“Wow. Hadn't expected you to live in a coffee shop,” Dominic's black face-paint wearing guest said as he entered.
There was certainly a true analogy to be made regarding the statement. Dominic's apartment had a strong coffee smell, as a fresh pot was being brewed by the machine sitting on the kitchen counter. The flat's theme of mocha browns and earthy tan colors, the track spot-lights that illuminated the living area, and the soft lo-fi jazz playing from laptop speakers certainly added to the overall café mood.
“Yeah,” Dominic responded, tiredly. He closed the door after his unique looking visitor, before walking back to his computer that sat on the kitchen table. He closed the lid with a sigh, before extending a hand outward. “Dominic. It's good to meet you, I'm just exhausted, sorry.”
The guest grinned, showing pointed and larger than average canines.
“The Demonologist,” he replied, shaking Dominic's hand.
Dominic frowned. “That's...all you go by?”
“Well,” the Demonologist replied, “You could use Brogan, I guess.”
Dominic nodded respectfully, before sweeping his arm around the room. “Well, feel free to have a seat somewhere, coffee will be done in a minute, and...I honestly have no clue where to begin...”
The Demonologist raised a hand, before gesturing Dominic towards the couch.
“You just sit and relax. I think I already get the gist of things,” the guest said with a smirk.
“You do?”
The Demonologist nodded. “I think so. You've got a demon living here. Two of them.”
“Yeah,” Dominic said.
“And you have no idea what to do with them.”
Yeah,” Dominic repeated.
“Well, seems simple enough,” the Demonologist replied. “What do you want to do with them?”
“I...don't know.”
With a chuckle, the Demonologist walked towards the kitchen table, grabbing one of the chairs and moving it beside the couch where Dominic sat, leaned forward.
“Sounds like you need less of a Demonologist and more of a counselor then.”
“What?” Dominic answered, confused.
“I'm a Demonologist. I deal with demons, I study demons, I've learned how to control the very existence of a demon. I could get rid of your demons in an instant. But the question I asked was what do you want to do with them. Do you want to keep them, or do you want them to be gone, out of your life forever?”
Dominic's silence spoke volumes. The man bit his lip uncertainly as he raised a large hand to his brow.
“I...don't know,” he answered.
“Clearly,” the Demonologist said with a snort. “That'd probably be the best place to start then. If you want to keep them, I can train you how. If you want to get rid of them, I can get rid of them. But I can't make the decision for you.”
“Alright, fine,” Dominic said, leaning back and gesturing towards his guest. “Maybe you can help me by telling me who, what, and why.”
“Demonology 1-0-1, is that what you need? Damn, I should have stayed in school. I'd make a killing teaching in a college...”
Dominic shrugged his broad shoulders. “I guess it's a lot, sorry. I just...need to better understand what I'm dealing with. I've got some conflicting thoughts on this whole situation and I don't know where to start.”
“How about start with you??” The husky yet cheery tone came from a hulking red figure emerging from the bedroom. His wings were folded behind him, his tail lazily swinging from side to side with each step of his cloven hooves and massive legs. His equally powerful upper body flexed as he pumped his muscles, looking at their guest.
Dominic sighed. “Marduk, the Demonologist—or, Brogan. Brogan, this is Marduk. At least, that's what he goes by now. Used to be different before he ended up under my control, I guess.”
Marduk grinned sinisterly as he folded his rippling arms over his thick chest.
“Stop showing off,” the Demonologist said sharply.
Marduk's expression changed immediately, his eyes widening in surprise, arms slipping lower as he was seemingly taken aback.
The Demonologist gave a sudden chuckle, smiling. “Heh, just kidding. You look good. You've really put a lot of personality into him, Dom'. How'd you do it?”
Dominic looked between the two for a moment, still processing the small event that had occurred. “I...told him to read my mind, and to take away he good things about morality and stuff...I guess some of my...personality, transferred as well?”
“Oh, jeeze,” the Demonologist said, leaning back in his chair. “Yeah, certainly not the way I'd have gone about that. You didn't just transfer thoughts, but memories and soul and tons of other stuff as well. This demon is you in more ways than one now.”
“He kind of told me something like that,” Dominic admitted.
“Yeah—so, basically you turned your demon into a sapient being,” the Demonologist continued.
“Aren't they already?” Dominic asked, confusion once again expressed on his square facial features.
“No, and just from that answer alone I see how little you know, and how indoctrinated you might be.”
“Indoctrinated...?”
“What do you think a demon is?” the Demonologist asked.
“I don't know,” was the honest reply.
“Best answer. More people should be willing to say that. Now, what did you think demons were?”
Dominic's eyebrows raised slightly, before lowering as his mind began turning over the question.
“I...thought demons were fallen angels,” he replied.
“Ah. Christian, then?”
“I...don't know what I am right now,” Dominic answered placidly.
“No, I mean the governing mythology,” the Demonologist clarified. “That'd explain Marduk’s conditioning. Here...”

Standing from his chair, the Demonologist raised a hand toward the center of the living area, motioning for Marduk to move out of the way—with an eager grin the brawny demon dropped onto the sofa beside Dominic—and brushing his hand through the air in strange gestures, a crimson light began to fill the room, apparently without source.
From the Demonologist's gesturing, a magenta, rune-like symbol faded into view, floating in the air, its curvy lines rippling as though made of flame. A similar rune appeared on the ground, far more circular in nature, and beneath it the blue carpet of Dominic's apartment was split apart by a black tunnel. Beyond the event horizon was another realm, dark, with red clouds and distant stars. This background was obscured by the sudden coalescence of matter that formed the shape of a humanoid figure. The skeletal structure was visible only for a moment, before being covered in muscle that began swelling to astonishing proportions, until it too was covered by a pinkish layer of leathery skin. The demonic creature came to life, opening its red eyes, and hopping out of the hole which promptly vanished along with the rune-like shapes.
The demonling was only about five feet tall, as it looked to its summoner. The Demonologist shrugged, gesturing to the coffee pot in the kitchen. The demon moved obediently towards it.
No words came from Dominic: his expression said everything for him. His mouth was agape, and he had pushed himself further against the couch, one hand raised defensively as his wide eyes tracked the alien creature walking across his apartment.
“See,” the Demonologist continued, casually returning to his chair. “Lesson one. Demons aren't what you think they are. Hell, they might not even be 'real' demons in the mythological sense What demons are is still relatively unknown, but I think they're some kind of extra-dimensional species that sees consciousness as an actual 'thing', like...they can touch consciousness, move it around, play with it. We interpret it as a soul, but to them it's just another part of their physical reality. When they get pulled into our dimension, their own consciousness is given physical form, and it draws information on what that form should be from other consciousnesses around it.”
Dominic stared at the Demonologist helplessly. Marduk raised a brow and poked Dominic to make sure he was okay. The human jumped slightly, giving Marduk an angry look before turning back to the guest, who sighed with a sympathetic smile.
“Simple version. This demon appeared. You were there. You had in your mind this specifically-Westernized imagining of what a demon is. Red skin, hooves, wings, tail with a little pointy thing. It took that imagining and became it.”
“Alright,” Dominic said emptily. “I guess that makes sense...any reason why he—or rather, they—are so...muscular...and...”
“Sexy?” Marduk asked, leaning closer to Dominic. The human's hand met the demon's smug face, pushing Marduk towards the opposite end of the couch.
“He's got a point,” the Demonologist said. “Anyway, maybe. That the kind of thing you're into?”
“What?” Dominic said, leaning back with slight affront. “I...I mean...do you mean...like, sexually? Or...”
“Speaking of sexy,” Marduk suddenly interrupted, “You should introduce this human to Gorgen, bro.”
“Gorgen?” the Demonologist asked while Dominic battled his thoughts.
“The other demon I brought over last night,” Marduk replied. “Super big. Dominic put him in the closet.”
“I didn't know what else to do with him, waiting for you to get here,” Dominic said to the Demonologist.
“I know what you should do with yourself,” Marduk continued, “And that's come out of the closet.”
The Demonologist looked between the two with a raised eyebrow.
“If it helps,” he offered, “I'm also mostly into dudes. S'why my demon looks pretty swole.”
“I'm taking notes,” Marduk contributed with a grin.
“Alright,” Dominic said authoritatively, lowering his hands from his face and clenching his fists in frustration. “That's enough. This is a serious thing for me, and I just need to finish working through it.”
“You'll get over it with time,” the Demonologist said with a patient smile. “Lay out the facts. What's going on? What led you to where you're at now?”
Dominic, his gaze lowering to the floor, began recalling events in his recent past.
“Right. Fine. Two months ago I was doing my superhero thing, when I came across some kind of demon ritual being put on by some Hellions—”
“My former gang,” the Demonologist interjected. “Rock on.”
“What? Oh. That explains the face paint...whatever—I did some investigation, found some clues, and took them to my old Apologetics professor who was studying various artifacts of Christian theology. He helped me, and I eventually ran into Marduk...but his name wasn't Marduk, it was...something longer.”
“I don't even know anymore,” Marduk offered helpfully.
“We fought each other a couple of times, and on the last time I had what he called a soul gem, and it was apparently imbued with my soul at this point, and I used my powers, it exploded and embedded itself in Marduk, and he was turned into a blank slate. So I take him home and don't know what to do with him for a few days, before remembering a threat he made about reading my mind. So I command him to read my mind, take the good thoughts and be a good person—”
“Yeah, still wouldn't have done that,” the Demonologist pondered, folding one leg over the other.
“—and after that, we discovered my Apologetics professor was actually a supervillain who was also named The Demonologist—”
“Yes. My father,” the present Demonologist said, grimly.
“What?!” Dominic exclaimed.
“Just kidding. I have no clue who this guy is. Continue.”
Dominic moved to the edge of the couch, staring at his guest with determination.
“—I fight The Demonologist with Marduk by my side, we win, the guy is dead, and I take new-Marduk back here and sit around for a month while he plays video games, before one day he gets me chocolates for Valentine's Day and then gets me a huge titanic power-lifting demon brute who is clearly not under my control. Marduk says he could place the dude under my control without a soul gem, or share my soul with him, or something...but...at this point...I just don't know what to do.”

The demonling summoned by the visiting Demonologist chose that moment to approach, reaching out a long, muscular limb and offering Dominic a coffee cup. The superhero took it, staring dumbfounded as another mug was given to the Demonologist, before fresh coffee was poured into each cup.
“So,” the Demonologist surmised, “As a consequence, you're struggling with religious deconversion brought about by some truly remarkable events and coincidences, while also dealing with repressed sexuality that's now being called out by your own inner-thoughts that you shared with an extra-dimensional being who is now your roommate?”
Dominic let out a long sigh, slumping on the couch. “Fuck,” he answered, simply.
There was a long quiet moment as Dominic and the Demonologist sat and drank their coffee peacefully. Marduk and the demonling looked at one another, seeming to communicate with each other despite no gestures, facial expressions or mouth movements.
“Alright,” Dominic said quietly. “Let's...get Gorgen or whatever out here and...”
Marduk had risen from the couch and entered the bedroom before Dominic had a chance to react. After a moment, the demon returned, followed by the hulking brute that had been spoken of. Sightly taller than Marduk, the demon referred to as Gorgen was also thicker and wider, with stubby horns and a thin beard along his massive jaw that merged with a thin mustache.
“Hello,” the Demonologist said.
Gorgen grunted.
“So, it turns out,” Dominic said, “Marduk went out on the streets and did a little superhero work of his own...just another consequence of that mind reading thing I guess—yeah, bad idea, I get it now—and found another group of Hellions who were doing a summoning ritual. He interrupted it, and finished it apparently, and this demon showed up. I...guess he looks the way he does because my thoughts and...interests, are in Marduk's head too?”
“Would make sense,” the Demonologist offered.
“And then Marduk brought Gorgen here, and since the soul-binding wasn't complete, Marduk wanted to complete it in a way that would make Gorgen under his control...and my control by proxy, I guess.”
“And is that what you want?” the Demonologist asked.
“I don't know—”
“You actually do,” the Demonologist interrupted. Raising his coffee mug, he took another sip, before nodding towards Marduk.
Dominic looked from demon, to Demonologist...before realizing what was implied.
“If Marduk wants it,” the Demonologist nevertheless hinted, “well...it seems obvious to me I suppose...”
Dominic's expression changed from one of astonished realization, to one of mild uncertainty...and finally, acceptance.