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Pepito had become a strange, stable constant. It had started out rough at first, Todd mostly accompanying the other out of sheer terror, a fear that if he didn't, his life would be in jeopardy, even if the horned child had told him, simply, he had a choice in the matter.
Todd was here of his own free will, now. Not that he hadn't been before, but, he felt undeniably safe with the Antichrist, even if Pepito did still terrify him, and make him a bit of a nervous wreck.
“Is it safe up here?” Todd asked, as he had many times before. He knew the answer, yet the question still rolled so easily from his tongue.
“Maybe.” Was his answer. Todd sat away from the edge of the rooftop; The highest in the city – whereas Pepito's legs dangled precariously off. One foot was balanced on the edge, the other pressed flat to the wall below him.
He sighed, and watched cars stop and go, people scurry along the sidewalks, entering and exiting buildings. You couldn't see stars here, the smog and light pollution was too thick, leaving the sky illuminated with a murky blanket of colour. No, you couldn't see the stars from here, but, Todd considered himself lucky, because he'd seen them before.
He was used to rolling over in bed, or waking up, and seeing the half-demon hovering ominously outside his window, looking as though he had every right in the universe to be there. It had gradually gone from bed-wetting levels of terrifying to mildly startling, a pair of mismatched eyes peering in at him. Pepito watched him sleep. A lot.
It was something Todd had just... had to accept, and move on with his life.
It was a rather sweltering summer's night, and the single window AC his home had had since quit working. The whole house smelled faintly of sweat and hot garbage, and though the general disarray of the place didn't usually bother Todd, tonight, it seemed to press in on him. He sat up, abruptly, and went to open the window, instead producing a soft, strangled squee noise.
Pepito flashed him an almost apologetic smile, seating himself in the window sill, once the pane had been pulled up. “Come with me.” He said simply.
His first, gut instinct was to nervously – politely – decline. But, a second thought protruded in his mind, saying that it would be very nice to get out of the oppressive atmosphere in his apartment. “C-can... I get dressed, first?” Todd asked, wringing his hands and chewing his lower lip a bit, not meeting the other's gaze. Pepito simply nodded, sliding backwards out of the window, earning another muffled scream as Todd leaned out, watching him descend in a slow, leaf-like manner.
Fucking demons and their non-human powers over the laws of physics.
Once his heart had stopped pounding, Todd quickly exchanged his pajamas for something else, and minutes later, he found himself in Mr. Diablo's car, speeding along the highway.
“D-does your dad know you have his car?” Todd asked, clutching his seatbelt. He was used to reckless driving, but that didn't make it any less unsettling.
“Mm?” Pepito hummed, giving a light shrug. “Puede Ser. ”
Maybe he knew. Which, probably meant Pepito had just taken it and left.
They'd been driving for about an hour and a half, listening to whatever radio station the Antichrist dubbed listenable, when Todd spoke again. He tore his eyes away from the dark, unfamiliar landscape as it passed by, becoming more and more remote, and peered into the dark cabin of the car. Though he couldn't see Pepito very well, he could always make out his eyes.
“Where are we going?” He asked softly.
“Nowhere.” Pepito hummed, and, judging from how sparse buildings and houses were becoming, Todd didn't doubt this for a moment. “Why? Do you need the restroom?”
“No, I went yesterday.” Todd hummed, earning a strange look from the half-demon. He shrugged it off, and went back to watching the scenery.
Eventually, Pepito pulled off of the road and onto a dirt one, hardly big enough to fit a car on it. Todd hoped they didn't run into anyone else, though it seemed unlikely. Eventually, Pepito turned off the radio, and, for a while, nothing but the low, steady rumble of tires on gravel was heard.
After about 40 minutes on the narrow dirt road, the car was pulled aside, atop a hill overlooking absolutely nothing.
“C'mon, Amigo. I wanted you to see this.”
So, Todd obliged, and, after making sure it was absolutely okay that he sat on Mr. Diablo's car, climbed up, resting the back of his head against the windshield. He'd never seen anything like it: Pictures didn't really do the heavens justice.
“Have you ever seen them before?” Pepito asked, his voice a low purr, only just audible above the sound of crickets and other night-noises you didn't get in the city.
Todd thought about this for a moment. “Not outside of pictures.” He muttered, the faintest smile on his mouth. Anybody else would've missed it.
Pepito was not anybody else.
The two stayed like that until the sky began to grow pale, boarding in the car and watching as the stars disappeared one by one. Eventually, any that were left were clouded over by smog and light as the city came into view.
Pepito pulled in front of Casil residence, throwing the car into park. “Sorry for keeping you up all night. I got carried away.” He apologized.
“Don't be.” Todd shrugged, climbing out, however, hovering in the door for a moment. “I...” He paused. “Thank you. I needed that.” To get away, even for a couple hours.
So perhaps going out and driving to the middle of nowhere, or sitting on the tallest tower in the city with the fucking Antichrist wasn't the safest thing in the world. Maybe one day, he'd slip and fall, and that would be the end of Todd Casil, though part of him really doubted Pepito would let such a thing happen.
Maybe one day, he'd admit how much the horned man meant to him, and that perhaps, as dangerous as it was, he wanted more than his attention.
Danger or not, Todd really couldn't think of a place he'd rather be.