Chapter ten
Magical Baby in a Manger
Bryce
Nearly two months. Brycehad been in the Pentagram for nearly two months. It was surreal how easily he had fallen into a rhythm, with school, with Zef, even with the friend group that he had been so quickly accepted into.
During the week, he went to classes all over the Pentagram, studying Hellian livestock on farms, wild creatures in the woods, and even more exotic animals from deep in the Dark Sea or found in the desert. In the evenings, he hung out with Zef, watching documentaries or sharing the sofa as they both read their own books. Zef had brought out their sewing machine so they could work on their clothes in the common area while Bryce completed school assignments.
On the weekends, he would go thrifting with Zef, Willow, and Gem or meet up with Oliver and Jude for a drink. Toni and Liel joined them often, but Bryce never felt like a fifth wheel, especially if Zef came with him. He didn’t hang out with Rusty or Rusty’s friend Enfys much, unless the wholegroup got together for a game night. Or unless Gem dragged Rusty along on their shopping trips.
Ever since Gem and Rusty had come clean about their relationship around Thanksgiving, he’d seen a bit more of the Pyclon, but he spent most of his time with Zef and Willow. And Tad. Bryce would stumble upon her in their house at odd hours, tinkering in Zef’s bedroom or pilfering through their cupboards. He’d even caught her in his room, going through his closet a time or two, but he was too scared of her to reprimand her for it. She was tiny but absolutely terrifying.
Zef was unbothered by her comings and goings, but they did instruct her, quite firmly, not to enter Bryce’s bedroom without his permission. She mostly accepted the rule, though she’d glared at Bryce as if he had betrayed her somehow by tattling to Zef. If she hadn’t stolen his socks for one of her covert projects she never explained, he might have kept quiet, but he drew the line at thievery!
As for rooming with Zef, it was going pretty good. They butted heads sometimes, sure, but it was surface stuff. Like Bryce leaving his water cups everywhere, or putting the mugs back into the cupboard in the wrong order, or forgetting to move his laundry from the washer to the dryer, so Zef would have to do it for him if they needed to do their washing.
And yes, he got annoyed with Zef too. Like when they sang the same phrase of a song over and over because it was stuck in their head and they honestly didn’t notice they were doing it. Or how Zef had a knack for sleepwalking, which meant they scared the daylights out of Bryce on numerous occasions when he’d wake to them standing at the end of his bed, silent and ominous, like they were plotting how to best murder him in his sleep. Or when he got up to get a drink in the middle of the night,and he would close the fridge only to find Zef standing on the other side, eyes open and unblinking, but vacant.
A simple, “Go back to bed, Zef,” would send them on their way, but Lord have mercy if it didn’t give Bryce the absolute willies. He’d never been a light sleeper before, but now, just the creak of his door was enough to rouse him from a dead slumber. He’d grown used to it, though, and he didn’t even bother rolling over to investigate anymore; he’d simply mumble, “Zef, go to bed,” and then the door would shut again, followed by the sound of their retreating footsteps.
Their worst argument—which couldn’t really be called an argument, in Bryce’s opinion—was when Zef had complained about Bryce staying up late in the living room because they could see the light from the lamp under their door.
“Could you not study in your room?” Zef asked, standing in their bedroom doorway in their muumuu, the barbs at the bottom of their feet clicking in aggravation.
“I’m not a teenager anymore, Zef,” he said patiently. “I can’t lay on my bed and read. It hurts my neck. And sitting against my headboard ain’t good for my back. How about you buy a sleep-mask to put over your eyes?”
Judging from their appalled expression, he might as well have asked them to go streaking through the Passing Through Cafe during rush hour. “That is out of the question. The pressure on my face is over-stimulating, and the strap would kink my hair.”
“Then put down a towel at the bottom of your door to cover the crack where the light comes in.” He gestured to the living room. “Communal living space. I’m allowed to be here. I ain’t making noise or being obnoxious. I’m reading my textbook with one lamp on.”
“Fine,” Zef sniffed, antennas stiff as they stepped back into the room and shut the door with a firmclick.
“Fine,” Bryce snipped back, settling into the couch with a huff.
Less than an hour later, Zef’s door opened, and they shuffled meekly into the room with a humble, if not begrudging, “I apologize for my overreaction. The towel method works very well.”
“It’s fine, Zef,” he said with a smile that was only thirty percent smug.
As Christmas drew nearer, Bryce’s homesickness kicked up a gear. He’d been handling it pretty well, all things considered. Thanksgiving had been easier thanks to the celebration Oliver had organized at the cafe, but missing Christmas on the farm cut deeper. The three-semester scheduling of Hellian schools meant that Bryce was smack dab in the middle of courses, and since Christmas was a human holiday, not a demon one, he didn’t have any time off. And it was too much travel for only one weekend in Montana.
Quin was pregnant and teleporting wasn’t good for her or the baby. Plus, Bryce didn’t know her well enough to even ask her to pop him across the veil anyway.
So he’d resigned himself to missing Christmas with his family for the first time in his life. His mom had cried when he’d told her, and yeah, he’d gotten misty-eyed himself. Nan, of course, took it upon herself to order Zef to give Bryce a good Christmas, a mission they had accepted with comical gravity.
“I shall ensure Bryce’s Christmas is filled with joyful human traditions,” they’d said, staring unblinking into Bryce’s phone so Nan knew they were serious. “I give you my word, Nan.”
The week before Christmas, Bryce spent an afternoon teaching Oliver, Jude, Liel, Toni, Gem, and Rusty the basics of playing D&D. He had invited Zef to join, but they had refused, claiming to have errands to run.He wasn’t sure why they were acting suspicious about their plans, but he hadn’t questioned them further. Instead, he headed to Oliver and Liel’s place in Gluttony.
“So we create a character and then roleplay?” Gem asked, and Bryce nodded. “Cool. Rusty and I are really good at roleplaying, especially when there’s a power dynamic involved. My favorite is when he’s the sexy professor, and I’m the naughty school girl who forgot to finish her assignment and has to earn her grade in a different way.”
“Not that kind of roleplay, Gem,” Oliver said as Toni pretended to throw up.
“Okay, that’s what I thought because it would be a little weird to have a sex game with all of us. You know”—he gestured to everyone around the table—“given the histories of everyone in this circle.”
“It’s not a sex thing,” Bryce said, and Gem saluted him.
“Roger that, Captain.”
