“Your care makes it more special,” the younger guy whispered.
I wanted to throw myself down the apartment stairs.
The old shop owner finally stepped inside while rubbing both hands over his face like a man seconds away from retiring from existence itself.
“We leave her alone for ONE evening.”
“You sold me the candles!”
“I did not expect this outcome.”
The demon frowned from the kitchen. “That is insulting.”
The old man pointed at him. “You were summoned accidentally by a drunk unemployed woman with craft store candles.”
“…Fair.”
Nina was completely useless now because she’d reached the stage of panic where everything became funny. She was sitting on the couch silently shaking with laughter while clutching the blanket around herself.
The younger cult guy noticed the summoning circle still surrounding the coffee table and froze,
“Oh no.”
I snapped at him. “ABSOLUTELY not. You do not get to say that now.”
He gestured toward the floor. “Is that gold chalk?”
I blinked. “…Those were the gifts from your shop.”
The cult members stared at the old shop owner in complete horror. Who was finally looking guilty enough now.
The bandaged guy sat down like his legs stopped working. “That’s insane.”
“WHY DOES EVERYTHING I DO MEAN SOMETHING.”
The demon was enjoying this far too much. “You are accidentally very romantic.”
“I’m accidentally going to die.”
The younger cult member was still staring at the circle like he was looking at forbidden knowledge. “Do you understand how difficult it is to summon him at all?”
I pointed at the candles to him. “Apparently not?”
“We sacrificed three goats!”
The old man corrected him in an instant. “Four.”
“One exploded halfway, that barely counts.”
Nina buried her face into the couch cushion because she was laughing too hard to breathe properly now. Meanwhile I was standing in the middle of my apartment realizing I had become the demonic equivalent of a relationship threat completely by accident.
The bandaged cult guy studied the demon for another moment. “Wait.”
The room went quiet after that before he lifted one hand and pointed directly at the hoodie.
“…You’re still wearing it.”
The demon glanced down at the oversized black hoodie calmly trying to pull the sleeves down. “Obviously.”
