Elly slept fully through the day into the night, her rest deeper than usual. This might have been due to the fact that she lay completely supported in Shota's arms all night, cradled against his strong chest as he sat on her bed. It was around nine o'clock when she opened her eyes with a small yawn.
"Good morning." The dark-haired demon bent close until he was kissing distance, his charcoal eyes enigmatic. "I rather enjoyed being your teddy bear all day. You're cute when you snuggle."
She stiffened in his hold, her memory not coming together all the way from last night. As a rule she didn't wake up fast, tending to shuffle around in a half-stupor for a long time, even after a shower. To open her eyes and find herself being held by a strange, sexy man was startling, to say the least.
"Wh - what!"
"It's Shota, remember?" He chuckled. "That's okay. I'll set you down now, you wake up in your own time. Do you like coffee?" Her eyes brightened and he grinned. "Right. That's something I can do."
The demon bustled about the kitchen, making coffee and finding two cups for them to drink. He also discovered a container inside the fridge with some mouth-watering looking danish inside and set it out as well. When Elly came out of the shower dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans, he had already devoured two.
"You found my danish," she grinned, helping herself to a cherry flavored one.
"Did you make these?" He rolled his eyes, licking a drip of strawberry off the corner of his mouth. "They're fucking delicious."
"Mm hm." She accepted her mug from him and added milk and sugar which he'd placed nearby. "I like coffee and love baking. I'm not very good at it, but -"
"What? You're kidding me." He pointed at the tray, half empty since he'd eaten so many. "I'm not kissing your ass at all when I say they're great. Not too sugary-sweet like the stuff I usually get humans make. Yours taste like the fruit."
"Wellll... thanks. Everyone seemed to hate them at work, so I figured I just had weird taste."
Shota scoffed. "Hate them?"
"No one ate them," she said sadly. "My coworkers squashed a few, mashed them together like play doh. But they told me they stunk." <i>To be honest, they told me they stunk like me</i>, she recalled with a bitter smile.
He seemed to understand this.
"Do these women have mates?" He paused in the act of sipping his black coffee to ask.
"No. The one is what old time people would call a hoochie - she goes out with men, eggs them on only to get free stuff. Then she dumps them. The other doesn't care, I think? I don't know. They're thin, they have long hair, and they think I'm disgusting looking because I don't. They make comments all the time about me not being able to get a guy. It's what led to them summoning you."
He set his cup aside and beckoned for her to come closer. She eyed him warily but leaned over the small table, relaxing when all he did was stroke her hair.
"Your hair is vibrant," he said in a decisive manner. "I find it alluring that you choose to color it differently than most other humans. Your weight is not off-putting, either. On the contrary, your wider hips and bottom are very sexy."
"You'd say that about anything, though, wouldn't you?" She grumpily huffed. "You're a sex demon. It's all basically good to you. I could be a - a manatee and you'd screw me."
He winced. "<i>Please</i>, mistress!"
"Oh. Shota? Are you okay?" His voice was so wounded she reacted before she could think, reaching out and touching his stubbled cheek. When she thought about how easily he could be fooling her, however, she twitched and dropped her hand.
"I know what you're thinking, and no. It's not an act." He stared earnestly into her eyes, cupping her cheeks in his palms. "I may be a demon, but my dreams and desires are my own. I could have let you be, but I used the naming convention to bind us together because I <i>wanted</i> to be with you."
"I really wish I could believe that." She shook her head. "No one's ever wanted to be with me, or been proud that they were seen with me. Everyone tells me I'm shit, and, after awhile, it's real easy to believe that about yourself."
"That's... sad."
"I know. I'm sorry, I don't mean to ask for pity or anything. It just feels good to be able to talk to someone, even if it's a demon I don't exactly trust."
"Thank you."
"Any time." Elly glanced at the clock. "Shit. I have to leave for work."
"I'll come with you."
She paused in the act of picking up her backpack. "What?"
"I said I'll come with you. I'm not leaving you alone with those wenches. You need support."
"Absolutely not! I can't take anyone in with me, anyway. I'd get fired just for suggesting it."
Shota vanished.
She blinked and rubbed her eyes.
"Do you see me now?" His voice hummed lowly in her right ear, warm breath ghosting on her neck and causing her to shiver. "No one else will, either."
"You're going to come whether or not I say yes, aren't you," she said flatly.
"Yes."
"Fine, then." Elly threw up her hands as she walked out, her keys jingling. "Invite all of the underworld for all I care. Might as well, it's hell at work anyway."
He watched his new mistress very carefully when she parked her car and sat still for several minutes, breathing deeply. "It will be okay," she repeated over and over, a much-used mantra that never really worked but had become tradition.
"I'll be by your side," he reminded her softly before disappearing.
"Uh huh." She steeled herself, firmed her chin up and marched inside. The store was almost empty, the last customers checking out before close and a line of night crew workers at the time clock. She strode up and waited her turn, listening to the friendly chatter around her.
The general attitude raised her spirits and her hope. Elly smiled and nodded to the guy waiting next in line to punch in. "Hey, Todd. Nice shirt! I like that band, too!" She input her code into the time clock and was about to move on when she heard him muttering to his friend next to him.
"Fuck, what the hell? Did that ugly bitch just hit on me?"
Shota stiffened, his eyes sliding over to see if she noticed. Elly's shoulders dropped slightly. "Of course," she said quietly. "Guys bitch about wanting compliments, but they only want them from <i>pretty</i> girls. And they always take them as the girl wanting their dumb ass." Her voice rose, and she stared straight at him. "No. I didn't. And fuck you." She walked back to the stockroom on mocking cheers and laughter, directed at <i>her</i>, and though this was normal she resolved not to say anything for the rest of the night. Five minutes in and her soul had been crushed by another human routinely hurting her for absolutely no reason. She wondered if she had a universal "kick me" sign on her back. She wondered if she were really that revolting.
Shota realized what she must be feeling and his eyes flamed into an angry, bright glow. His dark locks shot up into the air as his body literally steamed from his rage, floating amidst tendrils of hot mist. He stalked close to the man and snarled under his breath, "The next time you want to screw, you won't get <i>any</i> satisfaction from it."
Fuck curses were his favorite to dole out to sexist assholes. By being vague, he'd set the man up for his worst fears as well - it could be non-performance, or just a shitty lay. He spat and turned on his heel to follow his mistress.
Elly was loading a low metal cart with some boxes in the small room for her section. Two women were chatting away on the side, deliberately ignoring her as they also loaded their work. There were three piles of merchandise, randomly split between them before they arrived. She silently took some items from the ones they weren't working on and left to stock shelves. Shota lingered, worrying that they were plotting something against her.
The older woman shook a bin and made a disgusted face. "Ugh." Then a positively evil smirk spread across her face as she looked at Elly's stack of work. Shota's eyes narrowed as he watched. The woman heaved the offensive tote up and tossed it on Elly's pile, replacing one of the randomly distributed ones the purple-haired woman had received.
"Why'd you switch with hers?" The other lady asked.
"These are toothbrushes!" The thief laughed heartlessly and her coworker joined in.
"Oh my god, perfect. It'll take her forever, and her quota will be down <i>again</i>."
Shota's eyes blazed red once more in the darkness of the storeroom. He huffed out a cloud of steam through his nostrils and struck the container the woman had stolen with his fist as she went by. She staggered and swore, looking around, but couldn't see the invisible demon. Shrugging, she threw another on her cart and wheeled it out.
When she smugly opened it back out on the floor, however, her attitude quickly changed.
"Toothbrushes?!" She blinked down at the offending merchandise. "But - but I... this shouldn't be here. That lazy little <i>bitch</i> must have switched them!"
<i>When? She wasn't anywhere near you, cunt.</i> Shota shook his head at her hypocrisy but smiled, satisfied his mistress wouldn't be the brunt of those two women's harmful pranks this time. He went back to hovering protectively over Elly's shoulder, murmuring words of encouragement when she needed it.
When it was time to go home, he waited until she was in her car before materializing in the passenger seat. She saw him and smiled, grabbing him around the neck in a spontaneous hug.
"Oh, Shota! That was the best work day ever! They were so quiet, and I got more done than I usually would!"
He hugged her back. "I'm glad you're happy, mistress," he said somewhat drily, "but I can't help but think if that was a <i>good</i> day, the place would have to be on fucking fire for it to be a bad one."
"On fire would be great," she snorted.
Shota held her a little tighter, concern slipping into his voice. "You shouldn't work here, it's not good for you."
Elly was lost for a moment in her good mood, hence the hug, but as the seconds ticked by she grew uneasy. He was so warm and smelled like sleepy, dryer fresh clothing with just a hint of coffee on his breath. It would be easy to stay here just a little longer, to move a bit to the left maybe and press her lips to the stubbled skin of his cheek. She jerked back instead, her eyes wild while she nervously fiddled with her keys.
"I know it's not good for me. Trust me, I know." She turned the key and started the car.
The incubus settled back for the ride, watching her closely with the hint of a smile playing about his lips.
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