Karazelle was no stranger to the occasional rough night. She used to often fall out of her bed when she was very young, and once she was steady enough on her feet, she had taken to sleepwalking. The Succubus often found herself waking up in all sorts of places; the kitchen floor, the bathtub, the cupboard beneath the stairs, even the space on top of the piano. She though she would be used to waking up with a crick in her neck and aches in her wings.
But when her eyes fluttered open and she found herself surrounded by damp, smoky darkness, she was confused beyond all measure. Stretching out her extremities, she suddenly slipped off the rickety stool she was sitting on and crashed to cold, hard floor.
"Agh... what the Hell...?" she mumbled, blindly grasping through the darkness.
She didn't remember falling asleep. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember much of anything. What was she doing last night...?
Fishing her phone out of her pocket, Karazelle - after nearly blinding herself with the screen light - switched on the flashlight and swept around the floor she was lying on. It was dark, ancient stone, and there were numerous empty cans of premade gin and tonic lying scatters around.
Ah. Now she remembered. Another hard night of trying to perfect her little alchemical project. She had brought some booze down into the lab to make it a little more fun, only to wind up overdrinking and...
"... I slept right through the fucking New Year..." she groaned, rubbing her eyes.
Great. Awesome. Perfect.
"Agh!"
In an effort to wake herself up, the Succubus heaved herself off the cold ground and stomped her feet, shaking everything she had to try and get her blood flowing. The generator had run out of juice in the night, plunging the lab into darkness. Thankfully Quinn had provided her with a few sources of cheap diesel. Legally questionable diesel too, but cheap nonetheless.
Stumbling over to the generator, Karazelle began to refuel it with one hand as she swiped through her phone with the other, opening up the well-trodden links she had saved to the various Succubus message boards.
"Huh," she murmured, flicking the power back on as she tapped on one of the board's trending posts.
Bets are finally off, it happened. Jezzy Trayer's finally a grandma. Apparently one of the quints is up the spout. Dunno which, but if its not Iron Hound having the kid then I'm out 350 brands.
Karazelle raised an eyebrow. It seemed as though congratulations were in order. She had seen Cobalt milling about the school over the holidays, but she hadn't really been able to talk to him much. She wasn't wholly certain why. A part of her felt guilty for hiding this entire alchemy venture from him, and maybe she felt as though distancing herself from him might help alleviate that sensation.
It didn't, though. It just made her feel worse. In fact, Karazelle hadn't been feeling right since Whitney's birthday party, and the horrors that unfolded shortly after. The Succubus had always felt somewhat responsible for her friends, and she took pride in making sure that they were each doing well. But seeing Whitney like that... It shook her to the core. She wasn't sure where she had gained such confidence in herself before, but now? Now it was nowhere to be seen.
With a heavy sigh, she picked up the stool and sat back down at the desk. Laid out upon the desk were a number of her most recent concoctions, all of which were an opaque pink colour. She had tried to use rose milk as a base in place of water, but regardless of what corrections she made to the recipe, it never seemed to work. The colouration was too light, the consistency was too thick and the flavour was too strong. Failures, all of them.
This whole venture... She was beginning to lose sight of why she was even doing it in the first place. To concoct a potion of happiness? It sounded plausible enough in the beginning. Something to make her teacher feel better after everything he had been through.
Karazelle was beginning to feel as though she would need some of that miracle tonic herself, once it was done.
If it was ever done.
"Ugh..." she sighed, flicking through the message threads that were unrelated to the recent revelation of a new Trayer arrival.
There was nothing in the alchemical theory boards that she hadn't tried before, at least nothing that required any special tools or ingredients. No, it was beginning to appear as though Karazelle was only going to get any real headway if she had a proper Phrodival alembic and specialised reagents synthesised exclusively in the town.
"But I can't get into Phrodival. I don't even know where it is," she mused as she stared into the light of one of the construction lamps.
It was a lifelong dream to visit the birthplace of modern Succubus arts. But at this rate, that lifelong dream was looking like a pipedream.
With a heavy sigh, Karazelle got out of her stool and began to gather all of her failed creations into a single plastic crate. She would have to get rid of them at some point, but with the school abuzz with maintenance workers attending to any damage caused by the December snows, she would have to wait a while until she could make use of the biohazard bins in the chemistry labs. For now, she would have to store them in her room.
"Easy goes...!"
Heaving the crate into her arms, she flicked the generator off with her tail and sidled out of the ancient laboratory, taking care not to spill anything as she went.
Karazelle had been down in the underschool enough that its dark passageways no longer frightened her. Getting around was muscle memory by now, and after some work, she had succeeded in opening up nearly all of the boarded entrances. She had access to every building on campus through these tunnels, even the most ramshackle of the disused buildings. There were also stairways leading even further underground, but the bad vibes they gave prompted her to stick to the uppermost level of passages.
Once her eyes got used to the dark, she found them almost appealing, in a sad way. At some point these ancient corridors were well-travelled, and the stonework must have been some mason's point of pride. Beneath the layers of dirt, dust and graffiti was some real craftsmanship.
At a certain crossroads, Karazelle stopped and squinted at a large spraypainted mural on the wall. It was a stenciled outline of a pair of hellhound heads, with a message scrawled in black paint underneath it.
HOW ABOUT *YOU* LEARN *YOUR* DAMN PLACE, YOUR LADYSHIP?!
She frowned as she read those words.
"Know your damn place..." Karazelle murmured, the phrase seeming familiar.
She had heard her mother use it on occasion, especially when she was angry with someone.
"Momma's really got a way with people, huh?"
Shrugging it off as another relic of the Brimstone Institute of Demonics' shaded past, the Succubus reaffirmed her grip on her crate of alchemical failures and headed down the tunnel leading to the girls' dorms. Once she was back in the basement, she covered the entrance up and embarked on her long journey up the many flights of stairs back to her room. On the way, she passed by several crowds of other students, each returning from their trips off campus.
Karazelle was almost jealous. Her mother had estranged herself from the rest of the Terna bloodline, ensuring that every Winter Festival was spent at home with just her and her daughter. In recent years they didn't even leave the school campus. This year wasn't much different; just a stiff, awkward dinner in Viola's apartment.
"Hello!"
"GAH!"
Shrieking at the top of her lungs, Karazelle nearly toppled backwards down the stairs as a small voice piped up next to her, who also screamed in response. Collecting herself, she wheeled around to see Jelli clinging to the banister for dear life, her face as pale as a sheet.
"I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" the Glutton apologised, shaking like a leaf.
Taking a very deep breath, Karazelle put on a smile and tried to tousle her hair, only to abandon the notion as she almost dropped the crate again.
"It's alright, I wasn't really paying attention. It's good to see you again; when did you get back?" she asked, readjusting her cargo.
The Glutton broke out into that adorable, nervous smile of hers.
"Just yesterday, in time for the celebration. A- Ah, but Izzbelle was feeling a little, um... übel, um... like she was going to be sick, but she didn't?" she answered, struggling to find the right word.
"Nauseous?"
"Ja, nauseous! I stayed with her all night. I even made some soup!"
"Good soup?"
"I- I would hope so."
Arriving at Karazelle's floor, the Glutton helped her navigate down the hall, opening the door to her room as she awkwardly tried not to spill chemicals everywhere.
"Izzbelle's kitchen is, ah... very interesting," Jelli commented, lingering in the doorway as Karazelle set the crate down on the floor.
As she unpacked all the bottles, she glanced over at her own kitchenette.
"All protein powder and whiskey, I'm guessing?" the Succubus ventured, frowning at the sheer amount of burn marks all over the appliances.
"She had a few things, but just to be safe I made her some food to last the week! Um, I made some soup- ah, I already told you that. Oh, I made pasta too! And some casserole!"
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Laughing, she arranged the bottles on her coffee table.
"She's lucky to have a domestic goddess like you around, sweetie," Karazelle joked, flashing the Glutton.
That remarked immediately - and predictably - set Jelli's heart racing. Her legs almost buckled as she went red in the face.
"I- I- I don't consider myself to be any kind of domestic- inländische- ah, no, I...!"
"You had it right the first time."
"Agh!"
Before Jelli pulled her own braids out in a fit of self-conscious flappery, Karazelle swept over to the Glutton and gave her a quick hug.
"I'm just teasing you, honey. Sit down, have a drink, and tell me all about your holidays," she told her, guiding the Glutton over to her couch.
Nodding politely, Jelli sat down with her hands on her knees, eyes wide as she gazed around Karazelle's apartment.
"It was nice to be home for a little while, but I did miss this place," she said, staring at a crack in Karazelle's ceiling.
"It does have its charms, doesn't it?" she replied, heading into the kitchen.
Opening up the fridge, she frowned at its contents. It was all sodas, ready meals and miscellaneous condiments.
"Jelli, do you want a cola? Oh, there's some lemonade here too if you want that?" the Succubus called as she rooted around inside the fridge.
"O- Oh, this is fine, thank you!"
"What do you mean, I haven't serve you anythi-?"
Oh shit.
Karazelle wheeled around, but by the time she was facing Jelli it was already too late. The Glutton was holding one of the failed alchemical mixes in both hands. She took two large gulps and pulled it away, licking her lips as she gave her friend a smile.
"This is good! What is it?" she asked, staring into the bottle.
"U- Um..."
Karazelle glanced at the other bottles.
"It's, uh..."
She screwed up her face in an effort to come up with something on the spot. What did she put into these ones? Fesser's Passion, that was obvious. What else... sugar, honey, rose milk, the last of her clodfinger supply, that funny little yellow root she bought off the internet...
"... milkshake. It's a milkshake."
"Ooh! Did you make this yourself?"
"Y- Yeah."
"What flavour is it?"
"Pink."
"What did you put in it?"
"Pink things."
"O- Oh, okay!"
She took another, concerningly-large gulp of the "milkshake".
"Jelli?" Karazelle asked tentatively, sitting down next to her friend.
The Glutton cocked her head.
"Yes?"
"Are you... feeling alright?"
"I'm okay. Ooh, shall I tell you about what happened when I met Stefan at the Jump Terminal?"
"S- Sure..."
As she launched into a story about some incident involving her stepbrother and another man's pretzel, Karazelle sat stock-still on the couch, scrutinising her friend for any adverse side effects. Flushing of the cheeks, excessive sweating, clouding of the eyes, shortness of breath... but she showed none of them. After Jelli finished the drink and kept talking, the Succubus began to wonder if her concoction even had any effect at all. Perhaps the Glutton's naturally-strong stomach acid neutralised it? After all, she was capable of digesting things like glass and wood...
She took a deep breath and listened intently as Jelli yammered on, clearly excited about the prospect of having a friend to talk to.
Karazelle was glad that she was unaffected, but she was going to have to find a better place to store those bottles...
-----
Sitting at the common room window, Karazelle watched silently as the sun beat down outside. The rays weren't warm in the slightest, but they still melted right through the winter. It was barely the first day of 2018, and yet the snow was already more than halfway gone. The school grounds were a mire of slush and meltwater, which didn't bode well for the students still attempting to move all of their things back into the dorm buildings.
Hearing a whistle to her left, she glanced over to see Quinn heading towards her, hands jammed into her pockets.
"Is everyone back already? I didn't even notice," the Succubus remarked, shifting over on the couch.
The Imp flashed her a grin as she sat down, the light playing off her corneal scar.
"Couple of days ago. Didn't wanna miss the New Years shebang. Didn't see you around, actually," she said, crossing her legs.
"Yeah, I was drinking on my own, I'm afraid."
"Ah. Still stuck in your little chem lab?"
"Yup."
"I brought back some monk booze from Lottie's parent's gaff. The good stuff."
"How good?"
"Real good."
Grinning, Karazelle leaned back in her seat.
"So, did you and Lottie have fun~?" she asked, fluttering her eyelids.
Quinn started at her comment, but the Imp quickly cleared her throat and masked her reaction by adjusting her hat. Classic.
"Come off it, Kara. Too early in the day for that."
"But did you~?"
She didn't answer, which was as good as a yes in Karazelle's book. With a laugh, she flicked the underside of Quinn's cap, prompting the Imp to narrow her eyes and jab her in the ribs. The two continued to pick at each other, before they both grinned and settled down to watch the icicles in the window slowly melt. Before long, however, Quinn's smile faded.
"...Any word from Whitters?" she asked, glancing over at the Succubus.
She slowly shook her head.
"She's at her house just outside of town. Don't know if she's coming back," Karazelle sighed.
Whitney... Poor girl. Spends every hour of every day trying to keep her mind off the troubles she had at home, only to wind up stuck with them, possibly indefinitely.
"People are talking, you know. Overheard a couple of blokes saying that... that Cobalt was the one who did that to her arm. Ate it right off," Quinn continued quietly.
Karazelle's gaze darkened.
"And do you believe that, Quinn?"
The Imp shook her head.
"Course not. It's just that if everyone else is talking about it, then some twits are gonna start believing it. And if enough people do, then..."
Trailing off, she took a second to relax her body.
"Just feels weird. All this shit that's been going on," she sighed.
"Yeah..."
"Time was I could just roll with it, you know? But now, with Lottie, things are different."
"She can handle herself, Quinn. Your lady's tougher than most of us put together."
"Believe me, I know. But still..."
Karazelle reached over and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"You're worried about the love of your life. That's normal. Just stick with her - stick with all of us - and you'll both be fine. I promise."
A small smile played across the Imp's lips.
"Cor... How'd you get so good at this kinda thing, Kara?" she asked, pulling away in an effort to regain her composure.
How did she get so good at this sort of thing? She certainly didn't learn it from her mother, that was for sure. Viola at least tried - she understood that - but trying didn't always equate to succeeding.
"I dunno. I just sort of figured it out as I-"
"HEY! THAT'S MY FUCKING SANDWICH!"
An almighty cry suddenly tore through the relative peace of the common room, drawing all eyes towards the kitchen area over in the corner. Swearing beneath her breath, Karazelle bid Quinn a brief farewell as she vaulted over the couch and rushed towards the disturbance.
A small kitchen took up one corner of the common room, though it mostly went unused, save for food storage and drinks making. A brash Golem girl stood by one of the counters, angrily yelling at the individual currently rooting through the fridge.
"What's going on?" Karazelle asked, squeezing past the outraged demon.
"She ate my sandwich! I had my name written on the bag and everything!" the Golem spat in reply.
Frowning, she walked up to the fridge and pulled the door further open, revealing the demon at fault.
Dammit, she knew something like this was going to happen!
There, with her skin thoroughly flushed and her eyes practically aglow with alchemical haze, was Jelli. She was basting in her own sweat, and she was holding a half-eaten sandwich in her hand. A quick glance into the fridge told Karazelle that she had already torn through most of its contents; a dozen sandwich bags and plastic boxes lay empty, and it appeared as though she had taken bites out of a few plates as well.
"Jelli...?" the Succubus breathed, already apprehensive.
"Mm...?" the Glutton murmured, peering up at her.
Cramming the rest of the sandwich into her mouth, she wiped the porcelain crumbs off her face and leaned in close, squishing her entire frame against Karazelle.
"Ah, Karazelle. You... ah... riecht gut..."
She began to sniff her incessantly, only alarming her further. Glancing back at the Golem, she silently apologised before turning back and grabbing Jelli's shoulders.
"Jelli, listen to me, okay? Are you listening?"
She seemed completely out of it, teetering back and forth on her heels.
"You smell so sweet. Sugar and apples and honey and strawberries and Pfirsiche und Sahne und... hmm..."
Sweet hellfire, her Glutton insides must have only delayed the reaction.
"O~kay. Let's get you up to your room, shall we?"
"Mm... may I...?"
"May you what?"
"Guten appetit...!"
Grabbing Karazelle's shoulder, she stood up on her tiptoes and unceremoniously ran her tongue along her neck. Gluttons had surprisingly wide, flat tongues, and feeling one so suddenly caused the Succubus to yelp. She stumbled a little, whereupon Jelli leaned in close and bit her. Feeling her tail instinctually coil up, she regained her senses just enough to grasp her intoxicated friend firmly and pull her away before she could reaffirm her grip.
"Ah," Jelli murmured blissfully, her eyes almost rolling back, "you taste... wunderbar..."
Karazelle held a hand to her neck, face frozen with shock as her fingers graced the wet patch on her skin.
"What the Hell did I give you...?" she breathed.
Was... Was this Jelli's suppressed desire? To eat her friends? That wasn't a comforting thought.
With the back of her neck burning from all the stares, she quickly wrapped an arm around Jelli's shoulder and tried to lead her out of the common room, apologising to the Golem girl as they passed her by. Before they could reach the doors, however, someone knew barged in, shaking the window panes with a mighty yawn.
Dressed in her nightclothes - her nightclothes being the clothes from the previous day that she didn't bother changing out of - Izzbelle Suyas lumbered into the common room, blearily looking around at all the wide-eyed students.
"Fuck's with all the yellin'? Why're you all lookin' at me like that?" the Oni grumbled, rubbing her eyes.
Eventually, her eyes focused on the two demons in front of her. Her gaze noticeably softened at the sight of Jelli, but quickly grew suspicious upon seeing her with Karazelle. Before a word could be said between the two, the Glutton broke free and doddered towards her.
"Izzbelle! So, so spicy. Like chilis and cinnamon and mmph..."
She kept talking as she bumped into the Oni, mumbling away into her abs. Furrowing her brow, Izzbelle glared at Karazelle.
"What the fuck did you do to her?!" she hissed.
"I- I didn't do anything, I swear!" Karazelle lied, unwilling to bear the full brunt of Izzbelle's wrath quite so early in the day.
She bared her teeth and pointed.
"I swear to all that burns, if you did somethin' to her, then I'm gonna break you clean in-!"
Izzbelle cut herself off as her face froze. Slowly, she glanced down at Jelli.
"Did... Did she just lick me?" the Oni breathed in a bewildered tone.
Alarmed at Jelli's sudden burst of brazenness, Karazelle pulled her away.
"Aha, so gut~!" she trilled, looking positively euphoric.
"What the fuck did you do?!" Izzbelle roared, grabbing the Succubus' lapels.
"I- I told you, nothing!"
"Then why is she-?!"
"Izzbelle?"
Halting her infuriated tirade, she dropped Karazelle to the floor in order to attend to Jelli. Blinking slowly, the Glutton crooked her finger, gesturing for her to get down to her eye level. Izzbelle did so without question, causing her to break out into a great big smile.
"May I?" she asked with a cock of her head.
The Oni just raised an eyebrow in response.
"May you what?"
"IZZBELLE, NO!" Karazelle screamed, but it was far too late.
Grabbing both sides of Izzbelle's face, the drugged-up little Glutton leaned in close and kissed her smack-bang on the lips. It was no light peck, either. Holding her tight, Jelli kissed her deeply and passionately, her eyes shut and her stubby tail fluttering behind her. The Oni was frozen with shock, her eyes wide and twitching. As the seconds drew on, her cheeks flushed like a wildfire as soft moans rumbled from Jelli's throat.
Not a single soul in the common room dared to make a sound.
Eventually, after quite some time, Jelli broke the kiss. Saliva trailed from her mouth, and upon letting go of Izzbelle's face, she turned her gaze skywards and sighed euphorically.
"Lecker...!" she breathed.
With that, Jelli toppled onto her back, completely dead to the world. Alarmed, Karazelle hunkered down and gave her a quick once over. Thankfully she was breathing just fine; the excitement had just gotten a little too much for her. After some rest, hopefully the worst of the alchemical mix would have passed.
"Izzbelle, are you okay?" she asked, looking up.
The Oni hadn't moved an inch. She remained right where she was, her face glistening from Jelli's saliva. After a moment she slowly blinked before sharply inhaling.
"Hunh...?" was all she managed to say before she keeled right over, shaking everything in the room.
Karazelle stared at both of the unconscious demons at her feet, feeling utterly out of her depth. Unsure how to process what just happened, she shook her head and tried to lift Jelli up, but only succeeded in rolling her onto her side.
"Can I get some help here?!" she cried in an exasperated tone, glaring around at all the other demons.
They just gawked at her, unsure of how to process it either.
Cursing, she grabbed Jelli beneath the arms and arduously lifted her up, deigning to tackle the Izzbelle issue later.
She hoped that they wouldn't remember any of this when they woke up. Or if they did, they at least wouldn't blame her.