Loyal Old Demon, Brave Little Human.

To Kansas...

Author's note: hi. This story/episode/chapter/whatever has a lot of exposition, and I like to have some explanations, so if you wanna skip this chapter, you shouldn't miss much other than some bonding TJ time and them going to Kansas. Now, back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Shane was up early, thanks to Ryan's alarm. He was grateful, however that Ryan had decided to sleep through his alarm, and Shane had turned it off himself, since when the alarm sounded, Shane heard a small pop, and his pillow deflated as his horns poked out from his head. He turned off Ryan's alarm, and sat up. His body was shaking, and Shane didn't think he got a lot of sleep. Shane forced his horns away with some extreme effort, and flipped his pillow over to hide the holes in it. After about 5 minutes of Shane sitting in the dark, Ryan's phone buzzed again. Ryan grumbled something, and rolled over to turn off his alarm.
"Good morning..." Ryan said tiredly.
"Mhm..." Shane managed. This elicited a eyebrow raise from Ryan.
"You alright?"
"I'll be fine, just tired I guess."
"Makes sense." Ryan said, and rolled out of bed to get his stuff ready. Their flight left in two hours. Shane began to pick up as well, and was constantly running his hands through his hair, feeling for horns. He scratched at his back until it was practically numb, feeling for wings. He checked his reflection in every surface he could, looking for sharp canines and gold eyes. He packed everything, and sat down when a rattling container hit him in the forehead. He reacted, and looked up to see Ryan.
"Sorry! I wasn't aiming for your head..."
"Sure you weren't."
Ryan wheezed. "You're right, maybe it will give you the vision."
Shane laughed too. "Maybe..." He looked at the object that had been thrown at him. It was his Benadryl. Shane opened the lid and grabbed two, dry-swallowing them. "Thanks."
Ryan simply nodded, and turned to his own luggage. After a moment or two, Ryan stood up.
"I have my stuff ready. You?"
"Good to go."
"Then let's do it." Ryan said.
Shane nodded. "Let's rock and roll buckaroo!" He grabbed his stuff, a bit surprised by the sudden weight it held. Had he put rocks in here or something? Shane watched Ryan grab his stuff too, and the left the room. Ryan led the way down to the office, where they camera crew waited. TJ waved at Shane and Ryan when he saw them, then helped them (more like just Ryan, since TJ assumed Shane was more than capable) get their stuff to the car. Then they rode to the airport. Ryan pulled out his ticket and Shane's, and they looked at their matching seats. TJ sat in their row as well. They grabbed their belongings and walked as a group into the airport. Ryan began his nervous conversation again, like he had on the way to Mexico, and Shane smiled at him. It was cute to see him like that. Shane dropped his bags at their station, then went to their gate. They were 15 minutes early, but that was fine for Shane, who was eagerly looking for coffee. He left the others at the gate to search for the thing he craved. It was supposed to give humans energy, right? Shane felt practically human right now anyway. He found a Starbucks and ordered a caffeinated drink there, then walked back to his friends slurping the liquid happily. A part of him was unnerved by how much the coffee woke up his senses, when he got back, he was gonna have use one of his sick days. The attendant called for them to begin boarding, and the group handed the woman their tickets, then funneled into the cursed machine. Shane was a bit surprised, simply because he had realized that even with his nerves, he was too human to even have telepathy. Not that he was complaining. Ryan walked in front of Shane, and slid into their row to sit in the window seat as he had on the way down here. Shane slid into the middle, and TJ got the end. The rest of the crew kept walking to a couple of rows behind them. TJ almost immediately began tapping Shane on the shoulder, and Shane was thankful Ryan was watching the window. Shane looked at TJ.
"Will you wait until Ryan isn't listening?"
"Fiiiine." TJ pouted, and Shane leaned back.

•••••••

The plane had a rough takeoff, but nothing was worse than the minute after Ryan put in his headphones to fall asleep.
"Okay. He isn't listening. Now, I wrote down my questions so I wouldn't forget them. Then I realized that I had like, higher ranked questions, so I redid the notes...then I changed my mind. So do you want to just read my mind? Or you want me to show them to you? I can just start reading. Maybe we look at it together and then you can tell-"
"Please." Shane said. "Just-"
"What?"
"Teej, I know this is a lot to ask, but calm down and pause for a second. Okay?"
"Yeah... Right. You're right."
Shane held out his hand. "Let me see the questions."
TJ gave him a piece of crumpled paper, and Shane unfolded it, a but concerned when he realized it was a bit sticky. He began to ask his friend why it was sticky, but Shane had a bad feeling he didn't want to know. Instead, Shane looked at the questions.
"Do you see colors?" Shane read.
"Do you??"
"I'm not a dog. Yes I see colors." Shane answered. "Why was that question one??? And why is question two just if I like meat?"
"Do you?"
"Are these numbered by which one you wanted to ask me first?"
"Yeah?" TJ looked confused that Shane had even asked that question. Shane shrugged and began to answer.
"Yes, I like meat. No, I haven't met the queen. Yes, I have seen the human world before. Yes, I like bread. No, I don't suck blood, those are vampires." Shane continued for a while, before some legitimate questions began to show up. "I'm, um..." Shane paused to think about his own age. "I was born in the Roman Empire, around 4 C.E."
"Seriously??"
"I think so."
"So demons are born?"
"Kind of?" Shane paused to think about how to best explain. "Demons can be born, but it's a bit like what happens in Greek mythology."
"How so?"
"You know how the gods would transform into humans, then have sex with them, then leave? Then the women would get pregnant?"
"Vaguely."
"Okay. Those weren't gods. But the stories have some truth. Demons like to go and bang humans, then leave, but sometimes, they get the human pregnant, and then a half-demon is born. Thing is, kids like that can't exist for long, since they are literally a walking contradiction. So when they are born, the demon comes back and offers the mother two options. Either the child can have its demonic nature stripped, and be human. Or they can become a demon."
"Why would anyone let their child be a demon?"
"If the mother let their child become human, the trade for a full human life...well, it's a another human life. The mother for the child."
"Your mother let you?? I'm sorry, Shane..."
Shane shrugged. "Don't be. I can't hate her. She was a good person, by everything I ever saw, and she felt awful when she realized that the man she had slept with wasn't her husband. She already had three kids, which was a lot for that time. She thought it was best for me. I visited her house when I got older, and she had kept a couple things about me. Even though she gave me up, and even though it sucks, she did care."
"That is sweet. I thought demons were supposed to be these assholes."
"I'm the exception, not the rule."
"So, then who is your daddio?"
Shane's face darkened, "Skip."
"Oh..." TJ looked at him. "Don't tell me your dad's satan or something."
Shane just looked at TJ with a slightly helpless expression. "Skip."
"Holy shit, you're royalty."
Shane let out a low growl before he could stop himself, and he could see TJ stiffen in fear. A wild look beginning to form in Shane's friend's eyes. Shane flinched like he had been slapped.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. It's just...a natural sound. I would never hurt you." Shane said, panicked.
TJ gave him a smile, although his muscles still kept a slight tenseness. Shane couldn't blame him.
"So then...are ghosts real?" TJ said, trying to move on.
Shane glanced at Ryan to make sure he wasn't listening. "Yeah."
"Woahhhh...."
"They are a bit complicated. Basically, when someone dies, they have forty-eight hours to be collected, or gotten by either and angel or demon, and brought to where they are supposed to be. But sometimes, well... names get skipped, someone is lazy, something happens. And they are left there. Although, most ghosts who are aware try to change their lives, then go to heaven. That happens quite a lot, actually."
"Aware?"
"Some ghosts run a loop forever. For some, that is their punishment. Then some ghosts actually can keep consciousness, and be free."
"Wow. So what about demons?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like...Can they infest a house like the one we are going to?"
"Oh sure." Shane said nonchalantly. "But no demon in their right mind will fuck with me."
"Good to know."
Shane laughed, and TJ joined him. Shane's friend asked him all kinds of questions, but Shane didn't mind. It was kind of nice. Shane wondered if the weird feelings he had been getting had something to do with being low on power, but some part of him knew... He could feel it. There was some human in this demon. And these people were going to bring it out.