Never As It Seems

Jordan was so tired, she wasn't quite sure what was going on in her life anymore. She had started out in a little fairytale romance back in high school with her current boyfriend, Allan. She had liked him from afar, he had had a little crush on her from afar. And a few whispered secrets later, he had found out she liked him and they had gone on a 'date' that was typical for any high schooler. Now, they had been out of school for a few years and she was a barista at a little lunch place that also served hot coffee beverages while trying to go to school at the same time. School was part time and online only because that meant she could work more hours.

Everything had been going so well with her schooling, her work, and even her relationship with her boyfriend (who they had been recently talking about getting engaged). Except for the past week, he had been feeling quite sick and he had started getting touchier. If she looked at him the wrong way or said the wrong thing, they ended up screaming at each other.

She hadn't got much sleep the night before because they had fought, yet again. Having had to work earlier, Jordan was up and out of their small house (they were renting one half of a duplex), before Allan even woke. So when she returned later in the afternoon, the only thought on her mind was sleep. Not surprised when she saw Allan sitting on the couch, she let out a small sigh. Except for the past few days, he had been laying down and little else.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked quietly, raising an eyebrow. Allan certainly did look like he was starting to feel better. And that was a good thing. Maybe they could get back on the right path now.

The transition had been hard. Not so much on Allan, but more so on his body. He had put up a fair fight too -more of a fight than the creature now inhabiting Allan could have hoped for. The challenges were just part of what made what he did so fun. A person who didn't fight was boring. A person who broke too easily was well worse. Allan had fought, for nearly a week, before he'd just simply had to give up, and from what he'd observed, the girl wouldn't break easily at all. No, they were both fighters, both challenges, and he had learned to find perverse joy in challenges.

That was why the-thing-that-was-and-was-not-Allan (new Allan?) decided that though he desperately wanted to celebrate his small victory over the boy, he would make the game ever the more sweet by allowing the girl to believe she was with her Allan, the normal one, for a day longer. He would claim to love her, be the dutiful, doting boyfriend, and it would be brutally snatched from her hands on the morrow.

He wouldn't show her his true nature all at once -no, not by far!- but rather, slowly acclimate her by degrees, showing her pieces of the demon inside until finally, all the pieces would show how they fit together. And then he would decide what to do with her. Sometimes, victory was sweeter with blood to accompany the taste, while at other times, he much preferred insanity to the mercy of death. When he was feeling particularly cruel, he would combine those two passions of his, but whatever the case, it was all decided on a victim-to-victim basis.

How cruel would it be, after all, not to pay attention to individual personality? How cruel would he have to be to ignore that, to make a plan and use it on all without exploring all possibilities of the feeble human mind? How cruel to not pay special attention to each idiosyncrasy, to each specific fear, to each individual as the individual they were? No, he was compassionate in that regard. Each person was paid special attention until they broke or he became bored. They all received his full attentions, and he prospered in the chaos he caused.

"I am. I think I had a cold..." Allan frowned as he stood, approaching her, stopping less than a foot away. "Jay, I'm really sorry for how I've been acting. I've been a douche and I know it..." He gave her a helplessly hopeless smile. "Think you could forgive me?"

Oh yes, this would be fun.

@ varkatzas.

Jordan's face went from one of completely boredom verging on apprehension of what was about to happen - he had almost expected Allan to snap on him. Maybe she had taken too long to get home or maybe it had been that she hadn't started him a pot of coffee when he came home. She didn't know what to expect but she was certainly not expecting Allan to be in such a good mood. Her face started to light up at he moved forward and she did as well, quickly closing the distance between the two.

"I dunno..." she trailed off, scrunching up her face as if she was still debating on forgiving him. Jordan's will didn't take long at all to break because soon she was smiling as she wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning back, and looking up to Allan. "I guess I can," she said, nodding in agreement. There was no denying it as she pulled herself closer to him. Jordan was always so gullible and with a simple apology, Allan could probably get anything from her. She was absolutely smitten with him and had been for so long, after all.

Jordan's arms still wrapped around him, she chewed on her lip for a moment as she considered what they could do that night. "Why don't we go out to the diner? Something simple but at least it's something, celebrate that you're feeling better," she said with a small laugh. She was excited by the idea because they fought so rarely that the past week had been far too taxing on her. The fact that he was seemingly feeling better, was enough reason to her, to celebrate.

"You can even get their apple pie," Jordan said with a small laugh. While the diner was simple enough, they had both grown up going to it and there was just something about having food that you had grown up eating. Comfort, of sorts. When Allan agreed, Jordan bounded to their bathroom where she quickly pulled on a hoodie that actually belonged to Allan (she had an awful habit of wearing his clothes). Pulling on a different pair of pants and pulling her hair up into a messy bun, Jordan went back out to meet him.

"Let's go!" She said, quite excited as she reached out to take his hand in hers.

(Idk why but I feel like the picture that I have up of her, should be from the date they're about to go on? Sort of, a picture of when she was last happy, you know? )

Allan had thought -but never hoped- that what he'd said would be enough, though he hadn't expected, in the least, for it to work so well. The raw joy and love alone coming from Jordan made him want to be sick. If nothing else though, he was an excellent actor, and his personal feelings of this entire situation were shoved into some small corner to be considered later as he gave her a grin he didn't feel when she said she could forgive him. It all just felt so stupid and wretched... Ugh.

But though Jordan hadn't had the desired reaction, hers had been even better. Allan considered this particularly good luck. She'd been through a mild version of Hell for the past week, yet a simple apology later and she had immediately forgiven her boyfriend. This, more than anything else, might prove to be a particularly useful trait.

So it was that very soon, they were leaving the house to go on a date. Allan twined his fingers through hers and walked close enough that their bodies occasionally touched as they walked to the diner. And rather than sit across from her in the booth once they got there, he slid in next to her, wrapping an arm casually around her shoulders as he gave her a quick kiss. It was all very cloying and teenage-romantic, but he had a feeling that the happier Jordan was today, the better of a day tomorrow would be for him. Just imagining it put him in a genuinely good mood, and he smile wasn't completely fake as they ordered drinks and were given menus.

Jordan hummed to herself as they walked, her head leaned on her boyfriend's shoulder, arm wrapped around his waist. She couldn't help the grin that was on her face - just so happy that Allan was feeling better. Because now they could just go back to what they were used to, loving each other and being that couple that years later, someone went I wish I had that relationship. Wrinkling her nose when he kissed her nose, she stuck her tongue out at him. She felt like she didn't want this night to end and little did she know, in just a few weeks, she'd be looking back at tonight and wondering what went wrong.

When she sat down, she had expected Allan to sit across from her so she had had to scoot over so that he could sit beside her. This happened without any complaint and she quickly leaned into his body, letting out a satisfied purr as she nuzzled into his shoulder. She ordered herself a chocolate and strawberry milkshake - what she always got.

It only took her a few moments to decide what she wanted to eat and she looked back up to her boyfriend, moving so she could pull her legs up onto the bench. "When do you work tomorrow?" She asked quietly, playing with the edge of her sweater. She was oddly hopeful that they could get the chance to spend more time together tomorrow instead of a few fleeting hours tomorrow.

Allan shifted away a little as she moved to get more comfortable, but then his arm was around her again, as if it were the most natural thing in the world honestly. Though she ordered a chocolate strawberry milkshake, he went with a simple sprite, and figured out what he wanted pretty quickly. Luckily, the thing that occupied Allan's body could access all of his memories, which was tremendously helpful when pretending to be another person.

As their drinks were brought out and they were asked if they were ready to order, he let Jordan go first and then asked for what Allan usually got, which was a burger and fries (extra because Jordan always stole a few), and it wasn't until after their orders had been placed that he answered her question.

"I have to head in early, but I'll be back around 2, unless I take an extra shift," he told her, watching as she played with the edge of her hoodie, which was actually Allan's hoodie, though he never minded and always kind of secretly liked her bad habit of wearing his clothes. For as often as she wore it and he didn't though, that hoodie might as well have been hers. "Since I missed some time being sick, I'll have to work extra shifts..." he concluded, casting her an apologetic look.

He was definitely going to be sick before the night was through.

Jordan didn't even blink an eye when Allan ordered extra fries, only grinned the slightest because he had only recently gotten into the habit because of her. But what could she say? Food always did seem to taste better when it belonged to someone else. She ordered herself chicken fingers and mozzerella sticks. When the waitress walked away, Jordan looked up to her boyfriend with a frown as he spoke.

She sighed and nodded, squeezing his hand gently. "If that's what you want. I could always pick up another shift at the cafe so that we don't spend too much time apart?" Jordan suggested as she raised an eyebrow, looking up to him hopefully. She was hoping that he would agree because she honestly didn't mind the idea. If she got to spend more time with Allan and that meant th price of working an extra shift or two, so be it.

Soon, their food arrived and she began nibbling at her food (she had gotten a side of honey mustard to dip her chicken in), Jordan sneaked a fry from Allan when he 'looked' away. It was almost a game now. How many fries could she 'steal' from him before she was caught? Jordan giggled and looked down when he looked to her, a fry shoved into her mouth and she smiled, closed mouthed as she chewed it as quickly as she could, wanting to continue the 'innocent' ploy.

Allan could tell almost immediately that Jordan really didn't like what she was hearing about his schedule for tomorrow, but oh well. That was just the way it was. At least, that was what the demon thought, with no small amount of contempt. But, conscious as ever about his game, he squeezed her hand back gently and gave her an encouraging smile. "I think that sounds like a great idea... if you're sure you can handle it." To which she obviously agreed, and that conversation was basically over with at that point.

After their food came, Allan shifted back over into his own area, arm no longer around her though they continued to sit close. He let her 'steal' almost half of his fries, actually, while he ate his burger before he finally 'caught' her red-handed and took one of her last chicken nuggets as his reward, dipping it in the ketch-up he'd set up for his fries. He grinned at her as he popped it into his mouth, and gave her a few more fries as compensation, though he ate the rest after that.

They sat and talked of little nothings for a while after they had both finished, and it was a little over half an hour later that Allan suggested they order some dessert before they leave. By this time, it was so late that only stragglers were left in the local diner, and it was up to the dim orange street lamps to guide the steps of anyone who happened to be out on the street. But while this would make most people feel at least a small amount of uneasiness, Allan felt perfectly at ease and as if everything was going tremendously right.

JOrdan's eyes widened and her bottom lip pouted when Allan snatched one of her chicken nuggets off of her plate. She was quiet though and when he offered her a few more fries as his compensation. She still pouted as they finished their supper though because she enjoyed the idea of toying with him. But she did hope he understood it was just that. She was teasing him at most.

At the suggestion of dessert, Jordan perked up for a moment and looked at the menu before shrugging her shoulders. She still had a bit of her milkshake left so she wasn't too sure that she would have room for any dessert. Instead she just shook her head and was quiet for the most part. Her mind was elsewhere and soon enough, she was being brought back to reality when he nudged her because he had paid and was ready to leave.

Jordan yawned as they left the diner and she shivered, pulling her hoodie closer to her body. It was a chilly autumn night and it didn't help that it was dark out - she always managed to get spooked out by the dark. She attempted to walk closer to him, to partly steal his body heat and partly to try to feel safer. She looked up to him with a small smile, "is it alright if we just watch a movie when we get home?" She asked, figuring a simple thing would be nice.

As Allan noticed Jordan trying to get closer, seeming to be cold despite the hoodie she wore, he hooked an arm around her waist so that they walked right beside each other. "That sounds good," he agreed with a smile as she mentioned watching a movie when they got back. For him, that meant only that he would just have to be the doting boyfriend for only a couple of more hours. Finish this walk, watch a movie, and go to bed. Everything would change in the morning, because he was not doing this any longer, except possibly in controlled doses when he felt it was needed.

Soon they were back though, and as Jordan picked out a movie, Allan headed into the kitchen to make some popcorn and drinks -Dr. Pepper. By the time he got back, everything looked ready to go with the movie waiting to be played, the lights out, and Jordan looking up at him from her perch on the couch. Allan set the bowl of popcorn and their drinks on the table, then flopped back onto the couch.

A minute later, he and Jordan were snuggled together under a blanket that seemed to have magically appear, and she started the movie.

Jordan picked out a movie that Allan had always enjoyed, Forrest Gump, because it was a classic and she figured that it was just the right thing for them to watch right now. There was a smile on her face as she fixed everything up, waiting nfor her boyfriend to finish with the popcorn and drinks. She was huddled on the couch when he appeared and when he did, she eagerly moved so that he could sit down.

And just like that, the movie was playing and she was cuddled into his chest, mindlessly nibbling at the popcorn as she watched the movie. Half way through it though, Jordan was yawning and her eyes seemed to grow heavier than they were supposed to be. So she shuffled around and cuddled into him, letting her eyes shut, intent on sleeping, now.

- - - - -

Jordan groaned when she woke up, blinking slowly as she realised she was in their bed, and not on the couch. She had no memory of how she had gotten into her pyjamas or into bed so she was assuming that Allan had carried her and changed her. Hair still pulled into a messy bun, she shoved the blanket off of her legs and leaned over to press a kiss to his lips. When he stirred, Jordan smiled a bit, "you should probably get ready," she murmured, rubbing his chest gently.

Allan had been sleeping perfectly well, waiting for his alarm to go off, when Jordan woke him up. He mumbled something incoherent as his eyes groggily opened, and he grunted as he pushed Jordan's hand off his chest and then rolled off the bed and headed towards the bathroom. It was while he was in the shower that he really remembered himself, or rather, that the demon fully remembered everything. Though it hadn't been intentional, he supposed that just brushing her hand away had been a good start to the day, and he smirked secretly as he thought about how things were going to be from here on out.

After he got out of the shower, Allan headed out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Ignoring Jordan, he pulled on some clothes, tossed the towel towards the dirty laundry pile, and then headed towards the kitchen while pushing his hair away from his face. He smirked as an idea popped into his mind, and he started a pot of coffee.

Jordan frowned as her hand was pushed awa and leaned up on her elbow, watching her boyfriend disappear in the bathroom. For a moment, she briefly considered joining him but chose not to. She settled back into the bed and waited for him, figuring that he had just been grumpy about having to wake up. She perked up when the sound of the shower being turned off reached her ears and she began to sit up. "Did you want me to toss together a breakfast?" She asked, only to be ignored.

Sighing, Jordan decided to finally climb out of bed and head toward the kitchen where Allan already was. She was quiet as she began to pull out ingredients from the fridge to make herself a hash of potatoes, cheese, and bacon. She figured he wasn't in the mood to eat so she was planning on only making enough for herself.

As coffee brewed, Allan leaned quietly against the counter, seeming to just stare off into space. Once it was ready, he made himself a cup and went over to the table to sit down and drink it. He had considered saying something to Jordan about breakfast at one point, specifically about how she'd only made some for herself, but then decided not to after all. He figured it would probably start some sort of fight -likely verbal- and he wasn't quite ready for that yet.

Instead, he continued to ignore her as he got a couple of more cups of coffee and downed them, went to use the bathroom and at least run a brush through his still-damp hair, and then left. Not a word all morning, which had been a little more than an hour. He wasn't really ready to get serious yet and figured he would just toy with her a little. Today, he just wanted to see how long it would take her to finally get so frustrated that she started yelling at him. Well, he didn't know if that would be her reaction exactly, but the point was to get a reaction, and he wanted to know how long that would take.

And so Allan thought dark thoughts as he headed to work.

Jordan had started to make a lunch for Allan but turned to face him, starting to open her mouth to ask him if he wanted anything else to go with what she had already packed. Only to be faced with the sound of the front door shutting. Her stomach twisted in response and her shoulders fell, as she kind of just stood there for a moment. She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down before she just put everything back where it belonged. She was chewing on her lip as she did so, an anxious habit of hers.

- - -

She had tried sending him a few texts and by the third one with no reply, Jordan just decided to turn her phone off because she didn't want to deal with the world anymore today. And it was just barely reaching noon. Deciding on just a small bowl of cereal, Jordan ate before cleaning the dish she had used. Turning, she made her way to the back of the apartment and out onto the balcony where she just kind of sat there, watching the budy street below. Her mind was a thousand miles away and anything going on around her, she was oblivious to.

A few hours later, Jordan decided to head inside, only to stop when she realised that Allan had arrived home. And hadn't bothered to even see if she was home. Jordan ran a hand through her hair as she made her way over to him, her arms crossed now. "What the hell is wrong with you? I haven't done anything to you!" She wasn't quite yelling but her voice was a little raised.

All in all, Allan noticed that it hadn't take her very long at all to crack. In the scheme of things, it had really taken a couple of hours at most, considering that he had been gone for most of the day. So this wasn't going to be something he was really going to like using in the future considering how easy it was, he decided as she stalked towards him. She didn't yell, but he could still tell that she was very upset.

And while it might've be fun to further ignore Jordan, it wouldn't be very productive. Allan frowned a little at her instead, standing to take her shoulders. "Jordan, what are you talking about?" he asked. "What's wrong?" He wondered if he could pretend that he had, in fact, been talking to her all day. If he could get a hold of her phone while she was in the bathroom or some such, he could even delete the messages from it -as he had already done to his own. Maybe it would be more fun to make her slowly feel as if she were going crazy. He could do it, if he played his cards right, though he would have to be careful.

"Did you catch my cold?" He put quite a bit of worry into his voice as he pressed a hand to her forehead first, then her cheeks, as if feeling to see if she were warm. He was sure she would continue to be angry for a while, until the time that he could convince her that he had in fact been talking to her, but the end-game would certainly be worth the nauseating behavior he was feigning.

(I know you probably imagined this a little more abusive, but I always just imagine demons as worse than simply hitting a person. They mess with your mind and stuff, so I really hope you don't mind!)

(works for me )

Jordan just stared at Allan when he reacted, before letting out a harsh laugh. She shook her head and took several steps backward, away from him. Her eyes started to water as she stared at him, unable to believe what he was saying. She knew she wasn't crazy because she had spent all day stressed out because he refused to talk to her. She had laid in bed for nearly an hour, wondering what she had done to him to cause him not to acknowledge her in the morning. And throughout the day, when he ignored her texts and calls.

"Don't act like I'm sick or something!" She snapped, pulling her hands from her hoodie pouch and shying away from his touch. Her eyes were watering but he still didn't cry - she was refusing because she was angry about what had happened and all she wanted was answers. And here he was acting like he had been talking to her! He wasn't getting off that easily. No way.

"Just. Whatever. When you figure out what your problem is, you can find me," Jordan snapped, turning to stalk away from him, into the kitchen. She didn't care where she went,s he just wanted to get away from her boyfriend because she just... didn't want to deal with it right now. It was just too much.

Allan attempted to follow as Jordan back away, but sighed as she went in the kitchen, all the while considering what the real Allan wouldl've done... especially if he hadn't ignored her all day. Ah, yes, go after her and figure out for sure what was wrong. But before that...

Quietly, since the kitchen was just in the other room, he went looking for her phone, found it, and deleted her messages she sent him, then deleted those from the trash bin. He put her phone back, and all in all, it took less than five minutes so that he was soon in the kitchen with her, wearing the perfect expression of the hurt, worried boyfriend.

"Jay, I don't understand why you're angry with me. What happened to that date we were planning on going on tonight? I don't get how you could be angry with me when we were just talking about going out to see a movie." Even as he was talking, he was slowly approaching her, his hands in front of him, as if afraid of scaring her off.

Jordan was so frustrated right now. She knew - knew - that she had been trying to talk to him and here he was trying to act like she hadn't. Like she was crazy. And all she wanted to do was snap at him. But she couldn't find that in her because she loved him too much. So she was just going to let it go.

She looked up, front looking out of the kitchen window when he walked into the kitchen. She was frowning as she looked to him, not understanding why he was acting like this. SHe just looked up to him, silent, as she felt tears welling in her eyes. She didn't want to cry but she couldn't figure out what was going on.

"What are you even talking about, Allan?" She whispered, not able to talk much louder in fear that she would break down. And that was the last thing that she wanted to do right now. "We weren't talking about that - you've been ignoring me. All damn day."