"New comic day, new comic day!" Grace Hormel cheered as she marched down the street to the Dragon's Bookshelf, the best comic shop within walking distance to Grimaldi University.

In front of the shop, she hopped in excitement. New comic day was the most exciting day. She only wished she could share it with someone. But none of the girls in her dorm seemed interested.

Oh well!

The nerdy fox went into the shop and loudly announced, "NEW COMIC DAY!"

Bjorn, the large bear manning the counter didn't look up from True Untold Tales of Ballistic Gal #50.

"Hello, Grace."

"New comic day!" she repeated, vibrating excitedly.

"Yes. New comic. Singular. One book, Grace. Y'know, I can bundle all your pulls if you just want to come once a month."

Grace laughed. "I'm way too impatient for that! New comic!"

"Suit yourself," said Bjorn. He rooted around under the counter and produced a graphic novel that had been reserved for Grace.

"At last, the next DEMOM!" Grace paid for the book and took it reverently in her hands. She tried making some small talk with Bjorn but he could tell her heart was elsewhere. He took mercy and waved her off.

Grace scurried not out of the comic shop but delved deeper into it. Past longboxes of old comics, racks of new ones, and shelves of trades. Past the figurines, statuettes, and toys. Past even the games and dice she loved to linger over. On new comic day though, she only had one thing she loved.

She found the reading area and sat down. She never made it out of the shop without fully reading the new book. Far too impatient! And excited!

Grace Hormel engrossed herself in the latest volume of DEMOM. It was an ongoing story told in graphic novel installments about a demon who is a mom who has to solve mom problems with demon solutions and demon problems with mom solutions and keep her daughter oblivious. It was a rollicking good read! Maybe the best thing ever printed anywhere ever.

"Imagine, being so close to a demon and not suspecting a thing!" Grace chuckled to herself after a particularly juicy sequence.

"Yeah yeah," chimed in a voice right behind her. "That'd be fucked or what, ye?"

Grace turned and noticed someone staring over her shoulder. The girl had fluffy hair and horns. So maybe a sheep? But she had sharp teeth and a flat face so maybe not a sheep?

"Oh! Where did you come from?" asked Grace.

In truth, the gremlin had gone to Grimaldi University as she'd been instructed by Princess Razor Tongue. And then she'd promptly forgotten what she was supposed to be doing. Red Tit had written something on her palm to be a reminder but the gremlin had licked it off.

So at Grimaldi, she'd climbed inside a trashcan, as was her natural reaction to having nothing better to do. But while she was rooting around in the garbage, she'd heard someone yell, "I'm not interested in going to your nerd store, Grace!"

Grace Hormel was a name bouncing around the gremlin's skull like a screensaver and the fox looked like the tiny image Princess Razor Tongue had given her. So she'd followed her from the campus to this whatever place full of tiny crunchy little person-shaped things.

"Was juss at Grimaldi place and now am here." The gremlin unfloated before Grace noticed she was floating.

"Grimaldi? I'm a student there too!" Grace said. For all her interest in demonology and fantasy, Grace was so good natured that she saw the horrible little gremlin and thought, wow, potential new friend of indeterminate species! "I'm Grace Hormel. What's your name?"

Grace Hormel was the person Princess Razor Tongue asked her to find, she was pretty sure! But how to be surely sure for suretitude? Hadn't Princess Razor Tongue told her there was an identifiable thing she could surreptitsiously check, ya?

It was hard to think when the maybe-Grace was asking questions though. Name? Silly question to silly-y ask a gremlin.

"People juss call 'hey you nasty little thing! Get outta here, you stinkin' up the garbage worse!'"

Grace smiled although it was the smile she did when she was a little confused. She couldn't fully understand the girl. She both mumbled and drawled her words when she wasn't dropping consonants. Maybe English was her second language.

"Okay, um, I'm not going to call you nasty. That seems rude."

"S'fine, sticks and stones break bones. If'n I'm 'nnoyed they'll know. But if'n you want it short, 'm juss a gremlin."

"Jess?" Grace guessed. "You're a Jess?"

"Gremlin!"

"Lynn!" Grace cherrypicked the sound out of the mumble that sounded most like a name.

"Ye ye, I can respond to dat."

"Nice to meet you, Lynn!" Grace stuck out a hand. "I hope we can be good friends!"

The newly dubbed Lynn stuck out her own hand... and now that she wasn't talking, her brain cells bounced off each other and she remembered the thing she was trying to remember. The gremlin grabbed Grace's shirt, untucking it. Pulling it up, Lynn saw the crown mark on Grace's stomach.

Definitely really the real Grace she was supposed to find. What luck, that the gremlin had found her here. She was very good at her new job, yes yes.

Grace grabbed her shirt back and firmly pulled it down. "Um, not that good a friend!"

"Oooh, belly shy? S'fine, I'll feast my peeps elsewhys." She picked up the graphic novel from where Grace had set it down. "Wha this thing? You were lookin' and I was lookin' at you lookin' and the shapes is a confound."

Grace instantly forgot her misgivings at how randomly handsy this new friend had been. Someone was showing interest in one of her interests!

"You haven't read DEMOM before?" Grace asked, excitedly.

Lynn wasn't much of a reader or any bit a reader. And she couldn't read. So she couldn't say that she had read DEMOM before. "Nuh."

"Oh, you really should! It's one of the best comics being published today! So the first thing you need to know is that demons walk the world, unsuspected by normal people!"

"S'that right?" asked one of the demons walking the world, unsuspected by normal people.

"But that's just where we start! It's really all about the troubled family relationships when they can't reveal their true selves! And there's just tons of great worldbuilding!"

Grace proceeded to exhaustively explain the entire DEMOM plot summary, lore, and popular fanon to Lynn, who just sat there and took it because now that she had found Grace Hormel, she wasn't sure what to do next and she didn't know where to find more garbage.

But to the nerdy fox, interpreting Lynn's blank smile as interest in DEMOM, this was the start of a beautiful friendship.

---

Oh no, Razor Tongue's gremlin found Grace! But the gremlin is kind of dumb!

But a good listener. Well, a bad listener who looks like a good listener. "Lynn" will not be able to answer any follow-up questions.

I've wanted to advance the Grace-Razor Tongue plot but I didn't want to zoom right to Razor Tongue walking up and introducing herself. Hence, the gremlin being Grace's demonic first contact. But with Grace having no idea that's what's going on and Lynn having no idea what she's supposed to be doing here.

A good situation for wackiness. Grace and her good pal Lynn, hanging out! Grace getting concerned at all the random items Lynn puts in her mouth. You know, just friend activities!

---

Grace Hormel and "Lynn" owned by me
Art by  doubleslime