"You what?"

Aiden's tone is so icy that Jesse can feel the temperature in the room actually drop several degrees. His red eye is glaring right at Romeo, whose arms are also crossed.

Despite the fact that Aiden pretty much looks like he can murder Romeo at the moment, he's returning the glare with a good amount of heat. "I need more time to make a decision. I told you last night."

"I thought you meant you needed another night, not a fucking week!" Aiden looks incensed, raking a hand through his hair as he nearly snarls. "Goddamn, Romeo, you usually make your mind up in half a second, why do you now need to take who-knows-how-long deciding if you want to eat their heart?! You even said you wanted to eat it!"

"And I even said that I need more time." Romeo's voice is warning, a dangerous glint in his red-and-gold eye. "I don't care how pissed you are about this. The fact is, I. Need. More. Time. To. Think about it."

Jesse shrinks back a little, glancing between the two and making themselves look even smaller than they usually do. Which, believe me, is impressive. "Aiden's scary when he's mad..."

Maya gives a nonchalant shrug, still leaning against the wall. "Yeah, but if you think he's scary just like that, you haven't seen anything yet. Aiden has to hold back when it comes to Romeo."

"'Cause he's a demon lord?"

Gill gives a hum, watching Romeo and Aiden have a glare-off. "Not quite."

Jesse waits for him to elaborate on that.

He doesn't, so Lukas picks up on the slack for him.

"If Romeo dies, the four of us will die as well."

Jesse blinks back at Lukas. "... why?"

Lukas thumbs the corner of his mouth, before tilting his head. "You remember how we were asking you what your wish was? Humans with wishes are drawn to this world. The demon lords will form contracts with the humans that come here, if they can grant their wish."

"... kinda like making a deal with the devil?"

Maya huffs a laugh, twirling her hair around her finger. "Sort of, but... not quite. The human's wish will be granted if they can serve the demon lord for a thousand years in Cosmos."

Jesse's green eyes widen, looking like very pretty green marbles. "A thousand years..."

Perhaps they'd be willing to serve a demon lord for a thousand years if there is even a small chance that their wish can be granted.

"I guess you'd have to really, really want that wish... or be really, really desperate," Jesse muses after a moment, thumbing the corner of their mouth.

Lukas hums, adjusting his blindfold slightly. "Yeah. But there are people that are that desperate. Like Aiden, Maya, Gill and me."

Jesse looks at them all again, realization dawning on them. "You guys... all formed a contract with Romeo?"

"Yep. That's why we're all like this right now."

Jesse looks down at their knees, before back up at Lukas, tilting their head cautiously to the side. "If... if you don't my asking, what was your wish?"

They don't know why they ask this, to a bunch of people they barely know and people who could very easily (probably) kill them. It just occurs to them to ask.

To their credit, none of the three that Jesse is sitting near get offended at a rather personal question. Gill shrugs and tears his eyes from where the tension between Aiden and Romeo is growing heavier and heavier to look at Jesse. "We don't know."

He amends the statement upon spotting the look of utter confusion that crosses Jesse's face at that. "Or, uh, we don't remember. Our hearts were taken away, and our memories were sealed, so we wouldn't run away in the middle of the contract and break it."

Lukas pipes up. "That's why Aiden said that it was a bit hard for him to do yesterday when I told him to not be so heartless. It's a bit of a joke."

"Oh." Jesse pauses, before tapping their eyes. "Is that why your eyes are red? Like a demons'?"

"Yeah." Maya jerks her head at Romeo. "The lords' eyes are all weird- they have a ring of the normal color surrounding their pupils, but then they're red the rest of the way through. Think heterochromia iridis, except that it's much more uniform. But most demons only have red eyes, and right now, like Romeo said last night, we're all half demons. So like most demons, we can take on a more 'human' form." She gives a humorless grin. "It can be pretty inconvenient to have people stepping on a tail or whatnot."

Jesse gives a nod of understanding, so Maya continues. "We're half demons right now because we've been given the powers of demons. Humans are in demand for demon lords because we aren't beings of light or dark specifically- so, that means we can use both types of magic."

She pauses, before adding, "Also, what's most dangerous to demons wouldn't be as effective for us."

"I see..." Jesse bites their lip, before tilting their head at them. "Does- uh- does that mean you guys get your wish? After you're done serving Romeo?"

"Yeah, the wish isn't granted until after we finish our contract. So while there are some lovely wishes, like... 'I want my mom to get well', for example, those can't be granted. Time does move faster here than it does in the human world, but the wish is granted after the thousand years are up, so... if you made that wish, your mother would still be dead," Lukas contributes helpfully. "We know from that that that isn't a wish any of us made, as Romeo wouldn't have contracted us if he can't do it, but that's about all we know about our wishes."

Jesse nods. "I see," they repeat, because they sort of do see.

Romeo gives a frustrated sound a moment later, making Jesse glance back at the demon lord. "You know what, Aiden, why don't you... go do whatever the hell you do and calm down. Maybe go eat something." He glances at Jesse sidelong, which makes them blink at him. "I need you to bring Jesse back here by seven tonight, but otherwise you can do whatever you want to with them."

"Why here by seven?" Gill's brow quirks at that very specific requirement.

Romeo rolls his eyes; Jesse watches with interest as red-and-gold irises slide around the whites of his eyes in a very weird way. "Because it's less likely that anyone'll harass them like what happened yesterday if it seems that they are under my protection and I'm figuring something out- which is true- and also you know how dangerous it gets for humans after seven thirty."

"Ah, that's true... okay, then," Lukas mumbles.

Aiden's eyes narrow at Romeo, before a harsh huff of breath comes out of his mouth. "Fine. But I need to head back to the house first." His eyes flicker angrily to Lukas, Maya, and Gill. "You three, go head to that cafe place and just snag a seat. Jesse, you come with me."

Jesse blinks. "Ah, okay."


The trek back through town is a hassle.

Not really because anyone bothers them (even Sirena skirts out of the way upon seeing the look on Aiden's face), but primarily for the reason that Aiden moves too fast for Jesse to actually keep up without jogging or (when Aiden's speedwalking) running.

So it's not too much of a surprise that after ten minutes of Jesse basically having to sprint after Aiden, they end up falling behind, further and further until he disappears around a corner and Jesse scrambles to round it to find that he's somehow vanished. Fantastic.

"Ohhh, that little treat that Romeo's got holed up in his tower's here."

Jesse jumps about three feet into the air at the sound of the voice to their left, a man with his hair pulled back into a greasy ponytail leering at them. His two buddies, looking as though they might have more than one fake tooth, also sneer at Jesse.

"I, I'm going somewhere. I'm sorry." Jesse starts to walk away from them-

A hand crushes their arm. Jesse barely has time to even cry out before the man shoves them into an alley that they didn't notice, throwing them sharply to the ground.

They barely manage to catch themselves on their hands and knees, feeling their palms skid across the rough ground. From the stinging pain in them, they know they've skinned their hands.

"Aw, leaving so soon? We just want to play."

"Let's just have some fun, alright?"

"This is happening too fast. I don't wanna do this anymore."

Jesse swallows, slowly pushing themselves to their feet, turning around and backing away from the three. They somehow look bigger than they did before. "I... don't really want to."

"I don't care."

The demon's friend's lips part into a sickening grin. "What if we don't care?"

Leave.

You have to leave now.

You could scream.

But why would anyone care?

Jesse backs up slowly until their back nearly hits the wall, knowing that makes them look even smaller and more defenseless. The three men close in, Jesse's mind scrambling for something, anything, even with the fact that their heart is going faster than a rabbit and their hands are trembling uncontrollably.

And then it hits them.

If they want to leave, they will leave.

And then they dart forward.

If you've ever seen a squirrel run up a tree, you know how fast something with legs that short can move. Jesse shoots forward, to the three demons' surprise, and finds themselves diving into a roll, smacking through their legs and then flying onto their feet racing out of the alley, turning recklessly to the left and continuing to sprint, ignoring the shouts and irritation that fades from their ears-

They slam full-on into a leather-jacket-clad torso, literally bouncing off and catching themselves on the ground, wincing at the way their knee complains vocally. Aiden blinks at them a couple times, apparently not having expected them to shoot out of nowhere and then slam into him.

He scowls at them a moment later, making a prickle of guilt tighten the knot in their stomach. "Keep up, would you."

And he turns around and keeps striding through town, forcing Jesse to break back into a little run.


Jesse doesn't know what they're expecting when Aiden shoves open the door to the manor, striding through the halls and eventually throwing one door open, but it's certainly not a tiny garden.

Aiden seems to be poking through some of the flowers, his stern expression (for once) seeming softer and a little less irritated.

The flowers are certainly not that bad-looking, some of the leaves being pure white and some being black, blossoms ranging from black to red to white to gray to even a few pink-hued ones.

Jesse leans to look at one that looks a bit like a pot of roses, except the leaves are jet-black. "These are the flowers in Cosmos...? They don't look that different from the ones at home. 'Cept the color of the leaves."

Aiden gives a mild hum, making Jesse look over at him. He seems too invested in the flowers to really seem irritated or annoyed by their statements, or even just seem irritated in general. "Some of the flowers certainly look like the ones in your world, but..."

He glances up at them. "43.7 percent of them in Cosmos are carnivorous, while 67.9 percent of the plants in Cosmos are poisonous."

"... is this one over here carnivorous, poisonous, or both?" Jesse asks politely while trying not to show the fact that they're now tentatively edging away from the pot of roses.

Aiden gives what sounds almost like a huff of laughter, making Jesse look up to see a small smile on his face. "Nah, don't worry. The flowers in my garden are all harmless."

... he's smiling.

"Flowers always improve my mood, for some reason. It's... nostalgic." Aiden twirls a stem between his fingers, a thoughtful look gleaming in his right eye. "I wonder why, sometimes... maybe it has something to do with when I was a human."

Jesse gives a tentative hum and a smile. "Well, flowers are great. Did you know that the Victorians in my world actually had a language? If they gave you bouquets with certain flowers in 'em, it basically meant something. So you could give someone a bouquet that basically says 'I hate you'."

Aiden barks a laugh at that. "Hah, really? That's pretty cool. Maybe there's something like that in Cosmos, too."

He's quiet for a moment, still sorting through the plants. "That's why I'm not so happy about Romeo taking so long to decide about anything. Whenever he takes too long to decide, or sends us on a long mission, or even sends us traveling, we have to be on call, and there's not really anyone to take care of the plants."

The half-demon tilts his head to one side, regarding the flowers in his fingers. "The last time I left on a lengthy mission, Romeo said he'd take care of the flowers for me. I wasn't exactly sure he'd know what to do, but it wasn't like I had any other choice..."

An irritated sort of smile crosses his face at the memory, his fingers still ticking through the flowers carefully. "And ahhh, despite my hopes, when I came back, more than half of my flowers had died. If Lukas, Maya and Gill hadn't stopped me, I might have killed him that day."

Jesse gives a weak chuckle, scratching their cheek. "Ahh, I guess that's understandable... but why did you bring me here?"

Aiden's smile fades slowly. "Because..."

And then his gaze hardens, eyes going from almost soft to dangerous steel in not even a minute.

Jesse barely has time to brace themselves before they find him looming over them, gaze icy cold. "I don't want to spend much time having to watch over you. A human like you is going to be a hindrance. So if you cause us too much trouble, I'll kill you before your heart disappears."

Shivers shoot down Jesse's spine.

Don't cry. Don't make a sound. Don't waste my time.

Their back is pressing into the pot of flowers, but they simply swallow their tears and the fear as best as they can.

"Let me make one thing very clear to you," Aiden says, in a dangerously soft snarl. "I do not want to waste time on you. I do not want you to waste my time. I will kill you the second you become too much trouble."

I'm already too much trouble.

"So if you want a chance at staying alive, stay back and do exactly as we tell you, or we'll have to waste precious time saving your sorry ass, and I don't give a shit about doing that too much. Even without your heart, the demons in Cosmos will still consider you an exotic meal."

Aiden gives a dark, almost frightening chuckle, red eye glinting as he glares at Jesse. "So don't think about getting close to me," a step forward.

Jesse's back is pressing into the pot even more now.

"Don't waste my time with stupid questions," another step.

Jesse can't move anymore.

"And do exactly as I say, because if things go at all like they're supposed to, you'll be out of our hair by the end of the month. Got it?"

"I-" Jesse's voice chokes, catching in their throat before any of it can really come out, guilt clawing at their insides, a blink forcing tears out.

And then they realize what they've just done, hastily reaching up and scrubbing their eyes, shoulders trembling. "I- I've got it. I- I-" Their voice cracks, feeling more and more fear creep into them.

His hand moves.

Jesse instantly flinches away, almost knocking the pot of flowers over before they grab it, clumsily stabilizing it.

"I- I'll be at the door- you-" Now tears are beading in the corners of their eyes, but they're trying their best to scrub them away as hard and fast as they can before they can make it far down their face, just staring at the ground. "You finish up with the- the fl-" Another strangled sob that they crush in their throat.

Don't waste his time.

Nobody wants you, anyway.

Before Jesse can say anything else, they give a clumsy nod and run for the door, scrambling to run away from him and find their way to wait just inside the front door and scrub away the tears and put on a pleasant, mild expression and not cry, don't cry, don't cry.

They don't spot the way Aiden's head moves up to follow their path, confusion flickering in his eyes again.


A/N: Jesse needs love. They'll get it eventually, I promise.

I mean, I think.

Probably.

Responses to reviews!

Toni42: There were a couple hints that I think should've set off some warning bells. / Heheeeee x3 / Romeo is great and he will get more screentime later xD

TheAmberShadow: There IS a reason he has it on but I can't say why. /Hehehe, yeah xD / Yep, it's Romeo. xD He's a bit nicer in this fic. / Yeah... / We ain't in Wonderland unfortunately xD

That's all for now! See ya, so long, and g'bye!

x.X. A.L. X.x