Page 3 of How Not to Date an Angel

Which could only mean one thing. “What is going on? Were you cast out?” FromHell?

Rami didn’t even know if that was something that happened—they certainly hadn’t ever heard of it. But why else wouldn’t a demon be able to draw on Hell’s power, and why wouldn’t an angel be able to heal him?

And what could this demon have done to earn such a punishment?

“No… I don’t think so,” he muttered, though his gaze was closing again.

Rami crouched down and snapped their fingers. “Stay awake. That’s important.” Though they couldn’t remember why at the moment. “We’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way, I suppose.”

Theywereable to conjure a bowl of water and a clean cloth, as well as bandages and antiseptic ointments for all the open wounds. Rami had to help; they couldn’t just stand here and watch the demon suffer.

“What’s your name?” the angel asked.

“Julian,” he muttered, eyes drifting shut again.

“Nah-ah,” Rami said, and carefully poked his cheek in an unblemished area. “Awake.” His skin was soft.

“What’s your name?” he slurred.

Their manners took over. “I’m Rami. Pleased to meet you.”

The demon still had horns, golden skin, wings, and that tail, so he wasn’t human, which meant he wasn’t likely to die from his injuries. In that case, Rami quite literally couldn’t mess this up, and they found relief at the realization.

“Julian, then. Do you remember what happened?”

“Pretty sure I pissed off the boss.”

Rami felt the blood leave their face. “L-Lucifer?” they whispered.

Julian scoffed, and then groaned, clearly regretting the action. “N-no. I’m not that high up.”

“Oh, well. Glad to hear that,” they said, though they weren't sure why they said it. What were they glad to hear? That the demon wasn’t as evil as they’d thought?

All demons were evil, that was just… how it worked. They were part of Hell, and Hell itself was evil, and therefore they were evil. It just made sense.

Rami liked when things made sense.

It was part of why they liked to study humans, how their brains worked. Psychology, they called it.

It was also why they loved helping humans understand why they were the way they were. Why Rami was a therapist, of all the human professions they could’ve chosen.

There was a reason for everything humans did, and it often tied back to their childhood. It was like solving a mystery.

Rami liked mysteries, too.

And it seemed the greatest one had just dropped onto their doorstep.

“Who is your boss, then?” Rami asked, for lack of another question coming to mind.

“Oh,” Julian said, a little garbled, like when humans had too much to drink. “You wouldn’t know ‘im.”

“I don’t see why that much matters,” Rami muttered.

Carefully, they blotted the blood from the demon’s eyes and forehead, discovering it was a shallow wound, like he’d been hit with a hand wearing a sharp ring. The gash was across his forehead, so the assaulter hadn’t had very good aim.

“How did you know to come here?” Rami asked.

“What d’you mean?” Julian’s brow furrowed in thought before he winced as the wound on his head crinkled. That couldn’t have felt good.

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