Shiro could feel his eyebrows twitching in anger as he watched his familiar wreaking havoc across town while trying to down a massive demon. He glanced to his right and saw Coran, Allura, and Shay looking at him with unimpressed faces. He could only shrug his shoulders in response and look toward the fight. He had specifically told him that he was not to let the demon leave the circle of light that the exorcists were trying to set up talisman around. So what did he do? Immediately lead the demon out of the circle, direct disobedience like always. He gritted his teeth and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he watched Lance work with the other familiars to take down the giant beast with a crash. As usual, Lance was left behind the other familiars as they began running back to their Masters.

"Good work Hunk," Shay cheered as Hunk landed beside her, immediately pulling the dog demon into a warm Hunk. The smile on Hunk's face was practically blinding and his tail wagged excitedly behind him.

"Amazing job today, Keith," Allura praised extending her fist out. The fox demon smiled and bumped it with his own. Like Hunk, his tail wagged behind him.

"Quite commendable Pidge!" Coran said with a flourish ruffling her hair when she flew up and landed beside him. Her wings puffed up and she smiled up at her Master. Shiro watched in envy at the other exorcists. Why did he have to have the difficult familiar? Speaking of familiar, he watched Lance grasp onto the ledge of the building and heave himself up on top. He noticed Lance look over to the other pairs and he had a longing look in his eyes.

"Lance!" Shiro barked. Lance's eyes widened and his head shot to his Master, cat ears raised and tail gently moving side to side. As soon as he saw Shiro's rage-filled eyes, his ears pressed to the top of his head and his tail flopped to the ground. He looked dejectedly down at the ground.

"You directly disobeyed me Lance," he growled noticing the familiar start trembling lightly. "Again," he bit out. Lance's eyes widened and he spat out phrases in Enochian gesturing around himself with slightly wild eyes. The other pairs looked on with bored eyes, much too used to the sight.

"Quiet," Shiro commanded. Lance stopped for a second before more phrases started falling from his mouth at light speed. Shiro gritted his teeth at the words; he had told the demon when he first became his familiar that he was to speak English, which he still has yet to do. He snapped his fingers and Lance's lips immediately clamped shut, panic was visible in his eyes as he scratched at his mouth.

"Come on, lets go," Shiro said turning around at walking away. He heard a muffled yelp behind him then silence, he continued walking towards the exit and looked behind him. He was used to Lance not following him to the car, but because of his actions today he was beyond pissed when saw Lance standing where he had previously been sitting. He was looking down at the ground and had his arms limply at his sides. An annoyed breath came out of Shiro's mouth before he stalked back over and grabbed Lance's upper arm, dragging him bodily out to the car. After a short while Lance began following him on his own and he let go. Without prompt Lance climbed into the passenger side and buckled up without looking at Shiro. He started the car and cruised down the road towards his home; he lived near the woods, close enough to town to be able to get to the city in case of an emergency but far enough away to house a demon like Lance. He wanted to move into the city with his friends but because Lance was so disobedient, he had to keep him away from any other humans.

"I don't understand Lance," he said after a few minutes of driving. He saw the demon let out a slight flinch out of the corner of his eye. "The only time I am ever mean to you is when I'm punishing you, so why don't you just obey me?" Shiro glanced over and saw the demon watching him with wide eyes. He was sitting with his legs on the seat and was pushing his body into the door. Shiro just sighed again and snapped his fingers releasing the spell from his mouth. Even then Lance stayed silent, watching his master.

"We could be just as good as Allura and Keith," He mused gripping the wheel tightly. "So why can't you be more like Keith?" He spat out the question, ignoring the quiet whimper that came out of Lance's mouth. Lance let out a hesitant, warbling phrase of Enochian. He looked over and saw tears rolling down the demon's cheeks which he was trying to wipe away.

"No, you don't get to cry, you messed up Lance," Shiro growled. Lance only choked and put his head in his hands at let out a long drawn out wail. Shiro only rolled his eyes put all of his attention on to the road. He was sick of this fake act, every mission it was the same thing. Get there, disobey, cry, and punishment. Honestly, it was getting really old.

He rolled into the driveway and shut off the car before looking over at Lance. Who when seeing the house began shaking in fear. He glanced over at Shiro and seemed to shrink into himself at the glare that he was receiving.

"Lets go," he grimaced exiting the car. As usual Lance stayed in the car with watchful eyes but as Shiro came around to his side exited in a hurry. He slammed the door and ran to Shiro's side with wide eyes. They passed through the threshold of the door and Shiro shut it firmly behind him. Lance walked forward, at noticing that Shiro was not beside him anymore he looked behind him. With that Shiro let out a chant and Lance collapsed to the floor with a wail of pain.

______________________________________________________

"Lead the demon out of the circle of light, the exorcist must put up the talismans," Shiro ordered.

Lance gave the man a nod and leapt off of the building, watching the other familiars jump around the beast. There was no way that he could mess this up; lead the demon out, simple. So he did it. He let out a smile, he did it. Maybe Master would praise him like all of the other Masters did for their familiars. His ears perked up when he heard angry shouts from behind him and looked behind to see the others looking at him with glares of distain. He could ask them what was wrong, but he knew that they had long forgotten the knowledge of Enochian and the first thing that Master told him was that he was not to speak English. He has never done so, and he never will. He was brought out of his musing when the demon let out a loud groan and started falling down onto the street. He let out a quiet whoop of glee and turned to the other familiars, his smile fell quickly as he watched them head back to their Masters cheerfully yelling to one another. Without a second thought he ran after them, by the time he got back to the building they had already gone over the ledge. He scaled quickly, not wanting to keep Shiro waiting for him. He had already been enough of a burden to the man, he saw how people looked at them when they travelled through Headquarters. Finally he gripped the ledge and hulled himself up; he wanted to look up at his Master but was distracted by the other pairs to the side of them. He followed orders perfectly today, maybe he would be praised today instead.

"Lance!" Shiro's voice shook him out of his musings and he quickly looked towards the man. His tail was weakly wagging behind him, and the hope in his heart was quickly expanding. Shiro's eyebrows lowered in a glare and he felt the hope shatter. His tail fell behind him and his ears lowered in shame. He looked down at the ground, trying to avoid the angry look he was getting from his Master.

"You disobeyed me, Lance," he growled. Lance could feel his muscles begin to tremble. He didn't mean to disobey, he didn't understand. He followed his commands perfectly. No, he always messed up, it was obviously something that he had done.

"Again," at this, he shot up in desperation.

"Master, please! I didn't mean to disobey, I'm trying to do as you say but I don't understand. Please, I'm sorry!" He said pleadingly, he knew that his master didn't understand but he had to at least try. He glanced at the pairs off to the side and felt desperation climbing in his stomach.

"I can be like them," he said gesturing towards them with frantic hands. "Just give me another chance Master, I can make you proud! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Speak," the word came as a shock to Lance. He paused for a moment in confusion but willingly obeyed.

"I can be just as good as them, I'll get better I pro-" he was cut off by Shiro snapping his fingers. Knowing the familiar feeling of the silencing spell didn't stop the fear from claiming him again and he began scratching at his mouth and chin in an effort to release himself.

"Stay here," the command sat in his stomach like cement and he looked up with wide eyes as his Master turned his back on him. A yelp was blocked by the spell as he scrambled to his feet, and a step forward before remembering his words. He stepped back where he was sitting and watched with wide eyes as Shiro began retreating to the exit. He hands fell to his sides and his head dropped to look at the ground once more. He certainly didn't deserve to be Shiro's familiar; he was a top level exorcist with a lacklustre demon following on his heels all the time. He almost yelled in surprise when Shiro's hand grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him to the exit. He quickly followed half to keep up with the man and half to ease the squeezing on his bicep. He was relived when he let go of him, trusting him to follow behind him.

Sliding into the car was a relief but also made a shot of fear go through him. He knew that he had a punishment waiting for him when he got home, and by the look on Shiro's face it wasn't going to be a pretty one. The trees of the forest flew by as they drove home, almost taunting him as they passed.

"I don't understand Lance," he flinched when his Master began talking to him. "The only time I am ever mean to you is when I'm punishing you, so why don't you just obey me?" Lance looked at him with wide eyes, confusion like always clouding his mind. All he ever did was obey. He doesn't understand. He never understands. He feels the spell come off of him, but he just continues to look at his Master waiting patiently for him to speak.

"We could be just as good as Allura and Keith," Shiro mused. Lance freezes. No. Please don't say it. He's never said it before, so please don't say it.

"So why can't you be more like Keith?" He spat. Without his permission, Lance lets out a quivering whimper. Even as hot tears start to roll down his cheeks, he still looks at his Master who doesn't even glance at him.

"I'm sorry Master; I can be more like Keith, I promise," he said quietly. He sniffed and tried to wipe the tears from his face.

"No, you don't get to cry, you messed up Lance," Shiro growled. He chokes and tries to muffle the sad wail with his hands. He knows. He knows he messed up. He knows its his own fault that his Master wants to replace him. He knows that he should be more like Keith, but he doesn't know how. He feels the car rolling to a stop a few minutes later and sits up. Once again his muscles began shaking and he glanced at his Master. Unsurprisingly he is glaring at him and Lance could feel himself curling into himself at the look.

"Stay here," he sighed. Lance once obeyed and watched his Master go towards the house, look back at him and start heading towards his side of the car. Not wanting to be dragged again he quickly exited and ran up beside him. Walking through the doorway; he knew that he needed to be prepared at anytime to be punished. Usually Master would let him have supper and then he would be punished, but he wasn't sure about today. His Master seemed awfully upset with Lance since the beginning of the day. He glanced to the side trying to gauge Shiro's expression and stopped when he noticed that he wasn't there. He turned around and caught a glimpse of the man who was opening his mouth.

Pain. Pain. Pain.

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Shiro walked forward past Lance into the kitchen. He made himself and Lance sandwiches and sat the demon's on the table in the kitchen. He walked back into the living room and sat on the couch in front of Lance who was writhing around on the floor. He didn't like seeing the demon in so much pain but he needed to learn what was and was not acceptable in the human world. This was the eighth punishment he had to give Lance in the last two weeks, including having to be rough with him during missions to get his point across. He watched Lance carefully as he finished his sandwich, making sure that the punishment was getting across, while still not causing too much distress. As he put the last bit of food in his mouth, he snapped his fingers and Lance went still. He slowly began pushing himself off of the ground and hesitantly looked up at Shiro.

"There's a sandwich on the counter," is all he said looking at the wall. He heard scampering feet leave the room and fade into the kitchen. He only looked away when he heard a notification go off on his phone. It was a text from Allura, he swiped and his messages popped up on the screen.

"Princess" Allura: Your examination time for tomorrow is at 2:00pm. Don't be late and try to have Lance on his best behaviour, the priests are going to be here. Have a good night!!

Shiro sighed and leaned back on the cushion. He had been waiting for this day to come for years. The examination happened once every five years, for exorcists to have their demons examined for anything that may be ailing them. Shiro was hoping for them to cure Lance's affinity with disobeying orders and if it came down to it, send him back to where he came from in order to summon a new familiar. He wiped a hand down his face and closed his eyes. Quiet steps were approaching him and he brought his attention to the demon standing stiffly in front of him. The anger hadn't quite left him at that point, but it was overkill if he went any further.

"Our examination is at 2 at Headquarters tomorrow," he announced sitting up. "Go get some sleep," he nodded his head towards the stairs to the second floor. After a beat Lance padded towards the stairs and slowly climbed them. Before he disappeared to his room, he heard let out a quiet mumble. The same thing he had been saying since he arrived in Shiro house. He still doesn't know what he is saying, at this point it doesn't really matter either.

______________________________________________________

Pain.

So much pain.

It hurts.

Please stop.

P L E A S E

White-hot agony coursed through his veins. He was unaware of anything that was going on in the room around him. There was only him and the never-ending crushing feeling everywhere. Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Lance slumped over onto the floor with a near silent sob. Sweat dripped off of him and he shakily got his hands under him and pushed himself up onto his knees. His body was shaking with pain as he got up the courage to look at his Master.

"There's a sandwich on the counter," Shiro said looking away from him. Lance needed no other motivation before he was up and nearly sprinting out of the room away from him. He stopped in the kitchen and picked up the sandwich before sitting on the floor in the corner. As he took a bite he thought of his promise to Shiro, how he would try to be more like Keith but he couldn't find the differences between the two of them. They both obeyed their orders and they both cared for their Masters. He took another bite of his sandwich and looked around the place that he has been calling home for five years now. He hoped that Master could find it in his heart to let him stay. Even if he was a bad familiar.

After he was finished with his food, he walked into the living room. Shiro was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed. He hesitantly walked forward, knowing that he had been angry with him all day. He stopped in front of him and tensed, not sure what to expect from him.

"Our examination is at 2 at Headquarters tomorrow," he announced. Oh. Lance has been dreading this day for ages. It was the one time every five years that a demon could be sent back to Hell, and by the way his time with Shiro has been going, he suspected that he would be sent back without hesitation.

"Stay up all night," he muttered nodding to the stairs. Lance paused for a second at the command but walked up the stairs regardless. At the top, he paused and looked back down at the exorcist.

"Good night Master, thank you,"

______________________________________________________

Lance could only utter a thank you to the fact that a lack of sleep doesn't do much to him. He stared attentively out the windshield as they got closer to the Headquarters. He could see the tallest white and blue peak in the distance and could feel his ears press against his head. He wasn't the biggest fan of the Headquarters, he could feel all of the other's judgemental stares. He felt ashamed that he was causing them to be shot to his Master. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't listen right.

"We're almost there Lance," Shiro commented. It was the first time he spoke to Lance that day. He decided that he would avoid giving Lance commands, hopefully that would keep him on his best behaviour and they could get to the root of his problem. He stayed silent when they left the car, and walked down the halls towards the exam room. The whole time Lance kept himself scarce and made sure not to get in anyone's way on the walk there.

"Oh, hello Shiro!" A cheery voice greeted them.

"Hi Shay," Shiro replied with a grin of his own. She was standing with Hunk, Allura, and Keith. Both Shay and Allura walked up to Shiro leaving the three demons behind. Hunk and Keith both looked at Lance with thinly veiled eyes of anger.

"You really shouldn't be taking advantage of Shiro's kindness like you have," Keith growled. Lance's tail tucked between his legs as the fox demon stepped closer.

"I'm sorry, I don't try to," he whimpered putting his hands out in front of him. Keith let out a sigh and massaged the bridge of his nose.

"For the last time Lance; we don't speak Enochian anymore, stop speaking it," he muttered in frustration.

"B-but Master doesn't want me to," he stuttered out instead.

"Look Lance," Hunk butted in, bumping Keith out of the way. "You're a demon, we get it. We're all demons, its much easier and leads to a better life if you just listen to Shiro," he stated calmly. Lance went to answer but was interrupted by the doors of the exam room opening. Hunk and Keith rushed past knocking shoulders with him as they went to greet Pidge. He turned to look at them and bit his lip when an overwhelming feeling of loneliness crept into his stomach.

"Lance!" Shiro called. His ears perked up and the man gestured to the door with a wave. Immediately Lance walked over and through the doorway to the shock of the others in the room. Before Shiro could go through after him, Allura grabbed his elbow.

"When you're done, we have a job to do," he nodded in understanding and turned away. Lance was walking a couple feet ahead of him, and he quickly caught up to him. The room they were in was lit by an uncountable number of candles and covered in various demon wards and religious items. It was shaped like a pentagon with had a tall painted ceiling, and a intricate circle painted onto the ground. This was the only place in the continent where demons were allowed to be summoned or examined in anyway. The last time Shiro was here, was when they summoned Lance, the only difference was that the Head Priest was present. When Lance was summoned, the Head Priest had been away on a mission.

"So this is Lance," he mused with a grin. Despite his title, the Head Priest was a gentle, and friendly old man. "Its nice to finally meet you," he inclined his head. Lance returned it with a shaky nod and clasped his hands in front of him. The Head Priest gestured to the circle and Lance hurriedly walked into the centre. That gained another shocked look to fall on Shiro's face. The Head Priest ignored him and began his chant, causing Lance to become limp where he stood and his eyes to brightly glow blue. After a few minutes he stopped chanting and looked over the circle to Shiro.

"Judging by the look on your face, I'm going to guess you've been having trouble with Lance's obedience," he said with a chuckle. Shiro sputtered for a few seconds before he could get the words out.

"Well, yes I have," he said. "Actually from the moment he was summoned, he's never been obedient," he admitted. The Head Priest became confused and abandoned the circle to pick up a large leather-bound book. He brought it over to a table and gestured for Shiro to come over.

"What was the date of Lance's summoning?" He asked opening the book.

"July 28th," he stated unsure of what was going on. The Head Priest ignored him and flipped through the book to the date. Shiro could see on the page, his name, Lance's name, various other information, and a picture of the summoning circle they used that day. He looked at the man, confused by what he was doing but he was only staring at the pages. After a few minutes of silence, the Head Priest let out a tired sigh and closed the book in front of him. He turned and started walking towards the circle again.

"Excuse me, but what is happening?" Shiro asked abandoning the table as well.

"Whomever your priest was that day, they drew the summoning circle incorrectly," he informed him. He walked into the circle and carefully drew several more lines around Lance's unmoving body.

"What?" Shiro cried.

"They drew the translation part of the circle wrong, it caused whatever you commanded Lance to do, to come out opposite to him," he explained stepping out of the circle to his original spot. "You said that he hasn't once obeyed you?" he asked.

"No, he hasn't," Shiro replied quietly.

"You have one devoted, obedient familiar then," he said with a small smile. Shiro could only nod, not quite processing everything yet. The Head Priest started chanting again, the lines of the circle glowed blue around Lance, a wind swept up his hair and clothes. The Head Priest kept going for several minutes before the light faded and Lance fell to the ground in a heap. He twitched and pushed himself up, first looking at the priest and then to Shiro. Shiro looked at the Head Priest who nodded to him.

"Lance, come here," he ordered softly. Lance immediately stood up and walked over to the man. He stopped in front of him and looked up as if waiting for his next command.

"From now on, speak English," he said next. Lance's eyes widened but he nodded in understanding.

"Do you understand? Yes or no?" He asked patiently.

"Yes," Lance said hesitantly. He was confused why his Master would change his mind on the first rule he made but he wasn't able to question him. Not when he would be able to talk with the other familiars now.

"Good," he heard Shiro say. He closed his eyes when Shiro lifted his hand but they shot wide open in shock when it gently laid across the crown of his head. Shiro's hand calmly pat Lance's head in praise and shocked, happy tears filled his eyes. From the moment he had been summoned, all he wanted was to be praised by Shiro. Every battle, every wound, every command, he went through was to receive his acceptance and he had just done it.

"Lance, I'm sorry," Shiro said. Lance looked up in confusion and cocked his head.

"What do you mean Master?" he asked.

"When you were summoned there was a mistake," he started, leading him over to the book. "Every command you've been hearing from me has been wrong," he explained showing him his circle. Lance thought about it for a second, every command running through his head like a movie. His hands flew up to his hair and he tugged on it in sudden anxiety.

"I haven't obeyed you once," he muttered in shock. Shiro looked down on him in worry and quietly grabbed his hands to get him to stop pulling it.

"That's not true Lance, I know that you haven't disobeyed me once," he reassured him. He looked down at the floor shame crossing his face.

"I, on the other hand, have been punishing you unjustly," he admitted looking into Lance's eyes. "I will do everything in my power to make this life better for you," he promised him. Lance looked at him in admiration and gave him a small nod.

"Now, do you think you're up to taking down a demon?" He asked a strange mischievous sparkle in his eye. Lance gave him a small smirk.

"Hell yeah!"