“Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it.”
"I was a hedonist before I knew what hedonism was.”
“I’ve tried several varieties of sex. Going down on a woman gives me a stiff neck, going down on a man gives me lockjaw and conventional sex gives me claustrophobia.”
“My father warned me about men and booze, but he never said anything about women and cocaine.”
Born on this day 124 years ago: dissolute, hellraising wild woman of American stage and screen, the inspiration for Disney villainess Cruella de Vil AND Margo Channing in All About Eve, cigarette-in-human form, sophisticated lady with the soul of a hillbilly, that violently ravaged, bourbon-saturated gardenia once described by her friend Marlene Dietrich as "the most immoral woman that ever lived” and by Cecil Beaton as resembling a "wicked archangel” - Miss Tallulah Bankhead (31 January 1902 - 12 December 1968)! Do something extra sensual and depraved in Bankhead’s memory today! Pictured: Bankhead in the 1930s looking like a Tamara de Lempicka painting come to life.
the first thing you notice about him are his eyes.
vibrant lilac hues that thrum with amusement and mischief, as they focus on you, while you stand and stare, frozen in place.
the second thing you notice about him is his face. it looks something akin to a supernatural's ― beautiful in a way that can never be human.
a lazy smirk rests on his lips, as he continues to watch you, perched in the summoning circle you made.
the third and final things you notice about him are the horns, the wings and the tail, which sways about just as lazily, until it reaches out and curls tightly around your leg, but you can't find it in yourself to brush it off.
he looks nothing like the lower demon you were supposed to summon for the new assignment.
you're not allowed to rest in your thoughts and the incoming mental breakdown any longer, as his tail yanks you forward, and with a surprised yelp, you fall right into his lap, where he holds you prisoner, languidly wrapping his arms around your waist.
your senses come back to you, and you try and get away from him, but his strong grip locks you in place, and he leans in close.
he brushes his head against your neck, seemingly taking in your scent, before he returns and locks his eyes with yours again. he smirks once again ― and somehow manages to look even more attractive than he already did.
“judging from your eyes, i suppose i'm not the demon you intended to summon, did you, darling?”
he doesn't give you allow you any time to answer, and as his gaze sweeps around your home, he notices the different bags of ingredients that lay strewn across the floor.
“ah, darling, were you trying to summon an imp? you were supposed to use the roots from valerian, not the flowers.”
“thank you for the correction,” you say sarcastically, annoyed at the fact that he's not letting you talk at all.
“but could you perhaps let me know if you're planning on letting me go?”
he tilts his head at you, and smiles innocently, before speaking something in demon-tongue.
the translation flows right into your mind, like it was a built in demon-to-human translator.
“i'm sorry, i don't speak human-tongue, darling.”
“you know i can understand what you're saying since i summoned you, right?”
he looks surprised for a moment, then looks away and grumbles something under his breath, before he gives you a smug grin once again.
“well then, the answer to your question, darling, is no.”
“no what?”
“no?”
“yes, but what are you telling me no to?”
“oh.”
“i need to know since my mobility is at stake here, uh.. what's your name again?”
“first of all, my name is marius. marius von hagen, heir to austin von hagen, demon king of the second realm,” he glows with delight at your surprise with the mention of the words 'demon king'. “second of all, you never asked my name to add the 'again', darling.”
“....”
you ignore your astonishment and his snark comment in favour of looking at him with raised eyebrows, silently asking him once again, if he was planning on letting you go.
“no. i'm not planning on letting you go at all. you're stuck with me until you make a contract with me~”
“and why should i?”
“because i can't go back without you making a contract with me?” he gives you a look that says 'isn't it obvious? duh, dumb human.'
you feel your eyebrow twitch in annoyance.
“but that isn't my problem, marius von hagen. it's yours.” you emphasize on the yours, and he winces in mock hurt.
“ouch, full name already? i didn't even do anything, human.”
“yes, you have. you've done a lot in these past seven minutes.”
he leans in closer, almost expectant of something, of an answer he's probably received a lot of times before.
“oh, and what have i done exactly?”
“you've annoyed me more in that time than my least favourite teachers have by giving me weekend homework during all the years i've studied.”
he sits seemingly stunned at your answer, before pouting at you, and begins to whine like the brattiest kid you've ever seen.
“oh come on! don't you find me the least bit attractive? even a little? not even this much?”
he places his pointer and thumb fingers together towards the end of his question, leaving only a tiny space in between them, as he looks like he's almost ready to cry if you say no one more time.
you shake your head at all his questions, being more and more amused at the way he seemed to deflate with each passing second, his pout growing larger.
it's not like you'd let anyone, especially a higher demon like he is, know that you find people like his type really, really, really attractive.
but damn, you'd really be lying if you said that you didn't want to tug on that choker and those necklaces, just to watch his reactions-
a low whine, one that sounds like your friend's cat when he's denied treats, brings you out of your thoughts.
marius, it appears, is currently having a mental breakdown over your nonchalant (not really) denial of his attractiveness.
you're just about to reach your breaking point, ready to burst into roaring laughter, when he snaps his head up and stares at you huffing, as determination for an unknown reason twinkles in his pretty purple eyes.
it appears that there's a lot of staring going on today, a corner of your mind helpfully supplies, and you snort at it.
it only appears to fuel his decision, the glimmer of his amaranthine eyes growing brighter and bolder.
“well, darling, count yourself lucky! it's not quite often that someone like me gets summoned so easily and there's not a lot of humans who pique my interest the way you do.
that's why i'll make a special contract just with you ― there's only one condition: if you still think the same about me after a month, i'll make any six of your wishes come true, no matter how ridiculous they might be.”
your intuition tells you he wouldn't leave you alone until you make a contract with him, and so, you decide to spare yourself the trouble and accept his offer.
“how do we make this contract, then?”
he smiles in cat-like satisfaction at your response, and you feel his tail brush against your shoulders, his grip seemingly becoming tighter.
“leave that to me, darling,” he purrs, as he takes one of your hands in his, and places feather light kisses along your fingertips, ones that send shivers down your spine.
he slowly makes his way up, reveling in the way your eyes follow all his movements, and finally, places one last kiss that seems to linger on the inside of your wrist.
the mark of a snake as the symbol of infinity appears on your forearm, and it glows just as perse as his gaze does. it rests on your skin, and tingles as a reminder of the pact that you made with the navy haired devil.
all of a sudden, your mind seems to want to tease him, and so tease him you do.
“alright, as it's all said and done, could you perhaps let me go now?”
he only nips at your hand in response.
true to his word, marius does his best to make you change your mind (not that it needs to be changed).
however, his enthusiasm and eagerness make two things very, very hard for you. one, for you keep up the act around him (not that he knows, not that you'd ever let him know).
two, for you to not stare every time he habitually tugs on one of his necklaces with his teeth (something deep down tells you that he does it on purpose to mess with you sometimes, and you're pretty sure that it's true because he smirks devilishly right after).
he accompanied you to your classes one day (he whined so much and threatened to hug you until you agreed to his demands) ― and while you did summon the lower demon you were required to summon for your assignment, and got perfect grades for it (because marius kept reminding you that you're supposed to root, not the flowers, but eventually decided to seize the opportunity and guided you through the process himself).
your teacher seemed to be very pleased and impressed with your summoning of marius, taking you as an example of advanced summoning for the rest of your class, as you watched on while trying not to burn yourself alive from embarrassment (marius seemed quite delighted to see you so embarrassed).
he immediately became one of your teacher's favourites, as soon as they learnt that he was a high ranking demon, the son of a demon king at that, and was soon granted permission to accompany you to all your classes in exchange for answering your teacher's inquisitive questions about the demon race (a little bit of tricking did come into play, although he'd never tell you that).
he's come along every day since ― he has a special seat right next to you in every single class, and his tail comfortably wraps around your wrist, right where his pact mark is, when you're moving between classes (though he's started to do it in class too, because how else would he show all the other demons and mortals around the both of you that you are his human?).
it's been half a month ― and marius has fully made himself a part of your routine (and a part of you wants it to stay that way, for him to continue being a part of your life).
the mornings are especially warm ― you wake up in his arms, as he sleepily gazes at you, and wishes you a good morning.
he sits on the counter as he watches you brush your teeth, and passes you everything from your skincare routine using his vast knowledge of enchantments, and it's now become a weekly occurrence for the two of you to do it together as everything floats around in the air (marius knows he doesn't need it at all, but the thought of spending time with you makes him so happy, he'd agree with anything you wanted to do).
your wardrobe is completely different from before thanks to the demon, who turned out to be super rich, and decided he wanted to give it a makeover (you're pretty sure he's also used a charm or two on the clothes ― because you've never felt this confident in every single piece of clothing you own before).
he joins you as you make breakfast for the both of you, and sets the table while using his magic to season the food when you're occupied with something else (it's comfortably silent when the meal is going on, but his happy expressions eating make it worth secretly practicing different recipes).
the rest of the day is spent the same way ― going to classes as his tail is wrapped around your wrist, him playfully bickering with you, and you replying with a witty comment that makes him grin wide, and retort with one of his own, then coming back home, playing around and finishing your work, ending with slowly falling asleep together as you talk about the most random of things.
you're starting to think you'd give anything and everything to let it be the same way, and for some reason, the thought doesn't scare you at all.
it's finally the end of the month ― and also the end of the contract you made with marius.
he's somber throughout the day, and when you try to cheer him up by making a sarcastic remark, all he does is smile at you sadly (and the lack of a tail wrapping around your wrist, feels cold).
the rest of your classmates are confused over his behavior ― he's always been so loud and exuberant that the change in demeanor worried them all. it does take a lot of reassurance from him to leave both of you alone, but they eventually disperse, throwing words of comfort over their shoulders for him.
the day seems to pass by painfully slow ― and all it does is make you more and more antsy, anxiety steadily clawing its way through your mind, slowly taking over your being.
the way back is so silent, silent enough that maybe, you're not the only one who can hear your heart beating out of your chest every time his fingers brush against yours, or when he subconsciously moves closer to you for warmth as a cold breeze blows by.
home doesn't feel like home, and all you want is for him to tell you that he's playing a prank on you like he usually does, or to come up to you and tease you about being clingy, but it never happens.
the mark on your wrist seems to fade, and it scares you enough to address the elephant in the room, as you notice him sitting by the window, staring at the pouring sky.
“marius?” you call out.
his pointed ears perk up at the sound of your voice, and as he turns around, you notice his lilac eyes are tinged red, like he was crying.
you open your mouth to say something, but are interrupted as he tackles you down, and holds onto you tight, tail once again wrapping around your wrist, sobbing quietly.
all you do is hold him in your arms as he cries, running your fingers through his hair, and when he finally raises his head, you wipe his tears for him, and he leans into your touch, finding comfort in the warmth of your hands.
“why are you crying, marius?” you whisper, for you fear that you would start crying too if you spoke a tad louder.
“i don't want to go. i don't want what we have right now to end, i don't want to be away from you ― i-i think i've fallen for you, and i don't think i'll ever love anyone else the same way i love you.”
you try to say something but he hugs you tighter, sharp nails digging into your shoulders, and it hurts ― but it's the last thing you can care about, not when someone like him is around.
“please don't say anything,” he croaks out, breathing uneven from tears. “please let me stay, stay with you, i'd do anything for you. anything, darling, anything you want.”
“marius,” you begin.
he continues rambling, and doesn't listen.
“marius,” you say again. he whimpers quietly this time.
“marius, you silly devil, will you listen to me now?”
he pauses for a heartbeat, but soon enough, nods against your shoulder, soft hair brushing against your cheek.
“i love you too.”
“what?”
“i said, i love you too.”
this time, he sits up straight and gently cradles your face in his hands, as he looks at you hopefully.
“do you really mean that?” he asks, uncertainty flickering in his eyes, and you smile at him.
“yes, i do. i don't want what we have to end either ― you've made yourself a part of my life, and i don't want it to go back to the way it was before. you've given me warmth, i don't want the cold from earlier anymore, marius.”
he breaks out into a large grin, and traps you in his arms for a strong embrace, one that leaves you smacking him so you can actually breathe and not die confessing your love to him.
“can i kiss you?” he asks, eager and happy.
“you can,” and it's all he needs to tug you in by your collar for a kiss, and you swear you can feel all his emotions through it ― maybe it's a demon thing, but hey, you're not complaining.
you tug at his choker and he jerks forward, nearly slipping. he sighs, and melts in your arms as his eyes narrow down like a cat's, to look at you, and only you.
he reluctantly pulls away, but that trademark teasing smirk of his returns to life as he knocks his forehead with yours and places a kiss on your nose.
“guess i really changed your mind, huh?”
“shush, shut up and kiss me again, you demon.”
“as you wish, darling.”
sure, he's an annoying idiot who annoyed you to the ends of the earth, but he's your annoying idiot now, he's your dear devil.
✦ notes; here it is! the amount of times i nearly changed the draft because ideas kept flooding in- anyway enjoy and lmk what you think, as for me, i think i'll go to sleep since it's 12:30 (am) now! ily all <3
