Damian

There is only one person who has a nickname for him.

It's Elias.

And that nickname sounds like "Angel".

He doesn't use it often, but sometimes it happens.

it is very beautiful.

But not at all what one expects.

---

It is not monstrous.

On the contrary.

Even a little... majestic.

He has large dark gray horns that resemble the twisted branches of an old tree.

His eyes become bright amber, almost golden.

The pupils are narrow.

On his arms and neck, thin black patterns appear, as if the ink itself has grown under the skin.

And behind his back...

Not wings.

There are none.

But there is a long, strong tail.

More like the tail of a big cat or a panther.

It is very flexible.

It obeys his master perfectly.

He has a state that is responsible for the fact that he is exhausted from all these masks and false selves. And, perhaps, this is one of the loneliest aspects of his life.

He has a state that he himself calls something like this:

"I don't want to be anyone anymore today."

Not "I don't want to live."

Not "I hate everyone."

Exactly...

"I don't want to play any role."

---

On such days, he hardly speaks.

He answers briefly.

He doesn't joke.

He doesn't manipulate.

He doesn't smile.

...

And the most interesting thing...

At this moment, he doesn't become angry.

He becomes...

very honest.

---

Someone asks:

— How are you?

— Bad.

...

— Why?

— Tired.

...

— From what?

— From people.

Without embellishment.

Without beautiful formulations.

---

And because of this, many demons think:

"How gloomy he is today."

In fact...

This is the only day when they see his true face.

---

I think the Archdemon has noticed this for a long time.

One day he simply says:

— Was today a hard day?

...

Damian doesn't even look at him.

— No.

...

Pause.

...

— It was a hard week.

...

Another pause.

...

— Maybe a month.

---

The Archdemon doesn't answer anything.

He just silently pushes the tea.

Because he knows.

Right now, advice is not needed.

Silence is needed.

"If I hurt first, they can't hurt me anymore."

And...

This is also self-defense.

Only very cruel.

He didn't wake up with the thought:

"Who should I hurt today?"

No.

He woke up with the thought:

"You can't show that you can be hurt."

He wasn't born a manipulator.

He...

learned to be one.

---

Little Damian had one very uncomfortable trait by nature.

He felt people too keenly.

Not magically.

Not telepathically.

He just noticed very well.

Who is lying.

Who is angry.

Who is only pretending to smile.

Who says one thing but thinks another.

And...

The child doesn't know what to do with it.

---

Little Damian approaches some adult demon.

He smiles.

— Well done.

...

And little Damian looks at him.

And understands.

"You're not thinking that right now."

😭

---

At first he could even ask.

— Why did you say "well done" if you wanted to say something else?

...

And everyone is like:

— ...

— It's none of your business.

Or:

— Don't be so strange.

Or:

— You don't have to say everything out loud.

---

And here, I think, the most interesting thing began.

He made a conclusion.

Not very correct.

But logical for a child.

"People don't like honesty."

Therefore...

"You have to say what they want to hear."

🥲

---

And so...

Over the years...

He became a very good actor.

Not because he wanted to deceive anyone.

And because...

That once upon a time...

It seemed to him that no one wanted to listen to the real him.

---

And that's why I'm so moved by his acquaintance with Elias.

Because Elias...

Absolutely by accident...

Broken everything that Damian had built for centuries.

Not by force.

Not by arguments.

And because...

That he never once made him pretend.

---

At first he really wanted to, he was sure that he could, see the weak spot. He would press. He would win.
...

And then...

He became Elias.

---

— Damian, I think you're tired today.

— No, everything's fine.

...

And...

Elias simply answers.

— Okay.

If you want to talk, I'll be there.

🥲

---

And that's it.

No interrogations.

No:

"I can see you're lying!"

No attempts to "save" him.

Just...

Calm acceptance.

---

And Damian sits alone afterwards.

And grumbles.

— What was that all about...

— Why did he just... believe it?

— Why didn't he start digging into his soul?

— That's illogical...

And the next day...

He goes to the same meeting.

😭

---

I even think that Damian's biggest lie never sounded like:

"I'm your friend."

No.

His biggest lie sounded different.

"It doesn't affect me."

Because it did.

Almost everything.

He just learned not to show it.

That's his main trait.

Not because he can't.

Not because he's afraid.

Not because someone forbade him.

But because...

for the first time, he's not interested in it.

And this is a very powerful detail.

Imagine his inner monologue.

"He trusts."

"If you press here..."

"...he'll break."

...

Silence.

...

"...And what next?"

For the first time in years, he sees no value in winning.

Because if Elias stops being Elias...

Then the very thing that interested him in the first place will disappear.

This is actually gold.

They are not as loud as they seem. They are more like letting off steam.

For example:

I came back after some meeting.

I closed the door.

...

— Yes, yes, "it was very nice to chat."

— Of course.

— If you invite me to such a meeting again, I will voluntarily go and count the stones in the human world.

Or:

— "Thank you for the constructive dialogue."

— Constructive...

— But we argued for twenty minutes about who forgot some document.

After that, he makes tea.

And in five minutes he is completely calm.

Damian will notice one day that... he has stopped talking to himself after his meetings with Elias.

At first he won't even notice.

And then he will come home one day after the conversation.

He will take off his coat.

He will put the kettle on.

And suddenly he will stop.

...

— ...

Silence.

He waits.

Now the usual thing should begin:

"Well, what a day..."

"What the hell..."

"Here he is..."

But...

Nothing.

He simply remains silent.

Sits down.

Takes a cup.

And only then does he say quietly, almost in surprise:

"...Strange."

Not because Elias "corrected" him.

Not because he changed his character.

And because Damian doesn't have to waste his strength on protecting himself from people when he's with him.

He doesn't have to calculate hidden motives.

He doesn't have to wait for a blow.

He doesn't have to keep his sarcasm ready.

For a demon who has lived his whole life with the idea that "the first to open up loses," this is almost a shock.

And perhaps for a very long time he will simply call it:

"An interesting phenomenon."

I literally imagined it.

While the person is watching:

🙂
"Of course, I understand you perfectly."

The person turns away.

😒

"...Unbelievable."

It's not even necessarily because of hatred.

Rather, it's because he gets tired very quickly of insincerity, superficial conversations, or manipulations from others. He himself knows how to manipulate, but when he sees someone doing it clumsily or contradicting themselves, something arises inside him:

"Are you serious now?.."

And only Elias for some reason... does not cause this reaction.

When he first met Elias...

His algorithm was simple.

"Find out the weak spot."

Then:

"Decide whether to exploit it."

Then:

...

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Weeks passed.

Then months.

And he suddenly realized a strange thing.

He already knows almost all of Elias' weak spots.

But instead...

Memorizes something else.

☕ What kind of tea he likes.

📖 What books calm him down.

🌼 That chamomile really works.

😴 That Elias speaks a little more softly after a hard day.

😊 That he smiles wider when someone thanks him for little things.

And one day Damian literally freezes in the middle of a thought.

"...Wait."

"...Why am I even remembering that?"

He is silent.

Then he answers himself very confidently:

"For... analysis." Or not...

Impossible.

Not because of the romance.

At first.

He likes the way the song sounds like someone is trying to stay cool...

...but can't anymore.

And it reminds him a lot of himself.

Nothing But Thieves.

I think he really likes their balance between strength and vulnerability.

He would never put it that way.

But that's why he listens to it.

Alternative rock and dark indie.

Music that sounds a little sad.

A little beautiful.

A little like it's raining at three in the morning.

Not his photo.

Never.

It's something very restrained.

🌒 Crescent moon.

Or a black raven in profile.

Or a tree silhouette.

That is, something that makes people think:

"Wow... a mysterious person."

And Damian thinks:

"Exactly."

Dark minimalism.

Black background.

Some kind of tree branch.

Fog.

Very beautiful.

Very "look how mysterious I am".

He is one of those characters who makes a first impression intentionally.

And only then you realize that half of this image was a carefully staged performance.

And this is his biggest problem.

He works great with lies.

With manipulation.

With masks.

But...

As soon as a person says something completely honest...

He gets lost.

In fact, he simply does not know how to react.

186 cm

He specifically likes to stand straight.

Because he knows that this adds to the "presence effect".

Sometimes he even seems taller than Yang.

And then Yang walks by.

And it turns out...

no.

It annoys him a little.

Not much.

A little.

---

In front of shorter interlocutors, at first he does not bend down on purpose, taking advantage of his taller stature.

He is building an image.

He stands straight.

Hands in his pockets.

He looks down from above.

Effectively.

And then... He starts talking to Elias more and more often.

And one day he catches himself standing for ten minutes, leaning slightly towards him.

...

He straightens up abruptly.

He looks away.

"No."

Five minutes later...

He bends down again.

And this is repeated endlessly.

Demon Young. Calm, efficient, rational. They hardly communicate. Damian heard that Yang has a human boyfriend.

Demon Mordek. Steady, has a good memory, but Damian thinks it's because Mordek writes everything down in his notebook. Literally everything.

Demoness Lyra. Very, VERY energetic and, oddly enough, kind. Sometimes it's annoying, but it's quite interesting to watch her.

The head of Hell, the Archdemon. Damian has a special relationship with him. Sometimes he just goes to the Archdemon's office to take a break from the other demons, and the demon lord doesn't even mind.

He thought that:

he was watching Elias

But in fact:

he began to create a quiet emotional space around him without pain

And he himself doesn't know why he's doing it.

One day he catches himself thinking:

“If he disappears, it will be… quieter.”

And instead of the pleasure of control

he feels something strange, like a loss of context.

And this is where the most interesting thing begins:

Because Damian still doesn't know what to do with a person who:

can't be broken

is not interesting to break

and… doesn't want to break

Instead of attacking, he starts:

to come “accidentally”
to bring tea “for everyone”
to listen to Elias apologize for existing
and catch himself thinking that this… calms

And this is the most dangerous thing for a demon who lives on psychological blows:

his tools don’t work

“What for?”

At first, he thinks it’s:

a research interest

a strategic observation

a potential weakness for future use

But over time, something goes wrong:

He starts waiting for Elias.

Not as a goal.

But as a phenomenon.

And it annoys him.

Because it doesn't fit into logic.

First:

“Interesting. Elias is unusual.”

Then:

“Why doesn’t he defend himself?”

Then:

“Why don’t I want to break him?”

And finally:

“What should I do with him anyway?”

Because Elias does not have:

hidden anger

hidden resentment

hidden “weak spot” that he hides even from himself

He is all on the surface.

And this is for a demon that works with “vulnerabilities”, like code without bugs, but without instructions

And this is… a system failure.

Because Elias:

does not hide his weaknesses

does not play defense

does not wear armor out of sarcasm

and even when he breaks down, he does it honestly and quietly

Damian first thinks:

“Okay. Easy target.”

And then listens to Elias for 10 minutes…

and for the first time in his life:

cannot find where to hit

His favorite magic is not a spell.

This is the phrase:

— Oh, how strange… we met again.

And next to this, he stands exactly where:

least logic
most emotions
and Elias is definitely there.

He enters the conversation like a soft fog.

Not noisy. Not aggressive. Not even particularly demonstrative.

Simply:

— If you want… you can speak up.

— I'm a good listener.

— And I won't use any of this against you.

(which… is technically true)

And he doesn't attack right away.

He just…

puts it in his pocket.

"for later"

He doesn't read minds.

He:

listens to pauses
notices where people pause before a word
remembers what was said "jokingly", but with a shudder
and most importantly, understands that people themselves show their weaknesses