Cobalt and Karazelle. They were a perfect match. Not just because they were both Lust demons, but because they had a chemistry that just couldn’t be matched by anyone else. Karazelle was charismatic and flirtatious; her every word just oozed with allure. Cobalt was more reserved, but was dependable to the core. A real leader, true to his values and just bursting at the seams with reverence for those he cared about. Not only that, but the pair were simply in another league when it came to looks. The Succubus was a solid ten on anyone’s scale, and the Incubus’ raw, sombre charm…

They belonged together. Jelli could see that plainly.

But that didn’t make it hurt any less.

She had seen them that morning, heading out together for some kind of holiday, if the suitcases were any clue. She looked so happy, and he… well… happy wasn’t quite the word, but he didn’t look quite so pained. At least not as badly as he had been in the past few weeks.

Karazelle and Cobalt… They were both important to Jelli, more than either of them could realise. Of course she wanted the best for them. Of course she wanted them both to find their own happiness.

So why did the sight of them, hand-in-hand, make her feel like breaking down into tears?

All day, that image was burned into the Glutton’s mind, distracting her at every turn and keeping her from getting any meaningful study done. Before noon, she had just given up; she cancelled her plans with Izzbelle, trudged right back upstairs and flopped onto her bed.

It was dark now, and Jelli hadn’t moved since. Her pillow was soaked through, and she was desperate for something to eat, but she simply couldn’t muster the energy. Her entire body felt cold and sluggish.

She wondered what they were doing at that moment, while she lay staring at the ceiling, tears streaking from the corners of her eyes down into her ears. Over on her bedside table, her phone buzzed every few minutes. Izzbelle. Or Stefan. They worried about her.

They really shouldn’t.

In all honesty, Jelli just wanted it all to be over. Her education, her social life, her family, her friends, her own emotions… She just wanted them all to stop. If she could remain in her room for the rest of time and fester away into nothingness… Well, it wouldn’t make her happy, but at the very least it wouldn’t make her feel any worse.

But being alone with her own thoughts… It sounded just as daunting.

It was pathetic.

She was pathetic.

There was a knock at her door, but Jelli was in no hurry to answer it. She just buried her head into the pillow, hoping that whoever it was would go away soon.

“Jel? You in?” called the distinctly accented voice of Quinn Redtile.

The Glutton drew the duvet over her head.

“Hey, remember when you said you’d help us with study?”

She did promise that, didn’t she? Jelli just felt put on the spot at the time; she didn’t actually feel confident enough to help anyone with anything. She simply wasn’t capable of that, seeing as she couldn’t even help herself.

“Jel? You okay?”

Clinging to one of her plushes, Jelli silently begged the Imp to just go away and leave her be.

“… Alright, I’m coming in.”

The door handle turned, but she had locked it hours ago. Not one to be deterred, Quinn began to fiddle with the lock from outside, filling the silent room with the sound of lockpicks scratching at the tumblers. After a few moments, it unlocked with a click, prompting Jelli to sigh.

As the door swung open, the Imp stepped into Jelli’s room, allowing light from the hallway to flood in alongside her. She rolled her shoulder in its socket as she looked around, squinting through the darkness.

“You alive in here?” the Imp called, planting her hands on her hips.

With a heavy sigh, Jelli slowly slid out from beneath her bedcovers. She gave Quinn a weak smile, prompting her to sigh and plant her hands upon her hips.

“You been in here all day?” the Imp asked, peering around the dim room.

“Mm.”

“Right…”

Slinking over to the bed, Quinn heaved herself up onto the mattress, sitting down next to Jelli. She played with the lockpicks in her hands for a few moments before glancing over at her friend.

“Wanna talk about it?” she asked, tucking them back into her pocket.

The Glutton shook her head.

“Fair enough. Hard to get your head in order. Feels shit having to hear it out loud sometimes.”

She took a deep breath.

“Still… better out than in, you know? Hey, if you can’t say it in English, why not in German?” Quinn suggested, shrugging her shoulders.

Jelli began to shake her head, but stopped upon realising that the Imp didn’t understand German. And maybe – just maybe – if vocalising her feelings helped her feel just that little bit better, then…

She didn’t deserve to feel better; she knew that. But Jelli didn’t want to keep feeling like this.

“He… He hates me,” she said carefully, dipping her toe into the linguistic water.

“There you go,” Quinn replied, patting her shoulder despite clearly having no idea what she just said.

“I asked to be with him. And he… threw up. Everywhere. I- I should have… I should have known. But it still hurts so much.”

“Let it out, love.”

“I just want to go back before I ever opened my stupid fat mouth! Before I ever told Cobalt that I-!”

“Cobalt? Is all this because of him?” Quinn asked, eyes wide with concern.

Realising she accidentally let the Incubus’ name slip, Jelli quickly shut her mouth and turned away.

“Jel? Talk to me; what happened?”

Shaking her head, the Glutton clambered out of bed and stalked over to her kitchen. Opening up the fridge, she drank deeply from a carton of milk, shivering from her head to her tail. Quinn just stared at her friend, her face painted with worry.

“Did… Did you need me for something?” the Glutton asked, swatting the fridge shut with her tail.

“Well, I was wondering if you’d be up for that study session with me and Lottie, but if you’re not up for it, then I get it.”

Hopping off the bed, Quinn stepped over to the window and raised the blinds, allowing moonlight to illuminate the dorm.

“But in my opinion, I think you could do with some company. Don’t even have to study if you don’t want to. Fuck knows I don’t.”

Lottie and Quinn, arguably two of the worst students in 3-F… If even they were putting in the effort to try and pass their final exams, what did that say about Jelli? Just lying in her room, waiting for her body to rot right off her bones…

“What are, um… what are you guys studying?” the Glutton asked quietly, shuffling back in from the kitchenette.

“Language, mostly. Need to take a crack at Science too, but we’re putting that off for now. Hopefully forever,” she explained, jamming her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

Language. Did they really want her help with that? She could barely string two words together in most languages, never mind Tongues. Her input wouldn’t be of much use.

But still…

“Y- Yeah, I can help. I- If you want,” she stuttered, tugging at the hem of her blouse.

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Quinn gave her a smile. She had one of those grins that made most people feel like they were getting sold short, but Jelli knew her well enough that the Imp’s smile was as genuine as they came.

“You’re a lifesaver, Jel. Don’t worry, I’ll make it worth your while. Do you like digestives?”

The Glutton cocked her head.

“I, um… I don’t know what that is.”

“Heh. C’mon, let’s go to my room.”

-----

Quinn Redtile had wasted no time in writing off the security deposit on her room. The floor was a mire of discarded clothes and food wrappers, while the peeling yellow walls were covered in intricate graffiti. Handmade charms dangled from the ceiling, and as Jelli gingerly stepped inside, she saw a collection of pride flags unceremoniously nailed to the ceiling. A quick glance into the kitchenette set her inner culinarian into panic-mode; all of the appliances had been haphazardly stripped out or jury-rigged, while the table and countertops played host to a plethora of old takeaway boxes. Over on the bed, Lottie sat with her legs crossed, squinting at a book that she failed to realise she was holding upside down.

“Ooh! Hiya Jellili!” the Golem cried excitedly, waving both of her hands and sending her book flying in the process.

It smashed into the wall, tearing the wallpaper and denting the plaster. Lottie had quite an arm on her.

“Sit wherever you fancy. My casa is your casa or however it goes,” Quinn said, kicking a pile of empty boxes underneath her bed as she shut the door behind her.

“Are you sure? I can stand if you want,” Jelli responded, shuffling out of the way.

“Well, you’ll be standing a while in that case, and I wouldn’t want you snapping your ankles or nothing.”

“O- Okay. May I, um… is here okay?” asked the Glutton, gesturing to the edge of the bed.

“Yeah, of course!”

As she awkwardly sat herself down upon the Imp’s messy bed, Quinn waded through the ocean of clothes into the kitchenette and began to root through her overstuffed cupboards.

“Do you take coffee or tea, Jel?” she called over her shoulder, retrieving a trio of chipped mugs from a squeaky cabinet.

“Either’s fine!”

“Tea it is then. Milk? Sugar?”

“B- Both, please.”

“How many spoonfuls?”

“Um… N- Nine…”

“Coming up!”

As Quinn set about making the tea, Jelli sat down next to Lottie, who excitedly shuffled closer to her. The Golem’s mere presence was enough to set her at ease. She wasn’t sure whether it was her smell or her smile or just her aura, but whenever she was near, the Glutton felt just that little bit better about herself.

"Are you gonna teach me word things?" she asked, tilting her head, causing her silver hair to bounce.

Jelli nodded shakily.

"Um, yes... Though I'm not very good at Language... or anything, really..." she mumbled in reply, fiddling with her sleeves.

She cried out as Lottie suddenly embraced her, pulling Jelli's face tight against her chest. Try as she might to struggle, the fight simply left her body as she was enveloped in the Golem’s gentle, earthy scent.

"No! You’re very, very smart! You can speak weird words and do all~ kinds of science things that I don't understand!" she cried, presumably doing her best to comfort the Glutton.

Though her words were kind, Jelli knew that they weren't true. She wasn't that smart at all.

A sudden snicker drew their attention to Quinn as she returned from the kitchen, holding a tray of three mismatched mugs of tea.

"Blimey, you two are getting awful cozy. Save some for me, Lottie. A- After I'm done handle hot liquids!" the Imp added hastily, right as the Golem stuck out her tongue and made to tackle her.

Smiling, Quinn handed one mug to Jelli and the other to her girlfriend, before grabbing her own and joining them on the bed.

"I added as much sugar as I could. The texture’s gone a bit weird, but that was bound to happen, yeah?”

Nodding, Jelli took an experimental sip of her tea. It was teeth-achingly sweet, and all of the excess sugar had thickened it somewhat.

"Alrighty then, girls. Ready to get started?" Quinn asked, cracking her knuckles and flipping open one of the textbooks.

Before any of them could begin to read, however, the lights flickered off, as did the quietly humming fridge and the kettle. The Imp, raising an eyebrow, hopped off the bed and ran over to the light switch. She flicked it a few times, growing more and more irritated as the lights refused to turn on.

"What happened, Quinny?" Lottie asked, spilling tea all over the sheets.

She squinted at the lights and sighed, before pulling open the draw by her bed and retrieving a flashlight.

"Fuses must have blown or something. You two stay here; I'll head down and replace them" she called, pulling out a small pack of spare fuses.

“I- Isn’t that up to the housekeepers?” asked Jelli, shivering as the heating shut off.

“Can’t rely on them to wipe their own arses half the time. Don’t worry, Jel; this isn’t the first time. Be back shortly!”

With that, she threw the door open and took off down the hall, her footfalls echoing off the walls amidst the confused cries of the building’s other residents.

Jelli swallowed hard and glanced over at Lottie, who was staring at the wall. She was stuck in someone else's room while the power was out... She had to keep calm... But what if something terrible happened? What if Quinn never came back? What if the power comes back on so suddenly that the light bulb explodes? What if-?!

“It’s dark,” Lottie suddenly said calmly, snapping Jelli out of her sudden bout of panic.

“Huh…?”

“It’s dark. I like the dark sometimes. It’s cozy.”

Taking a shuddering breath, the Glutton carefully looked around the room. Her heart was still hammering in her chest, and yet for some reason Lottie’s words helped to set her at ease.

“Quinny will be back soon. Quinny knows nearly everything,” the Golem continued, happily lauding her girlfriend despite the evident bias.

Not that Jelli minded. It was almost soothing, talking to Lottie. She just had that effect on people. Once you started speaking to the clueless Golem, you just felt... safe, almost. Though she was a little odd, Lottie simply oozed the same warmth and comfort some people garnered from speaking with their mother.

She suddenly shook her head. Where did that thought come from?

A few minutes passed, and Lottie began to hum a little song to herself. Though Jelli was still very much aware that she was intruding in someone else's room, she began to relax a little.

"Are you okay, Jellili?" asked Lottie, tilting her head.

The green-skinned demon nodded slowly.

"But are you really?" she pressed, shuffling towards her.

She nodded again, a little harder this time. Lottie, not satisfied with her answer, laid her head on her lap and looked up into the Glutton's eyes.

"But are you really?" the Golem asked in a gentle tone, raising an eyebrow.

After a moment of thought, Jelli sighed and shook her head.

"No... No, not really. I- I’m just worried, and… sad. Lottie... Cobalt is just- I don’t know. He’s sick, I think. Very sick, and I'm just worried that something might happen to him. I don't know... I don't even think I could help him if I wanted to... he probably hates me, anyway..."

She sniffled and shook her head.

"N- Never mind. Forget I said anything; it's stupid, anyway."

As soon as those words left her mouth, Lottie suddenly shot forward like a rocket and wrapped Jelli up in a tight hug. Though it was restrictive, and she could barely breathe, she found it rather comforting.

"Nothing that makes you feel not nice is stupid, Jellili. You're not stupid. You're very, very nice and very, very smart and very, very pretty and very, very smart. I know that Mr. C didn't mean to be mean, because Mr. C isn't mean. He's just very sick and needs to go to the doctor to get medicine and he'll be better."

She pulled the Glutton closer.

"He doesn't hate you. Mr. C doesn't hate anybody. Mr. C is very nice to everyone, and super nice to you, because you're the bestest demon!" she whispered into Jelli's ear.

The Glutton shook her head and tried to say something, but she shushed her.

"You are the bestest, Jellili. Don't let people say you're not, because you are. If people say you're not, then that's mean, and mean people aren't good people to be around. You are the bestest Jellili I ever seen and I like you lots."

Jelli didn't reply. She didn't know how. Instead, she just tentatively wrapped her arms around Lottie and allowed herself to be held. Nothing was said between either of them for several minutes. She took a moment to reflect on what the Golem had said, allowing her soft skin to rub against hers, and the sweet scent of her silver hair to fill her nostrils.

And after all that silence, the Glutton burst into tears. They flowed thick and fast, urging her to cling to Lottie’s top as she sobbed, completely overwhelmed by her kind words. She cried and cried until she completely bottomed out, the deluge giving way to dry sobs that racked her entire body. Lottie just held her close and patted her back, murmuring reassurances all the while.

She barely noticed when something swooped past the window.

She barely noticed when a pane of glass shattered.

She barely noticed when Lottie sudden jolted.

It was only when the Golem slumped forward, a black arrow lodged in her shoulder blade, did Jelli notice that something was up. A stream of blood flowed from the wound, staining both her shirt and the sheets of the bed. She couldn't breathe. She could scarcely move. One moment, Lottie was peacefully hugging her. The next...

And just like that, the Glutton screamed. As Lottie groaned with pain, she backed against the wall, unsure of what to do. Her heartbeat was so loud, that she didn't even hear the door open as Quinn stepped back into the room, a handful of ruined fuses in her hand.

"Won't believe this. Some absolute wanker slashed all the fuses. Had to get-"

The Imp froze in place. Slowly, her gaze moved from the arrow shaft lodged in Lottie's back, to the blood coating a terrified Jelli's hands. Then, she looked over at the hole in the window before looking back at her girlfriend.

"No..."

Quinn suddenly tossed the fuses away before rushing over to Lottie. Her teeth bared, she snapped her fingers and pointed at Jelli.

"Tissues, now!" she cried, her voice a little more panicky than she would have liked.

Gasping for breath, the Glutton dashed into the kitchen and grabbed a roll of kitchen paper. Snatching it from her hands, Quinn stuffed a wad of them into Lottie's mouth before gritting her teeth and wrapping her fingers around the arrow's shaft.

"Sweetheart, this is gonna hurt, but please; bite down and just try not to scream. Oh fuck... I'm so sorry...!"

With that, Quinn suddenly wrenched the arrow from the Golem's back. She squirmed and groaned with pain, tears streaming from her eyes. Right as the arrow was lifted up - giving everyone a glimpse of its gleaming obsidian head - it dissipated into black smoke, causing the Imp to ball her fists and furrow her brow.

"Fallen magic..." she spat, before turning to Jelli.

Fishing her mobile phone out of her pocket, she tossed it at her.

"The police, an ambulance, anybody! Go on, now!" she cried, unable to hold back her own tears.

“Wh- What’s going on?!” Jelli stammered, feeling weak at the knees.

Quinn didn’t reply. Instead, she marched over to the window and shoved it open. Summoning her Lead Revolver into her hand, the Imp gripped it tight and swung her leg out the window.

“I’m going to fucking kill that psycho tramp!” she yelled, clambering out onto the support struts before Jelli could stop her.

She wanted to run. Or collapse. Or both. But before she could even begin to put her thoughts in order, she was alerted to a low moan from Lottie.

“J- Jellili…?” she mumbled, her voice low and calm despite the pain she was in.

The Glutton rushed to her side and took her hand, soaking them both in blood.

“I- I’m here, Lottie, I’m here! It’s gonna be okay!”

“Remember… you’re the bestest demon, okay…?”

“No, Lottie! Keep- Keep your eyes open!”

Her eyelids began to slip shut.

“The… bestest…”

With one hand gripping Lottie’s phone, Jelli desperately plugged the emergency services’ number into Quinn’s phone.

“B- B.I.D.! Y- You have to hurry!”

“Ma’am, stay calm. What’s the nature of your emergency?”

“My friend…!”

She looked down at Lottie. The Golem had fallen unconscious.

“… she’s been attacked!”