Over three weeks passed before Rael managed to buy the house next door and move in. Every morning before he moved in, Korri would go to the Cafe and the two would talk while Rael drank his morning tea and Korri ate a muffin or some other breakfast item. The two became good friends during that time, and discovered they had many similarities.

Korri was helping Rael move in one day, carrying a small table inside his house while he fiddled with his CD player. The room was silent aside from the sound of Korri accidentally bumping into things until in a burst of sound, a song Korri had never heard started playing.

'...We get up early just to start cranking the generator,

Our limbs have been asleep we need to get the blood back in 'em,

We're finding every day, several ways that we can be friends...'

Korri wasn't sure what to make of it, being into more recent songs, but enjoyed it nonetheless. When she asked what it was, Rael looked shy and embarrassed, as if ashamed about his taste in music.

"It's called Generator ^ First Floor by the Freelance Whales... My brother used to listen to it all the time, and it reminds me of him. I can switch it, of you want," He said hurriedly. Korri's face went from curious and friendly to contemplative. "...No, I like it. It's nice." She smiled at him, and he seemed to relax a bit. He was always on-edge when she asked him about what he liked, as if it was something to be ashamed of. Korri couldn't understand why he felt that way, being a person who was always open about her tastes.

Rael walked out the door to grab more furniture, which Korri had the strange feeling that he summoned out of nowhere, despite the moving van parked outside. The way he had arrived, it seemed like he hadn't really expected to move in at all.

Korri brushed her wild hair out of her face and pushed the little table up against the wall, feeling sweaty from the humid, sweltering weather and the physical activity. She was glad she was wearing a tanktop, because it was nearly ninety degrees outside. Rael had abandoned his fancy suit for something more suited to the weather as well, and was wearing a baggy gray t-shirt and worn out jeans. He appeared in the doorway, holding a bookcase bigger than he was, and teetered from side to side before shuffling sideways through the narrow doorway and setting it down with an exhausted huff.

Korri walked over and tried to move the bookcase, but could hardly get it to budge. She whistled. "You're seriously strong, to have carried this monstrosity in," She said, dragging it towards her a few inches so Rael could maneuver around it. His face was flushed and sweaty, as was hers, and they both were sick of the heat. "...Gotta be," He panted. "If some idiot manages to break their whole dishwasher, I usually have to lug it out myself." He wiped his brow dramatically.

"Good point." Korri said, looking at him while he was distracted and wondering how he could have lifted the bookcase at all. He wasn't very muscular-scrawny was a better describing word. She expected he had some sort of magical strength, probably being a Demon, and was immediately jealous. She flexed her bicep absently, wishing she could carry around bookcases bigger than she was.

She shook her head and cast the thoughts aside. She didn't even know for sure if he was a Demon in the first place-she could have been dreaming that night, for all she knew.

Then again, he probably is. She decided. Her skin prickled at the thought, but she wasn't scared, she was just curious and excited.

Korri helped Rael carry the bookcase in and position it in the living room. While she panted and struggled, he had the air of someone who wasn't really struggling, but was pretending to. The Bookcase slid into position and the two paused to catch their breath and wipe sweat from their foreheads. Inside the house, it had to be at least ninety five degrees, since Rael hadn't turned on the air conditioning yet, and doing so would be pointless until they closed the door.

Korri leaned against a bare wall and decided she'd had enough. "Come on," She said, "Let's go to my house and cool off, for Pete's sake. This isn't a house, this is a freaking oven," Rael moved the tiny table over a foot, stepped back to look at it, then decided he'd had enough, too. "Alright," He said, looking just as exhausted and sweaty as she was. The two left the house and Rael closed the door behind him, then closed the door of the moving van for good measure.

Korri opened the old, wooden door of her house and was welcomed by a blast of cool, refreshing air-very welcome after the scorching sun and sweltering heat of summer. She walked inside and kicked off her shoes, immensely relieved to be out of the sun. Rael scurried in behind her and quickly shut the door to keep the cool air in and the scorching heat out.

Korri and Rael were silent for a few seconds. "I like your house," Rael said, breaking the tired silence. "It's got character, and smells nice." Korri smiled. "You're weird, but thanks." She laughed. Rael turned around and faced the door, peeking out the glass on top at the shimmering pavement outside. He groaned at the sight of the pavement shimmering in the heat. "Ugh, it's so hot today, it should be illegal," He grumped. Illegal... Korri thought. She suddenly felt scared, because she realised it was time to ask him the question that had been haunting her mind for the past three weeks.

"...Rael," She began. "Hmm?" He responded, looking out the window and staring raptly at something. A man was standing in the street, yelling loudly and complaining about the heat. Rael snorted as the man finally gave up pointing to the melted tar on the pavement because no one was listening and went back inside. Korri took a second to unjam the words caught in her throat.

"I know what you are," she said quietly, slightly hoarse. Rael froze, and took too long to answer. When he did, his voice was shaky. "What do you mean, you know what I am?" He slowly turned around, trying to put on a joking face, and failing miserably. "A handyman?" he joked. "I saw you that night you arrived. A coyote woke me up, and I looked out my window... I saw you out of disguise." Korri said. He stared at her in shock.

"So you know," He said blandly. "You've known all along," His face became a mask of distrust, and his voice slowly rose. "You're going to turn me in, aren't you? Are you with my father? Did he send you to look for me?!" Rael's eyes pulsed a bright, brilliant green and Korri put her hands up. "I'm just curious, I swear," Korri said quietly, trying to calm him down. "Please trust me. You all get enough grief without people turning you in," She said. Rael was silent, his face like that of an animal torn between fight or flight. "...I'll make you some tea if you come sit in the kitchen and answer some questions," She offered.

"Alright," Rael leaned back against the door, eyes scrunched shut, unable to resist the offer of tea. "Alright, alright-but if it turns out you lied..." He left the end to Korri's imagination, a hint of malice in his voice. Korri's heart thudded dully in her chest. She'd never seen this side of him, and it made her nervous. Although, she thought to herself, if I were cornered and confronted while obviously running from something, I suppose I would act the same, if not even more drastically.

Korri held out her hand and looked Rael in the eyes. "You can trust me." She said as convincingly as she could. Rael slowly took her hand and she led him to the kitchen. He sat in one of the three chairs with flowers painted all over them and Korri started making the tea. She didn't have a microwave, so she boiled the water the conventional way. She dug in her cupboards until she found the tea, which was hidden in the back because she rarely drank it.

She set a cup of tea in front of Rael and poured a mug of coffee for herself, then situated herself comfortably in the chair opposite from him. She watched him carefully over the lip of her glass and waited for him to say something.

"So," Rael said, and he was back to his normal awkward and shy self. "What do you want to know?" He held onto his mug like a life preserver; knuckles white and mouth in a thin, straight line. Korri decided to start simple, so he wouldn't get too freaked out. She took a sip of her coffee, then began her 'interrogation'. "Is your name actually Rael or...? Because, I know some De-" Rael cut her off. "My full name is Zaurael Skaracho, but I usually just go by Rael Smith for obvious reasons." Korri's eyes went wide. "Not... Not the one who...? In the news?" Rael frowned deeply into his tea. "That story was a lie. Parts of it were true, but it was exaggerated to make me appear as a monster to the public and ensure I wouldn't be able to stay hidden. My father was the one who edited it, and published it under a fake name." Korri decided to accept his word as true, though she was horrified to imagine what it would mean if he was lying.

"You mentioned you came here to get away from your crazy family, and seemed convinced that your father sent you. Do you mind telling me what that's about?" Rael took a slow sip of tea, wrinkling his nose at the flavor. "My father is convinced I'm the one to take over the family role when he's gone, even though my brother Warius is the more obvious choice, being the more evilly inclined one. When I made my intentions clear that I wanted to live a normal life, he was very, very angry with me and decided to force me into it, so I ran. He wrote that news story to ensure I could never live a normal life. I was lucky that they got a picture of me out of my disguise, and that my family had no pictures of me in disguise because to them it's shameful to disguise ourselves, in his exact words, as 'weak and pitiful humans.'"

Korri thought it over. "What, exactly, is the role you were supposed to take?" She asked. "My father is the probably insane leader of a group of Demons who believe that all humans should be either killed or enslaved, and is famous for all of the wrong reasons. Basically,  he wants me to be a terrorist. I don't want to be a terrorist," He said. Korri nearly spit out her coffee. "Please tell me you're not saying you're Niosuhr's son!" She squawked. "Niosuhr, the Demon made infamous by the fact that he was caught, on video, killing and eating a person?!" Rael visibly cringed. "He's a terrible, terrible creature, and an even worse father. I'm like my mother; I want to be good. Honestly." Rael stared into his tea thoughtfully. "She had the right idea, she left him when he started going crazy. I wanted to go with her, but I was too scared about what he would do to me if he caught us-and anyway, I couldn't leave Warry alone with that monster. She's safe, in Homeworld, I suppose. Who knows, maybe someday I'll go find her..." The last few sentences weren't really aimed at Korri at all; they were said as if Rael was trying to convince himself it was true.

Korri sighed. "I know how it feels to have an awful dad. I never knew mine-my mom says he left when he found out she was pregnant. Said he didn't want the responsibility of a daughter. That jerk didn't realise that maybe his daughter would wish she had a dad." She put down her empty mug with a frown. "...So, to change the topic to something a bit less depressing, what do you look like out of your disguise?" Korri asked. Rael stared at her blankly for a few seconds, still lost in thought. "...Uh," He said nervously, his leg jittering from the caffeine in his tea. "Wait, this was herbal or decaf tea, right?" He asked, sniffing the tea anxiously. Korri frowned, convinced he was trying to change the subject. "No, it was normal tea. Why?" She said suspiciously.

"Well, it means you'll get to know what I look like out of my disguise very soon," He said unhappily and his leg started bouncing a bit faster. "...Caffeine makes you go out of disguise?" Korri asked incredulously. Rael set down his cup and wrung his hands anxiously. "I can't help it; that's why I always drink decaf or herbal tea, not coffee. I don't know why it does that," His usually olive-colored eyes turned an unnatural shade of lime green and glowed slightly. Korri sighed. "Well, if you're going to go out of disguise, don't keep me on the edge of my seat waiting for the caffeine to do it's trick, for Pete's sake. I want to know what you really look like-it's been killing me for the past three weeks."

Rael squirmed in his chair. "I don't want to scare you or freak you out," He argued half-heartedly. He frantically tries to think of an excuse to leave the room until the caffeine wore off, but could think of none.

"Scare me?" Korri laughed. "Honestly, this could potentially be the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. Do remember I draw dragons and write comic books for a living," She said encouragingly. With a final exasperated noise, Rael took off his tennis shoes to reveal his strange feet, which he quickly hid, and hissed 'Fine!' in a very nervous way.

He stood up, took a deep breath, and calmed himself, then closed his blazing, emerald eyes. Cold, green fire swirled in a lazy, dizzying way around his ankles, licking at the table and floor but not burning anything. It swirled slowly upwards, gaining speed and intensity, eventually encasing him entirely. It whorled and shimmered until suddenly it went out to reveal Rael standing with his head bowed so as not to hit the ceiling, fire trailing from his palms.

He was over eight feet tall, with skin a deep, grayish bottle green covered in faint, pale white markings that swirled and faded, giving the impression of movement even though they were still. His eyes were slit-pupiled and entirely green, and two purplish horns ringed in white sprouted straight up from on top of his head, aligned with his pointed ears. His hair was the same, but tiny spikes jutted from below his skin and poked out of it. His fingers ended in sharp, serrated claws, and tiny spikes covered his elbows. His feet were like deer hooves, but more talon-like, and a long, extremely thin dragon's tail twitched behind him. He had grown so much, his t-shirt, which was overly long on him before, only barely reached his bellybutton, and his jeans only reached to halfway up his shins

Korri gaped at him for a full minute while he squirmed uncomfortably, eventually sitting back in the chair so he could stop bending over.

"Are you done?" He said sullenly, his sharp, pointed teeth and long, snakelike tongue making his voice sound strange and unfamiliar. "I don't like it when people stare," Korri closed her gaping mouth, but couldn't stop staring at the creature now situated rather uncomfortably in her kitchen. "Th-tha-" She stammered. "That was incredible!" She finally managed to splutter. "You have no idea how cool this is!" She stood up and hopped up and down a bit out of excitement. She walked in a circle around the table, looking at him, until he became so embarrassed and uncomfortable that he hid his face in his shirt.

"Ah-sorry, I'll stop," Korri said upon noticing his reaction. "I get overexcited sometimes," She laughed and Rael's head emerged from his shirt again. "It's been so long that I'm not used to being like this, though I have to admit it feels good after being all scrunched up as a human. I don't know how you creatures can tolerate it," Rael frowned, still slightly uncomfortable. Korri snorted. "...'You creatures', really? You just told me you want to be normal, yet here you are referring to humans as 'you creatures,'" She smiled at his inconsistency.

Rael looked at the floor, hiding his smile. "You don't think this is weird, then?" Korri smiled. "No, I think it's awesome and wonderful that one of my friends is a Demon. I don't think it's scary, or freakish, if that's what you mean. You're you, and I accept that." Korri said, meaning every word. Rael looked relieved and touched, though he was quick to hide it. "Wait, people can't see into your kitchen, right?" Rael said with a note of panic in his voice. Korri nodded, still excitedly jumping from foot to foot. "That's why I brought you here; it's the one room (besides the bathroom, of course) that people can't see into without the blinds closed. Calm down," She said. Rael visibly relaxed, though his tail still twitched back and forth.

"So," Korri said. "I have an insane amount of questions for you. Do you want me to ask them, or to wait until you're more comfortable?" She asked kindly. Rael put his elbows on the table, careful not to scratch it, then rested his head in his palms. "Fire away," He said. Korri bit her lip with excitement. "Okay, first question: do you really do that Cheshire Cat grin thing?" Rael nodded yes. "Yeah. Wanna see?" Korri nodded, then watched in horrified fascination as his sharp-toothed smile widened and widened, eventually appearing to split his face in half as it reached nearly to his temples. Korri shuddered a little, laughing. "That's so weird," She squealed, barely able to contain her excitement. "Okay, okay," She said, and Rael's face returned to normal.

"Next question: what's it like, growing up as a Demon? Also, you grew up in Sioux Falls, right?" Korri asked. "I lived there for basically my whole life, and let me tell you, it was awful. My father decided at least one of us had to go to a normal school, and since my brother Warius has some issues with his temper, and, to be honest, since I'm the smarter of us two, he sent me. In all of the seven years I went to a normal school, I didn't make a single friend. Those awful kids bullied me constantly, calling me things like Devil and Freak and Satan, and nobody, not even the teachers, would do a thing about it. I could go to school mostly disguised, so that I only had my horns, a tail, sharp teeth and pointy ears, but it was still horrible. I focused all my anger on schoolwork, though, and got into all accelerated classes. The only time I snapped was when some idiot said something about me being a murderer like my dad. I was going through so much awful stuff at the time that I finally snapped and I slammed him into a wall. He deserved it, and I don't regret it."

Rael glowered at the table, his tail lashing back and forth violently. "Sorry," Korri said. "No, it's fine," Rael said. "It's kinda nice to be able to complain about how awful it was to someone other than my brother, who was angry that he didn't get to go to a normal school." Korri nodded. "I've heard that Sioux Falls is one of the least friendly cities towards Demons in the Northern part of the US," Korri said. "Yeah," Rael sighed. "Warry and I asked dad hundreds of times if we could just move away from that awful place, but he was stubborn and determined to stay there for reasons I'll never know."

"Alright," Korri said slowly, sounding like the was nervous asking the question. "I don't mean to pry, but I really want to know-what happened the day that Niosuhr killed that woman?" Rael wouldn't meet her eyes, and took a few seconds to answer. "He had been a bit weird for the last few weeks, since mom left. Warry and I were with him that day. We were walking to a clothes store near our apartment, and father was a few feet ahead of us. He came this time because last time we went, the store kicked us out because we're Demons, so he decided he would talk to the manager. Warry and I were talking and laughing and goofing around, just being teenagers, when this lady comes up to us and starts saying all these horrible and insulting things to us like it's some kind of entertainment. Her friends are laughing and videoing it, and father turns around and tells her to back off and leave us alone."

"He tells us to go wait by the front of the store while he handled the problem, so we do, and we watch as they argue just under forty feet away on the sidewalk. We could hear everything she said to him, and I hated her for that, but she didn't deserve to be killed. Nobody deserves to have what happened that day happen to them. The lady wouldn't back down and went too far, and that's when he lost it. He came out of disguise-he was twice as tall as she was when he did, and-and he-" Rael's eyes were scrunched shut and his face was horrified. Trembling, he took a few seconds to regain his composure. When he started talking again, his voice was quiet and hoarse. "He tore out her heart. Right there, on the street, in front of us all. I ran up to him and screamed at him to stop, and a few seconds later Warry joined me. We tried pulling him off of her, but she was already dead and her heart was dangling from his mouth. He ate it. He turned on us, totally crazy, and scratched me, then ran. We were questioned, but were innocent, and ended up living in a home for Demon orphans until we were old enough to be on our own. We were only sixteen at the time."

Korri was silent, unsure of what to say. She gently reached out her hand and touched his arm. "Hey," She said quietly. "It's over, and it wasn't your fault." His face was buried in his arms as he shivered. "I-I just-I can't stop seeing it, over and over," His voice was muffled; wavering and horrified. "Can we talk about something else now?" He whispered. Korri got up and hugged him gently. His skin was rough and cold.

"I'm sorry I asked." She said. He tensed at first, but eventually just let her hug him. It had been so long since he had been able to confide in someone who was as caring as Korri was. The only other person who had ever been so kind was his mother.

The room was silent for a minute or two.

"What's your favorite color?" Korri asked out of the blue. It was so random and unexpected that Rael started laughing a choked-up laugh, quiet at first but getting louder, and Korri stopped hugging him. "What?" She asked. "What is it?" Rael laughed harder, a real laugh this time, and sat up. "What's my favorite color? Really?" He snorted, wiping his eyes and sniffling. "We go from talking about my mentally scarring childhood to favorite colors." He laughed more, even though it wasn't really that funny. Korri found herself joining in. Laughter is contagious, after all, she thought.

Korri sat back down. "All right, all right, I'll admit it was a bit random. Still, I just had coffee in the middle of the day." Reminded of his tea, Rael glanced at his cup, wanting more tea to help him calm down.

"Do you have any herbal te-" Rael started, but was promptly cut off. "Hang on I have to use the bathroom," Korri said quickly. "Sorry, be right back." She raced off to the bathroom, leaving Rael to sit alone in the kitchen, blinking stupidly. A few seconds passed before he stood up, horns brushing the ceiling, and silently changed back most of the way. His tail and horns stayed the way they were because of the caffeine and he decided it was the best he could do. He walked carefully so his talon-like feet wouldn't click on the hardwood floor, and peeked his head into Korri's room/art studio. He was naturally a very curious person, and Korri would most likely keep him from exploring by asking questions instead, so he took the opportunity of her being in the bathroom to take a quick look around.

Rael spotted the picture she had drawn of him sitting on her desk, among a pile of papers and miscellaneous drawing supplies. Since the blinds in her room were closed, and Korri was still in the bathroom, he walked in and took a closer look. He gently reached out a clawed hand and touched the paper, and as he did, the two glowing green pinpricks of light appeared. Rael's eyes went wide at the sight.

A sudden hand tapping his shoulder startled him enough that he jumped. "What are you doing?" Korri asked. He hadn't heard her the door open or the toilet flush. "I... Er," He stuttered, caught by surprise. "You were snooping, weren't you?" She said, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. Rael shrugged, then remembered what the picture was doing. "Korri, you need to take a look at this." He said, and Korri stood next to him, staring at the picture, which Rael had taken his hand off of. "What? I drew that when you came into town. It's how I process things," She said. "Don't judge."

"Not that," He said, then put his hand back down. The tiny green eyes reappeared, swirling slightly. Korri gasped. "How are you doing that?" She said, grabbing his wrist and pulling his hand from the paper, then touching it back experimentally. She let go of his hand and placed hers where his had been, but nothing happened. "I don't know," Rael said. "Nothing like that has ever happened before. Are you sure you're not magical?" He said, and Korri thought he was joking. "No, silly," She laughed. "I'm not magical." Rael frowned slightly. "I'm being serious," he said, "I've never seen anything like this in my whole life, and trust me, I've seen a lot of strange and unexplainable things."

"...What are you saying?" She said slowly, giving him a long look and taking a step back. "I'm saying, I don't know how you did this, but this drawing responds to my touch. It shouldn't, because Essence doesn't work that way... Unless, of course, the person who drew it has strong Essence, too." Korri furrowed her brow, looking worried and confused. "...Essence?" She asked. "What's Essence? And what does it mean if I have it?" She said, voice loud and nervous.

"You call it Magic, but its real name is Essence. It's hard to explain, but everyone has at least a little bit of it." Rael said, his tail shrinking and disappearing, leaving a trailing wisp of brilliantly green fire that quickly faded as well. "Looks like the caffeine's wearing off. Essence responds strongly to it, for some reason, but I didn't drink much." Rael explained. Korri grabbed his arm, dragging him out of her room. "Come back to the kitchen, then explain everything some more." She said, looking slightly overwhelmed with all the new knowledge. "I must know all!" She grinned, and Rael couldn't help but smile too.