13. CHAPTER
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
“Your Dr Pepper and Captain Morgan,” Mr. Heiss announced as he walked back in, carrying a drink in each hand. One was Indy’s and the other was the glittery liquid Mr. Heiss had been drinking in the limo. He slid into bed, huffing, “Move.”
“But I’m so comfy,” Indy whined.
Mr. Heiss stared, and an invisible force butted up against Indy’s side.
“Hey!” Indy laughed as he tumbled over.
“I told you to move.” Mr. Heiss sat back against the headboard, smiling as he offered Indy his drink. “Here. This should ease your pain.”
“Will it though?” Indy let out a dramatic sigh but sat up so he could take the glass.
Mr. Heiss rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you’ll live.”
“Mmm, thank you.” Indy chugged the whole glass in one go.
Mr. Heiss said nothing as he sipped his own drink, but Indy’s magically refilled again.
“Can you teach me that trick?” Indy laughed as he shifted over to sit next to Mr. Heiss.
“No.”
“You are just zero fucking fun.”
“Mm.”
Indy hesitated but then said softly, “Thank you.”
“For being zero fun?”
“Yes.” Indy chuckled. “But no, for, you know. The rescue and the good dick and all that. I kinda forget sometimes what it’s like.”
“What?”
“To just…” Indy tried to think of the right way to express himself but fell short. He sighed and said, “I don’t know, to just live or something.”
Mr. Heiss was quiet for a long moment. “You’re welcome, Sonnenschein.”
Indy eyed him. “And what does that mean?”
Mr. Heiss chuckled. “Sunshine. I thought it was appropriate.”
“Because I’m so bright and beautiful?”
“Because you’re full of hot air.”
“Technically, I think it’s gas, but hey? Be careful. Stare too long and my beauty will blind you.”
“Too bad it wouldn’t leave me deaf.”
Indy considered dumping his drink on Mr. Heiss’s head, but he didn’t want to waste the alcohol. “Is this your idea of pillow talk? Pissing me off?”
“Why? Is it working?”
Indy reconsidered his earlier thought and slowly raised the glass.
“How about…” Mr. Heiss looked over Indy’s face, and he smiled suddenly. “Your eyes.”
“What?” Indy braced himself for the usual drivel of praise he’d always heard.
“One blue. One blue and brown?”
“Yeah, and?”
Mr. Heiss smirked. “So, you’re only half full of shit.”
“Hey!”
“Ah, perhaps that was too generous. A quarter.”
Indy shook the glass. “I will dump this on your head and put out your stupid flame crown thingie.”
Mr. Heiss chuckled. “I suppose you would prefer cuddling while we ask personal questions and slobber compliments all over one another to sate our vanity.”
“Yes, that. Let’s fucking do that. Ever hear of aftercare? Hello?”
“All right.” Mr. Heiss slipped an arm around Indy’s shoulders, drawing him in closer. “Ask your silly little questions.”
Indy pouted. “What happened to the compliment slobbering?”
“Be grateful I’m willing to entertain your questions. I can’t promise I will answer them, but good luck.”
“Okay. Fine.” Indy dropped his hand on Mr. Heiss’s thigh. “The German. What the hell is up with all the German? Why does every damn demon from the Celestial have some crazy German name?”
Mr. Heiss burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that the flames between his horns sparked, and his whole face lit up. “That’s what you want to ask me?”
“Yeah! It’s fucking weird.”
“Demons have roamed this realm for eons, but the first collaborative effort for our kind took place in a little town in Germany near the Harz Mountains almost two hundred years ago. A demon named Mr. Mauer had a particular affinity for a natural rock formation there called the Teufelsmauer.”
“He named himself after a bunch of rocks?”
“Teufelsmauer means the Devil’s Wall.”
“So, his name is Mr. Wall.”
“Yes, now shut up if you want to hear the rest of the answer.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Indy cooed.
Mr. Heiss sighed haggardly. “The Teufelsmauer is made of sandstone, a highly desired material for construction, and humans were destroying it to build churches and whatever else. Mr. Mauer was desperate to stop them, but he didn’t want to risk exposing himself as a demon or hurt the stupid meat sacks. ”
“Wait, why?”
“How the fuck should I know? Maybe they were as annoying as you are—”
“You mean adorable.”
Mr. Heiss sighed again. “He called on other demons to help him find a way to end the quarrying, short of flaying them all alive. These demons took on German names to blend in and were able to persuade the local authorities to ban quarrying without taking a single soul. Demons all over the world saw what we could accomplish when we worked together using our wits and still staying hidden, and dozens flocked to join them.”
“Let me guess. And they also took on random German names?”
“Yes. Somewhere along the way, it became a tradition and all demons choose one now. Many are not proper surnames, of course, but simply a word they like. Something that inspires them.”
Indy peered up at Mr. Heiss. “What does Heiss mean?”
Mr. Heiss smirked. “Hot.”
“Really? I thought it’d be asshole.”
Mr. Heiss rolled his eyes. “Are you satisfied now?”
“So, you all have a German name because of one demon who really liked a bunch of rocks.”
“Mmhmm. They even had that bunch of rocks declared a nature preserve back in the thirties.” Mr. Heiss paused to finish his drink, but the glass did not refill this time. He set it aside, asking, “Is this the part where I’m supposed to show my interest and interrogate you as well?”
“I think you showed your interest very thoroughly just a few minutes ago, but by all means, baby. Ask away. Wanna know my favorite sex toy? Vibrating butt plug. Favorite position? Gonna sound lame, but it’s missionary. Love the closeness and the eye contact.” Indy snickered, sipping his drink.
Mr. Heiss watched him carefully. “Why did you make a deal with a demon?”
Indy choked.
Well, he walked right into that one.
Indy coughed, trying desperately not to exhale booze through his nose. “Wow, uh. Just really going for it, huh? It’s such a fun story. Not as fun as demons and rocks and whatever, but…”
Mr. Heiss stared expectantly.
Fuck.
“I wasn’t in a great place,” Indy said slowly, trying to build up a quick reply to cover his ass.
As always, he knew a good foundation of truth helped construct the strongest lies, so, fuck it.
“I’d made some pretty shit decisions. Dropped out of college, couldn’t find a job, and my family pretty much disowned me, and, well… I was alone.”
Mr. Heiss rubbed Indy’s arm gently but remained silent as he listened.
“No friends, no fuck buddies, nobody. No one ever stayed. Everyone left me. Gammy had already been dead for years and I didn’t know she was a ghost or whatever yet, so the company of me, myself, and I was all I had.
” Indy placed his glass in his lap. “Didn’t have any money or a job or any kind of future.
Just a good case of depression, binge drinking and eating all the drugs I could get my hands on, and the incredible determination that this, living like this, couldn’t be it.
“But I didn’t know what else to do, so I kept going.
Over and over, fucking stuck in this stupid cycle of bullshit, and I had no idea how to stop.
I knew it was bad, really bad, but it was also the only thing I had.
The drugs weren’t going to leave me. The booze wouldn’t leave me.
Heh. I was a mess. A mess who was fucking spiraling, needed a way out, and didn’t care what it cost.”
“Even your soul?”
“Yup.” Indy’s eyes grew hot.
He was so close to the truth that it hurt, and he vividly remembered texting his friends only to be left on read with no reply. His family stopped answering the phone or responding to his emails. He was blocked online, shut out completely, and completely alone.
It was fine.
Right, it was totally fine.
He didn’t need them. He didn’t need anyone. He had Gammy and that was enough.
The empty, aching pit inside of him longing for more intimate companionship was no big deal.
He ignored it. He had always been able to handle life on his own, and he liked it that way.
He didn’t actually want a relationship because that would force him to rely on another person and people were the literal worst. No, he wanted to be alone.
All he needed was another drink, maybe a few pills, and then he would be fine.
Couldn’t hurt if he couldn’t feel it.
Although…
With Mr. Heiss holding him right now?
The pit didn’t feel so empty.
“So.” Mr. Heiss continued to pet Indy’s arm. “Did you get what you wanted?”
“I don’t really know anymore,” Indy whispered.
“I thought so—” Not dying of cancer had been pretty great, after all.
“—but hey, it’s all good.” He forced a smile and perked back up.
“I get to party as much as I want now, got monster dick on demand twenty-four seven, and get to watch every season of Orange Is the New Black with my dead great-grandma.”
Mr. Heiss snorted out a small laugh.
Indy rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Okay. Your turn, jackass. Can I ask you questions that will make you cry?”
“You can certainly try.”
“Is your name really Raph?”
Mr. Heiss tensed.
Maybe it was a low blow to ask that when Indy already knew it was an obvious sore spot, but he needed to redirect this conversation away from himself quickly.
It didn’t matter if Mr. Heiss answered it or not.
Indy only needed him to stop focusing on Indy for five seconds so he had time to think up some more lies to keep his web of bullshit going.
To his surprise, Mr. Heiss replied, “It used to be. At least, it was a nickname. All fallen demons were once angels, and we have names given to us when we’re born in the light.”
“The light? Is that, like, heaven or something?”
“I believe many would think of it that way. It’s the one part of Celestial that hosts warmth and, yes, light. A light that comes from angels. They gather in groups, they sing, share their light together.”
“That sounds kinda beautiful.”