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When she awoke Tessa silently padded out to the kitchen, leaving Lee twitching away in his sleep. She made a beeline for her laptop to research the wonders of her current sex life. Even the afternoon after she could still feel the connection between them, feel every twitch of his restless sleep and could even feel the moment when his dream became a nightmare.
The internet failed to yield anything too useful, the closest she could find was some sketchy links to tantric sex. Even this didn't fit well with what she had experienced, so finally she just searched 'witch and demon magickal sex'. The barrage of well-illustrated pornographic media that existed in the online world was a shock to her.
Apparently, it was a popular subject.
Dredging through the muck revealed a small cache of anecdotes about such sexual encounters, all declaring they were a factual experience. She read through each of them in turn, but none mentioned anything to do with an encounter outside of the physical. They all seemed like rather awful works of fan-fiction, and Tessa suspected that was exactly what they were.
She sighed and shut down the tab, instead turning to study a map of the Western parts of Bayton, trying to guess where her murderous quarry would choose next. She marked off a few alleys of interest before succumbing to her restlessness and grabbed a light-hearted romance novel to while away the hours before the hunt.
Lee had all but given up on the idea of sleeping after hours of fitful napping. He had pretended to sleep as Tessa left the bed, preferring to be alone as his mind whirred over the events of the previous night. He hadn't been joking when he said this was the first time he had such an experience in all his life. When he had felt the depth of the connection that was made, he grew worried, bonds such as this were bad news when he had to return to Hel.
Not that it was a bad place mind you. It was merely an oblivion, spirits and demons coexisted without change. Like demons, Hel had just gotten a bad name over the years.
Regardless, return he must, and this connection to Tessa would make it difficult. Lee already couldn't imagine being without her, but as an immortal that was a given. Demons weren't allowed to fraternise beyond sexual dalliances, and it really was for their own mental health. The tales of demons gone bad due to pining over a lost love abounded in Hel, told in the same warning tones as fairy tales once had. Just a hint of emotion was enough to make for horror stories around the proverbial campfires back home.
It was something he had always found relatively easy to adhere to, although in four hundred years he had never felt such a lure as he had to this woman. He ached to see it through, allow himself to love her wholly and purely. He sighed, idly scratching around his horns, where last night she had touched him so curiously.
As he lay there, he realised that he could feel every emotion of hers, even down to the arousal she felt upon reaching a lusty scene in her book. That was terribly distracting, and when his body began to react also, Lee finally gave up the idea of sleeping.
Tessa looked up from her book as Lee surfaced looking sleepy and worried. With his hair all tousled and pants creased from sleep, Lee looked more human than ever. This delusion of normalcy was so painfully fleeting. Her heart skipped a beat as he sat on the couch beside Tessa, so she put her book aside.
'So, Hel Cat, what shall we do?' Lee asked, leaving 'about these feelings' unsaid.
'Well,' started Tessa. 'I would settle for a date!' A smile bloomed across Lee's face. Somehow, she had managed to bypass all the awkwardness with her cheeky suggestion.
‘How about we do just that? Let's do it! Tonight!' he exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. Tessa laughed at his exuberance, feeling happier for the first time in days.
'But the patrol?' Tessa queried as Lee dragged her up to hold in his arms.
'We have a few hours before we have to be there, and we can go straight over,' Lee said, checking his watch.
'But that means I have to wear sensible shoes,' Tessa whined, as Lee looked dubiously at the sky-high heels Tessa usually wore to work, kicked off by the door.
'As opposed to?' Lee asked cheekily, giving her a gentle push in the direction of the room. Tessa obliged, quickly showering and dressing. She opted for a roomy circle skirt and blouse, just in case she needed to do some running while on patrol. Strapping on some low Mary-Janes, Tessa applied a little make up and stepped out.
Lee had also managed a quick change, now dressed in black pants, a button-down shirt and a blood red motorcycle jacket. Tessa had no idea where he kept pulling these clothes from, but she definitely approved. His hair had been slicked back again, his horns proudly on display. She hooked her arm in his, threw her bag over her shoulder and they waltzed out the door, giggling all the way.
After a quick debate in the car, they decided on a quirky diner which sold pizza by the slice with excessively fancy milkshakes. Sitting in a booth seat overlooking a busy dance floor, Tessa smiled at the normalcy of the date. Aside from the horns, they could be any young couple in Bayton. From the stares of other patrons, they were clearly not passing so well, however. People on the dance floor kept stopping to gawk, so Tessa finally just turned her back to them. Lee just smiled, delighted at the candy on top of his milkshake.
'What's wrong Tessa? You look worried,' he stated, picking up another greasy slice of mushroom pizza with delight. The new foods of this time certainly appealed to him, especially when they mirrored the last time he was summoned, the 1950's. There were many vast improvements of course, present company included.
'Just feeling... well you know, this is all so normal, but it's not. Hah, I haven't been on an official date like this in years.' Tessa sighed, wishing that somehow she could form the thoughts in her head into coherent sentences. Lee laughed heartily.
'I win! It has been at least five decades, no seven DECADES, since I have eaten out on a date like this with, well, anyone really,' he said, bemused at the thought.
Had it really been so long?
Time flew when you wintered in Hel.
'Woah that is going to take some getting used to,' mused Tessa, thinking of their considerable age gap. Lee grinned and gave a cheeky look.
'Oh, so you plan on getting used to me huh?' he asked mischievously. Tessa blushed furiously at the implication of his words, well aware that it was a complete taboo. That word kept running through her mind, reminding her to be guarded.
'Uhhh, well I mean... for this case, you know. It's nice to have such good company this time round,' she finished lamely, awkwardly sipping on her milkshake and staring down at the colourful sprinkles adorning a bobbing chunk of whipped cream. She pretended to be very interested in poking it around with her straw, sinking the chocolate bar in the milkshake under the froth.
The heat in her face was finally dying down. Lee let her go on that one, seeing how uncomfortable this conversation made her. Truth be told, he had no idea what to say. They finished eating in relative silence, only speaking to share sips of each other's shakes and comment on the dancers. Eventually it became a comfortable silence, both parties happy to just be in each other's presence.
Tessa groaned loudly when the alarm went off on her phone, signalling that it was time to head back to work. They paid the bill and dutifully trooped out to go on patrol.