Let’s Catch Up

Andras glanced at the busboy as he hurried around the bar to clean up messy tables. Ah, the woes of service workers. They never seem to stop, but it does make for dynamic posing in Andras’ eyes. Mindlessly, Andras sketched the busboy in his notebook while he sat in one of the booths. He leaned against his palm as he tried to get the busboy’s legs right. They looked strong and thick, yet made the busboy move with the elegance of a dancer. He wanted to get that vibe right in his drawings, like someone could brush their finger against the page and feel like they were touching the real person–

“You’re being creepy again.”

A drink was pushed over to him, making him snap out of his thoughts and look up at his friend. Noah sat across from Andras, staring down at the notebook while taking a sip of his drink. There was an unimpressed expression on his face, which made Andras snicker.

“It’s not creepy. I’m only practicing poses,” Andras argued, though there was no bite to his tone. He closed his notebook and took a sip of his drink. “Maybe you’re just jealous at how good my anatomy is.” He had a sly grin plastered on his face and he knew Noah wanted to punch it off of him. Ah, the beauty of friendship.

Noah rolled his eyes, but him not rebutting that last comment told Andras that he won. “Whatever. Tell me about what’s going on.”

Though, the redirection made him hum in confusion. “I didn’t realize it was all about me today. What about you?”

“Maybe when I’m casually talking to demons it can be about me. Don’t give me that humble bullshit,” Noah replied. His tone was as harsh as ever, but something told Andras that he was concerned about what he’s been doing lately. 

“As charming as ever…”

It wasn’t every day that Andras spent a few days around demons without killing them. Naturally, he had to give an explanation to his dear friend. Even Alejandro was pestering him about being more cautious, but he couldn’t help his curious nature. Those demons that he’s been talking to keep speaking about “redeeming” themselves. Hell, they’re spending time around a church to pray with one of the priests. Willingly hurting themselves with crosses and prayer! He had never seen anything like it in his whole hunting career. 

“Alejandro should’ve told you what happened. I got called in to exorcise a demon haunting the church.” Andras shrugged. “The usual.”

“You haven’t exorcised shit. You’re just fucking around.”

Andras raised a brow. “I didn’t realize I couldn’t have fun on the job.”

Noah rolled his eyes before gesturing vaguely at him. “You having ‘fun’ in a church sounds like you got replaced by a bodysnatcher. I don’t get how you started to toy with demons there of all places.” The idea of tolerating demons for more than a few minutes already sounded like hell to him, but at a church too? He knew fully well that Andras would be the first person to complain about going to church.

“I guess it is an interesting story,” Andras mused, “and since you’re so concerned about your dear friend, who am I to keep you worried?” While Noah tsked at the sappy response, he began to explain himself.

Andras looked up at the full moon beaming over him with a blank expression. He sighed before looking at his watch again. His contact should have been here already. Maybe the ghost got to him, he thought to himself morbidly. It was late in the night and he wanted nothing more than to go home to relax, but no. He had to go to a church and stand-alone for his contact, who just happened to also be a priest.

He would’ve thought that priests would be the first ones to know how to deal with vengeful spirits, but whatever. As long as he got paid he couldn’t complain. Still, he didn’t like imagining what kind of man his contact would be. One of those stuffy old priests, no doubt. Everyone in these places had some kind of stick in their asses. All he could do was prepare himself to get lectured about his appearance and how he should follow the path of god more, or whatever this dickhead would want to say–

“Hello?” a quiet voice called out to him.

The soft tone caught him off guard. Andras looked over –then had to look down– at the young man approaching him. He couldn’t help but take in all of his appearance with an amused expression. Maybe he hadn’t been in the church for a while, but were priests always this cute? Instead of a grouchy old man, Andras was met with petite, delicate features and a warm, dark complexion. The man nervously looked up at him with a shifting gaze as if he was unsure of what to say. If not for the priest's clothing, Andras would want to spend a night with him rather than pray with him.

Well, honestly he’d still think this way no matter what, but that’s neither here nor there.

“Good evening to you… Nakir, was it?” Andras had to stop himself from staring too much. 

Nakir only nodded in response. The quiet type, how adorable. 

But enough wasting time. Andras crossed his arms and gestured for Nakir to continue talking. “So, where’s the spirit you want gone? I’m sure you must be scared of its power.”

Nakir tensed at the claim. His hands were fidgeting, grabbing at the hems of his shirt as he shook his head. “There… is no spirit,” he finally admitted.

That made Andras pause. He narrowed his eyes at Nakir and tilted his head slightly. “You’re the one that contacted me, right?”

Nakir nodded again. It looked like he wanted to shrink in on himself and disappear. Hell, he couldn’t look Andras in the eyes anymore. 

“What happened to it, then? I’m sure it didn’t disappear on its own.” A so-called “dangerous” spirit could mean a lot of things in this field. It could be someone afraid of their lights flickering on and off, or it could be a full-blown possession. Andras learned to never take chances. All of these bastards needed to go back to hell, and he thought that Nakir would agree, but no. The priest didn’t respond.

Andras clicked his tongue, “Come now,” before he grabbed Nakir’s chin and forced him to lock eyes, “I only want to help. I would hate for a pretty thing like you to get hurt, so tell me what happened.”

Nakir sputtered incoherently. His golden eyes were wide as he tried to look everywhere but at Andras. “I’m– well, um– I’m sorry–” he stuttered before he finally admitted, “I’m helping him. Please– I don’t want to… hurt him.” His hands were clasped together as if he was praying.

It took Andras a moment to process those words, but he eventually laughed. A priest with a heart of gold. Who would’ve thought? “So you have seen him?”

He got another nod in response.

“Well, then,” his smile widened as he leaned down into Nakir’s space, “can I see him too? Just to be safe.”

And to his delight, he got yet another nod. It was cute how Nakir tried to squirm away from his touch. Though, it was a shame that someone like this wanted to devote himself to a church. He could think of a better life for a man like this—

“Holy shit, stop telling me how much you wanted to fuck the priest, dumbass. Tell me what the demon’s like.” Noah prodded Andras for more.

Oh, right. Andras was getting ahead of himself. Though, he couldn’t help but laugh as he remembered when he met the demon, boisterous and taunting in tone. “What a pathetic thing he is! I’ve never seen a demon act like that.”

He took another sip of his drink as he thought back on it. When Nakir brought him to see the demon, he had never seen such a display before. The demon was willingly praying for forgiveness. Even saying “god bless” looked like it hurt him, but he tried to continue. And then that expression– 

“He pleaded at me to not hurt him,” his grin widened as he remembered the sound, “it looked like he wanted to cry. I couldn’t tell if it was because of me or because of the rosary he was holding.”

Noah furrowed his brows. “The hell…? Are you sure that was a demon and not a ghost or something?”

Andras nodded. “Had the horns and everything. I have a feeling that he’s some sort of incubus. I saw that he had a tattoo right,” he gestured to his lower back, “here. Maybe there was a snake one too. Around his thigh.” He patted his right thigh for emphasis.

“What–” Noah exhaled deeply before shaking his head, “how do you even find out about that?” When he got a sly chuckle in return, he clicked his tongue and took a long sip of his drink. It wasn’t strong enough considering he was dealing with Andras. “Fucking pervert…”

“On the contrary, that demon is much more of a pervert than me. I can see it.”

Andras leaned back in his seat as he looked away in thought. Sure, he tended to look at Nakir to admire his physique, but he was only human. The demon, Acheron, must have more intense desires than him, and he was looking at Nakir all the same. “It’s only a matter of time before he snaps, then that poor little priest will be his victim. But Nakir didn’t listen to me when I said that.”

“Then kill that damned thing,” Noah bluntly said. “Over and done with. No defiled priests– because you better not fuck that priest, Andras.”

“I won’t, I won’t…” Andras put his hands up to feign innocence. “I like my men with a little bit more bite to them.” He stared directly at Noah as he said that, winking too.

Noah nearly choked on his drink and coughed. “Fuck you– my standards aren’t that low.”

Andras paid no mind to the glare he was getting. “But to answer your question, I want to spend a bit more time with the demon, so I won’t be killing him. Yet.” He could still remember how genuine Acheron sounded when he tried to make a case for himself. 

“I know I can change, hunter…” Those quivering words echoed in his head. No demon wanted to die at the hands of a human, but Acheron wanted to live in order to see if he could become pure. He had never seen a demon feel such guilt over their actions. Hell, he didn’t think they were capable of seeing what was wrong with what they were doing. 

Andras continued, “Nakir begged me not to hurt him. He really believes that he can change a demon, and the demon believes he can change too.” He looked at Noah with an amused expression. “Do you think it’s possible? A demon cleansing itself completely?”

Noah thought on it for a moment. He stared down at his drink while he swirled his contents before looking up and replying with a firm, “No.” He couldn’t help but smile at the ridiculous thought.

Andras burst out laughing, dropping his serious tone and reaching over to clink glasses with Noah. A toast to the same old, same old. “You took the word right out my mouth, my friend.”