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All the noise, noise, noise! The most unfortunate thing of all was Ariana Grande’s songs were catchy. Alphonse found himself singing to them under his breath on the way to the concert. He hated himself. There was nothing more he wished than to fling himself off the edge of the world and float off into silent space.

“Why don’t you like something better like…” his voice trailed off, trying to find a genre of music that at the very least sounded appealing. “whatever death metal is?”

Cassandra’s soul belted one of her songs as loud as she could. Alphonse was certain she was about to explode from the volume. If that happened, things might end up going in his favor. She paused and made a face as if she’d tasted something sour. “Ugh, I’m not into that stuff!”

“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it,”

“You don’t knock it ‘til you try it!”

Alphonse scoffed. “I’m literally here in your head, and you can’t stop singing this song. Now it’s getting in my head. I’m in a state of mind I want to get out of, like right now.”

“Cute play on words,” Cassandra said before gasping. Heart emojis flew around them. Blood pumped through the body far quicker than before. Confused, Alphonse looked around, and Cassandra, without warning, screamed at the top of her lungs.

“What the fuck?!” He shouted, covering his hands over his ears, but his hands just went through his head. Right. He was void, not even solid.

“LOOK!” She grabbed his wrist and pulled him in the chair closer to her. Their chairs crashed, but she didn’t seem to care. She pointed to the eye screen, and Alphonse followed her gaze.

Jade was driving. Her hair wasn’t in any kind of ponytail. Her natural curls bounced, and her dark skin shined gold against her cheeks. Highlighter. The only reason Alphonse even knew about highlighter was that Cassandra wouldn’t shut up about what a makeup goddess Jade was and how ‘she was shining so bright the aliens could see her.’ What kind of cheesy bullshit?

The car was blasting Ariana Grande, too. It was incredible how he couldn’t escape her music. The girls were laughing at some joke he’d missed, too preoccupied with the song bouncing off the walls of the brain.

Then Jade linked their arms together. It wasn’t holding hands, but it seemed to be sufficient for Cassandra. Looking over, he saw her soul let out a dreamy sigh. A clock whirled by them that read TWENTY SECONDS OF COURAGE. Nineteen. Eighteen. Seventeen.

“She’s going out with what’s-his-name,” The soul argued.

“Your hands are right there,” Alphonse told her.

“But won’t it be weird? I don’t even know if she likes girls.”

“You’re not eating her out. You’re going to hold her hand! That’s like saying you’re too scared to hug her ‘cause she’s a girl. GET A MOVE ON, WOMAN!”

“I’m too scared!”

“For fuck’s sake,”

For the first time, Alphonse took the reins. He leaned over her and pushed the buttons that moved her right hand. The body’s hand held Jade’s, fingers threading. Heart and smiley emojis with heart eyes flew by them again as Jade squeezed her hand again.

Alphonse looked at Cassandra, who seemed to be holding in another excited scream. “Don’t,”

“I have to,”

“Cass—”

Cassandra screamed so loud he was sure the forsaken Heavens could hear her. Her soul, providing the voice not only for her body but also the head, was so damn loud. It was so deafening that Alphonse flew away from the gust of wind. He held onto the edge of the control keyboard, the mist of his body billowing everywhere.

“Will you stop that!”

“Oh my god!” She squealed, ignoring him. “She squeezed my hand, hello, hello! Do you know what that means?” Alphonse blinked at her, unsure. “She loves me!”

He rolled his eyes and swept over to her again, sitting back in his chair. “She obviously loves you, but she’s with that Landon.”

“Not in the way I’m talking about, though.”

The complexities of the heart weren’t lost on him, but he’d never understood them. Humans cared so much about each other that it was an automatic hint of vulnerability against them. Alphonse was sure Antonio was another surefire weakness.

It was right there, so obvious, staring him right in the face. He could leave the body, kill Jade, and threaten Antonio’s life. It would be even more traumatizing if he could control Cassandra and kill Jade as her. Still, considering the scenario, he didn’t think it would work.

He could kill Jade. It would be so easy with no control of Cassandra needed.

As he simmered with his potential evil plot, the body and Jade headed out of the car and got in line. The girls bought each other merchandise—two t-shirts—that they then changed into in the bathrooms before going to the floor of the arena. How sickening.

Alphonse looked away from the eye screen to see how giddy her soul was. The heart emojis were commonplace, surrounding them in the air in a jubilant dance. It would be so easy to destroy her happiness right now, to take Jade away from her.

Although, Jade dating Landon was torture enough, right? So, maybe he didn’t have to kill her yet.

Right?

Cassandra put her body on autopilot and got to her feet. “Come on!” She grasped his shoulder and yanked him up, and he let out a yelp in surprise. The corpus callosum’s boring tissue walls flashed with disco lights. “Look!” She squealed, pointing to the eye screen as she jumped up and down with excitement.

The arena went dark. The crowd screamed. Then, after a select few lights were on again, Ariana Grande stood on stage. Cassandra was tiny, and some people in front of her were taller. What was the joy in going to these things if you couldn’t get a good view of the artist?

“Can you see?!” Alphonse shouted. It had been a while since he’d been to a modern concert and the volume surprised him.

“Who cares?! There are screens, anyway!” Cassandra shouted, screaming and jumping up and down with excitement. He glanced down and made a face every time her feet jumped on the tissue floor. This place was not as glamorous as the dream world he’d been in when he first met her.

Why was he even standing up with her? What was the point in this?

Ariana started singing after addressing the crowd. Cassandra’s soul and body screamed. Alphonse closed his eyes tightly and growled. “SHUT UP!” He yelled.

Cassandra did not shut up. She grinned and leaned toward him, screaming the lyrics right in his face. “Oh, come on!” She said as he stood, rigid. “You’re pathetic! Let loose! You’ve been humming this song all day!”

Alphonse gaped at her. “No, I haven’t!”

“Yes, you have! You just haven’t noticed!”

He fumed, bursting into flame at the mere idea before the fire died out. His anger disappeared as quick as it had come.

“Dance with me!” She said, reaching out for his misty hands. Cassandra, ignoring his tantrum outbursts, no longer surprised him. He didn’t even get upset at how unfazed she was at his power anymore.

He froze. He couldn’t believe she took his hands and was swinging their arms left and right, up and down. It was the same way adults danced with children with a lot of waving arms and shimmies. She sang the words and looked at him.

Alphonse wanted to hide. If he could blush, he most certainly would right now. The embarrassment and the nerves were taking over him. He didn’t know what to do.

“Why don’t you close your eyes?” Cassandra suggested. “And just move with the song? The beat! You’ve been around a long time. I’m sure you know what dancing is. Give it a shot. It’s only us in here. I’d never laugh at you.”

“It’s not that, it’s…” he closed his eyes and sighed out. “I shouldn’t be doing this. It’s stupid. It’s not me.”

“Well, if you don’t like it, then you don’t have to do it again. Okay?”

Alphonse opened his eyes again. She flashed him a warm smile, and he sighed in relief. As she swung their arms around, he swayed left and right. He felt so stupid. The song was so poppy, and he felt like a zombie trying to live again.

She pulled her hands away and instead did a series of strange swirls and waves with her hands in front of her face. She wiggled her eyebrows, and a laugh burst out of him.

A laugh. A real, warm laugh.

Her eyes lit up, and Alphonse tried to cover his mouth. “You have a laugh!”

“No, I don’t!”

She wiggled her arms at her sides, and he narrowed his eyes. He alternated, rocking his shoulders back and forth and mimicked her movements, which were plain silly. Alphonse didn’t even know he was smiling, but he felt the easy stretch of his mouth. The more he tried, and the more she made him smile by her carefree, ridiculous dancing, the less he cared himself.

One of the songs Ariana sang was one that Alphonse knew most of the words for. What a right shame. Being at a concert, and Cassandra’s body belting the lyrics with the girl she loved, and dancing with her soul… it was a superb feeling. The music seemed to seep into him. No matter how much he resisted, he couldn’t stop himself from also singing.

He didn’t have a care in the world anymore. When the body you meant to possess and destroy doesn’t let you, and you’re too stubborn to move on to someone else, and the soul’s fun to talk to and hang out with, and you’re at an Ariana Grande concert when you should be wrecking some part of her, destroying her family and friends… it was indescribable.

There was a thrill in it all, to rebel, to find out that he could have fun like this.

Alphonse started laughing again. It wasn’t like his cruel laugh, but one that sounded so humane, hearty, and relieved.

“What’re you laughing about?” Cassandra asked, grinning.

He looked at her and thought if he was rebelling at all; he was grateful that it was with this girl. “I’m having… a good time!” He told her, shocked to say it, and find it was actually true.

With a warm smile and soft eyes, she took his hands again and squeezed them. “I’m so happy to hear that, Al. I’m really proud of you.”

Happy and proud of him?

Thinking back, Alphonse never had someone proud or happy of him at all. Demons didn’t have people that cared for them. They were created for one specific reason. With all the misery and death they brought on, why would anyone feel that way for them?

He gave her a soft smile, and he pulled his hands back. He was too, in his own head, and it was all scaring him. “Thanks. I had a great time.” He swept away to the game board, and she was quick to take her seat there, too. Right. She still didn’t trust him not to possess her. He hadn’t even been thinking of that, but it reminded him that he should.

“You should see what’s happening with Jade.” He said. She looked at him, frowning, and nodded, taking the body off autopilot.

This was getting dangerous. He had to leave and talk to one of the higher-ups for help. Alphonse would do it without her knowing. It would be fine. Then, he’d be able to get the job done. If things kept going on like this, he would be completely ruined as a demon. He’d rather die than let that happen.