Maria's three tests on Monday went well, as best she could tell. Mark offered to not sleep with her that night since they did it Sunday-she dragged him into the bathroom and had him demonstrate how it should look for a show. She never blushed so much in her entire life.

She crashed after studying and woke up to a bird perched on her bed, yet again. I mean look at him, he sticks a very human dick inside me any time of day I demand it but ask him to lay down and maybe get some in the middle of the night, and poof! I get a damn bird.

Tuesday was a very awkward lab where she had to dissect a sheep brain and eye, to correctly label what she found. The thought of cooking didn't appeal to her afterward, so when she ran into Reg-who mentioned a sedate, responsible, adult party where everyone gets out of her apartment by midnight, Maria seriously considered it.

"Can Mark come?"

"Maria, he's an older guy hanging out with college co-eds. Besides, some of the girls still swear they did something with him even if he wasn't the one who hurt them."

Maria knew firsthand that it wasn't near as sinister as Reg made it out to be, but the act of hiding anything about what was once consented to could make it a very sinister feeling. It just felt so unfair to go without him that she gave a noncommittal response.

Mark's reaction to the story was laughter. "I spent a lifetime guarding the master's book. How many parties do you think I went to?"

"Well, she also said you were too old to be hanging out with college students."

"I'm too old to be hanging out with Jesus Christ."

"Really?"

"No, indeed! Well, possibly. Lugh was born at the end of the 2nd century and I was created at the beginning of the 3rd when he first took his throne, but my first few centuries were in Fey lands. We aren't mythic age creatures, so your Lugh is one of the youngest of the pantheon at over 1700 Earth years-the Fey count is a little more murky. That Earth count is about 300 years too late and a world away from the angel clans' Messiah."

"I don't feel right about going without you." It wasn't clinginess, but her security and some pity for the man who rarely left his home.

"Maria, I'm not your boyfriend, I'm your guardian and caretaker. You are single. You go because you want to, you stay because you want to."

Maria had only ever heard the term friends with benefits in passing and never really thought about what it would look like. Unfortunately, they didn't even have this phrase to hold each other to. Perhaps if they did, she wouldn't have gone.

~~~

Maria went to the party and found out it was mostly females-that made it less like a typical college party immediately. She felt out of place because she expected people to dress like they were attracting a date. A few of the girls were in their bath robes and pjs with a deep cleansing mask on. An adult slumber party where you get kicked out at midnight?

The guys there looked like they were kind of scared and hid behind Mick. Even playing Twister didn't relax them. They knew this party was weird. Around 11, Maria had enough and went to leave.

Reg noticed and yelled across the room at one of the guys. "Kim?"

One of those timid men perked up and wandered over to their host's side for a hushed conversation while Maria waited by the door.

Kim came over and opened it for them both, waiting until the door closed behind them to speak. "She sent me to walk you home since it wasn't far. You know my car is right there, we don't have to walk."

"I prefer walking. Kim, right?" Maria wasn't clinging to the ring as she did with her ex, but just suggesting a ride bothered her-even if it was irrational. Walking in public at 11 at night on the edge of campus wasn't ideal, but there were still plenty of other students out that late, many of them getting ready to hit the clubs. "I've not met you before. What do you do on campus?"

"I'm an undergrad like almost everyone else, but I work in admissions part-time, to earn some money." Kim dug his hands into his pockets and slouched like he did at the party. This wasn't a tall man, but he was still a few inches taller than her even with horrible posture. He came across as bashful, but there was something that made her wonder if he was behaving gently to not scare her. A lot of guys hid behind shyness, especially with social media full of women calling so many things a red flag-half of which got little agreement from woman to woman. Sometimes that was because the man genuinely tried to be what he was told he should be, but sometimes it was to be a better monster behind the mask of all the green flags.

Thank God Mark could be here in an instant.

"Which undergrad?"

"Accounting. I heard yours is pre-med."

A few more light comments like these and they turned the corner to get on the parallel road she now lived on.

Kim stopped for a full stride. "Didn't you use to date Nico?"

"Why?" was all Maria got out before she noticed the man walking towards them. An arm draped over her shoulders from her exposed side. Unlike Kim who mildly jarred her nerves by being off, the stranger touching her smelled like a cologne that instantly triggered fear.

She looked up at someone who shouldn't be touching her to see one of Nico's drinking buddies-Liam Roth. This man wasn't safe, not by a long shot.

"Aye, Mary-baby. I heard you had a run-in with your old man."

Maria winced as his grip on her new scar dug in deep. She was almost certain these guys were human so her powers wouldn't do a thing, leaving her with one option. "No, Mark did."

A large form dropped from the sky, blocking the still-approaching man from view. It threw open its wings and glared with red rims in a dark void.

Maria shrugged off her unwanted companion-Liam's hand went slack with shock. "You want to take it up with him?"

The crow grabbed Liam's face and pulled him closer. The creaking of his facial bones were audible under Mark's grip. "Huh...human. Looks like Nico liked to run the risk of exposure."

Mark snapped his neck and dropped him, then turned around to Kim. Apparently Kim was the faker she suspected as he calmly stood his ground. "Sitti, drop this fool and take over the sacrifice."

Kim bowed and a smoky form poured out of him to enter the dead body. The man's eyes rolled back and he passed out.

As for the man blocked behind them?

"Man, these cosplaying college furries get weirder every year." He slurred as he put his hand on Mark's shoulder as best he could with the wings in the way. "Cool wings, dude."

He shambled past Mark and noticed Maria-the stench of cheap, half-digested alcohol finally hit her, making her nose crinkle. "Woah, a hot chick is into it. Cool, cool. "

Then he almost tripped over the fallen regaining their feet. "Oh, into thugs, furries, and nerds. That's fucking fantastic! Man, no one's going to believe me when I share it with my followers."

Mark waited until the man stumbled off before addressing the dead man. "Take yourself and your former host back to your master and tell him I sent you."

Once the two bowed to him, Mark wrapped his arms around Maria and disappeared.