Our Devils, page 6
“I got hungry” he admitted with a sheepish grin, and she squeed at his gummy voice.
Aaron opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it. She wasn’t going to call the cops, and Pulsar could handle himself. So Aaron went back to shopping.
He gathered up a few weapons, an assortment of other supplies, and headed for the register. By then, the girl was petting Pulsar’s head. He leaned into it, squinting and stomping his foot in satisfaction. Aaron chortled. Reluctantly, she broke away to work the register, speaking a mile a minute. Aaron gulped and paid enough to make his butt pucker.
On the way out, she asked “Can I take a selfie?”
Aaron took a deep breath, stalling to let himself think. “Just don’t post it anywhere, yeah? We’re sort of on the down low.”
“Copy that!” she squeaked, snapping several photos. After the first few, Pulsar got the idea and started making all sorts of goofy poses and faces, throwing peace signs up, and even making a duck face. He started getting in tighter for more poses, his body pressed up against the girl’s side.
Aaron started to wonder if the devil knew how to self regulate. “Down, boy,” he laughed, only half joking. Pulsar eased off, perhaps a little disappointed, as the girl finished snapping the last few photos. They said their goodbyes and he got one last scratch behind the ears, swooning like a fool.
The devil plopped into the passenger seat, tearing into a bag of jerky. “I like her,” he chirped.
“Yeah, I bet you do,” Aaron chuckled. “You’re making all sorts of friends today.”
“So are you,” Pulsar said without a hint of irony.
“I’m just along for the ride.”
“Nuh uh.” Pulsar gulped down the bag in a single bite and started on the next one. “She liked you.”
“She liked you.” Aaron smiled, knowing better.
“You should fuck her,” said the devil. He said it as casually as you might say ‘You should ask for her number.’
Aaron actually laughed out loud. He had no idea how to even engage with that, so he just drove and let the moment pass.
They drove in silence, the devil craning his head to gawk at the world outside as he passed. He asked about the headlights and gas stations and bumper stickers, and who lives in that building, and why that guy can’t drive straight, and why that truck has a picture of bread on the side, and after a while he petered out. The human turned up the stereo, letting a groovy analog bass carry them home.
That night, they ordered takeout and had weed delivered. Despite everything that they had been through, Pulsar was not prepared for his next challenge: doing dabs.
“Your hands are like… what?”
They held their palms together, both trying not to crack up. Pulsar’s hands were covered in thick, shaggy fur that only cropped up again across his chest, and arguably on his tail. It was soft and fluffy, but a little hard and wiry at the ends, like a German shepherd’s tail. His hard claws caught the light and glinted like onyx.
“Why are your hands so small?” The devil wheezed with laughter. They both did, for entirely too long.
Aaron couldn’t stop grinning. “We’re being total stereotypes dude.”
“Stereo types?”
Aaron chuckled. “Yeah like… looking at your hands on weed is a thing. Like, ‘Have you ever really looked at your hand… ON WEED?’ “
Pulsar didn’t have to understand to laugh. Really, any combination of words at all could have sent him into orbit. “So a stereotype is when you do something stupid?”
“No, man. A stereotype is like when… huh.. Okay. Ask me again when I’m less high.”
Pulsar laughed and grabbed his human’s hand again, utterly fascinated. “Skin is so weird. Don’t you get cold?”
“Me? No. I wear shorts in winter.”
“Humans don’t get cold?”
“No, we do. Humans do. I don’t. I’m insulated.” Aaron patted his substantial stomach.
“Oh.” The devil looked at the hand so closely, his monstrous face only inches away.
The human suddenly felt self conscious and gently pulled his hand away. “Do you have drugs where you come from?”
“No. Uh… no? We have spores that make you feel funny. Is that drugs?”
“Is it good funny?”
“Maybe?”
Aaron chuckled. “Then it’s drugs.”
“What if it’s bad funny?” Pulsar dragged the hand back towards him.
“Do you take them anyway?”
The devil bobbed his head playfully. “Yeah, sometimes.”
“Then it’s drugs.”
The devil held his fists up in victory. “We have drugs!”
Chapter 10
After an hour of sparring and ranged training, Aaron finally stopped for his first breather. “I thought they’d be here by now.” His devil shook his fists out. Pulsar generally relied on his claws more than his punches, but the human insisted on not ruining their new training dummy too quickly. Aaron sighed and shook his head. “I guess it’s just you and me, eh?”
There was the sound of metal clanging. Someone swore under their breath. The pair were on their feet in an instant, ready for the worst. Instead, Marcus jogged around the corner and dropped a duffel bag on the ground. “Sorry I’m late.” This time he was wearing a Demon Slayer shirt. Maybe it was a little on the nose, but Aaron appreciated the implication that Marcus was on board.
“It happens,” said Aaron. “Did you bring some fun stuff?”
Marcus zipped open the bag and pulled out a pair of orange snowboarding goggles. “Oh yeah.” Then he perched them on his forehead and grinned, unreasonably proud of the new accessory.
Aaron just laughed. “Sure. And a weapon?”
Next he pulled out a small airsoft rifle with a plastic orange tip.
“What’s that for?” Pulsar cocked his head and laughed at the funny-looking weapon.
“Dancing lessons.” Marcus grinned, turning to Aaron. “If that’s okay with you.” Aaron shrugged.
“Pulsar, does this hurt?”
A single BB glanced off his shoulder, opposite from the scar. He grabbed where it struck and whined. “Yeeeees.”
“The next one is probably going to hurt too. Time to move!”
Marcus had a little too much fun torturing Pulsar, but after shielding a couple of shots with his forearms the devil got the idea. Aaron knew he could move, but when that’s all he was trying to do, the little bastard could really MOVE. It didn’t take long for him to start showing off, doing cartwheels and backflips and double backflips and wall runs. The few shots that did connect he managed to catch in his arm fur, and when the clip ran dry he scooped them all up in his fist. He landed in front of Marcus, dropping the BBs dramatically and clapping the dust off his hands. “Too slow!”
Aster had a completely different tactic for dealing with the airsoft gun, but it was no less entertaining. He wasn’t very nimble, but his tongue more than made up for it. First, he spun his tongue out in a spiral pattern and flattened it into a rough disk, protecting his body. As the BBs landed, they cratered into his tongue, which gave like ballistic gel. The tiny hands on his tongue picked them up as his tongue recalled into his mouth. Aster gulped and spit them out as one big blast. Marcus jumped with a laugh as they pelted him. Some went far enough to even rattle the bottles behind him. The frog chirped with glee. “Now you dance!”
Then the monsters sparred again, same rules as before. Aster won this time with a new trick: using his tongue to plant in place and spinning his body around it. That made him a double-ended wrecking ball. With a little practice, Pulsar would have no trouble countering it. But in the moment it caught him completely off guard. Aster took it 2-1.
Then, the devils egged on their humans to spar. Same rules, best two out of three. Marcus reluctantly took his spot across from Aaron. The big man cracked his knuckles while the lean man bowed, almost comically low. Then they were off. Aaron circled low, like a wrestler, as Marcus danced around him, staying nimble. Aaron charged for a first attack and Marcus failed to avoid it, quickly losing his first point.
Aster shouted from the sidelines. “Grab his leg!” Marcus danced around the big man, probing for an opening. Aaron lunged and misjudged the distance. Marcus picked his leg, dropping him on his butt. The frog cheered for his human.
Aaron got to his feet again, determined not to let that move work twice. Marcus moved again, popping in and out to probe for a new weakness. Aaron waited for an overreach and tried to grab his arm, but Marcus was able to wrest his fingers away, leaving him exposed. Marcus retreated faster than Aaron could keep up, and soon the big man was down again. Marcus had won. He bowed again and helped Aaron back up.
Next, they stopped for a snack break, which turned into a smoke break. The devils ate a pile of gizzards and innards, and Pulsar tossed them back like popcorn. Aster launched them into the air with his stubby hands and plucked them with his tongue for sport. The cheapest meat out there turned out to be some of their favorites, which worked out well for everyone. Aaron had a bag of trail mix, some jerky, and an energy drink. Marcus had homemade onigiri wrapped in cling wrap and a green iced tea, or something that looked a lot like it. Aaron couldn’t read the Japanese label and didn’t think to ask.
“So what about melee?” Aaron finished off with a protein drink, getting ready for the next round.
“What about it?” asked Marcus, polishing off a box of pocky.
“You’re not planning on fighting real devils with a BB gun, right?”
“Yeah, uh.” Marcus rummaged through his bag with a guilty look on his face. “Shit.”
Aaron got to his feet. “I’ll be right back.” Pulsar grinned and kicked his legs, knowing what was coming. The human came back with a long object wrapped in a bedsheet. He dramatically ripped it off and let the breeze carry it away, revealing a cherry red katana.
Marcus’ eyes went wide. “You serious bro?”
Aaron smiled slowly. “Marcus, uh, what’s your last name?”
“DuFresne?”
“Marcus DuFresne,” said Aaron. “Will you help us protect the ten or twenty people in Trinity City who don’t suck total ass?”
Marcus smirked and took a shaky breath. He nodded curtly.
“Will you slay wild devils with us and keep your devil out of trouble?”
Marcus took a sharper nod, resolute.
Aaron smiled wider. “And will you remember to bring your damn sword next time?”
Marcus nodded a third time and grinned wide. Aaron handed the sword down with reverence. Marcus received it with both hands and bowed deeply. He unsheathed it with a shink!
Aster’s eyes went impossibly wide. “Cooool.”
“It will probably snap on the first real hit,” admitted Aaron, “But it was just collecting dust, and I figured you might be a Yasuke kind of weeb.”
Marcus scoffed. “Oh you know I am.” He ran his thumb along the edge as his grin spread like wildfire. “If I only get one hit, I’ll make it count.”
“Get a real weapon though.” Aaron handed him a pack of kunai and nodded gravely. “You’ll need it.”
Marcus accepted it and got his grin under control. “Bet. Yes sensei.”
Then it was time for more training. Marcus practiced with his katana against their rubber training dummy, leaving only light scratches and shallow gashes, Aaron practiced axe throwing, and the devils sparred. Then it was Pulsar’s turn with the dummy. He placed a flurry of punches on it and beheaded it with an uppercut. Aaron was a little bummed about it but Marcus just laughed.
Aster tilted his fleshy head at Aaron and blinked. “Why are you upset?”
“You’re not supposed to destroy it,” said Aaron, setting up bottles. “Just hit it.”
“But why? Why not kill it.”
Marcus cut in. “If you break it too much, then there isn’t anything left to hit. It’s ruined.”
That clicked for the frog. “Oooooh. You want to make it hurt. Okay.”
“Right,” chuckled Aaron, suddenly impressed by Aster. Pulsar said devils were quick learners but Aster was learning English at an almost alarming rate. He also seemed a bit bigger than before. His yellow mohawk seemed perkier, and his horns seemed sharper. Longer, even.
Pulsar, too, looked a little taller. Leaner. Aaron thought he was three feet tall, or four at the ears, but right then he looked more like three and a half—or four and a half at the ears. His hands looked bigger than before, too. His ears, sharper. His hair, springier. Finally, Aaron had to ask. “Did you grow overnight?”
“Well, yeah.” The devil looked confused. “We ate a lot.”
“So did I,” chuckled Aaron, patting his gut. He wasn’t super satisfied with the answer.
Pulsar picked up on that and cleared his throat. “When we eat, we grow fast. We heal fast too.”
“And learn fast,” added the frog.
“And learn fast,” echoed the hare. “But if we don’t eat enough, we also shrink fast.”
“Fast meeba toes-um,” added Aster. Aaron didn’t correct him. Close enough, little guy.
Marcus and Aaron traded a glance. It was clear that this was news to both of them. Marcus spoke first. “So you’re telling me if you eat a bunch, you can… evolve?”
“Grow.” Pulsar pulled and released one of his perky ears, letting it bounce back. “Sometimes we just grow bigger, but sometimes we grow other stuff, too.”
“Like what?”
Aster sang out. “Claws and horns and eyes and wings!” Marcus looked beyond stoked.
“So you basically evolve. That’s so cool, dude. You’re getting so much meat.” Aster jumped for joy and let his doggie tongue lull.
“Buttttttt,” added Pulsar. “The bigger we get, the more we have to eat to maintain it. If I skipped a few meals I would get all small and cute like frog boy.”
“I’m not frog boy!” snapped Aster. “Aster!” Aaron swore that one of his little tongue hands gave Pulsar the finger.
Pulsar smirked back. “Yeah, that’s what I said. So we kind of maintain one size for a while unless we, uh—”
“Move up the food chain?” Marcus seemed to get the idea.
Aaron parsed this quickly. “Okay, so the strat is to feed you gradually more, and then beef up before a big fight? Something like that?”
“If you know when the next fight is going to be,” cautioned Pulsar.
“Or you could feed us more now,” chirped Aster. Marcus tossed him a few gizzards and his monster snatched them out of the air.
The next couple of days went more or less the same, with all four finding new skills and tactics along the way. Aaron was forced to experience the horrors of cardio fitness. He regretted only bringing one shirt, dumping a bottle of water on his head to hide the stains. But the others were happy to see him putting in the work.
Then, Marcus sparred with Pulsar. It was a better fight than anyone expected, lasting at least a full five minutes. Pulsar still beat him 2-0, but it was far from a runaway.
Aaron’s sparring match with Aster went about the same way. In the end, Aster won 2-1. Aaron realized with a dry chuckle that there was some irony in their pairings: Pulsar was built more like Marcus, and he was built more like Aster. Yin and yang on both sides.
At the end of the day, they stopped to smoke again. “This shit’s crazy,” said Marcus, showing off a masterful French inhale.
Aaron was rummaging around for another sports drink that somehow disappeared from his bag. “What?”
“All of this, man. We’re living the anime life.”
“Anime life?”
“Yeah.” Marcus slid up his sleeve, showing a set of Japanese characters tattooed on his shoulder. He traced his finger along them. “That’s anime, and that’s life.”
Aaron laughed hard, tickled pink that someone would actually get a tattoo like that. Marcus let his sleeve fall, turning back to watch the action. He waved his hand towards the fight. “Training monsters. Training ourselves. Fighting monsters. Like, fucking what?”
After the initial shock Aaron hadn’t taken much time to reflect. As Marcus said, shit really was crazy. A week ago he was playing video games alone in his apartment. Now, he was throwing axes in a rock quarry with a demon hare, a frog monster, and his other new friend.
Other new friend? Aaron shook his head—his scraggly hair barely hid his smile. “Yeah, man. Fucking crazy.”
Chapter 11
The next training session started off with a quick game of dodge the airsoft, which both devils aced with flying colors. It was almost not a challenge for Aster anymore—until Aaron added a second gun to the mix.
Marcus’s phone rang and he stepped away to answer it, bringing the game back down to one gun. So, they moved on to throwing weapons, with Pulsar giving his human a few tips. The devil took a liking to them too, and soon they were throwing axes in parallel. Even Aster tried throwing one with his tongue, which was a riot to see.
When Marcus rejoined, his mouth was dry and expression distant. “Sora dumped me.”
It turned out that Marcus’s ex had a few problems with the state of things. She didn’t love having Aster around. She didn’t love that Marcus was spending all of his free time with Aster. And she especially didn’t like that Marcus quit his job.
“You quit your job?” asked Aaron.
“Yeah,” mouthed Marcus, not really focusing on anything. “I’m a devil trainer now.”
Aaron furrowed his brow. “Why didn’t you just take sick days or something? I just started cashing in my PTO.”
Marcus blinked hard. “Damn.”
Aster looked on the edge of tears, whimpering helplessly. “It’s my fault.”
Pulsar looked genuinely upset too. “What?”
“Sora hates me. Sora calls me a blob.” And then he sobbed.
Aaron snorted. “She sounds like a bitch.”
Marcus snapped his head up. “She’s not a… I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You fucked up,” said Aaron. “How are you going to feed your devil, man? Like, seriously, where was your head at?”
Marcus looked nervous, like a kid getting scolded. Meanwhile, Pulsar shot his human a look that could crack stone.
