This ended up so much longer than I originally intended it to be. That's okay. I hope you enjoy.
Audrey woke in the middle of the night, feeling cold and unsettled. She glanced around her room, but noticed nothing unusual. She rolled over, pulled the covers around herself, and in minutes fell asleep again. She woke feeling tired, but got out of bed all the same. She rubbed her eyes then got ready for her day.
Ivan had woken up by the time she had gotten out of the shower and dressed. He leaned against the counter eating toast.
"Is that my toast?" she asked, pointing at the plate.
He shrugged. "It was on the counter, and you weren't eating it."
"Give it here," she said, holding out her hand for it.
He looked down at her hand then back at her. He picked up the remaining piece of toast, crammed it into his mouth, and gave her the empty plate.
"What the hell?" she said, dumping the plate into the sink so she wouldn't try throwing it at his head. "That was for me. The brownie made it."
"So?" he asked, opening up a cabinet to grab a glass.
"So I feed him, and he feeds me. You can't just take the food," she snapped. "You don't even like the brownie."
"Yeah, but I was hungry," he said, filling the glass with water.
"That doesn't mean you just take it. I need it. I wasn't kidding about not being able to cook," she said.
He shrugged and started to drink. She looked him over, waiting for a response, then walked up to him and elbowed him in the stomach. He sputtered and spilled water onto his shirt.
"Don't take my things," she warned him as she turned to her bedroom to finish getting ready. She came out again to see him in a different shirt and glaring at her. She sneered back at him and grabbed a snack and her cigarettes and left for work.
"Do you?" Maddie asked before leaning in and taking a deeper breath. "Why do you smell like smoke?"
Audrey sighed. "I have a very trying…roommate."
"Oh, the brownie can't help with that?"
"I wish. They don't like brownies," she said with a sigh.
"Well, give it some time and if nothing else, when your lease is up you can always move to somewhere else," she said with a smile.
"That's true, but I've got a year until then," she said, shrugging. "At least this job pays well enough for a decent place."
"I hope things work out with your roommate," Maddie said before turning towards her work station out front.
"I wish," she whispered to herself, rolling her head to relieve some tension before focusing on her work. The tension returned and settled in her neck and shoulders during her walk back home. She opened the door to her apartment and didn't hear, see, or smell anything horrible or wrong. She entered her apartment and shut the door behind her.
She found Ivan on the pullout reading a book. "Well, at least you're not burning that one," she said, rolling her eyes.
"I'm only halfway through it. There's still time and opportunity," he said, not even looking up.
"May I remind you, I've got the lighter on me now."
"I thought smoking was bad for humans. Should I be taking it off you?"
"It's better for me than you burning down my apartment."
He looked away from his book to give her a flat look. "By the way, you might want to go grocery shopping."
"What? Why? There was plenty this morning," she said, turning towards the kitchen.
"Yeah, but I spent the day here."
She opened the fridge. All the deli meats and fruits and a fair amount of the vegetables, all of which didn't require actual cooking to eat, had disappeared. She checked the freezer and the panty to find most of the bread gone and only a couple microwavable meals left.
"You've only been here like three days," she said, glaring at him.
"You're not familiar with half demon metabolism are you?"
"No, I haven't ever housed one before."
"Housed is not quite the word I would use. You're still going to need to get more food though."
She shook her head. "This isn't going to work."
"It's not going to work any better with me trying to leave and get the food," he said with a shrug.
"No, I mean, I can't afford for you to eat this much. I got this place because I could afford how much it cost for me to live here," she said, frowning and taking inventory of the food again.
"It's not like I'm broke. As much as I would like you to suffer for summoning me, I can pay for myself."
Audrey stopped counting her food and looked at him. He had set the book aside and had his hands on either side of him, ready to push off and stand. He returned her look, tilting his head in challenge. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Alright, but it's not like you can come with me to the grocery store and split the bill. I guess we can figure that out later too, but right now, I'll just…go get the food."
"Okay," he said, frowning, leaning back, and watching as she picked up her keys and wallet and left.
At the store, she picked out the same things she usually did, but she had to remind herself to get more than usual. She double checked any sales before making her choices. She waited uncomfortably in line for the register, dreading reading what it would all cost. She sighed when she finally saw the number, and the clerk gave her a weird look. She paid for it and hauled it all back to her apartment.
She did great handling all the bags until she got to the door and had to unlock it. Half the bags slipped from grasp and landed on the ground and against the door. She groaned, dropping her head back and staring up at the ceiling like it could fix the problem.
She heard the door unlock and open, and Ivan stood in the doorway, watching as the food spilled over the threshold.
"Need help?" he asked, looking up from the groceries to her.
"Yeah, that'd be great," she said, shifting on her feet and feeling her cheeks heat.
He knelt down and gathered the food in the apartment, even managing to get the handle of one of the bags. She picked up everything that still was out in the hall. He held a hand out. She looked at it for a moment then wrinkled her nose and handed it over to him. He stood up again and got out of the middle of the walkway, keeping the door from closing with his foot.
"Thanks," she said, moving past him as close to the opposite wall as she could.
"You're welcome," he said, letting the door close and following her to the kitchen.
"Just leave it on the counter," she said, setting down her bags.
"Okay," he said, placing the bags he had on the counter. He retreated back to the couch, and she started putting the food away, beginning with items that had to go into the freezer. Once she had finished with that, she looked over to him.
"What?" he asked, not even bothering to act like he hadn't been watching her.
She frowned. "You're just gonna watch me?"
He shrugged. "You just told me to put the bags on the counter. As for the watching, I think you're forgetting I'm stuck here all day and you don't even have a TV."
"I didn't want to pay for one," she said, giving him a look.
"Fine, but it doesn't help me any," he said then gestured to her books. "I'm almost out of books."
"How fast do you read?"
"Really fast in Russian. I'm getting better at the English."
"Well, figure out how to get some of your own stuff here," she said, turning back to the food.
"I'd need a way to talk with my friends."
She gave him a sharp look. He raised his eyebrows back at her. She returned to stuffing food away back in its proper places. "I'll work on that, too."
"Good."
Once finished with the unpacking, she grabbed enough food to count for dinner then retreated to her room again. She ate while making as little mess as she could. She checked on her social media for a while with music playing in the background, making sure to use her headphones. Her Instagram needed new photos, but she hadn't had a chance to take pics with Ivan in her apartment. She found some funny theories about a new boyfriend in the comments of her clothes shopping photo. She clenched her jaw and didn't respond with the real reason for the shopping trip.
She sighed, looking up from her laptop. The penciled in charms sat waiting on her wall for paint. She smiled, pulling out her phone. She took a carefully aimed photo of most of that wall of her bedroom then took a few close ups on the charms. She put all the photos up on Instagram, asking for advice on what color she should paint them. She returned to her regular surfing with her Instagram quota fulfilled along with the possible bonus of a little color theory help.
She circled back to her Instagram to find a comment from Catarina.
'Seems like you got red covered lol black would fit it best'
'Wouldnt that be too dark?'
She switched to Netflix to watch an episode or two of one of her shows. She checked her Instagram again.
'Lol' Catarina's new comment started, 'those charms are for protection and black helps with that'
Audrey frowned and switched to text her friend. Are you making fun of me on instagram over color theory?
Catarina responded a few minutes later. No but u rly should learn it if ur gonna be charming ur own place.
Isn't that what i have u for? Audrey smiled and set her phone aside to continue her mini marathon. After she finished the next episode, she checked her phone.
Always but are u srsly trying to tell me u dont have a boyfriend with that much red in ur room?
I KNOW WHAT U R THINKING Audrey sent, making a face at her phone as Catarina would definitely be laughing at her. Stop thinking it I know what red means.
Lmao just checking.
Catarina left her in peace to finish up another episode before Audrey had to get ready for bed. She stood at the door, listening for Ivan, before pulling it open and leaving her sanctuary to get ready for bed in the bathroom.
Ivan still had the light on, but he'd pulled out the couch and had taken off his shirt. He lifted his book in acknowledgement of her, and she rolled her eyes and stalked past him. She got ready as quick as she could.
"Nice pajamas," Ivan said, looking at her legs as she walked back towards her room.
She looked down at the green pants with little cartoon bunnies on them. "I've got better things to wear to bed, but it's not like you'll ever get to see them."
He laughed. She flushed and continued towards her room. He called after her. "It's good you don't live in a studio apartment then."
She slammed the door shut behind her. She slept that night as well as she had the night before. She did, however, get to the toast before Ivan did. He grumbled to himself in Russian as he searched for something to eat.
"Why don't you have eggs?" he asked, looking at her while still fairly groggy.
"I can't cook so I don't tempt myself," she answered, finishing off her toast and setting her plate in the sink.
"Can you get them for me then?" he asked, pulling out fruit. "I can cook."
She looked him over as he stood in front of the fridge, still half awake and not wearing a shirt. "I'll consider it."
"You consider a lot of things," he said, starting to eat. "Consider following through."
"I follow through on threats."
"So you just find it difficult to be nice."
"Says the half demon."
"Hey, I've been perfectly nice for basically getting kidnapped and trafficked to another country," he said, holding out his arms. "I offered to help you pay for things while I'm living here."
She sighed, brushing a hand through her hair. "I know, I'm sorry. I can give you the laptop after work to contact your friends."
"Really?" he said, straightening. "Great, thank you."
"Yup," she said, turning away from him. "I'll see you later."
She finished up her new locking routine then headed out to work. Maddie gave her a smile when she arrived, and Audrey gave her a nod in response. Work still took effort and her magic, but being around so many plants and positive magical energies let her relax some. She could focus and perform to her standards.
"Have you called my brother?" Maddie asked at the end of the day.
"I'm still thinking about it," Audrey answered. "I'd like to be able to help, but I'm still kinda dealing with that accident I told you about."
"There's no hurry," she said then fidgeted, licking her lips.
"Is there something else?" she asked, turning more fully towards her.
"Oh, um, I just wanted to know if you wanted to get lunch together some time? We work in different parts of the store so it should be fine if we go on break together."
"Yeah, yeah," Audrey said, nodding. "That'd be fine. Whenever or wherever you like."
"Oh, good," she said, her shoulders dropping. "Um, would next week be alright?"
"Yeah, just let me know. I've gotta head home now. I've got a chore to do," she said, sighing over the thought of handing her computer over to Ivan.
"Oh, yeah, I didn't mean to keep you, sorry."
"It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow," she said, giving her coworker a wave before leaving.
"Laptop," Ivan said as soon as she got the door open.
"Ugh, give me a minute," she said, unloading from work. "Hold on."
"I just didn't want you to forget."
She glared at him, and he grinned back at her. She took a deep breath in and turned away from him. She went into her bedroom and pulled out her laptop. She cleared her history and anything else she didn't want him to see or be able to pretend to stumble upon. She took in another breath as she brought it out from her room.
"Do not use it to do any more than you absolutely need to," she said, holding it out to him.
"I'll be careful," he said, taking it from her and sitting down on the couch with it. He opened it up and set to work. "I'll probably need it again soon as my friends won't be up at this hour."
"Fine," she said, pulling out her watering can from underneath the sink. She filled it then passed the couch to get to her potted plants. She watered them one by one, keeping an eye out for any problems with them. She returned the watering can to its spot then took a closer look at her plants.
She ran her fingers lightly over the first's leaves. She frowned as she continued through her plants. She looked back at Ivan. "You're not good for them."
"What?" he asked, looking up from the keyboard he'd been clumsily typing on.
"The plants, your magic, whatever it is, is messing with them. It's not good," she said, sitting down with her plants.
"I wasn't aware that plants were magical," he said.
"Well, it depends, but I've been caring for them with my magic," she said, running her hand over her forehead. "What have you done to them?"
"I haven't touched your plants," he retorted, shooting her a glare.
"No, it's not that you've touched them. It has to be your magic. They're not used to it. It's too dark," she said, frowning and tapping her fingers on the floor.
"Dark?" he asked, tone sharp.
She glared back at him. "Fine, not dark. It's not as bad as that damn book you burned, but it's still not healing energy."
"Whatever, just use your magic to fix up your plants and counteract whatever I'm doing. I swear I'm not intentionally harming your plants," he said, returning to the laptop.
"But you're still doing something," she murmured, turning back to her plants. She began a rather standard enchantment in Latin, encouraging the plant to be vibrant and strong, and ran her fingers over its leaves again. The tingling in her fingers felt like sunlight, and she could see her plant turn a healthier green. She breathed a sigh in relief that it worked.
"What did you do?"
She jumped at the sound of his voice. "I encouraged it."
He squinted at her. "Encouraging the plant is enough to make the whole room change?"
She looked around the room then back to him. "I mean, I specialize in healing, but I just helped the plant. I care for them then they can care for others."
He frowned, looking even more confused than before. "Never mind, I'll be done in a minute."
"Alright," she said, watching him for several seconds before turning back to her plants. She felt looser, relaxed, after spending time with them and caring for them. She had avoided them for the past few days with Ivan staying in the main room.
"Done," he said, closing the laptop.
She looked at him then towards her bedroom. She ran her hand through her hair then took in a deep breath. "I know I don't have a TV, but we could watch something on Netflix."
He looked her over then shrugged. "Sure."
"Okay," she said, getting up and taking back her laptop.
"I've got the table," he said, getting up from the couch and dragging the coffee table back into place before it.
"Oh, thanks," she said, sitting down and opening the laptop and pulling up Netflix. "What do you want to watch?"
"An action movie is pretty safe, isn't it?" he said, sitting down again but leaving plenty of room between them.
"I can do action," she said, looking through Netflix's line up for action films. "This one should be okay."
She started the movie, putting it full screen, turning her volume all the way up, and set her laptop down on the coffee table. She pulled her legs up onto the couch and settled back to watch. Clearly, ok to Netflix meant a boring plot but above average cinematography. Audrey didn't complain, instead leaning back on her worn couch and propping her head up with her arm. She glanced over at Ivan halfway through, checking that he was still watching. He had leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, and he looked like he was squinting at the screen.
"I can turn up the brightness," she told him.
"What?" he asked, looking away from the screen. "I can see fine."
"Alright, then what's the squinting for?"
"I'm paying attention."
"You really think it's that good?"
He shrugged. "Not really."
"So what then? You can't be a film junkie or else you'd be pickier and complaining about it."
"Film junkie?"
"You know, someone who's really into films, watches them all the time and stuff."
"No, I'm not a film junkie," he said, shaking his head but also smiling.
"Then why all the focus?"
He shrugged again, leaning back. "That's just how I watch."
"Alright," she said, turning back to the movie. She didn't catch him watching it so closely again after that.
When the movie finished, she picked her laptop up off the table and closed her browser. She returned her laptop to her room and found Ivan in the kitchen when she returned.
"Have you considered take out?" he asked as he got himself a microwavable meal. "It's just as convenient but the price, I think, is worth the taste."
"What? Those meals are fine," she said, joining him in the kitchen. She pulled down a meal for herself, and he left the microwave door open for her.
"Have you killed your taste buds with too many of those?"
"My taste buds are fine," she retorted as she placed her meal beside his and shut the door.
"They're really not."
She started the microwave. "So you won't complain about the movie, but you'll complain about the food?"
"The food's more important to me than the movie."
She laughed. "I see that."
"So is that a yes on the take out?"
"No, honestly, once it started it would never stop, and then I'd be broke," she said, sighing and watching the timer on the microwave. "Then you'd be stuck here while I'd get kicked out."
"I'm sure the next person will appreciate me more."
She laughed again. "Maybe the landlord will just transfer the lease to you and make you pay up. Then you'd really have to survive on take out."
He nodded. "I think I could deal with that."
The microwave dinged, and Audrey went to pull her meal out of it. "Hot," she hissed as she dropped the overheated package onto the counter.
"You couldn't have waited?"
"No," she said, rubbing her fingertips. "It dinged, it's done."
She grabbed a fork and after a few moments more, picked up her meal again and transferred it to her tiny table as quick as she could. "Hot," she hissed again.
"Should have waited," he said, tapping his finger on the package of his meal, testing the temperature. He pulled it out of the microwave and brought it over to the table to sit across from her.
She moved her food around with her fork then looked up at him. "Is this a thing now? Are we going to eat together?"
He tilted his head. "I guess if you're done with hiding in your bedroom."
She clenched her jaw, and he sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"I know I'm not happy about this, and I probably would be just as unhappy in your position even if I never would have done it," he said, looking more at his food than at her. "But I'm not stupid. Fighting with someone I'm going to have to live with for the next six months still sounds like a bad idea even if I hate some of the decisions they've made."
"That's…" she began, working to unclench her jaw. "If we're going to be mature about this then I'm sorry for summoning you. It was stupid. I probably deserved you burning those books as well even if it was stupid to do it in the apartment."
He shifted in his seat. "Yeah, not the greatest plan. You can hide in your room, if you want, instead of eating with me. I'm not going to be offended or anything."
She shook her head. "No, it's fine."
She started eating, doing her best to keep her pace even. He followed her lead soon after, and they ate together without speaking again. She retreated to her room again after that.
In the morning, he didn't make a bid for the breakfast the brownie had prepared for her. Instead, he made his own toast. "Have you thought about getting cereal?" he asked just before she left for work.
"If you want things, make a list," she told him, grabbing her keys then heading out the door.
Her work consisted mostly of mixing potions and creating pills, but she did have to care for her own bed of plants that she needed to use in order to create the medicines. In between filling orders, she returned to her plant bed, laying her hands on their stems and focusing intently on the magic and energy placed into them. She checked for the differences between them and her plants back home that had been exposed to Ivan. She even managed to get her hands on a couple of her coworker's plants. Now, she had data for her plants, but she needed data from Ivan.
She left, delivering a goodbye to Maddie and a promise to think of someplace they could have lunch nearby, and went straight to her apartment. "Ivan?" she called out as she entered her apartment.
"Yeah," he called back.
She unloaded from work and joined him in the main room. "I'm going to let you have the laptop, but I want to check something with you first. I promise to be quick."
"What?"
"I have an idea of what might be happening with my plants, but to check it I kind of need to read your magic which is going to involve touching," she said, using her hands to gesture towards him.
"What?" he said, setting the book he'd been reading aside. "What do you need to touch me for?"
"I don't know how you do it, but I read plants better than people, and I still need to touch them to do it."
"Why do you need to do it though?"
"I want to know what's going on with my plants, and I can't confirm it without reading you."
He looked over to her plants then back at her. She gave him her best puppy dog look that worked on her brothers, at least when they weren't fighting. Ivan sighed.
"Fine, but do it fast," he said, grimacing over it.
She sat down beside and said, "Now, try to be calm. The reason people are hard is because of all their feelings. They kinda move things around too much."
"I would have thought that would make it easier," he said, watching her hands. "Follow the emotions, find the magic."
"No, that's just like reactionary magic. Following emotions lead you away from the core of their magic."
"What exactly are you going to read?"
"I'm just trying to see what in you would cause the reaction I saw in my plants. I'm not going to hurt you or move things around or anything. Think of it like a check up."
"Healers," he muttered then shifted. "If you're going to do it, do it. Though, a half demon is probably going to be different than what you're used to than humans."
"Hopefully not too different," she said, taking a deep breath then holding up her hands.
He sighed, looking at her then her hands, and leaned in so that her hands landed on the sides of his jaw and neck. She focused on him and something like a too strong static shock went through her fingers. She jumped and pulled her hands away.
"Careful," he said, smiling a little.
She narrowed her eyes at him. She took a deep breath then set her hands against him again. She did as her professors had told her at university; insulate herself against others' magic while still leaving her the ability to read. It felt like her fingers were coated in something the consistency of syrup, but she could read him without it stinging. She pulled her hands away.
"And, what's the news, healer?" he asked.
"How much do you know about how this type of magic?" she asked, looking around him at her plants.
"About encouraging them?" he asked, and shrugged. "Nothing, never cared much to know about how human magic works."
"Then I guess I'll have to explain. With plants as they are, they heal when you consume them or put them on you. What we do to create medicine we do is we use charms and our magic to enhance their healing properties. That's what I do at work. Another way is to, I guess you could call it cultivating their own energies, imbibe them with healing magic that they can grow it on their own. As a demon, half, whatever, you've sort of been siphoning off their positive energy, using them like they're incense sticks, burning them up," she looked away, scratching her neck. "I guess I didn't realize how stressful this summoning had been for you."
He sighed, dropping his shoulders. "I don't know how to stop doing whatever it is to the plants."
"Well, there goes that idea," she said with a sigh. "Here's to hoping this gets better. I should probably buy more plants, too."
"Yeah," he said, running his hand through his hair and looking away.
"I'll just go get the laptop then," she said, hurriedly getting to her feet. She cleared her history again and brought it back out to him.
"Thanks," he said, taking it from her.
"I'll just leave you be," she said, nodding to herself and returning to her room. She pulled out her phone, needing something to fiddle with. She paused then pulled up her contacts and looked for the contact Maddie had put into her phone. Her brother at the magical pet shelter's name was Alfred.
This chapter covered more of how Audrey's/human magic works, at least with regard to plants and reading other living things magic/magical energy. Ivan's will come up soon. Audrey's life continues even after summoning a demon.
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