Breathe.

Crone parted his muzzle to let out a snarl, expelling oxygen turned to poison. Evening was quickly turning to night. It was primetime to do some business. He lingered in the air, hovering above the midnight cloaked town, the symbols and brushstrokes forming his wolf body growing more and more restless with each passing second.

It was kicking in again, and tonight, Crone wasn’t about to lose sight of this particular prey.

The demon surged forward, light paws forming soft pitter-patters along the rooftops of houses. Oh, how this place had changed! The reminiscent town, once a lush and plentiful forest, now inhabited many unnaturally-straight buildings, and in turn, the lives of mortals. Whilst traditional wolves would have loved to live in what this place had once been, demon wolves like Crone learned to adapt to their environments; there simply wasn’t any other way. As an immortal, the closest he could come to death was to hurt. “And so we thrive,” Crone muttered, completing his musing. Long, sturdy claws tensed beneath his nimble frame, turning red at the tips as though they were chunks of steel being heated up by his craving, his desperation, his hunger - this aura. For the past week, a single aura had been throbbing at his heart, practically calling his name for the beast to devour. Crone salivated at the sheer thought of it. Feeding off of tainted souls, feasting on one’s imperfections, one’s lies, one’s melancholy; the bigger the aura, the more space for darkness to seep in, and the better chance this demon had of feeling full for another week. Throb, throb, throb, ack, the aura itched him with palpitations and cravings. The wolf stirred as his wings folded, staring down a particular home along the road. He could practically see the aura exuding from the crack of the doorway. And so, he lunged towards his desires.

Crone usually took the stealth approach when going about hunting down a soul. He weaved through the home, uncertain as to where he was in the house. He was entranced, drawn to the aura like a magnet, his sensitive leather nose quickly alerting him of the directions he needed to silently pace through. Peering into the shadows, he noticed a light. Silently disappointing; he would have to take extra care not to startle the figure. Drawn to the dim glow, the wolf took tentative, careful paces. Tenacious paws gripped onto the floor beneath him; just how potent was this aura to be? Mere inches away from the figure’s neck, he was ready. Rising his back, he loomed over the opposing figure like a tall shadow, teeth gleaming, head reeling, heart feeling this aura beating-

Until the girl, assumedly seething, sent a dart of magic pealing through the room.

“There’s sorcery in your bones?!” The next few moments would pass by so promptly, but would cause more chaos than Crone would ever participate in just for an assumed quick midnight snack! Fumbling about the magic user’s home, the startled demon frantically ran along any surface he could. Spells were terribly damaging to creatures of his sort, in fact, the only thing damaging to creatures of his sort! “Ugh, why didn’t I assume this earlier?” He cursed at himself. ‘It is the last time I’m following a strong aura presence,’ he thought.

Such a notion was verified by the fact that the demon had been struck by one of the magic user’s surges on the way out. Crone fell to the floor, groaning in pain on the cold surface, as the world around him turned, and his vision skewed. He felt his whole body start to ache, and turned to his dreams for comfort. The curse felt devastating; he didn’t know what was happening to him now, but closed his eyes and felt his body lay significantly heavier on the ground.

_________________

Just leave me alone already...

Hana glared over at the cell phone that sat on the kitchen counter as she continued to clean up her study, the constant beeping alerts quickly growing on her nerves. While her oldest brother was considered the wisest of her siblings, she didn’t want to hear any words of wisdom from him. When he found out that Hana was moving out of the house to live on her own, he had gone completely ballistic. It took a week of reassurance from her for him to recognize that it was no fault of his that she was moving. He was the oldest so it made sense that he would be worried about his youngest sister. All Hana wanted was to get away from everyone and try to figure out who she could be as an independent adult. Although everyone seemed to respect her decisions, she could feel the doubt and worry hidden behind their words. This was only further confirmed by the constant barrage of text messages, emails and calls she would receive from her siblings. She had been away for almost a month now......and still, nothing has changed. In that time, she had only seemed to grow more bitter.

“That’s it!”, she seethed.

After slamming the stack of books onto the desk, Hana stomped over to the phone and turned it off, effectively silencing her family for the night. She rubbed her temple and shut her eyes tightly; her head hurt like crazy and all she wanted was to finish cleaning up her study room and get some shut eye. She cursed quietly as she ran a hand through her hair and hoped that she could have a bit of piece, even if it was only for a short while. Unfortunately, she had no idea that she was currently being stalked by a demon spirit.

A sudden chill ran up her spine and left just as fast, leaving Hana frozen where she stood. That sudden bolt of awareness prevented the young witch from facing the spirit that she now knew was quietly looming over her.
‘But how did it get in here?!....’
It was hard to know how or why the demon had sought her out, but for now she needed to figure out how to capture it. If she wanted to know that, she would need to think rationally.

Breathe.

Hana exhaled quietly through her nose as she closed her eyelids. She could practically feel the creature's presence in the air alone. This was not just some small wandering animal spirit...it was a hunter. It’s hot breathe was right by her exposed skin.
If she wanted to save herself, she would need to hit it with two strong spells. One to confuse it, and then another to trap it within some kind of cage....maybe a vessel.

It’s now or never.....go for it

She was hesitant at first to turn around and face her enemy, but quickly shook it off as adrenaline shot through her body. She held up her middle and index finger at the beast’s chest and chanted a short spell that effectively left the demon yelping in confusion. She quickly tailed the demon as it tripped around the hallways, trying to save itself from anymore exposure to her magic. It must not have known that she was from a witch family.
She was only a few feet from the flailing creature when she chanted a second incantation with the same hand motions; this one was meant to capture it in some of cage.
She watched as a jolt of shock went through the demon’s large body, leaving it still and whimpering on her floor.

Hana’s hair was falling in her face as she tried to catch her breathe. She had never cast a spell in the heat of the moment like that before. Usually she had some prior time to think of a proper spell to use, but this time she had to use the first spell that had come to mind. She wondered what would become of the spirit now that it was trapped in a more stable form.

As her thoughts wandered to what form the creature would take, she bolted over to it as she watched the transformation finally take place. A bright blue flame seemed to engulf the spirit’s entire body and start to eat away at it’s mass. As the flames receded, Hana could see a much smaller form appearing in place of the wolf. Instead of seeing a wolf, or maybe a small dog as she had expected, she saw a man. She had accidentally trapped the wolf demon in human form. He had appeared as a lean looking man with long dark hair and a rather serene looking expression on his face, despite the pressure of the curse she had inflicted.

She looked over the tall man’s features and stared at the results of her quick thinking. What had she done...?

“Ugh... Huh?” His eyelids dared to open, slowly rising their way to consciousness. In his line of vision, he saw wooden panels, feet walking towards him, a hand, a wall, some strange diminishing flames, a- Wait. What? A hand...?

He willed for his claws to touch his face, but all that stared back in his direction were fleshy spiders for ‘paws’, long digits, soft, curling towards him. Instead of vicious, razor claws, long nails tidily trimmed his fingertips. In a flash of heated emotion, the creature, confused and alert, jumped in shock. Looking across his body to check its fur, an alarm sounded from Crone as long, deep metallic hair pooled down his sides. He rolled around on the floor in circles for a moment, completely ignoring the presence of the mage, frightened at his lack of glorious wings, or smooth fur, or anything that wasn’t so lanky and weak-looking as this thing that he was currently chained to! “What have you done?!” His voice rang deep and gravelly, as though he were trying to pronounce throaty wolf growls that didn’t quite mature yet. Irritated, he snapped his head at the girl, finally taking a moment to eye her. “I swear, girl, you’re going to regret you ever pressed that wishy washy spell into me!” Ready to pounce, Crone jumped up and advanced towards the mage but immediately tripped and slammed face-first onto the cold ground before he could even make his first step.

Crone winced. If he didn’t hate the feeling of being human, he definitely despised it now. “...Being human hurts too much; why are your kind so weak?!” An annoyed sigh rushed from his pale face, barely able to stand on two ‘hind legs’ as he was used to his usual four. It felt as though he were being reborn as a puppy again; struggling to walk and finding it difficult to speak, feeling so looked down upon really wound up his gears. It was going to take some time getting used to, he realised, slowly propping himself up with his arms as his lengthy hair spiraled around his angular, narrow face. He resorted to sinking into a chair the mage had kept in the particular room, preventing himself from further embarrassment. His hand feeling his face, in turn, led to his mind feeling severely disappointed with the lack of a muzzle, a sensitive jet black nose, or puffed up, triangular ears. It felt as though his wits and his senses had been dulled, clogged, and a heavy heart sat in his chest. In a wave of realisation, Crone tilted his head down to sit between his palms.

“I’m so UGLY. Ew...” His voice crackled in sadness. He wanted to howl, but saved his breath knowing that it wouldn’t be the same. Helpless, Crone furrowed his brows as he noted the only possible way to change back was to ask a stupid human for help. ‘Don’t worry, mate, you can do this,’ he thought, and with most of his dignity already drained from him, he’d may as well take a shot.

“Human with weird powers. Whatever the hell your name is. Turn me back and I won’t stick my nose in your business again. You’ve won. Happy?” His words were blunt and forced as he turned his head to watch her. He followed his almond eyes down her deep chocolate hair, about her slender body and fair complexion, and stared with a neutral, gradually calmer face. Without the physical power to release his anger, his emotions converted to woe, relaxing... Perhaps it were this beating heart, that he’d only felt from others, that was slowing down his tempo, his pulse.

Though realising he had become his own food, it was a little gross to think humans felt all mushy like that, even for a brief moment.

_________________

Hana jumped as the spirit-turned-human started spasm about the room, trying to completely come to grips with his new appearance. She could only stare in shock at the product of her actions wondering how in the world she had managed to change an entire being into a completely different race. Aside from the tattoos on his back and his unusually long hair, he seemed to look like a a completely normal young male. The very thought of trying something like this had never once been entertained, so now questions were piling up in her head at lightning speed. On one hand, she had an itch to research into this concept a bit more. On the other hand, the fact that this had happened to a rogue demon spirit could mean trouble for her. He could end up trying to kill her despite his knew mortal body, for all she knew.

Just as she finished that thought, the man tried to lunge at her and grab her. Hana squeaked and took a few steps back, preparing for another attack, only to watch as he landed face-first back on the ground and slowly crawl into a chair.

’yeah....I don’t think I need to worry about him killing me for the time being...’

Hana’s surprise melted away fairly quickly at this realization and her eyebrows quickly furrowed as she started to approach the wolf man. To be safe, she still stayed out of his general reach and stood a good 2 feet away. She felt a bit more confident now that he seemed so vulnerable. “Not so tough now, are ya?” she glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Maybe she was playing with fire with the teasing, but she was still high on the adrenaline running through her body. While she was still feeling this wave of security, she decided it would be best to question the beast and see what he would have to say.

“Before I do anything you say, I want to know how you managed to break into my house and why you just tried to kill me! After that, I’ll consider changing you back and letting you leave” she demanded as she took a few dangerous steps closer to him. She felt pretty fired up from this whole situation, all the while not knowing that this was actually spiking the energy and magnetism of her aura. A witch’s emotions can drastically change the feeling of their aura and can also change how effective their magic could be.

In truth, Hana had no idea how she could turn this man back into his original form. That sudden spike of adrenaline and fear was what probably allowed her to perform such a powerful spell. She had no idea if she could repeat such a feat again. For now, she would keep her bluff and try to continue this power play for as long as possible.
“My name is Hana Foster, and you will address me as such!” she added. Now she was pushing it...

Crone groaned, head between his hands as he watched her tentatively approach him. “Witch, turn me back and we can settle this like real supernaturals, don’t you worry,” At the magic user’s reply, Crone couldn’t help but fix a smirk across his face at her confusion as to how and why he came to her abode. “Uh, I dunno, hell, I was just hungry... But if you’re so intrigued, allow me to give ye a rundown,” Purely out of pride and arrogance, the man suddenly sat straight in his seat, chest out, and with a deep breath, recited his grand origin story with strange arm gestures the opposing mage would probably not even understand the importance of.

“I’m a spirit from a curse,
that was broken from the verse,
of some guy who’s weird like you,
from some painting by some dude,”

Crone stretched a long arm to poke at the mage’s nose as she stepped closer.

“So although a wolf to some,
a 2D form I can become,
like a shadow in the night,
entered through creaks for food delight~”

Completing his anecdote with jazz-hand gestures, mostly practised to mock her, Crone seemed to brighten up a tad bit at her annoyance. Over the decades of being a spirit, one thing he constantly appreciated from humans was their poetry and art. As a creature who’s essence once resided from a special sealed painting, he could almost feel the movement of artworks as he peered into them. If only his terrible poetry could convey just as much emotion. As the mage became more riled up, Crone took sharper breaths and gulped at her intense gaze. He felt internally frustrated without his demon form to consume her aura, especially after feeling how much more intense it could grow. “Hey! Stop doing that thing, will you?!” Standing up, Crone was extra careful this time to gain his balance and composure, taking toddler steps towards the girl as he moved to place a hand on her forehead. He couldn’t explain what auras exactly were; the feeling was indescribable, and really only looked like a glowing orb surrounding a figure, but that pang was there. For a second his mouth parted in awe at how strong it felt before commenting, “Hana Foster, was it? Hah, weird name. Well, just chill for a second. You’re gettin’ on my freakin’ nerves.” Wondering if his gesture to her would even slow a mortal pulse, he dropped his hand back down to his side, annoyed, yet somewhat intrigued by Hana.

“Will I address you as such? Oh yeah, and I’m the Queen of England. What if I want to call you Naha? Nah, ha.” Being the stubborn, sarcastic spirit he was in nature, he made an argument just for the sake of making one, his mouth forming a hard line and eyes lowered as he watched her response. He stood back, a metre to her face, with crossed arms. “Anyway, am I done here? It’s been fun, but let’s not waste either of our time, for I’m sure we’ve both better things to do.”

_________________

“I don’t plan on settling anything with you...I just want to know why you were here and then get you the hell out of here...” She retorted at his comment. She was not in the mood to fight the beast in it’s full form, and now he was really starting to **** her off. It was pretty easy to get on Hana’s nerves, especially when she was running three cups of coffee and less than 10 hours of sleep. For now, her seething presence was what kept her completely alert.

As the being recited his poem in a rather sarcastic and mocking manner, all Hana could do was run her hand through her hair and step closer, resulting in him lightly poking her nose. She let out a quiet gasp and stopped herself from moving any closer. At first she had looked shocked and surprised by his gesture, but combined with the bad poetry her expression quickly furrowed back to annoyance. Instead of interrupting him though, she exhaled harshly through her nose and crossed her arms once again.
So it seems that he was a cursed being that had once been a painting. It made the young magi wonder how long he had been wondering the world, looking for his next meal.

“Are you about done making a fool of yourself?” she growled, her anger and annoyance only growing with every second she had to be around him. Her aura continued to spike in magnetism as she glared at him, leaving a rather strange air to the room that she could not sense. What had stunted her growing anger, though only for a few seconds, was when he decided to successfully stand and place his large hand over her forehead. He was so much bigger than her that his hand ended up covering her eyes as well. Now that she her angry expression was concealed, she looked rather innocent and surprised by his presence. But she gritted her teeth and waited for his hand to be removed. What he was met with was an even angrier looking girl that seemed to be showing slight signs of tears forming in her eyes.
“Stop doing what?! Being mad?! I think I have every right to be angry! You broke into my house and tried to kill me!” she exclaimed,her voice cracking a bit at the end of her sentence.

All she wanted to do was clean her study and finally get some sleep. She had been working her ass off trying to finally complete her move into this town, apply for jobs, study spells, and all the while keep away from her family. It seems now that all that stress was finally building up and leaving her feeling rather helpless to fight the tides of life. She just wanted the world to stop for a few minutes....just let her have some peace and bliss. Now she was stuck interrogating an annoying spirit she accidentally cursed to be human and a very messy house.
Her aura’s scent and size continued to increase as she tried to hold back the tears that desperately wished to run down her cheeks.

Crone gasped in slight fear as Hana’s determined and rightfully angered face erupted from his removed hand. The air felt thick and potent, a magnetism so strong he could almost feel her glaring daggers stabbing in his direction. The man simply stood before her, taking in all of her criticism with a strangely eager smirk stretching across his face. How he dearly wished he could slip into his wolf self just to absorb her words filled with hate. “You should be bloody thankful that stupid book of yours has taught you something, then, girl! This is kind of how I’m able to live, so sorry for tryin’ to survive in this stressful ecosystem of demons and annoying incognito witches with weird smells coming outta your souls!” With a frown, Crone raised his hands in front of his face in sarcastic apology, slowly growing aware of the teardrops peeking at the corners of her eyes.

Although a demon that craved the darkness of one’s soul, sadness was different to anger. Melancholy was bitter and sour, a totally different flavour to the richness that was the taste of revenge and deceit. Feeling the girl’s aura start to grow into exasperation, Crone did something that he would’ve never done had he not been zapped by a witch. Maybe it was the fact he had become human, maybe it were due to the late, late hour that this night had turned to... But Crone took a slow step forward, slowly sunk to a crouch, and gave an inviting, persuading stare up at the mage. “Don’t get me wrong,” Crone stated, realising that his actions seemed odd, “I’m not trying to be nice here. Nice isn’t really my thing. But look, the air tastes all gross and bitter now. Stop tryin’ to hide being sad - it’s written all over your weird ass soul. So, turn me back now before you become tasty again and I’ll get out of your hair. Okay?” Sinking in his human heart was the strange feeling of sympathy - tears brought strange memories that triggered back to his formation...

‘Crone. You have to murder him, seek revenge in my woe. He’s ruining me...’

Snapping out of the flashbacks taunting and echoing through his mind, the man proceeded to make a full bow at the witch. She had found his trigger, the lock to Crone’s stern and stubborn soul, the command that he couldn’t help but be swayed by. “Nah-ha, I hate you... But feel lucky in that I am sparing you. I’ll help to repair the damage I’ve done in return for letting me go.” Crone repeated, having no other option left. He never favoured resorting to being looked down upon, so doing this showed how desperate he was to be sent free again. ‘Yes, girl, I am a real fool... Though my poetry is human-grade amazing.’ He thought, musing over his next reply as he looked wishfully toward Hana. Above all else, demons were naturally shallow when trying to be charming - their true intentions underlining the fact that all they ever crave is a delicious meal.

_________________

His words only seemed to agitate her more as he gave her a rather sarcastic reply to her angry cries. She could tell by the eager look on his face that this was something a demon like him would enjoy. It made perfect sense that he would be completely detached from feeling any sort of compassion. Hana lowered her head to hide the her sour expression as she tried to hold back her inevitable tears and noticed that as she gripped her hands into fists, the man had gone silent.

Then he did something that no demon spirit would have ever done before and attempt to sympathize with a human. Her whole body froze as she watched the demon crouch down so she was looking down on him. His expression seemed to soften significantly, leaving her staring back at him. He didn’t apologize for his actions; something as insane as that might of made her faint. But he seemed like he was trying to comfort her in a strange manner. He complained about how her aura made the room taste and smell funny and how he would leave after the house was fixed up. Although he sounded pretty genuine it was still hard to completely trust his words.

Hana’s erratic behavior started to calm down significantly and it began to return to it’s original size. The tears finally ran over her face and started to spill rather quickly, as if she had been holding them back for a long time now. A small pang of hope spread over her as she properly expressed her emotion, leaving her a little less overwhelmed. The room went quiet for a good minute as Hana took a moment to cry, leaving her nose a bit pink and her right sleeve damp from wiping her tears away.

After all that drama, Hana finally took a deep breathe and looked over the man still crouched before her. Now she had to move forward and figure out what she wanted to do with this man.
She lightly smacked the top of his head and glared once again at him, although this time her face wasn’t as menacing and just seemed slightly annoyed once again.

“First of all, don’t call me Nah-Ha.....It’s Hana. Second of all, you must think I’m really dumb to trust a demon’s word on anything ever.” she said, letting out a short yawn soon after. The adrenaline rush was starting to leave her body and her fatigue was returning. “Lastly, I....um....I actually don’t know how I even cast that curse in the first place....so I don’t even know if I can change you back” she sheepishly added.

Crone felt rather relieved as Hana started to calm down. Anymore of her extremely intense aura and he was sure he wouldn’t have been able to handle the feelings it exuded. As though her tears had been waiting for the right moment, they suddenly pooled down her cute cheeks, rendering the man speechless as he watched the drops roll off and into her clothing. He had to admit he was slightly concerned; unable to truly understand such genuine emotion, he wondered if it was a normal mortal reaction, almost worried that he had ‘broken’ the girl for a moment. He peered blankly to meet her face as she wept. ‘Is it weird if I reckon, in this moment, her face is kind of adorabl-’

A hand hit his head, instantly breaking his chain of thought. “Ow.” He worried for a moment that witches could read minds, too.

“Fine, Hanaaa,” Crone responded to the first part of her instruction, “and you guessed it,” he followed as she yawned, scratching the top of his dark mop that had become tangled in places from all the chaotic happenings of tonight. Seemingly more tired, the demon realised that in such a weak state, and due to the shock of the transformation, he was feeling a little drowsy himself. Well, that was, until Hana informed that she didn’t actually know how to remedy the spell. Meaning he may not be able to ever turn back. Meaning he would have to remain human for even longer than he anticipated. Meaning he felt really, kindly put, ‘**** off’.

“You don’t know what?!” If he could harness it, he would’ve been tearing up himself, but instead he clenched his fists, digging long nails into his skin, before lurching to grab Hana by the shoulders. He was more than ready to happily shake her about, but then, he glanced upon her elegant, pale, calming face, and the quietened aura... He couldn’t bear himself such a thing after already doing embarrassing gestures to be ‘nice’ with her. Additionally, his human body was happy to will him back to rational thinking, making it surprisingly easier, he found, to let his anger go for the time being. “Well, you brought this upon yourself, so I’m afraid you’ll have to deal with me hanging around until you -magically- find a solution, magician Hana,” at current, all Crone had with him was a long black robe with faint gold dragon markings sewn into the material. Knowing how complicated human life seemed through observation, Crone realised Hana would be in for a real test of courage and determination if she decided to let a feisty, human-killing once-demon live with her, the man without really anything so far to assist her. With a long, tired sigh, he narrowed his eyes at the sheepish girl, though couldn’t help but smile at the overall humour of the situation. “Ugh, let’s get this over with, then. I hope you’ve a place for me to stay if you can’t sort this out by tonight. By the way, the name’s Crone,” he raised back up to his feet, patting her head lightly in return, “you’re strange, but perhaps we can come to terms and never ever cross paths again. I for one am never hunting a ‘Foster’ again...” He softly chuckled. ‘Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into?’

_________________

Hana braced herself for his reaction as she explained herself. Her eyes shifted away from him and instead looked off to another direction, trying her best not to seem too embarrassed about the whole ordeal. Of course this was horrible on both their ends. She noticed how he was leaning in to grab at her shoulders but had quickly decided against it. She had locked eyes with him once again, wondering why he had decided against the action, but didn’t mind that he left her be.

“I don’t really know how I even cast a powerful spell like that in the first place....curses aren’t exactly easy to remove regardless...” she explained, although it might of just made things sound a whole lot worse.
The hallway was silent once more as she waited for him to reply, and was surprised to find him being strangely accepting of this fact, aside from his short outburst. “E-Eh?...” she found his declaration a bit confusing and just stared down at his crouched form. “Stay here? B-But I don’t even know what spell I cast in the first place! This could take weeks...even months to figure out!” she retorted.

Despite her words of warning, he seemed pretty much set on staying here with her to annoy her and make sure she fixed him. It made sense that he would want to turn back to his original form as soon as possible; Hana really didn’t want to deal with any more stress than she already was. At this point, it was late enough in the night for Hana to finally feel the full effects of her drowsiness. It might be easier to deal with all this after she got some sleep and properly thought this all through. For tonight, Hana decided that she would be a bit more lenient and just let him stay the night.

“Fine then, Crone..”, she started, “I don’t exactly have a guest room....and you put my couch out of commission. But I do have an air mattress in my room, so you’ll just sleep on that” she told him before grabbing his wrist loosely and leading him further down the hallway. Hana opened the door to a rather cozy looking room that consisted of a queen sized bed with a pale green duvet covering it. There was a large bookcase completely filled with books, leaving a few piles stacked next to it. Her walls were covered with a few framed pictures of her and some friends from home and a calender and a wall mirror. Her room seemed to have a very calming forest kind of feel to it, overall.

Letting go of his wrist, Hana walked over to her bed and ducked underneath it to pull out a fully inflated air mattress. She pulled it to the center of the floor and went back to her bed to pull off her sheet and put that on top of the inflatable mattress. She rubbed one of her eyes and yawned once again before grabbing an extra pillow and throwing that on the mattress as well, then moving to her dresser to pull out some of her own pajama shorts and a t-shirt.
“You’ll sleep on that and you won’t leave this room till I tell, got it?” she grumbled at Crone before walking past him to return to the hallway. “I’m gonna get ready for bed...so don’t touch anything and just sleep” she said, her fatigue was growing more and more evident from her tone of voice to the slight slump in her walk as she made her way to the bathroom.

She had no idea what Crone might try to pull if she left him alone in her living room so, it wasn’t ideal but having him sleep in her room would at least mean her house wouldn’t take anymore damage.

With an annoyed smile, Crone sighed and moved a hand through the top of his evenly parted hair. “That’s your problem then, isn’t it, dear? I am not going out there to touch more annoying little meat-bags for humans.” Crone was very much concerned about the whole predicament - what exactly did humans do in their strange lives? Sure, he had observed human culture as a demon, and knew the basics about human economy and a few of the odd pop culture references and phrases here and there, but the possibility of spending the rest of the year in such an unfortunate cage filled with gross red blood and bones really wasn’t something the man wanted to think about at current. Crone’s eyes danced at the notion of Hana letting him spend the night, clasping his hands together with a long and thankful smirk. “Ooh, how interesting. Though it’s probably the first time you’ve let a man into your bedroom, huh?” Poking a deviant tongue out, the demon side of Crone still had what diminishing energy was left to poke fun at the strange witch. To be perfectly honest, he was surprised that the girl didn’t just initially kill him on the spot, so internally grateful for that not being the end result of tonight, he let Hana pull his bony wrist down the hallway and through to her room.

He sniffed the stagnant, clean air of the warm, inviting bedroom, taking the time to look at the various book spines on her bookcase, to quietly observing the few pictures on the wall, whilst Hana did what she could to compose a small air mattress bed for him. The evidence in her room seemed to convey that she had once lived in a different area, perhaps suggesting why Crone hadn’t picked up her aura until recently. His eyes falling upon the wall mirror, he jumped a little in shock, at first thinking it were another person in the bedroom. But the tall image remained, copying Crone’s movements. As he processed that it were his own reflection, he spent a long moment to look at his aesthetic. He noticed it looked quite... bare, without bundles of fur covering every inch of skin. Though he did quite like his long hair, which reminded him of the colour that he once donned as a demon; the type of metallic blue that slightly shimmered in the light. Turning around to peer behind him, it was then he noticed the tips of his wing symbols peeking from above his robe. Lowering the piece of clothing down a bit, Crone smiled at the symbols that covered his shoulder blades and the sides of his back. They couldn’t let him fly, but they were the exact symbols of his wings as a demon. A nice constant reminder that being human was not who he was originally, and ultimately, what he wasn’t designed for.

Swivelling around to notice the increasingly tired Hana, he nodded in compliance, feeling the weight of his own body drop onto his bed. The slight burning of being transformed lingered on his limbs and torso, drawing all the more reason for his heavy eyelids to fall forward. “Whatever, witch... What will a person like you do tomorrow, anyway? Do you wear one of those suits like the ‘workers’ on human telly? Or a schoolgirl outfit like the ones in the show with gigantic eyeballs and puffy hair?” He dismissively questioned, the last part of his phrase referring to a slice of life anime he had happened to stumble upon once, eyes shut and thinking as she returned back to the room after getting ready. Much things about society still puzzled him, especially if what he’d seen on television were observational footage of real life. Listening out to hear if she’d respond, Crone pulled the cover up to his face and turned in his bed, a defined and sharp nose protruding from his profile. Feeling his body relax, he was happy to finally forget about his annoyance and struggle for a bit, and just let his dark soul be put to ease for a few hours.

_________________

Hana decided not to respond to his insistent and slightly annoying questions. But it did bring up the question of what she would have to do tomorrow in order to fix up her home. She would definitely need a new couch and replace some of the wood flooring, and then she STILL had to clean her study. She mentally slapped herself as she realized that she had accomplished more harm than good tonight in her attempts to be cleanly. After properly brushing her hair out, brushing her teeth and washing her face, she made her way back to her bedroom.

She quietly slipped around the air mattress in an attempt to reach her own bed, but stopped short before she climbed in. Crone's breathing was heavy, but rather quiet. She had expected him to be louder while he slept, but found this to be a rather pleasant surprise. Tucking some of her hair behind her ear, she crouched down in front of Crone and silently observed him. She had to admit that she felt a bit creepy, but he had been stalking her for much longer...so.....HA.
'Payback demon!.....I guess...'

She had to admit that this was not a properly set revenge plan but she was rather curious about his whole appearance. His facial features were very sharp and defined, but his serene expression softened them slightly. His hair was thick and seemed to fall wildly behind him, and it also held a strange metallic blue tint to it in the right lighting. She exhaled through her nose and once again ran her hand through her hair.

'What the hell have I gotten myself into?...'

Hana decided to just let her thoughts drift for the rest of the night and settled into her own bed to get some well deserved sleep. This was a problem for 'future Hana' to deal with tomorrow. Tonight, just needed to be filled with a comfortable silence and the occasional chirping of a cricket.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Hana woke up to the blaring sound of her phone alarm. She groaned as she tried to reach out for it, but found that the spot was void of her handheld device.
"hm?....dammit....." she grumbled as she sat up slowly. Her hair was a tangled mess and the she still felt like she was in a groggy daze as she looked around for it. Listening again, she found that it sounded farther away than she initially thought.
'That's right....I threw it on the counter last night....'

Her memory slowly started to return as she slipped out of bed to turn off the loud music playing from it's speaker. She distinctly remembered something else happened right after-
Hana was cut off as she tripped over the air mattress laid at her bare feet and landed face first right on top of the sleeping Crone.
'Oh yeah.....he happened too..' she recollected. Her grogginess almost made her feel more miserable now that she remembered the entire night. She groaned once more as she attempted to sit herself up on his lap and attempt to regain her balance. After all, she had a phone to shut off.

Crone’s chest rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern as air slowly inflated and escaped his lungs. To the touch, his body felt rather cold, as if he still believed himself to be an animate artwork with no internal organs or blood. Nighttime had been kind on him. He had slept through the night like a baby, with no real remembrance of the impending dreams that tried to haunt him. Soon, sunlight broke its way through Hana’s bedroom curtains and filtered through Crone’s eyelashes. “Mn... stop it,” a drowsy mumble unconsciously sounded from his lips, raising his arm to press aimlessly at the air in front of him. In his sleep, he just so happened to prod a hand at Hana’s cheek, who had stumbled into his lap to secure her phone. “Sir, you can’t tell me to do that...” His torso raised, somehow alerted to the new warmth and scent in the mattress. He sniffed the air. Raised his eyelids. Stared. “What?”

Waking up to the witch’s back wasn’t exactly what he expected to find in the morning. He thought, perhaps, it could be some sort of customary waking up call in the human world. Assuming this were the case, he promptly sat upright and leaned towards Hana, eventually resting his head on her shoulder with a long, exaggerated yawn. “‘Good’ morning? More like bad morning... Why does sleeping still make me feel tired? Goodness, are humans weak.” He rubbed around his eyes, unsure why she had appeared there but happy to treat her like a pillow nonetheless. In animal instinct, his nose quietly whistled as he observed the scent of her clothes. Seeing as they were going to have to cooperate for the time being, he may as well remember her tracking scent in case he somehow got lost in this confusing, complicated land of the living.

Once the man had come about his wits, he gripped onto the side of Hana’s bed to prop himself up onto his feet, weaving his legs away from Hana. His balance was still a little shaky, but he was slowly coming to terms with this strangely vertical form, combing through his hair with long, rushed strokes of the hand. Whilst Hana was still sitting down, he reached out to pat her on the head, ruffling her brown ribbons of hair. “So, uh, what’s your.. Uhm, what do they call it... Um.. Oh! Yes, what’s your ‘routine’ for today?” He tilted his head curiously like a wolf listening to its pack leader, internally proud of himself for remembering the english word for it. From what he’d seen in the past, every human had a different method and strategy of going about their lives. This was fascinating to Crone, as in the underworld, all creatures basically did very similar things to each other; hunt, eat, sleep and scare. He had contemplated trying to kill Hana in this form, but Crone took his ventures with her as a learning experience. Maybe this were his way to stand out in the demon world and kill more effectively once he became his selfish self again. Seeing Hana as a potential source for information on human lifestyle, who knew, it could probably be even a little fun to ‘see where your food came from before putting it on your plate’, so to speak.

Stretching his limbs in an open space of the room, Crone took a second to look outside the bedroom window before a desperate growl erupted from his stomach. “Oh right, I didn’t even end up eating anything last night, ughhh...” he mumbled, turning to face Hana with a small pouty face and humour in his puppy eyes. “Please tell me you have some sort of mortal substitute for the atmospheric pressures and densities of human souls. Please?”

_________________

Hana could barely stand up before Crone rested his head on her shoulder. She froze as he rested against her so casually, her expression turning sour as he did so. This was the sort of position a couple would sit in before they started their day off, not two mortal enemies. Hana raised her hands up, ready to push his head away from her, but was stopped short as he suddenly stood up and let her slide back on the mattress. A small squeak of surprise escaped her as he rustled her hair, leaving it in a bigger mess than it already had before. She looked up at Crone and pushed herself up to her feet as well, watching him carefully. His hair was an utter mess and he was still in that black robe he had appeared in, and something told her that he probably didn't have anything under that.

She shuttered a bit at the thought and quickly shook it off. She looked back up to meet Crone's eyes and yawned once again as he questioned he daily routine. "Well, I'm going to take a shower and make breakfast...then I'm going to head to work" she grumbled. To think that after everything that happened last night, she still planned to go to her shift. Well, it wasn't like she could call in sick for something like this anyways.
"Speaking of which...you'll probably need a job too" she poked his chest and gave him a stern look. It was her way of telling him that he really didn't have that much of a choice in the matter.

"If you're SO set on staying here, then you need to help pay for all the damages you made and help with the rent payments" she added. Now THIS was more like it! This seemed like a proper revenge scheme to pull on him. If he wanted to be cured, he would have to earn his keep in this house.

She noticed his stomach growl loudly and his face seemed to look like that of an upset child.
"Ugh....I have bacon. Is that close enough?" she said, trying to be a bit light-hearted now that she had him trapped with her "job" scheme. She walked past him and made her way over to her phone and finally turned off the song that was playing. She sighed with relief and moved on to the fridge, where she pulled out the small slices of meat and a few eggs. Some food actually sounded really good, now that Crone had mentioned it.

Heating up two of her pans, Hana started to make a large batch of scrambled eggs and a few slices of bacon. The loud sizzling of the meat was already making her mouth water as she finished up her eggs. She hummed a quiet tune, presumably the song that had played on her alarm, as she finished up her cooking and seasoned the eggs with a bit of salt and pepper.
"Alright~ Time to eat" she smiled a bit at the large pile of food and separated them evenly on two plates.

Crone’s face drained of its colour the second Hana started concerning him towards finding a job to pay back his debt. “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he grumbled as they moved to the kitchen, observing Hana prepare the food with fascination. The pan make oddly satisfying sizzling sounds as the food touched its surface, and with it, exuded a strong scent that Crone couldn’t help but whiffle his nose at. “Looks strange, but that’s to be expected from you guys, I guess,” he raised an eyebrow. He had, once upon a time, consumed the souls and energy of animals such as pigs, but to eat their actual flesh seemed slightly strange. Would it be familiar to the taste of their aura? Only one way to find out.

Finding his throat rather parched, he fiddled around Hana’s kitchen, opening and closing various drawers and cupboards while she was busy, to eventually secure a glass for himself.. Oh, and why not. A glass for Hana, too. Although he still wasn’t fond of the peculiar magic wielder, he liked feeling useful and practical; a dependable demon spirit that could grant the wish of anyone who summoned him. Thinking of their living plans similar to a demonic contract, he wanted to follow through to his morals and do his part for his side of the trade, knowing Hana would, in turn, be expected to follow through and eventually release him. Filling the glasses with water and securing a fork and a knife for each of them, he moved to the kitchen table and placed the equipment on its surface, feeling himself grow visibly happier as the warm food on a nice plate shifted to his side of the table. Blinking at the food, he poked a fork into the eggs at first, raising the scrambled food to eye level to study its texture. “Woah... These things are so yellow,” he commented, intrigued as he placed it into his mouth and carefully chewed it. It felt soft, warm and welcoming as it eased down his throat, bringing creased smiles to his eyes. Bite after bite, Crone indulged in the unique flavours presented to him. It was definitely unlike anything he’d ever eaten. “Oh, it’s pretty good,” he informed Hana, and as he realised he must’ve looked very silly being thoroughly entertained by something as mundane to Hana as breakfast, a sheepish grin formed on his face. “One day, I should offer you some demon food, hmm? You’d never sleep again, if this gives you energy, that’s for sure~”

As they ate, Crone noticed a newspaper on the table, stretching his fingers to bring them to his vision. He couldn’t really make out what most of the written symbols were saying, though he noted the a certain couple of keywords at the back of the paper: ‘job opportunities’. Flicking a long digit through them, he huffed. “So, what even is your job, Hana? I can’t read human yet, but I feel like I’m not really... Qualified... Here.” His words were true; Crone still had to learn how to read and write properly. Though, seeing as he learnt how to speak the human tongue just by listening to conversation, his memory was clearly and undoubtedly top notch. In fact, it was almost photographic, as he was able to visualise the lips of a particular person he had heard speak a certain word, before he sent the sounds from his own mouth. Though, aside from his sharp memory and physical health, it was hard enough having to befriend a human girl, let alone multiple humans in a work environment.

_________________

Hana chewed the freshly cooked bacon and started to scroll through her phone. She looked up and noticed the way Crone was eating his food. She had to stop eating for a second to watch him eagerly munch away at it. She never knew that someone could possibly enjoy eggs that much, but then again a lot of things had surprised her today.
She couldn't help but smirk at the display and giggle at his actions, "You're one to talk. I've never seen anyone eat with such enthusiasm before" she commented before poking at her own eggs halfheartedly.

Noticing how he looked over the newspaper, she raised a brow and looked over the section he was trying to sort through. "Oh, I work at this bookstore down the street. I mainly just run the counter and catalog the books but I like it" she told him, a spark in her eyes as she thought about the books she would get to read today. Maybe it would help her de-stress and figure out a proper plan to fix the demon man. "hmmm well I'm sure there's a job you would be qualified for....but we'll have to fix your look up if you want any chance of even scoring an interview" she pointed at him with her fork and looked him up and down.
"No offense, but that mop of hair is NOT helping you out there.. If you want to look professional, we'll definitely have to cut it" she commented. Finishing up her food, she put the dishes in a pile by the sink and walked back over to Crone. She walked behind him and started to run her hands through his hair and observing every knot and tangle.
"If we wash this properly, I can get all these tangles out and then give you a proper hairstyle" she noted.

The man scoffed at the sound of her working for a bookstore, mentally remembering the copious amounts of literature she kept in her room and had scattered around various tables. “Of course you’re a... A... What subculture was it that you people say? Oh yeah, a nerd.” He playfully dismissed, looking to Hana to see if he had used the phrase properly.

Crone’s face, through, soon turned to one of scowl when Hana pointed the fork at him, looking down to his waist and picking through a lock of his messed mop. “Wait, this isn’t considered gorgeous in your society? You people are daft,” He remarked as Hana strode around him, glancing back to the newspaper and flicking through the images of human men wearing trendy, short hairstyles. “Most of these so called, ‘hot’, looks on here look like freakin’ roosters,” he snorted, pointing to the various images of men wearing modern undercut hairstyles. “And I have to talk to people at an interview? Blimey, the more I converse with you, the more I realise how much of a pain it is to live on this planet as a long limbed meat-bag.” As he tried to distinguish the obscure, scribbled symbols for letters on the papers, he allowed Hana to fiddle her fingers through his hair. He had to admit; he was slowly growing accustomed to the idea of cutting it. It did feel thick and heavy on his head, and besides, appearing more ‘attractive’ to a larger demographic of humans could mean gaining the favour of other humans... And who knew, they may even just let him snack on them when the time came to turn back into a demon. It would definitely be easier than doing this all over again.

But some musings just had to be soured. Hana mentioned that his hair would have to be ‘washed’. What did 'wash' connote to, again? Ah, that’s right.

Water.

He gulped. Crone and water had never been the best of companions. ‘No, Crone, stay strong, you must do it for the sake of leaving this hell-hole,’ he thought, feeling his palms getting clammy as he turned to Hana with the best confident face he could muster whilst silently worrying. “O-okay!” He voice managed to waver despite best intentions. Memories of hunting in the rain at night flooded back to Crone’s thoughts. As a once-painting, even Crone the wolf demon would worry that the liquid coming from the sky would seep and smudge into the painterly brush strokes that essentially composed his entire being. He retracted his hand under the table to pinch his skin. That’s right, he was a human now, with waterproof skin; there was absolutely nothing to worry about... Hopefully.

Standing up from the table, he stood beside Hana. “What does this ‘washing’ procedure entail, girl?” His face, hardened from trying to remain calm, traced their way down the house hallway. Allowing the opposing girl to lead the way, he scratched the back of his neck and tried to obey her following instructions.

_________________

'Nerd'

Hana glared at Crone as he called her the derogatory term and lightly smacked the back of his head. "Maybe you shouldn't be calling me such mean names when I'm about to hold a pair of scissors, demon!" she growled before she stepped back from his tangled mess of hair to get a better picture of what she could do with it. She had read a couple of fashion articles about how to properly cut male hair, so it didn't sound so difficult. As long as she could get it above shoulder level, she would feel satisfied. At that point, she wouldn't be too embarrassed to take him outside the house to get a professional haircut. There was always the option to just use magic to fix a bad haircut if she really messed up.

"Most of those guys use a lot of nice products in their hair for those photo shoots. I doubt I could ever get your hair to look like that....magic or no magic" she sighed as she played with the ends of her own hair. In only a few seconds, she noticed that Crone had suddenly stopped talking as soon as she mentioned that she would need to wash his hair. A mischievous smirk started to grow on her lips as she looked him over, "Oh? What's wrong? Is the merciless demon scared of a little water?" she teased. Now she was enjoying herself just a little bit more. Now knowing that he was actually afraid of water made her think that he seemed more feline-like in a sense.
"Well let's see, I'll just need to run your hair under a shower head and then shampoo it a bit. From there we can cut it in the living room and after I dry it off, you'll almost look like a normal guy!" she grinned, leading him down the hallway.

In preparation for the event, she tied her messy hair back in a ponytail and laid a few towels on the bathroom tile. She motioned for Crone to lower his head in front of the shower head so she could properly wash his entire mess of long hair. "Come on, I promise it won't bite~" she teased. She was definitely being childish and mean about his fear of water, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted to get back at him as much as possible for interrupting her peaceful life here in this rural town.

It took a little longer than she had expected, but somehow Hana managed to wash all of his hair and brush all of the tangles out of his hair. After towel drying it quickly, she lead him over to a chair in her living room and placed a bunch of newspapers on the ground to catch the hair that was about to fall onto the ground. She pulled out her scissors and moved some of the drenched locks out of his face to look him over.
"I promise I'll make it look good. I know I've been teasing, but if you want a job I need you look decent" she told him. The small possibility that he might back out was lingering in the back of his head.
----------------------------

"Aaaaaaaaaaand it's done!" she grinned happily as she finished drying his short mess of hair. Crone's hair was much shorter now that she had cut off the majority of it. She gave him some messy bangs and trimmed down the length so it wasn't quite as thick as before. Hana grabbed a small mirror and crouched in front of the seated Crone to show him her work. She watched his face for a reaction carefully, and found herself staring at his face rather intently. Now that his hair was so short, he looked like a completely different person.
'Is it just me.....or is he....actually kinda cute-'

She cut off her thoughts as a bright pink hue took up her cheeks. She refused to look at him as a normal male human being. He was simply a wolf in sheep's clothing now that he was a human.

He sulkily patted the backside of his head upon Hana striking it with a growl. A smile struggled across his face, enjoying the ruckus that he was unintentionally inflicting upon the mage. “Scissors don’t have anything on my claws, once I figure out how to lash them at you!” Briefly looking over his smooth fingernails he pondered if there was any sort of possibility to grow them into thick claw-like shapes.

“Oh, so you can magic up an animal to turn into a completely different, and might I say, uglier form, but you can’t get hair to look the way you want it to?” He complained jokingly, but before any sort of reply could be sent from Hana, Crone’s face lost its humour as he watched the gradually stretching smirk gracing across the girl’s face. “I am not a scaredy-cat! Water just smudges the beauty of art, blurs one’s perception on reality - it’s a valid concern-” He silenced his tangent as she begun to walk him down the hallway, looming behind her a few steps further than usual in thoughtful reluctance. As she described the events that were to follow, his mouth formed a hard, please-don’t-make-me-do-this line. The phrase ‘normal guy’ seemed fun though simultaneously disturbing. Never did Crone want to imagine that he would one day properly integrate into human culture; the very thought made his shoulders shudder. He eyed Hana as she promptly prepared the bathroom, looking down at the cold bathroom tiles to wonder how interesting it was for humans to be so organised about their lives. Every room in the house seemed to serve a purpose, every floor and wall material placed for a reason. A huge contrast to the underworld, wherein every act is made spontaneously and immortal spirits often thrive aimlessly, without a real goal in mind.

Without a real goal in mind...

“Come on, I promise it won’t bite~” her words beckoned and taunted, Crone grunting with a defeated sigh. If he wanted to make his obstacle as a mortal at least a moderately enjoyable one, he may as well act the part. He bent his head forward, oh-so slowly, eyes squinted as to not let any single drop dare enter his eyes as water begun to work its way through his hair. A long, agitated groan sounded from his throat throughout most of the process. “Coming from someone who lives in the underworld, this is worse than hell,” he complained, annoyed at the thought that Hana would probably find the situation amusing. After that comment, the man kept quiet as Hana tended to his mop, a blank, unamused expression donning his face.

Sinking into the living room chair as though the water had started to melt him, Crone shook his head about like a wet dog for a moment, glancing an eye to look back at Hana. “I guess it can’t get any worse than this...”

---

Boy, was he wrong.

Long hair pooled around Crone’s feet; the aftermath of an intense war between blade and dignity. One of the only things he appreciated about his human self, his long majestic hair, was now light. Fluffy. Cute?! “Oh gods, I look like a sheep! What’s with you people and cute animal-themed hair?!” He peered intently at the mirror Hana offered him, squinting his eyes at the initial shock of letting go of all of that weight... Before realising it didn’t look half-bad on him. Hair seemed to really change one’s aesthetic - this new cut flattered his frame, made him seem more youthful and well-kept. He tilted his head, ruffling the his hair in various places to spot the different layers Hana had placed for him. Turning to meet Hana’s face, he softly smiled. “On second thought, it isn’t too ba-... Uh, are you alright?”

Crone raised an eyebrow in confusion as she turned her gaze away from him. She seemed to appear more flushed than the last time he saw her. Was it something he said? Standing up, Crone pattered stray cut hairs away from his robe and neck, stretching out his arms before patting his hands on the girl’s shoulder. “Good job, by the way. You didn’t even have to use your fancy pants magic.” He awkwardly chuckled in an attempt to lift the silence, unsure of what to make of her so instead decided to ignore her reaction. “Anyway, since you’ve been warming me up to the idea of exploring... Do you have any clothes I could lend? My robe will probably be too cold for wearing outside,” he addressed, turning to the window and watching the town breathe life. He didn’t really want to talk to anyone, but he did miss the forest, the sights and the smells... He wondered where the nearest one would be from their location as a response slowly withdrew from the flustered Hana.

_________________

Hana could feel his fingers pat her shoulder as he stood up and thanked her for the job she had done. "Yeah...I actually did a lot better than I thought" she responded quietly as she stood up straight and cleared her throat. She needed to remember that he was still the annoying demon that had crashed into her house and attempted to eat her. But now with his short haircut, he looked less like a killer and more like a normal young man. Maybe it would have been better if she hadn't cut his hair in the first place or had given him a purposely bad style and have a good laugh. She had to live with this now, so she would just have to suck it up and get used to it. She drew in a sharp breathe and exhaled slowly so her cheeks wouldn't be as red anymore.

After her success, she listened to his comment and nodded in agreement. She looked over his general body type and from the looks of his physique, he shared the same body type as her oldest brother. "You're lucky this house belongs to my family...my brother left his old clothes behind when he moved out" she commented. She had been lucky to get this house in the first place. It had originally just been a small holiday residence that her brother would use when he wanted room to work on his research. He had stopped using the old place a few years prior and had left his old stuff in a few boxes just in case he ever decided to come back. The boxes were probably still in the hall closet, where she stuffed them to make room for her stuff.
"It's probably down here...follow me" she gestured as she started to make her way down the lit hall. She turned to a closed door and creaked it open to find the boxes right where she had left them. Raising her body on her tip-toes, Hana reached up and grabbed the three dented cardboard boxes that rested inside.

She set them down on the floor and took a peak inside the top box, she grinned at her findings. "Problem solved! These should fit you just fine", she said triumphantly. She noticed that there were some dusty looking pictures inside the box as well, scattered between the folds of the various materials inside. Most of them seemed to be pictures of her brother at various times in his life. The one she noticed was peaking out at the top made her lips crease into a hard frown and an annoyed grown escaped her. The picture featured her as a small third grader wearing a bright pink dress and a large smile on her face. One of her front teeth were noticeably absent from her mouth and her hair was a long mess. The picture was probably from the day she lost her first tooth. Granted, she had run into a pole and knocked it out before it was due but it was still her first.
"Just ignore any pictures in there. There should be plenty of clothes in all of those..." she said as she buried the picture underneath a few t-shirts. She hated how doting her eldest brother had always been on her. It wouldn't still be bothering her nowadays if he had stopped at some point, but he still continuously tried to butt into her life.

*knock, knock*

Hana turned her head as the loud knocks echoed throughout the house. She stood up and headed to the doorway to see who was there. Looking through her peephole, she noticed that the person on the other end was a young man. After a quick examination, she saw that he was not holding a clipboard, so he probably wasn't a salesman of some kind. In fact, his clothes were way too casual looking for him to be selling anything at all. He had a pair of pale red converse on and a pair of cargo pants on with some band t-shirt to top it off.
She took a step back and opened the door to get a proper look at her mysterious visitor. As soon as she opened the door, she was met with bright and alert cerulean eyes and a relaxed smile. The boy's brown hair was a bit messy looking, but it almost seemed like he had placed it like that on purpose. Overall, he was a rather attractive looking man that seemed to be scanning over her body.

"Ugh....hi, can I help you?" she asked, feeling a bit misplaced in front of him despite being in her own home. It was strange...he had this air about him that beamed with confidence to an almost disturbing level.
"Actually, I just wanted to pop by and say hi! I just moved next door and I thought I should meet everyone in the area. My name's Finn, by the way" he spoke with abnormal clarity, his eyes intent on her response.
Hana blinked and watched with slight suspicion as he waited for her answer. "Oh, it's nice to meet you..Finn. I'm Hana, I hope you like it here" she said, smiling lightly to try to hide her suspicion.
"I certainly hope so! We should meet up for food or something one day! I hear you have a dog, so I hope I get to meet him too" he grinned, his eyes had a weird twinkle to them.

Hana went quiet and just stared at him in shock as he observed her reaction. She didn't own a dog...but a certain demonic wolf had recently taken residence here. "How did you-" her accusation was cut off as he placed his hand over her chest his smile growing a bit devilish. She took in a sharp breathe and yanked herself away from him, "H-HEY! What the heck do you think you're doing?!" she exclaimed at him.
As she stepped back, the dark haired boy took a few steps forward and entered the house, closing the door behind him. "You know, if you didn't have a dog hanging around I would of taken this a bit slower....maybe try to be more lax....", his eyes hue suddenly shifted to a deep crimson and his smile grew toothy and wide, "but damn does your aura feel great.....just approaching the house made my mouth water!" he exclaimed.

Hana's eyes widened at the male as he started to approach her, her arms raising to a defensive position. He was definitely not human....
As she tried to raise her fingers up to cast a spell, her body suddenly froze. She looked to see Finn had raised his own hands and had cast some kind of spell on her to stop her from moving. Her breathe was growing short as he forced his hand down harshly and made Hana fly to the floor. "Stay still for a second, Sweety....I wanna get this done before the dog tries to cut in and take some for himself" he said in a harsher tone. He made his way over to her and used his dominant hand to grip her face by her cheeks. He used his other hand to hold the small of her back and he started to lean into her.
Hana's whole body was limp from the spell, and her voice was seemingly caught in her throat. All she could could do was watch as he seemed to be leaning in to kiss her. What she didn't know was that was a primary way to effectively take aura away. Her aura was currently spiking to high levels of magnetism as her fear grew.