Ravenna was a temptress, that used to be her station. She reveled in the feeble minds of man, ensnaring male and female alike with her curves and dances. She knew what to whisper in their ear, where to look, how to act. Even if she was a lowborn, her reputation grew and none dared to call her a lesser demon. She was one of the most accomplished in the art of seduction and her victims numbered over tens of thousands. But that was long gone.
After the great blinding, she realized that human minds, hearts and even souls had undergone some sort of mutation. They didn’t react to her advances, her generous curves brought her little to no attention and only lowlifes ever called her for her surfaces. Still, she decided to live in the mundane realm again.
She cleaned the rest of the dishes and dressed herself in her clothes. Cheap it might have been, her clothes were still stylish. She stepped out of the studio building and started walking to her apartment. The gentle rain caressed her cheeks and the everlasting green light illuminated her way home.
The streets were filthy and quiet, as they always were. For the chaos this city was most of the time, this street was a serene paradise. A green, murky, stinking paradise that made her feel beshawelled. But she enjoyed the calm.
She knew hell very well. She might have been rather young compared to her other brethren, but she travelled across the burning plains, to the rings of sin and other happy go lucky places. She knew the chaos and madness it was filled in, she rejoiced in it for some time.
She unlocked the lock and opened her door. When she was attacked by her orange cat - Azazel. A smile appeared across her face as she petted him.
She had a humble living, a one-bedroom apartment, but it did have enough for her. She kept her apartment clean and free of mold. Her sheets washed and her windows locked and barricaded.
Though there still was something missing from her life, she was surprisingly…content? Her at the pinnacle of her power would laugh at and mock her, for being weak, for falling under the spell of mundane normalcy. But she just did not understand.
She made herself some tea and a dinner for both her and Azazel. The raindrops outside had increased in number and her room smelt of scented candles. The book she read made her giggle at the innocent way the characters expressed love. Though the romance was riddled with misunderstandings and inconvenient timing, it was very sweet. Sweet enough to make her slightly blush.
She had an early shift tomorrow and she just had to have her seven hours of sleep.
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The work was going slow. There were a lot more customers than usual and her legs began cramping. She never knew that even the bodies of demons could fall victim to cramps, but as she found out, they could, in more ways than one.
Thankfully her friend Nixxie noticed and switched with her, so she could relax a bit behind the bar.
A young man came inside the shop. He had a medium build, although he was clearly working out, his hair was groomed and his short beard well-kept. He looked at Ravenna and then averted his eyes, his cheeks started reddening a little. The old Ravenna would use this as a chance, someone susceptible to her magic would be a prime prey. But the Ravenna of today just smiled.
"What it'll be?" she asked as soon as the man sat on a barstool, still wearing her smile.
"Hello, one black coffee please. No sugar." his gentle voice carried.
"Sure thing!" she turned around and started heating the coffee.
"Thanks. Uh…how are you?" he asked her, while having trouble keeping the eye contact up. His fingers tapping the bar slightly.
"I am doing alright, but you know…with all that parade happening, there is a lot of customers, it can be a struggle sometimes." she sighted.
"Oh, sorry. We don’t mean to be a bother." the man said, looking devastated by the feeling like he caused her more effort.
"I did not mean it like that, don’t worry." she shook her hand.
"Why are you not in the parade anyway? You are too beautiful to not get invited." he inquired curiously. Most his age were already there, either drugged to oblivion or selling drugs. She used to enjoy such substances, but no more. And since he asked nicely…
"Thank you, but it is not a thing for me I suppose." she brought a pie to a different customer, than she gone back to the man. She wanted to talk with him more, but since he looked more interested in swirling a little spoon in his coffee than her, she had to be on the offensive.
"Why are you here? You are not bad looking yourself." a smile crept up on his face.
"I guess I don’t really like it. Believe it or not, but all those drugs and pride and drugs. I just don’t get it. You know what they say, It's like grinding bone from a wolf…"
"To feed a horse with, yeah. I understand why you would see it as unnatural. Especially now when children can participate." The thought felt wrong even to her and she used to be a demon.
"Yeah." he replied. He looked like he wanted to come up with something, but then he just shook his head and extended his hand. "Natan."
"Ravenna." she accepted. "My shift ends at four."
His cheeks reddened further with embarrassment, but he took in in stride. He gulped down his coffee and ordered one more. She made a little heart on the cup with a red marker, along with her id number.
"Gotta be awake until four." he said with a smile as she put it down. She realized she did like the mundane realm.