Chapter Text
“Alright everyone, settle down. The hike will be starting shortly.”
The summer sun beat down harshly on the group of kids gathered around a flagpole, the orange flag hanging limply in the stagnant air. Cabins surrounded them on all sides, decorated with colorful animals and banners. The Mystic Mountain Summer Camp is in full swing and you wish you were anywhere but here. All the kids in the group are around eight to fourteen years old, all but one. That would be you. You tower over the other kids and rightfully so, you’re seventeen. You’re too damn old for summer camp, but do your parents listen? No, not at all, they just ship you off so they can have a kid free summer. Not like they’re around the rest of the year either, too busy with business dinners and private yachts.
You stand off to the side of the group and grumble to yourself, glaring at any kid that even looks like they want to come over. Even when you’re not glaring you’re still squinting to keep everyone’s shirts from blinding you in the bright sunlight. The camps (mandatory) wardrobe had to be the worst part of your whole summer. Everyone wore shorts and bright orange t-shirts. You do not look good in shorts and orange, in fact it makes you look like a sickly pedophile when surrounded by little kids, like you are now. The orange clashes horribly with your pale skin and the purple streak in your hair and the shorts expose the rest of your legs for hungry bugs. You swear you lose several pounds every year to the damn bugs alone.
The councilors, a woman named Crystal and a man named Clem, are talking at the front of the group and they gesture you over. You groan and seriously consider not going but you end up trudging through the crowd of kids anyway.
“Eridan dear, could you stay at the back of the group and make sure none of the little ones try to sneak off?” Crystal asks you with a big smile. Before you can answer her, Clem claps his hand on your back hard enough to send you forward a step.
“Of course he will! Eridan’s our best camper after all. It’s so nice of you to be helping us this year.” He gives you an equally big smile and another clap on the shoulder.
“Sure, whatever.” You grumble, fixing your crooked glasses and heading to the back of the group as they organize everyone. The further away from the perpetual cheer machines you are the better.
Soon enough the whole group is heading into the thankfully dark forest. You’re finally able to stop squinting as the harsh sunlight turns into a soft dappled glow. Chattering from the kids and buzzing from the plethora of bugs fills the still air as you all walk through the dry leaves. The hike is always the same every year, first up the cliffs to the clear spring to get a drink of the freezing cold water, then back down to the meadow filled with fragrant wildflowers, and then on the way to the waterfall they always stop at the old abandoned cabin. Sure the route is pretty, but you’re really tired of it.
Today is no different, they follow the path like clockwork. As always, when they get to the old cabin they stop everyone so they can talk. It’s definitely a sobering backdrop, the cabin is falling apart. Vines and moss are overtaking the outside and all the windows had long ago been broken by the campers. The most interesting part of the building though had to be the door. There’s some satanic looking thing painted on it in what looks like blood but is probably spray paint.
“The only reason we’re showing you this cabin kids, is so you’ll know to stay away from it.” Clem says, “The building is rotting and it’s not safe for you to go inside.”
“Please be safe and avoid this area!” Crystal says cheerfully, “Now the path is right over that hill, lets go see the waterfall!”
“And after that it’s time for basket weaving class!” Clem says in a voice that only a child could love, “Isn’t that wonderful?” They lead the kids over the hill but a small group lags behind.
“I heard the place was cursed.” One of the younger ones say.
“Of course it is,” says the oldest of the group. Like you he’s been coming here every summer for years. “Everyone who goes in doesn’t come out the same, they’re... different.”
You roll your eyes, having heard all this before. Every year more and more rumors start about that damned cabin, and every year there’s always a kid that pretends to have gone in it and changed. Hell one year it was a pure epidemic, the councilors had to threaten everyone with no dinner to get them to stop. You of course don't believe in any of that magic bullshit, everyone knows magic is the fakest of fake things.
“If you don’t go in it before you leave camp you’re a pussy.” The oldest says, pushing the younger one towards the cabin.
“Hey,” you call out, walking up to the kids, “come on and go catch up with the group.”
“Why should we listen to you? You’re not a counselor.” The oldest brat says, bowing up to you like he can actually take you in a fight. You just laugh at him and lean in.
“Because, I’ll beat you up if you don’t. Now go.” You say coldly. The younger kids take off running over the hill but the older ones stay.
“I bet you haven’t even gone inside yet and how long have you been going here? Ten years? You’re a coward.” He has the nerve to look smug and his buddies chime in with laughter and insults of their own.
“No, I’m smarter than you. That cabin looks like it could give you a staph infection with one splinter, and I value my health. Besides, curses aren’t real and only idiots would believe otherwise.” You say.
Predictably, he just starts chanting ‘coward’ over and over again, his friends dancing around and laughing with him. When you raise your fist and step toward them they go running like the little brats they are. They’ve always been a pain in the ass, but you’re bigger so they won’t take it farther than insults, and well, they’re kids so their insults aren’t any more menacing than ‘booger eater’ or ‘fart head’ and the occasional ‘fucker’ uttered in a hushed voice.
You sigh and follow them up the hill but stop on the crest. You actually haven’t been inside the cabin, even though you visit it every year. This would be your last year at camp, it’s now or never. You hesitate a moment before walking back down the hill, not because of the brat’s taunts but to get away from the ever cheerful counselors and the routine. Not to mention if you have to take basket weaving one more time you'll weave yourself a flail and flip your shit.
You circle the cabin, studying it for one last time. The wood was falling apart and smelled strongly of rot. Just touching a window sill causes the whole board to creak and fall off, sending a swarm of bugs running. You back off several steps to avoid the nasty things. Disgusting, no wonder this place is so run down.
Did you really want to go inside it? The place sounds like it'll fall down at the merest touch, the boards groaning and creaking lightly with every slight breeze.
You sigh and step up to the door, inspecting the odd painting. Weird symbols, a circle, and crude animal drawings all painted in dark red, definitely satanic. You hesitate a moment before pushing the door. It sounds like it's screaming as it slowly swings open halfway before catching on a loose floorboard. A cloud of dust and dirt greets you as you walk in, causing you to go into a coughing fit. There's little pawmarks in the layer of dust crisscrossing all over the room, which is predictably empty. You cautiously walk in further, testing the floor as you go. It'd be just your luck to fall through and get stuck.
Looking around, you see now that what you assumed to be moss on the walls is actually old crumbling pieces of paper. You walk over to one and blow the dust off of it. Once your sneezing subsides you can see the paper has the same kind of symbols as the door does. There must be hundreds of these stickers, plastered all over every surface. It makes you nervous, though you can't say why.
So, now you're in the cabin. Why did people make such a big deal out of this? It's just a musty old run down building. Maybe the back rooms will prove to be more interesting. As you cross the middle of the main room, the floor creaks horribly and you make a mental note to go around the edge of the room as you leave.
The first room you come to is the kitchen area, if one can even call it that anymore. The cupboard doors are either missing or hanging on by a hope and prayer. You go over and idly swing one closed before you examine the remains of the sink. How cute, someone planted some flowers in it once upon a time and the little purple buds are taking over the counter. There isn’t anything else interesting so you move on to the other rooms.
Each one is in a similar state, rotting, falling apart, taken over by plants and animals or covered in camper graffiti. Such glorious phrases such as ‘beware’ and ‘you shall be cursed’ and other nonsense all written in what you assume to be sharpie and paint from the camp shed. The back half of the cabin is eerie, all gloomy lighting, rotting wood, random creaks and groans, it’d be the perfect place to set a horror story. You open the door to one of the back rooms and a family of possums immediately hiss at you. There is no way you’re going to get rabies so you slam that door as soon as you open it, and then practically jump out of your skin as something large makes a bang from somewhere in the house.
What the hell was that? No way that was a possum or raccoon, the noise had been too loud. With your heart pounding you make your way toward the front, trying to be as quiet as possible. Did one of those kids sneak back? Or was it something more dangerous like a bear or big cat? You curse yourself for leaving the front door open but there isn’t anything you can do now but cautiously peek around the corner into the kitchen.
Nothing. As far as you can tell no one but you has been in there for years. That means whatever it is is in the front room, between you and the door. Everything is silent as you pad over and work up the courage to look. Again, nothing. Then what the hell...
As you look around for the source of the noise you notice the cabinet door that you closed before wasn’t there anymore, it had fallen off. You kick the piece of wood and grumble to yourself as you head outside. This had been a waste of time and you’re ready to get back to camp but as you cross over the center of the main room, an ominous creak breaks the silence.
You try to jump back but it's too late, the middle of the floor gives out. You scream as you fall down into a hidden basement. The landing is rough and it's made worse by the splintered boards raining down on you. Miraculously they don't impale you, but you are sporting several painful gashes and one very pained ass. You slowly sit up with a groan and survey the damage, adjusting your thankfully intact glasses. Nothing feels broken, and you don't seem to be gushing blood so you'll probably live. That is if you don't end up with an infection.
You're so busy gripping and groaning to yourself that you don't feel it at first, a powerful, almost oppressive feeling of something watching you. When you finally get your mind off your hurts your head snaps up in alarm. You expect to see some kind of dirty psychotic hillbilly, or maybe a cougar, but all that's there is a table with a small box on it. The feeling doesn't go away and you stay tense for several minutes before laughing at yourself.
"I must have hit my damn head." You say as you haul yourself to your feet, wincing at all your little hurts. You walk over and inspect the table. Old, dusty, starting to rot, but just a standard table. The box is only a few inches big, probably small enough to fit in the palm of your hand which you prove when you pick it up. It's surprisingly heavy for it's size. There's four more of those stickers sealing it closed, one on each side, and for the longest moment you can't force yourself to break them. Then you scoff and shake your head, hesitating just another moment before you rip them open with your thumbnail.
Nothing happens. You almost feel cheated but of course nothing happened, magic isn't real. You pull the top off and nestled on a bed of black silk is a ring. It almost looks like a class ring, but it is obviously older in design. Despite it's apparent age though, it isn't tarnished. In fact it looked brand new, the silver shining brightly as you walk over to the hole in the ceiling where the light is pouring in. On the inside of the band is etched two words, Sollux Captor. The owner of the ring maybe? The stone set in it is odd, you've never seen anything like it before. One side is a brilliant ruby and the other is a glimmering sapphire, the two stones meeting in a jagged line straight down the middle melding in a way you didn't think was possible. Even though the middle looks jagged, a quick feel shows that it was smooth, not a crack to be found in the surface as if the stone had just formed that way. Both colors are more vibrant than you've ever seen in a gem before, and you've seen plenty of precious gems in your life. It ‘s absolutely beautiful, and somehow powerful.
As you're staring down at it, a drop of blood falls from your cheek and lands on the stone. You swear it glows for a split second but that had to be a trick of the light. You pick up the ring and wipe it off on your shirt, taking a moment to remove one of the rings you're already wearing before replacing it with the new one.
The ring flashes with a blinding light and you're thrown to the floor by some invisible force. You crack your head against the cement and spend a long moment curled up in pain, wondering what the hell just happened. After the nausea fades to a tolerable level you manage to crack open your eyes. Was it darker? Did you pass out or something because there’s next to no light now. Your eyes are full of tears though so maybe that's it. You slowly sit up and take off your glasses to wipe your eyes. When you replace them and look up to see what's blocking the light you freeze.
It's a monster. That's the only thing that comes to mind when you see the... creature, standing above you. Large leathery wings, big enough to fill most of the room and block out the light, are the first things to catch your attention. Whatever it is has horns, two sharp pairs of them, and long pointed ears. Then it opens it's eyes and stares right at you. One eye glows a vibrant red and the other a blue that together illuminate the rest of it's face.
You can't move, it feels like someone stole your breath and if you try to get it back this thing will rip you apart. The seconds stretch into an eternity, the only sound is the blood rushing through your ears. You're hallucinating, that's the only thing that makes sense. You hit your head and now you're seeing things. Monsters like that don't exist, magic and monsters and everything like that thing is fake. That doesn't stop your heart from going a mile a minute and every muscle tensing up ready to fight or run.
The thing takes a step towards you and without thinking you're already scuttling backwards until you hit the wall. It keeps coming closer, a smirk on it's face and you've never felt so trapped before. When it's right in front of you it pauses before moving suddenly and you instinctively fling your arms up in front of your face. You expect to feel sharp claws ripping into your flesh, but instead you hear a chuckle.
"Jumpy aren't you?"
You peek out from behind your arms at the creature. It spoke. This monster just spoke to you and now it looked like it expected an answer as it crouches in front of you. With its wings tucked against it's back the room is brighter, enough to dispel the creepy vibe from before. Now you can actually see the creature's features and you're surprised to see he, for it had to be male, looked like... a nerd. If not for the glowing eyes, grey skin, and sharp teeth poking out from behind his lips, he'd be the poster boy for a Dungeons and Dragons convention, he just had that kind of thin geeky face.
You blink at him a few times, trying to understand just what you're seeing. Frightening monster or weird geek cosplayer?
"I hit my head way too hard." You say, rubbing your eyes in hopes the next time you open them that thing will be gone.
Slender fingers probe the back of your head and you jerk away from them in alarm, whacking your already sore head on the wall. You grab your throbbing skull and curl in on yourself as the creature laughs.
"I was going to say your head is fine but now I'm not sure." He says, speaking with a lisp, further cementing the nerd connection.
You peek up at him through your tears. He looks amused, his eyes softer than they were before and his mouth in a crooked smile. If it wasn't for his inhuman appearance, you'd have actually relaxed, but he’s obviously something else, something that looked like it came from a nightmare.
"... w-what are you?" You finally work up the nerve to ask.
"Wow rude, not to mention cliche. I'm a demon and you're currently wearing my ring. I'd like it back." He says, pointing one slender claw-tipped finger at your hand.
You look down at the ring still on your finger. Is it just your imagination or did the stone look a little less vibrant than it did before?
"Oh, uh, sorry." You go to remove it but an odd feeling strikes you, like giving it back to him would be a very bad idea.
"What's the problem? Come on and give it here so we can go our separate ways." He says, holding his hand out and gesturing for you to give it to him.
"... what are you gonna do when I give it to you?" You ask. Your hand curls around the ring while you study his face.
"I'm going to put it on and then leave this shitty place. I've been down here way too long and I'm ready to go so give it here." He gestures for the ring again.
Something about this just isn't setting right with you. The weird painting on the door, all those stickers pasted everywhere, the fact that this room was hidden in the first place, it was all adding up to something out of a horror movie and you do not want to be the idiot that gets himself killed.
"Why don't you just leave now then?" You ask, sitting up more.
"Because," he says slowly as if he's talking to an infant, "that is my ring and I want it back. Now either give it to me or I take it from you." His eyes narrow as he's talking.
"W-wait! Just, what was it doin down here in the first place? Why didn't you get it before now?"
He hisses at you, "Give it here!"
Before you can even blink he lunges at your hand, aiming to pry the ring off by force. You squeak in fear and try to push him off but it's like pushing against a rock. He's shoving you into the wall as he gropes for your hand, bare chest keeping you trapped and giving off an unnatural amount of body heat. You squirm around towards the wall and try to shove him off with your free hand and feet but it's no use.
"Stop!" You cry out. Then, putting as much force and power into your voice as you can, you say it again, "STOP!"
He's gone so suddenly you're left reeling from the lack of heat. What just happened? Did you seriously hallucinate all that? You're scared to look, but you force yourself and there he is, perched on the table like some kind of gargoyle. Oh god his expression promises pain but... why did he stop in the first place? You spend a moment getting your breath back before scrambling to your feet, making damn sure to keep your eyes on him at all times. He doesn't move, just crouches there glaring at you.
A long minute passes with neither of you moving. What is he waiting for? You don't know what to do so you spend the tense moment getting a better look at him. His wings are half unfurled and you're surprised to see he actually has a second smaller set slightly below the main one. He also has two long smooth tails ending in stereotypical spades curled around his odd legs which look like something out of a furry convention. Thank god he's wearing pants, as tattered and faded as they are, and out of the frayed bottom come his weird feet. They look like a cross between gargoyle and bird feet, with thick but dexterous looking toes.
He hisses as you look him over and you jump in surprise. You expect him to lunge at you but still he just crouches there. Cautiously, you take a few steps along the wall and when he doesn't attack you deem it safe enough to look around the room for a way out. Unfortunately, the only way in or out of this room is through the ceiling. You're trapped in here with a demon.
You look back at him and take a deep breath, "W-" you clear your throat and try again, "Why did you stop?"
He growls, this deep and evil sounding thing that causes your hair to stand on end. "You ordered me to."
"... And you listened?" You ask him incredulously.
He hisses and jumps off the table, stalking toward you on all fours before standing. You hold your ground, only trembling slightly.
"You have my ring!" He yells at you.
His response makes so little sense that you find yourself laughing, "What the fuck does that have to do with anythin?!"
He jabs you in the chest, thankfully minding his claw, "I'm bound to that ring and while you're wearing it I'm bound to you!"
You press back against the wall to get as far away from him as possible, though you don't think he's going to hurt you now.
"Okay okay! Just, back off and explain this to me," you shove him away, hoping you're right and he won't claw you up for your trouble. To your immense relief he does back off.
You take a deep breath and try to gather your thoughts, looking down at the ring that started this whole mess. "So, you're sayin you’re… bound? To this ring?"
He rolls his eyes, which looks rather odd since both his eyes are solid colors but you know he just rolled them at you. "Yes genius, I just said that less than a minute ago."
You give him a dirty look, "How can you be bound to a ring?" What the hell does that even mean? Is it like… a tether? A Pokeball? Where he lives in it and comes out when you summon him?
He heaves a sigh, “Souls are made of energy and energy can be contained. That stone is a physical manifestation of my soul and since it’s trapped in a ring, I’m trapped with whoever is wearing it, i.e. you.”
"Demons don't have souls... do they?" Aren't they created when someone loses their soul? Or they're damned souls condemned to burn? You'll be the first to admit you didn't pay much attention when religious theory was taught.
"Oh please," he crosses his arms with a huff, "whatever stupid god fearing thoughts are running through your head, drop them. I'm a being of nature and spirit, not some bullshit religious icon. Demon is just what humans call us."
"Us?" Oh god don't let there be more of these creatures around.
His evil, toothy grin confirms your worst suspicions, "You don't think I'm the only demon do you? Humans can't see us unless we want them to, or unless they're bound to a demon. So congrats! Unless you give me my ring you'll be seeing demons everywhere and some really don't like being noticed if you catch my drift."
You catch it alright, and you really wish you hadn't. "So we're... bound together. Explain that."
"What do you think it means? Our souls are connected now thanks to you. One of us gets hurt and the other gets to feel it. We get to share emotions and needs and all the bullshit that comes with it." He practically snarls, but then he relaxes and looks imploringly at you, "Seriously, just give me the ring, I'll break the bond, and you can forget this ever happened."
The offer is tempting, extremely so, but you can't shake the feeling that it would be a bad idea. "... What happens to me if you break the bond?"
"Nothing, you're not hurt, you're not altered in any way. There's really no damn good reason for you not to just give it up."
You think on it for a minute, absentmindedly rubbing the smooth stone. It isn't until you notice him staring at your fingers that you stop, remembering that's supposed to be his soul or something. "Alright, just one more question. Why were you trapped in this ring in the first place?"
His eyes go to your face and narrow as he tenses. A long moment stretches out without him answering. "... That's a rude question and it's none of your business."
Just as you suspected, he was trapped because he deserved to be. Whatever he did, someone wanted to make damn sure he never did again. Judging by all the precautions taken, it couldn't have been good. "You deserved it didn't you?"
He hisses at you but doesn't answer which is as much a confession as anything. A thought crosses your mind and you grin at him smugly, "I can order you to tell me."
The next thing you know you're being slammed into the wall with an enraged demon in your face. "You do and I'll make you wish you hadn't," he says quietly.
You nod quickly, heart in your throat and knees weak. If he hurts you he hurts himself, he said so, but now you're not sure if he wouldn't take that risk anyway. He keeps you pinned for another moment, not breaking eye contact. His eyes are so intense you feel like he can burn you alive just by staring. Finally, he backs off and lets you slide to the floor when your legs give out.
He crouches down to your level, "If you won't let me go, at least feed me."
"W- what do you eat?" You don't really want to know the answer. What if he wanted your fingers? Or part of your soul? Or oh god, what if he wanted your virginity?
"Energy, creativity, emotions, blood, sex,” he rattles off, “it depends on what I'm hungry for. For now I'll settle on your name and some blood."
"You're gonna eat my name?" You say as your eyebrows shoot up.
"... Yes. I'm going to eat your name." He says flatly, "Of fucking course I'm not going to eat your name, that's not a thing that can even happen you moron."
You bristle, "Well excuse me! I don't know how demons work."
"That's obvious," he says, "Just tell me your name, your full name, and let me eat. I don't know if you can understand this with your feeble little human mind, but being stuck in a ring for who knows how long works up quite an appetite."
You frown, "Why do you need to know my full name?" Isn't that one of the ways someone took control over another person? Is he trying to trick you?
"I don't need to, but fair is fair right? You know mine and it's not like I can do anything with yours." He says, crossing his arms and glaring at the floor. You get the feeling he's not lying to you, and anyway can't you order him to stop if he tries to hurt you? You consider it, realizing his name must have been the words carved in the band of the ring. After another moment of studying him, you decide.
"Eridan Ampora," You say, and you're struck with such a powerful hunger it leaves you light headed. You're aware that you're not actually hungry, but at the same time you still feel like you're starving. "I- what?" You ask, shaking your head to dispel the weird feeling. Instead of clearing your head, you just feel detached amusement.
"I told you we'd share emotions and needs, but only if we both know each other's full names. Now you know how damn hungry I am so give me your arm." He grabs your arm and tugs it up to his mouth.
It takes you a moment to process what he's doing but when you do you jerk your arm back to your chest, "Hey no bitin! Wait a minute, you tricked me!" You glare at him, feeling his impatience as a weird aside to your own feelings.
"No shit, you're keeping me captive so you should expect a trick or two. Now give me your arm you big baby, I'm not going to bite you." He holds out his hand, impatience and hunger radiating off of him. If you deny him for much longer, you don't doubt that he'll take what he wants anyway.
You slowly extend your arm and tense up for pain when he grabs you tight, but instead of biting, he leans in and seals his lips around one of the gashes you got from falling through the ceiling. Oh, you'd forgotten about those. His tongue rubs at the wound as he sucks to get the blood flowing. It kind of hurts, but it's better than him biting you that’s for sure. This whole thing is uncomfortably intimate though, his lips at your skin, feeling his pleasure as he drinks, you're starting to wish you'd let him go. Why didn't you? Oh yeah, because he’s probably a danger to the world.
Time seems to lose meaning as you watch him lap at your arm. You realize you're staring almost the exact moment his eyes slide open to look at you. That intense red and blue stare causes you to blush, which just gets worse when you can feel his amusement. You tug your arm out of his grasp despite the fact he's still hungry. "That's enough I think."
"You can always feed me with something else." He wiggles his eyebrows in an attempt at being alluring but it just looks ridiculous. You still end up getting flustered over the suggestion.
"Not no but hell no." You push yourself to your feet and walk away from him to the center of the room, looking up at the ceiling. How are you going to get out of here? There’s no way you can climb out. While you're thinking, Sollux embraces you from behind, his arms wrapping around you and his chin resting on your shoulder. You jump at the sudden contact.
"I'm still hungry you know." He says, his breath tickling your ear and his hands casually rubbing your chest.
"Let me go you beast." Ignoring his obvious come on, you elbow him and try to push off but his grip is like steel. He growls at you and you freeze only to cry out the next moment as he bites your shoulder. The bite isn't hard, more like a strong nip really, but it’s on one of your gashes that was already lightly throbbing so it sends a lance of pain down your spine. You reach over and grab his shaggy black hair but you don't try to tug him off, too afraid of hurting yourself.
The little shit hums in satisfaction as he drinks your blood, body pressed against you to keep you from struggling. He's hot, temperature wise that is. Are all demons this hot? It’s hard to think straight with the heat and his tongue dancing across your skin. You really hope he can't read your mind, but you can't read his so, maybe you're safe?
Eventually his hunger diminishes and he licks your wound clean but doesn't pull away. You're about to just order him to but the words die in your throat as you surge upward without warning. You're outside before you can blink and the trees get smaller and smaller as he takes you high into the air.
The wind tugs at your clothes and howls in your ears, snatching away most of your scream. You scramble to get a hold on his arms as your vision goes weird around the edges from fear. Finally he stops rising and levels out, hovering in place far above the valley. The wind is cold up here, biting into your bare legs and freezing your lungs as you gulp for air. You can see for miles and miles, everything crystal clear and spread out like a map. It’s an absolute miracle that your glasses managed to stay on through the wild ride, but you kind of wish they’d fallen off. The view only makes this more terrifying honestly.
“So hey, why don’t you give me my ring back?” Sollux says calmly from behind you, his arms the only thing keeping you from certain death.
“U-uh, w-wait a minute.” This had to be a bluff, he can’t kill you right? He already would have if he could, he’s just trying to trick you again. “Are you gonna take it and go off to destroy things?”
“Whether I do or don’t isn’t any of your business,” he says, “but if you don’t give me the ring you’ll have a long way down to consider your choice.” You honestly can’t tell if he’s bluffing now, even with access to his emotions. He’s perfectly calm and you can’t get a read on him. Still... he wouldn’t, would he?
“I’m not gonna give it to you if you’re just gon-” you don’t get to finish that because he drops you. The world and sky blur as you’re thrown into a free fall, the ground coming up fast. There’s a high pitched noise coming from somewhere and it isn’t until Sollux catches you by the ankle and stops your fall do you realize it’s you. You stop screaming and suck in air by the lungfull, eyes shut tight and whole body trembling as you dangle from his grasp. Great, you’ve lost your glasses, though you can’t really bring yourself to care much at the moment.
“If you don’t want me to drop you again, you’d better give me that ring.” Sollux says from above you, voice calm as his emotions. You don’t even have to consider it, you’re not dying just to save people from a hypothetical fate. You pull the ring off and hold it out for Sollux to grab. There’s a burst of triumph followed by confusion.
The grip on your ankle disappears and you scream as your eyes fly open but... you’re not falling. You’re just kind of floating there, watching as a blurry Sollux puts on the ring over and over again. He glares down at you, you think, “Did you bleed on this?”
“Uh...” You answer eloquently. It’s not your fault you can’t think straight right now. You do vaguely remember wiping the ring off though. “Yes?”
He hisses and you can clearly feel his anger and frustration. “You idiot! Now we really are stuck together! Bring me to the nearest blind witch.”
The world slowly spins as you somehow turn right side up in midair. From out of nowhere your glasses alight themselves on your face, causing you to start in alarm, “What the- You want me to do what now?” You blink and adjust your glasses, wondering where the hell they came from.
“Bring me to a blind witch! How hard is that to understand?” He glares at you and you realize he hasn’t been flapping his wings, they’re just spread open and the both of you are floating with no clear sign of how.
“I’m pretty sure witches don’t exist.” Then again, you’re currently floating in the air, your glasses just set themselves on your face, and you’re talking to a demon who you can feel becoming more annoyed.
He just stares at you for a long moment. “... Are you actually stupid or just faking? Don’t answer that, I already know, but are you seriously telling me there’s no witches around?”
“None that I know of, other than preteens fakin it.” You say with a shrug.
He stares at you for another moment, disbelief and confusion swirling off of him. “... What year is it?”
“Uh, twenty fourteen.” You say.
His eyes widen comically and he runs a hand through his hair, which is awkward looking since you know, horns. “Wow, almost five hundred years.” He looks around at the world stretched below you both for the first time, studying the landscape.
Is he serious? He’s been trapped in a ring for that long? How is he even that old? He looked to be in his early twenties.
There’s a faint roar as an airplane takes off at a nearby airport and he just stares at it for a long moment before nodding. “... I guess we’re stuck together. Come on, we need to talk.” He floats over and grabs you around the waist before gravity seems to kick back in and he’s using his wings again. The ride back to the ground is a lot nicer now that you know he’s not going to kill you. As he lands in a little clearing and you take a few steps away from him you realize you could have just ordered him to not drop you.
“Goddammit! Don’t do anythin like that again.” You say with a glare. He merely grins and shrugs.
“It was worth a try, though if you’d have told me from the beginning you bled on my stone I wouldn’t have tried to get it back.”
“How the hell was I supposed to know that? And why does bleedin on it have anythin to do with us bein stuck together?” You ask.
“It’s complicated, you wouldn’t understand it but I’ll try to condense it into small words,” the absolute asshole says, still grinning like this is a joke, “Wearing the ring ties me to you but if you take it off it breaks that tie. Bleeding on it creates a much stronger bond that only someone who knows how can break, which is usually a blind witch. Don’t ask me why they’re blind, I never figured that out either.”
“Okay fine, we’re stuck together. How fuckin perfect.” You run your fingers through your hair, trying to fix the mess that the wind made of it. What the fuck are you supposed to do with a demon? You can’t exactly take him back to camp, though you’d love to see the councilor’s faces. “Can’t you just, take the ring and leave? So long as I order you not to kill nobody or destroy things.”
Sollux’s face turns sour, “Even if I could, I wouldn’t let you order me around like that and if you try I’ll make your life a living hell.”
“Couldn’t I just order you not to do that too?” You ask honestly, wondering the limits of what you can get away with.
He hisses and stalks toward you and you take a step back, “Go ahead and try.” He says quietly, eyes narrowed and yeah, you can tell you’ve pushed a little too much. His anger burns at the back of your mind, a white hot reminder that this is a creature you didn’t understand. You hold your hands up and step back again.
“Okay okay, I won’t order you around unless you start attackin me or anyone else. I think that’s pretty fair right?” So long as he’s with you, you won’t let him run rampant. You guess it’s like having a really big, really dangerous dog. Or a fully evolved Pokemon.
He keeps glaring at you for another moment before nodding, “Fine, but if you start ordering me to do stupid shit you’d better watch your back.” He jabs a claw at you and you know he means it.
“Got it, no stupid shit unless you start it.” You say, waving your hands to hopefully remind him you’re harmless. Physically anyway.
“Good, now we get to talk about feeding me. I can’t just drink your blood everyday, you’d die.” He says with a shrug. Its nice knowing he cares so much, to him you’re just food. You guess you now know what a cow feels like.
“What did you have in mind?” You ask warily. You don’t like where this is going, but you can’t put it off can you?
“You’re either going to have to let me eat your emotions or have sex regularly.” He says and how did you know those were going to be your only options?
“What exactly do you mean by eat my emotions? I’m not gonna end up bein catatonic or depressed am I?”
“Actually, yeah. Just while I’m eating though, it’s not permanent.”
“How long do you gotta eat for?” You ask. Taking a few minutes each day to zone out didn’t sound like such a bad idea actually. Not like you have a ton of stuff to do anyway. The most pressing problem you have back home is homework and you can basically do that in your sleep.
“Depends. If that’s the only thing I get to eat it’ll probably take three or four hours. A day.” He says. There’s reluctance tugging at your mind but you can’t tell if it’s his or yours.
“Hours?!” you squawk, “What do you expect me to do durin that time? Wait, can I sleep through it?” Maybe this wouldn’t be bad after all.
“Nope, you have to do something that makes you feel emotions normally, otherwise there’s nothing for me to eat.” He says, tone screaming ‘duh’. Damn, as bad as you thought it would be.
“That ain’t gonna work, and I’m not sleepin with you either. Can’t you feed off a someone else?”
He raises an eyebrow, “You want me to steal people’s emotions without asking or them knowing?”
You grimace, “Well yeah it sounds bad if you put it like that…”
“No shit, and I can’t do it anyway.” He crosses his arms and gives you a stare, “Look, you don’t have to sleep with me to feed me, you can have sex with anyone and I’ll get the energy off of it. And no, before you ask, it won’t decrease your pleasure at all and you won’t even know I’m eating.”
“W-well, why can’t you sleep with people? Why do I gotta be a part in this equation?” You ask, blush starting to crawl across your cheeks. It’s not like you don’t know about sex or have a sex drive, you’re just not really comfortable talking about it with someone you just met and kind of don’t like.
“For the same reason I can’t feed off of other people, now that we’re bound it has to come from you.” He shrugs again, not much caring that he’s ruining your life. Well, you had always hated your quiet life, looks like you’re getting your wish for some excitement. It’s not quite what you had in mind though.
“Okay, well that fuckin figures.” You rub your face and think, how could you feed him without embarrassing yourself? “Seriously though, is there nothing else than bein catatonic or sex?”
“You do realize that the sex thing includes masturbation right?” He points out.
“Oh,” you say intelligently. You had not, in fact, realized that. “Uh, do you have to be…” You grimace and wave your hand in a loose circle, “around, for that?”
“No, you can do it whenever and it’ll work fine. Five times a day should work if I don’t get fed anything else.”
“Five times? Am I gonna have any time to myself anymore?” It sure didn’t look like it. You had to care for your pet demon now who apparently couldn’t fend for himself.
“Should have thought about that before binding yourself to a demon. But now that that’s all out of the way, I’m off. I’ll come back when I get hungry.” He crouches a bit, wings spreading with a snap and before you can even open your mouth to tell him to wait he’s gone in a flurry of dirt and leaves. You look up in time to see him stop in midair and look around before taking off in a random direction.
For lack of anything better to do, you scream at his retreating form. It seems to you that you’re getting the raw end of this deal. Sure you can order him to do whatever you want, but all he has to do is attack you and you’ll have little choice but to stop. Unless you order him to stay perfectly still, but that just doesn’t sit right with you. Not that you won’t do it if pushed that far, but you should probably give him a chance before taking such extreme measures. That still leaves you with feeding him and assuming responsibility for his actions. This is why you never got a dog, they’re too much of a pain in the ass to deal with.
You blow a blast of air out your nose and look around, just now realizing that you have no idea where you are. Isn’t that perfect? You’re lost, hurt, and have had enough adrenaline pumped through you today to last a lifetime. Cursing your new pet under your breath, you start in a random direction, hoping you’ll find something familiar soon. The one thing you know for certain about all this though, camp sure has got a lot more interesting.