Poem: "The Spectrum of Your Being"
Feb. 22nd, 2026 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the September 1, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from librarygeek. It also fills the "How do you want to do this?" square in my 9-1-20 card for the I Want Fries With That! Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Not Quite Kansas.
Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes feeling lost, a headless chicken running around, a fight with bit character fatalities, moderate injuries to a main character, messy medical details, an imprisoned demon, torture, binding magic, demonic healing, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
"The Spectrum of Your Being"
[Sunday, September 30, 2018]
It had been three weeks
since Raymond and Gideon
had fallen from their world
into Not-Quite-Kansas.
While Gideon had been able
to step into the life of his other-self,
Raymond had no such luck. He'd
taken Gideon's offer of crash space
and managed to find some clothes
at a thrift store, but little more.
They had searched diligently
for a way to get back home,
but it was not going well.
Today they'd gotten a lead
on a book that could help.
"Are you sure that this is
the right place?" Raymond said,
eyeing the grungy basement door.
"Pretty sure," Gideon said. "It's
the address that I was given."
It all went wrong the moment
he opened the door and
a headless chicken ran out
between their legs.
The cultists attacked,
Raymond defended himself --
and Gideon when he could --
getting stabbed several times
in the shoulder as they tangled
in the dim, candlelit room.
The fight was short and ugly
before Raymond managed
to take down their attackers.
Then Gideon flipped on a light.
They had wound up in the bedroom,
little more than a jumble of couches
and beds divided by curtains.
"You're bleeding everywhere,"
Gideon muttered. "Shit."
"Messy but not deadly,"
Raymond assured him.
It hurt like hell, but it
wasn't life-threatening.
Quickly Gideon washed
his hands in the tiny bathroom,
then opened the first aid kit
from his tactical backpack.
He cleaned the wounds
as best he could, then
wrapped them in gauze.
"We might as well look
for the damn book as long
as we're here, but make it fast,"
Raymond said. "I don't want
to attract police attention."
"Me neither," Gideon said.
A quick search of the bedroom
turned up nothing; the bathroom
and kitchen were nearly barren.
That left the living room, which
had a couch and chairs crammed
around a tiny television in the corner.
The rest of the room was cluttered
with ritual paraphernalia, including
bookshelves and implements
and the head of the chicken.
There was also a demon.
He was pale except for
the dark skin over his eyes
and the black cat ears that
poked out of his black hair.
A matching tail lashed
behind him, clearly agitated.
"You can lower the gun,"
Gideon said. "He's trapped
in the diagram there."
"Let me out and I can
heal you," the demon offered.
"I don't think so," Raymond said.
"Demons are untrustworthy."
"Everything here is untrustworthy,"
Gideon muttered. "Do you really
want to risk visiting a hospital?"
"No," Raymond said. "I've
had worse. I'll live."
"This world relies a lot
on magic, though,"
Gideon pointed out.
"You think you can
control that thing?"
Raymond said. "After
what got us into this?"
Gideon winced at
the reminder of
his earlier mistakes.
"Let me look up what I can."
He took his heavy textbooks
out of his tactical backpack.
Meanwhile, Raymond
searched for the new book,
or rather, he piled up all of
the books he could find.
"Here," he said. "Can you
tell if it's any of these?"
"That one," Gideon said,
pointing to the thickest one.
"We might as well take them all,
though. It's not like the dead guys
need their library any more."
"Point," Raymond said. He
wanted to argue that stealing
was wrong, but he wanted
to get home even more.
Besides, the cultists
had attacked them.
"Something's weird here,"
Gideon muttered, frowning.
"Something is always weird
in this place," Raymond said.
"You'll have to be more specific."
"The summoning circle has
extra symbols," Gideon said.
"Well, break it down,"
Raymond said. "What
do the symbols do?"
"Twelve o'clock and
six o'clock are bindings
for the summoning itself,"
"Three o'clock is the name
of the demon and nine o'clock
has the cult or the cultists."
"What about the rest?"
Raymond wondered.
"So far, I've identified
these three --" He pointed.
"-- and they're punishments."
Now Raymond frowned.
"They were hurting him?"
"Yeah, it looks that way,"
Gideon said, showing
Raymond the pages.
"Shit," said Raymond.
"How many of the symbols
are there for torture?"
Gideon flipped through
his textbook, then checked
the cultists' books too.
"All the rest," he said.
"They had to do something
to keep me in line when they
summoned me," the demon said.
"But now you're here, so you
can command me instead.
You need some healing."
"I'll be fine," Raymond said.
"On a scale of one to ten,
how much pain are you in?"
The demon laughed. "Oh,
you humans are so precious.
The demon scale goes up
to a hundred. I'm only around
twenty-five, twenty-six -- I'm fine."
Raymond looked at the demon,
who was small and rather quiet,
crouched motionless except
for that thrashing tail.
It reminded Raymond
of his friend Henry, who
had gotten shot in the spine.
Henry always said he was fine,
too -- his scale was a bit bent now --
but he would still get quiet like
that when he was in pain.
"Gideon, can you do something
about the torture without letting
the demon out?" Raymond said.
"Yeah, as long as I don't erase
the bindings," Gideon said.
"Get on it," Raymond ordered.
"I won't be a party to torture."
"Wait, you're not going
to demand anything of me?"
the demon said, shocked.
"Not really into that,"
Raymond told him.
By the time Gideon
had erased the symbols,
the demon was slumped
in relief and staring at
Raymond with awe.
"Ugh, this is a mess too,"
Gideon said, pointing.
"What is?" Raymond said.
"His name," Gideon said.
"Looks like ... Barbaset?"
"Command me, Master,"
the demon said quietly.
"I'm not a master,"
Gideon said. "Anyhow,
there's more torture stuff
tied into the name symbol."
"I can't remember feeling
this good since I hatched,"
the demon said. "Please,
let me do something for you.
Don't leave me here like this
for anyone to use as they will."
"Not planning on it," Gideon said.
He scuffed out a few more bits.
The demon swayed. "I feel
giddy, as if I could float away."
"Gideon, stop there,"
Raymond said. "It might
not be good idea to change
too much all at once."
"Yeah, good point,"
Gideon said. "I'll look
for a way to get him out
without letting him rip us
to shreds or anything."
"I would not! You have
already done so much
for me," the demon said.
"Barbaset, right?" said Gideon.
"We didn't come here for you,
we just wanted to borrow a book."
"Barb," the demon said softly.
"That is what my associates
call me. When you say it all,
then it ... pulls at me."
"Oh yeah," Gideon said.
"Barb it is then. Funny name."
The tail flicked, and the fur
at the end stirred enough
to reveal the stinger under it.
"O ... kay," Gideon said.
"That makes more sense."
"If we make a contract,
you can let me out and I
can't hurt you," Barb said.
"I'd rather serve you than
anyone else. Please."
"Shit," Raymond muttered.
"Gideon, if people here are
torturing demons, no wonder
this place is a mess. We
can't leave him to that."
Gideon grabbed another book.
"Contracts, contracts ... yeah,
they're solid if you word 'em right."
"Really?" Raymond said. "I
though demons were deceitful."
"They can be, but not always,"
Gideon said. "Sources vary."
Barb snorted. "It's less about
deceit than inconvenient truths,"
he said. "The Fallen were forced out
because they wouldn't shut up."
"Now that I can believe,"
Raymond said dryly.
"So, a contract?"
"There are samples,"
Gideon said, flipping the
pages. "Healing is popular."
"Okay, already, you made
your point," Raymond said.
"Barb, how do you want
to do this?" Gideon asked.
"Write the contract on the floor
and replace the summoners' names
with your own. It will seal itself
to the circle as long as you don't
break the boundary ring," Barb said.
"Sign it in blood, and I am bound."
So Gideon wrote the contract
in chalk along the edge of
the summoning circle.
"Raymond, put your hand
here, since you're the one
who needs the healing,"
Gideon said. "You're
already bloody enough."
Raymond sighed and
pressed his hand to
the floor as indicated.
Light flared around the circle,
chased by jeweled shadows.
"Now what?" Raymond said.
"Break the circle so that I
can get out," Barb said.
"Here goes nothing,"
Gideon said, and
smudged the lines.
Barb sighed and
stepped across,
tiny pointed teeth
showing in a smile.
Yeah, Raymond had
suspected that the circle
was still hurting him.
"You should lie down,"
Barb said. "This will blow out
your tiny human pain scale."
"Shit," Raymond muttered.
"Are you sure this will work?
You can heal my shoulder
without wrecking anything else?"
"I am sure. The contract binds
me to it," Barb said, patting the air.
Raymond grumbled, but he
stretched out on the floor.
Barb put a pale hand on
his shoulder and spoke
words that hurt to hear.
Then it felt as if
Raymond's body
was boiling away.
He fainted before
Barb actually finished.
When Raymond woke up,
he could hear quiet voices
talking about ... more pain.
"So they overlap, yeah?"
Gideon was saying.
"Chronic pain for humans
goes up to like thirty, and
the demon scale's just longer?"
"Basically, yes," said Barb.
"Twenty-five is planes of agony
ruled by the demon lord of
abyssal lamentation, and --"
"Twenty-six means body is
pain; this chart encompasses
the spectrum of your being,"
Gideon said. "I remember
you explaining that one.
Humans really go that high?"
"They can if tortured enough,
whether by their own body
or someone else," Barb said.
Raymond groaned. "Can
we talk about something else?"
he said. "Like how fun taxes are?"
"Sorry," said Gideon. "Did it work?
Does your shoulder feel better?"
Raymond rolled his arm.
It didn't hurt. He sat up and
unwound the bandages.
His skin was unmarked.
"Wow, you did a great job,"
Raymond said. "Thanks."
Barb's jaw dropped, giving
them a perfect view of
his cat-sharp teeth.
"Let me guess, people
don't usually thank you,"
Raymond muttered.
"Never," Barb said.
"Can I do more for you?
Banish the bodies?"
Raymond looked -- oh yeah,
one had fallen in this room.
He shouldn't disturb
a crime scene, but he
really didn't want to risk
going to jail in this world.
"Go ahead," Raymond said.
Barb pranced over to the corpse.
A few ear-wringing words later,
it disappeared, bloodstains and all.
"That's handy," Gideon said.
"Can you do the rest of them?"
"They're all gone," Barb said.
"That's why humans like to keep
demons bound -- we're useful."
"That is so sick," Gideon said.
"This place is all fucked up."
"No, I'd much rather stay
with you," Barb said. "If I go,
then anyone can summon me."
"I won't condone slavery,"
Raymond said, frowning.
"Yeah, but he's got a point,"
Gideon said. "If we can protect
him, that's better than letting
other people abuse him --
again -- and like Barb said,
he can be useful to us."
Raymond rubbed
his shoulder. "I don't
want to make a habit of it."
"Not a habit," Barb said.
"Just me, and you two."
"So, you want a binding
to keep other people off
your back," Gideon said.
"Yes," Barb said. He sounded
both determined and terrified.
"How do you want to do it?"
Gideon said. "I don't like
the looks of these examples."
Barb shuddered. "There are
other ways," he said. "You
already changed my name.
If you add something new,
that will make me yours."
"Okay, let's see ..." Gideon
bent over a page that listed
tiny symbols and meanings.
Raymond looked too. It
resembled Arabic calligraphy,
the way that each little loop
and curl held purpose.
Gideon added a twist
that meant protection,
and Raymond added
one for harmony.
Then Gideon wrote
a less-awful phrase for
binding, and it was done.
Light and shadow crawled
over Barb's wrists, forming
delicate bracelets of script.
"Hopefully this will shift
the spectrum of your being
for the better," Gideon said.
"How are you feeling?"
Barb grinned at them. "It
worked!" he said, twirling
his hands to show them off,
as if displaying new jewelry.
"Congratulations," Raymond said,
although he still didn't feel comfortable.
"We should get out of here soon."
"It's too bad we can't keep the place,"
Gideon said. "We need somewhere
more private for our research."
"I can help!" Barb said. "That's
one of the things they used me for,
to keep this place hidden and
make sure that the landlord
never bothered any of them.
It's paid through the year."
"Well ... no point wasting it,
I guess," Raymond said.
Barb leaned against him
like a cat, and purred.
Raymond stepped away.
He definitely did not need
to snuggle with a demon.
Barb just went over and
leaned on Gideon instead.
Gideon let him stay there
and packed up the books.
"Raymond's right, though,
we should get back before
anyone notices we're gone."
"Okay," Barb said, and
followed them to the door.
"How the hell are we
going to explain this
to our housemates?"
Raymond wondered.
"You caught me, I'm yours,"
Barb said with a shrug.
"Yeah, they might buy it,"
Gideon said. "We can
try. I know how to fix it
so you can get in my room."
"I can help," Barb said.
"They won't notice me."
And then he was a cat.
"Just when I thought his
couldn't get any weirder,"
Raymond muttered.
Gideon picked up the cat
and shouldered his backpack.
"It's fine," he said. "I'll carry Barb."
To Raymond's surprise, they
actually made it back to the house
without any further mishaps, and
Gideon's housemates didn't
seem to notice the cat-demon.
The day could have gone worse.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear elsewhere.
librarygeek. It also fills the "How do you want to do this?" square in my 9-1-20 card for the I Want Fries With That! Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Not Quite Kansas.Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes feeling lost, a headless chicken running around, a fight with bit character fatalities, moderate injuries to a main character, messy medical details, an imprisoned demon, torture, binding magic, demonic healing, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
"The Spectrum of Your Being"
[Sunday, September 30, 2018]
It had been three weeks
since Raymond and Gideon
had fallen from their world
into Not-Quite-Kansas.
While Gideon had been able
to step into the life of his other-self,
Raymond had no such luck. He'd
taken Gideon's offer of crash space
and managed to find some clothes
at a thrift store, but little more.
They had searched diligently
for a way to get back home,
but it was not going well.
Today they'd gotten a lead
on a book that could help.
"Are you sure that this is
the right place?" Raymond said,
eyeing the grungy basement door.
"Pretty sure," Gideon said. "It's
the address that I was given."
It all went wrong the moment
he opened the door and
a headless chicken ran out
between their legs.
The cultists attacked,
Raymond defended himself --
and Gideon when he could --
getting stabbed several times
in the shoulder as they tangled
in the dim, candlelit room.
The fight was short and ugly
before Raymond managed
to take down their attackers.
Then Gideon flipped on a light.
They had wound up in the bedroom,
little more than a jumble of couches
and beds divided by curtains.
"You're bleeding everywhere,"
Gideon muttered. "Shit."
"Messy but not deadly,"
Raymond assured him.
It hurt like hell, but it
wasn't life-threatening.
Quickly Gideon washed
his hands in the tiny bathroom,
then opened the first aid kit
from his tactical backpack.
He cleaned the wounds
as best he could, then
wrapped them in gauze.
"We might as well look
for the damn book as long
as we're here, but make it fast,"
Raymond said. "I don't want
to attract police attention."
"Me neither," Gideon said.
A quick search of the bedroom
turned up nothing; the bathroom
and kitchen were nearly barren.
That left the living room, which
had a couch and chairs crammed
around a tiny television in the corner.
The rest of the room was cluttered
with ritual paraphernalia, including
bookshelves and implements
and the head of the chicken.
There was also a demon.
He was pale except for
the dark skin over his eyes
and the black cat ears that
poked out of his black hair.
A matching tail lashed
behind him, clearly agitated.
"You can lower the gun,"
Gideon said. "He's trapped
in the diagram there."
"Let me out and I can
heal you," the demon offered.
"I don't think so," Raymond said.
"Demons are untrustworthy."
"Everything here is untrustworthy,"
Gideon muttered. "Do you really
want to risk visiting a hospital?"
"No," Raymond said. "I've
had worse. I'll live."
"This world relies a lot
on magic, though,"
Gideon pointed out.
"You think you can
control that thing?"
Raymond said. "After
what got us into this?"
Gideon winced at
the reminder of
his earlier mistakes.
"Let me look up what I can."
He took his heavy textbooks
out of his tactical backpack.
Meanwhile, Raymond
searched for the new book,
or rather, he piled up all of
the books he could find.
"Here," he said. "Can you
tell if it's any of these?"
"That one," Gideon said,
pointing to the thickest one.
"We might as well take them all,
though. It's not like the dead guys
need their library any more."
"Point," Raymond said. He
wanted to argue that stealing
was wrong, but he wanted
to get home even more.
Besides, the cultists
had attacked them.
"Something's weird here,"
Gideon muttered, frowning.
"Something is always weird
in this place," Raymond said.
"You'll have to be more specific."
"The summoning circle has
extra symbols," Gideon said.
"Well, break it down,"
Raymond said. "What
do the symbols do?"
"Twelve o'clock and
six o'clock are bindings
for the summoning itself,"
"Three o'clock is the name
of the demon and nine o'clock
has the cult or the cultists."
"What about the rest?"
Raymond wondered.
"So far, I've identified
these three --" He pointed.
"-- and they're punishments."
Now Raymond frowned.
"They were hurting him?"
"Yeah, it looks that way,"
Gideon said, showing
Raymond the pages.
"Shit," said Raymond.
"How many of the symbols
are there for torture?"
Gideon flipped through
his textbook, then checked
the cultists' books too.
"All the rest," he said.
"They had to do something
to keep me in line when they
summoned me," the demon said.
"But now you're here, so you
can command me instead.
You need some healing."
"I'll be fine," Raymond said.
"On a scale of one to ten,
how much pain are you in?"
The demon laughed. "Oh,
you humans are so precious.
The demon scale goes up
to a hundred. I'm only around
twenty-five, twenty-six -- I'm fine."
Raymond looked at the demon,
who was small and rather quiet,
crouched motionless except
for that thrashing tail.
It reminded Raymond
of his friend Henry, who
had gotten shot in the spine.
Henry always said he was fine,
too -- his scale was a bit bent now --
but he would still get quiet like
that when he was in pain.
"Gideon, can you do something
about the torture without letting
the demon out?" Raymond said.
"Yeah, as long as I don't erase
the bindings," Gideon said.
"Get on it," Raymond ordered.
"I won't be a party to torture."
"Wait, you're not going
to demand anything of me?"
the demon said, shocked.
"Not really into that,"
Raymond told him.
By the time Gideon
had erased the symbols,
the demon was slumped
in relief and staring at
Raymond with awe.
"Ugh, this is a mess too,"
Gideon said, pointing.
"What is?" Raymond said.
"His name," Gideon said.
"Looks like ... Barbaset?"
"Command me, Master,"
the demon said quietly.
"I'm not a master,"
Gideon said. "Anyhow,
there's more torture stuff
tied into the name symbol."
"I can't remember feeling
this good since I hatched,"
the demon said. "Please,
let me do something for you.
Don't leave me here like this
for anyone to use as they will."
"Not planning on it," Gideon said.
He scuffed out a few more bits.
The demon swayed. "I feel
giddy, as if I could float away."
"Gideon, stop there,"
Raymond said. "It might
not be good idea to change
too much all at once."
"Yeah, good point,"
Gideon said. "I'll look
for a way to get him out
without letting him rip us
to shreds or anything."
"I would not! You have
already done so much
for me," the demon said.
"Barbaset, right?" said Gideon.
"We didn't come here for you,
we just wanted to borrow a book."
"Barb," the demon said softly.
"That is what my associates
call me. When you say it all,
then it ... pulls at me."
"Oh yeah," Gideon said.
"Barb it is then. Funny name."
The tail flicked, and the fur
at the end stirred enough
to reveal the stinger under it.
"O ... kay," Gideon said.
"That makes more sense."
"If we make a contract,
you can let me out and I
can't hurt you," Barb said.
"I'd rather serve you than
anyone else. Please."
"Shit," Raymond muttered.
"Gideon, if people here are
torturing demons, no wonder
this place is a mess. We
can't leave him to that."
Gideon grabbed another book.
"Contracts, contracts ... yeah,
they're solid if you word 'em right."
"Really?" Raymond said. "I
though demons were deceitful."
"They can be, but not always,"
Gideon said. "Sources vary."
Barb snorted. "It's less about
deceit than inconvenient truths,"
he said. "The Fallen were forced out
because they wouldn't shut up."
"Now that I can believe,"
Raymond said dryly.
"So, a contract?"
"There are samples,"
Gideon said, flipping the
pages. "Healing is popular."
"Okay, already, you made
your point," Raymond said.
"Barb, how do you want
to do this?" Gideon asked.
"Write the contract on the floor
and replace the summoners' names
with your own. It will seal itself
to the circle as long as you don't
break the boundary ring," Barb said.
"Sign it in blood, and I am bound."
So Gideon wrote the contract
in chalk along the edge of
the summoning circle.
"Raymond, put your hand
here, since you're the one
who needs the healing,"
Gideon said. "You're
already bloody enough."
Raymond sighed and
pressed his hand to
the floor as indicated.
Light flared around the circle,
chased by jeweled shadows.
"Now what?" Raymond said.
"Break the circle so that I
can get out," Barb said.
"Here goes nothing,"
Gideon said, and
smudged the lines.
Barb sighed and
stepped across,
tiny pointed teeth
showing in a smile.
Yeah, Raymond had
suspected that the circle
was still hurting him.
"You should lie down,"
Barb said. "This will blow out
your tiny human pain scale."
"Shit," Raymond muttered.
"Are you sure this will work?
You can heal my shoulder
without wrecking anything else?"
"I am sure. The contract binds
me to it," Barb said, patting the air.
Raymond grumbled, but he
stretched out on the floor.
Barb put a pale hand on
his shoulder and spoke
words that hurt to hear.
Then it felt as if
Raymond's body
was boiling away.
He fainted before
Barb actually finished.
When Raymond woke up,
he could hear quiet voices
talking about ... more pain.
"So they overlap, yeah?"
Gideon was saying.
"Chronic pain for humans
goes up to like thirty, and
the demon scale's just longer?"
"Basically, yes," said Barb.
"Twenty-five is planes of agony
ruled by the demon lord of
abyssal lamentation, and --"
"Twenty-six means body is
pain; this chart encompasses
the spectrum of your being,"
Gideon said. "I remember
you explaining that one.
Humans really go that high?"
"They can if tortured enough,
whether by their own body
or someone else," Barb said.
Raymond groaned. "Can
we talk about something else?"
he said. "Like how fun taxes are?"
"Sorry," said Gideon. "Did it work?
Does your shoulder feel better?"
Raymond rolled his arm.
It didn't hurt. He sat up and
unwound the bandages.
His skin was unmarked.
"Wow, you did a great job,"
Raymond said. "Thanks."
Barb's jaw dropped, giving
them a perfect view of
his cat-sharp teeth.
"Let me guess, people
don't usually thank you,"
Raymond muttered.
"Never," Barb said.
"Can I do more for you?
Banish the bodies?"
Raymond looked -- oh yeah,
one had fallen in this room.
He shouldn't disturb
a crime scene, but he
really didn't want to risk
going to jail in this world.
"Go ahead," Raymond said.
Barb pranced over to the corpse.
A few ear-wringing words later,
it disappeared, bloodstains and all.
"That's handy," Gideon said.
"Can you do the rest of them?"
"They're all gone," Barb said.
"That's why humans like to keep
demons bound -- we're useful."
"That is so sick," Gideon said.
"This place is all fucked up."
"No, I'd much rather stay
with you," Barb said. "If I go,
then anyone can summon me."
"I won't condone slavery,"
Raymond said, frowning.
"Yeah, but he's got a point,"
Gideon said. "If we can protect
him, that's better than letting
other people abuse him --
again -- and like Barb said,
he can be useful to us."
Raymond rubbed
his shoulder. "I don't
want to make a habit of it."
"Not a habit," Barb said.
"Just me, and you two."
"So, you want a binding
to keep other people off
your back," Gideon said.
"Yes," Barb said. He sounded
both determined and terrified.
"How do you want to do it?"
Gideon said. "I don't like
the looks of these examples."
Barb shuddered. "There are
other ways," he said. "You
already changed my name.
If you add something new,
that will make me yours."
"Okay, let's see ..." Gideon
bent over a page that listed
tiny symbols and meanings.
Raymond looked too. It
resembled Arabic calligraphy,
the way that each little loop
and curl held purpose.
Gideon added a twist
that meant protection,
and Raymond added
one for harmony.
Then Gideon wrote
a less-awful phrase for
binding, and it was done.
Light and shadow crawled
over Barb's wrists, forming
delicate bracelets of script.
"Hopefully this will shift
the spectrum of your being
for the better," Gideon said.
"How are you feeling?"
Barb grinned at them. "It
worked!" he said, twirling
his hands to show them off,
as if displaying new jewelry.
"Congratulations," Raymond said,
although he still didn't feel comfortable.
"We should get out of here soon."
"It's too bad we can't keep the place,"
Gideon said. "We need somewhere
more private for our research."
"I can help!" Barb said. "That's
one of the things they used me for,
to keep this place hidden and
make sure that the landlord
never bothered any of them.
It's paid through the year."
"Well ... no point wasting it,
I guess," Raymond said.
Barb leaned against him
like a cat, and purred.
Raymond stepped away.
He definitely did not need
to snuggle with a demon.
Barb just went over and
leaned on Gideon instead.
Gideon let him stay there
and packed up the books.
"Raymond's right, though,
we should get back before
anyone notices we're gone."
"Okay," Barb said, and
followed them to the door.
"How the hell are we
going to explain this
to our housemates?"
Raymond wondered.
"You caught me, I'm yours,"
Barb said with a shrug.
"Yeah, they might buy it,"
Gideon said. "We can
try. I know how to fix it
so you can get in my room."
"I can help," Barb said.
"They won't notice me."
And then he was a cat.
"Just when I thought his
couldn't get any weirder,"
Raymond muttered.
Gideon picked up the cat
and shouldered his backpack.
"It's fine," he said. "I'll carry Barb."
To Raymond's surprise, they
actually made it back to the house
without any further mishaps, and
Gideon's housemates didn't
seem to notice the cat-demon.
The day could have gone worse.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear elsewhere.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-02-23 03:45 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2026-02-23 04:32 am (UTC)Yay! :D
>> Sort of echoes of what I know of the Winchesters (have read a few fanfics but not watched supernatural) <<
I am flattered by the comparison with a popular fandom.
You can ask for more of these characters in any relevant prompt call.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-02-23 03:32 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2026-02-23 05:17 pm (UTC)That's true. However, they're awful to other humans in local-Earth. Humans seem to have a general belief that it's okay to abuse those who have been designated as appropriate victims.
>> I'm glad they rescued Barb. <<
Yay! There are more poems about him in the batch I posted yesterday, one whole and the new open epic.