it too?"

"Uh, I mean, I guess? I do feel sort of weird around you, but I just assumed it was anxiety or something."

"Hm. You are lucky your injuries become my own, human."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Dainion shot him a quick but telling glare, silently answering his question.

"I'm not too fond of your kind," Dainion growled through clenched teeth.

"Me either, to be honest; I don't even really leave my house that much because of it. People suck."

Dainion didn't respond. Back to uncomfortable, deafening silence. Axxel yawned and fought the urge to stretch-he knew it would hurt like hell if he did so-as he stood up to go get a drink from the kitchen, although it was partly just so that he didn't have to sit next to Dainion anymore. The tension between them was becoming suffocating. He stood in the kitchen for a while, gazing out of the window at the woods just outside the house. He spent a lot of time there, he often went there when stressed out-but he wasn't so sure how comfortable he was going there now. After getting attacked in the park, he wasn't sure he wanted to leave his house at all.

"Mrrow?"

The tiny noise brought a grin to his face. Fang joined Axxel in the kitchen, rubbing himself against his legs. Axxel bent down and picked him up, holding him close to his chest. He walked over to the fridge, Fang still in hand, and pulled out a small container of yogurt and set it on the island alongside the cat, and returned to the living room, drink in hand, where Dainion-still engrossed in that book he was reading-remained seated. He hopped over the back of the couch to sit back down. He debated saying something; on one hand, it was awkward saying nothing, on the other hand, he didn't want to piss Dainion off anymore than he already had. He wondered, could everyone see Dainion, or was it just he who could see him, like a sort of Death Note situation? Were they truly connected like he suggested? Could he leave Dainion, or did the "connection" tether more than just the soul? He was tired of having all these questions go unanswered; nothing had made sense for days now. He hated not knowing things, it made him feel almost...powerless. Axxel turned to Dainion, about to ask yet another question, when he was interrupted by a sudden pounding on his door. He and Dainion both like to have jumped out of their skins, Dainion's tail-flame suddenly flaring up into a large fire. Axxel raised a brow in confusion; who could've been beating on his door? Cautiously he rose to his feet, shuffling over to the front door. He looked through the peephole. It was a neighbor of his-Axxel couldn't remember her name, but he knew it was somewhere along the lines of Wanda or Linda-holding what seemed to be a crucifix in her hand. Axxel, although hesitantly, unlocked the door and opened it just enough so that he could peer outside.

"Hello?" Axxel muttered.

"Hello young man," the old woman cooed. "I don't know why, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to stop by and check up on you!"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Axxel laughed awkwardly, eyes flickering back and forth between her face and the cross held tightly in her hand. "Been doing great, actually."

"Well, I just wanted to leave this here," she extended the crucifix out towards Axxel, who tried to gently push it away.

"No, no, it's fine, you keep it!" He politely rejected the unwanted gift.

"Please, please, keep it!" She insisted.

"I don't-" Axxel hissed in pain as the object touched his hand, Dainion making a similar sound behind him. For whatever reason, when the metal came into contact with his skin, it created a burning, stinging sensation. He stared at his own hand in shock, looking back up at the now concerned old woman.

"Are you alright?" She gasped.

"Y-yeah I just-I'm uh-I'm allergic to that type of metal! It really irritates my skin, y'know?" Axxel quickly came up with a lie.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I didn't know!" She quickly retracted the cross, holding it close to herself.

"You're fine, it's not your fault!"

She looked around for a moment, catching a glimpse of her watch. "Oh! I must get going! Take care of yourself, dearie."

Axxel gave a friendly grin. "You too, ma'am!"

He quickly shut the door, standing there in confusion for a moment. That was...weird. Why did that burn? Could it have something to do with Dainion? It was a cross after all. He turned to face the demon, who returned his confused glare. He averted his eyes towards his hand; it was a bit red around where the cross had touched him, and it still stung a little.

"What was that?" Dainion demanded to know.

"I don't know, this old lady with a crucifix," Axxel replied, rubbing his hand.

Dainion raised his eyebrows in realization, staring at his own wound. "That's it, then." He shrugged.

"So, do they actually repel demons?" Axxel inquired.

"No, they don't repel anything. They just hurt," Dainion answered.

"Oh."

Axxel sat back down beside Dainion. He placed his face in his hands, sighing quietly. Things really were getting weirder by the second, huh?