It had taken more than a little convincing that it was in everyone’s best interest if Ryka let Kyle have full use of his body for the entirety of Chris’s visit. And even after Kyle had come up with a lengthy list of reasons why Chris should remain in the dark about the demon, Ryka had only grudgingly agreed.

“I promise,” Kyle assured him, “after Chris leaves, it’s all you. Use my body until it drops, just let me have a couple hours of sleep before school starts again.” That deal had seemed to satisfy Ryka, and by the time Chris showed up the following afternoon, Kyle was sure that he wouldn’t be hearing much from his other half for at least a few days. 

Not that Ryka’s sudden appearance was his only concern. The demon’s influence would ensure he still had a lot of difficult questions to answer. And they started shortly after Chris arrived. Kyle had shown him to the spare room, and then they had grabbed a beer apiece and settled themselves in the living room.

“Man, you haven’t changed at all. I mean, you grew your hair out a lot, but you look just the same as you did five years ago. I’m jealous.”

“Good genes, I guess,” Kyle offered, nervously drumming his fingers on the bottle in his hand.

“Your mom doesn’t age either. But the school I work for is so strict; there’s literally a list of approved hairstyles. Everything else gets a write-up.”

“Damn. My school really doesn’t care about something like that, thankfully.” At this point, Kyle could have shown up half-naked and drunk with a needle hanging out of his arm and there still wouldn’t have been repercussions. The administration was too scared for their souls to do anything. It wasn’t necessarily an uplifting thought.

“Just no face tattoos, right?” Even that he could have gotten away with. Though Ryka had once informed him a tattoo would be a waste of his time and money – the next time he was summoned, the ink would bleed out.  

“Exactly. But you’re teaching at some ritzy private school. I’m sure they have higher standards than a public school.”

“I am contractually obligated to be a good influence,” Chris informed him, rolling his eyes.

 “That, and you’re in the B-” A now familiar burning sensation stopped the phrase “Bible Belt” in his throat. After taking a swig of his beer, and nearly choking on that, Kyle was finally able to finish, “-in the South. They’re a little more strict in Texas than in Massachusetts, I’m sure.”

“Like I said. But hey, they pay me more to be uptight.” There was a pause while Chris studied him over his rapidly emptying beer bottle. “You know, I remember you saying that guys with long hair all looked like idiots. And here you are.”

That earned him a quiet growl. “People change,” Kyle quickly explained. 

Once they moved on to other topics, Kyle allowed himself to relax. He and Chris were cousins, but they had grown up together, and Kyle had always considered Chris more of a brother. Which is why he felt so bad hiding things from him - again - even though he knew it was for the best. He had already damned himself; he didn’t need to drag his family down with him.

***

For the first few days of Chris’s visit, Ryka stayed on his best behavior. Aside from the occasional lewd comment, he was silent. Unlike Kyle, Ryka could rest when he wasn’t in control of their body, and Kyle noticed he was spending most of his downtime asleep. At least until the third night after Chris’s arrival.

Kyle was just getting into bed when he felt Ryka wake up, that unnerving feeling that he wasn’t alone in his own head. At least it was only in these transitional moments he felt the difference.  Master?

“What is it?”

I know I’m supposed to wait until your cousin’s gone, but I really, really, really need a cigarette.

“You told me you couldn’t get addicted. That only my feeble human body would be susceptible. But here you are, begging for a smoke. Interesting.”

Don’t fuck with me. Please? Besides, it’s more than just the nicotine. You know they’re supposed to kill you, and even though they can’t, there’s still that little bit of fear. 

Kyle’s mouth watered - Ryka really was desperate. “I don’t know ….”

I’ll stay in your room. And I’ll only come out long enough for a beer and a smoke. Master, please?

Why was he so weak to Ryka’s demands? Forcing a sigh, he replied, “Fine. I’ll go get the beer, though, okay? And you’re not to leave this room, under any circumstances. Promise me.”

Yes, Master, I promise. Thank you.

Guilty about forcing Ryka to hide, Kyle thought the least he could do was let him out for a few minutes. Though it was hard to shake the feeling that he was making another mistake. Still, he grabbed an unopened twelve-pack of Budweiser from the fridge, dug Ryka’s cigarettes out of the junk drawer in the kitchen, and headed back to his room. 

One thing he hadn’t considered in allowing Ryka to come out was that his room was far too small for the transformation. Ryka couldn’t stop his wings from opening to their full extent, thudding into the walls and knocking everything off the dresser. “Son of a bitch,” he hissed, gingerly folding them closed.

Forget it. I’ll pick it up later. Just hurry up. And be quiet, okay?

“Yeah, yeah.” Ryka cracked open a beer and drained it in three big gulps. “Oh, man. That was fantastic.” He flopped down on Kyle’s bed, and happened to look over at the dresser. “Hey, your mirror’s level with the bed.”

No, you don’t have time to play with yourself. Smoke, and do it quickly.

“You suck.” He didn’t argue, though. Any pleasure he would have gotten out of it would have been ruined by having to listen to Kyle complain the whole time. Sighing, he lit up a cigarette. He watched a small flame dance on his fingertip before blowing it out and again turning to look at the mirror.

Your horns grew, too, didn’t they?

“Two weeks later, he finally notices. Insensitive prick.”

Sorry. I’ve had a lot on my mind.

“Excuses, excuses. Just for that ….” He trailed off, using his free hand to do just what Kyle had told him not to. Who had he been kidding? It was fun, no matter how much his host complained. “You know, I can control your body a little even when you’re in charge. And I’m sure we can make it work the other way, too. Could be fun, don’t you think?”

I’m going to have to disagree.

“You forget that I already know about you. You can’t hide -”

Enough, Kyle demanded, more sternly than he intended to. 

To that, Ryka said nothing. Unfazed, he continued to watch himself in the mirror, meaning Kyle was forced to do the same. Though Kyle thought that did little to explain the unusually mischievous smile the demon now wore. At least until he, too, heard footsteps in the hall.

“Hey, are you hoarding all the beer? I’m still thirsty.” Ryka draped a wing over himself just as Chris opened the door. Kyle thought that was something to be thankful for, especially since he was sure “modesty” wasn’t even in the demon’s vocabulary. “K-Kyle?”

“Sorry, he’s not in right now.”

“B-b-but ….”

“Okay, fine, it was his body first. But he was kind enough to share. Now, quit stuttering and pointing and get over here.”

Somehow, Chris managed to let go of the doorknob and take a few steps into the room. The creature that looked disturbingly like his cousin continued to smile at him from the bed. “What are you? What happened to Kyle?”

“I’m a demon. My Lord Satan made me and named me Ryka, put me to work for five hundred years, then kicked me the fuck out. And your cousin was nice enough to let me share his body with him until Satan lets me go back home. So, Master’s really still here, but this body’s mine tonight.”

 “Master? You mean Kyle?”

“Yup.” 

“I’m dreaming, right?”

Ryka rolled his eyes. “If I hadn’t already known you were related ….”

That seemed to snap Chris out of his stunned daze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nevermind. Now, did you want a beer or not?”

Through Ryka’s eyes, Kyle could see how nervous Chris looked. And he was sure it didn’t help that it was quite obvious what Ryka was doing with his free hand, even though he was still covering himself with his wing. Still, Kyle thought he was just as uneasy as his cousin. This was the first time Ryka was really meeting another person, not just threatening one. He didn’t exactly have good people skills.

Ryka quickly realized all Kyle’s fears. “I suggest you grab a beer before I make you earn it. I could use a hand over here.” Chris’s eyes went wide, and he lunged forward, snatched a beer from the case, then took a few big steps backward. “Yeah, you’re just alike. What a drag.”

Don’t be a pain, Ryka.

“You shut up.”

“Me?”

“No, the stud. He said I shouldn’t pick on you. What the hell else do I have to do?”

What happened to one beer and one cigarette?

With a wicked laugh, Ryka answered, “Sorry, Master, I’m out for the night.” Returning his attention to Chris, who was slowly and quietly trying to make his exit, Ryka said, “And as for you. I promised I wouldn’t leave this room, so why don’t you be a good boy and come back in, oh, half an hour. Sound good?”

To Chris, there didn’t appear to be much of an option. Even though the demon had said it had promised to stay put, he had serious doubts about how good of a promise that really was. Besides, he was more than a little curious as to how his cousin had come to share his body with Ryka. “Um, sure. Bye, then.”

Why does he need to come back?

“Because I’m bored. I talk to you all the time. It’d be nice to talk to someone else for a change.”

Kyle really couldn’t argue with that. Ryka only had him, and because he feared letting people get too close, Kyle only had the demon for companionship. Try to keep the sexual harassment to a minimum, okay?

“His voice is so much sexier in person. But I’ll try,” Ryka told him. Though, from his tone, it didn’t sound like he planned to try too hard. 

***

Ryka had only just finished pleasuring himself, and was lighting another cigarette, when Chris knocked on the bedroom door. “Come on in, handsome,” Ryka called.

As if he were intruding on a wild animal, which he was quite sure he was, Chris cracked open the door and slipped into the room. The demon was stretched out on its stomach on Kyle’s bed, its huge, black wings hanging onto the floor. “You said your name was Ryka, right?”

“Mm hmm.” 

A little nervously, Chris moved to lean against the dresser. The demon seemed far more interested in his cigarette than in whatever Chris was doing. “I was just wondering. How did -?”

“I end up with the stud, here? I’ll tell you. Grab another beer.”

Without even thinking, Chris leaned forward to do just that. And suddenly found himself at eye level with Ryka. For a moment, he was frozen as he stared into the demon’s red eyes. This had to be a terrible mistake, getting this close. But he couldn’t look away, couldn’t move. The fire burning in those eyes was hypnotic. Somehow, he found himself leaning closer still. Fire was the only thing he could see – everything else was going black, darkness creeping in from the periphery.

“Don’t stare too long – you might not like what you see.” With a start, Chris blinked, only then realizing he hadn’t done so in far too long. When his vision cleared, he was surprised to find Ryka studying him with his head cocked, almost like he wasn’t used to seeing people so close.

 “Sorry,” Chris mumbled.

“You can come closer if you want.” Licking his lips, Ryka patted the bed next to him, moving a wing aside to make room.

Chris jumped backward, then quickly straightened and opened his beer, trying to appear calm. The demon didn’t buy it, at least not based on the laugh he tried to smother. “Way too much alike,” Ryka muttered. “But, I’ll tell you how all this happened, and then you can tell me what my Master was like when he was little, right? Oh, and definitely about college. I want all the juicy details.”

You can see all my memories. Why would he need to do that? 

“It’s different when someone else tells it.” 

You just want to hear him talk, don’t you? Everyone had always told Chris he’d had a voice made for radio, but it bothered Kyle how smitten Ryka seemed. 

Sensing his host’s discomfort, Ryka grinned and returned his attention to their guest. “But you’ll tell me, won’t you, handsome?” For something that looked, and surely was, dangerous, he sounded like a small child requesting a favor from an adult. 

Chris thought saying “no” wasn’t an actual option, and didn’t see any harm in playing along, so answered, “Sure, I don’t mind.”