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Esther would like to think she was well practiced at staying cool and collected no matter what life threw at her. Child of divorce and suddenly moved into the middle bum-fuck-nowhere New York? No problem. Suddenly discovering The Fun Uncle had killed himself and was haunting the grounds along with a bunch of other ghosts and various monsters? Average Tuesday. Magic was real, she was pretty damn good at it, and bum-fuck-nowhere New York had a school for magic? Amazing. Making friends being as hard at magic school as it was at regular school? Fucked but ok. Finding out that demons from hell were not only a very real thing but that -whether she liked it or not- she had bound one to her as her familiar? What the hell?
Esther lay in her dorm room bed, staring up at the shitty plastic stars -that she was definitely too old for but Ben had gotten her as a present anyway- replaying the day's events in her head. She’d been practicing her magic circle all week, actually diligently working on her homework for once. The circle had to have been mathematically perfect, each candle anointed and every herb picked fresh. So when the damn thing exploded like an expired firework, nearly burning off her eyebrows and knocking her teacher flat on their ass, to say she was surprised was the understatement of the century.
All the other students' familiars had been relatively basic, no dragons or manticores, -though one student had summoned a chupacabera- and for a second Esther had been worried she was gonna get stuck with Cat+Premium. That thought had been obliterated when out from the flames, a black arm twice the length of her whole body rose up. Esther had watched in horror as what she assumed was the harbinger of the apocalypse pulled itself out of the rift between worlds and let out a blood curdling screech. Sulfur and smoke danced around the giant with three tails, four eyes, and more arms than her panicked brain could process. It stared at her, spines wiggling and ears twitching. For all the other screaming students and yelling teachers it stared at her with a gaze so piercing she felt naked.
Somehow her sanity managed to cut through and she distantly heard herself chanting the words to complete the spell. The creature's eyes closed and within moments it had shrunk down into a ball. As the smoke cleared and the screaming died down the creature uncurled to reveal a man. More specifically a man who looked like he’d jumped out of a YA vampire romance novel. Esther’s mouth hung open as she stared at the lengthy oil slick black hair, the inhumanly pale skin and the glowing red eyes. The creatures crossed a black clawed hand over his heart and bowed.
“Esther Freeling, you may call me Abaddon of the Gerasses.”
So yeah. Esther may have been pretty good at handling whatever life threw at her generally, but this time life had thrown her a literal demon as a familiar, barely halfway into a semester at a school where she was already having a hard time making friends cause everyone was a huge pussy about black magic!!
Esther groaned and rubbed her hands over her eyes.
“Are you not supposed to be sleeping?” Came the rumbling voice of her new problem. “As far as I understand humans need sleep to maintain their cognitive functions and-“
“Oh my god Abaddon shut up!” She was lucky her dorm mate slept like the dead. “There has to be a way to put you in a pokéball or something. I cannot deal with a whole man sleeping in my closet.”
“I do not sleep.”
“Living in my closet whatever!”
“Technically I am not-“
“Holy fuck stop talking. Shush shuzh ssssshhhhut up!” Esther threw back her blanket and grabbed Abaddon by the wrist. If she was going to be stuck with an autistic demon for a familiar she needed more information, and thus far the teachers had been useless. “Stupid fuckin forbidden tombs. What good is writing it down if no one can read it!” She grumbled damn near yanking the tall bastard down the wooden floors of the hallway. Abaddon snickered at her words. Though whether or not it was in agreement or at her misfortune she’d have to find out later.
Without much fuss Abaddon let himself be dragged down the hall and into the kitchen where Esther put together her grumpy little bowl of oatmeal and ice cream. “So,” she declared, plopping her butt down on the kitchen counter and crossing her legs. “I’ve got some questions for you, and for every question I ask you, you can ask one to me in return. Sound fair?”
Abaddon simply stood in front of her, arms crossed. “Very well.”
“What are you?”
“A demon.”
“Be more specific. Fallen or hell-born?”
He sighed as though he was dealing with a nagging child. “Prior to being summoned I was acting as a gate keeper between purgatory and the first ring of hell as has been my job for the past few millennia. I have an innate kind of magical ability with a specialty in plagues and curses and a weakness in healings and blessings. As for my birth status I am unable to tell you.”
“Why can’t you tell me? Like you don’t know or I’m not allowed to know?” The demon just stared blankly at her and Esther shoved the spoon in her cheeks. “Whatever. You got any questions for me?”
“Whatever I need to know I will discover in due time,” came his easy reply.
Esther grumbled. To a certain extent she supposed she should be glad the demon she was bound to was at least vaguely polite rather than down right antagonistic, but still this little fucker was frustrating. The young witch took a moment to just eat her comfort food and unclench her jaw. “You ever been summoned to be a familiar before? And could you leave if you wanted or are you stuck with me.”
“A demon is summoned under a contract to fulfill a specific need. Should they choose to answer the call they are bound until that need is met. In this instance the need is to be your familiar. I will be with you until you die. Though the exact parameters of what ‘with you’ means is up to you.”
Esther tried to listen to his exposition. Tried to focus and not get lost in the way his eyes glowed feintly or the way she could just barely see his fangs when his mouth opened wide enough. He was unfortunately kind of handsome -in a sickly Victorian way but still- she guessed it made sense to pick an attractive form if you could shapeshift anyways. His shoes were shiny black boots with a slight heel, black pants that were very form fitting but not skin tight, a billowy cream colored poets shirt, and a dark blue-gray vest with tails.
“Sooo-“ she trailed, trying to cover up her delayed processing of his lore drop. “You said you choose to answer a summoning. If you knew you were gonna be stuck as a witches assistant for the rest of her life, why answer? Pft! Is it cause I’m pretty?” She laughed as she tried for a bite too big for her mouth and ice cream dribbled down her chin. Esther might not have been ugly but she knew she wasn’t pretty enough to bag a demon into over glorified servitude. Sure, she had pretty brown eyes but she was built like a plank of wood, with a permanent case of bed head and the weird smell of grave dirt that she couldn’t shake.
“Yes.”
“Huh-“ Esther nearly dropped her spoon as tall, dark and handsome stalked towards her spot on the counter.
“I said yes. One of the reasons why I chose to answer the summons was because I find you attractive.” His thumb swept over the melted ice cream, wiping it off of her face before bringing it to his mouth, forked tongue darting out to lick it away. “Though my attraction to you is hardly just physical.” This was not supposed to be happening, they did not go over this in class, and there certainly wasn’t any homework on ‘what to do if your familiar is hitting on you’.
“Whu- well what is it?” Whatever that question meant.
“It is… well practiced.” Whatever the hell that answer meant!
She couldn’t look away, a weird challenge between them like if she looked away he might pounce. But the longer she stared the more she saw the deep-set tiredness that lay in his face. He had said he’d been around for millennia, and if he had a thing for human girls Esther could imagine he’d been through his fair share of heart break.
Without thinking she brought her hand up to his cheek, surprised to find that it fit perfectly. Abaddon nearly flinched at the skin to skin contact, and for a split second Esther thought it looked like his eyes were tearing up.
“You ever had a girlfriend?” Her mouth spoke before her brain could catch up. The demon pulled back ever so slightly, though still very much in her personal space. “I mean uh-“
“I have had romantic and sexual partners before.”
“You gay or?”
“Gay? In this moment I do not feel gayly, no.”
His confused look was enough to make her want to push more. “Homosexual? Queer? Bi, pan, Omni.”
“I do not… the concept of sexual orientation is lost on me.”
“When was the last time you were on earth?”
“The beginning of the 18th century.”
Oh, she could work with this. Having to endure the horrors of having a vaguely attractive man act as the world's weirdest familiar could definitely be mitigated with the hilarity of him being extremely out of touch.
“Man’s doesn’t even know about the Ohio Rizzler.”
Abaddon’s face twisted in pure befuddlement. “The… I do not… I do not like those words.”
Esther tossed her bowl in the sink and looped her arms awkwardly over Abaddon’s tall and hunched shoulders. “Listen Abby -can I call you Abby?- you ever heard of a meme?”
—
Turns out having a full ass demon as a familiar wasn’t all that bad. Esther found out that Abaddon could shapeshift into a cobra snake which made the sleeping arrangements much easier. Some of the girls at the academy had unfortunately obvious crushes on him, which Esther ruthlessly exploited. And she didn’t have to worry about a special litter box or anything!
Over the past couple of weeks she and Abaddon had bonded quite a bit. His ancient knowledge of black magic -the kind usually hidden away in the forbidden tombs- was readily and easily shared with her. And her knowledge of processed foods like yoghurt and Kellogg's cereal was readily and enthusiastically accepted by him.
There were still some hiccups of course, like the fact that Abaddon was decently anti-social and intimidating looking, and would use his resting bitch face to drive away anyone who had been talking to Esther just a little too long. Or the fact that even though he was in snake mode when they slept, Esther knew there was a fully formed consciousness behind those unblinking eyes, and he was definitely watching her sleep.
Tonight though… Tonight was weird. Hell the whole day had been weird.
Esther had learned that Abaddon’s human form became harder and harder for him to hold consistent when he was experiencing a strong emotion, and his horns and tails had been out since sunrise. He’d been glaring at her teachers, “accidentally” hitting her classmates with his tail, and actually literally hissing at some of them when they got too close. Even when she put him in snake-mode-time-out he coiled around her head or arms and refused to let go.
By the time they got back to her dorm she’d had enough. “Dude what the hell was all that?” Hopefully if it was just other people putting his panties in a twist, he’d open up a little in private.
“Ssssssss”
“I know you can talk as a snake, don’t fuck with me.”
Abaddon just rolled his eyes and slithered off her arm to take human form. “I have no idea what you are referring to.” He still had yet to let go of her hand.
She leveled him with her hardest deadpan glare. “…are you in heat or something?”
Given the way his face erupted in red, she might be on to something. “Am I what?!”
“Pent up? Horny? I mean now that I’m thinking about it, you’re kinda with me 24/7, you need a meat beat break?” She watched as Abaddon’s tail thrashed so got stuck in her mattress and his horns sparked.
The demon's face fell into his palm. “No, I am not in heat.”
“Then what the hell has been up with your attitude today? I swear you nearly bit Heather at P.E. This morning.” It had been colder than she expected and Heather had been nice enough to let her borrow her jacket. Shouldn’t a familiar be supportive of his witch making allies or something?
Abaddon’s face twisted at her name, but denied her an actual answer. This was weird, he normally liked Heather. Though this was reminding Esther she needed to return said jacket.
The young witch sighed, seemed like being in private wasn’t going to magically get more answers out of him, and took off the jacket. The moment she moved to plop it on her bed next to her bag Abaddon’s eyes lit up red, like the damn thing was going to burn him.
Esther paused. No way. She extended the jacket towards him and watched as he physically recoiled.
“Ok, explain yourself and don’t make me make it a command.” Using their status to poke at his free will was never something she liked to do, but she would if he kept being a grumpy clam.
Abaddon grumbled and took the jacket like it was covered in piss and threw it towards the door. “If you were in need of warmer clothing you should have asked me. It is my job to serve you.”
“Oh-Kay~, but what’s wrong with my friends beating you to the punch?”
The demon shuffled back and forth on his feet. She had never seen him look this awkward and nervous before. Maybe this was about their weird situation-ship. Given the weird power dynamic between them and the fact that ‘I’m dating my familiar’ might get her put on a list, they hadn’t become anything official, even after Esther had decided she was definitely also attracted to Abaddon romantically and sexually.
“It smells horrid,” he finally admitted. “Your natural scent of petrichor, leather and ginger is wonderful and to have it covered up with… that. Disgusting.”
Ok, first of all, Heather smelled like coco butter, and perfume and oooohhh.
Despite looking like a human, demons really were more in touch with their animal side. Abaddon’s sense of smell was so good he could probably check her blood sugar, it was no wonder he didn’t like the strong artificial smells. Esther’s face cracked into a smile, giggles and stickers falling out from between her teeth.
Abaddon got to look offended for exactly half a second before she crashed into his arms.
“Next time just tell me, ok? I would have taken it off sooner if I knew it had bothered you so much.”
Blessedly, Abaddon relaxed in her arms, though his nose was scrunched up.
“You still do not smell right,” he grumbled.
“Ok Mr. Sniffer, what can I do to fix it?”
Abaddon held her gaze for a moment, as if assessing how serious she was about the question and how likely she was to accept his answer. Then his hands came up to her face. He held her cheeks, bringing his own face in close, and then rubbing their cheeks together.
Ok, not what she’d had in mind but honestly this was cute too.
Abaddon rubbed and rubbed on one side and then switched over to the other side before running his hands up and down her arms and shoulders, then ruffling her hair.
“Hey!” She laughed.
“There. Much better.” The awkward look came back for a moment. “If you would like, you may do the same to me. Just to be fair, after all.”
Esther sighed, her heart squeezing in a way she’d just have to get used to. “I have a better idea. How about you come help me keep my bed warm. It’s getting cold and after all plenty of witches let their familiars sleep in their bed.” If the RA came by they’d surely have a talking to but they’d burn that bridge when they got to it.
“Are you sure?” Abaddon’s face gave away how excited he was and Esther had to hold back her laughter.
“Yes, in fact it is a direct instruction!” She definitely was not making it a command, but the pretend was there.
Abaddon smiled at her like a warm cup of coffee and pulled her in close. “You are remarkable to me.” He whispered into her hair and she squeezed him back.
Yeah, she could get used to this.