“Resolutions? They always felt kind of stupid. Never really made a lot of sense to me if I was just going to fail them seven days in.” Nikolay and Shen, with the final hour of 2013 drawing closer, are thinking of any goals they absolutely want to accomplish aside from their bucket list.


    Shen himself has never had any positive things to say about these kinds of things. He never saw any merit to hopeful goals since they’d likely be stifled by his environment anyway. At some point he simply stopped thinking about the years ahead.


    “Come on! They’re fun! It’s not like you have to adhere to them.” Nikolay however, hopelessly, seems to list quite a few of them every year breaking not just one but all of them. His written list of them, even though they encompass only the past two years, is five pages long.


    “Figuring our whatever that crystal stuff is?”


    “NO! You’re naming goals! Something you care a little less about please.”


    Shen struggles to come up with some sort of answer that may satisfy his patner. Anything likely would be fine by Nikolay’s standards but Shen’t ever be too sure. “For you to initiate another kiss,” Shen jeers. Asking for the impossible…


    “You’re too ugly to kiss anyway!” Nikolay yells storming off beetred.


    Since they have one last supply run to deal with, Nikolay heads out in preparation for tonight. Meanwhile, Shen is getting ready to get out of bed. It’s strange how this pair can sleep next to each other and cuddle while being incapable of a simple peck on the cheek or a kiss. It’s endearing. It’s also frustrating. Yet it’s also comforting. And Shen is just as guilty of that inability as Nikolay.


    “Does he keep track of every little thing?”


    <hr>


    “I thought I was the weird one…” Nikolay is walking around town trying to find some firecrackers and fireworks. Since it’s still quite early in the morning, he might be lucky enough to avoid most frantic shopees.


    The night they met Shen was carelessly whisped away by Nikolay ready to embrace death were he to hit the ground. He should have died anyway by ascending at such a fast pace. Nikolay wasn’t going to let it happen anyway but since his boyfriend was unaffected by it, he just continued. A few months later Shen would awaken to powers possibly triggered by his encounter with Sandman and would dream of a strange figure that lies in wait of liberation.


    “I guess he’s always been the weirdo. Does he still want to fly? Are we still trying to figure out what happened to me?”


    Nikolay reflects back onto the past two years of his life. Summer of 2013 he met Shen, a random student attending uni with an exhausting job constantly demanding he work overtime. He’s technically the reason why he currently has neither living with someone whose income isn’t stable.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    “Did I make him even weirder? Family that won’t support him… So I went ahead and ruined it by taking his income and his chance at a degree.”


    These past few months, though overall far greater and fulfilling than ever before, have forced him into facing some sort of dread he can’t quite define. Demons aren’t these magical creatures that attack people. Dream Catchers are sad collectives whose past and future is bleak. The unexplored worlds he wanted to map out either are hardly accessible, do not exist, or bear tragic histories. Yet, despite that darkness, he’s still strangely hopeful. He may be facing these harsh truths, but he’s not facing them alone. He may be weak but can find strength in their connection.


    “Would you mind coming with me?” A strange woman with bags full of fireworks is facing Nikolay. Her eyes are white with black stars at their center. Nikolay and that stranger share similarities he cannot ignore.


    “We’re just taking a walk. I’m not a threat to you.”


    Nikolay keeps walking towards his destination matching her pace. They’ve never met yet she seems familiar.


    “Have we-”


    “You’re a demon,” she says without a hint of emotion. Cold and unbothered, she interjects. “You’re more than that. You’re a half-assed devil who’s growing weaker. Your dark magic production is pathetic. You can’t even compare to Toba and other notable demons let alone match up to a devil.”


    She sighs. “You probably don’t know how to make money either. Just visit Ace Base and figure it out from there. Your Vambrance should tell you anything you need to know.”


    She walks away after dumping crucial information he’s been looking for for two years. It’s a decent starting point yet he cannot care about this revelation. Right now he’s emotionally drained and just looking forward to a decent night with Shen and a handful of others. Not even an ounce of energy remains for anything more complex than 3rd grade math.


    Upon returning home he’s greeted with a kiss and immediately reciprocates with a hug. His stress bursts and his emotional valve opens after not even an hour of being closed off.


    <hr>


    “Again??” Shen is shocked. Every little thing they’ve figured out so far fell into their hands without consideration for their feelings. It’s cruel and strange just how intent the universe is to take the joy out of any mystery they come across. Settling with their lack of knowledge as people waltz around knowing the answer to every single mystery is hard.


    “I hate her so much!” He screams into Shen’s lap as he throws a tantrum. Surprisingly he still fetched their clearly much-needed holiday supplies. “And no amount of alcohol can get me wasted!!”


    “Well… At least we confirmed that you’re a demon.” For Shen it was a little more obvious.


    “Confirmed? You knew?” he asks pouting.


    “You leech off of people’s negative energy to recover, remember? Like a demon? You also had a truce with a demon and communicated with some of them, didn’t you?”


    Looking back, many facts were laid out to them. Their human origin, the names only Nikolay could see, the classifications he alone could sense, his ability to peacefully communicate with some of them… They can’t be ever be too sure which one of these stems from his nature.


    “But hey! At least you’re practically immortal!” Shen adds.


    “How? I’m a devil. I don’t know if I have a Devil Seed.” Nikolay replies.


    “Let’s just focus on fireworks and celebrations.” Just one more day before they’re home.