It didn’t distract the demon for long, though. “Please tell me you have more tools than this,” he begged.
I have a hammer somewhere. I think maybe it’s in the office, Trent replied, mentally giving a shrug. He thought he might have used it to hammer a nail back into his desk at some point.
“Demons,” Paz muttered, shaking his head.
I don’t need tools. That’s what a landlord is for,Trent explained.
Paz wandered into the living area next. The couch and tv stand didn’t seem to bother the demon too much, although he spent a weird amount of time staring at the blank walls. What really seemed to catch his attention were the windows. The shades were pulled down, so it wasn’t like anyone could see into this apartment, so Trent wasn’t at all sure what the problem was.
Paz walked over and gently pulled the bottom of one of the white shades. It flew up, flapping a bit as it did.
“Demons,” Paz muttered. “You didn’t even get real window treatments?”
Trent puzzled over that for a moment.Why would my windows need treatments? I’m, like, just renting. It doesn’t get too hot and there’s no glare because I leave the shades down, so I’m not doing some treatment on the windows or whatever you’re thinking of.
Paz burst out laughing at that, shaking his head. “You are fucking hopeless,” he muttered, and it almost sounded affectionate to Trent. “Window treatments are what people call blinds and curtains and other things to cover windows. You put up cheap dollar shades and not even a curtain to cover them. And this is a really nice apartment, Trent. It’s kind of… sad.”
Hey. I didn’t put them up,Trent defended.
He could see his face raise an eyebrow in the window’s reflection. Yeah, maybe he should have pretended he had put them up, because Paz was apparently judgy as fuck over home decor.
“Let me guess. They came with the apartment,” Paz drawled.
Well, yeah. So what was I supposed to do?Trent reasoned.They work perfectly fine.
Paz scrubbed his hands down his face, turning again to look at the bare walls. “Replace them. That’s what you were supposed to do. How long have you lived here?”
Umm, maybe six years now?Trent guessed.
“Demons,” Paz said again, shaking his head.
Trent was figuring out that it must have been Paz’s version of “Good Lord” or “Oh my god.” He wasn’t sure how he felt with all those demonic versions of OMG coming his way.
“I don’t even want to go in the bedroom or office, do I?” Paz asked.
Not if you’re gonna be all judgy about it, Trent groused.
Paz sighed, but he walked toward the office anyway, stepping through and flipping on the light. He shook his head as he stared at the square, brown desk and office chair—at least Trent had splurged and gotten a nice comfy one—before taking a seat and pulling over Trent’s laptop.
He signed in (nifty trick, knowing all that stuff), and before Trent could even think about it, Paz was logging into his bank account.
Paz looked at the balance and leaned back in the chair thoughtfully. Then he leaned forward and started signing into all of Trent’s accounts—credit cards, utility bills… Paz even went in and pulled up his health info chart. Kinda creepy.
“You don’t owe any money. Your credit cards are all paid off and you just use them for points. You have a savings account. A retirement fund,” Paz listed off.
Yeah, Trent agreed.I was gonna spend some time on a vacation this summer. Somewhere exotic, Trent added.
Paz snorted. “Sure you were. When was the last time you took a vacation?”
Last year! I take a vacation every year!Trent insisted.
“Yeah? Where did you go?” Paz asked.
Trent sort of mumbled his response into his head.
“Hmmm? Couldn’t hear that, Trent. Where was the vacation?” Paz questioned again.
Fuck. This demon was a pain in the ass.I go home every Christmas and spend a week with the family, Trent admitted.
