It was as Mika sat eating breakfast that she decided to tell Wren - brother dearest, who himself dragged his name from her lips - that she was expecting guests.

With a mouthful of pancake, she faced him in the seat opposite her.

"I uh, have some news. We're gonna have some people staying with us for a bit."

His eyebrow quirked in an altogether displeased manner.

"Oh? How come?" he asked, not exactly overjoyed at the thought of sharing their home with people he didn't know. She couldn't blame him. She wasn't too keen either on sacrificing the freedom she knew they'd always had in this house.

"A friend of mine is in a spot of bother at the minute. They need to stay here while they sort things out a bit."

Her eyes had dropped to her plate while speaking in an attempt to prevent Wren reading her, but she wasn't sure if the lie was still visible. She paused long enough to shove more pancake in her mouth, taking a few chews before speaking again.

"Unfortunately their kid isn't easy to handle, so they're really desperate for a place to stay. We can help them out right?"

Mika looked back to Wren, preparing to give him big ol' puppy eyes, but found that he was staring intently at his plate instead, clearly digesting the information. It was a good sign.

With a sigh he leaned back in his seat.

"Of course we'll help." he resigned. Internally, Mika sighed in relief. Things would have gotten very difficult had he said no.

"Thank you~" she hummed, voice muffled by half-eaten pancake.

"I'll make it up to you after, promise!"

With this proclamation she thrust forth her hand, all fingers tightly curled except her pinky, which remained stretched towards Wren. He responded by leaning forward, a huff of amusement exhaled as he did so, and enclosed his pinky around hers. The childish action was foolish and endearing, being something that Wren and Mika had done since nursery age.

They were yet to betray a pinky promise though.

The dampened mood quickly lifted as they settled back into more familiar territory; that being one another.

"So, how's the new routine coming along?" Wren asked, propping his chin up with one hand.

Mika paused for a moment as she searched for any memory associated with 'routine'. Fuzzy images of herself in a mirrored room greeted her, and thankfully this was enough to piece together what Wren was referring to.

"It's slow progress at the minute. I can't seem to get the hang of some of the more difficult moves." she pouted, stabbing her fork into the remains of her pancakes absently.

It was a performance. Her life was one big performance really, even before all this. She'd put on a face for colleagues, then a different one for friends, then a different one for what few relatives she still talked to.

Her heart ached at the thought that she couldn't be herself, not even with Wren; at least, not for the foreseeable future.

She straightened her mask and pushed such thoughts away.

Her attention returned to Wren, who had a slight frown tucked into his smile and worry hidden in his brow.

"You okay? You're pretty far away today." He spoke, voice warm and soft.

"Sorry, just thinking about later." She said with a smile.

----------------------------------------

It was soon after lunch when the doorbell rang, startling Mika from her spot on the sofa.

Nerves had been biting at her increasingly since the morning. The more the day drew on, the closer it became; she was set to meet two feckin demons. Now that the moment had arrived, well. Frankly, she was just a slight tap away from pissing herself and legging it out the back door.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

She really hoped demons couldn't smell fear, cause she would reek.

It occured to her how ridiculous it was. She was nowhere near this scared when meeting SATAN for God's sake, why was she so afraid of demons??

The doorbell rang again.

Realising she hadn't moved, she scrambled up and raced towards the front door.

Her cheeks were burning, her heart was pumping and she could feel damp patches forming in her t-shirt. Her fingers fumbled aggressively with both the lock and chain before she abruptly yanked open the door.

She stared at the two figures on her doorstep, unsure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

Both people looked unremarkably harmless.

The first figure stood tall with good posture, wearing elegant clothing over a slim frame. His eyes were narrow and sharp, sitting atop high cheekbones and hollow cheeks. Cascading from underneath an oddly out of place looking beanie, tousled strands of mousy brown hair dangled over his forehead, some strands lurking dangerously close to the light brown irises fixated on Mika. An intimidating half-smile sat in the corners of his mouth, which had pale but rounded lips.

Her eyes travelled down to the second figure, a significantly younger boy with chubby cheeks and a cute blonde fringe. He grinned up at her, revealing slightly pointed canines - no, every tooth was somewhat elongated to a point - and adorable little dimples. There was a dinosaur printed on his t-shirt.

This was so far from what she had expected that she did a double take, doubting their identities as her expected guests.

"Can I, uh, help you?" she asked hesitantly in a timid voice, redirecting her gaze to the taller (and older) of the pair.

"Yes," he smiled, "you can let us in."

"Ah, right, sorry" she mumbled, immediately moving out the way. She wasn't sure what she was doing, or what she was supposed to be doing. Of course they were meant to come in, who would just turn up on her doorstep? She felt as useful as a fish, flapping about on the spot, doing nothing other than waste space.

Her trepidation towards the situation did nothing to help her recover, so she merely watched them brush past as they entered her home. The man's moderately sized case clanged as its wheels hit the base of the doorframe.

She felt so miserably unprepared. The shock had scrambled what little of her brain that had been functioning ten minutes prior.

"What, um. What are your names?" She asked, desperate to shake off whatever mental shackles were restraining her mind.

"Mine is Nahira." spoke the man without looking at her. His piercing eyes were roaming the room instead, judging the expansive house and personal items with borderline disdain.

"I'm Jahangir Deus!" Exclaimed the boy, turning his beaming face up to Mika's. "Everyone calls me JD though, so I guess you can too. What are you called?"

She hadn't given her name yet. She could only imagine what they were thinking of her as a host.

"Oh. My name is Mika."

Nahira turned to her.

"You're fully aware of what we are, correct?"

Mika nodded.

"I am, yes."

"Good," he sighed, raising a hand and yanking off the awkward beanie, running the fingers of his other hand through the soft tufts of hair cascading over his forehead.

Her eyes widened as she spotted two small, sharp horns peeking out of the mop of hair atop Nahira's head.

Nahira sighed.

"Try not to stare please, it makes me uncomfortable."

"Sorry," she squeaked, "I've just never seen horns like that before."

Nahira cut her off with an "it's fine", releasing another sigh at her downturned gaze before returning to surveying the room.

"I don't have my horns yet." pouted JD, staring up at Mika with big eyes. "I won't even get them 'til I'm all old!"

Nahira again grinned at JD. "If you keep whingeing, you won't ever get them!"

"That's not true..." JD said in a subdued voice, but the worry in his glassy eyes suggested he'd keep quiet for a while.

The exchange made Mika altogether unsettled. She longed to comment but held her tongue. It certainly wasn't her place to dictate how demons treat one another, after all.

Nahira spoke.

"How about you show us to our rooms?"

"Yeah, of course. This way."

Mika led them to the elevator wrapped in stairs, pressing the 'up' button.

The short ride to the first floor was cramped, stuffy and awkward. The only sound was when Nahira cleared his throat. JD had fiddled with his trouser leg, most likely still miserable over his horns (or lack thereof), whilst Mika had kept her gaze firmly fixed to the rim where the door of the elevator met the floor.

Mika stepped out of the elevator first, starting along the corridor. Weariness she hadn't anticipated had set into her bones during the ride up, likely as a result of her anxiousness making its departure.

She halted beside the door she was pretty sure was the main guest bedroom, but didn't say anything until the door had swung open to reveal that yes, this was in fact the same room she was hoping for.

"Nahira." she said, flapping her arms towards the door in a dismissive wave.

"Thanks."

He spoke through a smile, shutting the door as he entered.

Mika turned to JD, holding out her hand. He happily took it. His palm was warm.

"Your room is over here."

She lead him two doors down, stopping outside.

"If you need anything," she spoke softly, "come see me in my room. It's that one."

She extended a finger to the door looming at the end of the hallway. JD nodded, wide eyes gleaming.

Mika opened the door to JD's room, then led him in, hovering inside the doorway as he swung his backpack onto the bed, white amplified by the wooden textures of the furnishings.

"JD."

He looked up to meet her gaze.

"You'll get beautiful horns. Nahira's jealous." she winked.

JD grinned at her; a big toothy grin swelling with confidence.

"Hehe, I knew it." he spoke, more to himself than Mika.

She left the room feeling a little better than when she entered.