forum “All my friends are demons, take it slow…” (romance oxo)

Started March 06, 2022 by @Tired-but-passionate

tune

He went back to editing as Lucas began speaking. “So, do you think you need a topic change, or do you just need help with writing?”
When he was done, he switched over to the actual document he was going to write the essay on. He was going to start with setting up the format of the paper, but suddenly there was a strange feeling of numbness in his limbs. Dizziness came over him, and he shivered.
”Child. Please.”
Cedrak had appeared in front of his screen. His eyes danced and shifted, holding Bailey in a trance as he drained him of his strength and energy. Bailey often found it difficult to deal with whenever Cedrak fed, it was noticeable and hard to ignore. He tried to breathe, quickly nodding and close to feeling lightheaded. He felt Cedrak stop feeding, but it wasn’t like the discomfort and numbness immediately went away. Slowly, Bailey put a hand hand over his eyes.
“Um, Lucas?” He said softly. “I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
He could still feel Cedrak’s gaze on him. Closing his laptop and setting it aside, he got up and walked out of the room.

Lucas hummed, "Just the actual writing. I know the feature I wanna use, I kinda know how they are used, but thoughts are hard to turn into words sometimes." He shrugged, going back to his document as he tried to write at least a few notes on what he was going to eventually continue writing his essay on. Maybe he should just drop english, at this point it was becoming the best option.
He looked up at Bailey when he spoke, concern flitting across his face, "Uh yeah, of course, take your time." He stared at his screen for a few moments before looking back to the door and the closed bathroom door from across the hall. Lucas wouldn't deny the concern he had for Bailey's sudden exit, as well as the discomfort he had shown as he left, too. He wasn't one to pry, especially since he wanted Bailey to like him and to think he was a nice, but Lucas' curiosity grew the longer he spent with him. Shaking his head, he returned back to his screen. He'd let Lucas do whatever he needed and maybe ask about it later.

Finding the bathroom was easy enough. When Bailey shut the door behind him, he looked to find all of the demons assembled, looking at him expectantly. Cedrak was at the front, looking rather frustrated. Sillmud was off to the side, eyes wide and the crystals in her skin glimmering, with Azrith perched on their shoulder and looking bored. Marronae towered behind the others, smirking faintly, patronizing even when she wasn't speaking. Dirgan had his scaly arms crossed over his chest, looking grumpy.
Still feeling the effects of Cedrak's feeding, Bailey sank to the floor. His hair covered his face. "I'm not making him my friend," he said quietly.
Suprisingly, it was not Cedrak who spoke first. "Getting close to anyone else is dangerous, Bailey," Marronae drawled. "He hasn't become another bully yet, but there is your contract to think about."
"What do you mean, 'yet'?" Bailey asked, looking up. Marronae smirked, and he realized she was just trying to make him anxious again.
"I must agree with the cow lady on this," Cedrak said. Marronae gasped dramatically. "Cow lady!" Her eyes flashed dangerously and her tail swayed, but he silenced her with a finger. "Child, agreeing to come to this place was rather risky, don't you think? You've done so well staying away from others, keeping to yourself, why now must you go against it all?"
Before Bailey could respond, Sillmud put their hands on their hips, making her crystals flash. "Oh come now, the human boy is just being nice, that's all. I see no harm in this. He just needed help, right?"
Bailey made a small nod. Seeing them all together, moving in on him, was honestly kind of scary, but he found the courage to say, "Just because I've been avoiding people doesn't mean I have to be a jerk."
Dirgan laughed. "Oh, sure. So you're just being nice, too? Sounds like this was the result of desperation and selfishness."
Cedrak rolled his eyes. "You humans and your morals. And your need for mutual connection."
Bailey swallowed and looked to the floor again. "He's the first person who's been nice to me in… years. I just thought…"
The sound of laughter. Mainly from Marronae, Dirgan, and Azrith. Sillmud had put a hand to her mouth and looked off to the side. When she looked back, they said, "But Bailey, we've been nice to you, right? We're your friends!"
The look Bailey gave her made their wings shiver and her cheeks to turn pink with embarrassment. He then looked to Cedrak, who sighed exasperatedly.
"Will you at least promise to not do things like this again? You are to never go near that human boy after this."
Bailey furrowed his brow. "Fine. I won't, I promise."
"I'll hold you to it," Cedrak said.

It wasn't a surprise that while Bailey was away Lucas hadn't written anything. He was too busy getting lost in his thoughts about Bailey to think about the work. His fingers tapped against his keys, not pressing hard enough to make any words appear but at least it looked like he might be doing some work from an outside perspective.
What was it about Bailey that had Lucas so intrigued and curious? They hadn't spoken a word to each other before today and Lucas had only spared a few moments of thought over their few years of schooling together towards the boy, and yet he still found himself wishing that maybe he should have tried to be his friend before today. Not that one study session made them friends, but it was a step in that direction. Lucas had a strong feeling leap into his thought that the chances of Bailey wanting to see him again were going to be slim. Why he had agreed to help him in the first place baffled him more than Lucas let on. The small, quiet boy who didn't say a word to anyone and had no friends agreed to come over and help him with homework for, what Lucas presumed, was the first time in a long while.
He shook his head softly to himself. C'mon man, get some work done. There was time to question Bailey about his intentions and reasons to agreeing later.

Soon his strength came back, and he went back into Lucas’s bedroom. Bailey avoided his gaze, just quietly sitting in his previous spot on the bed and opening his laptop again. He looked over his outline, and then the blank page on the other tab, and began doing some basic stuff like setting the font and font size.
“Turning thoughts into words,” he said slowly, “is also hard. That’s why talking about it out loud might help.”
He felt Sillmud next to him. Her crystals dug into his skin, but he appreciated it when they leaned against him affectionately. ”It’s okay, Bailey, I’ll be your friend. You don’t need him, you know.”
There was characteristic unease Bailey sometimes felt around the demon. She was nice, but Bailey knew there was something there underneath the niceness. She was a demon, after all.

Lucas smiled when Bailey returned, glad to be back in his company. The smile only faltered a little when he realised Bailey wasn't really looking at him. Had he done something wrong? Maybe he had been too forward earlier or said something to put him off which was why he went to the bathroom for a little space. Shaking those thoughts off, Lucas sighed, "Mmm yeah, I know. I mean, I was thinking about…" Lucas began to at least try and voice what he was thinking. About metaphors in both stories and how they conveyed the themes, along with the other features he'd chosen. It wasn't until a few minutes later that he stopped with an almost shy chuckle, "So yeah, I just don't know how to articulate that onto the page I suppose."

As Lucas began to explain, Bailey turned his attention onto him. Sometimes he nodded here or there. When he finished, Bailey had a finger on his chin, looking thoughtful.
“Well, you already verbalized what was in your head, right?” He mused. “Perhaps just write it in the outline as it was so you can change it later in the actual writing bit.”
Looking back at his laptop screen, he started typing again. He felt Sillmud stop leaning on him, instead flopping onto the bed. ”This is kind of boring, Bailey. We should do something else. Like set something on fire. That’s always fun.”
Normally, Bailey would not be opposed, but it was not a good time. Lucas was here, and Bailey did not want to leave his homework unfinished. He didn’t think Sillmud understood that Lucas also probably would not want to set something on fire with him.

(Hey, sorry for disappearing, school and life really bombed for a sec there, forgive me)

The tall boy sighed softly with a nod, "Yeah, you're right, it's easier talking about it out loud than writing it down." Lucas shrugged, making an effort to start attempting to get the outline filled out. For a few minutes he worked in silence, unusual for someone so chatty but Lucas was holding back a little, maybe to prevent Bailey from running off. After a few glances his way, he cleared his throat to speak, though didn't look away from his laptop in an attempt to not look too eager, "So uh, I don't really know you all that well," A soft chuckle, "What are you interested in?" Maybe they could find something they both liked to chat about.

Bailey nodded with agreement, then returned to his work. The quiet moment was nice, and the sound of clicking computer keys was oddly satisfying. He felt Sillmud looking over his shoulder.
”Ooh! Murder!” he heard them say, a bit too excitedly. ”Actually, maybe this isn’t so boring after all!”
Yes, Sill. Murder, Bailey thought to himself. He had decided to work on his body paragraphs first, since starting and ending things was always difficult for him. He had about finished the first one when he heard Lucas speak.
He paused his typing. “That’s true,” he said. He was quiet though, because he started to feel Cedrak’s presence behind him, and also it was difficult to think of something that he thought he wouldn’t be made fun of for. “Um. A lot of things,” he started vaguely. “Reading manga, I guess.”
It wasn’t something he did all the time, if he was being honest, but he did have a good sized collection of manga in his room. Sometimes he wished he could expand it and read more, but often he did not have the money.

Lucas hummed, not looking up from his keyboard still as Bailey replied, "That's cool," He sounded genuine when he said it, and the smile that seemed to grace his face confirmed it, too, "I've never really read any manga," He admitted, "I mean it looks interesting, but I've never been big into reading in the first place." Too busy wound up in sports to think about reading, manga or otherwise. He also knew that he was horrible with sitting down and focusing on one thing for long periods of time, "What else are you into besides that, then?" He really was curious, and Lucas felt comfortable enough around Bailey. He wanted to learn more and see what else the shy boy was into.

Bailey went back to typing as he spoke, so he did not see Lucas’s expression, though his tone of voice eased him a little. It looked like this genuine interest in him had not gone away, and though he couldn’t understand it, it at least made things less awkward and anxiety inducing.
“I’m not surprised,” he said. You’re a jock.
Then he blinked and stopped typing again. Here he was, thinking Lucas was going to start talking about something he liked, but no. He just asked for more, like it wasn’t enough. Compared to how much other people asked him questions like this, this felt like an interrogation.
“Um…” he stalled. “History. It’s the one subject I’m actually interested in. Um, how about you?”

(ahhh i love them!)

"Oh cool!" Lucas could tell Bailey might have been a bit of a history nut, didn't know why, but it made sense to him, "History is pretty cool, most of the time. Ancient history is fun." He hummed as he thought of how to answer. It was obvious he liked sports, Bailey probably knew that already so he didn't have to say. When he replied Lucas seemed almost hesitant at his answer, "I uh- really like the arts, you know? All forms, really, visual, music, drama but…" He shrugged. Bailey didn't seem like the kind to judge, "dance is probably my favourite."

Bailey nearly blushed. This was so strange, getting positive feedback like this from another person his age. “Yeah, it can get depressing sometimes, but history is just as much of a comedy as it is a tragedy.”
His eyes were fixed on Lucas, and he almost forgot about typing for the essay. The other boy seemed… reluctant? Like he had been? Then he nodded. “I find the arts interesting too.” Then he couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “Dance. Of course. I can see that.”
He felt Cedrak’s presence behind him again, making the hairs on his neck stand up. Glancing over to where Sillmud was, he saw that they were staring at them with a strange, awkward looking expression on her face. Bailey swallowed, then looked back down to his laptop, afraid to say anymore.

(Hey im so sorry for completely blanking on you there! irl kinda got a bit stressful with school and surgery and a bunch of stuff - I'm trying to get back into writing but replies might be slow for a little while longer)

Lucas was taken aback slightly at Bailey's comment, though that didn't stop the slight, almost shy smile that graced him a moment later, "Really? You can see me liking dance?" He leaned back onto his hands, essay forgotten, as his laptop sat in his lap, gradually turning warm as he stared at the other boy, "Most people don't. You know, sports nut and all, anything to do with art people think I'm joking about liking that sort of thing." A small shrug and a soft chuckle. Maybe it was just his immediate friend group that thought that he didn't know, and until now he didn't really care.

Bailey shrugged, returning Lucas’s smile a little sheepishly. “But… can’t dance be a sport? It’s like, the sportiest of the arts. A sport and an art rolled into one. So if you like both, then dance is just perfect.”
He looked up from his laptop, also forgetting about the essay for a moment. “Like… I don’t know. I could see you being a ballet dancer, maybe. You have the legs, and the height.”
He could still feel Cedrak’s presence, but that inner sense of spite was coming back, and he chose to ignore the demon.

"A lot of people don't see dance as a sport." He replied. His dad, his friends, and everyone he surrounded himself with at school, "I think you're really the first person I've talked to about this that actually agrees that dance is a sport." Lucas' smile grew a fraction. It was strange for him to feel so reserved about his personality around someone else, but considering Bailey was a quiet kid, he wasn't about to grin and scream 'thank you for agreeing with me!' "The ballet is great, I'd love to see one on stage but until I go to college chances are slim on that front. Anyway, considering how late I want to start dance most companies might not even wanna take me and train me, you know?"

Bailey’s gaze flickered downward. “Ah, yes. That is true. I wish they didn’t.” He tugged on his sleeve and shrugged again. “Well, there are other kinds of dance. What do you like?”
He felt claws grip his shoulders. Cedrak was gone, and his presence was replaced by Dirgan’s growl. ”What are you even saying? Just shut up and get back to work. You’re wasting your time, talking about silly things like this. Besides, this essay should be easy for you. You’re probably annoying him, too.”
Even though he knew what Dirgan was doing to him, Bailey couldn’t stop it. He felt his blood grow cold, and his smile fell. He turned back to his laptop, but still listened for Lucas’s answer.

"Hip hop is fun," Lucas replied, watching Bailey with an intrigued sort of look. Why his smile fell he didn't know. Was he talking too much? Bored, maybe? Or was he just not interested or wanted to talk about something else? "Of course, ballet is the best since it's the classic, but hip hop is good because you get to just let loose and be free for a while." Sport was like that for him too, but there was something different about dance that he enjoyed maybe just a little more, "Anyway, I feel like I'm talking a lot about me, I wanna hear more about you, Bailey."

He managed to chuckle again. “I thought you might say that.” Bailey typed on the laptop, but nodded along to what Lucas was saying. “Yeah, I get that.”
Then he stopped. Suddenly he felt a little nervous. Maybe even scared. Did Lucas really want to know more about him? “Oh…” he looked at him, but didn’t make eye contact. “I don’t know. What do you wanna know?”
He still felt Dirgan’s claws in his shoulder, but he tried to ignore it and just focus on breathing.

"Anything," Everything. Maybe why he didn't speak to anyone at school but seemed like a normal guy from the outside, just… antisocial, "I- I get we're practically strangers to each other so, whatever you're willing to share I'll take." Lucas offered a smile, gentle, reassuring. He really did want to get to know Bailey. He seemed like such a nice guy and if he could make a friend out of this study session then Lucas would take it, and it seemed that Bailey might need a friend. He knew he could be wrong, but it was worth a shot to try.

“Oh. Um…” Bailey hesitated for a bit. He wanted to say something. It’s not that he didn’t want to share, but Dirgan’s claws were almost painful now, and half of his essay was still unwritten. And maybe, just maybe, sharing something would be the beginning of him breaking his contract.
“Well, I asked you to talk about yourself a lot, so it’s only fair that I do the same thing… i guess.” He shrugged a little. “Um. I have a cat. Her name is Smoke. I have pictures if you want to see.”