Sarah and Lena’s shared room was bathed in the soft golden glow of the afternoon sun. Andras hummed using Sarah’s voice as they reviewed her syllabus, “Why do they want us to go through so much trouble?” Andras voiced his frustrations out loud.
“Hey, if someone catches you talking like that they’re going to think I’m crazy.” Sarah objects. “But you are right, it’s completely unnecessary that they want every student to do this much coding. Professor said at least 20 hours for just project number 2.” She agreed with the Daemon.
What they were meant to be building wasn’t that insane in and of itself, but it was the tedious amounts of documentation and testing that they were to do on top of that.
“So they want us to build a database for employees, an application to manipulate that database, and then test it these six different ways. All the while completing a mountain of paperwork for every step?” Andras asked the computer science major.
“That about sums it up, but what are you complaining about? We don’t even have to do it until after the first project, which isn’t due until a month after summer ends,” she asked him.
Andras paused, flicking through the booklet, and took the time to rub ‘his’ temples. “Because I’m not just a comp-sci major, am I? I’m a business major thanks to Bianca, a double animation major thanks to Lena and Keira, a nursing major thanks to Amber, and now this too? Talk about overloaded…” the daemon lamented.
“Remind me, Andras…” Sarah started. From her slow and deliberate tone, he knew he was in trouble. Maybe complaining in this context wasn’t really in the cards for him.
“How much rent do you pay?” she asked rhetorically.
“Well… you see…” he trailed off.
“None, Andras. You pay no rent.” She firmly reminded him. “Even if you had money, how much would renting the bodies of no less than five college girls go for?”
Andras paused his massaging of Sarah’s temples. He knew he wasn’t being unreasonable, but in the few months since he began living with the girls, he’d picked up on something that people often take a very long time to understand, if they ever do.
That was that sometimes it’s better to just move on than to argue your point.
“Fair enough,” he said simply before moving her hands back to the syllabus booklet and continuing to flick through. Sarah let some inklings of satisfaction seep through their connection. Whether or not that was on purpose was impossible to tell, but he was content that she was content.
“On the topic of the others, how are they going with their workloads?” Sarah enquired, giving Andras another sorely needed distraction from computer science. The daemon paused for a moment to think back to the recent study sessions he’d had with each of them and their feelings towards them.
“Well, Bianca is doing… Bianca things. She’s always only worried about the bare minimum,” he explained.
“That checks out. It’s not exactly a secret that she’s only here because Amber is here. Well, that and that she likes to party,” Sarah mused.
There wasn’t a lot of friction between any of the girls, despite what the daemon had seen on his ‘educational’ videos when training to take on the role of Lena. There wasn’t constant drama and passive-aggressive comments like he’d been taught to expect by modern media.
That being said, one occasional source of friction within the group was between Sarah and Bianca regarding the latter’s attitude towards schooling. Sarah had expressed on numerous occasions that Bianca ought to take school more seriously, whereas Bianca had always promptly dismissed the concerned friend by saying that she was still figuring out what she wanted to do and that she couldn’t be rushed.
Not wanting to talk further on a topic that might exacerbate her, Andras moved on. “Keira and Lena are going slower than usual. Every other project they’ve done they’ve happily split the work between their strong suits, but they finally decided that they needed to get outside of their comfort zones, so they’re needing to help each other a lot more,” he explained.
“That’s really good to hear. I was worried they’d keep doing that and finish school unbalanced, but I’m glad they’re working on it. What about Amber?” she asked.
Andras paused momentarily, remembering the state of Amber’s studies recently.
Letting out a sigh, he replied, “Not too well, I’m afraid. Her grades aren’t bad, but they’ve been trending downwards as she spends more and more time…”
“Hunting for information on daemons and the next artifact,” Sarah finished for him. “It’s good she’s looking, but she hasn’t found anything for quite a while. Do you think she’s wasting her time?” she asked him.
The daemon shrugged. “It’s hard to say for sure. Were it not for her original discovery, who knows what we would have done to defeat Idsalis?” he remarked. “But with her grades starting to suffer, I’ve found myself becoming more concerned with the behavior.”
Andras shifted in the desk chair, pulling at the bottom of the top Sarah was wearing to get more comfortable. “Has she said anything to you about it?” Sarah asked.
“Aside from passing information by me to see what I think about it, not really. One thing I have noticed is that she’s been a bit more paranoid too. From time to time when we’re out, she’ll ask me to take a second look at someone. She tries to tell me that it’s because she thought she recognized someone, but I’m getting the sense that she’s mainly doing it to look for signs of possession,” he explained his concerns to his ‘landlord.’
“Well, I think all of us have been doing a little of that. Sometimes I find myself getting paranoid there are more daemons around when I feel someone’s gaze linger on me for just a little too long, but sure enough, it’s usually just because I’ve worn a low-cut top,” she said with a mix of humor and annoyance.
At the mention, Andras’ eyes involuntarily dropped downwards, locking onto her breasts which were visibly snug in her scoop-neck shirt. Almost as quickly as it happened, he wrenched his eyes away from them and attempted to cover his own gaze by continuing, “Uhh, yeah, I get you. Anyway, you’re right, nothing to be too concerned about just yet,” he tried.
“Nice save.” She laughed, “But yeah, we’ll just have to keep an eye on her.”
Andras hummed his agreement.
“Anyway, we should get back to—” Sarah started before being interrupted by a knock at the door.
“You expecting anyone?” the daemon asked.
“Can’t say I am, and it’s not like Lena to knock,” she answered.
“Who is it?” Andras asked.
“It’s me, babe, surprise,” they heard Sarah’s boyfriend, Justin, say from outside.
“What is he doing here?” Andras asked in a panic, rising from the chair. “Just a minute,” he politely replied.
“Do you think he would have said ‘surprise’ if I knew that?” Sarah asked him sarcastically.
“Point taken. What are we going to do?” he asked, moving over to the wardrobe and loudly opening the drawers to make it seem like Sarah was getting dressed.
“We’re just going to have to answer it and send out an SOS hoping one of the girls is nearby,” Sarah replied.
“Got it,” Andras said, snatching Sarah’s phone off the bed. His fingers moved with lightning speed as he walked towards the door.
“SOS, Justin’s here,” he wrote in the group chat, knowing they’d get the message.
Andras opened the door and put on his best smile. “Hey babe! What are you doing here?” he said, pulling the rather tall guy into a hug. Justin nearly had a full foot on Sarah, so Andras had to rest her head against his chest for the hug.
“I missed you,” Justin said simply, hugging his girlfriend firmly. “And,” he said, breaking the embrace to look at ‘Sarah,’ “I have a surprise for you. I know you don’t usually like spontaneity, but as you know, I made sure this wasn’t interrupting any important plans,” he explained cheerfully. It was at this point Andras took proper notice of Justin’s attire.
He was dressed very nicely in a dress shirt, color-complementing pants, and a blazer. He’d also very clearly had a haircut recently, possibly even earlier today, and he smelled strongly of a cologne Sarah was fond of.
“That’s why he was wanting to know exactly what I was doing tonight,” Sarah remarked, feeling dumb that she’d not realized earlier.
“Oh uh… what’s the surprise?” Andras asked, not really sure what to do next.
“Well, I’ve got a whole evening planned out for us, but I’m not going to tell you what we’re doing until we get there. We have twenty minutes to leave,” he answered eagerly.
“Twenty minutes?!” Sarah said incredulously.
“What do you want me to do? I don’t think we can stall him,” Andras asked the girl.
“Tell him we need to shower first and pray that someone can save us from this jam,” Sarah replied, thinking quickly.
Andras ran a hand through Sarah’s hair. “That’s great… I can’t believe you’d do that for me… Let me take a shower first, ok? I’ll be right back,” Andras said, moving to grab Sarah’s shower bag and a change of clothes.
“Really? I thought you’d be a little mad that I sprung this on you,” Justin remarked with a bit of confusion as he walked into the room and plopped himself down on Sarah’s bed.
“Oh no, you were just… dressed so nicely I realized you’d gone through a lot of effort, but don’t go doing this all the time, ok?” Andras replied as politely as he could.
“Sure babe! You’re the best,” Justin replied, kicking back on the bed, clearly relieved that he wasn’t in any sort of trouble.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Andras said before closing the door and hurrying off to the bathroom.
Sarah’s phone vibrated in her pocket, prompting Andras to excitedly take it out.
“Sorry, Keira and I are still on the other side of town. At least a half-hour away. How soon do you need someone?” – Lena
Andras grimaced at the text but quickly typed back, “Sarah’s boyfriend showed up for a surprise date, he wants to leave within the next twenty minutes.” – Sarah
“Ooop, sorry!” Andras said as he almost bumped into a girl coming out of the bathroom.
“No worries,” she said in a soft voice as their eyes met. Andras watched as her eyes widened almost imperceptibly and her relatively blank expression became a little strained. The Daemon surmised that the girl had recognized Sarah but wasn’t necessarily happy to see her.
The girl looked a little familiar, but Andras wasn’t sure if it was just because he had seen her around or if they’d been introduced at some point. The girl standing in front of them was a bit shorter than Lena and had a lithe frame with blonde bushy hair that she wore in a ponytail. Her skin was ever so lightly tanned and very smooth save for the freckles that bunched up around her cheeks.
“Do you know her?” the Daemon asked.
“Not a clue,” Sarah replied.
“Uhhh sorry, do I know you?” Andras asked the suspicious girl.
“Oh. No, I don’t think so,” the blonde girl replied, almost as if she was snapping out of a trance. Before the Daemon could inquire any further, the girl moved out of the doorway and back towards the rooms without another word.
“That was weird…” Andras voiced what the two of them were thinking as they watched the retreating figure.
Sarah’s phone vibrating in his hands drew his attention back to the problem at hand. He hastily unlocked the phone to read the latest message.
“Yikes, wish I could help but I’m still with my parents. Maybe Elizabeth is around?” – Bianca
The Daemon quickly navigated to the group details section to see:
Lena – Last Active: 3 minutes ago
Keira – Last Active: 3 minutes ago
Bianca – Last Active: Now
Amber – Last Active: 2 hours ago
Elizabeth – Last Active: 4 days ago
“I don’t think we’re going to get any help. What are we going to do?” The Daemon asked his ride.
“Take a shower and pray someone comes through for us.” Sarah replied in a defeated tone.
“Right right…” Andras said, moving into the bathroom and entering one of the stalls. He promptly laid her change of clothes and toiletry back on the rack and reached for the bottom of her shirt to remove it before remembering the boundary Sarah had set up way back.
“Uhhhhh are you sure you want me to do that? You di-” Andras began before being cut off by the blonde.
“You seeing me naked is the last of my worries right now Andras. Just get it done.” She dismissed his concerns.
While apprehensive, the Daemon couldn’t help but feel a little excited. He didn’t exactly spend his time lusting after all of his friends but he couldn’t deny they were attractive and now, after many months, he was going to get to see Sarah nude.
If Sarah got a sense of this, she didn’t make mention of it. All he was currently sensing from her was a mix of anxiousness and frustration which checked out for the situation. Doing as she requested, Daemon whisked her sweater off to reveal her sports bra.
To avoid seeming like he was leering, Andras quickly but carefully removed the rest of her clothes. The Daemon wasted no time in turning the water on and opening up her toiletry bag to grab a bottle of body wash. Andras stepped into the shower stream, immediately feeling the lovely sensation of hot water cascading down Sarah’s body.
Having showered in the other girls’ bodies before Andras knew to sit Sarah’s hair back and guide her head into the water as to avoid her hair going everywhere. Having reached the sufficient level of saturation, Andras poured some of the body wash into one of Sarah’s hands before placing the bottle on the provided rack and beginning to lather her body top to bottom.
He started with her neck and shoulders, covering them with the gentle foam before moving onto her chest. Andras felt a tinge of irritation emanate from Sarah as his hands began circling her breasts, whether it was the touching or that his gaze was following his hands that caused it, Andras didn’t know. Either way the Daemon only allowed himself an additional second of lathering her chest than what was probably necessary before swiftly moving on.
When it came time to clean her more private area he certainly wasn’t game enough to linger there for even a nanosecond so he cleaned there and went to clean her legs before her phone vibrated in the pocket of her discarded jeans.
Saved by the bell The Daemon thought to himself.
“Shit sorry I just saw this, I was driving. I only just got to the gym, could you wait if I left now?” -Amber
“Well, that was pretty much our only chance. What now?” He asked the frustrated girl. The Daemon felt the cogs desperately turning in her brain for ways to either stall Justin or find some way to off load the Daemon in time but after several moments of this it suddenly stopped with a big mental sigh.
“I think we’re just going to have to go.” She replied, defeated.
=====================================================================
“You’re a lot better at that than I remember.” Justin commented as they sat down for dinner.
Justin and ‘Sarah’ had just finished a game of bowling, a game that ended with the score next to Sarah’s name being nearly twice that of the score that was next to Justin’s.
“I’ve played a bit with the girls lately.” Andras answered as confidently as he could whilst Justin seated himself opposite.
“Well I’m glad it was just you and I, I don’t know if my masculinity could have withstood losing to all of you.” Justin joked with a jovial smile.
Andras gave his best impression of Sarah’s giggle.
“What was that? I do NOT sound like that.” Sarah chided him for his attempted replication.
“Oh come on, you do too.” Andras replied, though he wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever heard you make that noise before.” Justin added, completely ruining any credibility the Daemon had. This wasn’t the first time he’d slipped up either, pretending to be someone got inexpressibly more difficult when the person you’re trying to fool knew your host as well as Justin knew Sarah. Usually the group would schedule around meetings with loved ones so that both they could spend their own time with the people that they care about and so they never unnecessarily risked being exposed. The exception being Lena as he had little difficulty pretending to be her, he’d actually met her parents a couple times who were really nice people
“Before you blame me, I just want to point out that the main reason I suck at this is because you never let me socialise as you.” Andras quickly added before shel had a chance to call him out on it.
What followed was a very sharp pang of annoyance through their connection but it disappeared as quickly as it arrived.
“Just get on with it, the sooner this dinner is over the sooner I can hand you over.” She said in a dejected tone, prompting the Daemon to return his attention to the situation.
“Yeah… I don’t think I have either.. Anyway! What are you thinking of getting?” He asked, picking up the menu and pretending to be absolutely fascinated with it.
“I’ll just get what I had the first time.” Justin replied with a tone that the Daemon couldn’t quite put his finger on. Glancing up from his menu the Daemon could see a similarly hard to place look on the guy’s face as he was staring directly at him.
The Daemon was thoroughly confused by this, he was clearly driving at something by saying that.
“Surely he’s not su-” The Daemon began before being cut off by Sarah.
“He’s not suspicious, he’s driving at something personal. This was where we had our first date which, judging by the extra effort he’s gone through and his expectant look, he is about to ask me something. Just play it cool.” She assured him.
“Got it, I’m starting to think there was a merit beyond your company for him to organise this date.” Andras surmised.
“I think that might be the first time you’ve accurately picked up a social queue outside of one of us, good job Andras.” She answered. Even with the help of the connection Andras wasn’t sure if she was being genuine or patronising, perhaps both.
“Right, then I will have the same.” Andras replied with a confident smile, closing his menu.
As if on queue, their waitress approached the table and asked, “What can I get y’all?” in a thick southern accent.
Turning his head to address her, “I’ll have the Ceasar wrap with a side of fries and a cherry coke.” He answered, echoing what Sarah was telling him. Andras laughed internally.
“What’s so funny?” Sarah asked.
“It’s like we’re cheating on Jeopardy.” He replied cheerily.
Sarah didn’t join him in his laughter but he could feel her recognise his humor with some of her own.
“Got it, and what about you hon?” The waitress asked Justin.
“Double cheeseburger, waffle fries and a lemonade please.” He replied ever so politely.
“Mhmm gotcha, I’ll put those in for you right away, shouldn’t be more than twenty minutes.” The waitress declared before turning and heading off to the kitchen.
Andras allowed his eyes to linger on the retreating waitress for as long as she was in sight, this was with the hopes of avoiding the piercing gaze Justin currently had trained on him. Unfortunately the waitress did eventually disappear through the kitchen double doors and he was forced to turn to him.
“So.” Justin started off with.
“So.” He replied politely, letting Justin know he had his full attention.
It took a moment for Justin to continue as he seemingly summoned the words he’d evidently been wanting to say for a while now.
“As you know, summer is almost here.” He remarked awkwardly.
“Yes… in a little under two weeks. What are you getting at?” He asked with a truly masterful Sarah impersonation. He might not have been amazing at acting cute in a way Sarah might but he could definitely pull off abrasive.
“Well I know I’ve told you about the trips I go on with my family each summer, we’ve got another one planned as usual.” Justin continued, receiving a polite nod of agreement from Andras who had no idea what he was talking about.
“Each year his parents take him and his brother on a multi-continent vacation for most of the summer. He might not look it, but his parents are loaded.” Sarah filled in the blanks for the Daemon.
“I know you said you were planning on doing a lot of studying over the summer but…” Justin trailed off.
“But what?” Andras asked starting to lose patience with his hesitation.
“Will you come with me?” Justin blurted out.
Andras felt a tumultuous wave of dread, quickly replaced by excitement which was just as quickly quashed by guilt come from his host. He was a bit slower to the uptake of grasping the implications.
“W… What?” He asked quizzically.
“Y-Yeah it’s totally cool with my parents, I asked them and they said they’d happily pay for you to join us. They were pretty excited actually as they think very highly of you and you remember my dad was a software engineer before he retired, he told me he was very eager to pick your brain about what methodologies you’re being taught in school these days.” Justin rambled on.
“Uhh Sarah? A little help here! What should I say?” Andras asked his mute host.
“Uhh yeah your dad… we did bond over a programming language…” Andras waffled, filling the air to try and stall for Sarah.
“Right! So how about it?” Justin eagerly asked again.
“Sarah!?” Andras almost yelled at the girl.
