I wake up from a dream, and I smile.

It was a good dream, though I can't remember the details. It had something to do with Dante and a cake, and maybe a dog. It doesn't matter, because it didn't mean anything.

And it was all mine.

I roll over and press myself closer to Damien's back, wrapping my arms around his waist and giving him a light squeeze. Early morning light spills in through the bedroom windows, and the comforting sounds of the city drift up from the streets below.

We're home, in our apartment, on Earth.

After Astoreth healed me, I came to lying in the snow, stretched full-length with Damien at my side and my hand clasped in his. Dante knelt beside us crying like we'd broken their heart.

Which, I learned, we momentarily had. When they found us by the stone arch, Door closed and Astoreth gone, they'd thought we were dead. It seemed like we were, too. Then I woke up, and a moment later, Damien did as well.

I hadn't felt any different, as far as I could tell, and Damien said he didn't either. Except that when he tried to use demonic power, nothing happened.

I was terrified he'd resent me for it, eventually--for choosing a human soul. But if anything, he seemed overjoyed.

"You don't miss it?" I'd asked. "Being able to summon fiery swords and pop between realities whenever you please?"

He grinned. "Not at all. Do you miss having to eat people's dreams?"

I shook my head. "No. But that was never cool to begin with."

Somehow--though I don't remember hearing her speak--Astoreth had told me that the three natures of my soul were now one. Each part had joined to create a single whole; but while I was no longer a dream-eater, and I'd never been much of a Celestial, I was still a Key, and always would be.

And now Damien's soul was inextricably linked to mine. Astoreth said that we would always seek one another, drawn by a force stronger than magnetism or gravity, and that we were each now a part of a greater whole.

"What if I'm reborn as like, a toad, or an eel or something?" I'd wondered.

Damien had laughed. "Then I hope I'm a toad or an eel too."

Dante offered to make us both sex-demons and told us we'd be able to feed off one another for all eternity. But of course, we'd have to die first, and we've both had enough of that for the moment. We kept their offer as a distant backup option, just in case.

For now, we're happy to live and love as mere mortals, and to savor each beautiful, precious, fragile moment as it comes and goes.

As for Dante, they decided to remain in Carnâk for now. They said they were still having fun there, and enjoying the artistic adoration. Also, they'd bonded with Oran on the battlefield, and the relationship had bloomed.

Apparently, seeing Dante in full battle-mode was like watching a violent ballet, and Oran had been hooked. I was sorry I hadn't gotten to see it.

Sometimes, when I just want see them, I wish Dante wasn't currently living in another dimension, but Oran brings them to visit often enough that I hardly have time to miss them.

And Damien keeps me busy in more ways than one.

I hug him to me now, and wonder at the strange machinations of fate. Not that long ago I wanted nothing more than to get away from him and never look back. Now I literally wouldn't be complete without him.

He wakes up and rolls over to face me, his features lit with a now-familiar look of wonder and delight. It's the same look he has every morning when he wakes up next to me, like he can't quite believe his eyes.

"Good morning, beautiful boy," he says, kissing me lightly.

"I don't think you can call someone born a hundred years ago a boy," I say, smiling.

"Your passport says you're twenty-one," he replies. "Barely old enough to drink."

It's amazing what money can buy these days. Damien has us both fixed up with all the documents we need to live legit and above-board.

"That didn't stop you from getting me drunk last night," I say.

It didn't quite leave me with a hangover, but it was enough that I don't remember exactly what happened, except that at some point I was up against a wall, and then on the floor, and then...

I blush as memory returns and he grins. "Thinking of something good?" he asks.

"You wish," I retort, but blush harder when he slides a hand beneath the sheets and finds me hard.

"I do love mornings..."

At this point, he hardly needs Dante. He's becoming a sex-demon all on his own.

Speaking of Dante, that night we celebrate the opening of Damien's latest architectural triumph: a gallery dedicated to their work. I do my best to hide in the shadows and not draw attention to the fact that I'm featured in many of the examples on display.

Dante and Oran are here for the event, and Dante finds me before long.

"Still happy, little bird?" they ask.

I smile. "Yes. I'm still happy."

"That was a ballsy choice you made. I don't know if I could've done it. Not after everything I've seen."

"That's why I made it," I say. "I've seen a lot--some through my own eyes, but mostly through other people's dreams. I know what grief, and sorrow, and loss, and hate, and fear look like. One thing I didn't see a lot of was happiness. But I saw it in those months I was living here with Damien--before Azael found us again. That's what I wanted more of--a happiness that's not just mine, but his too."

"Well, I hope you enjoy it for a long time," they say. "But when you get tired, just say so and we can be demons together again--all three of us."

I squint at them, and they hold up their hands.

"Not like that--I just mean in general."

"Maybe someday, Dante," I laugh. "Or maybe not. Maybe we'll just grow old together and die, and see what comes next."

Dante makes a face. "Listen up, little bird--you make me cry again and I'll fucking kill you myself, and then I'll bring you back as my own personal demon, and keep you in a gilded cage for the rest of eternity, safe and sound where I can see you and paint you whenever I want. Of course, I'll have to bring Damien too..."

It seems like they've given this a little too much thought already, so I distract them by asking about Oran. Apparently, he has amazing stamina, both in bed and on the battlefield, which for Dante is sometimes the same thing.

I let my mind wander when the details get to be a bit too much, and before I know it the evening is over and we're saying goodbye once again.

After an overly drawn-out farewell, Dante and Oran are gone. The world seems a little more empty without them, and I hope they get tired of Carnâk and come home to stay soon.

Later, Damien and I return to our apartment. I feel deliciously tired--not exhausted, not drained of energy and needing someone else's nightmares to keep me alive--just pleasantly weary, and ready for sleep.

Damien has other ideas.

"I have something for you," he says, walking me back until my legs hit the edge of the bed and I fall over.

"You've already given me that three times today," I say, though I'm not really complaining.

"Not like this," he says. "Close your eyes--and don't freak out."

"Uh..." I frown, but do as he asks.

I feel him take my wrists in his hands, and then something soft closes around them with a click. I open my eyes and see that he's chained me to the bed with a pair of fluffy pink handcuffs.

"If you don't want to, I'll take them off," he says quickly, looking nervous.

I tug at them experimentally and frown. "You realize the last time you had these on me I thought you were gonna kill me, right?"

"These aren't the same ones. I bought these myself."

Oh, great. What a relief.

I roll my eyes. "At least tell me you bought them online, where no one could see your face."

He doesn't answer, and he still looks really nervous.

I give in.

"All right--have your way with me then."

The slow grin that breaks over his face makes me shiver.

"Oh, I intend to. That night, when I put those cuffs on you, I really was just afraid you were going to hurt yourself if you got up too fast. But when I looked back on that memory it became an obsession, and I've been dreaming of it ever since."

"I never saw that in your dreams," I scoff.

He gives me a crooked smile. "It's not a nightmare. Sometimes I'm not even asleep."

"You're a demon," I say, laughing.

Maybe Dante will be getting their wish sooner than they think, after all.

~The End~

[A/N: Thank you for reading 'Dream-Eater'! I hope you liked it. Sorry for the awkward sex scenes--I can't write them to save my life, but for some reason, I keep on trying 😂...😅...🙄

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