Contract with a Succubus

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=-=-=-= Author's Notes =-=-=-=

Hi all, I certainly didn't expect to publish anything so soon! There was just a lot of potential with this story after my last chapter, and I was inspired to write the story that's on your screen now. There's still so much more I want to explore with these characters, and I already have something saucy brewing for next time!

As always, feel free to let me know your thoughts on this chapter. Every comment, suggestion, and criticism means a lot to me, and I really mean it when I say that I appreciate every single one of you!

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After months of searching for the demon, their confrontation was finally nigh. Its lair was hidden away in the Ashlands, isolated from the world amid the desolation of a once-proud kingdom and concealed with ancient magics. It was only through great strength, conviction, and guile that the band had made it through the obstacles in their way. Illusions had not stopped them, fell bargains had not stopped them, and hordes of hellspawn had not stopped them. The demon had run out of options, and direct conflict with its pursuers became necessary.

Its grand hall became a battleground. Sulfurous pits belching forth noxious fumes rimmed the now-cratered expanse. The great fire in the lavishly decorated hearth had been extinguished by some magical blast or another, while elsewhere new fires arose where a spell had missed its mark. Regal carpets, kept immaculate for eons, were trampled without a thought by travel-worn adventurers as they fought for their lives.

A bulky Dwarf was locked in combat with the demon, yelling wildly as he swung a massive greataxe, the epicenter of a steel maelstrom that would rend any lesser creature in half. A slimmer Dwarf was taking advantage of the relentless flurry, picking her moments to strike at the hairline gaps in the demon's once-magnificent armor. Elsewhere in the hall, holy energies swirled around the upstreched hands of a robed Gnome, his chants calling forth blessed magic that clashed palpably with the infernal power of the demon's lair. And all around, seemingly everywhere at once, arrows fell like hail upon hellspawn, the work of a Human who moved so quickly as to be rendered almost invisible, a deadly blur who only paused to loose another of his lethal quarrels.

But the demon was still powerful. Not by chance had they brought low a mighty kingdom of the Age of Marvels and ruled over its ashes for many human lifetimes! The demon withstood the Dwarf's greataxe as well as anything alive, lashing out with its flaming whip to fight back against the brutal aggressor. It anticipated and countered many strikes from the more cautious Dwarf, the demon aware of its own weak points and protecting those vulnerable gaps. Their minions, lesser fiends brought from the Abyss' depths, relentlessly pursued the holy Gnome, swarming him and interrupting his incantations. Even the elusive Human darting around the demon's lair couldn't escape its attention, the demon sending blasts in their direction during every lull in the Dwarfs' combined onslaught.

At last, the heroes seemed to gain an advantage in the fight. The burly Dwarf connected a powerful blow to the demon as his companion struck through a joint in its armor with the point of her longsword. The Gnome, freed of its harassers by a volley of arrows from his Human friend, managed to call forth energy from its divine patron, dispelling some of the demon's power to weaken it. Seething in anger now, the demon bellowed at its attackers, entering a desperate frenzy to defeat the intruders.

Sensing an opening, the muscular Dwarf reached to his sword belt, gripping the hilt of the holy dagger sheathed there. Imbued with divine energy, it was the group's only means of destroying the demon forever, lest its spirit return to the Abyss where it could reform and return to their world to wreak bloody havoc. He pulled out the dagger, ready to plunge it into the demon's foul --

But no, there was no time! He couldn't spare even the slightest moment to brandish the weapon. He returned to --

Wait, of course there was time! Dropping his greataxe, its deadly purpose fulfilled, the Dwarf pulled the dagger from --

♦ ♦ ♦

"Equipping a weapon's a full action."

"Really? Since when?"

"I don't know, since they wrote the rulebook."

"Didn't I do it as a bonus action last week?"

"No, you threw it as a bonus action last week. It was already in your hand."

"Oh. Well, then I..."

It was our weekly Dungeons and Dragons night, and we were really in the swing of it. Now that I finally had a space big enough to seat five people, we all met up at my house. Character sheets and improvised miniatures were strewn across the dining table. Several boxes from the finest takeout pizza restaurant littered the counter. Five nerds studied the table, trying to craft some strategy that would give them an advantage.

Jacob was looking through his Cleric's spell list, hoping to find something there that could help in the battle. His giant beard was twitching as he muttered to himself, either thinking out a weird tactic or cursing himself for not preparing a spell that would be helpful here. He got up and helped himself to another slice of pizza.

Eun-hee was cleaning off her coke-bottle glasses, wiping away any dust before putting them back on her small nose. She put her hands in her lap as she surveyed the table, waiting patiently for her turn.

Vincent, the least experienced of the group, was scanning through his character's abilities. He had to lean down to read his character sheet, giving him the appearance of a palm tree that was bending dangerously close to the ground.

Mike was answering his questions, calmly explaining what options a Barbarian had in combat. He looked the most out of place, a big jock behind a folding screen with dragons and magicians on it, playing pretend with a bunch of inside-dwellers. Despite his appearance, he knew as much about the game as anyone, often more than anyone else at the table.

And I was taking it all in, loving every second of it. No more cramped nights bumping elbows around a tiny apartment table. We all had plenty of space for our paper, pencils, food, drinks, dice, rulebooks, and whatever supplies the adventure required. I couldn't be happier! Spending time with friends, playing the game I loved, collaborating with people I deeply respected to make an experience that everybody was excited to participate in. Truly, I had reached nerd heaven.

The entrance to nerd heaven was breached when the five of us heard an unexpected sound. The front door opened. Everyone else looked at me, asking with their eyes if I was expecting someone this late in the day. With a sort of dawning horror, I realized that there was only one person it could be, and I was frozen to my seat by how unprepared I was to handle the current situation.

A few footsteps that felt to me like the drumbeat of some great army announced her arrival, carrying her into our little kingdom of imagination. There, at the threshold of the kitchen, stood the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Azalea," I said, standing up suddenly as if I was caught doing something compromising. "You're, uh... um, welcome back."

I was freaking out for a few reasons. First, it was a weird collision of worlds for me, having my nerd friends meet my girlfriend for the first time. Second, I hadn't gone this nerdy in front of Azalea before, and I wasn't sure how either of us would handle the situation. And finally, because it had only been two days since I acquired a contract that bound her to me, we hadn't planned for anybody to ask us any awkward questions.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, am I interrupting? I can leave if this isn't a good time."

Everyone was looking at me again. I couldn't tell from their expressions if they minded if she staid or not. To stall for time, I walked around the table to Azalea's side. Taking hold of her hand, I turned to the group and said, "Uh, I guess I'll make introductions. Everyone, this is Azalea. We've been dating for a little while now. Azalea, these are my Dungeons and Dragons friends. I met Jacob in high school. Eun-hee and Mike are both my co-workers, and Vincent is Eun-hee's boyfriend."

Everyone gave little first-meeting, introduction waves, except for Mike who gave the universally acknowledged cool guy nod.

"Uh, would you like to stay?" I asked Azalea. I had no idea what our D&D night would look like to a person who didn't play games. Dice and figures and math weren't everybody's thing, but I didn't want to exclude her for no reason. "Or would anybody prefer if we keep it to just the five of us tonight? Feel free to speak up."

After a moment of looking around the table, Mike said, "I don't mind if you stay."

"Yeah, I don't have a problem with it," Jacob added. The other two looked at me and shrugged in unison, indicating their approval.

"Do I have to... participate?" Azalea asked, clearly out of her element. "Can I just watch and stay out of the way?"

"Sure! Actually, that may be for the best, since you don't have a character to play anyway. Uh, help yourself to some pizza, we have plenty left. And if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them." I walked back over to my seat, pulling up a spare chair and offering it to Azalea. She hesitated for just a moment before taking a seat, offering a quiet "thanks."

The room had gone quiet. The kind of quiet made all the more noticeable when ruffling pages, clacking dice, and tapping feet tried to shoo it away. Since I was the host, I did my best to get the icosahedron rolling again. "Uh, Vince, I'm pretty sure it was your turn."

"Right! Yeah, uh, Mike, I'm right up on this guy, right? Can I..."

The five of us eventually settled back into our regular rhythm. It took some time for everyone to get used to Azalea spectating, but she was just about the best audience I could hope for. To keep us from interrupting the game, we whispered out a system where I'd hold a pencil in my hand if I wasn't busy, and that would be the time to ask me questions. She took those opportunities often. First, I had to explain that even though Mike was controlling the enemies, we weren't trying to beat him, we were trying to beat the challenge he set out for us. She internalized that pretty quickly, and started asking more about the story reasons behind why we were fighting this demon.

Overall, it seemed like a rousing success. After a few rounds of combat, she would whisper into my ear something like, "Okay, so now Vincent is going to attack, so he's going to roll that lumpy one and add seven to it..." which made me grateful that she was really learning what was going on. It would have been very easy for her to stay as a disinterested party the whole time, so it was really nice to see her trying to understand the process.

As the session continued and everyone got a little more comfortable with each other, Azalea would ask questions to the other people around the table, like why Eun-hee sometimes rolled two dice at a time, and soon enough I could feel their hesitation dwindle as they gradually accepted her.

At some point in the encounter, we reached a climax. Blessed by Jacob's Gnome, Vincent's Dwarf took the dagger infused with holy magic and plunged it into the heart of the demon, trapping its soul inside. All six of us burst out in celebration, a mix of fist pumping, high-fives, victorious insults, and clapping filled the room. The monster still hadn't been permanently defeated, but it was a hard-won victory nonetheless.

As the celebration was winding down, Azalea stood up to take her leave. She told everybody that she had a lot of fun, and asked if she could play with us next time.

Clearly, nobody wanted to be the first one to say yes or no. I took the lead again and told her, "Uh, I think we'll have to talk about that first. You didn't do anything wrong, but we've been on this campaign for a while now, and I don't want anyone to rush into a decision. Do you mind if we get back to you on that?"

Azalea looked understanding, and the other people around the table looked a little relieved. She said her final goodbyes, then made for the front door. Trying to be a gentleman, I walked her out, then stopped us on the other side of the door when a thought occurred to me. "Wait, where are you going? You live here."

"Yes, but your friends might think it's weird if I spend the night if we haven't been together long. Don't worry, I'll be back after they leave."

"Okay. Be safe." I reached for her hand, giving it a parting squeeze when another thought struck me. "But wait, what happens if they ask about us? What am I supposed to tell them?"

"Do you trust them enough to tell them the truth?"

"Do I trust them enough to tell them that a succubus is bound to me for the rest of my life? They would probably think I was kidding, which honestly may or may not land well since I've never had to introduce a girlfriend before."

"Then tell them as much of the truth as you can. Or say you're not comfortable answering their questions tonight." She looked at me apologetically. "Sorry. It was rude of me to come back early tonight."

"No, you're fine," I said, pulling her in for a hug. "It had to happen some time. But we should come up with a story for next time, though."

"Agreed." She craned her neck to peck me on the cheek and said, "I'll see you later tonight."

"Yeah, see you tonight." I waved after her as she walked off into the night, down a quiet suburban street until she rounded a corner, out of sight.

With a last, content sigh, I opened the door and returned inside, pressing my back against it as I collected myself. It felt bad to lie to my friends, but the truth would make me look like a maniac. I guessed I would just have to deflect their questions and apologize later for being so vague. Or maybe it would all be fine, and they wouldn't ask any tough questions. All I could do was walk back in there and handle whatever happened.

Everyone was chatting just like we always do when a session wound down. Character sheets were being put away in binders, dice were getting zipped back into bags, and people were making small talk, knowing the end was near but not giving up to it quite yet. Something subtle changed when I came back in and started straightening up my own things, like the room was holding its breath. I could tell everyone was eager to ask about Azalea, even if nobody came right out and said anything. I thought I'd get ahead of it as much as I could.

"Guys, thanks for being cool about Azalea. It was really great of you all to let her watch. I know you're all curious about her, but could we please leave that alone for tonight? I promise to give you all the details later, but I don't think I can handle that right now."

"Yeah, man, absolutely," Mike said, and everyone else expressed similar sentiments. "But do we want to talk about her joining the game? I'm good if she wants to join, but I don't want to speak for anyone else."

"Well," Vincent spoke up, "you guys brought me in. There's no reason to exclude her."

"I feel like this might be a little different," I said. "Vince, you already knew the game, we just hadn't met you yet. While I haven't outright asked Azalea if she plays D'n'D, I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Just to be clear, I'm all for including her, but I want to make sure everyone's okay with bringing in a first-time player."

Everyone considered the matter briefly, then Eun-hee said, "I don't think that'll be a problem. It seemed like she was already learning the basics."

"Yeah, she was getting into it with us. I don't mind, like, reminding her of game mechanics if she has any questions, or walking her through anything she doesn't know," Jacob added.

"So... does anyone object?" I asked. Everyone looked at everyone else with questioning faces, but nobody spoke up. "Okay, then it's tentatively decided. If anybody changes their mind, please let the rest of us know. I don't want anyone to feel like they can't speak up."

With that matter settled (until further notice, at least), everyone continued their steady progress toward heading out. Eventually, nobody could think of anything else to talk about, and we all made our way outside to say our goodbyes. One last round of hugs and high-fives brought our weekly meeting to a close. The sounds of Eun-hee's death metal music and Jacob's sugary pop music gradually receded as they all drove off, leaving me watching them all go their separate ways. I took one last breath of fresh night air before returning inside.

It felt weird afterward. The same table, the same room, but none of the wonderful noise that had filled the place for hours. But at the same time, a sense of calm seemed to hang over the house, like a curtain waiting to drop and usher in the next scene. After a final sweep of the counters, consolidating the leftover pizza into a single box, putting that box in the refridgerator and throwing out the rest, I opened the bedroom door to get some sleep.

"Your friends seemed nice."

I let out a shriek and nearly jumped out of my skin. I could just make out Azalea's form on the bed by the light filtering in through the window. "How'd you get back in here?" I half-yelled through my surprise, reaching to the light switch to turn it on.

She waved her hand in a little arc over her head, trailing twinkling lights in its wake that gently fell downward and extinguished. "Magic."

"But how did you know... you know what, never mind. Probably also magic. Uh, anyway, everyone said they'd be up for it if you join our session next week. Are you still interested?"

"But I don't even know the rules. How much would I have to learn in a week?"

"Well, I could teach you all of the rules that are likely to come up. Nobody is going to expect you to be an expert your first time. We've all played with people for their first times, and it's never been a problem before."

"But isn't there some kind of story that you're all following? Won't it be weird if you just pick up some stranger and let them... go on your adventure, or whatever?"

This was a novel experience for me. Azalea had rarely been anything other than confident, and the fact that she was nervous about being rejected by my nerdy friends revealed a vulnerability that I didn't know was there. I did my best to comfort her, which was really easy since it just involved sitting by her on the bed, placing my hand on her arm, and telling her the truth.

"I don't want to make up your mind for you, but there seriously won't be any problems. As long as everyone's having fun, we don't really care about introducing weird stuff into the story. After all, Vince wasn't in our group originally, and we brought him into the story in a really dumb way, and now we all just joke about it. And about the rules and stuff, we're all willing to help you if you need it. Everyone has to start somewhere. I can take some time to teach you the fundamentals this week, and anything that we don't get to, we can figure it out at the table. Honestly, just the fact that you were getting into it earlier means that you'd be a great fit for our group. I understand if you'd prefer not to, but there's really nothing to worry about."

Sitting there next to Azalea, I wondered if she ever got the feelings that I had as I was hyping her up. It was all so easy to say because it was all true. It made me realize, not for the first time, that I really did love her.

Azalea closed her eyes with a little smile, placed her other hand atop mine, snuggled a bit deeper into the pillow, and said, "You know, you're really cute when you're all serious like that."

"And you're adorable all the time," I told her back, resting my head on top of our stack of hands. "So is that a 'yes?'"