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Damien obliged with the promised lunch, whisking them off to a lovely hole in the wall diner, which had the most amazing burgers she had ever tasted. Tessa sighed happily, munching on the last few fries on her plate. She gazed around at the tacky décor, everything vinyl, red and glittery. The food even came in red plastic baskets. The silence grew, and Tessa focused intently on a dusty plastic plant to avoid acknowledging it. Damien however, could not contain his curiousity.
'So Tessie, you bin sayin' on 'em demons?' said Damien, leaning in conspiratorially. He had an excited look in his eye, as if he was about to be made privy to some secret societies' great knowledge. Tessa couldn't help but giggle at his secretive behaviour.
'Well there isn't much to it Dame, we summon demons, they help us with our investigations and then we send them back. The whole idea that demons are evil was part of the whole negative PR campaign against witches. Truth is, they are just an ordinary, natural being. Just like the fae, and guardian spirits. There is any number of other beings out there, and we are discovering more all the time,' Damien nodded thoughtfully, taking a sip from his soda. Tessa was impressed at how well he was taking this.
Mundanes were usually far more sensitive to such topics. Perhaps it wasn't so foreign to a man who witnessed the underworld of humanity. As an Agent Tessa had found that the worst monsters in the dark could be human. At least the so called evil beings were just living up to their nature. Although perhaps she was the one overthinking this conversation.
'So what do 'em all look like? Dey all red? Got em hooves and horns?' he said curiously, eyes bright at the idea of a stereotypical horror movie demon. Tessa laughed, almost spitting out her last fry. She had to take a sip of her drink before she could answer, choking on potato pieces.
'No, not at all. They look just like us, but have horns on their head. Demons may have once lived amongst us, becoming our gods. They are supposed to be immortal, and have great magickal skills. It would explain why almost every culture had a horned god of some kind,' Tessa stopped to finish her soda, lecturing about demons was thirsty work.
'So 'em demons, dey be just like'n you an' me? They could be anywhere around, but with they's horns covered? How come I never seen it before?' he asked suspiciously. Tessa thought on it a moment.
'Well I guess not too many Agents come into... that part of Bayton much,' said Tessa, trying to be as delicate as possible. People born into the slums of Bayton rarely left, and it was well known that the Agency avoided the area as best it could. Officially it was determined to be too much of a risk, but in reality, the people in the slums of Bayton had been thrown in the too hard basket. There wasn't enough funding for the effort required. Add in the general reticence of the lower socio-economic groups to work with anyone in law enforcement and it was a tempestuous blend.
'Yep, we don't like none law-folk nosing round. Ran ‘em off a good long time ago. Cept'n ye Tessie. Ye is real special to us. I remember when ye first came to us, all fancy, ain't many tattoos or nuffin. Bin about 3 years now ain't it? Bin knowin' ye for a long time, bin loving ye for about as long. But I ain't sayin' it till now. Always thought ye might get bored with us folk, go back to yer fancy life. But ye stayed, ye stayed here with me,' Damien stared deep into her eyes, making Tessa cough and shift in her booth seat awkwardly.
It wasn't that she didn't want the hulking chunk of punk before her but dating the local slum overlord while working for the law was slightly conflicting, even if she only had jurisdiction over magickal crimes. The lines did not blur well.
In her awkwardness Tessa really noticed the noise of other diners, the scrape of metal utensils on ceramic, the smell of various greasy foods blending into a sickening cacophony. It was all too much.
'Thanks Dame, it has been a long time. Working at the market got me through my apprenticeship and paid a lot of my bills. I really owe you for trusting me, even being an Agent. I promise I will do everything I can to help with your brother, to make up for it,' she blurted out to make it all stop.
'Naw, Tessie, it ain't that, I...' Damien was cut off as Tessa checked her phone, jumping out of her seat when she realised what the time was.
'I am so sorry Dame, I gotta get all this back to the Agency.'
'Aye Tessie, ye go get it all worked out. Ye be knowin' where I am if ye need me,' Damien dutifully saw Tessa back to her car, waving curtly before loafing off to his own.
Tessa called through to the Agency archive sibyls to request all they had on file for Adam Reeves, to collect when she came in. It looked like Tessa would have a full afternoon of reading files and starting the preparations to procure herself some demonic help. This mess was ramping up and Tessa had a feeling she would need the help soon. Her first solo case was already threatening to overwhelm.