Chapter Text
Tommy let out an exasperated groan from the back seat, he stared out the tinted windows narrowing his eyes at the houses that lined the streets. The neighbourhood smelled bland and boring, barely even a spark of magic or the hint of another magical creature.
There were some sparks here and there that made Tommy’s instincts trill in interest but much to his disappointment the magic was faint and felt like more like it was coming from objects rather than an actual person, no doubt a cursed - or blessed - item that some human picked up because it was “pretty.”
“I know you’re not happy about this, Theseus, but please, bear with it for a little while,” his social worker hummed from the front seat.
He scoffed, rolling his eyes, he always hated that stupid name.
The name bestowed upon him when he rose out of brimstone and hellfire or whatever. Tommy didn’t remember who gave him that name, just that he hated whatever bitch gave it to him. Of all things fucking Theseus some idiot bastard who slayed some bull prick and abandoned his girl on some stupid island, something Tommy would never do because he’s a big man, and big men respect women.
So suffice to say Tommy thought Theseus was a dick, some big shot hero, definitely didn’t reflect Tommy, so he thought the name was stupid, so not fit for someone as cool and awesome as he is.
But the use of his name wasn’t the only problem Tommy had with his current situation, his stupid - pretty amazing actually - social worker was sticking him with a fucking human family, ugh.
“You’re sticking me with some dumb human family, I’m allowed to be bothered,” Tommy seethed.
He had all the right to be upset, he was doing completely fine! Sure, most supernatural families don't take well to literal demonspawn becoming part of their family but Tommy tried to get along with them, really, he did. But they all got weird when the topic of food came up, sure Tommy could happily eat human food but it didn’t really satiate him all that well.
Human food was great and all, tasted fan-fucking-tastic if the chef knew what they were doing but Tommy got no benefits from eating it. Of course he didn’t, because he was born from fire and brimstone, a fucking demon who got the pleasure of feeding from human emotions.
Emotions tasted great, better than human food some would say, Tommy especially liked the taste of anger and frustration, the spicy sort that burned his tongue as he drank up the emotions like a starving man.
The exhilarating feeling he got when he’d piss off his foster parents and they’d snap like a twig, hitting him, dragging him by his hair, gripping his wrists tight enough to leave bruises. And sure, the bruises and occasional cuts hurt but it was all worth it to drink in their delicious fury.
It wasn’t hard either, it’s amazing how after a day or two of subtly (or not-so subtly) annoying behaviour a person will just snap.
But that was all creatures who knew they could get away with taking their anger out on the kid - because that's what he wanted. He fought tooth and nail to piss off every foster family he was placed in so he could keep himself fed. He could easily feed from their more… positive emotions but that was no fun and nothing tasted quite as good to him as negative ones.
He was a demon and he lived to cause chaos, what's one or two… or a few several incidents that can easily be swept under the rug. Tommy’s more than willing to take the fall, it’s what he wanted after all.
“Oh and, none of your usual antics please,” his social worker sighed, eyeing him from the rearview mirror.
‘His usual antics’… Tommy hissed quietly under his breath, what the fuck.
“How do you expect me to feed myself!” Tommy snapped, dropping his glamour out of protest, letting his tail flick in annoyance.
“They’re human, it’s not good to make it a habit to feed off them.”
Tommy glared at his social worker, his eyes narrowing and glowing dangerously.
Sure, Tommy knew what she meant, humans were… different to the supernatural, they didn’t have magic flowing freely through their veins, they were just… human. But he knows basic self control! Did his social worker seriously expect him to just accept he was going to starve for however long this deadend placement lasted?!
“What are you implying?” Tommy snapped, the atmosphere in the car going from mildly uncomfortable to deadly in a matter of seconds, his shadow twisted in an unnatural way, not following his shape and instead showing off something best described as ‘monstrous’ in the worst way.
Yet, his social worker seemed to pay it no care, “To be blunt. Theseus, you are not to feed from your foster family,” his social worker perfectly matched Tommy’s threatening aura despite only being a sheep hybrid.
He snarled, showing off his too-sharp teeth.
She can’t be serious, what the hell is Tommy meant to eat? Is he meant to just starve? It’s not like this neighbourhood feels like it has any magic in it so he can’t just wander over to the neighbours like “Hi, I’m Tommy. My social worker set me up with a stupid fuckin’ human foster family mind letting me piss you off so I can not starve to death?"
“Enough of that,” she reprimanded, “You shouldn’t be there for more than a week and a week without 'food' won't kill you.”
It might not kill him but that doesn’t mean he’ll have any fun starving for a week.
“What are you gonna do if I do cause problems?” Tommy tested, an appropriately devilish smirk forming on his lips.
“I’m gonna have Callahan deal with you,” she said bluntly.
Okay… let’s make one thing clear, Tommy is not scared of Callahan, he’s a big man, and big men don't get scared but Callahan was fae, a fae who Tommy gave his name-name to on a whim. Thankfully Callahan hasn’t done anything with it but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t if Tommy’s social worker asked.
So Tommy grumbled and growled but ultimately slumped back in his seat letting out a huff.
“Do I make myself clear?” She asked, eyeing him in the mirror.
He glared back with a sneer on his face, “Crystal, you prick.”
“Theseus,” she warned, pulling up a gravel driveway.
The house looked… boring, just like every other house that lined the streets, the first floor being built from red bricks and the second looked like some ugly cream coloured concrete. If they were gonna stick him in a human family couldn’t they at least live in some gothic mansion or something?
Tommy’s eyes caught onto the domer windows sticking out the tiled roof, maybe they at least had an attic, he silently hoped he could hide away there, weren’t humans meant to be scared of places like attics?
“Glamour, Theseus,” his social worker reminded.
He flicked his tail one last time in response before pressing the pads of his fingers lightly to the ruby gem that hung from his right ear, reciting words that sounded as if they were being spoken backwards and all his demonic features were gone.
His social worker already had a glamour on hiding her ears, horns and tail, she smiled helping Tommy out of the car, even as he scowled angrily at her.
Tommy didn’t really have much, just a few changes of clothes, a hair brush (and an entire book on the human take on the supernatural world because he likes to laugh at it - but his social worker didn’t know about that one.)
The blonde hissed under his breath, running his tongue over his teeth, it was weird having non-pointy teeth, how do humans deal with it! Tommy hadn’t even set foot in the house and was already sick of this ordeal.
“Theseus, remind me of your rule,” his social worker requested as she went to knock on the front door, side eyeing Tommy as if he would make a break for it without her eyes on him.
“Don’t get up to my usual shenanigans and don’t feed from them, was that it?” Tommy deadpanned, his eyes twitching in annoyance. He wanted to snarl and threaten her, but would refrain… for now.
The door swung open, a man with surprisingly similar features to Tommy, blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, missing the obvious crackle of magic that Tommy had and he was much older than Tommy was.
“Hello! Ms. Puffy? Is this Theseus?” He smiled, the corners of his eyes wrinkling into crows feet.
Great this prick was gonna be using that name for him too, just great.
“Yes, this is Theseus,” Puffy replied, resting a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, a very purposeful point of contact as Tommy happily drank in her emotions, taking more than he needed just to be a pain.
It wasn’t the delightful tang of fury but there was underlying annoyance and Tommy was all too happy to take it for himself, especially if he’s going to be stuck here.
He had to stamp down a purr that threatened to crawl up his throat, causing him to be thrown into a coughing fit, turning the attention of this old blonde prick from his social worker onto him.
“Hey mate, I’m Phil, your foster parent,” he introduced himself, making obvious eye contact with Tommy who glared back, it was a way demons asserted dominance, like hell he was going to back down from an obvious challenge.
Tommy’s pretty sure human etiquette is different from demons but what did that matter, Tommy was a demon and he was gonna assert his dominance here.
Puffy squeezed his shoulder lightly, sending him a warning look, he begrudgingly backed down telling himself it didn’t mean anything this human wasn’t a demon anyway, he wasn’t worth it.
“Well, I’d love to stay but I have to be going,” Puffy responded, letting go of Tommy’s shoulder with a tired sigh.
“Oh… are you sure? I can put the kettle on for tea?” Phil offered, stepping aside for them to come inside.
Tommy looked up to Puffy expectantly, she only smiled, “No that's perfectly fine, I’ll be back in a week to check on him, Theseus you’ll behave right?”
There was a clear second meaning behind the words since she couldn’t outright say what she was really meaning in front of a human.
“I’ll behave Ms. Puffy,” Tommy replied with an eye roll, he’s still more than upset about the fact he can’t properly feed himself for a week but at least he’s not going into this totally hungry having just fed from Puffy.
“Alright, safe travels Puffy, Theseus why don’t you come inside and I can show you to your room,” he smiled, waving goodbye to Puffy as she left to the car and pulled out of the driveway, waving goodbye and eyeing Tommy with an expectant look.
He bit back a groan and looked at Phil and the interior of the house, it's going to be a long and boring week.