Sarah felt a little out of place between the demons and mostly-humans of the library. Still, when she got invited to the yearly winter solstice celebration, she couldn’t say no. This was an honour beyond what she could put into words and Sarah was quite skilled with those. Right now, she was just happily holding on to her massive demon-scale mug of hot chocolate, taking a sip every so often. It was just the right temperature to enjoy and warm her and didn’t seem to cool down at all.

There was a sudden bump against her leg and a giggle from Kate. When the human looked down, she nearly spilled the hot beverage on herself in shock. There was a massive cat.

“I think she wants to snuggle.”

Sarah’s eyes darted back and forth between the large white cat and Kate. “She could eat me…”

“But she won’t, you’re not her type of snack. Just scoot over a bit and give her some room, I’m sure you’ll love her once you get over the size.”

Sera jumped onto the couch and got comfortable beside Sarah, giving her a friendly rub.

“Does she have a name?”

“Sera. Her friend Rin should be here as well. Oh, and Mochi of course. All three are equally big and equally adorable.”

“Right… I don’t see them around though.”

“They’re usually out gathering up strays and any cat whose humans are out today and guide them here. In a few hours this place will be filled with cats.”

“That’s really cute.”

“Oh yes.”

The library restaurant had been decorated with magical candles, various evergreens and a pile of presents to be opened after dinner.

“Sorry for being so awkward. I mean, you introduced me to everyone and I’m literally working here at least once a week… but this still feels a bit too personal. This is more than an office party, you’re all friends who celebrate together and I’m here too.”

Amaterasu sat across from Sarah on the second couch with Evelyn and Eisheth. “I felt the same last year but there is something that Evelyn here had to remind me of. No matter how deeply intertwined you are with this group right now, we still want to be friends with you and this is our way of making that happen. And since you are here now, it looks like you would like to be friends with us too and be part of this little group.”

“I suppose that’s true. Even if it’s a little awkward still, I’m happy to be here. I mean, if it wasn’t for this little party, I’d be at home in my room watching some series or something.”

“Series? Those recordings of what are almost theatre plays?”

“Uhm, yes, I suppose that’s a way to describe them.”

“I have heard fascinating things about those but never got around to actually experiencing any. Would you mind showing me some?”

“Sure, of course. There are so many, I would just need to know what interests you.”

“Well, I have a bit of a thing for the stars and the night sky here. I have studied it for millennia. Are there stories about that? About going to the stars?”

“Oh definitely! I have a few series in mind I could show you.”

“Perfect! Don’t spoil the surprise, just tell me when you are free to meet up.”

“The day after Christmas? The twenty-sixth around dinner time? Ordering some food and watching something while we eat is a bit of a human tradition at this point.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“You just need to disguise yourself as human, I don’t want to explain to my parents that my new employers are demons from literal actual Hell and I have one of them over for dinner and to watch TV. That might derail that evening just a little bit.”

“We do have electricity and what you call the Internet in Hell, you can just come to my place.”

That took a moment to sink in. “But what if I do something stupid? I wouldn’t want to break something. Everything in Hell is so special and amazing.”

“Sarah, I can create stars and put them in bottles. What makes you think you can break anything in a way that matters? I am honestly surprised that you are more worried about you doing something to me and my stuff than what someone with my power can do to you.”

“If you wanted to do something to me, you could have done that at any point in the past two months. You are scary and super intimidating but I trust you. No idea if that’s a good thing, but hey. So you are okay with me coming over? Stupid question, you invited me… uhm, yea, let’s meet up here and go to your place.”

Amaterasu nodded and smiled warmly. “Good. That is what we will do. I’ll make sure we have some snacks as well. You can stay the night, of course, if you want.”

Sarah went bright red. “O-on your couch, you mean, right…?”

“No…? Unless you prefer that.”

Sarah tried to stammer out a few more words before deciding to just cover her face with the mug and drink more hot chocolate.

Kate giggled. “Ama, no one told her and she has a thing for demons. Like a demon kink.”

“Out of all you people, with the exception of Evelyn, you people who bounce around each other’s beds like you don’t own one yourself, none of you ever had the thought to tell her about how we view sexual intimacy and the friendship sex?”

Kate shrugged. “She’s a bit young for me, just nineteen.”

Sarah nearly choked on her beverage. “My birthday was like two weeks ago, I’m twenty now.”

Ama took a deep breath. “And you didn’t tell us? We would have done something special for you!”

“It’s just a birthday, nothing special, no one ever really cared about those. Also… more importantly… f-friendship sex?”

“In short, we don’t tie sex to romantic relationships for various reasons and it’s a way of appreciating our bodies between friends.”

“So, you would want to…”

“Give you the option. I’m a reality bending immortal, there is a distinct power imbalance. Everything that happens between us is your choice. I’m not going to make a move, but I will indulge wherever you want to go.”

“I might need the long version first. But I’m pretty much for that.”

“And I will give you the long version.”

Kate got up. “Polly and I will go and prepare dinner, it’s time we deal with our strider loin. You all have fun with the demon sex education, I need to figure something out for your birthday. You aren’t the only nut who needs convincing that we want to celebrate those days.”

Sarah shrank a little on the couch. “Okay, sure…”

Once dinner had been devoured, it didn’t take long for Sarah to open up and start laughing and sharing stories with the library friends. Apparently talking about sex made other topics seem far easier to talk about. The one thing Sarah still seemed very shy about was the gifts. She insisted that everyone else got theirs before she would accept any.  

“I guess I can’t avoid it anymore…” Sarah looked at the box in her hands. There were two more waiting for her on the table.

“We really need to deal with your aversion to gifts someday.” Adelina joked.

“Yea, I guess we should. Let’s start with this one then.” She carefully removed the wrapping and opened the box. “A pin?”

“A badge.” Apollyon corrected her. “Just like the ones we wear but in a different shape. You aren’t a librarian, you have a unique position that deserve recognition as such. The badge will protect you as ours protect us. It will also allow you to use the door to Hell. For your own safety I have to insist that you only leave the city of Dis accompanied by a demon, but you are free to move around Dis as you please and enjoy what the city has to offer.”

“Are you sure? That is quite the honour, almost too much.”

“We talked about it over the past weeks and agreed that this is the right step. It is not just the gift of allowing you into Hell but the gift of trust. Of course, it is also part of the protection we promised you.”

“I don’t know what to say… well, thank you for starters.”

“Even without the ability to read your thoughts, I can feel your gratitude. Words are not always necessary.”

Sarah put the little box with the silver pen-shaped badge aside and reached for the next present. She paused after unwrapping it. “That is not what I expected after the meaningful and deep last thing.” She hugged the plush squirrel gently.

“All demons have moments in which we seek the comfort of a plush animal. A companion that will never forsake us and always understands. They are an important part of our culture, but not nearly as celebrated as they should be.”

“That is so wonderful. Does she have a name?”

“Once you give her one.”

“Hazel. This one is Hazel.”

Apollyon nodded approvingly. “A good name.”

The third gift was a little less surprising but spark similar joy. “A notebook and such a pretty one!”

Kate swallowed the last bite of her cookie. “First time we celebrated this, I gave everyone one of those. Ama got hers last year. Adelina has the little reading kitten on hers, the rest of us have the library emblem. Yours got your pen badge on it. Oh, and the text on the back that you can’t read? That’s your name in abyssal letters, which humans are incapable of learning.”

“Okay, that is seriously cool. Now I worry how much care I need to take to keep this all safe.”

“Not any more than you do with other stuff. Everything we gave you is enchanted to stay with you and never break. This is your stuff for as long as you are alive.”

“You people are too kind.”

“We aren’t done yet. We made some cupcakes to at least have something to celebrate your birthday.”

“I love cupcakes!”

Kate smirked. “I know.”

Velhari

Quite the happy coincidence that my upload schedule aligns with Christmas and New Year's this winter. I hope you all have some wonderful holidays and, as we say in Germany, a good slide into the new year! And, of course, a massive thank you to everyone reading my stuff. You people are great.