Part 2

It had been a long day, or night rather. And as bad as dealing with a pushy, snotty demon had been, sleeping on his uncomfortable couch was worse. I turned over again, miserable and counting the hours until I could go home. I had brought my own car pillow, great for stakeouts, not so great for real sleep. But there was a musty, not altogether unpleasant but definitely unusual smell coming from the couch. I was fairly sure I wanted to remain ignorant as to its source. But then I was fast discovering there were plenty of interesting and generally foul smells in the Ever After, the most prevalent of which being the overwhelming scent of burnt amber. Al's "house", if his two room quasi-squalor could be called that, smelt mostly of mold and, refreshingly, of sage. I had seen the incense burning in the kitchen but hadn't said anything. I wondered if demons were self-conscious about their stink since the sage did seem to effectively cut down on the reek of burnt amber.

And speaking of stinky demons, I had no idea where Al was. His place was only two rooms, his rather dilapidated front room that held the horrid couch I was trying to sleep on, his kitchen, and a crappy little closet of a bathroom. He sure as hell wasn't in the front room with me, and unless he was keeping courteously quiet in the kitchen, he wasn't working in their either. Maybe he slept in the bathtub? I didn't like the idea that he slept on the same couch I was stretched out on the other six days of the week I wasn't here. I didn't think he could be "working", or rather trying to snatch away the souls of unsuspecting mortals since I still had his summoning name. Maybe he was out at a demon titty bar bemoaning his current living conditions between the ample charms of an exotic dancer. How the hell was I supposed to know how demons spent their early mornings? I wondered briefly if the strippers would be enslaved mortals or indentured demons. Maybe the demons took turns playing female. I had to grin, briefly entertaining the idea of Al spelling himself buxom and blonde to augment his income. If Newt was really the only female demon, there had to be a severe shortage of demon titties. I yawned and shifted position again despite the fact that there was no comfortable position on that old couch.

I must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing I knew, Al was back and making a racket in the kitchen while yelling at me to get my lazy witch butt up. I tried to ignore him, not caring how crappy I felt after sleeping a few hours on the couch, and only wanting to go back to sleep. I heard him storm into the front room, his leather boots striking huffily against the tile. He jerked me towards him, one hand rough on my shoulder the other surprisingly gentle on my cheek. He had those damned white gloves on, but I could feel the warmth of his hand through the rough material. My eyes flittered shut again, and he shook me.

I must have still been half-asleep. I shook my head, glancing up at him and blinking the sleep from my eyes. Opening my mouth to respond, I yawn hugely instead and mumbled something before turning away from him burying my head into the pillow.

His silence startled me awake. He wasn't bitching at me to get up or threatening or making pervy little comments about joining me on the couch, very unlike Al. I glanced back up to find him redder in the face than usual; one hand that he had extended in some grand gesture limply fell to his side. I blinked again, trying to figure out what had come over him.

"'Demon titties', Rachel?" He had regained his composure almost instantly once my eyes were back on him, only the gleam in his eyes showing how close he had come to bursting out laughing at me…again. "Is that what you said, love? Is that what my naughty itchy witch was dreaming of?" he asked innocently enough but the look on his face was anything but.

"I didn't say that," was all I could come up with, which only made Al's eyebrows rise further. Shit, had I? I couldn't remember. I knew I yawned, I mumbled, I was half asleep. What had I been thinking about? I felt an immense blush start to spread itself across my face as I remembered wondering where Al had disappeared to. I knew I talked in my sleep, but damn it, could I have possibly said anything more embarrassing? Al was still towering over me, grinning faintly though I refused to look fully up at him. Maybe I could find a charm to keep my mouth shut until I was fully awake and in control of all firing synapses.

I was still beet red and trying not to look directly at Al. He seemed to have recovered from the shock of it though. Grinning at me, he pulled at my arm again, and this time I did get up, letting Al guide me up by the elbow. I grabbed my overnight bag so I could change in the bathroom. I usually just sleep in my underwear, but I'd invested in some jammies for my teaching dates with Al. No need to give the demon too many ideas.

"I don't know why you're so concerned, Rachel," he said with apparent solemnity as he eyes raked up and down my body. I pulled away from him and stormed off towards the bathroom. "After all, yours are fine," he said with all seriousness.

I spun around and yelled across the room at him "I don't have demon titties!" Slamming the bathroom door helped my temper, but I could still hear him laughing damn near hysterically.

"Stupid demon and his stupid couch," I muttered angrily to myself as I changed into clean clothes. I had already had a look at his shower and decided I could wait until I got home. Though it would probably take a few washes to get that damn burnt amber smell out of my hair. I washed my face and ran a wet comb through my hair, or rather tried to, since it was so thick and frizzy keeping it tame always seemed to be a losing battle. I went through my bag again, finding some lotion for my knees and elbows. A moment later I decided all my skin could use some moisture since I so was not ready to go back out that door and face Al. I had a feeling I'd probably never hear the end of my demon titty comments. I shook my head and started brushing my teeth for a second time. I knew I was never the most intelligent person when I just wake up, but that had been bad, even for me.

A deliberate and solid knocking sounded on the bathroom door. I jerked my head up suddenly and damn near choked on my toothbrush.

Asking who is it might get me some unusual and unwanted answers, so I shouted, "What?" and accidentally sprayed the mirror with flecks of spit and toothpaste. Wonderful.

"Are you going to hide in the bathroom all day, love?" Al asked with mocking sweetness through the door.

I wish I could. I got a piece of tissue to wipe at the mirror, which left streaks but effectively removed the worse of it. The mirror hadn't looked too great to begin with, so hopefully he wouldn't be able to tell.

"I'm just getting ready," I said irritably while I looked for something else to do to delay going back out there.

I swear he fricking purred. "Well, that's more like it. I await with bated breath, love."

It took a minute to figure him out, and I pounded one first against the door and heard him move back suddenly. "You damn well know that's not what I mean, you ass," I growled. "I'll be out when I'm out, shouldn't you be preparing a lesson or something?" Doesn't he have anything else to do but torment me, I thought.

"What do you think I was doing while you were off in slumber land, my itchy witch? Now hurry out, I've got you for six more hours and we've got lots to do," he said, sounding so cheery it made me want to hit him. I'd already lasted most of the day, what was another six hours, right?

I was brushing my hair, again, when I heard his boots approaching the bathroom door again.

"Oh Rachel," he called.

"What Al?" I called back, digging around in my bag for a hair tie.

"I do hope you brought good walking shoes for our fieldtrip," he simpered and I dropped my bag to the floor with a thud. Fieldtrip? He was joking, right? He had to be joking…

* * *

I love Al, but I don't feel like I did his character justice in this one. This is just a first attempt writing him though, so let me know what you think (reviews are love!). I'm sure some other Rachel/Al scenario will lodge itself in my brain before long and then I can have another go at it.

A small aside...I wish the quote possibly the greatest line ever. "Al/Rachel FTW. Rachel/Trent FTW. Al/Rachel/Trent OMG!hawtsex" from a post on A Few Fans More on LJ. I hope one day to write this fanfic =) Maybe Rachel can convince Trent to come with her into the Ever-After, I'm sure Al would at least let him sleep at the foot of the bed…