The man blindsided me, even through the flickering lights of the dingy bar I could tell he was one of them, but I respected the effort to blend in. In my defense, it’s virtually impossible for a human to be seven and a half feet tall with glowing eyes. He was impeccably well dressed, wearing a three piece suit that put anything I owned to shame. It was the kind of suit that was itself intimidating, even disregarding the fact that it was a demon wearing it, like he had specifically chosen the one that would make him look the most like an ‘I could off you whenever and wherever I feel like it’ mafia boss.

“Well sir,” I drew a shaky breath of suddenly frigid air, “I’m not entirely sure where it’s going, but ideally this’ll grow into a proper relationship. She’s just… I can’t describe how being close with her makes me feel”

“Very well, mister Banks. I have heard some about you from her, however I mustn’t tell you what. It’s more interesting that way, for us both.” An appropriately devilish grin crossed his face as the man faded from existence.

I wandered back to where Miya was sitting, apparently shaken as I sat at the counter and took a long sip of my drink. My date looked me up and down before putting a hand on my shoulder

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing. Just a little tired”

“Did someone come up and hassle you?”

“Not exactly”

She was unsettlingly, unnaturally perceptive, but I guess I should expect that.

“Fuckin’ A, dad.” she groaned, barely audible over the music and chatter

I finished up my last round before heading out, while she pulled up in front of the bar. I hopped in, relishing the new car smell as it surrounded me. Resting my head against the window we set off, allowing me to drift into my own thoughts. I thought back to when I had first met her, how we got closer, and how I actually managed to ask her out. My train of thought was suddenly derailed by her asking me

“What’re you thinking about?”

“Eh, not much.” I replied, “Should we… make this like, a regular thing?”

“I’d love to~. Related, you wanna come back to my place?”

“Sure, why not”

Other cars zipped past on the other side of the highway, only given away by their headlights. Eventually we arrived at an apartment building, stepping into the elevator and making our way to the eighteenth floor. I threw some popcorn in the microwave as Miya scrolled through various movies and shows on Netflix, quietly swearing now and then since she wasn’t finding anything satisfactory. Eventually she landed on something, a favorite of mine. Sitting on the couch next to her, bowl of probably carcinogenic popcorn in hand, she rested her head on my shoulder as we watched. At that moment, all I could think of was that I didn’t want this feeling to end. A while later, she whispered “You’re really cute for a man~” and I was left wondering which meaning of ‘man’ she was going for