Lips Red As Blood

05 |

Cora's head whips in the devil's direction, sending a probing look at him for any sign that he's being his usual playful self — but there's none. 

Instead, steel burns into his eyes, eyebrows furrowed and body language rigid. The muscle in his jaw tenses, as he releases a slew of colorful swears. 

"But they don't look like..." Cora's voice trails off. "I mean, they seem like—" 

"Idiots?" Asher snorts, looking at the fighting demons who are now throwing ketchup at each other. "They might look like it, but they're pretty clever and good at murdering." 

Cora doesn't doubt that. 

The way Brielle looked at her in the bathroom, a hunger seeming to light up in her expression like she was excited to torture. 

A shiver breaks out on Cora's skin. 

Asher stumbles, wincing in pain, drawing her attention again. "Are you okay?" she asks urgently. "Where are you hurt?" 

"Everywhere," he groans, lashes fluttering downwards. "I was getting ready to fight William, but then I tripped on a rock instead." 

Cora blinks. 

"Okay, that's great, but what should we do about them?" She motions towards Brielle, who slams a bucket of ice cream on William's head. "It might be easier to leave when they're distracted, but they might try to follow us." 

"You're right," Asher muses. "Let's light the building on fire." 

"Wait, what?" Cora blurts. "Tell me you're kidding. There's no way we're lighting this place on fire, especially when there are people still here! Plus, that's doing something illegal." 

"Do whatever to survive, that's my motto." He shrugs casually. "I mean, that's not my motto because I just made that up on the spot, but you get the message." 

Asher's about to make a move towards the kitchen, though Cora slides in front of him. "We're not lighting a place on fire," she hisses. "We can leave now because I'm pretty sure they're distracted—" 

Brielle crashes into a table, cursing so vividly that an old lady lets out a scandalized gasp. 

"Asher, please," Cora says, eyes pleading. "Why do you want to light the place on fire so badly? Just to get away from them? I mean, come on, you can't be serious." 

Then she sees it. Asher's hands are shaking, the tiniest hints of panic etched in his expression. What happened so badly that even a devil is scared? 

Cora pushes that thought away. "Asher. Let's just go home, before any of us are harmed." 

He meets her gaze, conflict clearly on display. Fury and confusion chases across his expression, his hands clenching, red splotches on Asher's cheeks like he's about to explode— 

Asher deflates. "Okay," he exhales. "Let's go home." 

Escaping a restaurant that contains two demons who are trying to murder Cora is harder than it seems. Even if they're preoccupied with arguing, they keep falling into random directions, which makes it hard to figure out where they're going to fall next. 

"I say we just charge for the front door," whispers Asher. "If they accidentally bump into us, just throw things at them." 

"They'll realize we're trying to escape and will regain their focus." Cora peeks behind the booth they're crouching behind. "Then it will be impossible to escape, with two assassin demons on our tail." 

"Since you're being so picky with the plans, why don't we wear the restaurant mascot outfit, start dancing, and then go out the door?" Asher grouses, tossing a fry out of his hair. 

"How about you just start singing to scare them away?" she explodes, glaring angrily. 

Asher glares back until it becomes a staring contest. 

Both of them are worn out and exhausted from their near-death experiences, emotions flying and then plummeting like ocean waves, their usual put-together persona fraying like a piece of yarn string that's about to snap. 

And when it snaps, all that's left is frustration and anger. 

"My singing is perfectly fine," Asher finally mumbles, hurt coloring his tone. 

Cora gawks at the boy who looks deflated, an entirely different picture of the cocky and sarcastic him who told horrible pickup lines and sang karaoke to a stranger. 

She lets out a sigh, before reluctantly patting Asher on the back. If there's one thing Cora hates, it is hurting people intentionally. "Asher," she says awkwardly. "Wanna hear a pickup line?" 

Asher lifts his head, surprise flashing on his face. Then he cracks a tiny grin. "Sure." 

"Um." In her thoughts, Cora swears. She doesn't know any pickup lines except really bad ones. "Do you like bananas? Because I find you very appealing." 

When he stares at her silently, Cora fidgets anxiously. "Okay, it might not make sense because I had to say the pickup lines a few times to actually get it," she blathers, feeling like a complete idiot. "But the appealing part is like peeling a banana, except there's the letter A on the front for some reason. Probably to make the joke funnier, but now that I think about it, explaining the pickup line like this makes it far less funny—" 

Asher smirks, finally sliding back into his confident self. "No, Angel," he says, running a hand over his jaw like he's trying to contain a laugh. "It was a good one." 

Cora smiles back. "Let's get out of here." 

In the end, because they're too burnt out to think of any better plan, Cora ends up in a rabbit costume, while Asher is in a bumblebee one with pink frills on the waist. 

It smells like burnt pancakes in here, Cora notices, sweat dripping down her face. Ugh, and this thing probably hasn't been washed in twenty years. 

Asher makes a motion with his arm and then it's showtime. Cora swallows, desperately praying she doesn't either a) die because of demons or b) end up getting overheated in the stupid costume. 

Then they move forward, gliding as graceful as an oversized rabbit and a bumblebee can — past the cowering patrons, past the spilled ketchup, and past the arguing demons. 

The demons are too preoccupied with their argument, now smacking cucumbers at each other. 

"When we get out the door, run and get in the car," Asher says in a low voice. "Then start driving the fastest you can." 

Author Note: 

i didn't know i liked making my characters suffer until i put asher in a bumblebee costume and cora in a rabbit one. well. anyways. question: what do you think happens next?