The demon within

Non binary and Ace

TW: this chapter contains transphobia
Side note: please don't be transphobic guys it's stupid and not worth it.

He went quiet for a moment, mulling it over.
"... that's when you don't feel sexual attraction, right?"
Artemis gave a curt nod, body language tense and face turned away- physically and emotionally bracing for rejection.

"Why would that make me not want to date you?" he asked, genuinely confused. "You're still, you know. You . That's who I love."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "In layman's terms? People think they won't 'get any' from me, generally."

He gave a quiet oh of understanding, then an equally quiet laugh. "Well, uh- actually, I'm not that interested in it either. I mean, maybe you are, I don't know. But I'm not going to judge you on not looking at people wanting to do anything with them based on that, when I don't really want to do it at all"
In a rather more sheepish tone, he added, "So, is there stuff I can and can't do..?"

Artemis nodded slowly, starting to smile. "Yeah. Thanks. Uh, physical affection is generally fine, I guess. Sometimes really heated kissing makes me a bit uncomfortable, is all. But apart from that, I'm fine with just about anything."

Varian nodded, a matching smile on his face. "Cool. Thanks for letting me know. And, uh- you might want to know, too."

He spread his arms in vague semblance of jazz hands, "I'm non binary-?"

After a few moments (which felt more like minutes) of Artemis going over that revelation thoughtfully, Vari started to get antsy.
"Look, sorry, maybe this wasn't a good idea-"

Artemis cut him off with a gentle hand resting on his arm.
"It's ok, Vari. I was just thinking about it- it explains the androgyny and stuff, you know? But I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I'm sorry. Uh... pronouns?"

A small, bright grin was growing on Vari's face. "They/them. Sometimes he/him, but...  mostly they/them."

Varian twisted them so he was on top, and then stood and started to walk away. He was stopped by a grip on his arm.

Artemis flashed him a crooked grin. "We're not done training, yet. Come on."

*******

After an hour long bout of gruelling training that ended with Artemis laughing and kissing their cheek (a total success, in Varian's opinion), they were both sitting through their final class of the day. Varian was clicking their pen incessantly, trying to distract themself from the growing strength of the demon, a growing pressure behind his sternum.

Frustrated, they let out a low groan and rested their head against the desk. Artemis ran a hand through their hair soothingly, which was about all that was keeping Varian in one piece. On top of the riled-up demon, one of the more conservative-minded people in their class had been hissing transphobic slurs at Varian for the past half hour, and they could tell from Artemis' clenched fist under the desk that if the kid didn't stop soon, he would be made to stop.

"I bet he's had to blackmail Artemis into dating him or something," the kid was telling his friend with blatant malicious delight, loud enough that Varian and Artemis (along with the rest of the class) could hear. "I mean, if he can't even figure out what's in his own pants, how can he get into hers"

Finally fed up, Artemis rounded on him with a snarl. "You already know their pronouns are they/them. So respect how they identify, or I'm going to identify as a fucking problem for you."

The kid cooed, as though he'd witnessed something cute instead of being threatened, "Aww, look at Arty defending her lil' defective boy toy."

The boy's head snapped back sharply, nose spurting blood as he gave a strangled shriek. Artemis watched in grim satisfaction as he blubbered, holding his nose where she'd punched him.

The teacher, somehow still oblivious, continued teaching.

"What the hell is your problem?" the kid whined, "It isn't my fault he won't accept he's a guy!"

Varian clicked the pen faster, trying to hold the demon down. He sent a frantic glance over at Artemis, clearly losing ground in the fight against the demon, and she took his hand. As she gently squeezed it, the demon began to recede again, and Varian slumped against her in relief.

Before the class was even half over, Varian was going out of their mind with agitation. Every noise seemed to aggravate the demon, and in turn, Varian. That douche from earlier had been shut up, but there were still plenty of other sounds to overwhelm him.

They had their head buried in Artemis' shoulder, trying to muffle as many senses as possible. Even lifting their head had become difficult.

There were concerned murmurs from some of their classmates, which only served to pain Varian further. They gripped Artemis in a vice-like hold, which they supposed must have been uncomfortable, but she didn't protest. She simply held him through it as they whimpered in pain, their tears soaking into her shirt.

They pushed away from Artemis, stumbling into the corridor as the demon's talons burst free and their skin swirled with blacks and greys. Artemis was beside it in under a second, hands out before it placatingly. The demon didn't hesitate to shove her against the wall and hold her there, but hesitated before it spilled her innards across the floor. Varian was holding it back with all their will, unwilling to allow Artemis to come to harm even from deep within its subconscious. The demon snarled, furious at both Varian and Artemis, but was forced back under with a growl, dark eyes boring into Artemis as it shifted back into Varian.

They collapsed against Artemis, shaking and sobbing.
Artemis hushed them and held them close, sinking to her knees with them.

A:N wow this chapters short. I'll get longer ones XD