“I should have really thought about the fact that my bed is just big enough to cuddle, but not for two humans to sleep in together.”

“You planned to sleep?” Adelina giggled.

“I can’t cheat that yet, we might have to have at least a little nap before we head up to the library tomorrow.” Kate ground a little bit more pepper on the fish filet in her pan. “Can you keep an eye on this and flip it when the sides start turning white?”

“Oh yea, sure.”

The filet was a rather interesting light blue, definitely not from earth. Eisheth had provided it to Kate, calling the fish a Nifldeep Stinger. From its name, Kate had correctly surmised that it was native to the waters around the island of Niflhel in Hell. It was apparently quite large, and this single filet would be enough for dinner for two.

The onions Kate had started finely chopping up were from earth though. They would be part of a small salad bed for the fish to rest on, surrounded by a garlic white wine sauce and fresh lemon slices.

“I hope this ends up to your taste.” Kate seemed rather worried. She had no reason to, she had followed the Apollyon’s recipe to the letter and Adelina seemed rather enamoured with the smells already.

“It’s going to be amazing! Should I flip it now?”

Kate glanced over at the pan. “Yes, then let it whiten about halfway up the sides and then flip again.”

Adelina did as instructed, quickly followed by Kate sprinkling it with some more pepper and salt.

“One thing Apollyon always took great care with is seasoning both sides of anything pan fried. And the results certainly speak for themselves.” Kate got back to chopping, this time a small variety of salad leaves found themselves under her knife.

“The yule dinner definitely did.”

“Oh yes, that was so good.”

“The second dessert too.” Adelina giggled.

“I hope I am still that tasty. Already equipped a choker with some absorbing medical fluff thing to keep the bitemarks safe later.”

“Genius. I need to remember that.”

“I just didn’t want to bleed onto my bed and a bandage isn’t very sexy.”

“It can be.”

“The choker is sexier.”

“Hm, likely, yea.”

Kate put her knife aside and picked up a spoon to taste the sauce that had been reducing slowly while all the other preparation was happening. “Good, that’s done.” She turned the hob off and reached for two plates.

Following the last few steps of the recipe, the filet was carved up into thin strips, then placed on the salad bed and finally garnished gently with the sauce and a sprinkling of fresh herbs.

Served with the remaining wine, this was quite the fancy dinner. Far more so than the kitchen it was served in. Adelina at least didn’t seem to mind that, after a small toast to delicious friendship, she dug in. The fish was certainly all it as was hyped up to be: tender and nearly melting in the mouth. Its original fun colour was not the only surprise it held though. Squeezing a some of the fresh lemon slices onto it caused it turn from its pale white colouring to a deep crimson. In that form, it turned out to be even more delicious.

“Such a shame hell food is so hard to come by.” Adelina mused as she cut off another small bite of the filet.

“I am eating at the library several times a week, I am sure everyone would be happy if you joined us.”

“Hm, I suppose that would be the only real way to eat more of the demonic cuisine.”

“Or you could get a demon to teach you how to cook.” Kate chuckled.

“I can cook reasonably well, but that is not a bad idea. I should do more with other people, demon or not, in general. Making friends doesn’t happen when I never spend time with anyone.”

“And it’s working with me already.”

“I am glad it does. You and the food you make are very tasty.”

Kate blushed. “Oh my…” She shook her head. “I don’t know why, but being bitten by you just turns me on.”

“It’s as sexy as you make it and I will go where you lead. The night is long and I would love to use it to its fullest potential.”

“I-… uh… we should finish the fish first.” Why the vampire was getting to Kate so much already was something she didn’t want to think about. It only mattered that it felt good, and that she wanted to save this for desserts. There was a very good fish and a more than passable salad to be enjoyed first.

“You are so cute, you know that?”

“Thank you… I mean…” Kate cleared her throat. “I sure hope I am, this entire physical adaptation to souls thing would be only half as good if I didn’t turn out cute… or badarse, or pretty…”

“You’ve always been cute, but the recent changes helped a little, I admit.”

“You are cute too, very pretty too. Never imagined there could be someone who could rock a hat like you, yet here you are.”

“Want to know a secret?”

“Sure.”

Adelina giggled. “It’s the cheapest one in the correct colour and size I found online.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes!”

“How much was it?”

“Fifteen pounds.”

“No way. It’s so pretty. A damn steal. We should get you a fancy demon hat if you ever need a second one.”

“My birthday is in a few months, if the librarians need a gift for me. But I am quite happy with the one I got. I have spares, don’t worry, but they are all a bit worn. If you wear them every day, they only last a few years, decades if you’re lucky.”

“We should get you one that lasts forever.”

“I will be picky with it.”

“You should be.”

 

Adelina was kneeling over Kate. They had moved to the bed after dinner and desserts, first desserts for the vampire. The second dessert would be Kate, who was currently very turned on as Adelina took her sweet time carefully cleaning the human’s neck and getting comfortable.

Kate let out a moany whimper when Adelina finally bit her. It was a wonderful sensation. Still nothing remarkable on a purely physical level, but the implications elevated everything. The little sting from Adelina’s fangs, her soft lips against Kate’s neck, it was intoxicating and made Kate eager to return the favour with more than just her blood.

The planned nap did not manifest, at least not before breakfast. Instead, the night was spent enjoying each other. Early in the morning they both showered, devoured Apollyon’s delicious waffles and seriously considered to ask the demons to cheat for them. They agreed that this would be a bad idea eventually and a short nap was actually needed.

One nap later, Kate and Adelina were now on their way to the library.

“We should do this more often.” Kate rubbed her choker gently. She felt a little sore, but it was all worth it.

“I would love that, but we need to set a timer.”

“Yea… my standards are a bit weird when it comes to how long sex lasts.”

“’A bit’ is an interesting way to put it. But I would be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy us taking our time.”

“The least we could do is not have plans for the next day.”

“That too. I am so happy we can just do this, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

Adelina smiled. “Two women having sex. For the longest time, I couldn’t have dreamed of this. Society is far from perfect, but we have come far.”

“Not far enough, honestly. Still, I am hopeful and quite grateful already that we can just meet like that and not be hung.”

“Too much of my life was spent dwelling on the consequences of my sexuality. Let’s think about more fun stuff, okay?” Adelina was clearly uncomfortable with Kate’s remark.

“Absolutely. You know who gets the short end in my social circle?” Kate noticed and tried to lighten the mood.

“How do you mean?”

“Well, sexually.”

“Let me think… oh no, it’s Oliver, isn’t it?”

“Yep. Poor guy is surrounded by a group of lesbians who are all vaguely his type.”

“And he never made a move on anyone?” Adelina sounded incredulous.

“Not to my knowledge. Back in year ten in school there was a guy called Matt, he tried his luck with me. I ran into a door instead. Arthur, the dipshit he turned out to be, was surprised I didn’t accept Matt’s invitation to a date. At a fucking Nando’s! Oliver though, he was laughing about it all with me, joking that he wouldn’t want to date Matt either and dragged me onto the bus to grab some actually good chicken from a local place. You heard his reaction when he found out that I sleep with the demons, that’s pretty much how he has always been. Supportive and good friend. Don’t think he ever asked anyone out, now that I think about it.”

“He sure sounds like a great friend and I am glad you are willing to share him.”

Kate laughed. “I have librarians and you to manage these days too, I definitely need to share Oliver to make sure he doesn’t get neglected.”

“Wouldn’t want that now, would we.”