Claudia awoke with a start, sitting directly up in the bed and staring at Penelope with her yellow and red eyes. “..Hello.” Her speech was slightly impaired by her teeth, but nothing too drastic. “You're surprised to see me.” The magpie fluttered onto the demon’s lap, resting on the crook of her knee.
Penelope's eyes were wide and her jaw was open slightly. She stared at the magpie for a second before shifting her gaze to the demon. "Of course I am! I literally locked the door and was gone for a total of ten minutes, or less! Then I find a… a person? Something laying in my bed!" She says while slowly raising her voice. She was still on the ground, frozen in place.
Claudia stood, her magpie letting out an indignant caw and flapping onto her shoulder. The demon towered over Penelope, honestly. She placed a hand on her hip. “For someone who invited me into your home, you’re an awful host.” She purred, though a sharp hiss edged into her voice. “You practically begged for me to show up, don’t act like you didn’t.”
Confusion instantly replaced surprise on Penelope's face. "I don't recall inviting anyone in here… I'm I that clueless?" She asked herself, looking down at the floor to maybe not feel as intimidated by the demon. "I'm… sorry I guess, I don't want to make you unhappy with me… even though you seen to already be, but yeah I don't remember ever inviting anyone inside."
“..Yes? You did..?” Claudia’s thick brows knotted. She pointed to the unmade bed, then to the two mirrors. “See?”
Penelope's eye followed the demon's finger, simply sighing and laying back. She slung her arm over eyes, covering them while a frown grew on her lips. "Great… this is just perfect… I summoned a demon, the day before my sister's wedding… now… what now?" She mumbled to her self. She lifted her head and hit it a couple of times against the floor. "This was what all of that bad luck was gearing me up for… a freaking demon inside my house…" She shook her head, still lying on the floor.
Claudia rapped a finger against her lips. She looked at the pitiful display Penelope was putting on with what seemed like confusion. “You’re sister’s getting married tomorrow?” Claudia blinked. “That’s… unfortunate timing. Luckily for you, I only deal in misfortune, so this seems to be appropriate timing.” The demon laughed, her sharp teeth flashing in the light.
Penelope shot up, now standing, not that that really changed anything, she was still very short compared to the demon. "You wouldn't! My sister deserves everything good in the world and I do NOT want you interfering with what everyone claims to be the best day of their lives!" She yelled. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to think of a way to prevent anything. "What if… no, not the right way to start," she whispered, "Is there something, anything, I can do to prevent you from even breathing in the direction of her?" She asked, already regretting it.
Claudia blinked at her sudden outburst, a smile smirk on her lips. “You’re desperate. In that case, may I have your name?” She stifled a giggle, even the magpie bird on her shoulder letting out a few (suspiciously human-like) sounds of amusement.
Penelope gulped, afraid for where this would lead to. She glanced at the bird, kind of weirded out by it, then she looked up to the tall demon. "Um, I'm Penelope Garcia. And you are?" She asked even though she was in no place to ask questions for her own benefit.
The magpie’s warbling voice mimicked Penelope’s speech, hopping and dancing on Claudia’s shoulder.
“You may not have my name, but you may know it. I’m Claudia, to you humans, and you may not know my true name.” She rattled off. Clearly Claudia had said this spiel before. “What is your sister’s name?”
Penelope rolled her eyes a bit, listening to Claudia, frowning again at the question. "Do you really have to know? If you don't know her name and I don't explicitly say who it is then you can't do anything to her, and that's why we are still talking in the first place."
“See, first of all, I’m in your house. That’s why we’re talking. Now you have demons in your house, and I’m not easy to get rid of. Two, I can very easily find your sister’s name on my own, I’m just asking you first. I didn’t even want to fuck around with her. If you’re that scared of the big bad demon, though, just give her some fuckin’ luck charms and be on your merry way.” Claudia corrected, holding up a single finger as she spoke. Her nails were long and sharp, well-kempt stilettos.
Penelope stepped back a little, her eyes wide as she listened to the demon. "Ok, ok… her name is Charlotte soon-to-not-be Garcia." She said, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly. She was so happy for her sister and proud of her. Penelope then jumped a little remembering that she was going to be "right back". She immediately pulled her phone out of her pocket to tell her sister that she had some very important last-minute business to deal with.
The magpie called out Penelope’s words in its croaking voice once more, bouncing up and down on Claudia’s shoulder as it did. The bird’s tongue sat without a beak, clacking open and closed with little effort.
“That wasn’t so difficult, was it? I’m not gonna do anything to her, but if you’re so paranoid, you can give her some iron or somethin’.” Claudia rolled her eyes. It was a bit of a horrifying display to see, seen as her scleras were an unnatural shade of yellow.
Penelope, thankfully, didn't see the demon roll her eyes, she was too busy finishing the text to her sister. Once she was done, she set her phone down and returned her attention to the demon. "So… what is it that you want here? I suppose there's no way you'd just leave in peace, is there?" She asked, looking up at Claudia.
No! No! The magpie squawked, peering down at Penelope.
Claudia shook her head. “I’m not sure what I want, Penelope. I’d like to learn more about you humans, you’re.. curious creatures.” She looked around the room, eyeing the space with interest. “For a being as old as me, I know surprisingly little about your culture.”
Penelope pursed her lips, thinking about something she could do for the demon. "Mmm, ok… do you know how long you're gonna stay here? Should I set up an extra bed and stuff?" She asked, still craning her head to look at Claudia. She glanced around her room then back to the demon. "I need to do a bit of cleaning, sorry about that. Do you need anything at the moment?" She asked, a smile now on her lips. She decided there was no point in trying to get rid of the demon, so why not treat her like any guest?
“I’ll stay here as long as I please. Quantifying that is no easy feat.” Claudia responded, her expression flat and possibly bored. As she noticed Penelope’s smile, though, her own expression warmed slightly. “And it would be nice if you’d make up another bed, yeah. I don’t need anything, no, but Tricky here might need to learn what he can and can’t touch.” She patted the magpie’s head.
Penelope nodded as she listened to Claudia. "K, do you have a preference to where I set up a bed? And I guess he's fine with most things, just… my grandparent's antiques are far out of bounds, even to you. They are out of bounds for anyone that enters this house, ever, so it's not personal." She explained, motioning to the antiques on shelves and on displays. She then turned and started tidying up a bit, finally noticing the mirror on the ground, facing the other one. She simply sighed heavily to herself and picked it up. Upon further inspection, she noticed a few small scratches, but it surprisingly stayed intact, which relieved Penelope.
“No preference. Facing the north, northeast, or south is ideal, but I’m not picky.” Claudia plucked the bird off of her shoulder. She ran her nails through the bird’s feathers, watching Penelope clean. “That mirror. It’s beautiful, is it a gift?”
Penelope giggled to herself at the specificity of the directions for a bed. She kept ahold of the mirror as she cleaned, pausing at Claudia's question. "Yeah, I was gonna bring it to my sister today as an early wedding gift. But I was super late and I guess bumped the mirror when I quickly left my house… then you know the rest." She said, her mood changing to sad. Carefully, she decided to set the mirror on a table, far away from any other mirrors.
Claudia nodded. “Are you still going to give it to her? You said her wedding is tomorrow. You have time today, don’t you?” Claudia took a seat back on Penelope’s bed. “Don’t think I’m keeping you here. I’m not a toddler, I can be alone. You should go give that to your sister. Charlotte, was her name?”
Penelope looked up at Claudia. "I wasn't planning on it since I have no idea what you wanted and I thought I would be busy all day. But if you say that you don't need me at the moment, then I think I will." She said, a small smile appearing on her lips. "I'll set up the extra bed and finish tidying up then I'll go give it to her. And yeah, Charlotte's her name."
Claudia nodded. “You should. I think Tricky and I can find ways to busy ourselves.” She patted the magpie’s head. “But alright, sure.”
( I kinda want Claudia to go out in public without disguising herself as a human, lmao)