"I'm not actually a demon, sorry." Dustin admitted, feeling a bit bad, truth be told. He'd been a fan of the human world for thousands of years, but never ventured into it - and he'd never been summoned before. "See, you uh... Misspelled Dantalion's sigil. Very understandable, but alas... Not me."
The guy stared at him, jaw open, palm bleeding. "You're... you're real, though? It worked?" He breathed out, sitting more upright in his chair. "Look - I don't care who you are, I just need help."
That was dangerous, incredibly foolish to say to what he thought was a demon. But, humans had a hard time thinking in the long term.
"I don't have any powers to help you, human." Dustin told him. "I'm a... you don't have the word in your language. I gather knowledge. I run a great library, filled with pieces of wisdom from across the cosmos. I don't heal or generally make deals. That's not really my thing."
His face fell, and Dustin watched as hope left deep brown eyes. He was a pretty thing, for a human. Not overly remarkable, but Dustin found himself having a hard time looking away from him. He'd studied a million things, and a million more, and part of him wanted to spend the next thousand years studying this mortal.
"... Please?" The human breathed out, shoulders fallen. "I...I...I used to be good at sports. I used to be a coach for kids...I used to-" his voice cracked, and he looked away from Dustin, a stray tear running down his cheek. "It's not even for me. After the accident, after I couldn't walk anymore, my students...I guess that's a lie, it is for me. I want to see my students again. I want to help them. I can't from this fucking wheelchair."
Dustin appraised him, he could feel the pain radiating off of him. He could see how much he cared. Humans weren't unique in that trait, but Dustin hadn't seen another species so willing to sacrifice themselves for another, often for not even the same species. They were capable of remarkable cruelty, and complete selflessness.
"What's your name?" Dustin asked quietly, as the man wiped at his face.
"Steve," he breathed out. "Steve Harrington. I'm 22. Grew up here, in Hawkins. I'm a little League coach, and I'm trying to get my degree to become a teacher..." Steve told him, exhaling. "I've fucked up a lot in my life, but this felt like I was doing something good. I...God, I don't want to be a burden to my friends, to those kids."
Dustin couldn't cross the barrier Steve had made...if he was a demon, but since he was not, it was easy enough to step over it. He came to Steve's side, crouching down to look him in the eyes, smiling up at him. "I can't heal you, I can't undo what happened, I can't raise you from that chair - but I don't think you're a burden. I'll help you, in the ways I can."
Steve stared at him, swallowing hard. "How? How will you help me?"
"Thousands of years of knowledge up in my noggin', mortal. I'm sure something up there will be helpful." Dustin grinned, and Steve sent him a half smile in return.
"You're...kind of strange," Steve told him, and Dustin couldn't really deny it. "...Thank you. Is there anything I can do-"
"I want to study you," Dustin cut him off, answering him immediately. "For as long as I want. I want to document everything about you."
"Seriously?" Steve let out a surprised laugh. "I'm pretty boring."
"You're the first human to summon me. I think you're incredible." Dustin answered him, and enjoyed as it looked as though the human flushed at the compliment. "I think we're going to be fast friends."
He just didn't say that he wasn't joking about wanting to study Steve for a thousand years. He'd take him back to his realm, eventually. Then, he could have the human all to himself.
Maybe he was a bit of a demon.
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