4- Getting to Know You

Sylvia's day was overall uneventful, much like all her previous days before her summoning a demon. On her way back home, she stopped at a nearby cheap clothes store, then made a second stop in a supermarket to get some ready-made food. With those errands out of the way, she turned back to the direction of her house, which was buried in a maze of alleys and turns. Once she got to the door, Sylvia stopped for a moment. If she were to open it right now, would she find the demon waiting for her, or would she just find her usual desolate and empty living room, indifferently laying about? Either way, she took out her keys and turned them, it made no difference for her. 

"Welcome back!" 

Behind the door was indeed Mephistopheles waiting. His expression was not as welcoming as it was polite, as though he had been trained to behave this way, but Sylvia didn't mind. She walked into the sparkling clean living room and with a thanking nod, proceeded to put the groceries on the dining table. 

"How was your day?" The demon was speaking from his favorite sofa, on which he comfortably sat with a book in his hands. His bright intense eyes though were completely fixated on her. Digging in her bags, she pulled out a pair of black pajama pants, a matching shirt, a box of underwear, and a pair of polka-dotted slippers. Bringing them over to the naked demon, she replied:

"Normal. Wear these." 

Mephistopheles eyed the items distastefully. "These are ugly." He said with a disgusted frown. "It's all I can afford cuz I went broke getting the book that summoned your useless ass." Sylvia retorted bitterly. 

"You're the one who wished for something useless." The demon responded with the same tone, but took the clothes anyway. As he started to put them on, Sylvia turned away and walked to the kitchen to get a fresh drink. Soon enough, Mephistopheles appeared behind her, startling the girl in the process. 

"Goddamn it I almost spilled my drink! Stop suddenly appearing like that!" She scolded, balancing her glass of juice. The demon looked uncanny wearing used and old pajamas; it was as though she was covering a masterpiece sculpture with a rag. But Sylvia had had enough seeing his private parts and buttcheeks for an entire weekend. And it should certainly serve to humble this unnecessarily proud attitude by wearing such shabby clothes. Indeed, Mephistopheles seemed very uncomfortable to say the least, but did not make further comment on the matter. Then, seating himself next to her, he rested his arm on the counter and leaned his head atop the former. A few dark strands of hair fell softly on his skin, veiling some of the crimson in his gaze.

"So, what's your name, contractor?" He asked in a low seductive tone that Sylvia found very mismatching with his pajamas. 

"Sylvia. I am Sylvia Roolet." 

"Sylvia... Can I call you Sylvie?" Another one of his smirks ornamented his face. 

"I am good. You can just call me contractor." 

"But aren't I supposed to be your close friend? I gotta call you by nickname, right?" The girl twirled the ice cubes in her glass, then took another sip. "You can call me Mephi, too." He continued. "I get that my name's super long and can be annoying to pronounce."

"I guess..." Sylvia shrugged. 

"Great!" He beamed. "So, Sylvie, what can I do for you today?" He had sat up and was now completely facing her. 

"Huh?" Sylvia was confused at how formal he seemed.

"Don't you need me to comfort you about life?" Mephistopheles seemed almost as confused, earning himself a shallow chuckle from her.

"That's not how you offer to comfort someone. That's how you offer a social service." She took a final sip that finished her strawberry juice then rested the glass back on the counter.

"Hmmm, in that case," 

Before she knew it, Sylvia was getting hugged. The demon had wrapped his long arms around her and had brought her into a tight embrace with her chin on his shoulder. 

"Uhm!?" 

"Shhh, it's okay." He was now caressing her hair softly. Feeling completely uncomfortable, she wriggled within his grasp until he got her cue and released her, after which Sylvia sat back awkwardly on her chair. 

"Uhm, it's alright, I don't need that kind of stuff right now."

"Then, should I only initiate when you tell me you need it?" Mephistopheles observed, with one hand on his chin. Sylvia hesitated before answering: "No, uhm, you'll know immediately when I need to be comforted, I guess." Then, receiving nothing but silence from his part, she coughed to attenuate the awkwardness of the situation. 

"For now, uhm, let's get to know each other." She added.

"Sure! Tell me about yourself." 

She had said the first topic changer she could think about, and now she was stuck trying to phrase a self introduction. "I am, uh, I am Sylvia, as I told you. I am 24. I work in a café; uh you may not know what those are. They're like places where people come to get coffee and snacks. My job is to give them their coffee and stuff. Uh, what else? That's it I guess." 

"What about your hobbies? Do you read? You have a lot of books in the house." Mephistopheles seemed genuinely interested which somehow made Sylvia both uncomfortable and glad. 

"No, uh, those are not mine." There was a short period of silence before she continued. "I, I don't really have any hobbies. I just go to work then come back home, take a shower, then sleep if possible." She was worried that he might ask who those books belonged to if they were not hers, but thankfully, the demon seemed focused on her person alone.

"I see. Is there anything you like?" 

"Not really."

"Anything you hate?"

"Everything, I guess, except maybe, animals and stuff." 

"Hmmm..." The man seemed at loss for word, and it got Sylvia fidgeting in embarrassment. There was nothing really interesting about her or her life, so why did she suggest introductions? 

"What about you, uh, Mephi?" She tried a second time to salvage herself from this overwhelming awkwardness. 

"Me? Oh, I am a demon you see, I can't really introduce myself in a human way." 

"Then do it in a demon way." Sylvia was just thankful she was no longer the center of the conversation. 

"Hmmm..." His slender finger rested on a pair of reddish pouty lips as he pondered over a way to convey his message. "I am Mephistopheles. I fall into the shapeshifting category of demons. I raided around 10000 villages and massacred several peoples, back when there wasn't the 'no taking lives' clause that is. After that clause came out and I could no longer kill or resurrect, I just kinda vibed with the universe, you know? Until a human would make a contract with me." 

"Well that's disturbing to say the least." Sylvia had a horrified smile on her face, both because she was having a casual conversation with an actual demon who was capable of genocide and mass murder, and because that same terrifying demon just used 'vibed with the universe' in his sentence. 

"Well, maybe, but at least I have hobbies." He retorted, somewhat offended by her comment.

"What, cleaning?" Sylvia mocked.

"Hey, that's better than none." 

"I guess." She smiled hopelessly. To think a non-human would have interests while she didn't. This simple gesture that she paid no mind to seemed to surprise Mephistopheles, for his crimson eyes widened in amazement and curiosity.

"What a pretty smile."