Harry's POV
How do you even take care of a human?
Their bones are too brittle, they're needy and emotional as fuck, and I heard they have to have a lot of TLC which I'm guessing here is tender, lemonade, and care.
Yup
Pretty sure I got that right.
I backtracked, leaning down and placing a cheerio down on the floor to make a trail of cheerios across the room as Liza watched me from the entrance.
I looked up, making eye contact with her as I slowly placed a cheerio down on the ground in front of me while she furrowed her brows at me in confusion.
I saw this in a movie once and the little human girl ate the cheerios happily.
Liza may be a demon now but she still has the spirit of a human.
It's so ugh.
She then started following me, taking the cheerios on the ground one by one but not eating them like I expected of her until I led her to the pile of newspapers and pillows on the ground in the corner of the room.
"Why are you making all this mess?" Liza frowned, continuing to pick up the cereal one by one until she reached the newspaper bed that I had made for her to sleep on in my place.
"This is where you're going crash for the night, look I even made sure to show the comics of the newspaper and everything just in case you get bored." I told her, gesturing to the ground as she raised her brow at me before I nervously ran a hand through my hair and fixed one of the pillows on the floor.
Distance.
Distance is good, it's what we both need.
Yes because after centuries of not seeing the woman who I want to make babies with we need distance.
Back in the grocery store I started to feel that exact same pain in my chest again that made me so weak in Liza's story, except this time Liza was now experiencing the same thing as me since she was a demon now.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
I could take the pain no big deal, but knowing that my queen would get hurt as well was something I couldn't let happen.
Oh the heart burn.
"Okay so whenever you're settled just- just get in." I told her with a small sigh of satisfaction, looking down at the small makeshift bed I had made on the floor for her with a pleased look only for me to turn my head to find her gone.
"This your bed?" I heard her tired voice ask, making me snap my gaze to my bed in the middle of the room where she was snuggling herself further into my mattress, already closing her eyes with a small smile on her face as my whole body tensed.
"No no no no no no no!" I exclaimed, scrambling to her on the other side as I pushed her off my bed, hearing her body flop to the floor with a squeak before I took out the two febreeze cans from the waist band of my jeans, twirling and vigorously shaking them in my hands before I jumped on my bed and sprayed the air around it in a panic.
No, my bed cannot fucking smell like her.
If I'm going to sleep and I smell the scent of her fucking shampoo on my pillows I'll get addicted to it just like I got addicted to her and then I'll end up changing my mind and make her sleep in bed with me where she is only a few inches away from me and then I'll want to hold her and cuddle her and touch her and then her heart will start beating and spazzing out until she's in pain andIdon'tknowwhattodohoeeemygaawddd.
I didn't realize I was hypervenilating until I felt Liza's small hand rest on my heaving shoulders, making me turn my attention back to her as she rubbed her eyes, trying not to yawn.
"I'm sorry, I'll go sleep in that nice corner you made for me, thanks for taking me in." She said through droopy lids, leaning forward and pecking my cheek immediatly making me blush even in my panicked state before I watched her wobble sleepily to the far corner of the room, actually going on her knees and fluffing the pillows up, pausing to just stare at them before she fell face down into the cushions.
I have been waiting for so long just to see Liza and now that she's finally here with me I can't even hold her.
I sprayed the febreeze cans one more time, forming the words FML in the air before carelessly tossing them to the floor as I got out of bed and turned off the lights, my eyes never leaving the corner of the room where Liza was now curled into a ball on top of the newspaper and cushions.
I went into bed with a stiff posture, facing the ceiling as I brought my blanket up to my chest and blinked through the darkness, trying to tune in to Liza's breathing.
She then began to snore.
And I'm not talking cute little snores no more like an obese trucker kind of snore.
I sat myself up, my eyes becoming accustomed to the dark lighting as I made out Liza's silhouette in the corner.
"Hey Liza, are you cold?" I whispered just in case, wanting to make sure she wasn't uncomfortable.
Ah for fuck's sake I put her on the fucking floor of course she's probably uncomfortable but shit- I haven't been the same ol' Prince of STD's since the last time I saw her and that was years ago.
"Okay, I'm coming over to give you a blanket." I said in a hushed voice, knowing she wasn't even listening since she was practically knocked out as I got out of bed, grabbing my blanket and walking over to put it over her sleeping figure.
She already had a blanket but this was just in case, plus my sheets were a lot more comfier and warmer.
"Okay, night even though you can't hear me...." I told her, my voice still low as I went back onto my bed, now with no blanket as I looked up at the ceiling, hearing her loud snores that somewhat seemed to soothe me.
"Hey, Liza." I spoke up in a whisper, raising my head and propping myself up with my elbows as I looked over at her.
"Do you want some more pillows?" I asked her from across the room, ignoring the fact that I had given a lot of cushions that she wasn't even using.
She continued to snore.
"I'll take that as a yes." I concluded, taking all the pillows on my bed and getting up from my mattress, walking back to the spot on the ground where she lay before I fluffed them up and placed them near her, making sure they weren't too close to her face so she wouldn't suffocate and die.
I stood there, just watching her sleep for a few moments before I shook my head realizing how fucked up it was to watch someone sleep and just stand over them in the dark.
Call me Edward Cullens bitches.
I positioned myself on my mattress, no blanket, no pillows, just my long body awkwardly sprawled across the empty bed as I contemplated my options.
"Hey Liza," I said again, fiddling with the rings on my fingers as I sat myself up and looked over at her again.
"Are you lonely, do you- do you like, need me to stay there with you for a while to keep you company?" I asked, hoping she would just magically wake up and answer yes in that adorably cute slur she had whenever she was half asleep.
But I only got her heavy snores as a response as I frowned.
"Okay, just snore if you want me to come over there with you." I told her, holding my breath in anticipation.
She stopped snoring.
"Are you fucking kidding me." I seethed through gritted teeth, my voice still a low agravated hush as I got to my feet, walking over to her until I was staring down at her on the ground, her eyes still closed and the peaceful look on her face still in tact.
"Breathe if you want me to stay next to you." I said, nudging her body lightly with my bare foot.
She remained quiet.
"Holy shit, you are breathing right?" I panicked, going down on my knees as I leaned over, letting out a sigh of relief when I saw that her chest was slowly rising and falling.
I was now only inches away from her face, my hand seeming to have a mind of it's own as I reached out and tucked a strand of her brown frizzy hair behind her ear.
"Hey Liza," I said under my breath, just admiring her as I leaned on my elbow on the ground besides her.
"Breathe if you want me to hold you." I said, a small smile forming on my face when she began to snore again.
"Well, if you insist." I scoffed, grinning from ear to ear as I situated myself besides her on the floor, slinging my arm around her waist and pulling her small body against my own making me immediatly relax at the feeling of having her near.
Eh, so much for the distance thing.
It's obvious how needy Liza can be, I just had to make sure she was okay.
Was I holding her right?
Shit- what if I held her too tight and woke up the next morning to find that I squeezed her so hard her insides exploded or her eyeballs just popped out of their sockets and were rolling on the floor.
I buried my face into the back of her shoulder, trying not to think too much about it as I made sure not too hold her too tightly.
Liza suddenly began to move making me freeze in worry, wondering if she was going to kick me out of her newspaper bed as she turned and looked at me, blinking slowly like a drunk sloth before she brought the blanket on her up, enveloping my body in it with hers as she hugged me.
"Hey Harry," I heard her say against my chest as my body went rigid.
"Yesss...." I trailed off under my breath in an unsure tone as I blinked up at the ceiling.
"Breathe if you're a whipped little demon princess." I heard her laugh lightly, her voice still a slow slur as I rolled my eyes at her, pulling her body closer to mine under the blanket.
I swear I could've held my breath for centuries....
But even then we both still know what she said was the complete and honest truth.
••
"Good morning you fake fucks who kiss my ass on a daily!" I greeted all my employees, my arms out and wide open as I dramatically entered the room while Liza gave me a look at my side.
Everyone in the office paused whatever they were doing to raise their heads in sync and stare at me in silence.
I stayed there with outstretched arms, the small beeps of a printer and coffee machine in the back the only sounds in the room as all the people looked at me with blank stares.
Well alright then.
"Do you always enter work like this?" Liza asked through gritted teeth as she forced a smile.
"No, usually I say what up my office prostitutes but I was feeling classy today." I told her in a low voice.
"And Liza here brought muffins!" I suddenly reiterated, clasping my hands together before I gestured over to Liza who hesitantly raised the large pink dessert box in her hand as everyone erupted in a loud chorus of cheers and applause making Liza smile as she held the box of muffins even higher.
"Which will be given to each and everyone of you when you are all done with today's work," I laughed out, slowly closing the box and taking it in my hand as I flashed everyone a charming smile.
My smile dropped when all the people continued to watch me with wide frightened eyes.
"That means get back to work!" I snapped, raising my voice as a few employees flinched in their chairs before everyone continued their work like nothing ever happened.
"So you guys are all...." Liza trailed off, following me when I began to make my way through the cubicles, taking a muffin from the pink box before handing it over to one of my assistants who passed by.
"Yup. We're all demons. Small world isn't it- ha. Just like that ride I went on at Disneyland... over and over again." I said through a mouth full of blueberry muffin, shuddering at the memory of that Satanic 'It's a Small World After All' song before tossing it over my shoulder as I watched Liza catch it from my peripheral vision, watching her take a bite of it herself as she scanned the office space.
"What do you guys even do..." She questioned, the people passing by staring at her and I for a few brief moments as I smirked.
"No no love, the question here is what do we not do. Demons have a large variety of jobs despite human belief, we don't just make little girl's heads do a 360 although that is fun." I said, placing my hands behind my back before stopping and turning to her with a devilish grin on my face.
"You see over there where Tammy is, yeah that's the station where we take calls and requests for possessions." I informed, bringing my hand up and pointing over to the section of the office where an array of men and women were taking calls.
"People request to have possessions?" Liza asked in bewilderment.
"Not on themselves of course, but on people they hate. Say you really hate -oh I don't know- an incompetent man named Glen who spends his time sitting his ass in front of the coffee machine all day." I said through gritted teeth when I spotted Glen in the break room, making his pudgy body freeze at my words as he slowly turned his head to look at me with wide frightened eyes.
"You call for our services, tell us who to possess, and we do it. All for a cheap price of money and a few years of hell added to your afterlife but that my lady, is what you call the fine print." I said, pinching her nose in a patronizing manner as she swatted my hand away from her face.
"They get sentenced to hell?" She turned to look at me.
"Only for a few years or so... maybe decades, depends on who the person wants you to possess and what they want you to do. Like if it was Obama I had to possess, the person who requested it- not saying it would be Donald Trump or anything but that's exactly what I'm saying- would have more than just a few decades of hell to be added to his afterlife. Aw don't worry about it, everyone visits hell at some point." I reasoned when I saw the look Liza was giving me.
"Not Gandhi." An employee muttered as he passed by me.
"You know what I have actually been on the phone with him and he just put me on hold for the past couple of decades but I know he'll crack any second and come here alright! They may have Jesus up there but we've got AC, muffins, and insurance so put a sock in it Phil!" I yelled, furiously pointing at the employee who quickly scrambled away.
"Over there, what do they do?" She asked, pointing over at the operaters in the back of the room, headsets on their heads while they spoke into the microphone at the side of their mouths and stared down at the small screen on their desks.
"Ah yes, ever heard about the demons inside your head? The ones that infest in your mind? Those guys over there are the voices in people's heads that urge them to sin. Each of them are assigned a person and speak through those microphones that automatically connect into the person's conscious and the screen allows them to see whatever the human is seeing. It's like facetime but a one way kinda deal." I told her with a sense of pride as her eyes widened in amazement.
"Voices in your head..." She mumbled to herself, a look of realization dawning upon her face before she turned to me.
"Um, can I maybe- check it out myself?" She asked with a hopeful smile.
"But we didn't even get to the section where we control all the people we kill accidently on purpose." I pouted, lightly tugging at the hem of her sweater.
"Accidently on purpose? But that doesn't even make sense." Liza said with a baffled look as I slung my arm around her shoulder.
"And that's why I need to show it to you." I claimed with a playful smile before one of my assitants approached me.
"Styles, the 'name-of-that-thing-that-should-not-be said-out-loud-in-public' is ready." Frank informed with wide eyes, looking over at Liza at my side before turning his attention back to me.
"The....... what now?" I asked, squinting my eyes at him in confusion as Frank let out a sigh of frustration, his bald head shining under the office lights.
"You know... the 'name-of-that-thing-that-should-not-be said-out-loud-in-public.'" He repeated through gritted teeth.
I furrowed my brows, giving him a look.
"My grandma's vibrator?" I asked as Liza began to choke on her spit.
"Don't worry, I'm kidding." I reassured her with a laugh as I gauged her horrified expression.
"Ol' grammy used a dildo, not a vibrator." I reiterated with a careless grin.
"No! The syrum Mr. Styles! The syrum!" Frank emphasized as my eyes widened in realization, my mouth forming a small 'O' as I slowly nodded my head.
"Frank the fuck you doin saying that out loud! I told you not to say it in public!" I immediatly scolded him, hitting him upside the head in anger as Liza let out a sigh of exasperation and shook her head at me.
"My apologies sir... I have no idea what I was thinking." He told me with a bow of his head through gritted teeth.
"Alright Lady Liza, you can check out the office around here just don't touch anything." I cautioned her as she mumbled "yeah, yeah" under her breath, fast walking away from me heading straight to the voice operating section in the back.
"Hey Roy, keep an eye on that small brown indian girl you see making a B-line to the back of the room while I'm gone." I ordered one of the employees besides me, pointing at Liza as Roy nodded obediently before he focused on Liza.
"But not like, you know, actually have an eye on her cause she's mine." I reiterated, gesturing to me then her from across the room as Roy chuckled.
"Don't worry boss, she ain't my type." He said with a shake of his head as I let out a laugh, pointing at him and smiling as I walked away before I stopped on my track and stepped back to face him again.
"So what, you saying my girl's not pretty?" I began, placing my hands on my hips before lowering my head and running the pad of my thumb against the tip of my nose as I glared at him.
"Um... Boss..." Frank began from the side, immediatly shutting up as I held my pointer finger up at him, not even bothering to glance his way.
"What Liza's not good enough for you huh? She is the most beautiful woman you will ever lay your eyes on how fucking dare you even-"
"I'm gay." Roy blurted out with wide eyes, immediatly placing his hands over his mouth afterward as Frank and I's jaw dropped in shock.
"Shut. Up." Frank said in bewilderment.
"Oh wow, so that's why you sometimes limp around the office, I mean I just thought your ass hurt from sitting down so much, not-" I began with wide eyes as Roy let out a groan of annoyance, rubbing his face in frustration.
"Alright, alright, jeez don't you guys have to test that syrum you two were talking about or something. Let me get anal in peace." Roy mumbled as he quickly turned on his heel and walked away, following after Liza while Frank and I exchanged looks.
"Boss... shall we..." Frank spoke up, clearing his throat as I looked at him.
"Oh no thanks, I don't do anal unless it's with Liza since I only like her- not like we've done that thought- and you know only if I'm the one putting it in the caboose-"
"I meant shall we test the syrum." He cut me off, grinding his teeth in irritation.
"Oh right, lead the way." I casually said, watching as he rolled his eyes and let out a sigh before walking into the nearest hallway.
"Don't be sad Frank, you're a great looking guy who looks like a very attractive looking chapstick and I'm sure any man would love to have anal with you." I reassured him, patting his tense shoulders as he turned his head to look at me while we walked.
"You're nervous, aren't you boss." He said with a small knowing smile.
"You always ramble everytime we test the syrum on you. Tell me, how far are you willing to go to hold and love your Liza properly. We have been working on this cure for weeks to seize the beating of your unused heart and now she is finally here. Do you really think it will work this time?" He asked me, making me lose all the playful spirit I had in me as my teasing smile fell and I looked over my shoulder back at Liza who was now speaking through one of the microphones across the room, operating someones mind even though I told her not to touch anything.
I couldn't help but smile.
"It has to."