What Is Love? | My Inner Demons x Reader

Chapter 32: Comfortable {Pierce's Route}

~(Y/n)'s PoV~

Once the others are out of the room, the atmosphere fades to a state of peacefulness. Pierce always seems to just radiate that kind of energy, and now was no different. He sat, still fully-clothed in the pool, without a word. Still, he wore a gentle smile on his face though his focus wasn't on anything in particular.

Ava laid back on the edge of the pool with her eyes closed, so I inch closer to the Daemos, deciding not to disturb her. "I've probably said it before..." I start off. "But I really like your smile, Pierce."

His smile widens at that. "Thank you, (Y/n)." He lifted his hand, which had luckily been out of the water, to pat my head. Since we were mostly alone, I let myself lean into his hand and move a little closer once more. Despite the fact that Pierce is basically an exceedingly tall mass of muscle, he's very gentle and sweet with his motions. I almost fear melting at his touch and becoming one with the hot tub for a moment.

"R-Remember that picture of us I took at the arcade?" I ask, partially trying to distract myself from the butterflies flapping wildly in my stomach.

Pierce gives a small nod and retracts his hand. "Yes." Part of me wished that he kept patting my head, but- I could barely get through that thought without blushing.

Stop thinking like that!

"W-Well, I put it up." I hum, hoping my tone hides my stutter. "In my room, I mean. It's on my mirror."

"That's nice." Pierce replies.

Ava opens one eye to look at us. "You have a picture of him on your mirror?" She smirks slightly, nudging my arm. "Oooh, Pierce, I think (Y/n) likes you!" She teases.

I nudge her back, praying that my blush isn't too noticeable. "G-Grow up, Ava!"

Pierce furrows his brow. "But... I like (Y/n) as well." He states.

"No, I mean they like-li-" She cuts herself off. "Eh, forget it. You two have your date or whatever..." She leaned back against the edge of the spell pool, sinking slightly deeper into the water.

I look away, knowing my face is probably bright red at this point, and it doesn't help in the slightest that I can feel Pierce's eyes on me. "Is this a 'date', (Y/n)? Like the one with the pizza?"

I feel my body stiffen and I staying looking the other way. "N-No! I-I mean, uh... i-if you want it t-to be, I guess? I-" Surprisingly, it's Pierce who saves me from rambling on, even though he makes my significantly more flustered. I feel his fingertips lightly drum over my shoulders and his thumbs press into my back, mainly the space between my shoulder blades. I tense even more, turning to look back at him. "Wh-What are you doing...?"

"You seemed tense." Pierce responds, simply. "I wished to help." He continues rubbing my shoulders and pressing his thumbs around different parts of my upper back. I slowly feel myself relax again and I try really hard not to fall back into his arms.

For a moment, I don't even realize that he's basically giving me a massage. Is that a Daemos concept? I thought they were just... violent. A-And he's pretty good at it too...

"H-How did you learn to do this?" I manage to get out, glancing back at him. "Do a lot of Daemos do things like this?"

Pierce shakes his head. "No." He states, plainly. "It's something I learned to help relieve the others' stress when it is needed."

I give a small nod in response, trying to process how that could translate on Daemos. "Th-That's very... sweet of you." I hum with a smile of my own.