Jesse doesn't really remember falling asleep.

They sort of vaguely remember leaning their head tentatively on Stella's shoulder for a long while, and then they abruptly wake up with their face pressed to the pillow and Reuben snuffling in his sleep in their arms.

So that's a thing that Jesse wakes up with, blinking blearily and being incredibly disoriented about everything.

After a while of trying to decide what to wear, they put their overalls on over their new red shirt and tug on the fuzzy black jacket, padding through the hallways in their socks (Stella made them take off their shoes the second they walked into the house the night before, and they can't blame her because look at this floor) until they manage to find the kitchen.

Their face practically lights up at the fact that they see Aiden at the counter, despite the fact that he's holding an ice pack to his neck and... well... it's Aiden.

"You guys are back!"

Aiden jumps, banging his knees into the counter with a swear and almost fumbling the ice pack as he spins around on the chair to see them, long enough for Jesse to spot the deep purple bruise at the base of his neck before he claps the ice pack back to it.

"Oh. Hi." He rubs a hand down his face, looking vaguely irritated and tired- Jesse can see some bags under his eyes. "Uh... morning. You're up early."

"Mmhm." Jesse treads closer, regarding the area that he's holding the ice pack to with slight concern. "What happened yesterday? We got really worried."

"Bar fight." Aiden winces as he presses the ice pack a little too deep into the bruise. "We got all the stuff on our list, so we decided we wanted to see if there was more info floating around about the issue or even the party, but then some demon got a little too handsy with Maya and... well, things went downhill from there."

"Oh." Jesse frowns at the bruise. "Did you guys get too beat up?"

Aiden gives a grunt. "Not really. Gill's got a split lip and a black eye, and Maya's got a massive bruise on her calf, and I've got this gem from some demon who managed to punch me, but otherwise we ended up a lot better than the other guys."

Jesse hums, twisting the sleeve of their new jacket and giving him the tiniest little smile. "Well, I'm glad you guys are okay."

Aiden grunts again in response, and the room falls into a very stilted silence.

"How long've you been icing the bruise?" Jesse asks, when the silence gets to be quite awkward and they've decided they don't really feel like just standing and watching Aiden hold the ice pack to the rather purple bruise.

Aiden glances at them, still holding the ice pack in place. "Past seven hours."

"Oh! No no no, don't do that," and Jesse quickly pads across the kitchen floor and tugs his hand free hastily, "you should really only ice the bruise for ten minutes at a time and then wait twenty minutes to put it on again. If Stella's got a heating pad or something that'd be better; that makes bruises heal faster, since... you've already got a really big one."

Aiden blinks as Jesse removes the ice pack and goes to put it on a towel so it doesn't get the counter wet. "You sure?"

"Yeah; once the bruise is already that bad it's usually better to put some heat on it so the bruise goes away faster. The ice is mostly to prevent swelling and initial bruising."

Jesse frowns, before taking a towel and going over to the sink. "If we soak it in hot water and then wring it out, this should be an okay temporary heating pad 'til Stella can actually find one..."

The half-demon watches Jesse soak said towel with hot (not boiling) water and then wring it out multiple times, before the tiny seventeen-year-old is climbing up onto the chair next to him with some difficulty and plopping the slightly-damp towel on his shoulder.

"You know a lot about bruises."

Jesse looks up at him, slightly startled at the comment, before losing their balance and almost toppling off the chair altogether before they manage to catch the edge of the counter and haul themselves into it so that their side bangs into it.

"... and I can sort of see why," Aiden finishes drily.

Jesse gives an awkward half-chuckle before giving him a smile. "Um... yeah. I'm glad you guys are okay."

Aiden doesn't respond. He just looks at them for a while, long enough for a little red flush to creep into their cheeks and for them to want to break eye contact with him, but that could be taken as rude, so they just keep blinking at him.

They're therefore a bit relieved when Lukas comes into the room, a smile coming over his lips at the sight of Jesse and Aiden sitting at the counter. "Oh, hey, Jesse. Morning Aiden- what are you doing with a towel on your neck?"

"They said a heating pad is better for a bruise once the bruise has actually formed."

"Or just putting heat on it," Jesse contributes helpfully.

Lukas ruffles their hair, making them giggle and swat at him. "Well, you're a regular problem-solver, aren't you. Aiden, hang on, I might have a spell that won't have to make you sit around with a... damp towel on your shoulder all day..."


Stella's the next to breeze into the kitchen, looking just as prim and perfect and put-together as usual. Maya follows several minutes later, looking quite normal except for a slight limp that she waves off when Jesse asks her about the bruise (but she does look rather relieved when Lukas over fusses her and forces her to sit in a chair), and Gill comes in a minute later icing his eye with his split lip being pretty obvious.

Followed by Lukas tugging it off and casting a heating spell on it, to Gill's confusion until Jesse quickly explains.

Petra tromps in a minute later, red hair looking as wild as a lion's (which Stella's fingers twitch at, looking almost as if she wants to run a brush through her hair and tame it, but beyond that she simply looks at Petra for a moment, and Jesse can see the apologies dancing on her tongue, slipping into the air in a syllable, before she clamps her lips shut and goes back to making something that Lukas quietly assures Jesse that they're not eating for breakfast, since they're a bit frightened at how it looks like the mixture is moving).

Breakfast, for Jesse, is thankfully not a weird mixture of something that looks like Jell-O and cake that some of the other demons are eating, but Lukas grabbing several things that look vaguely like bread and fruit and putting them in front of Jesse.

Jesse is, understandably, a bit nervous about eating something that looks like black bread and gray fruit, but upon actually eating it they're pleasantly surprised to find that it tastes something like eating chalky lemon squares, and manage to eat the whole thing.

It's easier for them. They're not dealing with having to wince every time they open their mouth or bump their shoulder or leg, and they're not glancing awkwardly at someone else before looking back at the table whenever accidental eye contact is made.

Eventually, Lukas decides they'd better get going if they want to reach Sky City by evening, and after a lot of muddling around and grabbing clothes and Aiden tripping over the two vessel creatures in rapid succession (and then Stella having to reprimand him for saying a rather rude word in Lluna's presence, although Lluna doesn't seem to mind as she's bleating at Reuben cheerfully and Reuben's snorting back and Jesse's just torn between watching the two), the six of them are relatively presentable (Jesse suspects that the reason Petra wears a bandana is just so she has to do less with her hair) and ready to leave.

"I'll see you six at the party?" Stella asks lightly in the foyer as Maya struggles with getting her boots on, eyes resting briefly on Jesse and- to Jesse and Petra's surprise- Petra.

The redheaded half-demon is stiff for a moment, red eyes meeting Stella's. Her jaw has tightened slightly as she regards Stella.

A part of Jesse half-expects her to just haul off and punch Stella in the face. Another part of Jesse just expects Petra to scowl at Stella and snark something in her direction.

What not even one part of Jesse expects is for her to take a deep breath, crossing her arms and giving Stella a tight little nod, something that doesn't look like she's glowering at Stella like she wants to rip out the woman's guts coming over her face.

"I guess you will."

Stella looks vaguely surprised about the reaction as well, but her composure is recovered only a moment later. "Alright, sweethearts. Be careful, there's been some gang wandering around Hizelk lately trying to rob people."

Aiden arches his eyebrow at her from where he's holding. "Stella, no offense intended, but we can handle groups of fifty demons trying to kill us. I think we can handle a small gang of robbers."

"No, this is... actually a little concerning, I do really think you should be careful."

Stella's usually flamboyant manner has gone to a rather serious one, her hand shifting to rest on her collarbone as she regards the half-demons with concerned red eyes. "Their tactic actually works. No one's willing to say what it is, or at least no one who's survived them cares to talk about it, but it apparently hasn't failed yet."

Petra's brow furrows. "Oh yeah. I think Ivor mentioned them sometime a week or two ago."

A moment later, it clears slightly as she returns to looking at Stella. "We'll keep it in mind."


Jesse can feel someone watching them again.

It had stopped in Champion City, but now that they're back on the road, they can feel that strange, almost hungry gaze boring into their back, green backpack with some of the supplies in there. They'd split a little bit of everything with the others in case one of them got separated from the group for whatever reason, or if one of them lost their supplies, or et cetera.

They weren't going to argue. Considering a lot of books had people packing one thing into one bag, losing said bag, and then dying of hunger or thirst or whatnot, splitting up the supplies just seemed smarter.

The horse (which they summoned just outside of Champion City by pressing their fingers to the tattoo on Lukas's careful instruction, and who was very happy to see them) is trotting along fairly quickly, the other demons moving quite quickly but not as quickly as in their 'shadow forms'.

(Jesse is somewhat relieved about that. They're not sure their stomach can handle another full-out run like the previous one, and they don't want to throw up on the poor horse.)

When Jesse asks why that is the next time the demons slow down to take a short break from moving quickly and then pick the pace back up, Lukas gives a sheepish laugh and says that they don't usually rush that way, since it tires out their shadow form and then they can't actually use it for a few days afterwards.

Petra chimes in that it was their fault for not realizing they could still use their shadow forms without going at the speed of light, which causes Aiden to whack her over the back of the head and teasingly berate her about it being her own fault and not helping them resolve the fight faster, which would've given them much more time to get to Champion City without rushing.

The horse that Jesse's riding on (who Jesse has, for reasons unbeknownst to even themselves, privately decided to call Bob) nickers softly as Jesse holds onto its neck, gently squashing Reuben into the horse's neck as well to keep the pig from falling off. "D'you think we'll get to Sky City on time today?"

"Well, we're making good time, considering we're not in shadow form and a few of us are injured," Gill muses from where he's currently walking at a brisk trot, "I think we'll get there in time before night falls."

"And thanks to our stupid lord finally actually giving us our ID cards," Aiden mutters under his breath, although still loudly enough to be heard, "we can actually get into the city."

Petra rolls her eyes at Aiden's complaining."Oh, alright, you cynical piece of crap, quit complaining about Romeo."

Aiden arches his eyebrow at her with the most unimpressed look on his face that has ever crossed it.

"Seriously. He's a bit scatterbrained, and I know he's not that awesome compared to some of the other lords, but he's really not that-"

"Hello?"

Jesse falls off of Bob, who whinnies in alarm along with Reuben's startled squeal until Lukas dives forward and keeps them from having a very one-sidedly enthusiastic greeting with the floor. "You alright?"

"Uh-huh, I- I just thought I heard Romeo's voice," Jesse replies, noting apologetically that he sounds a bit out-of-breath from hitting the floor the way he did. "From somewhere in my pocket."

Maya blinks at Jesse startledly. "Oh, I heard him too..."

"Me too." Gill taps his ear as if he's trying to knock water out of it, frowning deeply.

He's not the only one- Aiden has a rather stricken expression on his face as he glances around warily, and Petra is rubbing her own ear. "Is it possible to have a group hallucination?"

"Unless it was by some weird circumstance of magic, no," Lukas muses quietly.

... magic...

A moment later, Jesse wiggles out of Lukas's grip and starts rifling through their inventory, shoving aside clothing until they grab something hard and smooth and then haul it out of their inventory, almost knocking the spellbook onto the floor.

"Romeo! Hi I'm really sorry we didn't contact you yesterday we totally forgot!" Jesse blurts out in a single breath, which makes Aiden pause and glance at them in surprise.

Perhaps he's surprised at how much air they are able to retain in their lungs.

Romeo's face blinks back at them from the magic mirror that they shoved into their inventory the day before, before a mock-annoyed look comes over his face.

It's easy to tell that he's just putting up an act, as his lips keep curling up in a smirk.

"I do believe I said to contact me as soon as you received the mirror yesterday, did I not?" The lord leans back and teasingly tsks his tongue, the mirror apparently not having to rely on him holding it as his arms cross over his chest. "You October Children, such disappointments."

Petra rolls her eyes in a good-natured way. "Hello to you too, Romeo."

He blinks, before giving her a half-smile. "Ah, hello, Petra. Didn't realize you wandered over to Hizelk-Narvid territory. I thought you liked hanging around in Yurin and Jupin more?"

"Jupin is chaos and Yurin is too fucking cold," she replies bluntly, which makes Maya snort.

Perhaps another reason Jesse can't see Romeo as a lord is that he lets his contracted humans (half-demons? They are technically not human, after all) speak to him as if he was their equal. Lords are usually much more pompous and puffed up.

Like frogs.

"Besides, kinda glad I was in the area. These guys were all getting jumped by a gang of robbers when I dropped in," Petra is saying when Jesse has recovered from the mental image of Romeo being a frog.

Romeo gives a thoughtful hum, fingering his collar as his red-and-gold eyes glaze out of focus. "Ah, so that's what the corpses half a mile outside of the Underneath are, I was wondering about those..."

Lukas graciously deigns to change the subject, seeing as Jesse turns rather pale and a wee bit green at those words. "Uh, our stay in Champion City was... relatively uneventful."

"Yes, I gather from the split lip and the fact that Gill looks like half a panda," Romeo replies, drily.

"It's a bar fight in the demon world and a demon was getting handsy with Maya," Aiden grumbles in explanation, which isn't a very good one.

"Ah, I take that back. That sounds about regular with you five."

Lukas cuts in before Aiden can deliver an undoubtedly scathing response. "But we're making quite good time. We should make it to Sky City before evening without trouble."

Romeo hums before Jesse can remind them of the robbers that Stella warned them about. "Ah, that's good. Isa'll be delighted to see you five." He pauses. "And Harper and Mevia, I suppose."

"Harper's weird," Gill murmurs.

Aiden shoots him a look, but he doesn't argue.

"Mevia's more violent than her, so I'll take Harper any day," Maya hums, leaning against the horse, before Bob snarls at her and she hastily pulls away.

"She barely ever talks to anyone unless she's judging them or helping someone build something," Gill shoots back, "and then when she does she either speaks in the most convoluted technobabble ever or doesn't even speak in full sentences. I've only ever seen her act normal with other lords, and then she acts like she's someone's mom."

"And Mevia nearly lopped off my head with an axe last time when I tapped her on the shoulder," Maya replies, "I'll take the technobabble and momness any day."

Gill rolls his eyes at her. "Oh, of course you would, Miss Pretty Hair."

"Fuck you, you bearded git."

Romeo gives the now-bickering half-demons a tired look, before sighing and massaging his temples. "Yes, you... would expect them all to be a bit more similar, I suppose."

Jesse blinks as Lukas, Aiden, and Petra concede the point, before looking around up at them. "Why?"

Romeo ponders how exactly to explain whatever the explanation is, before apparently deciding something along the lines of fuck it and just bluntly saying what he's thinking.

Which happens to be, "Isa, Mevia, and Harper are actually technically all the same person."

Jesse blinks once.

Blinks twice.

And then repeats a phrase that they're pretty sure they're going to be repeating many, many times in Cosmos.

"I'm sorry, what?"


A/N: Fun times, fun times xD

Petra's... less likely to kill Stella, and Jesse finally remembers to contact Romeo again xD

I need to describe more of Hizelk's scenery...

And more worldbuilding next chapter!

Responses to reviews!

TheAmberShadow: Vessel creatures are VERY difficult to actually discern. For the most part, they just look like normal animals. And in Cosmos, human animals are worth less than coppers, and Cosmos animals are... very, very dangerous. Some can be tamed (like the horses), but it takes a HUGE amount of work and patience because... let me put it this way, dealing with them is more likely to end up in injury. Especially if the animal has bonded with someone and you try to take them away from that person. / You're not allowed to teleport into buildings. Staying outside basically ensures that no one dangerous enters the shop, front or back. Beyond that, there's also the fact that the cashier and her friend are low-level demons that don't have much of an interest in fighting, as this is more on the Hizelkian end of town. / Explained :3 / Thank :3 / Indeed xD

Toni42: Yes. It was an accident, and Stella's been beating herself up about it, but... it's not like she can really help what she is, although she is doing her damndest to not let it happen again, since she's older and the first time it happened she was very young and didn't really know what she was doing.

LegendEmpress: I wouldn't say they're popular, but I do like them. x3 / Details are great xD

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

x.X. A.L. X.x