Deals With The Devil: Our Purpose

Who He Used To Be

'Dibs sharing a room with (Y/n).' Devin called, suddenly taking my hands and bolting towards the room that was already designated as mine. We had all gotten to the cruise ship together and we're heading to our respective cabins. I was surprised to hear that Ricky actually did have connections. He was friends with people from the navy who absolutely loved just driving around in their big ships. They didn't seem to have any idea of how young Ricky looked compared to them and instead treated him like he was like them.
'No!' Chris bolted after him, leaving everybody else to eat his dust before he tackled his brother, sending him rolling down the long hall while he took his place beside me. 'So, where's your room?'
'Next to you.'
'You're so corny. But, seriously. I'm happy for somebody else to take mine if it means I can stay with you...'
I paused, looking down at the number sprawled across the tiny slip of paper the kind men gave me so I wouldn't forget. I looked to the door beside me, connecting the two numbers before turning back and calling Ryan who'd offered to carry my bag for me. 'It's this one!'
Ryan nodded in response as I unlocked my room, creeping in. It wasn't too much, a single bed pressed against the wall with a few wooden cabinets and a gorgeous red carpet that'd very obviously been cleaned recently. The cabinets were connected to a sort of desk that had a bolted-down chair under it which I found pretty cute. 'I can stay with you, right?' Chris asked, dropping his bag beside the door.
'Of course, you can. You'll have to lay close, though.' I hinted.
'Fucking gross.' Ryan complained, coming up behind me and plopping my bag beside the door. 'I'm in the room beside you, then Rick and then Vinny. Devin and Josh wanted to share the room to the right of you guys.'
'Okay. I think I got all that. Thanks, Rye bread.'
'Don't call me that.'
'Rye bread.'
'Stop.'

Once we all got settled in, everything was fine. Chris fell asleep almost immediately, his head against my lap and calm breath seeping through my pants. A gentle knock emanated from the door, followed by Ricky's voice. 'Hey, (Y/n)? You up?'
'Yeah, come in. The door is unlocked.' A moment passed before he entered the room, his knees nervously clinking together like I had never seen before. 'Are you alright?'
'I-I don't...I don't know...' He started, kneeling down beside my bed. 'I thought I'd be able to handle going back but...the closer we get, the sicker I feel...'
'I know...but we can't exactly turn back now, can we?'
'No...I just-'
'I know, Ricky. I get it but you have to go through with this. What you're feeling right now...everybody else is going to go through that exact same thing...' I reminded him, slowly lifting my hand off Chris' head and gently stroking Ricky's hair.
'I kinda get why Chris loves head pats now.'
'He's a beautiful ball of affection...well...he is now, at least.' I pointed out, catching Ricky's attention. He raised his head enough to peek at me from between the loose strands of hair.
'Do you like him more now compared to when he was immortal?'
That question hit me quite hard. I was almost afraid of replying in case he was actually awake but decided that it'd be worse if I said nothing. 'I love him, that's all I can say. It doesn't matter what he is.'
'You just seem more mature now that he can't protect you.'
'I guess I am...I don't really expect anything from him anymore, I guess. It's my job to take care of him now, even though...' I trailed off, looking down to make sure Chris really was sleeping. '...I miss when he used to baby me. I miss when we walked into stores and he'd use his powers to give me whatever I wanted. I miss that surprised look he used to give me whenever I killed somebody...and I especially miss seeing his face when he killed others. I never thought being this way would matter so much. I hate being this way...I want to go back to being small and insignificant compared to the rest of you. I felt protected back then. Now that I'm in control, I don't know what to do...I miss the attention I got from being in a relationship with a god...' I pressed my lips together, trying my absolute hardest to stop talking, to stop digging myself into this imaginary hole of wishes and hopes but I couldn't. 'I absolutely loved seeing him stare at the people around us as if they were tiny bugs. He used to be so different, so unusual, so strange and mysterious...now he's...'
'He's what?' Ricky asked.
'...human.'

We arrived early the next day and caught a ride to the hotel we were staying at. I was more surprised than I should've been when Ricky began speaking fluent German, almost as through he was born into the language and culture.
When we got to our rooms, I almost immediately went about fixing myself up. I hadn't showered in a while, so I made sure to do that first. I dried off my hair and wrapped it in a towel before stepping out into the hotel room, the rest of my body still completely uncovered. Chris wasn't around which disappointed me. Not wanting to dwell, however, I kneeled beside the bed and slid my bag out from under it. I plucked out a black, long-sleeved shirt and some jeans, as well as a big red scarf that I felt obligated to take with me. Chris really liked it but decided not to take it with him since he couldn't fit it in his bag. I slipped everything on before wrapping the scarf around my neck. We weren't going anywhere yet but it was soft and I liked it.
The moment I zipped up my bag, the door opened and Chris crept into the room. He looked gloomy, so I stood up and shuffled over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. 'Where'd you go?'
'Just went for a walk...Ricky wanted to talk to me about something...' He shrugged. I suddenly felt my heart sink into my stomach.
'...what about?'
'He just asked me how I was going...' He didn't look at me, instead focusing behind me. He was purposely avoiding my gaze, which annoyed me. I shifted my arms until I was able to cup his cheeks, forcing him to stare down at me.
'I get that you're feeling depressed...trust me, I get it, but I want you to try and enjoy yourself. I want you to look at me when I walk to you.'
'Why do you have to be so damn-' He cut himself off, taking a deep breath before slowly raising his hands to mine. He was so warm compared to me, it was completely reversed to when we first got together. 'Okay...I'm sorry.'
'...just because you're human doesn't mean you're somehow less than me. I'd rather have you take care of me as you are now then me having to defend you from yourself...'
He didn't reply, instead interlacing our fingers and bringing them down to our sides. 'You were strong enough to keep this form...you were strong enough to bring Devin back...you can do anything...your powers only have you a push.'
'That's not-' He cut himself off again, noticing how intensely I was staring, trying my absolute hardest to cheer him up. I wanted to be encouraging but I wasn't too good at it. He bit the inside of his cheek before somebody suddenly knocked on the door, alerting us both. I stepped back, waiting until he stepped aside before opening the door and gazing at Josh seemed slightly off.
'We're gonna get going now.'