Sometimes, the walk of shame can be pretty quick and pretty shameful.

Unfortunately, reality interrupts your musings pretty quickly; you see Maya standing down the end of the hall, face a mix of confusion and concern.

...Right. You did just kind of... Grab Elizabeth, and run, didn't you? An hour ago, you were a toxic mix of anger and lust, and all you wanted to do was let it out. No wonder Maya was shuffling around waiting for you. You glance down at your clothes, which were still a bit disheveled from your tryst with Elizabeth... And blush a bit, as you smooth yourself out.

You weren't super embarrassed about being seen like this, but being seen like this after running off with a handful of words? Yeah, that was pretty cringeworthy. You appreciate her concern, but did she have to be waiting around now?

"Oh, um, Maya," You say, wondering what the right thing to say at a time like this is, "I, uh, I had thought you'd probably have gone back to your room?"

"We... Didn't really agree on when or where to meet up," Maya answers, looking away from you, "I haven't replaced my phone yet, and I didn't want to miss you. You left kind of suddenly."

Oh. Fuck. You hadn't thought about that; you're pretty used to being able to call her whenever you want. The idea that you couldn't never occurred to you... Guess you'd be IMing her on her computer this week?

You feel embarrassed that you'd only noticed this problem now. Since yesterday, you'd been so wrapped up between jilling and self-loathing that you were kind of useless for proper thought.

"Yeah... Sorry..." You say, taking a deep breath as you decide to step around that point, "Watching Elizabeth make out with you was... Um, we didn't immediately leap to making out ourselves, but... It kind of put me in, um, a mood..."

Honestly, you weren't really happy at having to admit to that, but... Well, Elizabeth was your girlfriend now, right? There was nothing weird about finding her hot. It was just... Kind of awkward that she had been being hot with your best friend.

...Oh, um, wait, Maya... Didn't know how long you'd been standing there for, did you? A flush of shame and embarrassment washes over you as you realize that you'd just confessed to voyeurism to your best friend. And damn it all, from the "Oh" look on her face, she actually noticed what you admitted to for once!

"Iwaskindofthereabitlongerthanyouthought," You blurt out, wanting to speed past the point, "It... Wasn't, um, what it sounds like, I just... Didn't know if I should interrupt..."

After yesterday, you were pretty sure that this wouldn't hurt your relationship with Maya. But damn it... Why... Just as you were finally able to give her up for good... Did she have to notice the one time you undeniably creeped on her?

And why the fuck did she look happy about it, a little flush of arousal on her face?

"Again, I'm sorry," Maya says to you, down at her feet, "No matter my condition, I shouldn't have done that. Not with Elizabeth, and not in the lounge."

You know what she means; that she shouldn't have been so "weak" as to let a supernatural brainwashing **** change her behavior, or something stupid like that. You didn't really understand what Ms. Devlin had done to her, but you knew enough to know that she had nothing to apologize for.

But with the blush on her face, and the way she's taking responsibility for it, and maybe with your play with Elizabeth fresh in your head... It sounds like she's apologizing for being an exhibitionist slut.

And hell, maybe she does mean it like that, unable to divorce what she did from the fact that she was literally not in her right mind - but damn it, did you ever hate yourself for hearing it that way.

"No, that's..." You start to say, before realizing that you don't want to open that can of worms, not even to help your friend work out her issues, "No, never mind, let's not turn this into a 'I fucked up worse' thing. Let's just agree to forgive the other's sins, and be better next time."

That was the safe road. The road that didn't involve any accidental revelations or confessions.

"Yeah," She replies, giving you a smile that carries way more meaning than she intends, "You're letting me off easy again, but I'll always forgive you. No matter how much you exaggerate your sins."

That really wasn't what you -

"So..." She quickly changes topics, looking towards your all-too-quiet girlfriend, "You and Elizabeth, then?"

...Well, whatever, this was a misunderstanding best left uncleared anyway. You give a little sigh, and move on.

"Yeah, me and Elizabeth," You smile, "It's too early to say whether we'll be serious, but... Well, she's cute, and a really good kisser. Jury's still out on her personality, but going on a single date won't kill me if she turns out to be a Nickelback fan or something."

And you meant every word. Honestly, you just wanted to be with somebody, and she'd been pretty decent for the thirty minutes you'd talked. Yeah, you could tell she was pretty damaged, but... So long as she didn't blow up your life, you really didn't care. If she could be fixed, you had plenty of time to fix her, and if she couldn't... Well, this was college, and she'd still help you move past Maya until you found someone healthier for you.

You already found yourself hoping that she could be fixed, though; you might have had to **** yourself a bit in the beginning, but you really found yourself getting along with her.

"Besides..." You continue, getting more serious, "A piece of your soul depends on this, right? Elizabeth really does seem pretty decent, but even if she wasn't... I'd be a terrible friend if I put a date over your literal soul."

You were mildly pissed that Maya had kept that from you, actually. Not that she tried to set you up, you'd even thank Ms. Devlin for that - but that she'd kept the importance of this from you. You'd never forgive yourself if you casually gave up part of her soul just because you hadn't known about the stakes.

"She mentioned that?" She replied, wincing, "I'd have brought it up if you seemed ready to decline, but... I didn't want to put that kind of pressure on you before sounding you out."

...And just as quickly, your anger fled at her explanation. You kind of hadn't given her any time to explain, had you... And it made sense.

You weren't 100% convinced that she would have told you, but you chose to believe her regardless.

"I asked her about being in Ms. Devlin's office," You explain, before Maya got the wrong idea about Elizabeth, "But I was already leaning towards 'yes'."

More like "Already said yes and were moving towards sex", but... Maya didn't need to know those details.

"...How much did she tell you?" Maya asked, face flushed again.

...You share A Look with Elizabeth, wondering who here would be most embarrassed if you just said it. Elizabeth, who'd gone quiet as a church mouse now that you were three? Maya, who still kind of seemed to be getting off on this? Yourself, for talking about your best friend's sex life?

...Did anyone here really want you to answer?

Elizabeth chose to jump on the rhetorical grenade to save you.

"But in return, Taylor explained what was going on," Elizabeth spoke up - or rather, down, since she was still staring at her feet, "Though, um... Don't take this the wrong way, but I think that might be a bad idea. Yeah, it kind of sucks what happened to Comparative Religion, but we get a free soul broker in exchange, right? That sounds like a good deal to me. Though, um, I won't... I won't interfere if you're, like, super committed to that. Just, throwing that out there."

...And with each passing word, she fell into more and more of a mumble, as she grew steadily less coherent... ...Well, honestly, she was kind of cuter that way. You'd actually feel bad if she became the "fuckbunny" she aspired to be.

Your appreciation is interrupted by a sudden question, however.

"Hey, Elizabeth?" Maya asks, "Can I talk to Taylor in private for, say, five minutes?"

Not really giving anyone a chance to answer, she tugs you a few steps down the hall.

"She mentioned that she's planning on selling her soul, right?" She insistently asks you.

...Ah, is that what this is about?

"Yeah, and I told her it was a stupid idea," You respond, shaking your head, "Though I didn't choose to argue the point with her. We did just meet, after all. I figure I'll bring it up after our date tonight - mention that if we're going to date, she should speak to me before she makes any irreversible decisions."

You'd said it once, but you wanted to make sure that promise wasn't lost in the heat of the moment. Not that you really considered it a massive issue... The personality change she mentioned before sounded ominous, but it was her life and her soul. If it made her happy, that was a good thing, right? But you liked Elizabeth the way she was, mostly, and you wanted her to appreciate herself as well.

"Sounds good to me," Maya replied, "She doesn't seem likely cause any trouble, but... I just thought you should know, especially considering what we've planned with Ashley."

...With who now? Had Maya been making more anti-demon plans without looping you in? Because this was a bit bigger than the time she forgot to mention that she'd planned a vacation for when you graduated high school.

"Ashley?" You ask with concern.

"Oh, um, sorry. Ms. Devlin," Maya clarifies, and a knot of concern tightens in your chest.

Elizabeth had told you how... Compliant, Maya was in her office. How they weren't just fucking like monkeys, but how Maya was telling her all about her plans to defeat her, and what she'd worked out of Ms. Devlin's plans.

You didn't want to doubt Maya, and it didn't seem like she'd given up, but... Did Ms. Devlin's influence over her go deeper than they'd realized? You'd already known that this was just a game to her, but... Was it more thoroughly rigged than you'd considered?

"I didn't realize you were on a first-name basis now..." You ask, eyebrow raised, hope and worry warring at what her answer might expose.

A look of mild confusion passes over Maya's face, before she nods and comes to an answer.

Fuck.

"Well, after all the places my tongue have been..." She sighed, "It just feels wrong to call her Ms. Devlin, you know? Not because I like her or anything, but treating her as a professor just seems weird."

Your heart drops out, as you realize that your best friend and psuedo-girlfriend is far more under Ms. Devlin's sway than she realized... And that whatever was happening to her, she didn't even notice it.

"Ah, gotcha," You replied, hiding your concern.

...What should you do about this? No, wait should you even do anything about this? Elizabeth mentioned that Ms. Devlin was shaping her to be some kind of "agent" for her; she wasn't, like, going to use her for food or anything. If she was investing resources into Maya, she was probably a somewhat valuable tool - though a tool all the same.

If you screwed this up... Maya would be the one paying the price, so you have to use "Servant of an evil soul-sucking demon" as a baseline for consequences here. If you didn't resolve this situation cleanly, at best, she'd be expelled - at worst, in prison or dead. And with the talk of donors before, you didn't know how "cleanly" you could get here - you'd be happy to burst into her office guns blazing if it was to protect Maya, but that would definitely have consequences. Even if you took all the blame on your own head, Maya would forever be branded as "That friend of the fanatic terrorist".

And, hells, how deep would Ms. Devlin's influence even run? It was doubtless why she was calling your evil professor "Ashley", but was it why she seemed a bit sluttier now? You'd written it all off to the post-Devlin demon haze, but the way she was still a bit excited about exhibitionism an hour later... Was that her now? Would that fade with time?

If you let this go further... Would killing Ms. Devlin even fix things?

You felt your head spinning as you walked back towards your girlfriend. With Maya compromised, you might be the only one able to fix things... But success felt further away than ever, and failure would have terrible consequences for the one you wanted to protect.

"Really," Elizabeth says, breaking you from your bleak thoughts, "I'm, I'm just interested in having a good girlfriend. I'm not, like, a spy for Ms. Devlin. She may have set us up, but I - I'm not loyal to her. I just, I just... Think she's not the, the worst professor."

...You give her a smile in response. Ha, is that what she thought you two were talking about? If Maya had ever suspected something along those lines, she'd never have introduced you two, soul-sacrifice or no. Right?

...You glance over to her, intently studying Elizabeth, much to your surprise... ...Ah, maybe Devlin's influence had overcome her natural protectiveness this time? But if she was able to reconsider such things... Perhaps she wasn't as far gone as you'd feared. Maybe that influence was more like a nudge, rather than a command. But enough nudges could be even worse, in their own way...

...A smile breaks across your face. Maybe this could still be salvaged. Maybe Maya could still be saved. You just had to make sure she held on to the important things throughout the week - and then, you could work out how to get her out of this place.

"Sorry, Elizabeth," Maya shook her head, "I just had to be sure. We're not planning on doing anything wrong - or at least, nothing worse than we were - but you know how easily Ashley can get into people's heads. A different student might have leapt to stupid ideas when hearing that we were going to get her fired, but I'll put my trust in you. Ashley must have thought you had a good head, and you seem like you honestly don't want to cause any trouble."

...And it's all you can do not to break down into hysterics. Ms. Devlin didn't need a spy, Maya already was her spy! And what the fuck was that about "Ashley must have thought you had a good head"? Isn't that the last person you should be relying on in a spy hunt?

Fuck, a week. You just need to help her hold out for a week. But you had no idea how realistic such an idea could be, especially if Maya insisted on keeping you on the outside of her plans.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds to it, then?" Maya asked, oblivious to your inner turmoil.

Elizabeth gave you a look of longing, but then looked back down the hall...

"I, I'd love to, but..." She stuttered, but...

"Linear Models, right?" You say, sighing, "This is Friday, sadly. See you tonight, then?"

At least you had something to look forward to.

"Absolutely!" Elizabeth said, burning with determination, "I'll get us a reservation at Luigi's, or... Or.... Or I'll break down in tears!"

You couldn't help but give her a smile in return. She was honestly pretty cute, when she wasn't trying to provoke you. As you watched her walk down the hall... You hoped however this went, that you could keep her.

You had another class yourself today, and a date to prepare for, but... No, screw the class.

Maya was in trouble, and you couldn't afford to be complacent, not if you wanted to protect everyone dear to you. You were going to look up exactly what that bitch Devlin could do, and figure out how to reverse it!