Aeva and Jake

A young girl, no older than twelve, maybe eleven, walked out of the store into the dark and stormy evening. Her hair was black, and set in two small ponytails with one slightly longer one in back. She was wearing a black top with a long black skirt. She held her umbrella close, barely able to see. She was carrying three bags. One bag carried her new clothes, one carried some food, and the other held a few miscellaneous art supplies.

As she continued to walk, she began to see the outline of her parent's black van. She moved a little faster, trying not to fall. Then, the van shook, rumbling, and started to move. A woman, about 20, held onto the arm of the man driving the vehicle. Her mother and father. Her mother waved a few fingers from behind the window. Another girl, smaller, with the same color and style of hair, teased her. Her sister.

She ran, trying to catch up. She thought maybe that they were just playing a trick on her. Her father didn't slow down, and kept going until he reached the road. He turned and drove off into the traffic, leaving his daughter behind. She fell to her knees, confused and scared. Her eyes filled up with tears and she began to sob uncontrollably in the rain.

The umbrella started to roll away. She watched as it went downhill until it hit the bottom, back at the entrance of the store. She made a move towards it, not knowing what else to do, and a gust of wind picked it up and blew it into the air and over the building.

She started to cry again, this time not even trying to get out of the road. Her family had just driven off, leaving her alone and cold in the rain. All she had with her was a single change of clothes, some drawing stuff, and some snacks, all soaked. And worse, she had no money to even try and find somewhere to stay, as the doors to the store had just been locked. She was entirely, completely, and utterly, lost.

"Um... Is this yours? Are you alright?" A voice said, behind her. She gave a startled yelp, and turned, still crying. A blond haired boy of about sixteen, or maybe seventeen, dressed in a dark blue, long sleeved shirt with black jeans held out one of her bags. "It had nearly spilled. Did you lose your umbrella?" He asked, and moved closer, covering them both with his own umbrella. She nodded, unable to talk because she was still crying. "I thought I saw one flying off. Here, I have an extra." He said, and took one out of a bag he'd had behind hers. She took it, nodding as she opened it up. "Did you miss your ride or something?" He asked her, and helped her up. She nodded again, looking down. "Well, I don't think I could get you all the way to where you were going in this rain, but I live nearby. You could stay with me until the rain stops, and then I could drive you where you needed to go." he said, and gathered up her bags. She was speechless, still crying. She nodded once more. "Okay then, follow me. Stay close, it is really dark..." He said, and they walked for about three minutes.

He led her to a small apartment complex within view of the store. “Let me get the okay from the manager for you to stay, okay?” He asked her. She nodded, trying her hardest to stop her tears. She stood under the covered area near the front door, and waited. He came back out in only a minute, and said, “It’s okay with him, but we’ll have to get you dried off quickly, or you’ll catch a cold!” He helped her into the warm building, and she almost had her tears under control.

The receptionist at the desk nodded to her, “Welcome, miss.” he said,  and returned to his work.  She followed the boy who was helping her up the stairs, into room 37. “This is my place, sorry about the mess!” He said, opening the door for her. She stepped in, and the door closed behind her. “I’m sorry, I never introduced myself! I’m Jake Keskavorka.” He told her, and held out his hand.

Her eyes teared up a little, and she didn’t take his hand. Instead, she threw her arms around him and hugged him, saying “Thank you, thank you!” softly. The tears were back in full force.

He looked startled, but made no effort to make her stop for a few minutes. Then, he remembered that she was still soaked. “You still need to get dry, or else you’re gonna catch a cold or something.” He said, and she slowly let go of him. “There, there, it’ll be all right, okay?” She gave a very small nod. He went and grabbed a towel from somewhere in the apartment, and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Here you go.” He said, and led her into the living room part of the apartment. There was a small couch, one rather comfy looking chair, and a bed off by the wall with the windows. “Sorry about it being so small, I can’t afford much, yet.” He sat down on the couch. “You can sit in the chair, if you want.”

She walked slowly to the chair, careful not to trip on some of the papers that were lying around. All over the place there were sheets of paper, stuck to walls, stacked on the table, a few on the bed. Most of them seemed to have anime drawings on them. She sat down in the really rather comfy chair, and managed to calm herself a bit. “I-I’m s-sorry, I di-didn’t tell you m-my name either. I’m-m Ae-Aeva.” she said, stuttering because of the cold. “Th-thank you so much!”

He smiled. “It’s nothing, just the right thing to do.” He said, and then a flash of lightning brightened the room, followed almost immediately by the thunder. Aeva yelped, nearly falling out of the chair. “That was way to loud, jeez.” He rubbed his ears, and looked at the girl. “So where were you supposed to be going, then?” He asked as he straightened a few papers.

She looked away from him, trying not to cry again. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to stop the tears, and started to cry. Jake noticed almost immediately. “I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” he asked, getting up and standing beside her.
She shook her head, and tried to speak. “M-m-my p-p-par-parents left-t me th-there!” she managed to say. She started to sob louder, covering her face with her hands.

Jake was startled, to say the least. For a moment, he was unable to reply. “They just... left?!” He said, his surprise evident in his voice. “Oh my... I’m so sorry.” He said almost immediately after, and hugged Aeva. “That must be so hard on you.” He told her. She cried on his shoulder for a rather long time, nearly half an hour. Eventually, Jake pulled out of the hug slowly, and looked her in the eyes. “Feeling a little better?” he asked softly.

Aeva nodded, “Y-yes. Thank y-you.” She tried to smile, but couldn’t.

“Do you want something to eat? I’ve got cocoa.” He asked her, standing. She nodded, and he went to make the cocoa.

When Jake returned with two mugs full of nice, hot cocoa, Aeva perked up a little, which made him smile. He set one cup on the table in front of her, and sat down on the couch again. “Here you go!” He said, and took a sip.
She carefully sipped hers, trying not to spill any despite her shaking hands. But Aeva was a bit... unlucky today, it seems. She sneezed, and managed to spill a good bit of it on her dress. “Eeeek! Hot!” She shouted, and Jake quickly set his cup down and ran over to help.

“Are you okay? Here, let me help,” Jake helped her get dry again. “Looks like you’ll want to rest  a little, you might have caught a cold.” As if on cue, she sneezes again. “You can have my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch for the night, okay?” She nodded, not trusting herself to speak without sneezing. Jake cleared the papers off of his bed, putting them on the nearest available surface.

He helped Aeva get into the bed, and tucked her in. “Good night, I hope you feel better in the morning.” he said, and went to the couch. After about five minutes, exhausted from the events of the day, she fell asleep.
Jake started to draw while she slept, and soon had a few more papers on the table. Eventually, he gave into sleep as well.
__________________________________________________________________________

When the sun rose, neither of them was either able to see it, or even awake. It continued to rain through the day, and they both woke up at about an hour past noon. Jake woke first, and wondered for a moment why he was on his couch. Then he looked over to his bed, and remembered what had happened the last night. “Well, I hope she’s feeling a bit better today!” he said to himself, and got up to make himself some coffee.

Aeva woke only a few minutes after Jake. One of her hairbands had fallen out as she slept, and her hair was quite messy. She yawned, wandering over to the kitchen. She stood there and rubbed her eyes a bit for a few seconds.

“M-morning.” She said, sleepily.

“Good morning. How are you feeling?” Jake asked, putting down the coffee pot.

“Okay... Is that coffee?” The girl said, and walked over to the counter.

Jake nodded. “Yeah. Do you like it? I’ll make you some if you want...” he smiled at her.

“Please?” Aeva looked up at him, and the extra movement was enough that her one remaining hairband, having taken as much as it could handle over the night, broke. “Eep!” She said, as her hair fell in front of her eyes.

Jake had to hold back a laugh, the sight of her hair suddenly covering her face was cute! He knelt down and brushed it out of her face with one hand. “Heh. I’ll make you a cup, then.” He said, smiling.

Aeva sat down at the table, and waited quietly as Jake poured her a cup. “No sugar or cream.” She said, when he got the sugar out.

“Hmm? Okay. Here you go, careful, ‘tis hot!” He added a couple of scoops of each to his own cup, and put hers in front of her.

She took a large sip, and smiled.  “Mmmm! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.” Jake said, sitting down on the opposite side. “Did you sleep well?” He asked.

“Yes.” She said, taking another sip. She looked a little troubled.

Jake noticed quickly. “Are you okay? I mean, with your parents... You must be very... Unhappy...”

Aeva shook her head. “It’s not- It isn’t- That’s not-” She closed her eyes, with a resigned and sad expression on her face. “Mister Keskavorka?” She said.

“You can call me Jake.” He said, wondering what could be wrong.

“I’ve not b-been entirely tr-truthful with you...”

Jake looked confused, but said nothing other than, “About what?”

“I’m- I’m not exactly... human.” Aeva said, she opened her eyes.

“What? Not human? But...” Jake wasn’t expecting that, not at all. ‘Not human? But that’s impossible. Unless... No, that makes no sense.’ He thought.

“My m-mother and father weren’t human...” She said, her voice betraying her fear. “P-p-please don’t be angry. I didn’t want t-to tell you because I was afraid th-that you’d- you’d-” She stopped talking.

“I’m not angry, just... If you’re not human, then what are you?” he asked, and looked into her eyes.
She looked back, an unreadable look on her face. “I’m... I’m a demon.” She said, and looked away.

“A... A demon? What kind of demon?” Jake didn’t miss a beat. He’d believed in much weirder only a few years ago, and anyway she wouldn’t be so afraid of telling him if she was lying, would she?

“Y-you aren’t afraid? Or angry?” She looked back at him, surprised.

Jake shook his head. “Of course not. I’ve believed in stranger things than demons. I just need to know; what kind of demon?” He said again.

“I’m h-half Chaos d-demon.” She said, and looked down at her dress. “And... Erm.. And half s-s-s-” she stopped talking, this time looking embarrassed.

“Chaos? As in luck and chance, or destruction?” Jake asked.

“The first one. Erm.... I’m also half su-succubus.” she said the word quickly, as if embarrassed to admit it.

He looked very startled at that. “Okay... This may sound very, very, mean, but... How can I be sure?” He said this in the nicest tone he could manage, not wanting to make her start crying.

“I can show you, if you w-want.”

He nodded. “Okay, then.”

She looked down, and became still. Then, a bit of her hair parted, and small straight horns came out of her head. Her dress lifted behind her, and a tail came out from under it. From her shoulders sprouted two small wings, sliding out of well hidden slits.

Jake watches all this, making himself calm. It was unbelievable, but how else could it be explained? “Amazing...” He said    under his breath. “So... Why are you here, then?”

Aeva looked at him sadly. “They did leave me...” She was able to hold back her tears this time, barely. “I’m a half blood. My father r-r-re-remarried to a deception demoness... She d-d-didn’t like me...” She said, looking down.

“Oh. I’m sorry...” Jake got up and hugged her. “It’ll be alright, kay? Don’t cry...” He said. “Also, those are really neat little wings!” He smiled.

“Okay...” She said, and her stomach grumbled.

Jake noticed, and said, “You eat normal food, right?” She nodded. “Okay, good. Do you like pizza? Or Chinese?”

Aeva thought about it for a minute. “Pizza, please?”

“Got it. Anything you want on it?” He walked over to the phone on the wall and started dialing.

“Meat, lots of meat?” She said, looking a bit happier.

He nodded. “Okay.” Jake ordered a large meat covered pizza and hung up. “Our food should be here in a bit, then.”

Aeva smiled a little, and looked around. “What are all these drawings?” She said, pointing at one of what looked like a giant snake.

“Oh, those are mine. I draw things a lot. Keeps me calm.”

“Calm? What do you mean?” She asked.

“It’s a bit strange, really.” He sat back down at the table. “I was born with a small mental disability. I’m paranoid. Very, very paranoid. I went to see a therapist a couple years ago and she suggested I try to channel my agitation into something else. I chose drawing. Turned out I have a talent for it.”

Aeva nodded. “Oh. That’s... neat!” She said, and looked at some of the other drawings. Almost all of them were in some form of anime style. “So what do you do with them? Just hang them on your wall?”

“Not all of them. I also sell some at cons and things, to earn a little money. Most of them end up on my walls, though. Heh.” He laughed a little. “Hey, would you mind if I drew one of you?” He asked.

“Huh? Me? Why?” She looked at him, confused.

“No reason, just wondering.” He smiled. “I like drawing people.”

She thought about this and said “Okay, I don’t mind.” Right then, there was knocking at the door to the apartment.

“Food!” Jake said, and went to get the pizza. He came back to the kitchen with the box and a bottle of pepsi. “Here we go!”  He opened the box, and they started eating. Aeva ate a bit messily, but Jake didn’t mind, as he wasn’t the cleanest eater as well.  He did happen to see that Aeva had very sharp teeth though.

“Thank you!” She said happily.

He smiled. “You’re very welcome.  Full?” He asked.

She patted her stomach. “Yes.” She replied, taking one last sip of pepsi. She’d managed to eat half of the pizza, and Jake had eaten the other half.

“Good. So what do you want to do today?”

Aeva thought for a few seconds. “I don’t know.”

He laughed a little. “Well, we’re still stuck here until the storm goes away. Do you like video games?”

“What are those?” She asked, confused.

“Wait... you don’t know what a video game is?!” Jake said, shocked. “I have to show you!” He went into the living room area, and turned on the small tv, setting up a game system. “Here we go!” He got out a few games, chose one, and put it in. “This is Oblivion. It’s a really neat game.” He said, as Aeva walked in, still looking confused.

Jake started to play, showing her how the game worked. “So, do you want to try?” He asked.

She was still a bit unsure about what the game was about, but she said yes.  He handed her the controller and let her play, pointing out a couple of things as she did so.

Soon, she was into the game, and kept playing for a couple hours. When she decided she was done, she paused the game and thanked Jake. “Thank you! That’s fun!”

He smiled. “Glad you liked it.” He had a piece of paper in front of him, and a pencil in hand.

“Are you going to draw something?” She asked.

“Yeah. Just not sure yet.” Jake tapped the pencil on the table for a few minutes, and then had an idea. “Hey, could you stand over there for me?” He pointed across the table.

Aeva walked over and stood smiling. “Okay.”

“Perfect, just hold still for a bit.” He started drawing. About 20 minutes later, he’d finished the drawing.

Aeva walked over to see it, and smiled. “You’re really good at drawing!” It was a drawing of her, wings spread a bit. The anime style was definitely noticeable, but she could still tell that it was her.

“Thank you.”

“I have to ask, what’s it like being a demon?” Jake said, his voice friendly.

“I don’t know what it’s like to be a human, so I can’t really tell you.” She said, shrugging. “But flying, flying is one of the best things ever.” She closed her eyes and smiled.

He laughed. “You fly a lot then?” He asked.

“Yes.” She said, and looked at her feet.

“Umm... Is something wrong?” Jake asked, worried that he’d upset her again.

Aeva’s voice came out really quiet. “I’m not very good at flying... My wings are small and weak.”

“Oh. I’m sorry...” Jake said, then he went over and gave her a hug.

Aeva looked surprised, but said nothing.

“So, what should we do now?” Jake asked, and stood up.

She looked at him for a second, then jumped into his arms. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” she said, hugging the surprised boy.

“Um... Okay. You’re welcome?” he said, confused.

She pulled back a little and looked at his face. “My family always made fun of me for my wings being so small.” She told him, and hugged him again. “You’re so nice!”

It was Jake’s day of surprises, it seemed.“They did? But why? They’re cute!”

“But they’re too small. I can’t fly for even ten minutes!”

“But...” Jake hugged her. “I’m so sorry...” He said, and looked in her eyes. “Want to hear something good?” He said, and smiled.

Aeva looked back at him, and nodded.

“I looked it up, and if you want, you can stay with me.” He told her.

She said nothing for a few seconds, which worried Jake. Then she hugged him tighter than before. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” she said loudly.

Jake hugged her back, saying “No problem. We just have to sign a few papers and it should be good.”

Aeva stayed in his arms for a while, comfortable. The rain outside no longer sounded quite as dark, the lighting not as frightening. She actually fell asleep in his arms.

Jake did not wake her, because she was so cute asleep. He gently set her down on his bed. “Hmm... I’ll need to get a new bed.” he said quietly. She slept for a few hours, and woke up refreshed.

“Thank you again, Jake!” She said, getting up and hugging him. “ Thank you so much!”

“It’s nothing, just the right thing to do.” He said.

“But I’m a demon and you’re a human! Humans don’t usually do this kind of thing for demons!”

Jake shook his head, grinning. “Doesn’t matter, you’re still a young girl who needs help, thus I help.” He said, and made a little joke bow. This got a laugh for Aeva, who started smiling.

“But I don’t want to keep taking up your bed!” she said. “I’ll sleep on the couch now!”

“No no no, you can have the bed, you deserve it.” Jake said. “I was thinking about getting a new bed anyway.”

“...” Aeva looked around the small apartment. “Where’d you put it, though?”

Jake looked around as well. “Huh. Didn’t think of that. Well, there are a couple of larger apartments that are free, maybe I could work something out with the owner.”

“Really? You’d do that just so that I’d have space to sleep on a bed?” She was yet again surprised by how nice Jake was.

“Of course.” Jake smiled, “Besides, a larger apartment would be nice.” He said.

Aeva looked at him in astonishment! “But but but but!”

“It’s okay, really!” Jake said, smiling.

“I’m a demon! Humans aren’t supposed to like us?!” She said, again confused.

Jake sighed. “I’m not like most people. I think that if you are in trouble, you should be helped, even if your a demon or a human, okay?” He patted her head.

Aeva blinked. “Okay?” She sat there for a minute, thinking, and then smiled. “Okay!

“Now this brings us back to the original problem. What should we do now?”

“Umm...” She shrugged. “I don’t know...”

“Do you like to draw as well? One of your bags had some stuff in it.”

Her face brightened! “Yes! I’m not as good as you though.”

Jake handed her that particular bag. “I took out the paper, it was ruined. I’ve got some for you to use if you want!”

She took the bag, smiling happily. “Thank you!” She laid the stuff out on a clear part of the table, while Jake went over to the window with his own pencil and paper. Aeva started drawing, nothing really special, but not half bad. Jake was drawing the sky and city. After a while, they both finished.

He put the drawing up on the wall, and looked over at Aeva. “Not bad!” he said, walking over. She had drawn a couple of nicely detail scenes, and was working on what appeared to be a flower.

“I’m not really good...” She said, finishing the flower.

“You aren’t bad though!” He smiled. “Hmm... I’m going to try to see if maybe I can get something on the weather.” He said, grabbing the remote. The tv wouldn’t show anything, the weather ruined the connection. “Huh. Oh well!” He said, and sat down. “So what to do, what to do....”

((and, better yet, I have not one, but TWO art commissions for this story, which is awesome. This first one is by Kate Fazekas, author of Geminni and Geminni LEVEL UP! ))

JAAAAKE! *Steals Jake* Wait, didn't Jake used to be paranoid? And think the sharks were out to get him? *Frowny*

Art commissions are cool. I commissioned an artist to draw Loup.

Nice. The next one will be done soonish, by the artist of Yosh!
Which, indirectly, spawned this forum. Woohoo!

And here it is!

Daaaaaw!