His alarm clock didn’t go off. His car battery was flat. The bus was late, the train was packed, there was a long line outside the bagel place. He was a little hungover and quite sleep deprived. Today looked like it would be one of those days where everything slowly got worse.

Eric worked at one of the few remaining bookshops in the city, and although it didn’t pay well, it was a lot better than working in an office, staring at a computer screen, and nodding his way through meeting after meeting.

That said, he did have to sit at a computer. His boss, June, hated the things, and had hired him to handle all the technological details of running stock control. Built from second hand computers and online auctions, it wasn’t exactly the peak of modernisation. Too old for even an internet connection.

Upon his arrival, his boss June was unimpressed at his timekeeping.

“You’re late, Eric.”

“I brought you a bagel.”

“I’m on a diet, Eric.”

“Oh. I’ll just leave it in the back room. See if anyone else wants it, later.”

June was a few years older than Eric, but she’d never told him how many years exactly. There were some regular customers well into their 70s who would drop the occasional hint, but as far as Eric could tell, either she’d been working in the shop since childhood, or she was some sort of immortal vampire.

She seemed to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of history, and spoke far too many languages with seemingly perfect fluency. Frankly, the vampire theory made more sense to him.

“It’ll have to wait. I have to get to the airport.”

“Airport? Oh. Crap.” Eric had promised to drive into work.

“I take it that means I won’t be able to borrow your car. I should have guessed.”

“It’s.. um… the battery? I think. Wouldn’t start. I forgot and I…”

“It’s ok, I ordered a taxi when you didn’t show up.”

“God, I’m sorry June, I… This week, I…”

“Just look after the shop, will you?”

“Any appointments today?”

“None. I’ll be back by lunch time.” June snatched the bagel from his hands. “I’ll take this, just in case.”

She was already one foot inside the Taxi when he realised what had happened. She’d snatched his bagel too, but it wasn’t worth fighting over. He was already in enough trouble as it was.

Instead of sulking, Eric went to work. There were new arrivals to log into the stock control, he had a number of online auctions to check, and most annoyingly of all, phone calls to make. Thankfully, there weren’t any customers to deal with. Not in person, anyway.

A few hours later, it was almost lunch time. His day was beginning to look up. No fires had broken out, none of his auction bids had been sniped yet, and June phoned the shop to tell him she wouldn’t be back until closing time, if that.

Eric made a small prayer for a quiet afternoon at work.

That was when the lights started flickering, and several loud bangs emanated from the back room of the shop. The electrics were as ancient and temperamental as the shop’s owner, and it wasn’t the first time there had been problems.

Eric had a torch on his keyring for these sorts of occasions, just in case the light on his phone failed, and set about checking for damage. Thankfully, the old computer hadn’t caught fire, but he did wonder if it would ever turn on again. There was a lot of smoke.

In the basement, things did not look good either. The plastic cover for the fuse box had warped and melted in places. He knew that June would not take to the news well, and would likely blame the computer for the trouble, and him, by extension. It did not look easy to fix, and knowing June, she’d make him work through the evening to fix it.

Either way, he’d turned off the main power, and it could wait until lunch.

Standing outside the shop, he began the ornate ritual of locking the front door. Two different lever locks for the inside door, one gigantic lock for the heavy wooden door. The key looked positively medieval, and was too big to carry in his pockets.

Eric then noticed that none of the lights were on in any of the shops. The coffee shop directly opposite had a small crowd of people screaming at each other, the traffic lights were out, and there were cars honking at each other, all insisting they had right of way.

“SHE HAS A SWORD. COOL!”

Eric’s first thought was ‘Maybe someone’s having a worse day than me.’ his next thought was ‘Wait, is she running towards me?’ and finally ‘Ouch.’ She had purple skin, long hair, and two horns featuring rather prominently on her face, and she was currently lying on top of him, screaming in some language he didn’t know.

Then she passed out atop him.

Eric pushed her gently to one side, and then picked himself off the ground. She woke up almost immediately, gave him a look of fear, and went to grab her sword.

“Are you OK?” Eric threw his hands up. “Are you?”

She began to wobble once more and Eric rushed in to catch her before she crashed out onto the floor. Eric took a look around him. A crowd was forming. A few people were mumbling about calling the police.

“She’s OK. Cosplayer. Dehydrated.”

He helped her onto her feet, and picked up the sword.

“We should get you inside. Ok?”

He wasn’t sure if she understood his words, but she did seem to understand his tone. He quickly repeated the front door ritual, poured her into a nearby chair, and then quickly shut the front door. Hopefully the police would have other things to deal with. The coffee shop crowd were getting rather angry, and the cacophony of car horns hadn’t gone away one bit.

He went to fetch a glass of water, but couldn’t find a single clean cup. All he had was soda, the gamer-fuel extra sugar-extra caffeine type. Telling himself, better than nothing, he returned to the shop floor.

She was hunched up in the chair, holding onto the sword, eyes darting around the room like a trapped animal. He waved the energy drink at her, “Thirsty?” and she looked back with utter confusion. He mimed out drinking from the can, then opened it, and took a sip before offering it to her.

She hesitantly took a sip, then necked the entire thing, crushing the can in her hand. He didn’t understand her words, but he did understand her tone.

“Another.”

He tried a ‘Follow me?’ gesture, waving her to follow, but then realised she was still a little too weak to walk without help.

Getting her up the stairs proved a little challenging, but he’d had enough practice helping a rather drunken June crash out after a night on the town. He lead her to the spare room upstairs, and helped her into the bed.

He pulled out the emergency stash of energy drinks, and piled up several cans next to her. She fumbled about with the top, before holding it out for him to open for her.

“Like this.”

She knocked back four cans in a row, burped, and then fell backwards onto the bed.

Eric had wondered exactly who she was, why she was dressed so funnily, and why she seemed to be so disoriented, but put those thoughts to one side. He’d worked first aid at a number of dance festivals, so it wasn’t exactly the first time he’d dealt with a person gibbering and unable to move.

The police wouldn’t have helped one bit. All she needed was a friendly face, a glass of water, and a quiet dark room to sleep off whatever was in her system. That was why he’d taken pity on her, that and she was obviously having a much worse day than Eric. Being able to help someone out just made his day suck a little less.

With his visitor safely passed out, it was time to deal with all the other things that had gone wrong.

June did not take the news well, but at least she didn’t blame Eric for the mess. The emergency electrician managed to restore power, somehow having all the parts they needed with them to repair the damaged parts. That, and June had stockpiled a bunch of old fuses for her ageing circuits.

The ageing computer did turn on, but the hard drive was completely wiped. Thankfully the backup still worked, and Eric managed to save the result of his morning’s work. By the time he’d finished sorting out the mess, takeout arrived.

It had been a very long day without breakfast or lunch, and Eric was looking forwards to eating. He’d ordered some extra dishes for his temporary guest.

“Hey? are you up?”

She was holding her sword again, but relaxed when she saw Eric, that or the smell of food.

“You hungry?”

She was. She snatched the box of fried noodles out of his hand and began grabbing at them with her hands, eating without a care for how feral she looked. A moment later, she was looking at Eric again.

Well, not directly at Eric, but at the other containers in his hands.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Eric sighed. He should have ordered more food. He’d managed a whole three dumplings before his visitor made pleading eyes once again. He looked at his soup. Two dumplings left. With a sigh, he handed it over, and watched his food vanish.

She picked up one of the crumpled cans and shook it at him.

“I’ll be back. Wait for me.”

She followed him to the stairs, but started to wobble. He helped her back to bed, and then picked up the can and shook it.

“I get drink.” He shook the can and pointed to himself. “You rest” He pointed to her and the bed.

She did not look happy about taking orders, but seemed to comply.

The next morning, Eric awoke with a headache. He’d barely eaten food, and his stomach was very unhappy with him. It wasn’t until he got to the coffee shop across the road that he realised he was still at work, and why he hadn’t got home the previous night.

He ordered an extra large coffee, then ordered another four. He asked for two everything bagels, then with a sigh, ordered another four. It might go to waste, but at least this way he’d have a chance to finish his own breakfast before his guest took his portion, again.

He found his guest wearing his hoodie and not much else, walking around the top floor of the shop, playing with his phone. Judging by the pile of books nearby, she’d woken up a few hours earlier and had found ways to occupy herself.

“I brought breakfast?”

She looked at him, began to smile, and then looked at the bag in his hands, and truly beamed.

The coffee wasn’t as popular as the energy drinks, but it vanished as quickly as he expected. She only managed to eat three everything bagels, so for once, there was food left over for him.

“So. Um. Feeling better?”

She nodded back, although he wasn’t quite sure if she understood.

“You were quite out of it yesterday.”

She smiled awkwardly. “Y..Yess?” It sounded like she was unsure of her words.

Eric was still under the impression that she was some out of it raver, dressed up to party and suffering from some unfortunate side-effects of recreational pharmaceuticals. He noted that she still had the skin paint on, and the horns too, and figured she’d want to clean herself up before rejoining the real world.

“Nice costume?” He pointed to the horns. She snarled at him. “Um. Sorry. Do you need a Shower?”

Along with the spare room, there was a tiny kitchen and a tiny bathroom. He lead her to the shower, and she was a little confused until he turned on the hot water. He pointed to a towel, and left her to it.

Clearing away the mess from breakfast, he stopped to check out which books she’d been ploughing through. A dictionary. A latin dictionary. Two atlases. The manual for the ageing computer in the back room. It looked like she’d just grabbed whatever was nearby.

He then remembered she’d been playing with his phone. He found hundreds of tabs open, on all sorts of different subjects. At least twenty of them were about the energy drink she’d taken to.

There was a nagging feeling at the back of his brain. The power-cut. The sparks. A woman with purple skin and horns waving a sword on the street. Eating like a feral cat, speaking gibberish. Nothing clicked into place until she returned from the shower, completely naked.

She still had horns. Her skin was still purple. There was a tail too, and it was wagging from side to side.

“Hi.” She was smiling.

Eric looked back in a panic. Was she an alien? Maybe she was just a very dedicated cosplayer. Maybe it was a full body tattoo? Eric didn’t want to believe it, but the tail was making a very good case for what should have been incredibly obvious by now.

“You’re not human, are you?”

“I.. speak… um.” With a scowl, she marched towards him, backing him into a corner.

“Uhhhh… Ummm..” Eric was trying not to panic.

She bit down hard on his neck, and Eric slumped to the ground. Wiping the blood away from her mouth, she smiled back at him, rather pleased with herself.

“[You understand me now, right?]”

She was still speaking in gibberish, but the words somehow got translated for him.

“What… what did you do …” Eric was clutching onto his neck, desperately worried she’d cut something important.

“[Blood magic.]” She spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “[You’re fine. Get up.]”

Eric was still looking at her like a rabbit in the headlights. She wasn’t human. She had horns and a tail. He barely had time to think about other details like how she was completely naked, and in almost any other circumstances, those thoughts would be the ones dominating his mind.

It was not how he expected to feel after, being bitten on the neck by a tall purple succubus, towering over him with a smirk.

“[You’re my new minion. Why would I harm you?]”

“Minion.”

“Slave?” She tried speaking in Eric’s language. “Pet?” She pouted. “Mine?” She nodded. “Mine.”

Eric was still in shock. That, and the other parts of his brain had begun to take notice of his new owner. She was still naked, and he was still a pervert, after all.

“Now, take me to this Gandalf of yours.” She pointed to one of the books. “Or any magician. I need to get home, and quick.”

Eric wasn’t to realise, but the spell worked both ways. Her language skills improved almost immediately.

“Gandalf?”

She grabbed him by the neck. “Please, don’t um. Uh.”

“He isn’t real.” He tried to explain. “He’s a story.”

She wasn’t impressed, but thanks to the magic she could tell he wasn’t lying.

“What about this Dr. Strange, what about…”

“There is no magic here. None.” Eric tried to explain, “Yours is the only magic i’ve seen. Ever.”

She fell to her knees like she’d been punched in the chest.

“None?” She began to snarl. “That cursed goddess.” She grabbed Eric into a hug and began to cry.

“um.. there … there?” Eric wasn’t sure how to respond. He didn’t really enjoy being strangled, and being crushed to death wasn’t much of an improvement.

That said, he did end up thinking ‘at least this way I die happy.’ She was still naked, and he was still a pervert.

Somehow Eric had managed to get her into clothing that fit, and into a taxi home. She wasn’t too impressed. There weren’t as many books to read, and there wasn’t as much space as before.

That attitude quickly changed when she saw the fridge, the cooker, the tv, and the gaming pc. Partially to keep her distracted, and partially wanting to stop her going outside, he showed her a few computer games.

Over the weekend he did his best to teach her about the world. She dropped a few hints about the world she’d come from, but she didn’t really want to talk about it. He managed to work out the basics. She was a magician, and she’d been banished to Earth.

That, and her name was Anna.

When Monday rolled around, he was almost getting used to waking up with a purple demon in his bed. It was quite difficult to motivate himself into going to work.

“Um. I have to go to work now? The book shop.”

“You work for me.” Anna grabbed onto his hand. “You stay here.”

“Anna, I … I need to pay for rent, for food.” He paused. “For Demon Drinks.”

She perked up. “You bring home demon drinks, yes?”

Anna was like a puppy. A very strong, very large puppy that could maul you in seconds without a second thought. Eric had quickly realised the best way to win arguments with her was treats.

Two days wasn’t enough to give her a taste of all the food and drink the world had to offer, but it was enough time to empty the nearby corner shop of every single type of energy drink.

“Stay here, ok? I’ll be back by sunset. Ok?”

“ok.” Anna was not happy, and it showed. Her normally hyperactive tail was drooping.

“Don’t answer the door? Ok.”

He had explained to her the realities of her situation. People didn’t have horns, tails, or purple skin. People didn’t carry swords. People wore clothes, not armour. People didn’t bite each other. Most of the time, anyway.

He hadn’t explained things like “People don’t sleep in the same bed, naked, unless they’re in some sort of a relationship.” but he felt there was a time and a place for that. That, and he only had one bed. He had tried sleeping on the sofa, but she’d joined him.

Despite calling herself the boss and calling him a minion, it was rather obvious that she was very lost, very alone, and didn’t want to leave his side. Not yet, anyway.

“You come back?”

“I will. Soon. Um.” He reached for the prepay phone he bought the previous day. “Remember, you can call me?”

“ok.”

It took a few more minutes of bargaining before he was allowed to leave. His phone rang immediately. He made a promise to come back at lunch time, and ended up speaking to her as he drove to work. Eventually he managed to convince Anna that he’d be back soon.

Eric parked, said goodbye for the eighth time, and hung up. He was tempted to pull a sickie and lie to June about needing to stay at home, but he knew full well she’d insist on a home visit, and that would be even more awkward.

Putting those thoughts to one side, Eric made his way to the book shop. The front door was already open, and June was inside waiting for him.

She was smiling. A dangerous sign.

“Fun weekend, Eric?”

“Yes. Sort of. Friend from out of town came to visit, from my party days.”

Eric had prepared a bit of a cover story, but realised it would be best to avoid giving too many details. June would check and double check everything he said.

“Oh?” June pulled out the sword he’d forgotten to grab. “I hear there was quite the event last Friday?”

Eric nodded. “Yep.”

“Eric, a purple girl with a sword walks into our shop and you say nothing? Are you ok?”

“Where’s your daughter?” He changed the topic.

June didn’t want to give in so easily. Eric hadn’t really mentioned his friends much, and she leapt at the chance to pry into his personal life.

“At home. Now. Are you going to tell me what happened?”

“The lights went out across the block. Some kind of electrical fire. I found this girl outside, in costume, obviously dehydrated and a little out of it. People were starting to call the police, so I took her inside and gave her some water.”

“Uhuh. Well. Good.” June put the sword down. “Is she alright? Mrs Jerrard from across the way says she saw you and a purple girl get into a taxi.”

Eric nodded back. “Yep.” This was how things worked with June. She always did her research before the interrogation.

“Go on. Tell me the gossip, Eric. You’ll know I’ll find out either way.”

“She’s the old friend I mentioned. I didn’t recognise her at first, but, like I said, we’d met before at a music festival. I was working medical, she was a performer, well, cosplayer. Small world, huh?”

June nodded. She knew he was hiding something but decided not to push too hard.

“So this sword is hers, huh?” She changed tactics, instead.

“Yep.” Eric reached forward to take it away from June. “She asked me to grab it.”

“Spoilsport. Can you at least leave it with me until lunch time? Mr Errol is picking up a package later and I thought i’d give him a good scare. Ha.”

“Um.” Eric wasn’t sure if leaving a possibly magical weapon lying around would be a good idea. “Maybe not the best idea. Anyway. The electrician said…”

Eric tried to change the topic once more.

June rolled her eyes. “Fine, Fine. I’ll take the hint. Yes, I got your message, and before you start, yes, you did tell me so. Those electrics needed to be replaced, yes. Thankfully the insurance will cover it, and I have someone coming in this afternoon to fix them.”

Eric tried not to be smug. He’d made several complaints when he lived in the upstairs apartment, but June had insisted on leaving things as they were.

“About time.” He couldn’t resist a little bit of complaining. “So…. does that mean I get the afternoon off?”

“Depends.” June began. “Will I hear more about your lady friend? She made quite the impression and …”

Eric snatched the sword. “I’ll ask. No promises. If you need me, I’ll be repairing the computer.”

He knew it wouldn’t be the end of things. Safely in the back room, his phone rang again.

“I’ll be back at lunch. Yes. Also. I’ll bring you the energy drinks. Yes. Ok. I know. Yep. I have to work now. Bye. Really. Bye. Ok. Anna… Please. Ok.”

June was in the doorway, laughing. “Anna, is it? I told you i’d find out one way or another. Does she want to come for a drink with us later?”

She spoke loudly enough for Anna to overhear.

“Anna? But… It’s not energy drinks. Fine. Ok.” Eric sighed. “I really have to work now, ok?”

June held back a cackle. There was obviously something going on between Eric and his ‘old friend’ and nothing would stop her from getting to the bottom of it. She had planned to drop in unannounced if he hadn’t budged, but at least this way she’d get the pair of them drunk and the truth would reveal itself.

“Tell you what.” She did feel a little guilty. “Wrap this stuff up and you can get home before lunch.”

Eric wrapped up the sword, dodged June’s questions, and began to head home. His first port of call was a nearby supermarket to stock up on energy drinks. Anna had really taken a liking to them, and he had already worked out which one was her favourite. The purple one.

The cashier gave him a funny look when he rolled up to the till with several crates.

“Big party this week?”

“Lan party.” Eric explained.

“One more case and you get the free t-shirt. Two more and there’s a hoodie.”

Eric tried not to laugh. “Ring them up, I’ll go fetch another trolley.” He figured why stop at two cases. Anna would likely plough through the entire batch in an evening, anyway.

Once home, he began unloading the car. He had a little trolley he used for work, and the six cases of energy drinks just about balanced atop. With a sigh he noted that he hadn’t bought anything else.

As soon as he was through the door, Anna leapt off the sofa and ran to him with arms open. He expected her to give him a hug but she wrapped herself around the crates of drinks.

“FOR ME?” She knew the answer.

“Uh. Um.” Eric noticed they had company. “Jessica?” His neighbour.

She was a few years younger than Eric, had grown up next door, left home, and had moved back into the apartment complex around the same time. To Eric, she was family.

“Hey Eric.” Jessica didn’t look up from the computer. “My console bricked itself and I wanted to…” She paused for a second to focus on the game. “Finish unlocking stuff. Anna let me in.”

Eric looked at Anna, who had already chugged two cans of her favourite drink. He wasn’t sure what she’d done, but Jessica’s non-reaction to the half naked purple girl was rather suspicious.

Anna, on the other hand, had just noticed the clothing in Eric’s hands.

“What’s this? For me too?”

“Yes.” Eric nodded. “Um. Anna.” He pointed to her tail, now wagging furiously in delight. “Um. Your… Um…”

“Don’t worry.” Anna smiled back, and began to whisper. “She can’t see it. I remembered what you said.”

This was not reassuring to Eric. He went over to the sofa to double check on Jessica. Sure enough, she had a small mark on the side of her neck. He went back to Anna and pulled her into the bedroom.

“You bit her?”

“I had to. She wouldn’t stop knocking. You said to not call again. I didn’t know what else to do. She’s fine. Just a small spell.”

“Ugh.” Eric sat on the bed, slumping forwards. “… and now My Boss wants to meet you, too. How is that going to work? Here’s the other-dimensional succubus that got banished to Earth and now lives in my apartment? Funny story, I bribed her with energy drinks.” Eric sighed. “Ugh. Still. I got your sword back.”

Anna felt a little guilty. She thought she’d been very clever in using a spell to keep a secret, but it was obvious that Eric did not approve. Even so, she felt she had done the right thing, and wasn’t going to apologise.

“It will be fine.” She began to explain. “Small magic. I can do another spell for your boss.”

“You can’t just bite everyone, Anna.” Eric was beginning to panic.

“Eric. Listen to me. It will be fine. I don’t need to bite everyone. Just you.”

She leaned over and bit down on his neck hard. It didn’t hurt.

“Anna? What…” Eric looked up to see that Anna had changed her appearance. Her purple skin had vanished. “What just happened?”

“See?” Anna began pulling up her hair and coiling it around her horns. “I can hide the tail too. Small magic. Easy.”

She was still tall, her eyes were still purple, but she didn’t look so much like an alien. Eric began to calm down.

“Please don’t bite anyone else.”

“Don’t want to anyway.” Anna pouted. “She tasted bad. Not like you.”

Eric just stared blankly back. He couldn’t tell if Anna was being playful or serious.

“Ahem. Am I interrupting anything?” Jessica knocked on the bedroom door, pushing it open. “I finished my game.”

Jessica gave Eric a look. “Can I borrow him for a minute, Anna?”

Anna nodded back. “I’m done with him now.” She still had his blood on her lips.

Jessica pulled Eric into the living room, and began barraging him with questions.

“WHEN DID YOU GET A GIRLFRIEND ERIC. WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN GOING OUT? “

Jessica wasn’t angry, she was excited.

“I. Um.” Eric wasn’t sure what story Anna had told Jessica, and didn’t know where to start lying. “She’s an old friend, staying for a bit. We bumped into each other…”

“Oh come on. Just an old friend? She’s wearing your clothes. You were kissing just now. I saw it, don’t deny it.”

Eric blinked a few times. “It’s complicated, Jessica, Um. The clothes, well, Her luggage vanished en route here and she’s been borrowing mine. Speaking of which, Do you have any clothes Anna can borrow?”

Jess stared back. “I… Maybe? I’m not that tall but.. Well.”

“… and um, the other stuff, well..” He stopped as he felt Anna lean into him and wrap her arms around him.

“He’s mine.” Anna bit his neck again. “I’m actually a demon and he’s under my spell.”

“I guess I am, Huh.” He really wasn’t sure how truthful Anna’s words were.

It would explain a whole lot. Like why he’d bought fifty cans of a particular energy drink without a single complaint.

“Awww.” Jessica didn’t react to Anna’s now blood stained face. “Sweet. Come with me, we’ll see if there’s anything that fits, and you can tell me all about it, Anna.”

Jessica shot Eric a look. “… because Eric here has been keeping too many secrets.”

With the tail now tucked away in a very short pair of shorts, and her purple skin no longer visible, she looked a bit like a regular human with fashion accessories. With the branded energy drink hoodie to complete the outfit, Anna was almost ready to leave the house.

“I don’t want to hide my horns.”

Anna had tried several times to wrap her hair around them, but they kept unravelling within minutes.

“It should be ok, no-one really cares that much in the city.” Eric began. “I hope so, anyway. Can I try?”

Anna snorted back. Eric pulled out his phone and quickly searched for an instructional guide.

He didn’t have any hair clips, but he did have some hairbands left over from other visitors, and after a few attempts, Anna’s disguise was completed.

Just in time, too. June and her daughter had arrived, unannounced.

“Remember what I said? We met at a music festival, and …” Eric began to repeat himself in a mild panic.

“Eric, it’s fine. I can always bite them and wipe their memories, don’t worry.”

“Please don’t.” Eric sighed. “Anyway, here goes nothing.”

He opened the front door.

June was smiling, “You must be the purple sword girl I’ve heard so much about.”

Anna smiled back. “I’m actually a demon from another world, and this here,” she pulled on Eric’s arm, “is my trusty minion.”

“Your minion, eh?” June laughed. “We’ll have to see about that. I’m June, and this is April, my daughter.”

“I’m Anna.” Anna laughed. “He’s not a very good minion, but, well, he does ok.”

“He tries.” June couldn’t resist. “Anyway, are you ready to go out? Eric told me that it’s your first time in our city!”

“It is. Come on Eric.” Anna tugged his arm again. “I said it would be fine. Don’t worry so much.”

Eric was in shock. Anna had just blurted out the truth and neither June or April seemed to care. Anna pulled hard on his arm, and it snapped him out of it.

“Uh. Um. Ok.” Eric looked at Anna. “Let’s go.”

“I thought your little sister would be joining us?” June asked.

“She means Jessica”, Eric explained, “and Jess can’t make it.”

“Another time. Shall we?” June couldn’t wait to get started.

June waited until they got the bar before she began her gentle interrogation of Anna. Not out politeness, but because Anna wanted to know exactly why Eric hadn’t introduced Jessica as his sister.

“We grew up together. I lived with my Aunts, she lived with her parents. When my Aunt died, I moved back, and Jessica moved back around the same time, for similar reasons. She introduced herself to June as my little sister, and it stuck.”

It wasn’t the happiest story to tell, but thankfully the conversation naturally drifted onto other topics as they arrived at the bar.

Much to Eric’s relief, alcohol didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Anna. She tried out a few different drinks, even a cocktail or two, but nothing could separate her from her now beloved energy drink.

The night was mostly uneventful. Anna answered a few questions here and there, dropping just enough detail to keep June happy, but for the most part April took centre stage in the story telling that evening.

April had just returned from an around-the-world trip, and couldn’t stop herself from talking about it. June was a little unimpressed but knew she’d get another chance to interrogate Eric’s new friend.

Eric was just thankful that no-one had been hurt. Well, almost no-one. Towards the end of the night, a random stranger had begun hitting on Anna. It did not end well for him. Eric returned to the table to find the stranger doubled over in pain, rolling on the floor.

Eric was a little shocked. Anna had held back.

“I can’t believe you snapped someone’s arm.”

“I should have snapped his neck.”

June and April laughed off Anna’s comment but Eric knew exactly how serious she was. Thankfully the bar staff had immediately taken Anna’s side, and had even given her a drink as an apology.

April, by comparison, was having a far more difficult night. Three drinks into the evening, June had begun hitting on almost anything that moved.

“Well, It’s lovely to meet you, Anna, but I have to take my mom home before she hits on the bar staff. Again.”

“Oh, spoilsport.” June cackled. She’d started flirting as a joke but couldn’t stop herself when she realised how embarrassed it made her daughter.

“Do you two need a lift back?” April offered.

“I think we’ll walk it off.” Eric replied.

He’d spent most of the evening in a mild panic and had been avoiding getting drunk as a result. Ending the night now would lessen the chance for anything else to go wrong. Anna seemed quite happy with the suggestion, too.

“Don’t bother coming in to work tomorrow.” June had just remembered. “Lectrictian says it’ll take all week.”

“I’ll keep him out of trouble until then, June.” Anna replied. “We should hang out again, this was fun.”

With a few more attempts at saying goodnight, eventually Eric pulled Anna away from her new best friends, and began to walk home.

Eric decided to take the scenic route. He pointed out random stores, he talked about the places he’d gotten into trouble, he told her exactly where the best kebab was in the city, and then decided it would be best to experience it first hand.

A few minutes later, Eric and Anna were sitting in the park, and predictably, Anna had finished her meal and had began to demolish Eric’s food too.

Despite her relaxed demeanour, the entire night had been rather nerve wracking. The city was unfamiliar. She still struggled with bits of the language, especially slang. She was worried that the one person who’d been good to her would get into trouble, and she was well aware of how difficult things could get, too.

June had clued her into how much work Eric had been doing, and truthfully, it was a bit of a novelty to have someone care about her, rather than caring about her rank, her skill, or her magical ability.

It might have been the alcohol, or maybe the kebab, but Anna felt it was time to be a bit more honest about things.

“Thank you, Eric.”

“It’s ok, I was full.” He was still a bit hungry.

“I don’t mean the meat.” Anna explained. “I mean, everything. You’re my hero.”

“Some hero. I wasn’t even there when that drunk…”

Anna gently punched him in the arm.

“Beating people up, I can do that. I’ve been in more fights than you can possibly imagine. Of course I won every single one.” Anna began. “That’s not what I mean. I landed in a whole other world, and you found me. I just wanted to say thank you, that’s all.”

Eric smiled back. “I just did what anyone else would do.”

“That’s not what June said,” Anna replied. “and she was right. Other people pointed at me. Other people… “ Anna paused. “You saw I needed help, and you helped me. So thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You can return the favour by giving me back the kebab.”

“June is wrong. You’re a good minion.” Anna smiled. “And you’re mine.”

Anna smiled. “Much like this kebab.”

Eric sighed. He knew he should have bought more food.

Parsed in 4 ms. Rendered in 1 ms.