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“I’m not—Tubbo, these are five young cats,” Tommy pointed out, hefting the heavy box that was shoved in his arms. The cats inside were mostly sleeping, with maybe one or two stirring and staring at him. Man, they were cute but there was also a lot of them.
“It’s just for a few days,” Tubbo insisted, leading Tommy into his own apartment like it was his. “The shelter was full and the next nearest one is a town over. And I still have a date!” He placed the various paper bags he held on the kitchen counter.
“But Tubbo!” Tommy placed the box down on the couch, plopping down next to it, “This is still five cats!”
“You’re not keeping them forever!” Tubbo rolled his eyes, sitting beside his friend on the couch, “it’s just for the weekend, I promise. Look, I even bought you all the stuff you need for them. Please? You’ve always wanted to have cats, right?”
“Well, yeah but—,” Tommy glanced at the box reluctantly.
“All I heard was ‘yeah’ so thank you so much, Tommy,” Tubbo seized the moment to hug his friend, and he was out the door before Tommy could say more.
Tommy let out a soft whine, watching the door click shut. He turned to the box of kittens—they were each only big enough to fit in both his hands, barely out of kittenhood, really. Gosh and they were so cute, oh dammit Tubbo.
Well, might as well see what he bought for them.
Dear TommyInnit!
I love your channel! I stumbled upon it while perusing Youtube for suitable background music to my business. It seems there are many a fan of yours to be found in my customers as well! Your mad good vibes have helped my little shop flourish, and for that I am most grateful.
When you first started your ‘Challenge Accepted’ segment on your streams, I was delighted! And I found your recounting of the challenges very entertaining! I’d love to see you recount this one. I thought this challenge will be quite interesting and, if it succeeds, please treat it as a gift from a very big fan. That being said, hence is my challenge;
Enclosed in this letter is a spell to summon a companion. I challenge thee to follow the instructions to the letter, and see what happens. A reminder, this spell’s intent is to acquire a companion, nothing more nothing less. Whether it’s for you or for someone else, it will be a companion that will come.
If it doesn’t work, fret not! Magic does not favour everyone. I hope you enjoy the challenge regardless!
Sincerely,
Philza
Tommy finished reading the letter out loud, wry grin on his face. Being a streamer meant a lot of people saw his face, and he always loved to put on a show.
“So there’s the challenge of the week!” Tommy said, laughing a bit, “I know, guys, it sounds very interesting doesn’t it? And Philza, if you’re watching, thank you a lot for this challenge!”
Tommy put as much sincerity in his thanks, hoping the person behind the letter would get his message.
“Let me tell you, doing this challenge was a trip and a half!” Tommy eased back in his seat and began talking about buying the ingredients for the spell, making it sound funnier and wilder than it actually was. Setting up everything also took up most of the stream’s time, made more entertaining by jokes and trivia Tommy had prepared beforehand.
“Now, I won’t bore everyone with too much detail,” Tommy quipped, grinning at his own joke, “let’s get to the fun part! Did the spell work? Yes? No? I can almost hear you at the edge of your seats!”
Tommy paused for dramatic effect, and to allow himself to hesitate just a bit. He’d already talked to his friends about this, already talked to his editors. Most importantly, this was the plan Wilbur approved of, it was the plan they agreed on.
“The day I got this letter was also the same day Tubbo made me take in a box of kittens,” Tommy began, leaning forward, “they’re beautiful little things, fast, wild balls of fluff, let me tell ya! Why, just this morning I woke up to all of them playing around on my bed.”
“At the risk of sounding like a crazy cat lady, I now have a bunch of cats living with me,” Tommy laughed to himself, but also only slightly for show, “and I wouldn’t have it either way! Now if that’s what Philza meant when they said the spell will give me a ‘companion’, well— you decide!”
A flash of light and grey fog filled up the apartment, making Tommy cough slightly. He scrambled to open a window, momentarily forgetting about the whole fancy ritual and the cats that interrupted it just minutes earlier.
The fog began to dissipate as fast as it appeared, leaving Tommy to gape at the sight in front of him. He didn’t know what he expected but it was probably not this.
“Oh fuck it worked.”
Tommy was going to have to seriously reconsider this week’s ‘Challenge Accepted’ segment. He didn’t think any of his friends or his fans would believe this. Hell, he didn’t believe this.
Sitting in the middle of his actual, working summoning circle was an actual, living (?) demon.
He’s got the horns, long and wicked looking. He’s got goat legs which- well, Tommy wasn’t really one to judge, but it did mean the guy had no pants. He wore a plain, long sleeved black shirt, at least. He had his back to Tommy, so there was no telling what his face looked like just yet. He also got fluffy, unruly, brown curls, and that Tommy can judge because only he can have that style. Or maybe not, this is a demon after all.
Oh fuck, it’s a demon .
“Uhm, hey there, Mr. Demon—,” Tommy stepped closer, only to be halted by a sharp ‘shush!’ from the demon himself.
“I’m busy,” he said, turning around just enough to give Tommy a glare. With his bright red eyes, it would’ve been intimidating. But he also had a cat cradled in his arms, the cat looking more content than it had been the whole time it spent in Tommy’s apartment.
“I’ll deal with your problem in a minute,” the demon muttered, “just let me enjoy this.” He gathered the other cats loitering in and around the circle into his lap, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Tommy just stood there, absolutely clueless as to what he should do.
The contrast of the demon’s, well, demonic aura and the adorable scene before him was throwing Tommy in for a loop. The demon just looked so… content with the cats purring in his lap. Not knowing what else to do, Tommy sat quietly on the couch a couple of feet from the demon.
It took the better part of an hour before the demon even looked at anything else besides the cats in his lap. By then Tommy had gotten up and made tea, sitting again on the couch with an extra cup on the coffee table in case the demon wanted some.
The demon looked around, and Tommy got the feeling that his taste in furniture was being judged. He kept quiet, but Tommy couldn’t help pouting. His tastes were great, thank you very much!
Finally the demon turned to face him, ‘tired and unimpressed’ written all over his face. His nicely shaped, very attractive face.
“You don’t seem like the type to summon demons,” he said, cutting straight to the point, “so why am I here?”
“Oh!” Tommy adjusted his glasses with a nervous laugh, “I uh—I got challenged to perform a spell!”
Somehow the demon’s expression became even more tired and unimpressed.
“Challenged,” he repeated, “like a dare.”
“Yeah!” Tommy nodded, seeing nothing wrong with this at all. He gave his friendliest smile, though for some reason the demon squinted and looked away.
“Okay,” the demon sighed before facing Tommy again, “what were the specifics of the challenge?”
“Uhh, to do the spell?” Tommy answered hesitantly, “I have the letter if you want to see.” He looked around, trying to remember where he last placed said letter.
“No—just,” the demon sighed again, longer and harder. Tommy thought this rather unfair, but he settled back in his seat with just a pout.
“What was the intent in the spell? Did they tell you?” the demon clarified.
“It was,” Tommy paused, thinking about the last part of the letter. It was silly , and Tommy loved silly and loved the simple niceness of it all. He smiled, “it was a spell to gain a companion, nothing more nothing less.”
“Witch-typical vagueness,” the demon muttered, scrunching his nose. Louder he said, “So is that what you wanted? Was it your intent, when you performed the summoning?”
“Er, kinda?” Tommy averted his gaze, smile awkwardly crooked, “I was wondering if I could get my theoretical ‘companion’ to help me take care of the cats! There’s way too many of them for just me, you know!!”
Tommy had barely finished speaking when the demon sat up, intense determination on their face. They placed the cats aside carefully (dare Tommy say lovingly ) before pouncing on the couch. He landed right on top of Tommy, their faces inches apart.
“I accept,” the demon said, eye to eye with Tommy, “I accept your deal; to be your Companion, and to care for the cats. State your name, summoner.”
Tommy was having trouble focusing on the demon’s words, but he remembered the final steps to the spell. The ‘binding of words’ that Tommy didn’t think he’d need. He tried to remember the phrases, and tried not to get too lost in the demon’s red eyes.
“My name is Tom Simons, call me Tommy,” he said, feeling something in him shift .
“Tommy,” the demon repeated, words laced with magic. He nodded and said, “My name is Wilbur Soot.”
Names hold strength, the spell had warned , an exchanging and accepting of names creates a bond. In this case, it’s going to be a pretty strong, supernatural bond.
“Wilbur,” Tommy whispered, and the shifting in him clicked into place, settling in the space between his lungs and his heart like a weight he was always meant to have.
And then Wilbur kissed him.
“That was… uh…” Tommy blinked a few times, feeling afloat. That was a kiss all right.
The demon— Wilbur Soot— had already moved back off the couch, playing with the cats. His horns were gone, and with his dress pants, he looked like any other guy in his late twenties.
“We’ll draft up something more concrete later,” Wilbur said, as if he hadn’t just turned Tommy’s world sideways, “I’m assuming you have no idea how to draft up a demon contract?”
“Uh.” Tommy met his gaze, still dazed. Wilbur scoffed, but dare Tommy say it sounded teasing .
“Didn’t think so,” he said, looking back down at the cat wriggling happily in his lap, “that’s all right. Wouldn’t you say it’s a companion’s job to show you how to do it right?”
“I…guess?” Tommy frowned, “you’re taking this all very easily.”
“I get to stay up here in exchange for looking after cats,” Wilbur pointed out, “that’s way better than, say, world domination. Or getting my powers leeched. Or being summoned just to be used as a sacrifice for some other spell.”
“Ouch, speaking from experience?” Tommy winced in sympathy.
Wilbur nodded, but didn’t say anything else.
“I’m guessing none of them succeeded, though,” Tommy tried to joke. Wilbur grinned at him, all sharp teeth, charisma, and enticing danger.
“No, they really didn’t,” he said with a hint of malice. Then just like that he just looked exhausted again, moving his sleeves out of a cat’s reach in play.
“When we manifest in your realm, we’re shaped by your intent and expectations,” he explained, “we have some control over it after manifesting, but what you saw when you summoned me…that’s what you wanted, whether you knew it or not. To some extent.”
“Huh.” Tommy remembered his thoughts when he first saw Wilbur. Mostly harmless, he'd like to think. Neat and with cool horns and sharp teeth and a sharper gaze and hot as sin. He caught Wilbur looking, with a smirk that said he knew exactly what Tommy was thinking.
“Don’t do that!” Tommy squeaked, feeling himself flushed.
“It’s not uncommon, y’know,” Wilbur said with a lazy shrug, “I don’t much mind what I look like, and you’re pretty. If that’s what you wanted in a ‘companion’ I could—”
“Nononono,” Tommy squeaked further, voice rising several octaves, “I—that’s—hahah! That’s all right! Wh—wait did you just say I’m pretty ?”
Wilbur pointedly looked him up and down, gesturing with a hand.
“Yeah,” he muttered, averting his gaze.
Tommy squeaked wordlessly, covering his face with one of the pillows on the couch.
Maybe he’d bitten off a bit more than he could chew. Oh, how exciting.
“Tommy! I come to collect the—”
Tubbo locked eyes with the stranger sitting on his friend’s couch. Said stranger had two cats purring away in their lap, but Tubbo was too busy trying not to lose their staring contest to pay much attention.
Not five minutes later Tommy entered from the kitchen, carrying mugs of hot chocolate. Tubbo was forced to break eye contact, ignoring the no doubt smug look his mystery opponent was giving him in favour of giving Tommy his most incredulous expression.
“Ah! Tubbo! You didn’t tell me you’d visit!” Tommy, unperturbed, simply made his way to the couch and set the mugs down on the coffee table, “this is Wilb—Wil! He’s my new uhm, roommate. We agreed to take care of the cats together!”
Tubbo watched as Tommy turned to look at the man beside him. He nudged ‘Wil’ who only gave him an eye-roll in response.
“He’s my friend, Tubbo!! The one I was telling you about?”
Somehow this made Wilbur look smug all over again.
Tubbo was very confused.
“You…got a roommate?” he asked, trying to parse out the logic of it all, “I gave you five cats, and you thought ‘oh, this is too much! Better get a roommate!’ is that what you’re telling me?”
“No…” Tommy frowned in an exaggerated way, crossing his arms in front of him, “you make it sound so dumb if you say it like that!”
Tubbo watched Wilbur assess the situation, obviously taking his cues from Tommy and giving him a warning glare. Tubbo still wasn’t sure what was going on between them, but he was starting to hazard a guess.
“Oh I see,” he said with a slow deliberate smirk, “so that’s what’s going on! You should’ve said so, Tommy!”
“Wait what.” Tommy blinked, sensing something amiss.
“You know you don’t have to hide these things from me,” Tubbo draped himself over the nearest armchair, “tell me how you met, Tommy!”
“Ah, uh,” Tommy stalled, thrown off guard by the change in demeanour, “I was just uh.”
“We met at my job,” Wilbur cut in, short and succinct, “late night, ran into each other. Mentioned the cats, I was looking for a new place. It worked out.”
“It worked out, huh?” Tubbo repeated, eyebrow raised.
Wilbur just met his inquisitive gaze with his own smug one. Tommy was pointedly busying himself with one of the cats. He did not want to know what Tubbo thought of his, erm, new roommate.
As soon as he was gone, Wilbur leaned back onto the couch, sinking down a bit as he pulled the cats more secure against him. Tommy groaned as he did the same.
“He probably thinks we’re having sex,” Tommy muttered.
“Let him,” Wilbur said with a scoff. A beat passed, and then-
“Not like it won’t be true soon enough,” Wilbur said softly enough that if any one of the cats had made a sound Tommy would’ve missed it.
“Wilbur!” Tommy sat up, staring at his ‘companion’ with wide eyes and a furiously flushed face.
Wilbur had his eyes closed as if he was dozing off, but Tommy could see the goddamn smirk he wasn’t even trying to hide.