"Cuz I do not accept any less

Than someone just as real, as fabulous."

- Lady Gaga, Paper Gangsta

I was in an alternate universe. When I wake up, the demon is still watching over me, his eyes trained on me, and they are much brighter than the room. I pretend to yawn, and scratch my cheek. We just stare at each other, none of us is speaking. What is there to say? Good morning. "Good morning."

Slate grunts in response, then he whirls himself around and trudges out of my room, leaving the door ajar. I frown at the door. I decide to follow him, and once I reach the living room, Slate is already dressed in a fancy suit – a black tuxedo, his hair shining and combed back, a red tie around his neck is perfectly made, and the way he carries himself, it seems like he has been doing this ever since the world has been created. Our eyes meet for the moment, but his eyes turn cold and he throws a red orb near the window, opening the portal and a strong gush of wind brushes past me, making me squint through.

The demon enters the portal, and the portal closes after the demon passed through, and it closes with a blink sound. I'm left alone. The living room is a mess: the pillows are on the floor, and there's a lot of empty snack (Cheetos!), and crumpled papers. I grunt upon seeing the mess. I know that I'll be the one cleaning this entire unit. Because: I am the demon's slave, and that's because of my own dumbness.

"Idiot, I am." I mutter.

Deciding that I should start my day with a good breakfast, I head into the kitchen and check the fridge if there's something to eat. I find breads and butter in the kitchen, and from what I've heard from Léandre, they are a good combination.

"This will do," I comment.

There's a coffeemaker placed on top of the counter, just near the thing that can heat up food. (I've heard it from Léandre as well – it's a machine that can heat up food when you place the food inside, and then you turn on the machine, and you will set a time. I think it's oven, or micro-something.) I head there and check if this is something that I can operate. A coffee will be good in the morning as well.

After figuring out how the coffeemaker works, I'm finally able to drink, to take a sip of an awful black coffee I have made. I put the cup of coffee on the table, and decide that I should start cleaning the place now. Because I know that once the demon gets back, he's going to throw a massive fit on me. I eat a bread with a butter spread on it, and find it satisfying in my tummy.

I start with my room. I make my bed, sweep the floor (Léandre made me see how to use the sweeping thing), and polish the floor (I've seen that one on the movies). Once I'm done in my room, I head to the living room to start cleaning the mess.

The demon – the demon Slate, I thought he liked things neat and clean. But upon seeing this, I'm slowly and finally seeing his true colors. He likes to disorganize things.

It takes me two hours to clean the living room. Turns out that I need to move bigger objects (such as the couch, the desk, and tables) in the living room to sweep even the small dirt. There was a lot of dirt in this unit and I realize that the demon just cleans the things that he sees in his line of sight.

There's a puff – a puff sound – just above me, and I jump in surprise. A crumpled paper falls down and I catch it with my hands, the crumpled paper landing in my palm and I groan out loud, just to let the demon know I don't like this. I curse (hell) under my breath, and roll my eyes. I decide to smooth the crumpled paper and find a written note. It says: go do grocery. If you notice, the fridge is nearly empty, and you need to survive. I don't do grocery. I don't know how to grocery.

I could still run away. I could still run away from that demon, and my life would be okay again. But in exchange to that, I will be cursed. I made an oath, a promise, that I'm not going to leave the demon, that I'm going to stay, and I swore and promised it upon the God's name. It's better to be curse forever that to be the demon's slave forever. It's better than that. It's better than that. But I've heard that those angels who broke their promise had received worse punishments. They were stripped off their power, their name, their title, and they had been vanished forever, and according to some they're not allowed to enter Heaven anymore. I don't want that. Even though I'm the King's son, the prince of the Angel's Home, the next heir, if the God judges, then that's it. It cannot be revoked unless the God revokes his judgement Himself.

There's another puff sound, and another crumpled paper falls, and it lands on top of my head. I growl in annoyance, and catch the crumpled paper. I check what's written on it, and it reads: thinking to run away? Try so. You will be forever cursed. – the most handsome demon ever that has ever walked on Earth, Slate.

I crumple the papers again, and throw them in the bin. Muttering a curse under my breath (Go to Heaven, Slate!), I find a spare key of the unit just hanging on the back of the door. I pick it, head outside, lock the door, and do grocery.

When I'm in the street, I realize that I don't know what to do, or where to go. The demon has not given me a specific instructions on how I'll be able to reach the grocery store, or what to buy. I sigh, feeling hopeless as I stare into the distance, into nothingness. This is the time that I realize how really dumb I am.

"Hey, can you help me?" I say to a random stranger – a man.

The man is wearing a suit, and there's a phone in his hand, placed over his ear. The man has a fine and firm jaw, with stubble. The man has a nearly black hair, but it's brown (and it mirrors Slate's). But his eyes, his eyes are a color of chestnut. It's cute, and definitely look good on him. It adds something to his style. The man's hair is brushed up, the edge standing straight. The man puts his phone in his pocket, and checks his watch.

"What?" the man asks in annoyance; even his face clearly shows that he's annoyed.

"Um, I..." I sigh, shaking my head. The man arches his brows again. "I don't know where the grocery is. I would just like to ask if... you know where it is." I look up at the man with hopeful eyes, and the way he stares at me has me shivering. "It's okay if you don't want to help me. I... I should go."

As I start to turn around, a palm rests on my shoulder, which causes me to stop from moving. "I'll help." The man says, his voice is deep and scary. I almost shake my head, decline the offer, but when I look up at him, he looks sincere. Maybe that's just the way his voice is. "My name is Maki. You can call me Mak. What's yours?"

"Hadr – Adrian,"

"What?"

"Adrian," I say a little louder this time.

"What a cool name," Maki says as he claps me on the shoulder. "Come on, I'll lead you there."

Turns out that he has joined me to do grocery. Of course his curiosity is there when we reach the grocery store. He asks me a lot of questions like: how come you don't know where is the grocery? Are you new to this place? Are you living with someone? How old are you? Where are you from? What's your full name? How come you don't know where the grocery store is, and how come you don't know what to buy? If I were a mere human with no memory of histories at all, I'd feel offended. But I'm not. I'm angel who has been punished to be a human for who knows how long.

I answer all of Maki's questions. Of course I make sure that my answers will still place me in my safest zone. Nobody can know that I'm an angel who has been sent to Earth to be a mortal for punishment. It's enough that there's a one demon who keeps making my life a living hell here on Earth.

People – mortals (especially mortal girls) – keep looking at Maki. They are all giving him a look full of lust, and some of them I catch licking their lower lip, attempting to look seductive. But Maki doesn't care. He just nods at them, tipping his imaginary hat, and by doing that, he makes the mortal girls swoon. I ignore him; as long as he stays by my side to help with groceries, then I'm not going to complain. But I feel sorry for those mortal girls who keep trying so hard to get Maki's attention.

Maki keeps suggesting the foods I should grab and buy – mostly they are canned goods. "You look like you don't know how to cook, so I suggest these canned goods for you. You might burn the house if you attempt to cook." He tells me, and chuckles. If I were born a human, I'd be offended. But I'm not. So I just nod, and agree with him. "And fruits. Fruits are good." I nod again, then he puts the fruits – green apples, pineapples, mangos, avocados, and melons – in the basket he's carrying.

I turn around to grab something, a fruit – watermelon just as big as a basketball, and when I do, I see Maki sucking something – a Chuckie drink. He looks adorable, and a kid, while doing that. He arches a brow at me, and shrugs. I let out a chuckle and shake my head, then grab the watermelon.

When we reach the cashier, I groan out loud when I realize that mortals pay for their groceries and I don't even have a penny. Maybe Slate used his magic to give me money, and perhaps they're just in my pocket. I fish, hoping, my hand in my pocket and feel something, papers (and they are thick, I also feel a rubber band), and when I pull it out, I'm holding out tons of cash. "Woah, you don't need to let it all out."

I nod. I take off the rubber band that is wrapped around the stack of cash, and put half of it. Maki makes a noise, and my brows furrow in confusion. He takes the money out of hands and pull out a few papers. He hands me back the papers, and I put it inside my pocket. Weird. I don't feel anything when I put it inside my pocket. Demon's magic.

Once paid, Maki helps me carry the bags. He calls out a cab, and turns to me just to ask where I live. I shake my head and tell him the truth – I don't know the truth where I live in. When Maki led me to the grocery store, we walked for a couple of minutes. We turned left and right, left and right, until we reached the store, and I lost track of it. Maki frowns at me, sighs, and motions for me to climb in, so I do.

"We're going to my unit." Maki says, and I stare at him in shock.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone!

I would just like to inform that I'm making a new story that is only, for now, for Radish. (If you do not know what Radish is, then and so you will have an idea!) Before I got invited, I had this thought and image inside my head that couldn't fade away, and when I got invited by the Radish Team to join them to make a story, that's when I knew that I needed to get this out. So I've decided to join Radish, and decided that I'd publish the story there.

Want to read more? Please go to: http://www.worshipperofaphrodite.tk/ for more information!

Maki, or Mak / Manu Noraced