In The Black (BxB)✔

Chapter 23 - Coming to Terms

"You're saying that stalking people is a regular thing with demons?" David exclaimed.

    "Yeah." Ricky laughed back. "I used to follow Chris around all the time when we first started dating. I was too embarrassed to ask him anything personal in the beginning."

    Ricky and David were both laying face down on massaging tables, wrapped in towels, with two beautiful curvy blond women in spa uniforms rubbing them down. He knew people considered massages to be the ultimate way to relax, but to him it just felt like someone pushing and pinching him.

    "Don't be too hard on the guy." Ricky continued. "There's bound to be a lot of confusion since we demons have different habits than humans do."

    "You know humans usually call the cops when they're stalked by someone, right?" David shot back.

    He had brought up the topic of Mr. Black following him around for that first six months to see what Ricky's take on the matter was. Go figure it would be some sort of demon quirk.

    "But you didn't."

    David huffed. "No. I guess I didn't."

    Ricky, being a demon himself, turned out to be a goldmine of information on demon culture. There were so many things he could have learned from him had they not grown distant over the passed few months. Sure, during their many years of friendship he could have said something earlier, but to be fair, neither of them had a reason to bring up demon society when they hung out before.

    One important thing he learned was that high ranked demons like Mr. Black usually developed a habit of being very possessive, whether they meant to be or not. It was in every demons nature to take what they wanted if they were strong enough to fight for it. In this day and age though, demons were forbidden from breaking out into full out battles with one another and usually settled for throwing out their aura as a display of power. This was also known as 'claiming' when it came to finding mates.

    David tried explaining how complicated his relationship with Mr. Black was, and that they weren't ever romantic partners. Ricky, however, pointed out that he and his other husbands had the same kind of relationship at first as well. David didn't care to hear too many details about that though and changed the subject. 

    After the massage, David felt more sore than comfortable and followed Ricky into a sauna where he decided it was too hot and begged to leave. Spa's just weren't something he enjoyed and Ricky took the hint, opting for dinner at a barbecue joint before returning to the office right around closing time.

    As they walked towards the elevators, David recognized two of Ricky's husbands sitting at one of the tables in the foyer. One of them he recognized as Damon, who was nearly seven foot tall with black hair and enough muscles to pass as a pro wrestler. The other one was slim with long red hair, a blue suede suit, and a petite pair of glasses. They both shot up when they noticed the pair strolling side by side, their eyes flashing as they noticed David, then stared questioningly at Ricky. Ricky pointed at his cell phone, indicating that they should check their messages, then got onto the elevator with David. 

    When they arrived on the top floor, Ricky flashed a smile down at David and squeezed his shoulder assuredly. "Text me whenever you want. Okay?"

    "Sure." David replied hesitantly as his best friend turned and started heading towards his own office.

    A strange feeling began to bloom within David and he wasn't quite sure what it was at first.

    When he thought about it, Ricky had never been the perfect definition of a friend before, but the fact that the guy was aware and trying to fix it now meant the world to him. Had this happened a couple weeks ago he would have been ecstatic, but now David realized those butterflies that usually occupied his stomach whenever he was with Ricky were missing. In their place was a mix of relief, joy, and reassurance.