#powbeni

“Denji, what’s happening?” Another voice asked. Aki, she thought, though it sounded all muffled and she couldn’t really focus on the specifics of what he was saying. Denji was speaking too though, about her she figured. Self-consciously, Power folded her legs in closer to her body. She felt more warmth closing in on her and out of the corner of her eyes caught the familiar contour of Aki’s bulky form, comfortably covered by his grey clothed.

“Power, what happened?” Aki asked patiently, his gaze fixed onto Power. She found herself curling up even tighter, mumbling into her knees.

“Nothing…” She defaulted on lying, a thick layer of shaming starting to clog her throat. What was she even expecting from coming here? Granted, she didn’t have anywhere else she could go at all unless disappearing back into the woods was an option. Power was considering that more seriously now. She felt like a black hole, sucking in everything around her no matter where she went. She wished people were more like cats; cats didn’t have their own important personal lives for Power to disrupt and trash on.

“Power.” Aki repeated, more firmly but allowing his gaze to drift from her. Power’s eyes creased with tension as her hands gripped the sides of her hoodie so hard she was certain the fabric was going to tear apart. Through wobbly lips, she attempted to find her words.

“My dar-…Kobeni’s parents called our abode’s phone. She wasn’t around at the time so…I picked up for her and…” Power fumbled over her words, nervously glancing between the two men at her side. Upon closer inspection of her pressed together hands, she realised that her nails were dirty. Human didn’t really like partners with grime on their body, did they? Why would she ever give someone as graceful and perfect as Kobeni another reason to break up with her?

She couldn’t even remember the reasons Kobeni had for dating her.

“..she often speaks of the malign ways her parents treat her, so I…told them exactly what I thought about them.” Power winced. Aki winced louder.

“And then, like a fool, I proudly relayed this to Kobeni and…” Power’s voice dropped down to an unusually quiet tone for her, “she got really upset with me and said that she ‘needed some space’.” Power winced, feeling the contemporary shame fall back upon her. It was silent then for a few moments as Denji fumblingly looked up towards Aki, who gritted his teeth and placed his hand between Power’s shoulder blades.

“So, you fucked up.” He reiterated blankly. Denji’s mouth hung open, startled and concerned with his bluntness. Power nodded into her folded up limbs, gazing pitifully at the floor.

“But, she only said that she needed space. It’s not like you two are through or anything. The only thing that matters now is that you make things right.” Aki advised her calmly, talking righteously for somebody who was yet to be in a proper relationship. Power murmured softly into her sleeves before blinking away her tears.

“Like, with a grand gesture or something?” She asked, a slither of pathetic hope shining in her pupils. Aki’s lips tightened, preparing to walk a fine line of not shattering Power’s hopes while distancing her from this idea.

“Not exactly.” Aki was hardly finished with those two words before Denji’s obtrusive voice cut him off.

“Hell yeah!” Denji agreed, shifting closer as he slinked an energetic arm over Power’s shoulders, a chipper, razor-like smile on his face. “That’s what people always do on TV to win back their partners! It works every time.” He exclaimed imaginatively.

“For truth?!” Power responded, meeting his gaze eagerly.

“That’s not what I was trying to say.” Aki voiced though he was fairly certain that none of his words were reaching them by now. Back and forth, they blabbered and bounced extravagant ideas off of each other, ranging from appointing Kobeni as Power’s vice-president to killing a Primordial Devil in her name. Somehow, after a few minutes of wearing down these ideas, Denji managed to land on one which sounded reasonable, though Aki figured they’d mange to find some way to mess it up against all odds.

“What if you bake her a cake?” Whenever he was having a rough time, he and Pochita used to make their budget cakes, which consisted of water, flour, daisy petals and if they were fortunate enough, sugar. Hopefully, they’d be able to get Kobeni better ingredients. Maybe even icing.

“A treat!” Power burst out energetically. “My darling Kobeni does enjoy sweet foods. We must do this at once!” Power decided, stumbling up to her feet. Aki was relieved to see her out of her depressing headspace, but mortified to see what would become of his kitchen.

“Please, let me supervise this.” He requested, as if this wasn’t his own home.

“Tis only natural that you will. You’re going to be my lackey for this after all.” Power stated naturally as she bounded into the kitchen with Denji in toe. Aki sighed and followed, mentally running through all the possible things that they could mess up. Power’s hands tapped bouncily against the kitchen counter, pondering as she realised she was out of her depth in making a cake. Fortunately her lackey was there to save her.

“First things first, Power let me tie your hair up. You can wash your hands while I do that.” Aki offered, knowing that Power had zero experience with styling hair and would definitely forget to wash her hands. She stood in front of the sink, hunched over slightly as she viciously scrubbed her hands with warm water and dish soap. Her aversion to cleanliness had largely withered away since she began living with Kobeni, much to Aki’s pleasure. She even rubbed at her nails with the dish scrubber, which he was going to chastise her for, but decided to take his wins where they presented themselves.

Power’s hair was a tangled mess which Aki’s large fingers had to be careful with to avoid hurting her. He managed to twist the majority of it into a thick bun at the back of her head, securing it down with a hair tie while a few wispy strands remained blowing about around her head.

“Denji, can you get a mixing bowl, two circular trays and a whisk?” Aki requested. Having stalked through the pantry on numerous occasions, Denji had a deep familiarity with the layout of the kitchen.

“On it.” He agreed obediently, rummaging through the cupboards before laying out the desired items on the kitchen side. Aki finished up securing the hair tie and took a step back away from Power, who spun around.

“You have my gratitude, lackey.” Power praised, her horns sticking out even more prominently with her hair out of the way.

“I’m honoured.” Aki deadpanned, affectionately pushing down at her horns before looking in the fridge. Milk, eggs, butter, flour, sugar were all the staples he’d need, though according to Violence, Kobeni’s favourite flavour was vanilla. He still had a few large bars of white chocolate that Angel had gifted him a few weeks ago, though treats weren’t exactly Aki’s thing unless they came in the form of nicotine. He grabbed the wrapped bars and placed them out along with the rest of the ingredients.

“I’m only going to help if I can eat the unbaked batter.” Denji stated, currently in heated negotiations with Power.

“That has raw eggs in it.” Aki commented, as if he were in a position to comment on somebody else’s physical health.

“Denji has swallowed things far worse!” Power declared, agreeing to his terms partially because she hadn’t the faintest idea of how to make a cake. Or make…anything really. She could create tools and weapons out of blood but that was as natural as breathing for her. Power was best suited for tearing things down and breaking them apart. Staring at the ingredients and whatever the Hell a whisk was, Power grumbled and turned to Aki for guidance.

“Lackeys, instruct me on the beginning steps.” Power ordered, staring at the eggs as if they were intimidating her. Aki didn’t object, mainly because he didn’t mind helping Power.

“Pour half of the flour packet into the bowl and then one quarter of the sugar, for starters.” Aki advised. Power sweated nervously.

“How much is a half?” She questioned blankly, staring at Aki intently. Aki blinked, having temporarily forgotten Power’s complete lack of education.

“Just pour them in and I’ll tell you when to stop.” He corrected himself. Power seemed more steady with that idea. She fumbled at first, nearly tipping in the whole bag of flour and caused a puff of white powder to coat her chin, but she quickly regained control and tilted the bag up, continuing to simmer out the tasteless powder until Aki told her to stop. One bag down. Swallowing confidently, Power took up the smaller bag of sugar in her hands and shook in the correct amount without spilling anything. Aki was unbelievably impressed.

For Power, it felt…good. She’d done things for Kobeni before. Fought Devils, carried her groceries, fucked her just how she liked, but she’d never given Kobeni a proper gift before. She liked how it felt, to be able to pour in all her deep-seated feelings that rarely ever surfaced into something that showed just how deep her love was. Even if it was something as fatuous as a cake, Power needed to Kobeni to know that she still cared. That she always had and always would.

“Good. Next, crack the eggs open.” Aki advised. Immediately, Power’s instinctual nature took over and she grew overexcited at the prospect of breaking something; she took up an egg into her hand, made a fist and crushed into a splash of orangey egg yolk and pale shell fragments which splattered across the kitchen. Aki noticed an orange stain around the knees of his trousers while Denji scooped up one of the larger shell fragments, stuck it in his mouth and swallowed. Power, after a moment of stunned, silent shock, cooled herself.

“I didn’t do that.” She stated calmly.

“I’m sure you didn-Denji! Get that out of your mouth!” Aki ordered though he could only watch as Denji slowly swallowed and promptly wheezed at the feeling of the sharp shell slicing down his throat like a tortilla chip. Aki sighed and left him to suffer the consequences of his own actions.

“Here, let me show you how to do it first.” Aki mediated calmly. He scooped up an egg, cracked it against the side of the bowl and then easily split it into two, causing the yolk to cleanly fall into the mixture. He’d mastered this at a fairly young age. In the morning, his parents normally forgot to make him breakfast in favour of ensuring that his little brother was fed. He was a pickier eater than Aki so a lot of their time and energy was always spent on him. Eggs were Aki’s favourite and as such, he had learn by himself how to prepare them if he ever wanted to eat them.

Teaching Power how to crack open an egg made him feel…big. Like that cabin in the snow was a far away memory.

“You try now.” He offered as he tossed the cracked open egg shell into the bin. Power plucked out an egg with her index finger and her thumb, trying to control her unnatural fiend strength. She pinched the other end of the egg and casually pulled it apart, neatly dropping the yolk into the mixture. Proud, she glanced over to Aki who gave her a rare, compassionate smile for her work.

“Hey, I wanna try!” Denji interjected. Reaching for an egg, he cracked it against the top of Power’s left horn before messily clumped his nails through the fragile outer layer before tearing it apart. The yolk messily dropped into the mixture, bleeding out orange fluids from its core, though Aki supposed it was sufficient enough. Denji seemed rather satisfied with his work, despite Power’s flagrant critiques that her yolk was clearly superior to his.

“If you’re done trying to bicker with Denji, we’ve still got a few more steps.” Aki announced in a light attempt to save the boy. Power silenced herself immediately and stood like a soldier awaiting her next command. Aki found it oddly endearing.

“Start pouring in the milk; I’ll let you know when to stop. I’ll add the butter while you do that.” Aki decided. Transferring the butter would require two tools; one tablespoon to scoop the butter out from its tub and then a tea spoon to scrape off the sticky, stubborn bits which clung to the tablespoon. He didn’t trust either of them to handle two tools at once. Standing side by side, Power and Aki managed to add the remaining ingredients without making any more of a mess in his kitchen, much to his relief and pleasure. Though, right now they really only had a sludge of unmixed, unappetising ingredients melding and slugging against each other.

“Isn’t my creation just divine?!” Power bragged, apparently not sharing Aki’s, and the rest of humanity’s, taste in what they had created so far.

“Pretty sure that’s our creation, Powy,” Denji reminded her. Power pouted, feeling oddly defensive over the cake mix, similar to how she felt for Meowy.

“Power, do you want me to show you how to mix the batter?” Aki interjected himself, noticing her sulking. Power brightened and nodded.

“Good. Hold this.” He requested, pushing the handle end of the whisk near Power’s hands. She clasped it between both of her hands like a blade. Aki held his strong hands over hers before carefully and smoothly plunging the whisk in the batter and circling it about in steady motions. Power grew accustomed to the feeling and before long, Aki let go of her hands allowing her to continue by herself. For once, Power’s movements were leisured and controlled, not brimming and overflowing with her emotional impulses. She even found it…calming. There were few things which Power thought to be relaxing. Cuddling with Kobeni or Meowy, listening to Kobeni’s heartbeat, sitting alone in the woods…baking a cake with her brothers was an unexpected addition to the list.

With each rotation of the whisk, the batter took a clearer form, like a thick, creamy paste. Denji’s mouth watered. Aki decided to make himself useful by unwrapping the chocolate bars and cutting them up into smaller than bite sized chunks and strips. The sound of his shining kitchen knife firmly hitting the cupboard and the watery whisking of the batter filled the otherwise silent kitchen. Denji felt like if he were sitting down on one of the nearby pillows, he might’ve fallen asleep listening to them.

“Power.” Aki voiced lowly, gesturing to the cut up pieces of chocolate. Interpreting his meaning, Power held the bowl cautiously beneath the counter allowing Aki to dust the white chocolate into the mixing bowl. Power hummed in satisfaction as she whisked the fragments into the batter, causing it to tint to a more snowy colour. A few more minutes of mixing passed while Aki washed the dirtied utensils, passing them off to Denji to dry them even though he protested helping at this part because he was only in it for the unbaked batter, after all. Aki glances over to the Power’s product and smiled; the surface was completely smooth, half-runny and half-thick, with no spots of unmixed powder around the edges. Not once before did he think he’d seen her so dedicated to something that wasn’t killing.

“It looks perfect.” Aki praised. Power beamed, a part bashful, part prideful smile sprouting across her face. “Now we just need to pour it in the tins.” He announced. Tactfully, he gave Power the tablespoon and Denji the teaspoon before picking up the mixing bowl himself.

“I’ll pour it in; you two make sure that any of the stubborn bits are brushed in, and spread out evenly.” Aki advised Power and Denji, both of whom seemed to take that as an invite to compete with each other on who could better scoop out the batter. In the end, Power claimed that prestige despite a good amount of the batter she was responsible for ending up on the counter instead of inside the two tins. Thin remnants of the mix not worth the effort to scrub into the tins remained running in the mixing bowl. Aki bundled up the two spoons, tossed them in the bowl and then handed them to Denji.

“Here. You can lick it clean. Just make to wash it afterwards.” He ordered. Denji’s eyes had stars in them.

“Alright, Hayakawa sir!” Denji agreed, already viciously tonguing the sweet tasting spoons in his mouth. Aki let out an amused huff before he and Power loaded the tins into the oven and turned it on, leaving them to cook through. Afterwards, Power joined Denji in “cleaning” the utensils with her tongue, trying to wrestle the bowl away from him under the claim that she was “most worthy” to eat “her creation.”

“Find something else to lick!” Denji protested, hugging the bowl close to him and tilting his body away from Power.

“Kobeni isn’t present; I have to satiate myself on something!” She declared explicitly.

*Snrrk!*

Their little scuffle was broken up by the sound of Aki cracking up behind them, a smile tugging at his lips with one hand covering his grinning mouth. His shoulders twitched about, eyes squeezed shut and pointing away from them though he could practically feel Power’s smug, leering smile boring into the back of his head.

“Something funny, top knot?” Power asked, sounding as if she were fighting back a laughing fit herself.

“No.” Aki managed to get out between a snicker and a wheeze.

“I think he’s lying, Powy.” Denji whispered, audible enough for Aki to hear as he he placed an arm around Power’s shoulders. Now Power was giggling, quietly under her breath, while Denji sported a toothy grin. The sight caused Aki’s smile to take on a more genuine quality. Denji slumped his body against Power’s, who accepted the intimacy, before Denji leaned down and enveloped her spoon in his mouth.

“Hey! Relinquish that at once! Bad dog!” Power shouted bewilderingly, trying and failing to tug the spoon away from Denji.

—————

Power was satisfied. The cake was baked, iced and boxed, ready to present to her darling Kobeni tomorrow. Aki had made it clear that the cake wouldn’t magically solve all of her problems (which was nonsense because presenting Meowy with a slab of meat always settled her spats with Power), it would be ‘a good start’.

Whatever that meant.

In any case, Power was prepared to go through Hell and back for her mate. Whatever trials Kobeni or the world threw at her, she could handle it. As long as she had Kobeni at her side.

Which currently she did not.

She recalled one occasion a few months before, when Kobeni formulated the plan to enrol Power as a Public Safety Hunter. The night before they enacted this, Power’s mind had grown restless as it racked over the sprawling possibilities ahead of her: becoming head of Public Safety, slaying renowned Devils, sharing an apartment with Kobeni. Wondrous and delusional dreams loomed over her exciteable face at night, turning sleep into an impossibility for her. On that occasion though, Kobeni was nearby in their shared, special meet up spot in the woods: the place where Power had first discovered Meowy and later Kobeni.

The two most important people in her life.

Leaning on a bed of orange leaves, Kobeni reached over and tucked Power’s head against her chest. Through the crinkled fabric of her slightly dirty white buttoned up shirt, Power could hear each thud and beat of Kobeni’s heart. Until then, Power’s life had been that of a wild animal. She ate meat raw and from the corpses of animals, slept under the sky wherever it wasn’t wet, fucked Kobeni, not to use her as humans would, but because she wanted to, and Kobeni enjoyed it. The distinction between animals and humans was thought.

Contrary to popular belief, Power had experienced such things. She permitted Meowy to live as a part of her recognised her fondness for the animal, despite the fact that keeping her alive served no practical purpose and was often detrimental to her. But, there was something about Kobeni’s heart beat which changed Power. It was like she had just watched a movie which had changed her life. The art of Kobeni’s heart beat spoke to her, telling Power that Kobeni was someone special to her, someone irreplaceable, someone she wanted a life with. For the first time, Power wasn’t a wild animal surviving, but she was living.

Without that solid, stable heartbeat to ground her, the feeling of Kobeni’s frail, warm arms around her and Meowy’s distant purring, it was proving much harder for Power to come down off of her energetic high. Aki had warned her not to have too much sugar, but she was fairly certain that she wasn’t blinded by its effects. Rather, stretching out before her over-active mind were possibilities: what Kobeni might do or say when she saw Power again, half of them ending in sex, a few of them ending with Power alone. She tried not to linger on them, to just shut her eyes and force her body to sleep. But, no matter how tightly she hugged her pillow against her body or how many times she tossed and turned about, her mind was blaring at full blast.

Frustrated and in dire need of silence in her head, Power grumbled into her pillow before calling out a tiny voice.

“Denji? You awake?” Power spoke into the darkness, before the vague outline of Denji’s figure and tired eyes shifted over to her, sleeping in his own bed on the other side of his room. Since Power rarely stayed at Aki’s apartment, she didn’t have a room of her own instead occupying a corner of Denji’s, which he pretended to be bothered by.

“What is it, Powy?” Denji asked, his voice gravelly and genuine.

“I can’t sleep.” Power stated honestly, appreciating the cover of darkness.

“How come?” Denji followed up, not having the energy to argue with Power at this time of night. Power flushed and tilted her face away from him, crossing her ankles beneath her thoroughly heated covers.

“I…normally lie with Kobeni. I’m not used to sleeping alone.” Power admitted, eyes lingering downwards though her gaze remained tilted up enough to see Denji pulling his covers back and shuffling closer to the wall, staring at Power expectantly. Beaming and grinning, Power accepted the open invitation and shuffled swiftly across the room before slipping down onto Denji’s mattress. Immediately, he messily pulled the blanket over their bodies, giving Power an excuse to nestle up closer to him. Power curled her body against Denji’s, bare feet poking at his calves while he nestled his chin in the familiar spot beneath her horns. Satisfied, she wrapped her arms around his back and pulled herself in entirely against him, like two puzzle pieces fitting into place.

“You smell nice.” Denji commented, having never thought he would have said that to Power.

“You have my darling Kobeni to thank for that.” Power bragged, her voice already relinquishing itself to tiredness as she finally managed to fall asleep in Denji’s arms.

—————-

In the doorway, Power was standing again. Not as emotionally dishevelled as she when she showed up on Aki’s door step however. Her jacket, loose on her frame, draped carelessly down her shoulders. An open cake box was resting in her hands before her, with a distinctive vanilla scent wafting out from it. A closer inspection revealed a beautiful looking cake, smoothly iced with runny, thick vanilla icing with a messy “I’m Sorry” written in red sauce at the top. She shuffled about on the spot, shifting her weight between her legs.

That was sight Kobeni was greeted with when she opened the door, along with Power’s aversive gaze and her meagre attempts to open her mouth, attempt to say something before promptly deciding against it and closing her mouth once more. Kobeni knew that she was coming, Aki had called her after all, but she would’ve have sooner expected Power to blow in half before this. Still in her red and white pyjamas, the ones that she brought because Power thought the colours were “most appealing” on her.

“Come inside. It’s cold out.” Kobeni offered after a few moments soaking up of the sight. Power’s eyes shined at her words, carefully finding her way back into the familiar space of Kobeni’s apartment. She stepped into the kitchen and placed the cake down on the counter, and then immediately became distracted in the occupation of locating Meowy. The cat, which had been resting beneath the dining table, stretched herself up before rubbing herself against Power’s ankle in a desperate manner, signifying that she’d missed Power as much as Power had missed her.

“Oh right uh, Meowy has been doing fine since um-the other day,” Kobeni offered awkwardly, watching from the sideline as Power scooped up Meowy. Power sensed the uncertainty in her voice and spun around.

“Tis splendid. I was just retrieving our daughter for a…” she tried to recall the phrase used by Aki “proper family talk.” She sounded the words out of her mouth for the first time, feeling the domestic comfort in them. Power shivered slightly, at the feeling of Kobeni being able to look past her skin and bones and all the other fleshy bits that didn’t matter. Of allowing Kobeni to see her fully. Maybe she was hoping Meowy could shield her a little from that. She doubted it though.

“Oh,” Kobeni sounded, with stunned silence at first which shifted into a receptive gladness, “oh yes, of course.” Kobeni agreed, pulling out a chair and taking a seat at the dining table, hands dangling at her sides, palms clenching into the seat. Power sat across from her, positioning Meowy into her lap with her arms crossed over the small feline’s body. It quickly settled onto her thighs. Interlocking her fingers, Power wracked over her potential words in her mind, for once thinking about what she was saying before it blurted out of her mouth.

“I was…unaware that humans who disliked their family were still defensive over them. I should’ve have spoken to your parents.” Power said before adding an uncomfortable, “I’m sorry.” She stared down at the dining table, squeezing Meowy a little tighter.

“I-I-I…” Kobeni reached a hand half-across the table, hesitant as she stuttered. All the things she wanted to say were rushing out at once and completely clogging up her throat. She whimpered shamefully at the tangled mess of failed sentences that creaked in her mouth, insecurity flashing in her eyes. Confidently, Power took Kobeni’s reluctant hand in her own and squeezed it, staring at her with those determined, Sun-like eyes. Kobeni swallowed and restarted, blushing lightly.

“It’s fine, Power, really, I mean…you didn’t know or anything and I know you’d never mean to hurt me.

Really I shouldn’t expect you to know how humans…work yet.” Kobeni smiled lightly before squeezing Power’s hand back.

“Apology accepted. A-and I’ll try and teach you all the things humans consider…normal- n-not that I want you to act normal or anything, your weirdness is actually one of my favourite parts about you! It’s just that I don’t want you to accidentally do something bad, ‘cause then you’ll beat yourself up over it.” Kobeni blabbered out.

Power nodded. “And it could hurt you.”

Kobeni met her eyes and bit at her inner cheek. “You know, it’s kinda…cute that you chewed my folks out. I didn’t…know you cared about all my family drama that much.”

“Anyone who hurts you will die if you desire it.” Power proclaimed honestly.

“L-let’s not go that far…” Kobeni shivered, almost excited at the idea.

“Might a suggest a more modest solution to your problems then?” Power smirked proudly, gesturing towards the cake. Kobeni gazed towards it longingly. She only got birthday cakes when she was really young. Once her younger siblings were born, her parents prioritised buying them gifts and decorations and throwing them parties over hers. They even strong armed a few pay checks out of her for her younger brother’s birthday party. It had been years since her mouth had tasted the intoxicatingly sweet flavour of buttercream and vanilla, or the soft, doughy texture of sponge cake.

“I like that idea a lot.” Kobeni declared, retrieving the cake from the counter along with two plates, two forks and a large, shining kitchen knife. Upon sizing up the splendorous treat, Kobeni felt a bit intimidated and gazed towards Power.

“Would you prefer that I cleave the cake for you, my darling?” Power purred romantically. Kobeni hated how it made her blush, but she relinquished the knife to her anyway. She was a touch surprised at the amount of care Power put into her cuts, half expecting her to pound the knife into the cake until two clumps happened to tear away from it. But, she ended up with two cleanly cut triangular pieces, gooey icing oozing from their middles with a golden sponge base. Before Kobeni knew it, her fork was already in her hand, a sizeable piece of cake punctured at its end with a creamy layer of frosting icing it. She slipped it into her mouth and in an instant tasted exactly how much Power loved her. Kobeni couldn’t begin to describe the taste; it was like receiving a crutch after walking her whole life with a broken leg. It was like the first breath of air after resurfacing from underwater. It was like finding the missing piece of her life that completed her. Only Power could make her feel wholly satisfied with a cake.

Kobeni looked over to the love of her life and saw her with icing on her lips and crumbs on her cheeks; her fingertips hadn’t been spared from this fate either as she apparently forgot the use of, or completely neglected the presence of her fork. Power smiled adorably at noticing she was being observed.

“Tis good, yes?” She beamed expectantly. Kobeni took in another mouthful before answering, feeling positively addicted.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” Kobeni smiled fondly. If she could, she’d eat nothing but Power’s love for the rest of her life, breathe in Power’s air in the morning, feel the warmth of her body at night. She didn’t know how she even managed to kick her out for one night, the fiend that would fight all of Hell for her.

“Besides myself?” Power raised an eyebrow. Kobeni giggled and tapped Power’s ankle with her foot beneath the table.