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Ianaro knocks on Marisol’s dorm room door. “You ready for the Hex Gala?” they call excitedly.
“Yeah, coming!” she responds through the door.
Ia grins. “Ok!” they reply. They’re so thrilled about this, they could practically chase their own tail.
After a moment—
—Marisol opens the door.
Ia gasps.
The human is wearing a sparkly blue dress, one with indigo on its upper half & midnight blue on the lower half of the outfit. A silver necklace with a moon pendant sits around her neck, & traces of silver sparkles lie across the outfit. She truly has become Nyx, goddess of the night.
Sol looks away. “…What?” she asks.
The corgi laughs. “You look fucking amazing; that’s what!”
“Oh, shut up…”
“Hell no I’m not going to shut up; look at yourself—HELLO?! Satan’s going to fall so hard for you tonight it’s like you two’ll be getting together all over again.” They grin. “Let’s hurry & go meet him at the Gala so you can knock his socks off—c’mon.”
She finally laughs too. “Ok…”
Marisol exits her dorm room, closing the door behind her, & the two friends start walking together.
Sol turns to Ianaro. “You didn’t have to come to the gala, you know?”
“Uh, I wanted to?”
“Yeah, but Satan & I are dating. You & Asmo…”
“We’re trying to figure out how to be friends. It’ll be fine! Better to confront it head-on than to never talk to him again. I guess. Right?”
“You’re asking me?! About how to handle staying friends after rejecting a confession by a demon?!”
At that, Ia laughs. “You know what? Fair.” They pat Sol on the head. “We Human Realm folks can’t possibly understand the inner workings of demon love confession friendship.”
“Stoooooooooop…”
“Nooooooooo…”
Marisol starts giggling. The corgi does too. Soon, the two friends are laughing their asses off as they walk together.
The two keep laughing until they reach the gala.
The gala is being held in a large venue, one filled with RAD students.
Sol looks around at all of them. “Everyone looks so beautiful…”
The corgi knows exactly what she’s thinking. “And so do you.”
Their friend turns to them, & before she can protest Ianaro says. “No objecting. No. You look gorgeous. End of story.” They grin. “And I’m sure Satan will agree.”
She looks up, & sure enough, Satan & Asmodeus are walking towards them, both in their demon forms.
As soon as Satan reaches the two friends, he takes in Marisol’s form for the first time, & stops dead in his tracks. His mouth drops open, & he just stares at her. Then, “You look absolutely stunning, Marisol,” he blurts out.
Ia gives her a look, as if to say, ‘See! I told you!’
The demon extends a hand, & shyly, she takes it. “May I have this dance?” he asks.
“Of course,” she replies.
And the two go off to the dance floor, leaving Ianaro & Asmodeus alone.
The two look at each other.
Then, the Avatar of Lust holds out a hand of his own. “Want to dance?”
The corgi’s eyes widen.
“Not a romantic dance!” he quickly clarifies. “Just…as friends. If that’s ok.”
They look at his extended hand for a moment longer, & then, they take it.
He smiles, taking the two of them to the dance floor.
Once they get their, Asmo holds Ianaro close, putting his arms around them.
“You’ll have to lead,” Ia whispers. “I don’t know…how to dance.”
“That’s alright,” the demon replies. “I can teach you.”
And so, he leads the two of them in a simple dance together.
As the corgi gets the hang of it, Asmodeus begins to speak.
“You’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“You haven’t responded to my DDD messages in a while.”
“I know.”
“I want to see you.”
They suck in a breath. Then, “I can’t see you as a client anymore, Asmo. And we can’t do our trade anymore, trading who’s each other’s master in bed from night to night. That has to end, at least for now.”
“Why?” he asks, his voice soft, slightly vulnerable.
“Because doing that while you feel this way is too much for me. I can’t…handle that.”
“I’ve been with you in bed so many times—“
“As a client. As a friend. Not as someone who’s in love with me. That’s…different, somehow.”
The Avatar of Lust is silent for a moment, pulling them closer as they continue to dance. “I want to respect your feelings,” the demon continues, “so if you want to stop sleeping together, I can do that. But just because you can’t return my love doesn’t mean I’m not still in love with you.”
Ia swallows. Then, “I…know.”
He looks up at them. “I mean it. I love you.”
“Stop it.”
“I really do.”
“I already told you that you can’t say that, Asmodeus.”
Before he can speak again, Ianaro releases him from the hold of their dance. “I can’t accept that. Not now. Please. Just stop.”
With that, they walk away, leaving him alone on the dance floor.
He doesn’t follow them.
Soon, Ia reaches a nearby table of food, drink, & other refreshments.
They’re suddenly filled with anxiety, & start breathing rapidly. In & out. “I mean it. I love you.” Faster. “I really do.” It feels like their chest is closing in on itself.
“Ia?”
They feel a gentle hand on their shoulder.
The corgi turns to see—
“Cari?”
Sure enough, it’s her, in a beautiful gala outfit. They’re wearing a pearly white suit, with red & gold accents. Behind her is a long, flowing train of fabric, with various surprising objects woven into it—broken glass, ceramic shards, & a broken picture frame. But her face is filled with concern. “Are you ok?”
They force a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Before she can ask again, Ianaro looks at the person next to them. “Who’s this?”
“Oh, this is Divvy!” she replies, gesturing to him with a grin. Divvy’s gala outfit is a wonderful rendition of a moon hare, with beautiful colors of white, yellow, & blue to represent the night, along with a white masquerade mask with rabbit ears upon it. “We came together, as friends though.”
“I was just on my way to the dance floor,” he says. “Catch up with me later, Cari?”
“Yeah, of course,” she responds, beaming.
With that, he walks off, & she turns back to the corgi.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” she asks, still obviously worried.
“Um…”
“Or am I going to have to pry it out of you?”
They sigh. “I’m fine.”
“Ok then, guess I’m going to have to pry it out of you,” the human says, poking Ia on the nose. In response, the automatically move their head back, blushing.
Cari giggles. “I love it when you do that.”
They start at hearing the word ‘love’ yet again.
“I have to go,” Ianaro says.
“But—“
They turn to her, fangs slightly bared. “Don’t follow me.”
With that, Ia hurries out of the venue, leaving the gala behind.
It doesn’t take them long to be out of the gala, & onto another part of RAD grounds. There’s a bench nearby, & they hurriedly sit down, trying to calm their beating heart & slow their breathing.
The corgi sits there alone for what feels like an eternity, with only the muted sounds of the distant gala as their company.
Then—
“Ianaro?”
They look up.
Marisol. And Cari.
They glare at Cari.”I told you not to follow me.”
She shrugs. “Yeah, true. But you never said we couldn’t follow you. So, hey—loophole!”
Ia groans with a sigh, burying their face in their hands. “Ugggggggggh.”
Their two friends sit on either side of them, though the corgi refuses to look at them, their head still firmly in their hands.
“Go back to the gala, ok?” they finally say. “Mare, you’re supposed to be with Satan right now. Cari, half the demon brothers are in love with you. Go to them. Have a good time. This is supposed to be your night.”
“But—“ Marisol starts.
“No,” Ia interrupts. “Nope. No. I’m not hearing it. Go have fun. Please. Worrying about me like this is not worth your time. The gala only comes once a year, after all.”
Cari sighs. “You really need to stop saying stuff like that. You’re not hearing it—well, I’m not hearing it either, how about that?”
“You always say that, you know—“
“Because if you actually listened to yourself, you wouldn’t have any of it either!” She puts a hand on Ianaro’s back. “Look,” she says, her voice more gentle, “I went to get Marisol, & we both agreed to come after you because we wanted to. Because, to us, it’s definitely worth it. You’re definitely worth it.”
Marisol reaches up, & strokes the corgi’s ears. “Exactly what she said,” Mare says softly. “Just let us…give a damn, ok?”
Silence. Then, “…Ok,” Ianaro says softly. “Ok. Fine. This time.”
“Every time,” Cari objects.
“Ugh. Fine.”
“And once you calm down a little,” Sol says, “we should have a night in, just the 3 of us. Get away from the gala, & whatever’s stressing you out.”
“…As long as you two don’t mind, I guess.”
“Let’s do it!” Cari crows.
Marisol smiles. “And obviously I don’t mind, since I brought it up.”
Ia sighs. “Alright.” Then, “…Thanks.”
The two humans smile in reply.
They stay on that bench for a while, holding the corgi close.