The Problem With Demons

III

"What was that thing about that guy?" Dom asked around a mouthful of burger. A cloth bag proclaiming 'I gave that b— a library!' in block letters rested against his thigh and the top of a heavy hardcover with no discernible title peeked out from it. Nate was just thankful the book didn't have the title 'Demons, Demons, Demons' because he'd never hear the end of old TV quotes if it had.

"I don't know." Nate sipped his drink. "Said his name was Kallias, had horns."

"Oh?" Dom's tone was sly, and Nate groaned.

"Don't say it."

"I don't know what you mean," Dom said, his voice going to an even less believable falsetto than he used for his usual jokes. "I'd never say anything so uncouth. You have a dirty mind, sir."

"Sure." Nate laughed, then sobered. "Weird though."

"Maybe it worked?" Dom offered. There was a tinge of awe in his voice that had Nate wincing back. "I wanted Asmodeus, but a horny demon must be close enough."

Nate crinkled his nose in response. Dom hadn't mentioned which demon he'd needed Nate's blood for, though it wouldn't have made a difference, but he wasn't liking the sound of it now. He brushed it off with a near inaudible sigh and picked up his burger. His visitor earlier had been unnerving, sure, but that didn't mean he'd been a demon. Kallias' strange disappearing act or not, Nate had probably just been too tired from the night before to focus properly.

"Do you think he'll be there when we get back?" Dom asked. His expression was hopeful, and it was the only thing that stopped Nate from rolling his eyes.

But it didn't stop the tinge of exasperation in his voice as he replied, "God, I hope not."

☾

Nate slouched down in front of his computer; red exclamation points shone back at him mockingly and he began the slow trek through the code to find where the inconsistencies had stemmed from. At least this wasn't due for a while, he thought tapping absently on his keyboard. He'd have plenty of time to fix up his errors and catch up on sleep.

"So, get this,"—Dom gave a small snort at his own reference—"apparently Kallias was some rich kid in Ancient Greece who didn't know how to budget."

Nate hummed in response, but his homework efforts slowed, and he turned to Dom as his roommate continued to speak. "Yeah, spent all of it on women and teachers. He was super up himself but died a beggar in the end."

"I wouldn't say super up myself."

Nate slipped from his chair to the floor with a loud thump. Shadows rose up behind him and he turned to see Kallias step through them as simply as one would walk through a door. He heard Dom hiss an excited curse and tried not to give into the urge to give a much less enthused one of his own.

A niggling feeling in the back of his brain warned him that his displeasure was probably somewhat misplaced, but he stamped it down. He still remembered his distraction from the afternoon and the phantom touch of fingers in his hair. Embarrassment curled in his gut; he'd let Kallias get so close somehow. He'd practically welcomed it.

Playing with powers you don't understand.

"What kind of demon are you?" Dom asked without a hint of shame, oblivious to his roommate's turmoil. Despite himself, Nate couldn't help but chuckle as his friend kept going: "Can all demons do that? Where else can you go? How did we get you from the summoning? Was the summoning an eternal invitation? Are you really a demon? No, you're definitely a demon."

But before Kallias could reply Dom turned to Nate with a grin. "Nate, Nate! We did it, we summoned a demon."

"Yeah," he agreed, pulling himself back up into his chair. "You did."

"And I'm thankful for it." Kallias interrupted. He swept a long lock of dark hair from his face and looked between them. "For both of you."

Nate wasn't quick enough to smother his scoff and the twin looks of surprise he received burnt his cheeks red. He cleared his throat and shook his head. "Sorry, still a little tired."

"Wait." Nate spun in his chair to face Kallias properly, his expression indignant. "Was that you last night?"

Kallias' eyes flickered once—twice—to Nate's neck, and Nate could see a hint of wince on the demon's face before he seemed to wave it off. Kallias' tone was light as he replied, "Well, I am an incubus."

Yeah, as if that explained anything, Nate thought raising a brow. "That doesn't mean you had carte blanche to touch me."

He could hear Dom smother a laugh from his side of the room, but Kallias had the decency to look abashed. Kallias shifted on his feet and his charm seemed to fade with each second of awkward silence.

"Perhaps I was a bit overzealous," Kallias admitted. He made an aborted move to step closer to Nate before crossing his arms and leaning his hip against Nate's desk instead. His fingers with nails, long and dark with what looked like shadows spreading up his hands, rested on his upper arms, and dark stripes—almost like tattoos except they moved—swirled along his skin.

"That wasn't an apology."

Nate wrenched his gaze from Kallias' arms to Dom. His roommate, shorter than both of them, stepped down from his bed and glared up at Kallias. Dom's brown eyes, normally warm, were hard and his amazement at summoning a demon had dwindled. He pushed himself between Nate and Kallias and raised a challenging brow.

Nate stood up. "It's fine. I don't need you to defend my virtue."

He kept his tone fond and, slowly, Dom relaxed. Nate gave him a slight smile. "I can deal with him later. You've got questions now, right?"

"Not if he's making you uncomfortable."

"Thanks man." Affection swept through Nate like a wave; he really couldn't have asked for a better friend even with the demon obsession. "I'm alright. Ask away."

His gaze wandered back to Kallias against his own volition as he continued. "I'm sure there's a lot of them."