Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Unlikely Friendship

Chapter 49: Unlikely Friendship

The two friends, Howard and Tamara, made their way through a lot of blackmail photos, some of which Howard had never shown the demon lady before. Her giggles seemed honest enough, but Howard knew she was hiding something.

When the cheesecake arrived, I smiled. With my spoon, I began to devour it. Like a lady, in small bites. Suddenly, I feel hazy, and I look up at Howard.

"Tams, this is for your own good," the old man says, and I narrow my eyes. Now, my specialty is to get vampires to dress up, but that doesn't mean that I can't throw fireballs.

"Love, I didn't think you would stoop so low, for the next picture," I snarl, and Howard holds up his hands.

"I will not take a photo of you. You may think of this, as your first therapy session," he winks at me, and I can see that, when he was younger, he must have been quite the looker. I narrow my eyes at him.

"Well, do you want to play twenty questions, eh? Fine, ask the first one," and with that, I relaxed into my chair.

"Ok. Why D-pop?" He asks, in that lovely honest way, that he knows to use around me.

"Why not? Don't you know how much work every dance is? It is like a love letter for the public," I tell him, and he nods.

"It is, I have to agree. But, why do you make some men dress up as women?" I can feel the honest interest in his voice. I shrug.

"I have always liked drag queens. I do remember, not too long ago, that you came to one of my shows in a dress," I smirk at him. He blushes.

"Well, I didn't want to be discovered," and it wasn't like there was a shortage of men, who came around the clubs in dresses or skirts. It was what the idols did. It was fashionable to emulate them.

"And the alcohol? Why do you keep on drowning yourself in it, Tams?" He asks me, and I sigh.

"Not now, love," I tell him. It is not like I want to lie to him. So, whatever he slipped into my cheesecake, is not activating. Yet, I can't change the subject, either.

"Yes, now, Tams. You are a wonderful young thing, and you waste it all away! Just when was the last time, when you had a steady relationship? I am not speaking about your butterflies, Tams," he waves a finger at me, at the last sentence. I shrug.

"My butterflies are always good company," I tell him, and he looks ready to yell at me. "What is it to you, love? It is not like it is your grave that I am digging."

"You could do so much, with what you have. Your words changed history," I roll my eyes. It is not like D-pop was not something this world could have come up on its own. I just nudged it along.

"That is the past, love. Haven't you heard? I am just the Demon Hag, these days," seeing as I am not dying, I decide to finish my cheesecake. Whatever has been slipped into it, doesn't have the same kick as before. And so, I am left to enjoy the creamy goodness.

"Don't use that moniker," Howard tells me, and then reaches out. "I have something to tell you."

I quirk an eyebrow, and then eat another spoonful from my cake. More than once, I tried to reinvent the fork. The locals seem to be pretty resistant to my efforts. At least, they weren't resistant, when I reinvented plumbing. I shudder at the memory of pre-me Florifel.

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"I am a Hero of Ultimate Fate. And I have decided to save you," Howard tells me. I can't help it, I giggle.

"Sorry, love. But, don't you want to save all the vampires, who I bully into being confused?" I ask him, and he cracks a smile.

"I bet they will continue on with the D-pop. I bet they have never been more well-fed, than during the age you led them in. Still, I think the men will leave the skirts at home, and pick up leather pants. Just saying," he must have noticed my eye roll, for him to add the last part.

"So, you want to save me, do you?" I ask him, humoring him. "Save away, Mister Hero."

"I have a cheat ability. Two, really," he looks to be wavering at that. Then, he gulps. I can see that he is yet to touch his cheesecake. "There are a few things you don't know about me, Tams."

"Well, is that new? People don't think I am a good listener," I tell him, and he shakes his head.

"No, you really aren't. Now, don't interrupt," he nudges his cheesecake towards me, and I notice that I have eaten mine.

"Do you want me to get fat?" I ask him, but take the plate.

"You are a vampire, Tams. You can't get fat," which is true, but that doesn't mean I can help myself from making the dig.

"How did you know?" I ask him. It was the worst mistake in my life, to let a vampire turn me. Now, I don't even know how many years since the fact, I linger. My soul getting thinner with each passing day.

One must never mix in the demon lord state, with the vampire curse. The result is a true immortal. I should know, seeing as…

"If you want it to end, you should just take some of my blood. It will work," I blink at Howard, noticing that he has been talking the whole time.

"Really?" I ask, as I take another spoonful of cake. "Are you sure?"

"Tams, you have suffered long enough. And I am tired. Let us go back to Earth together? Be friends again?" Howard asks. My lips turn up.

"And, if you end up a chick, we could totally hit it off," I say, going back to my airhead persona.

"Yeah, lets," we settle the bill, and go back to my place. His blood smells sweet. Like rat poison.

No one was more surprised than Ares and Allyn when the news reached them. The demon lady, found dead in bed with an old man. Ares has been grim ever since he heard. Something didn't add up. So, the two went to the funeral.

Of the most brazen, and most long-lived, demon lady in the multiverse.

A minute of silence for Tamara and Howard, who entered the reincarnation cycle together. Just like they wanted.