

"Oh, dear," he said, brows furrowing in fake contemplation, eyes softening in fake sympathy, tone diluting to fake notes and keys in the thick air;
{fake, fake, fake; what was he, an actor?} and his throat rumbled a few
tsk-tsks before he continued. "Didn't you know that demons can have dreams, too?"
She leveled a wry grin on her face, because this was definitely the best night-time excursion she had ever had. "I didn't say nothin' 'bout demons, sir, I said that you don't have dreams. No body said
you was a
demon."
His lip twitched up for a fraction of a second, forcing him to look-
gasp- bemused at her antics, or perhaps her dialect, or the way she crossed her arms when she spoke. One of them, all of them, take your pick; he quickly worked to fix it, though, and a slick smile was wagered in its place. "Now, look at me? I've got the horns, I've got the wings, look at my eyes, doll-face, they're charcoal malt balls stuck into my eye sockets! What about me doesn't scream demon to you?"
She pursed her lips and her brows hung low for a bit, as if she actually had to think about it. "Well, I think the main thing'd be that you're leanin' against a tool shed like ya' own it, and demons ought to own better than my Pa's rickety old shed, and the second thing'd be that, well," she shuffled her feet a bit. "Ain't no one who's cool talks to me, I tell ya',"
His face faltered again, but he wasn't so quick to fix it, not this time. He didn't know how to deal with kids, nonetheless kids with low self-esteem, and the fact that he had been one didn't help the situation at all. "Aw now, listen here, okay?" He tried the sweetest tone he could muster, but it broke halfway through, and she let out a giggle before nodding solemnly. "You're plenty cool, and if those twits at your dumb school or wherever the heck you see 'em, well, if they don't talk to you then they're missing out, right? I mean, I'm a demon, whether you believe it or not, and I'm talking to you, so you're automatically a thousand times cooler than they'll ever be!" Somehow, somewhere amidst the speech, his tone did grow soft and fond, as did his eyes as they welded with true sympathy.
"Shucks, Demon, you're makin' me blush!" She twiddled with her thumbs. "So're ya' hungry? I know we got some malt candies inside that aren't gray, and I could grab 'em quick, if ya really wanted some?"
He smiled, and it was one toothy grin; all of his slick, pure-white teeth glistened in the porch light. "They sound mighty delicious, and hey, why don't you call me Aboih, kiddo?"
"Fine with me, so long as you quit callin' me kiddo, 'cause I ain't a kid, and my name's Clarice, just in case ya wanted to know or somethin' or other." She grinned at him loosely and held up her index finger, signalling one second, before she disappeared back into the darkened home.
So what if he'd grown attached, it's not like he really needed the experience of turning a child into a demon, anyways. Aboih knew demons could dream, but he knew that she had one hundred dreams too many. And maybe, just maybe, he'd let her have her whole life to accomplish them before he said hello again.
Plus, it'd been a while since he had any sugar that wasn't blackened or liquefied. He was sure his boss would understand.