Zack watched her talk to him, and his facials suggested that he was questioning why the hell she was even talking to him in the first place. He wasn’t used to Humans trying to make conversation with him, either, as sad as that sounds. His facial construct did not change when she tried to make him smile, just blinking a few times (was there a glimmer of confusion in those grey eyes?) instead of smiling back. He nodded a few times, stretching himself out slowly, giving a big yawn. He might find somewhere to nap after he ate some food. Obviously she wasn’t going to need anything from him any time soon.
“Well, if you do need anything, don’t hesitate to tell me,” The Demon rumbled quietly. “I’m not your guest; I’m your Companion, so to speak so brashly. I’ll still be up here and… doing my thing.”
Delilah had to admit this was the first time she was blatantly rejected. People liked talking to her. She was fun! Everyone at school liked her (at least, the nice ones). She was fun to hang out with. But Zackary’s facial expression told her he was not appreciating her company, or her in general. This was a bit of a blow to her self-esteem. She usually didn’t care about what people thought of her, but it was always bothering when people didn’t like her. It was confusing.
Delilah’s smile dropped from her lips and she raised an eyebrow, her arms now loose around her chest.
“If you want to sleep, choose any of the guest rooms left to my room,” the girl said to her Companion, her voice flat, though not impolite. “I’ll get your food. It should be here by now. Again, if you need something, just call for me.”
Without waiting for a reply, the blue-haired girl walked out of the room and down the steps. The bell rang, signaling the arrival of the food, so she went to the front door to get it. Her friends would probably be back from the pet room, so she knew she didn’t need to call for them.
Zack watched her leave, feeling slightly confused as to what he could’ve done to get her so miffed. Was it something he said or did? The air about her when she left made the Demon slightly concerned as he moved back to his window, tucking himself along the sill.
The anxiety, if you will, persisted the longer the stayed alone without an answer. Humans were usually very open about their emotions, more so than he was. After a while, Zack considered reading Humans a sport; one he was particularly good at, in fact. He rose from his sill to go receive his food once he heard the doorbell, thinking he’d try to make an effort to give support to his Companion. They were going to be together for a while, and he might as well try to get to know her friends.
He thumped down the steps quietly, nosing the air and immediately fighting the urge to sneeze as he heard two girls approaching.
“Oh, goodness, he certainly is cute, isn’t he?” squealed Melissa, who had been approaching from the pet room. Unfortunately for Zack, he had just dropped from the large flight of steps onto the main floor, so her approach was not forewarned, therefore scaring the living daylights out of the jumpy Demon. He jumped about three feet, whipping around, his eyes big and startled.
Delilah chewed on her bottom lip as she received the food, feeling slightly guilty for the way she spoke to the demon she summoned. It was rather obvious he wasn’t used to chitchat. His quiet personality gave that away, and to expect him to talk to her was being selfish. After all, it was hard for her to stay quiet, just as it was hard for him to talk. If someone told her when to open her mouth and when to stay quiet, she’d feel sad. So she decided when giving Zackary his food, she’d apologize. She didn’t like brooding on one topic for too long, so she’d get it done as soon as possible.
With a sigh, Delilah turned for the dining room again, and then plastered a smile on her face. Surely she couldn’t see her friends with a frown on her face; they’d catch her lie immediately. Though she was quite shy when talking about the person she liked, so maybe that would prove to be advantageous.
When she stepped into the open space on her way to set her food on the table, she saw Zackary and her friends already there. Though… the demon should have been in her room. She hadn’t asked him to come. And he looked rather… startled? The space between Delilah’s eyebrows crinkled and her lips pursed. What had happened to make him so tense?
“Uh… you okay?” she finally asked, shifting the heavy bag of food from her right hand to her left. Maybe she should have taken weights as a class, too. “What’d I miss? What’re you doing?”
Just as Delilah approached with the question, her friends appeared from around the corner, taking in the startled Demon and Delilah covered in bags. Zack, in an attempt to act as if he was a completely normal human being, turned to help Delilah with the bags, his cheeks turning pale as he realized his stupid mistake. His answer did not leave his lips, his jaw remained glued shut as he relieved Delilah of her weight. Zack scurried away to find the kitchen as rapidly as he could before he was brought into a conversation.
Melissa watched the retreating back of her friend’s boyfriend, her eyes glinting. “You were right, Lola. He’s really cute but he’s not exactly talkative, is he?” She asked Delilah, tilting her head as she moved forward.
Lola hummed her quiet response, her eyes slightly suspicious. “Yeah. You know, Delilah, I always thought you’d go for someone a bit more… loquacious.” She glanced at her friend curiously. They all had known each other for quite some time, so seeing Delilah paired up with someone who had barely even looked at them, was quite the shock.
Delilah's frown deepened when Zackary took the bags from her and retreated, almost as if he was running away. What had happened? Had she done something wrong? She couldn't even open her mouth to thank him before he was gone. The girl flexed her fingers and released a breath. Living with that demon was going to be rather difficult, huh?
"You know, Delilah, I always thought you'd go for someone a bit more… loquacious."
The girl in question snapped out of her bubble and looked at her friends, first in confusion, then in a slight panic. Lola had a suspicious look in her eyes, and that was not good. She was already walking on thin ice; she couldn't stumble and fall under. That wouldn't lead to anything good.
"First of all, I don't know what that word means," Delilah started, trying to think of something else to say, though what she'd just admitted wasn't a lie. She was good at history, geography, and chemistry, but English and mathematics were things she really struggled in. She blamed that on her rebellious streak when she lived with her biological mother. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back at what her friends were suggesting. "And he… he's really nice once he's comfortable. He's just not a people person. But he's really nice, otherwise, I wouldn't be—" her cheeks darkened—"dating him, right?"
“Right, of course he’s nice. I mean someone more talkative and open. He hasn’t even said hi to us yet,” Lola hummed softly, glancing to the direction of the kitchen, where the rustling of bags could be heard as the Demon prepared the Chinese.
The Demon himself found himself in a predicament. The Chinese hadn’t come with any sort of silverware, so he struggled internally with whether or not he should frantically search the huge kitchen for some, or rely on luck that the pair of outside girls wouldn’t be suspicious. Quietly, he began his search, his eyes wide as he looked through drawer after drawer. Most were empty (what was the point of all of the damn drawers????), but he finally found the silverware, in which he grabbed several forks and spoons.
Maybe he was stressing himself out too much. Though, admittedly, this situation was sort of tense. He just got here, already facing things he’s not used to, and surrounded by a pack of girls.
Delilah looked at her friends, rubbed the back of her neck, and cleared her throat. Already, the situation was too weird. Too awkward. She wouldn't be able to fool her friends for long, especially if they asked where and how did they meet. Before they could do so, though, she decided to bail.
"He's just not very good with people. That's why I hadn't introduced you guys yet. I wanted him to be a bit more comfortable before pushing his comfort zone a bit," she supplied, hoping Zackary wouldn't kill her for the false information she was spreading. Though really, he wasn't even the least bit ticked with her claim of them dating. Perhaps he wouldn't mind this bit, either? Whatever, she'd spill the truth when she was ready and sure her friends wouldn't tap into their protective nature. Delilah turned her attention to the kitchen, tilting her head to the side. "Listen, you both stay here. I'll go and check up on him to make sure everything's okay. And could you guys not get too close? He's allergic to strong perfume, and you're kind of loaded with it."
The girls were the ones who became helpless when Delilah shut down any other protests. Lola gave a small nod of reluctance, grabbing Melissa and dragging her to the living room. The powerful girl still looked suspicious of Delilah and this whole situation, and by no means was she ready to let it go, but they weren’t going to get anything out of Delilah for now.
After Zack had laid his hands on some silverware, he prepared the plates of food, letting the simple task calm him down. He picked up his own, quietly biting into an egg-roll that he had asked for. He’d be able to go back upstairs with the quiet sky and whistling wind soon enough.
Delilah walked into the kitchen with a calm she never really possessed. From what she’d seen, Zackary was a bit jumpy. His wide eyes, startled, kept reappearing, and she told herself to avoid making things worse. That meant speaking softly, and in a leveled tone, as hard as it would be.
“Zackary?” she called for the demon as she stepped into the big kitchen. Almost immediately, she found him near a counter, eating an egg-roll, his posture still stiff. It was a huge contrast to see him this way, when he’d been almost snarky with her just before her friends came over.
Delilah stopped when she was a considerable distance away from him, drumming her restless fingers against the counter. She exhaled slowly.
Finally, she broke the silence. “I’m really sorry about earlier. The way I talked to you, I mean. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.” Delilah scrunched her nose and continued, tiptoeing near another rambling session, “Actually, I probably have been getting on your nerves ever since you got here. I’m just a bit awkward around guys, and I can’t deal with the silence at all. It was wrong of me to push you like that. So I’m sorry for bothering you. And Melissa and Lola are gone for now, and you don’t have to see them or anything if you don’t want to.”
Zack turned a bit from where he was in the middle of crunching into his egg-roll, causing those little fried bits to cascade onto the plate he was holding up close to his mouth. He wasn’t exactly fond of making messes. As he ate and enjoyed his food in the solace of the kitchen and with someone he was somewhat familiar, he listened to Delilah speak intently, his grey eyes not leaving her face. He had been looking at her suspiciously when she first entered the kitchen, but that suspicion melted into impassiveness once more.
At the end of her speech, he gave a small shrug, setting down the small bit of egg-roll he had left.
“I can stay down here if you want. And you can stop apologizing for treating me badly, I’m really quite used to it,” He hummed back softly, not even sounding bitter about it. He seemed to be in a bit of a better mood because of the food he was eating.
For some reason, Delilah felt sad hearing those words. She pursed her lips, letting the silence wrap around them like a blanket. She could relate, though not a lot. The first fifteen years of her left a bad impact on her, but Zackary seemed to be way older than her. She didn't even want to think how many times he had gotten stuck with bad humans, and how he was treated in his own home.
"That doesn't give me a valid reason to be rude," she finally spoke, breaking the silence, and then trying to lighten it up again. "Hey, do you like pets? I have a dog and a cat. They're really adorable. I think you'd love them. Lunch is a toy poodle and Mr. Snuffles is a Manx, and they like to sleep a lot. I also have two clownfish, and unironically, I have named them Marlin and Nemo. You wanna see them? You're more than welcome to stay in the pet room with them, or even just go and sleep. If you want to sleep, I can take you to your room and give you some comfortable clothes."
“I guess I could go see them when I’m finished,” Zack responded softly, starting on his second egg-roll. He wasn’t too familiar with the animals up here with the Humans, but they seemed to be nice enough. The ones back home weren’t nearly as feral, though, and they got treated with more respect than what he’d seen Humans treat their animals.
“I would like to sleep soon, though. I’m okay for right now. I’ll just stay in here and eat for a while.” He nodded a little at his own decision, having power over such a thing in this world felt different. He was incredibly unaccustomed to it, and suddenly having freedom of choice, and a bit of respect from a Human was a massive change.
Delilah's grin widened at his response. So he didn't dislike her after all, with the soft tone of voice. She decided she liked his voice. It was soft, though there was a rough edge to it. It sounded pleasant, and he wasn't bad on the eyes, either. The scars on his face were another thing, though. They didn't take away any of his beauty, didn't strike out of the ordinary, but it made Delilah think twice about asking. She was naturally curious, but she was finally getting him comfortable, and she was not going to ruin anything by asking him personal questions. So she didn't let her gaze linger on his face and instead busied herself with the food.
"Okay," she hummed. "Thanks for helping me carry this, by the way. I'll leave some of the dumplings for you. Make yourself at home, but do tell me when you're to sleep so I can show you to your room. I'll let you be."
With that, the girl turned around and exited the kitchen, stepping away from one thing and entering another. She had to get her friends to leave somehow.
Zack nodded his quiet response, biting politely into his roll once again. In the nice lighting of the room, it was easy to tell that his scars were completely random on his face. Some crossed the long bridge of his nose, others took chunks from his cheeks and neck. Some were small, as though smaller things had nicked him gently, and others seemed as though someone had taken entire chunks from his fine features. Though, below the scars, they left someone who had formally been handsome, but at the hands of time— and other things— left him worn and almost old-looking.
Right now, he seemed quite content with himself, starting on the main part of his meal, still standing close to the window of the kitchen. He was unintentionally always wired for escape, even if he was comfortable in the place he was in.
[TIME SKIP: TWO DAYS]
Delilah and her new roommate, Zackary, were getting along pretty well. At least, that's what the younger girl assumed. Zackary became well acquainted with her cat and dog, though with their owner, he was still tense. Delilah opted to give him some space because of that, though it was so hard not to talk his ear off. She even managed to hold off Melissa and Lola, though the two girls had broken it to Veronica that she was dating. It took such a long time to get Veronica off her back, and she only left her alone after Delilah promised her she'd have them meet. Which she didn't really want to, but she had to now. Delilah never broke her promises.
"Hey, Lunch, what do you say we go and get Zackary to play with us?" the girl asked, lifting her dog up and grinning at him. She was lying in bed, bored beyond words, with only Lunch for company. Mr. Snuffles was God knows where (probably with Zackary; the cat had taken such a huge liking to him, it made Delilah feel betrayed). Her dog barked in response, wagging its tail excitedly. Delilah grinned. "Okay! Let's go, then."
She grabbed a couple of board games from her storage chest, opened the door, and made her way to Zackary's room, Lunch trailing after her. She knocked on the door twice, then waited for a while for the demon to let her in.
Zack found it very hard to keep still in this containment of “Companionship”. He was rarely such a Demon, and now that he was introduced to the concept properly, he could tell it was a luxurious living for any Demon. Better than the life he was living prior to this. Maybe it was because he had such a understanding, willing-to-cooperate Human that it was easier to live by his usual standards. He had gotten his hands on more comfortable clothing, so it was easier to lounge about in the room he was given. Yet he still found himself itching to get outside and keep himself fit by some disgusting habit that he had created for himself over the years, so when Delilah’s friends came over, he’d go for a run, or opt for the gym in the basement he found.
Two days later definitely felt like a change, but it was one that was starting to get a little bit more comfortable, to say the least. He grew a liking for the animals she had, especially the very cuddly cat who liked to sneak into his room and sleep with him late at night. He stood from the floor in which he had thrown himself on in absolute boredom, allowing the breeze from the open windows to flow across his body. He opened the door, fixing his hair by brushing his long fingers through it.
“What’s up?” He inquired in his soft voice, cocking his scarred eyebrows down at Lunch, grinning at the cat affectionately with his overwhite, slightly sharp teeth.
(Lunch is the dog’s name! Mr Snuffles is the cat xD)
When Delilah received no response, she moved to knock again. But before she could lift a hand, the door opened and the demon came into her view, his features soft and relaxed. He wasn’t looking at her, just at the cat, but his voice was so soft and the way he looked at Lunch—ugh. Demons should not be this gentle. Once she had caught him giving belly rubs to Mr Snuffles with the most carefree look she’d ever seen on his face, and she found had found herself snapping a picture.
Lunch, who always liked new people (though at this point, Zackary was not new), barked excitedly, paws on the demon’s legs, whining to be held. It was surprising how quickly her little bundles of joy liked him. Mr Snuffles, demon cat, wasn’t very affectionate, but around Zackary, he seemed to completely change colors.
“Hi,” Delilah greeted him, quickly pressing tighter on the board game held between her arms. She pulled on an easy grin, not letting what she was thinking show on her face. “I’m bored. Are you? I thought we’d have a fun game! I brought three of the games I like to play, though mostly with my dad, sometimes with my friends. You wanna? It’ll be fun!”
(Aaahaahhhhh big dum. I knew I should’ve checked lmaoo)
Zack let a low, grumbly laugh leave his throat as he bent down to pick up the dog, standing back up to face Delilah with interest. He glanced down, just noticing the board game, tilting his head.
“I don’t see why we can’t,” He responded, stepping out of the way of the door and shimmying into his new room. The room had remained clean (had it become cleaner since he moved in?), and the bed was made in the middle, the cabinets seemed to be organized, and everything was dusted and vacuumed accordingly. The room had a nice musky smell to it, one someone might be able to associate with the thin Demon. It must’ve caught the smell after having a full-clean.
Zack settled onto the floor, settling Lunch into his lap and gently stroking the dog’s head. The wiggly puff of fur was one of Zack’s favorite animals he’s met on the job so far. Animals generally liked him a lot, but Mr. Snuffles and Lunch seemed to go nuts for him. Perhaps it was because he fed them scraps from dinner or other juicy morsels he cooked for himself.
Delilah entered the room, then kicked the door shut with her foot. Her lips were curled into a grin, and it widened when she heard him laugh. She usually didn’t hear him do that, much less smile, and he only did so when it was for Lunch and Mr. Snuffles. It seemed he was as much a goner for them as they were for him.
“How mean,” Delilah faked a pout, her twinkling eyes showing she was only joking. “Mr. Snuffles doesn’t sit with me more than five minutes and he spends the entire day with you, while Lunch goes nuts at the idea of playing with you. You’ve stolen my babies.”
She settled on the floor in front of him, watching as Lunch barked, wagging her tail, drinking the attention she was receiving hungrily. Delilah snorted. Attention-seeker.
Delilah lifted the game pack, her smile back on her lips. “I brought Monopoly! Have you ever played it before?”
(Sorry for the really long wait! I just finished school and I’d been swamped with work the past few weeks)
Zack grinned up at her mischievously, his white teeth sparkling on the lights above him. In the nice lighting and with a few more hours of sleep under his belt, he looked quite younger than before. There was less stress lines graffitiing his sharp features, giving more light to his mismatched grey eyes. Though, because of the finer lighting, his scars seemed deeper and scarier upon his nose and cheekbones, glaring out from the patches of ruined skin.
The Demon didn’t seem to realize anything was wrong. He was grinning away with his pointy teeth, stroking the cat that had decided to situate himself on his lap, grinning at the dog who had been whimpering for attention since Delilah walked into the room.
“Monopoly?” He asked quizzically once he focused back on the teenager who got comfortable in front of him. “I’ve never heard of it, actually. Is there a rulebook I can look at?”
(No worries! It’s a bit rough here on my end as well. 😅 Take your time.)
He had never smiled at her like that, much less be so carefree. Delilah realized in that moment how much comfortable he was in this space. Relaxed, even, despite all the guards he had pulled up. She didn’t blame him, though. Those scars of his had a story, perhaps explaining why he was always so skittish and careful. She didn’t let herself be distracted by them, though, despite the questions that begged to escape. She felt like the questions resembled the frog in Tom Holland’s mouth, begging to escape and ask, How did you get your scars? But thankfully, Delilah directed herself away from the curiosity and instead focused on what was more important.
“You’ve never heard of Monopoly?”” the girl gasped, her eyes wide. But of course he hadn’t—he was a demon. There could be plenty of things he was unaware of. “Okay, um, I might have the rulebook in here somewhere…” Delilah set the box down on the floor, opened it, and began to browse through the items inside. Finally, she produced a rather worn-down, rumpled book. She grinned sheepishly, though Zackary’s attention was on her pets. “We usually don’t give the rulebook a second glance. We only pay it attention when there’s a disagreement or something. You can take your time reading it!”
Zack watched her with his droopy, dog-like eyes as she exclaimed in shock. He indeed had not had heard of such a board game. Well, he’d heard of the Capitalist version, but it wasn’t the same, was it? He had learned probably too much from that from prior Contracts with big businessmen and women.
As he took the instruction booklet from her when she found it, and started leafing through it, he realized it wad practically the same thing. Roll a dice, move some spaces, buy properties. Once you complete a “Color set” you can put houses and hotels on it. Seems easy enough.
“I’d be happy to play this with you.” Zack grinned up at her again, closing the book and gingerly setting it back into the box. “It seems… well… it seems I’ll be able to learn a bit more about you.” He nodded frankly.
While Zackary was browsing through the booklet, Delilah pulled Lunch into her lap and had begun to play with her. She gave her little friend a belly rub, cooing at her, and looked up instantly when the demon spoke.
“Perfect!” she said as she started to set up the game, then paused when Zackary finished speaking. Confused, the teenager gave him a look. Delilah had never thought of games as something used to get to know someone—well, other than Truth or Dare or Would You Rather?. “What do you mean you’ll be able to learn more about me?”
Zack watched Lunch pad away from him jealously, but continued to stroke Mr. Snuffles on his lap, so he didn’t lose his other companion. He thought about his answer for a few moments before responding to her, biting his thin lips with his pointy teeth in his thought process.
“Well, this game has a lot to do with how thrifty you are, and how you handle your money. As far as I’ve seen,” He added as a side note before continuing, “and it would help me learn a lot about how your mind works, and what your priorities are. Does that make sense?”