I follow Dylan’s gaze and wince. Yeah. It’s notancient, but I’m guessing Marc bought it right after he moved here and hasn’t bothered to upgrade. For Dylan, who builds his own computers and is constantly upgrading—not to mention bitching at me because I literally don’t care how old my laptop is as long as it’s still working—this is sacrilege.
“I guess you could call it that,” he says, in full geek drama mode. He walks around the desk, hits the button to boot it up, and sits. Then looks up at Marc. “Where are the keyboard and mouse?”
Marc glances around. “Somewhere. Check the bottom drawer. If they’re not there, I may have thrown them out.”
“Why?” I can’t resist asking, and I regret it when he turns his gaze on me.
“They weren’t aesthetically pleasing, and I had no need of them.”
I canhearDylan grinding his teeth as he opens the desk drawer and—luckily—pulls out the keyboard and a corded mouse. There’s another short delay when he has a hissy fit over Marc not usinganypassword at all—apparently he used his demon whammy to bypass the operating system’s requirement for one—and then he gasps. “When was the last time you updated the operating system?”
Shrugging, Marc says, “Never. Sometimes things will try to update, but they annoy me, so I refuse to allow it.”
“Maybe we should wait in the hallway,” Ian says hastily as Dylan’s face turns red. “Or… anywhere but here.”
“I would like to stay,” Raum says, clearly bewildered. “This computer is fascinating. It doesn’t evolve on its own?”
“It doesn’t evolve, but itwouldupdate ifsomeonedidn’t fuck with it,” Dylan grumbles. “I can’t work with this. The OS is so old, it’s going to need a couple hours just to update. It’ll be faster to go back to the compound and get my computer and bring it here.”
Marc looks offended. “It’s perfectly suitable for my needs,” he declares stiffly.
“Dylan’s needs are more complicated,” Ian assures him, patting his chest—then snatching his hand back and shooting Raum a horrified glance. I guess they’re keeping their relationship a secret from Marc’s people, too.
Raum shakes his head. “Don’t panic. I can see you’re bonded.”
That’s a weird way to say it, but I guess he’s not used to talking to humans. I still hate that Marc knew about me and Dylan just from seeing us together.
Speaking of Dylan… “Okay, so we go back and get your stuff,” I offer.
“No.” Ian’s voice is firm. “All of us leaving the compound right after you arrived can be explained by going out to dinner. If someone sees you packing Dylan’s computer into the car right after youunpacked it, they’re going to know something’s up.”
“So you’re saying I have to wait for this dinosaur to update and then hope it can actually do what I need it to?” Dylan folds his arms and glares at Ian. “We’re wasting time.”
Marc clears his throat. “If I may…?”
It takes me a second to realize what he means, and then I look at my boyfriend. It’s his stuff that’ll get teleported, after all.
Dylan doesn’t seem impressed. His mouth tightens, but then he sighs. “Do not damage a single component, do you understand?”
“Why must you humans constantly insult me?”
I blink. Where Marc’s computer was sitting justnowis Dylan’s full setup, exactly how it looked when he arranged it all at the house. All he has to do is plug it in.
If it turns out I’m a demon now, will I be able to do shit like that? Because there has to besomeupside to it.
Also, how the fuck am I going to get Marc alone to ask him?
While I’m still trying to think of an answer to that dilemma, Dylan gets himself into gear and is soon tapping away, doing his thing. Raum rounds the desk to stand behind him, staring over his shoulder.
“Remarkable,” he murmurs. “That you require so much effort to achieve even the simplest things.”
Dylan’s fingers stop moving, and he slowly turns to look up at the demon. “Why don’t you wait outside? I’ll call you all in when I have something.”
Raum seems like he’s about to argue, but Ian chirps in with “Great idea! We can order dinner. Raum, how do you feel about Indian food?”
“I’m not certain if I’ve ever had it,” he admits. “I rarely come to Earth.”
“Great! Tonight will be a new culinary experience for you then!” My bestie’s smile is a little manic as he herds the demons out into the hallway. I cast a glance toward Dylan, whose focus is once again on his screen and keyboard, and say, “Yell if you need me” before following them.