Emagines POV

Alastor and I returned from our walk hand in hand. I was giggling at yet another stupid joke of his when he opened the front door and I stopped, throwing my hands over my mouth to stifle the gasp.

There on the couch was Shadow and Alastor's shadow. They were curled around each other, fast asleep.

Alastor's shadow had her wrapped protectively in his arms and she seemed to be nearly melted into him.

I looked at Alastor who almost looked like he was blushing. I nudged his side and made an "awww" noise and he rolled his eyes. I walked over to them and gently touched Alastor's shadow on the head. He opened his pretty pale blue eyes and I smiled down at him.

He gave me a very warm smile before waking up Shadow. She looked up at me and got a very excited look on her face before slithering up my torso and snuggling near my neck. I chuckled and looked at Alastor.

He simply sighed before snapping his fingers. His shadow went rigid and slid across the floor, disappearing at his feet. I rolled my eyes.

So tough.

Shadow was purring softly, and I could feel that she was tired from whatever they did while we were gone. I whispered to her that she can go to bed if she wants to and she nodded before sliding down to the floor, across the floor to Alastor, and slithering up his torso before nudging her head against his cheek slightly before disappearing.

Alastor had a little blush dusted on his cheeks and I smiled at him. "You know, she really likes you. A lot." He nodded, "I see that, however I don't quite understand why."

I shrugged, "who knows. She doesn't normally warm up to people how she's warmed up to you though." He thought over that for a moment before shrugging.

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Later that night when it was time to go to bed, Alastor was in his room doing whatever it is he does to get ready for bed. I was waiting outside his door, fidgeting slightly from nervousness. I wanted to ask him if he wanted to have a sleepover with me.

It was getting a little boring just sitting around his humongous house and doing absolutely nothing. He liked to read, and cook, and sing, and walk, and we did it every. single. day.

I wanted to switch things up.

When I finally heard his soft humming from in his room, I knocked. The sound went away and I nearly screamed when I heard him right behind me.

"Need something, darling?"

I could feel his breath against my neck and it sent shivers down my spine. I turned to face him, backing up slightly from how close he was. "U-uh...yea Al. I just wanted to know if you'd maybe wanna...do something different tonight?" He raised an eyebrow at my suggestion.

"And what is it you suppose we do?" I smiled widely at him before making my pillow and blanket appear in my hands, "sleepover, your room."

He blinked a few times before standing up straight. "Darling you 'sleep over' every single night" he stated, almost mockingly. My heart sank slightly, ouch.

My pillow and blanket disappeared and I think he noticed my mood change because his expression also changed. I didn't really care enough to look closely and see what he was feeling.

It was a stupid idea...why would I think Alastor would want to do something so childish anyway?

Stupid.

I sighed softly before brushing past him, heading to my room, "never mind, g'night Al. See you in the morning"

When I got to my room, I shut the door and pressed my back against it. My cheeks were red from embarrassment and I shook my head. I was trying to erase that interaction from my mind.

My eyes shot open when I heard someone clear their throat. I screamed when I saw Al sitting on my bed with his legs crossed.
"Alastor what in the nine circles are you doing in my room?!"
"You wanted to do something different, did you not?"

My cheeks heated up again. "U-uh yea Al but you don't have to, I was ju—" "well here I am, darling."
"Wh-what?"
"I'm right here, you wanted to have sex, did you not?"
It took about three business days for my brain to fully compute what he just said to me.
My blank expression must have amused him because he laughed.

I finally clocked back in to reality, "Alastor no! You doofus I just wanted to have a sleepover with you, not sleep with you!"

He blinked a couple times. Does he not know what a fucking sleepover is? I palmed my face and walked over to him, plopping down next to him.

"Alastor, you don't even...like touching, why the hell are you so willing to just have sex?" His eyes wondered away from mine, and I could tell he was debating even staying in this situation.

He shook his head laughing, "I simply thought it's what you wanted dear, and I want you to be...happy..." his ears lowered just slightly before perking back up.

I felt my chest swell up, and I nudged his side causing him to jump slightly. "Al," I started softly, "if I just randomly asked to sleep with you, what kind of friend would I be?" He looked at me with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes, "oh good lord Alastor would you stop being such a flirt," I huffed, blowing the hair from my eyes and then pouted, before glancing to the side and smiling slightly.

"Well darling, I suppose I could sleep in your room tonight-"

"But your room is biggerrr," I whined childishly and stuck out my bottom lip. He rolled his eyes dramatically before grabbing my hand and snapping. We were in his room in less than a second and I shook my head from the fuzzy feeling the teleportation left behind.

I smiled widely and flopped down onto his bed. He sat next to me with his legs crisscross. He looked awkward, like he didn't want to relax while I was there. I just chuckled.

"Alastor, you can chill. This is supposed to be fun and laid back, I'm not gonna kill you." This seemed to ease his nerves a little bit and I noticed his eyes glance to my neck. I usually kept it covered, but my pajamas were kinda skimpy so my neck was fully visible.

The bruise was nasty.

Earlier that morning when I'd looked, it was a yellowish brown, and it was starting to itch. Which is irritating because it was under the skin and no matter how much I rubbed or scratched, it still itched.

I saw his expression falter and he looked away from me. I sighed.

"Al listen to me..." he glanced over to me to tell me he was listening, "it's ok." He didn't outwardly show he acknowledged what I said, but his eyes widened just slightly.

"I know you didn't mean it, I still don't know why you did it either but that's ok. It's ok. I'm ok." I was wearing a soft smile and I gently touched his leg. Normally he would flinch away from this but I almost felt like he leaned into my touch slightly.

Must just be my brain playing tricks.

"So dear," Alastor ripped me from my thoughts, "what exactly do we do?" I thought for a moment. I didn't think I'd get this far.

"Well, Al, I guess we can use this time to get to know each other better," I smiled at him, "I don't really know much about you, we've never really...talked." It was true. We talked, but we never really got deep into who we were.

He thought this over for a moment, "ok darling, but it's only fair since we're using my dwelling that I get to ask the first personal question." I shrugged, fair enough.

"Shoot," I said, and he smirked, "well if you insist..." I smacked his arm and he laughed at me.

"How...did you die, darling?" I stiffened. Oh, so he brought out the big question. He must have noticed because he began to backtrack but I hushed him.

"No, shh, it's fine. Hmm... it was only 2 years ago..." I thought back to that day...

2 years ago on Emagine's death day

"Bye mom!" I had just finished helping my mom move into her new apartment. It had gotten pretty late.

My mom offered to let me stay the night but... I didn't want to burden her. I told her I'd be fine, and headed out into the night.

I was walking down the street, only a couple of blocks away from my house. I heard a whistle, and I tucked my head down and kept walking. Then I heard multiple whistles. I made the mistake of acknowledging them, and looked over.

It was a group of men, they were very drunk. That made sense, since I lived right near a bar.

I just kept walking.

Right before I could reach my house, though, one of the men cut me off. I turned to cross the street, but there were two more on the other side. I turned around to run, there was one behind me.

I had no way out.

Before I could scream they dragged me into an alley way. They beat me, relentlessly. I don't know why.

Finally, the big one picked me up by my neck and slammed me into the concrete wall. He got right in my face and I could smell the liquor on him, then he spat in my ear, "this will teach you a thing or two about respect when a man wants your attention"

I was struggling to breathe and then there was a sharp pain in my abdomen.

"Yo, what the fuck man?!" I heard one of his friends yell and then the others started murmuring nervously. I'd been stabbed.

He must have hit something vital, because it was only a couple of minutes before I was fading out of consciousness. My life was over.

End story

"And then I woke up here," I finished with a sigh.

I looked to Al and noticed his eyes were glowing a sinister red. Afraid I'd upset him, I shrunk away. He quickly composed himself and put on his normal smile.

"Don't be frightened darling, I was merely upset by your tale is all!" He stated cheerily. I quirked a brow curiously. "Oh yea? I figured you'd think that was a funny story," I chuckled lightly, his smile softened.

"Maybe if it had happened to anyone other than you, darling..."

My cheeks lit up red and I looked away, "o-oh..." my lips curled into a schoolgirl's smile and I was lost in thought before Al snapped his fingers, chuckling.

"Hello, hello, anyone home?" He called out in his rodio host voice (that I loved but he'd never hear it from me)

I laughed and scooted closer to him making him back up slightly, but I didn't mind. "Well, Alastor, now that you know about my death, what about yours?" He sighed and leaned back crossing his arms. He looked miffed, it was cute.

"Oh it's nothing interesting or telling, darling. I was simply in a hunting accident. The hunters dogs mauled me to death. Stupid bastard." He made a 'tck' noise from the back of his throat and I nearly snorted.

"You're annoyed because your death was boring?" I couldn't help but giggle and his annoyed expression broke into a smile as he chuckled, "whaaaat, I could have been struck by lightning, or eaten by an alien, but instead I tripped on a lousy log and didn't grab my gun in time." I was clutching my sides with laughter now.

He pinched my side and I squealed, then laughed more. I thought I'd pee myself before I settled down and looked up at Al. I was laying down now, and he was above me on the opposite side of me. "So," I started after I caught my breath, "any more questions for me?" He thought for a moment before pulling me closer to him, setting my head in his lap. I couldn't help but blush, even though I tried to shove it away.

"Well darling, I do, but since you just answered it's your turn to ask!" He said cheerily and I hummed in thought, subconsciously pressing my cheek into his stomach and closing my eyes. I opened them with a "oo!" And looked up at him, he was smiling softly at me.

'Never seen that look on his face before...anyway'

"Al, you're pretty powerful down here in hell, hm?" He nodded, "yes indeedy!" I rolled my eyes, "well, something gave you that power. Why are you down here?" He froze. Ope, looks like I pushed a button. Or more or less asked something he doesn't want me to know.

He laughed nervously, "well darling I— y-you promise...you won't hate me? First you gotta promise..." he sounded so timid and I don't think I've ever been more caught off guard by his tone before. He was actually nervous I was gonna hate him for doing bad things in hell.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Alastor, hon, were in hell. We're all here for a reason, small or big. Yours is big I assume from your reaction?" I smirked at him and he seemed to lighten up immediately, his signature smile back on his face in an instant after my reassurance.

He nodded, "well yes darling, I suppose my sin wasn't a small one," he chuckled, "I was a radio host, quite popular among the Louisiana folks. However...I'm quite sick in the head, see... I enjoyed killing." I just nodded, looking at him with a content expression as the comfort of his lap began to lull me to sleep. "Not only did I enjoy it, I took pride in it. I hunted daily, killed relentlessly. No one ever suspected a thing. I'm sure they did after my death, however, when the killings ceased." He chuckled darkly, "they simply got lucky to be rid of me...human flesh was a delicacy in my eyes. After all, why waste a kill?" This caught my attention.

"Oh! That's why you eat demons!" He almost jumped at my outburst but chuckled slightly at my accepting attitude, "well yes, but I mostly eat deer meat. Cannibalism followed me down I suppose." I glanced to his fluffy ears.

"I'na touch em'" he glanced up, even though he can't see the top of his head. "My ears? Oh ho, darling I'm not sure that's the best..." "pleaseeeee?" I gave him my best 'pretty please' eyes, and he huffed before relenting.

I sat up and got on my knees so I could reach his ears, a smile on my lips from my victory in getting what I wanted. I touched one gently, and it twitched causing me to gasp.

I looked at Al, his eyes were closed. I continued to pet him, and then he leaned into my touch, resting his head on my chest. I blushed but continued massaging his ears.

I didn't realize he would enjoy it quite so much.

'This is friendly right? Yea, we're friends, doing friendly things' I reassured myself, my cheeks burning at the weight of Alastor pressing against me.

I accidentally bumped one of his antlers while I was lost in thought, and he jumped slightly before gripping my waist firmly with one hand. I froze. What's happening?

His grip loosened and his hand rubbed up my side close to my chest before pausing and sliding back down to my hip before he pulled his hand away.

"A-Al?" I asked, unsure of what just happened. He hummed a small response, and I just shrugged it off and continued. Now I was getting tired and I had one arm hugged around his head, holding him gently, and the other was running through his hair. I was humming softly, a tune I'd heard him play several times on his microphone.

His breathing was steady, and I knew he was asleep. On top of me.

I mentally reminded myself that this was the radio demon. Sleeping. On me. I should be damn proud of myself.

I got curious however, and decided to touch his antlers again. Maybe I just surprised him, and he doesn't actually feel it when they're touched. I glanced at his sleeping face, making sure he was actually out.

He was.

Then I gently ran my fingers up one of his antlers. It was smooth, and pointed at the top. The smooth surface actually felt nice, and I caught myself doing the up and down motion with my fingertips subconsciously.

I went stiff at the noise I heard, though. It was a mix between a growl and a whine. Alastor's arms trapped me in a fierce hold and I was pressed into him as far as I could be.

I ran my fingers down his antlers one more time just to see what he'd do, and he groaned softly, causing my cheeks to flare up and my fingers to freeze.

My brain finally registered what his antlers did. They were a stimulant. Oh god... have I just been doing some weird foreplay with him for the past ten minutes?!

I mentally screamed before going back to running my fingers in his hair. Let's just forget that happened

"Goodnight Al..." I whispered, before falling asleep.