me to the demon in the corner of my room: ain’t u got shit to do
He’d been lurking about for days now, this shadow thing. It used to scare me, terrify me straight into insomnia. But it had just stood there the whole time. Now it seemed part of the furniture, if I’m being honest.
I started talking to it. Probably not my best idea, I’ll give you that, but it’s not like I had anyone else around. I would tell it about my day as I readied for bed. Jeff was a dick at the meeting this morning. Had the best hot dog off the best cart in the city for lunch. SIX reports due by Friday? Kellen must be trying to kill me. I even wished it good night. And it just stared, with its glowing red eyes.
One night, I had to stay late at the office. Really late. Remember those six reports? They turned into fifteen. And if I didn’t get them done for this major client, it was my head on the HR guillotine. So I stayed late. I ended up crashing on the sofa in the break room and woke up to more work on my desk. That was Thursday morning. I had to get this all done by Monday.
On Friday night, around ten, I decided to go home and get some real sleep before going back to the office to finish this insane task. And then I felt it. Something was here with me and it wasn’t the janitor.
I looked in the corner and there were those eyes again, surrounded by shadow. I sighed. I really didn’t have time for this, not here.
“Ain’t you got shit to do?” I snapped, walking to the break room for yet more coffee. So much for going home to sleep.
A growling sound, then a deep, rasping voice said, “I miss you.”
I stopped. “What do you mean, you miss me? Aren’t you a demon or something?”
“You didn’t come home. I’ve been worried. What are you doing here?”
We’d never conversed like this. It was almost comforting, like a friend would be.
“I’m working, man. I’ve got a big client coming on Monday and Kellen put all these damn reports on my desk and if I don’t get them done, I’m probably gonna get fired.” I ranted as I took off my tie and ran my fingers through my hair.
The demon paused, thinking. It moved slowly around the room, taking it all in.
“Do you want me to eat Kellen?” it suddenly asked.
I laughed, “No, don’t eat Kellen. It’s not really his fault.”
“Then what shall I do?”
I sighed and considered. What could a shadow demon do to help me?
“Do you know anything about graphic design and marketing?”
It paused its roaming. “I ate an artist’s soul, once.”
“Good enough. Just sit behind me and tell me what looks good.”
On Monday morning, the company landed the client, I got a raise, and arranged it so I could work from home two days a week. We moved to a bigger flat two months later. It makes cinnamon pancakes on Saturdays.
Translated the character profiles for Asahi and Kisumi from the Free! Take Your Marks pamphlet. Enjoy~
Asahi Shiina Kazami High Third Year, Butterfly
Asahi transferred to Iwatobi Middle School during the Spring of his first year and swam the medley relay with Haru and the others. However, before becoming a 2nd year, he had to move to another city. The new school he went to, Kazami High School, did not have a swim team, but he gathered some friends and made one. No matter where he goes, his personality is very straight-forward, and he is able to stay true to himself while continuing to swim with his friends.
Kisumi Shigino
Kisumi is from the same hometown as Rin and Sousuke and went to elementary school with them, but he entered Iwatobi Middle School thereafter and made friends with Haruka and the other swim team members. He has a personality that lets him get along with pretty much anyone, allowing them to open their hearts to him. Because his younger brother, Hayato, entered the Iwatobi Swim Club, he was able to meet Haruka and the others again. He will enter college in a University located in Tokyo.
** Permissionto post from their pages was granted by the artist Don’t remove credits & don’t repost/edit the art Please, rate and/or bookmark their works on Pixiv too **
me: I’m an adult now.. It’s scientifically proven that in order to live a healthy lifestyle, you have to go to bed early. So, from now on, my ass is going to bed at 9 pm, no excuses!! Fitness for life, yeah! Sixpack, here I come biatch!
