There's a Demon Following Me and It Thinks It Owes Me Its Life

Chapter 2

It's been three long weeks since you took Gamzee in, and now they're healed and ready to go. You sort of feel bad kicking them out, but you know you really shouldn't keep them around longer than you have to. They're surprisingly okay with this, and you sigh in relief as they shift into a bird and fly out the window. You turn on a movie and start to watch it, nibbling on popcorn. After a while you fall asleep in front of the movie.

The next morning, you're on the way to work when you notice a small, fluffy dog following you. You turn around and it stops walking, staring at you with its tongue lolling out of its mouth. It's a black color with light grey spots. The spots on its face almost look like a smiley face, and you chuckle to yourself, turning to walk away. When you notice it still following you, you stop to dig around your bag for a hunk of meat and toss it to the dog. The dog eats gratefully and you go on your way. That was supposed to be your lunch, but whatever. You're almost at the cafe when you notice it still behind you. Fuck, it knows you have mre meat now... You turn around. "Hey, uhh, that was actually my only meat, so... Shoo!"

It tilts its head and you hear a familiar voice say, "That's okay, brother. I'm not after meat."

You look around for the source before freezing and looking back at the dog. "Gamzee?" You whisper in a hushed voice.

"The one and only," You hear. You knew that damn dog looked familiar!

"What are you doing?" You hiss.

"I'm here to protect you from harm, motherfucker. You done me a solid in saving my life, so I thought I'd up and return the favor." They scratch behind their ear with a hind paw.

You open and close your mouth, huffing. "You can't just follow me around all day! I have to go to work! Besides, you don't owe me anything. I don't even get into dangerous situations!"

They put their leg down and look up at you. "Don't be so modest. If it weren't for you I woulda already gone and joined the afterlife. And don't you worry none, I won't bother you at work."

You huff, looking around a little before finishing the walk to work and starting your shift a couple minutes late. Your boss is very obviously unhappy with you. He gives you a long lecture about arriving on time that takes a lot longer than your talk with Gamzee had. You huff, finally starting to get to work. You put on your best customer service face and start taking orders. It's really busy right away, and by the time ten o clock comes around and the customers thin out, you're exhausted. You take off your apron and get your cigarettes out of it. "I'm taking a smoke break!" you shout, heading out the backdoor. You lean against the wall as you light a cigarette, taking a long drag from it.

"Tired out, motherfucker?" You jump and look around, spotting a cat with the same markings as the Gamzee dog.

You sigh, nodding at looking back in front of you. "Yeah. Is it so much to ask that we don't get bombarded with customers every morning? I mean, come on, there must be somewhere else you can eat!"

You hear them chuckle, and the cat sits in front of you. "Shit, man. That sounds god-awful. Wish I could help."

You sigh, taking another drag off your cigarette. "Well, I appreciate the thought, but I'm gonna have to grit and bear it I guess." You put your cig out and head back inside.

Right before your shift is about to end, a customer calls you over. She tells you, very rudely, you might add, that her order was wrong. You ask if you can see the receipt and she says she didn't get one, she needs a new order. You ask her where the wrong order is and she says she ate it. Your eye twitches a little. You say you can't give her a new order if she already ate it. She starts to yell at you and you try to calmly explain to her. She spits in your face and storms off. God, fuck people. You wipe the saliva off of your cheek, grimacing. You sigh, looking at the clock. Oh, goodie, time to clock out. Just as you walk out the door, you see a swarm of birds going after the woman. You try not to snicker and just force yourself to walk the other way. After a minute, Gamzee in bird form lands on your shoulder, looking about as pleased with themself as a bird can get. You chuckle.

Once you get to your apartment building, Gamzee flies off your shoulder to somewhere else, and you begin to go to your apartment. When you get there, Gamzee is already waiting for you in their primary form on your couch.

"Do you not have a place to sleep or anything?"

They shake their head. "Not that, just looking out for you."

You quirk an eyebrow up. "Why do you have to look out for me in my own apartment?"

"Burglars," They reply simply.

You sigh, going to the fridge and heating up some microwave dinner for you. You don't bother getting Gamzee anything, they can feed themself. You sigh and turn on a romcom as with your food in hand. You hear a ding from your phone and check it. "Shit! I forgot I was meeting up with Terezi!" You snatch up your phone and scramble to change out of your work uniform and into some casual clothes. You practically run to get to your meetup spot.

Terezi looks at you incredulously, though she can't really look at you, it sure does feel like she's staring into your soul. "What took you so long?"

You pant for breath, leaning on the table. "Sorry, I- lost track of time." You hear giggling and you look up, seeing that Dave is there as well. "Hi Dave." He nods at you, not looking up from his phone. You hear a little pitter patter of paws after a second and turn around to see dog Gamzee running at you. They bark a couple times, stopping at your feet and panting.

"Oh, hey there, doggy. What are you up to?" Dave finally puts his phone down to kneel by Gamzee and pet them. Gamzee, apparently, has no objections to this, and closes his eyes, leaning into the touch.

You sigh. "Fucking hell, Gamzee..."

"Wait, Karkat, is this your dog?" Terezi prys.

You sigh again. "No, it just started following me around."

Dave chuckles, "Well, in that case, I'm gonna take him home with me. He's cute."

You roll your eyes. "No you won't. You have no idea how to take care of a dog."

He pouts at you, scooping Gamzee up in his arms. "Too late, he's mine now. I think I'll name him... Hairball." Gamzee looks unimpressed now, staring up at Dave with an "are you serious" face.

"Hehe, I don't think he likes that, Dave," Terezi chuckles.

You move to take Gamzee from him. "Their name is Gamzee."

"Pfft, says who? You said he wasn't your dog, so you don't get to name him." Dave holds Gamzee to his chest.

Gamzee yips at that, but is otherwise just letting Dave hold him. Goddamn traitor. "They're not your dog, either." You state. They don't belong to anyone, really.

Dave scoffs. "Says who?" Gamzee, apparently bored of being held, tries to wiggle out of Dave's arms.

"Says them, apparently," Terezi cackles. "I don't think they like you anymore." Gamzee manages to free themself from Dave, shaking off and sitting by your feet. Dave pouts, sitting back in his own seat.

You take out your laptop and start to work on your novel. You startle a little when Gamzee speaks to you. "Whatcha working on, there?" You look at Dave and Terezi, who are talking to each other. "Don't worry, they can't hear me. I'm in your head. Just think about your response."

You try not to be weirded out by that, and convey what you're doing by thinking about it. It seems they get it and their presence withdraws from your mind.

"So, I wanted to ask yalls opinion on my new album." Dave pipes up. He takes out his laptop, putting earbuds in and giving one of each to you. You hesitantly put one in and listen to Dave's music. It's... surprisingly good, and you tell him so. "See, knew you'd love it." He grins, and you snort.

"It's not, like, a masterpiece or whatever, it's just good for something that you did." You scoff.

Terezi interrupts before you can get into an argument. "Well I, for one, think it's great."

You chat with them a few more hours over burgers and fries. Eventually you part ways, Gamzee still following you to your apartment. You sigh, seeing Gamzee already laying on your bed when you get there, and you curl up under the covers.