Sleep came to me surprisingly easily. In fact - to all of us. Despite the potential dark cloud of danger hanging over our heads, the day had been emotionally draining, even without the need for bloodshed or physical trauma. It was only a matter of time before it became the norm again, but for now, I enjoyed this brief slice of bliss. Eating breakfast with my found family.

“I should have packed some spare clothes,. Rodney groaned in his messy suit shirt and slacks. “Apologies if I stink.”

“It’s fine.” I waved a slice of buttered toast. “Trust me, once you’ve smelled pigman filth, you’ll have a different gauge for these things.”

[Eric has plenty of clothes.]

Pearl shook her head at my patron. “They are clearly different builds - with no offense to Rodney; he would look strange in Eric's uniform.”

“It’s not a uniform,” I began before noticing her smirk. Instead, I just shook my head and smiled out to the window. Daylight, a nice day ready to be ruined by something.

Funny how everything seemed to wash away if you let it. Stop holding onto the past with a death grip, and the waves of emotions it carried slowly seep away into the back of your mind. The funeral, the potential threat, and the interrogation. All things that should have wracked my mind with stress and tension - but they did not. I had been calm ever since Wight had emptied my system - or perhaps since I met the rat god. Not that we knew that it had been a god, but it was a neat enough name until we knew for sure.

Mostly, we were avoiding the elephant in the room. What to do next? In a different time, this could be forever - just move away and not worry about Hell or the devilish machinations of demons, the constant pressure from the Organization, or attempted assassination attempts. Just spending time with those I cared about. Living.

Either my mental state was just a further development in my path to getting immune to corruption, or the Org meds always had something untoward in them. It was hard to tell, but I intended to avoid them for as long as possible. As long as I didn’t exert myself too much, then-

“You have plans today, Rodney?” Pearl was the first one to get the ball rolling. Destruction and conflict were inevitable now; it was only a matter of our clash of words where and when the battle would take place.

“Not especially. Org just expects me to follow Eric’s tail, and they won’t give a new Quest until they’ve decided on your Promotion.”

I had almost forgotten that was still hanging in the balance. “How long could it take? Either killing the pig king was good enough, or it wasn’t?”

[They are probably considering other factors as well, Eric.]

Wight prodded at his scrambled eggs with a fork - finally taking the plunge into using cutlery rather than eating hand to mouth like a toddler. He was way too like a small child for my liking. I mean, part of me adored it, as much as I cringed to admit it - internally. But it was also odd for the all-powerful and mysterious demon to be acting so simply. Was it because he thought this was what I wanted, or perhaps this was a natural part of my own corrupting influence?

“Like how you’ve formed to a degree - and how I have my own powers? They know I can handle a lot more.”

[Most likely.]

Pearl rubbed her leg against mine, but I was too unfocused to catch what I had said that would have given her that reaction. I shot her a smile but was almost immediately frowning at my breakfast straight after. Too many questions I had left for future Eric, and at some point, I had to become that me who actually addressed them.

“What would you offer me if I get it?” I tilted my head at the bird-demon.

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[I hadn’t thought about it.]

My eyes narrowed. This was something he always said, but when it came to it, he would pretty much make the choice for me. Not that I didn’t trust him to choose the right thing, especially now, but it was nice to have a heads-up.

Rodney caught the reaction painted across my face. “Often, the patrons aren’t allowed to bring it up with Hunters.”

Wight had, of course, broken this rule once before, but that was probably before they tightened the bolts again. My memory was hazy enough that it seemed like the correct answer. “Fair enough - but nothing that blows my limbs off, please.”

[Anything you would be offered, you would be able to handle, Eric.]

“You’re telling me,” Pearl murmured into her mug as she took a sip of coffee.

I chose to ignore it for now. “What we need is a whiteboard.”

Rodney nodded in agreement, and Wight looked more excited to have another medium to draw upon than anything. Pearl just seemed like she wanted to bug me a lot this morning, which was fine - it was nice to see her, and all of us, in such a good mood.

“Do you have plans today, Pearl?” I raised my eyebrows, keen to hear if she had some arrangements that didn’t involve trying to get me hot under the collar.

“Actually… no.” She placed her coffee cup down and pouted. “I need to lie low from the Mids for a day or two. I was a bit heavy-handed last night with the whole kidnapping and murder thing.”

I grinned. “Is that why you’re in such a good mood?”

“Eric,” she feigned being offended, “are you saying I take delight in being evil?”

It was a fair point - in being a demon, she still had the urge to act like one. As much as our domestic life and friend circle were charming and fulfilling, there was something more she needed. If murdering a few demons ticked that box off, then who was I to argue? It meant one less on my list of killing all demons.

“I guess you can’t come to the Lowers either, huh?” I scrunched up my face, increasing the speed and mass of the rolling ball. Now that I had put the potential dive into Hell out in the open, it was time to gauge any reaction.

“The Org might increase their efforts to split us if we are seen together again.” She placed her head on her palms and elbows on the table.

Rodney finished eating and placed his cutlery on the plate. “It’s not likely they’d be watching you randomly now, though?”

[That’s what they thought last time. Now that they do not trust Eric, they may be keeping a closer eye on any movements.]

I sighed. You wouldn’t have thought that you could be told off for going to Hell on your day off, but apparently, killing all demons didn’t matter if you happened to be living with one. Technically, I was living with two - they just didn’t like that they didn’t have control over one of them. Eric Redd knew when he was being manipulated, and that was long past when it came to Pearl.

The Blank awkwardly shuffled. “I uh, normally do some meditation in the morning. I was wondering if you guys wanted to join me?”

My head tilted to the side. Meditation was not something I’d really considered. In my depression era, I had certainly tried to clear my head of thoughts and sat or laid without moving for a long time - but that was slightly different. Normally I’d politely decline, but after last night there may be some benefit.

“Sure,” I nodded, “I’m in.”

[I will also participate.]

Pearl pulled a face as all eyes turned to her. “Ahhh. I’m not sure if I’d be any help; I’m just a demon, after all. You don’t need that energy.”

[I am a demon, too, the Pearl.]

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you, though?”

[I believe I am.]

“It’s fine,” Rodney waved his hands diplomatically, “we aren’t doing a ritual or anything; I just wanted to see if my powers could be increased - or if anything changes with some help.”

“Like if you could do that true name thing from a distance?” I whistled. The Father in the Saloon had been able to. I hadn’t caught the stipulations behind the act, but if Rodney could work on that, it’d be great.

Pearl groaned. “Alright, I’ll do it - but let me make the basement more comfortable first. Wight, you’re helping me.”

“Me and Rods will clear the table then.” I gave her a nod, and she leaned in for a brief kiss before action was taken.

As the two demons left the room, my heart ached. The new normal was anything but that. It had echoes of my old life, but renewed. The ugly bite of guilt briefly nipped at my breath before I smothered it in acceptance. Present Eric was drinking down the happiness that Past Eric wished he could have had. I was living the wish come true.

I stacked the plates and mugs to the side of the sink, ready to wash later on, as Rodney passed me the last of the cutlery.

“I had a weird dream last night, Eric.”

“Oh, yeah?” Given the day we had, that didn’t surprise me.

“Not sure where I was, but I was standing in front of a large mirror. My eyes were glowing blue - like you said they were last night.”

I nodded, following along so far.

“But there was a figure standing behind me, and he had an arm wrapped around me. A dark shadow of a person - but they had a goat's head, with spiraled horns - crimson eyes.”

“Did they… say anything?”

“No. They just seemed… I don’t know… just watching? I guess.”

My brow furrowed. A little meditation sounded quite nice right now, actually.