Red apple.

The silence enveloped the room. The tall, purple skinned demon gazed with hostility at the strangers, even as he lowered his head slightly. 

The dark work pants he wore blended in flawlessly with the darkness of the night, but his gray shirt? In spite of the dirt, not so much.

"Who are you two?"

Anne fiercely glared at the unknown demon. "We're the owners of this house. Go before we-"

"Bullshit. I knew the owner, and he died years ago. Fighting some invading monsters even at his age," retorted the tall demon, whose particularly muscular hand clenched ever so slightly. 

The stare-off continued. A mostly red-ish  pink hatchet appeared on the wary demon's hand, while Anne took a step forward, revealing her sword-pen.

"Wait!"

Randall's almost yell caught the attention of the two potentially colliding forces.

"We can talk this out. The house would break down if we fight."

The two demons exchanged glances. 

Three seconds later, the two weapons disappeared from their hands.

A sigh almost escaped Randall's mouth, but he kept it in. Lest the slightest sound would break the thin veil stopping the conflict from breaking out.

Still, he was glad. Quite glad.

"... Who are you two? You don't seem to be from this area."

The slightly crouching demon questioned them, scrutinizing the strange clothing worn by them. In spite of the condition of those cloaks… 

"You-"

"You're right. We're not from here, we just need a spot to spend the night," hastily voiced Randall. Only he noticed the caution coating his own words.

Anne didn't have much time to react to his statement, but her eyes did enlarge akin to an inflated balloon. 

"I see... Alright, take a seat."

With the situation somewhat de-escalated, the titan and Randall took a seat on the somewhat dusty floor. As for Anne, she chose to remain standing.

Wiping off the bead of sweat that had appeared on his square-esque head, the purple-skinned titan shot another question. This time in a far more calm, relaxed tone. Of course, this didn't mean he had let his guard down entirely.

"Names? Mine's Jack."

"Randall."

"... Anne."

She still didn't seem to trust Jack. And she made it a bit obvious. Regardless, the tense conversation continued on after that question.

"Why are you two here?" Asked the titan, whose purple fist tightened. 

"We... got lost."

The titan looked at Randall. His eyebrows rose up slightly, but the right one ended up being a tad above the left one. 

"I could tell. Almost no one in the town would dare come to this area."

Randall nodded at his statement. "I wouldn't blame them, honestly..."

His mind recalled the conditions of the few structures surrounding the one he was into. Most of them showed concerning signs of decay, just like Jack's house. 

Silence enveloped the room. Alongside a small trace of awkwardness. 

Randall's serious expression didn't show a single sign of change. In fact, he didn't even notice the titan's pensive gaze. 

Though, that was directed not just at him, but also at the other fiend.

"By the way, Jack. How did you notice we were outsiders?"

Anne's question almost caught Jack off-guard, but he quickly regained a part of his composure. "Those cloaks you two are wearing… They're not the kind you can find in a small, isolated place like this. Not even the Blue Shepherds have something like that. Most wouldn't be able to even come close to telling the difference, though."

Randall eyed him curiously. But neither of them wanted to probe further. Instead, the male fiend chose to take back control of the conversation, and went down a different route.

"Is there a reason why?"

"It's uncommon for the townsfolk to ever leave Fernbedie. So most never get to meet 'the evils of the outside world', let alone differentiate them."

They kept talking for a while. Though, Randall had to cut short the talk. He had to ask a particularly important question, and the mood had improved considerably.

"... Can we stay here for the night?"

Jack's expression turned serious. Widened eyes and an opening mouth prepared to fire a solid answer, but the former duo momentarily fell on Randall's companion.

The demoness' brown eyes were directed straight at him. That alone stopped the words dead in their tracks.

".... I guess you can. I don't really have a place where you can sleep, unless you don't mind my mattress," voiced the titan, whose gaze steered towards a partially sunken, dirty mattress.

The titan sighed, and got up. "I'll go make some dinner for myself. I don't have enough supplies to feed guests." 

"It's alright," voiced Randall. 

Jack excused himself and walked towards the "kitchen," a room that had no door, only a couple of small, wooden shelves. 

The two fiends' gazes met. The female nudged her head towards the room they came from. The male nodded.

"Anne and I will be heading out for a bit. We need to talk about something in private."

"Be careful, don't let anyone see you two."

Seconds after saying that, the titan shook his head. "As if anyone's going to be around here..."

And they left.

They went outside the house by taking the window they came in through.

On the way out, Randall picked up the one sack remaining. The one which he just happened to throw just as Jack came in.

"… You handled that surprisingly well," commented Anne, as soon as she got out.

"Heh, thanks."

"So, what'd you call me out for?" she inquired, this time more quietly. Her face turned rather serious, too.

"... I have a plan." His gaze moved towards the sack, which happened to have some food.

Her eyes went from serious to a "fuck no, we're not doing that," sort of expression. Fierce glare, and even the clenched hand.

"Wait…"

Of course, it didn't last long. Instead of staying in her initial perception of the suggestion, she approached it from a different angle.

"... That might actually be reasonable."

Randall's eyebrows jumped lightly. Not out of fear or shock, but surprise. "Really? You figured out the reason?"

"I believe so. Your plan consists of bribing the demon with food, in order to be able to stay here?"

"It's missing a few steps, but for the most part you nailed it. We'd have to scout around the town to see if there's another house with the conditions of this one, but…" His voice deviated alongside his eyes. He looked at the abandoned building, and paid attention to the distinct lack of buildings in the area.

"Even if we do find a better one, he'd still trust us a bit more."

Anne couldn't help but nod. "Solid plan, it also helps with creating connections… Sounds good. Let's do it."

With a confident smile growing on his serene blue face, he picked up the brown sack and looked down at the entrance… Well, the hole in the base that acted as the unintended entry point.

Regardless, he slid into the hole, landing on the floor. And the demoness followed suit.

Instead of leaving the sack by the wall, well hidden from sight like he did the first time, he brought it to the living room.

"Jack, do you mind if we collaborate for tonight's dinner? It'd be rude for us to leech off you under such circumstances."

Screaming wasn't needed. They were barely a room apart, after all.

"Yeah, sure."

He gave him some vegetables and an apple, causing the demon's eyes to widen greatly.