“So… you can feel this?”

 

Allyssa ran a finger over the ridged black-and-red horn in her lap, Scarlett purring gently. As an answer, Scarlett’s eyes rolled up into her head and she bit her lip. Her left leg twitched a little bit, and she folded her other one over it. 

 

“Oh.”

 

“Y--... Yeah.”

 

“That good?”

 

“M-hm.”

 

“Do you want me to stop?”

 

Scarlett made a soft sound in protest. Her wings were splayed across the couch and Allyssa was gently admiring, well, all of her. After they’d kissed, they’d both scooted backwards from each other, as if unbelieving of what had just happened. They’d looked at each other and smiled, both seemingly terrified that the other might scream, or possibly dissolve in a puff of smoke. Scarlett had bit her lip, nodding. Alli had sighed and launched herself at Scarlett again. Their first kiss had been a soft, transcendental affair, blowing their minds into galaxies and burning stars. This was different. Scarlett got to kiss a girl as a girl and it was everything she could ever remember wanting. Both careful, unsure, it had been awkward and amazing, Scarlett’s hands uncertainly on Allyssa’s hips. Alli’s arms around Scarlett’s neck. 

 

They’d stayed like that for a few minutes, until Allyssa’d had to come up for air, slumping back into the sofa breathlessly. Scarlett had just sat there and stared. Allyssa panting wasn’t something she’d been opposed to seeing, but the situation had been kind of absurd. And they’d laughed. Giggled, at how long it had taken them to get, well, here, at how long they’d been running circles around each other. 

 

But most of all, they’d laughed out of sheer delight that they had found each other. 

 

Scarlett had slumped over and gently put her head on Allyssa’s lap, so as not to stab her with the horns. 

 

“Do you want me to stop?”

 

“Nnnooo. But it eh…”

 

“Are you uncomfortable?”

 

“I’m um… too comfortable.”

 

“I… Uh. Oh… I mean… is that… a bad…”

 

“It’s a good thing, Alli. But I want to take things slow. If… If that’s okay?”

 

“Of course! Yes, of course, yes, sorry!”

 

“You don’t have to say sorry, Alli. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

“All right. Thank you.”

 

They sat in content silence for a bit.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Hell yeah. It’s just a bit much to take in, you know?”

 

“You’re one to talk. My childhood friend is a demon girl.”

 

“Hey! I’m a girl. That trumps your thing.”

 

“I’ve got one better!”

 

“Oh?”

 

“My childhood crush likes me back.”

 

“Asfgj,” Scarlett said, and covered her blushing face with her hands.

 

“Struck a nerve?”

 

“Aaa.”

 

“Hey, assface.”

 

“What?”

 

“I like you.”

 

“Aaa!”

 

Allyssa nudged Scarlett.

 

“I like you too,” Scarlett squeaked between her fingers. 

 

“I know,” Allyssa said, and kissed Scarlett on the forehead, who made a delighted high-pitched noise, muffled shortly after by Allyssa kissing her on the mouth again. More quiet sitting, this time slightly more involved as they lost themselves in each other again. 

 

“How long did you know?” Scarlett looked up at Allyssa.

 

“Know what?”

 

“That you, you know, liked me.”

 

“Gosh. Sixth grade? Maybe?”

 

“Shit.”

 

“What?”

 

“Me too.”

 

“Oh my god.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Allyssa absent-mindedly ran a finger along one of Scarlett’s horns. Scarlett squirmed, moaned, and Allyssa jerked her hand back. Her head was beet red. Scarlett was a deep purple. They avoided looking at each other, blushing and hiding smiles. 

 

Hecate walked past the living room and saw her child smiling in a way they only ever really did when they were around Allyssa. She’d been rooting for those two since forever, and she was glad they’d finally found each other. Hesitant as she was to disturb them, she nevertheless walked into the room. Both of them turned their blushing heads lazily towards her. 

 

“Food’s going to be ready in a bit. You’re free to join us, Allyssa, just call your parents.”

 

Allyssa and Scarlett looked at each other with big, happy smiles, then Allyssa nodded. They slowly untangled themselves from each other, and Scarlett stretched her wings and Allyssa tried not to sigh wistfully as she saw Scarlett’s well-defined shoulders flex powerfully, then scuttled off to call her mom. Scarlett joined her mom, once again attempting to cut an onion, in the kitchen.

 

“So… mom…”

 

“Yes dear?” A long career of being infernal hellspawn was the only thing keeping Hecate’s voice level. She was putting in a lot of effort not to sound too eager, like she hadn’t heard most of their conversation earlier.

 

“I… I think I know why the changes have been happening.”

 

Hecate turned around, happily curious. This was news.

 

“I think that.... Hm…”

 

“Take your time, hun.”

 

“I think, every time I maybe like… thought about… wanting to be....”

 

Hecate’s eyes grew a little wider. It was taking every bit of self control not to whoop unceremoniously. 

 

“I think every time I like, consciously, wanted to be a girl… I was.”

 

“So you’re saying…”

 

“I think I want to stay like this, mom.”

 

Hecate smiled proudly. “Then you can stay like this, hun.”

 

She opened her arms invitingly, and Scarlett stepped into them happily. 

 

“I heard your friend call you Scarlett…?”

 

“Yeah. I like that better.”

 

“I like it too, sweetie. I’m proud of you.”

 

“Thanks mom.”

 

They melted, for just a moment, into their very first mother-daughter hug. Hecate was proud, of course, that her daughter had found a way to be comfortable with her infernal heritage. But what really struck a chord in her chest was the fact that she’d found who she was as a person, that she’d realized she was a woman, and, maybe most of all, that she’d been comfortable enough to tell her mother about it. Hecate took a step back, smiled, and ruffled Scarlett’s hair. It was a lot harder now that it was longer.

 

“I’m gonna get back to cooking sweetie. You see if your friend needs anything.”

 

Just then, Allyssa walked into the kitchen. Hecate grabbed the kitchen knife as she turned around, was momentarily distracted by Allyssa walking in, bumped into the fridge, and found the blade shoved down to the hilt into her chest. They stood frozen there for a second. 

 

“M--... mom?”

 

Hecate stared at her hand on the knife with disbelief. Allyssa was frozen with shock.

 

Then, Hecate rolled her eyes.

 

“Ugh, and I just got this shirt.”

 

She removed the knife with an annoyed glare, as if it had personally slighted her, and then rinsed it in the sink, talking to Scarlett and Allyssa over her shoulder.

 

“I’m going to go upstairs and get changed and cleaned up. I’m so sorry about this. Why don’t you guys order a pizza? I’m not going to get anything done today I can already feel it, anyway, I love you sweetie order me something with mushrooms…” Her voice trailed off as she made her way upstairs.

 

“Aaa?” Allyssa asked.

 

“Oh. Oh! Right!” Scarlett was quick to take Allyssa’s hand in her own for reassurance. “My mom’s fine. She’s… a lot sturdier than normal people, Alli. Just a bit clumsy. Don’t worry about it.” She looked up in her mom’s general direction. “She’s fine.”

 

“She stabbed herself in the chest, Scarlett!”

 

“Look, I can do it too if it helps? Do you want to--”

 

“I’m not going to stab you, you ass! I just… I had no idea your mom was so…”

 

“... weird?”

 

“Cool!”

 

“My mom isn’t cool.”

 

“She’s a demon! Who shrugged off a knife to the chest like it was a blueberry jam stain!”

 

“I promise you she’s a mom first.”

 

“Fair. Valid. I guess.”

 

There was a bit of a pause as they just stood in the kitchen, holding hands. Alli pulled Scarlett in for a kiss. Neither could really get over just how soft the other was. Allyssa was the first to pull away, and bit her lip.

 

“So… Pizza?”

 

“Yeah. Something with meat, please.”

 

“Okay!” Allyssa practically skipped back into the living room, and Scarlett just stood there with eyes happily glazed over. Her mom was still upstairs, so she went up to make sure everything was okay. Quietly walking up, she heard her mom talking. 

 

“...nally figured out what was happening.”

 

Not one to pry but also not one to avoid a trope, Scarlett stood behind the corner and listened. Her mom was clearly talking to someone on the phone.

 

“Yeah. No. No, that’s not… Nope. Yeah. It’s Scarlett now. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah I hadn’t considered that either. Yeah. I think that… Yeah. No, I think it’s because we were too close, you know? Yeah. No, she’s fine.” 

 

Something about the way her mom had said ‘She’ made Scarlett really happy. It was as if she’d just gently but sternly corrected someone. 

 

“No. No I didn’t. Remember her friend from school? Yeah, her. The Wright girl. She’s the one who helped her… yeah. She was really good about it. And… Oh yeah, no, they’re finally… Yup. Called it. You too, huh? Anyway, gotta get downstairs. Yeah. Bye. Okay. Bye. I love you too.”

 

Scarlett realized the conversation was ending and she quickly and quietly shuffled down the stairs. She walked up behind Allyssa, wrapping her arms around her from behind, giving her little kisses on the back of the neck, until she turned around and they enjoyed some more gay. 

 

Finally, her mom came back downstairs, at around the same time as the doorbell rang. Pizza was put on the table, and they enjoyed their meal in comfortable silence.

 

“So, Scarlett?” Her mom asked after washing down her last bite. 

 

“Yeah, mom?”

 

“What are you going to do now if you change back?”

 

Scarlett froze mid-bite. She hadn’t considered that. She thought that, now that she knew, she could just stay that way. Hadn’t considered the possibility that, when the alarm went off again, she’d be turned back into that weird masculine shape. She didn’t want to, really didn’t want to go back. She was Scarlett, she couldn’t go back to looking like… him. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

 

“Oh. Fuck.”