Acquired Tastes

"Three hours... three hours and nothing but a bigger adrenaline rush."

The left side of John's mouth quirked down with dissatisfaction as he brought the coursing energy to a halt, setting his arm down on his knee. He leaned back and slowly felt the mattress under him give way as he settled his weight down, watching the glimmering red vein-like crevices in his arm slowly begin to fade. Whatever had brought on that notification window about Transcendence, it must have been either a one-time deal or a fluke that he'd likely never repeat, at least not intentionally.

“Guess it was a little silly to think I could just tinker around with a piece of a goddess and make it do whatever I wanted. The Shard has always kind of worked on its own, and I’m still pretty inept at controlling mana manually anyway.”

He'd been trying since before the sun had gone down, not long after their return. He'd only spent enough time to share a dinner with the others, play with the kittens for a little while before they bedded down, and check in on Sophia. He'd used the pretense of informing her that Vallya would be joining them for training the next day, but Sophia still seemed to have her guard up around him, even when he had a legitimate reason to speak with her.

"Just two weeks ago I was talking about how much I appreciated her being more forward and open, and now she's even more stoic than before..."

The sound of an almost rhythmic tapping at his door brought John out of his ruminations for long enough to call out a quick acknowledgement. Aria wasted no time in slipping herself inside, her slender body and the dress that concealed it making an elegant sight as she opened the door only just barely wide enough to slide through.

She immediately twisted the lock behind her, and though there was no visible effect, by the way her eyes danced across the wooden frame, she seemed to be gleefully observing the privacy magic as it activated. Her open-mouthed joy was so adorable that it almost made the effort he'd had to go through to repair the door's enchantments—and the door itself—worth it. Especially since he'd added a few deterrent measures for those little furry-eared voyeurs...

"Hey there," Aria said, her immovable smile widening for effect as she turned around and set her eyes on John once again. "You busy?"

"No, not really." John gestured to the empty bed beside him as he made the admission. Aria wasted no time in striding across the room to join him on the bed. Her heels clicked loudly as she went, drawing John's eyes down to her legs. He suspected that was the intent. Although Aria's dress bore no slit, it was short enough to reveal all of her calves and much of her thighs, particularly as it twirled with each step.

"I could tell you were still feeling good. Figured you were practicing, so I waited until you were finished. Judging by that gloomy look, not much progress?"

"No." John's expression was nearly as flat as his face, until he finally threw Aria a weary grin. "I'm not surprised, honestly. It just started out as a thought experiment, I didn't expect it to actually go anywhere."

"Well, what was the original idea, anyway?"

"Oh, uh, remember the war we talked about?" John asked. Aria nodded, with the same look of worry she had every time since the topic first came up. "Well, I was thinking about enchanting my gear, and thought that it would make more sense to just let the others handle it, since the Order is pretty experienced with Holy magic."

"Right, yeah, you mentioned them," Aria said, wincing a little at the mere use of the word 'Holy'.

"Sorry. Don't worry, no demon hunters, I promise." He didn't mention that there was a good chance that Moira would fly into a fury at the first mention of demons, nor that he'd been hiding the fact that he had created one—now two—for over a year. Yet another thing he owed Tricia for…

"I believe you. Just, like I said, there's a looooong list of things incubi are told can go wrong on a summoning, and words like 'Paladin', 'Holy Order', and 'Demon Hunters' are in, like, I dunno, twenty of the top twenty-five worst scenarios." Aria winced as she spoke, her eyes twitching in a way that made him think she was re-reading the list in her mind at that very moment.

“So, then I realized that this Shard in me is technically part of a goddess. Well, part of a part of a part of a goddess, or whatever. So there was at least a small chance I could give my own sort of 'blessing', if I just figured out how to enchant with it. Then I started wondering what the difference between 'Holy' and 'Divine' is, if there is any, and I figured the best way to figure it out would be to try to use the energy in a fight, since most of my magic is combat based anyway, whereas my Enchanting I've never used to infuse a spell or magical effect before, only materials that I farmed from dungeons. So I wanted to test out damage types and see if I could even figure out how to access the raw power of..."

John came to a halt at some point, around the time he veered off into discussing his recent discovery of Damage Reduction and how it functioned with his abilities. He wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been talking for, but he became acutely aware that he'd hardly taken a breath, much less heard from Aria, in what felt like several minutes. John winced, and nearly apologized by instinct, only to feel a reassuring squeeze on his arm.

"Go on. I'm listening, I promise." Aria's words were nearly a whisper, as if afraid speaking too loudly would finish breaking the spell that had already started to crack. "You were saying that you started a spreadsheet to track the damage of your spells and attacks, to calculate Effective HP for all your creations with different strengths of potions against Undead enemies and Unholy damage, and to log every damage type you encounter in a Dungeon Barrier. Right?"

"Um, yeah, actually," John responded, blinking in surprise at the amount of detail in her recollection. She'd obviously not only been paying attention to what he was saying, but was now making a point of showing that off. "Sorry, I'm usually better about not letting myself run away on tangents like that. Or at least keeping them in my own head."

"Don't. I like to hear you talk about this kind of thing. It seems like you're really passionate about it," Aria encouraged, nodding lazily.

"Really? You don't have to be polite, you know," John said, giving an amused huff. "I remember you said that combat isn't really your thing, and my abilities don't function much like anyone else's, so even if it was, I'd probably still sound like I was spewing gibberish."

"I said I played games too, remember? Duh." Aria reached up and tapped John on the forehead a few times while giving him a wry, toothy grin. "Besides, it's obviously important to you. And it isn't gibberish, it's a huge part of your life! You talk to the others about this kind of stuff, right?"

"I mean, I usually give them the abridged version, but sure."

"And do they act like they wish you'd just shut up? Hmm? Are they always bored out of their minds?" Aria leaned forward the more she talked, until she was resting her head on John's thighs, somehow managing to smile up at him in a smug manner while still nuzzling into his lap so affectionately.

"No, no- well, no more than usual. I suppose if it isn't about food or sex, Maera is always a little bored."

"I got that vibe, yeah. You have some pretty fun members in this little family you've got going on," Aria said, hiding a giggle behind one of her hands. "Like that fox lady. She was pretty nice. What's her deal? Why's she just hanging out in the forest."

"That's kind of a long story. And a complicated one." John gave a sigh at the end of both descriptions. Aria only nodded, her smile unchanging, one hand reaching up to caress his cheek in a consoling way.

"I'm just going to assume you locked her outside because she's so horny that you had to keep her out of the house to stay safe, then." Aria gave a sagely nod, snickering and struggling to keep her laugh in check as John's expression shifted to one of disbelief. "What? You don't like my version of the story?"

"I never would have expected a demon to be so... happy-go-lucky," John admitted, hanging for a moment until he found the word he was looking for. "You're not just optimistic, you seem determined to enjoy every moment, and make sure that the rest of us do too."

"Well, duh. Making people happy? Spreading joy, in all forms? That's kind of an incubus' whole thing, you know." Aria lifted a brow and looked as if she were questioning John's memory, wondering if he'd forgotten everything they'd discussed together already.

"I mean, it definitely is for you," John agreed, letting his fingers weave their way through Aria's golden locks. "That other one seemed to enjoy pissing me off more than anything else."

"Wait, you ran into another one?" Aria blinked, thrown off-balance by the reveal. "The way you talked, I thought you didn't know much about incubi. Or demons in general."

"I really don't. Barely know anything about him, either. Just that he was way too smug about everything," John growled, and realized when he heard the sound how angry he was letting himself get. The Shard had just begun to pulse in his chest when he **** himself to take a slow breath, letting the unneeded air cool him off. "We don't talk about him much. He's the reason why Lunaya lives up north."

"Oh! The, um, wolf girl?" Aria clarified. "I was wondering why nobody talked much about her."

"Long story. Suffice to say, that incubus got summoned in the same way you did, except he ended up bound to her, due to... well, a lot of things, including some bad luck, the way I treated Lunaya, and Kim nearly getting herself killed. Wouldn't have been so bad; he really didn't seem to give a fuck about everyone else for the most part, but he really enjoyed pissing me off. Nearly-"

John grimaced, realizing that talking about how close he'd come to tearing another incubus apart was not a particularly great way to make Aria feel at ease around him.

"Makes sense." Aria nodded, seeming unbothered if she'd noticed the direction his story was heading. "If you two were upset with each other, and he was bound to her, annoying you might have made her happy. Even if it was just a little, that bit of glee from petty spitefulness still counts."

"I prefer your method of making everyone smile," John said softly, rubbing at Aria's scalp tenderly while he continued stroking her hair. "I'm glad you chose-"

"I mean, I'd do the same thing, if you were angry at someone." Aria shrugged, staring up at him with an almost blank expression. "Why not? Our bond is all about me making you happy. I'm not much of a fighter, so I can't really help out with battles and stuff unless it's dire, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't if I could. If someone being hurt makes you happy, why wouldn't I do it?"

"To... not hurt them?" John paused, his hand going still as it weaved between platinum strands. "You seemed horrified by what succubi do when we first met."

"Of course! Our whole purpose is to bring joy and happiness to humans, and we get the energy we need as a reward. Succubi ruin that by sucking out souls and forcefully converting humans, same as a few other varieties of demons. Humans are precious; without humans, incubi—and a ton of other demons—would all starve. Even if we didn't, we'd eventually die out from not being able to make more of us."

"But you'd still hurt, or even be cruel, to someone? Anyone, as long as you thought it'd make me happy?" John asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep!" Aria seemed to finally note the concern on John's expression and hastily did her best to look abashed. "I mean, you're a really kind guy, so of course I won't be doing that. Especially not here! Everyone here is important to you, so I'll do my best to make them happy too. The most important person to an incubus is their Master, but the second most important are all the people their Master loves!"

"Yeah, but..."

John's brows inched closer, a change that Aria noticed more than any other shift in his expression. She started to blurt something out, but John kept her quiet with a soothing sound and a gentle caress of her cheek with his free hand, letting the other resume its long travels through her lustrous hair.

"I should have known something was up. She acts more wholesome and upbeat than almost anyone, even Farrah, but her alignment is sitting at zero."

"It's okay. I'm not mad, just a little concerned. And curious," John clarified, forging a smile to calm her obvious worries. "You don't, uh, you don't enjoy hurting people, do you?"

"Of course not! That's an algea's domain. Those demons are all about the pain and suffering."

"But you don't mind it, if it makes me happy?"

"Yeah?" Aria looked at John in a way that made him feel like she was starting to think he was a bit slow. "Do you enjoy hurting those Barrier creatures you talk about?"

"Wha- the Dungeon Barrier monsters?" Aria gave a quick nod. "No, it's just the only way for me to get the materials and experience I need."

"Well, making people happy is how I get my 'materials' and 'experience'," Aria explained, adding air quotes with her fingers for emphasis. Despite her smile being as bright as ever, John had a hard time finding the gesture as cute as he would've a few minutes ago. "I mean, I can do it in lots of ways, so I don't usually hurt people. You humans tend not to like seeing other people get hurt, with a few exceptions."

"Yeah. We humans do tend not to like that."

John fought the urge to bite his lip as things went quiet between them. She hadn't exactly made the comparison, but was that how Aria saw humans? Like he saw the monsters that he farmed? Just a set of tools to acquire what she needed, animals to be culled? No, less than that. John would've had a hard time killing living animals. He didn't even see Barrier monsters as being alive. Was she- was she some kind of sociopath?

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Aria eventually broke the silence with her question, and her voice reflected her very obvious nerves. "You, uh, you don't seem happy."

"Just thinking," John replied quietly. He noticed that his fingers had stopped moving, and he quickly returned them to action, affectionately caressing Aria's head, resuming the gentle massaging of her scalp.

"Wanna talk about it?" Aria gave him a hopeful glance, trying to put on a brave face.

"...No. That was stupid of me."

The jump had seemed like an easy one to make, but he knew it couldn't quite be true of her. Aria did seem to genuinely like him; at least, he'd never felt like she was playing along to please him. She seemed authentic about enjoying making him happy, and in more general matters, her positivity had never come off as a mask. She'd even seemed legitimately embarrassed about the fire, and Farrah said she could sense emotions from her, even if there was something underneath of those. And if she was good enough at faking emotions to hide them from an empath, she wouldn't have such a hard time hiding her anxiety.

Granted, maybe she was good enough to fake that too...

"You said something when you were explaining incubi to me," John finally began, slowing his words down as he tried to align his thoughts. "If I remember right, you said that the way demons reproduce is by converting mortal souls into demons. And for incubi, didn't you say something about marriage?"

"Oh, yup! That's right! It makes me happy that you were paying attention," Aria said, giggling a little. She leaned up and planted a kiss on his jawline before laying her head back into his lap. "We aren't trying to play beat the clock this time, so I can give you the proper explanation now, if you'd like?"

John nodded. He wanted to see where this explanation went. Hopefully it would tell him a little bit more about how Aria viewed others, especially humans.

"Incubi aren't like other demons. We don't have the ability to make thralls, or lesser versions of ourselves that we can control. That means that for the incubi that are more interested in fighting and controlling a bigger part of Hell for themselves, there's no real reason to create more incubi. Just means more competition, both in the mortal realm and in Hell. And for the rest of us, converting a human means losing our anchor. So incubi always-"

Aria paused, then held up a finger, rolling her eyes and giving a shrug, acquiescing to her own mind.

"Okay, not always. Thousands of demons, a few of them are gonna be a little bit quirky, but like, ninety-nine percent of the time, incubi convert humans because they fall in love and want to stay together! And, y'know, not with the human being tortured in Hell until they agree to convert to some other demon. I mean, dead mortal means two options, Heaven or Hell, so being in love as a demon kinda sucks. You either don't get to see them anymore, or you gotta hear their screams for a few years until they give in and become a devil, or an imp, or an algea, or…"

Aria made a "yadda yadda" gesture with her hand. John gave a curt tilt of his head, which she seemed to take as her sign to go on.

"So yeah. We don't just do it willy-nilly, or for selfish reasons, or whatever. It has to be someone we really care about and want to be with! And, y'know, someone worth going back to Hell for. Even if you have the time to set up someone to summon you back later, you have to get your lover all settled in, get them used to their new abilities, get their true name and summoning ritual set up... it's a lot of work!"

John hummed to himself as he took in her explanation, lips pursing a little as he tried to process the new information without dismissing any of it.

"So you could see that happening?" John finally asked, glancing down at Aria. "You could see yourself being with a human?"

The demoness seemed to have relaxed while he was thinking, closing her eyes and settling into a more lulled posture. His question made her crack one eye back open, her red-hued iris meeting his, then flicking away shyly.

"M-Master, we only just bonded. Are you asking if I could picture myself marrying you already?" Aria asked, awkwardness shining in her tone. "I know I said I was getting **** to be summoned, but…"

"Oh! No, not, uh, not quite." John let out a laugh just as nervous as Aria's. "More hypothetical. I just, um, you don't see humans as beneath you? You don't really think we're-"

"Like those Barrier creatures?" Aria's other eye burst open as well, and she inhaled sharply as she returned her gaze to John. "No, no, nothing like that. I didn't mean to say that I think of humans as inferior. That's just... I was just using those monsters as an example. I don't enjoy hurting humans, but I don't mind it either. If it makes you happy, that's all that's important. That's just the way things are as a demon. I don't view you as lesser, Master. I promise. You're the most important person to me."

Aria reached up and cupped John's cheek, affectionately caressing his face, letting her hand wander along the contours of his expression as if memorizing them.

"What if hurting a demon would make me happy? Or even another incubus?"

"Hm? Oh, do you- sorry, I really meant it when I said I'm not much of a fighter." Aria looked away bashfully, her face falling with disappointment. "I dunno how strong that other incubus is, but I'm just gonna assume they're probably stronger than me. I've never even left Hell; I've got a long way to go. For now, at least. With how happy you are around here, I bet I'll be super strong in no time!"

"Just- more of a general question," John clarified. "You'd do it, if you could?"

"I mean, sure," Aria said, giving a shrug that mimicked her earlier ones. "If it made you happy."

"Not a sociopath. I think," John mused to himself, giving Aria a grateful smile and one last nod of acknowledgment. "This might just be how demons are, then? Can't say the complete lack of morals and empathy isn't concerning... but..."

John didn't voice the words even in his own mind. He didn't need to. For once, he thought he might actually understand why his Purify had resolved itself the way it did. Aria's very existence had already made the point to not write creations off due to something as simple as whatever his Observe labeled their class or race as, demonic or otherwise. And now, it seemed, she'd be a litmus test for exactly what he'd asked for. She only wanted to do things to make him happy.