Chapter 42: Chapter 42

"Sure... What do you mean by that though?" Stephanie's voice sounded cautious. She shuffled in her seat.

I pretended to hum and ponder, but in my head I already knew what I was going to say. The thing that concerned me was that I didn't know where the idea to say it came from. Perhaps that was the creative power you achieve when you no longer give a damn, I thought. Still, with a nonchalant smile, I replied.

"How about let's start with making out?"

Stephanie giggled for a moment, but almost immediately stopped herself and cleared her throat again. She took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes.

"You mean, you and the succubus?"

"I mean me and you," I answered bluntly.

Stephanie breathed out loudly and shook her head.

"You have a really direct way of talking Matt, but..." she smiled politely, "I'm afraid I'm not here for that."

"You said you will help me," I said.

"As a therapist and psychologist."

"I need to finish a task."

I don't know why I said all of that. I wasn't even sure where it came from. Stephanie opened her mouth, as if to speak, then simply shook her head.

"I... I'm sorry, Matt... This isn't appropriate," she shielded her eyes with her hand, rubbing her temples. She then seemed to fidget for a bit before bringin her hand beck down and looking at her wristwatch. "Oh, and, I'm afraid we have to close off our session for now. "

"Really?" I asked. I was surprised that she could put up the resistance. I was sure we shook hands enough.

Stephanie stood up and started walking to the door.

"Really. I think this was a successful first session, we've gone over a lot of stuff," she said confidently. "Now I just need to prepare for the next meeting."

Something wasn't right.

"How about we keep talking instead?" I asked, still trying to maintain my tone of voice, but the psych didn't turn around to look at me. "I'm sure the therapy will go smoother if we know each other better."

Without response, she took the last few steps. Once at the door, she opened it and gestured towards the exit, completely unfazed. A true professional.

"Please talk to Sophie, so she can schedule your next visit," she added with a smile.

"But..." I paused and heard a stifled giggle coming from my right.

"Next time," doctor Carder announced, nodding at the exit with a smile.

Feeling a bit confused while getting up, I heard Ra'zizi finally break into a chuckle.

"Guess she's not that easy! Must be the high IQ," she jeered.

I stood up and, keeping a relaxed posture, promptly walked over to the exit. Turning my head to Stephanie, I smiled again and—before I could think my actions through—put my hand on her shoulder.

"See you soon then."

She briskly pushed my hand off with a quick, jerky motion, and furrowed her left eyebrow, but then looked to her side and relaxed. Sophie was returning to her desk with a cup of coffee.

"Did it go well?" she asked cheerfully.

"Y-yes, Sophie, take care of scheduling Matthew for the next visit."

She then quickly closed the door behind her, and I heard her footsteps, sounding more agitated than before. Sophie set her cup on her desk, next to a big, gray plush cat, then booked me for the next time while I chatted her up. I casually strolled out of the office, a warmth of a sleek demonic hand on my shoulder and a giggle that only I could hear. But no more anxiety.

On my way back, I stopped by the games store. It was around time that Eris should have been there, but the owner confirmed she hadn't shown up, and she wasn't there yesterday. On my way home, I kept on checking my phone, hovering my finger over the virtual keyboard to type another text to check how she's doing. But that seemed wrong—like something the old me would do. The old me who kept on being tossed aside. The old me who kept pining after-...

What the hell was I talking about? "Old me"? Aside from the new power, it was me all along, stressed out of his mind, and lacking sleep, right? I was reminding myself to stop getting in over my head, and that more women would come along. Turning, and mulling over my next steps, Eris still popping up like an intrusive thought, I glanced up the walkway leading to the convenience store. There she was.

Up until now I've only seen Eris carry two expressions—intense concentration, for when she talked about anime or played tabletop games, or mischievous smile, when she made indecent jokes or talked about anime. This time she reminded me more of my third grade maths teacher after she caught the whole class cheating on the exam.

"Hi, Eris."

"Are you some sort of cheap sleezebag?" she asked once I was close. The question made me stop in my tracks, feeling called out.

"Me? Why?"

"Oh don't you bullshit me," she stomped her foot on the ground. "You thought I'd really fall for that 'I commune with demons thing', didn't you?"

"You... have a good memory..." I began. I thought she would be too drunk. I myself barely remembered what I told her. It was too late to go back on it. I had a plan. "But yes, it is true."

Eris chortled and started nodding her head.

"You expect me to believe that?" she said with a grin.

In the past, in this situation, I would have already been shaking, sweat rolling down my back, knees weak. But something driving me made me calm.

"Yes," I replied with a nod and a warm smile.

"Ha!" she said and paused for a moment, trying to gauge my reactions, but I simply walked a few steps over to my door to unlock it. Finally, she spoke again, "well, sorry, but you don't really strike me as someone very 'occult'."

The way she stressed the last word made her tone seem very mocking.

"Well, to be honest, I never considered myself very occult before this, either."

"But you just figured it out, blah, blah," she rolled her turquoise-green eyes. "You really think I'm some impressionable teenager, don't you, Matt?"

"I don't understand, what happened, Eris?" I replied. "You seemed so laid back, why are you acting like this now?"

"None of your business!"

"... Someone tried that on you already?"

She fell silent, but her eyebrows kept shifting. She raised her finger, but then lowered it, only to raise it again.

"Oh, this one is feisty," Ra'zizi chimed in, descending over Eris. She levitated to hover over her, patronizingly putting her forearms on Eris's shoulders and letting her giant breasts land on her head. "What do you say we have some fun with her, too?"

Eris shook her head to bring herself out of the mental block. Without agreeing on direction, we started slowly walking down the street.

"I already told you what happened to me. Don't you try now turning this against me! I trusted people because I thought they were cool and I would be cool, and... I realized, I felt... like I felt when I met you."

"You think I'm going to use you?" I asked.

"Ohhhhh, don't spoil it!" Ra'zizi insisted with a fake whine, then giggled loudly, flapping her wings.

"Can you... I mean... Shit!" she nervously stepped in place, "What are we even talking about? Demons aren't real! Can you even give me any evidence that you know anything about them as a hobby?"

"Well..."

"What's a familiar? A seal?" she asked.

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"Looks like you're way more knowledgeable about this than I am," I said. "Were you looking things up online?"

"I knew it! You're just a fraud, living in some podunk apartment, trying to get laid!"

"Is that what you think about me?" I said, calmly crossing the street.

"I..." Eris paused and clutched her head for a moment, then seemed to sway on her feet.

"Everything okay?" I asked. I did actually feel concerned.

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I just have those episodes where I... Do impulsive stuff."

"Like getting angry?"

"Like believing that some guy who seems nice isn't tricking me..." she sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, let's just forget it..."

Normally I would recognize this tone and become flustered. Here's another girl turning me down. However, I remember that I simply nodded and gave her a polite smile.

"Come on..." Ra'zizi whined, "you're letting her go. Are you that much of a wuss?"

I recognized from her tone she was messing with me. I saw it in her demon eyes, slit-like and leering at me while she hovered her hands over Eris's torso.

"What are you looking at?" Eris asked, then glanced around and up in confusion.

"Nothing," I said, "I just need to think a bit."

We continued in silence until we were almost at my apartment block.

"Well?" she asked.

"You were right about me, Eris, I hardly know anything about demons. Hell, I only met this succubus following a silly Internet guide," I replied as if I was telling her of a gardening mishap. "To be honest, I don't know if there's anything that I can say which would convince you."

"What?" Eris asked, looking disappointed and put off, and took a step back while I started going up the stairs. "So, I was right."

"But maybe there is something I can do. Or, rather, she," I said and nodded at Ra'zizi, still hovering above her. The succubus met my gaze and leaned over, putting her head next to Eris's.

"What's going on?" Eris asked, looking more and more confused.

When Ra'zizi scratched her ear with her fingernail, the unfashionably-dressed nerdy brunette jumped up and started looking around in bewilderment, almost falling over when she stumbled on the curb.

"What...? What the... This is a trick! It's just the wind, you're a phony!" she said, her voice raised and slightly trembling.

"I wish," I said without a care, then went up the stairs.

I counted to thirty and smiled upon hearing rapid footsteps chasing after me.

Approaching the door, I heard her right behind me. I turned to see her panting and staring at me wide-eyed. "How did you do it?!" she asked.

"It wasn't me," I said and saw her grimace and shake her heady.

"Phony! Phon-"

"Do it again," I said to Ra'zizi and waited to hear Eris gasp and jump again.

Whereas I'd expect a normal person to run at that point, Eris only stepped up closer.

"What the hell? How are you doing this!? Tell me!" she stepped forward and started making demands in a commanding tone, like a fascinated child.

"Again," I said turning the key, and heard Ra'zizi blowing air.

"Agh!" Eris yelped. "How?! God damn, how?!"

Her disposition changed entirely. Cool as I was acting, I found it impressive and a bit bewildering how enthusiastic this made her. Could I have found someone stranger than myself?

"You believe me now?" I said, and turned to her with a smile.

"I... I..." she kept looking at me with eyes somewhat glazed over. It seemed like she wavered between tearing up and getting ready to jump for joy.

I opened the door.

"Well, why don't you come i-"

I stopped mid-sentence, speechless.

Suzanne was standing in the hallway, donning a skin-tight faux leather suit. The tight mid section accentuated her womanly shape and the fit push-up bra together with the cleavage in the suit made her breasts seem about to pop out. She was holding a whip in her hand while tapping her foot on the floor.

"Well, well, took you long enough... You good-for-nothing dimwit," she said with that same tone and expression of a scolding parent and a reprimanding boss that she would always dish out towards me. My mind was racing for a second before I recalled Suzanne had the master keys to the apartments. I glanced towards Eris, and saw she was staring, dumbfounded.

Looking back at Suzanne, she barely exchanged glances with her before speaking again.

"Who's this?"

"That's..."

I didn't feel cool anymore. In fact, I could feel my cheeks getting redder, and the sweat started building up on my skin again. There's a lot I could bullshit about, but now there was no need to. At least Eris knew I wasn't bluffing. Ra'zizi burst out laughing.

"That's... Eris, she-" I began, holding my hand up in the air, trying to gesture calmly. I turned to Eris to gauge her reaction, but she simply had an expression of a fish taken out of water, moving her eyes rapidly between me and Suzanne.

"Some new girlfriend of yours?!" I heard Suzanne say angrily and felt a pull on my hand.

"I-uh-" I wavered, taking a few steps towards her.

"Don't make me laugh," she jeered, "a dweeb like you? With a new girl?"

She pulled me by the neck close enough for my arm to sink into her cleavage. I felt the softness of her breasts pushing through the warmed up leather, enveloping me. I felt like the old, confused, me again. What would I do if Suzanne ditched me now?

I turned my eyes to Eris, trying to make my best pleading face. She didn't respond, mouth open and right eye twitching every now and then, staring at us while Ra'zizi kept on giggling.

"Come onnnn," Suzanne groaned, "you have a lot of work to do. Don't you dare say no!"

"Eris," I said, trying to come up with something to say. "I really meant it... Back then..."

Trying to stop Suzanne from dragging me to the bedroom, I dug my heels into the floor.

"Stop resisting!" Suzanne commanded, and started shaking my shoulders. Her motions were pushing my arm further into her soft body.

"I can explain all of this," I said to Eris with a shaky, quiet voice. "I am-"

"Can I stay?" she finally asked.

Everyone stood silent. Even Ra'zizi stopped laughing. Eris's eyes bounced between me and Suzanne for a few times more before she took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes.

"I want to watch," she said.

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