It had been a week since the marriage announcement, and a week since Anna had revealed herself to the rest of the group. Rachel didn’t know what to make of it. She’d tried talking to Emma about it at work, but that hadn’t been much use.

With Emma, it seemed like she was crushing harder on Anna than ever before. She would talk about Anna, unprompted, but discussions about what her horns might feel like weren’t the helpful discussion Rachel was looking for. April, meanwhile, didn’t want to talk about Anna at all, and Rachel could understand why.

“Rach. Coming to the bar?”

“I…Um.”

“Please. Look. Nothing’s changed, right?”

“No, but…”

“What are you worried about?”

“It’s just…”

She had grown up in a very religious household. Stories of devils sent to tempt you, warnings about messing with magic, or going against the word of God. She’d long grown out of it, so she hoped, but some of the scars hadn’t properly healed.

“It’s just a lot to take in…. That’s all.”

“So are you coming to the bar?”

“Fine.”

Emma wasn’t going to give up so easily, and Rachel knew she was just worrying over nothing.

April was waiting for them outside, and quickly pulled Emma in for a kiss.

“What’s gotten in to you?” Emma laughed. “Not that i’m complaining.”

“I know.” Rachel smirked. “I understand, April.”

April shot her a glance.

“What?” Emma had no idea what was being unsaid. “What?”

“Emma, your girlfriend is a little upset that you’ve spent all week talking about a certain purple skinned demon from another world, and would like it if you spent a little bit of time obsessing over her.”

“Oh.” Emma blushed. “Um. Apology kiss?”

April kissed her back. “Apology accepted.”

The three walked to the bar, chatting about work, life, and almost anything but the topic at hand. Their friend was a demon from another world, and it wasn’t the easiest thing to accept. None of them had spoken to Anna or Jessica all week, and felt a little guilty about it.

To their collective relief, Jessica was the only one in the bar.

“Hey, Minions.” Jessica waved them over. “We need to chat.”

Jessica made it very clear that she was unhappy about the silent treatment. She had expected better from all of them, especially Rachel.

“It’s just…”

“Just lay it out, Rachel. What’s up.”

“Look. Um.” She pulled out a small crucifix. “Um. I’m just…”

“Really?” Jessica rolled her eyes. “You know what, if it helps you get over it, then whatever. I’ll tell Anna to expect a test.”

“I… Err..” Rachel looked around the table. Emma was giggling. April was deadpan, and Jessica was rolling her eyes. “I just need to be sure. It’s just…”

“Well as long as you don’t show that to my mother. She is a vampire, after all.” April laughed. “That’s a joke, Rachel.”

A few minutes later, Anna arrived with Eric in tow.

“Rachel, can you help me fetch the wine?”

“Um. Sure.” Rachel fumbled for her bag.

Away from the table, and away from prying eyes, Rachel pulled out the crucifix.

“Is this the testing device?” Anna picked it up. “Doesn’t feel magical at all.”

Rachel looked at her fiddling away at her old childhood relic.

Then she began laughing.

“Yes. You passed.” She held out her hand. “Can I have it back, please?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Um. Religious symbol. Said to ward off monsters.”

“Do you think I’m a monster…?” Anna smiled. “I mean, I was surprised to find out that demon means a whole other thing in this world. I was even more surprised to find out about the whole cat-ear thing.”

“Cat-ear thing?”

“In my world, you get blessed by gods. Some get blessed by a cat god, and end up with cat ears. Some get blessed by others,” She pointed to where her horns would be, “and end up with these. I just found it weird that one ended up being a symbol of evil and the other ended up as symbol of cuteness. It’s kinda the other way around where I’m from.”

“Oh.”

“Cat blessings are very weak, and often the person is quite mischievous. The blessing I have, by comparison, is a symbol of strength, loyalty, and courage. There’s still people who don’t end up like that though… but” Anna stopped. “The wine’s here.”

Rachel was met with several amused glares from the rest of the table.

“All good?” Eric asked.

“I think so?” Anna replied.

Rachel nodded and looked at her feet. “It’s fine.”

“Good.” Jessica announced. “Now, where were we? Ah. Yes. Congratulations to Eric, for marrying someone well out his league. Commiserations to Anna, for settling for the first person who was nice to her. To the soon to be happily married couple.”

Eric pouted, but raised his glass anyway.

“Not just the first person.” Anna replied, “but the person who has always been kind to me. “

Eric leaned over for a kiss.

“I always thought no-one on earth would date me. Turns out I wasn’t that far off the mark.”

“Get a room.” Jessica interrupted. “I’m glad that’s over.”

“There is one other thing.” Anna laughed. “I hear one of you has been desperate to, ahem, touch my horn?”