What Is Love? | My Inner Demons x Reader

Chapter 36: A Lesson in Responsibility

~Third Person PoV~

Asch, Pierce, Leif, and Rhys stood before the elevator, scanning the doors. "Ugh, not this box again..." Asch groans.

"It's fine." Rhys tries to assure the others. "All we have to do is remember that it's going to take a long time before we can-"

"Oh, it's you guys." Another voice speaks up, but it's not one of the Daemos. Instead, Jake stands by them, having just been fixing the AC for another tenant on the same floor. The Daemos turn to face him, but say nothing. "Can you guys not clutter up the hallway?" He adds.

Asch scoffs. "It's this human."

"Do I know you guys from somewhere?" Jake asks, looking at the group.

Leif's eyes suddenly light up. "Should I kill him?"

Jake's eyes widen, and he takes a small step away from them. "Excuse me?!"

Rhys fakes an awkward laugh, trying not to alarm the human. "One second-" He excuses, gesturing for the other Daemos to huddle by him to speak. "We need to be smart here." He whispers. "Remember, we can not let the humans know about us... or else."

"They'll take us to the Area 51." Pierce states.

"Yes, correct!"

Leif frowns. "So what do we do?"

Meanwhile, on the outside, Jake stands by, already looking done with the Daemos boys. "I'm literally right here."

At that, Rhys lowers his voice. "We act as Ava taught us how humans act."

Before anything else can be said, Asch stands up straighter and steps away from the group, instead approaching Jake. "Uh..." He hesitates for a moment before he begins to yell, his words coming out slowly as if to make Jake understand better. "How do we use the box?!"

Jake only looks concerned by his behavior in response, wondering how Ava and (Y/n) have managed to live with this group at all. "Huh?"

"We want to get into the grocery store!" Leif chimes in, also yelling. "How do we do?!"

"Wh-Why are you guys yelling at me?" Jake asks, nervously.

"Assist us, human!" Asch huffs, completely ignoring Jake.

Rhys sucks in air through his teeth and speaks under his breath. "Princess Ava does not yell all the time..."

"She does and it's more effective than what (Y/n) does." Leif whispers back. "Just standing there, looking cute all the time..."

"Look, I'm going to the first floor." Jake speaks up. "I-If you needed help, you could just ask. Didn't need to yell, sheesh..." He walks around Asch to get to the elevator door.

Rhys' eyes widen. "That worked..." He murmurs.

"Ha! See?" Asch grins as he follows Jake into the elevator, Pierce walking in behind him.

Leif smiles brightly. "Well, not so smart are you now, Rhys?"

"You're one to talk, Leif." Rhys scoffs. "You were never smart." He steps into the elevator.

Leif inhales, opens his mouth, and holds up a hand to object, only to grin. "Well, I'm smart in other ways." He hums.

Jake clicks the button after Leif joins them inside the doors close. The Daemos try not to react too noticeably, but Leif is already cautiously scanning the walls of the box, having never been in an elevator before, and Asch, remembering the frustration of the last time he was in an elevator, goes tense as they descend.