"That's wicked cool!"

Impulse froze. His brain froze too, like an overloaded computer screen. That- that wasn't possible, was it? It was like hearing someone telling him a blatant lie, except Scar's voice sounded as far from a lie as you can get.

Impulse stuttered, not blinking as he stared at Scar. Scar with his wide, toothy grin and raised eyebrows.

"I mean, that's amoizing! I've always wanted to meet a demon, how cool is this?!" Scar laughed, spreading his arms wide to emphasize his words.

"Wh-What?" Impulse breathed out. Was Scar messing with him? Pulling his leg? Was he making this all up so that he could catch Impulse off guard? So that he could hurt him?

"I'm serious!" Scar nodded and shot a glance at Bdubs. "I've always thought demons were these crazy beings of great power— elusive and mythical! You mean to tell me I shouldn't think that's cool?"

"Ye— I mean- no? Ah.. but why?" Impulse stumbled over his words, confusion written across his face. "Why?"

"Well, I'm sure you know this, but demons and vex used to be great friends," Scar explained simply. "They worked together and played together as the conduits of chaos in the world. Of course that was long ago, but I was always told stories of them as a little vexling, ya know? So I've always wanted to meet a demon, and have fun together like how it used to be. And here, right in front of me is you, Impulse, a demon... It's like a dream come true."

A dream come true? Did he mean that?

"Yeah... yeah but demons aren't conduits for chaos anymore." Impulse argued coldly. He noticed Bdubs was listening carefully, engrossed in the story that the both of them were weaving. "They're— We're not all fun and games anymore like the vex are."

"Well we can change that, can't we?" Scar was sickeningly positive, and Impulse really wished he could just change things. Gods, he too longed for the distant past, to be free and happy like his ancestors had been.

"It wouldn't be that simple, Scar. Few demons actually want things back the way they used to be." Impulse frowned. Scar might be enthusiastic to try and patch things up between vex and demons, but it was only him and Impulse that actually wanted things to be better. In fact, if it really was just them, who's to say things weren't fine already, and they were just making a fuss over it?

Scar gave his own frown, but quickly became positive again. "Well, at least we can change ourselves though! A demon and vex duo, out to stop all the haters!"

Impulse stifled a laugh at that, and finally gave Scar a soft smile. Next to him, Bdubs was narrowing his eyes in concentration. "You two are way too vague," He grumbled. "I do not know what the heck you are talking about."

"Oh," Impulse laughed sheepishly. "I'll save you the history, but long story short- the demons and vex used to be friends, then the demons went all evil and mean, and now we aren't friends, and everyone is scared of demons."

Bdubs nodded. "Makes sense I guess."

"Whooo! Teaching Bdubs history lessons!" Scar exclaimed with a fist pump. Bdubs sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes. "But seriously Impulse, not everyone's scared of demons, trust me."

"Bdubs was." Impulse said bluntly, and a silence fell over the other two.

"Because I was being a jerk." Bdubs said finally, looking away shamefully. "I got obsessed with finding out what you were and I was just shocked when I clicked the pieces together, ya know? But it shouldn't've even mattered, and I was a jerk for looking at you like I did. I didn't mean to."

"Sorry." Impulse mumbled, realizing he probably shouldn't have said anything. It wasn't fair to Bdubs.

"If anyone should be sorry it's me, Impulse," Bdubs insisted. "I'm sorry for all the stupid things I did that upset you." Bdubs' eyes were seemingly wider than they were before, sadness and guilt swimming in them.

"You didn't mean to though, I forgive you." Impulse reached a hand out almost wistfully towards Bdubs. He hadn't meant to upset him, he really hadn't.

"And now that our differences are settled, we can make a secret club." Bdubs said suddenly, tone changing immediately. Scar gave him a confused look, wanting him to elaborate. Impulse was also curious as to why they needed a club.

"Yep, a secret club." Bdubs grinned. "We're obviously not going to tell everyone that Impulse is a demon, because that wouldn't be nice. BUT, since we don't want anyone finding out, we can make a club to help keep the secret safe. Also I want to see your cool demon powers." He added on the last bit quickly.

Scar gasped and his eyes lit up. "Yes! We can be like, the demon-keeper-safers— oooh, the protectors! The demon protection squad!"

Bdubs laughed and nodded his head in agreement. Impulse finally found himself uncurling from his little safety ball, legs crossed under him and hands pattering on his knees. "This is all really nice of you guys, but like, why? I don't get it..." He flicked his gaze between the two very excited hermits.

"Because you helped me, so I want to help you." Bdubs responded simply with a shrug.

"And," Scar added, "I may not know you that well, Impulse, but you looked sad, and I want to help you feel better, more welcome here, ya know."

Impulse slowly opened his mouth, giving the two a tiny gape. He blinked a bunch, his eyes burning with the threat of more tears. "You guys are gonna make me cry again..." He laughed a little, smiling at them.

"Aw, Impulse," Scar said with a tone half goofy and half sympathetic as he placed a hand on Impulse's shoulder. "Don't cry!"

"Yeah, we're gonna protect you from all the meanies!" Bdubs butted in.

"Mhmm, all the meanie bears," Scar agreed. "Speaking of, you said earlier something about Tango hurting you. Is he being mean?"

"Oh, I- no, not exactly, it's hard to explain," Impulse struggled, not expecting the question. "The other day, when- when Bdubs found out, he'd been reading this book on demons. And Tango kinda noticed, and things went downhill from there..." Impulse trailed off, looking to Bdubs in hopes he'd continue explaining.

"Yeah, Tango kinda went ham with the demon slander. He does not like them very much," Bdubs picked up on the signal and finished for him. "He said if he ever saw a demon in the town he'd beat 'em up."

"Oh, oh no no no, that's not very nice at all!" Scar exclaimed, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Yeah, and if he found out that I was one, it'd be the end for me," Impulse sighed and made a slitting motion across his throat.

Bdubs shook his head in response. "No, nope, not gonna let that happen! If Tango lays a hand on you, he's gonna be getting these fists!" Bdubs held up his fists with sneer. Scar winced and reached out to gently push Bdubs hands down.

"Or, we could just convince Tango that demons aren't evil," Scar suggested. "It can be the first demon protection squad- the first DPS official mission!"

"Scar..." Impulse huffed. "Tango might not change his mind, he seemed pretty set on that... and- and I mean it's not like he's wrong you know," he said the last part as a mumble under his breath. After all, the day that there's a nice demon is the day pigs start flying.

Scar's eyes widened and he turned to grab both of Impulse's shoulders, forcing them eye to eye. "Impulse, you are not going down that rabbit hole again." He said firmly. "Tango was wrong in whatever he said, because you are a lovely person, demon or not. And I will remind you of that as many times as you need me to."

And that's when Scar leaned in and hugged him. Impulse's breath hitched in his throat and he leaned into the vex's arms. Those horrid insecurities, raw and gnawing, got a little smaller, and faded just a touch. Scar said that he was a good person, he'd said it before, he'd say it again. The only other person to ever say something like that about Impulse was Skizz.

Impulse was a demon, incapable of love and impossible to be loved. But then again, if you split up the word impossible, you get I'm possible, and Impulse wasn't sure what the heck that meant but it felt pretty darn good.

"Thank you, Scar," he mumbled into the man's jacket, biting back tears again. Impulse pulled back eventually, and was met with the reassuring smiles of both Scar and Bdubs, and he felt... marginally better.

"It's my pleasure. Would you like a cookie?" Scar grinned and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a ziplock with a few different cookies inside. One with chocolate chips was melting. Scar opened the bag and offered him a sugar cookie with a deflated purple colored Hershey's kiss stuck in the top.

"I- no, how long have those been in your pocket for?" Impulse asked skeptically, pointing towards the bag. Scar just shrugged and took a bite from the cookie. "I feel like that's not safe to eat—"

Impulse was interrupted by the back door creaking open. He shuffled a bit and peeked over Scar's shoulder to see that the person who'd come outside was Xisuma.

"Hey guys." X greeted, closing the porch door behind him.

"Xisuma, Scar's trying to feed me pocket cookies," Impulse complained, pointing towards the man in question and his bag of old cookies.

"Ooh sweet, pocket cookies!" Xisuma's eyes lit up, the opposite reaction than what Impulse had expected. "Could I have one?"

"Sure!" Scar exclaimed, the sound muffled by the cookie he was currently eating. He shifted around and tossed the ziplock to Xisuma. The mayor caught it effortlessly and selected a cookie from within. He strode over to the others and passed the bag off to Bdubs, who also grabbed a cookie.

"You sure you don't want one Impulse?" Bdubs waggled the ziplock in his direction.

"Yeah, thanks but I'm good," Impulse gave an apologetic smile. He really wasn't sure if eating those would be in any way good, plus, he wasn't feeling very hungry at all. Scar just shrugged in response and took the ziplock from Bdubs, stuffing it back inside his coat.

"How are you three doing out here?" Xisuma asked, pausing to lift his mask up and take a bite from his cookie. "You were getting pretty overwhelmed in there, Impulse," he motioned towards the house, "and I wanted to make sure you were alright."

Scar and Bdubs each flashed a thumbs up to Xisuma's first question, while Impulse struggled to find a great answer. "I'm— I'm alright Xisuma, thank you," he started with. "That doesn't usually happen— me getting worked up like that, you know— I'm sorry if I worried you. All the lights and noise were freaking me out a little, I guess."

Impulse could feel Scar's eyes boring into him, could feel that Scar knew he was downplaying the truth. Xisuma seemed fine with it, however.

"There's no need to be sorry," he reassured. "And if overstimulation is something you experience more often than others, we can help you with that."

"Whoa whoa," Impulse held out a hand, "Overstimulation is a pretty big word to be just throwing around, don't you think?"

Impulse wanted to shoo Xisuma away. He didn't have any problems, there wasn't something wrong with him that needed such a drastic title. Overstimulation was something that he hadn't experienced, because he'd never had that problem before. Or had he? Impulse wasn't sure, but he knew he didn't need to be labeled with a problem.

Xisuma seemed to frown under his mask. "You got overwhelmed by the noise and the lights, yes?" Impulse nodded hesitantly, and X continued. "Then that's overstimulation, or a sensory overload, or a form of it. It doesn't matter if you've only ever had it once, or had it several times, experienced it mildly or extremely, it's still overstimulation, and it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you."

Impulse hummed in response and looked away from Xisuma. Could it really be as simple as that? Could it really be okay to use that word? Impulse trusted Xisuma's judgement, so maybe it'd be fine. He didn't like knowing that he'd even been overstimulated in the first place, but maybe that wasn't as big of a deal as he made it out to be.

"You know, I've gotten overstimulated plenty of times!" Scar added in when Impulse didn't respond to Xisuma. "I used to hate going to town meetings because there were way too many people, but no one ever was mean to me about it, and it was never bad that I had those issues in the first place."

"Oh," Impulse muttered under his breath. He felt terrible knowing that Scar had gone through that too, it hadn't been very fun for him, and he didn't expect it was much better for Scar. But for one, horribly selfish moment, Impulse was glad that had happened to Scar, because it meant he wasn't alone, that there was someone else like him. That was terrible of him and he knew it, but it didn't make it not true.

"Yeah, and seriously, none of us mind at all," Xisuma continued. "And we can make accommodations if need be, like keeping or volume down, or having the lights dimmer. Also, I did tell Jevin to never flick the lights on and off like that again, because it clearly bothered you and Ren I think—"

"Ah! So it was Jev who did that!" Bdubs interrupted. "That scared the hell out of me, and I will get revenge on his slimy little face for that!"

Impulse laughed at the silly expression Bdubs wore, and the others did too. Once Scar was finished cracking up, Impulse switched his gaze back to Xisuma. "And thank you, Xisuma, for the offer, I mean. Even if this was a one time thing, it means a lot."

"And if it isn't, we'll all be there to help you." Xisuma said warmly, opening his arms in acceptance. Scar and Bdubs nodded in agreement. It was funny, Impulse thought. He was barely more than a stranger to their town, yet Xisuma was willing to help him out like he was one of their own, Scar and Bdubs too. Maybe it was because Impulse just clicked with them, maybe Xisuma was just really hospitable, maybe the hermits were just really friendly.

But whatever the reason, it made Impulse feel warm and fuzzy, like he was loved, for once in his life.

"Now, if it's alright, I have to go make sure Keralis isn't dumping Red Bulls into the punch again." Xisuma said bluntly, turning back towards the door. Impulse gaped at him, and muttered an 'excuse me?!' under his breath. Xisuma just shrugged. "Ren can't handle that much caffeine, and quite frankly, Scar can't either," he responded as if it clarified anything. Scar rolled his eyes at the comment and Bdubs nudged him with an elbow, chuckling. Impulse just decided not to ask about it.

"Alright, feel free to come back in whenever you guys are ready." Xisuma pulled open the door and headed back in. And in the moment before it closed, Impulse heard him shout, "Cleo! Don't stick gum in Joe's hair!"

The three of them burst out laughing at that. "RIP Joe's hair," Bdubs said between giggles, making Scar completely lose it in laughter. It died down and Impulse let out a steady sigh, absorbing whatever positive energy that Scar and Bdubs seemed to just release wherever they went.

"Sooooo," Scar cracked a mischievous grin, "When should the first Demon Protection Squad meeting be?"

Impulse shrugged, and Bdubs answered. "Sometime next week, definitely, and, I wanna host it at my place." He motioned towards himself proudly. "Thursday, maybe?"

"Sounds good to me," Impulse split a grin, suddenly excited for meeting. Scar nodded vigorously, "Yes, definitely! I wanna see all your cool magic Impulse." He giggled, eyes still practically glowing with mischief.

"And I will show you!" Impulse said cheerily, "It's the least I can do, since you both are being so nice after all."

"Haha, yessss," Bdubs did a little spin, moss coat catching in the wind.

"You think you're ready to go back in?" Scar asked, gesturing towards the door.

Impulse thought for a second, turning to stare at the darkening evening sky. Pinpricks of stars were staring to appear in the darkness, something that Impulse rarely got to see because of living in the nether and all that. It was gorgeous, and amazing. His new friends were amazing too. Scar was caring in a way few people had been, and Bdubs was funny and bold. Impulse felt like he didn't have to worry while they were there for him.

Of course, there were still a lot of things wrong.

He still had issues and problems that Scar and Bdubs couldn't fix.

He still missed Skizz, he was still scared of the punishments awaiting him back home, and he was still wary of Tango.

But, at least he didn't have to feel alone anymore. Impulse considered that a victory, so, without a single doubt in his mind, he answered.

"Yeah. Ready as I'll ever be."

~ end chapter 12 ~

A/N: Definitely not projecting my personal problems onto demon Impulse I don't know why you would ever think that, I would never.