#hnhd

“Yeah it would.” Cib said, his voice coming from somewhere behind Suptic, and Brett hoped his heavy scowl could be seen by him.

“See Cib agrees.” Steve nodded turning to throw a thumb up at his friend.

“Yes, because we should all do what Cib thinks is funny.” Brett replied rolling his eyes hard.

“You have a point.” Steve said turning back to him. Brett could faintly hear Cib yelling at Steve.

“I thought you were done with all the dumb supernatural stuff?” Brett asked, thinking about the recent videos he’d seen from the fake vlogger.

“Nah, it’s this whole new thing we want to try. I’ll tell you about it when you get to the office. Say around eight on Saturday?” Steve pushed, smiling like he already knew the answer.

Brett almost just hung up on the other man but paused. He hadn’t been doing much lately outside of his writing and and often got bored. He mentally shrugged. Why the hell not?

“Fine, I’ll be there.” He could already feel the headache starting.

“Great! Can you do one favor though? Pick up some fake blood, this stupid book we got says you only need a few drops in a tiny bottle or something.” And with that the asshole hung up on him.

Brett growled at his phone and laid back on his couch. He was going to exact some revenge on them some time. He didn’t know how yet, but he was going to do it.

He didn’t do much the next few days outside his usual routine. Worked out in the morning, went to his boring job, and worked on his script when he got home. Friday night he went out with some friends and got a little too drunk. Normal life things. It was slowly starting to feel mundane now that he settled down after losing his last job. He could handle it most days, he’s already a pretty calm, normal person, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a day or five when he was bored out of his mind.

He checked around his apartment for any last minute things he’d need. Checked his pocket to make sure the stupid little vile was there before heading off. It was by some miracle he didn’t get stuck in traffic on the way over to the office. He’d been living in LA long enough to know the back ways, but it was still a Saturday night.

He was met with Steve and his stupid camera the second he got to the door. Brett sighed heavily and put his best dead face on as he stared back at him.

They moved towards the back room where everything had been moved to the sides. In their place was a large painted pentagram looking thing. He could feel a headache growing as he watched everybody move around him. He didn’t really join in on their jokes, only laughing in the background when he saw the camera on him.

“You got the stuff?” James’s voice ran out through the thumping in his head. Brett just nodded at him and pulled the small vile out of his pocket. He wiggled it with the tips of his finger in front of James’s face. It was really small and only about a sixth filled.

“Great. Now all you have to do is sit at the top of the circle and say this.” He handed Brett a folded up piece of paper. Brett looked it over, there were a few other instructions on it but there were quite a few lines of Latin on it.

“I’m not going to be able to pronounce any of this.” Brett pointed at the Latin.

“Dude, no one fucking cares. Besides the worse it sounds the funnier it’ll be.” James’s rolled his eyes but it quickly turned into a reassuring smile when Brett glared harshly at him. He really wasn’t in the mood for their characters tonight.

Maybe I should have backed out. Brett thought as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Before he could say anything Steve was already calling people to stand around the pentagram. Brett moved to the spot they wanted him at and watched everybody else. They were messing around but not moving from their spots. Cib was on one side and he guessed the empty spot on his other would be Steve’s but the taller man was looking through an ancient looking book. Steve nodded to himself and moved into his spot next to Autumn.

“Where the fuck did you even get that?” Brett asked and motioned towards the book.

“While we were Idyllwild we saw this really old bookstore with a bunch of occult stuff.” Cib explained as Steven placed the book in the middle of the pentagram.

“I didn’t need that much detail.” Brett replied blandly. Cib was about to say something else but Steve interrupted him.

“Okay, so what we’ll do is when the camera is pointed at you, you put your item in front of you. Then the four of us will hold hands as Brett starts the ritual.” Steve was oddly serious as he explained the motions. Brett raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t say anything.

“You okay, man?” Cib did though, with that vacant but serious look on his face.  

“Yeah, I just have a weird feeling.” Steve replied and started up the camera. He nodded pointed at Brett first, and he just quietly put the vile with blood on the floor. He watched as everybody else started to do the same. Cib had his headband, James’s gun, some tarot card from Autumn, and finally Steve put down his hat.

“I don’t want to hold your hand.” Cib suddenly broke the silence and glared at James. They started bickering at each other with James trying to grab his hand without moving from their spots. It took a bit before Steve yelled at them and they pretended to reluctantly hold hands.

“We gather here today to summon this demon. This is so stupid, why am I saying this?” Brett asked not quiet glaring at Steve.

“Don’t break character. It’s supposed to let the Underworld know what we’re doing.” He explained not turning to look at him, which meant he didn’t see Brett’s eyes roll.

“Everybody place something important to you in the middle and hold hands to make our bonds strong as we open the portal. Using this blood I bind you to me.” Brett continued and couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice. He could see everybody but Steve as they tried to stop their laughter from getting out. Brett looked down at the paper as he started to read the Latin off of it. A loud slam startled them out of the trance and they all looked towards the now closed door.

“What the fuck was that?” James asked, nervousness tinged his voice and Cib shrugged at him.

“Brett, can you please continue?” Steve asked instead ignoring James. Brett briefly caught a look at him and he couldn’t read his expression so he started reading again. A strange tug of his heart made him flinch and stop but a look from Steve made him continue. Which turned out to be a very bad idea.

“Don’t stop and stay connected.” Steve yelled out as the lightbulb above them started flickering before exploding. Autumn let out a started laugh and everybody ducked down, flinching.

“What the hell is going on?” Cib yelled back at him. Brett hardly heard him, a part of him wanted to stop but he found he couldn’t. It was like something was forcing him to continue reading the ritual out.

“I don’t know. The book just warns not to stop once it started.” Steve sounded afraid and out of control. It sent a chill through Brett since no one seemed to know what was happening. He felt a wave of relief flood through him when he finally read the last word.

He saw the same look flow through everybody else’s face but it didn’t last long. Just as he was about to yell at Steve the ground started shaking. Brett was lucky he was able to curl into himself slightly, even sitting the room was shaking hard enough to unbalance him. The others weren’t as lucky as they shook about.

It started to feel hot in the room and Brett closed his eyes not being able to focus on much. The tug on his heart seemed to spread through his whole body and he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Holy shit.” Steve’s voice yelled out and Brett risked opening his eyes only for it to be almost too bright. A ring of fire flickered around them on the outsides of the pentagram, trapping them inside. “We’re going to die.”

He thought he could hear James’s saying something quietly and a whimper from someone else. As quickly as everything started it stopped. It was quiet and they all stared at each other. Fear and confusion were all that lingered between them, no one wanted to start talking because it seemed too unbelievable.

A huge gust of wind seemed to push out from the center of the circle and everybody flinched away from it again. Brett squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears because he couldn’t hear anything over the loud whistling.

Wow, would you look at their scared little faces? A cruel voice laughed in his head. He couldn’t tell if there was a wheeze coming from the voice or if it was just the wind.

Maybe we should stop; I kind of want to play with them. A separate voice said sounding way more bored than the first one.

Fine. And with that the wind stopped and the room suddenly turned cold. Not a freezing cold but the fire had slowly fizzled away leaving behind an absence of warmth.

Brett hesitated to look up from where he was curled in on himself. A dark presence seemed to fill the room in silence, no one moving, and the tugging feeling in his body slowed but felt sharper. He didn’t look up until Steve’s and Cib’s screams filled the silence.

The second he looked up he caught the stare of cold empty black eyes. The cold stare didn’t seem too interested in him but a deadly smirk was on his face. Curly black hair framed a slightly tan face but Brett didn’t really pay much attention outside the harsh stare.

The cold eyes were the ones to break the moment. Brett took the chance to look around the circle, needing to know that everyone was okay. Steven was still holding onto the camera in one hand, white knuckles clutching onto both it and Autumn’s hand. It looked crushing but she didn’t seem to care. Both her and James were dead faced and wide eyed as they stared at the center of the pentagram. It was Cib he was worried about.

Other than the black eyed man there was another person in the circle. This one had short brown hair and almost sickly pale skin. He was bent down staring deep into Cib’s eyes and Cib looked like he hadn’t taken a breath since the whole thing started. A pale hand started to reach towards Cib’s face and Brett didn’t know what came over him.

“Hey.” He yelled out at them and the pale man stopped and turned to look at him. While the first man’s stare was cold this one’s eyes were burning and harsh. Bright red irises that made Brett feel like he was staring into the pit of a fireplace.

With that it seemed like the dam in the room burst. James and Autumn ran towards the door. Autumn hit it first. She tugged at the door and James hit her back reaching around her to try and open the unmoving door. Steve and Cib shot up both running to stand behind Brett.

They didn’t seem to pay any attention to anyone else, both staring hard at Brett. The paler man moved to stand next to the other and Brett was able to get a clear look at them. Or so he thought. Everything about them was blurry like he had been staring at them for two long without blinking and tears were trying to fix the dryness. The only clear things about them were their eyes.

They looked human enough besides the blurriness, no horns, no tails, and no wings. They stood there seemingly feeding off of their fear and exuding a feeling of pure power. The blurriness covered their arms but when Brett tried to look closer they were colorful and dark. The colors seemed to move around their arms and it made Brett feel car sick just trying to watch them.

The pale man didn’t stop though only pausing next the other for a brief second before taking the last few steps towards Brett. In fear, Brett backed out of the circle all but crab walking to get away and he felt hands grab at his shoulders to help pull him out of the circle. The red eyed man scowled at him as he moved and stomped angrily towards him. Just as he was about to take a step out of the circle the pale man hit some type of invisible field that the pentagram had become.

He hit it with his full body, the wall forcibly pushing him back away from Brett. The black eyed man rushed forward to catch his partner under the arms as he started to fall back. Brett looked up at Steve to see his eyes light up in realization. James and Autumn stopped trying to get the door open and watched from the corner of the room.

“Cib! Grab that.” Steve yelled pointing at the vile still on the ground in front of them. Cib dove for it just as the black eyed man dropped the other to grab at it as well. The red-eyed man gave out an undignified yelp as he hit the ground and his partner tripped over him. Fortunately for them Cib was faster as the other two got tangled together and Cib managed to grab the vile and roll out of the pentagram. The black-eyed man tried to rush after him but just hit the wall. He growled a low, animalistic sound and punched the invisible wall, glaring darkly at them.

The other one stood up and moved so he could be slightly behind the black eyed man, his glare no less angry.

“Steve, what the hell is happening?” James’s voice cut through the tension of the room. And everyone, including the strange men, turned to stare at him.

“I think we managed to actually summon some demons.” Steve replied cocking his head slightly to stare at the demons. Everyone else followed suite not wanting to take eyes off the supposed demons in the pentagram.

“How the fuck did we manage that?” Cib asked.

“I don’t know? Brett tell them to do something.” Steve offered waving his hand in his direction.

“What do you mean ‘tell them to do something’? They’re fucking demons, apparently.” Brett snapped with uncertainty in his voice. He did not want to be on the receiving end of their anger if they got out.

“Just shut up and do it.”

“Back up.” Brett asked softly, he did not want to do this. They blinked but didn’t move. Brett raised his eyebrows at Steve and in return he kicked Brett slightly. Brett looked back at the demons and pushed as much strength into his voice as he could.

“Back the fuck up.”

It started with the black eyed man who moved around his friend to stand in the middle of the circle, not even hesitating. He reached forward to touch the paler man’s elbow and he moved to stand next to him.  

“Holy shit.”

“What the fuck?”

“How-“

Everyone started yelling on top of each other moving farther away from the circle, almost hugging the walls. Brett wasn’t paying any attention to anyone else as he continued to stare at the demons. Cib reached down and Brett allowed him to be brought to his feet as James and Autumn moved to stand with them.

“Brett.” Steve calling his name was the only thing that managed to break Brett out of his spell. He turned to look at the taller man but something stopped him from turning his whole body away from the demons.

He hummed in return.

“Did you use your actual blood in this?” Steve asked and took the vile from Cib.

“Yep.” He said popping the p at the end a bit.

“Ew, Brett, what the hell man?” Cib’s voice whined and he scrubbed his palm on his jeans. Brett rolled his eyes at them.

“I thought it would be funny.” Brett replied. He heard a snort from the pentagram and turned back to glare at the snickering duo. The black eyed one just shrugged as he smirked at Brett.

“Why does that matter?” James asked.

“Because, you idiots, we now have two demons trapped in our office. Oh, and they’re bound to Brett.” Steven explained handing off his camera to James. He moved to grab his book.

“What do you mean bound?” Brett asked.

“They have to obey you, just like we say. At least according to the book.” Steven replied and flipped through the book. What he was looking for Brett didn’t know because it was in Latin.

“Can’t I just tell them to go back to hell or something?” Brett pointed at the demons.

“Hey, assholes, still here.” The red eyed demon suddenly said and everyone jumped at the sound of his voice.

“Besides, it doesn’t even fucking work that way anyways. You have to break the bind with a spell. Just like how a spell brought us here.” The black eyed demon answered.

“Jesus Crist, this is happening.” Steven muttered.

“Yep, now can you let us out dipshit?” The red-eyed man rolled his eyes.

“Wait, what spell?” Bret asked, like he wasn’t talking to a pair of trapped demons. The black eyed demon just shrugged again, his face twisting but Brett couldn’t see any details to it.

“How the fuck should we know? This is our first summoning too. Glad we could go through this experience together.” The red-eyed demon said voice filled with sarcasm, but he had a sweet smile on his face. It made Brett want to whack it off of him.

“Do you have names?” Cib asked and everyone turned to him. The demons blinked at each other and the black eyed one nodded slightly to the other.

“I’m Aleksandr, a fire demon. This is James he’s a chaos demon.” Red-eyes explained and honestly that made a lot of sense, Brett thought as he looked down at the ash marks in the ground and the exploded light bulb shards.

“There are different types of demon now?” Brett asked voice going further high pitched than normal. Aleksandr went to explain but Brett’s glare stopped him. “It was rhetorical. I don’t actually care.”

“Why are you blurry?” It was Steven’s turn to ask a question this time apparently. He was still standing there filming.

“You know when you’re walking down the street and you see something at the corner of your eye? That’s us. It’s all your human minds can perceive. There’s a limit and it’s all you can recognize of our bodies.” Demon James explains.

“I feel like that’s just a long complicated way of calling us stupid.” Steven muttered.

“Give the ape a bone.” Aleksandr smirked at them.

“Aleks!” James yelled at him. “What the fuck does that even mean?”

Aleks face twisted into something like fake offense. “Oh. I’m sorry-“

“Both of you, shut the fuck up.” Brett snapped at them. Both of their mouths shut with a sharp ‘click’ of their teeth. They took turns glaring at each other and Brett.

“Is there a way to stop it? It’s kind of giving me a headache and I want to throw up just looking at you.” Human James said.

With a blink of an eye they solidified. Aleks’s paleness turned to slightly acned skin and bright blonde hair. Red eyes turned brown and he had dark almost perfect eyebrows. His stupid smirk was more prominent now that they could actually see his lips. James though had a no-emotion face, staring blankly at them. Long curly hair framed his face and black eyes seemed to bleed into his pupils like ink receding.

The moving shades of color on their arms turned into tattoos that Brett was too far away to decipher clearly. James’s were a lighter shade of yellow and red while Aleks’s were dark purple and blue.

“Why the fuck are you blonde now?” James yelled as he took in his companion’s appearance.

“We’re in L.A. James. I want to be a Cali boy.” Aleks replied and ran a hand through his hair. James looked like he was about to yell back at the new blonde again but Brett cut him off.

“Excuse me, but you aren’t going to be anything. I’m getting rid of you ASAP.” Brett said and he could feel his head thumping from a new headache. One from irritation and not from demon summoning.

“How are you going to do that, huh? No one knows how to remember?” Demon James rolled his eyes.

“I can try and find something.” Steven said. “There has to be a sister spell or something in the book.”

“Perfect.” Brett smirked at the boys.

“Except, it will probably take a few weeks.” Steven finished and he looked sheepish.

“Ah, sweet dawg.” Aleks muttered and elbowed James.

“What do you mean a few weeks?” Brett asked.

“It took me forever to translate this spell let alone the whole book and keep up with the channel.” Steven explained gesturing with the book.

“Great, well, they can just stay here until then.” Brett waved his hands becoming more irritated. He could hear them mumbling softly about being ignored.

“Nope. Unless you also want to be here 24/7. We go where you go.” Aleks explained. “It’s part of the fucking blood bind you stupidly put us in.”

“’Stupidly’?” Brett said air quoting the red eyed demon. “It was a fucking joke.”

“You’d be surprised how often demon summonings in 2017 are jokes. What were you fucking expecting?” James snapped throwing his hands up. Aleks just raised his eyebrows in support of him.

“I don’t fucking know. I thought it would disgust everyone and freak them out.” Brett said and shrugged before turning back to Steven. “So what? I’m supposed to take them home? Um, yeah, not happening.”

“They have to obey you. Tell them to sit or not to leave the house and you’re fine.” Steven explained again and rolled his eyes. It was like going in circles at this point.

“It’s like having a couple of cats.” Cib helpfully offered.

“Cats? I don’t think they obey people, dude?” James muttered.

Brett heaved a heavy sigh and glared at the demons again. They looked human enough but even with their glamor or whatever on there was still something off about them.

“Fucking great.”

It took forever before Brett worked up the courage to let them out of the pentagram. He had to tell the demons three times that they weren’t allowed to do anything to his friends. As it turns out wording was big for them. Because Brett’s first rule was that they weren’t allowed to touch anyone and Aleks retaliated by lighting Cib’s shirt of fire with a snap of his fingers.

In the end they were able to make it into his car without any further incidents and promises that they would come help put the office back together on Monday. All Brett wanted to do now was go home and crash in his bed and hope this was all a fucking nightmare.

“Let’s go there.” Aleks voice popped up from the backseat where he forced them to sit. Brett took a glance just to see the pulsing lights and colors of a club.

“No.”

“Why?” Aleks pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. He honestly looked like a child.

“Because it’s fucking stupid, Aleksandr.” James snapped at him and Brett flinched a little at the sheer volume of it. It seemed like that was a common occurrence with the two of them because Aleks didn’t even blink.

“Just because you don’t like to have fun doesn’t mean me and Brett can’t.” Aleks said smirking back and poking Brett in the shoulder.

“Can you two stop? We only have half an hour before we get to the house.” Brett said and was honestly surprised when they went silent without the use of commanding them.

Tiredness and relief filled him when he finally pulled into his driveway. He got out of the car expecting the demons to follow him up and sighted when he heard their footsteps fall in line with his own. It was going to be a long few weeks.

He locked the door behind him when they moved in and watched them take in the living room.

“I have a spare bedroom. One of you can take that and the other can take the couch.” Brett offered. He could at least be nice when they were in his house in hopes that they didn’t blow it up.

“We can both take the bed.” Aleks replied. Brett took his jacket off and threw it on the chair beside the couch. The demons were only wearing plain jeans and shirts, although Aleks’s were much tighter and he did really look like he belonged in L.A. compared to James.

“Oh.”

“We don’t need to sleep. It’s pretty rare for demons to actually rest.” James explained as he moved to sit on the couch. He fell on to it with a huff and stretched his legs out before him. Aleks followed moving and sitting down much slower than his counterpart.

“No rest for the wicked.” Aleks muttered. Brett would have missed it had he not been looking at them.

“Fine, that’s whatever. You can find some way to entertain yourselves while I sleep.” Brett replied pinching the bridge of his nose. He knelt to start untying his boots and could feel the weight of their stares on him.

They both smirked and Brett glared back. Although part of him wondered how much of it contained real anger.

“There is to be no fire, explosions, or noise.” Brett said in his new commanding voice. They both dramatically rolled their eyes at him, as if he was the one being unreasonable in the situation.  

“Wow, you are no fun.” Aleks pouted at him.

“I’m human. There are other ways to have fun.”

“So we’ve heard.” Aleks pout turned to weird mix of a smirk and a sneer.

“Go watch fucking Netflix or something.” Brett said as he shooed them into the spare bedroom and shut the door before he could see them settle down. He thanks whatever god was listening that he put a television in there for guests.

With that Brett walked off to the bathroom to take a shower. He let the heat pour over him and let his body relax under the spray. It was late by the time he left and walked towards his bedroom. He stopped when a slight whisper got his attention from his spare room.

“Dude, are you sure about this? What about the others?” Aleks’s voice chimed.

“Come one, man. Let’s have a little fun. It’s been forever since we we’re allowed up here.”

Brett walked away after that. He didn’t want to know whatever they were planning. If it was anything big he would stop it but for now he allowed the sweet obliviousness of sleep take hold of him.

~

For a brief second, Brett thought the entire week had been a fever dream. Maybe Cib slipped him something or he went out with the boys and it was all a drunken hallucination. He would take a week long hallucination over reality.

It was a blissful second as Brett just stared out his window and basked in the dawn light coming through it. A coolness on his skin before the heat of the L.A. day started. He didn’t know what woke him up yet but it was quiet and peaceful in the apartment.

It was broken by a loud crash and an even louder screech. “Aleksandr!”

Brett groaned and buried his head in his pillow, not ready to face the world or his new roommates yet.

“Oh, please, asshole. That was totally your fucking fault.” Aleks’s voice rang out.

“I wouldn’t have fucking knocked it off if you weren’t being such a bitch.” James yelled back and it had enough power behind it that it felt like the shout shook the apartment. Brett groaned louder and all but yelled at the end before he left the nice comfortable bed.

When he entered the kitchen he glared at the demons and their new mess. It didn’t even surprise him anymore. This had been his life for the better part of the week. James and Aleks didn’t need to sleep so they tended to hangout in their room until dawn before they ventured back out. They didn’t usually try to make breakfast but they did always manage to make a mess. Without any thought to their poor human roommate.

It didn’t bother Brett that much because he tended to wake around that time anyway to hit the gym but he couldn’t go spend his usual time there without bringing his guests. And he did not want to make his normal ass friends deal with his new crazy. So he’d skipped it and did what he could at home.

The first morning had been a disaster after they discovered he was a vegetarian. Well, when James found out he was a vegetarian anyway, Aleks seemed to eat anything put in front of him. James all but threw a tantrum about it, he whined and groaned on his couch until Brett left to get food for him.

Of course, Brett would not know that a chaos demon wasn’t just destruction and anger because when he got home James was waiting for him with a mischievous smile and a sink full of dishes. Thankfully, they left him a plate and it hadn’t been that bad. He could still feel the leftover anger from the prank.

“After 200 years that insult is getting a little fucking old, don’t you think?” Aleks said and kicked the broken glass at James.

“What are you two idiots doing?” Brett asked. He felt a bit like their parent, hands on his hips and shoulders hunched like he was about to cave in on himself in disappointment.

“James broke your bowl.” Aleks shrugged and pointed at the glass on the ground.

“You fuck!” James yelled at him. “Technically it fell off the counter.”

“Yeah, because you keep letting your powers get out of control. Like, Jesus, man.” Aleks said back and waved a hand up and down James’s body.

“Hey, I’m not the one who lit the bed on fire.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Brett asked them, one hand already moving to run through his hair.

“It was one time and one pillow, asshole. Besides I took out all the batteries in the alarms the first night. It was fine.” Aleks snapped and let his eyes lose their glamor. He did that pretty often, while James had less of a control over his powers Aleks had a problem with his glamor.

“What?” Brett yelled, tired of being ignored. He resisted the urge to actually pull his hair out. They both blinked at him, as if shocked by his shock. He ignored their demon eyes, it was the one thing he couldn’t get used to.

“If you keep doing that you’re going to lose what little you have left.” James pointed at him and smirked.

“I hate you both.” Brett sighed and both demons laughed at him. Argument forgotten for Aleks’s squinty huff and James’s wheeze.

A knock on the door cut through their conversation and Brett was almost glad for the interruption of their bickering. They all looked at each other in an intense stare down before Aleks ran towards the sound.

Brett stomped after the blonde. Aleks was quick so Brett was too slow to stop him from opening the door.

“Hey, Mrs. Jones.” Aleks’s voice was oddly sweet as he talked to his little old lady neighbor. Not that the two couldn’t be nice, Brett was just too used to them sniping at each other. How those two stayed together for so long blew Brett’s mind.

“Hello, dear.” Mrs. Jones said. Brett couldn’t see her yet but her voice was pleasant as she answered.

Brett huffed and wrapped an arm around Aleks’s waist. He ignored the heat that Aleks’s body let out, and he definitely didn’t think about how much he missed it or how cold he felt when he strong armed the blonde behind the door. Brett just put it off as Aleks being the living embodiment of fire.

“Sorry about that Mrs. Jones. How can I help you today?” Brett asked and put on his most polite smile. He subtly tried to reach around the door to push Aleks back when the blonde tried to snake around the frame. He could see James wonder out from the kitchen from the corner of his eye.

“Oh, it’s no problem dear. Have you seen Snickers?” Mrs. Jones asked and Brett felt bad for the little old lady at the thought of her tiny dog going missing. She didn’t have much since her husband passed away except for the yippy thing.

“Sorry, I haven’t. But if I do I will get her home as soon as I can.” Brett offered and waved her off. He watched her wander off to the next house until she was out of site before he slammed the door shut.

“What the fuck did you two do?” Brett snapped at Aleks, who just rolled his eyes at James as if to say ‘Can you get a load of this idiot?’

“Dude, what the fuck? We are demons not monsters.” James snapped back at him. After a week of living with them Brett learned that James isn’t really angry just loud. That didn’t mean Brett wasn’t one to take him up on his bait. Besides James seemed to feed on the arguments.

“There’s a difference?”

“What the fuck, dude?” James yelled, actual anger bleed into his voice. His eyes turned black and he looked near feral.

“I know nothing about you. You could have eaten the damn thing for all I know.” Brett snapped back and James reeled back a bit and took a deep breath.

“That’s fucked up.” Aleks said and rolled his eyes but he moved forward to stand next to James. He didn’t turn towards Brett like he thought the blonde would do. It was more like he tired to stand between them but could stop James if he tried to move.

“Yeah, man. We have dogs.” James relaxed a bit now that Aleks was closer to him. He still looked pissed off but not like he was about to rip Brett’s head off.

“What? Like hellhounds?” Brett tried to joke and smirked at them. His voice still had a biting edge to it.

“Yeah, man, exactly. They’re adorable.” Aleks replied to him and Brett stopped for a second to try and figure out if they were joking with him or not.

“You know what I’m done. I don’t want to deal with either of you fucks until lunch. I’m going to go workout now.” Brett literally whipped his hands at them and turned away from them to walk down the hallway.

“What should we do?” Aleks yelled after him.

“Do whatever the fuck you want. I don’t care.” Brett yelled back.

Brett stalked off to his mini home gym after he grabbed his work out clothes from his room. He let himself get lost in his routine and the world faded around him. No demons with pretty glowing eyes or demons that made his heart race. Just him, the heat in the room, and his music.

“Yoga? Really?” Aleks sarcastic voice cut through his mind set.

Fuck, there goes that peace and not even an hour of it.

“It’s part of my cool down. Leave.” Brett said and did not turn to look at the blonde.

“Nah, I’m fucking bored and you said not to bother you until lunch. You never said who’s lunch.” Aleks smirked and from the corner of his eye Brett saw him briefly hold up his bowl. Fuck them and their loopholes.

“Go mess with James.” Brett tried again.

“I can’t. He left.” Aleks moved to sit on the opposite side of the room so he was closer to Brett.

“What do you mean he left?” Brett looked up him from his pose.

“Don’t get your headband in the twist. He only left like half an hour ago. He’ll be back before the time limit.” Aleks explained and he continued to eat.

They had done a few exercises since they had showed up, because Brett couldn’t just call into work with a case of demons. An hour is as far as they could get away from each other and distance definitely affected how long they could be apart. Brett usually got them to stay close to his workplace.

“Because that’s what I’m worried about. James hurting himself.” Brett muttered. He didn’t really bother to do it under his breath because he knew Aleks would hear him anyway.

“You’re fucked up.” Aleks sighed and pointed his fork at him.

“I’m fucked up. You’re the demons here.”

“Yeah but we’re mischievous demons. Not harmful or destructive ones.” Aleks explained. As much as Brett wanted to laugh at him it made sense. The demons hadn’t actually done anything too mean since they showed up let alone caused any actual harm.

“So what, there are classes of demons now?” Brett asked instead. He stood and stretched, the cracks in his bones caused him to grunt. He reached for his towel to wipe the sweat off his face.

“Yeah, man. If you fucking wanted to know anything all you have to do is fucking ask. You can’t deal with us because you don’t know us. We are literally just as bored as you are annoyed and the more bored we get the more we are going to try and break you.” Aleks said. His voice a mixture of calm explanation and annoyance.

“What do you suggest then?” Brett asked and moved to stand against the wall with him. He looked down at the demon with a raised eyebrow and an honest face.  

“Wanna go to a strip club?” Aleks asked and Brett laughed loudly with him.

“No. But how about we start with a normal bar first?” Brett offered. He knew the perfect place they could all go that night. It wouldn’t be too crowded and they couldn’t do too much damage if they got drunk. Probably.

Aleks pouted at him but there was too much amusement in his glowing eyes to mean anything.

“You look fucking stupid like that.”.James’s voice cut through their conversation. He stood in the doorway with dirt all over his pants and hands.

“Oh, great. You’re back.” Aleks said and rolled his eyes at the sound of James’s voice.

“Fuck off.” James said back but there was no hint of any anger in his voice, not even a hint of irritation. Just plain boredom at the red-eyed demon.

“Where the fuck were you?” Brett asked and helped Aleks stand up because the idiot refused to put his bowl down.

“I went and found Mrs. Jones dumb fucking dog.”

“You did what?” Brett asked, stunned. He shook his head slightly in disbelief at him. He could hear Aleks ask James the same thing. At least Aleks sounded more enthusiastic about the damn dog.

“Yeah, it’s in the living room.” James pointed behind his shoulder and Aleks took off down the hallway as fast as he could. The liquid in his bowl spilled onto the door as he ran by.

“Why did you do that?” Brett slowly moved to follow the blonde. James fell in line right behind him and he could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

“To prove we didn’t kill it, asshole!”

“Oh.” Brett should probably apologize for that if he was going to try and get on their good side.

“I hope it pisses all over the floor.” James laughed and nudged Brett’s shoulder forward. Brett turned back and glared at him before he quickened his steps to the living room.

Maybe later. Brett thought.

“Aleks! You better not excite that damn dog.”

Thankfully, when they got there Aleks had the puppy on his lap on the couch and the damn thing hadn’t pissed everywhere. It took him thirty minutes to convince Aleks to let Brett take the dog back to Mrs. Jones but he did, in between the cooing. When he got back to his house after he dealt with a crying old lady he walked in on James and Aleks glaring at each other from either side of the couch.

“What now?” Brett asked as he watched them. Aleks had changed clothes from his baggy Adidas look to extremely tight jeans. Which Brett tried not to stare at.

“The fuck? I don’t want to go out.” James yelled pointing at his partner and Aleks just stuck his tongue out in return. The blonde went to open his mouth to reply but Brett cut him off.

“Look, we need to start getting along better or else I’m going to kill the both of you.” Brett stood in front of them and they both looked up at him.

“Only works if you have holy water.” James snipped. He folded his arms and leant back into the couch but he didn’t break eye contact.

“I’ll keep that in mind. So let’s start with being friends.”

“This is exactly how we stay friends. It’s pretty fucking normal you can ask any of our children.” Aleks explained and pointed between the two. He did notice how often they fought with each other but they never seemed to have any ill will towards one another.

“Stop calling them our children. They’re our students, asshole.” James muttered at him and Brett paused to think about whether he wanted to continue that side conversation.

“Later. James, Aleks wants to go to the bar. What would you like to do?” Brett asked and James scrunched up his face to think.

“Horse racing.” He offered and smirked at them. Aleks raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t say anything.

“What?” Brett asked tilting his head and squinting at him.

“I wanna go bet on on some fucking horses.” James enunciated but he did look a little excited at the idea. Well as excited as he could get past the bored expression James had on a lot. “You’ve always had a problem.” Aleks smirked at him and shoved James’s knee with his.

“It’s not a problem if it’s not your money.” James said and laughed at Brett’s confusion.

“Fine, we can go out tonight and tomorrow go to the races.” Brett nodded and got his phone out to start checking his bank account. He needed to make sure they couldn’t spend too much.

“Sweet.” James and Aleks both said at the same time and Brett rolled his eyes.

“So wait. You have kids?” Brett thought back. It didn’t surprise him at all if they together with how they acted but the thought of the two demons having kids shook him. He couldn’t even imagine what a mixture of the two would be like.

~

The Lyft to the bar was one of the most awkward experiences Brett had ever been in. That was because every time their driver opened his mouth to say anything James’s glare darkened. Brett threw a few apologetic looks his way through the mirror and swore to give the poor man a heavy tip.

Brett had to drag James out of the car while he also kept a hand around Aleks’s elbow so he couldn’t run off into the dimly lit bar. He knew that both of them could just tear themselves away or rip his arms off but they were in public and couldn’t exactly do that.

“James, you fuck, let’s go.” Aleks yelled and grabbed Brett’s arm and helped pull at the wiggly demon. Brett grunted at Aleks’s pull.

“No.” James screeched. His eyes wide as he continued to grab the seat in front of him. Their driver just stared at them. He tried to stutter something out but was ignored over James’s yelling.

Aleks snapped and pushed past Brett and rolled his shoulder. Without the strain on it anymore it bordered on painful.

“No, Aleksandr.” James yelled as Aleks grabbed his shoulders and yanked back. James was forced to let go with a scream and they both fell back. Brett tried to grab them and keep them steady but they were both too heavy and he crumbled under their combined weight.

“You okay, sirs?” The driver’s nervous voice cut through the chaos of James and Aleks wrestling on top of him. Brett shoved them off and onto the sidewalk before standing.

“Yeah, man. Thanks.” Brett waved the man off. He reached down and pulled the two demons apart and forced them to stand.

“You little shits are lucky I lost my shame years ago.” Brett mumbled and pushed them towards the door. They calmly waited their turn to get checked and Brett kept them in front of him to make sure they didn’t disappear.

“ID’s?” The bouncer asked and Brett was about to hand his over when Aleks lent towards the much larger man.

“What are you doing?” Brett asked and even the bouncer looked confused. Brett blinked and almost grabbed the blonde’s shirt when he was shushed in return.

“You already saw our ID’s. Just give us the stamp and we’ll be on our merry way.” Aleks whispered to the man and looked deep into his eyes. The bouncer’s eyes turned glossy before he did what he was told.

“What the fuck was that?” Brett asked as they made their way towards bar.

“It’s a spell.” Aleks explained. He didn’t elaborate as the bartender made her way over.

“I thought that was a vampire thing.” Brett said and took a swig of his whiskey when it was handed to him.

James scoffed from where he sat. “Vampires don’t exist dude.”

“I didn’t think demons did either until last week. At this point anything can fucking happen.” Brett said and left to grab an open table. He knew the other two would follow him to it, thank god.

It felt almost normal, like they were just a couple of friends out for drinks after a long week. Not a human and his two blood bound demons. James nursed a beer the entire time, he didn’t want to drink outside the comfort of Brett’s house.

Aleks though chugged whatever was in front of him. Nothing lasted long with him and Brett inwardly winced at the thought of what would be missing from his bank account in the morning.

“I’m bored.” Aleks said and winced after his whiskey shot. Brett waved over the waitress to close his tab.

“Okay, then we can go home and play something until you pass out.” Brett offered and signed his receipt. He heard James agree with him but Aleks huffed. Brett didn’t even have time to put his card back in his wallet before the table in front of him disappeared.

“Now this is a little more fun.” Aleks yelled over the thumps of music and a room of people who also yelled to be heard as they danced. Brett snapped his head up to look at him in shock. Aleks’s eyes still glowed red but they blended with the pulsing lights that flashed over his face. Even with everything that was happening around them Brett couldn’t help but stare at him like the red-eyed demon was the only one in the room.

It was broken by James’s loud groan in his ear. He stood next to them and did not look pleased at being there, even unhappier than when they were at the bar.

“Shut up, man. This is my night.” Aleks stuck his tongue out at him. James just rolled his eyes and pushed them towards the bar. They stumbled but allowed them to be lead away. Brett may be a little more drunk than he wanted but James looked stone cold sober.

Aleks ordered a few shots before he handed over Brett’s card. Brett didn’t linger on how Aleks got it and toasted him. Aleks tried to push another glass at James but it slipped over onto his shirt. James glared down at his shirt then at Aleks and moved over to grab a napkin to clean himself off.

Brett didn’t get to watch him return back to them because Aleks rushed him onto the dance floor.

“What are you doing?” Brett asked as he was forced closer to Aleks. He glared at the person who pushed him but whoever it was was lost in their own dance partner.

“I wanna fucking dance, dude.” Aleks yelled at him over the crowd.

“But, James?” Brett tried to turn to look for the now familiar bun but Aleks pulled his arm and he was forced deeper into the crowd of people.

“He’ll join us when he’s ready. Fucking asshole is being a prick.” Aleks laughed and started to move, he wasn’t very coordinated but his hips moved to the beat. “And he doesn’t like being touched.”

Brett shrugged and let himself get lost in the movement of Aleks’s hips and the sweaty bodies that surrounded them. He had no real concern that they were so close to anybody else. Nothing really mattered except Aleks’s body against his.

Everything got blurry after that. He let the whiskey course through his body and the relaxed feeling of being drunk take over his mind. Brett remembered more shots and more dancing. A flash of Aleks as he tried to get James to dance with him but it was just Aleks moving around James as the dark-eyed demon glared at him while he spun in circles.

“Where are we?” Brett asked. His voice felt scratchy and his head was foggy. He tried to look around but his head fell back onto the seat behind him with the heaviness of it.

“Back in the fucking car. You fucking idiots passed out at the table.” James said, his voice tailed off into a loud growl.

“Can you get any fucking louder?” Aleks said from the other side of Brett.

“Yes, Aleksandr, I can. You fuckin’ prick.” James yelled. He leant forward to glare at the blonde around Brett’s body. Aleks groaned in return and put his head on the window.

“Please don’t start or I’m going to puke on you.” Brett mumbled and let his eyes close. He hoped to either fall back asleep or cool the nausea.

“Ew. You fucking face him if you do.” James said and shoved Brett towards Aleks. He went with the movement and put his whole weight on Aleks.

“Please don’t puke in my car.” A new but familiar voice came from driver’s seat. Brett opened his eyes to see the driver from earlier. Brett was pretty sure he yelled something at him and hoped it was nice at least, before he blacked out again.

He came too to James as he dumped him on his bed. “I’m not taking your clothes off. You get to be fucking uncomfortable.”

“Where’s Aleks?” Brett mumbled at James as he tucked the covers around the human.

“I left him on the living room floor.” James answered and turned to leave.

“Oh, cool. Goodnight, James.” Brett yelled after him. James paused and Brett could see the confusion on his face. Probably because he was still right next to the bed and did not need to be yelled at.

“Night, asshole.” James yelled in return and while it made Brett’s head thump he relaxed into his pillow and passed out for the last time.

~

“I didn’t think demons could get hangovers.” Brett questioned and looked down to where Aleks was lent on his shoulder.

“We don’t. He’s just being a baby.” James replied. He was stood in front boards to look at the stats for the day. He already collected the paperwork and pamphlets he needed and Brett let him borrow 200 to put in. James promised he’d win it back but Brett was cautious since it had been a long time since the demons had been to the races. Brett didn’t even go that often.

“Then get the fuck off of me.” Brett laughed and shrugged Aleks off of him.

“I see how it is, you fucker. You only like me when I’m in pain. I’m pretty sure that’s a kink.” Aleks smirked at him and Brett could see the slight glow behind his sunglasses.

“Fucking freak.” James said and even though he didn’t turn to look at them Brett could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Don’t do that in public. It was because you were being quiet for once.” Brett said and he got a laugh out of James and a pout from Aleks.

“Whatever I’m going to find food.” Aleks rolled his eyes at them and walked off.

“Don’t go very far, sweetie.” Brett yelled after him in a mocking tone. It was sweet like a mother who told her rebellious child to stay safe.

He got a middle finger thrown back at him from behind the blonde’s back as he walked off. Brett chuckled and walked up to stand next to James as he placed his first bets.

“You going to put any in?” James asked as he looked down at his receipts.

“Maybe next time” Brett answered. James shrugged and led the human to sitting area he liked. It was a benched area that was just started to fill up. Brett stretched out where he sat and kicked his legs up onto the bench in front of them and his arms to the side. One of them all but around James’s back.

He relaxed into the warm late morning sun on his body. James was the opposite. Lent forward, elbows on his knee as he watched the track being prepped. He was in his normal loose jeans and sweatshirt that shouldn’t look as good as it did. It was better than Aleks’s obnoxious lime green Adidas look that hurt Brett’s hangover that morning when he was shaken awake by the blonde.

“I get Aleks’s love of clubs and being drunk but really horse racing?” Brett asked and there a silence that followed.

James rolled his eyes at him and huffed. “Aren’t you supposed to be smart or something? It’s gambling. Anything can fucking happen when it’s all high risk high reward. People lose and get angry or they win and lose their damn fucking minds. Either way it’s a lot of wayward emotions going around.”

“Uh-huh.” Brett offered.

“Dude, sorry I’m not some wild party boy.”

“Nothing wrong with that. I like this just as much. I was just curious, I’ve expected you both to be, well, more chaotic than you have been.” Brett explained to him and he got a shrug in return.

“We can be at home. But we like you and we like Earth, so me and Aleks don’t go all out. We like fun and jackassery more than destruction and blood shed. Sure mass murder and burning cities would fuel us for years but there’s nothing to it.” James continued to explain and looked Brett in the eye. The human swallowed because he could see how powerful and yet restrained James was at that moment.

“Besides, I can do this.” James said and snapped his fingers, eyes briefly bleed black as he did so.

“Ladies and gentlemen they are off.” Brett and James both turned to watch the horses take off but something was off to Brett. The announcer talked but Brett didn’t pay any attention to him. The horse in the lead started to slow down, almost like it had lost all stamina before it even got started. The horse slowed to a stop before it bucked they jockey off. Brett held his breath as he watched the small man fly over the railing to safety.

“Looks like Hot Potato is out of the race and The D has has taken the lead.” The announcement yelled, excitement in his voice.

Brett could see James’s smirk from the corner of his eye. He felt his heart skip a beat at the mischievous look.

“Looks like I fucking won.” James grinned and laughed at the confused jockey who watched his horse graze on the track. James continued to laugh as he waved the ticket in front of Brett’s face.

“What the fuck, James?” Brett asked and looked from the demon to the dehorsed jockey to the angry people around them.

“I told you he had a problem.” Aleks’s voice came from behind them and they both turned to see he had already taken the bench behind them. Soda in one hand and a pretzel in the other.

“I thought you meant a gambling problem.” Brett said,eyebrows raised  and a dumb expression on his face.

“You’re a bitch.” James muttered and Aleks pulled his bun. James let out a yelp and pulled away from the other demon.

“That’s more of a consequence. James has a cheating problem.” Aleks explained. “Anything he can get away with is fair game.”

“At least I don’t-” James started and paused as he tried to think of something to say.

“Yeah?” Aleks asked and James puffed out a breath and pouted. “That’s what I thought.”

“So what? We just cheat our way to the big bucks.” Brett asked and dodged James’s swinging arm.

“Do you want your money back?” Aleks asked. He wasn’t  as lucky to dodge James and he got a fist to the knee.

“Yes.” Brett explained and thought for a second. “But you have to help some of these people as well.”

“What? Fuck that.” James yelled eyes wide as he glared at Brett.

“I think that sounds like a great plan, Brett.” Aleks snickered as James.

“Oh, don’t fucking think you’re getting out of this. You’re helping him out.” Brett replied and pointed at the blonde. “You need to do something after setting the bar on fire last night.”

Aleks gasped and glared at him. “I was hoping you didn’t remember that.”

Brett laughed at them and watched as the next race began. That’s how they spent the rest of the day. They laughed at the new ways James could sabotage races and watched as the poor became slightly richer and the rich became slightly more poor. Aleks eventually found a spot that served him alcohol so they had a few beers before they were ready to leave.

“Here.” James’s voice cut through Brett’s spacing out. Brett briefly glanced at him and his shy smile before he looked down at what James had to offer him. “It’s your money man. Didn’t win anything but you broke even.”

“Thanks.” Brett pocketed the money and waved towards the entrance. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, need to get this fucker to bed.” James shrugged and it jostled Aleks from his spot nestled into James’s shoulder. Brett looked closely at him and Aleks opened his eyes briefly enough so he could wink at the human.

~

The next morning he woke up to a text from Steve. One he had wanted to see for so long but now it struck him. I got the reversal spell done.

He ignored it for as long as he could. At least until lunch where he watched James cook for him and Aleks was still asleep or at least hidden in their room.

Kind of busy. Maybe next week we could do it. Brett typed back and got a confirmation in return. He didn’t know why he wanted to wait because the week before he would have dragged the demons to the Sugar Pine Offices to get rid of them. Or maybe he did know.

Instead of doing the responsible thing Brett took the week to have fun with the boys before he sent them off. A lot of dinners out, where he had to stop them before they tripped the waiter, which was probably the most evil thing they could do. At nights they played games and it felt normal. Turns out Brett liked to have people around.

There was a night where Brett had been up too late after a long day at work and he fell asleep on James. He hadn’t been able to keep his eyes open any longer so he tried to obnoxiously lay his head on James’s lap as a joke but he couldn’t stay awake long. Aleks cuddled on his chest when Brett muttered about how cold he was.

His couch was way too small for three grown men to try and sleep on it but they did. Or Brett slept and James and Aleks just relaxed into the night. He would never admit it but it was probably his favorite night of the two weeks they had been together.

It had been great until Aleks fainted in the middle of his kitchen on Friday. James and Brett both rushed over to kneel next to him. Brett felt for a pulse, he forgot for a brief second that it probably wouldn’t be there, while James felt his face.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Brett asked. James had a brief look of guilt and worry before it turned back into his passive face.

“Yeah, we were hoping to keep it from you a little longer.” James started and they moved Aleks onto the couch. “But Aleks has been away from Hell a little to long. He needs the fire down there to survive.”

“He needs to go back.” Brett finished and looked down at the blonde. James nodded and sat on the couch so that he could rest Aleks’s head on his lap.

“Well, I’ll call Steven and we can meet him tomorrow. Will he be okay until then?” Brett sat down on the other end. Aleks was laid out in between them and Brett placed a hand on the demon’s ankle. His skin was ice cold and it made a shiver run down Brett’s spine. He was too used to the heat Aleks usually let out.

“He’ll be fine. Just needs to sleep” James muttered and when Brett looked over to him he was running a hand through Aleks’s hair.

The next day they were on their way to the Sugar Pine Offices. Aleks was basically held between them as they made their way up the stairs to meet everybody. Steve lead them towards the pentagram which was still painted on the floor.

“Turns out it’s really simple. They just have to go back into the pentagram. You say “I release you from my service” and they should be gone.” Steven explained. He pointed everybody back to their original spots around the points.

“I know this is going to be real fucking sappy but it’s been real.” Aleks turned to look at Brett. He was pale and sweaty still but he smiled like he wasn’t about to collapse.

“Yeah, man. If we’re ever back you can bet we’ll show up at your house.” James replied and fist bumped the blonde.

“Please don’t.” Brett said and reached out to hug them. They both wrapped an arm around his waist and squeezed. They ignored the stares of the humans in the room as they release him. They walked backwards into the pentagram almost like they didn’t want to leave either. They waved at Brett and for a second Brett thought his heart was going to stop beating.

“I release you from my service.” Brett said. There was no fanfare or dramatic winds this time. They just winked out of existence.

There was an emptiness in his heart after they disappeared. Like a whole chunk of him was missing. Brett never realized how much of the bond he felt until it wasn’t there anymore. A part of him wanted it back but the other didn’t. Maybe he just wanted them back.

“Well, now that’s over with. Thank God. New lesson: no more books in Latin.” Steve said and laughed with everybody else.

Brett didn’t stick around much longer. Just thanked everybody and was on his way home. It was quiet as he walked in, something he didn’t think he would ever hear again.

Brett threw himself on the couch with a groan, and threw his head back to stare blankly at the ceiling. He was spaced out so it took him a minute to recognize the sound of a faint pop. Brett looked over to see his lamp on fire and glass scattered around the coffee table from where the light bulb exploded.