Page 31 of Hellfire & Bowties
Kind of fitting, to be honest.
“Are you sure I can’t just throw a match on it?” Zorun asked, crossing his big arms over his glowing chest.
“Uh-huh. You can start in that corner with the… growing fungus stuff… and I’ll go over here,” Oren said, upbeat. “Kassel, can you come and help me with the high places?”
“Why do you hate me?” Jek shouted. “I like my entrailsss!”
“Jek, you can get us some cleaning supplies and empty boxes to categorize,” Oren said, ignoring his wailing. “Let’s go, team!”
It was slow progress at first.
Demons weren’t big on cleaning, or being gentle, or alphabetizing. But Oren eventually coaxed them into the swing of things with effusive praise and encouragement, singing happy working songs until Zorun started banging his head against the wall.
Kassel was the biggest help. The demon was placid and followed directions with minimal fuss even though he had no facial expressions. Jek complained a lot, but he also took direction well with some buttering up. Zorun and the twins, though… were another story.
Mainly because when the twins got bored, Zorun was their favorite plaything until something else distracted them.
Currently they were taking a break in the hallway, lying on their stomachs with their tails and feet swishing in the air, batting an onyx crystal globe Zorun had tempted them with between them like cats. It pulsed ominously every time it was hit, but Oren figured it was safe enough and wouldn’t explode.
Zorun was brooding in the shadows, watching them, his markings glowing restlessly.
“Could you help me move this shelf, Zorun?” Oren asked, determined to get him back on the road to productivity while he could.
Zorun huffed but did as he was asked, shoving the creaking metal back into some form of shape against the wall with brute strength.
“Perfect! Thank you.”
Zorun scoffed. “It’ll collapse again as soon as you put anything on it.”
“No, it won’t,” Oren said confidently. He placed a single sheet of paper on the shelf, and it let out an ear-splitting screech, a bolt flying off and pinging Jek in the face.
“My eye!” Jek cried, slapping a hand over his face.
“Oh dear.” Oren winced, grateful that Kassel was already helping the other demon. He turned back to a smug-looking Zorun. “We need to request new ones immediately.”
“Good luck with that,” Zorun said, eyes inevitably straying back the twins’ way. “If I had known all it would take was a shiny object to get them to leave me alone, I would have done it centuries ago.”
Oren raised a brow, sensing the lie in those words but unable to fully understand the complexities of the trio. There seemed to be much more at play than was shown on the surface. “You need help with them?”
“Are you offering?” Zorun asked, raising a brow back.
Oren hummed, tapping his chin. “I don’t know… You didn’t help me with Luc when I first got here. You wouldn’t even tell me he was single.”
“Like you needed it. He wanted to bend you over the moment he saw you.”
Oren smiled happily at the graphic comment. “Thank you!”
Zorun snorted and turned away.
“I don’t think you even want help,” Oren said, taking a stab in the dark with his instincts and hittingsomethingas Zorun glared but didn’t deny it.
“What am I doing next?” Zorun asked, changing the subject.
They continued for a few more hours before the demons started to grow listless and tired. Oren didn’t want to push them too hard, knowing Hell was already understaffed, so he called a halt to proceedings, happy they had made a dent in the mountain.
Grime was stuck to all of them in the aftermath. Their legs were covered in caked dust, their hair all turned prematurely gray. The length of some of their claws was now undeterminable because of the amount of dirt on them.
It sparked an idea in Oren's brain about how he could show his gratitude.
