THE MOMENT
A dense yellow cloud of pungent sulfur plumed into existence in the center of the large, sunlit kitchen. A shadow took shape and as the smoke cleared a giant red man stood tall with his obsidian horns nearly scraping the ceiling.
"WHO HATH SUMMONED ME, THE GREAT BEE-"
"Can I have a cookie?" a tiny blonde girl giggled as she looked up at the towering demon; he must have been as big as a house to her.
"..all right," the demon chuckled as a white cookie jar with a red scissor logo appeared in front of her. "You can have one."
"Dad, she hasn't had dinner yet," Eric gently reprimanded his father. He was too busy stirring a thick red sauce on the stove to actually stop the 5-year-old blonde girl's antics. For convenience, the summoning circle was designed into the tile work. But, he did change his gaze to give her a stern expression. "And you know that's not what I meant when I said go get your grandpa, now the sauce is going to taste like sulfur," he added.
"I 'ike shufr!" the girl answered with her mouth full of cookie.
"She summoned me fair and square, that means she gets a wish," the demon chuckled as he patted her head.
"Let's not make it a habit, okay?" he looked into his daughter's eyes until she gave him a faint nod. "Go get your dad for dinner, the normal way, please." Arthur, Eric's husband, wasn't a demon. The summoning circle wouldn't have worked for that, but the girl was liable to create a portal instead of traveling across the house. He hadn't had much of a chance to talk to his dad and he saw a chance.
"'kay!" the girl turned and bolted out of the kitchen towards the front of the house.
"Anything interesting in the news?" Eric asked his dad once they were alone. It was an easy conversation starter, the demon had been in the next room watching TV when he was summoned. And, he could tell something had been on his dad's mind lately. It was telling that he chose to visit Eric and his family rather than spend a week alone.
"No, there wouldn't be...," the demon shook his head as he sat down on a wrought iron chair that could support his weight.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Eric asked. He realized that they were short on time but he wanted his dad to know he was there. Even if he didn't open up, the offer was made.
"Nothing," the demon shook his head. "Nothing at all. Just sitting around waiting for things to be over."
"That sounds like depression...," Eric offered. But, his dad shook his head.
"It's work stuff," the demon said. Eric felt a trace of guilt tickle the back of his neck. In hindsight, it made sense. His dad was the ruler of Hell before he retired. He's seen and handled quite a bit so there wouldn't be much that could affect his mood. But, Arthur had a hard time with the secrets of the universe. As a courtesy, the demon never brought it up. But, 'waiting for things to be over' had a much different meaning in the context of his old job.
"Can I get a short version?" Eric asked. As he posed the question, he also sent a discreet Whisper to Arthur. He asked his husband to drag his feet a little longer and stall Kyra while he was at it.
"Yeah," the demon chuckled. "But, it's messy," he added. "We don't talk about it much for Arthur's sake; but, you know the gist of the whole thing, right?" he asked. Eric nodded; sometimes he wished he didn't.
"Well, the short version is, Ms. Sharp won," he said.
"WON?" Eric stressed the question just to make sure they both understood the same thing. "Then why are we still here?" He tried not to think about the things he knew. But, he still knew them. If someone won, that meant the game was over. He was never clear how much was a metaphor for the universe and how much was a literal 'game'. And, he never let himself wonder how many games he'd been through. The reality that he could wonder about it after the fact meant something was wrong.
His early relationship with his dad was nonexistent. He didn't even know his dad was Satan until his 14th birthday. But, since coming back into his life, his dad has made obvious and meaningful efforts. The one thing he learned from his dad was that the universe worked a certain way. No matter what anyone tried to do, there were certain processes and procedures that always found a way to happen. When it worked, it worked flawlessly. It was when it didn't work that indicated a serious problem. His dad nodded at him, then shrugged.
"Yeah, that's what's bothering me."