A/N: A thank you to phantomrose96 for the idea that actually pulled me out of my huge writer's block. Apologies for any grammar and spelling mistakes, I did my best to try and spot them.


He really did want to blame the freak storm on a freak coincidence, on just another misfortune is a series of misfortunes that had befallen on him that day. But at the same time, he wanted to take it as a sign that what he was about to do was something very dangerous, something that if he did, it would work and as such, everything around him - be it natural or synthetic- had it out for him and tried to stop him. After all, summoning a demon was a taboo, right?

"Or maybe I am just extremely unlucky," he grumbled, slapping his hand against his forehead, groaning when the stinging sensation from his hand reminded him that he had cut his hand when that very angry –or very hungry, he wasn't sure- bear that chased him down. Which happened after his GPS suddenly broke, followed by that gust of wind that blew the map from his hands, continuing with the car breaking down, closely followed by his tent being blown away by a very powerful gust of wind, then that bear and now the storm.

"In case this thing does actually work and I really am up against the world… you could cut me some slack over here!" he yelled on top of his lungs, kicking the ground and yelling in frustration when he realized that he had managed to ruin half of the summoning circle again. "I am doing it because you somehow deemed me unworthy of being good enough to have friends!" he hissed under his breath while on his knees in mud, trying his best to make sure that this time the sticks and stones he used wouldn't be disturbed by anything –himself included.

Now, the man was more than aware that his current mission might cause some people to label him as insane, but he saw himself as desperate more than anything. He had gotten the idea from one of his coworkers who had suggested that he do this, although it had been a mean joke, of that he was sure. He had ignored the idea at first, as any sane man would do, but he then suddenly woke up in the middle of the night a few weeks ago and decided that perhaps it wasn't such a horrible idea after all. Selling his soul for a best friend was actually a good idea!

And so, the day following his great revelation, Aiden Heinrich took two weeks off from work and then started his research. Granted, it was a hard thing to research since almost everything had led to a TV show or some sort of a scam. He was just about ready to call it quits and go back to his normal, boring and rather lonely life when a link had caught his eyes.

It wasn't something special, a simple add from an old man selling his book. But the picture that had been uploaded seemed to hypnotize him. A cold shiver ran up his spine and he had the sudden urge to make a cross and close the computer, his stomach dropping. He felt queasy and the world decided to turn faster, but when the ill feeling went away, he found himself staring at his mail, reading a message from the book's seller in which he was informed that the price he had offered was the right one and that he would meet with him in two days to give him the book.

They met in a mall and the sight of the man made him feel sick again. There wasn't anything special about the man himself. In fact, he looked and dressed plain and Aiden was sure that he wouldn't even take notice of him if he didn't have to deal with him. That was, until you looked into his eyes. Into very empty eyes that he couldn't even remember the color of.

The eyes on their own were very unsettling, but when you added the way he talked and smiled together with the very soulless gaze, chills ran up and down Aiden's spine, a jolt of energy surging through his legs which he had to physically fight back and yell at himself in his mind to keep himself still and not away.

"This book is very old and very powerful, boy." The man said in the sweetest voice tone he had ever heard, flashing him full dental smile that would probably haunt Aiden in his deepest nightmares for weeks to come. "You must be very careful what you use it for. You wouldn't want to unleash that which you cannot control, now do you?"

The meeting only lasted 30 minutes, but it was enough for Aiden to find himself emptying his guts in the public bathroom not five minutes after it had ended, wallet 5.000 dollars lighter, book tightly clutched at his chest.

But now, as the cold rain drops hit him, shivering from the cold almost winter like wind, covered in dirt and various cuts, Aiden couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he had simply fallen victim to a great scam. Was the spell he had found in the book actually going to work? The summoning spell that he was trying to do had been the only one that he could actually understand. But what is legit?

What if he had just spent 5.000 dollars on a book filled with random words in a made up language with one silly little game written with some sense of reason smacked right in the middle of the book? He only had that washed up Merlin's word, empty eyes and creepy smile to go on. What if, by now, that Sauron wannabe was somewhere in Las Vegas, drinking and gambling away his money?

"Oh, this is just ridiculous," Aiden suddenly muttered, blinking and looking around, starting to laugh at his own desperation and ridiculousness. "Me? Summoning a demon? Oh my… I have completely lost my mind," he muttered, resting his head against the center of the intricate summoning circle, running his bloody hand over the small rocks that made up a funny looking rune.

"Yes, yes if you could pay attention to me and not to your pathetic existential crisis, that would be wonderful," a rather deep voice rang over the sound of the rain, completely drowning it out.

Aiden's head snapped up, ears hurting at the deafening silence that suddenly surrounded him and he was greeted with by sight of a very peculiar looking… human? He had arms and legs and a head, but the part of the legs he could make out was covered with red scales and the fingers were actually sharp talons, long strand of blond hair resting on a head with two very pronounced bumps that looked very much like horns. The air behind the strange humanoid seemed to move, somehow, as if it was cut by some invisible force, three fiery wisps floating a few centimeters above the horn-like-bumps as if they were a crown.

Gulping and clenching his hands into fists as if that would somehow give him some form of strength or courage, Aiden's shaky voice broke the silence. "Who…who are you?"

The human-like creature narrowed his cat-like yellow eyes and rested his hands on his hips, tilting his head to the left and huffing in annoyance. "You know not who you summon?" He spoke, a serpent's tongue lashing out from behind the red lips, a glimpse of very sharp fangs further scaring Aiden.

"I summoned…a demon?" Aiden asked more than answered, shivering a bit when the humanoid moved to wrap a long coat around his tall frame, only now realizing that the rain completely avoided him. Did he actually summon a demon? Did it actually work?

Ignoring the glare that was thrown at him, Aiden threw all caution into the wind and moved his hand to touch the scales that were peeking from under a strange dress like garment. His skin burned at the contact, but he fought back the pain and moved on to poke at the talons, a smile on his lips and amazement in his eyes. He had actually done it!

"And all without a virgin sacrifice," the man declared loudly, wrapping his arms around the demon's waist, hugging him tightly all the while ignoring the angry hiss erupting from his own clothes and skin at the contact alongside the demon's clear discomfort.

"You are all so pathetic and simpleminded," the demon growled, pushing Aiden away with little to no effort. "Nowhere, not one place, does it say that the blood needs to come from a virgin. Only that it has to be virgin blood, blood that hasn't been used before," he continued to explain, flicking Aiden's forehead only to roll his eyes when the man wrapped his hands around his.

"Oh thank God," Aiden breathed out, resting his head against the demon's hand, actually comfortable at the heat and doing his best to ignore the stinging sensation that was quite quick to replace the pleasant warmness.

The demon snorted, shaking his head as he backed away from the kneeling human. "Amusing as your dumbness might be, I am quite a busy person. Yes, I am to be considered a person even if I am who I am," he added quickly, expecting the summoner to try and correct him, to refer to him as a monster or whatever new words humanity came up to name powerful beings that could splat them like bugs. "So, make it quick before I grow completely bored of your presence."

"Can you grow bored of something that is amusing?" Aiden found himself asking the demon, not quite sure of what he was doing. He was aware that he was supposed to be afraid and tremble, but in all honesty he wasn't. He was intrigued, shocked, thrilled and curious, but not scared. He'd get more nightmares from the man that sold him the book than the demonic creature that currently towered over him.

"You'd be surprised," the demon answered after a few seconds, rolling his eyes. "Punishing your kind for their sins had been amusing for the first few hundred years, but you people never learn."

Nodding slowly, closed his eyes and made a small approving noise. "I see what you are saying, but if you add new things to what amused you in the first place…" Aiden trailed off, suddenly realizing that he was about to encourage a demon to find new ways of tormenting souls for eternity.

This time, the demon actually laughed loudly, throwing his head back and resting one of his hands on his chest while the area around him shook and trees broke in half. "You are soft in the head, of that I am sure." Opening one eye, the demon brought his clawed hand under Aiden's chin and pushed it up a bit. "Tell me your name and that which you are selling your soul for. I am in a good mood and I will not twist your wish against you. Power? Money? Eternal life? I will even stop your body and internal organs from aging if you want the last one."

Blinking a few times, Aiden smiled at the demon, looking away and fidgeting, completely unaware of the thin scratches that were now decorating his chin and neck. "No, but thank you very much for the suggestions. They are very interesting, but what I want is…" sighing, he mumbled, blushing when the demon tut-tutted at him in a scolding manner while moving his ear closer to him. "A best friend…I will give you my soul in exchange for a best friend."

The demon seemed confused and Aiden thought about explain again, but before he could even say a word, sharp claws were wrapped around his neck, drawing blood as the hold tightened. "You dare mock me, pathetic worm? You dare mock that which you do not know? You dare try to prank he who can turn you back into the earth from which your wretched ancestors were made of in the blink of an eye, making you feel all the pain that was and will be in the process?"

Surprised at the demon's reaction, Aiden tried desperately between gasps and hisses of pain to explain that he was not mocking the demon. He really did only want a best friend in exchange for his soul. Was it that hard to believe? He had acquaintances, yes and family, but no one really to call his friend, his best friend. There was something about him, a girl had once said while dumping him, that turned people away.

"Is what I am asking you so hard to give?" He gasped out, clawing at the hands around his neck. "Please, just take my soul and give me a friend!"

The demon released Aiden and backed away from him as if the human had suddenly been covered in holy water. "You are serious. You… You actually summoned me so you could get a friend." He hissed, clasping his hands behind his back and closing his eyes.

Aiden was gasping for air and trembling with fear, terrified wide eyes glued on the silent creature before him. And yet, Aiden realized, he had been more afraid of dying without knowing what a real friend was than of the fact that a demon had probably been seconds away from strangling him.

"I'll be your friend," the demon said suddenly, dragging Aiden up and away from the runes, chucking at the gasp his client made when he stepped out of the summoning circle. "Call me Lucien and know that we'll be best friends until you die and then your soul will be my own personal toy until the end of all eternity."

Stopping under a tree, he shook himself, losing all of his demonic traits, the wisps of fire that made up a crown becoming dim until they completely vanished. He patted Aiden on the back and then flicked his forehead, frowning when the human blankly stared back at him.

"I don't know what to do," Aiden uttered softly, scratching the back of his head, looking utterly embarrassed, much to the amusement of Lucien.

"I am the one who is supposed to not understand how the whole humanity works," the demon supplied, moving his hand around and summoning a large tent over them. "What do you want me to call you?"

"How rude of me! I am Aiden, Aiden Heinrich. I've been an accountant for the last five years and what about—" The question died instantly on his lips, covering his face with his hands when Lucien started laughing again, a powerful slap against his back sending him face down into a soft bed that had suddenly materialized in front of him.

"I…Just, thank you. I know this is nothing more than a deal for you and that I will suffer until the end of time for a few moments of happiness, but for me it's…Really, thank you." Aiden whispered softly, finally finding his voice again.

"End of eternity, actually. Believe it or not, time does end while eternity, although technically speaking, being a result of time existing, actually extends before and after the existence of time and can continue even if time has ended. " Slowly starting to fade away, he held his hand up to stop Aided from moving. "You actually summoned a very powerful demon, Aiden. A demon whose attention is required back in his own plane of existence. But I'll be back before you know it. Your antics and innocence are too amusing to miss."

A heartbeat later, Aiden was alone in the tent, a heavy smell rotten eggs making him feel slightly queasy. He slowly sat down on the bed, had resting on his chest, his mind finally catching up with what he had done. Yet, strangely enough, he felt at ease. He wasn't panicking, he wasn't regretting his actions. In fact, he could safely say that he was the happiest he'd ever been in his life.

Snuggling under the very comfortable covers, sleep came surprisingly easily to him and he was more than happy to enter that world where a bear was offering him chamomile tea with honey and vanilla flavored cakes. He was aware that it was a dream and at one point, a large group of shadows tried to barge in, angry whispering drowning out the cute tale the bear was sharing with him. Panic entered his heart for a single moment, the angry whispers silenced by rumble that made him think of his newly bough friend.

"Ah, excuse me," Aiden said suddenly when the bear called out his name, shielding his eyes from the sun. "I thought I heard someone."

"You must be mistaken, Aiden. We're the only ones here," the bear answered with a laugh, serving more him more tea and continuing his tale, the angry whisper completely disappearing from the human's thoughts.

***TBC***