"Mmm I'm so sorry, bitch," He huffed, shutting his eyes and turning his head away again. He wondered if he really needed this Contract, but it was better than running around and letting nasty Humans use him as a cum rag.
"No, no paper. There's a thing I have to do but I'll do it later. Do you have a better blanket? I want a blanket."
"You can't just call me a bitch and then expect me to do shit for you, dumbass." Bryn undermined his words by crossing over to the hall closet, grabbing one of his coziest blankets, and chucking it at Zack's head. From there he meandered into the kitchen, grabbing some Advil from a cabinet and pouring himself a mug of coffee. "So do I pay you wages, or is letting you sleep here gift enough?"
Zack ignored him and let the blanket hit him at full force. Maybe he'd stay completely still and act like he suffocated or broke his neck by the blanket so he didn't have to answer Bryn's dumb questions. Well, they weren't dumb, but Zack was going to act like they were because he was petty and annoying. Just like Bryn.
"Listen, I know you're not dead now, you can stop pretending to be just to get out of talking." Bryn swallowed the pills alongside his coffee, wandering over to the couch and plopping down in the sliver of space not taken up by Zack. "Listen, all this wishy-washy shit is giving me whiplash. You either want to be here or you don't, make up your mind." He grabbed the remote and turned on some kind of talk show.
Zack cuddled into a burrito of comfy blanket, huffing loudly as he poked his head cutely from the fuzzy depths.
"Fine. I want to stay here but you're a stupid bitch. Your place is nice and you don't want to fuck me because you're afraid I'll hurt you, and god damnit I wish it was like that in every Human. But it's not. So I have to be abrasive. Anyway, I use my blood and a feather to seal the Contract and you get my mark on your shoulder."
Bryn blinked slowly, trying to process what the fuck he'd just hear. Zack was… a demon. It explained why he was such a dick. He covered his surprise with sarcasm. "Wrong on two counts. First of all, I don't want to fuck you because you're an abrasive asshole with no social skills. Second of all, you don't have to be abrasive, you chose to be abrasive. I know because I'm choosing to do the same thing right now."
"You are… annoying. I chose to be abrasive because if I don't Humans will use me more as a thing to put their dick in rather than as a scary Demon. Which they do, but it'll be more. So it's part of my job, Human." He snuggled deeper into the blanket and shut his eyes. "Just whatever. I have no social skills. Shut up." His voice was deep and angry with annoyance.
Bryn rolled his eyes, gently pushing Zack's feet over so he could sit more comfortably. "No." He took another sip of his coffee and gave Zack a sincere look. "And don't make your voice all low like that, it's more sexy than intimidating. If you really wanna put boys off, you gotta show more teeth."
Zack threw his feet up onto Bryn angrily, kicking him in the stomach and snuggling closer into his blanket and hissing angrily, his teeth flashing in the faint light of the TV and the sun. He continued to ignore the Human, his face disappearing and his hair tufting up to be the only thing visible.
Bryn wheezed quietly and smacked him on the shin, muttering something insincere about the thanks he got for giving good advice. He leaned over Zack's legs to set down his coffee and didn't pay much attention to the fact that they were in his lap afterward. "Hey, pouty, when are we getting the contract signed?"
"Never, fuck you," He mumbled into his blanket, shutting his eyes and squeezing them tight to try to go back to sleep. He was tired and he just wanted to cuddle something, but the Human was the only living thing in the house. And there was no way in Hell he was cuddling that mess of a person, nu-uh.
"Fuck you too, sunshine." Bryn pushed Zack's legs out of his lap, forcing him into some semblance of a sitting position. "We either get it done now or get it done at the end of an eight-hour shift when I'm infinitely more bitchy. Take your pick."
Zack's legs went flying back up and intentionally kicked the shit out of his stomach, growling loudly and pushing on him with his legs. He wanted the Human to get up and leave already. "I don't know. I can probably find some other Contract in eight hours before I'm stuck with you for the rest of the time you want me around."
"I'm probably the only person around who's not going to treat you like a cum dumpster," Bryn replied, voice surprisingly strong despite his wheezing breaths. He didn't know why he wanted this, but he did. Badly. "Plus you won't see me for the whole contract, I have this thing called a job that keeps me out of the house. You be alone for most of the day."
"I have to check in on you to make sure you're okay every hour because I'll be a companion. So like… No, we won't be apart, you wanted companionship so you're gonna get it and live with me." He settled his legs down again with a deep huffing noise.
"You're a demon, you don't know how to fucking negotiate?" Bryn settled back into his spot on the couch, rubbing his stomach with a grouchy sigh. "I don't want to see you every hour, isn't this contract supposed to be about me?"
"Yes, that's why I have to see you every hour. I have to make sure you're happy and you don't need anything. I'd probably just drop in, call you cunt or something to make sure you still have your head on your shoulders and disappear again."
"You really know how to make me smile, sunshine." Bryn glared over at him. "I just love it when I get called a cunt, why don't you try whore next? Or maybe stuck up frigid slut, if you're feeling particularly kind." His voice was more bitter than normal, hinting at a painful defense mechanism instead of the normal bitchy sarcasm.
"Oh shut up." He forked his feet under the Human and pushed him off of his own couch. "Go aaawwwwaaaaayyy. I don't want you to complain about nothing." He disappeared completely into the sheets again with another angry sigh, squeezing his eyes shut like an angry cat.
Bryn swatted him on the thigh as he walked into the bedroom to change, returning with a dead-eyed scowl and a credit card which he pressed into Zack's hands. "Buy some new clothes, your old ones look like shit. It has a $1000 dollar limit, there's a goodwill two blocks from the grocery store. We sign the contract when I get home." With that he stormed out the door, on his way to work.
"Whatever," He huffed, throwing the credit card after a brief panic over his slapped thigh. He couldn't help it. He absolutely hated being swatted, even if it was playful or not as mean or hard. He should be used to it, especially to the thighs, but he wasn't.
But in a few hours he got up again from his sleep and went out. He'd make this Human's place look good, not him. Maybe if he had a few dollars left over he'd get some boxers and maybe another shirt but that's it.
(Skip to when Bryn gets back home?)
(yeyeyeye)
Bryn kicked open the door and collapsed face-first onto the couch, agonized groan muffled against the grey cushions. His face hurt from smiling, his feet hurt from standing for an hour straight, and his soul hurt from the woman who decided to blame her mistake on the babyfaced new casier who Bryn just had to defend because seriously, the kid was about to cry. "I hate retail and I want you to murder me instead of becoming my companion."
The apartment had become clean and Zack was in the middle of painting the scruffy walls of his bathroom. He had met the 1000 dollar limit and actually got clothes and food, so it was all good. Zack could do a lot with that kind of money. He replaced the rinky fridge and got the stove working again and got new dishes. It wasn't a lot but it was a few steps closer to a nice life. He wasn't there to answer the Human's anger.
Bryn was slightly annoyed- wasn't the whole fucking point of this companionship thing having someone to come home to?- but that mutated into a searing discomfort when he noticed that Zack had changed the house. Sure, it was messy and musty and not well taken care of but it was familiar enough not to set Bryn off. Now he felt all prickly and on edge, like he was intruding in someone else's space. He scrambled around the house until he found Zack and when he did he was teetering between impressed and pissed. "What the fuck did you do to my apartment?"
Zack huffed and went to shut the door on him. "I thought you'd be home later; I'm not done yet," He just huffed as he continued painting the grey walls a quaint gray color with a roller. He was almost done and he had already cleaned the bathrooms and replaced the curtains for the showers. He was scarred at how much mess there had been and it was hard to scar a Demon. But it looked nicer and Bryn mentioned a nicer life, so he got it.
"I asked about what the hell you did, not your fuckin opinion." Bryn forced his way into the bathroom, shoulders curled in as he took in the changes. The idea of Zack creeping around while he was gone, changing things in the apartment without Bryn every knowing, made him nauseous. He was going to have a nervous breakdown if he'd done anything more than lightly clean the bedroom. "How the hell did you extrapolate this out of me telling you that your clothes look like shit!?"
All well, Zack just said to himself. The Human could suck it up, his apartment was a mess and he needed to piece himself together if he wanted a better life.
"I did get better clothes if that's what you want to hear," Zack drawled sarcastically. "I just wasn't going to let myself or you live in this mess. It was disgusting, and I've seen filth. So don't even start giving me shit, I stayed within my budget and got food and dishes and new appliances for you."
On one hand, this situation was better. On the other, just being in the newly altered bathroom made his skin crawl and he was finding it very difficult to breathe- not just because of the paint fumes. "Oh yes, I'm so incredibly grateful." It was hard to tell if it was sincerity or sarcasm, especially since Bryn didn't quite know himself.
