Aria's POV
The mop bucket made a clunk noise when I sat it down onto the hardwood. I sang a little song as I started to gently mop away the dust and dirt.
I was on my last room, the time was now 12:30, and I was beginning to feel a bit hungry.
My focus at the moment was on a particularly stubborn dirt spot.
"Ugh...come on..." I mumbled to myself, putting some serious elbow grease into this corner. Finally, the dirt spot came clean and I smiled before I stepped back and bumped into a table.
The table rattled and I gasped, turning just in time to see a little vase teeter and tip over.
My eyes widened and I dove to catch this vase. I just barely caught it, cradling it in my arms.
I let out a soft sigh, closing my eyes.
"Damn, and here I thought I was getting a show and lunch," came the static voice of that demon.
I opened my eyes to see him standing above me.
I sat up quickly, standing up and putting the vase back onto the table.
"Have you just been watching me?" I asked him, exasperated and slightly creeped out.
His smile widened and I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "what the fuck happened to you leaving me be?" I asked harshly.
He lowered his eyelids, "darling, never once did I say such a thing. I said you may live here —not that I would vacate."
I shut my mouth, my eyes casting down.
"Don't you have business in hell?" I grumbled and grabbed the mop, putting it in the dirty mop water and grabbing the bucket.
He shrugged, "I can't say that I do. It's excruciatingly boring down there, darling, so I decided to come check on you," he said, and I rolled my eyes again.
"Great."
He hummed, seemingly dissatisfied.
"Something tells me you don't like me much," he said and I scoffed. By now I'd walked to the back door, propping it open with my foot.
He's followed me the entire way, just watching me struggle to carry this mop bucket.
I was having even more trouble getting out this door with it.
I finally got it, making my way outside before answering his ridiculous statement.
"Oh really? No, you got me all wrong, I totally enjoy moving into a house, finding out it's haunted by the serial killer that owned it before me, and then getting my life threatened by said serial killer ghost," I said bitterly, aggressively dumping the mop water into the grass.
He stood just inside, propping the door open with his shoulder. He was staring at me with that huge smile on his face, eyes narrowed.
"Again...I'm not a ghost," he started, "and secondly, I did not ask for you to move into my house."
I walked back to the door, standing in front of him. He was blocking the way back in. I stared up at him with a slightly annoyed expression, "can I come back inside...?" I asked.
He stepped out of my way without a word, letting the door fall onto me instead of holding it.
I pushed it open, glaring at him.
"Ass..." I mumbled, then spoke up, "anyway, we have joint custody of this house now. I paid the money, and so did you—actually wait," I said, a smirk growing on my face.
I turned to face him, and he tilted his head at me.
"How much did you pay for this house?" I asked him cheekily.
"My mortgage was 100 dollars a month," he said, sounding proud. I nearly laughed.
"100 dollars...? You've got to be fucking kidding me..." I chuckled, shaking my head.
"Well, turns out I have main custody of this house, since I've already put down 10,000 dollars on it, and I will be paying an additional 1,500 every month," I retorted, turning on my heel and heading to the kitchen to grab some food.
The soft click of his heels told me he was following me.
I turned slightly with a playful smirk on my lips, about to make fun of him some more...but he wasn't there. I furrowed my brows slightly before I ran smack into something.
He grabbed me by the shoulders to keep me from falling over, and then proceeded to dip me to where he was the only thing keeping me from falling over.
"Don't forget I'm only just barely allowing you to live here, little girl."
I stared up at him in confusion and fear. His eyes were pitch black and his teeth looked sharper than before. I started shaking slightly, wondering how we went from playful banter to this.
"I-I-I was only teasing you, Alastor," I whimpered, feeling small all of a sudden, "I thought we were playing..."
His tight grip on my shoulders lessened and his eyes went back to normal. He was still just barely keeping me from falling as he looked down at me, his smile wide as well as his eyes.
He stared down at me a moment, then blinked, cleared his throat and stood me back up.
He didn't say anything and I glared at him, brushing past him.
"And you wonder why I don't fucking like you," I hissed under my breath, heading towards my pantry.
I kept a soft scowl on my face as I searched through my food items. I eventually settled on a pack of ramen noodles, pulling it out of the little box.
I turned back around, starting to prepare it.
I had just begun filling my pot with water when I noticed the demon out of the corner of my eye.
I sighed, "why are you still here. Are you going to to possess me?" I griped at him.
Movement told me he was approaching and my heart rate immediately quickened. That visceral reaction that has stemmed from my only two interactions with him.
The first one where he threatened my life.
And this one, where he threatened my life once again.
So now, him approaching seems to cause a deeper level of fear, much to my embarrassment and dismay.
Against my will, the entire right side of my body where he was closest to me tensed up, and I winced as if he were going to attack me.
However, I quickly shook off the reaction and turned towards him.
His ears perked up slightly and he glanced at my chest, furrowing his brows. He quickly shook his head, his smile widening.
"What are we making, dear?" He asked me, bending slightly to see my lunch.
I tore open the noodle packet, my hands shaking slightly. I masked the fear with an indifferent voice.
"Ramen," I answered simply. He tilted his head, giving me a sideways glance.
Does he not know what ramen is?
"Noodles?" I continued, facing him once again, "like noodle soup?"
He stood back up to his full height.
Then he plucked the packet from my hands, and incinerated it in his palm.
Glazing over the insane shit he just did, I scowled and glared up at him, "hey!" I protested and he tsk'd.
"Dear, come now, you can't expect me to let you eat that. Seriously," he chuckled, and I gave him a look.
"Why do you fucking care?" I asked him with a bewildered tone.
He rolled his eyes.
"Because it's my kitchen and I said so."
With that he shooed me out of his way, snapping his fingers. An apron appeared on his body and a small radio appeared on the counter, playing old music.
I cocked an eyebrow, watching him work.
Well...this isn't what I expected.