Ugh, this was difficult. How was Jonathan supposed to convince this rightfully-suspicious teen that he was honestly trying to offer them a place to live, and not aiming to exploit them somehow? "I understand that what I'm saying is hard to believe. What would help you believe what I'm telling you?"

"Well, for one thing, you're obviously not a demon. Do you think I was born yesterday?"

"Oh, that objection is pretty easy to deal with, but let's set that aside for a minute. Do you know much about demonic contracts?"

"I've been to church a time or two, yes."

So in other words, no. "Okay, are you aware that you set the terms of the contract, and that it is magically enforced? Specifically, what I am offering here is somewhere safe to live, food, basic essentials like clothing in good repair that fits, and access to my magical abilities as needs arise."

"What do you get out of that?"

"I get to stay here in your world. Your part of the contract is that you provide a small amount of your natural magic to prevent me from being banished to the Infernal Abyss."

"Okay, that makes a certain amount of sense, but I've never heard of a demon who wanted to adopt orphans. And don't you already have a contract with your original summoner?"

"Yes, but her natural magic isn't sufficient to maintain me long-term. That's the main reason I'm looking for more people to live in the orphanage."

"Right, your magical orphanage paradise outside the city."

"I wouldn't say it's a paradise, but it's certainly better than this dilapidated building you've got going for you currently. Now, to return to your original objection that none of this can be true because I'm clearly not a demon. How about a demonstration?"

The kid instantly was on his guard again.

"Relax, I meant I'd demonstrate some of my demonic magic." Boy, did Jonathan ever feel silly saying that, but whatever. "Look, just think about something small that you badly need. Say, not anything bigger than my arm. I'll conjure it for you."

"Sure you will."

"Give it a try. What do you have to lose?" As he finished speaking, Jonathan enlivened his magic and a dark purple smoke sprang into being around the kid. Jonathan spent a moment trying to gauge what it was the teen was desiring, but whatever it was felt kind of abstract. On the other hand, when he tentatively reached out to the Infernal Abyss, he didn't get the sense that conjuring something to appease that desire would be all that much different in effort compared to summoning clothing. And he was already sitting on the ground, so the exhaustion wasn't going to be hard to conceal! Such a windfall.

Well, nothing for it. Jonathan did his magic, trying not to wince at the pain or collapse from the ensuing exhaustion.

Between the two of them, a hammer and small tin of nails materialized out of nothing, and the kid actually jumped backward. Jonathan would have laughed if he weren't so bone-tired from the conjuration.

Instead, he leaned forward a little to get a better look at the tools. "Huh, didn't expect you to want something so mundane. Hey, if you do decide to move into the orphanage, I'd love to borrow that hammer. I have a fence I need to patch."

"Wait, so you actually are…what sort of a demon summons a hammer and nails or runs an orphanage?!"

Jonathan tried to shrug, but it was kind of awkward when he was sitting on his hands. "I never claimed to be a normal demon. My summoner had unique needs and summoned something unique to address them."

Wow, was that ever a juicy bit of baloney, but Jonathan really needed to sell this idea. Although come to think, the bit about Abigail having unique needs was the strictest truth.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Unique. Right." The kid stepped forward cautiously, keeping his knife firmly pointed at Jonathan, and poked at the hammer with his foot. "Anthrax take me, that's an actual hammer. I thought for sure you must be using an illusion, although why you would bother…this whole thing doesn't make sense."

"Boy, do I ever sympathize with that feeling," Jonathan sighed.

The kid scowled. "Don't call me 'boy'."

"I didn't—you know what, never mind. What should I call you, then?"

The teen scowled in silence for a moment, seemingly considering. "My name is Ethan."

"Ethan it is, then! Look, Ethan, you don't need to decide to trust me today. How about you talk it over with the kids you're taking care of, and if you'd be interested in leaving Eldridge proper to move into the orphanage I can show you around the place tomorrow. It's maybe an hour, hour and a half walk from here. Or you could send someone to follow me at a distance this afternoon. They should have plenty of time to get back to Eldridge before dark, or I'd be willing to let them stay in the orphanage overnight."

Ethan though this over for a moment, then raised his voice. "Chris! Come to the front!"

One of the kids who looked about Abigail's age appeared around the edge of the house, but stayed well out of reach.

"I want you to watch this guy for me, Chris. I'm going to talk to the rest real quick. If he moves, scream for us and run. That happens, Jonathan, and you'll never see any of us again."

"This isn't super comfortable, but I can wait a bit."

"Good. Don't move!" Ethan gathered up the hammer and nails and jogged around the back of the house with a last suspicious glance toward Jonathan. Chris backed up until he was half hidden around the edge of the house.

"So, your name's Chris?" said Jonathan. Chris didn't respond.

This wait was going to suck. He had already felt pretty silly being threatened by a kid with a knife, but now that he was effectively sitting alone on his hands on the side of the road? Yeah, he wished he'd thought of a better way to get Ethan to ramp things down in the heat of the moment.

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Having nothing better to do, Jonathan enlivened his magic and started trying to parse the impressions he was getting. From Chris, he was getting a fair chunk of desire for food, alongside something he didn't quite recognize. Given the situation, at a guess…maybe he desired peace or no conflict? That was more a guess on Jonathan's part than anything he was getting directly from his weird magic senses, though.

At the moment, the only smoke he could "see" was Chris', but on a whim Jonathan focused on the house in front of him. He was reasonably certain Ethan was in there talking to the other kids, and sure enough, after focusing for a few minutes Ethan's dark purple smoke showed up first, then another and another until there were…only four? Jonathan could have sworn there were seven of the kids in total, but maybe two of them had gone out somewhere.

Could he get impressions from the smoke from here, even though they were so far away? Jonathan focused again and began to get a bunch of conflicting impressions. He wondered if they were arguing over his proposal. Slowly, though, the impressions he was getting started to align, and then all of a sudden they snapped into place. Huh, they must have come to some sort of consensus.

Sure enough, the smoke representing Ethan started moving through house with purpose, and Jonathan ceased enlivening his magic a few moments before Ethan came striding around the side of the house.

Ethan clapped Chris on the shoulder and said something to him too quiet for Jonathan to hear, then walked up to Jonathan and stood in front of him while Chris disappeared around the side of the house once more.

"Mind if I stop sitting on my hands?" said Jonathan. "This is getting incredibly old."

Ethan waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah, that's enough of that for now."

Jonathan pulled his hands out from under himself and worked his way to his feet with a grumble. He was stiff from sitting cross-legged on this poorly-paved street for so long. "So, what's your decision? Anyone want to come see the orphanage with me this afternoon? Because if so, we should head out. I don't want you kids traveling in the dark, and I'm not going to be able to escort you back to the city unless you stay the night."

Ethan looked conflicted for a moment before sighing. "Yes, we're tentatively interested in your offer, assuming you're telling the truth, and I'll be sending a couple of the older kids to verify what you've told us."

"Oh, you're not coming yourself?"

Ethan shook his head, looking grim. "I don't trust you that much."

But he did trust him with younger kids? Jonathan wasn't sure how this kid's risk assessment was functioning, but whatever. Given that he didn't have any ulterior motives and was telling him the truth about what he had to offer, it wasn't a big deal. He shrugged. "Sounds good. When will they be ready to leave?"

"A few more minutes, most likely."

The two stood in awkward silence for a little while, before Jonathan broke down. "Do you have anything you want to ask me before I head out?"

"You said you need more kids for your orphanage. Who lives there already?"

"Just Abigail at the moment; she's the girl who summoned me."

"Girl?"

"Yeah, she's nine."

Ethan looked at him askance. "Anthrax, every time I think I've heard the strangest thing you've said you come up with something stranger."

Jonathan shrugged again, ruefully. "Welcome to my life."