Prince of Hell

The Meeting

It was another tiring day of work for Steve. He had lately been assigned quite an intense project to work on with a group from another company, but based on his own experience with them he wished he could have done it alone. "Oh well," he thought, "at least I get to go to the park for my lunch breaks."

He left his company's building in favor for the park right in front. It was an exquisitely beautiful park, and Steve loved walking around and quietly reflecting on how the day was going and problem-solving his life while lying down beneath the trees. Today, the park was crowded, but he was glad to discover that no one had taken his favorite spot beneath the oak tree on top of the short but steep hill. It wasn't easy arriving there, as one would have to pass through various rows of greenery on the bottom of the hill, but he made the effort to have his own place for a while. Sitting down beneath the tree, he took out his lunch and began munching happily on his pasta.

"Well they definitely weren't joking when they said wine DnD night was going to be a blast." Steve was thinking about what happened that Saturday night. He had meet up with his friends for a long session of DnD, and when things got heated the group decided to celebrate their first wine DnD night. He didn't drink, but he absolutely loved seeing how his drunk friends played out their characters in-game. Unfortunately, halfway through the night one of them began sharing more than was necessary for the game, and the information Steve learned that day had greatly changed his opinion of his friend. Not in a bad way, but in an... interesting way. He stared over at crows beneath the hill. "The things I would do to forget that conversation..." he pondered out loud. A lot, he silently answered to himself. Some things might be better kept between lovers and not told to friends.

A few moments later, a hot wind began blowing over the hill. Steve looked around and relaxed, soaking in the warmth. It was autumn, it should have been a cold wind, but a warm one was definitely better. As he tried to enjoy it, a sudden blast of hot air pushed him forcefully forwards, and Steve tumbled in the most awkward position to save his homemade pasta from falling onto the ground. Weirdly, he felt a presence behind him, and he turned around. Leaning onto the oak tree was a red man with goat legs, horns, and a tail. Bat wings that had been spread out on the man's back were now closing. The creature had a strong jawline and amber eyes. Steve couldn't help but notice how attractive the man was, but he kept his calm and stayed quiet.

The red man walked towards him. "You said you would give anything to forget that conversation," he said, his voice smooth yet deep, conveying a sense of power and confidence. As he lifted his hand, a fire burned on top of his palm, and when the fire subsided a contract appeared.
"Uhm, yes, I technically did say that... Mr...?"
"Call me Luke."
Steve felt a warm sensation deep in his chest. At this point, he wasn't sure whether the hot air had begun to raise his body temperature or if Luke's soft eyes had anything to do with that.
"Well, Mr. Luke, let's see what you have to offer," he said playfully, snatching the contract hovering above Luke's hand. "I thought devils appeared for more important situations but I'm not gonna lie, I might be desperate to forget what happened a few nights ago." Steve began reading it. Luke stared curiously.
"Uhm... no one typically reads those," Luke muttured, confused, "they just sign it...."
"Ya know, I would have, but my parents are lawyers so I got this." Steve winked at the devil, and got back to reading the contract.
Luke was starled by all this, and looked at Steve, trying to process the situation. There was something about that guy that didn't annoy him when he took the contract out of his hand. There was something... interesting about him. When Steve looked back up at him, the devil noticed his hazel eyes reflecting the sunlight and his heart, or what Luke thought was his heart, skipped a beat. The guy had a nice figure, a cute butt, and his smile was to die for. His dark brown hair and sweet voice intoxicated the devil. Luke was slightly taller than the human, and for some reason he really liked the small height difference. Maybe the pull he felt to appear here wasn't due to the possibility of a contract being signed....
"I am not sure about this clause, mind helping me out Luke?"
"S-s-sure." Luke snapped out of his daydreaming. "W-what was your name?" he asked, embarassed.
"Oh, my name is Steve," the first replied, as he moved closer to Luke and turned around, resting his back on Luke's bare chest so he could read through a part of the contract and show the devil at the same time. Luke instinctively took a step back, but he appreciated the closeness and placed a hand on Steve's shoulder as he moved in closer to read the contract.

"You see," began Steve, "here it says that the cost would be for my soul to be given to you, but there is a lack of an explanation as to how this would be done. Is it a ritual? A blood offering? A kiss?"  Steve tried to keep his cool on that last part and chuckled, hoping it would come across as a joke and not as being desperate. As soon as the words escaped his mouth, though, Steve snapped back to reality and was confused as to why he said that. Am I flirting with this devil, he asked himself. What's going on?

"Well, we... we could, uhm, remove that if you don't want it," Luke replied. He felt his cheeks blazing. What was this sudden rush of blood to his face? He placed his finger on the clause and magically wiped it from the contract. Steve turned to look at him, and the two ended up right in front of each other.

As Steve was about to thank Luke for the change, he found himself facing Luke with just a few centimetres of space between their noses. They locked eyes. Hazel clashed with amber. There was a strange feeling of closeness between the two that neither of them could explain. Steve closed his eyes and leaned in. Luke followed suit, but jolted himself out of it. He took his hand off Steve's shoulder and stepped back.
"Wait..." he said. Steve opened his eyes, realized what had happened, and immediately apologized. Luke continued. "I... I think we should... uhm, what would you think if I asked you out on a date?"
"A date?" Steve secrelty rejoiced at hearing this. "I would gladly accept that offer."
There was a pause.
"Then... would you like to go out with me?"
Steve smiled widely.
"I would love to."
"How about this Saturday? At 19:30?"
"I'm free."
"Ok then, I'll pick you up at that time."
"I liv- oh yeah, ok, I can't wait!"
And with that Luke opened his wings, leaped in the air, and disappeared in a burst of flames. Steve was actually about to give Luke his address before leaving, but remembered that he was a devil, and that he would most probably know where to go.

An alarm went off in his pocket, and Steve ran back to his work.